Pre-war (up to 1942) Master Parts Book Question

[RoyH]

New member with a 37-5011 LaSalle that I am rebuilding (see list of needed "lost" parts in wanted to buy forum).  I have purchased all service and parts manuals for this year/model, but have a question on the parts manual I purchased.  I bought the multi-year 37-49 master body and chassis parts book and I note that not all parts for 1937 are included and few illustrations for the year/model.  I am curious if the same book for years 1935-40 would include more illustrations and parts numbers for 1937.  Has anyone done a comparison?  They appear to be the only two reprints available for that era of Cadillac/LaSalle.
Thanks in advance for your insights.

[Lexi]

While I cannot answer your question directly, I suspect that the closer the MPL is to the year of your car, the more information will be there. Speaking from experience, I have noticed that as the model years become older, the less there is on them. The advantage of having a later MPL which still has basically what information you need, there will be newer replacement part numbers which are always good to have. Not sure about the MPLs from that 1930s era, but later ones also have a section that lists defunct parts numbers with other relevant information. Is best to have an early as well as a later MPL. Clay/Lexi

[Tom Boehm]

Hello Roy, welcome to the CLC. I have a 1940 Lasalle and I have the 1935-1949 version of the MPL. Not all parts for my car are in the book either. I'm estimating maybe 75-90 percent are in the book. Mechanical parts are more likely to be there. Some non mechanical parts are harder to find. They are not categorized in obvious or apparent ways like mechanical parts. By 1949, some parts for my car were discontinued and there is no mention at all.

Now the pictures. I wish there were more pictures that directly relate to my car. There just isn't that many in my version of the book either. The few that are there are very helpful.

Remember, the purpose of including any pictures in the book is only to aid in finding a part. That is why many are captioned such as: " 1939 series 60 shown, typical of 37-48 ". Meaning, the picture of '39-60 is close enough to all 37-48 to help you find the part listing, but only exact to '39-60.

The big advantage of these books to a restorer in 2024 is it will tell you what other cars used a certain part. Then you have a bigger pool of cars to look at when you need a part.

The parts books that get reproduced cover a large range of cars. I know the factory published smaller parts books more often that are more comprehensive for a given year. These books are not reproduced. Vintage auto literature dealers and maybe Ebay may have these. Of course they are more expensive than reproductions. I have never actually seen one of these in person but some members have them.

Lastly, the CLC publishes an "Authenticity Manual" for your car. Look on the CLC website to purchase one. These books are written by club members and are compiled from many factory published sources. Wide variety of information.

[Lexi]

Yes, order an Authenticity Manual. Clay/Lexi

[RoyH]

Thanks for the responses and I will order an authenticity manual. I am a stickler for originality and would like a parts manual that covers more details for this year.  I did see a '38 parts manual on c-list so know that year specific manuals exist, yet not reprinted (nor generally available).

[Warren Rauch #4286]

    In the 1931 Cadillac started publishing two sets of Master Parts books. The first was the Master Chassis Parts list in 1931  and the second The Master Body list in 1932. The idea was to list all parts that were then available from the factory.
    In the 1949 Book you bought they were still two books. Chassis and the accessory parts were an appendix  to the Chassis book  (edition 13).  Body (edition 11) The printer just sold it as one book.
  There is on the market a 1928-1936 book that was the 6th edition of the Chassis , your car not included.And the 6th edition of the body book from 1937 and does include  model 3750. The copy I have was printed by Crank'en Hope.I don't know if the Faxon  book that is available now is the same. In the 6th you get the newest model, so the illustrations are your car,or closer to it. With lots of older models. Would it be better to find an 7th edition Body book (1940)? It gives you cross info to the 1938's and newer. But some parts will already be dropped by the factory. I have found that 2-3 years is the point they start.

  The Chassis book is less of a problem. Your 1949 book has the new overhead v8.The older books don't, so they have better pictures of the flat head.The older books don't have parts that were developed during WW2 to make the car better. Things like the change in electrical polarity, made for a new coil . I like the 1942 Chassis book (edition 9th). It includes the 1941 models ,which sometimes are easier to find parts for,but do fit back. And is an easy find in reprint.

The 1935-1940 reprint ,may work fine for you. I don't have a copy to compare it to. (My 1940 is photocopy done before the 1935-40 book was available.

Warren
 

[Tom Boehm]

Roy, here is another book available from the CLC I forgot to tell you about. The title is "Lasalle: Cadillac's Companion Car". Published in 2000 by two club members who have since passed away. Very worthwhile. History of Lasalle year by year. Many pictures, production numbers, colors, options, changes year to year, etc. Info in this book is not available anywhere else.

You said your car is a 5011 two door sedan. Not often seen. According to the book mentioned above, the total Lasalle production for 1937 was 32,005. That was the highest production year for Lasalle. 1940 was second.

The production of your car, 1937 5011 was 1,801. As a comparison, total production for 1937 5019 (4 door sedan) was 21,514.

[harry s]

I missed the "5011" two door sedan. They are very rare and seldom seen.
Harry

[RoyH]

Thanks for everyone's quick response and info on the parts books.  I do have the LaSalle companion book (Thanks, Tom for the suggestion) and it has been helpful.  Harry, yes, my car is a two-door sedan and I really like the style, it looks even better with the dual spare side mounts on it.   Before ordering another parts book I will invest in the authenticity manual.
-Roy

[Barry M Wheeler #2189]

You can't call this week, as it's GN Week, but you might try calling Alan Haas on Thursdays. He usually goes to the CLC library on that day. His phone # is in the Directory. He might have suggestions or tell you what the library has as surplus to needs copies of factory books.