mrspeedyt

a year ago I sold a 1975 Chevy Monza town Coupe which is basically a Vega with a vinyl roof. three speed stick . clutch was worn out. But the original Vega engine ran remarkably well. The guy that has it now replaced the clutch and drives it around town! still wore its original factory paint… definitely a rarity to see on the street anymore.

twenty years ago on my new car trailer I replaced one wheel and tire because the tire had a big gash in it. I put on the lugnuts finger tight and then got distracted. later I loaded up the trailer with my 23 buick and other things for the move to kingman. totally forgot about tightening the lug nuts on the trailer wheel. an hour later I pull over to stretch my legs and check the load and noticed that one of the wheels on the right side of the trailer was gone. oops!

years ago in the 70s when usa steel belted radial tires first came out and ever since then I’ve seen failures especially of the belt separating from the rest of the tire. I have no argument that they are a better tire in handling, tread life and safety IF the tire does not deconstruct. bias ply tires (or rag tires) may not last as long in tread life, may not give us good fuel mileage, but when they do come apart it’s usually not a catastrophic failure and the damage usually minor at worst. USUALLY NO DAMAGE. and bias tires seem to last many years longer… because the only steel in them are the beads! you can use them far longer! (and in theory they should cost far less.) i had a open steel car trailer for over 15 years and ran the original stock rag tires until almost bald. replaced them with inexpensive steel belted trailer tires and experienced many belt failures. i don’t think i ever wore one out to the wear bars. a lot of the radial belt failures i caught before actual total separation. doing inspection often when towing. lug nuts, tire pressure, and even putting on thin gloves and feeling the tire tread and sidewalls. bottom line. imo… bias tires are better especially on a trailer. (and i prefer bias car tires on old cars that don’t get driven much…)

My 1941 Cadillac has never had a radio in it. the chrome factory radio delete plate covers the top over the speaker grill. i play my smart phone music thru a blue tooth speaker when desired. it’s loud enough with my quiet engine. i suppose i could mount the blue tooth speaker behind the speaker grill. a future project i suppose.

I never changed the dot three brake fluid on my 41 Cadillac that I bought in 1985 until last year when I had to rebuild the master cylinder. yeah... the old fluid was dark. But until the master cylinder leak everything has worked fine. But I live in northern Arizona. not a whole Lotta humidity in the air. and in my daily drivers that I’ve had over the years I’ve never rebuilt anything or had any problem with leaks. dot 3. where I live it’s OK.

about 20 years ago was my last visit to a Barrett Jackson auction in Scottsdale. I thought it was nuts then.

some time ago i was shown a ‘official Ford color chart.’ you can guess the color.

lights on the highway… was that ‘tiny dancer.’ elton john?

Not that it's going to help you, but it's nice to remember I had a Buick with a manual transmission. Delightful to drive. And yeah... I should have kept it !!! But that was like 47 48 years ago... Shoulda coulda woulda. (But I didn't appreciate what I had then.)

When I get back into the money I would like to get into vintage racing... primarily stock cars, sports cars and formula cars prior to 1962... Mainly stuff that was based on factory available stuff...

Bias tires ain't radials

I like bright colors but my cars unfortunately are not bright. Even my 41 Cadillac was originally a charcoal color with a gray top from the factory. If I repaint it (and it desperately needs it) I would like a bright cheery color!

It's nice that they have survived at least this long. If they were anywhere else they'd probably would be pretty much long gone either by rust or crushed.

Pfeil. Prescott. Nice. I should have moved there in the mid seventies instead of elsewhere in Arizona. Now I can't afford it. Granite dells is my favorite area of it.

At least provide shade. My 41 cad interior has much sun/heat damage especially to the interior materials. The cloth, rubber and leather are dry and brittle. As far as I know it has always been in the southwest.

Oh thanks. Now ANOTHER reason to go to Europe. (Really... Thank you for the pictures!)

Where the heck do I find buying Roman candles when it's still a month before July 4th???

I'm guessing it just acts as a diode.

I had two 1941 de sotos with the simplematic fluid drive. The later versions were much better because the 1941 had like a ratchet device overdrive in both the low range and the high range which gave you first and third gears if the ratchet mechanism wasn't prematurely worn out. This was a problem with the early transmissions like my 41 DeSotos. There was a knob similar to a overdrive knob that you could pull out and do away with the ratchet mechanism that allowed you first and third. So in other words, in the low range position you'd have second gear and in the high range you would have fourth gear without the worn out ratchet mechanism messing things up. The fluid drive would allow you to drive the car without the clutch once you were in either the low or the high range. On flat land I could literally keep the car in high range and the fluid drive would allow me to accelerate from a stop slowly up to highway speed in the top (fourth) direct gear. That early attempt in 1941 was actually a piece of s*** transmission when it had a number of miles on it.

I still have my 1967 40 piece craftsman half inch,three eights inch, and quarter inch drive sockets and ratchets, hammer and hacksaw and steel box. of course i’ve added more tools since... again mostly craftsman. and then added my wife’s previous husband’s tools and a nice rollaway tool box that i used for 35 years... she took those when we divorced. kind of funny because even though my dad worked on cars I had much better tools than he did. his was a unmatched bunch of tools that he gathered together over the years from yard sales, thrift stores and pawn shops. my brother still has most of them.

The only screws or bolts that I will bother clocking are for the license plate.

Great video. almost as fun as riding with Steve McQueen for a drive in his Mustang. (or maybe sneaking into the backseat of a black Dodge charger..).

electric is awesome (except for the recharge time.) and the lack of powerful engine sounds. my youngest daughter has a tesla that out performs most stock cars. fun to feel the g forces... but no noise? what the heck? it is missing something...

My bucket list would include riding in a lot of different old cars and trucks as a passenger. i don’t need to necessarily drive them myself. i know from experience so far that i’m too much a klutz. model t fords is a good example. i rode in a neighbor’s t and i turned down his invite to drive it. but i do enjoy the experience of riding in neat old vehicles. the sounds, noise, vibration, wind and even the fumes along with old roads are a wonderful experience. already flown in some tri motors and canvas planes...as a passenger. i don’t need to pilot. heck. i’ve even ridden in the back seat of a tucker.

my 41 cad is suffering from left rear fender / body and trunk lid damage. more than these posted. definitely repair is a learning experience.