VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1933-1936 Finished restauration of my -34 Master. A few pics

Hi.
I finished the restauration of my -34 Master earlier this year (in may) after many hours in the garage...
In general everything is working good, I am happy with the result.
I have a few small issues I will ask advice for here later, just wanted to share a few pics first.

http://i939.photobucket.com/albums/ad235/mikjel/IMG_1142.jpg
http://i939.photobucket.com/albums/ad235/mikjel/IMG_1146.jpg
http://i939.photobucket.com/albums/ad235/mikjel/IMG_1160.jpg
http://i939.photobucket.com/albums/ad235/mikjel/IMG_1159.jpg
http://i939.photobucket.com/albums/ad235/mikjel/IMG_1154.jpg

From Mikjel, Norway.

Nice restoration of your Chevy!!

Very nice, AMS.

Looks Very nice!!!

That looks like a job well done. You should get a lot of enjoyment working towards the second restoration in 80 years time
Tony

Looks good!

The only other thing I have to comment on is it looks like you used a copper fuel line. Even if copper was originally used, copper was found to work harden from motor vibrations and break, causing fires.

Steel brake line is much better substitute, though it is harder to bend.

Doug

doesn't your 33 roadster have copper fuel lines as original ??

A correctly restored car will be as it left the factory. In judging situations points would be deducted for incorrect parts. Even tho its a safety thing as you say.

mike

The restorer had the foresight to use steel fuel lines on my car. If he hadn't I would have changed them. Sometimes giving up a point or two, for safety improvement is worthwhile.

If all you are going to do is drive the car on and off a trailer, or an occasional parade, copper is fine. The automakers haven't used copper for decades for a reason.

If you want safety for driving and original look for judging, have the steel lines copper plated after forming to fit. The copper plate will get its nice brown patina just like a 100% copper line would over time, and probably be indistinguishable until you tried to bend it.

A couple things give me the willies: copper fuel lines and pressure side elastomer fuel lines unless the elastomer ones are SAE J30R9 FI hose.

Doug

I don't think copper was original. My 31 had steel line.

Chipper started a thread on this sometime back but I can't find it.

Dave

The 1932 models also had steel lines as original equipment.

Thank you for the positive comments!

Thanks for the info, I did not kow that. I reused the old original fuel line.

This is the first (and only) car I have restored. I have done most of the work myself, and I have to admit it took (a lot) more time than I thought when I started...
My father knows the car from when he was a kid in the 1940's and 50's. Not many in Norway could afford their own car back then, so there were very few cars in the small town he grew up in. But the headmaster / principal / boss (I am not sure what you call it in english) at the local school had this -34 master, he was one my fathers neighbors.
When my father wanted to buy his first car in 1960, he asked the principal if he could buy his Chevrolet (he was about 80 years old at the time, and did drive the car much), but it did not happen.
A couple of years later the car was sold to another guy in the small town. He did not take good care of it, and after a while it was just parked outside his house and stood there for several years.
My father still had fealings for the car, and in 1969 he aksed to buy the car although its condition was not very good at this point. They agreed on a price at about $50.
The car needed work to get back on the road, so my father started to take it apart, planning to use a few years of his spare time to fix it. Here is a pic from 1970: http://i939.photobucket.com/albums/ad235/mikjel/jjjjb_2.jpg
But "life got in the way" starting a family / working / ++++, so my father did not have time to do much work on the car after this pic was taken, it was just put away for a long time...
After about 40 (!) years of storage, I started working on it and finished the restoration now in 2017.

On old cars, unless one has an engineering manual, there is often a question of what really is original.

I would defer to steel being original as the engineers probably figured out copper problems some years earlier.

When one gets a car that "grandpappy has owned since 1940", people assume it is original, when it may not be.

Copper was always used as an easy fuel line replacement by backyard mechanics who didn't know any better because it bent easily, you did not need special tube benders to form the stuff out on some farm, 10 miles from the nearest town that didn't have tube benders for sale at the Western Auto store anyway.

Doug

I have researched gasoline line material for a number of years. Lew Clark, now deceased, was the '29 TA for many years, did extensive research particularly with pre-1930 Chevys. In several conversations supported by his extensive literature collection we concluded that Chevrolet used brass fuel lines until the 1929-1930 model year production. At that time there were a few cars existing with at least part of the original brass lines. Probably none exist today as brass like copper work hardens and cracks. Any movement like bending or vibrating can quickly embrittle the metal and result in cracks. Brass can be even more prone to cracking. The fuel lines were changed to steel. So some 1930 (maybe all) and for sure 1931 models and later had factory installed steel lines. There were (are?) examples of Chevrolets with at least part of the original steel lines remaining. I am sure most were changed particularly if the cars are driven. I still have a complete gas line from a 1931 passenger that I use as a pattern when I make replacement lines. Yes, it is steel.

Many have felt that Chevrolet used copper fuel lines as many parts books list copper tubing. Apparently that was the most economical replacement. Easy to bend and less costly to ship than an already bent steel or brass line. I am not aware of any other supporting literature that Chevrolet ever factory installed copper fuel lines.