My 1929 Essex
01/02/2004
As you can see, there is a lot to do. Let's get started!
First thing I did was to take an inventory of the car to see
what parts were missing. Quite a task when you've never seen a
completed car before! With the help of the Yahoo Essex Group members, I began the search. I located front fenders, a running engine/trans, new steering column, front axle, windshield frame and a door handle. I was also able to track down a parts catalog and some repair information. Since the weather in St. Louis has been about 8 degrees lately, I haven't spent much time in the unheated garage! I have removed the interior, radiator shell & hood in order to prepare for the engine removal.
I plan to remove the body (when I figure out how) and sandblast the frame this spring.
In the meantime, with the help of my brother, Rick, we fabricated a couple of new floor pans
that were pretty rusty.
2/14/04
I took the spare tire carrier off the rear and took it
to Liberty Sandblasting. I want to see what kind of
job they do on the carrier before I take my frame to
them. I'll get it back, primed, this week. I'll post a picture ASAP.
2/19/04
Here are two pictures of my 'blasted' carrier.
They turned out pretty nice, except for a few pitted areas.
I filled the pits with body putty and it really looks good now!
Since the carrier came out looking so good, I decided to take the windshield frame
to Liberty to have them sandblast it. One corner of the connecting bracket is a little
deteriated, so I'll need to fabricate a new brace for it.
1/10/05
Yes, that's right! It's now January, 2005. Funny thing happened. I broke both
my legs and, two operations later, I'm still gimpy! I have managed to completely
restore the 2 front wheels, complete with new tires.
The following is taken from information that I received from the Essex Yahoo! Group.
It is advisable, though not impossible, not to sandblast the wheels. The soft wood
would be stripped away prior to the harder grain. Instead, mix up a batch of
Drano crystals, not the liquid, (or you can use any type of lye) in a big enough
container to submerse the wheels. Use 2 cans to 10 gal of water. The water must
be hot. Put the whole wheel in the solution and let it sit over night. All the paint and
rust will lift off the wheel and spokes. Caution; You must degrease the wheel
prior to submersing and then skim the film off the top of the liquid before
you pull the wheel out. This works real well. It will raise the grain so
let them sit for several days or a week until the spokes feel dry and are at
room temperature. A little sanding and you are ready to paint.
To paint,use any good non-hardened enamel. This is how they were
done in the first place and it is good enough for a restoration.
Thanks to Lewis Mendenhall
Another precaution to take is to paint the wooden spokes with Epiglass Everdure,
thinned to 50% with Epiglass thinners. This is a two-part mix which, when thinned,
will soak right in to the centre of the wooden spokes, and then chemically cure, so
that the whole spoke is impervious to water,oil, etc. It also makes an excellent
surface for repainting. Repeat the process until it won't soak in any more. You must
thin it before soaking, otherwise it will only coat the surface and not harden the interior.
Considering the paint.....Colour is personal preference really, but for practical purposes I find the
good old aluminium enamel is the best for split rims. It is hard wearing and
easily touched up if you damage it slightly changing a tyre. Don't use
POR15 alumium paint though, it is not UV resistant, and loses it's gloss and
turns green. I'm not sure what they used originally. The wheels were gloss enamel,
and usually the same colour as the body.
Thanks to New Zealand Geoff!
What I Did
And now, for my 2 cents worth. I took my wheels COMPLETELY apart.
Yes, I took out the bolts holding the spokes together and removed them from the
hub. This allowed me to sand, stain and seal the spokes. It also allowed me to
take the rim and hub parts to get sandblasted. It's a bit of a challenge to
re-assemble, but all in all, it worked out OK!
Let me also point out here:
The original rims on the '29 were painted BLACK!
4/1/05
Well, another operation on the right leg and it still doesn't work right!
I have healed up enough to strip out the remaining interior components.
I removed the steering column and box, and the gearshift, which will allow the body
to be lifted off without raising it 3 feet. The Speedometer cable was also
disconnected. The doors have been removed. There are 4 bolts on each side of
the body which secure it to the frame. I had NO luck loosening them so I drilled
them out and removed them. The body is now sitting on the frame, but it is
unattached. Next, some strong friends, or
a winch, or both will assitst in the lifting off of the body!
7/1/05
Well, I removed the engine without much trouble, and with the help of three others,
we lifted the body off the frame and put it on blocks. We used 2 - 7' 2x4's to carry
the body. It worked fine. The doors were removed earlier, that made the body
pretty light.
7/2/05
Two days in a row!! I began the process of getting the frame ready for sandblasting.
I removed the rear deck lid, front axle, shocks and wiring today. After evrything
was removed from the frame, it was easy to see that this car was wrecked at some
point in its history. This wreck bent the frame and running board supports.
I took it to a friend to get it straightened. It was pretty easy. Now I can continue.
7/10/05
In the process of removing the brakerods from the frame, I broke off
several rods at the yokes. 75 years of rust doesn't give up easy! I was bummed at
first because after I drilled out the old rods from the yokes, the remaining
rod still wouldn't budge, even when heated cherry red. I began the search for
replacements and found "Fastenal", a countrywide industrial supply.
They have the exact yoke you need for replacement. #43521. Be careful...
the part number in the catalog is for the correct size, 5/16 nf24. If
you check the number online, it shows a 3/8 yoke. Find a local store and
you can buy 4, not 100.
7/20/05
The very back crossmember of the frame was another "wreck casulty"
that I found when the body was removed. This was obvious because the body
sat about 4 inches lower on the drivers side due to the twist in the frame
where the leaf springs attach. My brother, Rick, was able to get me a piece
of 10 gauge, bent at 3 inches, to replace the old crossmember. I cut a triangle
out of each side and welded it and ground it down. After I measured and cut most
of the holes, I painted the frame member.
9/15/05
Just completed the clean-up and painting of the front hubs. They came out
nice, if I do say so myself. I completed the rears, but I don't have any pictures.
I also cleaned all the steering and brake arms and
the front axle. I am currently working on the front shocks. Both need a rebuild and no one
seems to know where to get some new strapping. When I find a source, I will
post it. I had the front brake shoes re-lined and put them on.
1/28/06
After the hubs were completed, I needed to fix the pinion seal. It had a leak and
was spotting the floor! Here is how to replace the pinion seal.
Pinion Seal Replacement
Take the front housing off (4 nuts). Remove the pinion flange after undoing the castellated nut, by resting the hub of the pinion flange on an anvil and giving it a good blow with a HEAVY hammer to jar it off the taper. You'll want to strike the side of the flange. (See arrow)
Don;t try and hammer it off directly on the threaded end, it won't work unless you have aheavy duty puller to take it off this way. One good hit and it'll pop off. Then bend back the lock tab from the lock nut, remove the lock nut, and then the adjusting nut and flange. You can then knock the pinion rearward and take out from the back. This will give you access to the rear of the seal retainer which you can knock out from the back. You can either adapt a new modern seal to the retainer, or shrink the original felt down by cutting a strip of gasket paper to fit right around the outside of the original felt, and re-install. If you decide on a modern replacement, you will need a Chicago Rawhide seal, #15845. You can find it locally, or click the link and buy it online. ($4.00). When you get the replacement seal, you will need to slightly grind or file the outside, so it will fit in the original seal casing (minus felt, of course). Re-install. Don't put any pre-load on the pinion bearing when adjusting - just take up the play and tighten the locknut.
No more leaks!
(Thanks NZ Geoff)
1/6/13
That's right, 2013. I took seven years off.
The most recent problem that I discovered was with the rear end.
After I put the rear wheels on, the rear differential would lock up, or come to a
sudden stop when the wheels were rotated. I began the search for a new rear end.
It took 3 years, but I found one from a fellow Yahoo group member. It arrived on Dec. 23
and my son-in-law Greg and I began taking apart the diff.
When we took off the cover, it was not obvious what the issue was. All the gears looked OK. We had
drained the gear oil and there was about 1/2 inch left at the bottom of the diff. When we began cleaning
out the last of the oil, we found a good amount of broken teeth. This was confusing to us because the gears were all in tact. The way we figure, the last owner changed the diff gears but never completely cleaned out the old oil. Remnants of the old gears remained in the oil and were sucked up into the gears when they were rotated. This caused the abrupt stop. We cleaned everything up and ended up changing the gears anyway and I'll clean up and keep the originals for a spare.
1/12/13
Back in 2005, I was able to get, what I was told, a running engine and transmission from someone who was hot-rodding his Essex. Whenit arrived, I left it in the crate and put it in storage.
Today, Greg and I uncrated it and now the fun begins. We power washed my original engine
and the running engine. To my surprise, the running engine didn't come with the exhaust
manifold. I assume that the guy I got it from couldn't break loose the exhaust pipe, or broke it.
Doesn't matter,I have one from the original. Another casualty was the carburetor.
The bottom was cracked in shipping. I do have a spare, but those carbs are
rare and expensive. Here is a few pictures of the 2 engines.
05/05/2013
Since this is supposed to be a running engine, I am stripping it down, cleaning and painting everything. Here is a slideshow of the engine.
There was some original color on the side of the block after I cleaned it, so the guys at Cooper Color matched it up. Here is the label.
Summer - 2015
Once again, fast forward to 2015. I had the original 2 carburetors rebuilt into one by Jeff Cooper. He did a great job. He included adjustment information that will be helpful when I try to start it up for the first time. Here are a few pics of where I stand at this time.
8/11/15
In order to set the firing order on the distributor , I need to find TDC. As I was manually turning thr engine, the entire distributor is turning. Obviously, it's not supposed to turn. I'll be looking at it today to see what the issue is. Hopefully, I can just tighten the locking bolt and all will be fine.
8/13/15
Simple mistake! There are several small bolts that hold the distributor plate and condensor in place.
I used a longer one to hold the condensor. It was too long and hit the counterweights inside the
distributor case keeping everything from turning. Switched it out with a shorter bolt and everything works as it should.
