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Thanks guys. I knew someone on this forum would know about the truck. Larry

At a cruise-in last Saturday I ran across a flatbed truck that was badged as a Ruggles. Looked to be about 1 1/2 capacity and a tag on the cowl said it was a 1929 model. I've never heard of a Ruggles truck before. Anyone know anything them? Sorry no picture, left it at home. Larry

Buggirl: Dont give up on doing the vinyl if you like it that much. I have never come across a "kit' for replacing the vinyl, and in my opinion putting it on could be quite a hassle. However, if you decide you want one done, check with a signage company to see if they do the vinyl "wraps". some of these guys can do wonders on the trucks you see with all the advertising on it. If there is a source for woodgrain they may be able to a great job for you. Larry

Another situation I remember at the Pontiac dealership was when an older gentlman brought his new car in, complaining that the car was making a peculiar noise. He said that he had brought the car in three times before and we were unable to find the problem. I asked him to describe the noise and he said that it would only make the noise when parked on a slope with the engine running. We took his car and drove to the back of the lot to where the pavement sloped up to a storage shed. He parked the car on the slope and said "hear that"? I couldn't hear anything unusual in the sound of the car, so I asked what kind of noise was the car making. He replied that it was a high pitched whining noise. I listened for several minutes and still could not hear anything unusual and the man kept insisting the noise was there. I then asked if he could hear the noise at that exact time. He replied that no, he couldn't as he was hard of hearing, but his wife (who was at home) could hear it well. I then asked if his wife wore a hearing aid and he said that mostly she didn't as she couldn't stand the whistling noise the hearing aid made. Larry

I never heard of a woman who tried to use the dimmer switch on the column with her foot, but I had a somewhat similar thing happen. I was the service manager at a Pontiac dealership during the late 70s - early 80s, in which time a lot of car makers switched to the column mounted dimmer switch. One day a young lady brought her new Pontiac in with an unusal complaint. She said that the car had been sold to her without a bright button. I asked what a bright button was, and she said the lights got brighter when the bright button was pushed. I realized she was referring to a dimmer switch and told her the car did have one. Her reply was that she was positive the car didn't have one because her boyfriend also couldn't find it. I moved her car to where it faced a white wall and showed her the dimmer switch function. Her parting comment was that she couldn't wait to show her boyfriend that he wasn't so smart afer all! Larry

I have a 1950 model and a 1956 model. The difference in the technology between the two is pretty amazing. I believe that the 1950 to1959 decade was one that produced the greatest improvement in cars. Both of these cars are daily drivers even though dealing with the lack of power steering and air conditioning, the vacuum wipers and the bias-ply tires on the 50 can be difficult. Larry

Nick: If I remember correctly (I was a CPA about 2 lives ago) unless the cars were owned by a separate entity from you personally at the time of sale, they were considered as private assets. That means the gain or loss on the sale of each car would be the amount you got for that one car less the amount you paid for that one car. Gains from the sales of the cars was taxable, but any losses were not. A separate entity would be something like a trust or other organization. A separate comany would have the usual tax laws applied to the sale, and does allow depreciation to be deducted from the original cost of a car, but in the case of a classic car that increases in value, the savings from claiming deprection would be probably much less than the gain on the appreciating car. Partnerships have their own laws but the gain or loss would be calculated the same as a company , and usually any gains from any profit the partnership would be passed through the partnership to the partners and subject to their personal tax rates. However, the tax laws have been changed a few times since I was in practice, so CHECK WITH A CURRENTLY PRACTICING CPA OR ATTORNEY. Sorry for the lecture an old tax laws, just trying to show off what I used to know I guess. Larry

Guys: I belive that the increase in engine size contributed to a major part of the 57's popularity. The 57 283 cu in engine would usually out perform the 265 cu in engines in the 55 and 56 (with all using the same options, 55 and 56 with 2 barrel carbs against the 57 2 barrel carb, 55 and 56 power pack engines vs. 57 power pack. etc). Many of the younger guys were really into the horsepower race at that time, so a 283 57 was more desireable than the 265 55s and 56s, regardless of the styling. Personally I too like the 56 better. Larry

Michael: Looks like you got a lot of answers for one question. Each of those answers make one or more valid points. My advice is to really look at every part of the car, including the underneath, and list every imperfection that you find that could affect the appearance of the car when it is finished the way you want it. Be critical, think like a buyer instead of an owner. If you have friends interested in older cars and have some automotive experience (especially in the body and paint area) they can be a greal help in finding the problem areas (everybody likes to point out problems in someone elses car). When you have a pretty clear idea of the actual condition of the car, including upholstery and mechanical areas, then look at your budget in the same critical manner. You may decide to change your goals for the car. There is nothing wrong with driving an unrestored car. I know several guys who have put their car in good mechanical condition, cleaned the inside and outside, and drive their cars every chance they get. A few have told me that they like not worrying about getting a minor dent or scratch at an event. Also, I agree that good paint jobs are expensive, but I also agree that location can have a pretty big effect on labor costs. If you decide to have the car painted, go to as many events in as many different areas or towns as you can and look at the cars there. You may decide that a less than complete repaint is good enough for you. Talk to the owners of cars you like. They may have a paint and body shop reccommendation for you. Look into as many of those you can. Whatever you decide, remember that the reason for having a classic car is having the most enjoyment you can. Good luck! Larry

Zipdang: I agree with all the above answers - get quotes from a few sources, check the platers reputation and what the other forum member say, and compare prices including shipping. I wouldn't worry about hexavalent vs. triavalent, my understanding is that most of the platers are going to trivalent because hexavalent is more active chemically than trivalent, making it harder to remove from the waste water, thus harder to keep on the right side of the EPA and state regulations. Trivalent plates a little slower, taking more time to reach the desired thickness. Larry

Guys, there is one thing that should be kept in mind when pouring any fluid into a running engine: that fluids are not compressable. The effective compression in an engine can be raised to dangerous levels by dumping water in the carburetor while running. I've seen several head gaskets blown by doing this, one blew a piece of the gasket completely out of the engine. Older cars used lower compression levels and may not be so likely to have problems, but some cars in the 70s have compression levels high enough to cause concern. Properly metered, water injected into an engine can make a sizeable power increase, but unmetered can cause problems. In WWII several fighter planes used water injection to increase power, especially at higher altitudes. There has been many cars that used some kind of fluid injection, the 1962 and1963 Olds Jetfires are the latest that I remember. If you think that you have a carbon build up problem, I would consider putting a modern Injector cleaner in the gas tank. This insures that the additive flow will be metered whether you are running fuel injection or a carburetor. These cleaning fluid seem to work fairly well. I have seen several fuel injected cars (which are prone to carbon fouled injectors, causing engine misfires) returned to running smoothly this way. Larry

A little farther up in TN (in Elizabethton, a little south of Johnson City) is Tri-City Plating. They did a great job on my bumpers and grill and the price was reasonable. Larry

Years ago a friend worked for a battery rebuilding service. They made their money by selling "rebuilt" batteries cheaply and rebuilding the old battery core that the purchaser of the rebuilt battery turned in. (If you didn't have a core to turn in they charged you 50% more.) My friend told me that they rebuilt the batteries by pouring the old acid out, dropping the battery about 3 times from a distance of about a foot onto a concrete pad. They then used a pressured water "jet" on a small wand to wash out each cell and let the battery sit upside down for several hours to dry out, then refilling the cells with fresh acid. After charging and checking the battery it was ready to be sold. My friend said that about 80% of the batteries that they got as cores would check out good and perform like a new battery. Of course that was before the EPA got on their backs for pouring the old acid out on the ground. Larry

64 LeSabre: I would try very hard to get a key made that fits the ignition and the doors before replacing the door lock cylinders. It can be somewhat difficult and you run the risk of damaging the paint on the doors. If you can take the ignition lock out of the dash, you could take it to a locksmith and get the key made. It will be more expensive that just making a key, but it may be well worth it. Back in my day, GM dealers could make ignition keys from the numbers on the glove box lock cylinder. You might call a dealer and see if they can do this with your car. I've used this method to make keys for a '64 Chevrolet, so if the dealer still has the books and still makes keys then removing the glove box lock is very simple (if the glove box isn't locked also) and this will probably be your cheapest way to get the keys made. Good luck! Larry

In the early '70s I drove a 1964 Taunus (not Taurus), which was a German Ford, a small 4 cylinder car. I've also had some uncommon models of common makes such as a Fiat X19 (body by Bertone), a 1968 BMW 1800TI (a 4 cylinder, 2 carburetored 4 door sedan, I believe one won a class in the European Hill Climb Championship about 1966 or 7), a Fiat 750 (basically a 600 but with suspension and engine by Abarth), and a 1966 Datsun 1600 roadster. None of these were very expensive, but offered good performance at reasonable prices. I enjoyed them all. Larry