jimy

The link below is my method of adapting new plain hubcaps to my 1935 second series KCL. They are not correct but they do look good going down the road. And pretty cheap. https://forums.aaca.org/topic/284137-artillery-wheel-hubcap/?do=findComment&comment=1533910

Yes, he still lives near Binghamton.

I bought two $50 cars in my youth. First one was a 1968 VW Beetle. It was a little beat up but not bad. It ran fine (although it had that VW semiautomatic transmission). I did some bodywork and had a neighbor spray the paint. Then I got seat covers and a few other things from the mighty JC Whitney catalog. It looked pretty good and I sold it for a bit of profit. The first car I put on the road was a 1975 Saab 99. Good for a few years until the transmission shaft broke. So I drove around the back roads and spotted another 99 in someone’s yard. I got that for $50 as well. It wouldn’t go into reverse, but I just needed to solder an end on the cable that let you put it in reverse. I drove that car for several years. Then I did a dumb thing. I did bodywork and then painted it. Soon after that 2nd gear went out. Not a big problem for a cheap kid. Then 3rd gear went out. Well, the jump from first to fourth was too much so it was done. If you know how the old Saab transmissions were below the engine, you would understand why I didn’t fix either Saab.

Definitely go to a small town DMV. I have gotten registrations for pre-title vehicles in NY. I’ve also probably gotten lucky. I was able to register my 1935 Dodge pickup with a rubbing of the block number. I also had a registration from the 40’s from when it was last on the road. Since then I found the actual VIN and should register it again with that. I also registered several 60’s motorcycles by filling out a “lost registration” form. I made up a name and state (NOT my state) for a fictitious previous owner and that worked. Both of those motorcycles had been off the road for decades. Another time, the DMV person asked how long I have had the motorcycle. I said two years. She the said “then it is obviously yours!” I’m not really recommending anyone do what I did. Jim

Thanks, that must be it. I did do a small project a few years back with super strut, but I only used the nut inserts. So this must have been something I found along the road.

This isn’t particularly old, but I’ve forgotten what it was or perhaps I never knew. It is about an inch long. Any ideas?

I didn’t realize any cars other than Chrysler had a push button transmission. What other cars had that? And which was first?

Glad to hear it running. I wonder if the longer hose could have suctioned itself to the bottom of the can?

Our town provides a dumpster for metal recycling at the town barn. I’ve dropped lots of scrap there and always take a look at what is in the dumpster and what is next to the dumpster. The good stuff is often left next to the dumpster. I grabbed this vintage hand truck several months ago from next to the dumpster. I think it is really cool. But now I have three hand trucks and I’m not sure I need any!

My first car that made it to the road was a 1964 Plymouth Valiant convertible. nice running car but it was rusty. that was $250 I. About 1980. Found a 68 VW bug that I repainted and refurbished with the JC Whitney products. I believe I paid $50 for the VW and sold it for about $700. I also found a 75 Saab 99 sitting by a house and got it for $70. Put in a new head gasket and fixed the shifter. I drove it for several years. Towards the end I decided to repaint it - dumb idea. I lost second gear just after that. No big deal but third gear went out a month later. A bit awkward with just 1st and 4th! I had no interest in putting in a new transmission - those Saabs had the transmission underneath the engine.

The seat you want would have come out for the second series 1935. This had the new, bigger cab without suicide doors. if you find two I will take the other! I have a much newer seat in mine and it is a bit big for the cab. I don’t know when the seat changed after that. It could have stayed the same for that cab style or changed in later years. I don’t even know how the correct seat back would attach to the cab. jim

Given that it is no longer stolen I would suggest you may want to stop using that word. That could confuse or stress out the current owner and reduce your chance of talking to him.

Those old sleds are fun. My buddy had 10 plus snowmobiles. We would start the day on the oldies staying fairy close to home. So much fun with the throttle pegged, tail out, and leaning to the inside. The new ones are amazing but I had more fun on the oldies - lots of entertainment for little money and you only needed a couple acres. Also better for exploring off trail since they were light. Jim

Our 2022 Subaru has way too many buttons. Many are for the automatic safety options - fortunately they aren’t too terribly obtrusive so we don’t mess with them. I would VERY much appreciate being able to put the the car into a special mode where I could push any button and have its function/options displayed on the flat screen display. Obviously not while driving and likely not with the car running. jim

I haven’t seen much of this on other forums lately. I know some forum software requires a moderator to “approve” new member submissions. Is that possible here?

Was the Monza the same platform as the Vega? I seem to remember that. Jim

I had a nice 50 mile ride in my 35 Dodge KCL pickup on Friday.

I drove my truck about 50 miles on Friday. Had a great time and if worked well. After I got home I noticed a puddle of oil under each shock. One had about a cup of oil and the other perhaps 1/4 cup. I haven’t noticed them leaking in the past. The only notable event was hitting one speed bump in a park. Not a huge hit, but enough to make me feel a little bad about it. This happened in the middle of the drive. These are lever shocks and I assume they can be rebuilt? I’m guessing they were just cleaned and painted during restoration. Could they have been overfilled? Any advice to who could rebuild them or could I get a kit and do it myself? Jim

I finally got the courage to shorten the tie rod. A friend did an over the phone guess of 1/4" off each side. I believe it will do the trick. With the ends screwed all the way onto the tie rod, it is sitting at about 1/8" toe out. I don't think I will have to turn the rod much to get it correct (waiting for my wife to hold the other end of the tape measure). With the tie rod off I can't feel any sort of tight spot near the center. The truck has an appointment for inspection on Tuesday - I'll do some more fiddling in the meantime, but I don't think the remaining issues will affect the inspection results so getting it legal is my first priority. I also ordered some corn head grease from Amazon. ALSO - is there anything I need to do to "position" the tie rod ends when I tighten them against their threads with the pinch bolts? Maybe manually move the wheels to set them or just watch for any binding? thanks, Jim

First - I really appreciate all the great info here. Hopefully this will be helpful to others in the future. I think I have the easier adjusting box as seen in the pic below?

So I Just looked over the steering. When i turn the wheel full to the right, the “stop screw” on the spindle stops the back of the tire about an inch from the leaf spring. there is NO stop on the left spindle. I do see a hole it should screw into. However, that side stops SOONER with about 3 inches away from the left leaf spring. That seems strange. is there an internal stop in the steering box? If so, Could the pitman arm have been moved to utilize it for a stop? ALSO - my toe-in measured the same with the tires on the ground. I'm not sure it could change other than play somewhere. Certainly a bit in the kingpins. two pics. One showing the stop on the right side and the other is what I assume is the pitman arm with the steering wheel centered as best I could.

thanks so much. I will remove the jack stands and measure it again. Jim

Thanks F&J. I did notice that my right tire will turn to about about an inch from the right front leaf spring but when I turn the wheel the other way it ends up about 3 inches from the left leaf spring. Is that related to your advice about the drag link adjustment?

So I haven’t gotten back to this but I do have another question. My toe-in measurement was with the front axle on jack stands and the wheels roughly pointed straight ahead. Is this correct/ok? I’m not real concerned if the steering wheel is perfectly centered. I do hope to redo the king pins at some point and then get a professional alignment. But the new tie rod ends should take care of 90% of the front end slop. thanks Jim

I don’t think anything is blocking it - but when I get it apart this weekend I will check. The NOS tie rod ends looked clean but perhaps there is some dried up grease in there.