Tom Deering

My knee jerk reaction was a '54 Chevy accessory rear bumper wrap around. The attachment point doesn't seem to jibe with the memory. Not so sure that there weren't similar shaped pieces used in '51,'52,& '53 also. There are some very sharp Chevy folks on this site who could prove or disprove this guess. Tom

This is the exact type of bias ply tire that cause people to be critical of all bias ply tires. The original profile for OEM tires was a 85% aspect ratio. This is much narrower than the equivalent G78-15 or even worse the G70-14 sizes. The 70 and 78 series are just plain handling hazards. Stay away from them. I have driven Fords and Chevys from the mid 50's with those turkey tires and I wouldn't do it again on a dare. You're better off buying used radials if you have any hopes of living till graduation. Oh by the way, I do believe in using bias ply tires on vintage vehicles. As long as they are the original size. Tom

Powder coating rules! Unless you're doing a GM car with a fairly dull black on the chassis components, a little "over restoration" is usaually undetectable. The ease of maintaining it after you have done the show car thing is worth. Both of my cars have been down that path; and the final analysis is Go For It.

Ron, That's a fair question. I am somewhat reluctant to publicly identify the carrier because my experience could have been a fluke. I also would rather not put AACA in an awkward position with potential liability because of their sponsorship of this forum. If anyone wants to e-mail me, I can respond with the carriers name. I chose this carrier partly because they were headquarted in the center of the country near I-35. It seemed logical that they could very easily travel west for the pick up and deliver the cars approximately 600 miles from their headquarters. Incidentally, their pick up timing was right on target, and their equipment was some of the best I've ever seen. In my opinion, their biggest problem is the person in management who subscibes to the "Mushroom Management"* style. This is all too common among small business owners. But---that's another story. Tom *"Mushroom Management": The practice of management members who keep their staff in the dark and feed them B.S..

THE EAGLE HAS LANDED ! Well, not exactly. But the two T-Birds finally arrived at their new home. Yes, it was a slow trip. It averaged 133 miles per day from Fresno, Ca. to Traverse City, Mi.. Murphy was working overtime on this move. First of all the driver who picked up the cars was terminated. He also mis-interpreted the shipping instructions. This was compouned by an Operations Manager who believed in the "Mushroom Theory" for his subordinates. He was the ONLY person who could answer any questions about the status of the cars movement. His poor supporting staff was rendered nearly useless through no fault of their own. The important thing is that the cars arrived in good shape and we're raring to tour some of these paved back roads in the north woods. Tom

Ron, What does this term "on schedule" mean? Do you mean someone actually quoted a realistic delivery date, and actually delivered? I had two '57 Birds picked up in Fresno, Ca on May 24. They are to be delivered to Traverse City, Mi. All I know at this point, is that the cars are in a garage in the Des Moines area and "should" be here on Tuesday, June 14. If they get here on Tuesday, that figures out to be 133 miles per day that they have traveled. No, Thomas Sunday is not the carrier. Tom

Ed, Single marque clubs are the best source for this type of information. In your case, I'd recommend getting the concours rules from the Crown Victoria Association. You may not agree with the rules and may even find documentation to contradict their rules but-------. I won't cloud the issue with an opinion. As an example, the Thunderbird club for the birds of your cars vintage, has had an erroneous ruling on this subject for 25 years. It has finally been corrected, but think how many cars were restored during that time that deviated from production line practice. If you restore your car to the current rules, they will probably be accepted in the future. FWIW: It is my understanding that AACA judging is not influenced by marque club rules. Tom

DeSoto Frank, Memory tells me that the Kaiser was among the first of the post-war cars to have a factory installed supercharger. That had a relatively "low tech" 6 cylinder flat head engine. Tom

www.poci.org

Twitch, Motor Trend was being polite when they described the Customline as "deluxe" trim and Crestline as "custom" trim. Translated into my knuckle-dragger terms, it means the Customline had a 180 degree horn ring, two sunvisors, four armrests and rubber floor mats. This is in contrast to the Mainline that had a horn button, one sunvisor and one one arm rest. Besides that, the Mainliner was just ugly because it was plain as a mud fence. The Crestliner on the other hand, looked like a real car. It had all the Customline features plus carpeting (!) and some of the prettiest seats ever offered in a Ford. They were biscuit pattern vinyl. The colors were really attractive too. They were a precursor of things to come during the remainder of the decade. And things really got crazy then. You mentioned how bland all the sedan offerings are now. We seem to have an entirely different attitude toward driving and our cars in general. It seems we are pre-occupied with collision survival rather than collision avoidance. We seem to seek maximum isolation from the driving experience. I was appalled at the number of DVD players I saw operating on peoples DASHBOARDS on a recent early A.M. trip on the 210 around L.A.. Better cut this off before it ends up in the R&R. Tom

Bob, In '54, Ford had three series of cars. For purposes of this post, we will ignore station wagons. In ascending order of price and luxury, they were: Mainline, Customline, and Crestline. The Mainline and Customline had two tudor offerings, the club coupe and the tudor sedan. Both of these body styles had a "B" pillar. That is the Post between the front door window and the rear quarter window. The Crestline series did'nt have either one of these body styles. The Crestline had a Victoria and a Skyliner. The Vic had an all steel top and the Sky had a transparent plastic insert in the metal top over the front seat. Neither of these Crestline cars had a "B" pillar. That means when both the front door window and rear quarter window were open, there was no obstruction from a "B" pillar. It looked just like a convertible with the top raised and the side windows lowered, except the top was metal instead of fabric. Hence the name "Hardtop". In recent years there has been a dilution of the term: Hardtop. People have been using that term to describe anything with a metal top. That is incorrect usage of the term. "Hardtop" is a car with either two or four doors that does not have a "B" pillar. There is no such thing as a '54 Customline Hardtop. That didn't happen til '56. Tom

Thanks for the feed back Joe. I'm really looking forward to cruising all the two lane roads in NW Michigan. After living in the West for nearly a half century, it's not going to hurt my feelings to have the nearest freeway at least 50 miles away. Tom

Joe, I'm moving to Michigan from the west coast. I am bringing 3 1957 cars into Michigan. I just went through my collection of Michigan plates and found two pair of new '57 Michigan plates and a single "Historic Vehicle" plate that I removed from a 1962 Buick I previously inherited and sold. Are you saying all three of these plates may be used on the three 1957 cars I'm moving into the state and I'll get a break on this "catastrophic loss" thing that Michigan imposes on cars registered in the state? I'm almost afraid to ask how much the no fault rip-off is going to cost. Tom

Is that a Dunphy Sand Dab with a '56 Johnson outboard? Gotta have it! Tom

Huh?