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My "new" 1930 Pierce Arrow

Joe Cocuzza

By Joe Cocuzza
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Joe Cocuzza 10,000+ Points

Joe Cocuzza

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3 hours ago, ericmac said:

There has been a pretty common theme of late; early cars are no longer of interest to anyone.  I'm glad you are proving them wrong.  Great car you have there. 

Thanks for the comment on the car.

 

It's funny you should say that about earlier cars. I think that as we older guys/gals go off to the "great car show in the sky" the younger generation will not have much of an interest in the very early cars. So that theme does tend to hold some truth. But I am always amazed when I see a car that is almost 100 years old or older and think that not many, if any, of the new cars will be around anywhere near that. We live in a "disposable" world where the newest thing or fad is what everyone is looking for.

On a different note:

I went to a cruise-in Sat night and I met a friend that only buys Ford/Mercury cars. He despises Chevies. I allow people to have their loyalties with no judgement on my part.

The reason I say that is because we got into a discussion about the Pierce and I told him I have never owned a car as old as a 1930. Not that I don't like them. Just never owned one. I also told him that if I like a car, and I can afford it, I will buy it no matter what year/make/model it is. 

So I bought the Pierce Arrow because I could afford it AND it is such a cool car - at least to me.

Maybe in 10-30 years the Pierce will be worthless or just too old as a collector car to demand any $$$ because most of us "old" guys/gals will be gone. It will be up to the next generation of car collectors to carry the torch. I am sure there will always be a few younger collectors that will like the 100+ year old cars but the numbers will be dwindling.

I intend to enjoy owning the car for as long as I can.

 

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Joe Cocuzza 10,000+ Points

Joe Cocuzza

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Well, if all goes according to plan I will be bringing the Pierce Arrow home tomorrow morning. (That's why I haven't given any updates)

Had to wait to get it because I needed to make room for it.

NOW THE "FUN" BEGINS".............

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Jim Skelly 10,000+ Points

Jim Skelly

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Unfortunately, most pre-war cars will eventually end up in museums.  It has become impractical in most areas to drive a car with manual steering, brakes and transmission and having to share the road with selfish drivers who are in a big hurry everywhere they go and are paying more attention to their dumb phones than their driving.

 

I hope you enjoy your beautiful Pierce, Joe, and have some safe areas to drive it.

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zepher 10,000+ Points

zepher

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Congrats on picking up your first Pierce.

And you really jumped in with both feet picking up such a desirable body style.

Once properly sorted, your Pierce should do just fine in today's traffic.

Would I want to commute into Los Angeles with it?

Nope.

But I wouldn't want to do a So Cal commute in any car with a manual trans and no AC, I don't care how new the car is.

 

And it's good to see you joined the PAS, you won't find a more generous and helpful bunch of car enthusiasts anywhere.

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edinmass 25,000+ Points

edinmass

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I’m driving our 1933 Pierce from Boston to LA next June. Don’t see any issue with it. Then again, haven’t had any real problems with them in the last 50k.  
 

 

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edinmass

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Elbow grease is a cars best friend. Joe......don’t try and start it. We have a few things you need to do first. 
 

 

Let’s start by posting four photos of each side of the engine. While every system needs to be sorted......first things first. Small steps before you run.

Edited by edinmass (see edit history)
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Joe Cocuzza 10,000+ Points

Joe Cocuzza

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1 hour ago, edinmass said:

Elbow grease is a cars best friend. Joe......don’t try and start it. We have a few things you need to do first. 
 

 

Let’s start by posting four photos of each side of the engine. While every system needs to be sorted......first things first. Small steps before you run.

Okay Ed

I will take a few pictures of the engine tomorrow

I am relegated to "light duty" due to surgery so that's why I started cleaning and polishing. At least it's something, right?

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Joe Cocuzza 10,000+ Points

Joe Cocuzza

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BTW Ed,

While I have been cleaning the car it has been a great opportunity for me to assess it.

What I have observed so far is that when the car was restored many years ago it appears that it retained all of its original parts - which is good.

Also, I thought that the car had steel wheels. It turns out they are painted wood wheels which is what came up in the vehicles history. I was glad to see that as I was under the impression that somewhere along the line the wood wheels got changed over to steel wheels.

 

And, is there anywhere that I could get the canvas sidemount covers for the 18" tires?

The ones on there are very old and dry and probably will get destroyed if I try to remove them

 

 

DSCF5431.JPG.fecf211178d4af3bdcaf5422c61e9534.JPG

DSCF5432.JPG

DSCF5433.JPG

DSCF5432.JPG

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Joe Cocuzza 10,000+ Points

Joe Cocuzza

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20 hours ago, edinmass said:

Elbow grease is a cars best friend. Joe......don’t try and start it. We have a few things you need to do first. 
 

 

Let’s start by posting four photos of each side of the engine. While every system needs to be sorted......first things first. Small steps before you run.

Did not get a chance to take the engine pictures as Ed requested.

As soon as I can I will

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edinmass

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Joe.....no need for canvas covers.........I don’t like them, and thus, I will talk you out of them. 🥸
 

Remember.....one step at a time. Until you figure out wheel treatment, don’t worry about covers. Also, you will never get anything to match the top......so almost any cover made of fabric won’t look right. Start searching photos of 1929 & 1930 Pierce cars and look at tires, colors, wheels, and wet some screen time under your belt. Probably taking a photo and using photoshop to show tire choices would be a good start.

 

Cleaning and detailing the car will give you familiarity with it......an important first step.

Edited by edinmass (see edit history)
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Joe Cocuzza

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2 hours ago, edinmass said:

Joe.....no need for canvas covers.........I don’t like them, and thus, I will talk you out of them. 🥸
 

Remember.....one step at a time. Until you figure out wheel treatment, don’t worry about covers. Also, you will never get anything to match the top......so almost any cover made of fabric won’t look right. Start searching photos of 1929 & 1930 Pierce cars and look at tires, colors, wheels, and wet some screen time under your belt. Probably taking a photo and using photoshop to show tire choices would be a good start.

 

Cleaning and detailing the car will give you familiarity with it......an important first step.

Thanks again Ed.

Could you tell me, because I don't want to force anything, how do you access the storage area behind the rear seat?

I know you loosen the 3 knobs, which I have done, but then what's the next step?

 

Also, what is the BEST leather cleaner/rejuvenator to use?

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Joe Cocuzza 10,000+ Points

Joe Cocuzza

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4 hours ago, edinmass said:

Joe.....no need for canvas covers.........I don’t like them, and thus, I will talk you out of them. 🥸
 

Remember.....one step at a time. Until you figure out wheel treatment, don’t worry about covers. Also, you will never get anything to match the top......so almost any cover made of fabric won’t look right. Start searching photos of 1929 & 1930 Pierce cars and look at tires, colors, wheels, and wet some screen time under your belt. Probably taking a photo and using photoshop to show tire choices would be a good start.

 

Cleaning and detailing the car will give you familiarity with it......an important first step.

Hi Ed,

While detailing the car I found one thing missing so far.

I am in need of the rear seat grab bar or a robe rail. I am not sure what it is supposed to be. You know, it mounts to the back of the front seat.

Joe

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edinmass

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Joe……….time to learn a new word. 
 

The missing parts are made of unobtainum. You can find it at Walmart next to the unicorn horns. 
 

 

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Joe Cocuzza

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Update:

I was grossly mistaken about the wheels on the Pierce. They are, in fact, steel wheels - not wood. I thought they were wood because when I tapped on them they sounded like wood. However, today, when I removed the rear (flat) tires I tapped them again and they "rang" a little.

Speaking of the rear tires - I removed both flat rear tires and installed the 2 spares. They hold air okay.

It's a good thing I did this because someone had put the rim hold downs (clamps), on the drivers side, on backwards.

 

Also, been cleaning the chrome up and it is really looking good.

 

More to come                            

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trimacar 25,000+ Points

trimacar

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On 8/14/2021 at 3:33 AM, Joe Cocuzza said:

Thanks again Ed.

Could you tell me, because I don't want to force anything, how do you access the storage area behind the rear seat?

I know you loosen the 3 knobs, which I have done, but then what's the next step?

 

Also, what is the BEST leather cleaner/rejuvenator to use?

Once the three knobs are thoroughly unscrewed, just pull forward on top of backrest.  Easier with seat cushion removed.  That’s the compartment wherein to store the side curtains.

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Michael J. Barnes 500+ Points

Michael J. Barnes

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If Ed and a few others begin giving step-by-step instructions on reawakening this slumbering beauty, maybe the post should be moved to a more general title. Maybe the steps have already been outlined in other posts. It would be great if it took the form of general instructions for restarting cars of this era after long disuse. Like others, enjoying this post, and admiring the car.

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Joe Cocuzza 10,000+ Points

Joe Cocuzza

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1 hour ago, Michael J. Barnes said:

If Ed and a few others begin giving step-by-step instructions on reawakening this slumbering beauty, maybe the post should be moved to a more general title. Maybe the steps have already been outlined in other posts. It would be great if it took the form of general instructions for restarting cars of this era after long disuse. Like others, enjoying this post, and admiring the car.

I will start a new thread

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