Anyone have a pre-1930 daily driver?

[Guest]

I guess my car is the oldest current daily driver. Unless you want to disqualify it because it has been off the road for 13 months while I was locating a differential. I should be mobile again by friday. I am the second owner, my car was assembled in Regina Sask. in June of 1930 and purchased new in Winnipeg by my Grandfather in August 1930. He drove it until 1959 and put 99,000 miles on it. It has been my daily driver since then. For many years I averaged about a thousand miles a month but in the last few years it has been down to seven or eight hundred a month. It now has 477,000 miles on it. Contrary to what Peter Hartmann thinks I have no trouble running 55-60 mph or so on the highway with my 4.5 to 1 rear end. It works out to 3047 rpm at 60 mph.

Interestingly enough the car was never driven in the winter until I started driving it. It is a wonderful vehicle in the snow, put it in second gear and go anywhere.

Happy hobbying

[Guest FordPiet]

Peter,

Just about any car could be your daily driver if you know it and make it reliable and if you drive it according to its capability. I don't currently have a pre-30 daily driver on the road. It is in the garage, a tree fell on it as a result of a snow storm in Germany and I have not yet recovered from that one. But that 1931 Model A was my only car for 2 years in Germany. Mechanical brakes work fine if properly rebuilt and adjusted. Or if you prefer, hydraulics can be fitted (and yes the 42-48 Ford hydraulics stop it much faster, but they were designed for much heavier cars). I also have a slightly higher compression flat head, which means you can climb mild hills in high gear rather than having to down shift. It also has sealed beams, seat belts, and an overdrive. A nice combination for the Ford. Prior to that I had a 30 Ford A pickup as my primary car -- stock except for the hydraulic brakes. I drove it every day to and from work when I was stationed in Iceland. Yes, I was slower, but it worked fine for short trips. If you work on the car and keep it up, you will know its strong points and weak points. And drive at the times and on the roads that fit your car. In the stock Model A I avoided the interstate during rush hour. If you post your question on Ahooga dot com there are some really nice Model A drivers. The two doors are all structural metal and the 31 4 doors are also all structural metal. Go for some test drives and rides. Some cars are just more fun to drive than others. Find one you love to drive and go for it. (By the way -- Chevy continued to use babbit bearings up until 1953 and while they take more maintenance and adjustment than inserts, they work fine.) Good luck and let us know what you decide. Hap 1915 cut off

[Fred Rawling]

What a long thread. I have a 1928 Buick Master that has been converted to a pick up with a mid 20's Studebaker bed. We got it in 1982. Since then we have put 74,000 miles on it. It works as a pick up, (right now it is half full of scrap seel that is going to the junk yard. The last time I cleaned up I had a half ton on it), it works in the movies, it goes on the freeways and if I do not drive it for a few days, I miss it and get it out to go to the office.

If you set the brakes up like the manual describes, it will stop satisfactorily. I leave at least 2 car lengths in front of me on the streets and I watch the traffic ahead to see what is going to happen. I leave more distance on the freeway. I do not worry about the crazies that want to cut in front of me just because there is space in front of me in the lane. The engine is tired and there is a lot of blow by so I can not go over 45 mph without looking like a destroyer making somke.

The cylinder head has a crack and it blows bubbles in the radiator. When I lost a rod bearing, I pulled the bad rod and the rings came out as bb's. I replaced the rings, got another used rod with good babit, plastigaged it and stuck it in and went down the road. With the engine the condition that it is, I figured that I did not have much to loose. That was 2 years ago and I am still going.

You can see a picture of it on Yahoo 1927 Buicks group but you have to sign up on the sight to get into the pictures.

[JB-ed]

I'll jump in with the 28-29 Dodge Bros Victory Six guy. I have two I use as daily drivers in all but winter weather. One a coupe, one a sedan, both snatched from hot rodders before they could do their magic. Both cars are fully stock except points plates that allow use of modern points instead of the North East and new (nonNorth East) coils hidden behind the dash so no one's to know. The vacuum tanks are terriffic and let no one tell you to substitute an electric fuel pump. These will never duplicate the gravity feed from the vacuum tank, for which your carburetor is designed. Between the two Dodges, I am on the road at least twice a week with them. This is out in the country, 50-55 mph, 15 miles typical trip. Dodges such as these toured with the Dodge Bros club this summer in 101 F heat. The owners over heated, the cars kept going. It's nice that the guy who wants to put a Pinto engine in these cars is confessing to the world his inability to rebuild and maintain a pre 1930s engine. These cars crossed the continent in 1928, Arizona hot to Buffalo snow, why should they not do so now?

There are many of us driving pre 30s daily. I suspect no so many are members of AACA.

[Guest]

I'm in So.California and drive my '31 Franklin to work and here and there several times a week.A local friend of mine drives his '30 Franklin even more often than that...we both believe that you can't beat a side-draft Franklin for reliability and comfort,and they aren't bad on the freeways around here either,keeping up OK with traffic.I've driven mine about 2500+ miles just this year without a single hickup.