1912Staver

I am looking for information or parts or possibly even another complete unit { budget is somewhat limited } I think this is a Gemmer , but I have no idea of what car it would have been originally fitted to. The pitman arm shaft on this one has been kludged up many years ago. I would be very interested in a better shaft, or possibly another , similar steering box, condition unimportant as long as the pitman shaft is 1/2 decent. Anyone recognize this box , and can guide me to what vehicles it would have been fitted to ? Thanks, Greg

Anyone recognize this steering box ? I believe it a larger Gemmer box, circa 1910 - 1913, but I have no idea of what automobile it would have been used on. It will come from a larger, medium quality or better car that uses a engine mounting sub frame. { inner support bracket would indicate this } Any information appreciated. See also my parts wanted ad regarding this unit.

That happened to a 1953 Chevy convert I reluctantly sold to a guy near me who badgered me to sell it to him. Two years later he was trying to sell what was left of it back to me. About 1/2 of what I sold him, but he still wanted all of what he had paid for it. I told him I would give him less than what he paid as now I had to buy another car to fill in all the missing pieces. Couldn't understand why I wouldn't just buy an aftermarket chassis like he planned to do. He went away mad and I don't know what eventually happened to the car. Actually just a body shell by that point.

You can't fix stupid. Anyone who looks forward to going to the back yard and burning a pile of what are equivalent to $10.00 - $100.00 bills ,or perhaps even more depending on the actual piece of literature clearly falls in this category. Ever wonder how all those $1000.00 - $10,000.00 art works you see on Antiques Roadshow ended up in Thrift Stores before they were featured on the show ? Somewhere along the line a fool ended up in possession of them. The modern , throw away, consumer mentality is a cancer in Western society. It's destroying our planet, and it is destroying our cultural heritage.

Your points are well taken Matt. And yes I am guilty as charged. My wife is 100 % opposed to leaving the West Coast. A Vancouver area resident all her life. Large family and social network. And we are both caregivers for elderly parents , for the near future at least. I agree that waiting for things to get better is a very poor approach, but short of divorce I don't really see a way to move in another direction. Sometimes there is more to the situation than just changing where you live. I spent my early years in Winterpeg. The memory never fades.

Well Matt, there is a social trait , probably best known to American citizens, but to a lesser degree shared by Canadians of patriotism . I am a Western Canadian. I actually wouldn't mind giving Ohio a try. That's where my great grandfather hailed from { and at least a few previous generations of ancestors }. But as a retiree I would have to cover all my wife's and my own health coverage. I already spent 40 years paying into the Canadian system, to repeat the expense all over would make very little financial sense. I was very close to buying a property a few years ago in Washington State. But the deal killer is that by U. S. law I can only spend 4 months in the U.S. as a visitor on a year after year basis. For a single year in isolation the rule is 6 months less a day. So all things considered I am not really sure just where that I can realistically move to that would work out in my favor. Where might you suggest ? Funny enough, 10 minutes South of my driveway there is what might as well be a wall , and certainly with armed guards. The Canada - U.S. border. And an hour in any other direction lands me either in the Pacific Ocean or very rugged mountains. Probably better than a wall. This is a situation I have given more than a little thought to over the last two decades. But so far moving adds up to trading one set of problems for a different set of problems. And a heck of a lot of expense and effort as well.

Staggeringly short sighted ! Come on up to Western Canada and see what a old car desert is like. Anything that is intact and drivable is $30,000 and well up. Cars I wouldn't personally pay sub 10 G's for. Anything interesting , it starts at about $50,000 and rapidly heads for $100,000. Hope you gent's don't mind me saying, but you are spoiled for riches in the U.S.

I agree about the wire wheels. Although they do have their own set of problems over bolt on wheels. At 6 foot 3 you may fit, but I somehow doubt it will be a comfortable or relaxed fit. It's a pity , even at 6 foot 2 , "only" size 10 feet and shortish legs there are several British cars I really like , but have a hard time driving for anything over a half hour or so.

Wow Peter, where do you find collections like that ! Even at my area's largest swap meet there isn't " tons " of old car parts unless you count Model T axle housings and 1970's and up parts. You couldn't fill a decent sized pick up truck with prewar parts most years. And that's our BIG meet.

An MGA is far more friendly as far as interior space goes. All around a better car. TD's have a sort of charm as far as looks are concerned, but so do MGA's , just in a different way. TD's have a primitave , and from a parts supply situation , problematic engine , trans, rear end. Front end is nearly the same as a MGA, Just 5 lug hubs and wheels rather than 4 on an A. I have owned a TF and several A's . { and worked on quite a few T series cars back in the day } Night and day in several important ways. I am 6 ft 2 and have lots of room in an A, quite snug in a T series.

Much as the I.C. engine, I belive cash transactions will be around for some time to come. The youngins all want everthing to happen with a wave of their phone { phone, what phone ? }. Works OK I guess. As long as you are paying some sales clerk at a retail store. And as long as the boffin standing beside you does not steal your digital info and charge several thousand dollars worth of designer togs to your account. I expect after a round or two of the school of hard knocks, many of the wet behind the ears crowd will see the truth to the phrase " In God we trust, all others pay CASH ! ". The powers that be want all of us switched over to E commerce . So much easier to keep track of and most importantly tax. Electronic transaction fraud is huge and growing by leaps and bounds. Be carefull what you wish for. E trans at a swap meet, private sellers stall ? Not in my lifetime I hope .

Wrong Chuck.

The corporate WE will adjust the same way as it always has, whatever makes them the most money this quarter.

Perhaps not in the U.S.A. But several countries including Canada have put into law " No more I.C. vehicle sales " after a certain year. Currently 2035 in Canada . Other countries with similar legislation have different targets. I know, there are only 35 Million of us Beavers up here in the Northland. Similar " save the planet " laws could be headed your way , sooner than later in some cases.

My only EV beef is the taxpayer subsidy. A big sales motivator in both Canada and the U.S as far as I know. Canada for sure. Cheapest Canadian market EV is all but triple the price of the cheapest I.C. vehicle. Reasonably priced ? Give me a break. People rich enough to buy a new EV are rich enough to pay their own way in my opinion.

In my case at least any antique cars I am interested in have risen in price beyond my reach. Very interested in my brass era project, but next to 0 parts available in my area and travel to any of the meets likely to yield results , Hershey, Turlock etc. is also expensive beyond my reach. J.V. with his Mitchel and AHa with his early Buick are the only people on here that appear to be engaged in similar projects. That is an early car reconstruction with both hands tied behind our backs. { read on a very limited budget } I also like British cars, small bore vintage racing cars but very little interest in these specialized cars on this forum. Just seems to leave poking holes in the myths surrounding electrics.

The best from who's point of view ? The buyer / user or the person making them and selling you one ?

I am far from a denier. But when one looks at the scale of fossil fuel use , and the standard of living that use allows, I just can't see things changing nearly enough. { assuming it is human activity that is the major cause , this question is still not completely answered in my mind } When you are talking about re inventing the way mankind does everything into a low carbon model, on a world wide basis I can only marvel at what sort of effort and expense that would require. I honestly think we are more or less stuck with Climate Change. Better to start working towards plans to deal with the harm than to try to do a colossally ,massive and ultimately doomed to failure, total change in human activity. Concrete, air travel, power in areas without hydro electric , these sort of problems are not going to be solved within our lifetime, but climate change effects are starting even now. Climate change is 100 % real in my opinion, the only question in my mind is the percentage of the problem caused by the various causes, both man made and natural. But really that question is irrelevant compared to preparing for what's going to come as a result of Climate Change. No Bronto roars here : on this issue at least, just a reasonably good knowledge of human nature. For dog sakes, we can't even stop cutting down trees in critical locations to protect Rain Forests. Now we are going to save the entire planet ?

It could be a 1945. Towards the end of the year trucks were made available on the civilian market for commercial truckers, farmers etc. I have a 1945 GMC. The serial number should reveal the year. Do you have a parts book ? They often have an I.D. page .

John, I was talking about passenger vehicles. Moving me, perhaps one other and once in a blue moon a third person. And yes , a hatch back is very useful for stuff. Commercial use vehicles are a whole different ball game. I used to work at a large GMC truck dealer some years ago. Wheelbase, engine , GVW, duals , single axle , tandem, tractor, conventional truck , cab over all to suit the customers needs. Cars can and in my opinion should be kept as simple as possible. I just don't see any need at all to " build " a daily driver / commuter. K.I.S.S., then you have some money left over for the important things in your life. Any dealer who is telling you something different about daily drivers is looking after his needs , not yours. Color is the easiest of all, whatever is cheapest and in stock when you need it . Henry knew that over 100 years ago.

Pretty sure Hyundai is doing OK. They may not make a lot on each Accent, but they sure built a heap of them during the model run.

Couldn't agree more Dave. If you looked at on line photo's of my little Accent you would only see a bare bones econobox. Drive it for a while and the true virtues become clear. Very good handling after the O.E.M. , bottom of the barrel tires are replaced. Very easy to park. No need for a robot or 27 outside view camera's. Parts are very cheap should you ever need to buy any. Best of all when driving it is the easy equal of any of the " hot hatches " of years gone by as discussed in another thread. It's also the easy equal of any of the many sports cars I have owned over the last 5 decades. 1600 cc, dohc, 16 Valve, VVT, efi, 5 speed. A small car, performance shopping list completely included along with the base model. And it was if not the very cheapest car on the market when I bought it , it was certainly in the cheapest 3 or 4. And I drive all my cars right on up to the top end of their envelope , conditions allowing. No little old lady driving , just not reckless, The only thing I don't like about it is the front wheel drive. Lots of feedback through the steering wheel under hard acceleration. Remember, my other car is a Lola.

Having it built ? You mean like base engine , base trans, base trim, no air, no gizmo's ? What's to " build " ? K.I.S.S. The only thing missing on the base model is the big hunk of profit the Manufacturer makes off of selling all those bells and whistles to the rubes.

That also would have been my situation with a lease. 250,000 K's of commuting in less than 8 years. I got to know the words to all the songs on my CD's by heart.

The last new { actually 10 months old } car I bought was in 2010. $58.00 bi weekly. A brand new one would have been about $10.00 more , bi weekly. My intention was to buy a brand new one. The Dealer could not supply a brand new manual trans car within a reasonable length of time so I grabbed a very low mile trade in that met my needs. It has just under 300,000 K's now. I am on the verge of needing to buy another one. They have seemingly vanished from product line up's across the board. I am sure I am not the only person with cash in hand and willingness to buy , only to discover cars of this type are no longer being made. That cell phone you so glibly mention would cost more per month in Canada than my very nearly brand new car did. { seriously } Down in the land of the free, costs for many items are far cheaper than many other places on the planet. Cell phones are just the tip of the iceberg. Being frugal is a survival skill, how do you think I got to the position of having enough cash set aside to buy a brand new, basic, manual trans car? If only someone could sell me one. Guess it's back to scanning CL. That lease price you mention would have bought outright 3 of my last purchases. ( that includes the fact my costs are in $ Canadian vs the lease you mention in U.S. $ } Perhaps not so great a deal ? My existing car has given 11 years of great service, a very low cost per mile traveled and is still worth about 25 - 30 % of what I paid for it. Just too many K's for me. I used to have a long commute. I also have { hopefully } about 20 years of driving left. That would most likely equate to 2 more new car purchases. The industry is so fat they can walk away from me ? And my wife who would account for 2 more .