Reply To: 1936 Deluxe 8 at Gullwing

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Hello Bill,

I had a look at the pictures for the 1936 Pierce on the Gullwing site. I agree with your observations about the paint and the interior and will add the following:

1. Note the switch mounted in the driver’s floorboard that resembles a headlight dimmer switch from a 60’s GM car. Unique mounting for the ignition switch too!

2. It is probably not a big deal, but note the odd angle of the oval shape of the clutch pedal. I’m thinking that this is a simple adjustment to loosen the pedal shaft, re-align it, and re-tighten the nuts.

3. The good news under the hood is that the Oil Temperature Regulator is still there. This is the small radiator like device on the driver’s side of the block. It was supposed to keep the oil temperature, and therefore the oil viscosity, relatively constant to help support the hydraulic valve lifters. These often were removed when they started leaking or plugged up.

4. The Startix is in place, which is the relay box that operates the starter. These also were often removed when they got out of adjustment or failed. Then the wiring would kludged together and a manual switch substituted. This Startix is still in place on this car.

5. There is what looks like a coolant filter in the upper radiator hose. This, combined with the modern oil filter that you pointed out indicates that someone cared about the engine and sought to filter foreign material out of the coolant and oil.

6. There appears to be a more modern cutout relay on the the generator.

7. The engine shows extra hoses that you would expect since there is a heater mounted under the dashboard.

8. The wiring appears to be mostly original. No new rats nests of colorful vinyl insulated wire that you can see.

9. One thing to be concerned about is the amount of rust at where the head meets the block, and where the water jacket plate meets the block. The water jacket plate itself is showing some rust, and the bellhousing on the starter is orange with surface rust. This is usually due to coolant leakage. You also see rust stains at the flange area at the bottom of the block. It would take some work to investigate the leaks. Worst case, assuming that the head and block are ok, is planing the head, a new head gasket, a new water jacket plate & gasket. However, removing one of these plates can lead to stripped and broken water jacket plate bolts. Not insurmountable, but it can lead to some work with an easy out, re-tapping threaded holes, installing Heli-coils, etc. Not all the bolts are easily accessible without some further dis-assembly. Once the water jacket is open, you may find rust flakes, dirt, and grease, necessitating some clean out work. This may be why the previous owner installed the radiator hose filter because there is dirt/grease/rust flakes in the system….which can lead to clogging of the radiator tubes. None of this a reason to not buy the car, but a consideration that there may be a fair amount of work needed to clean things up, restore the gaskets, and clean up of the cooling system.

Anyone else have some more observations for Bill?

Happy Motoring,

Chris