After 35 years of storage in the back of my shop I started up my all original (I'm the second owner since new) '32 Special Sedan today and she runs like a dream!

Took about 20 minutes of tinkering to get her to start, but once she started the old girl purred like a kitten.....and that is with 80 year old G-10 spark plugs (those are the original plugs for 1932) and an 80 year old condenser. Still have some other items that need attention yet before she goes for a test drive but she ain't bad for an original old girl that is untouched by human hands. Just touch the starter and she fires right up!

Yep, today was a very good day!

WOW !!! , i mean , BOW WOW and ATTABOY !!

Ya man......BOW WOW WOW! Her firing cylinders were music to my ears!

JunkYardDog
Good for you. What made you decide to fire her up ? Would you be able to post a couple of pics of the old girl ? What other things do you need to do before you take her for a test drive ?
Congrats again,
Cliff

great news.
nothing sounds better than hearing an 80yr old engine come back to life after its been sleeping all those years.
i know that feeling well. good luck with your first drive.
YES. please post up some pictures.

Hey Cliff!

Well.....the old original '32 has been "land locked" up on jack stands in the back of my shop since 1974, so there was no way to get her out unless I totally moved half of my shop to get to the old girl. Recently, my wife's 1969 Impala was totaled so that freed up garage space in my other garage. My 1930 Sport Coupe (which is currently for sale) was moved down into the other garage in the 1969 Impala's old slot. In turn, the space in the front of my shop by the overhead door was now open.

Got looking at the '32 sitting there "land locked" one day and I decided that it was about time to get the old girl running again since you just don't see that many totally original "vintage" Chevrolets that are 80 years old on the road any more. So, I made the decision to bring her out of her cocoon and my wife and I spent one whole day dismantling much of my shop and putting everything out on the driveway so that we could get the '32 out. That was a major, major project and there still wasn't much room to maneuver the car around but we were able to get it done and get the '32 moved with a big 5 ton floor jack. Anyway,after everything was moved back in the shop and the '32 was now up front, my next move was to get her ready for the road. Got a couple of local car shows this summer that I want to drive her to.

Things to do yet: Top off the transmission and the rear end; Fix the radiator leak; Fix the speedometer cable; Get the horn working; Rewire the cowl lights; Fix the headlights and the tail light; Reset the timing to 18 degrees, and free up the spark cable. After that she is ready for the road.

When I move the car out on the cement driveway in front of the shop I will take a couple photos of the old girl and post them on CC II.

Do you recall what was done way back then to prepare the car for storage?
Did you think at that time the car would be in storage that long?

I am surprised that you figure you may get away easily with keeping that old girl captive and inactive for all those years. Such a long period of confinement and being ignored can lead to significant psychological problems including anger, resentment, and vindictiveness. So I'd be careful to watch for signs of revolt or revenge.
I know my old girl ('31 Coach), who had been stored and abused by someone else (now dead) for 42 years was very unhappy when I brought her out of storage, requiring significant re-integration into society, hissing and spitting, demanding all kinds of attention, and not showing many signs of appreciation for the kindness and love I tried to give her. I hope she will come to appreciate my attention, but am not taking anything for granted. Glad to hear your new mistress is doing better so far. Cheers.

Since 1932, the car has been in storage a total of 55 years. The original owner parked her his barn on the ranch back in 1953 after many years of use around the ranch. I got the car in 1973. Got the car running then, and we drove it for about a year and then I put her in storage in the back of my new shop. Over the years the shop was filled up with equipment, tool boxes and lots of other stuff and the car became "land locked".

When I put her in storage I did the basics: Drained the radiator and the cylinder head of all water. Dropped the oil pan, totally cleaned it and the oil pump screen. Put in fresh oil. Dropped the gas tank and had it boiled out and then reinstalled with no gasoline. Cleaned all of the fuel lines and removed the battery.

Nope, I had no idea that the '32 would be in storage that long. I figured only a few years because I was involved in other projects at the time. Then, along came my '30 Sport Coupe so I devoted many years to that car and....well......the rest is history.

I do remember back in 1974 when I drove my "barn fresh" all original '32 to a car show that the car dudes went nuts over the car because of its originality. The car brought more attention than the other restored cars at the show. Thinking back on that is what kinda sorta got me going on getting the car out and putting her on the road again.

Brakes! Brakes!

The brakes are fine...already been there and done that.

While I appreciate "show quality" cars ,and fully restored stuff, my preference by far is for all original cars, even if they show reasonable evidence of 80 years of service to their owners. Something about the patina of years of use. I recently saw pictures of a Bugatti Type 35 (about 1927) that had raced in LeMans etc, and was in completely original well used condition. It was fabulous to look at and imagine its pedigree. It was placed for auction in Britain, and with a high bid of 3.7 Million pounds (circa $7M), did not meet the reserve!
I guess I'm a bit off topic eh! Sure would like to see pictures of yours.

Hey Skip, I have a couple of pictures of your shop that I took on the JunkYardDog Tour back in 05, it shows how far back in the shop that it was stored. If you want I can scan the pictures and send them to you. Glad that you got her running.

Sounds like it would have been easier to cut a hole in the garage wall and weld/build it back. haha.
Still, for shame bogartin' the 32 all these years.

brandon

OMG, there is nothing more fun then gettin, a car running that has been dormant. And for such a long time. Your storage preparation is commendable, Bob.

Hey Sal: Can you post the photos here for the rest of the gang to see?

Brandon: Couldn't cut a hole in the wall because on that side of my shop there is a bank and it is about 13 feet straight down. The best way was to take the car out the front of the shop through the overhead door.....and that wasn't easy either. Wasn't hording the car.....just couldn't get to it since it was "buried in the back of the shop, and I had other projects to do.

cape cod bob: Ya, the storage preperation years ago made the car a whole lot easier to start 35 years later.

Sal posting pictures!!??!!

Shirley you jest!!!

Altho I'd bet good money he'll figure out how to post pix before I do. But I'd also bet good money it ain't gonna be soon....

I was just kidding. We just closed out my fathers dealership, which had been a garage since the 20's. Although there wasn't a whole lot of really cool stuff, there was a LOT OF STUFF to move. I don't blame ya a bit.

JunkYardDog, with 15833 posts telling the rest of us how to do it by the book, I am amazed at this story.
Let me add a little story of my own. When I started working on my 1930 1 1/2 ton Chevy truck, it looked like it might run, so we started it. A little noisy and smokey, After I picked up a couple of matching parts trucks, I started evaluating them. Someone said that if you hit the rear axle of a 1 1/2 ton with too much power (popping the clutch) you could break something in the rear axle. One of the parts trucks had a totally disentegrated body and a locked up rear axle. I started looking at its engine. The outside of the engine was clean but rusty. Taking some covers off, it was perfectly clean and looked like new. We pulled the engine, looked some more, and ended putting it in the primary truck. After dropping the oil pan (totally clean), checking what we could, we put the covers all back on and started it. It runs better than any other '30 that I have ever hear. We have driven the chassis and cowl to a couple of shows maintaining 40 mph. One of these days I'll get my body wood kit to fit.

If you found that story amazing then I have another story that will really amaze you!

all that's missing here is a potbellied stove and some corn squeezin's

Hey Bill, give me a break. I do darn good just logging in everyday. But I have this sweet wife that knows all the ins and outs of this dang machine so we will give it a try. The pictures that I have are "photos" on paper so they will have to be scaned first. I will be back. :)

I'm sure you know I was just funnin' ya Sal. Have fun watchng your wife scan and post and whatever else needs to be done in order to post the pix for Skippy....

Bill.

Yes, I know you were just messing with me. I am going to try for today before the play-off games start.

GO VIKINGS!