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Can't find identity of this 1930 Graham. All help appreciated


DrBanzai

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Hello all.  I am a new Graham owner.  I am a little confused as I can not seem to find any info on this cars model, production numbers, etc.  It appears to be an all original (including the paint!) 1930 (I think) coupe.  It is an 8 cylinder with the supercharger.  It has hydraulic brakes.  What is interesting is that it has vents on the hood sides instead of louvers.  I am attaching pictures of the car and all its number plates.  The wood is mostly toast (damn termites).  Missing door handles, one of the hinge screrws for the rumble seat (the big 5/8 brass bolt) and a few other parts.  Following are its numbers.  The last pic of the black car is a picture I found on the Internet that indicates that is a 1930 (second series) Blue Streak.  That car appears to be the same as this one (same hood vents).  The article that was attached to that image was very poor.  I thought all Blue Streaks were of the newer streamlined design. Thank you in advance for any help!! -Bob

Serial Number: 616184 621253

Body Number: 315 130

Date Plate?: 30 9

 

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Hello!  thank you.  That is what I figured from the info from the Graham club.  Any idea how many of these were made?  How many still exist?  I am measuring my next step.  I was thinking about replacing all the wood with steel as all the wood is basically gone, rotted or termite infested.  I want to be careful to to destroy the value of the car if it is fairly rare.  I have not see any other 822's before (Other than the one owned by Nev).  Is there any way to find out its purchase or owner history?  I am always amazed by cars from this era and the people that owned them.  Thank you again for all your help. 

 

-Bob

 

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Bob,

   Coupes are extremely rare I would guess about a handful still exist, about a dozen sedans.  The engines are the large problem the 822 used the 289.6 CID engine they are almost impossible to find parts.

 

This 822 was in Arizona

ybs-1205-06b.jpg.2c5ff95b4042a8421b47d596c0f35fcc.jpg

 

Wood makes up 90% of the body, basically it is a wood car with tin coverings.  This is a Model A wood drawing your coupe is similar.  Removing the wood is difficult, the doors are built the same way.

 

Murray Body Corp., Murray Corp. of America, J.W. Murray Mfg. Co.,  Murray-bodied Ford, Woody - CoachBuilt.com

 

Coupe kit...parts are almost the same between all 1930 cars (being a larger car the parts will be larger)

Autowood Restoration - Exploded View Drawings

Edited by Graham Man (see edit history)
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Grab anything that is not bolted down that looks like a part, if you have any questions identifying parts, I can help.  Treat that intake/exhaust manifold like the Crown Jewels, they are almost as rare, same with the carburetor, it is a little easier to find but you wont want to pay for it.

 

Lots of people have tried to add Graham superchargers to non-supercharged cars.  The first supercharged Graham cars was in 1934.

 

I would take the supercharger if they think it is a part, easy to sell, you will need the proceeds for the restoration.

 

Hope you find the steering column and steering box, both hard parts to find.

Edited by Graham Man (see edit history)
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If it is your car, you can chop it channel it and paint it purple if you like. However, any deviation from proper materials , colors, or workmanship will reduce the future value. Maybe a lot! A well done wood framed body using proper types of wood (exact species replication is not necessary) should last for hundreds of years provided it is not left to rot in the elements.

Not an easy task. However, with some basic framework photos of similar (not exact) cars, building the wooden framework and making it look good is not much more difficult than building a totally incorrect steel frame. It may even be easier to do in proper wood. Steelwork is less forgiving.

 

A trick from a few people that have done it. Get everything crudely framed, and clamped together using scraps of wood. Make it reasonably square. Take each individual major piece one at a time. Using cheap and scrap soft wood, make a piece to fit. Cut, trim shim and glue as needed. Make it fit nicely between the wood and sheet metal. Then make the opposing (mirror image) piece, again trimming and shimming and gluing as needed. Then go to another piece. Do the sills, the pillars, door posts, roof framework etc in no particular order. With each piece, tack and clamp it together. Make it more square, and straight as you go. Do more trimming and shimming wherever it is needed. Once you have a straight decent looking body sitting on a good straight frame, you will have the wood patterns you need. Buy the expensive (they are not that expensive!) proper woods, and duplicate each piece. Wooden framework bodies are supposed to flex a bit. Lots of screws and bolts. Not much glue. Some pieces like window frameworks should be glued. Joints between major pieces, not so much. The real strength lies in the combination of sheet metal and wooden structure. Hundreds of small nails holding the two together.

You still have to add some smaller pieces bridging between window frames and pillars, as well as connections to the roof wood. Some bodies may have pieces to attach fender brackets? Dash mounts? That stuff is not too critical, usually easily made.

The doors? A bit tricky if you don't have existing wood for patterns. They tend to have hidden corners around the windows. Otherwise, usually the woodwork is simple enough. However, work the door framework in the doorframe of the body! NOT the door skins! Leave enough room for the sheet metal and nails between the door and body frames. Doors always need to be tweaked to fit the body. You want to start with a frame that fits. (This problem would be just as bad if not worse with steel framework!)

 

Have fun and good luck! That has the potential to be a fantastic Classic!

 

I have yet to see even one wooden framework replaced by metal that came out looking even decent. Most of the few I have seen up close were either scrapped or turned into hotrods because they couldn't make it look good.

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Thank you all for all the sound advice.  We are going to try and tackle the wood frame up restoration to original. Our team here has tons of experience, just never done a wood car before.  Should be fun.  I will keep everyone posted as it progresses.

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Your car is not a Blue Streak. The late 32 cars earned the name bluestreak from the Avon blue pearlescent paint.

 

I would suggest removing the body wood from the car as carefully as you can, trying to preserve as much as you can, then carefully coat each piece with West System Epoxy. The epoxy will soak into the rot/termite damage and give you a nice piece to duplicate. Depending on the extent of the damage, some pieces may be salvageable with the West System. Graham used Maple sills in their bodies.

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The 1931 Graham 127 and 137 are full classics (no known cars).  The 1929 and 1930 827 and 837 were admitted at one time.  The 1928 835 should be.  

 

Graham-Paige cars...

1928 835 maybe 4 cars

1929-30 827 maybe 10 cars

1931 127 and 137 none that I know of, I have been tracking the cars over 10 years

1931 Graham 834 should be full classic also

 

The 835, 837 and 834 are truly masterpieces all real wood inside.

 

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  • 1 year later...

1929 Second Series or 1930 First Series 612 Graham-Paige Sedan (same car)  Nice looking mostly original car.  If you can open the passenger side rear door, on the floor just inside the door sill, under the carpet will be numbers.  Also should be a plate under the generator that will have engine numbers, I can tell you more with those.

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  • 1 year later...

I apparently own this exact car now.... lol... it's the only one I can find any info about about and it's the car on my trailer... kinda cool... 

 

 Where was that body I'd tag located?  

I can't find it..

 

Any other info you have would be helpful as well... thanks in advance 

 

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