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I'll never be able to choose just one, or to decide which was my "best." But here is an interesting one: About 20 years ago I bought a hunting property WAY out in the sticks of extreme southern Ohio, with several old cabins and barns on it. The aging owners had been "back-to-nature" survivalists since the 1950's. They told me stories of riding around on old motorcycles, husband and wife, on those pot-holed rough old dirt roads back when that was the only transportation they had. ANYWAY, one day I was poking around in the crawl space under one of the rougher cabins, when I spied HALF of a flathead Ford V8 intake manifold. I wondered why someone would cut it in two, so I started digging it out of the packed mud under the cabin. It came slowly, and I soon realized it was attached to a rough-sawn board, about 3 feet long. As I continued to pull, I found that there were wires attached. After digging them out of the dirt, I finally realized what it was! The old guy had made himself a battery charger, by fastening the intake section to a board, and mounting a Ford generator on it. Then he had added an old electric motor from some old appliance. The belt was still lying there... He must have plugged in the electric motor, which spun the generator, which charged a battery! But two smaller wires attached to it had their other ends still buried in the mud. I kept digging and pulling until a dash gauge popped out. I wiped away the hardened mud, until I could eventually read the logo...it was Harley Davidson! After washing away the dirt and drying the gauge, I tested it with a six volt battery, and it WORKED! The glass lens was gone, there were cracks in the housing, and the needle was bent...but it worked! I researched it for several days, before I finally learned that the gauge belonged to a 1929 Harley Davidson "VL" model. It brought several hundred dollars on eBay. You never know what you'll dig up from the mud!!

Gary, You'll quickly find that backing a trailer like this, with a longer distance from the hitch to the trailer axles, is a piece of cake. There are many techniques, tips, and strategies offered out there, but after many, many years of using such trailers constantly, my most important suggestion is that you should back it slowly. Having a few extra seconds to correct things when it gets slightly out of kilter makes you look like a seasoned pro. Backing a very SHORT trailer, on the other hand, can be really tough since they change direction so incredibly fast. Good luck to you!!

I have oil filter cross references in my parts catalog library. I'll check for you tomorrow. By the way, is the filter inside that box a "canister-style" filter? (that would mean that it has lots of holes around the shell, and is designed to be put inside a steel canister.

NIck, I have thousands of old automotive light bulbs myself, and I have the catalogs that came with them. I used to sell them each year at Hershey. To help you ID them, I'll need the numbers which are stenciled on the sides. IF by chance those numbers are missing, you need to supply info like, how many lead contacts on the bottom of the base of the bulb, whether it is marked as "6 volt" or not, and if the box or a stamp on the glass of the bulb tells the candle power. One important footnote: If you find any old light bulbs with THREE lead contacts on the bottom, instead of the usual one or two, carefully set those bulbs aside and pack them carefully to prevent damage. Those old 3-contact bulbs were used ONLY in certain 1933 Packards and Cadillacs (I think Caddy is right. it's been a long time since I had one.) Those bulbs are rare and valuable.

Hupp36, I do have the cracked manifold, and would like to get a replacement. Send me a pm, or email me at: wirth4@aol.com, please.

I love these really-old cars, for sure, and I have been around them for as long as I can remember. Indeed, I was riding around in my parents' antique cars at least as early as 1957. In respect to my life experience, I actually agree with JV Puleo when he said "...practically no one was collecting old cars." COMPARATIVELY speaking, that is actually true! Certainly there were some clubs and restorers then, but NOTHING like it became 25 or 30 years later. In the late 1950's and early 1960's when we gathered at a shopping center prior to heading out on an AACA tour, people looked at us like we were total weirdo's. MOST people seemed to see old cars as "mildly interesting oddities," worth only a passing glance. MOST people then called our cars, "Jalopies" and "Flivvers," and asked questions like, "What do you even DO with that thing? Surely you don't drive it on the ROAD??!" I recall people honking and shouting angrily when they could finally pass our slower-moving cars on tour, yelling things like,"Get that thing off the road!" etc. I distinctly recall going to demolition derbies and other events where cars were smashed up, when Model A's, Dodges, and other cars of the 1920's were destroyed wantonly. We collectors were a tiny, almost infinitesimal percentage of the population. I recall my parents groaning and wailing when they saw beautiful antique cars smashed in tv shows and movies, but MOST people couldn't care less back then.

The Nash in the 1920's was a well-built, solid mid-sized car. It was similar to several other cars of that time like my own Hupmobile, some Studebakers, Chryslers, and certain Hudson models. I tend to think of these middle-of-the pack cars as being bigger, heavier, and higher-priced than "light" cars like the Model T Ford, Chevrolet, Whippet, Star, etc, but smaller, cheaper, and lighter than the more-famous big cars of the time, like Packard, Cadillac, Lincoln, Pierce Arrow, Locomobile, Peerless, Franklin, etc.

Sherlock Holmes said that "Deduction," was one of his tools for finding the answer to a mystery. He figured out what the mystery clue WASN'T, eventually leaving only the correct answer in his mind. To that end, I can tell you that it definitely is different than my '23 Hupp touring. Top edges of my doors are smooth and radiused. No raised edges on the surface either. You probably already knew that, but I offer this on the small chance that it may help.

More pix:

More photos to help you ID this window assy:

I was at an estate auction with about 75 collector vehicles and many tons of parts in Michigan recently, hoping to find some used original parts for my 1970 SS 454 Chevelle project. It was massive, and by the end of the day, most bidders were out of money and hauling-space on their trailers, and just plain exhausted. I was able to buy some items at good prices then. But several times I had to buy a "package deal" to get the piece I wanted. So I came home with a bunch of "bonus" material. One such item was an upper tailgate section from a 1950s station wagon. It reminded me of a Ford wagon, so I searched for photos online. Sure enough, it seems to be a match to upper tailgates I found on photos of 1953-55 Ford wagons. But in order for me to match this uncommonly nice piece with someone who needs it, I need to be certain of the application. Can you help? I noted that the chrome latch seems to match perfectly. but the stainless trim on the perimeter has squared corners on my gate, and I only found a photo like that on a 1955 wagon photo. Yet I'm not sure. The die-cast chrome latch handle has a cast number inside, which I think is BN 59434 04A.

By the way, the raccoon coats are all gone now, but I still have that old bearskin coat my dad was wearing in that photo above. It was bought in the early 1960's from an elderly lady, whose husband had worn it when they drove their open car in the winter "back in the day." I'll bet it's nearly a hundred years old now...but it's gotten pretty stiff over the years.

We became pretty adept at installing those curtains in a hurry; my parents didn't let rain keep them away from our monthly tours of the Southern Ohio Chapter of the AACA. But my dad always insisted on installing the components with the chrome-plate steel support rods himself. These rods were inserted into holes in the tops of the painted body panels. (He was determined to avoid scratches in the paint.) Years later, after I had lost my parents in a tragic car crash, I was taking my own little family on an AACA tour when a heavy rainstorm struck suddenly. I raced to the Hupp and was installing the curtains, when a well-seasoned car collector and talented restorer who was a close friend of my parents came running up to help me. In his haste, the steel rod slipped and made a big scratch in the paint. He felt terrible about it, but it couldn't be helped. The car still bears that scratch today, and reminds me of that fine gentleman and his lifetime of friendship to our family. My job as the skinny young kid (at about the time when this photo was taken), was to work from the inside, snapping the smaller panels along the edge of the top which would seal against the door curtains. When it was raining hard, I would scramble over the seats, etc, and get that done quickly! I would guess we could install those curtains in 2 or 3 minutes at most.

When my parents replaced the factory-original top on our 1923 Hupmobile touring car in 1963, they also had new side curtains made, using the stiff and yellowed originals as patterns. I still have that top and those side curtains. I don't recall ever feeling like the side curtains impaired the driver's vision. The driver's door curtain has a flap-covered opening, so the driver can use his left arm to signal a turn, and there is a notch in that same curtain to match the rear view mirror which is attached to left side windshield post. Our young family sometimes got the Hupp out for a drive in March or April, often during very cool weather. We had a bunch of fur coats to wear both as costumes, and for warmth. Attached here is a photo from about 1965 or 66, when we drove it on a visit to some friends' house, and it began to snow. Our friends observed that we were crazy indeed, and took our family photo in front of the car in our fur coats. You can see the side curtains in this photo, which were still quite clear.

GM Supercession Catalogs are great tools for finding applications like this. I have some of them on a shelf somewhere in my library of parts books.

Hey, great info. Thank you to both of you guys! Right this minute I am producing my fall swap meet (CARS & PARTS SWAP MEET & CAR SHOW, Spfld, OH). I drove the Hupp in and out of my enclosed trailer, hauling it up to the fairgrounds. It was SO good to hear it fire right up again, and drive itself with no problems. ( The Amish craftsman who did such a beautiful job replacing the original leather upholstery is going to be there on Saturday to show my "before" upholstery along with the finished interior in my car. He was kind enough to store it for me over the winter months (when I had a shortage of space), so I offered to give him a free vendor space and to use my car as a prop. I hope it will work well for him.

Ok, got the Hupp back from the upholsterer, and finally running again. I'm adding this post to help remind me to get back to this issue. My clutch works fine, and has no unwanted noise whenever I put even light pressure on the clutch pedal. But when the clutch is fully engaged and my foot is not on the pedal, that rattle returns. I guess I'll need to find an exploded view with part names included, so I can start seeking the parts which must be to blame for my problem.

I hope you all won't mind if I bump this again. Please help if you can.

Beautiful. Love to see young people showing an interest in THE hobby. It's very cool that "Artificer Tom" didn't correct the young man about his "Plymouth" which was naturally a Chrysler, or the fact that the 392 Hemi engine didn't debut until 1957, and ended after 1958. WELCOME, young man. Nice car!!

And here is the second one I could not ID. Any ideas?

Hello. Found an auction promo featuring quite a few cars, apparently being dragged out of barns after decades of storage. There are a couple I can't ID for sure. Can you help? Here is the first one:

There have been a lot of nice old cars converted to hot rods with late model drive trains over the years. This situation has created some availability for good stock original drive train components for those of us who may need them. But many of these hot rodders run in different circles from restorers, and so they sometimes have trouble finding buyers for the mechanical parts they remove from their projects. I suggest joining the HAMB (Hokey Ass Message Board) on Jalopy Journal website, and posting a "wanted" message there. You might find a very good condition engine, or even an entire drive train for a very reasonable fee. Good hunting!

I was a sheet metal worker in local 224 in Dayton, Ohio years ago, and before that a young automotive mechanic. I found that there were good, highly skilled and conscientious craftsman in both trades...and others who were not so much. But there ARE tin knockers who can do a great job for you. That stainless steel tank I showed in photos above was built by two different talented and skilled craftsmen. It is virtually identical in appearance to the original tank, and is AT LEAST equal in quality (better, actually, since it is made from 18 gauge stainless steel). Bernie is right; you must be careful whom you choose to fabricate a new tank for you. Morevoer, if it's done correctly, it won't be cheap. I believe it's always wise to check into companies like Tanks, Inc, to see if they have anything already existing which might work in your application.

Thanks, Grimy! I feel better now. At least there was some basis for that foggy old memory of mine!

Awesome video. Thanks for that.