1912Staver

Does anyone know what is going to happen to Walter Miller's collection ? It has to be an enormous amount of material. Greg in Canada

If I had to guess I would say this is close. Greg in Canada

That's a much smaller car than a H45. If it a Buick it will be one of the 4 cyl. cars. Greg in Canada

Have you removed one yet ? You will probably find the diameter where it goes through the wheel is larger and possibly serrated similar to a regular more modern stud. A standard carriage bolt probably won't work and they are usually quite low grade. You need to look at truck wheel studs and adapt as necessary. The Firestones on my Packard 2 ton look like carriage bolts until removed , then the difference becomes clear. Any idea of the make of the wheels, Firestone , or similar? I have a wheel catalog from the early 1930's that shows some of the truck parts. Greg in Canada

I don't know what it is other than a reasonably small car. The headlight mounting appears to have been modified. It's hard to be sure from the photo but it looks like there are mounting holes lower on the RH. splash guard section of the front fender { wing }. This would be the expected mounting location for any American car I can think of. Circa 1918, Maxwell, Dort or similar small car. Greg in Canada

I am not sure I would agree that the vintage car market has been down for several years. The last two or three yes , but only in specific category's. Many of the cars I like went up steadily up until recently and have for a couple of years been holding at what is still a reasonably high price. And like the stock market the general trend compared to say a decade ago is substantially higher prices. But definitely the graying of the hobby is effecting prices , especially in the lower 3/4 's of the price spectrum. History has shown that regardless of short term events, recessions, world wars, depressions and such over the long term the stock market eventually trends upward again. Vintage cars are definitely more difficult to predict. I doubt the truly great cars will ever be in danger of plummeting in value. But the others may well see a steady decline over time. Greg in Canada

Once again it's just my practical point of view speaking that anyone with this sort of financial clout would be better off care taking a few Brass Era cars rather than a display case full of uber rare and expensive emblems. But again I do recognise that individuals exist in this hobby that have pockets deeper than I can imagine. I doubt this price is a result of two emblemless Matheson car owners duking it out. I just hope there isn't a Matheson basket case out there that could have put this emblem to good use . Greg in Canada

That bottom emblem looks a lot like the emblems on the factory canopy's on early / mid 70's Ford Pickup's. Explorer , Explorer XLT etc. Greg in Canada

I have used Border Buddy on a couple imports from Washington State to Canada. They have a Washington State office and a British Columbia office. They seem to be a reasonably good outfit. The first transaction had a bit of a hiccup but it was a slightly unusual import ; a race car, and the person was a bit new to that sort of import. The second one went very smoothly. The broker fees are quite reasonable. And coming in to B.C. it is mandatory to use a broker { U.S. Customs export process requirement} . For an import situation to the U.S. I have no experience. Lots of Canadian cars heading South these days. { not a good thing from a Canadian car guy point of view } So I doubt it is too hard. Greg in Canada

The immediate effort should be ensuring the ability to comfortably survive a 2 to 3 week "self isolation" should it become necessary. The medication situation has the potential for real trouble. I don't think anyone has a solution to that in the short term. I personally think the actual death rate is unlikely to exceed the current 1% - 3% estimate and may indeed get closer to Influenza's .1 % death rate. However it is still a definite possibility that it will be a number of times more fatal than influenza. Unless the virus mutates to a far more fatal form 95% or more of the worlds population will survive. The medium term disruption of normal supply chain activity is a real wild card. Stuff ; including much of the food we eat , is often transported long distances. A very good chance serious problems will arise regarding long distance transport. Greg

Joe, I am definitely not suggesting people react irrationally to this situation. A clear , well thought out appraisal of each one of our situations will suggest the prudent action to take. The underlying gist of the situation is that the virus has a 1% - 3% fatality rate, that it can have a comparatively long period of asymptomatic infection. { making it a very likely condition to have high transmission rates } And that it is quite likely that no one has a natural resistance or immunity to the virus. Your analogy about driving does not hold water. If driving was 1% - 3% fatal I doubt any of us would drive. Greg in Canada

My wife is a Health Care System Professional ; 30 years as a Nurse then last 5 years as a program Coordinator { Head Nurse in the old days } who unfortunately has an underlying moderate immune system deficiency. She is taking the situation very seriously as is her employer. A good friend has a strong microbiology / biochem background, although he works as a Marine Biologist . He is advising to take the situation very seriously. There is more to this than butt covering by legal advisors. Greg in Canada

In my experience it is only the quite old ; say about 1965 and back, Craftsman tools that have any collector value. And even that seems to be a very limited market. Most Craftsman stuff I have seen sells for peanuts these days. They represent very good value for money these days. Very good quality tools at a low price. Some of the older box ends etc are at least as good as Blue Point at about 25 cents on the dollar. Most Craftsman body tools were quite good. The regular ratchets just OK. All great value for the buyer , but a slim pay day for the seller. I will have to have a look at that tool forum. I have a number of quite old Craftsman tools that came from my wife's Grandfather. Probably 1950's and back. Greg

It is a very unusual image to represent a Company. It's stag with an arrow piercing its neck. I have never understood the significance, none of the written material I have from the company explain it either. It goes back at least 10 years before Staver added automobiles to its extensive horse drawn line . Staver built buggy's and carriages for many years, much like Studebaker. The Company used the image on most of the advertising I have seen. Greg

I found the Staver cuff link's I mentioned above. Anyone seen another pair ? lump , that is an amazing range of Grant items !! Greg in Canada

In my experience Craftsman tools are definitely becoming a hard sell. And a big set as a lump sum sale an even harder sell. Craftsman tools appeal much more to the do it your self group. And few are going to buy a substantial collection in one shot. At least 50 % of a professional range tool set are going to be tools a home mechanic will never use. Big sets need to be either very good quality ; Snap on and equivalent , or pennies on the dollar to sell. Every swap meet I go to these days has tables full of Craftsman tools, often $1.00 - $2.00 an item. There seems to be no end to the supply. I would definitely break up the tools into logical groups. Standard everyday tools - logical groups , all the 1/2 inch drive stuff in one lot, all the screwdrivers in one lot, all the combo wrenches in one lot, up to 1 in, all the big wrenches in one lot, and so on. Specality tools as individual items. Boxes as a top bottom pair, each pair a separate item It will take a fair bit of time even at what seems to be quite low prices. There are lots of tools on the market these days. I have a rule of thumb when buying Snap On , anything more than 10 tools in one lot must be $5.00 - $8.00 a tool, general use hand tools. Pullers and specialty tools all require separate consideration, no one size fits all formulas. When I was employed as a mechanic I got hooked on Snap On. My set was limited by my apprentice wages. These days I am buying the less commonly used stuff to round out my collection and any duplicates that I see going for say 1/2 of the going piece rate. Those I sell at swap meets to help offset the cost of my growing puller collection. Greg in Canada

You are right, I jumped to a conclusion that the tires would be at least 7 or 8 years old and too risky to use on the road. Greg in Canada

Interesting you mention Trucks. One badge I noticed was for a Day Elder truck. A reasonably uncommon make these days. I have seen a few over the years but I used to go to the odd ATHS show. Any that I have seen have the name cast into the radiator top tank, a very common practice on many early trucks. But at least one model must have used a badge. Possibly near the end of Day Elder production. It went for over $700.00. Considering most early trucks sell for relatively modest sums it is a bit of a peculiarity a rad badge from one can be worth so much. It's been pointed out a number of times in the forum that rare often does not equal valuable , but clearly radiator badges are exempt from that observation. Greg in Canada

Exact I.D. of center lock wheels can be at times difficult. There are more variables than you might expect. Rim diameter, rim width, spoke number, sometimes spoke pattern , hub type. And in some cases hub size. Also some have studs for wheel weights but most do not. Some are relatively easy, but others can require a expert eye. Greg in Canada

It seems to me there was an article about this process in the HCCA magazine several years ago. Possibly what Caddyshack is referring to. Thousands of discs { fins } for a radiator of much size. And at least a 2 step process, punch the blank disks, put the blanks into a two part die that stamps the corrugation's and the innermost turned up flange where the disks solder to the tube. You must have some long cold evenings on the farm that need make work projects. One of my Packard truck rads use similar tubes and fins. Except the tubes are straight and solder into a top and bottom "tube sheet " Then bolted on top and bottom cast iron tanks. Very similar construction to some older bull dozer radiators. Some of my tubes have fan blade mash. But there are 4 rows of tubes so I can unsolder the tubes and move the undamaged inner tubes to the outside. Still lots of work but nothing like what you are facing. Greg in Canada

I watched a couple of episodes when it first started. Yes the car footage is decent. But the show itself is pretty weak in my opinion so I haven't continued watching. My very limited cable service includes an oldies channel. So far I have watched a dozen or so episodes of Perry Mason. Reasonably well done for its era. Lots of nice cars. Greg in Canada

The tires will have almost no monetary value. Someone might want them for a display item as they are a well recognised name brand. But I doubt anyone would pay for them + shipping. But then I don't collect display items so my opinion is skewed. Greg in Canada

Points all well taken. I definitely have my preferences , likes , dislikes. To a large part they are influenced by my budget. It doesn't mean I positively don't like 100 point restored cars, I just tend to like "user " grade cars more. No point having a very strong attraction to something that is well beyond ones means. And in similar fashion I really can't see the point of a garage with a line up of 15 or 20, sequential year, low mile Corvettes . But that sort of thing seems to appeal to more than a few " car guys ". And you are quite correct, none of us are wrong, even the Zimmer , Tiffany and Yugo guys. Greg

Is there something wrong with 2.0 liter cars ? They strike me as being an ideal size. Greg in Canada

I am not really thinking of hoarding or even speculatively buying at all. Just curious about the ratio of automobilia collectors to car collectors. I am probably too practical a person. I could barely believe I was actually typing in a $500.00 bid for a so - so condition emblem that I in fact need for a car. But at least 2 people bid higher than that according to the bid history. People that in all likelihood did not own a Staver - Chicago automobile. My hobby has always been a shoestring affair , and certainly virtually no spending on automobilia. I have a few moto - meters , 20's hub caps , and yes 2 or 3 radiator emblems but they all are $5.00 or $10.00 items . To me it seems as crazy to spend $1000.00 or more on a radiator emblem from a car that will never be owned as to spend several thousand $ on a particularly desirable vintage gas pump. Or for that matter any gas pump beyond say a couple hundred dollars if you don't own a gas station. But sometimes I lose sight of the fact that many people in the general public would see any old car ownership and expense as just as crazy. Greg