Rear end found dumped next to hayfield

[John Wilson]

Looks like it was most recently a trailer, but the wooden parts melted away, yet the metal looks surprisingly intact.  Maybe Nash/AMC?  Ten bolts, totally round diff cover except for two lumps at the edges (7:00 and 11:00) and an oil bung, no tags or stamps visible amid the rust but that doesn't mean there aren't any.  Cable-operated brakes.  I can't find any pictures online that exactly match.  I forgot to bring a tape measure on my latest trip to visit it, but it looks weirdly narrow to me, especially for something with six-lug wheels (16" I think).  It may want to be a trailer again (for a tractor at least -- 10 MPH max) but I'd still need to know what car's bearings/etc. to buy.  Any ideas?  Thanks!

Edited October 26, 2022 by John Wilson
(forgot pic of prop shaft tip) (see edit history)

[Gerczak]

Suspect a mid 30's Chevy/Buick product due to the wheels.  

[John Wilson]

Ooh!  All I've found from that so far is a 1937 Chevy mini-documentary on diffs called "Around the Corner" but the brief shot of the diff cover (on some presumably recent-ish model of the time) is a dead ringer for mine so I'll bet you're right.  Thanks!  The googling continues ...

[Bloo]

Those wheels scream Pontiac, right down to the pattern painted on them. If they are really 16" they are Pontiac. Could they be 17"?

 

Assuming 16", Pontiacs had 6 lug wheels like that in 35 and 36, and painted like that in 36 for sure. Maybe 35 too. The trouble is, those cars had hydraulic brakes.

 

In Chevrolet, only the Master (and related cars) had 6 lugs. It's not a Chevrolet Standard. The Master and 1/2 ton used the same differential design as Pontiac (like this one in the pics). 36s and newer had hydraulic brakes. It could be a 35 Chevrolet Master. The wheels should be 17" if so.

 

Maybe it's something older like 33-34 Pontiac or Chevrolet. I would expect wire wheels. Maybe it is one of those, but with 36 Pontiac 16" wheels on it.

 

P.S. you probably don't want to buy bearings for this.

 

Edited October 26, 2022 by Bloo (see edit history)

[John Wilson]

I thought what was left of the tires said 6.00 x 16 on them but I stupidly didn't take a picture, or bring a tape measure and now it's dark and rainy.  I sort of expect to find wheel cylinders and it's just that the fittings/lines have rusted away (and those cables are for the handbrake), but the backing plates are in such surprisingly good shape that it's hard to see where the rusty stumps would hide.

Do I not want to buy bearings just because they cost more than wheels/tires/tubes combined, or for some other even better reason?  I'm not looking to go crazy with restoration here, but it seems like a shame to haul it to the scrap yard after it's survived this long, and I could definitely use a wagon for my tractor.  So I'd like to pop things open and see how bad it is.  The wheels both do turn but I haven't freed it up enough to tell if they'll turn in the same direction.  The front end of the prop shaft was buried, with a ~200 lb rock on top of it (collapsing stone wall), so it'd be weird if it weren't rusted up solid.  But the rest of it is nowhere near as rusty as it should be so who knows.  It may be magic.  My '94 Civic is in worse shape, and I had a '67 VW bus which had an unfamiliar cat in it one morning -- that's how bad the floors were.  So if this thing wants to live, at all, I want to let it!

Anyway, thanks!!

[28 Chrysler]

The wheels could have been what fit the bolt pattern and 6 X16 was a very common tire size. The wheels may be worth more than the rest of the parts.

[Bloo]

15 hours ago, John Wilson said:

Do I not want to buy bearings just because they cost more than wheels/tires/tubes combined

Yes.

 

One bearing, the front pinion bearing, is standard and still produced. That wont be too expensive. The rear pinion bearing might be several different things depending on what year and gear ratio this is. That one could be easy or impossible, but I don't think any of them are standard and you will probably pay a premium for it. The two carrier bearings are New Departure 0100. The last ones I saw offered for sale were $120 each, and that was several years ago at Hagen auto parts who are no longer in business. The 0100 bearings are failure prone. There is a tapered roller bearing for some newer Chevys after 1940 that will interchange. Those are better, easier to find, and tend to be a little cheaper, but they were discontinued by the last remaining manufacturer (Timken) back around 2010 or 2012. They are getting really hard to source. Fillingstation.com had some a while back, and I suspect they may have had a small batch made for them but I am not sure. In any event they are the people to ask if you want it right now. The wheel bearings will be Hyatt roller bearings (straight rollers). I don't know which part number, and it might vary by year. I suspect you would be looking for NOS/NORS parts there too.

 

As for the tires and tubes, those wheels are either 16" or 17" and skinny. Tires are expensive. If you are just going to go slow with a tractor though, and they are 16, you could get implement tires. That's an option not open to most of us because they are slow speed only. 6 lug Chevrolet 1/2 ton truck wheels will bolt on. They were used up through about 1970, and continued on the four wheel drive trucks well into the 80s if not further. Some imported small trucks also used that same 6 bolt pattern.

 

Maybe some of the bearings inside are still good. Good luck with your project.

 

 

[John Wilson]

More excellent information -- thank you!

 

The existing wheels are unfortunately made out of dry leaves at this point, so I doubt they can be saved (certainly not by my lousy welding skills even with inner tubes).  Good to know about what wheels interchange -- I was having no luck looking for aftermarket stuff that admits to fitting a 1930s Chevy.  The tires are definitely 6.00-16 and that's a good point about ag tires -- the front ones on my tractor (1949 8N) are also 6.00-16 so they'd match, and the bolt pattern on its wheels looks the same too (6 x 5.5?), but they're dished and I doubt that style would fit the large Chevy drums.  So truck wheels it is.

Anyway I'll hope for the best with the bearings.  I lugged the rear end back to the house today and put it on jackstands and amazingly, or maybe not so amazingly to people who know 1930 GM stuff, the prop shaft does still turn even after the spline end was underground for who knows how many years.  So nothing's seized up, but I'll see how rumbly it all is once I get the tires off (what little the squirrels/porcupines/etc. left behind of them) and get some fresh oil inside everything.

[Oldtech]

So I'm not seeing any hydraulic brakes on this. ??

[bwbugay]

Looks like 1934-35 Chevy  Master models  or a 1/2 ton .     1936  had hyd. brakes.