Waking up a Sleeping Beauty, 1934 5 window

[The Art Doctor]

Hi Y'all, I'm Larry. During the day I restore artwork for museums and private collectors in the greater southeastern united states. By night and weekend I tinker with old cars for fun. I already had too many cars but when a close V8 club friend passed away recently I was given the opportunity to acquire his car I decided to stretch and add it to my "fleet". According to the paper work I have the car was restored in April of 1977 by a Kenneth Jolly. Anyone know of him? In 1977 it was sold to a Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Rivers who showed it around the Cartersville, GA area and won its last First Place trophy in June of 1987 scoring 200 out of 200 possible points. The car was bought in February 1988 with 2800 miles on the restoration to my friend Bruce for $9000. Bruce had a '50's MG he drove regularly while the '34 sat with one issue or another. It was never reliable and often would leave him stranded. 15 years ago he had some work done to prepare it for one of his daughters weddings. It made that event but again left him stranded shortly thereafter. In the 37 years Bruce had it was garaged nearly the whole time as he drove it only 946 miles. The car is factory stock, mechanical brakes, 6V, bias plys and all. The exterior paint is a respray that is cracked, scratched and mold spotted and the interior appears to be mostly original and slightly worn and bug eaten. I will have tons of questions and need lots of additional advice. My local V8 group is shrinking and hardly anybody actually can still drive an old car let alone works on their cars. Enough chatting here are a few pics.

[jimTN]

good looking car. There is no reason it cannot be made dependable and a good driver. Hope you can locate someone close that can help. All my EV9s are still 6v, I have added under frame elec fuel pumps for vapor lock emergencies.

[petehoovie]

Originally Posted by The Art Doctor

Hi Y'all, I'm Larry. During the day I restore artwork for museums and private collectors in the greater southeastern united states. By night and weekend I tinker with old cars for fun. I already had too many cars but when a close V8 club friend passed away recently I was given the opportunity to acquire his car I decided to stretch and add it to my "fleet". According to the paper work I have the car was restored in April of 1977 by a Kenneth Jolly. Anyone know of him? In 1977 it was sold to a Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Rivers who showed it around the Cartersville, GA area and won its last First Place trophy in June of 1987 scoring 200 out of 200 possible points. The car was bought in February 1988 with 2800 miles on the restoration to my friend Bruce for $9000. Bruce had a '50's MG he drove regularly while the '34 sat with one issue or another. It was never reliable and often would leave him stranded. 15 years ago he had some work done to prepare it for one of his daughters weddings. It made that event but again left him stranded shortly thereafter. In the 37 years Bruce had it was garaged nearly the whole time as he drove it only 946 miles. The car is factory stock, mechanical brakes, 6V, bias plys and all. The exterior paint is a respray that is cracked, scratched and mold spotted and the interior appears to be mostly original and slightly worn and bug eaten. I will have tons of questions and need lots of additional advice. My local V8 group is shrinking and hardly anybody actually can still drive an old car let alone works on their cars. Enough chatting here are a few pics.

[jimTN]

My reply should have EV8s instead of ev9s

[Terry,OH]

In My Opinion a great start is to have the distributor, coil and condenser checked out by one of the places with distributor machines, Such as Skip Heney in Fla. or Third Gen Auto in Tenn. This can eliminate several problems and keep the car running. Skip can also rebuild original coils using modern technology inside.

[Bored&Stroked]

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

The Ford Barn has a lot of solid folks who really know these cars - you'll find tons of helpful folks who can assist you in any/all questions related to your car. There is no reason it can't be made extremely reliable - as these are not very complicated automobiles.

Welcome to the Barn and we look forward to you making your car a reliable addition to your stable!

[tubman]

If you doubt that these cars can be reliable, check out some of the threads by member "Lawrie" on this very forum. He travels thousands of trouble-free miles through the Australian Outback every year in his essentially stock 34's. When he takes his sedan, it will be pulling his "Caravan" (travel trailer to you).

[The Art Doctor]

Thanks all for the welcome. Thus far I have started sorting things in the engine compartment. The plug wires are cracked, the spark plugs are the sootiest I have ever seen, one plug wire was not firmly seated in the cap and its hole was very sooty as well. The points on the drivers side were dirty, passenger side not so much. I tried to take off the distributor but it was not willing to release even with a couple of good whacks from a leather mallet. I could wiggle it but it held fast, so I cleaned everything carefully and figured good enough for now. The rotor was blackened from tar from a leaking coil. I definitely need to send the coil out to skip. I tried to email him but have not yet heard back. Do literally I just stick it in the box with a note and a check for $83?


A few more pics, as everybody likes pictures. The ladies in the house approve, so does my son but he is off to college.

[jimTN]

There are three bolts and a metal line on 34 dist. From what you have said, your dist really needs to be set up on a machine. CAUTION !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There is only one way the dist will go back on because the tang that drives it is off set. If you cannot put it back with your hands so that it fits flush with the gasket on all sides, it is not right and will break when the bolts are tightened. Its not a hard job once you geet the feel of it and goes easier with the coil off and spark plug wire tubes taken loose and out of the way. Removing the fan belt may also help.

[petehoovie]

Originally Posted by The Art Doctor

Thanks all for the welcome. Thus far I have started sorting things in the engine compartment. The plug wires are cracked, the spark plugs are the sootiest I have ever seen, one plug wire was not firmly seated in the cap and its hole was very sooty as well. The points on the drivers side were dirty, passenger side not so much. I tried to take off the distributor but it was not willing to release even with a couple of good whacks from a leather mallet. I could wiggle it but it held fast, so I cleaned everything carefully and figured good enough for now. The rotor was blackened from tar from a leaking coil. I definitely need to send the coil out to skip. I tried to email him but have not yet heard back. Do literally I just stick it in the box with a note and a check for $83?


A few more pics, as everybody likes pictures. The ladies in the house approve, so does my son but he is off to college.

[Terry,OH]

A body number tag was installed by the company that assembled and made the body. They are found usually on open cars. I believe the 34 Coupe body was made by Ford if so it should not have a body tag. 770 is Fords model number for a 5-W coupe, the number after LB is the consecutive body number made by the Mfg for that year.
Third Gen Auto in Tenn should have the original style plug wires see their web site.

[Pat/Ohio]

Larry, The only thing I see that is wrong with this nice looking '34 is that it is not in my garage!!

You are on the right track by sending your coil to Skip. Like mentioned above, 3rd Gen Auto in Tenn can help you with the electricals etc. Any debris in the sediment bowl? Make certain you have fresh gas.

Good luck with your new ride...she is a beauty!

Stay safe!
Pat

[The Art Doctor]

Originally Posted by Pat/Ohio

Larry, The only thing I see that is wrong with this nice looking '34 is that it is not in my garage!!

You are on the right track by sending your coil to Skip. Like mentioned above, 3rd Gen Auto in Tenn can help you with the electricals etc. Any debris in the sediment bowl? Make certain you have fresh gas.

Good luck with your new ride...she is a beauty!

Stay safe!
Pat

Yes the fuel bowl and filter had quite a bit of rust flakes but not totally clogged (I cleaned it out and put in a new filter). I shined a light in the tank, it looks pretty crusty. There is a big 4x6 welded patch on the bottom and what looks like some small hole welding lumps beneath the black paint. Its on my list to take out before the winter chill hits so I can do it outside as there is not quite enough room in my over crowded garage to pull it all out the backside. I hope to clean it out and reuse if possible but a new Drake one is only $400 and good insurance. We still have radiator shops here that will dip them.


I'm hoping to stop in to Third Gen next month, I'm working just down the road at the Buddhist retreat on their murals for a day. I have a looooooong shopping list.

[The Art Doctor]

The car came with a VERY heavy wooden suitcase holding some very shiny tools. I assume this is a complete set of 1934 tools. Any tool experts that can enlighten me on if I am missing something or if they are actually correct for 1934? There is one spot where something has obviously been removed. The missing spot looks like it was possibly a business card or a brass plate with some past owners name that was removed? The faded spot measures 1 3/4" x 3 3/4". Any clue what might have gone there? If its not something specific I will probably just have a trophy shop make a plate that simply states 1934 Ford.

[TJ]

I would polish up that old paint and drive the heck out of it once the issues are corrected. A very nice 5 window.

[cas3]

X2 !

[petehoovie]

Originally Posted by The Art Doctor

The car came with a VERY heavy wooden suitcase holding some very shiny tools. I assume this is a complete set of 1934 tools. Any tool experts that can enlighten me on if I am missing something or if they are actually correct for 1934? There is one spot where something has obviously been removed. The missing spot looks like it was possibly a business card or a brass plate with some past owners name that was removed? The faded spot measures 1 3/4" x 3 3/4". Any clue what might have gone there? If its not something specific I will probably just have a trophy shop make a plate that simply states 1934 Ford.

[Kens 36]

Larry,

Those are likely the correct tools. Owners often put them in cases like that to display them for judging Early Ford V-8 Club national meets.

Ken

[Seth Swoboda]

I need one of these to fall into my lap. I'd daily drive the hell out of that car.

[The Art Doctor]

Originally Posted by Seth Swoboda

I need one of these to fall into my lap. I'd daily drive the hell out of that car.

I was talking with the wife last night about how much I intend to use it and at what rate I would thus need consumables (that I should stockpile now). I figure I will use it about 2000 miles a year (I have a few old cars but this one is my absolute favorite, it is just so beautiful and classy!). I'm 53, my parents are both still alive, healthy and driving at 78 and 82 thus I figure I have at a minimum 30 years of enjoyment of this car ahead of me (I've had my '47 Chevy coupe for 27 years so that is no stretch for me). At a total of about 60,000 miles of usage I will need to do several rounds of wires, plugs, caps, rotors, points and on and on. 60k should avoid an engine rebuild if all goes swimmingly. Ive been lucky thus far on eBay not having any competition for low cost NORS and NOS bits and pieces and hope to eventually have 6 sets of everything in a bin for 10,000 mile service intervals. I know some stuff will have to be bought fresh like condensers but plugs, caps and rotors will not go bad sitting around and other things like wires should last a lot longer than 10k miles. Am I nuts, or is my thinking correct on this consumable usage? Is 10,000 miles (5 years at my intended use rate) between tune ups realistic? I have not had a points car since the late 1990's (other old cars either have modified late model factory distributors or pertronix).