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Interesting stuff, Tony. I may have left out one part of the story; Enrico was not home when I looked at the cars, the other Pierce owner showed me the cars; obviously he wanted to sell his, not offer me the choice of the EDL’s.
Perhaps Merlin could let us know if my recollection is correct. I believe he told me the second EDL that Enrico had in his workshop was in a very private collection in the northeast (i.e. stuck in a garage and not driven or shown). Both cars were in mid-restoration when I saw them (this would have been in the mid to late 80’s), but I distinctly remember seeing the removable door post on the passenger side of one of the cars. Sure wish I had known at the time that one of these EDL’s was for sale; for a couple thousand more than I paid for the model 54 sedan I could have had a unique car. David

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Hi- I remember! I never have repaired the gas guage on my 31 phaeton, so ALWAYS carry extra gas. And it gets poor mileage, so one always is a poor guesser on how much is in the tank.
Thanks for info on gas regulator, that helps. I have papers from both Pierce and the machine shop that made these for Pierce; interesting reading, as apparently they ordered a lot of them, and then kept cutting the order (optimistic on sales perhaps?). There is also discussion of the tooling and mold used for the pieces. Interesting stuff. Thanks again! David Coco

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Hi- glad this worked out for you, as mentioned in previous post he has done nothing but excellent work for me; also, as mentioned before, if you are going to finish natural, tell Bill so that he uses a nice looking grain; otherwise he just goes for strength. David C.

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I would please ask that nobody bids on this little gem. Tony Zappone and I are going to buy this thing and get it back on the road for a winter driver. Bob Sands has all the parts we need to get it running for $135.00 . Be sure to look for it at PAS meet this summer. Ed Minnie

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Wow, nice lines to the body, this is not for the faint of heart nor light of pocketbook, of course. I pulled a 1934 836 out of a field in Virginia a couple of years ago, and the more we pulled the worse it got. Mother Nature sure wants these things back when they sit outside! dc

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Hi- the data plate is clearly visible on the passenger (left) side of the body, at bottom of cowl; I just could not read it from behind the display chains, and did not want to cross them. I’ll contact Bob, if I can would love to come visit, although I’d have to bring someone with me if you want a "distinguished" visitor, as doubt that I fit that billing. dc

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Hi George- next time I go over there I will try to get the serial number; it is not "readable" from behind the barriers, will see if one of the docents will let me get close enough to copy it. There is an 840 in the museum, an older restoration it appears. I was wondering what the deal was with the privately owned cars there. Luckily there is a short rainy season here, the museum was leaking (through the roof) on numerous cars Sunday when I was there.

I am going to be in Sacramento about 75% of the time for the next 4 months or so, heading up a project of production modifications to the Crystal Dairy plant there. Would love to visit with some of the area Pierce guys! I’ll get in touch with you and/or Bob to arrange something. Right now I plan to be out here March 3-12, then again March 17-26.

Thanks! David Coco

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Hi- just as further information (and you can tell I spent some time in his shop); his father used to run the business, and as mentioned it is pretty much a one man shop now. In a good week, he turns out two sets of wheels (each set of 4 wheels). In this big world, 100 sets of wheels a year is pretty exclusive; most of the wheels he seems to make are the early brass cars it seems. He uses hickory if I remember correctly, it has to be cut a certain way with the grain to make the blanks. He has a machine into which he puts a good pattern (and can use one of the spokes off your car is one is good enough), and then it makes 6 or 8 spokes at a time from that pattern. He will choose better grain wood if you are going to stain and varnish wood wheels, but if to be painted grain appearance is not important. All wheel wood is put in a special room which reduces it to 1.5% moisture content. After dry (and it takes weeks to get to that low moisture content), he fits and assembles the wheels, and the moisture in the air rehydrates the wheel (I think normal wood is 30% moisture or more), swelling the wood to make a tight fit (remember the old trick of driving through a stream to tighten Model T wheels). Remember, a wood wheel is a compression wheel, with weight supported by bottom spokes of wheel at time of tire contact with road; wire wheels are suspension wheels, with weight of car supported by upper part of rim hanging from spokes. Then he has a machine which makes the hub hole true, and he finishes the wheel. It is all very low tech, but he turns out a true wheel which will last you another 100 years or more. All this trivia is rattling around in my head and am glad to let it out a little. Happy (Pierce or Franklin) Motoring! David Coco

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Hi- one point I forgot to mention, if the powder coating that you had done is meant to be a final finish, you may get disappointed. I believe there is a heat step involved in shrinking the rim on the felloe (fellow?), which, combined with the dried wood soaking moisture from the air, forms an extremely tight wheel. This heat may discolor or damage a coating, I know that the primered rims on my sets of wheels had to be redone. Something else to be clear about with Bill.

Again, good luck! David Coco

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Mr. LaFong (that’s CAPITAL L, small a, CAPITAL F, small o, small n, small g; LaFong, Carl LaFong, and if I did know him I wouldn’t tell you) is absolutely correct, the sills are brass, my mistake for thinking I had any idea I knew what I was talking about. At least it got people responding! Happy (Pierce) Motoring! David Coco

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Hi- my guess is a 1929 to 1931, I believe after that the door sill plates started getting much thicker (larger) than this fairly thin one. I have a later one sitting in my closet, it is steel; it is possible that the copper color you are seeing is just that, a copper coating as part of the chroming process on the steel.

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Hi- thanks, since I was not close enough to come look at the car, I was seeing what other information might be out there to help Marty make a decision, he is a long time friend. He was concerned about mechanical condition of the car, and I think that we have a few answers now, that it is a good car but does need some mechanical work (carb, water pump) and some cosmetics. Does look pretty nice though! Thanks David Coco

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Thanks, Tony and Paul- this was one piece of Pierce trivia that I was not aware of; the "doored" hood is definitely more interesting than a standard 836A hood.

Thanks David Coco

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Hi- well, used basic engines sell for $800 to $1500, depending on model, and without accessories. With all the accessories, probably add anoher $600 or more unrestored. Then, to rebuild an engine will cost $3000 to $10,000, depending on who does it, how it is assembled (by owner or not), etc. So, $5000 to $10000 is one range, and I am sure that many people have more than that in engines.

All these numbers are just guesstimates, and refer to an 8 cylinder engine.

I remember talking to Tom Lester back in the ’80’s, when he had a shop doing engines. Price was "basic rebuild, $500 per hole (cylinder); Great Race ready, with a modern engine inside a cosmetically correct original engine, $1500 per hole". And that was 20 years ago.

What is that engine worth? Not a clue, just thought I’d throw numbers out. Remember looking at a restored 1911 Buick for sale, and I asked ":where are all the spare parts?". The reply was that the late owner did not keep any spares, he figured he could always fix what was on the car.

dc

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OK, first, welcome to the club, and continue your search for a fine Pierce Arrow. They are great cars. I am going to go out on a limb here, as people these days seem hesitant to discuss values of cars. 1933 Model 836, in good condition. If it is a production car, in that condition, and your stated price (80,000) is in American dollars, it is overpriced by a factor of 3 or 4.
That said, if it is a custom body with an interesting history, or a woodie, in that condtion, it is only overpriced by a factor of 2 or less. I don’t believe any factory 836 models were open cars, so that option is left out of this discussion.
You should be able to buy a decent closed Pierce in the United States for 20K to 35K, American dollars, and get it shipped to Europe for a few thousand give or take, depending on how close the car is to a US port, and you to a European port. This won’t buy you a show car, but an excellent driver. There is a 1930 Model B sedan on the internet now, in very nice conditon, for $25,000 USD.
Shipping seems to be a no-brainer these days, I recently sold a Mercedes 230SL to Germany, buyer stated he could buy them in US and ship back cheaper than buying in Germany, of course Euro value can influence this. best David Coco

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Hi- would love to see the shot, please email to me at [email protected] thanks David

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Hi Bill- that sounds like fun! If this had been a couple of day shoot close to home, I would have done it; but they were looking for the "main" car, they needed it 5 weeks or more, and I could not take off work that long. I have done movies before; was in one in New Orleans a long time ago (1983), with a ’10 Hupp and a ’09 Sears Autobuggy. The best shot in the movie, to me, was me driving the Sears, in period costume, as the St. Charles streetcar went past on the median. Same as you, got paid for cars and got paid to be an extra. Jack Warden was in the movie, we started talking, asked him if the movie business was always "hurry up and wait", film a scene then sit around for 3 hours. He stated that it was sometimes boring, but "had it’s moments". I also remember the catered meals were great! best dc

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Hi Ralph- I think you make soem good points. If I could spend five weeks being with the car, I probably would have done it, but since it is one of my "babies" in my collection, just could not see sending it down there with no one to watch over it. I am aware of the movie car collection, see that some of them are being auctioned, I was not aware that he had 1000 cars, that is incredible! thanks, Happy Pierce Motoring! David

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Hi- I agree, and that is one reason I decided not to let this car out of my sight. One question they asked is "can we attach a camera mount to the frame", and when I questioned the how he said "oh, I don’t think they drill any holes, they have special clamps". Hmmmm…. Also, I called the company where my antique cars are insured (J.C. Taylor), and they said as soon as you accept the first dollar for the services of your car, your policy is void; it is then a business and not a pleasure vehicle. So, as enticing as the money might be….. I just wanted to put the offer out there, I am not necessarily recommending it. They do want a Pierce for the job. best dc

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