Bernie Weis recorded Eighteen 1938 cars. Six 8cyl and ten 12 cyl. and I guess two unknown. He estimated 33+ were made based on existing serial numbers and body numbers. He had information on 15 extant. It’s anybody’s guess where the auction company got their numbers. Please post any further information you find.
Here is another website that actually has color chips, although I am not sure how much they are worth with screen color variations, but it gives an idea. This is the Pierce-Arrow page.
https://paintref.com/cgi-bin/colorcodedisplaym.cgi?manuf=Pierce-Arrow&rows=50
A second thought on my opinion, as you mentioned, whatever your wife likes.
Hi Calvin,
If it is any help, I have digital copies of the Dealer Data books for 1931. They list all of the standard color combinations (below). Sorry, no color chips. They are huge files and I would have to get them to you by file transfer. Let me know if you would like them. Pierce-Arrow would paint cars to the customer’s desires as long as their Art and Color folks approved it, so pretty much anything is OK. I would expect that most of the LeBaron bodies were custom colors.
As far as to your question, my opinion is a very Dark Blue.
You might check this website, I know they list Pierce-Arrow colors from the era.
1932. I believe that synchro was 2nd and 3rd.
Jim,
Greg is still in the hospital, but is showing improvement every day. Hopefully within the next week or so he will be transferred to a Rehab center. At this point he is not using his phone or computer.
Dave
Jim,
Many of the cars are not known to PAS. I am constantly adding “new” vehicles to the list. Many new owners are not PAS members or if they are, they don’t register their vehicles with us. We have a large number of “Orphan” vehicles in the Roster for which we have no current owner information. If you buy or sell a Pierce-Arrow, please contact me to update the vehicle record. [email protected] Any member can add a vehicle to their record, however if the vehicle is already in our database, this creates a duplicate record. Instead, the vehicle record needs to be transferred to the new owner which can only be done by the prior PAS owner or myself. The new owner cannot make the transfer.
Often what is listed as the Serial# is the engine # as back in the day it was common for states to use engine # for titles. Of course if the engine was changed, the VIN became incorrect. The other thing I have noticed is that many people put down the casting number as the engine number. It is large and people see it first. All of the engine numbers are stamped. If you want to find the serial number on a P-A, go here for location information: https://pierce-arrow.org/members/serial-number-and-identification/
Dave
From Ken, Greg is still in very serious condition and in ICU, but seems to be holding his own. Ken is devoting all his energy toward Greg’s care so he has not been able to respond to messages and good wishes. He thanks everyone for their prayers and concern.
Dave,
I agree about the photos indicating ’35. Owner said ’34, so I put the (?).
Dave
Hi Jim,
Yes, the Wiring/Tune up book just went up. The Company Store only has a few left that are unbound so it seemed like a good time to post it.
If someone wants a printed version, they can still get one.
It’s possible that the web folks could put the links on the Manuals page, I will have to check, or maybe a reference to the P&S Directory. The P&S Directory is just an Excel Spreadsheet and is really easy to add or change when links move or go bad. Easier than webpage modifications.
From the pictures I saw of it, it looks like your ’35 is complete.
Dave
There is a link to the “Standard Auto Electrician’s Manual 1928 Through 1937” in the Parts and Services Directory under Service Manuals. You can also download a pdf file from that location.
Robert,
If you can email it to me, I will see if I can get it up on the website.
Thanks, Dave
Congratulations, it’s a great looking car.
This one?
Bob,
I talked to some members that have more knowledge on the 8 cyl and they said that on the ’32 the whole filter canister has to be changed. At one time there were some replacement filters made that had replaceable elements. You might check with John Cislak, 413/543-9017, he is the most likely person to have one or know of one.
As far as the detergent vs. non detergent, that is a choice you will have to make. If there is no sludge in the engine, I would go with detergent.
Dave
Bob,
Asking “What is the best oil” is a good way to open a can of worms. Generally, most oil today is better than anything available back in the day. The chart below (and the Owners Manual) recommends SAE 30 for normal warm weather driving and 20 for winter and 40 for hot weather. A good Multi grade such as 10-30 will also be OK. Some people use certain Delo or Shell Rotella 15-40. These are Diesel oils, but also are rated for gasoline engines and are available in bulk (cheaper).
One of the controversial issues with oil is whether to use Detergent or Non detergent. If the prior owner has been using detergent oil, or the engine doesn’t have a lot of miles, I would recommend continuing to use it. If the engine has a lot of miles and has built up sludge, many people suggest a non detergent oil as there is some concern that detergent oil may loosen deposits and block oil passages. I have not seen this, but others say they have. You will have to make your own choice. Pulling the oil pan on a new to you car is a good idea as you can check the internal condition of the engine and determine if there is any sludge. Detergent oil suspends particulate in the oil for the oil filter to remove. Non detergent oil lets the particulate drop out and settle in the engine forming sludge. Your engine has a partial flow filter (the canister at the left front of the engine).
The other controversy with oil is the amount of ZDDP (Zinc / Phosphorus ). Newer oils have less ZDDP because it damages catalytic converters, but they still contain some. ZDDP was not added to oil until the 1940s, so when your car was new no oil had it. There is some evidence that lack of ZDDP may cause cam/lifter damage, but this is in high compression or newly overhauled engines. Modern oils have a number of anti wear additives that older oils do not.
I would suggest if you have concerns about either of these topics, you do some internet research on them. Just make sure the opinion you are reading is backed up with actual evidence, not that “My friend’s uncle says that….. ”
Not owning an 8 cylinder car, I don’t know what modern filter will work. Hopefully someone else can chime in.
You can search all of the Service Bulletins using the Technical Search tool under the Publications tab in the Members pages. It takes a little practice to get the search terms right, but usually you can get results to questions.
Service Bulletin 1995-6 (available under Publications) has an article on oil filters for early 8s. A clearer copy of the chart below is in Service Bulletin 1981-2.
Dave
Calvin,
You might check with John Cislak. I pretty sure at one point he had them.
Dave
Bob,
Do you have an Owners Manual for that car? They contain a lot of information about the operation and care of the car. A digital download is available under publications. https://pierce-arrow.org/members/owners-manuals/
Bob,
You might try contacting Dennis Egan who is looking for an 8 cylinder Pierce-Arrow.
https://pierce-arrow.org/acadp_listings/wanted-1928-1938-eight/
Branham pages that Brooks was referencing. As this is a jpg file, it should be loaded as an image.
Brooks,
If you email them to me as attachments, I will see if I can post them. Also, there is a 1931 Phaeton right hand drive currently in France. It doesn’t look like a salon model.