An Amazing "Barn Find"

For car lovers.
1940 Dodge
?This is like opening a time machine.

Hidden for Half a Century:??
The 1940 Barn Dodge!
You have heard stories of barn finds before. Some sound incredible, some unbelievable. But here's one that might top 'em all. It's the true story of one 1940 Dodge Deluxe?Sedan.
Back in 1940, life in the Country was running at a different pace. You could leave your house unlocked, and, of course, your car.Television and graffiti were words without meaning. Pearl Harbor was an event of the future. It would take two more years until the United States would enter World War II. Life was hard but good . . .

At about this time VIN *30231403* was built by proud American workers in Detroit, Michigan, one of 84,976 Dodge D-14 DeLuxe four-door sedans manufactured in 1940. A veterinarian from Horseshoe Bend, Idaho, purchased the blue Dodge new at the local Dodge dealer in Boise. He used it to respond to calls all through the war years; his 1944 permit is still affixed to the windshield. Being a very valuable asset during war times, the car was always parked in a dedicated spot in the barn when not in use. In 1948, the good Doctor passed away. The car was put on blocks and covered with bed sheets. No, it was not going to be for sale. Who would have guessed at that time that the Dodge would be asleep for more than 50 years . . .

Children became adults, parents, then grandparents. The old Dodge was still slumbering in the barn. In the late 1980s an attempt was made to awaken and sell the car. Finally, early in 2003, the time had come. The bed sheets were taken off, the car was lifted from the blocks, and the tires were filled up with air. A new owner was found. He took the Dodge to Southern California.

63 years old and with only 42,342original milesshowing on its odometer, this Dodge personifies the term "reference car." More importantly, it represents a rare opportunity to experience how it felt driving a new car in the 1940s.?Time to start our little journey around this amazing Dodge . . .
The body, amazingly, is straight and absolutely rust free, thanks to being stored in a dry, well ventilated barn, away from the elements. The blue lacquer paint is original, factory applied. Sure, it's worn thin on the tops of the fenders, shows a myriad of nicks, imperfections, and touch ups from the past. There are a few small dings here and there, but not an ounce of body filler nor a single rust bubble. It's all heavy metal! Repainting this car--ever--would be an unforgivable sin! Its patina is irreplaceable and gives the Dodge its inherent value.

Another Dodge industry first for 1940: safety rims! The wheels still feature their factory triple pinstriping, the heavily chromed hubcaps are beautifully preserved. Even the painted red detailing is still intact! Bias ply tires of the dimension 6.00x16 look original as well. I don't think they make "Pennsylvania Rx Supertest Cord S-3" rubber anymore . . .

Open the doors and be invited into a cabin that's 100% factory original. Unmolested, unmodified, unrestored. It has the special 1940s aroma and charm that cannot be duplicated. It should never be restored, instead be enjoyed just the way it is.

Dashboard is a masterpiece of Art Deco design. Fabulous painted metal creates the ambiance of lightly stained wood. Nickel plated accents duplicate the look of then-popular costume jewelry. Every single part seems infused with the designer's idea to create a harmonious environment; details such as the retracting ash receiver lid are simultaneously good-looking and functional. There's simply no comparison to present-day throwaway products, sprouting black plastic appendages everywhere.Nevertheless, the Dodge was built with entirely modern creature comforts. It features dual electric windshield wipers, Sealed Beam lamps, floating power, hydraulic brakes, telescopic shock absorbers, a column-shifted, synchronized transmission, tinted glass, a chromed horn ring, and a host of other innovations.

What was found in the felt-lined, locking glovebox is nothing short of astonishing in its historical context:
Owner's instruction book in its original envelope
"Sentinel" first aid kit, incl. a bottle of "Mercuro-Chrome"
Small upholstery brush
Promotional lead pencil "Compliments of DeRail Pool Hall, Glenn's Ferry ID"
Old bottle opener
Parking stub dated 8/16/1941, from the "Glen Valley Rodeo"
Small metal box containing "Buss Auto Fuses"
"Ideal Split Shot" box cont. a tire valve and a fishing hook
Pair of celluloid sunglasses
"Travel Idaho with CONOCO" road map

Ample space for three on the comfy front bench, featuring "airfoam" seat cushions. Original mohair still looks good, with the unavoidable stains and moth attacks kept to a minimum.

Through large, rear-hinged suicide doors, entry to the spacious passenger compartment is easy, even when wearing a top hat. Luxuriously equipped with arm and foot rests, woven grab handles, beveled-glass interior light, and (unused) ash tray, passengers will invariably exclaim: "This feels like Driving Miss Daisy!"

Roomy trunk sports original jute mats. Original spare wheel and jacking equipment are present, as well as some spares and a small tool tray. Also included is a set of new GOODYEAR tires of the proper size and a set of new inner tubes. We did not feel the need to mount the new tires, however, it might be advisable before embarking on an extended journey.

A beautiful classic car, ready to be of service!
"Let us MARFAK your car!" proclaims TEXACO's old service sticker on the door jamb. Dodge was just lubed and serviced, 2,000 miles ago, in 1948 . . ..

Note the carmine-colored, bakelite necker knob, Dodge's early version of power assisted steering. If you have to ask why it's called anecker knob, you're probably too young to buy this car.

Engine compartment is clean and original as well. Dodge's 217cu.in, 6-cylinder engine was good for 87 lively horsepower. It starts instantly and runs like the proverbial Swiss watch. Items recently replaced or serviced include the battery, water pump, ignition wires, spark plugs, fuel tank, carburetor, brakes, and shocks. Original honeycomb radiator core looks gorgeous!And, yes, the horn works, just like everything else on this time machine.

Amazingly intricate, heart-shaped grille presents itself in outstanding condition, with brilliantly sparkling chrome. Bumpers and overriders are beautiful and functional, too. Car's brightwork appears excellently preserved throughout. Note the wonderfully maintained running boards, which were optional on the 1940 models.So, what's it like driving a 63-year old Dodge?

Very impressive, thank you very much. Turn on the ignition--with the original "CDPD" key--and press the foot knob for the starter. The engine comes to life instantly, idling almost inaudibly. Pull the gear lever down into first, release the clutch, and you'll pull away smoothly. Everything is smooth about the Dodge. Suspension and brakes transmit a safe and sound feeling. Acceleration is brisk, at least by 1940 standards. All the gauges work. Oil pressure is great and the car runs cool. In a nutshell, it's a delightful cruiser!?Even the PHILCO radio still hums when turned on; it seems the speaker cone needs replacing.

All this car needs is one appreciative caretaker. It's a very rare find and definitely a "keeper" for the right Dodge enthusiast.

Remember I told you I ran into some problems along

the way,Well here is one of them.

This damage had Paper glued on the inside and Bondo

on the outside then painted

Now it has been repaired correctly with a little welding, a little

fiberglass and very little bondo.

Not by a professional, but by me, a rank amatuer Not bad . HUH!

After all those months of taking things off I can finally start

putting things back on.

As you can see I got some of the chrome trim put back on.

Oh, and the hood is painted too.

Here is a shot of the finished dash board.

Cleaned up pretty good.

Do you like my little angel? He helped me a little.

Well back to work!

My New Project

This is my 1941 Super Deluxe Ford two door sedan as it looked

when I bought it.

This is what I want it to look like when I am done.

So let's get started with disassembly.

There, I got the white painted.

Now the black.

All of this work is being done in my driveway as you can probably tell.
So far it appears as though things are going smothly, au contraire bon ami.
I ran into several problems with some of the work that was done on the car before I got it.
I will go into more detail about that in my next post.

Terry's question

Terry Shegrud of West Richland, Wa. sent this sugestion and question to Auto Restorer magizine and got this response.

"­Vinegar rust removal & broken taps

Vinegar is a tool that you can use to remove rust from car parts. I have various size tubs to de-rust small nuts and bolts or even larger body parts. It takes about two weeks of soaking in the vinegar and then, after drying the parts, use a wire brush in a drill or in a drill press to finish cleaning off the rust.
Vinegar will clean a corroded battery cable in 5-10 minutes and leave it much cleaner than soda, and vinegar is cheaper than catsup. I use and reuse my vinegar.
Now, I also have a question. I am restoring a 1925 Model T Ford and broke a tap in a screw hole. Is there any help for me on this?
Teny Shegrud
Richland, Washington

Vinegar will, in fact, remove rust because, as the taste tells us, it contains a weak acid.
This acid, called acetic or ethanoic acid, will dissolve rnst but care must be exercised because it also will dissolve other things, including zinc and nickel.
So if, for example, you have a nickel ­plated part that has rnst on one portion, be mindful of the fact that vinegar will likely remove the nickel plating in addi­tion to the rust.
The broken tap can be very difficult to extract. If part of it is sticking out of the hole you may be able to weld a nut to it and then use a wrench or socket to turn the nut and tap out of the hole.
If the tap is broken flush or beneath the surface then you can try drilling it out. It is crucial to drill through the center of the broken tap and this may be virtually impossible if the break is jagged.
Another possible option is to dissolve the tap using a plasma cutter or EDM
(electrical discharge machine). An advanced machine shop will sometimes have one or both of these and in the hands of a skilled operator they may be effective in removing the broken tap if the surrounding material on your antique car part can stand up to the process.

Some Tips Regarding Broken Tap Extraction.

In response to Teny Shegrud's December question about broken tap removal, he should try a broken tap extractor made . by Walton tools. Check their Web site.
The extractor consists of four fingers that slide down the flutes of the broken tap. A barrel and collar hold everything together, and a tap handle fits on top.
You need to be careful and gentle in backing out the broken tap, but it works very well.

Here are some other approaches: If the hole is not a blind hole, a brute force method is to take a flat-nosed punch and just smack the bugger and drive it out. Of course, some thread dam­age will result, but maybe not enough to matter. If there's lots of damage, you can drill the hole and thread it to the next
largest size, or use a Helicoil. .
The torch method works pretty well (with large taps), because the broken tap is high carbon steel and sometimes will bum out neatly before the lower-carbon or cast iron bums, but you need luck and finesse, and will have to clean up the threads.
John Brower Whitehall, Montana

Broken taps can be easily removed with a Walton tap extrac­tor. Check out their Web site for pictures and details on how the tool works: www.waltontools.com/products/extractr.htm
Paul Johnson Oregon, Illinois.

The Walton Company also can be contacted at: 600 New Parle Ave., West Hartford, CT06110phone: 860-523-5231;jax: 860-236-9968.

I Don't know how many people who read this blog know where Richland Washington is or what it is famous for. Well we are located in a desert in the south east corner of the state and our fame comes from having a nuclear site that was involved in the Manhattan Project, http://www.atomicmuseum.com/Tour/manhattanproject.cfm By following the link you will learn more about us. Now the reason I mention that is so you might better understand why the oldest cemetery in Richland puts on this little celebration each year,I say little, however this year we had 650 visitors.

Looks like there is a funeral taking place right now. Or this could be a picture taken 60+ years ago. Actually it is our car club members attending the annual celebration I told you about.

The lady in the rocker is an actor who is portraying a passed on member of one of the families buried here. She is telling of the life and history of her family to a crowd of school kids from the area

These are the actors that help put on the celebration.

We were invited to bring our cars to add some reality to the celebration.

The two Model "A"s belong to Ed Edwards in the front and Pete & Grace Jackson in the back.

Car model found out.

Consensus of opinion is that the car is an American made Franklin, probably 1903 or 4.

What is this?

Can any one tell me what kind of car this is and what year?

Old Buicks for Camp stanhope happenings

I hope your Dad likes these.

Here is a picture of a Buick designed by Harley Earl in 1938.

This is a 1913 Model 25 touring Buick owned by one of our club members.

Visitors Verses Commenters

click picture to see who is in the car.

OK, Here is the scoop. My wife and our cat co-operate a blog for and written by "CATS".

So I made the mistake of telling my wife that no one was leaving comments on my blog. Well she mentioned it to our cat and the next thing I knew I had cats from all over the world visiting my blog. Now they all want to go for a ride in the classy cars. I took some for a ride, not good enough, they wanted to drive. As you can see they won. the orange cat in the passenger seat is our cat. As it stands now the count is 62 for the cats and 4 for humans.

Do you Beleive that this car was built in 1941

Here is another example of a car ahead of it's time.

The year and name of these cars is answered at the bottom of this post.

I'm sure every one recognized this car.

And this one.

But how many can recall this one?

Answer. 1, 1941 Chrysler Thunderbolt 2,Buick Skylark 3, 53 Buick Wildcat 4, 54 Buick Wildcat 5, 54 Dodge FireArrow. Now you know

I have met the thieves

I would like to paraphrase Pogo, the 1950's and 60's political satirist, when he said "We have met the enemy and he is us.

In paraphrasing I would like to say "I have met the thief and he is me".

Yes, It was me who was taking all the parts off of that 41 ford and then finally taking the entire car over to Jack Yale's place to continue restoring it as a old time Sheriff's black and white patrol car.

I was going to continue working on it in my carport, however my wife threatened to hang a sign on saying WHITE ELEPHANT FOR SALE.

NOW THEY HAVE GONE TOO FAR !!!

As you can see they have now gone too far, they have now taken the entire car.

Well while I continue the investigation you can watch this commercial for 1961 Chevy

Dinah Shore Chevy Show

Theft ring update

The theft ring that is operating in Pasco started small stealing hubcaps.

Then they moved up to stealing chrome trim.

Now they moved up to stealing entire body panels.

What next?

As I find out more on this situation I will pass it on to you.

More pictures of Joseph Trip

I Have moved the pictures of our trip to Joseph to the side bar.
But the investigation into the classic Car theft ring is still ongoing.

Last but not least

Sorry Phil ! But now you get top and solo billing. Phil Prather of Kennewick has brought out his 1929 Model A Ford sports coupe. The fully restored Ford sports a kewanee green body with black fenders, and is running on its original four-cylinder engine with three-speed transmission. The sport coupe was built to look like a convertible, but the top does not come down. Two can ride in front, but other passengers had to take the rumble seat in the rear. Rumble seats were located over the rear wheels, which tended to give passenges a bumpy ride. Henry Ford's sports coupe sold in 1929 for $530.

There, is everyone happy?

Check out the slideshow above for all of the pictures of preparation and parade.

The rest of the story.

Here are the rest of the pictures.Here's another familiar set of classic wheels. This 1950 Plymouth four-door sedan has been seen around the Tri-Cities for half a century. Known as Fanne -- notice the license plate -- the Plymouth is being driven by Red Rutherford of Kennewick. It is all original, including the green paint, and is destined to be one of the vehicles to be placed in the Three Rivers Transportation Expo Museum. The six-cylinder deluxe sedan spend a lot of years parked in a garage in Finley before Jim Mokler bought it with plans to preserve the car in driving condition. Mokler's widow donated the car two years ago to the museum. Price when new $1,566.
Get out of the way of this 1935 Auburn boat-tail speedster. Not original, but very close to the real thing, Pete Jackson, with his wife Grace, is driving a Glen Prey fiberglass reproduction of that amazing classic. Built as one of 81 repros in the 1960s, this beautiful white driving machine rides on a Lincoln driveline, powered by a 460 cubic-inch engine with automatic transmission. Burgundy interior gives the luxury car a nice accent. And just like the original model, the two-seater has that distinctive boat-tail and those hot-hot-hot external pipes. Mr. Prey was a stickler for details, and for good reason. He bought out all the Auburn Motor Car new-old-stock parts to use for his projects. The original cost of an Auburn boat-tail in 1935 was $2,245. Mr. Prey sold his creations in the 1960s for $7,000.
The name Packard stood tall in American motoring. Its motto was "Ask the Man Who Owns One." But the driver of this 1932 coupe roadster, Dennis Jackson, with his wife Karla, will tell you this beautifully restored chariot speaks well enough for itself. It has a rich beige and maroon paint, burgundy leather interior and that unmistakable Packard profile atop its front grill and hood. The power train is a straight 8 coupled to a 3-speed transmission. This Packard came from the factory equipped with dual sidemounts, a rumble seat and a place to stow golf clubs for a circuit around the links on the way home from the office. The golf club compartment can be seen just behind the passenger side door. Packard also gave this car a special comfort feature -- the shock absorbers can be adjusted from inside the car while driving. All this and more in 1932 if you had the $1,940 to buy it off the showroom floor.
You wouldn't have wanted a ride in this 1924 Dodge Brothers commercial car when it was new. It was originally purchased by the city of Pasco for a truant officer. Owner/driver John Nelson of Richland is the fifth owner of the screenside, which sits on a three-quarter ton Dodge chassis and has a body built by Graham Brothers. The Dodge has all its original equipment, including a 212-cubic inch four-cylinder engine that boasts up to 37 actual horsepower. This screenside has survived with virtually all its original equipment and details, including a factory-installed plaque on the dash that reads: "Overloading or overspeeding will void your warrantee --speed 25 miles per hour. But today's improved roads allow Mr. Nelson to cruise 40 mph or better.
Here's a true American classic. This 1934 Cadillac 4-door convertible is being driven by its owner, Jack Yale of Kennewick. The battleship gray body with black fenders is completely original in its restoration. It has red leather interior, suicide doors, a fully convertible 3-position top and divider window to provide privacy for the rear compartment. Jack acquired the Cadillac, which rides on an exceptionally long 148-inch wheelbase earlier this year, knowing it was one of only five built in this body style. It came to him with just 21 post-restoration miles. The big, beautiful Caddy bears serial number 2. It is top of its class as a show car, having won first place in the senior division in both the American Auto Association and the Classic Car Club of America. It's original price, at the depth of the Great Depression, was $8,060.

I Just found out that I left one out, guess I will have to come back tomorrow,Phil.

The slideshow will also be delayed till tomorrow