1936 Pontiac Restoration

1933 Pontiac

2009-07-19T21:04:00.002-04:00

I knew from the Early Times Chapter connections that a 1933 Pontiac cabriolet lived in Bridgton, about 30 miles away. Greg Crosby's, the owner, father bought the car in 1963, when Greg was in high school.

Eager to see it, I made plans to meet him at a local cruise night in Bridgton on Wednesday. Enjoyed meeting him and was able to give him a horn button for my car that looks like it will fit his as well. That was the only piece he seems to be missing. The rest of the car in quite complete and runs great. Here are a few pics:

From 1936 Pontiac Restoration

Wiper Motor Repair

2009-07-19T20:39:00.003-04:00

I haven't had working wipers in the coupe for a few years now, so thought I try to remedy that. Often just a shot of Marvel Mystery Oil will cure the problem of dried out leathers. I disconnected the hose at the manifold, stuck it into a paper cup of MM oil, then moved the wiper blades by hand hoping I might suck some up there. No luck with that.

That meant taking the motor out, not a fun job, especially with the car having a radio. First, I disconnected the battery, knowing from experience that the transmission arms would drop down on the light switch, shorting something out for sure. Then, with a light shining up there and a long shafted screwdriver, I stuck my head down on the floorboards, with feet up over the seat (this gets harder every year). I disconnected the two transmission arms, being careful not to stretch out the spring clip that holds them to the motor. Then I removed the two mounting screws. Getting them out was pretty easy, as was working the motor out of there.

From 1936 Pontiac Restoration

I poured a little MM oil in the vacuum inlet and worked the action to get it down where it needed to be. Then I took off the on/off linkage plate on the front side to see if it might be jammed up and it wasn't (if it was, I'd spray it with WD-40). I then hooked the motor up to the manifold hose off the engine to see if it worked. Bingo, it worked great. Now I had to get it back in.

First, working from the right side looking up, I got the motor in position with the on/off lever in the correct [engaged]position, then I mounted the screw. There is just enough room on this side to make that possible.

But no way was I going to be able to get the left side screw in. That required taking the glove box out, not particularly hard, but an extra step. That exposed the mount very clearly and made it easy to get the screw in.

I had also noticed that the fit of the hose over the inlet elbow was looser that I like. Even though the wipers worked fine with the motor hooked up, I left the g-box out until I can get a hose that fits a little tighter. That makes it a two-part job, but better to do it only once eh? [Always to check first to see if the hoses are the problem. They can collapse under vacuum.]

If doing this again, I'll just take the glove box out first to give me more room under there to start with.

Manifold cosmetics

2009-05-04T09:10:00.002-04:00

Manifolds can get pretty ugly over time. Here's a trick I learned from a machinist that works well for me.

I use spray graphite to give them a nice gray finish. I get mine at NAPA:

From 1936 Pontiac Restoration

Here's what my coupe manifold looked like yesterday. Note the shop towel behind to catch overspray. You can see the emerging rust spots.

From 1936 Pontiac Restoration

And here's what it looks like after the graphite treatment. You need to reapply the stuff periodically, but it gives them a nice gray finish.

From 1936 Pontiac Restoration

It's home…

2009-04-26T19:31:00.002-04:00

The cabrio is back. India and I drove up to Pittsfield yesterday morning to pick it up. First I had to reinstalled the mid-engine mount and make a few other minor fixes, but I was on the road by at 1:00, on a fabulously beautiful spring day. Top down, temps in the 80s, sun in my face, iPod in my ears -- it was just a delightful 3 hr., 100 mile drive home on the back roads of Maine, getting lots of attention along the way.

It took 3 hrs because I was trying to keep the speed down to 35-40 in deference to some new engine parts. It ran strong, handled well, BUT there is still making the mystery noise. That isn't what I wanted to hear.

It is much less noticeable, and can only be heard when decelerating when engine vacuum is high. Guess I need to get my spare motor rebuilt and ready to drop in if it gets worse, which I expect it to do I'm afraid. We'll see. In the meantime, I hope to drive it on a regular basis while the weather is good.

Precision Rubber Redux

2009-03-21T11:12:00.002-04:00

I got an interesting call yesterday from Alberta. Long time readers will remember my VERY frustrating running board experience with a Mr. Richard Loesch, owner of Precision Rubber in Alberta and a thoroughly despicable character who took my money, lied through his teeth for two years, and did absolutely nothing with my boards.

The original Precision Rubber was a reputable company, but was acquired by Mr. Loesch after its founder's retirement. Mr. Loesch then ran it into the ground, defrauding many people along the way. Another person bought the equipment out of Loesch's bankrupcy and apparently proceeded to do the same thing – defraud more old car owners.

Anyway, Pat Rowden, the original owner of Precision Rubber and developer of the process, has teamed up with a guy who restores cars for a living to resurrect the business under a new name, Running Board Rubber (www.runningboardrubber.com). That owner, Kris Arneson, called me to update me on the company – I suspect my horror story keeps reappearing whenever Precision Rubber gets searched on Google – and tell me that he's the real deal and can deliver a quality product.

I have no idea if that is true, but it sounds plausible. I'm sticking with Hundley Acuff in GA for 6-cylinder running boards, but if you have an 8-cylinder car you might want to check these folks out. (I'd be sure to ask for customer referrals before sending them my boards.)

There is a real need for a company who can do this kind of work and I hope these guys are what they say they are. If any of you have experience with them, let me know and I'll post it here.

Photos

2009-03-21T10:58:00.003-04:00

Here are some photos from last time. The first is a shot of the motor from below, before we put the pan back on. Ain't it clean! Ken prefers the old style non-detergent oil, but I hate the idea of sludge buildup so use the modern detergent oil, 40 weight in this case given the generous tolerances we found in this motor.

From Pontiac Pictures

Here's a shot of Paul after sealing in the pan gasket. I made that gasket from a sheet of cork Ken had on hand - easily done. Note how clean it all is having been sandblasted inside and out. And that the oil drain plug area has been repair. This is the pan that came off of the 1939 engine that the cabriolet came with.

From Pontiac Pictures

And finally, you know you always have an audience for a project like this, full of good advice to offer. Here are Ken (rear) and 85 yr. old Bob from Pittsfield. Bob's father was the town's Pontiac dealer back in the day and Bob the Chevrolet dealer. A good way to spend a day.

From Pontiac Pictures

Fixed … maybe!

2009-03-08T20:18:00.002-04:00

I left my camera in Pittsfield, so no pics this week, but we've got the motor all back together, got it running and did NOT hear any sign of the knocking noise. It only ran for 15 minutes or so, but it got plenty warm and previously would have been making the noise under those conditions. So things are looking good and I'm a happy man. We'll see if it holds up over time.

As usual, it wasn't a straight line to assembly. We couldn't get the oil pick up tube and splash pan to align properly - apparently it got bent during removal - so I cannabilized the old '39 engine to see if that tube matched. It did and it's now in the car. We also noticed that the oil pans were the same for both years and that the '39 oil pan was in better shape (the old one had the drain plug repaired and it was obvious). Blasted it clean, painted it and now it's on the car.

What was the source of the noise and how did we fix it? We have no idea, but think it could have been either the broken valve spring dampener or a bearing that didn't sit right in connecting rod #4's bore.

Ken will be finishing up some body work / adjustments and I should have the car back by May 1st. Yeah!

Getting close…

2009-03-01T10:34:00.004-05:00

Assembly is the best part of any car restoration / repair job, eh? We got a lot done yesterday on the motor and should have it running after the next trip up. We started the day with a good cleaning of the cylinder head, block head, bores, crank journals etc. Also used the opportunity to degrease the side of the engine and get some new paint on the head and valve covers.

From 1936 Pontiac Restoration

Next came the pistons and rods. We put rubber hose over the cap bolts to prevent any scratching,used the ring compressor and dropped each assembly in the proper bore (bearing tabs on the rods to to the front of the engine), put on the caps (reversing the tab position), torqued the bolts to 50 lbs., and finished each cap off with a stainless cotter pin. Paul did find that the bearing on #4 appeared to be misfitted last time, which MAY be our noise. He cleaned up the tab and groove and now we'll hope it works properly. BTW, for future reference, the bore of this engine is .040" over, the rod bearings .010" under. The Hastings part # for a .040 compression ring is 29119.

From 1936 Pontiac Restoration

After our traditional lunch break in town…

From 1936 Pontiac Restoration

We got the valve train reinstalled. Having the right tools for this is a must. First a spring compressor to get them fitted back in position above the lifters so the valve stem can be dropped in, then the removal tool to lift them up so the keepers can be inserted (you can find these tools on eBay). I only got one in backwards. This was the first time I ever messed with valves on these cars and found it was pretty easy (with the right tools).

From 1936 Pontiac Restoration

Paul cleaned up the head bolts on a wire brush, finding several that looks problematic. I've got a lot more at home though, so no problem there. We got the head on and located properly. At the end of the day, here's how it looked.

From 1936 Pontiac Restoration

Next time we'll tighten down the head, mount the oil pan – I got some cork from Ken to make a gasket – put back the manifolds, hook up all the other stuff and get it running.

This is definitely an engine with some wear on it, that is plenty of clearance in key places, but there's no reason it shouldn't be very serviceable. It looks very good on the inside. If we still have that damn noise I'm going to be very disappointed. Stay tuned!

Engine work

2009-02-09T20:25:00.003-05:00

Friend Paul Austin and I have been up to the shop twice in the past month to tear into the motor and try and find the source of the mysterious knock.

First up was to check all the valve springs. After removing the manifolds and valve covers, we removed all the valves, mounting them on a valve stick to make sure we had them in the correct order.

From 1936 Pontiac Restoration

All of the springs looked OK, though one valve spring cage was broken (the cup thingy). Got a replacement for that from Nelson Pease, then had the springs tested. They measured 52-54 lbs each, all in the correct range. End of that theory.

On the following trip, we dropped the pan, removed the head, and pulled the pistons and rods. This motor, a late production version (2 casting plugs) obtained from a junked parts car in 1987, was professionally rebuilt in 1991 and put into the coupe when its original engine got tired at 90K. I ran it for 10 years in the coupe with no problem, then rebuilt the original early production coupe engine (4 casting plugs), swapped it out with the engine now in the cabriolet, and had that engine "freshened up" by a rebuilder. The only thing we really did to it then, after checking all specs, was to replace one valve and put in new .001" rod bearings.

From 1936 Pontiac Restoration

After pulling the pistons, we did find one broken top ring, but no other obvious sign of a problem with the pistons, wrist pins, bearings or rods. There was some minor scoring/scuffing of the pistons, but again, no big problem evident.

Paul carefully miked the pistons and the bores (they are aluminum, .040 over).

From 1936 Pontiac Restoration

The gap between the pistons and bores was a little high - .0068 on average – but not so wide as to cause a problem (we think).

When I got home, I took the pistons to Frank Lamb, an old engine guy here in Portland, and he agreed that they all looked fine and should pose no problem. BUT, he did notice that the rod bearings seemed loose in the connecting rod bores and saw evidence that there was a slight gap between several bearings and their corresponding rod bore. AHA says I, that's the one part we changed, so that may indeed be the problem. We had noticed how easily the bearings separated from the rod bores when removing them.

I'll be taking them to a machine shop to have the bores measured. I also have a NOS GM set of rod bearings and will try them to see if they sit any firmer in the bores.

Feels like we're getting closer. We'll see!

Hey, the Cabrio is "Miss January"

2008-12-10T16:40:00.002-05:00

I just heard from a friend that the Cabriolet is the January feature car in the 2009 Hemming's Classic Car calendar. See it here: http://www.hemmings.com/store/detail_calendars.html?product_id=1378

You'd think they would have told me they were using the photo, but guess they own the photo rights and don't have to. Pretty neat though.

Water pumps

2008-12-10T16:33:00.004-05:00

Well, a rebuilt pump did the trick for the coupe. Too bad I didn't beat the snow however: the driving season is over in Maine.

Here are pictures of the three kinds of water pumps that are out there. This is what an original looks like. Note the open casting with the packing nut and the two oil receptacles:

From Pontiac Pictures

This one has a grease fitting. If you have one, be sure to use water pump grease only, not chassis grease:

From Pontiac Pictures

And this one, reputedly the most reliable, has a sealed bearing:

From Pontiac Pictures

Arthur Gould does a great job of rebuilding them. I've concluded that it's much smarter to rebuilt one than buy a NOS pump.

Water Pump Blues

2008-12-04T19:45:00.002-05:00

The coupe has been laid up for six weeks or so in need of a water pump. Here's a lesson: don't buy a NOS pump, get your old one rebuilt instead. When mine sprang a leak around the seal, I bought a NOS one. It turned out to have a bad bearing and made a hellacious noise after I installed it (hint: don't replace the coolant until you are sure the pump is good!).

Figuring that was a fluke, I got a 2nd NOS pump and it had the same problem. Gave up after than and sent my pump to Arthur Gould in NY to be rebuilt. I hope to have it back tomorrow and get in at least one more day of coupe driving before the snow flies (predicted for this Sunday).

A new theory…

2008-12-04T19:41:00.002-05:00

Ken picked up the cabriolet last weekend and it is now back in his shop. The latest theory about the engine knock? Someone whose mechanical skill Ken respects heard it run and thinks it is a bad valve spring. Let's hope that's true: much easier to fix than a bad piston or piston pin! I plan to get up there mid-January and start tearing into it. Ken will be fixing a mild dent in the RR fender – some kid in a Jeep who didn't know hand signals tried passing me on the right this summer as I was making a right turn. Fortunately he only grazed me. I also hope to switch out the mid-range ring and pinion to the high ratio (4.11!) version if I can find the right speedometer gear to match. Same as a '34 Chevy, so maybe I'll get lucky.

Back to the hospital…

2008-10-22T13:17:00.002-04:00

Ken dropped by last week and got to listen to the engine. He thinks it's a bad piston. We decided to take it back to his shop for the winter, pull the engine and go through it from A-Z. We'll also do a little body work while there. This summer some kid in a Jeep tried passing me on the right as I was trying to make a right turn, in spite of my obvious hand signal (he thought it meant I was turning left, even though there was no where to turn on the left!). Fortunately, he only barely creased the RR fender, but got enough of it to break the paint.

Anyway, it ain't over yet – and probably never will be. This week I also sprang a leak in the coupe's water pump. They don't build 'em like they used to, which is a good thing. Old cars take a lot of maintenance, mostly fun to do, but also a lot of work.

Thanks readers for your suggestions on how to deal with the problem. Stay tuned.

What's that noise?

2008-09-18T20:55:00.002-04:00

I've had an odd noise in the cabrio engine since it was rebuilt and run for the first time. It only happens at certain speeds/rpm levels and sounds like a "hollow knock." Removing the fan belt makes no difference, nor does the car need to be in motion. A compression test shows 100 psi in every cylinder.

The current theory is that one of the pistons is bad, a hard problem to confirm. Looks like I'll need to drop the pan and pull the head. Ugh! Stay tuned.

Accessorizing

2008-08-11T15:46:00.002-04:00

Here's an accessory that I should have put on the coupe years ago. Find yourself in a heavy rain, especially in cooler weather, and your windshield fogs up fast. FogX and RainX help a lot, but so does a defroster, an innovation that didn't come along until 1937.

I forget where I found this Wizard fan, but I cleaned in up in a friend's blast cabinet, replaced the wiring, repainted it and presto, it works great. Come late fall I'll be glad to have it (the cabrio is put away by then).

Cabrio upgrades

2008-08-10T17:13:00.005-04:00

With the Stowe, VT show coming up, I thought I'd fix some of the things the judges found wrong with the car last year.

1st was having Phillips head screws holding my top boot snaps. I replace those several months ago with the correct type. Funny that I never noticed that.

2nd was the unfinished backsides of the bumpers. The bumpers should really be rechromed: whoever did it last time did a very marginal job. But they aren't bad enough to warrant the expense, so I'm living with them. The insides were painted (unevenly), but there were several rough edges from the replating. I ground those off, then painted the back with silver Hammerite paint. They look much better now. I also did the coupe's bumpers while I was at it.

Here I'm grinding off the rough edges:

Then painted them with Hammerite:

3rd was an incorrect rear tail pipe hanger. I had a picture of a correct one, so decided to make my own. I got some flat aluminum stock from Ace Hardware, then bent it in my vise to form my own. I can't swear to its authenticity, but it's close enough:

That took care of the deficits, but I also wanted to add they call a radiator condensor (overflow) tank. In the May 8, 1936 service bulletin, PMD advised dealers to add these to cars that were having overheating problems (it was sold as a kit). Since the Sixes did not have pressurized radiators, I assume that was a fairly common problem. All they were were one gallon metal cans, the kind paint thinner or turpentine would come it, mounted to the inside LH fender and connected with a hose to the radiator overflow tube. I knew exactly what they look like because I have original one on my coupe that I got off a parts car.

So I started with a can, removing the handle and the plastic safety piece on the cap.

Then I had my body shop guy braise a tube on the can and painted the ends with Hammerite:

I roughed the can up with some sandpaper, then painted in black. I made a bracket to hold it out of the same aluminum stock I used to make the exhaust hanger, drilling holes in it and the inner fender, mounting it with 5/16" stainless bolts.

Voila, here it is on the car:

I don't really have a overheating problem on the car, but when we took a rest break while driving through the mountains last year on a hot day, did blow out some coolant. The can would have captured it. If it happens again, I'm ready.

Guess not.

2008-07-11T08:03:00.002-04:00

That sedan looks like it's not coming to Maine. The owner doesn't seem very interested in selling, or at least not to me. I told him that he'd have to get it running so I could get an accurate sense of its mechanical condition, but he doesn't seem inclined to do that (apparently needs a new battery and ignition parts). The high price of gasoline doesn't encourage me much either, so guess I'll pass on this one. I'm busy enough trying to keep two of them on the road on a regular basis. Three would be even more effort.

Maybe another one?

2008-03-28T12:47:00.004-04:00

Not that I really need another car, but I've discovered an interesting 1936 Pontiac Deluxe 6 2-dr touring sedan that's gotten my attention. It's a 38,000 mile original car, very complete, including the original tool kit and crank handle, which I've never seen. Other options include radio, heater, Tennite gearshift knob, vent window insect screens (rare), dual horns and 2nd tail lamp and sun visor. Here are some photos

It was a one owner car from Wisconsin until someone in Minnesota bought it thinking he'd make a street rod out of it. He thought better of it though when he actually saw the car - that it was too nice an original to convert to a rod (thank heavens for that). He sold it to a friend, who has it now. It think it could be had for a fair price (sedans aren't worth a whole lot even fully restored).

I've asked a Pontiac club member who lives near there to go over and look at it, so we'll see what he has to say. Could be mine though; stay tuned. It would be fun to have one that could carry the family and friends inside.

Hemmings Classic Car

2007-10-01T16:01:00.001-04:00

It's official, the story will run in the January and February issues! A two-part restoration piece.

Hemming's comes to town…

2007-08-30T20:07:00.000-04:00

Richard Lentinello, editor of Hemming's Classic Car magazine has been following the restoration effort for some time now and said he wanted to do a story on the car at some point. Dave LaChance, an writer/photographer for the magazine was over today to do the photo shoot portion of the story. [He shot another story of a restoration shop in Oxford, ME, the day before, the guys that restored this year's Pebble Beach Best of Show car.]

We started at 7:00 a.m. to get the early a.m. light and shot most of the pictures in a gravel pit. It turns out that their goal is to have a neutral background for photos, which they get by shooting the car from a far distance with a telephoto lens. Here's a shot of Dave at work.

Here's a shot of his wheels:

He also took some shots on a paved road, then close ups back at the house, include some pics of the two cars, coupe and cabriolet, together. It was interesting to see a pro work and they really pay attention to details at HCC. Notice that you see the full wheel in their shots, and never keys in the ignition.

Of course, I had to let Dave have a turn behind the wheel to really get a feel for the car.

The article should be out sometime next year as part of an all Pontiac issue. Stay tuned.

Tail lamps…

2007-08-27T16:28:00.000-04:00

One of the things I learned from the trip to VT was that my tail lamps were "wall eyed" - that is they didn't point straight behind, but were off to an slight angle. This made them harder to see, and they are hard enough to see as it is.

As it happens, at least with the round version of the tail lamps, the bases are slightly different and I had them on backwards. So, the other day I switched bases and now they seem to be correct.

If you're restoring your car, pay attention to this difference! And halogen bulbs really help make them brighter.

Stowe, VT car show…

2007-08-14T16:41:00.000-04:00

Both the coupe and cabriolet made an appearance at the Stowe, Vermont, car show, one of the finest in New England. Friend Paul and his wife Susan drove the coupe over, with me and my wife India in the cabrio. We took the high road - the Kangamangus Highway over the NH mountains – and the cars drove and handled beautifully.

I had both cars judged for the 1st time and learned some things about the cabrio. First, the top guy used Phillips head screws on the snaps, so I lost some points there. And I hadn't refinished the inside of the bumpers, which cost me more points. Even so, it took 2nd in its class (open cars, 1931-42, non-Ford), topping out a very nice 31 Chrysler and 31 Studebaker. It got topped by an immaculate national grand champion '40 Chev convertible. That car was trailered though, mine driven 160 miles to get there. Here are a couple of pics:

Here's a nice 1934 and 1941 Pontiac with the coupe in Class 12.

The cabrio averaged 15.4 mpg for the trip, the coupe 1 mpg less. Both had no trouble handling the highways and byways, tho the cabrio still runs a little hot on the hills. It should have a overflow tank, something installed by dealers as advised in the March 1936 dealer service bulletin. The coupe has an original one - very rare.

A top boot cover at last…

2007-07-19T09:50:00.000-04:00

The cabriolet now has a top well boot cover, courtesy of John Gagnon of Lyman, ME. He did a great job of custom making a cover, including pouches to hold the side rails and boot when they are not in use. This completes the car. Here's a picture of John when we picked it up at 7:30 this morning:

The big question on this project is where did the fasteners go, and how many of them were there? I have a factory photograph that shows the rear (outside) snaps. There are only six of these, two on each side and four across the back. It was the inside (front edge) snaps that were very confusing.

Here's the back:

A 1935 cabrio that I believe to be original had 4 snaps along the rear edge of the rear shelf, but since the top lays over this section of the shelf when down it made no sense to have them there. You'd have to snap the cover on, then put the top down. The resulting pouch would likely blow in the wind.

John Shore in PA has a 1936 Buick. Since it has the same body and top assembly, it seemed likely that the snap pattern would be the same. As it happens, it is not, at least not on the outside (rear) edge, but both his car and Gary Schuck's '36 Pontiac have snaps along the front vertical edge of the rear shelf. That seems the most logical place for them, so that's how I had it done: four snaps along the shelf edge and one on the corner of the "elbow" in which the top irons fit. Who knows what "factory corrrect" was - maybe it varied by whomever was doing the car – but it's practical and looks good, which is all I need.

Here's how we did the inside snaps. Note the one on the corner:

And here's a shot of the finished product:

It really gives it a finished touch. Still some bugs to shake out of it, but all in all it turned out to be a fine car. I am really pleased with the power it has and how well it handles on the road. It cruises at 55-60 effortlessly and steers/handles quite well.

Baby gets her 1st bath…

2007-06-11T13:13:00.001-04:00

You don't really know a car until you carefully wash and wax it, eh? Today was the first time for washing and waxing the cabrio, and I do feel like I know it/her better now. In the process, I found some places that need touching up and a couple that need buffing, but mostly I learned … this car leaks like a sieve!

I tried to stay away from the side windows with the hose, but did test the windshield and rear window, both of which leaked. The top also seems to leak around the rear bow seam, so I have some work to do there. Not that I expect to drive it in the rain, but sometimes you just can't avoid it.

Otherwise, it cleaned up very nicely and I am very pleased with the result. It also drives very nicely. Not as peppy as the coupe, but it steers, rides and handles a little better.

The last piece to do will be the top boot cover, for which I have an appointment to have made in July. Here are some pictures.

I think I am on solid ground by claiming this is the most original 1936 Pontiac Master 6 cabriolet in existence, or for that matter the most original '36 Pontiac cabriolet of any series. I tried to get it as close to factory original as possible and think I largely succeeded.