VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1933-1936 Sorting out the '34

With work like that I wouldn't let you anywhere near my car. You'ld make my work look so bad!

The wood grain was redone on the '41 before I got it. It is "OK" but not nearly as nice as you have done!

Thanks Gaither and Gunsmoke. I'm rather proud of it but I know where all the little defects are and you'd likely find them too if you got to inspect the car.

Next come two seat belts. I've been told by my daughters that if I intend to give rides to my grandchildren we going to need seatbelts. I imagine they'd bolt to the back board of the seat frame bottom, perhaps just below the backrest cushion? Any ideas?

Belts are a great idea for the kids. Although your car is seatbelt exempt due to it's historical age, the kids are required to be belted in until 12 yrs old, or 80 pounds. You don't want child services paying a visit...

The instructions say not to mount them to the seat but to the floor. I thought I'd mount them like this. Any comments?



I can't see how I could mount them to the floor.

Also, when I was fiddling with the garnish molding and the blind, I noticed that some stuff had fallen off the parcel shelf. My sedan seat doesn't seal that area like a real coupe seat does. So I decided to make a fence for the parcel shelf out of a trip of oak and some leftover headliner material. Not "correct" but efficient, neat looking too.

Hi Pat,
The seat belts need to be bolted to a substantial section of the floor. Attaching to the seat or a small piece of sheet metal in the floor will not keep the passenger from leaving the car in an accident unless the seat gets caught in the window opening. Hopefully you can upgrade the fasteners holding the seat to the frame and use them somehow.
Cheers, Steve

Pat could attach the bolts for the seat belts directly too the rear of his K member sections and then drill thru it and attach long bolts with steel washers in between the metal floor panel and the frame. Its as solid as it could be. If pat wants to leave it as it is and not make any more holes in his floor, has my blessing.

Great Idea pat with the wood across parcel shelf to stop things falling down. Just shows the old noggin is still working properly .
mike lynch

Back In January I had started the car to check the valves etc. only to discover an exhaust leak. So today I removed the manifolds and the location and cause of the leak are obvious. Gasket failure. The new ones look to be of better quality. Here is a dumb question: does it matter which way the dimpled side of the gasket goes? I had pot the old ones dimpled side to the manifold.

Check the manifold and head mating surface for flatness. The gaskets should be installed with the bulge away from the engine. Looks like in your case the bumps would be toward the manifold.

And I received the luggage rack knobs from the plater. They look wonderful!

The luggage rack knobs, did you get them from somewhere reproduction ???? or were they originals restored.?

mike

Pat, make sure that your cylinder head mounting surface, where the manifold bolts up too , is perfectly straight, use a straight edge to check it.

Same applies to the manifold itself. If its not straight you might have to take it to a machine shop to have it made straight like a cylinder head. You could also try double gasketing it.

Mr Gasket or whatever he calls himself down in Hamilton sells mineral fiber ( non asbestos ) gasket material and you can cut your own out of it for exhaust manifold gaskets.

mike

Mike the whole thing was NOS. The knobs were covered in a fine surface rust but not pitted. I had cleaned them and painted silver for the time being. This time I bit the bullet.

Laid the manifolds on the table saw deck and poked around with feeler gauges. Ended up taking the exhaust manifold to the machine shop.

If the manifold is bowed it will bend straigh when bolted down.
The small block Chevrolet manifolds would always bow when removed. A spreader tool was made the spread them apart so the bolts could be inserted. Tightening the bolts would flatten out the manifold perfectly....and it was a much shorter manifold.

WOW WOW WOW, nos one complete.......get yourself some lottery tickets. That is one lucky find my friend.

You know that it is an American style luggage rack. I have 2 of these one on my coupe that I bouight at Hershey in 80 and the other for the roadster I got off glen rarick last year.

I had to buy all new stainless trim because mine was so badly dented up. Now its sitting at a restoration shop to have the twist taken out of it with a big press machine.

mike

Yep, it is American style, which looks better. At least to my own taste. Thanks to Mr. Leventon for saving it for me through all these years and to Joe to point it out to me.

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Gene, one thing he needs to be aware of is that due to the age of these manifolds , excess or heavy tightening of them might cause the ears of the manifold to break. Then your either trying to properly weld cast iron or trying to locate another manifold.

I say its much more sensible and possibly cost effective to have them/it resurfaced straight so that the leak---leaks is easily fixed without undo stress on the parts.

mike lynch...........

I had the machine shop mill both the intake and exhaust. Also had to take a little off the 3 spacers so the assembly would lay flat on the head. Had a little stock taken off the manifold side of the head,a little rough by the exhaust ports. Tightened up the manifolds first and then the 4 nuts on top. I also used grade 8 flanged bolts(black) to get a good bite on the steel flanges that hold the manifold on. Used copper coat on original type gaskets.

I would fit the 2 together and machined as 1 unit that way both manifolds are flat in relation to each other.
Tony

I did tighten the four nuts that hold the manifolds together a little but I did the final tightening last. After machining I had to take them apart anyway to make up a new heat riser shaft and plate out of stainless. Also if higher grade bolts are used still watch the torque values.

The machinist asked for the intake manifold so he can do them together. So I took it to him today.

Well, I have the wherewithal, now I need the gumption. I guess I'll practise on a spare door first.