Projects 1934 LaSalle old school convertible coupe build thread

We got back to my place from Kenny's maybe 12:30? IDK, does not matter. Hey guys one thing of many things I thought of last night at the show.... I NEED & WANT my own car again..

I sure thought the smartest most logical choice was the Nash as it is so close... But no matter how much I want that car to be on the road.... The 34 LaSalle Convertible simply MUST get going first and as soon as possible with my many other obligations.

This thread will stop with all the Americana...it needs to as it really IS OT! I will find another venue for it I hope, and soon? I need to share "life" as it can be for every single person on earth. Not my idea of life, but the same exact view that everyone that hooks up here has, and "does", >> life!.

Back on topic, I simply must find the best, easiest way to remove those 6 broken head studs, then get the 34 Convertible to "hotwire drive" and at least have an E brake! Then the pressure is off, for the upcoming cold seasons when I need the main work bay for "whatever"

I hope to get somewhere with the studs very soon, then the thread will get going again...about the dang 34 LaS!!

bye, I need to get the dozer ready as Kenny is bringing over the spare NICE running engine for a Whippet, that I will never need, but he so want's to "save" some old car thing from the scrapper as they all clean out 65 years? of Kenny Stuff!! Jim can verify the stuff getting tossed there...he (Jim) was sorting/saving only certain car-makes of NORS gasket sets today, desperately trying to save stuff for the hobby...no one man can do all this, sort it, then store it somewhere, then the work and time! to sell it, or whatever. I did tell them all, right that moment: "maybe it is time to just chuck it all....it is just too "life demanding" to be a savior of ALL old things"

Pics at the beautiful farm this morning...man, the weather turned with such a nice slight chill in the breeze, left me feeling so "alive"!! >>>>he, he, no text for these pics, baby...you write 'em! in your own mind!

 

Frank, ever notice how things all seam to some how become related to other things you have an interest in? There is another HAMB thread on Harper Dry Lake racing and a movie that was filmed there in the late 1930's. The Tommy Lee speedster is featured, had Cord fenders, built by Frank Kurtis at Don Lee Cadillac when he worked there. Guess this speedster and the LaSalle based speedster were built about the same time. Bob

 

Wow Bob, thanks for posting that. I noticed the fenders on the 34 LaS I first hauled here 3-4 years ago..were so reminiscent of the later 36-37 Cord fenders...even the peaks on the rear fenders too.

Oh, and thanks for the sepia toned 8x10 pic from that long ago car show. It was like 10 days to get here after you mailed it from the opposite side of our State! Maybe Connecticut is wider than I thought LOL

That car show pic...maybe taken in the mid 50s to ?.. That thing above the drivers head is a roadster Top on a car behind that LaSalle. One car I see is a 32 Lincoln open bodied car in the backround. Must have been a "heavy"-car show with classics??

 

Had a good time Friday at Kenny's Frank but something is wrong with your camera. It make me look old and fat.

 

That Tommy Lee speedster was restored and lived about an hour away from you Frank up in Mass. Bob

 

Frank, If you don't know it already this is the best stuff for those broken head studs that need to be removed. Sure it's a bit more that BP Blaster and others but it works. Bob

 

Listen to me Grasshopper... drop this "Lookin old' chit! I had to keep at that Head Pharmisist guy at the show Thursday...the guy who came to see me in "the Hosipal" with the cell pic he took of my kid at the show I missed the night before...

..anyways Thursday night we talked about his recent separation of a 44 year marriage, and that he "needs / misses" a lady but not in a "physical" way...but said "i'm too old". I kept at him, "no way, you look cool as chit, you are so good looking, you will find your new one" He will get there! Oh, he is the one who Kevin said he scrapped his cellphone for good, right after that hospital visit...a new life Jimmy! He will rock the 'ell on!

Oh,, Jim, I waited around for Kenny to show up with that motor all afternoon, killed time, got the Model A battery in the Whippet...got it running..now what? ...oh, do what Kenny does, hop on and drive it over to Gene/Berties place...cruising down their long driveway..ooops nobody home, ah, go drive back to stop at my mailbox to see more Insurance stuff relating to my "vacation. Parked it, walking to my house, new Badass neighbor Steve yells over, meets in my driveway..we talked stuff while he ate his supper...shit, it smelled good.. I thought he was shorter?No, he is taller that me! Oh, first day we met when car fell off the jack, he ends that visit "let me know if YOU need help with anything"... I said"you are up all hours of the night B/S ng on your rear deck...you see somebody messing around my place, you'll take care of it, Right?" He said "yes". Ha ha, one look at him and :"shows F'n over"

oh, I finally go out for milk and sugar that we forgot to stop for, hell, I was headed to Coventry Extramart, but ended up on that quiet road off Depot road I showed ypou, I end up at the Eagleville dam! Chatted with one couple up top, walked around, sat and watched the river...Finally head to Mansfield 4 corners to a store, but see a 67 GTX drag car getting strapped down on a trailer. slam my brakes, but only have right sides now!!! rubber squealing trying to crank hard left.. HE HE... The guy is goiung to Lebanon Vally strip in the AM, Test/Tune.. I told him I just saw a hidden Sox/Martin 1970 pro/stock, and then I asked if he ever street raced Kennys son...no...he can't quite recall...then BAM! YEA! we hooked up around 81 on the streets of Manchester one night, I ran my 67440 GTX against his 67 GTX but he was running the 440 instead of the orig Hemi. I said "he beat you/" ...yea with a huge grin..but I missed a gear!!

gotta run, 12 valve Dave is here......we gotta go haul iron, baby!

 

I got way too f'n much of life today, to ever be on topic here... All car related, but way too deep in meaning.

I cannot run with any control on my life, ever again!,.... I cannot just sit here, and show or talk of how I got broken head studs out. I will NOT go against Hambs rules! I cannot do off topic, "on-life" stuff.

I just started a Facebook for me.

I really have no idea how Facebook works, but just pushing a friend request button on seeing my son's site pop up, he already accepted, FAST. he must not be gettin' any... ooops... at the Block Island Party right that moment..


Today, just a couple pics. I cannot discuss much, so why start...??

 

There goes face book. It will never be able to keep up with you.


Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.

 

If you are really good you can get the studs out with a cutting torch. Hold it in the sender can don't wiggle it some times messes the torch tip but you can clean it, this what we did before EDM . Then all you need to do is run a tap in the whole to clean the threads out.

 

Yes, I have done that before, but on bigger stuff when I worked for DOT repair...we had bigger torches too, and a more steady hand back then.. Not sure how I will tackle it, If my big Miller TIG was set up, I know I'd just add more to each broken one because they all stick up away from the deck surface. My point is; why struggle to get them out if I find a way to leave the frozen threads in?

A mig is too brittle in my opinion. And gas, well, I need a very steady hand, but if I can lean my arm on something, I could do it. These studs are locked beyond my imagination. We heated one right from inside the water jacket area, red heat at the bottom of the threaded area, and it would not even twitch, hot or cooled. I don't want to keep ending up worse, if you can get that, maybe mess something up good......on a great running engine! I should have never went any further than the original 3 broken ones done by the seller of this motor years ago. I should have?, IDK ? , maybe drilled down to retap to one size under stock? It would have held just fine, and I would have had the engine installed and drivable chassis by now!

 

Well, I tried working at night after all the other chores and tasks here, there simply is no spare time during the day for my hobby car work.. But I am getting all the broken studs out with a mig. I will post a pic after I get them all out, of what is welded to each broken piece.

Looks like there is hope after all, to maybe get the 34 to the point of hotwire/e-brake type drivable, so I can use that main work bay in nasty weather.

 

The first 24 hours on FB...er,.... I'm thinkin...er ...no...um..

BAMMMM! the last two days are pure OFF the WALL! so many people from DECADES of my life are hitting me up! Un-F'ng REAL...

Badass Joe Vesley, passed away in 2015 like I mentioned, but his son Brian hit me up, got a pic of his Dad, Dad's old coupe that sat in his garage when last driven by him in 1966... they got it back on the road before Joe passed, Bri drove it with no plates for the funeral.. Oh, and found 32 Matt!, from seeing a relative pop up on the "mutual friend' deal that had Matts last name, so I hit on Matt just now. Matt brought a "cutie" to the show last week! So many men brought their wives and GF's TOO for THAT show!, there is something going on around eastern CT! I don't get out much, but there has been at LEAST 5 times the amount of vintage cars passing by our home, as well as tons of the newer hobby of hauling off road mud trucks, you name it... My son was leaving for the big Labor Day weekend festival at Block Island the next morning recently, that night was another "chillier that normal" we were talking about, he blurts out "The Earth is healing itself" WTH? ...oh, lately I think my part of America is TOO!

Oh, Carp!...you wanted to know what "Advanced" means...I simply cannot tell you how advanced a new potential "garage gal-visitor" is... if you have a pacemaker, it simply will not work too well, dude! Sigh... she is 27, but as I told her, "you look 21", beautiful long light blonde hair...sigh...loves garages and working on cars! Eat your heart out guys LMFAO !! I need to get pants on,80 year old neighbor Gene coming this morning with his chain saw too, we are both cutting away the huge tree, making the path to his place and to the rear of my shop passable again. Then start the CORD! Rockin the F on, Baby!!!

 

No Pacemaker for Me! Except for a little arthritis and a knee replacement, I'm pretty Good. Great to see you have a potential "garage mate", but just be sure to keep your focus on the task(s) at hand. That coupe looks interesting, any more pics? What's your facebook page name?

 

The potential garage girl is not from FB, she is maybe 25 minutes from here, I was at her garage a few days ago, but a friend that brought me there says she is a regular at his garage...wait for it... 5 minutes from ME. And, he simply said on the way to his place that day, "she would really love the cars you are working on, I am sure she will be a regular there" ...ooohhhhhh.. I am GLAd I had all those Med tests and cat-scan stuff done... I am GOOD to go baby!!

There was one more JoeV coupe pic, I will look around. In that pic, Joe V is the guy with the soda can, his Son Brian is on the far right, he owns the coupe now., I need to visit him, and all his neighbors, as My Son and I lived at Brian's former grandmothers "in law apartment" above his garage for 13 months, what a F'n riot we had back then 2002-03... three just divorced parents, all with kids same ages, He , his new GF,and I...Rockin the F on, we were!!! Oh, I need to get Kevin to give me the FB name of a "once young girl" we used to see on that road when we all bicycled that road every day...she went on to become a hamber, with a Model A coupe w/big Pontiac motor! Kevin taught her in my Sons Vo-Ag building in high school, a few years before my kid attended.

Me,... my FB name Frank Cebula (make sure you look for location: Mansfield Center CT, or you will get the wrong Frank)...read from the last post backwards to find out that I recently chatted up two sweet young cuties across the road.. we met with the Whippet out on the freakin ROAD!! he, he... I first saw them,... thinking how would it be so impossible to chat them from over here, but I showed that young buck "12 valve Dave" just how it's F'n done baby!!

oh the Cord.... if the water in the system works out Ok with cloth "filters" at the 3 hoses, I am going to try to see if it moves under it's own power...IF I can figure out where the Reverse is ..LOL!! That linkage is too hidden to pre plan where each gear is on the homemade shifter

 

Jim was here as Joe G was leaving. Joe G came in while I was welding another stud on the 34 motor, then later, Jim messed with those two last studs, but we ...no ME...decided "let's go start the cord and put water in it". We did, the cloth seems to let the water flow through to the radiator, the engine smoothed out pretty nice after running twice a LONG time, but we have a VERY odd, LOUD knock that is NOT consistent! It sounds up top, I heard it best through both water outlet castings at top center of each head??? WTH?? We decided to quit, due to both of us having stuff to do. We will think on that noise as thinking can pay off, but he wants to pull off the water pump belt at the front, and the generator belt on the back of engine. Both units hav e serious issues with their bearings/wicked slop, etc. If any of those, I would think the generator, as it's bracket bolts solid to the top of the intake manifold at the center rear. Can't hurt to try both belts removed.

Of course I talked about the cuties in between,,, even he at one point says " I'm married."..then says "to a persons grandmother". Then I said "is she hot?"...then he says "IT"S MY WIFE", and I said "I knew that...is SHE hot?" He says ...never mind.. I won't say what his answer was... BUT, he then did want(and DID) to head up the driveway where he knew "12-valve Dave" and I found more cuties:


oh, but he came back the long way across the front lawn..EMPTY-HANDED, as I was not with him to show HOW this all works!

This whippet may just make these guys have to whipp-et because they cannot score!

 

I see what you did there!

Ray

 

Frank you found me on fb.


Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.

 

Jim called this AM to check up on me...long story short, there is something wrong with me in"my head", but we got a plan to figure that crap out later...we GOT A CORD to figure out, Baby! We agreed yesterday that both the water pump and the rear mounted generator belts need to be unhooked to isolate this Bizarre knock...it comes/goes, not consistent..

Yesterday ^^^^ we determined that the only way the pump belt can be adjusted is by a "split pulley" like a VW bug that has shims between the two halves. Ok, this one has angled slots, you twist that collar to squeeze the pulley, or the other way, then it gets wide V groove to get the belt off. It was frozen, we soaked it with my mix of shit, then today I freed it up good,





I said late yesterday we need to think more, in our own quiet places, thinking will be more productive that charging in, or just giving up on saving this motor...meaning every other shop would have pulled the motor to be rebuilt by a pro shop! Ha, you have no idea how alike Jim and I feel on that, as we need to KNOW what is wrong first!


I told him this AM that I will do the rear belt first, then the pump belt if the noise is still there...but I f'n know it is internal! oh, I was right.. One more thing Jim suggested is to pull one plug wire at a time, which he did try one or two on the left bank, but we were battling so many issues at once, trying to keep water in it, trying to stabilize the idle speed, etc, .. BUT, today that bitch started right up and after a bit of my forearm over the carb to choke it till it ran on the open carb...bang bang bang..

Ok, motor off to save temps from climbing, .... I pulled all the plug wire boots off and tossed them, then I can just use a grounded jumper to kill one wire at a time to see if the knock would stop.. But I did listen with a long screwdriver on top of each spot on the heads where we had stupid close clearances between the milled heads, and the odd way the lower part of each piston protrudes higher that the deck right in one spot. Jim was convinced overnight, thinking it is the Right bank, I said the AM, I think center inner of engine!

Well with the screwdriver I sure felt pretty confindent the right rear one was the knock, shut down to save temps from climbing, then getting it all rigged for the test...YES, the first wire I shorted...the last cyl goes SILENT??? I then killed it as the pump is disabled, need time to think..

next run, wire off on that one, I tried to force it to knock, I did hear another rattle after messing with different RPMs, but sounds more central...inside..???

Ok, strangest part yet!..with the wire off, at idle speed, or a bit up just a tick..running steady speed...the exhaust starts that dam Pop, but so random, wth?? I just leaned on the fender, staring at it, just trying to understand what the heck is going on... No boil yet, so let it run... finally killed it as I was done listening,,,more think time...ha ha, that is why I am writing RIGHT now! I think when I try to find the words.. can't explain, and don't need to.

at this point this moment, I think it is a valve hanging??? I told Jim yesterday that it sounds like a lobe coming around and slapping a lifter that is stuck up a bit...but I need to run it again, to see if with that wire back on, does it skip??? If a valve hangs momentarily, then it MUST skip...I just don't know now. We will figure it out./.. Boy, the exhaust when standing outside 10 feet away...sounds so killer!!! Badass bitch she is, i'll tell ya!

 

maybe try running it with a timing light on the coil wire and see if the miss is timed to a skip in the flash?

 

Ted, no idea if it has a skip, WAY too much going on under the hood, water is flying all over, pump leaks BAD over the drive pulley, need more think time as I know I need to RUN it more, but not sure with wire on when it knocks BAD, maybe hurting something, or run a long time with wire off, no knock that way, but can that cylinder get hot enough in case the valves need heat??? I Just don't know right now. I will put the pump belt back on, I need more run time, without worry of boil over.


oh, I was removing the 2nd to last of the 34 LaS head bolt stubs, power went out for a while as bad storm came through, stayed working on that one as I had enough light, got it! One bitchy one left, I will F with that now before neighbor Steve comes by...he was going for a new but finally job interview when I caught him pulling in to his place. Multi tasking is not my game, NEVER was good at it!...but stuff is really going on here every single day!



I am emailing Ron the Cord owner right NOW, with the last post I did HERE on his knock, I cannot waste time sending/writing him what is going on, he needs to follow the issues HERE.

 

Hey Frank
If it only knocks when firing maybe a loose wrist pin ??


Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.

 

George, I don't think so, and never did when jim was tossing around random things.. Ok, I ran it again after trying to get that pump belt on,, I knew there was a knack to it back at the Cord dealership, I just cannot see in all the nooks down at lower drive pulley that runs off the cam..

^^^^Here is how I rotated that hub thing without the special Cord tool which must have been a big half C with two pegs to fit into two round holes, then you would have grabbed the fan and tightened that hub with the tool. I used a monster pair of channelocks... yes, lots of sharp metal so I nicked my arm, not the last time today., I bet LOL

Ok I put water back in, ran it with that plug wire off...why? because a loud noise might be doing damage, that's all. Guess what? it is running sweeter each time, and starts quick! Not too shabby, as when I first got the heads back on, I had almost no compression,. This time, those backfires or whatever it is, are so very much gone, well not gone but so infrequent. But when it does, it gets your attention. Bad thing is that the pump is making way too much noise! it is like grinding up chunks of metal type sound, or something, but that's random too!

It's getting there, Tach on dash still works said Jim yesterday, it shows 850 at where the idle is, and that is right around where I guessed before looking..like 800 I figured.. I will run it again soon, been working on the 34 motor... multitasking idiOT!

I did not rotate the pic, bend your neck Heating a badly stuck valve, it stayed outside the whole hospital vacation time, after getting water in the ports a bit, past my plastic baggies that were stuffed in during powerwash...then it rusted up.. LOL... I got it! and 4 more slight stuck ones... Broke that dam last stud off again, but plenty left to weld to again! Having a Coffe break, JAMIE!! ha, ha!

 

Ted, I wish you lived on the "good side of Ct", to listen to this engine,... I have not a clue what that knock is! I ran it again, then did a shut down, put the plug wire back on and the knock came back exactly the same. It is not at all consistent. I ran it again with the wire off and I will now try to see if I can drive it out. I do not know what the shift pattern is, I may put it in each position, then bump the starter.

We have no electrical system, meaning the entire car wiring is disconnected, I ran 12 off of a battery on the floor, then a 2nd battery for the coil, and now, because that other battery is in the whippet, we run a battery charger for just the coil.

Right from day one, I bypassed that strange Startix relay/solenoid, and have one battery jumper cable to the unhooked starter motor input, then I ground out the other cable to the massive hood rod at the firewall to get it to crank. That makes it weird to hook up the coil. It is confusing, but the way we set up the coil feed, if we use just one battery, the 2 wires going to the coil backfeeds... I will come up with a better setup to run that small 12v batt on the front bumper braces on RT side. The battery box is under the seat looking under the car, I don't want to power the car yet (burned wires to both horns, and one I saw under the car is burned??) Maybe they put the battery cables reversed before? IDK why they are burnt yet, so I will do what I said above, putting a 12 up front.

^^^pic taken back when I was fixing up the exhaust, a burnt wire,.... I don't know where that wire went, or forgot by now? This is why I cannot power up the car, just the starter motor and coil. All we need for gauges is the oil pressure, that is not electric as you know.

looking forward to a test move, I need to look at the forecast...or just look out the window in the morning,,,that is more accurate.

 

will they have another of those thursday shows?

 

Went through trying to find a crazy noise in my 48 flathead. Drove me nuts. Sounded like it was on the right center left. Anyway after removing lots of stuff and nothing, I finally removed the heads. One exhaust valve seat was loose and just banging around and sometimes go back in place. Just a thought.

 

This!

 

Yes, One more ...don't hit on my girls will ya!

Boy you got me wondering??? I need to think on that!!!...Kenny was just on the phone a LONG time...old duffer...talking the old days again'...later he says Lycoming 6s he has worked on, sound like rocks, he thought they surely had a cracked piston, so I asked if he took one apart? or not??...he never verified it WAS a piston! He was pising me off, says dump it back to the owner??? Why? he brought it HERE to get it fixed! Then I said I'd rather work on this than rusted late model patching for another dose of salt! I will get to the bottom of this with help from all you mugs and that sketchy Jim character! LMAO again..


edit...I saw the valve seat picture after I wrote all this.,,,,duh, I hand cleaned each seat! I would have spotted that issue I would bet. I wish I could record the noises, knock and backfire

 

So far none of the other seats seem lose. If you heard it you would swear it was wherever you were listening.

 

Ok, today looked crappy earlier, but they say sun coming. My plan?? to see if the Cord can move on it's own for first time in 31 years, BUT the clutch pedal felt so weak before I even got it in the shop, so it could be a bad pressure plate. and who knows if the disc is rusted to the flywheel or plate? This is like the little Dutch boy running out of thumbs for all the leaks in that dam. No joke intended. I MUST find out if all major systems are savable at THIS point. I will run it with that plug wire off, as the pump sounds ready to explode, too much noise distractions there, let alone letting that knock to mess up my concentration. I will get back late today on what's what SO FAR! The Cord will stay the winter for sure, what is the point of sending it home as is? I am the only shop that can tackle this mess on a purely economical basis...I know that sounds F'n weird, but bare with that.

hey, I think I figured out why I really joined FB. As I said on both car websites, I vowed on my 65 birthday to "finally take the last step for living my life in total un-control, and to get to total bliss". My ex, we have not had voice contact in 8 or 9 years, last chance eye contact was 3-4 years ago at a wake, just a passing, uncomfortable chance visual in the parking lot. Ok, on AACA, I said my son found out right after I got out of the hospital, that she forced him to do a in person meet...it was to tell him she came down with advanced leukemia. I asked the AACA peeps that if they are into that prayer request stuff, don't post it on my thread, but just do it in your head...Do not post it! Anyways, my ex has a super common name, I could not find her on FB, and had no idea why I searched...well..until two nights ago, I found my niece who knows and tells my son what status his Mom is in. My son has not heard anything for 2+ weeks. So, I did find a older post from my ex on the nieces site, and because I have "no control", I instantly chatted my ex up real F'n good...I told her about my health stuff first, then told her I want to try to help her fight this disease somehow.. to have her find some peace in her mind and soul... No contact back ..yet?..or ever?... I do not think of why!......So listen you posers, please send Deb the best prayer you ever did...but not here...do it in your thoughts. Thank you, hamb. Time to rock the F on Baby!............the Cord, that is

pic taken June 1973, of some old car & farm truck...and a...cutie! .....oh, ..she loves flowers