lump

The other house, right side of the photo, seems to have a vertical line by it also...maybe another antenna?

Of course, the car I owned is not quite like the one in the photo, with that distinctive radiator shape. But the diamond-shaped emblem is right on.

The shape of the emblem is also just like a Grant Six. I once owned a 1921 Grant Six, and ended up with several NOS Grant emblems.

Well, at least I feel a bit better about not being able to ID this light myself. Doesn't anyone have a clue on it?

This interesting old tail lamp assembly showed up at a local flea market recently. It is very large, and appears to be for the left rear fender. The housing is cast aluminum or zinc, and features the letters "GMC" on the bottom, along with a 6-digit number, which is "058647." I ASSUME it is for a large truck or bus, from the late 1930's or somewhere in the 1940's, due to the large size and shape. (I put my hands in the photo to give you a size reference.) I also ASSUME it is for a GMC vehicle, for obvious reasons. But a Google search of the number yielded nothing, and I can find no lamps like this in photos of GMC vehicles (so far). It looks like it would take a lens of about 4.25 inches. Overall length is nearly 8 inches. Any ideas?

That's GREAT advice, Trimacar! I really want to do this upholstery project right, so it will last longer than I will.

Hello again, Jack. We've talked before. I'm the guy who runs the CARS & PARTS SPRINGFIELD SWAP MEET & CAR SHOW. My parents, Bill and Pat Wirth, used to own both of Don Roetman's Hupp sedans, before he bought them. How have you been? Are you coming to the fall swap meet, September 9, 10, & 11? If so, look me up. I'll be busy until about 1 pm or so on Saturday, but will then have plenty of time to chat.

Here is a photo of my brand new stainless steel gas tank, which looks exactly like the old, original steel tank (which I simply could not stop from rusting again and again). The second photo is of the original tank next to the new stainless steel unit, before the new filler nozzle and gas gauge/pick-up-line-tube were fabricated and installed. I was pleased to find out that stainless steel can be painted these days. But regardless of whether I could keep it in the original black finish or not, I was determined to replace that rusted steel tank with something that would NEVER rust. LOL.

Now I'm going to have to go to work to clean, repair, and restore the appearance of our old friend. Much of the maroon paint was put on before WWII, and the rest of the maroon paint was applied in 1971. The black paint was also put on in 71 or so. But all of it is now badly cracked, chipping away, and even polished through in some places. The old nickel and chrome plating has lots of grime, and microscopic pits are starting. The worst area is the upholstery. Believe it or not, this car still has its original leather seats and imitation leather door and side panels. The door panels are fine, but the black long-grain leather in the seats has finally grown TOO old. It's disintegrating everywhere. The "battleship gray" linoleum running board covers is shrunken and cracked horribly. Does anyone know if that is the "correct" material to use for running board covers for this Model R touring? Or maybe more importantly, is there any material that might hold up better under foot traffic? I will have the seats re-upholstered this winter, but I'm having mixed feelings about painting it. right now, I don't have to worry when the kids or a well-meaning neighbor put their hands on the paint, or lean against a fender. Will it be as much fun if it has gorgeous new paint? I do need to replace all five tires. The two front tires and my spare are GEHRIG tires, which my parents bought in 1963. I replaced two of them with Lester tires from Universal Tire about 25 years ago, but they are showing signs of dry-rot everywhere. So before I get it up to highway speeds, all 5 tires, tubes, and flaps will have to be replaced. By the way, light red spots on the side of the car in the photo below are just spots of sunlight coming through the trees.

Well, after many years of letting my poor old 1923 Hupp touring sit in the garage, I FINALLY got it running again this past weekend. I had NO IDEA how badly I have missed it. It's been sidelined with chronic rust-in-the-fuel system problems for decades, but some friends and I solved that problem forever, at last! Once I was sure it really running reliablly enough again this weekend, I opened the garage door and surprised the grandkids, and immediately took them for several rides around the neighborhood. They squealed and giggled and waved to everyone in my old neighborhood, while pleading for a chance to honk the oogah horn. My face actually got sore from smiling so much. I've traveled hundreds of happy miles in the Hupp, since my parents first bought it in 1962. Who knew it had so much more joy to give this new generation of my family?

These days, so many car collectors are enjoying old cars in a state of "patina." In other words, they don't restore and repaint the car, but just fix it mechanically, and drive it around to enjoy. My buddy Corky Coker has a neat old Mitchell touring car with ancient cracked paint and various other flaws, yet he hops in it and drives it all over Chattanooga at the drop of a hat. I have a 23 Hupp touring in similar condition. My point is that, after you have fixed the roof and any other absolutely-necessary repairs, and have it in safe, reliable mechanical condition, you might have a lot of fun just driving it to the grocery now and then, and sitting your grandkids on the fenders for cool photos, etc. Just a thought....

I agree with checking the easiest things first. Whenever I have had to deal with hard-start vehicles in the past, the FIRST thing i would do is charge the battery and have it checked. If it proved anything less than FABULOUS condition, with plenty of Cold Cranking Amps, etc, I simply got a new, powerful battery. Then I would clean all cable connections, and inspect all cables for size and condition, and replace anything that was suspect. In my thinking, all of these things are just darn good insurance with any old car anyway, so why not do them first? Then, if nothing is changed, each of your further tests will be more certain, as you will be less likely to be confused by having more than one problem in the system at the same time. Good luck!

I'm certainly no expert on metallurgy, but won't the dissimilar metals of aluminum and steel set up a galvanic corrosion effect? When I was a sheet metal construction worker, we were careful to use only copper nails or rivets on copper roofs, aluminum pop rivets on aluminum fittings, etc. We were warned about "electrolytic corrosion." But that was just me doing what I was told at the time. I have read about Navy ships that were fitted with steel and aluminum parts touching each other, which experienced extreme corrosion. In researching this question for my own benefit a minute ago, I found answers on Wikipedia and all over google. Apparently the more "noble" metal (in your case, aluminum) will act as an "anode" and be corroded more aggressively, while actually protecting the steel wire. But eventually the steel wire may start rusting REALLY fast. Anyway, you may already know all about this, and have some plan for keeping the aluminum from directly contacting each other. I am just bringing up the question, in case it might help you.

Anyone have advice on any particular brand or model of 6 volt fuel pump which produces very low fuel pressure?

Good advice, Trimacar. Since I was a child, my family has always carried a good fire extinquisher in our old Hupp. I don't recall how the pump my dad installed was wired, but I plan to wire this one so that it will only have voltage when the engine is running, I spent a lot of years hot rodding in muscle cars (before they were collectible), and knew of cases in which cars (and people) burned up when electric fuel pumps kept pumping fuel after an accident.

The guy in the photo above is my very good friend and famous old-time drag racing icon, Paul Frost. He campaigned Willys gassers all over the USA in the 60's, and later was crew chief for Billy-the-Kid Stepp Super Stock drag cars, among others. I love this guy. I used be a sheet metal worker, and I knew I could make this shape of gas tank easily, if I still had access to equipment. But an old friend who still is an active tin bender offered to make the tank for me, complete with original style seams on the end caps, baffles inside, and thick-gauge reinforcements where threaded fittings will go. Paul Frost then took the tank and machined fill-neck and gas-gauge necks with proper threads, etc. He also restored the original zinc diecast fuel gauge/fuel-pickup assembly. I'll show photos of that later. So now I need to supply him with a new 6 volt electric fuel pump and a pressure regulator, which combined will deliver really light fuel pressure at my M-1 Stromberg. I am really looking forward to any advice you experts can offer. Thanks!

Hello, guys. I love reading all the fantastic technical info which so many experts offer us all here on the AACA technical forum. For MANY years I have owned a 1923 Hupmobile Model R, 4 cylinder touring car. It's been driven all over the midwest, since about 1962. YEARS ago my dad replaced the old vacuum canister fuel pump with a 6 volt electric pump, which proved much more reliable. Recently I got tired of fighting the rusty gas tank. I've tried everything, and finally just let the car set for several years. Finally I got a brand new stainless steel tank made in the exact same size and shape of the original one. But now, with the new tank in place, I found that the old electric fuel pump was shot. As I prepare to buy a new one, I wonder if any of you can make good recommendations of specific brands/models? In the past I have had trouble with the fuel pump overpowering the needle/float inside the old brass updraft Stromberg M-1 carburetor, and finally found a pump with a built-in fuel pressure regulator. I'm sure I'll need to do that again too. What brand/style of pressure regulator do you guys use? How much pressure do you think is about right for this application?

Hello again, West. It was great to see you last weekend at the swap meet. No matter which Buick this is, I feel sorry for the left rear door, which that full-size male is sitting upon! Ouch.

I went to an estate sale last year and picked up some older auto parts. Many items from from an MGB, but a few parts were early-60's Chevrolet. These seat tracks were near some MG parts, and since they were not very long, I ASSUMED they were MG. But when I looked up photos of MG tracks, they aren't even close. Does anyone recognize them? They are 16.5" inches long (center of front bolt-hole to center of rear bolt-hole), and roughly 4.5" tall. I left them wired together as pairs for the photos.

Hey, just realized I had not replied with more photos as promised. Let me add a few now, for your enjoyment. These are all from Nov 13th & 14th, 2015, Springfield, Ohio I will add some more photos, after I get them resized and uploaded to Pbucket. Or maybe I should just start a new thread? Your thoughts?

Yeah, I'm pretty sure you're right on that, Rags. It isn't like any of the Muncie shifters I have had, including a few which are still lying around here somewhere. Thanks for the reply. And MERRY CHRISTMAS to everyone on the HAMB.

Thanks so much for the input, everyone.

Hello again, oh Vintage Automotive Guru's! Have I mentioned that I LOVE this ID forum? We all have old unidentified parts and accessories lying around, and we hate to discard them, knowing that someone somewhere would desperately need them for a restoration project. I try to offer answers when I can, but usually I am too late; someone beats me to it with the correct answer. Anyway, here I go again! I have kept this old multi-piece linkage around for a long time. It reminds me of the throttle linkage on my 1923 Hupp Model R, but is distinctly different. Does anyone recognize this linkage? All three extremities are curved at the end, with a lug for attaching other linkage ends, I assume. All three arms of this linkage set pivot in the center: One arm has an adjuster in the middle: Ok, car guys and gals. Any ideas on this one? I realize it could be throttle linkage for an antique car...or just part of an old tractor, mower, or...whatever. But until I know what it belongs too, I can't bring myself to get rid of it. PLEASE HELP ME CLEAR IT OUT OF MY GARAGE. lol

That marking is not "S6," but rather "SS." I took it to a local swap meet over the weekend, No one seemed to recognize it.

When I closed up my vendor booth at the end of the day, I drove out through the car corral area. Shoppers were gone by then, so I got a clean view of this one aisle. But the sinking sun was in my face, so the photo isn't very good. I'll try to take more photos to share tomorrow.