Dad's new toy-original 1932 Chevrolet Roadster

Dad has talked about getting one for quite awhile, but I finally found a car for him that made sense to get and he pulled the trigger last week. I saw it and drove it this weekend. It is a great looking car-beige with black lower/fenders, orange pin stripe and orange wire wheels. It is a hoot to drive. Reminded me a bit of driving his 71 jeep CJ but with a much tighter cockpit and a lot better looks. It is easier to drive than his 62 vette though. We got lots of WOWS everywhere we went. The rumble seat is a surprisingly comfortable ride. The steering needs to be tightened up - service manuals are on their way. It is overheating a bit too, which has us concerned about the head gasket. The mechanicals otherwise seem to be good. It had not been driven recently. Driving it at 40 mph feels fast on uneven roads, but out on a highway I managed 50 before the wandering steering got me nervous. It was easy to drive up to that point though. I think dad is going to really enjoy the car once the kinks are worked out. I'll take any suggestions or advice, particularly on the overheating issue.

Boil out the block/have the radiator flushed maybe rodded-out for starters, then change all of the hoses for spring insert/anti-collapse style. Look for a "highway fan" for it, more blades than the stocker, check the anti-freeze mixture or even try some Water-Wetter. Cheap "fixes" for now.

See what this does before spending any real money on the over-heating problem.

Pics or it didn't happen.

Re Evil - thanks. Does the fact that it only spits coolant when you shut it off add or change anything?

Re BAMF - I'll see what I can do. I took some, but not as many as I thought.

Ahhh...vomiting after shut-down. My truck likes to do that, an it took me awhile to figure it out. No expansion tank means you don't fill the radiator completely full. You have to allow for coolant expansion when it gets hot/op temperature. The radiator should be filled just a smidge over the point where it covers the cooling tubes or 'core'. Leave most of the upper tank empty, and see how that works.

Here's a few pics. The rubber overflow tube was missing a clamp, so we were getting coolant out the top of the tube too, and then everywhere. With a clamp installed, at least now it just pukes on the ground. Sorry EPA.

As an aside, this is an ingenious "pit" - up the driveway and just in front of the big garage, the hill slopes steeply to the left (right in the first pic). With a bit of excavation and a few courses of concrete block and some timbers, it created a nice pit to access at least the front half of the car. Oil changes are a piece of cake. I'm taking my sister, her husband and cousin out for a drive in the second pic. Dad called after awhile to make sure we didn't break down. I think that he thought we might not bring his car back.

Wow, that's way nicer than I expected.

That's gorgeous. Awesome cruiser.

Nice car!

That looks like alot of fun.

Thanks all.

Woody - Did you mean this was a nicer condition car, or a 1932 Chevy roadster is way nicer looking than you expected?

When dad started talking about a pre-war car, we considered a lot of options. He was "this" close to buying a Buick roadster awhile back, which is bigger and much more elegant car, with a much higher price tag, but he decided then wasn't the right time to buy. He considered a Chrysler at one point, but it has a few odd quirks in the lines that he just didn't like. He ultimately decided the 1932 Chevy roadster ticks all the right boxes at a fairly reasonable buy in. The straight 6 and drive train produce highway speed capability, which a stock model A just isn't suited for (and Model A's are everywhere - these are not). The dual side mounts, trunk and lots of chrome really make this car stand out vs an earlier Chevy or similar year make. I think they lost some elegance by 1933 and beyond. This particular car looks very very nice, even up close, but it is not in concours condition. There are few chips here and there. The engine is very clean, but not detailed. Dad bought this car to drive, so it didn't make sense to invest in a prime condition 1 car. But he passed on several others that clearly needed a lot of work that would put him upside down on the car pretty quick. He bought this one well, with a few little projects and touch-ups to improve its value should he choose to do so. I'm glad for him that he jumped on it. The seller thinks he "stole" it at the purchase price. I think the market has been a bit soft on these and asking prices based on purchase prices 4-6 years ago are unrealistic. But he bought it well, which always feels good.

In reply to klb67:

Much better condition than I had expected.

Very cool. Thanks for sharing.

Earlier I tried to post a few other pics from the weekend - it didn't work, so I'll try again. It would be nice if this were the next roadster to acquire:

Or maybe a Cord:

"He considered a Chrysler at one point, but it has a few odd quirks in the lines that he just didn't like."

Aren't those kinda flat roofed, wide, with an awkward looking split windshield and thick pillar between the windshield halves?

There's a hot rodded early Chrysler around here that's just as ugly as can be.

I forget the year, but the one he was looking at had a very heavy windshield frame that I think was straight up and down, like you would see on a coupe. I can't recall if it was split. The front fenders also had almost too much length. The design just looked a bit odd and pieced together, even though it was original. Not Nissan Murano convertible bad, but you get the idea.

klb67 wrote: Here's a few pics. The rubber overflow tube was missing a clamp, so we were getting coolant out the top of the tube too, and then everywhere. With a clamp installed, at least now it just pukes on the ground. Sorry EPA.

I hope you get the cooling sorted. That is an issue with older cars & I agree about the possibly plugged radiator. Meanwhile, if you're still driving it and it still pukes, you should change to the pink antifreeze which people use on their drinking water systems of RVS and boats in winter. It works very well as a coolant fluid, is bio-degradable, and very important if you have a pet or animals around. The green antifreeze is poison and has a sweet taste and smell. It has killed many an animal. The pink RV antifreeze is useable in drinking water systems. It is not poisonous.

I've used pink antifreeze in the closed cooling loop of my inboard boat motors for years. I have had no cooling or freezing issues at all. In fact some areas require pink antifreeze in boat motors because of the risk of a broken hose or other spill killing life in the water the boat is floating in.

Here's my dad's 1930 Sedan Deluxe. It was scored 962 points out of 1000 a couple years ago. He drives it about 1000 miles a year. The '32's are definitely the best looking Chevrolets, taking their looks from the 1930 Cadillacs.
[URL=http://s135.photobucket.com/user/Kramercjk/media/30Chevrolet.jpg.html][/URL]

It occurred to me my use of the word original may have misled. I meant not a rod. It is an older restoration.

Thanks for posting the sedan pic!