old junker with stromberg uur-2 carb

[Guest diamondinthewoods]

i know this car is a early 30s vintage 8 cylinder with a stromberg UUR-2 carb, twilite headlights, wire wheels, AC mechanical fuel pump. i know tons about identifying old cars but this thing has me completely stumped. the links are of the motor and the car. somebody please help me with this.

unknown

lagrange summer 2009 095

[nzcarnerd]

Vent doors on the hood sides narrows it down a bit - probably to 1932. A rare car whatever it is. Might even be a REO.

Edited August 3, 2009 by nzcarnerd (see edit history)

[Guest diamondinthewoods]

the fenders arent right to be a REO, i take pics for hemmings motor news abandon car calender so i've been identifying cars like this a lot but this thing is different from any car i've ever seen. it's similar to 1932 willys overland 8 but the car has 4 vent doors not 5 doors and some other little differences.

[nzcarnerd]

I realised quite quickly, as you say from the front fenders, that this is not a REO. That moulding at the base of the windshield is distinctive. Its not Hudson or Olds.

[Ivan Saxton]

Cars that used Stromberg UUR2 in period 1930-32 were Hupmobile, Marmon, Nash, Pierce Arrow, and Studebaker. Also Cunningham is listed, which were probably the last of their big V8's, which are extremely rare now of any year.

The ohv twin ignition Nash would be self-evident, with spark plugs on both sides of the engine. There was also a standard 8, which judged by the closer valve clearance would be side valve. Hupmobile were side valve, but I do not know distinguishing features. Studebaker and Pierce might be tough to distinguish because Pierce blocks were cast in the Studebaker foundry during the period Studebaker owned them; and the two have close visual similarities. If you drop the sump, a 9 main bearing crank indicates Pierce, while Studebaker had 5. (What you could never see is the difference in alloy of the block castings: Pierce specified a mixture that was harder and much better wearing. I have a 1929 Pierce which has done over half a million miles, and has been rebored once.)

I suspect that Marmon, while they were building their V16, could possibly have used run-out Lycomings after Auburn had stopped using them in favour of the up-graded smaller Lycoming 8. National manual does not give engine bore/stroke for them, but model designations of 88 and 125 correspond to earlier and last versions of the big Lycoming 8. The key feature that enables you to pick one of these is that a separately cast block is bolted to the cast iron crankcase. If there are frame numbers on the ID plate on starter or generator, these will enable certain identification. Pierce had a big centre of their wire wheels, with a big hub cap about 6"diameter covering the wheelnuts. (I haven't measured, and I only have one correct wheel, as the originals on my car were discarded and replaced with 20" light Chev truck wheels because of tyre availability in the 1940's). Another thing that would give away Pierce identity would be Fafnir ballbearing spring shackes.

Ivan Saxton

[Guest diamondinthewoods]

ok heres the conclusion i have come to, 1932 ish hupmobiles don;t look anything like that, cunningham is out of the picture, pierce arrow had those weird headlight fenders, no studebaker has those hood vents in the picture, its doesnt have twin ignition, so it must be a 30-32ish marmon 8 which appearently were made after the roosevelt production stopped but i cant find a picture to confirm this but its gotta be!!!!!!!!! argh, any thoughts?

[Guest diamondinthewoods]

i found a pic of a 1930 roosevelt convertible motor its almost the same!!!!!!!!! so its a marmon but i'm not sure the year

[nzcarnerd]

The Marmon club has a website . Here is a '32 from their members cars page. Site Builder Marmon Model 8-125 Deluxe.

Looks very similar - shape of front fenders, headlight brackets and that moulding at the base of the windshield.

[Dandy Dave]

I think you guys are right. I have worked on several Marmons from the 20's, and the engine is very similar to those. I see that the drive for the generator, and generator that drives the waterpump is missing. These were a weak spot on these cars. The earlier Marmons also had a twin ignition distributor that drove off of the generator. I helped a friend time one several years ago. I had to machine some spacers to get everything right. The Marmons that I worked on had overhead valves. Dandy Dave!

[Guest diamondinthewoods]

ya its 100% a marmon i'm pretty sure 1932. thanks alot you guys i've been trying to find out what this car was since last october, i never would have guessed i'd find a marmon sitting in the woods of maine, very strange.

[Jim Rohn]

should be worth restoring

[Guest scarab51]

Hi,

Ypu mentioned the Maine woods. Is this car at Bishop's in LaGrange? I got a 1937 Dodge Convertible sedan about 10 years ago, that had been there for a long time.

Just curious,

Doug

[Guest diamondinthewoods]

yes it is, you must be a local, any pics of the dodge when it was sitting and after it was done, and how did you get him to part with a car? every time i go there i'm like a kid at the pet store i want every last one of them even though i could hardly deal with having one.

Edited August 7, 2009 by diamondinthewoods (see edit history)

[Guest diamondinthewoods]

you guys really think that its worth restoring? any idea how much it would worth if it was mint?

[jeff_a]

I found a photo of a car body for sale in Montana that had a similar chevron stamped into the firewall. It had something like "Hayes Body Corp, Series 80" stamped on it.

[nzcarnerd]

Regarding the value if mint - particularly as it is a sedan - probably quite a bit less than what it would cost to restore.

[1912Staver]

Hi forum members, unfortunately when a car ; even one as desirable as a Marmon , reaches this condition it is essentially a parts car. The cost of restoration would exceed its value several times over. These cars are definitely rare and desirable , but in the big scheme of things just not very valuable. If it were one of the handful of brass era Marmon survivors we would be talking about a $100,000.00 plus automobile and it would be considered quite restorable. Unfortunately it is a early 30's sedan, and it would be lucky to exceed $50,000. 00 even if it was a very nice original condition example. It deserves to end up with a dedicated Marmon guy who can ensure the savable parts end up being saved. Unfortunately with the price of scrap being fairly high these days many cars such as this one are ending up in a bin. old wrecking yards are an endangered species these days. The temptation to turn old junk into cash is too high for many owners. Especially if it's a low key yard that hasn't seen much cash flow recently , or an estate situation.

Greg in Canada

[bruffsup]

OR A YARD THREATENED BY TREE HUGGERS AS ONE OF THE LARGEST YARDS IN CANADA , MINAKERS OF MILFORD ONTARIO , IN BUSINESS SINCE 1924 SADLY CRUSHED OVER 3000 CARS. WHAT A FIASCO. TREASURES MELTED DOWN TO MAKE CHINESE GARBAGE TO SELL BACK TO US. THERE WAS A VAN FULL OF NEW OLD STOCK BUDD 20 INCH WHEELS ALL NOW MELTED PLUS COUNTLESS MORE UNOBTANIUM.