new and a sheet metall question

Hello , Michael R , In case you are not aware "RubyDS" is Youenn Perrin of France , a wonderful metal worker , who can be reached at [email protected] . The gentleman from Germany to whom I earlier referred is Kay Hottendorff , owner of a 1937 Custom Beverly. He can be reached at [email protected]. If you dive into CORD 810/812 ownership I recommend you join the ACD Club. Sincerely , Jonathan (Jack) B. Richards II at Chesterfield, Missouri, USA.

thank you again, I was disturbed by the full welding line, but I talked to a body repair expert too and he told me that at a car this age, there might be a lot gas-melting welding (don´t know the correct word, we call it "autogen")

the pics in the brilliant restoration-thread of rubyDS show the full welding on the lower frame
servimg.com/view/11102136/2518#

and the electric-spot welding seems to be supportet by melting some spots with gas

servimg.com/view/11102136/2545

with best regards from historic research
Michael

p.s. RubyDS please excuse the use of some of your pics and congratulation to your brave work!

That looks correct.

Thank you for the replys! I received some pics from the vendor, could you please have a look whether tis is the correct welding? It shows the area near the rear spring.

Jim O'Brien , this is an excellent summary answer to the questions posed by the Southern Germany gentleman who is thinking of acquiring a Model 810/812 Cord. Good luck to Michael R. He should contact Youenn Perrin of France and Kay Hottendorff of Germany , both of whom own Model 812 Cord Sedans and could give him further information. They are listed in our Membership Directory. See you in Auburn.

Hi Michael,

The rocker panels (door sills, located under the doors) are welded to the frame. There is a weld at the top you can see if you remove the aluminum door sills and there is a weld underneath the car. The most common areas for them to rust out is just in front of the rear fender, at the base of the B pillar and in front of the front door. I should also note they welded the rocker panels in place, hung the doors and then leaded the the rocker panels to meet the door. I have seen up to 2cm of lead in these areas.

The Cord is uni-body construction, to the whole body is built right on the frame. There really isn't any structural wood in the Cord like other cars of the era. There is wood around the trunk opening and the top of the door openings, the inside of the B pillar and the bottom of the doors. These bodies had about 200 kg to 250kg of lead in them from new.

The big item on Cords is to make sure they run, drive and shift properly. Cords are noted to have front wheel shimmy around 55 mph if the front end is not set up properly. I've seen it so bad the car is not drivable over 50 mph. If the car is set up properly you should not have any wheel shimmy between 50 and 65 mph.

If the transmission and shifting is set up properly the Cord will shift noiselessly into all gears. Most Cords do bang somewhat going into 2nd and sometimes 3rd. The other question is has the transmission been rebuilt with the thicker 3rd gear thrust washer? These were prone to failure and if you are planning on driving the car you should upgrade it.

If the Cord has the original CV joints in them you will hear them clacking when you go around a corner, they all do this and did it from about 200 miles from new.

The good news is if you get a good Cord that is properly sorted out they are a pleasure to drive and are good for many miles!

Good luck and let us know if you get one. Also feel free to ask lots of questions!

Jim

Hello all together,

I do have a litle collection of some classic cars of which a 49 Packard is the oldest one. Now I´m thinking about to achieve a 1936 Cord 810 Westchester but do not have any experience with this rare car. To decide wether the 810 that I´m looking for is in a healthy condition it would be great to know, how the outer sills are connected to the frame. Is there a long welding line on the frame itself and the sill is spotwelded to the frame?

What a wood-trouble do I have to expect, are there only frames arround the trunk and upper door to roof? (had a look at forum messages here for hours) ore is there a lot of struktural wood?? any other hidden fails that I should inspect?

thank you in progress and hope to see you soon with my own cord
Michael from southern Germany