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I believe the 15K to 25K engine overhaul is correct, if you don’t have personal contacts in the business. I believe those are the “drop it off and call me when it’s ready to go” numbers.
I’ve had straight eight engines rebuilt (Packard and Pierce) for well under 10K, but I have friends who help me, and I help them, on restorations. It really pays to have a good network of craftsman. I also do some of the reassembly myself.
The high cost of excellent mechanical restoration makes buying a “restored” car somewhat of a crapshoot, unless you really know who was involved in the work.
Interesting. Never heard of it until now, although I’m sure the old hands of the PAS are very familiar with it.
Chicago Vintage has always been interesting, seems they come up with some great cars, and a few years ago I remember that a car would come up, seemingly for sale from them, then all of a sudden it wasn’t for sale.
The bracket headlight ’32 convertible sedan that they show was, I believe, the one restored by my late friend B.B. Crump from Baton Rouge. I had a chance to buy the car before he restored it, but the bracket headlights made me hesitate too long….
http://www.chicagovintage.com/gallery/pierce/1931-pierce-arrow-dual-cowl-sport-phaeton/
As an engineer, and a trimmer, this is embarrassing. I always looked at the problem as a horizontal issue, thus the backrest was the issue. Never thought that the solution might be a vertical one, raise the seat (or, more hidden, make the seat cushion much more firm) to cure the leg length versus space issue.
Interesting!
It was a slow day at the Pierce Arrow complex. Charles Tittering, one of the Engineers assigned to ignition systems, was doodling on his drafting board.
The request had come from Corporate to design a redundant ignition system for Pierce V-12 engines, as there was some interest in a major contract for fire engines. And, of course, fire equipment needed to have redundant systems, ah well.
Charles was in the dumps, as they say, not feeling well at all. He’d been awake most of the night, crying baby, and changed diapers early that morning on their new born son. His wife wasn’t feeling well, no kiss on the cheek for him on the way to work. Then, the two mile cycle ride to the Factory. Going down the steps to his office, he guided his bicycle down the center small ramp of the step. He well knew that the Pierce bicycle he rode was now made in Angola, not his hometown of Buffalo, but proud nonetheless that he was loyal to his employer’s namesake.
As he conceived of a design for a dual ignition distributor, a mental picture came to mind, of his young son, as he changed the diaper. Central shaft, yes, and then a couple of appendages, although they would come later. So, if one would take the central shaft, let’s say, and add two offset….. wait, two offset distributors, only half the size thus easier to adjust…now the only issue is a handful of gears and working out the ratios, and finding caps and making a wiring diagram.
He grinned, and went to the boards to draw the mechanism in detail. His grin was a direct result of thinking about his best friend, Todd McAdams, a master machinist in the machine shop, who specialized in fabricating prototypes for such applications. Todd will crap a Buick when he sees this, Charles thought, and proceeded to finish the drawing…
I’m sure others have seen this thing on a vehicle, but first for me, and all I can think about is timing and setting points on this monster….wow…very interesting contraption….
I believe the solution is not in the movement of the seat, but rather an upholstery/trimmer redesign of the seat.
My ’31 Pierce has an adjustment for the driver cushion, but it’s meaningless in the context of the general body contours of our time, and specifically in the case of my body contour, although I’m on a diet.
I would urge anyone restoring an early car to develop a good relationship with the trimmer involved, and discuss upholstery needs. I do this as a hobby, trimming (early tops and interiors), and can tell you from experience that it’s one of the last things done and thought about in a restoration.
Just a little dialogue with your trimmer, and a little discussion about seating and such, can go a long way…….
Wow, beautiful car and well done restoration…and that top looks incredible for being almost 70 years old! What a handsome car….
The trimmer did a nice job of giving you plenty of padding to make a nice, comfortable seat. Unfortunately, with barely enough room to start with, this nice job takes room away for you to enjoy driving the car.
When I first reupholstered my ’31 phaeton, I added a little extra padding to the front seat. I had to go back and take the padding out, and am almost at the point that I want to take the backrest springs out and just have a thin layer of horsehair/cotton as a backrest.
Your only option will probably end up taking the upholstery off the backrest on the front seat, and reworking the padding and/or springs so you fit. It may not look quite as nice, but it’s better to be able to drive it than just have a 4500 pound paperweight.
Good luck….
Well, just like other car auctions, or any auction for that matter, there can be shill bids. In some cases that’s legal, having someone bid the price up, and I think it happens on Ebay often (though not “legal” in their definition).
I’ve always complained, internally, about Ebay and the dreaded PayPal. I will tell you, though, I paid a high price for a Pierce oil can, buyer sent me tracking and all seemed well, until three weeks went by, and no can. He wouldn’t refund, but Ebay/PayPal did.
So, be careful what you bid on, and keep all correspondence, via email or messages.
This is a mess of a car, but someone out there may love it…
A “barn find” that’s been in storage, wow, 20 years! Put away long ago in about 1996, in a modern day barn. That term is getting so old.
Shame what someone did to this poor car….
The debate that I referenced about taking it to the atomic level used the example of taking one atom of water (or more precisely one unit of H2O)and discussing how many times it was able to take and reject heat as it passed slower or faster through the engine. Sort of silly.
Foaming was mentioned above, except when running pure dihydrogen monoxide. The water pump must have a good seal, it can draw air into the system which can cause foaming.
Interesting discussion.
WMcD, will call you today, thanks! I’d forgotten about Godfrey, although not the stablemate…..thanks David C.
I don’t use a thermostat, but don’t drive much in very cold months either.
It’s a huge debate that I’ve seen, but slowing down the coolant flow is very beneficial. I’ve seen the debate get to the atomic level, saying that the atoms of the cooling media get more time to absorb and transfer heat, but that’s all conjecture. I know what works…
I used to drive my car at speed, and when I took my foot off the accelerator, water would spew out the radiator. Simply, the flow of water was too great to the top of the radiator, it didn’t “shut off” when the engine went to lower revs, the momentum of the water flow didn’t stop and the water pump just pumped too much water.
I took a freeze plug that fits the top radiator hose, drilled a 5/8 inch hole in it, and inserted it right at the top of the hose. Problem solved. Engine heats up to operating temperature quickly, no water overflow if decelerating, and car runs cool.
I prefer this method to an inline thermostat in a car that wasn’t designed for same (i.e. no bypass).
Yeah, I’m still looking for the piggy bank that has my payment to Uncle Sam, so glad I have a couple extra days to dig!
I have some paperwork (files and such) and some factory-use forms that I’ve acquired over the years, as I’m sure many do, so not all paper goods were destroyed.
It would be nice if it were all in one place for research, but that’s a tall order. Wonder if the Emblidge collection is “on loan” or was given to that museum, sure would be nice if PAS could collect it, or second best, the AACA museum so it would be preserved and archived correctly.
Actually, taxes are due to be postmarked Monday the 18th, today’s a Federal holiday in Washington, D.C.!
In 1976 I purchased a very original 840 sedan. The original exhaust system was exactly as described by Greg in his paragraphs three, four, and five above.
At the time I was able to find an exact replacement system, and the car sounded great, quiet but still a nice subtle exhaust note.
Sheesh, Bob, just had to bring up my misfortune, huh? That’s OK, as a mechanical engineer I don’t believe in electricity anyway, so there.
My mishap was not a hoist leveler, but rather not thinking through how my engine was supported as being lifted. I will admit that someone else rigged it, but I saw it and should have stopped it.
My issue was too long of a bolt. If you have a chain attached to head bolts or head bolt threads, the attachment should be flush to the metal surface. In this case there was a couple of inches of bolt sticking out, the angle of the chain was such that it put a bending moment on the bolts, and sure enough, one of them snapped.
Let me tell you, it does not take very long for a 1000 pound block to fall about 4 feet. As we all know, if it had been 1000 pounds of feathers, it would have taken longer, right Mr. Newton? Snap/bam was just about all one sound.
The pan was off but the oil pump still on, and like a good little soldier, the oil pump sacrificed itself to help absorb the blow.
Again, thanks my friend, for dredging up such wonderful Pierce memories!
I will respectfully disagree, red rubber was still around in the 1930’s.
I had a painfully original 1934 840 sedan, that I restored in the height of the restoration craze in the 1970’s.
It had not only red radiator hoses, but red fan belts, and they were all in excellent condition and appeared to have come from the factory that way. Car was very low mileage and had been in dry Oklahoma storage since it was new. When I restored it, I went ahead and used the old red parts, and they were still on it when I sold the car in the late 80’s. I don’t think I’ve seen another car with red fan belts, but there may be some out there.
When I reupholstered my ’31 phaeton about 14 years ago, I added just a little extra padding to the front seat backrests. I couldn’t sit in car, not enough room. I took apart and removed the padding, and then some, so much so that the spring outlines are partially visible under the leather.
I now wish I’d removed the springs too! I still need more room for my legs……
