Projects 1934 LaSalle old school convertible coupe build thread

I built this engine dolly today. I had enough stuff from the recycle place to build two, but this motor is a 35 and I know there is at least a few differences compared to the two more 34 engines that are still outdoors. I must wait to build another, and will be fitted to a 34, not this 35.

^^ there is the wooden ruler....and an oil can. I oiled the casters after I built this. Those oil cans work great, but nobody uses them anymore...well, "normal" people don't. lol

^^^ I notched the front so the engine stays locked in place. That motor plate is different on a 34, so that is why I could not copy this dolly, for use with a 34


I was easily able to push that motor two bays away where the 32 is, backed it outside, then added this motor to the good one already there.

^^^ that plastic wall and passdoor goes into the LaSalle room, which is 24x35 interior size. But in this bay on the other side, is a 34 block on a handtruck for now....just trying to keep stuff indoors rather than rot away outside:




I forgot to say about those nylon straps I use for lifting engines and other things: I get as many as I want for free. They are made to pick-up a huge as-shipped, stack of copper household water pipe. They are marked as "one-time use only". and there are ratings on how much weight they can handle depending on how it is looped. Minimum is 3000 I think. These are so slick for engines, just wrap it wherever, use one, or two, they cannot dent a pan or valve-cover, like a chain or cable can. They are a big loop, no ends.


Joe G. was here for a quick stop, showing me that he picked up two 1950s Jeep wheels to use on his chassis, he will be back at 9AM tomorrow to install four he hopes. I asked him to help lift off the 35 cowl after he does the tire install, then I decided to channel the 34 cowl...or at least start it:

^^^^ The yellow shows where I did already cut the firewall face to the 3.125" total channel. I will cut the bottom plates with the plasma cutter in the morning before Joe gets here. Maybe we can get this on the chassis then, for a mock-up. Boy, the nailing edges on the front quarters are needing a lot of repair Well, I did say the entire body is rough, but I just cannot scrap it.

 

The reason I need to rely on Joe G, to help with the cowl swap, and not get my Son to be able to help is quite simple, really. My Son is living his life to the fullest, beyond description. I just was informed late yesterday, that my Son is heading back to Block Island for yet another invited weekend. He is on the water every weekend in months so far, on Block Island, or "Martha's Vineyard", or on several friends boats of all sizes.

This past weekend, my Son was invited on to a serious ocean fishing 38 hour timed tournament, in the waters off of Rhode Island and NY. He was one of several guests on this boat below; a 63 foot "sport fisherman", with twin 1500hp Cat turbo diesels. This boat is an upper end sport fisher, as it has a fully enclosed "flybridge" which is the top most enclosed area in the pics. Above that, is the "tuna tower", which my Son rode in from Block Island to the Eastern tip of Long Island, NY, called "Montauk Point". He got some cool videos from up there. This boat was $4.5 million when new, but "Big Al" picked it up in Fla from a guy who simply "never used it much", for $800k cash with only 1000 hours on it! These boats are often just seen as "yard art" at the upper end inland waterway homes in Fla. Just sitting there at private docks.

This boat used 1500 gallons of fuel on the tournament last weekend. The other business owners invited on this trip all put in the $500 standard bet for "the biggest fish on the boat" but also $500 more for "each species" of biggest fish!. I asked my Son: "you don't play that game, do you?" He said "'ell No, Dad" LOL


^^^ above pic, you can get a sense of scale by looking at the guy in the seat, of their brand new, smaller, $330K "Statement" brand, twin outboard 39 footer. These boats are both home based in Noank CT, but both are wintered in Fla, somewhere South of "Boca". I believe that pic was taken by my Son this past late winter in Fla, perhaps MLK weekend, when he was invited for a 3-4 day stay on the big boat.







And...it seems there will be yet another different Tournament the weekend after this coming stay at Block Island, and my Son is invited back for that one, too.

...and here I am building a $6 scrapyard engine dolly... LOL


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^^ there is the wooden ruler....and an oil can. I oiled the casters after I built this. Those oil cans work great, but nobody uses them anymore...well, "normal" people don't. lol

Thanks Frank....now I know I am not normal! Guess I had better book an apt with my "shrink" for some therapy now as I use them all the time


PS....if you do not use that selector tranny I certainly would like to have that short tail stock for my 37 Buick conversion.....just saying.

 

Why be Normal anyway

 

Take it from an expert on how good life can be on the "other side" of what we are brainwashed into thinking is "normal"? Welcome, is what I say to you, as you finally cross over.

Hmmnnn, Shrinks are highly misjudged, as in my very recent 8 day stay at a mental heath facility has certainly proved to myself. I was wrongly incarcerated there by either a person on the net who was either playing psychoanalyst, or more likely, that persons comments were twisted around something terribly backwards by relaying that info through too many different people, starting with the CT State Police...(who actually DID come here to "get me"). (I was actually calmly working on stabilizing Joe G's sedan body on it's frame jig when this all went down) LOL. Anyways, I was recently suffering from my "hidden-never gone like they say" Lyme disease, compounded by my immediate, very scary allergic reactions to the 40 year cycle of the intense Gypsy Moth infestation here, as well as letting myself get way too dehydrated while doing all the massive tasks of sorting/stripping/moving all the LaS stuff! Anyways, I was first sent to a Medical Hospital that ran me through every cat scan, body scan, X-rays, blood work, you name it, but only looking for the cause of my so called mental issue! They couldn't have cared less when I begged them to check out why my ankles were so swollen, as they were just patronizing a "crazy person", and basically held me for 2.5 days till there was an opening at the "other Hospital"...But! unlike the Medical "body doctors", the Mental Heath's entire staff darn well knows, and ADMITS there certainly is such a thing as what I call "hidden Lyme"! My head "shrink" was/is real nice elderly Doctor, crippled up by what I learned later from a staff member, was a very bad stroke, but he still stays working to help people like myself. He tried in vain to get me into a upcoming case-study of rare Lyme afflictions, by one noted Professor at the prestigious Tufts University near Boston, but it just never panned out. So, here I exist, with all those exhaustive "medical" tests done at the first Hospital, but I have zero treatment for my disease. How special. Oh, and now I have a mental health "record" which reads like a horror story to myself and others who have seen it!

Rock on, my brother!
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Let me take some pics today of what I have for short tail housings. BTW, that rusty selector that was tossed in the 34 parts car is actually a 5 bolt, so the tail cannot be what you need IMO.

 

That sounds hellish! Bet you're glad that's over.

 

Kool a Oliver/Cletrack crawler

 

Hi Walt, here are two short tail 51-53 housings that were subject to "core shift" which leaves some weak areas/broken casted lips at the rear bearing seat. This is NOT a problem at all, as there is a thick, heavy main boss that cannot ever break away, and will always keep the bearing seated in the main case. Those strong areas I marked as "A". The arrows show where the web is either cracked and must be removed fully with a die grinder, and the other shows major areas of that thin web is gone. You are welcome to either of these if you need one, just PM your US Mail address, as they will shipo "US Mail Flat Rate carton, not UPS/Fedex

It is an early 1950's Oliver OC3 with what is called a "ware" loader, made in Ware, Massachusetts. It sure is a very strong and very handy machine. We just used it this morning when Joe G. stopped by early, to install the 16" Jeep wheels on the front, then lift the back up away from the building, set the blocks under the springs to wait for the last two Jeep wheels he is going to look at today...Then scrape off heavy grease and crud, then send it out for blasting! Getting closer it seems, and surely beating winter we hope.


Joe also helped getting the Mercedes bumper slid back onto it's "drawer glides" a weird way to mount a bumper, but if you have a helper, it goes quickly. The owner is coming at 9AM tomorrow.


My Son got out of work early mainly to finally replace our house water tank before ;leaving for the Block Island trip. He manned up, as Big Al is leaving Noank at 3PM today, heading with the 63 footer, to the harbor on "The Block" as it is called. My son chose to miss the ride to help me out, but he is flying out of Westerly RI at 7:30 PM tonight, a $50 10 minute flight, which is his total expenses for this weekend, besides gas to get to the airport

Being that it is not a major Holiday weekend, Al most likely will get a spot at the docks, but if the harbor docks are full, boat owners tie up side to side, far out into the harbor, and people walk across the back decks of all the lineup, to get to their boat! Along the way, you get free specialty foods or a glass of wine/ beer from all those happy campers!! Such a life, eh? BTW, these high rollers, this is the only time they can escape their busy, hectic, and often stressed out careers...by shutting off their phones and just plain living it up!

 

Just a quick update on today; my Som did the whole water tank swap in record time by himself, Dad rests up. LOL

Then he gets a call from Big Al's youngest son, saying he is tied up in traffic, and missed following Al in the 63', out to Block, following Dad in the new 39 footer with those big ass motors ! He wanted to know if my Son can get to the slip in Noank by 4:30 so he'd have a co-pilot. Wow, those two youngun's have never been allowed to run that new go-fast boat alone, and this should be epic, as my Son will dam well find out just how fast it really is. LMAO. ...what a life they live...epic.. I am so proud of what my Son can find/experience, to truly feel "alive".

 

This mornings longish update on a few things since last eve. My sleep patterns are still running wild, and I simply don't care! I ran 4 days of waking up at 12:30 AM feeling rested up just fine, then chill out on my tiny enclosed front porch with several coffees for maybe 2 hours contemplating what needs thinking about. Then hit the shop around 2:30 AM to do only quiet stuff so I don't wake up the neighbors on my North side. I then usually crash for a half hour to an hour sleep on my couch in my home at 5AM. Sounds normal, right? LOL. Hey, my Sone even said "you should not worry sabout thast", and I quickly said "I'm not". he, he.

Yesterday, I went to 1:30 AM before waking and that seemed promising to be albe to maybe get back to what I prefer as the prime waking hour of 4AM. This moring it went to 2:30 AM...awesome! I will get back on track in a couple of days I am sure.

But, with my pattern still off, I end up literally almost passing out due to being overtired at around 7 to 8 PM, and I'd better be right near the couch or bed when it hits me so quickly. Well, I have no clue what time last eve that I hear my phone make it's last of 4 rings before the recorded message starts, and I was coherent enough to know it was Kenny, and I knew everyone who knows that I never pick up in case it is telemarketers, I'd have 15 seconds to pick up to say "I'm here", before they hang up. However, I just was out in la-la land, I just could not wake up enough to go grab the phone, even though I knew it had to be some plan to finally get to Massachusetts to buy that good later Olds inline 8.

So, being that I know Kenny must get up wicked early, I called him with our "signal" of me calling, let it ring once, then hang up. He knows I only have a land line that costs money to make out of town calls, so he looks at his caller ID, then calls me right back with his "free long distance" phone! Well, 2 minutes later after I called him this morning at 5:30 AM, he called back; Yes, he wants to hook up early next week, and said the past week was tough with dealing with his wife's health issues and Doctors visits...plus the awful heat wave.

But the plot thickened as the 80 year old friend at the Mass boneyard just picked up a barn-found, all original, Model A truck with a factory built original "huckster" body. It is for sale, and that is what Kenny loves...buying old, cool chit! I will certainly take plenty of pics on that trip next Tuesday, if his wife Daisy is stable by then.

Being that my whole adult working life, I've never been a morning person and always figured I was just plain overworked...That all changed in the last six months since at my 65th birthday last Dec 31st, I vowed I would start the final push to let my life run at "full un-control" ! I know this will lead to complete perfection in how a life MUST be lived! So, when I asked if I should drive to Kenny's place on Tuesday as it must be easier to head North from there, what time does Kenny wish to hit the road?...he said "I like to start a trip at 5AM". Ding, "no problem, Kenny, I'm up way the heck before then, so 5AM sounds great!"

BTW, Kenny's only Son, runs a pro engine rebuild place, and just recently, went back to a one man shop, so I suppose he can not worry about hired help doing things correctly? Kenny says his Son really wants to close the shop, and then build a new private shop on his large lot behind his home, not far from Kenny, and it was originally Kenny's family land forever. His Son wants to get away from the mindless crap work of cutting heads on the modern POS cars that constantly have bad headgaskets, as well as rebuilding run of the mill engines. He wants to do only race-car stuff and 426 Hemi based work.

Well, I just got this PM from a AACA member overnight! The guy has a 1910 Mitchell 4 cylinder car that he is trying to save. He is just over the border in northern RI:

"

Frank,



Do you have an NE source for crank welding & grinding? I'd use J&M in Mass but they sold their crank welding machine. I'd like to get the journals on the Mitchell crank built up to a standard size and want to do it before I make the rods and mains. There are lots of places on the net that sound good but would prefer not to have to ship the thing half way across the country. A place I could drive to and come back in a day would be ideal... but I can ship it.



I've been following your HAMB thread... it looks really good. I have to say though, that it doesn't fall into what I think of as a hot rod... more a custom coachbilt car. I especialy like the references to it being done in period. OF COURSE IT WAS! Sheesh... you'd think it was against the law to change the way a car looks to listen to some poeple!



Cheers,



Joe P

END QUOTE:

So, naturally, I did run this PM by Kenny this morning, asking if his Son can handle this job. He is going to find out if his Son does that task on site, or if not, who is his "go-to" crank guy local!! I know this will work out, as Kenny was so stoked that people out there are still trying to save really old prewar (WW1) cars, so Kenny WILL see to it, as well as his Son knows these early car owners NEED his talents, or connections! Cool. I will get on AACA to make sure Joe P gets this info right now!

Oh, and right as MY Son left for the trip on that 39 footer, he did straighten out a few "details" on both boats... Well, the little shits DID run that 39' themselves down in Fla earlier this late winter,... Al does have a legit "Captain" on call down there in case some family friends are visiting Fla, and want to use either boat, but don't know how to operate them. The Captain was supposed to drive the 39' for both kids, up to some big deal harbor event in Boca, but the Captain called at the last minute saying he shredded a tire on his car on the highway, was waiting for triple A towing, and could not make it....so...the kids just said "lets GO ourselves" LOL My son said the motors on the 39' are twin 275s, and it can top the 63's top speed by 10 knots!. Oh, and he quoted me the WRONG info on those two big turbo CAT's in the 63'...They are not 1500 HP each...they are 2000HP each! The spec at "full throttle", not cruise speed, is 180 gallons per hour fuel consumption! Holy freankin chit!

 

Mid-day update on the LaS. I went out around 4AM to set up the battery charger on the Mercedes, as it would be picked up at "9 or 9:30" this morning according to it's owner who's name is Will. So, as it was the "quiet only" time in the shop to not awaken the neighbors, I decided to study the potential dash swap of the 35 stuff going into the 34 sedan cowl. I never liked the 35 dash after first seeing it without rushing, when it arrived here a day after the estate haul, but since this car is supposed to be a "35 LaSalle" and the fact that the 34 dash is not really what I wanted for this car, I started looking at what I do have for spare dash parts....and the missing glove box door:

^^^ here is the 35 cowl laying kind of helter skelter off one side of the 35. That is where Joe G and I left it when he helped me at least get it off of the chassis, but had to room or time to find a spot for it. Here you see I put the bare 34 dash alongside of the 35 dash. The width is pretty close, but the 35 dash board itself is one stamping that actually extends into both A pillars, not easy to hack out. The best way to do the swap, is have both cowls laying on the shop floor, with firewalls laying flat on the floor. Then I would be able to see better, as to how to cut, how to splice, etc. But I needed to go look for more 35 pieces:

This box of 35 dash stuff I had been sorting 34 gauges a few weeks ago, and started a "35 box" then. The glove box door looked so wrong to me, but it did fit??


Well, that just looks crappy, but I must not give up just yet! Now go back to that pic of the 35 box; there was a clock??? what? where does it go...it must go in a glove box door but I don't have one!

So, being that this is a LOW, low budget build, maybe I can use the spare chromed gauge housing in place of a door??? Wow Frank, that sure is a mickey mouse idea!. ...or was it... LOL

I cannot freaking believe what I finally figured out! The 35 LaSalle was a COMPLETE and Major cost cutting redesign of the "super $$ excessiveness" of the 34 LaSalle. They simply must have lost crazy money on that new for 34 "downsized Cadillac" (34 LaSalle), and were then forced to pinch pennies everywhere on the 35 rehash. Look at this!

^^^ Holy crap, I just cannot get over this! They used another dash chromed bezel, added two hinges to the bottom, added two spare screw holes to hold the clock, then made a new tin back panel to hide it all, then made a new tin face that has a basket weave pressed in pattern on the steel, that matches the same basket weave details around the speedo and gauges!!! That lid is naturally SO VERY heavy, as it is such a heavy & complicated dash gauge bezel! I cannot imagine feeling the weight of it with the clock installed, when you go to slam the lid closed! That is the most bizarre "re-use" of an existing factory designed part, that I have ever seen in my entire life around cars!


Hey, I did also get the cowl swap done this morning! I took advantage of knowing that Will always is way late when he sets a time! LOL,..... so if I busted my tail as soon as it was late enough to not wake the neighbors, I would finish the multiple cuts on the 34 sedan cowl feet areas, and then would ask Will to help me lift it onto the 35 chassis! I am needing a rest from typing right now, but I took lots of pics and found another major surprise that eventually turned out excellent (I believe, so far)! I will post later today!

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EDIT at 2pm...I forgot to add two pics that I had uploaded. one pic shows the twin, very odd, headlight "idiot lights", and also a box of unsorted 35? parts I need to go through.

^^^Headlight warning lights at the bottom^^^

 

Great stuff!

 

I quit at 4:15 because "I think I got it".... lol...the mockup I mean. It was a royal PITA as nothing was really bolted down or tweaked into shape, causing an incorrect view of what the car nose will look like later. So, I struggled on, finding out what was causing issues, and fixing them.

I did say at Noon break, that there was a surprise that showed up on the new ideas of using all 34 nose parts. Well, I totally missed the fact that if I use a 34 grille shell, then I MUST use a 34 radiator support! I simply do not have one more 34 support to spare...I'd be taking the second one of only two 34s that we have!...and Joe's car would be missing another major piece, one that is a one-year only part, and likely near impossible to find. Well, it then hit me just at the same time; why can't I use the 35 grille shell and it's 35 radiator support??? I knew I measured the possible difference in how a 34 hood top might end up being wrong length, but I sure thought I figured out then, that it would fit the 34 hood top! So, I started the mockup that way.

Sure enough, the 35 stuff works super, and now Joe can have the spare 34 grille support. But there is now the issue that we simply do not have much left for good/repairable 34 hood sides for Joe, or for this one. So, being that the LaSalle sheetmetal is so thick, I decided that I must use the 35 sides, and it should be very easy to lengthen either the front or back end of each 35 side. The 34 sides would be even MUCH shorter that these 35s!! I've done this hood side stretch stuff before, and on even thinner hood sides, so I know it will be super easy and we can now use the best spare 34 sides on Joe's 34.

But, although I did finnaly free up the totally frozen side hinges a few days ago, I simply cannot get the long hinge pins to even budge a tiny bit. They may have a spot weld hiding, a weld that was done to keep the pin from working out? But I thought most cars are not ever done like that, so more inspecting is needed.

Here are a run of pics as taken, with zero text. you can see the progression as I went along, even getting sidetracked to show the very fancy script lettering on the very later years of LaSalle hub caps that I have several of. I dig them, so they will be used for sure.

Check out the last pic closely! I finally fixed something that always bugged me to no end! And, I am digging the mockup so much, as it won't be chopped, does not need a chop, and most importantly, I love the sneaky look of the 3" channel that most people who see the car when done, at a show or on the road, won't know it was channeled. It will just be low and very slinky! I love the thought of that.






I am sinking the grille! It looks way too much like a 36 Buick with the grille sitting outside of the shell. I cannot stand that look at all! So, "sunk" it will be, but in this pic, the grille bracket tabs are keeping it set back too much. I will soon have the grille to be less "sunken" than shown here. It still will have that very noticeable red colored round "LaS" emblem mounted on upper right side of that grille, to let people know it IS a LaSalle!


I sure can't wait to get the heavy straight eight installed to bring that nose down, and I already posted how simple it will be, to lower the front spring pockets to really "get it lower"! I am pretty stoked at this point today.

 

My two favorite car related things this weekend....Sprint cars and reading about a build like this!!! WOO is at my local tracks Sunday and Tuesday.Rain rain go the F away!!!!!

Frank, you are an animal.So much thinking here and I like your weird hrs. Kind of like my real job. My son got to drive a Modified last night after the racing was over and absolutely loved it. He said the faster he went the easier it drove.When I drove my friends sprint car about 10 years ago I about crapped myself but had a smile for weeks.

Good updates Frank,keep em coming!!

 

On those hood hinges - I've seen the rod staked two ways, one is peening the rod oversized and tapping it in, the other is just mashing the hinge loop, usually with a punch on front or back loop. So try a Dremel on the front and back hinge hoops first; you may find a punch mark.

 

or keep finding things I did wrong??? Guys, I went back to the shop to shut all the bay doors as MORE RAIN is coming...even though NWS has no mention in their worded forecast, but THEIR radar shows it is really close! Must be nice to have a gush job with great pay, and not worry about getting things right?

The daily short rains just run the very bad humidity even higher!...but this is supposed to be the last triple H day?. but that is coming from our savvy friends at the NWS. Lmao.

Anyways, I grabbed a chair to ponder the view...WTH...the front wheel opening NOT lined up with front tire??? I get up to scout why that is....geeez, I missed the rear fender "hook" thing that holds the rear tail of the front fender up to proper alignment, with a wide flat steel J hook, that is on the framerail side. There are three per side, and I forgot to line those up when I struggled that massive, heavy fender on days ago..

So, all that typing to say that the rear of fender was WAY down, which throws the entire side view of the channeling off! I then tried to tie up the driver door skin, after I got the fender tail up. It needs more fussing to get the door fit correctly for the best view, but I can already see how super long...and super low the car will look. It will belie that 120" Wheelbase I would think, like making the car look even longer WB. It sure shows that any more that 3" channel would have ruined the car! Not kidding on that observation!

I think I'll have time to get the A pillar trimmed right at the door top, so then the door gap will fit right into the A pillar, then I will find a way to brace up the rear edge of door, too. Then I will take more pics.

I cannot see how I can later hang the rear quarter panel up by myself tomorrow but I suppose I will try anyways! LOL

 

Frank, how about, instead of welding to the hood. make a "false" grill shell/hood extension. a 3 inch or so piece that bolts in where the 35 hood would have met the grill and then a step that would accept the 34 hood and latch. the good thing is the hood wouldn't hit the head light when closing, probably why they changed it for 35.
if anybody asks what year it is, just say it is a '34 and a half..........

 

Ted, I already pondered that for about 3 seconds...but it cannot work because the 35 shell has bolts at the back sides that hold the shell to the 35 only radiator support! It would be a cluster-f to get around the bolting situation....but I sure will look into your very good idea of "bolting" an extension in. I was going by the though of "welding" one on, which cannot work IMO.

However, I can add to the hoodsides in a flash! You just need to space the splice a hair apart. Then one tack at a time, then whack each spot once with hammer & dolly. That spreads that thin gap right back to where it was before that tack shrunk the gap! I can do it in my sleep....oh wait...no, I cannot even get to phone in my sleep...like last night with Kenny LOL.

P/S I did not take my 5AM nap this morning, and still feel fine, so I may get up way past this mornings record of 2:30 AM...but I hope I don't end up oversleeping longer by next Tuesday when I need to leave here at 4:15 AM to get to Kenny's by 5AM departure to the Massachusetts boneyard!

 

i was thinking it might also be easier than extending the front latch on the hood.
the pictures have been good but i know in person there are things not seen.

 

F&J...
Do whatever you want to it ! Just to own a running/driving LaSalle would mean I was just a little closer to real "heaven on earth" !

Jonnie
www.legends.thewwbc.net

 

when I was just then working on lifting the back end of the fender back up, I sure noticed sometjing way, way off at the rear hood latch on the 34 cowl. the latch striker sits in a deep recess on the very lowest part of the firewall side. All I can think of right now, is that the 35 latching system is mounted up a lot higher on the 35 hoodsides? It looked very odd, compared to where the 35 cowl latch striker was located on that channeled-the-same 35 cowl?

 

Oh, you sure are correct on that description! My Son and I still remember like it was yesterday, how that big Maroon 34 was to drive at our place...3 plus years ago! Geebus, it stayed so level and silky smooth, no matter how lumpy the lawn and lot was... pure sensual sensations...


Guys, I am not sure if I mentioned here on hamb like I did on the AACA.... The NY guy who hauled all the 34 collection in from Wisconsin 10 or so years back...he was also a very long time good friend of the owner of the estate long before he passed away.

On our 1/2 + hour recent phone talk, one question I had of many, was where did the maroon 34 come from and could it be the car that one handyman at the Estate told me "one car in there, is one that he saw as a young guy, driven local by an older guy who refused to sell it or talk about it"...but then "He did end up with the car decades later". I simply "knew/felt" that the"car" had to be the Maroon 34! The NY guy said the maroon car was used during WW2 by the Civil Air Patrol, and was used exclusively to patrol the Connecticut River for enemy activity. which that river is right nearby the Estate!...almost in it's back yard! That must be why it has twin heaters up front?? during those cold winter nights on patrol? and a very odd large "antenna ?" hole drilled right through the inside mirror bracket and top windshield frame? It had to be some sort of Civil Defense radio? IDK, but the hole was very odd for sure. The NY guy said his friend, the estate owner, had that car for at least 30 years!

 

Well, Dummy me finally figured out why my sleep patterns are SO screwed up. I somehow ended up staying up till 10PM last light which I knew was way wrong as I should have passed out by 7, due to lack of any good sleep and the very hot humid day! Well, I awoke at 11:30 PM last night after 1.5 hours??? I was extremely concerned and worried at that point as "this ain't funny anymore, there IS something VERY wrong with me". Then I rethought what Will's wife mentioned about chronic Lyme, in that "It can get into your brain as well as vital organs". She had said she was "in the Medical Field" at one point, but has not volunteered to me yet, as to why she no longer is?

So I sat on my tiny porch for a good hour, thinking this scary stuff over, and was quite worried about the possibility that Lyme might start to "steal away" my brain, and would I even know?, or worse yet, if do start to realize that, and then be faced with that terror!...But, Idiot me...I THEN went at this mystery with forced common sense! When the hell did this sleep pattern nonsense start? Well, the second of three heat waves! This LaSalle chit is just so damn addictive and FUN, I am simply overdoing it! I still work far too hard, too long, and still have the awful habit of ignoring the fact that I MUST force myself to take drink breaks away from the shop, and take rest breaks!

Anyways...cool as shit...I went back to bed around 1:30 AM, but apparently now fully aware that I now know for sure it is NOT Lyme doing this....My "relaxed" subconscious brain allowed me to sleep till 5 AM today! Awesome... I will take it super easy from this point forward... how simple can it be! I am back to "normal"

he,he, by the way, Will's wife does any type of upholstery! .. even leather car interiors!!! Go figure! She said she can do my car! This was only the second time I have met her!...the first time was when I gave Will a ride home from dropping off the Mercedes her. I had one of my very bizarre chats with her then, and at some point...I blurted out very softly and seriously, "marry me". No, I'm not kidding, but I quickly followed with; "you two are such a perfect match, you are so blessed that you both finally ended up together". (they had both been married with children, before getting together some years back)

Let me see if I can get a pic or two today, but only if I can prop up a quarter panel and door in the correct spot. But!...I am in no rush now!

 

Love the mock up photos. It´s just the best thing ever when it looks better than the stock version, but still looks original.

 

You had said something about the strange dash lights for the headlights, well on my '37 Cadillac it has the same type lights. Back then Cadillac and I guess Lasalle did not have just "high and low" beam headlights, you could have your headlights on "low" beam or "high" beam and you could dim just the left side light so you don't blind the oncoming driver. These dash lights would let the driver know what "mode" you were in. Cool idea but makes for a lot of wires, well I guess not a lot of wires compared to todays cars.

 

I have always been more of a hot rod guy rather than a custom guy but I find myself turning to this thread first.
glad you figured out the sleep thing, you are an amazing worker. Since I have been trying to get some work done in this humid weather also I am even more in awe of what you have done.

 

James, I am doing some tasks to my Son's 32, as well as his "abandoned for now" 83 Silverado 4wd shrt fleet Ex-Texas truck" this morning. But, walking near the 35 today, with the door fairly well in the right spot....this thing is scaring me a bit! Meaning, even though the front end is sitting so crazy high, the rear tires are both flat, so the midpoint of the car (door area) should be kinda the right "ride height" ?? Well, this thing looks like it will look SO low on side view, and sort of elongated, or stetched out? Hard to describe, but it sure does not look like the Photoshop view at all. I "may" get on it later, but geez at only 10AM here now, I had to stop for a drink/rest break as it remains HOT, despite yesterdays forecast that was now wrong! At least I AM paying strict attention of my physical needs now. I will be just fine, I am sure of that.

Wow, I had no idea on how you just described that crazy system! I did "save" the entire cowl wiring in one piece when I decided that cowl needed to be swapped! It also has a huge black airplane type toggle switch on the far left of dash, that must be the headlight switch? So with the wiring intact, I should be able to sort it out, and I will source a 35 wire diagram, if there is not one in my repro 34-35 Service Manual.

Like I said above, I though the heat was supposed to be gone here in our same State of Connecticut? It is quite hot in the sun right now. On the custom guy thing; I have always had the desire, but never thought I could learn the craft, as I am always so focused on hard core traditional Rods! Also, my imaginary, non-existent bucket list would have had a mid-30s convertible coupe as the top choice of a prewar-era built custom attempt! So, that must be why I suddenly stopped all resto work on the stock 34 Convertible that is still in the LaSalle room. I dropped it like a rock, as the thoughts of making something out of all this rubble, started to point towards a 35 LaS conv custom! The Photoshop just plain "created" the "amazing worker" you just spoke of

 

I did not do much on the 35 today, as I did random things on my Sons truck and 32 Ford. I did finally trace down a small leak on the radiator front face. Before that, I did get the new battery in, then put the borrowed battery from the Chevy, back in the Chevy. Also final made up a nice battery hold-down for the 32, before chasing that leak. Somewhere in that time span, I also rigged up a coolant overflow tank to properly test the finished system out later this week. That leak at the center of the face, was just a very tiny spot of solder joint missed by my friend Bob Jr, when he offered to solder the entire top tank on the core a long time ago. It will take so little time tomorrow to hit that one spot.


But I did do some fitting of the door gap on the 35, and other mockup stuff. I do now know that I will again, lower the headlights about 1-3/4" like I had done before I did the channeling. I want the centerline of the headlight buckrts to be in the same line as the hood vent portholes. I know it will look great.

more random pics, some show a disappointing difference on the rear "boattail" of the front fender. I like the 34 so much better, but we do not have any spare 34 front fenders!...so I need to try to make the 35s look more like the 34 "boat"tails.

^^^ there is some serious metal missing on the lower edge of the door skin. The skin is supposed to curl under on a radius, like you might see on the maroon car. There is/was a solid wood beam there when new, and it always stayed wet, causing rot on all these 80+ year old LaSalles.

 

Good morning, you sleepyheads Well, my sleep issues are totally gone now, due to a very simple reprogramming of my subconscious brain as well as "fixing" my poor workday habits! Now on to the nightmares of how to align the 34 conv body and suoer long/flimsy quarter panels, onto a totally wrong 35 rear frame!

My thinking place on the front porch came through yet again today. I was wondering that I might try to get the cut-off 34 chassis jig from under Joe G's sedan body, could that help? No, because the back tails were rotted away, so I still cannot get a reference height point by using that frame.,,.. BUT, it hit me.... Joe G's chassis is sitting here doing nothing!...and the tail end is perfect, so setiing up a 34 conv body on a good 34 frame seems so logical. And...Joe said yesterday that he is a bit low on cash, so he does not want to send his chassis out for sandblasting and the epoxy paint yet!

So, there is my only chance of getting back on track with trying to save my tattered 34 body. I have maybe 3 weeks till the Cord shows up, so this might be doable.

I still have the C50 job, but that has zero priority as the owner is in his last final stages of being totally disabled by severe alcohol abuse. When he tried to drop it off here back then, he missed my driveway three friggin times! I was standing in my lot waiting to show him where to park it, and he just was so falling down wasted, he could not find my place! I was glad he was finally able to make it here without running off the road on that wet road day at afternoon rush hour with bald rear tires, but just during the last couple days of rethinking, I am now VERY angry at myself that I did not even think of the innocent people he could have killed that day! I am not sure how our next face to face will turn out, but I may now be forced totally give up on him, and be most concerned about the many others he may harm. I certainly WILL call the Connecticut State Police if he tries to leave here drunk with that big truck! It is my civic duty to do so. I now have no concern or pity if he loses his license for 6 months! He deserves it, and the public deserves it even more.

I don't feel this is off topic, as Hamb always has a Sticky at the top of the main board about car people that have been injured, or came down with a bad disease, or lost everything to a fire. This friend has come to my shop many times asking for help with his life, but I only now realize that he actually "likes" to play the martyr....in other words "poor me", and "I have to edure so much". My last attempt will be to try to get him to be self admitted to the same Mental Health facility I was just in. In my 8 days there, I saw that 65% of the patients there were self-admitted, and were in there for drug/alcohol abuse! It will not work unless he wants it to, that is the sad part. I did not mention it before, but I DO have connections there! Three car guys who are in that same Mental Health system, but at different State Hospital locations in Eastern CT, asked my son where I was, on the last Ashford monthly car show. All three came to my rescue with off hour visits, so I know that I can lean on those three great people to get help for my friend. Wish us luck. I have enough on my plate right now, not only with my life, but other friends who occasionally ask for my help as well...kind of goes with the age group I run with.

 

Well, I cannot believe I was thinking of using the 34 chassis to set up the 34 body, but expect it to later fit on a 35 frame! The rear frame is quite different, including width that the rails are apart. If I set that body up on the 34, then added all the 1.5" square tubing sills, it never would have fit on the 35.

So, I had the task of cleaning all the loose parts that I had stacked on the back of the 35, then went and got the 35 rear apron that hides the tail of chassis, and helps establish the height of the rear body where it bolts to the apron.
That apron was smashed badly, so I got it close enough for setup. Who knows what apron I will end up with, after the tail of body will sit 3.125" lower than this pic.

^^^^ The 35 fender is so very different at the point shown here. But I do not need to worry at all about mocking up with a rear fender. We know the rear axle must have been moved back on the 35s, at 120" instead of the 119 on 1934s. Why bother checking with a fender, if the main body and cowl must only be in the one spot, as dictated by the cowl/hood/radiator shell fit.

by the way, here are two front fender pics I took that better shows the boat-tail shape of the rear part of 34s, as well as the 35 which is not a boat tail:

^^^^Also, I think you can compare both inner edges of the fenders in the spot where they need to hug the cowl side panel, and be bolted to something near there. I am not sure how big of a job this will be!


Ok, I did straighten some bent areas on the quarter panel for the driver side. I am thinking of how I can hold it uo in place, aligned to the door, to see what fits where. I may try to hang this quarter from the open, roll-up garage door.