1932 Special Sedan
Where/How/When did you find it?
In fall 2021 my brother mentioned to me that he missed working on old cars with his ex father in law. I didn’t know that was some thing he liked. My brother had just moved back to Cincinnati from Florida where he lived for 15+ years. I really didn’t think much of it until a few months later a ford model a coupe showed up on a local auction site for estates. At that point in the bidding it was well within reach for us and I told him, let’s go look at it. We looked at it and fell in love with the idea but the car was really too small for two 6 foot 3 dudes. My 3 kids(10,7,5 at the time) loved the rumble seat though. This set us on a path to find a car that could fit the whole family and two tall dudes comfortably. I always loved the style of the 30s cars, it always reminded me of the Indiana Jones movies which I loved as a kid. I told my brother I was looking for a car that we could drive, I don’t want to just look at it. A few months rolled by and in January 2022 we found old blue, we call it the old car around here, on Facebook marketplace. The car was about 4 hours away. I would say that we got pretty lucky with how good of shape the car was in. We only had pictures and videos to go off of. In hindsight I would definitely do more research and see the car in person but the deal was done. The gentleman had a covered trailer and offered to bring it to us, he was in a hurry to make room for new toys.
I’ll also point out that I had 0 experience working on cars except changing oil on my wife’s KIA. I have a DIY spirit and enjoy learning some things new. It’s been lots and lots of reading of this forum, manuals, and many other resources. For months I was reading every night particularly around the distributor and brakes. After reading some I would head down to the car for some tinkering. Ive had multiple thoughts of what did I get myself in to and this is expensive! This forum and people helping have been invaluable.
For the first 3 months the car was up on jack stands as we tackled many projects that I have listed below.
Summer 2022 was spent going to car shows, cars and coffee, our first 4th of July parade and many trips to get ice cream with the kids. My favorite time was taking the kids to get donuts on Sunday mornings. Quiet drives in the morning were relaxing.
• What is the history of the vehicle? Anything particularly of note?
We don’t have much history of the car except two bills of sale prior to the previous owner who had it for 25ish years. The car was in Connecticut and then in Pennsylvania and New York. The color based on the plate in the car was green and then the bill of sale says tan from 1997 and now black and blue. The cars owner passed away in 2015 and stayed in the family mostly in storage. The bill of sale in 97 showed just over 10k miles and we got it with 15k miles, not sure if actual miles.
• What was the condition when you found it?
The car was in good condition, the paint has some condition issues but looks good enough. The brakes were soiled in the back as the seals had gone bad and full of oil and they were not the woven type. Our first test drive was a little scary because it really didn’t stop, luckily we only went around the block. Unluckily the bolt holding the accelerator arm came out of the block 2 houses away from my house. We had no idea what we’re doing as we just got the car and it was January so it was getting dark and cold. After an hour or so of my brother trying to “fix” the car I called a tow truck to take us 2 houses up and put the car in the garage. What a way to start with the car, my first time thinking what have I gotten myself in to. The lights fuse kept blowing when you’re turned the headlights on due to bad wiring grounding, the horn didn’t work, radio wasn’t working.
• What have you done to/with/for it so far?
New brake lining, I made these from material from McMaster carr. That was a lot of work!
New brake cables
Rear seals replaced
New wiring harness with turn signals added
new battery cable 00 gauge
LED tail lights, head lights, cowl lights, dash
Fixed radio antenna
New temp gauge
New oil pump
New valve cover gasket, oil pan gasket, rod cover gasket, rear differential gasket,
Horn replacement
Painted wheels, the paint job on them wasn’t great and fading. I wanted red wheels.
New tires, original were from 1999 according to the date code on the tire
Rebuilt carburetor
Rebuilt fuel pump
Tune up including new points, condenser, cap, coil.
New muffler
Fluid changes including transmission, engine, cooling, rear differential
New alemite fittings and greased
New side mount covers with Chevrolet logo added
New rear view mirror with clock
Vase in the back seat added
Replaced some missing buttons(YouTube helped here)
Polishing and cleaning all stainless and chrome, it was dirty
Hood bracket for holding hood open
Painted manifold, air cleaner
• Plans for your vehicle?
Water pump and hoses replacement
Connect with the local club, I joined as a member but with small kids it’s difficult to make events.
Drive it and make memories with my kids.
• What drew you to this style, size, year vehicle? Why *this* vehicle?
Indiana Jones movies and a love for old stuff, our house was built in 1848. Also the chrome hood louvres (I call them gills) sold it for me, I had never seen anything like that. I also loved the blue and black.
Thanks for reading and looking forward to many more miles!
John
Last edited by Part16john; 01/10/23 06:00 PM.
