Jump to content

Saw this 1931 Dodge coupe today....


keiser31

Recommended Posts

Started cleaning out my shop/garage yesterday and found my 1931 Dodge coupe behind and under a ton of stuff. Yes....I AM actually going ahead with the cleaning and arranging. Those of you who have been unfortunate to view my garage probably will not believe it. I think it's been about 23 years....it's taking shape. Most of the stuff piled up against the wall in the second and third photos is going away....

Picture 29563.jpg

Picture 29566.jpg

Picture 29567.jpg

Edited by keiser31 (see edit history)
  • Like 5
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I found one problem with nice deep garages is they tend to eat cars. 

Seems we always stick them in the back and then pile every piece of junk in front of them we can find to discourage ourselves subconsciously from ever working on the car again as it takes that much extra effort just to find it much less actually work on it. 

I'm almost as bad.  Every winter I put my Hudson Pickup away and by spring everything that headed out to the garage ends up in front of it or in the bed.  Takes half a day just to empty the truck out and put everything away that should have been put away in the winter when I couldn't do anything else.  Right now it's full of NOS parts and some signs.  I should just leave it loaded and head off to the nearest car show and sell all the junk so I don't have to put it away. 

  • Like 3
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I tried to lay my new garage out so it has one very large center door with enough room to park cars down each side with the center being open and only parking my regular driver in the middle.   Hopefully preventing the problem of blocking in any cars with something I can't turn the key on and move out of the way.  Unfortunately with it still under construction things aren't quite like I planned with stacks of lumber all over and temporary work stations as well as equipment I plan on selling once it's done,  namely the huge lift that takes up a 1/6 of the garage.

 Best laid plans right? 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

when I first read the heading, I said that Keiser is a babe magnet! I mean car magnet..................! (always finding the cars when out and about)

 

then I got a good chuckle.

 

My buddy came out to NJ last yr from CO and called me a hoarder............ I was taken aback for a moment, then I realized, he is absolutely right!!!!!!!!!!

  • Haha 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 hours ago, mercer09 said:

My buddy came out to NJ last yr from CO and called me a hoarder............ I was taken aback for a moment, then I realized, he is absolutely right!!!!!!!!!!

I have had people call me that,  but I told them not really because I sell stuff and alot of it,  I even know when to wholesale in big piles to cull things back under control.  When I emptied my shop,  I wholesaled a guy with a small uhaul truck loads for $1000 each and made sure he got his money's worth. 

 

Atleast I'll go with that for now. ;) 

Edited by auburnseeker (see edit history)
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I thought I was a hoarder, but then recently realized....I just wasn't motivated. I am now. I found more writing inside the cab on the driver's side door. It says, "DH  CP" and then a "3" in a circle which I imagine means "Model DH6 three passenger coupe". The engine still looks pretty fresh inside. I will be looking into fixing the babbit that was chipped when I was installing the last piston. 

Picture 28477.jpg

Picture 28478.jpg

Picture 28479.jpg

Picture 28482.jpg

Picture 28483.jpg

Edited by keiser31 (see edit history)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

K'31 : Don't look now, but you gonna be the happiest guy in the Great Pacified Northwest when you take to those wonderful cruising roads around and in/out of Medford. Put some time in every day.     A little too pacified these days,    -    CC 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you for posting the shop photos. I thought I was the only one who was a hoarder. Attached is the warehouse I recently sold and had to empty in 30 days. It wasn’t even for sale but my wife took the call from a neighbor who wanted to buy it. It is in Missouri and we live in Texas.  My master plan was to die and let my kids deal with it. You know the rest of the story. 

E257610A-6088-4961-9C69-20BD5CF67980.png

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Robert G. Smits said:

Thank you for posting the shop photos. I thought I was the only one who was a hoarder. Attached is the warehouse I recently sold and had to empty in 30 days. It wasn’t even for sale but my wife took the call from a neighbor who wanted to buy it. It is in Missouri and we live in Texas.  My master plan was to die and let my kids deal with it. You know the rest of the story. 

E257610A-6088-4961-9C69-20BD5CF67980.png

Speaking as a kid who was left a big mess that has cost me a fortune in time, money, career and mental health... bless your wife! 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I really hope I do not leave a mess when my time is up.

I hope to have all my parts labeled or in totes that are labeled for various vehicles.

When I purchase parts for future use I write on the outside of the box what vehicle the part is intended for.

 

Good to see that you have some new found motivation to get your Dodge up and running again.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You think THAT is being a "hoarder"? My wife sometimes thinks I am a hoarder, but then I remind her of my dad. I have a lot of stuff. But my dad? HE was a hoarder! I grew up with it. The reason the '27 Paige 6-45 sedan I have has never gotten restored was that he bought it as "the great family project", took it apart and then promptly buried it in the garage. A nice big two car garage that you could not see had a '20s sedan under all that stuff! Over the years, I restored nearly a dozen cars. Eventually I ended up with the Paige, but between family and finances I didn't have the resources by then to do the car justice. I am still restoring cars, but not to the quality the Paige deserves. Hopefully, maybe in a few more years? I may try to get it done yet.

I used to say that when my dad died, the first thing I would do is get a BIG dumpster and fill it up! And I did. We gave away several cars that he never restored. I gave away a Bridgeport mill and a nice medium size metal lathe because I had NO place or time to put it. My brother spent about three years selling off hundreds of antique radios, clocks, tools (many I wanted to keep!). Meanwhile more piles of stuff was taken in for scrap. The last twenty years of his life, my dad would go to auctions and estate sales, see one item he wanted and pay a few dollars to get it, along with about a pickup load of other crap! It could have been okay if he kept the couple pieces he could use, and disposed of the rest. BUT HE KEPT IT ALL!!!! After my brother passed away, my sister went in and got rid of most of what was left.

 

I KNOW what hoarding is. I am a collector.  (Anybody buy that?)

  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

My Dad has been giving stuff away steady.  Problem is he gives it to me.  He also likes to treasure hunt the local dump and can't refuse any good looking finds,  which he then gives to me.  I will admit I have some neat signs he got for me,  a bunch of not so neat signs and a bunch of other stuff I really need to make sure makes it to the scrap yard including 2 cars and a Motorcycle.  Problem is I can't use him to move them as he will be upset I wasn't happy with them.  

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, victorialynn2 said:

If the insurance is all paid up, I’d probably have... Well, let’s just say this is way worse then I dealt with, and had dad’s backhoe been running, I would have buried everything! 😂

 

Not a bad idea..  I removed the cars. It took two years..

 

The sad thing if you collect cars.. You sell one and another one follows you home..

IMG_0573.JPG

IMG_6025.JPG

IMG_0001.jpg

Edited by nick8086 (see edit history)
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

John,  Was your first 31 Dodge ever in running condition while you owned it?  As I remember, you got it in high school or maybe even before? And I remember your dad towed it out to California for you from Michigan, I think?  That car is a great historical item and I love it.  It's worth all the time you can give it for sure!  What about your other 31 Dodge with the wire wheels.  Is it running now?  Marc.

Edited by marcapra (see edit history)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 hours ago, marcapra said:

John,  Was your first 31 Dodge ever in running condition while you owned it?  As I remember, you got it in high school or maybe even before? And I remember your dad towed it out to California for you from Michigan, I think?  That car is a great historical item and I love it.  It's worth all the time you can give it for sure!  What about your other 31 Dodge with the wire wheels.  Is it running now?  Marc.

Yes, Marc....I drove my first 1931 DB after I assembled it at 15 years old. My Dad had taken it apart and it was a giant puzzle for me to assemble. That is when I learned there were no shop manuals made for the 1931 Dodges. I drove it to high school for a year or two and then took it apart to restore it. Here are some photos of when I was driving it. My blue and black '31 with the wire wheels will be on the road again in about a month. I just have to install the master and wheel cylinders and attach some wiring.

16 year old John.jpg

Picture 10616.jpg

John Keiser and 1931 DB DH6.jpg

post-37352-143139276607.jpg

post-37352-143142865207.jpg

Edited by keiser31 (see edit history)
  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the great photos John.  I remember seeing them when you and then I were presidents of the San Diego chapter of the W.P.C. Club in the early 80s!  Those were great days!  If you remember, our club used to go to the Fallbrook car show around Father's Day and also the Temecula car show.  I just went to the Fallbrook car show, which is put on by the AACA.  Except for a special section for brass era cars, you park just as you arrive, so a 66 Imperial would park next to a Model A if you arrive together.  I was a bit disappointed because it seemed like 75% or more of the cars were modified, so a car like your 31 Dodge is a critical survivor that should be put in driving condition soon.  There was only a very tiny representation of Mopars at the show.  Oldsmobiles outnumbered Mopars by far!  So we Mopar people have to get going!  I'm trying to get my 48 DeSoto 3W coupe on the road again, but I'm being held back by those impossible to find U-joint C-clamps!  I might have to have a drive shaft shop make a new shaft for me.  Marc.

P1010418.JPG

Link to comment
Share on other sites

John,  That magazine article says you once lived in Royal Oak.  I looked it up and it's just a few miles north of Hamtramck, Michigan in Detroit!  I guess I was right when I said your dad towed the 31 from Michigan.  Did your dad ever work for one of the auto factories there?  Here's another pic from the 2019 Fallbrook show.  Marc.  

P1010415.JPG

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, I lived in Royal Oak, Michigan (10 1/2 miles north of Detroit) for the first 20 years of my life. My Dad was an executive supervisor for Chrysler Corporation Export-Import Division on Wyoming Avenue. It used to be the old DeSoto plant. He worked there for 37 years. It was a very sad night at the dinner table when the Andrea Dorea went down and the Chrysler show car that Dad had a hand in shipping went to the bottom of the Atlantic.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wow!  That would have been 1956 if I recall.  I don't think you're that old to have been there though?  Can anyone of you antique car buffs identify this car?  Marc.

P1010395.JPG

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, Chris you got it.  Possibly a 1910 Model D with a 1 cylinder 10 horsepower engine.  I got that information in the Crestline book, 70 years of Chrysler  by George Dammann.  Yes, Maxwell, Brush, and Stoddard-Dayton, as well as Columbia are considered Chrysler forebears.  

P1010396.JPG

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Marc....I was 3 1/2 years old when the Andrea Doria went down (although some of the guys in the Dodge Brothers Club think I am about 116 years old) and I remember it like it was yesterday. My Dad raved about the Chrysler Norseman show car coming back from Europe. We were all going to go see it when it arrived.

Edited by keiser31 (see edit history)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

wow! and I thought I had spider problems!  I have nightmares like that, except I'm asleep and trying to wake up because something like that is closing in on me!.  Marc.

 

  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...