VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1937-1945 I am a newby

greetings guys,
i just acquired a 1940 chevy coupe from a estate sale. it's kind of rough but i think salvageable. is there a person close by paris, ky. i can reach to give me some help and advice on the 1940? i sure would appreciate it.
any body in kentucky?

Welcome to our Forum. You have hit the jackpot on information about your old ride.

Glad you were able to secure the 40 from the estate sale. Another one saved.

Over a period of time you will find someone local that is knowledgeable on the 40 Chevrolet to help, but don't sell us short here on the Forum, as you will be amazed at the knowledge available here on the Forum. Ask us a question to test us.

Ask any question. These guys are the best. Welcome to the forum.
You're gonna like it here.

Hello bubbatom123:

The VCCA has members living in every state. I am sure that we have a few members in Kentucky that are knowledgeable about 1940's. How close are you to Cincinnati, OH? We have a local VCCA region there and I know of at least one 1940 chevy owner in that area. I have a 1940 coupe but I live in northern Ohio.
What questions do you have?

dtm

finally got the car to start with a little starting fluid. had to open the garage doors to let the smoke out. the motor sounds good. but smokes a lot. was told to put mmo in the gas and oil to help motor. it stopped pecking when up to temp.
what a start!
any body in around central lexington area i can talk to?

the saga continues...
bubbatom

Sure is a hoot when they fire up again. A little smoke when first being an engine back to life is a good thing. Once everything gets lubricated and the parts begin to seat together again the smoking should subside.

should i put something in the gas besides mmo? i was told that the gas today is not like the gas back in the forties.

with new plugs, points, and condenser i get a little sputter hesitation ever now and then.

took the car for a short spin around the block and was amazed of how well it drove. the only problem was that the brakes seem to grab on the front right wheel. i will have to look into that first.

noticed oil spots under car in front of motor, rear of transmission, and some where along tube. must be cork gaskets dry.

the saga continues,
bubbatom

Bubbatom,
One of the first things you should do when you don't know the complete history of a car is do a brake inspection. We have recently talked about its important in previous posts. Scan down the first 2 pages of posts in our Forum and you will see what has been discussed on brakes in the last 3 weeks. The dates are 3/30/13 and 3/18/13. We also have an index of all our posts that you should explore once you feel comfortable using our chat site.

I can remember test driving my 41 when I first got it home. It likewise had a front brake that grabbed and pulled to the right. When I inspected the brakes it turned out that it was the only one working properly (not completely contaminated by brake fluid). I parked the car until I could do a complete brake job (new cylinders, shoes, lines, master cylinder, reconditioning of all parts). I did the work myself, except for turning the drums. It was expensive but necessary to insure I could drive the car safely. I had never done a brake job before so used the manual and a video camera to record my work and remember how things went together. I now have 19 one hour video tapes of work I have done on my car. What a great history of my car from my purchase in 2003 until today? Best wishes and good luck, Mike

P.S. When the topic of your posts changes please start a new post heading, and identify in the new heading the year and topic of your post ie. 1940 brake problems. This will quickly enable others to provide help, and alleviate frustration of other users who don't have the time or interest to check all posts and read through them for there content. It also serves as a way for posts to be better indexed for future use. We are all excited to have you as a member on our site and look forward to helping you in whatever way we can. A lot of us probably even wish we were discovering our hobby for the first time, and the trials and joys our cars bring us!!!

I would also like to digress a little for a little spousal advice, and say if we have a wife or significant other in our lives we must realize that she/he is also part of the hobby. They contribute financial support, tolerance for the time we spend on the project, encouragement, and many other necessities for our happy well being. Their first impressions of our cars will last for a long time if not forever. It must be a positive one, or they become scared of riding in the car or even unsupportive of our hobby. A friend took his wife out on the expressway for one of his first test drives after a lot of restoration work. The hood flew up hitting the cowl and front window. Does she ever feel safe again in this car? Is she ever going to be as supportive as she had been!!! We all need to remember the importance of operating our vehicles in the safest way possible! Good brakes are the starting point.

FWIW, I've done brake work since I was 16 (60 years ago!). However, I didn't do it often. I quickly adopted the practice of initially removing all 4 drums but only disassembling and rebuilding one side at a time. That way, I could look at a complete, undisturbed front or rear brake assy on the other side of the car when I forgot how some part attached to the side I was working on. I've had to go look many times!