Durant Motors Internet Forum
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Many of the missing parts have been acquired over the years and many have been restored either by myself or professional shops.
The car had on it when I purchased it a old Ford carburetor. The model 65 used the Tillotson 13A or 13B carburetor on the 15L. It was 3 years before I could find one and thanks to Gary Kaufman he had one in his garage. Unfortunately it broke when it was delivered to me and I had to restore and rebuild it. The original 13B carb will be used for show and I'll obtain a Zeneth like many have used for driving and running around. Below is before and after shots of the carb.
Where Are You From? Oviedo, Florida
Do You own a car built by Durant? 1928 Durant Model 65
On the trailer heading to the restoration shop.
Where Are You From? Oviedo, Florida
Do You own a car built by Durant? 1928 Durant Model 65
Oh no, first report from restoration shop. more wood rot in the "B" pillar area and the dreaded previous owner had replaced some pieces of wood with pressed wood boards. As always more work than expected.
Where Are You From? Oviedo, Florida
Do You own a car built by Durant? 1928 Durant Model 65
It's been awhile since I've posted to this, so I thought I'd upload some pictures. In February I took the car over to a restoration shop near Tampa, Florida. Frame and running gear had already been completed by me and body work and wood work had to be completed to get ready for paint. I decided that the car would be returned to the original color of Riviera Green and Ambatto green. Riviera green is the main body color which matches the fellows on the wheels and the accent dark color on the body is the Ambatto Green. You can click on the thumbnails to enlarge the pictures!
Body was in real good shape with only two spots that needed metal cancer repair.
To be continued.........
Do You own a car built by Durant? YES, 1928 Durant Model 65 four door sedan
Ah the wood, that's another problem. Some wood repair was done by my prier to the car heading to the restoration shop, but once they started to get into it, there was more wood rot found that I had no idea about. Also the roof had been rebuilt by some previous owner with cedar and plywood. I had removed the cedar and constructed roof side pieces from oak and hand rounded the edges. Instead of the wood strips that our cars had running on the top, a previous owner had used plywood sheet. Since it would not be seen, I thought I'd leave it, but after the restoration shop found that the roof was not shaped right and would not look or fit right, it had to be completely re-worked. Now it sports a correct looking and fitting wooden top area with Hickory wood strips, just awaiting the chicken wire, batten and top material. Click on the thumbnails
Do You own a car built by Durant? YES, 1928 Durant Model 65 four door sedan
One of the front fenders had some rust and issues where it met the running board wood and trim piece. I had obtained two large planks of wood that DMAC member Tom Edmonds from Pennsylvania had given me. They were run through the plainer and cut to size. The restoration shop fitted the board to the front fender perfectly.
The metal trim piece that goes above the door and gets nailed to the top wood above each door had to be made since the original ones had rusted beyond repair.
Fenders were painted and only need cut and buffing some more.
To be continued........
Do You own a car built by Durant? YES, 1928 Durant Model 65 four door sedan
While visiting Bill DeVries a number of years ago, I saw an bumper medallion on his Model 65 that I liked. He was gracious enough to go to a person he knew in Grand Rapids there who does casting and have a couple made up in bronze. I sent it off to Librandi's plating and had it nickled and then I painted the "D: with epoxy enamel. Ready to go when the car is done.
Do You own a car built by Durant? YES, 1928 Durant Model 65 four door sedan
Earlier I spoke about the re-construction of the top area. Previous owner had repaired the rotted top section with Cedar wood and plywood. I had redone the side pieces of the top, but now the top is back to the correct strips awaiting the chicken wire, batten and leatherette down the road.
Do You own a car built by Durant? YES, 1928 Durant Model 65 four door sedan
You are lucky to have a place to work on it. We aren't allowed to build a garage in backyard or carport, can't park in front of your house so can't widen laneway. Built the shed in the 70's to hold a brass T I was building from parts all over the country side. Assessment came round all our homes back then to increase taxes if you modified your home by adding a toilet in the basement, or altered the basement into living space and so on. He asked Di what the shed was for and if a car in it. Di just said its a wood shed. Could he see inside. She said no my husband as the key at work. He said your sure its a wood shed. Again she said yes. So he left it at that and my taxes didn't go up. As she told me she didn't lie sort of. The T was in there and "Wood"n't go. ha ha. You should have seen us squeezing the 32 in there when we brought it home.
Where Are You From? Ottawa Ontario Canada
Do You own a car built by Durant? 1932 614 sedan made by Dominion Motors
A couple of years ago I sent the generator/distributor off to Michigan to have it rebuilt and restored to factory specs. Took the shop over a year to get it back to me, but the results were stunning. The picture doesn't do it justice! It looks like it just came out of the box. During the process the distributor mounting was badly cracked as we all know the problem with the pot metal used back in the 20's. Thanks to Phil Peters and his 3D printing project of years ago, I purchased one of the first ones made by this process from him and it came out great. Phil still sells these.
Before
After
Do You own a car built by Durant? YES, 1928 Durant Model 65 four door sedan