I've been talking to the folks who're trying to restore the practically abandoned Tucker in Brazil. Their goal is to get the car back to the condition it was before somebody ripped it apart and put a Cadillac engine and transmission in the car. One of the people involved in the project works for Dana-Spicer in Brazil and believes that if they can prove that Dana-Spicer made some of the original parts, they can sucker convince Dana-Spicer into picking up part of the tab for the work. I have a part number for the U-joints, which potentially could have been made by Dana-Spicer, but its a NAPA part number (NAPA 531G or 544, they used two different sizes). Does anybody know if that's something Dana-Spicer might have made? I have a few other part numbers of things which Dana-Spicer could have potentially made, but the part numbers I have are all for other companies, and I don't have an interchange manual which could answer this. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
This is the kind of thing old time Tucker owners would know. Isn`t there a Tucker club. You could try asking here. AACA Forums You may be asking in the wrong place. This site is for the kind of people who are in favor of gutting an old car like a trout and shoving in a Cadillac engine.
contact the Gilmore Museum, they have a vast Tucker library. http://www.gilmorecarmuseum.org/about-contact.php
Well, Tuckers were built by guys who scavenged part yards to build race cars, and didn't have the luxury of custom building parts, so they're more in line with the guys who'd gut an old car to shove in a Caddy engine, than keeping in pristine. Tuckers had parts made by nearly every automaker out there on them, because Preston and his boys were trying to get the cars hammered out and running before the Feds shut them down. The steering wheels were from Lincolns, the interior door buttons were from Jeeps, the exterior door handles were Kaiser (as were some of the hubcaps), the transmissions on the early models were from Cords, and so on. There is a Tucker Club, but they're in a "rebuilding year," as they're recovering from a lot of internal problems, and the folks who'd know these kinds of things off the top of their head have shuffled off this mortal coil, unfortunately.
Unfortunately, this is one of those things that while they might have the information, they have no way of finding it out quickly or easily (if at all). The people who had the documentation that detailed this kind of information bequeathed their documentation to the Club and the Gilmore, but didn't allow any of it to be cataloged, etc. before they passed on (and both of them died within the past 2 years and left semi-trailer loads of documentation, in addition to parts and cars to the museum), so getting it sorted out in the near future well enough to say that Dana-Spicer may have made this or that part seems unlikely. Additionally, the Tucker spent part of its time, until fairly recently, submerged every year due to rains, so the sooner the folks involved in restoring the car can get to work at preservation (if not actual restoration), the better. To my knowledge, the Club is not providing any funds towards the restoration. I am trying to change that, but in the meantime, I'm doing my best to kick information in the direction of those working on the car.
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