FRED Z

I am restoring a 1953 Skylark with V8 engine and had the transmission rebuilt, but the rebuilder said he never heard of the new style rear torque seal. I am wondering if I should purchase the new type seal and install it on the rebuilt transmission prior to installing it on the engine? Also where is a good source on this part?

I doubt if this is possible, but will say that his wife is the Postmaster (Postmistress?) of Jeannette, PA (a small town near Pittsburgh), and he receives and ships many small and medium size items by the U.S. Postal System. If you have a small part that needs plated, you might try this route some day. Sometimes we hand-carry our parts as we are only about 70 miles away and other times we use UPS from work or the postal system. However, one time UPS broke a top grille part of my 1957 Buick in half and it took a long time to resolve. (Luckily I insured the part for $600). Thanks to Mr. Earl, a good friend of Mr. Earl, and other members of this forum, i was able to locate a very good replacement piece and had it shipped to Bill in a wooden carton for plating and all ended up well. After the replacement part was plated, we picked it up, as didn't want any more broken parts, although the wooden crate would have probably survived almost anything. I can also say that Bill is very dependable and reliable and having his wife in charge of the local post office is a plus. Check out the '57 Buick. Fred

I am one of a bunch of happy customers of Bills Chrome, and he continues to do the highest of quality work. Just recently I sent a set of hubcaps that had numerous dents. Since these were the type with an inner and outer metal surface, I didn't expect too much. However they came back looking like factory new! I also sent a vintage hood ornament with the same results. Bill knew I was in need of these parts and got them out for me sooner than promised. I have too many cars, so have dealt with many platers, but none can compare to Bill's Chrome. His price is always fair too. Contact Information: Bill's Chrome 819 Clay Ave. Jeannette, PA 15644 (Pittsburgh area) 15644 Phone 724-527-5119

FREE: I have a 1960 Lincoln front bumper free of charge if you pick up in Canfield, Ohio (midway between Cleveland and Pittsburgh 20 minutes off the Ohio Turnpike). We will load in your pickup, but are unable to ship due to excessive crating costs and high freight costs. Call three three zero / five three three /3384 Monday through Thursday afternoons from 12:30 to 5:30 PM and ask for Fred at Extension 99. Bumper has been in dry storage for 40 years and is complete and suitable for replating - nice and solid with a few small dents and includes bumper mounting brackets. (Platers remove such dents as part of their service when plating a bumper). Hope I can help someone out. Fred

Looking for a 1948 Cadillac Convertible Hood Ornament - the "V" in center of hood - 1949 might fit. I am not sure of the correct part number for both the hood and trunk on a 1948 Cadillac Convertible, so if anyone can supply this, it will help. I can use both the hood v ornament and/or the trunk v hood ornament, as long as they can be replated. NO LONGER NEEDED - FOUND AT McVey's, who had both in stock (new in box and plated for $126 each) Thanks, Fred

[quote Let me ask you. with the 3rd light inside the tail light assembly, is the turn signal still well seen when the brake lights are on? This was my original concern. BTW, great looking car you have! I had to play around with different bulbs a bit and finally got it so that it displays as intended. On my LaSalle, the original housing is quite small, so had to do some real work to make a double-socket housing. I probably spent 6-8 hours to make these and the first version did not fit when I was all finished. Attached are pictures of my very extensive wiring diagram that is mounted on the firewall above and to the left of the steering column. This runs my fog lights, new turn signal circuits, flashers, flasher buzzer and electric fuel pump. I have a 50 amp on-off switch to shut off everything for safety, as am always especially concerned about the auxiliary electric fuel pump. The large round red junction box is a dedicated ground supply. I have wired all of my lights with dedicated grounds, as often a bad ground can cause all kinds of headaches. To keep the judges happy, I made a black plastic housing that snaps into place and covers everything except the handle of the 50-amp switch that extends out just slightly to the right. When I park the car, I always turn off this switch for less excitement later. I have many, many hours in developing all of this and keep printed wiring diagrams for the next guy some day. (I put one of these diagrams in a plastic pouch behind the trunk lining as an extra bonus to someone years from now). I also have all of this stored on my computer at home. I like precision and I like to document things so that I can help others. So that you and others do not worry about adding turn signals and flashers, want to say that my LaSalle won a Senior at the 2008 Grand Nationals in NJ. However, as others have mentioned, the work must be professionally done. Most of the time, I use modern wiring, but am very careful that it is concealed in loom if it is an area that can be seen. Fred

Here is another view of the front turn signals and a picture of my steering wheel and dash. You can see the 1940 Cadillac turn signal control in that picture. Fred

When I restored my 1939 LaSalle convertible 2 years ago, I rigged up front turn signals from a 1947 Cadillac backup light, which is stainless and seems to be period correct. I did not install amber bulbs, but when activated they look a pale yellow or light amber anyhow. I made stainless steel brackets to hold these lights in place. For the rear, I added an extra socket inside the existing tail light housings and everything works just fine. When I first purchased the car, it had nicely chromed motorcycle turn signals, which functioned well and did the job, but seemed out of place on such a fine car. I added a turn-signal control on the steering column from a 1940 Cadillac, as this feature was not available in 1939. This also looks period correct and works well. That control is the non-cancel type, but has a flashing red light to remind me to turn it off and I wired in a very small buzzer from Radio Shack into the circuit under the dash as a further reminder. This buzzer was 12-volts, but still works on 6-volts, at a lower volume, which is what I want. Fred

Jim made a new (correct and perfect) convertible top for my 1939 La Salle Convertible coupe. Not only was he one of the best, he took a genuine interest in the car and did the necessary research so that the finished product was exactly the same as the day the car rolled off the assembly line. Here is a picture of Jim in front of his shop that was taken in June of 2008 after he completed my car. May he rest in peace. We will miss you Jim. Fred Zwicker

Ryan's story (Caveat Emptor - Saleen Mustang S) referred to in the previous post is very interesting and he is indeed fortunate that he handled the matter so quickly and so well that he was able to get some help. Regarding my issue with someone selling my 1955 Pontiac Savari, in two emails to eBay, I asked about the "eBay Protection Plan" - there is no such plan and I wish that eBay would publish this information for everyone's advantage. eBay sent only 2 identical generic letters to me. They sent no specific answers, talking about "taking appropriate action based on their findings", going on to say that this could involve a "warning, temporary or indefinite suspension, or account termination". They also said "for the protection of all members, eBay can't provide details on any individual investigation or account", hoping that I would understand. eBay also said to forward questionable emails from eBay to spoof@ebay.com and not to reply or click on any of the links. In other words, we are on our own when dealing on the Internet. There are many legitimate offers on eBay and I have purchased 2 cars as a result of eBay posts and 2 cars through this AACA Forum, but in each case, went to the seller's location, viewed the cars and title and compared the vin number to the number on the title. Asking for a pencil tracing was mentioned earlier in this thread and is a GOOD IDEA. With my '55 Pontiac described in this thread, I opted not to ask for this, as already knew that the seller has lifted pictures of my car from the eBay seller back about a year ago and did not want to waste any more time with the seller. Remember that if you have a gut feeling that things don't seem right, they probably are not right and if the deal is too good to be true . . . you know the story. In buying some of my other cars, I first call the seller and ask about the car, asking for more pictures and a fax copy of the title. Asking for a picture or tracing of the vin number is good too. I usually ask seller how long he or she has owned the car and where purchased previously. I later check Google to see if his/her address is listed and see if any other information. Dealing with an AACA or other car club member that has been in the club for some years is helpful. In other words, the goal is to buy the car, but not to get scammed. There is very little protection on eBay purchases, so "buyer beware" (also seller beware in some circumstances). If the seller is legitimate, he or she won't mind furnishing whatever a buyer asks for. I once was interested in a very valuable car and drove a couple of hours to see it. First the seller couldn't find his glasses, so could not find the title to show it to me. Two days later he found his glasses, but said he couldn't find the title, but it was somewhere. We tentatively agreed on the price, but the seller wanted cash (greenbacks). I explained that I am retired and do not deal in cash. Finally I realized that there were too many red flags, so did not buy the car. It just isn't worth all of the hassle and the worst thing would be to do a one or two year restoration and then no title. About that time the real owner might show up and get a fully restored car. This could possibly happen. Fred

I feel that anything advertised in a catalog, Internet or eBay should have clear dimensions - Length, width and thickness and in some cases the weight. I have had to ask this of sellers more times than I can count. Once the seller gives exact dimensions, he or she should be totally responsible for the measurements. (Measurements taken by the guy's wife count too). One thing I found out the hard way is that when you contact the seller, be sure to do it through the eBay process, as they reference this if any disputes. Fred

I didn't post the 24 pictures that the seller in Croatia sent to me this AM with his email, which confirms even more that he is representing (directly or indirectly) that the car he is selling is my car. (Read his words to me in my earlier post - if this doesn't look like an attempted fraud, what is?). I can assure you that every one of his 24 pictures is of my car - even the exact same wrinkles in the upholstery and the odometer reading. I don't have to prove anything, but if he is selling a car on eBay and sending 24 pictures to a prospective buyer as being the car that he is selling (when the pictures are definitely not of a car owned by seller), something is wrong. The reason why I posted all of this info was to alert others of what can happen on eBay and other venues. While I would like very much to ask for a pencil tracing of the serial number, am no longer willing to waste any more time with this guy. Fred

Thanks Roger. I will need a pencil tracing of the metal plaque that is attached to the bridge and then we can go from there. What is your best price and will you accept a second-party post-dated personal check Number 101? Fred

I forgot to mention that the eBay seller forwarded 24 pictures of MY CAR to me with his email that I received this AM. I don't need a pencil tracing, and unless he is able to get inside my locked and alarmed garage in Ohio, he will be unable to provide it. The pictures that he sent show all of my very rare accessories (Pontiac compass, under the hood portable light, other features). He evidently pirated these photos from an eBay auction of about a year ago, prior to my purchase of the car last summer from the real owner. The only thing that he did was to black out the 1955 North Carolina plates in all exterior photos. I just sent his email and attached pictures to spoof@ebay.com for their information, but doubt if they will provide any information to me in return. I also asked eBay about their "protection plan" that seller mentioned. I do not intend to further correspond with the seller, as have already wasted too much time on this, in exposing this fraudulent attempt to sell my car on eBay. Fred

I mentioned that I had asked a few questions of the seller of this car and here is an email that I received this morning (car was listed as being in MN, but must have been air-lifted to Europe this week, as is now in Croatia). Here is the email: Hello, Thank you for your email, and sorry for my late reply. First of all the car belonged to my father, he was the first and only owner, and after he passed away 7 moths ago, he left the car to me. I do not now much about this car. I can let you know that it has a clean US title, it has no scratches or dents, it has 75700 miles and it runs perfectly, I've took it for a drive before I left US, and I didn't drove it since then. Anyway I have all the receipts and for all the work that has been made on it. The car is now in Zagreb, Croatia with me, and it is crated as I received it, when I've moved here 1 moth ago, because I found a better job. I've tried to register it here but the odometer is in miles, and to make it street legal, I'll have to pay around $4000 US money that I cannot afford because I want to buy a house, so I've decided to sell it. The total price that you'll have to pay for this car is $14000 US, price that includes shipping taxes and insurance. All of my transactions until now were made under eBay's protection, and for that I wish that we make this deal also with eBay's protection. If you agree with moving forward with the deal through eBay please email me your full name and shipping address. As soon as I receive these information from you I will forward them to eBay along with the rest of the details in order for them to open a case regarding our deal and they will contact you in the shortest time with all the details of the transaction.I am waiting for your email as soon as possible. Thanks Jeffrey Fisher Does anyone on this forum care to comment? I would certainly be interested in this car at this great price, but since it is already my car, will have to pass on his very generous offer! Could you imagine trying to sell a car on eBay to the owner of the same car? I will be forwarding a copy of his email to eBay shortly. Fred