46 woodie

Ever since LeBaron Bonney closed its doors the 66"Cobra Grain material is nowhere to be found. Restoration Specialties & Supply, www.restorationspecialties.com, 814-467-9842 has a roof material called "Smooth Grain Black" part number SMG-30 that is 80" wide that should work in your application. They will provide a sample if you ask for it.

John, It was a stupid high school prank that started with doing it to teachers car's but some students didn't stop at that. I haven't heard of it in a couple of years so I think the kid's have moved on.

John, the reason I brought that up was because a few years back, the big thing for kids in my area was to bend up license plates that weren't secured in all 4 corners. Just stupid kid pranks I guess.

Wait until some young punk's realize that by punching or kicking the plate will render it useless.

I think that the "25 Year Rule" need's to be looked at carefully. My issue isn't with certain car clubs using the 25 year rule, but with insurance companies, as others have pointed out. Some states use the rule as their standard for writing insurance policies. 25 years means any 1997 vehicle can obtain Historical license plates at a cost reduction and in some states bypass inspections. They can also get antique car insurance also at a cost reduction. To me a 1997 vehicle isn't an antique car, it's just an older car that is driven every day and the owner is skirting the law using Historical plates. A little off topic, but the National Street Rod Association also uses the 25 year rule. They offer free, 23 point inspections and if your car passes you get a decal stating that your car has passed. Some of the requirements, such as directionals, etc weren't available in the 30's, 40's and 50's so those cars must comply to the standards. Well, I see cars that were built in the '70's, '80's and '90's that have all the 23 requirements that came from the factory with a Safety 23 Decal affixed to their windshield, how fair is that.

Restoration Supply Co. www.restorationstuff.com might have what you need. They have a great catalog if you can get one. I know they have the leather handles and loops and several variety of latches.

Just a reminder for all of us that live in colder climates, to remove the Detail Bag from your car. Many of the items we use to detail our car's will freeze, ask me how I know.

If you scrool down to the "Other Vehicle Categories" and log onto the National Woodie Club site, there is an antique roof rack for sale that you might be able to adapt to your vehicle. I tend to agree with billorn about surfboards on Station Wagons. They might look cool on '40s and early '50 "Woodies" but on Model A's, no. I will never put a surfboard on my '46.

The roof rack's for Model A Station Wagons that I have seen, are all custom made, since the roof of the Model a Wagon is flat, it is a pretty easy job to fabricate one. Many of the rack's that I have seen utilize some the top bolt holes with a longer bolt and a spacer to clear the top welting. If you can get a copy of the October 2021 issue of the Woodie Times, there is an article on page 22 about the fabrication of a roof rack on a 1937 Dodge Wagon. The article utilizes the rain gutters on this car but the 1929 Station wagon does not have rain gutters, hence using the longer top bolts as an anchor. What ever you decide, do not drill any holes in the wood, you will regret it.

I saw several sign's at Hershey selling Titles and all said "for historical and title collectors only". This subject has been kicked around before and while it's illegal to use a purchased a title and re-stamp your car with the titles numbers, some have said it was their only recourse. Some states are impossible to register a car with out the title and if you have spent many thousands to restore or hot rod your vehicle, it leaves you no choice. Always get the proper paperwork for your automobile purchases and know from you local DMV what is required for registering the car. I for one would never purchase a car without the proper paperwork. One famous hot rod builder that has since passed away, got into serious trouble because the California DMV gave him so much trouble getting legal paperwork for the car's he built. He simply went out and purchased titles and got caught.

First timer, be sure to check out the Race Car Condition Run held in the stadium Thursday at 10:30 AM. All the race cars entered in the judging make several laps around the track.

In 1980 we were walking the aisles at HERSHEY and my wife and 8 year old son stopped to look at something. I continued walking and stopped at the end of the aisle. After a while I saw them walking down the aisle carrying a huge cardboard box full of baseball card's. The guy wanted $25 bucks for the box but my son offered $20 and the guy took it. Well, that box had thousands of cards, including 17 Mantle, 12 Maris, 8 Mays, 13 Berra, 13 Koufax and 18 Pete Rose rookie cards, I could go on and on. At last count he had sold $2250 worth of cards. Great return on investment for $20. That indeed is a winning story!

Bob Drake, www.bobdrake.com, 800-221-3673 sells one kit that I know of part number 40-46105/6-SDL., for $65.00.

I hope the Bricker's, french fry people and the pierogi vendors are back.

edinmas, I remember the yellow field when it was a "Mud Bog" and all sorts of vehicles were sunk up to their axles. They never used the yellow field again for parking. Someone said that there were natural springs from the Swatara Creek in the field, making it swampy all the time. I miss the field's and the mud, I remember going back to our hotel with mud up to are knees. The black top is very hard on my feet and knee's.

This will be our 54th HERSHEY and have seen it all regarding weather. I have on my garage wall, a framed weather map from the USA Today newspaper, that was published on October 11th 2013. The entire east coast was clear and beautiful except for a dime sized area over Harrisburg/Hershey showing torrential rain. It set a record of 9.5 inches of rain in two days. HERSHEY has it's own weather systems! We take everything from T-shirts and shorts to heavy jackets and of course rain gear.

Sorry to hear about Chris Ritters passing. Isn't there a local Model A Club in the area. I'm sure if someone places a call to the Club you can get someone to help start the car.

When you say it will not start are you saying that the car is totally dead or will it turn over? If it turns over as pkhammer points out, Model A's have gravity feed and the fuel line can get plugged from rust or other, (gas tank sealer) debris. Are you getting spark to the point's? Easy enough to test. Point gap should be .018 to .022. I'm assuming Chris knows the starting procedure for a Model A. The "pop out switch" must be pushed in after the key is turned off, to shut off the engine. If the switch was not locked when he shut the car off the circuit remains hot and he might have cooked the coil or the hot wire to the coil. Keep us informed. I would love to help, but I'm not arriving in HERSHEY until Tuesday.

Remember, your car is fabricated from wood, and wood swells and shrinks according to the weather conditions.. It's possible your door could have shrunk a little causing the pin not to engage. For example in 2010 we drove our '46 Ford Woodie from Long Island, New York to Wavecrest in CA and back to NY. The last two days we drove home in rain from Chicago to NY and I couldn't open my drivers side rear door for a week after we got home. The Street Rod safety lock for suicide doors comes in two style's one manual and one electric. The drawback with both is that if you ever get in an accident and are unconscious the door can not be opened from the outside. I have see electric lock's that have been modified electrically to open when the engine is shut off. Just do your homework if you install the safety yourself.

It sounds like he was going to install the Street Rod kit, but did not for some reason. That will cure your problems.

Another thought is that if you unscrew the pin, check and see how long the threads are. If they are long enough, you might be able to place a few washers between the flange and the body.

Looking closely at your pictures, it looks like the pin might be too short. The top photo shows the latch assembly that looks like an inch or so back from the edge of the door and the pin looks like it is close to that. The second photo shows what looks like marks, very near the end, so it might be too short. I would take some layout blueing and put it on the pin to see where the latch and the pin meet. Any good machine shop can fabricate a longer pin. Perhaps the door was fabricated just a tad too short causing your problem.

Street Rod suppliers sell a locking kit specifically designed for '33-'34 Ford's with suicide doors. If there is enough flex in your body the door's can pop open. Perhaps all you need is an adjustment of your hinges but I would like something that offers me peace of mind when driving my car. I saw a fiberglass, Gibbons Body, 1934 Ford coupe, street rod that had a door open at 70 MPH and the entire car from the door back was totaled. With a Woodie, I would make sure that door is secure before driving it, if the hinges are screwed into wood as in the Gibbons body you can do a lot of damage.

There is always a tool vendor on the north side of the bridge from the Chocolate Field to the Green Field. He might have what you are looking for.

Yes, the NWC will be located on the Chocolate Field, spaces C2E, 36-38.