1912Staver

It was for sale several months ago, in long term storage condition. And significantly cheaper. It has been cleaned up and returned to driving condition , but I think the seller is trying to get paid regular shop rates for his time spent bring it back to driving condition.

It seems strange that the new cylinder is a different thread. Did Moss advise you this is the case ? Some of the very late versions of the sports cars did change to updated threads. For example a late Triumph Spitfire MC is often used on Lotus Europa's from the later 1960's and early 1970's. It is a lower cost interchange with the O.E.M. master. Except the fittings are different so either the fitting must be changed or an adapter fitted. But I would be surprised you would run into this unless you tried to use the dual circuit master from a very late Midget.

Wife got me a gift card from our local tool seller. She finds it impossible to get me something that I actually need so gift cards work for both of us.

Unfortunately the fabric of society has changed considerably since the 1950's and before. Quite a few Fraser Valley resident's are not completely happy about Skytrain's expansion. The transportation service is a mixed blessing. Skytrain has brought quite a bit of city crime along with the use by regular law abiding people. Downtown and rural Langley has a serious enough drug and homelesness problem as it is. I don't know if you have used Skytrain lately , but depending on the time of day and station you are using the experence can be anything but pleasent.

British tube fittings are unique to British cars. But the tube itself is standard imperial tube. I almost always make my own lines, re use the fittings . I have lots of spares off parts cars if the fitting is damaged. But note the flares are different from regular U.S. practice flares. They are usually called " bubble flares ". and they can be a bit tricky to form. Also note the fittings themselves can become distorted if they are tightened too hard. The part of the fitting closest to the flare can itself become flared out and becomes very hard to start back into a new component. If the distortion is minor you can file them back to the correct shape. If they are badly opened up it is best to replace them. New ones , both the fittings themselves and pre made lines ,were at one time readily available . But these days you probably have to order from Moss. Keep a new fitting on hand as a guide for reference as to the re usability of your old fittings and a guide to how it should look after you repair old distorted fittings.

My Grandmothers first car was a Whippet. The common 2 door coach. It was still around in hulk form when I was a kid back in the early 1970's on my great uncle's farm. But the farm was sold in about 1980 and I am told the new owner scrapped all the metal on the property. About the only thing that survived was my Great grandfather's 1928 JD model D. It was sold to a tractor collector a couple of years before my great uncle died. Southern Manitoba near the U.S. border. I was living in British Columbia by then and way too far a distance to retrive family relics. No truck and trailer in those days either.

Jags in my experence suffer from being overly complex,,, V12 !!! And parts are quite pricy. I have a love / hate relationship with them. Nice enough to drive , for a very heavy car. I worked on plenty of them back in my British car shop days. Late 1970's - early 1980's. And saw some hefty repair bills . Enough that I decided one would probably never be in my ownership. My wife really likes them , XJS convert in particular . But I have always talked her out of buying one. Something like a Lister Jag replica is right up my alley. But not sure I can justify that sort of cost. Real ones are totally out of the question, but the replica's are almost affordable. There were quite a number of sports / race cars built using Jag engines etc as a starting point. Lister is the best known one but really a replica of any would be nice. Not too bad a starting point sold for a low price on Bring a Trailer a couple of months ago. D type replica in fiberglass with lots of early E type parts to round out the package. Sold for pennies on dollar.

I bought my first Bug Eye right around that time { But two MGA's before that }. And around the same price. Mine was a local Vancouver B.C. car. Ran well but some rust. A friend ended up with it and we spent most of a Summer on metal repairs and paint. It was a very nice car from that point onward. Eventually he sold it and bought a Lotus Elan. He still owns that one but he now lives in Australia. Once he had been there a couple of years and was sure he was going to stay his brother shipped the Lotus down to him. I expect the Bug Eye is still around Vancouver somewhere but I have not seen it for a long time.

There used to be one of these in my area. I believe it came from a Fire Truck . It was at a local Vintage engine and Tractor club site. But I have not seen it for a number of years now. I expect it is still around but no longer on public view. They also have a good sized, tripple expansion marine engine. It was salvaged from a small ship and put on display. I think it is currently closed to visitors due to covid. But a good way to spend a day during normal times. Normally open most weekends , but once a year they have a organised show weekend. Lots of engine displays, tractor pulls etc. Atchlitz Threshermans Museum, Chilliwack B.C. About an hour east of Vancouver City in the Fraser Valley

Thats very interesting Ken. You never hear of anything surviving for any of these cars around here. I did not even know there was an effort to sell them here. Federal trucks on the other hand were reasonably successful locally as far as I know.

I suppose beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, but I can't think of a better way of ruining a 1967 / 68 mustang fastback than creating yet another "Eleanor " clone. Made up movie cars don't do much for me at the best of times , but IMHO Eleanor ranks up there with the Corvette Summer car.

I would expect your trans to be from a truck rather than a car. Think Nash Quad or WW1 era F.W.D.

Oakland ? The small 6.

I have only owned one T series, a early MGB swapped TF . Done way back , probably mid 1960's. But I drove a number of them back in my shop mechanic days. I always thought TD's, TF's and MGA's all drove roughly the same around town. But out on the open road I prefer the MGA. They all need disc brakes { easy change if you end up with a 1500 } And I always swap in a early MGB 1800. It's a direct bolt in to any MGA. They are getting harder to find but still turn up from time to time. I have 3 of them so that should be enough for me. The MGA has a usefully larger cockpit than a T series car if you are on the tall side like I am. My wife has to use pillows underneath and behind her to get a reasonable seating position. I really like the steering wheel on the red ebay car. I wonder if it is the rare, optional competition wheel ? It is not I wheel I recall seeing in the past.

Running but rough. Even at $ 8800 I think the buyer is going to be somewhat disappointed when they see it in real life. The one I bought in September was bought for slightly less than this several years ago on ebay. Buyer then spent a bunch of money on fixing things, some new repro cosmetic items and took it partially apart once he decided the engine was too tired to live with. His life changed enough the car sat like this for the last 3 years and then he had to move. I ended up with it for about 35 Cents on the dollar. It needs paint , the engine overhaul completed and re assembly, but I would say a better car overall { very rust free } . By the time It is done I will probably have 10 G 's in it , but it will be a nice one.

Buick parts are reasonably common. I think the top hardware would be found with a bit of hunting. Much of it is wood and usually needs replacement anyway. At least the mounting posts are still there. Otherwise it looks like a decent deal. I am with you on the fixed top. Buick sold a lot of these cars and I see parts for them reasonably frequently at swap meeets. I have a 1918 6 - 45 so always looking for Buick bits and pieces at the meets. I have a partial spare top but it is for a Canadian McLaughlin. It fits in the same spot but is different than a U.S. Buick top. It's also for a 1918 - 21 and slightly different shape at the rear than a 1922 - 23 top.

The 4 door HT. But in those days the prices were a fraction of today. My 429 CJ Cobra sold for $4000.00. A bit rusty but not too bad. Shaker,4 Speed ,rear window slats . The slats themselves were missing when I bought it but the hinges and bottom hold downs were still there . All the proper odds and ends to put the CJ and 4 speed back in were included. 4 Speed was getting pretty noisy the, 429 and 20 years of use / abuse was starting to catch up with it. With the 351 C it was a better daily driver.

I know where one of the Torino 4 doors went. I used a clean reasonably, low mile one as a parts car for my 70 Torino Cobra 30 years ago. I bought it off the daughter of the origonal owner. It was either $500.00 or $750.00. It was a very nice car and I felt bad about destroying it but where else could you get a good running 351 C and C6 for that sort of money ? They went in my Cobra and the tired 429 CJ came out. Not even much demand for any of the 4 door parts. Most ended up going for scrap when I eventually sold the Cobra and the buyer only took a few things off the 4 door and left the rest of the car with me.

Best way to the collection is a google search to the Detroit Public Library Digital Collection. Note it is a seperate home page from the Detroit Public Library book collection and branch directory. There are a large number of great vintage car photos in this collection. And thousands of non automotive historical photo's.

They were used for a wide variety of purposes. Often not engines at all, just general industrial machinery. Anywhere where you had a rotating shaft or sliding surface that needed lubrication. A few well known makers but no doubt lots of smaller outfits as well. Plus British and European. An I.D. might be quite difficult. Don't think I would scrap however. Unless space is truly at a premium they don't take up much room and you never know . They might be just what someone is searching for at some point in time. Smokstack might be a better forum for an ID.

I agree to a point. But sometimes I have become aware of something I want to buy through just such an inquiry. If they list the item on ebay at a " looking for a fool " price then yes a total waste of time. But if it gets a rare item into the right hands then why not ? The person with the knowledge might not bennefit directly, but the hobby or area of specialist collecting as a whole might. Otherwise as rare and obscure items are passed down to people with no idea of what they are the danger they will just end up tossed in the trash increases. Too much of that happening already.

Staver made a very automobile like buggy close to the end of production which featured electric lights. So I think there would have been a battery box of this sort fitted. They would have been wet cell of some type . And no need or anything but small gauge wires so the small holes as are in this box would have been all that were necessary. The reason I say wet cell is that dry cell's are fine for a momentary starting { coil ignition , not a starter motor } use , but they would run down quite quickly if they were used for lighting. In any event I am going to use it as a tool box.

I have this tool box for my Staver project if I ever get as far as fenders and running boards. I am not sure if it was intended for use as a battery box or tool box. Could be either late Staver car or de luxe buggy. Electric lights were an option on both. It does not show up in my 1912 parts book. The electric stuff was an option in 1914 and up. The cars stopped in 1914 but I think buggy's were available for a year or two after that. In full road trim I am planning something very similar to this Midland. I think my wheelbase is a bit longer but otherwise a very similar car.

That's a great photo! Running board mounted Prest - o - lite tanks were reasonably common in this era, but this is the first time I have seen a exposed tool mount. On the running board just ahead of the tank. It looks like a brace style wrench for the lug nuts and what is probably a jack just inboard of the wrench.

Not just circle track. Many racing carbs have removed choke plates. Most race events take place during reasonably warm weather so less need for a choke for starting. And often the hood is up or off at start up so if necessary a quick squirt of gas can be easily added. A little less restriction at full power.