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Grandpa's Car


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Wasn't there a wartime saying : "Loose lips sink ships ".  Loose spokes kill blokes. (And blokesses too,  as the case may be. Whether on board, or in the way of the hurtling uncontrollable mess). You can not use paint as a structural shim. We all want to get to Heaven, but......................  You do not need any more grief and anguish. Find the appropriate wheelwright, my precious forum friend.  -   Carl 

 

P.S. My pinstripes were done by hand to mimic the originals, in original colors. Then, as now, wheels have a high tolerance for individual elegance. Have fun with them !!

 

 

 

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Your wheels are indeed elegant.  At some point my spokes will have some gold leaf stripping to make it look like a fire chief's car.  As my car will not be all together for quite some time I will try to get the wheels together now so I can get a rolling chassis in order to transport the car to my garage in NC.  It is a very long story but for most of my adult life (if I can be called that) I have worked in ministry mostly in the Hispanic world both here in the states and in Mexico and Central America.  I have stepped down from leadership as of February, but have promised to finish some building projects both here in the states and in Guatemala and after that we will be moving to NC to be near our kids. (and my garage)  I have at least 2 years of projects.

 

I think you are right that new spokes are a need and will get that done after the car goes north to be finished. (body and motor are up there)  I'm also working on a 36 Ford Fordor Deluxe.  I guess I'm doing Grandpa's Car first to learn on and give me the confidence to do the 36.  While I am based here in Florida I am finishing some of the major components of the 36, mainly the chassis so I can put it all back together when I am living in NC.  Frame is Powder Coated. This car has been partially disassembled for over 40 years.  I know that this is not ideal but then not everybody does what I do and with the help of a lot of photos this plan is working for me.  When I lived in central Mexico I took a 30 Cabriolet into the country knocked down in the back of a 15 passenger van.  I found a body man who put it back together for a fraction of what it would cost here.  It was in really bad shape!  I also took my 30 Ford Roadster PU to the same place and had it painted before giving it to my daughter.  Not the best picture of the truck and don't even know who the gent is in the hat.  Daughter wanted the truck red.

 

I certainly appreciate your concern and input.  I feel I can learn a lot from reading other stories on this Forum and use my page as a source for gaining knowledge and maybe even more, a way to keep me motivated.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Work has gotten in the way of the project again but I did make a little progress today.  I started putting a rear wheel together and found that all the concerns listed above are true and then some.  The powder coating while beautiful is going to be a problem for installing the spokes.  The spokes while a perfect paint match to the powder coating are to thick on the sides where they join together and where they go into the rims.

 

Today was just a trial run to see what I will have to do.  The ends of the spokes that go into the rims will have to be sanded down which isn't a problem.  I will sand the sides of the spokes down on my belt sander and then try again, it should go together much better.  If I had it to do over again I would not take the wheels apart but now I'm learning as I deal with my mistake.

 

While looking at old family movies I found a few seconds of my car with my grandfather at the wheel.  I'm the little kid that just crawled into the back with my dog hoping for a ride.  I'm 62 now!

 

I think my car will look great when finished and is a treasure chest of memories.

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Not much to report today as far as volume of work but I did make some great progress in figuring out how to go forward.  I was able to get two of the wheels partially back together.  There is nothing easy about the process but at least I see that it is possible without stripping off the paint and or powder coat and starting over.

 

I do have a question for you early Chevy guys.  The car has two rims with one size holes for the spokes and two with another.  Would it be possible that the rims that accept the slightly larger spoke ends would be for the rear or traction wheels?  Or since my grandfather was a scavenger could he have gotten rims from two different cars?  I was really shocked when I grabbed a rim and a set of spokes and the spokes just rattled around in the ends as they were too big.

 

Work will keep me away from my shop until Thursday but wanted to share the little progress I made.

 

Paul, my garage with the rest of the car is near you in Lexington.

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On cars with rear brakes only, the wheels on the rear must be more robust. It is braking which imparts the greatest loading/stress to the  wheels/spokes. As the spokes on your wheels were loose before dismantling, they will eventually become so again. Please inspect the wheels frequently. Drive slowly, and brake gently as possible.     -     Carl 

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Another precaution would be to relieve most of the weight from the wheels if the car is to be stored for some time. Blocks, of course, or the quick and easy solution would be by way of hub jacks, which were specifically designed for this purpose. Wood wheels will take a "set" if left loaded over extended periods. In some cases the "set" can be exercised out, but yours will not be able to respond and recover. See if you can find hub jacks if the frequency of use, and the lay up periods justify the convenience. Make sure to use a releasing agent between the "saddle" of the jack, and the contact area of the hubs. The paint on your hubs could be damaged if this is not done. I have no idea whatsoever regarding the availability of hub jacks these days. Walk the grounds of a swap meet wearing a wish list sign board if the Parts Wanted forum here is not productive. I got mine 30 years ago. But as I have mentioned before, quoting Johnny Hodges : "Things Ain't What They Used to Be".

 

This is a hub jack to show you how they work. Push the handle all the way down, and the linkage will go overcenter and stay put. Again, it is extremely important to drive slowly. If the wheels start clicking and clacking, and/or moaning and groaning, get them rebuilt.   -   CC 

 

P.S. I just looked at my demonstration pictures. I lean my jacks in from farther out when in use. Maybe I should just place the saddles on the hub caps ? I have been concerned about damage to them, but now I think that might have been how they were intended to be used 100 years ago ! 

 

 

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The hub jacks are interesting.  I'm sure mine will be up on jack stands most of the time as I do not see myself driving the car much at all unless I could get new spokes made at some point.

 

I have made more progress on the wheels and actually have one rear wheel completely back together and ready to install on the rear end once I get it painted and hung.  I took another wheel apart as I saw that I had the spokes in 180 degrees wrong.  I bought a piece of 3/4 all thread and some nuts and washers and built myself a press to squeeze the spokes together so now that I know what to do and have the proper tools I should be able to get the remaining wheels back together soon.  I start back working 5 or 6 days a week again on Monday so time is always short.

 

Now to buy some tires and get the car sitting on its own feet after way to many years.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hurricane preparation is mostly out of the way and I was able to work a little on the car today.  I hung the front end on the springs freeing up a little floor space or maybe moving one toe tripper from one place to now more of a shin stabber.  Hanging the axel with the springs installed was a challenge as I had to draw the springs together and also move one end of the axel toward the back.  Some ratchet straps came in handy.

 

Got a little painting done on more chassis parts.  If seems the painting will never end.  If weather is ok on Monday I should be able to get some more parts painted.  I'm waiting on some dry weather so I can paint the rear end outside.  When that is done all the little pieces should go together quickly.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Unfortunately another delay has come into my life.  My dad passed away this morning.

 

There are so many reasons that I will miss him but introducing me to the old car hobby is definitely one.  When I was 16 he bought me an early 30 Ford Roadster Pickup that he and I restored together over an 11 month period.  While my peers were out getting into trouble my dad worked with me to restore the truck most every night until he made me go to bed so I could get up for school and then all day on Saturday.  The truck won all the AACA awards.  My daughter has the truck now.

 

When he started to lose the ability to work on his cars he gave me his 31 Ford Roadster, 36 Ford Deluxe and his 53 Chevy convertible.  My brother received dad's 34 Ford Cabriolet.  (Brother never liked cars)

 

I certainly am missing dad but I guess I have been missing him for some time since he has been in a nursing home slowly going down.  I just hope that I can be as great a guy to my kids and grandkids as my dad was to me.   

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  • 2 months later...

Thank you for the kind words after my fathers death. I am blessed with a great brother and together we are continuing to work through all the loose ends. Looks like we will have a family gathering the Friday after Thanksgiving to bury Dad’s ashes in NC so I guess all is going well. 

I have been back on Grandpa’s car and making some progress. I have the wheels about ready to paint and the steering box to install. I left the main part of the steering box unpainted as it is brass and to pretty to paint. Probably will paint the rims this next week and start shopping for tires. Wow, they are expensive!!!!!!!

 I think my wife will get me a couple tires for Christmas. I have a wonderful wife!

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  • 2 weeks later...

The weather has been great and I have gotten some painting done on the rims and other parts.  I'm going to have to build some type of jig to hold the rims better for the next coat of primer and then the top coats.  To hard to hold the gun and the rim at the same time and difficult to get the proper even coverage.  This is a learning process so I guess I'm learning.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Got some work done on the car this week.  The rims have a coat of primer and have been spot filled and sanded ready for another coat of primer. I have a jig planned out to hold them for finish painting.  We have had a cold front move slowly through S. Florida with a lot of rain and wind so not much painting going on.

 

I installed the steering box today along with the steering arm and rod so I can steer the car now.  I see I am missing a part that holds the steering rod onto a ball either on the arm coming down from the steering box or on the front axel.  I will try and post a picture of the piece I'm missing.  I can make it but if anyone knows where I can buy one it would be a lot easier.  The part I'm missing is at the bottom of the picture on the left side of the three pieces.  In picture titled Part 3 you can see one of the pieces in the steering rod.  Each end of this rod takes two pieces.

 

I think we may see some dryer weather this week.  If so I should be able to paint the rims and get them ready for tires.  I will give Mac's a call and see if they have any in stock in their Titusville, Fl store and go pick up a couple, if not Lucas Tire has a good price.  Good price if you think over $150.00 each is good!

 

I wish each of you a very Merry Christmas.  My wish is that the new year will bring a quieter year without sickness and death!

 

John

 

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I bought tires for my car today.  I had saved up some cash and my wife gave me more for Christmas so I will have Wards Riverside tires in about a week.  I am really excited to get the car sitting on rubber again and will post pictures when I get them installed and can push the chassis out into sunlight.

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Worked about all day in my shop today and outside under my shed roof doing some painting and buffing.  Weather has been great this week after a couple weeks of rain.  I painted several parts but ran out of primer yesterday so couldn't top coat today all that I needed to.  Paint is ordered from Eastwood.

 

I bought myself a HF buffing motor yesterday and tried it out today.  It is 1/2 HP and works ok for my needs.  I don't really have that much that will fit this setup for buffing but I buffed out the steering column cover and for my first time I think it turned out great.  I will do some more work on it but I was very happy to see it shine after way to many years.  What are your thoughts on clear coating the brass after buffing?  I think the radiator cover will have to be done with a drill motor as it is too big to fit the buffing motor.  Don't think I want to stand for however long it will take to buff anyway.

 

Had a setback with one of my rims as I was painting today.  It fell into the dirt and of course I had started painting it.  Sand down tomorrow and will be ready to repaint when paint arrives.  I had enough top coat for what I did today but all out of primer.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Tried to install a tire today but it didn’t go well. It has been cool here in S. Florida and the tires were in the shade so I didn’t get any help from warm rubber.

 I’m going to set them in the sun and try again on Saturday. 

I’m trying the garbage bag method of slipping them on. Seems to work well on YouTube. 

The tires are Lucas brand. 

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  • 1 month later...
  • 3 weeks later...

Like so many others I have spent some quality time in the garage lately.  

 

I now have the rear-end hung but not complete.  I need to make a couple gaskets to put the rear cover back on and the front back together tight.  My grandfather made the car and I am finding little things that should have been done differently that are either causing me some extra time or real issues.  The rims are the real  issue that I dealt with today.  I bought 4 new tires which set me back a bunch and because grandpa never had a spare tire mounted on the rim and because of the cost I didn't buy one for the spare.  As fate would have it I mounted the 4 tires on the rims not knowing that one of the rims is totally different than the others.  As you might guess I mounted a tire on that rim that I can't use so will have to demount and remount the tire to the correct rim.  I had to reverse a front spoke wheel and make it into a rear since the rear wheels mount differently than the front and nothing would line up.  Little things that really take up a lot of time.

 

The picture of my chassis shows my garage space.  I do have an open shed in the back where I can clean and paint but I am very restricted on space which creates its own problems.  Things are always in the way and I have to keep moving stuff around.  The alternative of not working on the car is far worse so I just put up with it.  We plan to move to NC next year to take care of the in-laws so I will have access to my shop then.  The roll of red string is there on purpose.  As I'm not running to the hardware as needed I find that I can't properly finish certain parts.  I may need a castle nut or a certain bolt that I do not have.  Instead of relying on my memory I tie a piece of string on the part and will come back later and replace all the little string reminders with the part that is needed.

 

The picture of the rear-end shows some major metal problems in the brake rods.  Those will be fixed before I am finished but just wanted to get everything together while I have time.

 

I hope to get the rear brakes (only brakes) done the first of the week and the rear wheels mounted to have a rolling chassis.  If the cabinet business is open I will go get a piece of plywood for the firewall and get that cut out and primed.  I'm getting close to finishing this project as far as I can go before moving north and I'm getting excited.  Thanks for following, the garage is good therapy during this time!

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7 hours ago, stretch cab said:

Instead of relying on my memory I tie a piece of string on the part and will come back later and replace all the little string reminders with the part that is needed.

 

I like that idea of yours, I think I shall use the idea as long as I remember about it when the time comes!

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Tried to take advantage of the times and have been working on the old car as much as possible lately.  As you can see the car is sitting on all four tires now which is a huge achievement.  I can not say enough how glad I am for all the pictures I took.  Not only did the open heart surgery and recovery mess my plans up and the recovery was much longer I have to admit that my memory was messed up from the process.  Pictures have been a life saver!

The boxes on top of the chassis have housed the various parts for the chassis and come Monday if it doesn't rain I plan to push the chassis outside and clean out the shop and downsize the boxes into maybe two.  Most of the boxes contain bolts that I did not use to put the car back together.  I went with new bolts but will keep the old stuff just in case I want an original bolt down the road.  As you can see my shop is tiny but I have still been able to accomplish getting the chassis back together.  I am really happy.

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I'm winding down on getting the small parts back together and the car is really looking good.  I still have some work to do polishing the aluminum spokes on the steering wheel but the aluminum and brass combo sure looks good.

I hope to get the radiator cleaned up tomorrow and put a coat of paint on it.  Will try to start buffing the brass cover this week.  I'm thinking that it is going to be a slow process to ever see a shine on the radiator cover.  But if I can do it, well it will be beautiful for sure.

 

One question for you experts who might read this.  When I put the differential cover back on, does the oil filler hole go toward the top or bottom?  It will fit either direction.1941612738_SteeringWheel.thumb.jpeg.22aa98be56a47bfd955f0f2c43142a9e.jpeg

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Got the radiator painted and in place.  The rear-end has all the parts in place.  Everything needs to be adjusted in order to have brakes but that will have to wait until the motor is in as the rod that carries the brake and clutch pedals attaches to the transmission housing.  I'm still battling with some of the linkage up to the brake pedal but I will figure that out sometime.

I have a cabinet man cutting out the new firewall.  I decided to paint the firewall body color as I didn't want to add another color with wood stain and create another contrast to the fire engine red and black trim theme.  The firewall will be red.

I'm working on buffing out the brass spotlight I purchased at Hershey a few years ago.  It will look great mounted to the firewall.

I will start on the brass radiator shell soon.  I've been watching YouTube videos on how to restore tarnished brass.  Looks like there are many ways to get the same results but they all take time and elbow grease.  I hope to get the car out of the garage on Saturday and take some pictures.

 

 

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I had a very productive day in the shop today.  It looked like rain so I did not push the chassis outside but managed to take a few pictures anyway in my over crowded shop.

 

I completely disassembled the spotlight that will be attached to the firewall.  What self-respecting fire chief's car doesn't have a spotlight?  The brass was very tarnished as you can see but by using salt and white vinegar and a lot of elbow grease I have it down to mostly plain brass now.  The light is in remarkable condition and will buff our beautiful.  I have to get some more buffing supplies but should have it all buffed and back together by next weekend.

 

I couldn't help myself and put a little bling on the front of the car today.  The lights, radiator and steering column/wheel all came from a firetruck so the lights are big.  They will look great in front of the big brass radiator shell when I get that cleaned up and buffed out.  That is going to be a job but I will have to do it myself as the chrome shop quoted me $400.00 for them to do it.

 

I'm having a problem with one of the lights.  The chrome ring on the light won't close all the way.  One of the lights had a bad dent in the ring and I think this is the one.  The chrome shop did a great job taking the dent out but now it just wont close.  The buckets are powder coated  black because I couldn't afford to have them chromed at $250.00 each and I think the powder may be causing some of the problem as I'm sure it is thicker than chrome.  I plan to build an expander that I can put inside the ring to expand it just a little and see ifSpot.thumb.jpg.34931498fd0cc4198ddce41aa8f77cd9.jpg that will help.  Any ideas would be appreciated!

 

Anyway, I'm excited with the progress.  I'm tracking down glass for the headlights and spotlight.  I was disappointed that I can't find a mfg. name on any of the lights.

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Not much to show for a lot of work but I'm happy for the progress!   The salt and vinegar worked great to remove the ages of tarnish on the spotlight.  Today I started sanding with 600 grit paper and up and was very surprised when Gray & Davis showed up.  I was hoping that I could figure out the mfg. and I guess it was just tarnished over.

The process of lightly sanding with grit up to 2000 takes time but it is really paying off.  The brackets are done and look good.  The light bucket has a lot of dents and scratches.  I have worked out many of the dents but some of the deeper scratches will have to remain.  I suppose that you would have to plate the bucket with brass and then sand that down to get the deep scratches out.  I'm sure that it will look great mounted to the firewall that arrived today from the cabinet maker.  I hope to get it primed and installed soon.  The car is really coming together!

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Worked most of the day and have little to show for it.  Some parts of the puzzle just go together slower than others.

 

I did get the spotlight back together.  I'm working with a lens company to find a new lens so hopefully that will work out.  I transferred most of the brackets from the old firewall to the new and was going to cut the hole for the steering column but my jig saw broke.  Got to get a new one tomorrow. 

 

I think I have the problem solved for the one headlight rim that won't shut.  I spent a lot of time removing the inside of the rim and now it shuts ok.  I will have to work on the rim liner as that is what holds the lens in and reinstall it once I make it smaller.

 

I pushed the chassis outside today but forgot to take a picture.  Hopefully tomorrow I will start on the radiator shell.  It will take some time to get all the tarnish off and buffed out but it will look great once completed.  I'm kind of excited to see the shell in all its beauty after so many years of tarnish.

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I didn't get to work on the car yesterday but spent a few hours cleaning brass today. I started with the vinegar and salt treatment with a lot of elbow grease and that helped but it was really slow.   I bought a palm sander to use on the radiator shell and it really made life easier.  I didn't us too aggressive of a grit paper but the tarnish is slowly coming off.  I can't work tomorrow but had to see how the shell will look so I trial fitted it to the radiator.  I think it looks great but will look even better after several more hours or days of sanding and buffing.

 

I was able to cut the hole in the firewall for the steering column and got the firewall trial fitted.  Being that the body is in NC and I will be moving there next year I only plan to epoxy prime the firewall and will finish paint it later when the entire body is painted.  It is really looking good, hopefully I can roll it outside on Saturday and take some better pictures.

 

Thought I would throw in the before picture from the early 1960's of my grandfather driving the car.  Radiator was tarnished in that picture so it has been a long time since it was buffed out!

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  • 8 months later...

It has been a long time since I have posted anything about "Grandpa's" car and I thought I would give you an update.

 

As you can see I have gotten some work done and the car is ready for the motor to be installed and then the body.  I don't know if you can zoom in on the pictures but if you do you will see that many of the parts are just tacked together and not finished.  I went ahead and tried my hand at painting the firewall and it actually came out pretty nice in my opinion.  I need to put some more elbow grease into buffing the radiator cover but all in all the car is coming along.

 

Now the downside.  My wife and I are moving to NC to take care of her parents the end of February so this project is going on the back shelf for awhile.  Knowing we were moving prompted me to get the car back together as much as possible for the move.  I do have my shop and other cars in NC but for the first several months I will be remodeling a house to live in and looking for a job.  We will be going from 2 incomes down to 1 so that is going to cut into my restoration budget but it will all work out.  My wife stood with me with my dad up until his passing and we will stand together to take care of her parents now.  Hopefully down the road I can update you on this project.

 

Thanks so much for your interest!

John

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