Projects 33 chevy 3w....time for a cool change

With the cars history my vote is chrome. And as for the bluing thats just more tradition from where I sit. But it's your car and call. Love the old pics also.

 

Have to agree with this!

 

X3..

It's a survivor. No way it should have modern ceramic on a very rare set of Tr-Ys that were once chromed.

Probably would cost a lot of money to replate, so if that is not in the budjet, I'd clean them up.

At this point, you really can't say if they are getting thin from internal rust near all the welds, so maybe cleaning is the most sensible move?

 

Did you put them back on yet?

It's about driving it, and the article early said it was a street rod, so get cracking and get driving.

You did good so fare, damn good.

I would paint them and call it done, can't figure out why you want to chrome them, when most parts on you engine and tranny is painted.
But they are a part of the parts that scream survivor, so don't change them and let them go blue.
Like then, like now!

 

Wasn't there some deal were chromed headers were packed with grease on the inside to prevent them from blueing on start up? Blued chrome looks better on a Vintage race car than the modern ceramic stuff IMO. Bob

 

thanks for the input, and i am glad there are a lot of you following and i hope some of you remember how it goes back together in case i forget.
i have been going back and forth with what to do with the header finish and really thought of just cleaning them up. the metal is really solid now, i had to replace a section on one of the dump tubes. my dad came by today and we were talking about the chroming he had done, back then he had buddies that worked at the many factories in town. these factories all had chroming departments and his friends would slip the parts through for him. he chromed lots of parts. when i was a kid i think it took a couple months pay to get the headers, grill shell and a bunch of little stuff plated. now......i had the two air cleaners plated, it took three months and cost almost $300.
the plating would be traditional, i guess leaving it would be traditional. i was just hoping the headers with the coating would look more like a dulled chrome and protect these pieces.
didn't packard, caddy, cord, stutz, auburn etc use ceramic coated parts under their hoods?

 

I think we all had parts done in Stamford by that factory. I know I did.

 

"didn't packard, caddy, cord, stutz, auburn etc use ceramic coated parts under their hoods?"

It is called porcelain. It is somewhat thick, and I only recall seeing it on cast iron "exhaust system" parts. (yes it was used on kitchen stovetops, and pots, but not seeing the same higher temps?)





What I meant about rust on the insides at welds; some long-dormant, "used" headers can be mint looking, and then spring a leak after a few hundered miles.... right near a weld. And those headers if they had two plating jobs, each step, of each coating like copper, nickel, chrome, gets soaked in acid each time.



....ah, I'll send some fine steel wool. You need to hurry up anyways, so you don't miss out on summer this year. I've heard that it will be on a Wednesday,..... so be ready for that one nice day.

 

yes Frank, the headers had some cracks from the weight of the exhaust after i broke a hanger. as i welded them they would open up. i just kept burning the metal back till i hit "solid" then filled the hole. took a long time and i ground a lot of the chrome away. the blaster is going to clean them up and we will assess them. cheapest way is to swop them out....but that is not going to happen.

 

BLASTING off chrome is the wrong way to remove it. Bob

 

how is it done?

 

i started banging the driver side fender back into shape. one of the original owners must have lost a tire chain link and kept driving and it beat it up pretty bad. when i first got it on the road i lost a wheel and it did some more damage to it. you can see the fender in primer in post 645. it had a layer of filler that i would like to get down to a minimum. i also ground down a pretty bad repair of a tear in the bottom of the fender. needs more work but it is getting there.

 

new tag came for the generator so i finished it up. i took the end plate off again and removed the cover on the back side to check the felt in the oil cavity, it was clean so i put it back together. i stamped the numbers from the old tag onto the new one. the number had a lot of 3's so it has to be good. i found the number to trace back to 63-64 rambler i also replaced the missing oil cup.

 

the car is off to the blasters............

 

Wow, door to door service?

You are going to be so stoked when you drive it again after 20 years!

 

yes, they are about an hour away from me, he runs a route around the state picking up and delivering, good work and reliable. i have been using them for 25 years. very convenient!
dad was here yesterday and is excited to drive it again also.

 

Ted, how is the Coupe? Hope Gary is taking good care of it, this is the first time it has been out of a family garage since found in the late 1950's isn't it? Bob

 

it was at the body shop when i had it painted, in '82. i changed the motor at my uncles garage. then almost every weekend in the next couple summers i drove it to shows around the east coast but other than that, it has been in our garages.
Bob are you worried about Gary? i am sure it is fine.

 

last night i worked to get the vent windows apart. it still had the original rubber in it and i ordered new stuff that i bet won't last as long. after i had the car painted in the early eighties i had removed the vents and painted them all together and at that time i changed all the glass in the car to "smoked". i had a friend that was an apprentice at a glass shop so he got a sheet of glass and we cut them in my dads basement. we did a good job but i want to go back to clear. removing the glass was a pain, he must have ordered a very tough, maybe hurricane proof material. this photo is after hitting it with a hammer. i eventually had to cut through the cracks with a razor knife to get it out of the frame without damage. i wonder if the new glass will be this good. ready to go in the bead blasting cabinet and then paint

 

That looks like the results of me trying to install glass insist of trying to take it out. Doubt if the new glass will be no way as close to the quality of the old.

 

Go stock tint! It always looks good. JMO

 

what is stock tint in '33?

 

Must be something blocking your vision otherwise you would have a FORD
I meant stock green automotive type glass used for years.

 

to late, i ordered all clear like the original.

 

I see

 

spent a lot of time organizing parts and cleaning the shop in preparation of the next steps.
i cleaned and buffed the exhaust dump covers and painted the inside of the grooves red.
i also blasted the vent windows and window channels.

 

i put a chrome water pump on in the '80s when i changed the motor. i recently took it off the old motor, it did not leak and the chrome looks ok but i bought another plain new one anyway. the new one looked like it had been cast at the beach, pits and very grainy. so i polished it up before i painted it. just for laughs i decided to clean up the chrome one and i shines pretty good. the bearings are ok and it hadn't started leaking....yet. which one would you put on? easy enough to change if it leaked later, but will i want to after it is all together? can these be resealed? i tried to use a puller to get the pulley flange off and it did not budge.

 

Hyd press to get the hub off. Take some measuremts of where it is from the engine block face.

Next, don't do what the "techs" at the local Hyundai Dealer did with a matching number mid year vette pump.... they stood the pump up on the feet, and tried to press the guts out.. Broke the casting at one leg. Needs to be supported at the flange face of the 6 bolt hole area.

 

thanks Frank, where do i get the replacement parts?

 

These are going to look nice with the red rims!