VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1937-1945 3rd german 1940 found!

Hello everybody,
since I got my "new" 1940 in early jan. I was looking for other ones in germany. At least I found three 1940 special deluxe 4door sedans.
Mine, another one sold in 2005 by a dealer and paid by a credit, but the buyer could not pay back the credit and it seems the car is hold by the credit bank and stored in the banks garage. Nobody did see the car anytime on the road since 2006.
And now I found a third one, sold around 2008 in Ohio, now in Duesseldorf, germany. The owner is aged 71 years as his car, and today evening I leave for a loong trip to see him and his car. It will be a 1200 mls trip at least, and I hope to be back without any major trouble on aug. 18th.

I guess I might trust my 1940 will run all the distance without any doubt. It is well serviced and lubed, everything works as it should, so I have no worry.
Will post here my experiences at weekend.

Stefangermany

Keep us posted on your journey. I have driven my 1940 coupe on many long trips. Several trips were for 500 miles in one single day. Two years ago I needed to travel 604 miles in one day and the 40 coupe drove fine. It is all original.

dtm

Stefan,

Great Form, hope you have a great trip - waiting to hear, Wes

Stefan,

I hope you have a nice, enjoyable and safe trip. Take a blank check with you.

Please don't park your 40 too close to the other one. Then watch them closely. Three of those things is enough for any one country.
Charlie

BTW: Tell me, whilst a-haulin' down the autobahn, wide open, at maybe 60+ (a little plus) KPH, I assume that now and then you may have passed a Mercedes, an Audi, a BMW or a Porsche, but have you ever, ever, overtaken and passed a VW bug? Thought not.

BTW2: You never commented about me mentioning Francine Jordi and Helene Fischer. I think they are just great in both singing ability and beauty. I watch them often on Youtube. Francine does a great job on "Trane" and Helene's rendition of "The Power of Love" is simply outstanding! If I were over there, and had a choice in visiting another 40 Chevrolet or attending a concert by either of these performers, then I wouldn't worry about the two cars getting too close together. Grin.

Oh no!! Charlie, Are you saying a '40 will only go about 36 MPH (60 KPH) wide open? Your note takes me back to my days in Belgium when I would go to Germany in my European Bug and have to stay in the slow lane doing 125 and still being scared that I would be run over. Oh, that was 125 KPH by the way. Beamer

I was stationed in Germany in the early 60's. I shipped my 59 Studebaker Silver Hawk over there. I could keep up with most cars on the autobahn. Every now and then I would notice a VW bug a-coming up on me whilst I was crusin' at something of about 70 MPH. I'd step on it and increase my speed to where I thought I was pushing good sense. VW would pass me. Every time. I don't know how fast those VW will run but I suspect that their owners drove them wide open whenever they could. As on the autobahn. Well, it seemed so at the time. Grin.

I wonder what the top speed was for a ...say, 61-2 VW bug?
Charlie

Charlie....I bought a VW bug brand new in 1967 It was the first year for the larger motor (1600?) and 12 volt electric system....The car with a radio,tax and title picked up at the local dealer here in Cincinnati was $1.800.
Best car I ever had up to that time. I never did run it as fast as it would go...On a trip to N.Y. City over the Pennsylvania turnpike I had it up to 80 MPH then I chickened out, It was starting to raise up and trying to fly. I put 50,000 miles on it with no problems and than traded it in on a new 1970 VW Karma Ghia convertible. The Ghia cost &2.200 and the dealer gave me $1,200 trade in on the Bug...O man those were the days...what a deal....ED

Yeah, they were.

In 1962 I had a friend buy a brand new one in Germany for 1200.00 and some change. What a deal.

Never owned one myself. I never wanted to go that fast.
Charlie

I drove my 63 Bug at 70+ mph on a regular basis and had 93,000 miles on it when I traded it in and had no engine problems. I liked it alot but would prefer the 40 Chev if given the choice!!!

OK, once more,
2nd try, a bug did sweep away my posting...

Am back, to let you know details about my 1000 mls trip:

1st: See here!

http://de.fotoalbum.eu/stefha/a635394

2nd: it was a nice meeting! The "new found" 1940 is a very nice combination of restoration and original parts, and he did everything alone in a very small and narrow garage! Impressing!
His 1940 is a very late 1939, coming from Columbus Ohio and maybe an old private car of a sheriff, as many original old stickers show. The colour is "battleship grey" and that name matches with the size of the car.
But, what a pity, it has a sick engine.
He drove my "blue whale" and said he has the feeling of a much more smoother and stronger engine,
After driving his battleship myself I answered "Indeed, yours has less power, because it is only a 4,5 or 5 cylinder engine!"
He said "hey, dont tease me, it is serious stuff!"
I had true feelings and heard there is one cyl. missing in the firing order!
The confirmation came, when he told me it was 5 years ago, that he did check the valve clearance last time.
Amazing, he did visit some specialists to get help to shrink down the very high fuel consumption of his car, and he made experiments with a brand new carburetor and some more things aside, but nobody told him to start all experiments at the roots, means the main engine "hardware".

I would call that a "grease monkeys mistake".
Question aside: Is it possible somebody in the age of 71 (and still working in a repair shop in a 50 hours week), working the whole life on cars, is still a grease monkey? Amazing...

He will check the compression rate during next days and is prepared to find some bad surprises and (think always positive) the reason for the loss of power and the high fuel consumption. To find the reason is half of the repair!

And it would not be the 1st time he is pulling a chevy head, he did it with his previous 1941 coupé too which had a ruined head after driving too hot because of a clogged radiator.

OK, it was a nice day and a welcome experience for me to see my cars twin brother.
But when I came "home" to some friends in Cologne, where i did stay overnight I did feel a bit scary about the 5 cyl. engine and did decide better to do a check at mine now, which was done last in oct. 2010 by the garage where I bought the car. I found everything ok, just the intakes of #3, #5, #6 where a little bit too tight so I did adjust them to be on the safe side and not to get the same bad experience with burnt valves.

So, finally about the trip:
From here to Duesseldorf nothing happened, just heavy rain all the time and cold.
Backwards home I did register my trip at a car sharing office to get passengers to cut and share the costs.

Wake up, fellows, if you think gasoline in US is expensive. Here in germany we are at USD 9.- per gallon actually, and it is still increasing cent by cent every day and week.

So back home I had four passengers with lots of heavy luggage, I guess we had overweight at all.
And it was a very hot day, all sun, and about 95* Fahrenheit ore a bit more. Did not drive over 55mph in general, and the Highway from Cologne to Frankfurt-Munich has lots of strong hillups and I was in red area of engine temp. most of the time. And of course some stop and go because of traffic jams after crashes heating up the engine too.
And the only stops were to fill up gas, and it happened three times that seconds after driving off afterwards the engine shut down after seconds because of boiling fuel in the gas pump. But I was prepared and had some bottles of water with me and after cooling down the pump one of my passengers did start the engine while I was still cooling and you know, when fresh cool gasoline reaches the pump the trouble is gone and so we could leave without problems. Maybe it is just a sign given by the fuel pump "Need a new diaphragm soon!"

But one really bad surprise happened after coming home and garaging the car after 13,5 hours nonstop drive:
We had all windows opened because of the heat, and when cranking up all windows finally I found the right rear door window cracked! Have definitly no idea about the "why".

Some new work to do now. Maybe I have luck and window cracks are covered in my cars insurance, have to check my contract now.

In general I am very happy, and my car told me "Yes, you may trust me without any doubt, even for long trips under worse conditions"...ande that makes me happy feelings.

Stefangermany

Nice photos Stefan, Side by side they do look like twins.

Hi Wes, I answer to your comment "6 volts forever"!
See the picture No. #6! My pal is braking and giving turn signal and you need really eyes like an eagle to see anything.

If somebody crashes into your car because he did not see your brake lights, you may say "but mine had the original 6 Volt system!", but is that worth to loose the car in an accident?
I prefer original too, but I think, I drive my old car into modern traffic, and there is a need of some compromises to survive.
So I did convert to 12 Volt and am happy about. Even my eyes get older and I feel unsafe as long I have headlights like candles.
Btw. the "sealed beams" are not allowed in germany, ok, my pal still had them, it may depend on the engineer who does the car check up by law before registration.
But fun will end in case of an accident id you kill a pedestrian and anybody doing the investigation will find out you had forbidden headlights. Than fun is over and you will go to jail. Not an experience I would be happy about.

OK, enough of teasing you, I understand your intention about original cars, but there should be some calculation about originality and safety to survive in modern traffic

Stefangermany

Stefan,
I would check the guides that the window slides up and down in. Also take a look at the window mechanism to make sure things are tight and not letting the window move against something hard causing the window to crack. Don

It's nice to see two such great looking '40s together Stefan!

I really think that you need to clean out your cooling system. Your car shouldn't be running so hot, and the fuel pump shouldn't be getting hot enough to cause the fuel to boil. Does your fuel line run along the side of the block or along the frame rail and across just before the pump connection? And when it comes out of the pump, does it run along close to the block or out a little and over the front top of the engine? Is the pump itself extremely hot to the touch? Maybe I'm wrong and it's a normal thing, but mine didn't have that problem.

Does anyone else have a pretty consistent overheating and boiling fuel problem? Does anyone else have a cure for such a problem?

My tail light is brighter than the 12v 1157 bulb and I run 6v. An 1157s low side is 3 candle power and the high side (brake light) is 21 candle power. On my '38 both are illuminated on braking because the tail light does not turn off as on modern vehicles. That leaves a total of 24 candle power on braking & only 3 candle power for the tail light. I converted my '38 to use the #81 (6 candle power) for the tail light and the #1129 (21 candle power) for the brake. This give me a total of 27 candle power on braking, 3 candle power more than the 12v #1157 IF the 1157 is wired to have both elements working on braking. If it's wired to have the tail light turn off on braking I have 6 candle power more light. 6v in and of itself does not necessarily mean dimmer lights.

We had our '40 out last night, 4 of us in the car. On the freeway at 55mph the temp was about 180-190. The car would get warmer if it was pushed harder, the needle was getting towards the red then. Last year I had issues with it wanting to run hot and after help from many here I back the timing off a bit. The cooling problem went away and the car did run better.
We were in St Paul in lots of traffic, didn't have a problem with people seeing the tail lamps or brake lamps (or no gestures, horn blowing ect). The big issue was not having turn signals. It seems that people either don't understand hand signals or just don't pay close enough attention. We have talked about adding turn signals in the past and have resisted because of the rarity, cost and difficulty locating a original setup. I'm going to look into adding signals with other components. I do have a couple of signal stat switches so I have a start. Don

"6v in and of itself does not necessarily mean dimmer lights",
Ok, it seems it is easier for you in US. In Germany we have more strict rules, means, a car bulb must have a printed sign of a organisation of gouvernment proofing it is legal to use it on german roads. And only the "normal" bulbs have it. If you use forbidden bulbs serious trouble will begin after an accident.
BTW: The car you see on my pic has a new wiring harness too, but the power of the tail lights is still poor.

Stefan

I dont know the conversion factor between candle power and watts but in Aus the minimum tail light is 5watts, stop and turn indicator is 21watts. The wattage isnt affected by volts but to get the same wattage as a 12v system a 6v system uses more amperage and less resistance (ohms law).
Tony

Good morning everybody,

Yes, I know ohms laws, because I work on electronics since I was 14 years old. But traffic laws strike ohms law and I cannot do just what I want.
But to come back to the main topic, the 3rd existing 1940 chevy in germany:
Yesterday I got a call by my new chevy related pal, but he was sad. When visiting him I could hear his engine running only on 5 cylinders. Now he made a check of compression and got the confirmation. The outlet valve of cyl. #4 is burnt, there is no compression at all.
The repair is not a big deal for my pal, he has a NOS set of valves aside and as well some specialists to do the repair.

He wants (and should of course) not use the original old cylinder head bolts again, so I did recommend him fillingstation to find a set of new ones, but to my surprise they dont have them.
So my question: Who knows a dealer where he might find a set of new head bolts for his original 1940 216 cui engine?
Not to forget, we are in germany and we need somebody willing to send these parts to germany. The information of any dealer around the corner will not be helpful, we cannot come there to buy them.

Regards
Stefangermany

Chevs of the 40s has head bolts. There should be no problem reusing the old bolts. I reused mine with no issues.

Those old head bolts are hardened steel and shouldn't need replacing. Just clean them up good with a wire wheel and they'll be good to go. They are 1/2" x 12 thread, so nothing but special made would work in their place. Standard 1/2" is 13 thread.

British thread standard Whitworth (BSW) 1/2" is 12 tpi. Not sure the angle is the same but thread count is.

Whitworth size (in) 1/2
Core diameter (in) 0.3933
Threads per inch 12
Pitch (in) 0.0833
Tapping drill size Letter Drill Z (10.5 mm)