Projects 1934 LaSalle old school convertible coupe build thread

Sounds like the build is just on hold, not ended. It was moving way too fast any way. I've still got my '30 Roadster project I started in 1962, and can't see ever having something to drive. That is a project my grandson can finish if he wants too. You can't miss something you have never had, but I do wonder time to time what you can do with a licensed drivable project. Bob

 

Frank, see if he can run wood for both LaSalles .... of course, the custom will still have to be mocked/fitted/tacked together body wise so he can dimension fit/cut the pieces ....

He hasn't seen the photoshop or this thread .... let him check it out. Clark Gable and Bugs Moran woulda' coachbuilt/modified their favorite big motor drop top of the era .... why would your friend not be as cool as you ? You're an AACA mafia wrencher. That's code for an extra chromosome of HAMB in your restorer bones.

 

Yes Bob, it is just on hold. Especially right now as we got home from the Mass junkyard, and the 32 Olds motor simply is no good, or actually not any better that what 34 motors that we have right now, So, I don't have an "easy" way to get a running motor into the 35 anyways. That is two strike-outs at two Mass junkyards, so that is the sign to stop on this 35 and go with the much easier 34 project.

No Jamie, the 35 will be all steel framing, except there is wood needed at the top of the rear body, behind the seat top, that is for nailing the lower edges of the cloth convertible top. Steel is easiest for that 35 custom by far. And, I am sure he will be on the same page if we fix the 34, but overwhelmed if I ask him to help with two cars! I am sure it will dampen any excitement of him feeling like we will get a car on the road, if I even mention trying to save both cars at the same time, One step at a time!...one car at a time.


Tim decided to go with us today. He called my son to say that he had "the time of his life" when Frank (me) took him to Old Timer Kennys farm and collection a couple moths ago, and he wanted to meet another one of Franks friends, the yard owner! He brought us there in his 2012 Ford 4 door 8 foot diesel pickup in case we both some heavy part like an engine or whatever.

first two pics are of the 32 Olds, or what is left of it:

I should buy the steering wheel center piece, The rim has lost all the material but the cast alun=minun deco spokes are neat, but they are bent a bit


1930 Chevy roadster type cowl on this cutdown, nothing is any good on this old relic.


huge is not the word for this loader:


.
model A air compressor factory made kit, with belt drive governor..made in Bowling Green, Kentucky, I forget the name brand.


^^ I did ask for a price, but as always, I say "you probably need a bit of time to price it out:. I still don't need it, and need to stop trying to save things, I need to let somebody else save it

Studebaker turned into a power supply unit. It may have powered a barn or who knows? It has a huge generator mounted at the back end.





I had asked the owner when he unlocked the gate, if he gets any Saturday customers anymore, the ones that used to come to buy parts for projects. He said very few do ever come now at all...."nobody builds much anymore" But as we were in the yard later, I see a guy coming up the drive to the central part where we were just crossing. I said to him from a distance:" I know you, who the hell are you?(with a smile)...I will wait until you get close enough for me to read your shirt" He was wearing the shop shirt with first name on right side pocket, and business name on the left. Sure enough, a guy who I know from the old swapmeets, Robbie. He is hard core old school ONLY, has zero love for modern builds with modern parts. Here he is looking for pieces for his 57Chevy 4 door. Yes, that is a 56 Bel Air, we know that

random pics below

caddy 2 door hardtop, and 62 impala


Robbie said "that old 50 Ford had an Olds or something in it, it has mounts put in it way back"


^^^It is a 49 coupe, pull out door handles means it is not a 50. It was purple, and looking at the firewall insulation under the dash: It looks like somebody paintyed it to look like blue skie, and white clouds. I told Robbie that Olds mount is front center, not side. He looked closer and thinks it is Big Block Ford FE? mounts?



Robbie shoed me the Merc and said look at these wild dashboards! I instanyly talked about that new 32 hotrod I heard about from Jim yesterday, that had a strange dash swap....guess what? Robbie knows that guy and that 32 for decades! He said it never went back on the road since the old days when they put the big 371 in it...but still will make it out soon! He said that guy drives a 35 Ford pickup old rod as a daily, too.

lol. Small world...getting smaller, as Kenny just said in a phone call just a few minutes agho. Kenny knows Robbie Too! LMAO

 

Somebody should get that radiator and shell, the only one with a curved core that I know of. Bob

 

Bob, that picture of a once desirable prewar part sitting in one of the last old time yeards...totally unwanted, is just a wake up call that our world is dead. It died off a long time ago. That yard owners name is Fred, he is in his mid 50s I guess, he has a sweet black 36 Ford 5w rod, a mint black 62 Impala SS 327-4 speed, a ex-goodguys give-away 27 T roadster, and a red 65 Impala SS conv that is the only one he fixed up as a youger guy out of all of these cars. He is too busy trying to stay ahead of the business roadblocks that these wrecking yards face as far as regulations.

Fred chatted with all of us as we were done scouting, he pointed around to the piles of late model cars and said" Who even would want to fix any of these up?" "They are garbage, they were nothing but crap when built, and people just go out and buy another used car, or sign a 7 year loan on a new one....".

I am reflecting this morning; The hobby is done for. Robbie is the youngest at 62, a hip going bad, stuck with some flathead odds and ends "that nobody wants". Tim is 23, he is THE only young guy I know of around here with a prewar rod build going on, a 34 Ford truck.

The AACA is even in bigger trouble with it's 25 year old cutoff rule. One older guy on AACA was all excited to say that by next year, he was bringing his 1993 Buick Park Avenue to the Hershey showfield, as "we can ride at highway speeds with all the doo dads in comfort". Geez, like you expect old timers like me, who saw Hershey at it's peak...you think I will drive 7 hours to see that $250 "back lot used car" plastic laden, computer controlled crusher-bait shitbox? The ONLY person who might like to see it wasting space on the grass, is another person that "don't get it"..

My problem with jumping around from the '34 LaSalle stocker originally, over to trying to build the '35 Custom from leftovers, to trying to get some local young guys to drag race my old rod?? My problem is that I am trying to save some hobby that used to be so important to so many, but it cannot ever go back to what I wish. I try to save too much on my own. I need to stop worrying about what happens out there, grab onto my new 70 year old local LaSalle friend who simply "needs" to work on old prewar stockers, and if things work out, I will get to drive my stock 34 conv next year..maybe in beater form, but on the road...before it's too late for me. That is the car I chased for 3 years, NOT the 35 Custom "day-dream", nor ever thinking of campaigning the old rod as an airport drag car!


Bob, go slam that 30 roadster together like the old days, find a friend or two to show up a day or two per month. Piss on trying to get it all Pebble Beach shiny, just build the old rod as blue collar kids did back in the day. Get rid of clutter,crap and "sentimental" cars that are in your way, put the money into the roadster, then go for a ride!

 

This October will be my 48th Hershey in a row, and may be the first year I don't stay for the Saturday show, but the show sure isn't what it once was. Took my Riley 4Port there for its Senior in 1976 on a trailer behind my brand new 1976 Ford pickup. That $7,500 pickup is almost too old for the Hershey show field people want to see 1992's!. It was a great hobby, with great people. When I look at my '30 Roadster I think of all the parts in the pile and all my friends I got them from, sadly most of them have passed on. If I ever do go for a ride in it they will be riding in spirit. Bob

 

Bob, you've said many times that your grandkids can deal with that basket case 30 roadster...they won't, sadly...it will just be what it is "this morning", a pile of parts.

A short inspirational story that may help your mindset: I used to flip vintage cars to keep ahead of the bills... I saw a 1925 Star cutdown pickup WW2 conversion on Ebay for a cheap opening bid, but it also had a buy-it-now of a pathetic $1500!! Two idiot dreamers were playing 25$ at a time, running the current bid up to around $700-ish after maybe a day in. I contacted the seller to ask just one or two "real" questions, then Bam, I hit the BIN, My son and I went on a Sunday to bad-old Bridgeport Ct, as the seller said all other days were out, as it was a high-end Vintage Showroom and resto place... I assume he did not want customers to see this type of transaction going on? Maybe not, does not matter.

The seller? George Dragone of Dragone Motors! It was his car, not the company's I believe. He said he spotted it sticking out of an old barn in rural Pennsylvania... maybe coming home from Hershey? IDK. But his shop guys got it to run, and George said he'd take HIS grandson for rides all around Bridgeport back streets on Sunday afternoons and they both had so much fun! He then said it quit running one day, the guys towed it to their "project car lot" across the street for good.

Anyways, I got it running, just a cracked potmetal distributor housing adapter broke and let the Distributor pop out just a bit to stop turning. I then fixed the cut-off rear wooden spokes with some spare Model T wheels that George threw in the deal, I had it ready in 6 days to sell it at the Zagray farm show! I had my lowest price on the windshield, saying that was a quick sale firm price, as I don't screw around with tire kickers. Then a guy I knew, but not as a friend, quickly shows up in front of our space...driving another old cutdown. He shuts the motor off, then never getting out, tries a tiny bit to deal, but realizes I am firm...he then says "I want it" ! That guy was, my now great 72 year old friend, Kenny!

Anyways Bob, Georges grandson will NEVER forget his travels with Granddad in that old Star, even though it is in one of Kenny's buildings now! His grandson would never even think about it if it was just a pile of parts! Get your butt in gear and make something happen, I never met you, but I think your health is great, and I know you are only exactly one year older than I. You CAN do it, I am sure of that. Skip all those "period perfect" parts you maybe cannot afford or locate in a timely matter,... A fenderless A is so damn simple to bolt together! I have no clue what you planned for the motor and trans, but that won't really ever matter to your grandkids if they get at least one ride around the block with "gramps" ! Have a great day, Bob.... I am moving cars today! Out with the tattered incomplete 35 and in with the decent 34 stocker. I can put the Cord in the next bay over from my main work bay when it shows up!

As soon as the 34 is in there, I will take a pic of it in there to email to my LaSalle friend Jim...that will get the ball rolling, "I'll tell you what". LOL. Shit does not happen unless we try, that is all I am saying.

 

Great story and a lesson for all to heed!

Frank, hope you will post progress on the '34 stocker.......

Ray

 

Frank, I thought you had a thread on that old airport Hotrod but I can't find it with this crappy search function. Am I mistaken??? Mike

 

Thanks Frank................all this time I thought you were way older than I am, I'm the geezer? Sure glad we can't change our HAMB ID's. I did drag my 1912 T out last year and let my grandson drive it in low gear at age 5, never realized I'd let it sit in the corner of the garage for 17 years. I've known George and his brother since we were all teenagers, good story about the cut down. Time does seam to go by a lot quicker these days. Off to list more unneeded stuff. Bob

 

I will do another one as soon as I finish moving cars. More inspiration coming from a 74! year old guy who just bought a 56 F100. He was guided to my place this morning by Kevin, the guy who found the truck for his friend just a week or so ago.

Here it is listed below, I wanted to add something about the original builder first, that may be missing in that thread. The club was kind of started as a 2nd choice for Juvenile Delinquents I believe,. A local judge gave a choice of join the club or... else. My car owner was member number 9 I have to believe, as his Son Karl said his Dads old club jacket said SPINDLES and a 9 under that. I since have read where some car clubs did that number thing.

Ok, the Dad went on with life after the rod was abandoned, into the ship salvage business like that web article said. Karl said his Dad ran into pirates on occasion off the coast of South America.... He said half the crew on board were ex-cons....and his Dad built 50 cal gun mounts on all 3 decks of their workboat. Wow, there is a "Man's man", I tell you what..

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...neled-chev-rpu-with-early-olds-rocket.822101/

..

 

hi ray, sorry to say that I will not, or should say that I cannot do any posts here on Hamb on a stock 34 LaSalle. It is plainly off-topic no matter what. It does not even belong on the main board, either. I am not sure if I will return to AACA to continue my 34 thread there or not. Why? I have no idea right this moment, and I simply do not make "plans". Hard to explain, so I won't try. All I can say, after being on quite a few car sites that I did do build or resto threads, I seem to want to post more on life, how to afford the unaffordable, how to fix your outlook on things so you can get stuff done, etc...almost more like Facebook, even though I have never read anything on there, ever...but hear about unusual pages from my Son over the last couple of years....so I will ponder where I might go next.

Yes Bob, we cannot avoid thinking about the whole age thing. That is why I simply cannot waste anymore time on a totally rusted, incomplete 35 Custom dream, when I have a stock 34 that TWO elderly, very wealthy guys tried to save, but then died. They did the stuff that I simply cannot. They spent some serious money and TIME buying parts, getting some things restored, etc. I just have near zero funds for that. The only things that need sandblasting on the entire car, are 4 of the 5 wheels, as one was done already. I used the other wheels and wheel cover cones on the estates other 34s to make them more saleable, which was my JOB there. I hated to keeping taking parts that I knew were supposed to go on this convertible, but I did the best I could with what I thought was the right thing to do.

On to today which turned out just fine. I knew Kevin would be late, so I got super busy by moving so much crap piled on the 34 and 35, and so much stuff around both, as I was determined to do the switching of locations by nightfall.

ok, so Kevin and 74 year old Barry show up with his new 56. It was not a big window like Kevin said, but as I told them "This is better, now the sun won't beat you up, and less worry about the ever increasing UV that we must avoid". In case you just joined, Barry had to sell his Harley as he was having issues keeping it balanced at stop lights, despite his 6'-2" height and very heavy build. He next choice was a "mild custom 50s pickup" which Kevin found at the Colchester show. Barry was called by Kevin, and he went right there and bought it on the spot!

^ Those are not graphics on the door like I thought from so far away as they pulled in. They are strips of adhesive backed chrome body side moulding. I wish I took a pic with the hood closed as it really does look like a 56 Victoria chrome side moulding layout.



^^^Original Flathead 6 runs sweet and I simply love this, compared to the boring as hell SBF. Why feel the heat of the thin walled SBF and SBC if you are happy with a local cruiser that is so simple to maintain and work on! (EDIT, yes I screwed up, it is an overhead)DUH



^^^ this pic shows how wrong Kevin was when he first called Friday after work. Kevin said Barry has a fat belly, and he thought I should cut the column and column shift rod shorter. Barry was wondering who could do that kind of work, so that is why Kevin called me. The next morning in my quiet space, I was realizing that if this was a show truck, Man, it would be a nightmare to tape everything up with thick padded stuff to prevent weld/grind spark damage. Then thinking what a pain to jack it up high enough if I decided to pull the entire box/column assembly out to do it safer... then common sense prevailed: I knew these old trucks were made to fit working people of all sizes, so I knew at that point that the seat was wrong, or if it was a good seat swap, then it was too high.

I sure was right, the seat back is 2" too tall, preventing the seat from tucking into a cubby hole right under the back glass. But the seat tracks of unknown type, are bolted all the way to the rear as far as possible, so I'd need to also cut/weld the seat risers that looked fairly simple, but I sure cannot section the seat back, then find a sewing person to alter and re-sew the seat cover that Barry really likes. At least not today! So we ended up taking the dished 56 wheel off to try running a flat 53-55 F100 wheel! So far it seems to help a lot as they left. He will be at this Thursdays Ashford show to let me know, and we will go from there.

Ok, at some point Kevin gets me aside to say Barry was just diagnosed with Prostate Cancer and starts treatments soon, an hour away, heading up towards Boston,.... and Kevin said he is a little "frightened". Kevin said that is why the 56 will play a much needed distraction for him at this exact point in his life! I think he is so right, and later Barry did finally tell ME of his condition, and he really thanked Kevin and I for giving him two hours of fun shit to think about instead. He thanked me so many times, even saying something like "Do I hand you a couple of Benjamins?" I said F-no, we had a great razzing time today, and I feel I got more out of it than you!

that pic shows or I should say, is hiding a very, very dangerous event that thankfully appeared right after this pic was taken. Barry got behind the wheel to show the belly issue and then kept trying to say something about the pedals ...I still have no clue what he was getting at, but as he lifted his toe off the clutch, the pad came off and fell on the floor. We almost shit when he picked it up; it was the entire pedal top, the round pad with solid steel core and large threaded stud that screws into an eye on the pedal arm, just like 30s 40s Ford cars have! I said that if that happened on this "new to you, truck" out on the road, you might well have panicked and who knows what would have happened if it was approaching stopped traffic! It was not stripped threads, it simply unscrewed over time!

^^^ peeking under the bed cover.

^^^ I do not recall if the original builder or the last owner made this. He claims it is hand cut/filed/polished thick aluminum FORD script on tailgate, and he seemed pretty happy it has it.


My son could not help, and Barry really looked tired so I did not ask them to help.....my son was busy going to a local privately held "mud bog" thing where the current fad is guys AND gals building running mud trucks for a full afternoon of hellraisin. It is really catching on all over, I see trailered trucks and jeeps all the time on weekends, some are nearly new! some are old, jacked up to the moon, tall skinny tractor tires, you name it. My son asked if I finished the brake drum cutting, and I said "Yes, Sir" So he took his 32. I sure hope he does not come home with one of them country girls, I need to clean the freakin house...LMFAO
I did take a lot of pics of what I went through to get these cars switched around, but here is a finished pic for now. The 34 is sitting pretty in the work bay, and I even rolled the good motor from the bay where the 32 was, right into the work area too. Now we can inspect the wood project, or try those tools to get the stuck head off of that motor.

 

Maybe a tilt column in the '56?

 

thems fightin' words, son...LOL No, we don't do streetrods on this piece of dirt!



But Guys, Maybe rodding ain't quite dead here afterall... My son picked up Cowboy (Matt) to go to the mud thing, then left there to go to Kyles Parents mini-farm and Kyle cooked up some of the beef burgers from cattle that Kyle raises for use and profit! His Dad is Terry from the transmission shop, as well as the main promoter of the Ashford show. So Terry keeps seeing my son out with his 32, and says "you know? I never take my coupe out unless it goes to the Ashford show...your Mom hates riding in the coupe" then says "Your Mom wanted to go out for ice cream later, so dang it, I'M taking the COUPE." They all headed over to Tim's sisters house across the road from where Tim lives with his parents. Tim had a no oil pressure issue with the 75 CJ jeep his Dad bought new and then gave it to Tim a long time ago. I had sent over a pressure thing to force feed the gauge hole. They heard Tim had a bad day at work or something so they headed over there. (they fixed the issue)

There is Tim in the backround, and his 34 Ford truck I did structural work on, the back of the jeep, and I am guessing that must be Terrys wife? Oh, and the two hot rods! Dam what a good day, they keep getting better, I say. My son had cancelled out on the big Tuna tournament a couple days ago, as there is a big storm at sea causing very rough conditions, so they did bump the date forward one day which makes my son need to take even more vacation time. But, I asked if this is the last one of the year,,,,and yes it is... So, I kinda said GO! LOL

 

Thanks for the link Frank! That little RPU is the cat's PJs! (I'm currently working on a 303 powered survivor hot rod myself.)

 

Email on the Cord coming in, from overnight:

"Frank,

should be up somewhere around the 10th of the month and then heading over to syracuse.

need to find a trailer this week.

hope all is well. air is cooling down fast here.

ron"

Geez, I was going to mention the "cooling down" thing on my post this morning even before reading that! The weather is way the heck off this year. "They" are messing with the skies, a lot of people know it.

^^^ I posted these two pics on my AACA LaS thread way back when I was working on my best motor outside. This ain't what they tried to feed us for years...It is not contrails, it is chemical trails. They used to direct spray from special planes but now mix the stuff with commercial jet fuel "as it makes planes more fuel efficient". Yea. Certain species are dying off, plants and critters, Alzheimer's is spiking, respiration maladies reported in toddlers and elders.....like when I went to see what my 77 year old neighbor Bertie was doing with her lawn tractor out back yesterday. One thing she sais was "I have been so messed up since the pollen that went crazy this year"..."I can't get rid of this itchy cough". I told her to ask her husband, Gene, as he told me he heard of the chemtrails from his job a decade ago or more, when he had to call some company out in Arizona and the secretary asked him if he had "them" in the skies in upstate NY where he works...and still does work there at 80 years old!

Hey, here is something LaSalle related ...lol. I had my 34 halfway backed out in the sun when I was giving Barry and Kevin a tour of all my stuff. I was showing them the high-tech twin rear shock setup that is also a swaybar, when I spotted "stuff", either painted over tape? or sealer? or could it be brazed?... on the pinion snout on the 34. Kevin said "yea, I spotted that too, it looks like it is all brazed up"


So, when I got the 34 into my workbay, I went right at this mystery before I even got the 35 shoved in the bay out back! I took a pic of the 34 rear in the chassis that Joe G will use on his sedan...it is a different center section...wth??


I took several walks from the two chassis trying to know for sure if mine really is the correct, but modified casting, or not. So far it is NOT the same. Ok, 34 LaS is a one-year only rear! The 35 is totally a different manufacturer, and the perches are even different widths! So, my axle housing sure seems to be a 34 at this point.

Now, this restored chassis came from the dry desert yellow sedan that Joe G owns now. The stock ratio was 4.78. Jim said his 36 LaS is going to get a very rare 36 Cad model 60 "optional only'' 4:10 chuck he found and bought. He drives his long distance, and I am pretty sure the 35-36 LaS ratio is 4.54?

Back to this brazed center section; I am now thinking at that point, it must be a ratio change for those LONG desert country roads?? So I jack one rear up, chalk the tire and flange....did it twice to recheck...it seems at 4.20 ratio! But I sure don't get why they found a pinion gear, then used in in a shortened 34 LaS center casting??? Then they must have gotten lucky to have the ring gear fit the LaS carrier??

I was at first going to depress the heck out of Joe G, as I WAS going to take his center, It still belongs to me, as he even stopped asking if he could buy more parts for his body shell, which IS the only thing I "gave" him for helping! But now...rethink dummy,...why not pull the center, check it out for gear face wear pattern, see if the pinion bearings are aligned ...etc? Yes, my 34 driveshaft I finally found will be too short, and still not sure if that pinion flange is the same pattern...but... Why not try to save this better gear ratio? The silver survivor 34 coupe the estate has, someone put in a complete 54 Olds rear with a very rare 3.08 ratio, back in the 60s....and BTW it was last driven around 1965 or so. I thought the paperwork showed that coupe came from flat ground country out Midwest...so the 3.08 was good once you get it moving, but these old transmissions ALL had higher ratios on first and reverse, to make up for rear ratios from 4.6 to 4.9! If you go too greedy on a new axle ratio like a 3.08 or even 3.40, the car will be a stone in first and reverse,...you need to ride the crap out of the clutch to get it to budge, as these cars are nearly two ton!

Well, I NEED to work on, and maybe finish the weld job on the C50 today.. the Cord is coming early... Autumn is coming...

 

What a dumass I am...You ALL, and ME, should know "Me" by now... plans mean shit LOL... ha,ha

I get in the shop this morning ready to tackle the steel work on the C50...and I see this laying in front of the 34.

My son put this stuff here at 9:45 last night when he put the Ford away. It is the VW ex-W/S washer bottle and fittings/hoses that they used to pre-oil Tims Jeep motor...a bottle of Gatorade as my son KNOWS I run without enough water during shop time...and WTH is the flat cardboard with the word TIM on it? I have no clue why he brought that home as I found it to be empty.. Heck my son never even saw that the 34 was now in my work bay....all he mentioned then, was that the shop looked clean! not really, but thanks anyways, son. Ok, so I head to the LaSalle room as when I started clearing room two months ago, I found some aluminum straight edges long enough to use as guides to trim the "way too thick" 3/16" plates that the C50 ownerbought wrong at JSR metal place because he was drunk and also has no clue what I really asked for?

Then I see the nose of the 35 for the first time I ever approached it since shoving in the back bay where the 34 was... I INSTANTLY said to myself: "oh...no,no.no..." .... "this F'ng thing thing is WAY too badass to give up on and part it out"!!! Dang, I tried to get a "same lighting" pic of what I first saw, but you'll need to use your imagination! I even did measurement comparisons with my nose and chin to see just how low the top of the windshield frame is...Dam, this car will be LOW! ...once it has the engine in it, and I do that coil spring mount mods.. Lol



Ok, it looks like crap...but trust me...there IS a custom hiding there! I will get to it at some point..I am sure of that!


Ok, tried working on the C50, the 4.5 angle grinder needed cord repairs,,bla bla, started grinding the torch- hacked 3/16" plates to make the first big patch up front


...but by then the sun was cooking me. I went in for a coffee LOL...then Kevin calls, hints that he needs me to look at some bed modification he planned to make on his 28-29 Model AA longbed truck he is nearly done with. I said I will be over right away, as it is too sunny in that spot right now, to work on the C50...Well, still on the phone, Joe G pulling down the driveway...next thing I know Joe is calling his wife to cancel her plans to meet him for lunch...Sorry hun.., you lose! LMAO..

We went to Kevin's.. and dam right, I emptied all the memory in my camera before we left... I be's takin' some pics for you all! Holy moly I got some good chit...but the intensity of all the typing...I need to go bend up a piece of 18 ga for Kevin right now, so he can finish the bed tomorrow! Trust me, if you don't "get" these upcoming pics....or the way Kevin and Carrie "live life" you are simply beyond any hope!

.

I promise to get those up later today! Shit, ...each day gets better, dammit..I don't know if I can hold up

.

 

.... guilty of researching '32 thru '35 LaSalle engines the last few days. Aluminum blocks ? Several as such, user yard art pieces laying in crud, and greenery found in various classifieds. No same era Olds' engines. Did you already explain the significance of the Olds' engine earlier in the thread ? Why, what, and how ? In the car already, etc ??

On the phone currently .... not as easy to read thru .... size IS important while reading, at least. Screwed in nature, and digital !!

 

Here is my best try at explaining, late in the hectic day. Ok, LaSalle was always called THE: "Cadillac LaSalle" since it came out...but as the worst sales years of the Great Depression really knocked out so many car companies, I believe it was 1933 that saw the "Name" changed to "LaSalle" and the Cadillac was dropped from the NAME only, yet the body tags still professed "Built BY Cadillac"....but 33 was still using the complicated/expensive to build, Flathead V8 with screwball exhaust coming out of the top of engine, twin fussy carbs hanging below the heads! Fords Flat V8 runs so hot because that superheated exhaust has to flow THROUGH the dam block, to get from the valves up TOP to the exhaust ports below the heads! Not quite Henry's best freaking idea IMO.

Anyways, off the track again above^. So, 1933 really was the worst sales year for US auto makers. For 34, Cad wanted the LaSalle to now be more than just a basic copy of the Cad model 60 which was their smallest model I believe. They wanted to get rid of expensive Cadillac made parts like the motor, etc, so they bought the "design" of the 32-33 Olds optional straight eight flathead. There is where the history books and totally clueless modern car guys get it wrong when they claim that the 34 LaSalle is just a mishmash of lesser quality GM brand parts. They are simply "Ignorant"...That word comes from "ignoring", not a hate based word. 34 LaS was the first! and ONLY 34 GM with hyd brakes! Cad needed two more years to get with the program.. 34 LaS was the first to have the wild rear dual acting shock/swaybar thing! Cad got it in 35! Screw Cads

I know I said this elsewhere on the net, but when GM wanted Earl, he must have told them he wanted full control of the 34 Only LaSalle totally new fresh concept and design, I am positive Earl told the GM brass to F.O., and stay out of the project completely...then told each and every designer, each engineer, each outside contractor, to "show me your BEST" and it was for just that one year!!. There is no other explanation for what I see on 34 features...it was the one and only time every person got to "show their stuff" in a big way!

Since I own many 34s, worked on more, and have taken apart a complete 1935.... Man, the 34 LaSalle is likely one of the MOST significant cars of the entire 1930s. I am serious, as I have handled each part of the car! These know-nothings just look at printed propaganda, look at the car in pictures or see one at a show.... But they simply cannot open the doors look at door glitzy chrome hardware, beautiful Dash and gauge construction as viewed from the BACKside, the Engine is not just an Olds! I compared the 32 Olds on Saturday. Not even cast by the same company! No external parts interchange!

Ok, 34 LaS engine is one year only! They cheapened it in 35 for the new massive price cut! The straight eight LaS was only 34-35-36, and all were cast iron, and the 34 we have apart, is very overbuilt for the price-range of the car! 35-36 is a bigger stroke Jim said, and might be a slight bore increase? I don't like the water jacket design change for 35-36...it led to freeze cracks like the one 35 I have here. The 34, if iced, just flexes the tin cover out, then goes back when thawed, Talk later, time to look for a meal '


edit, I DO have the matching number motor for my conv body, but that sat outside for decades with open carb and dist hole! It will be brought indoors soon, as well as one more 34 out back which has better hope I think. The "good" 34 motor is a very early production, maybe second or third week? It is so sweet running, but the shipper tried to remove headbolts to use a lift chain, so I have broken bolts! Jim says he can get the head off, get the broken bits removed, then it will go right into the 34!

 

Trip to Kevin's & Carries place with Joe G.. We get to his nearly hidden driveway opening, we need to drive over a branch... I think Kevin put it there then I tell Joe that there will be a tin trash can blocking the drive right as you get near the cabin, "just swing through the bushes to the right".. Lol

Pics in order as I took them:


Wow, the gypsy wagon is outside where I can get pics! This was a farm supplies delivery truck from Pennsylvania.. Guess where he got it? ..he,he, From Kenny! Kenny bought it at a Macungie Pa, big truck antique show and swap. Kenny likes to buy stuff! Kenny is still mad that Kevin took off the very cool farm supply body and handbuilt this body. Kenny is also mad that Kevin put a much more powerful International truck engine in, as well as 5 speed trans (t34? he said? insists it is OD? nah?) and a two speed rear with twice the gear "up" ratio! Kenny does not drive stuff on the road, just trailers stuff to a farm show to idle around....Kevin DRIVES this! Kenny, you need to wake the 'ell up!

^^Kev and Joe BS,ing at Joe's Dodge way down at the drive.


^^ his 48 International with the Knox Box as it is called, that is the company that built the body from odd looking diamond plate. I did a cosmetic resto a long time ago, he said it won't ever sit outside back then, but look at it now! Barry backed into the nose a few years later and I did the work, but don't recall much about meeting Barry back then.. Nice survivor Model A hiding in there...he dries the wheels off of it. It most likely will be at Ashford again on Thursday.
^^^ this is their home. It was nothing more than a squatters shack when he bought it before his divorce 16? years ago...a year before mine maybe. He lived in the old 1900 home in town for a awhile alone, but sold that and moved here. He added to it so many times, but it is VERY tiny inside...but dam...it is sweet. Sorry I ran out of pic space when we went in much later.

^^ the front side near driveway. See the front porch roof? It is framed with branch wood.


^^^ this is the narrow front entrance to the super tall bay where the gypsy wagon stays in winter...except it comes out on Christmas and Thansgiving to use it's old wood fire cookstove/oven to cook the turkey. I don't think they have room in the cabin for an oven. Kev built all the outbuildings, and did all the work to their cabin home.


Just inside that big open door: No he did not make that sign! He finds things to use. I was going to move that "beaver food". to read the rest, but he said it was just some politicians name. That really IS winter food for beavers! They make short pieces to store in those beaver mounds in a pond. The food mounds are close to where they live in a bigger one,but if the ice gets too thick, they cannot get to the food storage ones and starve to death.


^^ going a bit into that bay, there is the AA longbed, he says it is like the truck on :The Waltons" years ago. it is almost done, I made a bed strip-cross piece at the very tail tonight, as the last piece he needs...he's coming over tomorrow to get it. See that yellow gable end? It is a building that he built BEFORE this addition that was made for the Gypsy wagon. But, there is one more tiny one that was built BEFORE the yellow one, you are looking through the yellow one into the smallest one. No pic but there is a very long Old Town 1930 woodstrip canoe hanging in there! All completely restored by him.


Oil thing was found out in the woods behind his familys old car repair and sales garage. It was part of a oil display/sales rack that sat out on the pump island! looks like he uses it for wood stove kindling box?





This is the small tight areawhere the AA was over the winter. That old tire inflator on the wall...it is lit up here. Back when married, the wife knew this was inside on an old post in that former family garage place. She went there to buy it for him as a gift. The owner of the place, gave it to her! What A guy!!!



Looking to the left. Joe there, and the wood stove for winter. I wish you could read all the signs up on the yellow gable.


^^ I walked way the heck down the trail along the pond to get this view, all 3 building stages, there is a new greenhouse just showing on the far left. As soon as I got there, I could really smell some really nice perfumy "something". Kevin said it was "sweet-?" something, I forget. Way down the pond is an old metal slide, and closer is a cantilevered dock/diving area, It is made that way without posts in the water for one reason. The pond ice, if thick enough will push things apart! He designed and built it from old telephone poles the light company gave away.


that pond is man made. A store complex was being built that needed lots of gravel. He swapped his gravel at no cost, if they would make a pond out of the new gravel "pit". Summer baths are done here!



greenhouse



^^ old fishing pole on the old Ford tractor...near the shop wood pile..



Red hammock he naps in once in a great while. Yellow thing is a Lobster pot buoy, they get loose in storms and wash ashore, leaving a lost trap that keeps on trapping Regulations now make for quick;y rotting trap door "exits" so the lobsters can get out!



After a tour of their home, I stayed in there to chat with Carrie for a half hour about her knowledge and havoc that came from a very bad type of Lyme. I don't know the spelling of her name but does it matter?We really NEVER talked at all till now. I am finally who I always was meant to be, but trapped by something. I talk so much to so many people, that I get dehydrated....so when I went out to where Joe and Kevin were sitting in the "wagon" for a long spell, It was just too hot in there for me so we left for my home in an A/C truck!

that was too much typing/thinking!

 

great tour Frank and terrific pics! Love the "motor home", what a project.

 

Hi, just an update. I really had to ponder if I should repost a reply to a fellow hamber my age that I know has had some health issues and whatnot..my age? a little older..

anyways he needs some Olds trans pieces...I found some, so I added some info to him on my lastest adventures..

it might be facebookish...but I got thinking...it IS all related to getting old cars back together, staying ahead of your so called age, so you can keep going. More importantly, FRIENDS. I am getting a rebuilt & repaintyed straight 8 on FRIDAY...for FREE...good old boy Kenny knows tons of people, many are major flippers. He found a friend of his that stepped up and bought out an eastate of just leftover car stuff, no big score, but the guy won't deal in heavy parts like engines. An hour after I sent the PM I copied below here, I got a call from Kenny, saying we will get that engine on FRIDAY. But, for some reason he is not coming to pick me up at 6 am TOMORROW, to head back to get that Model A huckster like the PM says below. Man, he knows my car popped a rusty brakeline at his place today...and it's dark, wet from torrential rains, no workbay open to fix it... Well dang it, I just went out, found the short line to LR was rotted, found a used bubble flare fitting, soldered it shut, then plugged that brake. DONE. well, good enough to get to Kenny's early next morning... read on with the copy/paste:





Joined: Apr 5, 2007
Posts: 11,458
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F&J
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from CT

I honestly did not think I had any idlers but found 3 on the trans shelf early this morning. One looks pretty darn good. I got tied up ALL day at Kenny's, and bought two antique vehicles! Geez,. Anyways, Kenny is picking me up here at 6am tomorrow morning to go back up to Charlie's yard near the Quabbin to get "my" Model A huckster. Then I want to be back in time for the Ashford CT show that I missed when in the hospital, so I cannot ship that idler till Friday.


Hey, I found a 3/16" dark reddish spot on my arm, most people think it looks like Melanoma, Kenny says it looks like I poked my skin, and said "our skin is thin at our age". I did spot my Doctors association building when I went to a store yesterday, so I pulled in to see if they can get around the fact that Medicare screwed up again, and I never got my new ID cards, I was told I'd have them just a few days after I got out of the hospital, but that was a month ago,,so they just plain forgot me! I don't jump through hoops anymore! I will not be on the phone on hold for an hour, or stand in line at the SSI office for that long either. Ha, Ha, I knew I did not "need no stinking cards" ,,,they said no big deal Frank, we will get ahold of that hospitals billing gal, and take care of the paperwork! I don't have to lift a finger! (just like it should always be)

I said I'd cancel the "1.5 week away" appointment IF it goes away if it was just a bruise. They said NO, don't do that..."you need to use your doctor no less than once every 3 years, or you'll go to "new patient status automatically". AND they said "We cannot take any NEW patients as we have too many as it is!!! Man the medical system surely IS broken, like many people and myself always said!

I'm not worried if it is not a bruise, even knowing my Mom died from cancer in 1954 when I was 2-1/2 years old. Melanoma, I think is no big deal, and a friend said they freeze that spot with liquid nitrogen right at the first visit, and it falls off.

PS the Huckster will be up for sale on the Ford Barn by the weekend. I just manned up to get Kenny off the hook. Kenny JUST found the long missing Neighbors 24 Dodge touring that Kenny has tried to find since he was a kid, Kenny's Dad bought their(it is still theirs, restored!) 23 Dodge sedan new at a Stafford CT Dealer that opened in 23, In early 24, Kenny's Dads farmer neighbor bought the 24 touring new because his friend raved about the 23! Kenny last saw it in 1957 when the owner got too old to drive it, and had 5000 miles then! Has 20k now, been through a handful of long time owners in Mass and CT. Now Kenny is finally getting it, as the seller does not like driving it in the fast roads today, so HE is getting a 35 Cadillac model 75 from another old geezer! It was all a chain reaction that needed a start, so I just said screw it, I will buy the huckster to get it all to go!

The other oldie is a sweet 30 Whippet cutdown doodlebug that one always one of Kenny favorites to take to the farm shows to ride around. It was MY favorite one there, too! He has made so many "Kenny Improvements" over time, so it is so awesome with what it has. Started right up! No smoke or motor rattles....he was gleaming when I asked if I could buy it???, despite he'd had a soft pending deal with a really old guy who keeps going to the hospital. Kenny said YES, I will sell it to you, and I know he is thrilled that FRANK is keeping it! It is only $800 which is stupid cheap, so I will ask 800 profit when I price that Huckster..then the Whippet is "free", and I have a memento of Kenny!

Kenny is trying to set me up with a $$free, totally rebuilt, repainted, 34 Buick straight eight engine for my 35 LaSalle custom! He is almost sure the deal will hold. Estate cleanout! We will pick that up next week!

Kenny is forced to downsize, and that is the only reason so many of his cars are being sold. His only son is quitting his long running top-flight engine rebuild shop as he hates dealing with modern head cutting that is too often, and dealing with the public. He is taking over 1/2 of Kenny's big Morton building for a new private engine shop! Wow big changes there, so much getting sold, moved, scrapped!
He will do antiques for sure, as well as his favorite Hemi muscle car and circle track engines.

 

Frank,
That Buick straight eight should be a really fine power plant for your '35!
Congratulations! Good Fortune is smiling on you!

Ray

 

Well I hope it is not too long, because my new LaSalle friend Jim said he is not sure if even a later 30s OLDS might be too long for my 35. He said on his 36 LaSalle, which is the same length as a 34 and a 35, he says the fan is close to the radiator.

I did ask Kenny if he knew what size/series that 34 Buick might be, and he said it looks like a smaller series, so I can only hope at this point....but it is free, so not much of a gamble

I did get a return email From Jim overnight, to the pics and text I sent to him showing my 34 car and 34 engine are in a good spot to try taking that stuck head off. He wrote that he would call me today, so when I was about to start welding/grinding to finish the C50 this morning, I knew I should call him as I'd never hear the phone.

Boy, he was stressed out; said his Cad/LaS buddies that were all going to DRIVE their cars to the Cad/LaS clubs "Grand National meet" in Virginia , leaving Thursday...they changed their minds and all decided to trailer theirs! Jim does not trailer ever!..worse yet,, he has no trailer. So a friend lent him one, but that guy never hooks up the brakes. Jim took the drums off to inspect, and all brake parts are rusted and junk. He did locate new brake plates with all new shoes at Tractor Supply, but then faced with the task and now needing to install a trailer brake controller in his truck that never needed one....he decided to rent a U-Haul trailer.

Here is a pic of Jim's 36 Coupe LaSalle. Last year of the Straight Eight LaSalles. Had it since 2002 I think. It is used on local and long distances! Main difference between 35 and 36 is the hood port holes are now that long chrome vent sides...and the rounded grille like I am using on my 35 Mutt.

 

're the Buick 8......I momentarily forgot there is more than one version of those, depending on the Series. Looking it up, the 40 Series is 233 cu in, the 50 Series is 235 cu in, similar enough in bore and stroke to both be the 'short' version....the larger Series are 278 cu in and a whopping 344.8 cu in!

Series 40 and 50 are 117/119 inch wheelbases, respectively, so short engine is almost certain. Series 60 jumps to 128 inches and the Series 90 to 136 inches. The Buicks from about '36 onward have about a 4" wheelbase difference between the smaller 8 and the larger version. Some of that extra w.b. on the 90 is no doubt body length as well.

The '34 Oldsmobile 8 is similar in B&S to the small Buick and displaces 240 cu in. They should be very close in length to one another. Hoping your 'freebie' Buick is the smaller model!

Ray

 

I will find out today. I met up with Joe G at the Ashford show last night, and he wants to go today. We are leaving for Kenny's place at 9;30 then be out in Warehose Point Ct for the 10:30 hook up with Roger the guy who bought out the estate. I had to have my son and Kyle load up the heavy pieces of my old engine crane before we all left for the show. I need to load a Model A motor into Rogers Ford E350 van, then load up a Star motor in my truck for Kenny, then load the Buick....so having Joe to help will be a good thing.

Yesterday was a blur, I was at Kenny's with my "3 brake VW" at 6;20, he was in no rush to leave...said we should not get to the Mass yard before 8. So, Kenny fiddled with a winch battery to load my huckster up there, then wanted to show me a gift he had for Charlie:

^^^ this pic taken of a Mack Bulldog brass plate from a truck Kenny scrapped decades ago. Charlie has only Mack "trucks" in his huge collection of "things" that he has. In other words, no trucks there except antique Macks. But, Kenny then pulls that key off of a nail above the desk...says it is MY key for the Whippet. Says the key chain fob he made from the throw-away sealing plug thing in the spout of a 5 gallon hyd oil pail??? I was thinking, WTH?...I knew the key was in the dam Whippet in the big building yesterday, as all the keys always stay in the vehicle. Then it hit me, it was a ceremonial gift to me! He made that keyring before I arrived!

Then he said, "I need to wrap this Mack plate up like a gift...it will be more fun for Charlie if he has to open it like a Christmas present" He grabbed some old newspaper and did it up, then said it needs tape....so he grabbed that roll of black electrical tape you see there!

While he was fiddling...I snuck over to the right rear door of Kenny's fathers old 23 Dodge sedan...I was thinking "I know dam well Kenny WANTS to show off his important things", despite him saying "no internet pictures" just a month ago when I took Tim there,

I F'n knew that photo of Kenny as a young boy standing next to his Dad was on that R.R seat in the 23!


Man, I wanted to get a picture of Charlies pic of Charlie as a the same age kid, the photo of him with that stick, standing at a Rhode Island gas station in 1936...but when we at Charlies later...I go by my gut always...it was NOT the right day to ask! I will get that picture someday, you can bet your ass....and Charlie will be smiling when I do...maybe get a pic of his teddy bear if I get lucky.


Kenny desk has a flip up top with a cubby under it. He pulled out a 1993 Mopar High Performance magazine, let me borrow his reading glasses to read this article on Kenny's son, and his first Hemi car.(still has) It was "never beat" back then said Kenny..... talking of the mega$ serious street racing held on the Berlin Turnpike and Route 9. The big players would come up from NYC and Jersey for special runs. Kenny said they put 5 grand on the hood! Dam, I know the big players ran for only $100 back in the 60s when I was a teen, which seemed like a lot to me then.


Then I went to take a leak out back...the back door is open on the big building...there is the 1925 Star that George Dragone used to take his grandson out for rides... it is now decorated with Kenny-Stuff, and you see his gear for making food at the farm shows for he and Daisy his wife...



it is the end of an era..


.

 

Frank, these things, stories, photos, presents, etc. Are Priceless! Thanks for sharing them with us, Carp.

 

^^^^***I couldn't agree more!........

Ray

 

Thanks for saying that in public, Carp....I have so much more from just the last two days! Let me ponder what I should post soon, but I'm gearing up for the trip this morning.

Here is one last pic from coming back from the ashford show last night. I always liked the scene in American Graffiti where Milner's 32 is going past the gas pumps at the staion where he uncorked his headers for the race.
This pin taken at the intersection of Rt 44 and Rt 195 in Mansfield CT. The CVS to the left...that is where Dick's Mobil was when I was a teen working nearby. The station on the right was Sheldon's American. Where I am standing, is now a Cumberland Stores, but was a station named "Repubic of UConn", an Esso? I think that place or one of these 3 was where an old time badass named Joe Vesley ran his station, He had a 50s built 1934 Ford 5 window flattie, spring-ahead front end, channel.no chop, had cycle fenders back then because I bought the welded spiders 34 rear 7-8 years back, and I saw the fender brace welds on the backing plates!, He last drove it in 66. My friend Joe G rode in it at times way back... Joe G told me:"we were doing 100mph on the flats heading towards his station one night". Joe V just passed less that 2 years ago, but did get a ride in his old coupe a year prior...now a SBF, A/T, 9". Joe V could not drive anymore so his only son Brian was driving it. No plates! but his dad was smiling like a kid on Christmas morning. Brian has it now.



I did really find out that the 32 IS my sons car in his own head right before we got there. My son started the 32 at the show to go home, but I was wondering why the hell he was warming it up??? He said it is cold blooded...but I was thinking that the motor is not stone cold???

He pulls out easy, gets it straight...then boots it just a tick, rams the clutch pedal back down, revs it to the moon, dumps the clutch and both tires churned like a posi..light fishtail but he is handling it like a pro...Damn, that Olds is f'g got some nuts!! He says a mile down the road..."that was half throttle after it started to burn!!

 

Another beauty Frank, think your Son is liking that Hot Rod! Worked at an Esso Service Station after the service and still remember it as one of my favorite times of life. Nothing too exciting, but memorable none the less! Is there a build thread for the 32? I have seen some of the later stuff, but just wondering if there's posts from the beginning. Keep us posted on your exploits, I Know that they'll be interesting. Seems as though your area was a little hotbed of hotrods! Later