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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.
I purchased an aluminum head on his (McCormick) first run. Long delays, lack of returned messages, and then a request for more money than the agreed upon amount were among the events of this sad transaction. I then had the head polished, and installed it on my 1936. There is a reason that you don’t find these heads on any of these 36-38 cars when you find them. Not to bore anyone with further sad tales, my head may be viewed on display at the Pierce-Arrow museum, where it belongs.
The Babbit pot did the rods in my 1936 some years ago. They faile (less than 3000 miles, some years later. I had the bad rods redone in Florida, they failed again. The car now has inserts, amen. I really don’t think workmanship is as much a factor as the material. I don’t think the guy pouring the babbit has control over the content of his material.
I have been with J.C. Taylor for 46 years. It is necessary for these restrictions, or people would be driving the cars for daily transportation. The policies use to read “…and for occasional other use”. I am quite sure coverage would be provided except for blatant misuse under the terms of the policy. I am particularly fond of J.C. Taylor, they even covered the repaint on my ’31 Pierce after damge by acid rain at the 93 Glenns Falls meet.
I am probbably the most anti-rod person you could meet. I have heard all the arguments…”Well, we drive our cars…” “we want a safe car for our families to ride in ” We could’nt wear this ridiculously loud t-shirt with hot rod logos on it if our car was stock..”
We drive our cars too. My 1931 Pierce won a CCCA Premier award the summer following the winter I toured almost 2000 miles in Florida.
The people in this club will help you find someone to work on your car that can get the job done for a reasonable amount. Realize the joy of driving an old car that is comfortable, reliable, and pretty much the same as the day it came out of the factory.
Louis: I sold Dave Murray a number of reproduction lenses, some very yellow, some not. In addition, he may have some other ones than the ones I sold to him. tony
May I relate my experience using a new old stock L8 or L4 (i forget the number) in my 36 Pierce. I had a converted original filter with a modern insert. I could not get it apart. I installed the NOS filter, until I could resolve the taking apart issue. The material from the NOS filter came loose, plugged orifices throughout the engine, result: $25000 overhaul. Be careful.
Thank you Bob and George for the great feedback. Sandy Olson supplied much the same info on a separate email. Please encourage more members to use the message board. It is such a great tool.
Do not assume that any 700×17 tire will fit in those small sidemount covers. I have a pair of 50 year old Dunlop Forts that fit, but I had Lesters that would not.
When I bought my 1931 Pierce model 42 in 1984,I had a terrible time starting cold. The fellow I bought it from said that’s the way it is, leave it alone. I really was afraid I was going to ruin the starter. I mean quite often I had to grind for two minutes. One day I took the air cleaner (silencer) whatever, off. With a mirror I noticed the little relief hole in the choke circle was left open! The spring had broken, such that the carburetor was taking in way too much air, defeating the choking action. A repair of this component resulted in a car that starts properly when cold.
It appears to be a European custom body. Perhaps on the continent, but not probably German because they usually use gigundus landau irons. Maybe
Belgian, or French. The air cleaner doesn’t look stock either, nice car!
Bill: This is a 1936 1601 convertible sedan formerly owned by Ted Fosgate, and now Dr. “Gus”” Levisay. It is the same as mine but with no division window.”
I also have received letters, not only from Peter Kumar, but phone calls from Mark Hyman’s secretary in Florida, etc. Throw the letters in the basket, and think pleasant thoughts: like Hershey is just three months away.
