Modern lubricants for the Cord

Hello Mike:

Dad is a charter member of ACD and was always very enthusiastic about going to Auburn. I see by your picture that you must be an Auburn guy and from Ohio. The picture of me next to my posts is very cropped but it is me circa 1956 in front of Ray Lower's Auburn 851 Speedster. Dad told me he could have bought that car later for $1500.00 but thought that was way too much. Auburn parts are much more expensive now. I will tell Dad that you fellows remember him well.

Don,

It is so good to hear from you. Remember your dad & your mom fondly. Undoubtedly the best advice they gave me concerned attending the club's annual reunion. In a nutshell, it was arrive early and leave late. Took it to heart.

It sounds as though you grew up with Cords like I did. Dad bought his first in 1949 and I was born early in 1950. The first car I ever saw and the first car I ever rode in was his 1936 Westchester. All through my childhood I helped my dad work on Cords. I haven't worked on one for many years but I still remember a lot about them and their unique design.
At one time these cars were not really investments but cars that enthusiasts drove. I think my dad has some pictures of the Cord with chains on the front tires so he could drive it to work in deep snow. I am sure that would be considered sacrilege nowadays.
It sounds as though there was some assembly required with your project. I am fortunate that my dad's car just needs to be brought out of hibernation and should require minimal effort to wake it up. I will be interested in how the gear shift mechanism fares after many years of disuse.
I hope you do get to go to Auburn at some time. The last time I was there I was about 20 years old and couldn't get a hotel room so my buddy and I slept next to the cars on the town square. I suppose most folks looked at us as the night watchmen. Nobody messed with the cars while we were there.
I am new to this web site but I have read all of the material that has been posted earlier. There is a lot of helpful information available. I feel bad that the ranks of the older enthusiasts like our fathers are thinning. There is a lot of tribal knowledge that is at risk of being lost. I am trying to discuss a lot of things with my father so that he can pass that knowledge on to me. He still likes to talk about Cords.

Don, I know how you feel about getting to Auburn for the show. I have never been there yet. My wife and I are planning out 50th anaversary now. It will be is 5 1/2 years. She wants Hawaii and I want Auburn. I suggested we do both but that was not felt like a good idea for her. She has interest in our Cord. Just not the kind that requires any work. So we probably will be going to the islands. No matter. I will attend auburn yet either with or without my cord. I was 9 years old when Dad bought it for $150.00 with 2 complete engines and front universal joint sets. It was a basket cae to the max back then. Engine has 2 thousands taper on the cylinders and was rebuilt back then. Not bored but rebabbit bearings. All new needle bearing rockers. Then gaskets were made from the yellow pages for the rest of it. Because I live about 5 miles from Egge Machine shop I can drop in and get what I need when I need it. Its been a lifetime joy to see and work on for the last 53 years as time and money allows.
This forum has been so much help to what I know. There is no way I could do it right without the help offered here too.

Thanks for the reply Tim. Most of the lubricants he has been using are still available with the possible exception of what he was using in the u joints. I was just wondering whether there were some new and improved lubricants available. It is interesting to know what other Cord owners are using that works well, especially the folks who are doing a lot of mileage. I imagine that most modern lubricants are pretty effective compared to what was available in the 1930s.
Dad was telling me that to keep the u joints leak free he used an aircraft
o-ring which kept it from slinging grease onto his tires. He said that on one tour folks thought that he was running the u joints without grease because there was nothing being thrown onto the tire. I remember in the '50s and '60s that it seemed as though most Cords when driven for long distance at speed seemed to have grease streaks on the front tires. That kind of messes up the image of a fine shiny car.
I have had a dream of putting his Cord back on the road and taking him to Auburn but he can't really get around very well. I know that if I got him there he would really enjoy it but might over extend himself. I remember the early Auburn meets but I havent been there since the early 1970"s.

Hi Don: your Dad judged my 36 Westchester in 1997!
I also am using all original drive train. 12,000 trouble free miles so far. I just completed a re-do of the drive train. I had done a rather amateurish restoration in the 90s (just before your father judged it). There were leaks of oil and grease. My mechanic friend would not allow it in his shop until he steam cleaned the entire front end; from the firewall forward. All the sheet metal had been removed. Everything was taken apart, cleaned, new seal and gaskets installed, along with new grease and oil.
For the C/V joints, we used a high temp marine grade grease; filling every nook and cranny until one whole tube was in each joint. I am now using 90 wt. gear oil(very high quality) in the transmission after using 140 wt. for a number of years. For the engine, I have used 30 wt. non-detergent since day one. Change it every thousand miles. Available at NAPA.
Hope this helps.
CORDially, Tim.

I was talking with my father yesterday. In 2000 he suffered a stroke and has not been able to drive his Cord since then. The car has remained covered in his garage since then. He has owned Cords since he bought his first in 1949 for $300.00 and for a while had three of them at one time. We were talking about lubricants especially for the transmission and the universal joints.
He told me he didn't know what lubricants most of the Cord drivers are using nowadays. I am especially interested whether anyone is using synthetic grease, gear oil, or motor oil and their experience with it in the Cord. I would like to know whether there are lubricants that are recommended or if there are some that should be avoided. His Cord has not been modified so it has the original u joints and no engine oil filter.
His Cord was a driver and was running well when he put it to bed for the winter. He enjoyed driving it on tours and to car meets and for pleasure. At some time in the future I plan on it being a driver again and want to be able to keep it as well protected mechanically as I can. If we lived in the same part of the country we would probably be driving it now.