Cleaning Up the Old Car

[RandalPark@xxxxxxx]

Patrick,

I recently bought a black car from the 1940's that had been in storage since 
1961. I was able to clean the exterior by wet sanding it with 600 grit 
sandpaper, then polishing it out with steel wool dipped in turpentine, rubbing 
compound, polishing compound, cleaner wax, and then finally McGuires "Mist and 
Shine". The old thing looks great, but I had a tough time getting out of bed 
the next morning. This probably wouldn't work on an old metallic finish, but a 
heavy old enamel job in a non-metallic color would probably benefit greatly 
from a similar treatment. The finish went from a very dull, dirty looking gray 
to a deep, rich, glossy black. 

The car was last started in 1993, but had not been run since 1961 before that. 
To start it, after determining that the engine would crank, the mechanic 
cleaned and/or rebuilt the fuel pump, starter, generator, radiator, 
carbuerator, water pumps (it has two), oil pan, and gas tank. The records that 
came with the car when I bought it showed that the mechanic charged the 
previous owner nearly $2,000 to do all of that work. They also documented how 
it ran at that time, stating the oil pressure, compression readings, and 
operating temperature. Also, from the records it appears that it took the 
mechanic nearly three weeks from start to finish to make it run. 

A couple of years later, the previous owner removed the distributor and had it 
rebuilt, but did not reinstall it. That job has been left up to me, along with 
replacing the ignition wires and spark plugs. The old plugs had been soaked in 
diesel oil in 1993, and reused. 

I am now attempting to get it running again. I checked everything that the 
mechanic had worked on, and found that the only thing that has greatly 
deteriorated is the gas tank. It has once again gone to crud. For now I am 
bypassing it using a length of fuel line in a gas can, connected to the inlet 
side of the fuel pump. I did not drop the pan since it was done in 1993, and 
the car has not been driven 100 miles since then. I did change the oil and 
filter. I will be removing the pan eventually, since I have purchased a high 
capacity oil pump that I will likely install if everything goes well. 

I have installed the distributor, new ignition wires, and spark plugs. So far, 
I was able to start it, but it only ran on 7 out of 12 cylinders. The problem 
is ignition related, since I can tell that the new spark plugs in the five dead 
cylinders have not fired. Through research I have decided to replace the 
condensers. There may be more after that, as the car has a very odd distributor 
with many things that can cause trouble. At least I know that the engine is 
apparently quiet running.  

I guess my point is that I agree with you that it is very exciting to bring one 
of these old hulks back to life. I did it over five years ago with my '55 
Imperial (not the one with the rusty motor, there were two). That was the peak 
of pleasure in my experiences with cars. Wanting to do it again is almost like 
a performer craving the applause from an audience. It is very rewarding, and 
hard to beat for excitement. I am really glad that you are having fun. That is 
what this hobby is all about.

Paul

In a message dated 4/9/2004 11:16:35 PM Eastern Daylight Time, PNKMoore writes:

> 
> 
> Hugh:
> 
> Thanks for your note about starting the "dead" engine.  I'm psyched to put 
> some marvel into the cylinders, and plan to get that done before the weekend 
>is 
> out.  I agree with your advice about letting sleeping crud lie.
> 
> I took half a day today and washed that car for all I was worth, and it's 
> still dirty.  Wow.  27 years of dirt takes more than an afternoon.  I 
>conquered 
> the engine compartment, however, and got most of the glass clean. I used a 
> pressure washer and cleaned out the trunk, which had been a squirrel's next.  
> Totally nasty, and no drain holes in the trunk floor!  I couldn't believe 
>that.  
> The car is outside tonight (safely stowed behind a fence) trunk gaping, so 
>all 
> of the water that I couldn't mop out can dry.  I got all of the body panels 
> with the pressure washer and one good pass with a hand wash, but it needs 
>more.  
> I didn't even look at the interior.
> 
> And I'm still having fun.  This is a small town and I've been yapping about 
> this car for weeks.  A bunch of people stopped by when they saw me working on 
> it.  Funny thing, not one of them offered to help!  I'll be getting used to 
> that, I can tell.
> 
> I pulled the spare.  I think it's from the original showroom set, given the 
> very low miles (45,000), but it's horribly worn. I was bummed to see that, it 
> indicating to me that the previous owners deferred maintenance.  I've heard 
> that they were like that.  
> 
> I'll press on, and keep you posted.  And no, I haven't tried to drain the oil 
> yet.  At least I'll finally have a reason to like my skinny forearms.
> 
> Patrick, '58 4 dr Southampton,
> Southeast Louisiana.
> 
>