Tucked away for a few decades, this Chevrolet looks to wear plenty of original paint. At some point in this Chevy’s hibernation, the drivetrain was removed, but is still with the car. Described as being complete this early sedan is a very alluring project. With a gorgeous appearance, some needs, and a cheap price, this Chevrolet will likely find a new home quickly. Priced at a very reasonable $3,500, you can find it here on craigslist out of Yarmouth, Massachusetts.
With a vacant engine compartment, the inline 6 cylinder engine is included with the car. Clean with no major issues present the engine compartment looks ready to receive its 6 cylinder heart.
The engine is quite clean and tidy with no oil, grime, or dirt to speak of. Although there looks to be a minimal amount of dust. It is unclear why the drivetrain was removed, but perhaps it was pulled to service it, and give it a good cleaning. No matter what the reason, the drivetrain looks excellent, although there is no mention as to the condition of the engine. Hopefully the owner took the proper precautions storing this engine.
Unfortunately the interior photos are not as detailed as I had hoped for. Although from what can be seen, it looks to be in fair original condition. The steering wheel is beautiful, but I would suspect it has been refinished, as the wood finish it just too glossy for being 88 years old. The dash, and gauge cluster are nice, with some mild paint chipping. The largest are of concern is the front floor section that is missing. The seller has mentioned that some of the wood needs to be replaced within the frame. This comment is very ambiguous, as this could either be a simple cut and replace, or something more labor intensive. Looking over the exterior is a joy as the paint appears to be factory paint, with only a few scrapes and bruises from time. The bulkhead area, aft the engine on the passenger side has some paint flaking, as well as on the driver side quarter area. There appears to be no rust present, other than some superficial surface rust on the frame and suspension components.
Despite some of the minor concerns this Chevrolet may have, this is a very clean example of an early American made automobile. I personally think this one is nice enough to put back together and maintain, in its current condition. Although I can recognize that some may wish to restore it. Despite your choice, this Chevrolet is a fair deal at $3,500. What would you do with this Depression era beauty?
Wow! If that is original paint this is indeed a find. I’d do nothing more than get it in running condition and drive it occasionally. There only original once, and not often at this age. Great find.
There appears to be fresh gaskets on the engine, (head, valve cover), and the manifold gaskets appear to be in the bag below. I bet it just never got put back after it was cleaned up and painted making it a great deal!
Where is the firewall?
I see it ok to the right side of the engine bay. There is a spot where an access panel will go upon reinstall of engine
Put it back together, drive it and have a good time. Lots of enjoyment in the making. The original motor is OK but the ’29 version didn’t use counterweights so it’s a little rough. Still fairly reliable. Lots of fun….
I drug one of these out of a lean to as kid and checked the oil. Dad pulled me and it started. He would only let me restor not hot rod the old Chevy. I resides in Idaho Falls Idaho in a chevy dealer ship last I knew.
What a great old Chevy at a very reasonable price. This is most likely an older restoration, perhaps never completed. They may have given up when they realized how bad the wood is. I have a friend with a beautiful old Buick that is not worth finishing because of the woodwork and he can’t give it away. This Chevy is worth only 10 to $12,000.
Agree with David that it does look like an older restoration. Love the Louis Chevrolet mascot, in fact the whole car, and normally I don’t get excited over ’20s sedans. This is a car that I could see keeping around just for Show ‘N Shines and trips for ice cream in the summer.
At $3500 OBO it looks like a decent deal, although being on Cape Cod you would need to hope that the wood wasn’t damaged so much that it would be a dealbreaker.
The radiator cap is called The Viking. It was optional on these cars. Looks like the one on this car is made up of the original and the optional one. The pic above shows the correct base for it. Some popped in from the front while others twisted 1/4 to lock.
Thanks for correcting. Louis Chevrolet being such a fierce driver, I always thought that mascot was him.
My Dad had a 21 Model T that he slowly restored all through my youth. I remember him shaping and gluing most of the wood for the interior. He had the car for the first 45 years of my life.
If Dad, a bean counter, can redo the wood because of the love of the car, most of the folks that follow Barn Finds, can do it too.
Love this Chevrolet. The steel wheels, and the 6 banger seal the deal for me. Beautiful
Someone, should buy it just for the radiator cap, WAY KOOL !
If the wood is in good shape, this is a deal, assuming the buyer can reinstall the engine himself. The wood framing is the deal-maker or breaker IMO. For the tiem, these are decent running and driving cars.
If you have a band saw ( $120 ) and rudimentary skills, you can replace the wood for a couple hundred, so why would that be a deal breaker?
Having restored several cars with wood frames, I assure you this is no small undertaking.
Firstly, the wood substructure is extremely complex, with lots of subtle compound curves– we’re talking highly advanced wood working skills. In the Model T world, there was only one old fellow who made a “correct” wood kit, and he passed away a number of years ago. The other commercially available kits are too “straight” and you have to bend the tin to fit. Moreover, I doubt that there’s *anyone* making a kit for a 1929 Chevrolet.
Secondly, replacing the wood requires complete disassembly of the body- ripping out the interior and removing the body tin, both of which are tacked to the wood. Again, major surgery.
Still, for the person with the right skill sets, this could be a good deal, as it appears that everything is there and in reasonably good condition– but the restoration costs, even doing it yourself, will likely exceed the value of the car.
Edit: There is indeed a company making wood kits for this car. I can’t vouch for the quality of the kit, but their website is http://www.chevywood.com/index.html
It’s not that easy I had one. These pieces sometimes are curved need a band say. Just sayin
A great car, and one I would seriously be interested in. I had the “town sedan” version of this back in the ’80’s. The mechanical restoration of these is straightforward with the stovebolt six, the mechanical 4 wheel brakes – as proudly stated on a triangular badge on the back) and rudimentary electrics. But as noted, the *major* issue of this one and other GM cars of this vintage is the extensive use of wood not just within frame rails but the entire internal structure of the body. There is a “Fisher” body manual just detailing this from the day. There are lots of precision cuts and the A, B and C pillars are a work of art but one I would be unable to replicate without far better cabinet making skills. If these aren’t right, the doors will never latch properly. The failure point is not just wet rot, but dry rot of these critical members over almost 90 years. The body sheet metal is “pin-nailed” to the wood structures. This looks like a well preserved car that someone was duly proud of. As long as you go in with the knowledge of the extent of the wood body, this seems a great buy. I am sure the owner is disappointed in having to let it go.
Thanks for the information I have never seen a car of this vintage apart and i was wondering how the sheet metal was attached to the wood frame
I have no clew, my car was complete. There must be a tab or something as all the interior is stapled to the wood. This is why the guys after WW2 didnt want to hot rod these cars all the wood. I have only seen one done as a hot rod. Personally they are lovely cars that should be restored and that is what I would do I talked to the owner but I am not in the country and it is not going to happen for me.
One last comment these bodies wer made by Fisher they were coach builders hench the wood. It’s all through he doors you will find nails holding the wood door skins to the wood frames. So this car although it looks great could be a can of worms.
I like to think I have good woodworking skills but one should not underestimate the sheer amount of time involved in carefully removing and replacing the pinned body panels without damage, quite apart from the time to do the wood repairs or replacement. I once had a beautiful Railton, basically a 1934 Hudson Terraplane with an aluminium on an ash frame English coachbuilt body. The joints were generally soft and some of the wood split so I gave the car to a specialist one man operation. He did nothing but this work so his skill and speed were impressive. He removed the delicate aluminium panels, replaced completely the ash frame and carefully refitted the panels all in six weeks, all to the correct dimensions, using naturally air dried timber that did not shift at all in the subsequent 8 years that I owned the car. This of course left me free to do other things like rebuild the engine so that the overall time of the renovation project was reduced, and the guy’s cost was very fair as he worked from home with low overheads. Also, there is no way you could do it oneself with a $120 bandsaw. This guy had various professional machines, including a morticer, planer thicknesser and bandsaw that cost thousands. I am sure such people are available after a litte asking around in the States (I was introduced to him by the Railton Owners’ Club) so I would not be put off by the possible state of wood on this car, and the asking price is way lower than one could hope to find in the UK. If it was available in France where I now live I would buy it today, though if the body panels had to be removed and replaced, the original paint would be difficult to repair with the period patina so I feel that a repaint would be the best way to proceed. These cars look good in dark maroon, but that is just a personal preference. Incidentally, I did the Railton, which was a 3 position drophead coupé, in Maroon B (the darker of the 2 shades of maroon available at the time) over Rolls Royce Georgian Silver and it looked great.
whoever buys this Bow Tie car should keep it as original as possible! There are so few Originals left!!!!