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alsancle

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Hello all.  I just read through the entire thread to catch up.  What great exchanges and information.  To throw in my participation I wanted to address a question about the air deflector in front of the exhaust manifold.  Some place in my discussions with other Royale owners it was explained that the shield was to keep the air from the radiator from cooling the manifold and thus changing how the engine would perform.  Sounds logical in a way and the only explanation I have heard so far.  An earlier post shows the 8-35 sedan that was for sale on Ebay out in New York.  That car did not sell and I contacted the seller after the auction and we came to a deal and it came home with me to Wisconsin.  I am currently going through all the mechanicals to make the car drivable and safe.  It is a very solid car with what I believe to be original paint.  The interior is quite nice but I suspect it has been redone at some time in the past as some of the sewing lines are not straight and the carpet is later for sure. Mechanically it is in pretty good shape as well.  I drained what looked like fresh antifreeze out of it, the engine oil did not look to bad and the engine is free.  My goal is to have it ready for the REO national meet in Wisconsin next July.   I also recently purchased the Royale coupe owned by Gerd and Diane Hermann of New York.  Gerd passed almost 5 years ago.  I had talked with Diane a couple years ago about what she planned on doing with the car and she indicated it would be for sale.  It took us a little over a year to get together for me to see the car.  At that time I did get it running, with very old gas no less, and could move it forward and back but the brakes seemed stuck somewhat.  Not surprising as it has sat for 4 years at that point no being touched.  Gerd only trailered the car to shows so it needed some going over which I did between May and July when I took it to the REO meet in Kerrville Tx.  Drove the car on the first day of tours and it was a dream to drive.  At the very end of the day however with temps in the mid 90s I got stuck behind very slow traffic going up a long hill and then setting at the top to park and when I shut it off the blew about a gallon of coolant out the top of the radiator.   We discovered that the lower hose was collapsing as soon as the engine started.   Hose is not correct, the radiator looks replaced with a new one without the correct tube on the bottom hose.   Let it cool down and filled it up with water and made it back to the hotel without further problems.  Did not drive the second day but the weather was not to good anyway.  So a few more things to deal with and I also hope to have this car ready for next July.  This car is the Red one on the end of the line in the tx photo of all the Royale's lined up.  I also have a rare REO mate phaeton that I got from Don Olson of Vermont years ago before he passed.  I have two daughters that I am hoping will join me in bringing all three cars to the meet in July, maybe even driving them there.   We are only a couple hours away so I think it will be possible but they both just had little boys so not sure about how we travel with infants and no seat belts for the car seats.

The discussions about tire size is very interesting also.  My understanding is that the original 650's were larger than what is available today but smaller than the current 700's which makes sense. I also agree with Al that the blackwalls look better even though I have whitewalls on 3 of my REO's ( I also have a 29 flying cloud).   I will at some point change them out.  As for covers I am working with a fellow in Wi to make the sidemount covers and hope to have some after the first of the year.  We already stamped more water jacket covers (used JIm Carlsons molds). I have them in raw stainless steel or can polish them if anyone needs them.  We are also going to be reproducing hub caps made exactly as REO did.  They will be complete or just the skins will be available.  We also made new water disperse tubes for inside the engine out of brass.  I may have one or two of those available also.  Great discussion, keep it up. Dave

 

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Something I have been researching lately is how these cars were pinstriped from the factory.  If you look at the sedan I posted it has a lot of striping including two up around the windshield area.  I believe this car has the original paint and this may have been done at the factory, or maybe after the original purchaser received it.  It also has initials painted on the rear passenger door.  The coupe has gold tape pinstriping which is going away.  I have looked at many photo's of coupes along with artist drawings from magazine ads.  It is a little hard to determine exactly how they were done.  I think this car is close but the strips are in the wrong area and need to be move slightly to have them meet properly to go down the good spear together.  I have a good striper friend who is going to redo this for me but I need to decide the correct color to use.  Any input would be appreciated.  

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Great car, and I like it just the way it is......that being said........I wouldn’t bet money that’s the original striping on the car. It looks a bit over the top for the era.............most were done in a conservative and light hand. The stripe just under the window is much, much more than one would expect with that body style and color combination.  In fifty years of looking at cars, the triple stripe on the hod is a first.........I would love to inspect the car in person, but it’s just a guess that the striping is done at a much later time than when the car was built.........

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On ‎11‎/‎29‎/‎2019 at 6:34 PM, reoinwi said:

Hello all.  I just read through the entire thread to catch up.  What great exchanges and information.  To throw in my participation I wanted to address a question about the air deflector in front of the exhaust manifold.  Some place in my discussions with other Royale owners it was explained that the shield was to keep the air from the radiator from cooling the manifold and thus changing how the engine would perform.  Sounds logical in a way and the only explanation I have heard so far.  An earlier post shows the 8-35 sedan that was for sale on Ebay out in New York.  That car did not sell and I contacted the seller after the auction and we came to a deal and it came home with me to Wisconsin.  I am currently going through all the mechanicals to make the car drivable and safe.  It is a very solid car with what I believe to be original paint.  The interior is quite nice but I suspect it has been redone at some time in the past as some of the sewing lines are not straight and the carpet is later for sure. Mechanically it is in pretty good shape as well.  I drained what looked like fresh antifreeze out of it, the engine oil did not look to bad and the engine is free.  My goal is to have it ready for the REO national meet in Wisconsin next July.   I also recently purchased the Royale coupe owned by Gerd and Diane Hermann of New York.  Gerd passed almost 5 years ago.  I had talked with Diane a couple years ago about what she planned on doing with the car and she indicated it would be for sale.  It took us a little over a year to get together for me to see the car.  At that time I did get it running, with very old gas no less, and could move it forward and back but the brakes seemed stuck somewhat.  Not surprising as it has sat for 4 years at that point no being touched.  Gerd only trailered the car to shows so it needed some going over which I did between May and July when I took it to the REO meet in Kerrville Tx.  Drove the car on the first day of tours and it was a dream to drive.  At the very end of the day however with temps in the mid 90s I got stuck behind very slow traffic going up a long hill and then setting at the top to park and when I shut it off the blew about a gallon of coolant out the top of the radiator.   We discovered that the lower hose was collapsing as soon as the engine started.   Hose is not correct, the radiator looks replaced with a new one without the correct tube on the bottom hose.   Let it cool down and filled it up with water and made it back to the hotel without further problems.  Did not drive the second day but the weather was not to good anyway.  So a few more things to deal with and I also hope to have this car ready for next July.  This car is the Red one on the end of the line in the tx photo of all the Royale's lined up.  I also have a rare REO mate phaeton that I got from Don Olson of Vermont years ago before he passed.  I have two daughters that I am hoping will join me in bringing all three cars to the meet in July, maybe even driving them there.   We are only a couple hours away so I think it will be possible but they both just had little boys so not sure about how we travel with infants and no seat belts for the car seats.

The discussions about tire size is very interesting also.  My understanding is that the original 650's were larger than what is available today but smaller than the current 700's which makes sense. I also agree with Al that the blackwalls look better even though I have whitewalls on 3 of my REO's ( I also have a 29 flying cloud).   I will at some point change them out.  As for covers I am working with a fellow in Wi to make the sidemount covers and hope to have some after the first of the year.  We already stamped more water jacket covers (used JIm Carlsons molds). I have them in raw stainless steel or can polish them if anyone needs them.  We are also going to be reproducing hub caps made exactly as REO did.  They will be complete or just the skins will be available.  We also made new water disperse tubes for inside the engine out of brass.  I may have one or two of those available also.  Great discussion, keep it up. Dave

 

So nice to know the coupé is in good hands :-)

 

Reo 000.JPG

Reo 027.JPG

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On 12/1/2016 at 7:44 PM, alsancle said:

Ed found this over on Facebook (where I refuse to go).  At first it looks like a period picture.  There is at least one factory photo showing a full chrome spare cover but whatever is behind the car makes me think 1960s.

ReoRoyaleSedan.jpg

anyone more info on this car or person ? this might be our car prior to 1964 ... 

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1 hour ago, ReoRoyale835 said:

anyone more info on this car or person ? this might be our car prior to 1964 ... 

Cannot think of fellows name offhand - a 60's photo I believe and I believe he also owned a Franklin - car is last I heard exactly same and mostly unrestored still.

Edited by John_Mereness (see edit history)
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18 hours ago, edinmass said:

Great car, and I like it just the way it is......that being said........I wouldn’t bet money that’s the original striping on the car. It looks a bit over the top for the era.............most were done in a conservative and light hand. The stripe just under the window is much, much more than one would expect with that body style and color combination.  In fifty years of looking at cars, the triple stripe on the hod is a first.........I would love to inspect the car in person, but it’s just a guess that the striping is done at a much later time than when the car was built.........

I noticed the thickness of stripe, though a 1932 Packard Twin Six with all the narrow double stripping is "a lot of glitz" on a car too. 

Edited by John_Mereness (see edit history)
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  • 4 weeks later...
 
 

1931 REO Royale demonstrates global passion for collector cars

 

Pick of the Day was built in America but restored after family moved to Belgium

The appreciation of classic cars is a global phenomenon. Americans cherish vintage vehicles produced in Europe, and increasingly those produced more recently in Japan, and people living on other continents have an appreciation for American machines, be they many decades old or of the more recent and muscular variety.

A case in point is the Pick of the Day, a 1931 REO Royale 835 sedan being advertised on ClassicCars.com by a private seller in Aartselaar, Antwerp, Belgium.

The seller notes, “We are longtime members of the REO Club of America and had REOs in the family as from the ’30s.”

image.png.ba5275920f5f904ca41ffc31972c2108.png

image.thumb.png.6bb12739b7af827c227e2d5ae1a4d78d.png

 

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I saw this statement on this Reo Royale advertisement I have personally never seen it on an ad before.

Can someone explain what exactly it means . Also A.J. could you enlarge this ad so it can be read. As this is as big as I can make it.

 

image.png.fc3f7c88c99b90a45da85eb0705f3a91.png

 

image.png.de89e17ee7c58e74f3818c8da79a003d.png

Edited by Mark Gregory (see edit history)
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Does this help?  The European Concours d'Elegance  were just that, shows for the most current, elegant luxury cars either as styled by the maker or frequently custom coach-built body on the latest chassis.  The REO Royale was easily the equal of the finest current designs then and well beyond most. 

REO Royale advertisement.jpg

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On 1/6/2020 at 4:39 AM, ReoRoyale835 said:

That's right .. and we can easily ship it to the US :-)

With all the stuff we are selling going overseas and people not having any or few problems doing it, then there should be not problem getting stuff back into US  - especially via US being its Country of Origin. 

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I saw two Royale Victoria's in Charlie Beesley car pictures. One Royale is already posted on this Royale thread. He had good taste concerning the Victoria's which I own one a 1931 Victoria 8 - 31

 

I tried posting the picture with no luck. Maybe someone can post the picture.  Here is the message under the picture.

 

This woman is obviously fashion conscious, not only in her dress and Schiaparelli-style bicorne hat but very definitely in the 1933 Reo Royale Victoria she’s chosen as her personal transport.

 

Edited by Mark Gregory (see edit history)
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14 minutes ago, Mark Gregory said:

I saw two Royale Victoria's in Charlie Beesley car pictures. One Royale is already posted on this Royale thread. He had good taste concerning the Victoria's which I own one a 1931 Victoria 8 - 31

 

I tried posting the picture with no luck. Maybe someone can post the picture.  Here is the message under the picture.

 

This woman is obviously fashion conscious, not only in her dress and Schiaparelli-style bicorne hat but very definitely in the 1933 Reo Royale Victoria she’s chosen as her personal transport.

 

 

Mark,

 

All those pictures have been around for years.   Is this the one you are talking about?   Looks like a 33.

 

image.png.779a8d80befc39f9788f9411b1b5e2e9.png

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2 hours ago, alsancle said:

 

Mark,

 

All those pictures have been around for years.   Is this the one you are talking about?   Looks like a 33.

 

image.png.779a8d80befc39f9788f9411b1b5e2e9.png

Notice her horns, skirted fenders and wheels disks - wire wheel covers in sidemounts, in addition to Lyon style metal side-mount spare tire covers (with stainless bead on tread cover). 

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20 hours ago, John_Mereness said:

Notice her horns, skirted fenders and wheels disks - wire wheel covers in sidemounts, in addition to Lyon style metal side-mount spare tire covers (with stainless bead on tread cover). 

 

Those horns were an option for all three years.  The Lyon's cover is different in 33 than 31/32 with the bead you pointed out,  as is the slope of the radiator and the door handles.

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On 9/5/2019 at 8:45 PM, alsancle said:

This is an very original convertible coupe that just privately changed hands.   I like the blackwalls and suggested to Bill that they might look good on his car.

 

Carl-Royale.jpg

 

I'm in love with this color scheme.  What exactly is going on here - plated spokes and lock ring on black drum and wheel center?  Or are the spokes and lock ring painted silver?

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21 hours ago, Justin Kerns said:

 

I'm in love with this color scheme.  What exactly is going on here - plated spokes and lock ring on black drum and wheel center?  Or are the spokes and lock ring painted silver?

Justin, I am not sure about Reo, but a lot of the manufactures used Stainless spokes (AJ says stainless) -  I would say spokes are stainless if you are looking at an original car (albeit Dayton Wire Wheel does this work every single day).  I have seen 30's cars with plated spokes - they did not hold up well.  Equally, more often than not I see plated spoke nipples and they also do not hold up well.   And, lock rings are generally chrome plated with any Manufacture.  

Edited by John_Mereness (see edit history)
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16 minutes ago, Justin Kerns said:

Thanks to both of you.  I wonder if Auburn ever used this scheme?  In any event the Royale is a great car and I would just drive that one the way it is.

I would say, Blue and Black was on the  popular list of combinations in earlier 30's and for any manufacturer -  that being said, I would tell you that Black tends to be the most "stable" paint color from the period - a car has to be pretty exceptional original to find anything other than black, as the reds, yellows, and ... all deteriorated pretty quickly.  I do see a fair number of Auburns that have original paint in brown shades. I am wondering if there is a paint booklet/brochure for 31 and 32 Auburn.  I know there is one for 1935/1936 (not sure it is 100% accurate as to what you could actually get, but they at least had one).  And, I know I have seen the paint color list for Cord L-29 and so there must be a booklet/brochure for those cars too. 

 

Blue and Midnight Blue is also cool. 

 

Stainless spokes on dark colored wheels are spectacular in certain light conditions and also at night downtown/under street lamps - they give off a flashbulb effect when driving = much the same effect as a flipper bar hubcap. 

Edited by John_Mereness (see edit history)
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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

I have a REO question. In the late 1960s my father owned a good-looking unrestored original-condition REO rumble-seat coupe, with a roll-down window between the passenger compartment and rumble seat. I distinctly remember opening the hood and seeing a chrome-plated water jacket cover that said Royale on it. He sold the car while I was in Vietnam, and I have no idea where it is now. However, I've recently been told that the car was actually one of three Flying Clouds built by the factory with Royale engines and front sheet metal, as show cars to bring more attention to the Flying Cloud line. Does anyone know whether this is true? I do remember that the car seemed a little short in the back. Apparently no one in the family ever took a photo of the car.    

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