Quote:
Originally Posted by 38 coupe
Rebuild at 30,000 miles was common in the 1930s. The roads were mostly dirt and gravel so lots of dust to tear up the rings and cylinder walls, the lubricants were crude compared to modern oils, and no there was no oil filter on the engine. Engines wore out before the car did. One of Ford's advertised selling points was their engine exchange program, get a factory reconditioned engine installed in your car in one day instead of whatever quality and time it took a local shop to go through your worn out engine.
One possibility for why the car got a rebuilt engine and was parked is the same as some projects today: the owner was older and fixing up a car that was special to him, but health issues got to him before he could drive and enjoy his labor.
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I think your theory is probably a good one.
Also, I agree 100% as to how quickly engines wore outback then. Even as late as the early / mid 60's, it was not unusual to rebuild an engine at 75k. Valve job? 40k.
I think many folks forget just how poorly things were built / designed, etc. back then vs. today.