Charles2

Silly me! I guess I am one of those strange people who think that when a person spends a lot of hard-earned money on a new car, and that car is advertized to be virtually flawless, then the folks who made it should stand behind it. Grinding noises from the brakes are not normal nor should be pulsing of the pedal or any other brake problem. New cars should not rattle or clunk, the electrical system should work, the engine and driveline should function and so on. Auto manufacturers know how to make vehicles that don't have problems. So why don't they? They think they can save money by just having to listen to a bit of bitching from the "chronic whiners". If American manufacturers had made better quality vehicles over the past forty years and had stood behind the vehicles they made, the Japanese would not have taken over our car market the way they have. Fans of American cars are becoming fewer. The diehards claim that folks who buy imports just don't know anything about cars. That may be true, but they do know value and that is where they are going. GM, Ford and Chrysler can make good cars and they appear to be trying a lot harder now than in the past. But the perception among a lot of Americans is that they don't and, further, that they don't fix them right when they go sour. That perception is not based on fancy, it is based on bad experiences. Whose fault is that? I blame it on the American auto industry; they have been complacent too long and have abused the trust of the American car buyer for too long as well. They seem to think the buyer should subsidize their poor design and quality. The "big three" certainly seem to have earned their poor reputation with the average American. I'm afraid they have a long, uphill fight to regain the stature they once enjoyed worldwide.

I would recommend your getting the wheels powder coated. Look in the Yellow Pages for local firms that offer the service. Powder coating is much more durable than any paint currently available and the powder comes in just about any color you need.

I live not too far from Green Valley, Arizona, a major age-restricted retirement area populated mainly by ex-midwesterners. There are two popular bumper stickers here (here not meaning in Green Valley proper). The first says "The speed limit in Green Valley is 40 mph: on the freeways, on city streets and in parking lots." The other says "Helen Keller is alive and driving in Green Valley". Neither of the stickers is too far from the truth.

I agree with the two above posts on low use engines. But, if it were my car, and I were planning to drive it at all, and you are going to the expense of having the rods rebabbited, I would regrind the crank if you had much more than 0.001" taper or out-of-round. You are probably spending $50 to $100 per rod for the rebabbiting; having the crank reground shouldn't cost more than $150 (Tucson AZ prices). Since you can have your rods machined to fit the new crank, why not have a tight engine? Incidentally, how are the main bearings; as long as you have the engine apart?

I would post this question on the Ahooga website; there are a lot of people who are knowledgeable about the Model A who frequent the site. I replaced the U-bolts on my Fordor but had the body off at the time. I guess if it were my car, I would remove the body, especially if it has not been off before. It would give you a chance to do some painting and to replace the body insulator webbing. But, this is a big job and may not be one you want to tackle. So, check with the A specialists at Ahooga.com Good luck!

Peter. I have heard about the proposal but have no idea where it has gone. I suspect the idea underlying the proposal is to be able to identify cars (but not drivers) when using photo radar and red light cameras. When I lived near Fort Collins, Colorado, they started using photo radar to issue speeding tickets to the OWNER of the car. No matter that he/she had loaned the car to a friend or family member, they were responsible for the fine. In one case, a car owner had to pay a fine for speeding violation by the person who had stolen his car. There are a lot of states that don't require front license plates and I hope that Arizona remains one of them.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> It's not the speed, it's the inattentiveness and overall poor driver skill that causes accidents. </div></div> In fact, regardless of how much "high performance drivers training" a person has, the faster you are going, the less time you have to react to the unexpected. In that respect, speed does indeed cause accidents. <div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> You may drive the speed limit to your heart's content, so long as you don't impede my ability to pass you safely should I choose to do so. </div></div> A person traveling the legal speed limit on any road is under no obligation to get out of the way of someone who wants to go faster. The faster driver must simply wait for a safe place to pass and, until then, follow the slower car at a safe distance. Tailgating and other forms of juvenile behavior simply exacerbate the situation. Perhaps the person who wishes to exceed the speed limit could consider either leaving a bit earlier or learning patience; both are free and can save considerable stress and gas.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> Are you implying that there are 8 executives at GM for every line man? </div></div> Not yet! But, after the layoffs, who knows?

MrEarl: You have obviously been there! Great laugh but also a lot of truth.

I'm sorry for your loss of family and apologize if I offended you. I too lost family during the Second World War. I had one uncle killed on Guadalcanal, another in Burma. I lost one cousin in Italy and another on Omaha Beach. I was old enough at the time to feel the loss although too young to really understand what it meant. Still, the war has been over for 50 years and personally, I think it is well past time to put the anger behind us. I'm not saying we should forget but that we should let go of the animosity. A number of my male ancestors were killed by the British, either at the Battle of Culloden (1746) or in the aftermath of the battle along with their families. There are Scots and their American offspring that still hate the British for this just as there are still southerners who hate Yankees for the Civil War and blame them for problems in the South. Wouldn't it be great if these folks could just drop it after all this time and start messing around with old cars instead. At any rate, my point in my original post was that Toyota, Nissan, Hyundai, Volkswagen etc. are making cars in the U.S. and employing American workers to do so. At the same time, Ford, D-C and to a lesser extent, GM are making cars in other countries, employing foreign workers to do so and expanding their offshore facilities while closing American plants and laying-off American workers. Sure, profit goes to the "home" country but profit is typically a small proportion of an auto makers cash flow; payroll (jobs) is a much larger part of the budget than profits. And, the multiplier effect of a companies payroll is far greater than the payroll itself. So, again, who benefits the American worker more, the person who buys a Toyota made in the U.S. or a person who buys a Ford made in Mexico? Sorry, but I vote for the Toyota.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">They have drilled into the customer that USA cars are garbage, and Jap cars are better than sex. To those foreign cars drivers, I hope the next job lost is yours. Definition of hypocrite: "driving a toyota with an "I love USA" sticker" Sad, isn't it........ </div></div> If you care to notice, while "American" auto manufacturers are busy moving their operations to places like Mexico, companies such as Toyota, Nissan, Honda and Hyundai are building plants in the U.S. I live near a railroad line that connects Hermosillo, Mexico to the Southern Pacific division yard in Tucson. I see train after train of new Ford vehicles headed North to American markets from Mexico. The same sort of thing can be seen at other border crossings as well. For example, the Chrysler PT Cruiser is made in Mexico along with other Daimler-Chrysler products. Arguably, the only thing "American" about some of these companies is the nationality of the executives in charge of out-sourcing their auto assembly. With the current President so high on "free trade", NAFTA and its offspring, don't expect to see any changes in the situation in the next three years either. So, who is the "better" American: someone who buys a Toyota built in the U.S.? or someone who buys a Ford (or Chrysler) built in Mexico? One other thing, the term "Jap" is derogatory and rude at the very least, it is clearly racist and should not be used in polite (or impolite) company.

You may also wish to "fiddle" with the mixture control. You may be running a bit on the lean side. Try opening the control valve 1/2 turn and see whether that helps.

The seals should be graphite impregnated rope. I use a large diameter socket to roll them into place and then trim the end of the seal to protrude about 0.005" above the surface of the block and bearing cap to compress the seal material into its grove. Work carefully and you shouldn't have any trouble getting it in place.

There are several overdrive units available for the Model A Ford which also has a torque tube drive. So, I know that it is possible to install overdrive in a torque tube assembly. I suspect that it is a matter of checking around to locate someone who can do the machine work utilizing an existing overdrive unit. I doubt that you can purchase a ready made kit for a Buick; the demand is just not there.

The steel cylinder sleeves used in the early Mercury (and maybe Ford as well) wore out quickly; almost as fast as the aluminum cylinder walls on the Chevrolet Vega. The Mercury engines were ready for pressing out the sleeves and installing new pistons and rings at fairly low mileage.