'37 President Re-assembly started

[tomlewis]

Yesterday and today marked the start of the re-assembly of my '37 President coupe that I started taking apart about 100 days ago. The first photo shows how I compressed the front spring. I don't remember what I originally made those home-made u-bolts for, but they worked great for the spring because there is no center bolt in the spring. I then placed the spring in the upside down frame. (Much easier than trying to lift the spring up into the frame.) Then the frame was flipped over and the rest of the front suspension fitted. Lots of progress for what was basically one day's work. Pay no attention to the date stamp on the pictures. Apparently my camera has decided that it is now 2009. Tom

[jclary]

Thanks for the post Tom. Did this car originally have jackets covering those springs, or did that feature come later? My '48 Champion has the jackets with grease fittings for lubrication. Having the "Planar" suspension to serve for over a decade speaks well of its design. Keep the pictures coming.

[tomlewis]

Hi John. The car did have the spring covers, although rusty and beat-up enough that I didn't try to save them. They are very difficult to remove intact. I did save them for patterns if I ever run out of things to do. I have the card of a man I met at Hershey who claims to make new ones (mostly for Packards, but can fabricate any from originals or measurements). I haven't talked to him yet but can make his info available for anyone who wants it. Tom

[skyway]

I like your spring jig/compressers a lot. Thanx for the tip as I have the same job ahead of me on my 41 Commander.
Mine lost its covers at some point before I got it, but fortunately I have a set of brand new covers in waiting.
At least the rear spring covers on mine are intact.

PS, what are you going to use for lubrication between the leafs?
I've been giving spray-on motorcycle chain lube serious condsideration; it flows on and then thickens up.