VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1912-1928 Update on Earliest 1914 Baby Grand

Have been busy, busy with this car, and also with a '56 that I have the engine out of. But having a blast! Good to get the hands dirty on an old Chevy.

First things to do on the recent Barn Find Baby Grand was to wash it real good, and get some tires on it so it could roll. Got real lucky with tires, as good old Dan O'Day in CA happened to have just got a new set of tires for his 1914 Royal Mail. He was kind enough to give me his old ones, which are 55 or 60 years old, but in really excellent shape and just right for this old Baby Grand. Thanks again Dan, if you see this!

Anyway, the real challenge was getting the old tires off after 90+ years. What a job that was! The worst tire had completely broken down, and had become rubber goo that had then re-solidified into some unidentifiable chemical compound made up of rust, dead rubber, canvas carcass material and God knows what else, and it had all pretty much permanently bonded onto the steel rim. This one came off with a chisel and much blood and sweat, no tears, some cussing.

Even though 1914 is "non-demountable" style (meaning you change tires with the wheel remaining on the car - this changed to a demountable rim in 1915) I pulled the rear wheels so I could get real physical with getting the tire remains off. Got lucky, all wheels came off quite nicely, couple of good whacks on the rears and they popped off the tapered axles just like they're supposed to.

Once the tires were off - two of them actually came off whole - then you have to work off the lock rings with tire irons, and clean everything with wire brushes and such tools, to get them good enough to go back together. The new tires mounted up very nicely. Here's a series of photos of getting the old stuff off, the rim getting cleaned up, and the final result.

(on this first photo - to avoid confusion - the front tires have already been changed out and are already on the car, which is sitting right behind the 2 rear wheels - which I had just removed when I took the photo.)

Thanks for the progress report, Must be great to have some decent tires fitted that actually roll.

Excallent work, Don. Do you intend to bring the car to Nevada? If so, may the Storstroms have a ride in it too? Would be a real treat to us.

No, this car will not be ready in time for Tahoe. I would also be reluctant to transport it 5,000 miles round trip - would be afraid of shaking it apart! But it WILL be at the 60th Anniversary Meet, which is supposed to be in the eastern US, and will be much closer. As well as giving me 5 more years to be ready. The car for this 55th Anniversary Meet will be the 1956 4 door station wagon I'm also working on. We will drive it to Nevada.

Yes, having round tires made a HUGE difference in the car. Below is a "Before" and "After" photo. Also the car has been cleaned up, as you can easily see.

I also had a bonus success from working on the tires. I now have the brakes working, with no new parts required! After the above photos, I cleaned up the brake drums real good. And I cleaned and lubricated the various brake linkages and pivots while the rear wheels were off and out of the way. Although the linings are very worn out, I was then able to adjust things tighter and have pretty decent brakes again, at least for enough driving to get the car onto the show field at the Central Meet in a couple months - if I can get it running in time.


BEFORE



AFTER

Looking great, what a difference!

My word, your car is really something else.

Al

Great work Don!

So, some questions for you, what color was the car originally? Grey?

Also since your car has not been on the road in years, was the clutch and break peddles converted, to what we would call normal today?

Looking real good. I think you should just do a mechanical restoration and keep the "patina", but I doubt that is your goal.

Bruce - the colors are: Gray body and wheels (including the felloes and rims), with Black raised reveals around door edges and body lines. The hood, fenders and splash aprons are all black. Surprisingly to many of us in the "Model H Chapter," the body pinstriping is Gold. Most people figured the striping was red, and that's what you see on most restorations with the Gray body - but its definitely Gold. The pinstiping on the wheels is black, and there is a lot of it. Three circles around the hubs, and each spoke for about 2/3s its length, and one around the felloe. There is even a stripe on the backside of the felloe on each wheel!

The clutch and brake set-up remains stock. The left pedal operates the clutch for the first half of travel, and the brake on the lower half of travel (external contracting on drum). The right pedal is for parking brake only (internal expanding in drum). I will leave it set up that way.

(The 490 used the old pedal set-up through and including 1921. I believe the F-FA-FB Series switched over a few years earlier. Chevrolet actually offered a retro-fit kit to change over the 490 to the more modern style for several years in the early and mid- '20s.)

Steve, I'm really struggling with that issue! The car is really neat in its patina and original finishes. If it was somewhat better, I would definitely keep it original forever. I am going to do what you say at least for the next couple of years - get it running reasonably well and sorted out, and take it around as it is. I have entered it in the Central Meet in July in HPOCF (unrestored original class). But I have to have it running and driving at least minimally to go on and off the show field under its own power. I will definitely get at least that done, hopefully in time for the Meet. And then I will keep going, making it run and drive well and dependably after the Meet, too. The problem is, there is more serious deterioration in the sheet metal and wood in the right rear part of the car. I'm not sure the body is even structurally sound. It will definitely require attention - and once I'm on that slippery slope, I may end up fully restoring it. If that happens, it will be extremely authentic, every fastener, finish, fitting will be exactly as original.

Worked on the leather seats a little bit - looks worse in person, but not bad for 101 years! Here's Before and After on the front seat.

OK....so you know I was talking to you about a factory photo of the V8's....you just hit a window with your pin stripping on the wheels. I would love to get detailed pictures of the wheels. I have and Ardie was trying to figure out how much of the spoke to strip on the V8. We see them full length and then about half length I would say.

Bruce

The seat looks great!

I am ready to sit on those great seats. When do I get a ride?

dtm

A really amazing improvement though I can understand that sometimes a photo can be deceiving. I would like to see it in person before it's fully restored as I think that would be a once in a lifetime opportunity. Are you also documenting on video as well as all the photos I am sure you are taking?

Dave, if you want to sit in the seat and have a ride, bring Cousin Dale over. We'll sit in it, and he can push us around for awhile...

Steve - come on out to the Central Meet in the 3rd week of July, near Cleveland! It will be there. If you'll come, I'll give you a ride. Even if I fail to have it moving under its own power to be able to show it in HPOCF, I'll still bring it and roll it out for display. And I guarantee you'll have a glorious time! My Region is the host region for this year's 52nd Annual.

Don, if you trailer it to Richmond behind the '56, we'll let you join the Six cylinder tour. With a four and an eight, you'll be averaging six anyway… I can't wait to see it as well!

I will certainly consider it but can't at this time make a commitment. If I do get there and it's not moving under its own power I will be happy to push.