Restoration is too grandiose a word for the repairs I have been doing on my old 1939 Cadillac 39-6127 Coupé. I first saw the car back in the Spring of 1996 at a show I was doing with one of our local car clubs. I had my trusty 1929 Hudson Town Sedan out and thought it was as modern a car as I might ever care to have. It has a powerful F-head motor, 4 wheel brakes and shock absorbers - what more could I want?
A pal of mine brought this Caddie Coupé and set it out with a for sale sign on it. He was trying to move it for a pal. The car was somewhat shabby and had a number of problems but I loved the look of the thing. That streamline moderne front end and fenders had long made the '39 Caddies among my favorite cars of the era to look at. One of the things I do is vintage graphic design and I thought that car was a real standout example of the best of prewar art on wheels. I took pictures and thought no more about the Caddie.
Sometime in the middle of the night that little green Coupé came back to me. It was gorgeous, it did run & I could afford it if I took out a loan. Didn't I really need a modern car for long distance freeway use? Mebbee that Caddie was worth a second look. I'm not really an impulsive fellow and assumed the car would have been sold so I forgot about it - until the next time I was jawboning with that particular cronie on the blower. I asked him what had become of the Coupé. Nuthin, he said, it was still settin in his driveway . . .
We set up a time to take a look at the car and one thing led to another & I ended driving it, loving it and making an offer to the owner through my pal. More than a month went by before the offer was accepted and I took delivery.
The car had been painted and upholstered and showed the results of many years of use as a transportation car. It had often been repaired indifferently just to patch it up enough to get to work the next day.
One oddity was that the front fenders were only being held on by a couple of loose bolts. It almost looks like somebody had had the car apart and put it back together hurriedly just to sell it quickly. There are still bits I find that are loose and rattle.
I did a lot of repair and got the car running pretty well. It became a regular tour car for me and it always went to the WWII themed annual airshow at Chino Airport where I was in charge of the collector car display there for many years. Eventually the car was set aside as it needed more work than I could do at the time to keep it running & improve it. It sat for something like 5 years waiting for its turn in the project hierarchy.
This past Fall, the then current Model T project got stalled and I started in on the Caddie. I'll detail some of the work done later but thought I would start this "blog" with some pictures of the car as it is right now. They were taken this past Sunday, February 9, 2014 at the SoCal Chapter of the CLC meet at the Lakewood Country Club. This was the first time I had made this event in ten years and I spruced the Coupé up for the event. Actually, that's wrong. I used the occasion to motivate me to get work done that was already long overdue. In any case, here it is just as it is now!
Vintage Paul
That's one fine looking car!
Very nice. It is easy to see how you were drawn to the car.
LICENSE PLATE TOPPERS
After the long slumber and a few months of work the Caddie has now been on its second tour. The first was mostly freeway work traveling along between 60 and 75 mph. Even at these speeds this 75 year old car just whispers along. There are a few issues with these speeds but I'll go into them at another time.
The second tour was with the Orange County Model T Ford Club and was entirely on surface streets at speeds which never exceeded 30 mph. Often progress was reduced to a walking pace. The big Cadillac took all of this without protest, bumbling along at 10 mph in high and once or twice even picking up from 5 mph without more than a minor stumble. I think that it might even do better once the new carb is built & installed. That will be a project for the near future.
The day before the tour I installed a couple of license plate toppers that I thought fit the personality or "legend" of this car. One of the activities that I have often used this Caddie for in the past were WWII related events such as air shows & Victory dances. This is a real WWII car having been built around the time that Hitler & Stalin invaded Poland and ignited that awful war.
I have been collecting WWII era items to go with the car for years and recently found two plate toppers on eBay that enhance this identity. The first is a small round American Airlines emblem that I mounted on the front plate. The second is a larger topper mounted on the rear plate that depicts an American soldier strangling a Japanese soldier. It has a printed slogan that accurately captures the passions so many Americans felt in the aftermath of Pearl Harbor. My own father joined the Marines and might have resonated with these feelings.
No sooner did I get parked at the meeting place for the tour than I was approached by a fellow who saw the topper and said it brought back the strong patriotic feelings the he and his pals experienced.
These toppers are modern reproductions made from actual vintage examples. They are for sale on eBay now.
To protect the toppers from the car cover and to protect the cover from the sharpish edges of the toppers, I cobbled up some covers made from foam packing wrap cut & stapled together. These were quick & easy to make and may do some good.
Vintage Paul
IGNITION PT 1
This car had been laid up for various issues and had been sitting for some years. One problem it had had for a very long time was a sort of two position running mode. The motor would often be as sweet running as I could wish and then suddenly turn nasty. It was hard to notice while driving but after slowing to a stop at a traffic light it would run rough and sometimes even stall. Stalling was always a problem as hot starts were so difficult.
After resurrection this winter, the problem continued and the hot starts were worse than ever. It was high time to fix this! The fuel pump & carb had been gone through already (I'll make this a separate set of posts about this as I really did something silly enough to make it worth breaking it out) so it was time to look at the ignition again.
The points, plugs, condenser, cap rotor & wires were all around 15 years old so new replacements were ordered. The ignition wires and boots were ordered from Restoration Supply who have "the Right Stuff" to complete the 1940s look. The rest was ordered from various eBay suppliers since Cooper Cadillac Parts is on a hiatus.
I had heard good things about the Pertronix ignition so one of their Ignitor sets with the Flamethrower coil was ordered also from an eBay seller.
The pics below show how things looked at the start. Notice the wire at the top of the coil lid. I remember it being raggedy before, now it was bare & touching the ElecroLock housing. It is amazing that the motor ran at all!
The coil bracket was an obvious universal replacement so a new one was ordered from Restoration Supply, one that at least looks period correct even if it isn't. The 1939 Cadillac should have an ElectroLock with the special coil that fits it. I see some folks have found these bits in good running condition. I have never seen them for sale and am far from sure that they will really work well in as found condition. I installed the new Flamethrower coil for reliability. The work will be described in the next installment.
Vintage Paul
Hello Paul
I enjoyed our conversation and seeing your Cadillac 6127 Coupe at the Lakewood Country Club.
Paul,
I agree with you that collecting items from your car's era add to the fun. I have a '39 LaSalle, and recently purchased some Wendell Willkie campaign stickers. He, of course ran unsuccessfuly against FDR in 1940. I also found a Willkie license plate topper on eBay that was a bit rusty. Unfurtunately, I tried to clean it up with Evapo-Rust (it's supposed to be safe on painted surfaces, but it's not!) So, I now have a 1940's era license plate topper that doesn't say anything! Guess I could make my own! I enjoyed your pictures very much. Thanks for posting.
Really looking forward to reading about your efforts, or should I say, trials and tribulations. We do enjoy this hobby, right?
Paul- I notice you have what is probably a 40 or so distributor with vacuum advance. Which is better than the 39 for driving. BUT, before you buy lots of parts for your engine, you might want to double-check the engine number to make sure you are still dealing with a '39. For many of us, the pre-war car we bought came with a later, post-war flathead replacement. Just sayin'.
Mike Simmons
A quick and easy way to determine. Where does the oil pressure gauge line come off? Next to the distributor? If so it should be 37, 38 or 39. Or does it come off down below the left head on the side, near the back of the motor? If so it should be 40 or after.
In one of the photos I can see what appears to be a copper pressure gauge line running next to the distributor.
Thanks guys! C.R., do you remember what we spoke about at Lakewood? I jabbered with quite a few folks and didn't get any names. Mebbee next year I'll wear a name badge . . .
What a terrible thing to happen to your Wendell Wilkie topper! Happily for all of us, some of these toppers are being reproduced. The ones on my car now are new but made using originals as a master.
Thanks to a thread on this forum some weeks ago I was able to track down the number on this motor. It is a 1939 series 61 motor and the last three numbers of the serial number are clearly legible. I had always thought that the motor had to have been swapped out at some point as the rest of the car shows signs of long hard use. Miracles can happen!
The carb is from a '46-'48 model and the dizzy is '40 or later. I recently found a 1940 Stromberg & that will go on there eventually.
The car is apart again so the steering wheel can be repaired and done up with a leather cover. This turned out to be a messy project and I'll post about it later!
Vintage Paul
Hello Paul
I'm the bald ugly guy at Lakewood that was persuading everyone to go buy a LaSalle.
I don't recall seeing a single LaSalle this year at Lakewood. Ten or so years ago they parked me next to a 1939 LaSalle Coupé. These cars share the same body but different chassis & front end sheet metal. It was fun to compare. That LaSalle also had an original trunk and I shot some pics of the material that lined it, very different from what I expected. Mine was all redone by some previous owner in nice but non original material.
Mebbee next year we'll know each other by our posts here . . .
Vintage Paul
IGNITION PT 2
Pulling the dizzy on this car was really easy. Just disconnect the primary coil wire at the coil, unclip the two clips that hold the cap on and remove the cap screw that holds the clamp in place. The whole thing pulls straight out with no trauma at all. Cadillac makes the shaft with an offset so it is also very easy to reinstall with no mental gymnastics trying to figure how to get the thing in the right place to run. I wish everybody did this!
With the dizzy on the bench and easy to get at, the point gap was checked. It was a good deal less that it was when I installed the points a decade and a half ago, another reason the motor ran poorly . . .
Everything that I could get off came off for a clean, repainting & lube. I was hoping the data plate on the dizzy might be OK once the existing paint was removed. Sadly this was not the case, somebody had removed the original logo and data so I just painted over the whole shebang. The vacuum advance was cleaned up on the wire wheel like everything else. It came out pretty well and under a coat of primer several coats of Krylon silver was shot on out of a rattlecan. This came out really well and the paint looks like fresh plating if you don't look too hard. I was happy with that!
The shaft was tight in the bushings and the advance weights moved easily against spring pressure. Sucking on the vacuum advance produced motion. Without access to a dizzy machine to check the specs I have to say good enough unless there are performance issues later on.
Fresh grease was used in the grease cup and also to hold the three ball bearings that allow the breaker plate to rotate in place while it was assembled. This required some stuffing around to get everything in the right place with the balls centralized for the expected advance motion. Once I figured it out it was really pretty simple.
The Pertronix was easy-peasy. There are no adjustments, shims or anything else barring one top distance ring that had to come out after I found the dizzy cap wobbling as the motor ran. More on this when we get to it. There was one issue that bothered me. The screw that Pertronix provided to hold the black plastic unit to the silver metal support plate was fractionally too long. It would have elevated the plate up off the GM breaker plate. The addition of a lock washer solved that and made me feel better that it was held in firmly in place by that little washer.
The round plastic magnetic trigger unit just snapped into place over the point cam and the top distance piece fit right on top just as it should. The new rotor & cap were set in place & some looseness was noted. The Pertronix is a two wire unit and didn't need the ground pigtail so I took it off thinking I had solved the problem.
Reinstalling the dizzy was a breeze. The shaft was lubed with oil and it was lowered into position with the timing quadrant in front in the same place as when I removed it. Turning the rotor allow the shaft to find its home and settle down. The cap screw was retightened. If the Pertronix used the same timing spot the points had, the motor should fire right up.
New AC spark plugs were installed using the largest gap in the book, .030 to go with the new Flamethrower coil.
With the new cap on the dizzy, new plug wires were made from parts supplied by Restoration Supply in Escondido, CA. They have the period correct items and ship very quickly. I was having real trouble getting the boots to slide over the wires I tried oil, WD-40, Kroil, grease and several other lube products. Nothing worked, the little boots were just too tight. I went to a pal that is a real mechanic and who fixes my modern Dodge. He suggested using silicone spray and that did the job.
Next was mounting the new vintage style coil bracket to the Flamethrower coil for a trial fit. It went right in where the stock coil had been just like it was made for the job. The Flamethrower has a big showy sticker on the side that did not want to peel off so I reversed it and hid it in the clamp.
Things are looking pretty good right now but something will have to be done about that wire to the switch before we go any further. That part of the story will have to wait for another chapter.
Vintage Paul, thinkin about dinner . . .
Paul, I will be watching this as I have a pertronix to put on my 37,have had it for about 5 years,just haven't had the courage to try it ;).When these cars are running good it is amazing how good they do run on the highway,mine has impressed me at that,for a 75 year old car. Good Luck Harvey
Yes, I too am amazed just what a good car these Caddies are. I have a 1929 Hudson Super Six which was a very advanced car for its time and it is worlds away from the 1939 Caddie. It may have only been ten years, but the state of the art was moving very rapidly!
Don't be afraid of the Pertronix. It is easier to install than it is to set up a set of points and once its done, its done. Outside of occasional lubing of the felt under the rotor and turning in the grease cup, there is very little to do.
I'll have the next chapter up in a few days.
Vintage Paul
STEERING WHEEL PROJECT Part 1
I'll take a break from the ignition thread and show you what I'm up to right now. The steering wheel in this car has been looking shabby and some of the segments were loose and could slide around giving the hands a painful pinch. I had wound thick copper wire in those offending gaps to make things better but clearly something had to be done.
The first step was to remove the steering wheel to get it out on the bench where it is easy to get at. I was somewhat bamboozeled by the horn push hub. That has to come out first, just remove the three screws and its off. That reveals the two holes for the puller. I had to clean these threads with a tap. One other thing to note, the horn contact looks like it might be easily damaged if the puller levered directly on it so I used a socket on the loosed steer wheel nut to take the pressure of the contact.
After getting it all set up some torque was applied and POP, the wheel was loose. Easy-Peasy!
Next the wire was unwound from the gaps and the wheel rim was washed then rinsed in lacquer thinner. The Marine Tex epoxy had been recommended by some folks on this list as being strong, thick enough to stay where it was put and reasonably easy to work. The directions said to mix the whole she-bang at once but said I'd have plenty of time to work the material before it kicked. Perhaps I misread this bit, but I had in mind that I was going to have a good hour to work the material. I even had scrounged a piece of sponge rubber weather stripping to squeegee the excess epoxy off hoping to save time sanding,
It began well. The Marine Tex mixed just like JB Weld but was somewhat thicker. I trowled it into some of the gaps & cracks. Just then one of my riding buddies dropped by on a new motorbike & I stopped to open the gate. I was only delayed five minutes but that turned out to be too much for the Marine Tex. It had started to stiffen and before I could get close to finishing, it had kicked. Drat!
There was no time to work it smooth or remove the excess. Heck, I didn't even have time to fill all the gaps & cracks! Double Drat!
OK, time for the trusty Bondo. I opened that can and it had kicked right in the can. I dunno what's wrong with this stuff. I was fine when I last used it fifteen years ago . . .
Triple Drat, I wuz gunna hafta down tools and drive down to the hardware store for more Bondo.
Well, long story short, the new Bondo worked fine. It kicks very quickly and must be mixed in small batches, it only gives you a few minutes working time and its gone. The good thing is that it can be sanded very quickly. After several aplications I felt I had the gaps & cracks pretty well filled.
I tried regular sandpaper. Ha! That Marine Tex is supposed to sand like wood. Mebbee IRON wood or sumthin like that . . .
After several trials I found that the little triangular mouse sander with course paper would grind through it. After two hours I had most of the wheel roughed out and it was looking better. Darkness stopped the project for that week.
This past weekend was pretty much a washout. It RAINED in SoCal! Finally we got a break late Sunday afternoon and I got another three hours with the sander. The wheel is looking much nicer now. It feels solid and heavy and is starting to feel smooth to the fingers. It still needs some minor touching up with the Bondo and then some fine sanding but we're getting close.
The next step after the final Bondo/sanding will be to spray some sanding primer and get it as smooth as possible.
Just a note on the Marine Tex/Bondo issue. The MT is very strong, just like JB Weld. It is probably overkill in this application. Bondo is softer, more like the material the steering wheel rim is made of. It is also readily available and much much cheaper. The only problem is that it kicks so quickly. You need to make up many small bunches.
Vintage Paul
I probably should have mentioned in the last post that the goal is only to restore this wheel to usefulness rather than to try to restore it to as new condition. What I'm looking for is a good stable basis for a leather cover that one of my pals who does leatherwork as a hobby has volunteered to make. I'm not sure how much of the rim will be visible once the cover is sewed on so I'm going to make it as nice as possible. I have a rattle can of Almond color paint for the final layers. I'm not sure how durable it would be with hot sweaty hands over it in service but under the leather it should be fine.
If this car were ever to be really restored the wheel would need to be recast. The material shrank over the years leaving gaps between the finger grip sections that could never be put back exactly as it was. My job hopes to pass muster with the leather cover installed.
I'm guessing that back in the day many of these plastic wheeled cars might have had a leather wrap, especially in warmer parts of the country.
Vintage Paul
IGNITION PROJECT Part 3
It was time to wade into the the deep end with the bad ignition wire from the switch to the coil. Refer to the picture above to see the problem. There is just no way this was ever work with the bare frayed wire shorting against the Electrolock cable. I tried pulling it out hoping for better wire further down but there was no slack at all.
This next bit hurt my heart but there was no getting around it. If I wanted to retain the factory switch, the part that was visible on the dashboard, the cable was going to have to be cut. For those that don't know, the Electrolock (or GM equivalent) was an anti-theft device that made the car harder to hot wire and steal. They were popular from the twenties right through the WWII era and perhaps beyond. The steel cable was fixed solidly on both ends and that makes them difficult or impossible to repair.
The switch comes away from the dash with two screws. Removing the wires (not original) allowed slack in the assembly and we were able to feed the cable partly though the firewall grommet to gain access to the coil end. With a Dremel & a small cutoff wheel my pal Dan & I cut the cable short of the coil hoping for better wire. It was better, but the insulation was still brittle and it didn't look reliable.
Now the whole shebang could come out and it was obvious that we were going to have to hack the switch end off to gain access to the internals. First the switch was disassembled as far as possible., then the Dremel was used again and the cable was cut off near the end. We tried to get the back of the switch apart but that wasn't going to happen without cutting the casting apart so that is what we did, once again with the little cutoff wheel.
The problem now was getting a new wire into the internals. That was looking difficult as there was very little access to the area. Dan had a lucky brainstorm just then. There were two terminals on the outside of the switch. One was for the battery, the other was for various accessories that would be ON when the ignition switch was in the ON position. We decided to try running the new ignition wire from this terminal.
The switch was cleaned, lubricated, assembled, reinstalled and checked with a meter. All good! The new ignition wire was run in the same path the original did. Restoration Supply in Escondido CA has a looming tubing that protects the wire from abrasion and looks vintage. This was used the whole length of the wire right to the coil.
The wiring from the Pertronix unit is very thin and modern looking. I decided to hide this in more of the looming material. Also from Restoration Supply was a roll of friction tape which works like electrical tape but looks vintage. I have started wrapping the ends of the looming material to tidy things up and give it a finished appearance. There is still more of this to do.
The wiring for the Pertronix & Flamethrower coil was very simple and straightforward. Making it look vintage turned out to be easy too. Next will be timing and trying out the new ignition system.
Vintage Paul
Paul, Great job on the switch. Thanks for sharing. Harry
Thanks Harry. I'm sure lots of folks will need to replace the stock coil or hot wire from the ignition switch as I did and it does help to see what it looks like.
BTW, the original wiring was for the hot wire from the switch to go to the negative terminal of the coil. The Pertronix changes that slightly. Now the wire from the switch goes into the Pertronix unit and from there to the coil. No ground is needed as it is a two wire system.
Vintage Paul
I had to replace my ignition switch one time,when I took the cap off of the coil top,the wire was frayed as yours was,what I did was put a piece of heat shrink tubing in the metal sleeve and it has helped to insulate the wire in there.my car still has its original coil in place.Have you tried to use the little hat for your coil,it would look sort of original there?.When I do my pertronix conversion I am going to try and use it for appearance sakes only. Harveyb
Quote from: hudson29 on March 06, 2014, 03:34:47 PM
Thanks Harry. I'm sure lots of folks will need to replace the stock coil or hot wire from the ignition switch as I did and it does help to see what it looks like.
BTW, the original wiring was for the hot wire from the switch to go to the negative terminal of the coil. The Pertronix changes that slightly. Now the wire from the switch goes into the Pertronix unit and from there to the coil. No ground is needed as it is a two wire system.
Vintage Paul
On my similar system, if the pickup is not grounded ( two screws), it wont work.
On mine, I used a dremel to very very slowly cut off the outer armor. Then I soldered a new wire and used heat shrink tubing to protect it. Cut the armor a bit shorter so it wouldn't bind on the heat shrink and then using some conduit lubricant I reinserted the wire back into the armored sleeve. This way I could preserve the look. Then I found a few coils from different sources. The one I use is actually a 12v from a Chevy but it seems to work fine. Still searching for a 6v.
Here's a shot of it earlier in my reassembly.
Quote from: harvey b on March 08, 2014, 07:34:19 PM
Have you tried to use the little hat for your coil,it would look sort of original there?.When I do my pertronix conversion I am going to try and use it for appearance sakes only. Harveyb
What a great idea, I never even thought of it. If it would fit on top it might help it look more original.
Vintage Paul
Quote from: las39 on March 09, 2014, 01:34:08 PM
On my similar system, if the pickup is not grounded ( two screws), it wont work.
I'm sure no electrical genius, but I had
assumed that two wires completed the electrical path without the need for a ground. When I removed the pigtail it made no difference and the instructions, which were extremely brief, made no mention of the need for a good ground. Mebbee I should put the pigtail back on just to be sure?
Vintage Paul
Quote from: Joe Ceretti on March 09, 2014, 09:41:19 PM
On mine, I used a dremel to very very slowly cut off the outer armor. Then I soldered a new wire and used heat shrink tubing to protect it. Cut the armor a bit shorter so it wouldn't bind on the heat shrink and then using some conduit lubricant I reinserted the wire back into the armored sleeve. This way I could preserve the look. Then I found a few coils from different sources. The one I use is actually a 12v from a Chevy but it seems to work fine. Still searching for a 6v.
I like the original look you have achieved. Let's hope it runs sweetly!
Vintage Paul
IGNITION PROJECT FINISHED
It was time to try to start the motor. I had set the distributor down in the same place it had been in when it came out so if the Pertronix was somewhere near where the points had been, it ought to start. I gave it some gas in the float bowl to prime it and hit the starter switch. After a bit of cranking the motor fired and sounded sweet - for a few seconds - then silence. What happened? I checked things out under the hood. It all looked pretty good so I tried more cranking. No soap! It was time to stop for the day as other events demanded my attention.
Another look under the hood the next day revealed that the coil wire had popped of the coil! The coil wire was old, the one I had on there from 10 or 15 years ago. I had ordered 20' of spark plug wire and that had been just enough to make up the plug wires but there was not enough to make a new coil wire so I had reinstalled the old one while Restoration Supplied sent out another 5' of ignition wire.
After carefully reinstalling the coil wire, the motor fired right up just like it was supposed to.
This is a 6v car but my timing light is 12v. This is not really a problem as I have an old 12v motorcycle battery that is perfect for this use. There is one difficulty in timing this car. The marks on my pulley do not match the marks shown in the book! The book shows I|6 | G|A. My car was missing the critical last vertical mark that the timing was supposed to be set to.
Fifteen years ago when I last did this I set the timing to the middle vertical mark. The car seemed to run OK. This time I thought I would experiment with the setting. With the vacuum advance line disconnected the timing was set for the gap where the mark should have been between the G & the A.
The motor instantly picked up! Having established that the motor ran sweetly in that spot, I tried several other locations, the motor slowed in every other spot. OK, I set the timing where the missing mark should have been. Just to see what would happen, I connected the vacuum advance line and sure enough, the timing mark moved just like it should do.
One oddity occurred in here someplace. While watching the motor running I noticed that the dizzy cap was wobbling! After stopping the motor, the cap was removed and checked for signs of damage. Everything looked fine. Why was the cap wobbling? The magnetic center bit was pulled off and the cap mounted solidly. There were two bits of this center magnetic job. The hexagonal piece fit nice and snug. The circular top looked like it was only a distance piece and the dizzy cap did feel a bit loose with that on.
So, the top distance piece was removed and the cap replaced, the motor started and the wobble was gone! The removed top distance piece is shown below.
Next was a test drive and the motor has more power and runs smoother than ever before. It also runs cooler, something very important on this car which has always run hot. The old two mode running where it sometimes turned nasty was gone. Its sweet all the time. I have had to set the idle down several times as the motor is now rock solid at idle and I have little fear that it will stall.
Did the Pertronix/Flamethrower coil make a real difference? I'm not sure. I changed other things at the same time. The plugs, wires, cap & rotor were all changed out and the timing was set in a different location. A good solid new ignition wire from the switch had to have helped as well. One thing about the Pertronix it will not need attention. No more points to gap or condenser to fail.
I'm very pleased with the outcome of this project. Getting the carbie sorted will be easier now.
Vintage Paul
STEERING WHEEL PROJECT Part 2
When Good Primer Goes Bad
or
Attack of the Crack Monster
After several coats of Bondo with sanding between each coat it was time for a coat of primer to see where we were at. I had a rattle can of a building primer that had been purchased some years ago for a project that went some other way and I thought it might be perfect to help fill minor imperfections on this steering wheel rim. A liberal coat was applied and the project was set aside to dry until the following weekend.
The primer revealed plenty of spots that needed more work so it was back to the mouse sander. Sadly, even after a week, this primer was still soft and quickly loaded the sand paper. By the time I had it sanded back off, I had used up many of the little triangular sanding pads on hand. I'll not use THAT primer again!
Next was more Bondo and sanding. Here and there a small crack appeared that had somehow gone unnoticed before. No worries, it just means more time, this is a labor of love not a race to the finish - right?
After several more of these sessions it was time for more primer. This time I used Krylon Ruddy Red which I have used many times in the past with great success. It was hot that day so I left the steering wheel out in the sun to dry. That day was very hot, 93° and sure enough, the primer was dry. To my disgust, the rim was also full of small cracks!!!
I'm not 100% sure where the cracks were coming from, but I speculate that the original material the rim was constructed from is still coming apart. The new materials are probably fine but they can only join to material that is slowly turning to cottage cheese. There is no way I can "fix" this sort of problem.
This development had me in a purple funk for awhile but it was time to remember the original goal had been to make the rim solid so it could be covered with a custom leather cover. Given this return to the original focus, I decided to stop trying to fill the cracks and refine the shape any further.
#0000 steel wool was used to smooth the primer and it was time to shoot the color, a rattle can of Krylon in Almond color. Masking the wire spokes took quite a long time after which several coats of color were shot, the last being a good heavy wet coat.
The masking was removed and the paint looked terrific, nice and glossy, good and hard. This paint might well have worked well even without a cover. A No. 11 Exacto blade was used to scrape the wire spokes where the masking had been imperfect. To finish up, some of the Krylon Almond was decanted into the cap and a sharp brush was used to touch up the bosses of the rim where the wire spokes connected. But for the cracks, this steering wheel rim was looking like new!
The wheel was now ready for my pal Dan and his leather working skills.
Vintage Paul
STEERING WHEEL PROJECT Part 3
The Masking Tape Lifted the @*^%!)*& Paint !!!
While Dan had the wheel for its new leather cover, I had plenty to do to get the column ready for use. The column had checked paint that was rough and peeling in places so it was time to do something about it. Looking the situation over, it didn't seem possible to do a good job on the column itself without taking it all to bits which was a bigger job than I wanted to get involved with so I decided to just do the top part that contains the gearshift housing and was highly visible.
I masked the column and the rest of the interior and got out the mouse sander to have at the housing. The old paint came off easily turning to a messy powder. I'm glad the interior was masked off, it saved a huge cleanup job!
Once all was smooth, it got a coat of the same Krylon primer used on the steering wheel. This primer dries very quickly and just an hour later #0000 steel wool was used to smooth out the finish. It looked pretty good.
The paint selected was the same that I had already used on the horn push surround and intend to use on the steering wheel hub when it comes back. It is Krylon Leather Brown. Several coats were shot on the column top part. It went on smooth and dried quickly. I like this paint.
The masking was removed from the column and with it came some of the paint. @*^%!)*& !!!
After some crying in my beer, I decided that a brush paint job would be better than what I have now so the sand paper came out and the column made as smooth as it could be without taking everything to bits.
I had an old can of Seal Brown that looked like a pretty good match for the Leather Brown already used on the top part. A quick clean with a lacquer thinner soaked rag removed the dust and I had at it with a brush. This paint also dried pretty well and a second coat rendered a reasonably passable job. The color turned out to be slightly lighter and more golden than the Leather Brown but it is close enough to overlook the difference.
Vintage Paul
STEERING WHEEL PROJECT Part 4
The Wheel Comes Back!
Dan brought the wheel over with its new cover Saturday afternoon. It came out a lot darker than I had hoped, but is still within the color palette for the interior. The dark brown color can be found in the instrument panel woodgrain.
The cover is made from several pieces of leather and has a very nice smooth finish. It is a tough leather that should add to the strength of the wheel. I'm very pleased with it!
The wheel still needed its hub painted so the masking tape came out again and primer was shot. The wheel was left overnight as the weather had turned quite blustery and a good paint job was unlikely.
The next morning was calm and after the smoothing with #0000 steel wool the hub was shot with the same Krylon Leather Brown that the top of the column was. A bit of fluff landed in the wet paint but you have to look hard to find it. Forget about it!
The masking was peeled off and the Exacto blade used to scrape the wire spoke ends of errant paint. Some of the brown paint was decanted and used with a fine brush to touch up. The finished steering wheel was looking fine!
Installation was quick. The wheel went on and the electrical system powered up for a horn test. It did not work. Possibly some of the new paint on the steering wheel hub might be keeping the horn contacts from working. I'll look into that this next weekend.
It was too late for a test drive but the newly rebuilt wheel looks great in the car and feels like it will be a big step up in driving. Dan should be proud if his efforts.
The last picture below is to show where this project started.
Vintage Paul
I haven't had time to read this until now. I can appreciate the amount of work it takes to do even these little things. It looks great! Kudos on getting running nicely!
My last report left off without a test drive to see how the steering wheel with its new leather cover would feel. I have to say that it is a huge improvement! The wheel is easy to grip and feels great even during hot drives with sweaty hands. Two notes, I never did take the wheel back off to check on the horn problem and when I put the wheel back on the column I put it on to the right to correct for the offset to the left that it had before. Sadly for me, I had already parked the car with the offset compensated for and now the wheel is cocked to the right. When it comes back off for the horn issue I'll have another go at centalizing the wheel.
I took the Caddie on a tour last June with some old car cronies to the local beach areas of the South Bay & Los Angeles. The tour leader didn't miss a red light, stop sign or one traffic clogged street the whole day. The car took all of this without complaint, the ignition never faltered and the motor stayed cool despite long slogs in hot weather rarely out of first or second gear. The trip back on the freeway was a breeze.
It was July by now and time to put the car up to await the return of cooler weather. The car doesn't seem to mind the heat but I sure do!
The next tour in was out to the local mountain Foothills with another group of old car cronies. This time it was mostly Model Ts and we drove at Model T speeds including up steep hills. Once again the mighty Caddie V-8 took all of this without complaint or temperament. It never got hot and rarely demanded a downshift.
This was October and the Model T project had gotten hot again so I have been spending my time with that project. The Caddie has been waiting for me to get back to it all winter. The good news is that the Model T has been coming along well and I have been driving it and getting it sorted out for the last several weeks just as I did with the Caddie last winter.
In a couple of weeks it will be time to get the Cadillac out and get it ready for the Lakewood CLS SoCal show in February. The horn is still an issue and it will be time to work on the 1940 carb on the workbench that should be the perfect companion to the vacuum advance dizzy already on the car. The current carb is a later square Stromberg that is giving a HUGE flat spot right off of idle when the load pedal is pushed which requires a special driving technique. Other work will include adjusting the clutch which engages right on the floor and a rattle hunt on the undercarriage.
On the horizon is replacement of the interior plastic bits hopefully later this summer and a rebuild of the radio hopefully with the modification to play MP-3 files. What good is a radio that plays modern music? I want to hear Benny Goodman and Jack Benny!
BTW - I still need a choke cable with the slides so the fellow that makes up the dashboard plastic can make a new cable for this car. Has anyone got one they can spare?
There is always plenty to do!
Vintage Paul
The part I need right now is a throttle cable with its slides. All of mine is gone replaced by a generic choke cable. I have just ordered all of the plastic bits and the throttle cable is needed ASAP. Has anyone got a spare or an idea where to look for one?
Vintage Paul
Generic choke cable on mine. I used a dremel to cut off the ugly plastic/chromed knob and glued my knob on. Also, greased the inner cable up so it slid freely and then crimped the inner wire little by little to get just the right amount of resistance. I am still looking for the right cable but not overly hopeful.
I have not seen what the assembly is supposed to look like. Did yours have sliders?
Here is what I have now:
Vintage Paul
Not only was the knob and cable missing but someone had pulled the linkage off the carb. There was a cable on mine but it was hooked up to a manual choke. It took me many months to get it where it is now. The automatic choke/heat stove works great and the correct carb throttle linkage is in place with my home modified cable. It all works good.
Thanks to Chuck Patton I now have the throttle slide metal part and can get the new plastic bit cast on to it. Still needed is the metal part of the cigar lighter. Anyone have one of these they can spare?
I drove the car over to the SoCal chapter meeting in Lakewood a couple of weeks ago and met Chuck Patton in person there. He was out here escaping winter and enjoying the field of dreams that our chapter provided and I met him quite by accident. It was certainly a pleasure!
One of the next projects will be to remove the radio and send it off for repair and to have the "wheels" recast with new plastic portions. I would also like to have an iPhone connection installed so i can listen to Jack Benny, Benny Goodman and other 1939 era broadcasts.
Any tips on getting this radio out without damage? I'm too old & fat to find working under the dash very easy . . .
Vintage Paul
I know I'm late getting started, but I just purchased a '39 series 61 coupe. I'm not as fortunate as you, my coupe needs floor pans and some work in the trunk floor! On the bright side, the engine runs pretty good, considering it sat for many years...New points, fresh gas from a can directly to the carb and BAM, it started right up! Now, a clean tank and oil/filter change, new plugs and she purrs.
My steering wheel needs work, but in better shape than what you started with. Nice job on your wheel.
Here is what I would like to do.[get done] wheel restoration [may give it a try myself]-floor pans-new interior.
I live in southern Tenn and I don't have or know of places that do some of these things, so if you have any info, tips, help of any kind, let me know. Suppliers, resto services, etc.
Thanks very much
Don