Pic-A-Day (1042) Albert Mach Fine Art - 1932 Ruxton 4-Door Sedan

[Albert Mach]

Pic-A-Day (1042) Albert Mach Fine Art

1932 Ruxton 4-Door Sedan

This was seen at the Elegance at Hershey 2017

http://theeleganceathershey.com/

 

My friend Barry Wolk posted some information about the restoration and said:

You never know until you try. My good friend Scott R Bosés gave me a call one day in 2012. He told me that the brand name "Ruxton" was the featured marque for the 2014 Pebble Beach Concours. There are only 19 extant, but Scott found one in Flint, Michigan that wasn't running and asked that I get it going for him so it could be put on a transport so that it could be shipped to a restoration shop in California.

 

I had decided to shutter my business. I had had a great run and entertained retiring, but the lure of money kept drawing me back, but I had less and less to do. I offered to give Scott 10 hours of my time as a challenge. I was familiar with the brand of engine in the car, made by the Continental Motor Company. What I didn't know was that this engine was an odd bird. The car was a very early front wheel drive vehicle and like the others of the period, mounted the engine backwards to drive the front wheels. It was the same modification they do to one engine of a pair on boats with twin screws. They run in opposite directions with opposing directional props so the boat doesn't just run around in circles.

 

I actually had 14 hours in it and I was ready to start it. I had a small fuel tank and the battery hooked up. I put water in the radiator. It was a big radiator so I didn't think much of it when the 4th gallon went in. The engine is huge so I figured the water was filling up the water jacket and head. When I put the 7th gallon in I thought something was screwy. As I started the 8th gallon, water and oil started running out of the front and rear main. Actually, it was mostly oil as whatever I was pouring into the radiator was ending up in the oil pan and the fresh engine oil was floating on the water. Oy!

 

There was only one way that could happen. There had to be a crack between the water chamber and the chamber that held all things oiled. I hated making that phone call to Scotty. Removing the side panels that cover the valve train revealed a rain-forest of moisture emanating from a crack in the engine block 22" long. Now what do you do?

 

Well, my friend Greg Hartle told me about an engine cement that could seal the crack from the inside. I was skeptical, but it worked. Unfortunately, we found that one of the cam lobes was flattened, which meant that the engine had to come out for a rebuild. What had I gotten myself into?

 

Well, Scotty asked if I could spruce up the engine compartment while the engine was out, but the fenders were in the way. You could still see the rusted frame rails after the engine came out so the body had to come off to get to the frame. You can see what happened.

 

1,000 hours later it was ready for body work and paint. I completely stripped the paint off everything and had all the mechanical bits powder-coated, and reassembled the chassis.

 

There was a looming deadline, less than 8 months away. The car had to be on a truck headed to Pebble Beech 10 days before the show. I do decent body work, but this was headed to the finest, most prestigious, Concours d'Elegance in the country, maybe the world. I really need a body/paint expert. I had known Jocko McNeal for years as the floor manager of a local restoration concerns. He was on his own and looking for body work, but really didn't want to paint it. I was greatly in need of getting the project moving so he stepped in with his pal, Dan Letinski. Together they eventually acquiesced and started talking like they would paint it and do the final assembly.

 

We got the engine back and tried in vain to start it. After 5 days I was curled up in a ball on the shop floor. That's when Dave Brown stepped in and saved the day. He knew something no one else knew. Because the engine was in backwards the ignition timing was done off the #1 cylinder and the valve timing off #8. Who knew? Dave knew.

 

About that time Celesta Pappas-Boses came up with the color scheme. Ruxton hired a set designer to come up with a paint job that made the car look even longer and lower than it really was. There were a small number of cars painted various striped color schemes, but none survived so the owners only had black and white factory photos to go by. Celesta hit upon the idea of a grey scale color scheme that replicated the photo.

 

I had been documenting the entire project for an automotive web site called Vortex and I revealed their plans. Scotty was not happy as he wanted the color scheme to be a secret. I quickly pulled her drawing and started to sulk that I wouldn't be able to continue my build reporting without photos. The proverbial light bulb went on and I settled for posting any new pictures in B&W. I ended up having the most fun with that bit of concealment. Everyone wanted to know the color scheme, but it was right in front of them all the time.

 

Now, close to 3,000 man-hours in, the transporter, John van Dam, had been waiting in my parking lot since 5:00pm. At 8:00pm the back fenders had not been installed. I was a wreck, but by 10:30 the car rolled onto the transport, under its own steam. That was when I decided that I would never, ever, get involved with any project that involved a deadline.

 

The owners paid our way to California and we got to share in their joy.

Here's the build. Not for dial-up. Bring snacks and stay hydrated, it's a long one.

 

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?6206837-1932-Ruxton-build...

 

You'll find it interesting that the car body was meant for a narrowing frame. The parallel FWD Ruxton frame members made the body too narrow for the front of the car. They split the car body in two and widened the car 4" in the front. They created a unique cowl top and firewall and simply spread the side panels apart to accommodate the widening. This left the stamped rear section of the sides to sit at a funny angle to the rear panel of the car.

The car also has a interesting removable firewall section for access to the backward-facing, backward-running I-8 engine "front".

There also is the before and after pics from Barry.