VCCA Home Forums GENERAL DISCUSSION New User Forum New to 1936 Chevrolets, lots of questions!!

I've been a car guy all my life, but mostly a Hot-rodder, so up to this point its been all "SBC, Mustang II IFS, and Ford 9". That all changed this summer when I purchased a beautiful pair of original (older resto'd) 1936 Chevrolet Standards, a coupe and sedan. Neither have been driven in years, so I have loads of work to do to get them road worthy again. My main question is, where does a guy read up on how to repair and maintain these cars? After the original purchase, my very next dime was spent on the 1935 Chevrolet and supplemental 1936 shop manual, as well as the Fisher Body book. These books are great at explaining how things work, but offer little help on repair and replacement as newer Shop Manuals do. I can find myself being a real pest on this forum if its the best resourse! Thanks for your time.

OLDREK welcome to Chatter.
This forum has answers to all your Chev restoration questions, if you cant find them we dont mind if you ask and there is no such thing as a silly question.
Tony

Welcome, Oldrek. Go here for helpful information: http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com/

Thanks alot, gentlemen. I never get tired of learning some "old school skills". Converting my car to 12 volt and electronic ignition was the easy part...right now I don't even know how where to point the timing gun, but I'll find out! This is excellent!!!

I think your 36 207 is the same as my 38 216 which has the timing mark and pointer through a 1" diameter hole just above the starter motor. There is a mark on the flywheel and the pointer is set into the bellhousing.
Tony

Thanks Tony! Next time I'm out in the shop, I'll have a look....

The hole is on the passenger side. Had someone looking on the drivers side, took a few posts to figure out that one.

I believe I've located the timing marks, so thats fine, now how about a little advice on setting the timing.
I've switched the ignition circuit to 12V so far. I've swapped out the points for a Pertronics Ignitor, got the 12V coil and ballast resistor totalling 4 ohms, gapped the plugs to .035 and strung new 8mm plug wires. Now, do I disconnect the vacuum to the distributor when setting my 5 degrees BTDC?? Whats the deal with the octane selector too? Should I just twist it to the highest setting?? Is 400 rpm idle too slow? It sounds like a tractor at that speed.....Ha!!

Oh yeah, I rebuilt the carburetor, and located a 12V low pressure (3lb) electric pump with foot valve, back towards the tank. I just removed the mechanical pump cam arm, then reassembled the unit so it all looks original, but the fuel is being pushed thru by the electric unit. It fires up almost immediately with that setup.

I would have left the 6v system in place complete with points but it is your car.
As for setting the timing I would set the octane selector to centre (0). Set the timing to the dot in the flywheel then octane to about 8deg.
Tony

Thanks for the instruction.
Sorry to disappoint,Tony. I want a car I can jump in and drive and these are parts I am familiar with. When I sell my sedan in the spring, I wll include all the original 6V parts (including the complete driveline and front&rear suspension from my coupe) so the new custodian can switch it all back if he prefers.
I had to rewire the car for blinkers anyways and the headlights were already converted to sealed-beam units when I got it.
What about the vacuum during timing setting?? Is it an issue??
Thanks,

As I said it is your car and I have no control what you do with it.
Most manufacturers advise to disconnect and block the vacuum pipe while doing the timing but in most cases there is no vacuum in there so makes no difference.
I am in the process of total rewire of my 38 and including turn indicators, a lot of motor cycles are 6v and the indicator unit is suitable for any 6v system. There are 2 types of unit, a thermal operated can be a bit slow operating and a electronic type that gives a much better operation.
Tony

And here I thought you'd probably have the most vacuum signal at idle???

OLDREK, once you set the octane selector to zero and loosen the distributor clamp enough to rotate the distributor body, the vacuum has no effect while you are setting the timing.

the vacuum advance port is often above the throttle plate at a slow idle which happens regularly therefore vacuum is nonexistant at the distributor. Engines produce the most vacuum when the throttle plate suddenly closes at relatively high rpm then remains elevated at idle.
Tony

the vacuum advance port is often above the throttle plate at a slow idle which happens regularly therefore vacuum is nonexistant at the distributor. Engines produce the most vacuum when the throttle plate suddenly closes at relatively high rpm then remains elevated at idle. The vacuum is highest anywhere below the throttle plate.
Tony

This old dog is learning something new. Thanks for the input, gentlemen.