VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1933-1936 Advice before beginning a restore.

I recently bought a 36 standard basket case. It will be sometime before I can start on it but when I do I want to make sure not to make any dumb decisions regarding the restoration. While I'm not looking to create a "concours" car I'd like to know what things make a difference when it comes to showing the finished car. What newbie mistakes should I avoid that I would have to redo in the future if I want to have any chance in a show.

Just want a reliable driver here but might have fun doing a little showing as well.
Thanks

RonH
The first thing you want to do is join the VCCA. Once you're a member you can view other areas of the chat line. One member, PatS, took a 1934 Master coupe that was laying in a field in Canada upside down & did a full restoration with everybody's help. The monthly publication the club does provides you with all kinds of stories, access to the Tech Advisors, members services & a classified section plus much more. Of course we're all here to help....Joe

Just joined, Thanks for the advice.

Sounds good RonH. As soon as the club processes your yearly dues they will give you a VCCA member number which is different than your chat room number & one of the moderators can set you up with everything the club has to offer...Joe

My advice would be to not cut corners... i've tried that a few times in the rush to get driving and always ended up doing those rushed bits again!

Also I find it best to concentrate on one thing at a time. While its tempting to multi-task and be speedy its easy to get a garage full of half finished things.

I learned restoration from my grandfather who enjoyed driving his cars and showing them. He had a nice balance between driver/show car in his restorations... That was his style that I continue and enjoy the most.

Post some pictures of that '36 when you get a chance!

First thing is to know which half your '36 is in. '36 is an exciting year due to the half year changes that happened. The new steel "Safety Door and Safety Steel Door Post" came out in the later half; New hydraulic brakes, too. I have a Standard, Town Sedan. Be glad to help...good luck.

Mine is a second half 36. Thanks for any help in the future.

I began my restoration of a 1932 cabriolet in June of 1965. It took me three days to completely disassemble it making "neat" piles along the way. Forty years later I restarted the restoration but for some reason couldn't remember what all the funny looking parts were for. My advice: photograph every step of the way and label everything. Make a library making copies of topics covered in the chat room, or appearing in magazines. Familiarize yourself with suppliers such as the Filing Station, and I & I restoration. Finally if you see something on ebay or elsewhere that you need, consider buying it since reproductions as well as new old stock are becoming far and few between. Buy a book that talks about how to do ground up restoration. Take a course at a community college covering body work and painting, it will eventual save you a bunch. Finally, buy the largest compressor you can afford since you never will have too much air to power your tools. Jim

Ron, how "basket" is your "case"? If your car is dismantled, try and collect as many manuals and parts books with exploded diagrams as you can. If it is together, then make notes, sketches and take more pictures than you think is necessary as you take it apart.

As far showing the car, to win shows you need a high point car which will be difficult to achieve with a basket case. I ended up with a presentable driver while using the parts at hand sometimes instead of the "correct" parts. That was mostly fasteners. I have a carpet instead of a rubber mat for example which would cost me points. I have the wrong gray on my engine as well as bright metal details which should be black. It looks great but would get a lot of point deductions in a show. My goal is like yours, to get it to look correct, run well and reliably so I can drive and drive and drive. Hope you will post your progress with lots of photos.

Thanks for all the info guys.
When I bought the car it had already been mostly disassembled down to the body and frame stage. The engine and tranny are still in it.
The guy I bought it from was very through with labeling and I shot a video of him showing me where all the parts go and any general info he had when I picked up the car. That was part of the deal before I would buy it.
He also said it was a 98% complete car before he started dis assembly, but the devil is in the details. The body is solid (Thanks to West Texas dry) but has some surface rust. The interior has been trashed but the springs and frames are still usable. The car had cactus growing in it, so anything you touch inside has tiny cactus spines that attack you.

I will post pics as soon as I can. I'll also post the video on YouTube once I have a chance to edit it a bit.

A few pics: [img:left][/img]
Pre Disassembly

As I picked her up.

[/img]
Where she sits now.

[/img]
Pile of large parts. The small parts are in my shop.

Hi Ron H: Look at the 34 Master Sport Sedan photos posted in this forum. Comparing your vehicle to what I started with, yours is 90% complete. Let me know if you need help.....JIM H.

Thanks,
Perhaps I should be more scared than I am but it all just looks like time and money. Everything is simple mechanical systems and body work.
I have a 10 yo son and its going to be a project for us together.
He's wicked smart and I'm hoping to sway him to be an engineer. As well as fulfilling a dream of mine to own a car like this, it's also a part of my evil plan for him.

Now I need to figure out the time and money part.

Nice looking ride! Mine is also a late '36 with the steel doors. I wish mine were as solid as yours, but we use salt here in MI... yikes!

Would you mind posting a picture of the bottom 1' of your doors when you have the panels removed? Mine are rusted bad and I need a picture so I can reconstruct!

Sounds like a great father/son project

I'll be happy to, but it be about a week before i can post them as I'm out of town right now.

Also, I believe that this is a late model 1936 Chevy Standard Sedan. Am I correct?

I know the car is faded but anyone have a guess at it's official color? All the paint chips I find on the internet are not clear enough for me to make out a shade of blue or black.
Unfortunately the firewall tag is gone so I can't look it up from there. Any other tags on the car have that info?

Thanks,

I went through this back around X-mas when I got mine. The best tips I got for a quick and easy identify if its a standard are:

5 lugs wheels
2 main dash gauges

For the paint, I would buff out a spot on the firewall and see what it turns into. IF it was repainted they firewall is typically skipped...


No hurry on the pictures, it will be late fall before things calm down around here enough to work on the car again!

Ron,
You have a 1936 Chevrolet Standard Coach. This translates to a 2 door sedan with backseats. My 1936 is the same except it is an early model so I have wood in the doors and my running boards are wood. Good luck with yours, take your time and treat the rust. Eastwood has some good products.

I have a '36 (late) Standard, Town Sedan. Your car looks nice and very close to mine. If I can help let me know. Looks like an easy restoration. It will take time to go through everything. Parts and items are out there for these cars. Finding them is fun because you get to met a lot of folks from different parts of the country and club. Good luck!