jdome

I will take the blame for it. After someone posted the photo of the steam engine to compare the cowcatcher with the grille, I posted a photo comparison of the face of the villain in the classic movie "Scream". Apparently the hall monitor doesn't share my sense of humor.

I agree with that. I have made a lot of parts by lost wax casting from silicone molds. I make my own molds and cast wax copies from the molds. You can get very detailed castings as long as you start with a good piece. I would have filed & sanded the pits flat on the original piece and filled imperfections with finish bondo and epoxy the broken parts together and finished all surfaces smooth. If I can't live with the shrinkage I cheat and figure out where to strategically add material (bondo) to allow shrinkage. Shrinkage occurs when the molten alloy cools, not during the mold & wax process. In this case I would epoxy a 1/16th plastic strip around the outside perimeter and fill the seam. Fill the screw holes and redrill the holes after casting. The casting process I would use is the type where they dip the wax piece in ceramic slurry to build up a ceramic shell around the piece. Since you did a great job with the 3D print. I suggest you make a part out of (whatever) plastic at +2% size and use it to make the silicone mold.

It doesn't surprise me that Jaguar & Land Rover are on the top 10 list along with Ford. Ford has been building some very good cars the past 2 or 3 decades. Ford owned both Jag & LR from about 2000 to 2010 and re-engineered their engines and platforms during that time as well as sourced them some badly needed reliable electrics. Both are still benefiting from that marriage. Tata Motors (Daewoo, Hitachi tractor & machinery) owns them now. Keep in mind that this list appears to be based on engines. There are brands on that list that I don't think fair very well overall due to other reliability issues.

Now isn't all that gloss black and chrome plate hardware much prettier than that dull, non-descript zinc coating. I have a 35 and 36 and my carbs look similar to the 32/33 pictured with some differences. The 32/33 have the overflow vent on the edge of the bowl cover with the blue circle around the "V12". Mine have a red circle and no vent. Choke arm mechanisms are different too because 34-37 chokes are automatically controlled by thermostats mounted to the exhaust manifold above the carb. My cars have a separate primer, controlled by a knob on the dash where the manual choke is on earlier cars. Its been awhile since I showed a friend how to equalize his 32, but If I remember correctly, 32 has the same primer valve but it is linked to work in conjunction with the manual choke. Pull the knob full out and it closes the choke & primer. When engine starts you push the knob in to a run setting and that opens the primer. The primer on these carbs can be a headache if you don't know what to look for. The primer is just a valve that closes off a 1/8 inch hole thru the throttle body. The hole is normally open when engine is running. You close the vent to siphon raw gas from the bowl up to the cylinders during starting, then open it when it starts. Any dirt or paint (ask me how I know) that gets in that hole and restricts air, will cause a very very rich mixture in that bank. The siphon action bypasses the mixture needle so any adjustment will have no effect.

I'm not a fan of modifying or upgrading cars or engine components. Making an old car run & drive with original components is just part of the ownership challenge and driver experience I enjoy in the hobby. The Zenith carb swap on the V12 is sacrilegious to me, I have a certain affinity for Cadillac 12 & 16s and the later V12 in particular. I don't have any hands on experience with the Johnson carbs but some of the frustrations can be blamed on the vacuum tanks. Cadillac fixed all the 30/31 problems in 32 by adding the mechanical fuel pump, better distributor and the much improved Detroit Lube carbs. These improvements increased the HP rating of the 12 & 16 by 15 and 20 HP. A good running later 12 is a pretty good performer. Not as much mass as 1he 16 throwing around inside with more HP than the V8. The 12 pistons are larger diameter than the 16 so the 12 has more displacement and HP per cylinder than the 16. If Cadillac used the V12 bore in the 16 with the 32-37 improvements it would have matched the 500 cu in displacement and 200 HP of the Marmon V16. Its important to understand that these engines are 2 separate in-line engines with a single crank shaft. Each bank has it's own carb and manifold and coil. they do share the single distributor that has separate points and separate contacts at each end the rotor. You can actually disconnect one of the coils and the opposite bank will run fine dragging the dead bank at full compression. You can even drive the car on one bank but obviously with half the HP. I explain this because it doesn't take much effort to get the engine to run at somewhere between 50 - 100%. To get to 100% requires that whatever carbs you use, the carbs are both in good condition and equalized, and all the linkage is in sink. Any imbalance between the 2 sides will degrade performance and run sluggish and may cause damage. The strong bank pulls the weaker bank at a faster RPM than it is fueled which in effect, will cause the weak bank to run lean with typical lean burn issues; backfiring, popping back into the carb and potentially burned valves in the weaker bank. The DL carbs are good reliable units and not too complicated and are re-buildable. They are easy & simple to tune, if done right. They only have one mixture needle adjustment and an idle stop screw on each carb. But you can't adjust them without an "Equalizer", a tool that Cadillac made for these that connect a column of mercury to gage the vacuum in each manifold. I just use 2 identical vacuum gauges. The shop manual provides specific tune up procedure that should be followed.

sounds like a plan

I saw the lines inside the cap but I thought they looked like machine turning marks in the photo. I'll take the hubcaps since the hard work is done and I have an extra set of emblems on hand. It looks like we are almost neighbors. My spots are C4E38 & 39. but I'm not always there either. My Cell is 330-323-0586. My plans are to arrive before noon on Tues. but I need to load my trailer today yet and I'm running behind. If we can't get together Tues I'll catch you Thurs. but consider the hub caps sold. Are you the same person I bought the 05 body parts from on my way to Hershey a few years ago? Did you find any more 05 pieces? ---- Jeff

Those are 1903 Cadillac 1-cyl hubcaps. More specifically the 03-A's supplied with Westin-Mott axles. American Ball Bearing supplied a different cap with their axles. The cap in the photo posted by Playswith is the cap used from 05 thru 08 with the 06-08 emblem. $400 would be a good price for them if they had the internal threads machined in but it doesn't look like they are threaded and I don't know how you would thread them now because the shell is very thin. Tockett machined those from a larger diameter solid brass. They were threaded after they were hollowed out. Then he screwed them on a form to maintain the shape while the out side was then turned down to dimension. those have a very thin shell of about .050 to replicate the original stamped caps. I don't know how yours could be threaded now without stretching the shell out of dimension. An external fixture might work but that might press fit the shell to the fixture making it difficult to extract. But, then I'm only thinking out loud, I'm not much of a machinist. They are also missing the emblems unless you have them with the caps, but they are available. I will bring an original 03 cap with me to Hershey to show you. Maybe we can meet up? Do yo have a spot? Jeff

The Cadillac hub cap appears to be a 1911/12 aluminum front cap. If it is aluminum, I would like to purchase it. I sent you a PM with my contact info. My spaces are at C4E38 & 39 or we can arrange to meet somewhere out side the flea market. Jeff - soon to be heading to Hershey. YEAAaaa !!!

Hank - I sent you a PM with my contact info. I will buy all 6 of the 23" clinchers. I'm in spaces C4E38 & 39 so we are almost neighbors.

Ge also developed an electric lawn & garden tractor around the same time called "Elec-Trak". It did go into production in the 70's with reasonable sales success. They made several models from E8 to E25. The model number designated the HP rating. In 1995 I used a well worn out model E15 Elec-Trac as a donor to power a 4 seat kiddy car I made for my son. They were 36 volt using six - 6v golf cart batteries. I didn't have the room for 6 batteries so I used three - 12v batteries. About 1976, GE sold the manufacturing rites to Wheel Horse, a tractor & mower manufactor that was a division of American Motors. Wheel Horse only continued the line under their brand name for a couple years. American Motors also developed an Electric prototype in the late 60's called "Amitron." It was a small commuter car for 3 with 1 row seating. AM claimed it could go 150 miles with an advanced chemistry battery pack made of Ni-Cad and lithium-fluoride that only weighed 200 lbs. The car did not go beyond the prototype stage.

There are still some Diesel trucks, construction machinery and farm machinery built today with 24v starting. I have not had a problem restoring 6v systems to operate properly but you do need to use proper size cable and make sure all the connections are good. Copper battery cables and starter windings can be damaged by prolonged cranking cycles, whether its a 6 or 12 volt system. You do need to spend the bucks to buy the largest & heaviest 6v battery that will physically fit in the tray. You need to be sure that the battery has heavy enough lead plates to withstand the heat from the current drain but most importantly, don't over heat the system.

The invention of the simple spark jump ignition is what made the internal combustion engine practical. The early system consisted of 5 or 6 dry cell batteries to make up 6-8 volts with a coil to boost the voltage enough to jump a spark plug gap. Most if not all cars in the early 1900's had 2 sets of batteries. I'm not certain why 6v was chosen but that became the common industry standard of the earliest ign systems. The batteries were at first used for ignition only, lighting was by gas or kerosene wick flame. Electric lighting began about 1909 with 6v bulbs to operate off the 6v ignition batteries, although some cars were furnished with separate lighting batteries. The 1912 Cadillac electrical system actually had a 24 volt starter. The original 1912 design used four, 6v batteries and a set of relays that switched the batteries in series to make 24 volts for the starter. Once the engine started, the relays switched the batteries in parallel for 6v to operate the lights only. Another relay and 6 volt regulator, switch the 24v starter to 6v generator mode to keep the batteries charged. Dry cells were still used at start up and the driver would switch the ign. to magneto. Kettering was able to improve his starter design to operate off 6v in 1913. Most other companies added electric start in 1913 or 14 with similar 6v design. The same basic 1913, 6v design with separate dry cells and mag was used by Cadillac up through 1915, the first year V8. 1916 was the first year that Cadillac only used one 6v battery for starter, ignition & lights. I would say that the fact that 6v was the accepted standard for ignition and lights became the standard for starters at that time of development of the automobile.

I just found out that the Canton Classic Car Museum has been closed down due to Covid and is not ready to re-0pen yet. If you had problems reaching anyone at the museum and you still want information about Jim Lynch send me a private message and I can give you contact information for someone who knew Lynch.

I live in the Canton, Ohio area and I believe that Jim Lynch was in Canton, about 25 miles S. of Akron. I have been in the old car hobby since the 70's but didn't get interested in brass until about 2000. I knew who Lynch was but did not know him. I don't know when he passed but I think has family sold off his stuff in 90's maybe??? I suggest that you call The Canton Classic Car Museum at 330-455-3603. I'm sure someone there can give you more info.

The HI/LO/PASSING Beam switch on the steering hub was common on lots of mid priced and Classic cars of 34/35. Cadillac had the same knob below the hub as you show in the orig photo with a matching knob above the hub for hand throttle. I believe "Duro Lite" or something like that made them. The switch box was either mounted on the bottom of the steering box or mounted to the chassis with a mechanism of leavers and rods between them. The switches are not too complicated to repair. Typical corrosion problems or the detents are worn and the switch wont stay in position.

I went to the Luray meet. 6 hr drive to get there and 6 hrs back and didn't buy anything. But that's OK. I just needed to be there amongst the rust & dust & brass and it was well worth it. I intend to go again next year and maybe get a spot to sell some stuff.

You had me excited for a minute so I googled it. Auburn, CA. not Auburn, IN.

T-birds have a serious problem of rust out underneath the body and chassis, especially around the body mount areas. The way that car has been sitting on the ground with plant growth through it, you can bet the body has rusted off the frame and the frame is worthless too. It doesn't have the look of a burnt car to me. Tire not melted and missing bumper & continental kit. Looks to me as if it was stripped for painting and then left outside. Do you have missing parts? I would like to see the brush removed and better pictures of the front, engine bay & interior just for curiosity. It is possible that an Ebay or BAT type auction might bring more money but I don't think enough money to make it worth the hassle. Take the $1000 as is where is.

Gasoline is susceptible to static charge. and as a result, if the static charge builds high enough, it may cause the usual static spark when it discharges. The static can charge up from the filling process or containers sliding around on trunk lining/carpet or plastic pick up bed liners. It doesn't matter if the container is "approved" plastic or metal cans. You should ALWAYS: - use approved containers, mostly for the proper venting. - fill container on ground/concrete outside of vehicle, never on car flooring material or pickup bed liner. - the pump nozzle is grounded to ground off static charge, insert nozzle inside container and always hold the nozzle against filler neck, even with plastic container. - tie the cans in place so they don't slide around on flooring materials or truck bed to prevent static build up.

All three are 41's based on the GM B body the blue one is chevy but I think the green one is Pontiac with the fender strips. Maybe?

Whoa. Hold on to your panties. I must not have been clear. I was NOT referring to the meters themselves but the plan to install smart meter systems so the utility could ration electric to prevent blackouts. CA still has blackouts and brown outs. Just my observation. 5G has not been implemented yet. 4G implementation was completed in the US about the end of 2019. COVID would be more associated with the timing of 4G. Why ??? Do you know something ????

A true "Smart Meter" includes a smart panel as well. Because all of the high energy appliances: heater, AC, hot water, and other 220 appliances like stove, dryer and your EV charger are all on dedicated circuits, your utility can remotely interrogate these devices individually. They can turn them off or throttle thermostats in order to prevent blackouts when generation is limited, if the wind stops blowing or sun goes down. CA has been operating with smart meter systems for several years. Not working well for them. As smart metering will become standardized around the country and one way to force owners of older homes to install SM's is require them to upgrade the home to code and add things SM's & GFI's when you pull a permit to add a 220 circuit to your garage. That can turn a $500 job into $5,000 real quick.

Ohio already charges a surcharge to register electrics. Ohio charges $100 additional per year for a pure hybrid and anything that plugs into the wall pays $200. Thats just to replace Ohio's gas tax of $.385 per gal. Its been in effect here for at least 3 years. An ICE car that gets 25 MPG can drive almost 13,000 miles per year before it pays $200 Ohio gas tax. At 30 MPG it equals over 16,000 miles.

Maybe that's all you get for $400 is a wheel & tire. I don't see anything else attached to it.