VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1937-1945 New to me 38 update

I just looked at the ”˜38 shop manual. It is easier to remove the radiator than on my ”˜37. You do not need to remove the water pump and water outlet.

You still need to remove the hood and braces. The upper shell of the radiator core comes off so you can lift the radiator up after you tilt it slightly to the rear.

The removable upper shell is the big change from the ”˜37.

I also realize I should replace wiring while there, oh man, my simple gasket install job and growing exponentially. I’ll soon be doing a frame off

Cleaned oil filter to get a better understanding what it is. I also cleaned and prime the covers to see dings and dens before i paint. The oil filter cartridge comes from NAPA Auto parts. Oil filter cover has TYPEN-1503 PUROLATOR. I will be dropping oil pan soon to clean, prime straighten and paint.

Unusual to see copper used for oil filter lines. Copper has a tendency to work harden and crack under vibration and age. Bye,bye oil and engine if you are not alert. The oil filter lines I had on a '52 and '60 were flex.

Painted valve and pushrod covers, Filling Station gray is definitely dark. The gray looks nothing like most 30s gray painted engines I’ve seen. I will say it does look close to the remnants of paint in my valve cover, I thought it was old black paint.

Yep, that's the right color. Most folks just grab a can of gray paint at the hardware store and go after it. There's at least one other vendor selling the "correct" color gray that is way too light. The write up on TFS's site pretty much explains how they came up with that color. This is my engine with TFS paint after the rebuild.

Very nice, this is simply to make the engine compartment a bit more presentable and identify any leaks going forward until I rebuild .
Thanks Tiny. Filling Station recommended two cans but I think I will need three and the spray cans say the paint is not high temp though I used high temp primer.

High temp won't be an issue unless you're referring the the exhaust manifold. The factory didn't use high temp paint. Any that got on the manifold burnt off anyway.

Time to remove hood and grille. Removing hood looks simple enough except for whatever holds hood near windshield center pillar. Is the fastener behind dashboard to remove aft fastener?

It's a nut under the dash. It's held in place by pinching it. Loosen the nut then slide the chrome piece forward. Here's what the assembly looks like. The pinch is between the two flat pieces: https://store.fillingstation.com/detail/GR-97/Chevrolet_193738_HOOD_HOLDDOWN_BRACKETREAR.html

Tiny
Thank you for the clarity and visual reference.
-Do you think I and my little strong wife can safely remove hood assembly or should I get one of my men friends to help?

It's not heavy but pretty unwieldy. I'd have at least two capable people but would prefer three. One on each side and one to pitch in where/when needed. I did it with a buddy and myself but it was like trying to herd cats.

I can remove the hood by myself but I prefer 2 people, especially to install it. And it is a whole lot easier when the front bumper is removed. You can get right up against the grill.

The trick I learned on this forum is to use a bungee cords to hold the 2 halves in the open position. Position an folded old blanket (I used a furniture moving pad) along the center chrome strip. When you open the halves the blanket gets compressed and prevents the halves from being pulled too far open. The bungee cords keep it in that position.

That is a fairly stable assembly. Then you can remove the rear retainer between the cowl and the strip and the front screws. One person can stabilize it while you are removing the screws. Then each person can move to a side and just walk it forward.

If you do not have enough room in your shop you can remove it outside and then drive the car into the shop. Even if you have already drained the cooling system you can run the engine for a couple of minutes without any concerns.

The real pain is safely storing that big assembly while it is removed.

Funny, my mind was working on how I can remove assembly alone and securing the way you describe was crossing my mind. Storage will require me to better organize my garage as I have room but not very tidy at the moment. Thank you for the advice gentlemen, I do appreciate it and I will share when progress is being made

Air cleaner dings? Any suggestions on removing dings from air cleaner having no access to the backside? The cleaner is very soft, I stripped paint using alcohol and extra fine steel wool. I watched a video of a guy repairing aluminum dents, one process was using a propane torch over the dent long enough til the ding popped out. I'm not sure this will work for me, especially the gouged dent.
Thanks
Michael

How about mixing up some Bondo and fill the dents then sand and paint ?

Dents in curved surfaces like that are difficult to fill with body filler without pulling/pushing the dent out first because they leave an eyebrow that is visible when painted. You have a few options. You can buy a Stud Welder and pull the dents out. You can take it to an area body shop and pay them to use their stud welder which would probably be cheaper. OR you can drill a small hole in the center of each dent and use a slide hammer with a screw fitting to pull the dents out then weld the holes shut. OR you can drill holes in an unobtrusive spot that would allow a pry tool to access the back side of the dents and push them out, then weld the hole(s) shut and finish it off. My recommendation would be to take it to a body shop and let them do it. They already have the equipment and skills to do it. If you want to have the bragging rights of "I did it myself" tell them to leave the final putty finish work for you once they have the dents out.

I have a hot glue device I bought for removing hail and door dings and it works well. There are replacement rods available and they work as Tiny describes with the stud welder except you glue them in place and remove them with solvent when done. Could work well on thin metal and you could pull with vice grips possibly. Today's high end bondos can hide lots but you need to at least lessen the dent so that the high spots on the edges can settle back.

Some Paintless Dent Repair shops might do this as drop off and could be cheap.

My wife has a hot glue gun, she fixes everything with it. I’ll glue some small nails to the cleaner and try. Thank you gents for the suggestions

Regarding the hood: I put 1x2s underneath, secure it with rope and bungies and hook it up to a small electric winch that I have mounted on the ceiling. The hood then gets relocated up near the ceiling until I am ready to reinstall it.

If only I had a winch mounted overhead. I see folks store their removable car roofs that way. I’m still trying to find the time and inclination to get out there and remove the hood, that is holding up everything.

My winch is quite small and good for only 200 lbs. The hood probably weighs about 20 lbs. I bought it at our Canadian store, which has a parallel line of products as Harbor Freight.

Done, finally removed my hood which was holding up most of the most significant tasks i want to accomplish. I ended removing the hood by myself and did implement some of the advice given specifically using a bundgy cord to hold the hood in the up position. I did have a moment of panic when I had to lift the front of the center hood assembly out of the grille and pull it forward while trying to balance the hood and not dropping it. All worked out and the hood is safe sound

Next up is to remove my grille, radiator and install front and rear motor mounts. I have a NORS 38 Master Deluxe lighting wire harness that i might install wires at a time that run near the radiator and grille. So much to do but fun at the same times.

Beware of NOS cloth wiring. The cloth insulation does not age well. If it was my choice I'd go with modern repop from YNZ. Looks the same but won't set your car on fire.