VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1912-1928 Picked up my "New" 1926 Chevrolet Superior, with Pictures

I completed my restoration on my 1943 WWII Ford GPW about two years ago, and I had been itching for a new project. I've always wanted a Prohibition Era car, and I finally found it! The car sat in an empty lot in South Central Los Angeles (Open top) for over 25 years. Prior to that, it was from Long Beach, California. All of the wood needs to be replaced, but it is fairly complete. The engine that came with it may be a later engine than 1926, but I am not positive on it. Any help is appreciated! Thank you! PS: I added a few pictures of my 43' GPW!





















[img]https://i.imgur.com/SK94jua.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i.imgur.com/z7xmCtm.jpg[/img]

Nice! That's a solid looking car. Should be a great project!

Your data tag says your vehicle is a 1926, 5-Passenger coach. It is a series "V".

Thank you for your kind words, Canadiantim, Antiquemechanic; thank you for the response.. Which tag says the year? Is it the one on the body or the engine number?


quote=AntiqueMechanic]
Your data tag says your vehicle is a 1926, 5-Passenger coach. It is a series "V".



[/quote]

Another piece of info is that although the engine looks like a '26 or '27, the head is definitely from 1928. That was the only year with the two exhaust ports. It was common to use that head on the earlier engines because the earlier heads were prone to cracking due to the extra heat of the single exhaust port.

There is a casting date on the block that will tell you the year of the block. It is located near the distributor and is a three digit code. The first character indicates the month (A=Jan, B=Feb, etc.). The middle digit is the day of the month, and the rightmost digit is the year.

Cheers, Dean

It looks like a '27 block. It has a fitting for the oil filter line just to the right of the oil filler tube.
Steve

Thanks guys.. I’ve heard that you can usually use the serial number on the engines as a VIN number.. is there a True VIN number on the body or frame of these cars?

I just took a look at the block, the top row of numbers reads: E 18 6.. would this be May, 18, 1926?

Look on the floor, and attached to the wood, on the drivers side, for a rectangle data plate. If you can find this plate you are in business. If not, you will have to work with the engine number.

Yup, May 18, 1926. ;-) Dean

Unfortunately, I haven’t spotted any tags on the wood on the floor board :/

Your option now is to deal with the CMD and follow their commands.

Is that the Department of Motor Vehicles?

In California, if there is no VIN, the Calif. Highway Patrol issues a new number and rivets a couple of plates to the vehicle (one on the chassis and one on the body) with the new number on it.

Accompanying these new tags, the CHP fills out a form that verifies that the new number belongs to this vehicle now.

After that, you take the CHP's form to the DMV and can register the vehicle. I had to do this with my '28 truck.

However, you have a body tag which the CHP might accept as the vehicle's ID (maybe a concatenation of the job number and body number). When I went through this process in 2011, there was one officer assigned to this duty at the local CHP office and I worked with him to get a new VIN assigned to my truck.

Cheers, Dean

Thank you Dean. I was really hoping I could find the tag, but it’s not there. Hopefully the CHP will go off of the existing tag on the body.. I have a ton of work to do, but I don’t want to start working on it until I get a title with my name on it..


Arnold

You're welcome, Arnold.

Another option is to try and find a used tag in someone's stash and nail it to the passenger side of the box surrounding the gas tank. Then, pretend that it's been there all along.

You could place an ad in the Parts Wanted forum: https://vccachat.org/ubbthreads.php/forums/26/1/parts-wanted.html

You can also contact wrecking yards that have vintage iron and see if they have a 1926 car number plate to sell you. One such wrecker is Rocky Mountain Relics at http://www.rockymountainrelics.net/

Do you have any paperwork from a previous owner that has the car ID number? If so, you can have this number stamped into a new, reproduction plate and then mount it on your car.

All of this running around is part of the fun detective work associated with conjuring up the vehicle's history.

Celebrate every step forward!

Cheers, Dean

In Nevada you have to go to court 3 times to assure it is not HOT.(stolen) vehicle. Which is pretty funny seeing as most old vehicles here have been drug in from the desert. I recently purchased a 25 Superior K Touring from Georgia. Had to work with International Title Service in Las Vegas, NV. Got a clear, bonded title and then swapped it for a regular Nevada title. Used engine number, verified by local police. Very easy and fast.

The wood is completely gone on the car.. I’m guessing it had termites.. I haven’t found any wood kits for it anywhere.. is there anywhere where I can find the dimensions of the wood? A lot of the wood is completely gone, and the doors can’t really be opened.. any help is much appreciated!

Hi Arnold,
There is nowhere to get dimensions except off of original pieces removed from a car. If you can't find a supplier or are unable to do the wood yourself I recommend not taking the body apart until you can secure a way of getting the wood done. Typically the wood will disintegrate when you try to remove it so dimensions and patterns need to be made as it comes apart to be able to replicate the wood pieces.

That’s going to be my biggest obstacle.. a lot of the wood is completely gone.. and what is left is disintegrating fast.. I don’t know what else I can do, but I’m NOT giving up on it!


Arnold

Also; I found the original tag on the floor board, under the passenger seat with my Serial number, and it lists my car as a “Superior K”, even though I thought it was a 1926... the engine block is 1926, I believe..

Give us all the data that is on the tag you found. Your engine could have been swapped.

Superior Series K was made in latter part of 1925 and into 1926. I expect yours is a 1926.

Thank you all for the input.. any and ALL help is appreciated!

Arnold if you lived a little closer you could get some measurements from my 25 Superior Series K Touring. Almost all the wood is in great shape. Mine is an early 25. My dad always called it a 24 1/2. You are welcome to get any measurements you need if you come to Iowa.