This Car is a Death Trap! Classic Car Flipper Nightmare. 1935 Chevy Master Revival Part 1 

I know you've said before you don't get as many views on mechanical videos vs dent and rust repair but I love them both and enjoy the variety.

I'm a mechanic who thinks he can do body work. Sort of. The good thing is my expectations aren't very high so I'm always pleased with my work!:) I'm 73 and I've never seen front suspension like that 35. The oldest I've ever worked on would have been made in the 50s. I've pretty much completed my 64 F100 so I bought a 65! F350. The cab is trashed as far as dents and dings but better than the 64 as far as rust. So I got that going for me😊 I've used a lot of the techniques I've learned from you. Thanks from Wisconsin 😊

Sir Allan and Lady Poe are so excited to receive the gifts from the kind commenter ! So nice that Dad is a famous celebrity!

Hey Kyle, really interesting video. They don't make 'em like they used to, thankfully. Many British cars employed that crazy idea of using a screw thread as a bearing and failures were very common and pretty catastrophic. We call them a "trunnion" joint. The Morris Minor 1000 used them and you would often see them at the side of the road with one of the front wheels hanging off! Those were the days.

It seems that no matter what you do, you do great work. I love watching your content. I'm 52 and I am learning a lot from your videos.

Warning: do not check for a new video from Kyle when you're at work. Highly disruptive.

Fantastic video Kyle. Mechanical refurbishment on old vehicles is time consuming and expensive. It’s hard to produce captivating and comprehensive footage. But you did a great job.

My mother drove a 35 Chevy master up til the 1970s , it was parked when the fuel pump went out. Hers was black,loved that old car! I subscribe!

1935. Ultra-rare stucco paint finish. Great work Professor👍

That front end is something I never saw or heard of before wow.

We have a 33 Chev Master under restoration so I found your video very interesting. Can't wait to see how this Chicken Truck turns out. Thank you from Brisbane, Aust.

I've heard of "knee-action" suspension quite a few times over the years. I'm pretty sure GM touted it as a significant innovation at one time. But I never really had any idea how it worked until I watched this video. Much obliged. Hope your '35 Chevy does not require a double knee replacement. Also I was under the impression that "Pitman arm" was the malady that ended Tom Seaver's career, but now I know better. Very informative. Next I suppose you'll tell me that the "Macpherson strut" is actually not a Scottish folk dance.

Just best wishes to keep the numbers ticking over.

I would speculate that the rust on the steering shaft was from water leaking around the windshield seeping around the steering wheel.

Is it possible to get a smile from a guy who is disappointed with many things done by amateurs who had great intentions but should of stuck to eating the cereal and watching tv. Your song in the altro was "My blue Heaven", hummed that song many times when I pondered a day ahead with my lady. I even got a few chords plucked out on a guitar and my lady said "Honey, please just spend the nickel for a jute box song, you are hurting my ears"! Yes I am tone deaf and so sound something like a sick cat. I am the old man from alaska who makes those book length comments hoping to impress someone maybe. I never worked on the thirty five model chevy but my very first rig to work on was the thirty six and so learned a lot at the age of eleven and trying to be thirty. I figured in a few weeks that I would most likely be a master mechanic I suppose. I found later that as many rigs made then before the big three swallowed them up through nefarious ways that many cars and trucks then were a one year only. So given those crazy nick names they gave many rigs, this one may apply to our dilemmas of finding parts. See Jeep had its own nick name.... Just Everyone Elses Parts. Those front and I believe rear brake shoes had the adjuster you pointed to but also had a eccentric bolt on the pivot point on the back bolt so it would center and not wear on one end of those shoes. I was only eleven but by the time I was thirteen, I had spent hours working on my truck, a ton and a half was the rating.... equivalent to a first year S10 maybe with large narrow tires. I remember doing a clutch on mine, and it had a worn plate but otherwise was in great shape. I misplaced the clips holding springs on this clutch which was a one year only. This was in and about nineteen sixty. I got extremely lucky and found those springs and clips, the clutch plate and also had the flywheel turned in a machine shop along with the pressure plate. Total cost including machine shop labor was around thirty dollars. I had a job working in the woods setting chokers on logs and got a mans wages. One dollar and ten cents a hour. Now I happened to work for my dad who considered it fair to pay me a mans wage but held out money for living at home. I made a average of nine dollars a day but had to pay back five dollars for living at home where he kept me fed and clothed. So at four dollars a day, it did take a bit to save the money for my truck.... I have a good many stories about this truck, a real learning experience. Thirty six was the first year of hydraulic brakes on those pickups and small trucks. I never worked on these cars but really tried to buy a thirty five I knew about because of my then girlfriend who's dad had bought and then parked it in a barn where he figured to learn to drive any rig in those days. So it sat there with less than fifty miles on it since new. Man oh man was it pretty. Much darker color than yours but it was blue... almost a black color of blue ... maybe because it was dark in that barn. Looking forwards to your live video, maybe I will catch it... hopefully!!

Hi Kyle, nice to hear from you, that f.u. video was great. I like seeing you working on this car, my grandpa learned how to drive in one of these when it was nearly brand new. The guy he worked for as a teenager told him to go pick up some supplies for his shop. We were looking for one to restore back in 1999, but he passed away before we could find one. I feel your pain with stuff that people do to "fix" something on these old car's. I am taking apart a 54 m38a1 jeep, and just dismantled a 55 cj5 that i intraded a co2 argon tank and a new set of tires so I'd have parts. The 54 isn't bad, because it was never road titled for the governot winter road salt that messes all the fine threaded nuts and bolts up. I almost lost my damn mind, because someone drilled holes to put a steel top on the cj5, and used nuts and bolts on part of it, and flat ead screws. I have MS, and can't feel my left hand, so trying to use a ratchet on one side, and a wrench on the other side took forever. The screws had nothing left, so i had to beat the heads off with a chisel. The floor board's were gone, and they used a highway exit sign ann nailed it through two 2x4's, and set it on the frame, and nailed some 70's shag carpet to that, not fun. I couldn't easily get in or out because the topper was so short, plus the steering wheel leaves no room to get in, along with all the mouse piss and spider's. The frame and driveline are in really good shape, but the motor was seized, so the former owner pulled the spark plugs out and let it fill up with water, so that block isn't looking to good. Some of the stuff i had to deal with to get the thing apart was ridiculous. The only good thing, is that the frame, axles, transmission, and wheels are from a m38a1 jeep. The guy put in a 1948 engine, and what was left of the body came from a cj5. I was using a putty knife to carve the grease off the frame and axles, and got to the olive drab paint. The wheels were olive drab with the red oxide primer used for the army. I needed the 16" original wheels, because the 54 m38a1 had 15" rims that came off a newer jeep. I don't know how, but the 16" military rims didn't rust, and aren't bent up, must have been the extra 3 layers of rattle can paint that saved them. When i was watching you deal with the same mess I've been dealing with, i felt better not being the only one. I was happy that engine freed up. That evapo rust work's good. I tried the por 15 evapo rust, and it didn't work as good as the real evapo rust brand, so I'll only use the original stuff. That krud cutter rust gel you used in one of your video's work's really good, you were right about the rust stains going away with that stuff, so thanks for mentioning it. I like your sense of humor and sarcasm, glad you don't listen to what people whine about. You always crack me up, so please don't change your programming style. Those people who were complaining, they can get mad, or get glad, either way no one gives a crap. G-d bless you and yours, from a lady in Michigan

Wow, those ferric termites chewed up that steering shaft but nothing a little Bondo can't heal.🤣

Kyle, the comment section is becoming almost as entertaining as your antics. ;) The cats have decided that the whole care package was for them. But that's normal. Everything that comes into my house is for the cat. Or at least that what she seems to think. Cool about the engine! I've wondered for years if Evaporust would work to free a stuck engine but never had a stuck one to test it on. I know.. I have been lucky. Catch you on Sunday.

Interesting design that front end. glad that's behind us. You may not be a rear axle specialist now, but before your done with the rear end I guarantee you will be., and at least we have that ahead of us. Be well. Cluck, Cluck.

Great Video Kyle , Im looking forward to the Chicken truck build .

Hey Kyle. Had a mate with a '36 Master Deluxe (right hand drive) and that old beast was a joy to ride in, so I'm quite fond of the Chevys from that period. Another mate of mine has a '39 Master Deluxe (another right hand drive unit) in its original gold metallic and only done just under 64,000 miles since it rolled off the assembly line. He's put 10,000 of those on himself in the past 20 years going to different shows and whatever and he now lives in a little town called Napier, which is the Art Deco capital of New Zealand (being that a rather large earthquake in 1931 obliterated about 80% of the buildings in the town and they rebuilt them all in the style of the time. The quake was violent enough and long enough that it lifted the foreshore up by over two metres and what was the inner harbour up by more than that, so the harbour drained out and what had been an island was now part of the mainland, hence the mass destruction of the city's infrastructure and buildings). They have an Art Deco weekend there every year where people attend in period clothing and you should see all the beautiful 1930s vehicles that cruise along Marine Parade and through the town - it's quite a spectacle. I've never owned anything that old, but I have owned 1950s British vehicles and the one thing I know of cars in that era is that the grease gun is your best friend. All manner of steering and suspension components can have the slack taken out of them by pumping them full of grease and by the same token, they also need the grease every 500 miles or so in order that they do not wear out prematurely. High maintenance is not something that the modern mechanic - shop or DIY - is used to doing, but it needs done regularly and often. Take a 1950s Austin into a local inspection shop without greasing it up first and they will fail you for all manner of "worn out" parts that demonstrate play outside 'regular' tolerances. However, I also don't take my 1970s British vehicles to a workshop or inspection centre that does not understand that tolerances on older cars are much greater than on current vehicles, else they would be failed for wheel bearings that aren't done up as tight as they can be. In saying all that, the areas on your Chev that you pointed out though - yep, it would take a LOT of grease to take up THAT play, so I think your refurbishing them was definitely the right thing to do. That thrust washer? Perfectly fine to use as is - and it will outlast both of us if the car is only driven a couple of thousand miles a year. As to the diff - a crown wheel and pinion of that era will whine new from factory, but the cyclic rumble at the same time definitely points to bearings not being happy. She had some lovely whines in her gearbox though - love the sound of those old gears, eh! Ingenious brake setup the old Chevs had....until the cable started to wear and popped a strand or two. One of my mates told me he shortened one of his when it got overstretched, but I have no idea how he would have done that..... All the best!

Pretty wild how some of the old stuff was made.

Lmao 49:46, "Kyle and the Katz". Sounds like a music group from the fifties.

That is a first for me on that suspension. Thanks for showing us.

Happy to see the engine in the parts car loosen up for you. On the other hand, I'm really happy the gear box and column went well because I'm sure the clutch throw out bearing wasn't in your plans.

I cannot say that I worked on one of those mechanically. But we had a rich customer around 1980 who had his 1936 fixed up a bit bodywise and we put a new paintjob on it. I liked the dark blue colour with red pinstripings. This was the car this guy rode with his father learning how to drive. It had been in the family since it was brand new. Later on he sold it for no good reason. He had tons of cash, so he had very little reason to sell it. I am sure the car that was pampered it's entire life is still around somewhere while the guy passed away a while back.

I just love those death traps !

Gotta say I love a classic car of any sort that people aren’t scared to drive. I have mild anxiety when I take my chevelle out that some idiot is gonna tear end me but it’s far from perfect and looks better tooling down the road than sitting in a garage under a car cover .

Best channel on RU-vid! Thanks again Kyle for another entertaining and informative video.

Hey Kyle, that was very informative about how the brakes and steering design work on a 1935 Chevy. It is amazing that engineers and designers figured out how to make things work, and how they thought this was the most advancement in design for their times, and it probably was. I would think if anyone was a love for old vehicles they would have an interest about how they work. Great to see you are doing a live stream I hope to be there too. Later

I took one of those knee action fronts out of a 35 standard coupe ... they were a real prize ... I have a 5 window master coupe ... not sure what I'm gonna do with it ... Sunday at noon is the Indy 500 ... so I'll try to see if I can make time ... another interesting one ... good job Kyle ...

Interesting repairs. Thanks for showing us. At first I thought the cats were excited about the new box, but it seems they have claimed the loot instead and left you with your own box to play in. 😂

Al Gor rythem stimulus package,love your choice of music good sir.😊

Saskatchewan Canada time Zone is the same as US Mountain time.

Thanks

Thanks!

Awesome video! I am going to have to do the same thing on my 46 truck.

Great Video: I was often told that the reason so many pre war Fords outlasted pre war Chevys after being abandoned to the elements was because there was a lot more wood used in the construction of Chevys than Fords. In observing closely these Chevys you have (both the Blue one and the parts car) I didn't see all that much wood which could rot out as some people claimed? Am I right or is there in fact a lot of wood that's hidden behind panels or metal plates?

Thank you Mr. Carter. Very interesting video. Kind regards.

Good video but looking forward to the chicken truck!

Looks like a fun job.

That’s quite an interesting front suspension!!!

I'm from the UK and have a 35 master sedan from Australia, so righthand drive . Almost identical to your car with 4 suicide doors.. I am about to look for parts for the knee action unit. These clips of your work on the car are invaluable to me ,plus your dry sense of humour is hilarious. Well done and I look forward to anymore on the master. Cheers mick

I am happy that you scared them trolls away...

If you've no puller for the steering wheel try WD40 then boiling water. It works

I've been patiently waiting for you to work on the 35. Unfortunately, as the show progressed my giddy excitement turned to shock,.... then to horror..... then to a deep depression that may require therapy. My whole world has been shaken to the core... is it possible that the Discovery Channel has lied to me? Does it really take more than an hour to restore a car? (Actually 42 mins. if you take out the commercials) I think I need to lay down.... Cheers from your loyal, but deeply disturbed viewer.

Only thing I would suggest is to put the throwout bearing in a bowl of oil and pre-soak it until you are ready to install.

Thx for the accurate explaination. Funtime to watch!

I really enjoyed this video! Although my car is 12 years newer, the steering gear was internally almost exactly the same. Some improvement was made, in that the steering gear mounted differently and I had to jack the front of the car waaaaayyyy up and remove it from below. I'm no master mechanic, but I've never seen tapered roller bearings with the inner race manufactured as part of something like they are on the worm gear. One of mine was toast, along with the worm gear having chunks missing. I tried cleaning them up, but was marginally successful. That grooved roller thingy on the output shaft has loose balls for bearings, and mine were also toast. I replaced the balls with stainless ones from eBay and got rid of the crunchy feel. Unfortunately, having smoothed the worm gear, I ran out of adjustment on the gear mesh. The car is drivable, but I've learned to anticipate which way the car will pull on curves, and I set the steering wheel in the correct position to correct for drift. My long term solution was to buy a new steering gear for a 1969 Camaro, and set it aside for several years.

Cars a beauty. Thank You for taking us along. I with you on the flawless thing. Rather have a driver.

Nice.

That’s a really different and interesting front suspension. I had never seen or heard of that! Thanks for sharing!

Glad to see this one finally getting some love. Keep up the great work as always.

Good day. I didn’t notice if the parts car had the same front suspension? Hopefully the rear end will have some good parts for you. Smitty.

I agree about 30s cars having poor access.. in those days the tech was relatively new so things were sometimes overly complex and there was less thought to ease of servicing. I think ease of working on cars peaked in the early 60s. For example my 63/64 Pontiacs are much easier to work on than my 37

Donation to parts fund for the ‘35. Love that thing!

Great video Kyle, relieved that you didn’t have to resort to cutting the vehicle up 👍

An enjoyable video for sure!

I'm really glad to see you use your car cover! Nice job!LOL!

Great video Kyle always look forward to whatever you do. God bless

I have worked on a knee action cars and the easiest way to see when they are getting really bad is when you look at it from the front you will notice the wheels will lean inward as the bushings go out of it. New that box had been into when I saw the grease in it instead of oil, usually people putting wider tires and arm-stronging it around trashes them right quick. If you ever think about ordering spindle and break for a Canadian built I beam 30's chev car you find our spindles are from a 1/16 to 1/8 inch thicker. . Looks like you was having fun getting into it.

I really found the suspension repair interesting; I learned a bit about older Chevys. Muxh appreciated. The cat videos are always great. I really enjoyed the vbideo of the car driving; that was so cool! Thanks. Cheers!

That was cool! My '37 death trap has the same front end (except with hydraulic brakes) and all the same problems. watching your efforts was kind of semi-motivating. Hypothetically speaking.

Nice to see some mechanic work type content.

Kyle, you have probably seen it but some of your subscribers might not have, I can recommend the Jam Handy "Master Hands" film. It shows the dubonnet suspension being built up. There are a few versions on youtube, look for the one with the best quality. Nice job on the reaction rods, the old ones were very sketchy. I'll try and catch you on Sunday. All the best, Mart.

One thing to get right is steering and brakes

Hi from New Zealand. Great video, which I only found by accident. Was on Cory Wheat Customs site. I had a bunch of '35 Chev Master Deluxe cars back in the '70s. My first diff rebuild was when my daily driver collapsed the carrier bearings. I was 16 at the time. Interesting differences between yours and my old girl. The hubcaps are different, as is the grille badging and the mascot. We were on 17" wheels and my daily was the slope back with a luggage carrier and a side mount spare. At age 14, I bought it as a paddock find with barley grass growing 6" high in every conceivable place, even the windows. Rejuvinated the car including interior wood, and used it during my high school years. Super cool seeing one being cared for. I also had intentions of building a coupe and had collected a steel back half of a '36 5 window as a donor, but got distracted and never did it. Cheers, Bruce.

I like the wind noise.

Thank you kindly for sharing Kyle,, 👍‍‍🌟😎🌟👍‍‍

This was a great video. Took me down memory lane abit, recalling Dad working on cars in my younger years. I do sort of remember that front suspension setup, but you know more than me about it, it seems. Probably shouldn't say this. But I am way tempted to offer you extremely exorbitant amounts of money for your parts car. Here's hoping you can find good pieces and such to finish the good one.

Thanks for another , Brother !

Nice work,I'm sure it will be far more safe

Another great video, Kyle. Thanks!

Well done that Man, great job.

That ole car is a sweet ride.. 👍

This was a cool video as the 35 Chevy is a cool car. It was interesting to see how things were done and how to repair them. It was a nice change of pace. When you go to do the rear, if you can take it out, it makes it a whole lot easier to do. Heck you did the steering box, you can do the rear. It's not difficult. See you on the next one.

Basically the same. The only real difference is where the directional lights are located and a different style grill. I like them both!😊

Really enjoyed this video, as I spent many hours on a '37 Chevy coupe with Dubbonnet suspension (very similar to '35). I had to rebuildt the units and machinced out the radius arm bore to replace the "robe" seals with conventional lip seals. It was quite a job, but stopped the leaks ! I also rebuilt the rear end, with "highway" gears, for long distance tourng. I'd be more than happy to offer any info and answer any questions you may have about any of the mechanical work. I had my car for 30-years, before selling it, which I still regret, 5 years later......

In Australia our 34 5 and 6 Master have the knee action..standards had the leaf springs. I've yet to rebuild mine, was hoping to watch you do yours :) You probably know but you can buy reco kits for the suspension. I'm really pleased to see you're getting the old bus serviceable again.

Quite enjoyable Kyle…The cats stole the show.

I like seeing how the case has cutouts for the ring gear. Like they just didn't want to make a larger housing 😂 . The gears look great, just new bearings and your set! This is a cool project!

My dad got the left knee action rebuilt on his 37 Chev, we got Canadian CKD cars.

Cats are adorable!!

The steering box you mentioned on Shed by the Tracks ...

Thanks Kyle. Thanks for sharing. cheers

I think you should come out with a line of Kyle clothing styled after your classic workshop wardrobe :-) By the way that is one way cool ride !

Nice work Kyle I never knew that about Chevy Front ends and there brakes Very interesting

Ha Ha! My uncle had a 41 chev knee action and i used to get the biggest kick out of it cause when you came to stop it just kept bouncing up and down in the front.

Good thing you didn't mess with those horn button tendrils. Before Elon Musk, air bags were mechanical and those tendrils are critical for proper air bag actuation. You could say that's a fun, useless fact.

My Blue Heaven...nice touch. lol

My 37 dodge came with ball bearing thowout that I just had to replace at my local bearing store.

"SACKED OUT",,,technical old school term often given to something worn out.Also a colorful euphemism generally exchanged whilst drinking a beer in front of the pin up girl calendar and talking disparingly about the neighbors daughters.(banged out,torn up,PLANKED, are other words used in the same sentence)USE these words with care.But at EVER oppertunity!!!

Good show Kyle.

My uncle has a 37 chevy since he was 16 .it was his Dad's pretty cool 😎

Oh - steering on the stock 35 on the highway... My PTSD kicked in - back in my invincible days, I drove a stock 1940 Ford coupe 100 miles home after purchase - one knee action shock worked - one broke during the trip... Between bias ply tires and every touch of the brakes, random lane changes the entire trip home...

Very interesting episode. Its good that you are sorting all those problems. Clearly the car has quite a bit of history but if you sort everything it will be a nice reliable car. I have done a few diffs in my garage without fancy tools etc and they have worked well. It seems there is a lot of folk lore and mystery around diffs but they are not difficult to do. After all you are not going to see massively high propshaft/drive shaft speeds.

Love these videos

The designer of the Dubonnet knee action was from the booze family . They leaked oil from the beginning and nany were swapped out for leak springs and straight axle .

Wow that steering had some slop for sure. lol.

G'day Kyle, looks like somebody was using the clutch pedal as a foot rest, IMHO. Best regards from Western Australia 🤗.