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EFV-8 Club Forum / General Ford Discussion / reviving 1936 Ford Coupe from long sleep

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Discussion Topic: reviving 1936 Ford Coupe from long sleep

ford38v8

03-05-2011 @ 2:45 PM

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Tom, I'd like to remind you that the 38-40 service bulletins contain all the 32-37 revisions.

Alan

trjford8

03-05-2011 @ 10:27 AM

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For some reason I wound up with a double post.

trjford8

03-05-2011 @ 10:25 AM

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First I would get the 32-27 Ford service bulletin book. Most of the V-8 parts suppliers have this book in stock. If you are knowledgeable enough or have a friend who know automotive electrics you could "hotwire" the car to try to get it running. Definitely lube the cylinders before trying to start it with Marvel Mystery Oil or a light weight motor oil. If the wiring is real bad you have the potential for an electical fire. Don't leave the battery connected when you are not near the car and have a fire extinguisher handy if you try to start it. Don't want to scare you, but fires do happen and you really don't want one.
If this car has sat for a long time you will probably have some issues with the fuel system. The gas in the tank may have turned to varnish and the line may also be pluged up. Lastly the flexible fuel line to the fuel pump may be bad and is probably not the type of rubber to handle today's gas. You may also find that the diaphram in the fuel pump may also be dried out and not work. Starting a car that has sat this long can be challenging.
Take your time and follow the suggestions you get on this site and go one step at a time. You'll get a lot of info on here and don't let it overwhelm you. It's all good info and so move slowly and continue to ask questions.Remember there are no "dumb" questions. We've all been in your shoes once.

trjford8

03-05-2011 @ 10:18 AM

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First I would get the 32-27 Ford service bulletin book. Most of the V-8 parts suppliers have this book in stock. If you are knowledgeable enough or have a friend who know automotive electrics you could "hotwire" the car to try to get it running. Definitely lube the cylinders before trying to start it with Marvel Mystery Oil or a light weight motor oil. If the wiring is real bad you have the potential for an electical fire. Don't leave the battery connected when you are not near the car and have a fire extinguisher handy if you try to start it. Don't want to scare you, but fires do happen and you really don't want one.
If this car has sat for a long time you will probably have some issues with the fuel system. The gas in the tank may have turned to varnish and the line may also be pluged up. Lastly the flexible fuel line to the fuel pump may be bad and is probably not the type of rubber to handle today's gas. You may also find that the diaphram in the fuel pump may also be dried out and not work. Starting a car that has sat this long can be challenging.
Take your time and follow the suggestions you get on this site and go one step at a time. You'll get a lot of info on here and don't let it overwhelm you. It's all good info and so move slowly and continue to ask questions.Remember ther are no "dumb" questions. We've all been in your shoes once.

This message was edited by trjford8 on 3-5-11 @ 10:20 AM

supereal

03-05-2011 @ 10:08 AM

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Look at the several pages of available books and manuals on the C&G site, www.cgfordparts.com. Ford didn't produce actual shop manuals, relying on service "bulletins". Bone up of the fundamentals before you go much further. Any vehicle that has not run for over 30 years needs plenty of TLC before and after starting to prevent lasting (and expensive) damage. Most old car wiring is "scary" due to the decomposition of the insulation of the wiring. Be sure to install a master battery cutoff switch. They are cheap and a snap to install, and provide excellent "insurance" against burning up the car, or burning down your garage.

ford38v8

03-04-2011 @ 8:21 PM

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maruapo, Before going any further in your attempt to start the engine, squirt a little Marvel Mystery Oil into each spark plug hole, and drizzle some into the carburetor as you crank it over. This will protect the rings/cylinders from built up surface rust from sitting so many years.

Ragtopman's advice is good. Refreshing the wiring is an excellent first step, although I'm sure you want to hear it run first. I'd advise getting your wiring from:
Rhode Island Wiring Service Inc. www.riwire.com
Instruct Rhode Island to include turn signal wire in the harness, as you may want to install signals at a later date. Confirm also that they will solder each connection. You will use dialectric grease on the bullet connectors yourself. Dialectric grease also on every freshly cleaned connection throughout the car. Get both engine and chassis harnesses, and this is important, do not remove the old harness until you have identified all leads on the new harness as to location per diagram and confirmed with your car.

Your plug wires may need replacement, but ok to wait till you know you need them, as installation is not as easy as the harnesses.

Before you tear into your distributor, pull the coil lead and check spark from it to ground while you crank the engine. Be sure to not be part of the circuit yourself. If no spark from that test, send your coil to:
http://www.fordcollector.com/
for a rebuild. DO NOT buy a new or NOS coil, they are trash. Use Skip's recommendation for a new condenser also.

For a first start, you may bypass the resistor (hot wire) but don't run it like that for more than a few minutes, or you'll fry your coil. The resister is supposed to reduce current to the coil down to 3-4 volts. It won't run on less than 2 volts, and at that it will run rough.

The book you refer to is excellent, but is not a repair manual. This book tells, with pictures and text, how the '36 Ford came from the assembly line, for those who wish to restore. As you said yours is all original, you should get the book to confirm correctness, and plan on entering it in the EFV8CA Concourse for a Rouge class award. Don't do any restoration for this, as the whole point is to present the car in its original state, regardless of worn upholstery or paint.

Repair manuals are many, but two that I use are:

MoToR Manual, an old copy that covers your year, available from used book sources. It should cost no more that $35.
FordV8 Service Bulletins 1938-1940 Including All 1932-37 Revisions. About $25 from many sources.

Please let us know of your progress, and more questions.

Alan

37RAGTOPMAN

03-04-2011 @ 4:48 PM

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when you turn on the key, does the terminal on the coil receive currant,?
if not the ignition switch might be corroded inside from sitting, and needs to be cleaned up,
this is a start.
You can buy some electric motive CRC CLEANER.
and just open one side of the distcap and spray the points, using the little straw,
this might be good enough to get the points to arc,
do some testing and explain in detail what you find.
if you want it to work properly you will have to change the wiring anyhow, old wiring is nothing but problems hiding, atleast in my book,
hope this helps 37RAGTOPMAN

maruapo

03-04-2011 @ 4:21 PM

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Just inherited a 1936 Ford Coupe, all original except engine and tranny rebuilt in 1981. Right after the rebuild, car put on blocks and not started since, at least until we tried last weekend. Mechanical brakes stopped it on a dime when I back it off the ramp too. How much worse is it to leave the brakes as-is?

So many more questions, but for now I'll limit it to electrical and ignition.

There's no spark when we turn it over. New 6v battery. Haven't taken the distributor off to clean the points yet, but because all the wiring in the car is original, brittle and frayed, I'm wondering if I should even keep trying to get spark while the wiring is so scary throughout the car.

Any advice for me? I want the best repair manuals too. This one ok?: https://www.earlyfordv8.org/store-product-item.cfm?id=18&pid=2

Thanks; your words are greatly appreciated.

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