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I have retrieved my "new to me" 1927 Oldsmobile 30E from its former home, which was a 1 1/2 hour drive from my farm. I am going to reproduce a post from "Newbie" to avoid typing the same stuff. The goal of my project is to:
Put the old girl into the best running condition my skills can produce,
Improve its visual exterior appearance.
Retain as much of the original interior as possible,
Add a period heater for winter comfort,
Add front brakes if at all possible for safety reasons,
Add front seat safety belts for obvious reasons,
Do 100% of the work myself except, for chroming,
Do no further damage to the old girl,
Finally, take a daily drive every day it does not rain.
From previous post:
I picked up the car, which was only 1 1/2 Hours from my farm. The seller was a super nice guy about my own age. As for as I can tell, the car is complete except for one door handle (it fell off on the way home, but a replacement has been found and ordered), a jack, the tool to remove the wheel hubs, and whatever covered the floorboards. Included in the sale were 6-new tires, 3-extra wheels with brake covers, 2-new wheel liners, and 2-sets of door latches and handles. It has the usual little dings and bumps in the fenders, but has no rust holes. The metal is solid, but covered in what I call surface rust. Everything works. It cranks and runs, but I want to do some maintenance before any drive-bys. The owner had the brake shoes relined and conditioned, but they were not installed. Whoever did the work was a pro. They look new as they were refinished. The wood in the steering wheel has no cracks or dings. All glass was present and uncracked or discolored. The roof vinyl is history. It needs replacing very soon. The carb air filter (as such) was in the rear tool box, as were various tools, jack handle, the starting arm-breaker, an extra set of spark plugs, and various light bulbs. Oh yes, it has a set of keys in the ignition switch. The wood is solid, but a lot of loose screws, which I can repair. The seats are in great condition, as is the headliner, which is intact with no stains.
Towing it home was an experience. People would appear out of nowhere to look at the car every time I stopped. Old people. They seemed to connect with the old girl. I am very pleased with what I have. I am trying to find a source of parts with little success. Ignition components is my first concern. Any assistance in this area would be nice.
It will be a slow process, as I only work when I feel like it, which isn't every day. I will enjoy putting her in good running condition, and a paint job is in the near future. By the way, it has its original paint, dark blue over light blue. The radiator cover is off to the chromers next week. The radiator is absent any damage whatsoever. I feel lucky right now.
Someone bypassed the original fuel pump by adding an electric fuel pump, which is nice as it reduces the likelihood of vapor lock. I will replace all lines, copper and composite, on the car. I will document progress with photos and videos as work progresses. As I previously stated, my first and foremost concern is the worn out vinyl roof. Does anyone have any recommendations as to a source of materials?
By the way, the car has its WWII fuel rationing stamp intact on the windshield, and a 1948 NC Safety Inspection sticker was in the side pocket. I have not looked beneath the rear seat yet, maybe there are other little treasures lurking there.
If anyone wishes to see a picture of a specific area or item in the car, let me know and I will post one.
A brand new Firestone was flat, so I decided to remove the tire with the car on the trailer. Simple, remove 5-bolts and pull the tire and its inner rim off the spoked wheel. The inner rim that fits on the tire is a split affair, with the connection being an interlocked tab. I can see already that my ability to describe stuff sucks. This is a picture of the point of interconnection.
Yep, the tire steel retaining rim is a split affair with a little tab to hold all in place. The tab is missing on this rim. By the way, forget round, or trueness, or anything that resembles concentricity. The tire wobbled up and down and from side to side at the same time. I just sat and cried. I will find a way to true up all this mess, and balance it to boot. Run out on this tire must have been in inches. Reason for flat - bottom of valve stem on brand new tube (the red thing in the picture) was damaged in a place it cannot be repaired.
Checked spokes while I had the chance. All was tight and secure (notice I didn't mention "true") These are glorified wagon wheels.
The tires are a hoot too. Think heavy - very heavy. I have four "Dipped in Gum" Firestones and 3-"Dixie" Goodyears. All are new, never run, little squiglies still on threads. I am afraid to check to see if they are actually round.
That rust is going to be a simple repair for an old school stitch welder (right!!!!!). I think I will replace the through bolts with new Grade 8's.
Mercifully, I had to go get feed for Niki.
Is the last pic of the rusted bolt and tire one of your new tires? If so, I would be reluctant to run them since the sidewall is starting to split. Diamondback should carry tires that would work on your Olds.
Those rims are made like the ones for a "T" Ford. You need what is called a rim stretcher to mount the new tires and bolt the assembly onto the wooden spoke wheel.
....
Is the last pic of the rusted bolt and tire one of your new tires? If so, I would be reluctant to run them since the sidewall is starting to split. Diamondback should carry tires that would work on your Olds. https://dbtires.com/
The tire is the spare that was on the back of the car. Although it never hit the road, it has begun to dry rot. I do not plan to use it, but I doubt dry rot would be a big issue for this car. I suspect top speed will be around 40 mph. Thank you for the parts tips. I will definitely contact all three.
Those rims are made like the ones for a "T" Ford. You need what is called a rim stretcher to mount the new tires and bolt the assembly onto the wooden spoke wheel.
I suspected there had to be a tool to assist removal from the spoked hub. I may have one, as there are some unidentified tools in the trunk box.
Thank you for the help - seriously. I got the tire off by hand, but it wasn't a fun task.
Looks to be a fun project. Your spoke wheels are called auxiliary wheels and I would be very cautious of running them with out of round tires. They are very expensive to have made and any looseness will just get worse with wobble and vibration. Keep us posted on your journey with this icon...... Tedd
Last edited by Tedd Thompson; November 25th, 2019 at 08:26 AM.
Looks to be a fun project. Your spoke wheels are called auxiliary wheels and I would be very cautious of running them with out of round tires. They are very expensive to have made and any looseness will just get worse with wobble and vibration. Keep us posted on your journey with this...... Tedd
Its the auxiliary wheels that are out of round. The tires appear to be OK. The wheels are pretty simple to make. I watched a video of someone making one. I was surprised how simple they are to make. You can replace individual spokes if need be. Of course, the video didn't mention the source of the spokes; but I assume they are constructed from seasoned oak, maple, or hickory.
I feel so much safer knowing my new Firestone tires were "Gum Dipped". Coker replicas?
I spent the afternoon trying to find any hidden issues with the wooden substructure. The one amazing discovery was a total lack of rot. Did Oldsmobile treat the wood before assembly? I also noticed Olds used a filler of some sort in certain areas. Anyone know the nature of that filler? From my research so far, that compound was called R-M Roof Joint compound as well as R-M Glazing Putty used around the windows. I suspect this is a reference to the old RM Lucas company out of Chicago, Illinois. They are still in business, and make some of the finest sealants around. As for the joint compound, I will use fiber reinforced resins unless someone has a better idea. I have noticed a general lack of information for the 30E's. I presume that is why the restorer's get the big bucks. I hope one of them writes a book before his demise. I hate to see lifetimes of knowledge disappear as we old geezers go down the duck board trail..
I wonder what type of glue they used? Fish glue? Hyde glue? Hoof glue? I have encountered 100 year old fish glue joints that I couldn't break apart.
I discovered, sadly, that most of the window cranks and door handles had frozen up at the handle/escutcheon juncture. Frozen solid - no give at all. They are made of pot metal that crumbles to the touch. I had to find a way to free them up. I tried penetrants, acids, caustic, brute force, and prayer. I am still awaiting a response to the latter, but I did find a way to separate them. Using a knife blade, I placed it at the juncture and lightly tapped on the back of the blade to wedge the blade in the space to force them apart. It worked.
Caution, that is pot metal. Be gentle. When the blade has reached its maximum width, graduate to a thicker wedge, like a wood chisel.
I thought I could twist it off by hand once it started moving - I was wrong - big time wrong. I will leave it to the individual how to proceed at this point, but I chose to use a punch and light hammer blows with the handle end of the hammer. It worked for me. I did oil the sucker during these operations. I don't think it had any effect at all. Once I got it apart, I used VGC to smooth the action, as it was sticky as Hades. My dad bough that can of Cloverleaf in the 50's. I have ground hundreds of vales since he went out of business, and you see how much is left. It doesn't take much to get the job done. I also use it to polish rifle actions. I build rifles during the winter. If you want to see one, I will post a URL where I built a 416 Rigby for less than $300.
The finished product. I reattached the chips with Bondix, which I highly recommend. It is an amazing product and so very easy to use.
It has been a while, but I have been busy, just no video yet. I am currently fixing a flat, and had to find some vulcanizing patches to do the job right. Got several cans in now, so that should go quickly. Truing up the rim will take a bit of hammer work. I located a jack, a couple of spare window cranks and pull handles, a rim spreader, and a neat little tool that spreads the rim during assembly and disassembly. The Olds axle is a very odd-ball size 16tpi thread that mikes 2.424" from outside to outside. Right now I am trying to find a manual that covers the steering column. I have two lever operated switches, one I hope is for the headlights, and I know no what the one on the right does. Both tabs are broken off, so I repair, replace, or make new ones. I found a wiring diagram (in a 1400 page book), electrical parts numbers lists for the entire car, a new Gabriel Snubber for the left front, the correct window channel, and other seals and stuff. I bought a new battery and will install it tomorrow. I finally discovered what solvent will loosen the escutcheons on the window handles (submerse them in PB Blaster for 48 hours - spraying them didn't do the job).
What I really need at this point is a schematic of the steering wheel, column, and it components. If I can't find one, I will disassemble mine. I am rebuilding the carb currently. More like a good cleaning job with some quality DIY gaskets from a Cheese-Its box. Coat them in Vaseline before assembly and they will last forever.
So far I am tickled pink with the old car. I am eager to test the old fuel pump. I hope to put the winter months to good use.
Found this on eBay... I thought of your thread here.
Nice car, and very much like mine, yet different in little details. I don't think i is going to sell. I noticed he is missing one very important tool - the Hub Puller. His interior is different. Now I know the purpose and placement of those two little vases - mine are blue, same attachment piece. Mine weren't attached to the car.
Here's a couple of pages from my 1941 Oldsmobile Master Parts Catalog .
This book goes back to the twenties in some cases , so If you need information please PM me .
You will be hearing from me, and thank you for the offer.
Hi Jim, Although not a Oldsmobile the attached photo is my 1928 ****** Overland Whippet. The car is similar to yours as it has wood wheels with split rims . A lot of parts on these cars used the pot metal that does break easily and I had to make or obtain replacements. My car was much worse shape when I started on it. Good luck on yours and if I can offer any advise please let me know.
Rick
Hi Jim, Although not a Oldsmobile the attached photo is my 1928 ****** Overland Whippet. The car is similar to yours as it has wood wheels with split rims . A lot of parts on these cars used the pot metal that does break easily and I had to make or obtain replacements. My car was much worse shape when I started on it. Good luck on yours and if I can offer any advise please let me know.
Rick
I have been wondering what a Whippet was. I would guess that is a Body by Fisher? Beautiful car with lines like mine. Fun to drive?
November 24th, 2019, 09:10 AM
Tidying Up a 1927 Oldsmobile 30E
