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A discussion about these late thermostats came up at lunch yesterday. I called Dave Murray to see if anyone but Bill Hirsch was selling these. Apparently not, and they are $275! The later thermostats are totally different from the ’31 and back. The early ones can be rebuilt, the later ones cannot. (supposedly) The housings on the early ones are perfectly round, the later ones have a flat spot on the top part of the housing.
When I painted my first ’36 Pierce Arrow many years ago, I did research, located an original color chip and had paint mixed to match that color. It was almost impossible to match the color after that. A Pierce Arrow could be painted any color, the factory would do that. To make your project easier, go to a large body shop, or maybe an automotive paint store and ask to use the “fleet book”. These books are an excellent source of “factory pack” colors which in many cases are non metallic. The different shades progress gradually, from light to dark, and one may be chosen that fairly approximates a factory color, if that is what you are trying to do,and will always be available in a “factory pack mix”. I chose an ’82 Chrysler color for my ’36, a non metallic color, which to my eye was much more pleasing than the factory muddy brown maroon of 1936.
I too had a very good time, and I could not stay for all events. More thanks to Marc and Deedee for all the work, and the wonderful evening at their home. To negotiate a $114 hotel price for the facility we had is amazing. Moreover, I have never been treated as warmly by a hotel staff as I was there. Thank you to everyone else who worked on the meet. Tony
David: Thank you. We will try this number. I had another, that I believe was his residence, no one replied.
Paul, I believe it is a 1932. Another member of the meet committee is trying to get me a phone number.
Interesting thought on snow tires Curtiss. When I bought my ’31 Pierce, it had all the original tools (as new, in the original pouch). In addition, in the tool area was a new set of tire chains, in their original cloth bag. I thought this was wonderful. But after moving them two or three times under there over the years, I set them out for the trash. Who would want them?
BULLETIN……I went to my garage yesterday and started my 1936 Pierce Arrow convertible sedan with the standard engine. It started! I drove it, it was fun! Guess what! It started and drove the last ten times I tried. Recently, I drove it fifty miles on the interstate. All with the stock engine.
God help us. The limo is worse than the one I gave to Bob Sands when I had to move.
The burden of proof for a custom body I would think would be on the seller. Bob Sands remembers the car when it was in Buffalo, it did not seem to be a LeBaron then. There have been other 32 and 33 convertible sedans in the club. The LeBarons that I remember were 12 cylinder cars, had longer wheelbases, and distinctive LeBaron hardware, inside and perhaps out. Who is to say that eight cylinder LeBarons were not built. A nationally accredited appraiser, who has successfully triumphed and testified in court testimony to value, validity, etc. should be consulted. Club memeber Jim Sandoro travels the world as a credible recognized expert in a matter such as this. To spend this kind of money, and not have a recognized authority pass judgment on validity would seem to me not to be a wise decision.
George: Stabil makes two products, a blue liquid for marine use that is suppose to be better than the red stuff. I put this in the cars up north, because the prior spring I could not start the 31. It had been stored with the red stabil. (Eddie Minni came over from Mass. and got it going for me). Is the StarTron the blue stuff that I bought?
Back in the late 60’s or early 70’s, I discovered notes from the engineering department from Pierce-Arrow in Medina, N.Y. Medina is 30-40 miles from Buffalo. These notes explained that the timing gears on the 29 Pierce-Arrow and Studebaker were The same. This caused great consternation on the part of Pierce purists, who had been fighting the so called Studebaker stigma for years. I gave the stuff to Bernie for the club, I don’t know where they are now.
Historically, sedan deliveries were built on the same wheelbase as passenger cars. Some exceptions might be First Call cars that funeral homes used for utility vehicles, picking up bodies, hauling chairs and other funeral supplies to the home, etc. I remember a local funeral home had a 51 Chevrolet (I think Superior body) that was nothing but a 51 Chev. sedan delivery with a mortician’s wreath on the side, and perhaps some additional decorative chrome trim. I was fascinated with the vehicle, as it came to our house when I was a twelve year old, to take my grandmother away. I was curious about cars (nuts?) even then.
This is an area that I have strong feelings. Ernie Follis took a bunch of stacked sheet metal, that could hardly been called an automobile. He put it back together, and made a most incredible tow vehicle. Hallelujah
! Let us compare that to the two Pierce rods that were at the last big Buffalo meet. (The ones I parked by the dumpster at our gathering at the Cadillac dealer). Fine, this is your car, you paid for it, some say you can do with it as you please. I would not even have allowed these cars to come to the meet. These rod guys exist to atagonize true hobbyists. They call our cars “put-put” cars. I preserve history, for the benefit of those to come. Minor unseen mechanical changes to help us tour with modern fuel, roads etc, are one thing. Total destruction of a great Marque, relagated to a parking lot among loud t-shirt clad iconoclasts, is another. (I believe our board has made some rule changes prohibiting rods at Pierce meets)
You are very fortunate to have obtained a good price on this material. It is very beautiful, and I hear very durable. Moreover, the installation of epoxy and a concrete floor, both old and new is a formidable task. I have a bay here in Florida, where I keep the old cars. When we bought it, I decided to have an epoxy floor installed. The contractor who installed the floor had done it many times before. The process was as follows: strip floor, etch floor with acid, neutralize acid, apply two part epoxy. This floor is indestructible. Outside of dropping an anvil on it, it is as it was. It is difficult to stain. Now, the floor in the garage in my new house in Saratoga also had epoxy installed on new concrete. Although the job is commercially acceptable, little bitty bubbles are visible in many places. Probably the most important part of the process (although if any part of the process is missed, some failure occurs), is the neutralizing and rinsing of the acid etch. This causes paint lifting, or in my case bubbling. The floor must be neutralized, and rinsed. Rinsed many times or the remnants of the acid process remains.
Eddie: Is that Morty’s old car?
The seven passenger touring is a real car. its the one Jimmy Sandoro had. It originally was sent there for restoration, I believe, but I do not believe he owns it any longer.
Moreover, anyone wishing to donate one to the museum, to replace the stolen one would be greatly appreciated. Any donation of this sort, of course, is tax deductible.
I had one of those, was told it was a paste on by a guy selling them in the’60’s.
A Packard collector (all of whom are innately sneaky) told me that the red plastic nozzle from a WD-40 sort of sprayer will fit directly in the tube. This installation remains red,and judges very nicely.
I have heard so many great things about this meet. I am so sorry that Claire and I could not attend. However, I cannot believe there was no touble truck again. I provided for the board probably at the winter meet in Savannah, all the legal waivers etc, that the CCCA researched and paid attorneys to scope out. Katie Robbins sent me all that info, and I presented it to the board. They had a member some years ago who tried to set up the club for a repair (unwarranted) after a trouble truck had picked him up. I thought we had resolved this. For people like Bob who always bring a car, and for people like me who have also broken down on club tours, this is an absolute necessity. A friend of mine had an accident on the Packard national meet in Gettysburg, last week. The trouble truck was right behind him, and provided him with immediate and needed relief. I do not know who is resisting this mandate, but darn it let’s make this a mandate for every national meet. More discussion please. No negatives from people who don’t ever tour, thank you.
