Scooter Guy

This is information is absolutely spot-on. I've shipped several times with Greyhound (usually per buyer request) and can tell you this: Package shipments will get bumped for passenger luggage, which means your package could end up pulled off the bus at any point along the route. And, keep in mind that Greyhound routes don't always "make sense," so what you think the route is vs. what the route really is could mean that your package was pulled off the bus at a town that seems to be 60 miles out of the way. Also remember that Greyhound stops aren't necessarily bus depots. Many stops, especially in small towns and along rural routes, are McDonald's restaurants, hotels, hardware stores and the like. If you're shipment gets bumped at one of these stops, good luck tracking it down and don't expect to see it anytime soon. Your box could literally sit outside, unsecured at some stops. Lots of stops have no staff, no Greyhound phone line, and no regular schedule. And since their tracking is really horrible (if you're used to UPS, FedEx, etc. you'll go nuts), you pretty much need to put your package on the bus and say a prayer that it will eventually come out on the other end. If your stuff gets "lost" and eventually "found" along the way (maybe the label was ripped off or similar), it will end up at the Greyhound headquarters in Dallas, TX at a facility they have downtown. It will sit there until YOU decide to go on the hunt for it. They won't go looking for you, that's for sure. It's not exactly the kind of place you want to spend any time trying to get someone to give a darn about tracking down your shipment of car parts. Been there, done that...just not for car parts. Not a pleasant experience though my item was eventually located and was ok. An interesting shipping method that has not been mentioned is shipping by rail. I've shipped with Amtrak several times and it's been great. Very inexpensive, liberal size and weight limits, and FAR less handling along the way than with Greyhound. They have a much, much better tracking system that is "commercial grade," if you can call it that, and quite honestly it's much more pleasant going to the train station that it is going to the bus depot. Also, with Amtrak you also don't have to worry about getting bumped or having your package untraceable while held in transit for some indefinite period of time. On the flip side, Amtrak's package shipping network is far more limited so you have to ship city to city. Depending on your proximity to a "big" city with Amtrak package service, it could be a headache. I have found that this usually takes no longer than ground service from UPS, FedEx, etc. Other options exist, of course, depending on the size of the item and how you're able to pack it, such as one of the many LTL freight lines in addition to the mainstream commercial carries like FedEx, UPS, DHL and so on.

How did this car end up in the US? Did you import it? They were Japanese market only, right?

I did manage to make a stop at the museum about two weeks ago. I've been there a few times (both at the old Iowa location and the current one) but never get tired of it. So, I did get a chance to see the scooter exhibit I mentioned above. Frankly, it was a bit disappointing. Really all the museum did was gather up most the scooters that they already had and consolidate them into one area. The area the scooters were in was L shaped and they built a shelf to put the smaller scooters up on and parked the larger ones underneath, on the floor. It saved space but made it hard to really see the scooters up close and have a good look at them. Further, while some of their scooters were nice examples, quite a few really were poor examples that were either not in great condition, or they had major components that were incorrect (think engines and the like). It also seems that the exhibit cards were poorly researched and not proof-read prior to being put up. The info card for an American Moto Scoot started off by telling me about the aluminum body of the Rumi Little Ant. Oops. I think that if the museum had put the word out that they REALLY wanted to do a scooter exhibition, they would have found a lot of interest in the scooter community and would have managed to obtain some very, very excellent examples for display.

It is good practice to NEVER click on links to Ebay, Paypal, your bank, the credit card company, etc. that you receive in email. NEVER. Darn near 100% of the time they are scam / phishing links put into bogus emails. Instead, go directly to Ebay, Paypal, etc. and log in. Any official message they may have sent you will appear there for you to read. With your credit cards and your bank, ALWAYS call them at a number you know is good (look on the back of your credit card for that). Don't give your info out to anyone over the phone either. Ever. It seems like common sense, but it's easy to fall into the trap. Be careful out there, folks!

It was not uncommon in the past and still done today with waxoyl or ACF-50. It seems to be particularly popular in the UK with the Land Rover and VW crowd. I know a couple of folks that still religiously spray the undersides of their older vehicles with their used motor oil; they dump it into a garden pump type weed sprayer with a hand held wand and go to town. It's very, very messy.

AMEN! As a "younger person" with a family and a full time job, it is almost completely out of the question to attend shows and club events held during the week. Scheduling events to fall squarely over the weekend (or perhaps even Thurs-Friday through Sunday) allows for working members (and the vast majority of the general public) to participate at some level simply by virtue of not interfering with their work/career lives. Since the retirees have the flexibility of operating without the constraints of work schedules, their attendance and participation would not be adversely impacted by weekend scheduling in principle. Going a step further: Public attendance and participation is something I think many clubs overlook when scheduling their meets, instead thinking only of their own members. Yes, I understand that the members pay dues, perhaps vote of issues, etc., etc., but if by virtue of scheduling you exclude the public, what's the point? Most people don't think "Hey, it's Tuesday night...let's go to the car club meeting / show / tour, etc." The interested public is the future of ANY organization and should not be forsaken.

Half Price Books buys (and sells) "used" magazines. They give you virtually nothing for them, but it would be a way to get them cleared out and end up with a few bucks. They have multiple locations in the DFW area, so finding one that isn't too far from you shouldn't be a major issue. Their flagship store on Northwest Highway is buying magazines constantly and they have a surprisingly good automotive magazine and book selection there.

Funny you should say that. Angie's List actually DOES have an automotive restoration division. I have not used so I can't speak to what the contents are. I do know that Angie Hicks and her husband have a nice personal collection of cars and many motorcycles (and rebuilt a 1910's era garage into a showplace for the collection -- it's nice!) so this is, perhaps (???) something of a pet project for them. As for the posting rules here, they've been discussed many times in threads like this. While I personally don't agree with the AACA's reasoning on some of their policies and feel as though the organization is absolutely over-the-top paranoid about lawsuits over forum postings...at the end of the day it's the AACA's forum and they can make whatever rules they want. We can each make the choice to tolerate the rules and use this forum or go elsewhere.

There is Intellectual Property Law that would maybe protect your invention without a patent. Just remember that once you put your invention out there without real patent protection it will no longer be a secret and will be subject to the public domain. Anyone that figures it out, copies it, or improves upon it will then become your competition in the market. Assuming your invention is patentable (not everything is - an important part of the process is a patent search), if there is ANY potential for market success, you should at least consider the possibility of patent protection and using a patent attorney to guide you through the process. On the other hand, some very successful inventors (think TV infomercial type products) almost never bothered to patent their inventions. When they thought they had come up with something that had real mass marketing potential, they brought the product to market FIRST and really pushed the marketing so as to sell a ton of them before any competition knew what hit them and could react with a competing product. By the time there was a competing product, they had the money in the bank and had moved on. Years later their main selling point is that they were the original _______ (blender, juicer, grill, kitchen gizmo, etc., etc.) Thing about that strategy is that you have to be fundamentally ok with boom and bust type success and the fact that your invention will almost definitely get copied. This is probably not the best approach unless you know that whatever you've invented will have overwhelming success in the market. Then again, if it's ultra successful and it's likely nobody else will come up with something similar while you're working on yours, getting a patent could be well worth your while.

Although Zymol really does make good stuff, it's a marketing thing (look up Zymol Royale - $8500 wax). It's not really any better than other quality waxes available for less (or even similar) money. Check out a site like autogeekonline.net for virtually any car detailing product you can think of and many, many different wax brands at all sorts of price points. They have a forum there, too, and some of them drop serious dollars on detailing products. Keep in mind that just as with a fine paint job itself, how good your car looks after waxing will depend mostly on the prep: how well it was washed, dried, clay bared (to remove contaminants), and "corrected" (removing swirls, holograms, scratches, etc.) --- all prior to waxing. You'll hear guy refer to wax as their LSP or last step product for this very reason. Wax won't really fix micro scratches or swirls, but will temporarily fill some of them in because that's what wax does. Just take their "restoration" claim with a grain of salt. I love auto detailing, so I'd be inclined to try it, actually. That said, I use P21s which is amongst the cheapest good stuff out there at $35/jar. Since a wax job doesn't take much wax, I've been using the same jar for 14 or 15 years though I do not wax every time I wash a car. Even if you spend the $90 on the kit, it should last a long time...10 years would really be outrageous depending on how often you plan on waxing. That's pretty inexpensive fun, I'd say. Some interesting reading here re: working with old single stage paint:Vintage Car Detailing - Auto Geek Online Auto Detailing Forum

I was originally thinking electrolysis, but I'm now having second thoughts about if it would be safe for chrome. I know that it works well, but I've never tried it on chrome. You might be better off trying something like Evaporust, though the stuff is a bit expensive for use on a large scale.

Are you able to remove these parts from the car and soak / submerge them or is a requirement that they stay on the car?

This is an excellent point and not something to take lightly. If the car you just must have doesn't have any paperwork, I'd highly recommend doing whatever it takes to get the car legal before you invest any other time and money in the project. If the car pops up stolen or simply cannot be made roadworthy (in the legal sense), you want to know that sooner rather than later. The best way to avoid that potential pitfall is to buy a car with a good title to begin with.

-- How to determine if an engine turns over. Turn the crank pulley by hand with a socket. Just remember that just because it turns, doesn't mean you're out of the woods. Be careful doing this, too. You can bend vales and do all kinds of terrible things to a locked up motor when you try to force things. -- How to test electrical if there are missing headlights or instruments. Electrical is almost always shot, especially is field cars, barn finds, and real "project" cars. Not worth testing unless the rest of the car is pretty much in "driver" condition or better. On almost anything else you're going to have to replace it all anyway. -- Testing if it rolls. Get some friends and get pushing. You'll quickly determine if the car is stuck in gear or if the brakes are locked up, etc. -- Checking the Transmission. There's only so much checking you can do unless you've got a running, driving car. It's almost always safe to assume that the transmission will need some attention. -- Determining if the rust is surface or structure. Finding a non-destructive way to check for this is hard. Car owners typically don't want you to poke and scratch at their cars, so you kind of just have to know what you're looking at to know the difference between very minor surface rust and something more serious. Keep in mind that there is almost always more rust than you think and it's almost always worse than you think. -- Determining if body puddy was used in repair. You don't really ever know what's under the paint until it's been stripped clean. Once stripped you'll be able to see how "honest" the car really is and what sort of condition it is really in. Collision damage is almost impossible to hide completely, so if it's there, you'll probably find it. Check for filler especially on all 4 corners, door sills, rocker panels and other areas that typically rust. Don't be surprised if you find it...it's pretty common. You can do some checking with a magnet (on a steel car) to see if it sticks. Magnets will not, obviously, stick to significantly thick areas of filler. Unless the paint job and repair is truly superb, you can often tell what has been repaired just by looking at it. My advice to you is this: The #1 thing is to TAKE YOUR TIME and DO YOUR HOMEWORK before you buy anything. Shop around, look at a lot of cars before you buy and think carefully about parts availability and/or your ability to service the vehicle (or get someone else to). Consider how patient you are and what sort of financial constraints you might have. Are you willing to run want ads or attend swap meets and auctions for years in hopes of locating the one piece of "unobtanium" you need for your car or will you lose interest if you cannot drive it right away? Do you have shop space or storage space? I also encourage you to buy what you like and buy the very best example of what ever that may be that you can find and afford UNLESS you really want to go through the restoration process with something rough (however, I'd still tell you to buy the best project you can locate). As others have hinted at, it can be extremely time consuming and expensive to do so and almost always results in a vehicle you've invested more $$$$ into than you could ever expect to see if and when you sell it. It should also be said that there is rough and there is rough. If you don't have the time, tools, equipment AND copious amounts of $$$$ on hand, the rough cars are probably best left to someone else. Good luck and keep us posted on whatever you decide to do.

Any report from the event? I know that the scooters exhibit was scheduled to open there this past weekend, too. Details on that have been hard to come by so far, but if you saw it, I'd love to hear about it. Otherwise I'll just have to wait until mid July when I'll be able to see for myself.

Funny how there is always talk of the future of "the club" (be it AACA or otherwise) along with getting young people involved in the hobby only for them to have experiences like this when they take the first step: attending an event. AACA or not, this isn't good. And, sadly, as a "young person" myself (30), I can say that my own experience has proven that this is common. Just something to think about the next time you see "us" at an event.

For me it's the '41 Chrysler followed by the '78 Corvette. Opposite ends of the spectrum, but I like 'em!

Want to buy: Burgess 2F4 battery. Being functional is not an issue, but it needs to be in good to excellent cosmetic condition. Not interested in any other models. FYI- this particular battery was used to power accessory lighting kits on motor scooters in the 40s. It is not a full size car battery.

As mentioned, there is no general process. From what I've heard from my friends and read on various forums, Illinois is a mixed bag and your success depends completely upon where you go and who you talk to. Some owners have indicated massive problems, while others have sailed through the process with no questions asked. Similarly, I've heard that Florida is seriously tightening up their title process and giving owners the run around. My suggestion would be to seriously consider taking advantage of vehicle registration laws in Vermont. They don't title anything older than 15 years and the only requirement in your case would be to have a bill of sale that identifies the vehicle, price paid, and who the buyer and seller are. See all of the details here: Driver's Forms | Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles . Search for the registration/tax/title application and accompanying instructions. Once you have a Vermont registration (that is all the issue, not a title), you can take it to your home state and have a title created AFTER you can demonstrate to them that it came from a "no title" state. I have done this successfully with motor scooters and am getting ready to do two more soon...it works and it's legal provided you fill out the paperwork honestly. Vermont doesn't care if you're out of state so long as you pay the taxes and fees. Use caution with the title mill companies. Lots of states are starting to flag titles that come up as having been run through title companies via states like Alabama. It got too easy for dishonest folks to take a stolen car from, say California, and "launder" the title through a title company (claiming the car had no title). So, Alabama has begun cracking down along with the other states that were used. Many have begun to combat title mills by requiring VIN inspections. the title companies are shifting to other states (like Vermont). A title company could charge you $1000 or more to get your car legal through Vermont...that's silly when you can quickly, cheaply, and legally do all of that yourself. Vermont is one of the last states like this...take advantage of it while you can. I doubt the "loop hole" is going to last forever!

Ok, I should have been a bit more specific. Lowering vehicles unavoidably effects the toe, camber, and caster (all the stuff that makes up "alignment") which can sometimes not be adjusted out, thus the tire wear on the front, typically on the inside as I mentioned. In my case having alignments done to address issues with toe, camber and caster accomplished little and I was left dealing with excessive wear on the inside front tires as a consequence of the suspension modifications, so it absolutely CAN be true...it all depends on the individual situation. Sometimes you just can't get back to factory specs after lowering, but I shouldn't have thrown out that remark without some qualifiers. There are aftermarket camber kits (though I'm not sure if they have them for '55 Fords or not - never looked) that can help correct the problem. What can be adjusted out depends a lot on what changes are made in terms of parts installed and what the application is. As you indicated, I should have never said "especially" when mentioning the front tires as it implies problems on the rear, too. I experienced no issues with rear tires and don't think there would probably be issues in this case either. Really I think that we're agreeing here, I just wasn't specific enough initially and used "will" where I perhaps should have said "can" or "may." Seems like the car owner in this case isn't going to pursue this anyway, so it probably matters not. Let's motor on! :cool:

I encourage you to seriously investigate and consider the consequences of altering the suspension geometry. I had a late model vehicle for several years (daily driver for 100k miles) that I modified with Hotchkis Suspension all-around along with new wheels and tires. Hotchkis makes extremely high quality, well engineered race-grade suspension components, the sort of stuff road racers and autocrossers use. The vehicle cornered like it was on rails, but the ride quality was harsh (at best). I didn't realize just how bad it really rode until I sold it and moved on to something different. Lowering a vehicle (and inevitably stiffening up the suspension) will never improve the ride quality, don't let anyone tell you otherwise. The vehicle I had (I thought) looked great and handled excellent, but then the real problems began... As others have mentioned, you will chew up tires (especially fronts). There is virtually nothing that can be done about this because you've altered the factory geometry of the vehicle. The thing you've really got to watch is that you will most likely wear the inside edge of the tire first. You can wear the inside down to the cords and have the outside looking brand new, so frequent tire inspection is an absolute necessity if you pursue this. And no, tire shops and alignments can't fix this stuff...it's because of the suspension geometry. You either accept the risks associated with this and the cost of buying tires frequently or you shouldn't do this. I also experienced premature wear of other driveline and suspension components all because the factory geometry was altered: bearings, bushings, etc. I learned my lesson the hard way that no modification is ever mutually exclusive, and that is especially true for suspension modifications. Having things off of their factory engineered positions by inches or even fractions of a inch can make a huge difference. On an old car it may make even more of a difference. Be very, very careful about who does the work and exactly how it's done, too, as with a daily driver your life can depend on it. Perhaps your local tire shop is unusual, but I would NEVER have a tire shop sell me on something like suspension modification and then let them do the work. Also remember that suspension modifications can lead to overdriving the car and exceeding the capabilities of the steering system, transmission, and the brakes. I would recommend avoiding this especially if the car is going to be a daily driver.

This is neat. There is a small farming/rural life museum not far from me that has offered open-to-the-public classes on how to operate a Model T, which I thought was a really great idea (sort of the "living history" approach). For $10 and your signature on some liability waivers, you get 3 hours of history, instruction, and a chance to drive the car yourself. Unfortunately due to a schedule conflict I was not able to participate...I sure would have liked to! This same museum is currently offering a similar program for antique tractors, but I keep watching for the Model T "class" to be offered again. I'm going to make it a point not to miss it next time. I think that sort of immersion experience is a great way to attract younger members (or even not-so-young new members). I'd like to see more events offer that type of opportunity to the general public.

Of course you are correct. No, I wouldn't take a hot rod to an AACA show because I know that it doesn't qualify for judging and isn't what that particular club is geared towards. And that's all fine. The AACA's stance on hot rods as an organization (which I have no issue with) and what has happened to some local chapters is a whole different can of worms and isn't something I got into at all. Don't get me wrong...I'm not advocating that the AACA is the place for rods and customs, just pointing offering up my opinion and my experiences and suggesting that perhaps some of us don't need to get so fired up and angry about rods and customs. If you had a bad experience with them, I'm sorry to hear that. My experience has been largely positive. They're car guys too, and the vast majority of them admire and appreciate our cars and our passion despite us treating them like the bad guys. Good for them. I do absolutely understand how you feel as well as many of the others here, I just read these threads and think "gee...they're car guys too, can't we all just get along and not bad mouth one another?" They have their clubs and events and we have ours. We should be able to peacefully and harmoniously co-exist.

I've watched a fair number of these kinds of threads come and go over the years on this forum. I have to say, quite honestly, that the AACA forum is the only place where the issue is treated as an "us" versus "them" sort of thing to the point that people get angry about it. I have never encountered so much negativity in the hobby anywhere discussing nearly anything as I have when rodding gets brought up on this forum. Apparently it's easy to sit more-or-less anonymously behind a computer and rant away about the evils of rodding, but I have NEVER experienced the same sort of attitude in the "real world" that I find here on the subject. I've been to concours shows and to hot rod shows. Good Guys Gatherings to Gooding Auctions. Everyone is entitled to an opinion and to do what they want to their property. That's the bottom line folks. You don't have to like it, look at it, condone it, or even THINK about it, but when it comes up I think there should be some respect shown. Sure, this is the AACA forum and we've all got some level of interest in original cars be it restored cars or preserved cars, but to demonize rodders is ridiculous. Let me say this: I am a car guy. I like cars: old cars, new cars, fast cars, slow cars;restored cars, original cars, rusted cars, and rodded cars. I like racing and I like restoration; cruse ins and I like concours shows. I like everything from Stanley Steamers to Spykers. I like two wheelers and eighteen wheelers. I like Pebble Beach and I like the Pomona Roadster Show. I am a car guy. We all need to lighten up and remember we're all car guys! Even the rodders :cool:

I did not know Mr. Cammack or the extent of his collection, but am sorry to hear of his passing. He seemed to be a passionate collector and was willing to share his collection and his knowledge freely with others, certainly something to be admired. I have to say that I'm absolutely floored by the contents of his collection. The blueprint collection alone...WOW! (not to mention the cars, engines, and other memorabilia)! It must have taken a lifetime to hunt down all of that history.