ramair
-
Posts
377 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Forums
Gallery
Events
Posts posted by ramair
-
-
7 hours ago, alsancle said:
Michael, your packard deserves its own thread.
A.J, I may create a thread over in “My Restoration” like I did for my 36 GMC, even though it’s not officially a restoration.
I responded to this thread not to be a “Debbie Downer”, only to caution a would be new owner that the “slippery slope is not only treacherous it is now deadly. Eddie has been cautioning us for some time now that after you buy a prewar classic car, you can spend an additional $30,000 to $50,000 to get it right, of course I thought I would be exempt as I would buy a car with no running , driving or cosmetic issues. Some would say that I am trying to scare would be collectors from undertaking a great project and I say that my fear is that someone will buy a nice car and think they can fix it and drive it for $5,000.00. Afterwards when serious issues come up and they do not have the talent, equipment or money, then we have another disassembled project car on Craigslist. Full disclosure, I have one project car that I will never complete because the slippery slope became a free fall into a bottomless pit, ultimately I put it in permanent time out for misbehavior. I now hate that car and realize that I would always think of how it betrayed me.
Now you could luck out and not have hidden Gremlins and it is possible for someone to do all the work themselves as we have all seen a lot of amateur restoration work that is every bit as good as the professional shops.
A.J you are probably saying, there he goes again with ”do as I say , don’t do as I do”! Hey it’s an illness we should form the CCA, Classic Cars Anonymous. When it comes down to it we are all over 21!-
1
-
1
-
-
On 4/20/2024 at 3:19 PM, Terry Y said:
The awesome wood artillery wheels, the Dietrich body and the super Lincoln V-8 harmonize fantastically. To my eye, even the "patina" of the interior is perfect.
This is an opportunity for a skilled hobbyist, It will be very dear to pay someone $125 to $225/ hour to fix the sellers punch list. Heck, the seller doesn't even want to do it, and that's with all of the resources he has at his disposal.
AJ, what is this worth, at a well sorted CCCA quality touring car level (NOT Pebble quality fresh restoration) ?
Recent experience has taught me that even when you buy a prewar classic that has no fatal flaws you can spend a lot of time and money not only on all the deferred maintenance but trying to find unobtainable steering, brake, suspension and tuneup parts. As some of you have heard me talk about my latest buy, a 1939 Packard twelve, a low mile original rust free car with a older paint job that has held up nice, near perfect chrome, a engine that started instantly, did not leak (by prewar standards), did not overheat, great brakes and a velvet smooth
clutch. I am now approaching 500 hours along with $7,500 in parts and this is without finding any ugly surprises. Could I have spent less time and money, probably, but do I want to take the grandkids out in a 6,000 pound car at 60 mph with brakes that probably have not been apart since the Kennedy administration. The good news is that I still love the car, probably because when it came apart all major systems were not screwed up with a sabotage hack job. Knock on wood the classic car gods have been kind to me, this time!
most of us followed Matt’s Lincoln twelve story which is a reminder that the “Improved Murphys Law” works like this, if there is a 50/50 chance of something going wrong, nine times out ten it will!
-
17
-
-
4 hours ago, 46 woodie said:
I use a sacrificial anode attached to my radiator cap. At one time, for some reason. the thermostat housing on my car needed replacement every couple of years. It would literally be eaten away from the inside out. I even tried extra grounds from the engine to the frame and body. The anode seems to have worked and haven't had a problem with the thermostat housing in a few years.
I would be most interested in what material people have used for anode rod? On the internet there seems to be conflicting recommendations on materials, go figure!
-
7 hours ago, JFranklin said:
Would a sacrificial anode slow this down?
I like the way you think! Hopefully someone here will share some experience with its use in an antique car coolant system. Something I am curious about, when the twelve was originally built the heads and timing cover was made with 1930 technology aluminum, which most likely had impurities, add in the likelihood that from the time it was near new the proper coolant maintenance was not done and even if it was, it is doubtful that coolant chemistry took in to consideration electrolysis. So fast forward to the last 30 years or so, what has changed, I will guess that a vast percentage of the drivable twelves now only have a new aluminum timing cover as a lot of owners have switched out the heads to cast iron. Could it help to have less aluminum content in the cooling system as far as electrolysis?
Perhaps I am worrying for no reason, if it took the engine approx 30 years to fail with several things going against it and I remove some of those, in theory it should last forever, right🤔below is a picture I have of one of my old covers, unfortunately the corrosion is not visible
-
2
-
-
1 minute ago, Tph479 said:
My friend makes the timing cover for the Packard twelves, he has both the 1932-1934 and 1935-1939 styles in stock. If you have an original cover, it’s not a case of if you need one, but when you need one. The aluminum corrodes behind the water pump and won’t take a weld repair.
This past weekend I had to flush a mg td cooling system of what looked like green clumpy gel. It’s like the jolly green giant went to town on the radiator. 4 years ago when I got the car and resurrected it from a 35 year slumber I both evaporusted and ran vinegar through the system and flushed it out repeatedly, so I know the system was clean before I put in a 50/50 mix of new coolant. l I don’t know if I got a bad batch of green antifreeze but I was scratching my head on what I had to flush out. Thoughts?
I have had some not so fortunate experiences with the Packard twelves in the past. So when I bought this one I reached out and talked to one of the regular contributors on this forum that restores prewar including twelves. I asked about availability as I heard that the gentleman in Washington that made them for years past away. I was told they are still being made by a capable machinist. After I bought the car the previous owner said that my new car had the new timing cover in it, so my job as the new caretaker is to keep that timing cover in good shape. For those that are not familiar with what we are taking about it is not just a simple casting it is a very complex piece that takes days to machine and very difficult and labor intensive to change with engine in car, probably $12,000 to buy and do the job , but not to worry because if it fails and you do not catch it before you start the engine you will have to completely overhaul the engine, this could be a $70,000 mistake, like they say you choose.
About the Green globs, I would flush again and try a different brand of coolant, it sounds like contamination either from the Evaporust or a bad batch of coolant, either way the next step would be the same
-
1
-
-
1 hour ago, Bloo said:
Everybody has an opinion. For modern diesels, the factory requirements vary widely. That is one of many reasons there are about 30-ish different flavors of antifreeze these days. No phosphates, no silicates, silicates but no phosphates, phosphates but no silicates, Oat, Hoat, IAT, Renewable additive package, no renewable additive package, it goes on and on, and the number of different jugs in an auto parts store these days is staggering.
You can't go by color. There is no standard. Someday there will be, but for now whatever satisfies your warranty requirements might be red in one brand , another purple, and yet another gold. One particular formula for Japanese imports is available dyed 3 different colors, take your pick to match what is already in the radiator.
There never has been a standard either. In the 80s I started using a "modern" formula similar to what we now call "DexCool", but it was green. It was not the "old green" formula everyone seems to be in love with, but it was in fact green. If you bought antifreeze at Shell at that time it was blue, but it was the same formula everyone seems to know as "green". Another gas station (Conoco maybe?) had purple. I have been using DexCool in almost everything since the mid 90s, It was pink in the beginning and is orange now. Everyone tells me I am destroying all my radiators, but so far no problems. I'll keep an eye on it. I think I might die of old age first. I do change antifreeze regularly. I do not believe "extra long life" claims for any of them.
I use Valvoline-Zerex G-05 in the 36 Pontiac because it foams less and the Pontiac has an open cooling system. Thread here: https://forums.aaca.org/topic/375509-bloos-not-quite-scientific-antifreeze-foaming-test/ Since you have a pressurized system, I think you can use whatever you want.
This is great info on the Valvoline-Zerex G-05 as I have a 1915 and a 1928 Buick that both like to foam, I have made sure my water pump seals are good and have even slowed the flow with a restrictor that I made out of a washer and installed in upper hose. I keep my antifreeze solution at about 20% and it’s livable. I will try valve line and see what happens, thank you
-
2
-
-
54 minutes ago, Grimy said:
The Ford/Navistar 7.3 TD I bought new 26 yrs ago specifies a Ford additive that (I think) is *currently* called VC-8 (differing names of 25 yrs), primarily for anti-cavitation and used *with* antifreeze. I stay on top of that.
@ramair what do Cummins and Deere say about required additives?
I am unsure of Cummins small displacement engines as I only have one, but the large engines have a spin on filter that has a slow release additive. I have dozens of John Deere between 200ci up to 466 ci they recommend just using their premix💰💰coolant and depending on usage somewhere between 3 to 5 years before change. These are wet sleeve engines and the area around the liners with the automotive type coolant would pit so badly that water would eventually enter the crankcase, another area that was common to eat through is The backup plate for the water pump, of course this did not cause a total melt down like the first. Engine overhauls in wet sleeve engine up until recently were affordable. We use to do in frame overhauls on our Caterpillar D6d with the 3306 engines in one day, start at 6:00 am and be back in the field the next morning for less than $10,000. They would bring an exchange head, gasket set, liners, pistons with reconditioned rods and new bearings and a rebuilt turbo, ah the good old days. Last engine I did that needed everything including crankshaft damage was approaching a full blown Packard twelve engine job💸💸💸💸
-
1
-
-
Hi all, I read the thread on adding cutting oil with great interest and I did not want to hijack it as my question is not about the merits between cutting oil and antifreeze, my question is between the different modern antifreeze that is available has anyone seen a difference in certain properties like foaming our suppression of corrosion with dissimilar metals? I am putting the finishing touches on a 1939 Packard twelve that I bought last year. The car came to me with “green” coolant, the car did not overheat on several mountain climb test drives, however the vehicle had a lot of deferred maintenance that needed attention, one of which was the coolant overflow tank was missing. Amazing to realize that the Packard twelves were early adopters of what many of us would consider a modern accessory. In order for it to work it requires a pressure cap which Packard modestly kept at 4 pounds, the cooling system holds 10 gallons and the water pump runs at 40 gallons per minute ( yes Ed I know the Pierce runs at near 50 GPM). I put a reproduction tank back on and started thinking about what was the greatest contribution to the cooling system . The 4# cap didn’t raise the boiling point much, but maybe keeping the top of the radiator full of coolant does not allow air in the cooling system, which must help preserve the either expensive or unobtainium
timing cover and aluminum heads ( mine have been replaced in the past with cast iron).
So here is what has happened to me at my day job, I have a lot of farm and construction equipment and recently I have had 2 diesel engines go down needing major overhauls due to internal corrosion. All my rigs get coolant changed out every three years and I have always used the “green” stuff. Our water that I blend with is neutral PH and is fairly soft. One engine was a Cummins and the other was a John Deere, both dealerships told me to use their proprietary pre mixed coolant which ironically is the same color of yellow. The John Deere dealer told me that every time one of their tractors come in with all of its coolant in the oil pan, the remaining coolant is the old standard “green”. He also added that there are all kinds of dissimilar metals in these engines that just want to corrode.I just wanted to know if others have tried anything else and if there is any positives or negatives-
1
-
-
I am not well educated on this particular era Oldsmobile, but I do like the car, surprised myself as I am not a fan of brown or beige and yet this car looks great
-
All the hard work already done! Ready for mild reconditioning and assembly !
Makes you wonder if people that advertise on Facebook have a roulette wheel that has various insane dollar amounts? I have a similar wheel that I spin after I make a purchase, it usually lands on“Bankrupt” 💸💸💸💸💸💸💸💸💸💸💸💸
-
1
-
1
-
-
3 hours ago, Grimy said:
@BobinVirginia I'll PM you contact info (later today) on a father-son Pierce team in FL who reproduced a number of gas tanks for Pierce series 80 a few years ago. They have a local vendor who built them. That would be much closer to you.
Grimy has the best idea, you can look around and maybe find something close, but then you get to deal with 2 issues. 1 is adapting and the other is dealing with rust, leaks on a hundred year old tank. Best money you will spend is having a new tank fabricated
-
2
-
-
I can’t understand if it is valves or rings or head gasket shouldn’t the compression very a little bit.
i would think if they are close at 60 # perhaps the cam is off one tooth?
-
1
-
-
I have had a good experience at the restoration division of Original Air in Holiday Florida.
they are one of the few shops that will restore compressors, valves even crimp new hose on your factory fittings with a OEM look, when you make a reservation for this service you send them a picture of what you are working on and they ask you if you are putting it on a car that is going to be shown or do you want the components finished to match the patina of the car. It took 4 weeks for my time slot, they will call me with an estimate when they receive .
-
Not to hijack this thread, but…, when I was driving these Toronado’s when they were 6 or 7 years old, I needed a front bumper so I went to a big wrecking yard. The parts guy asked me what I was looking for and he said he has eight 68 and 69 cars in the yard, but no front bumpers. Of course I said something like others beat me to then? his reply was none of the cars had usable sheetmetal in the front as most toronados can’t stop especially the ones with the drum brakes!
-
1
-
-
1 hour ago, ABear said:
How about stopping and fixing it properly?
How about trying to stop and fix it properly ( could not resist!)
-
2
-
-
JonW I would suggest that you rebuild your master cylinder as opposed to a quick fix. We are talking about a 4,400 pound car and I can speak from experience , in 1975 I was taking my girlfriend home in my Toronado and I pulled behind her dads parked car when my brake pedal went to the floor, that night her dad lost his 67 Chrysler 300, I lost my girlfriend, the toro lived on, but not with me, but hey we are all over 21! Of course I wasn’t back in 1975!
-
I think we need more info, does this toro have the J-52 disc brake package? Does the brakes stop the car and if so does it stop with the same front to rear balance? Has brake system been worked on lately?
My 68 Toto that has the J-52 disc brakes had a similar issue about 12 years ago, it was a messed up piston seal in the master cylinder,I might mention that the 1968 models use the Delco Moraine four piston fixed caliper and the 69 if equipped with disc brakes would have the popular single piston floating caliper
-
I own all four generations of Toronado’s.
My opinion of the second generation is the 1978 is my favorite , I have owned a 1972, 1973, 1976 and 2 @1978. The 1977 and 1978 had what Oldsmobile fans would call the 403 engine a small block. They used a simplistic version of computer command that would advance the spark for fuel mileage and it had the ability to retard if detonation was detected. This made the car pretty perky and to me it felt more powerful than my 1976 with the 455. The second generation was a really big car, Oldsmobile went to the B body for this series. The first , third and fourth were E bodies. The front seat was really a six foot wide sofa. I could drive these for 800 miles per day and not be tired, of course that was 40 years ago, not sure if I would want to do that anymore. I still had that 78 when my present wife and I were dating, she named it“Boatus Maximus”
-
1
-
3
-
-
BlueDevil, I had the same problem trying to find a car cover for my 1915 Buick big six 7 passenger touring. I looked through other cars that was listed and saw that they had a 1916 Cadillac seven passenger touring so I bought that one.
a observation that I made was most car covers say custom fitted, even though they may have a bulge or two sewn into them, I believe that they really don’t have very many designs and I would suspect that they don’t have a lot of patterns. For what it’s worth it worked for me -
When ever I scan down the for sale list, even though I should remember not to open this ad, I do and it hurts my eyes. Kind of like when I enter my shop and just then one of my employees will strike an arc with the welder. Since it seems like this car never sells and always comes back to our thread I think I will start wearing sunglasses 😎
-
1
-
-
5 hours ago, edinmass said:
My first car was an identical 1931 Cadillac Series 355A Sport Coupe. Got it when I was 13. Took me two years to make it run. Photo below is me and my father taken on 1989. It was my only drivable Classic for ten years. Over time I ended up with a dozen 31 355A's. Fun cars. At last count, there are 6 or 7 known....and the subject car would add one more to the list. Sold mine about 15 years ago to Europe. Who ever buys this project, reach out to me, as I still have ALL my spare parts. Ed
Whoever is thinking of buying this project car would be way better off talking to Ed about his old car, fly to Europe with fists full of money buy Ed’s car no matter what the price, ship home and I think you would come out ahead by leaving this one in Nevada😃
-
1
-
1
-
-
If you are not a member of the Toronado club, I would suggest you join as they have a lot of active members, especially gen 1 cars, 1966-1970.
i have a 1968 and if I let it sit for more than a few weeks it will leak transmission fluid. I just have to remember to drive it more often
-
1
-
-
How do you value something made out of unobtanium , first I would not ship them in one box, I know some might say that it’s harder to get lost when it is large and heavy.
i would insure each item for no less than $1,000 each. I have also heard that some carriers want you to buy insurance, but when there is a loss they put up a fight rather than pay, hopefully someone on here can give you some advice from past experience.
-
1
-
-
Most of my early cars and trucks used the system you described, some of my antique tractors also used the rubber disc between radiator and frame, but then they also used extra long bolts, which had short springs that allowed the radiator to compensate for vibration. If I recall correctly the bolts were cross drill for cotter key, that way you would put tension of spring but would not collapse it.
you really don’t see a lot of fancy mounting systems on radiators on cars until the mid to late thirties. Possibly for a couple of reasons, aerodynamics came into play and most cars did away with a functional external radiator shell, in my opinion the other reason was the manufacturer’s went to the thin brass upper and lower radiator tanks which crack if flexed to much,
-
1
-
clutch. I am now approaching 500 hours along with $7,500 in parts and this is without finding any ugly surprises. Could I have spent less time and money, probably, but do I want to take the grandkids out in a 6,000 pound car at 60 mph with brakes that probably have not been apart since the Kennedy administration. The good news is that I still love the car, probably because when it came apart all major systems were not screwed up with a sabotage hack job. Knock on wood the classic car gods have been kind to me, this time!
1927 Lincoln Dietrich Convertible Coupe
in "Not Mine" Automobiles For Sale
Posted
Well it did not start out that way. When I test drove it I felt it handled pretty good, 25 year old tires with 90% tread and no side wear, we were able to put it up on a rack and we had a lot of king pin wear especially on the drivers side. Once I took delivery came the tear down, that’s when we saw the decomposing rubber. We decided to take care of all , luckily I had some of the rubber in stock, however when I added up front and rear rubber for stabilizers, shocks, engine mounts it all lists for $3,000.00, we are just lucky that it is available but still it do add up