Gunsmoke

See this 1913 Marmon 48 on internet, quite a beast. Thanks Varun for bringing to light another great car.

Varun strikes again.

Please change topic title to "Unknown Chrysler Taillight for sale"

Kudos Varun, another one solved.

Batting 1000 Varun, you have my vote! Wonder if original poster is still watching?

C'mon Varun, 13 year this time, Keizer31 usually gets them in 13 minutes! Great job, I find it fascinating that many of these teen era cars are so similar and thus difficult to pin down. Keep up the good work.

Surprised K31 is not on this one already, guessing circa 1952 Plymouth, perhaps Cranbrook model, based on fender outline, chrome strip, 9 letter model name and wheel disks?

Jack M said "He who dies with the most toys wins", an often used but horribly anti-social, narcissistic phrase (and on far too many car show T shirts). I watched "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" last night on TCM, and in the end, millionaire Burl Ives as Big Daddy realizes when dying after talking with his alcoholic son (Paul Newman) that all Daddy's wealth, property, and toys, mean nothing if you don't have the love of your family, and had shown love for your family over your lifetime. Let's ditch this phrase forever.

In the late 80's early 90's I was a serious Merkur XR4TI fan, owned 3 of them including a parts car, great strong runners, but they eventually wore out. In the meantime I bought and had partially restored a 1931 Chevrolet, to the point it was worth about $12K-$15K. In 2016 I saw an ad in the media of a very nice 1986 Merkur for sale or trade at $10K, and offered the seller a trade straight up. The seller declined, but I did think it would have been a good deal for both of us.

I picked this image off Google, does it match your car's setup? Unusual suspension with upper and lower front trailing arms supporting the steering spindles, and a tie-rod keeping front wheels parallel. Don't see how one wheel could toe-in several inches with a tie-rod keeping them parallel. Did you mean cambering in, i.e. tilting inward on bottom??

Not sure what you have in mind? Most people who are getting rid of, or are interested in selling stuff want cash. For a small number, they may say "cash or partial trade for something", and a very small number may ask for a straight trade, car for car etc. I suspect that would be about .001% of all sellers/buyers. In my humble opinion, there are already too many disparate forums on here, adding another one seems unnecessary. Perhaps you can further explain your proposal, i.e. give an example like "Have a 1700 era reproduction Blunderbuss, willing to trade straight up for a 1929 Buick".

I want to thank StillOutThere for the excellent write up on the Spohn cars, his Spohn Palos, and the Spohn Karosseier, who built these custom bodied automobiles. I appreciate the differentiation between a noted "Coachbuilder" who was rebodying chassis to customers preferences, and "Customizers" who typically take a car and shave/chop/lower, add and subtract to make one offs, sometimes made as a joke, such as the Batmobile, ADDams family hearse, etc, too many to mention. Hope SOT can find a way to post photos of his Spohn, perhaps a moderator can help with the issue.

Since no pictures were included, I had to go to Google and find something to help me decide what I would do if I were in your shoes. The big factor in my view is the long term desirability of each car. Assuming they look somewhat like these 2 photos, my vote goes to the Studebaker, a car that is both so stylish and rarer. While a Poncho runner is always popular at shows etc, it is pretty stodgy and the Studebakers draw much more attention. So it likely comes down to "are you ready to invest time and have some fun doing so", or are you "tired of project work/expense and want fun driving". As someone said above, your money, your time, your call.

Thanks Fordy for the specific product suggestion. For what it's worth, early in the week I pumped some chassis grease into both steering spindles, and while they freed up somewhat, they were still pretty stiff. One spindle was missing an end cap, so I poured a small amount of 90 wt oil into that end and let it sit for awhile. The difference was astonishing, suddenly the spindle moved with ease. As you know, these cars have manual steering and 4 ball joints (tierods and drag link) to rotate as well as 4 kingpin bushings to lube, so a lot of parts/joints that can cause stiffness, so any product that can ease steering is what I want to use. Will try a heavy gear oil and let you all know how it works. I have some 90wt, and some 600W transmission oil, so will try the 600W first (less likely to seep past seals).

I have mine out of my CD8 car, can you post photos of ends and length so we can confirm if it is CD8?

The instruction book for 1931 Chrysler CD8 stipulates lubricating steering spindle (king pins) every 500 miles with "fluid gear lubricant" using a high pressure gun at the nipples. I think kingpin bushings are grooved. Also, the tie rod ends and drag link ball joints should be lubricated with same product (they also have nipples). What are some of you using? I contemplated using a grease gun with a thinnish grease, but was thinking perhaps a heavy oil instead (600W cylinder oil), or about 300 weight modern oil. Recommendations?

The instruction book for 1931 Chrysler CD8 stipulates lubricating steering spindle (king pins) every 500 miles with "fluid gear lubricant" using a high pressure gun at the nipples. I think kingpin bushings are grooved. Also, the tie rod ends and drag link ball joints should be lubricated with same product (they also have nipples). What are some of you using? I contemplated using a grease gun with a thinnish grease, but was thinking perhaps a heavy oil instead (600W cylinder oil), or about 300 weight modern oil. Recommendations?

I have a couple of old car friends, one has a 1934 Buick Club Sedan, 2nd owner, stunning car, low mileage, never been touched restoration wise, all original paint, interior, brightwork even engine has only ever seen routine maintenance. The other fellow has a circa 1929 Essex Sedan, 2nd owner, bought a few years ago with only 9000 miles on odometer, again all original paint including some wear on pin striping, original interior, brightwork and again only regular maintenance on engine/mechanicals. Both of these cars are widely known locally among "old car" people as genuinely "original", even if they have a few miles on them. At car shows I routinely see/hear other car owners (with new paint jobs, rebuilt engines, new chrome, etc etc) refer to their cars as "original", when parked near these 2 truly original cars. What can one say? It's the nature of the hobby, and does it really matter. People who know the difference, know the difference. People who don't know the difference or who don't care, well they just move on. Debating the topic does very little except to separate the people who know and care from the people who don't know or don't care. BTW, read this morning's Hemmings blog about the largely original rare 1916 Stutz Bearcat bought at Auction in 1996 for circa $200K. New owner sent to a specialist with directions to return the car to it's original condition as close as possible, largely by removing a poor 50-60 year old paint job taking it down to the original paint. Wonderful looking car, coming up for auction again soon, I expect it will bring a bundle. Will it be considered some definition of "original" (it has replaced Houk wires), time will tell.

This topic has been discussed so many times, and the consensus answer always seems the same. "A car is only really original once, the day it leaves the factory". After that time, it gradually becomes a used car, with normal wearables replaced in short order (tires, wipers, bulbs, belts, plugs, etc) and eventually longer wearable stuff like engine rebuilds, wheels changed (wood spokes to wires), shocks, exhaust systems etc. Then comes the cosmetics, repaint, interior upholstery, and brightwork. Of course everyone of these short and longer term re-dos can as closely as possible match the manufacturers spec as car left factory, but regrettably it is never again "original". So that is why I prefer (for largely original cars the term "Survivor", which implies the car has survived the rigors of decades of wear and tear, and remains largely as it was manufactured, including original paint and interior and mechanicals (although possible rebuilt engine, brakes etc). Beyond the "Survivor" definition, any other level of re-built/restoration/modification, needs a thorough description, and it is always better in my experience to simply be honest, describe where possible how the car came from factory, and any consequential changes made, i.e. any parts replaced are like the original parts, including paint color, upholstery fabric, etc, or have been changed such as original color was Serge Blue, now it is Forest Green, original was brown leather, now grey broadcloth, original was wood spoke wheels, now wire spokes, original had 289CI engine, now 427CI, etc. My 2Cents worth.

Geez Varun, what took you so long!

Interesting manufacturers plate, Large TROY overlaid with a motto "--------- of character"(maybe "The Hallmark of Character"), followed below by MFD BY THE TROY !Automobile) CO, or MFD by THE TROY CARRIAGE CO (founded in 1905) Just wishful guesses?

41/64 is likely 5/8" (40/64) so I'd try 1&5/8"

The horizontal hood louvres are a unique identifier as well.

Enjoyed reading this thread on a car I had not heard of before. Also good to know there a few survivors of a smallish run.

Still enjoying your updates CG. The presence of the "hidden" door hinges suggests car was flipped over with body most likely attached although nothing's for sure. Presence of a spark plug may also suggest car may have been partly disassembled and everything tossed in a pile. Regardless, an archeologist would have had a grid laid out and recorded exact location of everything found in order to reconstruct the scene from 80 years ago. I assume you are doing that every evening!!!