VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1937-1945 1941 Chevrolet Running Strong

After 17 years of restoration, I finally put my 1941 Chevrolet Town Sedan back on the road earlier this year. Since then, I've accumulated 2,000 miles of driving. I live in the Knoxville, TN area and have driven to Somernites in Somerset, Ky 3 times now. That's about a 200 mile round trip each time. I keep it on the old State Highways and easily cruise at 60 mph. I've had to make some adjustments along the way but it wouldn't bother me at all to begin a trip to California tomorrow. I feel it to be a sound driving machine. I've gotten so many positive comments from folks since you don't see many all original pre-war driving machines. It's a joy to driving and I'm glad to have it in reliable driving condition still using the 6-volts electrical system. All I'm waiting on at this time is the pot-metal trim around the grill. Those items are still at the plating shop. I am also about to finish polishing the stainless hood louvers and have the painting completed on those items. So here I am...2,000 miles and still going strong.

congratulations Brandon. Looks great!
Sid

L@@kin' great, Brandon!!! The Chevy as well. You've done a beautiful job. Just wait til you get the stainless put back on the old girl. (Need a couple more photos ~ in & out!).

Brandon,

Congratulations on the mileage you are putting on the car. You must certainly be using ethanol-free gasoline in it. Otherwise the engine would have become a boat anchor by now, the rubber toast and the hubcaps would have fallen off.

Warning: Do not drive it to California. It is reported that you cannot get ethanol-free gasoline out there. Then you would be stuck out there. (Not necessarily a bad thing.)

Hope you get the surrounds back soon and are pleased with the plating job.

41s are both beautiful and tough. The only thing that will harm them is being near a E10 Plant or tank farm. You must avoid states that make or store it. (See Salon's posts) Mercy!

Best,
Charlie

Brandon: That is one beautiful '41 Chevy. You should be proud of the job that you have done. Your car is definitely great looking!

By the way, disregard Charlie's comments (most of us do). He loves the Ethanol crap so much that he likes to inhale the Ethanol vapor which is also known to destroy brain cells.

Have fun and enjoy your way cool '41!

Now, Charlie.... Do I have a choice of non-ethanol versus ethanol fuels? Not really. There's a few places that claim they don't sell ethanol fuels but I don't know.
I have been using ethanol fuels. However, the main difference...I put a fresh tank of fuel in my car every few weeks. I think the biggest problem with ethanol fuels is that folks don't drive their cars very often and wonder why the fuel goes bad and why it gums up the carburetor. I do add a can of Seafoam from time to time though. That seems to keep everything cleaned out.

Here's a few more pics I took earlier this year:

You have a 1946-48 radio in your 1941.

Actually, it's a 1942 radio. I put 41 knobs on it. I found it for $35 on Ebay and the darn thing works. All the 41 radios I found that actually worked were $400 to $500. Minor details:)

Thanks for posting those photos, Brandon. That Coach is a REAL Sweetie. These Chevys certainly could grow on a guy, for sure. That '42 Radio should be quite rare I'd think? Rarer than '40 or '41, maybe.

Actually, the 42-48 radios were the same. This one has a 42 tag riveted on it though.

If it was a 1942 radio the front plastic trim would have been an orangie brow. After the was it became tan. Was chrome in 1941.

The serial number is a 1942 radio. As for the trim color? I don't remember what color it was before I sprayed it with spray paint and clear coat:) I wanted it to match my other plastic trim:)

I've kept this car as original as possible....However, I painted it what color I wanted it. The interior is gray bedford cord instead of the brown/tan bedford cord. And of course the dash is gray instead of wood grain and pink/tan. The exterior is the original blue color though.

Sure looks nice.

Sharp '41! Yu dun gud!

Actually, they are not the same. Pull out your old copies of the G&D and read about the differences. 1985-1990 years.

Sounds like it's a streetrod now...

Yeah - can we even still call it a Chevrolet? Ha!

Beautiful '41!

That's about all you can do these days...I throw a bottle of "Lucus Ethanol Treatment" in every tank full...Never have any problems...Looks to be California ready to me... it does look like a '46-'48 radio to me...But what do I know...I only own 3 or 4 of them...lol

http://www.radiomuseum.org/r/chevrolet_985793.html

Here's some more info on the 1942 Chevrolet Radio. There were actually more than style of radios in each year. This one was made in 1942-1948. I changed my knobs to the silver 41 knobs.

Here's a whole line-up of radios. This is kinda cool!

https://sites.google.com/site/identifyinginstrumentpanels/home/radios-index/radios-chevrolet-page-1

Thanks for posting the link to the Chevrolet radios. There is more incorrect information than correct. When something like that is posted it should be researched and at least an honest attempt to provide correct information.

AntiqueMechanic : Why don't you show us what is correct and what is not. It would be a learning experience for us all.

PK I would agree,its cool stuff...I see my correct 48 in there,thanks

Brandon, the car looks great plus you've got one of the neatest features...the '41 Tennessee license plate that's in the shape of the state. Little things like this make the car stand out. Looks like you're all set for next cruise season and I'm glad everything broke in nice and it runs well.

Keep us posted on your progress and thanks for sharing your beauty.