Getting Started on a 32 Tudor

jim1932

jim1932

Well-known member
OK in a few weeks I am getting started on my Uncle's...now my... 32 Tudor. It was driven on the road 6 or 7 years ago and has been in storage. My uncle is no longer around ot ask how it was set up for storage. I know the motor turns over and it had a broken ear where the carb mounts to the motor that was recently repaired.

MY question is, what do I need to do, and what do I need on hand to start the car (gaskets, plugs, special tools). Assume I know nothing (which isn't far from the truth). So far I know to drop the oil pan to look for sludge, but I assume I need a set of gaskets before I replace it? How do I check the radiator for sludge. Is this an older battery set up? If the car is in good condition, how do you start it? I assume you do certain things with the spark advance? All warnings appreciated.:confused:
 
Just draining and refilling the oil sump might be all you need to do then do a good pre-oil with the starter turning & plugs out. If it has a filter housing, replace the filter and clean out the canister. You can clean the pan out if you want to see the internal condition of things but it's not an easy task.

Most common problem is fuel system contamination. The fuel becomes unstable after a time and turns into a turpentine & gummy shellac like mixture. This crud fouls the bottom of the fuel tank and can plug the fuel line. You'll likely need to drain what you can from the tank and try to get a look in there. You can get lucky sometimes and it will still be useable without pulling the tank.

With the ignition system, the condenser is usually the weak link but that depends on whether the car is in a dry corrosion limited storage condition. You need to pre-oil the cylinders with motor oil or marvel mystery oil (or both). This will get the rings and hopefully the valves ready to start working again. The old distributor has an early form of automatic advance that works pretty well but can get sticky from a long sleep. You'd have to pull the whole thing off to do internal maintenance and you'll need a good reference manual to do that. You might just make sure you have good spark first then go from there.

Break a Leg
Kerby
 
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When you say "Is this an older battery set up?" you mean is it positive ground the answer is yes. Also be sure to use cables designed for 6 volts (they are heavier) and not what the counter man sells you at the local auto parts store based on them being the right length. You should have a fire extinguisher handy since dry gaskets tend to leak gas (you should have one in the garage at all times anyway) and old insulation tends to have shorts. You can get a reproduction of the original owner's manual from most of the suppliers for less than $10 and it tells how Ford wanted the new owners to start the car.

Charlie Stephens
 
Like Charlie mentioned, it should be a 6-volt group 1 type battery unless it was modified. The 6-volt batterys should be available in your area but you might have to do some calling around. They are also available from many of the early Ford parts suppliers but they will have to be serviced with electrolyte and charged up with a battery charger capable of doing the 6-volt charge.

As far as starting, turn on the key, flip the power switch on, pull the choke, then push the start button. Ford made "Instruction Books/Owners manuals" for every year and they are really good references for all sorts of operation, lubrication, and preventative type maintenance. They made one for the 4-cylinders and one for the V8 types. There was a "Service Instructions" manual as well for the 1932. You might also want to invest in the 32 thru 36 Engine & Chassis Repair Manual if you plan on doing all your own maintenance. Macs carries all of these books as well as several other parts sales outfits.

The radiator can get crud stuck in the tubes of the core but you would have to take it to a radiator shop to get it rodded out if it tries to overheat. You might try flushing it with water with one or both of the bottom hoses off to see how well it passes water through. You can wait till after you get it running to do that. It would give you a chance to put some flush in there and rinse the system out real well before resealing it and putting coolant back in. You might need hoses & a water pump/fan/gen belt too. the old rubber only lasts so long.

Kerby
 
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It's a 4.

I have the service manuals coming. Just wondering if there are certain pieces I need to have on hand like gasket sets or an air filter? is there an aftermarket oil filter, gas filter? These sort of things... Is Mac's the typical place to get these? Are there Maintenence items I should have on hand? I know I can't run down to NAPA for parts for this one, and would like to be prepared.
 
I have some local help in Massachusetts (where the car is). We certainly have access to several mechanics who have worked on old cars and motors, just not on a B. My dads' neighbor has restored a number of plymouths including one about that age.

If there is anyone with experience with the flathead 4 B motor in northern Berkshire county with nothing to do the week before christmas .....

But even asking someone to come over and help...what should I have already bought so we don't waste time. I don't mind buying gaskets or rebuild kits (within reason) that I might not use for a while. I would rather do that than waste the week I was planning on working on it, by not having something on hand.
 
I have put out some feelers for the local model A club up there, its a fairly rural area(northwestern Massachusetts), so we will see what we get. I have decided to go with a motor gasket kit (without the head gasket), spark plugs, points, rotor and condensor. I am going to hope the water pump, fuel pump and carb are OK. If not I will end up taking them off for rebuild, or more likely buying an aftermarket one and then taking the time to rebuild the originals over the winter.

Although I would love to see it run, the biggest goal of this trip is to determine what needs to be done on the car, so I can find the parts and plan repairs. Lots and lots of photos will be taken.

I also have to start battle with the Massachusetts Registry or motor vehicles. My cousin could not find the title in the estate papers and per the registry it might not have one. I know it was on the road not that long ago, so it is mainly a matter of getting the numbers off the car and waiting for them to research it. Apparently if you owned the car since prior to 1972 (when they started requiring titles), you were grandfathered in and did not get a title unless you asked for it. What a pain...
 
Jim, I'm in Mass. and have gone through the RMV before and don't count on them to do any legwork for you to get a title. They are looking for a documented history of the car that shows you to be the legitimate owner. They will accept a written history signed by the previous owner that is notarized (not possible if the owner is dead). Titles for antique cars didn't began to be requirred until around 1985. I would gather up all the paperwork including old registrations that you can before going to the RMV. Be prepared to pay the Ma. sales tax, presently at 6.25% of current NADA value.Good luck, Barry
 
Jim,

I've been following your thread. Very cool inheritance. I inherited my 32 B Woody that my parents got in NH. My wagon is originally from MA. I have the original MA. registration. I have tried to get info from the DMV, but to no avail.

Good luck and if you need anything, I am located in northwestern CT. If you want, pm me your MA. address.

Keep V-8ing and 4-banging!
 
Nice car, Hoop has given you some good information about starting your car, even with limited experience you should be able to get this started.

My first suggestion is get a reference book to fall back on for information. The best book to start with is the Ford Service Bulletin book 1932-37. This gives you basic specs and procedures to follow when attempting repairs. If you are going to work on your car you need it! And gives you factory service and repair instructions on the following operations.

Because your engine is an unknown it is a good idea to drop the pan and remove all the sludge deposited in the bottom and prevent it from being picked up by the oil pump or worse yet starving the oil pump and killing the bearings. It is a good idea to purchase an oil pan gasket set and drop the oil pan. After cleaning and reinstallation, refill with straight 30W non detergent oil like you use in your lawn mower. With the pan off you can give the sludge a check for bearing material indicating potential rod or main bearing issues.

Assuming everything is Ok when you pulled the pan and reinstalled it. The next step is to
get the engine ready to run. Mark the firing order and pull all the spark plugs and squirt the in cylinders a good spray of WD-40 or other spray mist to lube the cylinder wall and then spin the engine over with the hand crank to prevenbt the cylinders from running dry.. Now this is not a rebuild scenario, its just a get it running scenario.

Next to the ignition, Do not remove the distributor or loosen it. In most cases the distributor is set for the correct timing, it just hasn't been operated for a while so the only issue is corrosion on the points. Carefully remove the cap and take a emery board finger nail file and just clean off any corrosion on the point contact surface. Clean off any corrosion on the cap and rotor contacts also. At this time you can check the ignition with the help of a battery charger. Ground the charger to the block and hook the power lead to the power lead post of the distributor. If you take a small screw driver and push the point contacts open you should see a small spark jump, that means you have a circuit and power to the distributor. Disconnect the battery charger. After you have your vehicle running you can go back and replace any old parts with new tune up parts but the object is to get the engine running not spend a bunch of money on parts you dont need yet. If you have spark now you need fuel.

Since this car has been setting for a period of time there is a pretty good chance that the fuel pump diaphram is junk so lets just skip rebuilding the fuel pump for now and gravity feed the carb by suppling fuel from an old lawn mover gas tank, this is where things get trickey.

The carb is fairly basic but needs some attention to remove any old sediment. Remove the carb from the manifold and separate the bowl from the body being crefull not to tear the gasket. Before you attempt this stage it might be a good idea to get a gasket kit to insure that you have the repair parts if you need them as well as determine if there is a Model A carb or the correct Model B carb installed on the engine. Using Brake kleen spray the interior float bowl to clean any debris and remove the high speed adjustment screw and the idle ajustment mixture screw and make sure that you can spray fluid through these passages. Reassemble and reinstall the carb and make up a siphon feed line from the temporary gas tank.

Now its ready to try and start the engine. Put some gas in the temporay tank to fill up the carb. Hook up the battery, remember this is a Positive ground vehicle. Now check the circuit continuity, switch the steering column switch to on, and again take a small screw driver and see if there is a small spark when you open the points, this indicates that the wiring harness is OK. Turn off the steering column switch. Now with the pull starter switch attempt to crank the engine over, spinning indicates the starter works. Now replace the ignition rotor, cap and coil wire, make sure the coil wire high tension lead is inserted in the coil under the dash. Hook up the spark plugs to the brass wires and cap in firing order and place the plugs next to there respective cylinders. Now switch the steering column switch to ON and reach over the engine and engage the starter pull manually and as the engine spins over look for the plugs to fire with a spark. If they fire you are ready to start the engine. Switch the column switch to Off and installl the spark plugs. Before installing the plugs give a ample shot of spray engine starting either to each cylinder. You may have to assist the engine to pull fuel on its first attempt with spray either in the carb, do not over do it and cause fuel to run out the carb mouth or overspray to cause a fire . A fire extinquisher handy is a good idea just for safety purposes. Give a quick squirt of spray starting fluid in the cab opening and close the choke, flip the ignition switch to the on position and pull the starter cable to turn the engine over and you should have the engine start to run as you open the choke slowly. It might take a couple tries but it should start. It might not run like a purring kitten but this will then allow you to reread the service manual and then begin to go back and re service the ignition carb and fuel pump with rebuild parts and begin to make the vehicle road worthy once more.

Now I'm sure other people have other ideas but this is just a quick method to get things started. There are a bunch of other procedures also but just getting it running is your first plan of attack.
 
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Jim,

Your story reminds me of when I purchased my Model B roadster back in '97. It was totally restored back in the early 80's but had been sitting in the previous owner's garage for about 10 years without starting it from time to time. He had lost insterest in it. Anyway, after I purchased the car, I took it home (trailered). I also wanted to start it...badly! But after checking the gas tank, I discovered that he had left about a half tank of gas in it. Not good! The gas turned to "varnish" and had eaton about half of the pickup tube off. So, I removed the tank and took it to our local radiator shop for cleaning and sealing. Installed another gas pickup tube assembly...made certain that the fuel line was not obstructed to the fuel pump. I also removed the carb, took it apart and "bench" cleaned it, installed new gaskets (Mac'c) and re-installed it. I them removed the spark plugs, put a little oil in the cylinders and turned the engine over a few times. Put some new..clean gas in the tank...cranked it a few more times without the plugs in. Then I put a squirt of gas in each cylinder, reinstalled the plugs (after cleaning them) and tried to start the car. Nothing! I then cleaned the points (emery paper) and tried starting again. The rascal fired right up!! I may have changed the oil before starting...I forget. This all took about 30 days after I got the car home.

I still have the roadster (click on my avatar and view pics).

Good luck with your "B". Pat
 
Although I do not have it in hand yet, I did order the 1932 - 1936 Ford engine and Chasis repair manual from Sullivan garage. Is this the same book?

I am thinking I may try to stay away from the title in MAssachusetts. Although MAryland is not much better, if that is where I will eventually title it, that is where I should focus the effort. I think if I can show that the car is not required ot have a title in Massachusetts I can go with a notorized bill of sale from th eowner. I did find out today that it did not pass through the estate but my uncle sold it to my cousin before he died. so at least we have record of him transfering the car. Fortunately I also found out the license plates are still on the car os I have a specific record to go to (Tag number and last year renewed).
 
There is Joy in mudville...... My cousin went through another box and found the car papers. Best one so far! She has the bill of sale from when my uncle bought the car in 1959 for the grand sum of..... $40! Also she said the VIN number is listed as 5085XXX (X's added by me). To bad he wasn't much of a picture taker, I doubt she has any photos from then. She also found the massachusetts title so I am freed from dealing with that registry hell. One more week till I get to it and then I will post up pictures.
 
I'd like to emphasize something else for your continuing education Jim. There are lots of vendors in this hobby. They all care about these old Fords to some degree or other, and are usually decent to their customers. Some go the extra mile and take the time to help those on these boards with their experience even though they don't make a penny on taking half an hour out of their day to type out advice as Dick has done above. That's one of the reasons why some of us have been long time, happy customers of his. Just a thought.
 
Bob,

Thanks for pointing that out. I would not have noticed Dick is a vendor. I will definately use Dick for any thing he can supply, as he is about an hour away from where my car is (near Pittsfield). Is there a post or listing of who is a vendor? I would especially be interested in folks near the NY-MA-VT border and Vendors near DC.
 
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Following this one with interest.
Dick: Thanks for the detailed "get 'er running" procedure - pretty generic and useful for almost any long sitting project.

Mart.
 
jim1932 said:
I have put out some feelers for the local model A club up there, its a fairly rural area(northwestern Massachusetts), so we will see what we get. I have decided to go with a motor gasket kit (without the head gasket), spark plugs, points, rotor and condensor. I am going to hope the water pump, fuel pump and carb are OK. If not I will end up taking them off for rebuild, or more likely buying an aftermarket one and then taking the time to rebuild the originals over the winter.

Although I would love to see it run, the biggest goal of this trip is to determine what needs to be done on the car, so I can find the parts and plan repairs. Lots and lots of photos will be taken.

I also have to start battle with the Massachusetts Registry or motor vehicles. My cousin could not find the title in the estate papers and per the registry it might not have one. I know it was on the road not that long ago, so it is mainly a matter of getting the numbers off the car and waiting for them to research it. Apparently if you owned the car since prior to 1972 (when they started requiring titles), you were grandfathered in and did not get a title unless you asked for it. What a pain...
Click to expand...
first thing check compresson take out one plug at a time hold your thumb over hole if you have compresson it will pop your thumb up check all four this will tell you if any valves are stuck
 
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