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Congrats on the great find and rescuing this car from its extended slumber.
Please keep us posted on the progress and hope to see the car in person some day.
Ed, the west coast car belongs to Mark Harryman, he is in the LA area, I have the engine and transmission for that car, the body is getting some wood work and sheet metal work done on it right now, when that is done it will come to me to continue the restoration. The owner bought both of the 36 cars and decided to restore the coupe and use the limo for any parts we may need.
I’ve owned a few mid-30’s eights, and one 12, and of course the 12 was a fantastic driver, with the effortless power.
The question has come up in Packard circles too, which do you prefer, 8 or 12. The answer seems to be, if you show them, the 12, but if you drive them, the 8. The reason cited is cost of rebuild, if the 8 breaks it’s $x to fix, if the 12 breaks it’s $3x to fix….
This is not, of course, everyone’s opinion, but it’s a reasoning I’ve come across numerous times…
Thanks for the info Bill. Dave I think which engine I prefer depends on the area I’m driving. I like the prestige of the twelve. In mountains and hills it’s the twelve hands down….. monster torque and power. On the flat land I like the eight as it’s lighter in the front end and better on gas. The eights of all sizes have more than enough power for the flat lands, and pull hills fine, but LONG grades there is nothing that beats the twelve. I enjoy passing modern 4 and 6 banger cars on the eight mile steep grade clime near me, the look of some drivers is priceless for the ones who realize it’s a stock car and not a hot rod. BUT that hill will burn HUGE amounts of gas HUGE. I bet I get 3 to 4 mpg when running up that hill at 75 mph.
Steve,
As Ed and Billy said I am in the process of restoring the ’36 1601 Coupe. The car is currently finishing up metal work and should be with Billy in the next month.
It looks like you are in Manhattan Beach….my car is currently in Torrance, so I would be happy to meet you at the shop. Give me a call and we can compare notes.
Congratulations on finding the car!
That is just a wonderful, wonderful car, and I’m glad it survived.
Steve…….keep the photos coming as you work on it. This is a fabulous car and you are very lucky to be the caretaker of this rare gem…..
Thanks for sharing it with us and welcome to the club…….
Dave Murray can help you a lot with this car + parts…..
Hi Steve,
In addition to PAS member Dave Murray, PAS member John Cislak is an excellent source of Pierce engine parts, carburetor parts, fuel lines and miscellaneous mechanical, driveline and trim parts. Check-out his Pierce Parts Store on eBay – or – call him for anything you may be missing or need rebuilt.
Good luck with your project – Stu Blair
Just a FANTASTIC find ! Best of luck and welcome to the PAS.
Jeff H.
It appears the cylinder head has SEAGRAVE stamped in it. Would this have been a later engine? I agree with Ed that on a highway, a 12 cyl will pass anything but a gas station.
The previous owner put Seagraves heads on the car after the aluminum heads started leaking. The engine is original to the car. The son of the previous owner said that his father had paid $2000 to someone in Texas for reproduction heads but the guy stiffed him and never sent the heads after receiving the money.
Steve
That would be Valor Blazer of MFT-USA and also Empire Motors. Thief to the antique car hobby. A well known dirt bag in mutiple car and truck clubs. He has been at it for more than 15 years.
Good to know Ed. You’d think by now most of these clowns would be in jail or dead.
After completing housekeeping and general cleanup on the engine, I started it today. It jumped to life immediately after just a couple of revolutions and, after burning all of the Marvel mystery Oil that I had put in the cylinders in a giant cloud of smoke, the engine warmed up and ran almost silently. I am very excited! The car hadn’t been run for at least 25 years and maybe not for 40 years.
It’s amazing how long a Pierce twelve can sit and then fire off and run so well. My 33 LaBaron sat from 1969 to 2000 and I just checked the fluids, installed a battery, put five gallons of gas in the tank, and it started as soon as the fuel pump got gas in the carbs. It smoked for 5 minutes and then settled down and the car ran better than any other twelve I had seen at that time. It ran fine on the 60 year old plugs as well as points and condensers. It only needed new wires as they were dried out and shorting after washing the car. I put twelve thousand miles on it and never adjusted the carbs, timing, or tuned it up. As far as I know it is still running with all the same components. Be sure to add some neatsfoot oil to the brake booster before you drive you car. The seal es leather and will be dry and can be damaged if you dont soften it up. Also do the wheel bearings front and rear. Post a photo of it’s first drive, Ed.
ED,
Where do you put the neatsfoot oil? Is there a cup, hole, or tube? Is it marked “OIL HERE”” or some such label?
Steve”
You have to pull the canister down from the frame, it’s easy to do. Just pour some oil down the tube the hose attaches to. Work the piston back and forth. Do it several times, and let it drain out overnight. Excess oil left in the canister wont hurt anything.
Steve,
You would need to remove the power cylinder from its mounts only if it is frozen. Bragg-Kliesrath did provide for lubrication in place. One of the four front mounting bolt bosses is drilled through to the inside; the other three are blind holes. The drilled one should be at the lower left, when facing the cylinder. According to my B-K instruction booklet, two ounces of vacuum cylinder oil (not motor oil) should be added every 10K miles. Remove the clevis pin and move the piston four or five strokes by hand, rotating one-half turn with each stroke to distribute the oil over the cylinder wall and piston leather. The rubber piston guard should be removed and three or four drops of oil applied to the piston rod and spread out with the finger; then move the rod in and out two or three complete strokes to lubricate the rod bearing and packing.
Amazing how well a long dormant Pierce motor will run.
Did you have to do any gasket work on the carbs or did they not leak even after sitting for so long?
Craig,
No gasket work was necessary anywhere so far. A couple of the hose clamps needed to be tighten to stop some very tiny leaks.