Heres the story....In 1973 my Dad purchased a 1937 Ford Coupe, all original little rough around the edges but had somewhere short of 25000 miles. In 75 my parents drove it to the Nats in Tulsa but I guess didn't make it back. The story is a little fuzy from here, long before I was born! Could be that was the last time the car ran or it may have made a come back sometime in the following 10 years. However you look at it the car has been sitting a very long time! For Christmas my brothers and I are collecting the parts to bring it back and hope to spend that weekend doing so. I know the entire fuel system will need to be gone through and to that end I already have a poly gas tank and have talked to several places I can get a carb kit and a fuel pump. What else might I need to do? I am slightly afraid the motor will be stuck, any recommendations for what I can do to remedy this? I have limited access to the car because my dad will spot me, I could mess with it for a short time, maybe long enough to pull the plugs and stick some oil in the cylinders. Any other suggestions? Also anybody know what oil it will take, its a V860. Should I try to collect ignition parts, and what, I will be getting a new 6 volt battery. This car has been around for longer then I have been alive and I wanna see it out of the shed and maybe even get to drive it! Help me out guys.....
You come to the right place for help. But I caution you right from the start. I have blown a 37 ford coupe in a million pieces and put it all back together again bolt by bolt with a few variations. Its not going to happen in a week or month or two months. I think you just want to get this thing close to just starting and running on the road right??? I admire your last minute wishes for your pop but be forwarned.. the chance of driving it up his driveway on Christmas morning is very thin. Especially if your not experienced with getting one going like this. I will help you alot along the way. But I cant be here every minute. post here to get help from others, Pm me when you think i can help. Good luck..you're going to need it.
You actually need to rebuild your carbs, and ignition probably your distributor and possibly your generator. you could do it now or better yet farm it out to get things done timely. In the mean time.... Pull all your plugs right away. Throw in alot of Marvel mystery oil by squirting it into each combustion chamber, Continually do this every day for a week. Put the engine in gear and get a few guys to push it to see if the engine will turn over. If its stuck we will go to the next problem later down the road.
you stated it didn't make it back from the "1975 street rod nationals in Tulsa" obviously it got home..probabilly not under it's own power?...so the first thing i would do is figure out what happened...engine blew up? brakes go out? wiring burnt? etc? all the new points , carb kits , etc in the world won't make much difference if the clutch is shot... good luck
[ Also anybody know what oil it will take, its a V860. Should I try to collect ignition parts, and what, I will be getting a new 6 volt battery. Oil Spec. is S.A.E. viscosity; above 90 F. use SAE 50, 100 F to 30 F use SAE 40, 65 F to 20 F. use SAE 30, 50F to 0 F use SAE 20 or 20W, 30 F to a minus 15 F use 10 or 10W. Some additional info you may find handy is Normal oil pressure is 30lbs. at 3200 RPM. Capacity of oil tank is 4 quarts. Cylinder compression reading is 150 lbs. at 2800 RPM. or 116 lbs. at cranking speed. Firing order is 1-5-4-8-6-3-7-2.; Spark plug gap = .025 in., Breaker gap= .014-.016 in., spark timing 4 degrees before TDC. Hope this helps. CHEERS !!! RD Zimmerman, Louisburg, KS.
No No No, You guys need to take the time and read the thread through.. the one pictured is not the one being resurrected by wheelbarrowsgarage. It is the one I resurrected. He took off immediately after posting. He must have figured he has alot of work to do.
Sounds kinda like my '38 when I got it - 'cept mine had run in recent years. Just not far or good. I had to clean out my gas tank & run new fuel lines. Rebuilt the carb. Installed an electric fuel pump & a coil conversion kit. In the cover of darkness, a few minutes at a time though, it would have taken a year - & mine had actually ran & had gone down the road in its recent past. Ask all the questions you can think of here. Work fast, hard, & smart. Plan "B" might be to present Dad with a pile of parts on the condition that you're the caretaker. JH
Thanks for the help so far guys. Yes, you are right it did make it back from Tulsa, Grandpa I guess pulled it back??? Like I said that was way before me. As I understand it the reason the car was parked was the Carb. Thus the reason for already looking for those parts. Other then that it was in fine condtion and even to this day although quite dry rotted all 4 tires are still holding air! At best I will have the oportunity to stick some oil down the cylinders beforehand, other then that its just gonna be collecting parts. While not a mechanic I am pretty good at turning wrenches, as is my dad, we have a full shop including lift and both of my brothers will be home for the weekend. Maybe we won't make it but we will sure give it a try! After just looking at it for 28 years just putting around the yard will be just fine....road trips can come later. rdzimm2001 thanks for the oil info, I will have to pick some up now. Guess I will be looking for some ignition components as well. Wish I could do it all ahead of time but just don't have the access! If anything is worth updating I will do so and expect some pictures come Christmas day, first time it will have seen the light in at least 5 years and maybe 8 or 9!
It does not look like a V8 60 as it looks a little larger,I am not a flathead expert but it looks like a 38 to early 40s 85 HP to me as the 37s had the waterpumps that mount on the heads. Jeff
The V8-60 can be correctly identified by the fact that they only have 17 bolts / studs holding the head on. All versions 37-40 have the water pumps mounted on the front cover plate. If it's a true 37 version, do a pressure test of the cooling system before firing it up, to ensure that the tin side plates of the engine are still intact and do not leak. I would also suggest a real good flush of the radiator and engine to get rid of any crud which may be laying around inside the engine. If the carb was the source of the original problem, and the carb is an origianls " Stromberg 81" and is salvageable, make sure you rebuild the entire carb to include the accelerator pump. These carbs can be real leakers and can cause not only running problems, but a fire hazard as well, especially if the float sticks. I know this sounds like a lot of extra work, but it may be time well spent. Good Luck and let us knows how it goes. CHEERS !!!!! RD Zimmerman, Louisburg,KS.
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