I spent the 4th helping an old man move out of his house and into an intermediate care facility. In his garage was a 1938 La Salle in perfect condition. The car was shipped today to a collector in Texas. The collector paid way too much for the car in an effort to help defray his healthcare expenses.
I though you'd like to hear what this man did for maintenance. He is the original and only owner of the car. He purchased it new and when drafted for WWII he put it up on blocks for the duration to be put back into service if he came back, which he did. You might have an argument with his system but you must take into consideration the times and accept the fact that it all worked well.
He used 30w ND oil and changed it every 2k miles as part of what they used to call a lube job, getting all those Zerk fittings and other lubrication points that are missing in modern cars. He also added a homemade bypass filter that used compacted toilet paper for the 3 elements and changed it when it did not feel warm when the engine was up to normal temp. He added an Oildex crankcase ventilation device that filtered the crankcase vapors and allowed the filtered vapor to condense back into the crankcase. He also installed a coolant filter that used zink chromate to protect the cooling system along with water pump lubricant and several sacrificial disks and no antifreeze. He also added an overflow jar to condense vapor from the radiator and allow it to be sucked back into the cooling system. He did this by modifying the radiator cap and installing a pressure relief cap on the overflow jar. Upon cooling fluid would be sucked back into the system. He called it a cooling system burper. He said getting air pockets out of the cooling system helped it to work more efficiently and it helped to prevent corrosion and damage to the water pumps. He changes the dif, tranny and brake fluid every year. He also cleaned the various magnets on the oil pan, transmission, dif and the special fuel filter/water separator he made and along with an electric fuel pump/pressure regulator from an airplane that he installed at the fuel tank.
He asked me to help him service the vehicle a couple of years ago when he turned 90 and started having difficulty getting it done. The car has 179K miles on it and it runs like new. It's never been apart and the biggest repair was a clutch replacement and a couple of brake jobs and an alignment when he changed to radial tires. This car was always kept in a garage and the paint was protected with Turtle Wax. Actually, I think this car is good to go for another 76 years.
I though you'd like to hear what this man did for maintenance. He is the original and only owner of the car. He purchased it new and when drafted for WWII he put it up on blocks for the duration to be put back into service if he came back, which he did. You might have an argument with his system but you must take into consideration the times and accept the fact that it all worked well.
He used 30w ND oil and changed it every 2k miles as part of what they used to call a lube job, getting all those Zerk fittings and other lubrication points that are missing in modern cars. He also added a homemade bypass filter that used compacted toilet paper for the 3 elements and changed it when it did not feel warm when the engine was up to normal temp. He added an Oildex crankcase ventilation device that filtered the crankcase vapors and allowed the filtered vapor to condense back into the crankcase. He also installed a coolant filter that used zink chromate to protect the cooling system along with water pump lubricant and several sacrificial disks and no antifreeze. He also added an overflow jar to condense vapor from the radiator and allow it to be sucked back into the cooling system. He did this by modifying the radiator cap and installing a pressure relief cap on the overflow jar. Upon cooling fluid would be sucked back into the system. He called it a cooling system burper. He said getting air pockets out of the cooling system helped it to work more efficiently and it helped to prevent corrosion and damage to the water pumps. He changes the dif, tranny and brake fluid every year. He also cleaned the various magnets on the oil pan, transmission, dif and the special fuel filter/water separator he made and along with an electric fuel pump/pressure regulator from an airplane that he installed at the fuel tank.
He asked me to help him service the vehicle a couple of years ago when he turned 90 and started having difficulty getting it done. The car has 179K miles on it and it runs like new. It's never been apart and the biggest repair was a clutch replacement and a couple of brake jobs and an alignment when he changed to radial tires. This car was always kept in a garage and the paint was protected with Turtle Wax. Actually, I think this car is good to go for another 76 years.
