Where are all the Chevy's from 28-31?

[Karl]

Originally Posted by MrTube

What is the large cylinder mounted to the firewall with copper lines going to it? Vacuum canister?

Vacuum tank. Rear mounted gas tank so the Vacuum tank pulls fuel from the tank up to engine . Quite an elegant set up and surprisingly reliable Karl

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The old Chevy's were also notorious for easily breaking their rear axles. But you could replace the axle from the wheel side pretty easy compared to axle replacement on the Model A's. As you know you have to drop the rearend and split the banjo. Some guys driving Chevy's driving back in the day, actually carried a spare axle with them.

[columbiA]

I had a 32 Chev 5W coupe back in 56-57.Cost me $75 and I put 10,000 miles on it.Only trouble I ever had was a broken valve spring-twice.Since the valves were in line with the cyls,no damage was done and I could replace the spring in about 20 minutes by sticking a screw driver in the spark plug hole to hold the valve up & hooking a tool under the rocker arm to compress the spring so I could insert the retainer.The body looked in good shape,but the door posts were letting the doors sag.After I sold that car,I went back to a model A again.

[ctlikon0712]

Looks to be the same shade too!
I think those Chevy guy's had to pool their money to get a deal on the paint!

[pooch]

Wow, I cannot believe you guys are so one sided to not know a vacuum tank when you see one.

I got dozens of these going for guys who didn't have a clue.

Was an easy task.

Float drops, seals atmospheric valve, engine vacuum draws fuel from gas tank, upper chamber fills until float rises, pops open atmospheric valve, vacuum suction stops, fuel gravity feeds to carb.........float drops, repeat.

You hear the idle change and a pop and hiss on a chev.

On a different tack, in 1928 if you wanted a good low priced car you bought a plymouth.

It was 5 years ahead of a model A and 3 years ahead of a chev.

[Terry, NJ]

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My father's cousin used to say that his 29 Chev was always breaking axles too.
Terry

Originally Posted by Richard Wilson

I know a man in the Asheville area that has a 27 Chevrolet 4 dr sedan with a brand new rebuilt engine for sale for $3,000. He has more than that in the engine. It needs new wood (which Classic Wood sells). PM me if you want the guys phone number.

One major problem with the early Chevrolets as told to me by men that were around back when the 20's and 30's cars were nearly new is that the early Chevrolets were very prone to breaking rear axles. One man told me that his Chevrolet broke a rear axle while sitting overnight in the driveway.

My next project is to restore my 1928 Chevrolet fire truck with less than 4,000 miles.

[ctlikon0712]

Pooch, we are a Ford Forum after all, ha ha. And if many Chevy's survive from that period here in the states, they rarely show themselves. Those two cars were the first Chevy's of that era I’ve ever seen, and I’ve been going to car shows for 25 years. In my defense, in my post above I did have inkling as to their purpose. I was only born in 1971.

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

Hey Terry, I'd bet your cuz's car was actually a '28 Chevy instead of a '29. The '25-'28 were the ones most notorious for this. In 1929 the car was totally revamped to now included a longer wheelbase (5-6" longer than a Model-A), a 6 cylinder engine, different axle and brakes. Comparing a 1928 Chevy to a '29 is like comparing a 1927 Ford to a 1928.

Hey Richard, if you decide you need to do two fire trucks, my Dad (who lives just outside of Johnson City) has a 1927/28 Chev. firetruck that came from Idabell, OK. He's had it for 40 years and I doubt he will ever restore it himself so you might should consider clearing some space for a twin!! Kinda like a His & Hers set.

.

[Richard Wilson]

Thanks for the offer Brent. I doubt that I could afford another one. Maybe I could get an invite to come see it sometime since I am only about 60 miles away. Hope to see you and your Dad at Fiddleheads.

Back to the Chevrolets.........I am sure that the reason we do not see many of them on the roads is that there are very few reproduction parts for the 20's and 30's models, more now than in the past. That is one thing that the regular Model A guys can appreciate. Even if most of the Ford repro stuff is made off shore and doesn't fit to suit us we have the option to use it or not. At least we have the choice.

[Bob-A]

Besides my two beloved Model-A's, I also own a 1929 Chevrolet 2-dr coach. It is mostly original except for paint (belt mouldings have original paint & stripping) and tires. The honeycomb radiator core was replaced at one time with a regular core, but the original top/bottom tanks were used.
The cars' odometer shows approx. 23K and does not work. However, due
to the condition of the car I beleive that not many more miles have been added since it broke. The car cruise's effortlessly at 55 mph (speedo still works) and when I come to a stop. Occassionaly I will gun the motor just
to make sure it is still running, it is that quiet! The original interior is a corduroy that when new was a beautiful plush dark royal blue. I found one spot showing this on the side of the passenger front seat. All the rest of the interior has faded to a dirty green. "Old Tenn", I found her
in Tennessee about 10 years ago has been well cared for her entire life.
At one time the underside of the car was competely under-coated. Which I'm sure has helped in her preservation. She is a great car and is just like the one dad bought for us to play with back in 1966, when I was 15. I
learned how to drive in that car and even took my driving test in her when I turned 16.

One of the reasons Chevy's of the late 20's/early 30's are notorious for breaking rear axles. Is because the rear ends were virtually the same as the 1925-28 4-cylinder rear ends. The more powerful 6-cylinder motors
were just a little to much for the axles. And, yes, "Old Tenn" has a spare
axle under her back seat!

The '29 Chevy brake system, especially the front, most have been designed by a physics major with a bad hangover! There are "two" cross
shafts under the car for the service brakes so you can adjust the amount of breaking between the front and rear wheels. Which can be a real guessing game if you are not careful. The rear service brakes
are external contracting while the parking brakes are internal expanding.
Lots of rods and levers like the Model-A, but I feel the Ford system was/is a better more positive one. The '28 Chevy (last of the 4-cylinders) brake system is pretty much the same as the '29. In 1930 Chevy went to cable operated brakes and that is something I am unfamiliar with.

Yep, Model-A people don't know how lucky they are in the availability of
spare parts department. But, like die-hard "Cast Iron Wonder" guys tell me: "It don't matter, we don't need the spare parts like the Fix Or Repair
Daily guys!"

Me, I love'm both...................

Bob-A

[Jamie86]

Thanks for posting the REO Speed Wagon, sharp looking truck.

[BrianBurkert]

My grandfather grew up in the 1920's and 1930's and he was a life-long car guy. He said Chevys and Plymouths had a lot of axle trouble (agreeing with some previous posts here). Ford touted his 3/4 floating rear axle that took away a lot of the fatigue that the Chevy's "semi-floating" rear axle was subject to. My grandfather said the Chevys were smooth when they were set up right, but he said people were forever messing with the overhead valve adjustment and many Chevys had tappy valves.

He said, even at that time, he saw the Ford as a tougher car with tougher transmission ("fully-jeweled") and tougher rear axle to withstand the rural roads. Also simple and easy to repair in the hard depression times.

[J Franklin]

The answer to the original question was the fact that Chevrolet (GM ?) and other manufacturers including Hupmobile had a policy encouraged by the government during the depression to crush used vehicles that were not pristine to encourage new car production. This is a fact I learned after buying a Hupp.

[Bruce Adams]

Originally Posted by J Franklin

The answer to the original question was the fact that Chevrolet (GM ?) and other manufacturers including Hupmobile had a policy encouraged by the government during the depression to crush used vehicles that were not pristine to encourage new car production. This is a fact I learned after buying a Hupp.

Interesting...
Did they show you any documentation of how many went to the crusher?

I would have thought people were driving cars tied up with bailing wire with bald tires during the depression.

[J Franklin]

I believe it was from the Hupmobile club publication The Hupp Herald. but I don't know if that was told.

[Richard in NC]

One other reason I don't think anybody mentioned was that all the oldtimers told me that the A model was WAY better than anything else for traveling the muddy rutty narrow horrible dirt roads that we had here is the south. And when you have a car that good you keep it running as long as possible and then park it in the barn whenever you do finally quit driving it.

[Ross/Kzoo]

Originally Posted by Richard in NC

One other reason I don't think anybody mentioned was that all the oldtimers told me that the A model was WAY better than anything else for traveling the muddy rutty narrow horrible dirt roads that we had here is the south. And when you have a car that good you keep it running as long as possible and then park it in the barn whenever you do finally quit driving it.

You've got a valid point. There probably wasn't very much indoor parking and GM cars had a lot of wood to rot out. Also their cars were workhorses and what worked best was kept.

[eagle]

My grandpa was born in 1904 and his opinion was the chev wasn't reliable, never asked him why... His favorite car was a 29 Plymouth, he loved the model A too. He asways said that a model A "was a real good driver". "The only bad part of an A is the brakes, but they're OK too as long as you keep them adjusted" His only complaint on the Plymouth was hard starting in the winter although he claimed the 29 was better starting than the later Dodge/Plymouth. By the 40's he claimed that when the sun went behind a cloud the Dodges wouldn't start. He had a 39 Chev that he did not like, I remember that. He was not one to care what logo was on the front, he was an old practical farmer and could care less about anything except wheather or not it gave him good service. He was poor so always drove old cars.

[Peter J]

My grandad was a Chevy man. I'st I remember was his 36 sedan but had earlier ones. He kept his 39 coupe for a work car (was a contractor) and kept his brand new 52 for Sundays. He had the 39 till he passed away in the late 60's.
Was their the friendly rivelry between Ford and Chevy folks back in those days I wonder?

[Richard in NC]

I'll tell you something else that the old timers told me. I asked why the model A and the old 6 cyl chevys were so much more popular than the Plymouth when there were alot of features on the Chrysler products that were clearly surperior from an engineering standpoint. He told me that a Plymouth with pressure lubrication and insert bearings would run much longer than a Ford or Chevy with poured bearings but when they did fail they usually ruined the crankshaft unless you heard the knock and took care of it immediately. With a poured babbit bearing and shims, You could pull the pan and adjust the clearance without any damage to the crankshaft. If you were real careful not to tear the pan gasket, the job cost you absolutely nothing. This was a really big plus when most people were poor.