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!

Who are the Vikings???

Skippy,

As far as I know, the "Vikings" are the Portland State Univ sports teams. The "Vikings" is their nick-name or whatever you'd call it....

When they score a touchdown or make a basket or whatever, the fans yell, "Go Vikings!!!"


Bill.

I thought that vikings were those old timey guys on the credit card commercials.

Ya Ya we will send that Texas team packing it's about time for Old Bret Farve (Favre) to kick some Cowboy butt

I'm hoping JunkYardDog gets these photos of the '32 posted before the Vikings are out this afternoon!!

We'll see

So sorry guys. We tried like crazy yesterday to get those photographs sized to get them on the chat site with no luck. We have them scanned but are lost from there. If some one would like me to send the files to you,I can do that. Send me a PM and give me your email address.

Billy Boy Barker can probably post the photos for you.

I will give him a try, but I hate to load him up with more stuff to do.

Heck...he is a good dude...he will do it.

Have you tried Windows image resizer? Very easy to use!


http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalphotography/learnmore/tips/eschelman2.mspx

I agree...Go Vikings!

On a separate note, do you guys have any tips and/or watch outs for someone getting a car started for the first time? I’m hoping to get my project car to turn over this spring for the first time (with a freshly rebuilt engine). Any coaching on what I should beware of? Anything I should be sure to double check? I sure don’t want to tear anything up before ever getting back on the road.

Sal sent these pictures so that you can see why JunkYardDog had so much trouble getting his car out into the daylight.

Can you find the '32 in these photos?

I do not see the beer cooler.

The circa 1940's stainless steel top refrigerator with all of the beer is to the right of the back door in the lower photo. The commercial beer tapper is in my dog house.

Vikings? I thought they were those old timey dudes with the horns growing out of their heads that row around all day long in those stupid looking wood boats drinking beer.

Brett Favre....isn't he the dude that has retired 16 times in the last two years?

dog: your shop sure is a lot cleaner than mine, although both are heavily cluttered. i've got ya beat tho, in that my keg dispensers are both in the shop and up at the house.regards,mike

If I had a beer tapper in the shop then I would never get anything done except

Thanks Bill for taking the time to mess with these pictures. And also thanks to Tims37 for that great web site. We might be able to do it ourselves next time.

I just noticed in the first picture, can anybody find WALDO?

Who is WALDO?

Dawg, never mind old Walco over there , but do you need another of those tool post grinders like the one in the picture? I have an almost new one that I bought at a swap meet. I never bought the lathe to go with it.
Pretty neat shop, makes me want to clean mine up, well almost! Ha! The 32 looks like it is about ready to hit the ground running! How many days did it take for you to get Mrs. Skipper to help you move the shop Equip. outside?

most of my test equip. is older than yours except for the two O scopes. One is a digitual Tektronics and the old one is a Heathkit.

Actually, all of the shop equipment is very old, except for the bead blaster of course, and some of the electronic equipment. The generator test bench shown in photo number one is 1925. The engine analyzer to the right of the generator test bench is 1934. Both are Weidenhoff. The South Bend lathe in the foreground is 1944 and it is painted OD Green and the machine was approved by the War Production Board. The two Sun distributor machines are early 1960's and 1972 respectively. The Allen distributor machine is circa 1951. The Allen 3-phase generator/starter test bench (not shown) is about a 1946 vintage.

The battery charger on the shelf below the generator test bench is 1930's. The armature under cutter in front of the bead blast machine is also a Weidenhoff and it is 1932. Everything else in the shop is about that same vintage except for the HP Spectrum Analyzer, the signal generator, the frequency counter, the selective level meter, the two Tektronix scopes, the Heathkit scope, the Sprague condenser tester, the four Simpson multimeters, the two Heathkit multimeters, the Sperry multimeter, the NEC microwave transmitter and receiver and etc. By the way, the other South Bend lathe (not shown) is 1934.

There is no tool post grinder in the photo so you can send yours anytime you like.

It took Mrs. Junkyard Dog and myself 8 non-stop hours to dismantle the back of the shop and the right side of the shop to get the '32 out. Had to use a 5 ton commercial floor jack to move the car through the tight spots.

So.....who the heck is WALDO?

I think Waldo is a character in a childrens book , he is a litte man hiding amoungst thousands of other simmilar figures, apart from his different color striped shirt.
Look real hard at the first picture.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Where%27s_Waldo%3F:_The_Ultimate_Fun_Book

I just thought that I would throw that in. There is a man in the first picture if look hard enough amongst all the other stuff.

I saw Him!
I don't know what i would do will all those tools, or how i would cope in such a nice workshop.

Actually, since those photos were taken about four years ago more shop equipment, more electronic equipment and 5 steel work benches have been added to the back of the shop. That was the other reason for moving the cocooned '32 Chevy so that I would have more room to install the additional work benches and equipment.

Now, if I can sell my '30 Sport Coupe I will have even more room for more stuff!!

JunkYardDog,

How do you keep all that stuff so clean? I don't see a metal shaving, a grease spot, or even any dust anywhere!

Since I am a highly organized dog, when I am done for the day I put all the tools away in their proper places, clean any equipment that I have used and I also sweep the shop floor as well. I can't work in a messy or disorganized shop....it's just the nature of the mutt.

Well I think you are TOP DOG when it comes to a clean shop! I believe in putting all the tools away when done with them too (that way you can find them the next time you need them) and sweeping up but I got to admit to a lot more dust than I can see in your shop. Of course ours is a farm shop so it gets some pretty dirty machinery in it. Some times it takes a scoop shovel on the floor before you can sweep it! LOL

The "red thing" is a 1932 Weidenhoff armature under cutter machine.

Ok, I'll take some pics and email them to you

Cool!

I just had hell logging in , every time I clicked on a topic, it would log me back out.
I'll try to email the pics of the machine, it is the same as yours.

That's another "cool!"

I just received your email with the photos and I sent you a reply.

Thanks!

OMG !!!!

In the same thread, BOTH JunkYardDog and MrMack posted a ONE WORD response!!!! Wow.... Maybe I should bronze this one.

Ha ha.

Huh??

Yep!

Okay!

Funnneee..

What?

Dobrze

USA!!!

Hey JunkYardDog!, did you hear about Jerrygolf going to the police?.... He said he thought his wife was wanting him dead....He found a bottle of POLISH remover in her purse!

eh!

Really?

No!!!!!

Why?

Because

So.....

Stop!

Go!

enough!

adequate!

Excessive!!!

STOP!!!

Why?

'Cause