Well I guess i shouldnt say i got it for him.. but hes been sayin how bad he wants a restored one. he had one before ww2 and when he went away his family sold it. hes had the money and the desire but the idea of going out of town to see one was a turn off. I'm always lookin through craigs list and I saw one right down the block. we went and looked at it and grampa was stunned couldnt hardly speak and was smiling ear to ear. the owner had passed and the wife was trying to sell it. the ad said 11000, and i hadnt asked yet but i she had mentioned she started at like 15 and over the last year come down more and more. the car has been converted to 12v which i am stoked about and the battery was dead along with 4 flat (brand spankin new) bias ply tires so it was obvious it had been sitting. we started it up and it took a little fiddlin and warmin to get it to want to idle and even after it didnt seem to react well to throttle increase. its not a zenith it has some type of one barrel. anyway got her idling and gramps so so what do u think? Now iI gotta say i'm a 60's chevy guy. i recently restored a 69 caprice frame on and am workin on my 68 impala ive had since i was 18. But man just had to tell him i think this thing is stunning. he gave them 100$ to hold it till today when we go pick it up. we've done alot of looking around on the net and i feel like at $11,000 he's getting more of a buyers price on this beautiful car. Pics to Follow if people seem interested! and i really hope there are because i'm gonna have lots of questions.
Got Gramps a 31 Coupe
- Thread starter PSXPAK
- Start date
1930artdeco
Well-known member
Nice looking car! I think if everything is as good as it looks you did well. You have a hot water heater installed (not stock but if it works leave it as it gets there). The car is a weber downdraft I believe, which might be a two barrel? Ask and post pics away! We love pics and be prepared to be converted.
Mike
Mike
Charlie Stephens
Well-known member
I agree that it looks like a Stromberg 2 barrel that was used on the V8 Fords form 1934 to somewhere in the fifties. There might be some numbers cast into it that would narrow it down ("81", "97" etc). One problem you are going to have is that the "modern" gas will dissolve gaskets in the carburetor and also rubber hoses (like the one between the fuel filter and the carburetor). Watch for leaks until you have a chance to update the gaskets and hoses. My guess about not reacting well to the throttle increase is that there is something plugged in the carburetor but it is definitely marginal. Full throttle under load wound probably empty the carburetor and you might have to back up hills to keep the gas tank higher than the carburetor.
Charlie Stephens
Charlie Stephens
Charlie Stephens
Well-known member
If the car did not come with an instruction book you should get one. They are available as reproductions and used to sell for $6 but I am sure the price has gone up. When you get one tell the supplier the year of your car and that it has a “flat” firewall (they should understand) as they were slightly different in the illustrations. Look over the lubrication chart as there were a few places to lubricate that didn’t exist on a 60’s Chevy. Be sure to note that when lubricating the rear wheel bearing it takes a couple of pumps from a manual grease gun. If you take it to a modern service station they will use a pressure gun and fill the entire backing plate and brakes with lubricant. Lubricated brake shoes don’t stop very well. The lubrication chart specifies “pressure gun” lubricant but a lot of guys use wheel bearing grease. Don’t try to remove the rear drum from the car without the correct puller. I use a reproduction K R Wilson puller but other good ones have been discussed in the archives. Don’t get one that pulls from the studs, it needs to pull from the groove in the hub. It looks like a nice car and should be fun. You should replace the tires even if they look “good” but are over 10 years old. They have a date code on the tires you can check. If the serial number on the original is the one that came with the car it was built slightly after April 1931 (see http://www.mafca.com/data_eng_production.html). The numbers in the table are the dates the engines were produced and they were shipped to the assembly plants for installation. Be sure to check the number on paperwork against the number on the engine or you will have a problem registering it.
Charlie Stephens
Charlie Stephens
CarlG
Well-known member
I have a Weber that I have been running on gravity for 4 years now. It has about a 6-inch drop from the bottom of the tank to the top of the carb bowl. I have run the tank down to almost nothing and it would still run just fine (took 10.964 gallons to fill the tank, that's how far down it was.)
The guys here that have had this same carb and used fuel pumps, have had problems with their fuel pumps quitting on them at the most inopportune moments, so have now taken them off and are strictly using gravity.
The guys here that have had this same carb and used fuel pumps, have had problems with their fuel pumps quitting on them at the most inopportune moments, so have now taken them off and are strictly using gravity.
christian
Senior Member
I dunno Carl, I gave it a good shot with the gravity flow and it just wasnt working out. Id love to be able to run it gravity but, as soon as I popped the pump on, BINGO, instant relief.
The car did run gravity, but was completely dead on acceleration, and completely choked out when the second barrel opened up.
I keep the fuel line I used to run gravity under the drivers seat. If / when the pump quits, I can just swap it in, in less than a minute and limp home (or to any auto parts store for a replacement).
Gramps 31 Coupe
So the carb is a 94 im guessing from the number 94 stamped on the back of it. i'll have to check into those little fuel pumps. ultimately i know gramps would prefer to have it stock and I think i have everything but the carb to put it back. We had a great day with it. Started out with a bath and towel dry. It needed a battery so we put a yellow top in it. the starter solenoid broke where the positive lead from the battery goes during so replaced that as well. the previous owner had removed the rumble seats for luggage so we put those back in also. we hung out in the garage the whole day practically. i dusted off his cd's that he never ever uses and he admired the car while listening to sinatra and glenn miller
So the carb is a 94 im guessing from the number 94 stamped on the back of it. i'll have to check into those little fuel pumps. ultimately i know gramps would prefer to have it stock and I think i have everything but the carb to put it back. We had a great day with it. Started out with a bath and towel dry. It needed a battery so we put a yellow top in it. the starter solenoid broke where the positive lead from the battery goes during so replaced that as well. the previous owner had removed the rumble seats for luggage so we put those back in also. we hung out in the garage the whole day practically. i dusted off his cd's that he never ever uses and he admired the car while listening to sinatra and glenn miller
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Tom Wesenberg
Well-known member
Nice looking car and heater and you'll like the heater on cool nights. I'd go back to original carb also.
Charlie Stephens
Well-known member
You should be able to swap that carb/manifold for an original one plus get some extra cash. You might want to replace the original fan with a reproduction aluminum one. The original ones are known for coming apart at he worst time.
Charlie Stephens
Charlie Stephens
seems like any time would be aweful for the fan to come apart, it actually came with another one like it but i think shorter blades. ill definately have to examine it closely to make sure its solid. thinking on the extra parts pic, the black manifold is the origional intake correct? and they told me they put longer gears so i know what the rear end is from, but what are the triangular brackets and the linkage in that pic?
Tom Wesenberg
Well-known member
They are probably trunk hinges from the changeover to a rumble seat. The long rod is the choke rod for the original carb. Yes, that is the correct manifold, but it should be engine green. And, the other linkage is the original throttle linkage that gets bolted to the top two flywheel cover bolts, along with some shims for the cover alignment.
Charlie Stephens
Well-known member
From the lack of brake rods in the picture it looks like it has hydraulic brakes. Have someone that knows what they are doing look over the conversion. It is unbelievable how bad some of them are done. If it has hydraulic brakes invest in some safety clips for the rear drums as a high priority.
Charlie Stephens
Charlie Stephens
i'll have to look again but i'm pretty sure its mechanical i saw all the linkage going to the front wheels didnt really examine the back ones yet. I'll be doing all the work on this car. I've had about every bolt off my 68 over the last 10 years and this car is just so fantasticaly simple by comparison. Just a little bit different. love that theres a huge community for these.
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1930artdeco
Well-known member
I noticed that there is an axle shim in the spare parts. Be careful when you get into the rear brakes. There might be one or two on the car. If you don't have one, get a hub puller (original preferably) as that is only way to get the rear hubs off.
Mike
Mike
I had a 49 plymouth deluxe, I had to get a tool to pull the rear drums on that too, let it go with the car tho