Late 20's Restorations

[jeff_a]

I'm about to start restoring a 1928 Peerless Six-80 Boat Tail Coupe. The engine is one of the well-designed Continental "8U's" [230 Cu. In./63 H.p.@2,600 R.P.M./7-Main Bearings/Stromberg UX-2 Carburetor]. I've come to some roadblocks in a couple of areas:(...and wondered if others may know the way.

• Paint:
  a. My feeling is that there were a large number of colors available for this model, but so far I've only found Rolls-Royce Blue, Ohio Blue, and London Smoke.
  b. Is there a vintage paint source that has these colors available or color chips to scan?
• Oil Filter:
  a. The owner's manual says I have a remote oil filter w/ replaceable cartridge on the firewall.
  b. I don't.
  c. Could there be a source for, say, 1920's Purolator firewall-mount oil filter units?
  d. I've found photos of three '29 Peerlesses with remote oil filters mounted on the l.s. of the motor, but my manual doesn't have an illustration of what the firewall setup looks like.
• Engine Mounting Blocks:
  a. My engine is tilted back (low in back) too far for a crank to fit in crank socket; I suspect some rubber mounting blocks have degraded.
  b. What should I replace these with?
• Running Board Mats:
  a. Where's a good place to get 12-15 ft. of narrow-ribbed rubber matting to cut myself?
  b. My Model A catalogs have a type of mat that may work...but it's only available in pre-cut Ford sizes.
  c. My Peerless' running boards are much longer than those of an "A" Ford: 65 vs. 39 inches.
• Oil Type:
  a. Does it really make a difference if I use Pennzoil 10-30W, or non-detergent 30W, if I'm just going to drain the old oil out and put some newer stuff in?
  b. The car was still being driven 8-10 years ago. I don't plan to actually drive the car in the next year, but I may try to start it and run it for a few minutes in the next 6 months.

Thanks for any ideas!
Jeff

Edited November 5, 2015 by jeff_a (see edit history)

[poci1957]

A few sources for you:

Restoration Specialties & Supply, Inc.

RSC

[JFranklin]

It's a good idea to drain the old oil if it has been used to get the combustion acids and moisture out. If it just going to sit you need not replace any oil as it just sets in the pan. If you are going to run it some but not a lot before cleaning the crankcase, piping, and valve chamber, I'd use 10-30 detergent. You can rig up a canister filter to look stock with some ingenuity.

[Richard Lichtfel]

Jeff,

Don Bettes would be the expert on your Peerless He is a member of the Peerless club and you should have his number. He will be at Hershey and may be able to find you parts.

B-4 starting your engine you should drain the old oil out, put the plug in and a quart of kerosene in and let soak, shake it around if you can. Pull the plugs and put some kerosene in each cylinder. After a day or so drain the pan. Put the plug in and a gallon of kerosene and turn the engine over with no ignition, spark plugs still out. Do this for a couple of days a couple of times each day. Then drain the kerosene out and fill crankcase with 30 weight non'detergent oil. The kerosene that is in the oil passage ways will mix with the oil. Do not use detergent oil unless you have a good filter. Put the plugs in and start it. Do this outside because it will smoke some. Turn the engine over once a month if you are not running it to keep the inside lubricated.

Standard Peerless colors, '28 & '29:

Mocha Stone Gray--------Stutz Royal Red------Ivory----Ohio Blue----Opal Green

Amber Brown-----Buckingham Brown----Obsidian Blue---Griotte Green---

Polo Tan other colors available on special orders.

RHL

[jeff_a]

Thanks, everyone, for the ideas regarding paint, oil changes and oil filters. I've been on one 500-mile and two 670-mile trips since my first post six days ago, which is why I couldn't reply until now.

I've gotten a RestorationStuff.com catalog already. They have a lot of good period-correct nuts, bolts, etc. My particular Model 6-80 was produced late in its 3-year run, and is a lot more like a '29 Peerless than a '26 or '27 in some ways...but eventually I'll find an ad or a sales manual that shows the firewall layout for rigging a filter. I talked to Don Bettes on the phone yesterday and got a lot of help regarding the questions above. With respect to paint, I'm currently leaning toward Black fenders/Rolls-Royce Blue upper body/Ivory reveals/London Smoke lower body. I saw a Peerless ad announcing the new 6-80 colors, including these, for 1928. My problem with these is that I don't really know what R-R Blue(dark blue?navy?light blue?) or London Smoke(dark grey?off-white?) look like. I've also considered the 10 colors The Green Dragon listed, which have their own merits.

A Peerless Club member in South Africa has a 1929 Peerless 6-81 Sedan painted with what I think may be Stutz Royal Red on the fenders and Ivory on the rest of the car, and it looks quite good. Here it is at a car show in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa on May 16th (Photo by petemick):

Edited October 6, 2010 by jeff_a
Added a picture! (see edit history)

[Friartuck]

Jeff, Suggest you try Auto Color Library at Auto Color Library - The World's Largest Online Color-Chip Library

You may not find a listing for Peerless, but the Intermix Color numbers does show the name of the color, like IM-250 Maturia Blue and IM-263 Mount Vernon Blue. This will get you close. The final decision will be with you and your local paint jobber.

Chris

[Richard Lichtfel]

My color samples are so faded that you cannot use them. I also have the paint mixing formula's but you can't get the same ingredients anymore. The best thing is to find the color you like and use that, the judges wouldn't care unless you painted it Hemi orange with bumble bee stripes.

RHL

[jeff_a]

Funny comment about the Hemi Orange & Bumble Bee Stripes! I did see a 1927 Peerless Six-60 sales brouchure with an Orange Boat Tail Coupe in it, which could give me license to go orange.

I looked at one of the Autocolor library cards for Rolls-Royce Blue, and it looks "as black as the ace of spades" on a computer monitor. Kind of like Ford's Andalusite Blue, which some people say is a gallon of Black with one drop of Blue added. At least I know it's a darker shade!

Edited November 4, 2011 by jeff_a (see edit history)

[R W Burgess]

Moved per request!

Wayne

[Richard Lichtfel]

Jeff,

I did some research on oils for our old engines and I was wrong. I have been using 30 SAE non detergent oil. I contacted a couple of engineers with the oil companies and this is what I was told. Non-detergent 30 weight oil is not even going to be called motor oil anymore but farm oil only good for barn doors and such. It doesn't have any of the additives in it to protect a internal combustion engine. The modern oils are good for todays new engines but because of enviromental concerns the additives that were added to protect the older engines have been removed. The oil they recomended for our older engines is a heavy duty diesel engine oil. This has the additives that will protect the older engines like ours. My Peerless is being drained as I write this.

RHL

[jeff_a]

RHL,

Interesting news about non-detergent oil...and that the diesel engine oil is better. I appreciate that you looked that up for everyone's benefit.

I just found a picture in my files of what an oil filter looks like on a firewall. These must have been one of the earlier uses of oil filters on cars. It turns out that the photo is one of a 1926 Peerless Six-80 that John in Kansas City owns. I printed all the pictures of it I could when the car was for sale on e-Bay. The unit is about 5'' wide x 6" tall and is strapped on to the firewall a little below and to the right of the oil can bracket (when viewed from outside the car on the r.s.). It's directly behind the engine-mounted horn. It looks like a 1/8" line going in from the top and a 1/4" line coming out of the bottom.

Edited October 8, 2010 by jeff_a (see edit history)