wayne sheldon

Do you sing "In My Merry Oldsmobile" while driving your merry Oldsmobile?

I wonder how well it rides on those "all metal white wall tires"? Sorry. I have bitten my typing fingers a hundred times about things like that! I just HAD to let it out once.

A long time ago, I knew a couple people that had reflectors chrome plated because silvering was expensive and chrome wasn't. They looked great in the daylight. Lousy in the dark! (Poor reflective characteristics!) Personally, so far, all my antiques had (or I was able to get) reflectors that were nice enough to use the original (?) silvering. If needed in the future, I would probably go with the Uvira. For whatever it is worth to anyone. I pretty much agree with Flivverking on this. And David C (trimacar), I completely agree with your reasoning!

Actually, the first Chevrolets sold were fairly large six cylinder powerhouse touring cars! Followed I "think" by the "Royal Mail" roadster (a four cylinder fine machine) before they went really small in about 1915. An aside, That first six cylinder was a flathead engine! And if I recall correctly, the only Chevrolets for a very long time that did not have overhead valves. All that is off the top of my head. I think I have seen two of the early sixes in museums. I never knew anybody that had one. So I don't have any first hand knowledge of their performance.

The Ford "H" headlight lenses were introduced on the model T in late 1921, so would not be actually correct for a 1912 model T. However, IF they have been on it since the 1940s (?) they would be a big part of the car's history! If that is the case? Maybe the lenses should remain as a testimony to the car's past.

Those pre-fender headlamp Pierce Arrow big cars were quite impressive! I know a collector that has a few of those, including an early "Great Arrow" (1907 if I recall correctly?). He also has an early fenderlamp 1913 with the riveted headlamps (beautiful car!). Another longtime good friend bought a 1912 Pierce Arrow roadster some years ago that had a decent 1950s restoration in a not great color. The car was owned by a well known collector and famous on HCCA tours in the 1960s. The car was needing some attention, so they did a full re-restoration in a better color. Now it is really impressive!

Oh no. That is way too nice for my place! Way nicer than our main bathroom, and almost as big! Seriously, the bathroom here is a bit small, nice enough, just small.

Thank you Craig! I always enjoy your insights.

I keep threatening to put in an outhouse here! We get thirty to forty inches of rain most years where we live. We put up with the mud, wet leaves, cleaning the inside of the car and the carpets. The state keeps telling us WE have to cut back on OUR water usage because ninety percent of the people in the state live where they get fifteen inches or less rainfall! WE have almost no landscaping, I rarely wash my car. I do like clean clothes and dishes. About the only place left to cut back is to use a stinky outhouse to eliminate flushing.

Oh I hope whoever is taking on that Chevrolet can bring it all the way back to like new or better!

Forty years ago, I had a 1966 Chevrolet 1/2 ton pickup that was my daily driver and work truck (it was less than twenty years old at the time!). Twice, I had standard pickup drop center steel rims crack and split apart under the tire's bead. One, hidden on the inside rear, blew out while I was driving. The other, also hidden on the inside front, I made a U-turn and the suspension shifted just enough to allow the stretched out bead side to hit the A-frame on the front suspension during the turn. I pulled into a parking lot, crawled under and saw the bead stretched out about a half inch. I had a couple spare spares, and checked them only to find a third one cracked. I needed to buy a few more (garage sale time!), and sent three to the scrap yard. A nasty funny one I saw. I had parked in the lot at a shopping mall. Was putting a few tools from the back of the truck into the cab before going inside. Some poor woman walks by heading into the mall, gets to the next row of cars just as something explodes right next to her! She was startled out of her wits and I ran over to see if help was needed. Turned out, the bead on the wheel rim of a parked car chose that moment, just sitting, to break loose and blow out, while she walked by. I reassured her that it wasn't a bomb, and she, still shaken, went on into the mall.

John B, It makes me sick how out of hand this sort of thing has gotten. I know, a trailer is just "stuff"! Hey, insurance will compensate you you fatcat (intended snarky humor!). The problem is, that we ALL pay for it in our outrageous insurance premiums. My homeowner's insurance has nearly tripled in five years! Now I had better bite my (typing) fingers.

I have always believed that Studebaker in the 1950s was mostly ahead of their time. And they did have a solid foundation of longtime loyal customers. They always were leading innovators, in the 1910s one of the first mono-block sixes. One of the best mid-price performance cars during the 1920s. And I haven't personally confirmed it, but have read that more cars in the Indy 500 for several years early 1930s used Studebaker engines than any other engine builder (somebody please correct me if that is wrong?). Two of the best prewar tour cars I have had were earlier Studebakers. I love them! I wish that the company could have survived a lot longer. Historians can debate forever the causes for their demise. Those of us that appreciate history should enjoy the cars as we can. Although my primary interests in automobiles and history lean toward pre1930, I would love to have almost any year or model Studebaker ever built as long as it was decent looking and a good running car. I like petty much everything they built postwar up to 1957.

Now, THAT is funny!

Too many of these were butchered that way. I love seeing them in original or restored back to nearly like original condition! Bad photography aside, It looks like a very nice car!

People are funny things. I can find hundreds of era photos of 1911 through 1914 model T Fords upgraded to electric headlamps. After-market kits were sold with "modern" electric headlamps. And many more kits were also sold to electrify the gas headlamps (often easy to spot in photos showing the front of the car because the gas headlamps had small mirrors in them, while the electrifying kits needed a larger reflector). A lot of people were ready to embrace the new technologies. But there were some people, people that had been around gas or oil lamps all their lives, that were not ready to accept the new-fangled electric things! Ford factory did not authorize it in 1915 (according to a letter shared by a better researcher than I on another forum several years ago, and no, I don't have a copy of it), but some Ford dealers did trade the electric headlamps back for gas headlamps for customers that insisted.

And the picture that started this whole brouhaha. From the "What is it" thread.

Hey there DDave et al! Interesting timing. For those that missed it, we had considerable discussion on a "What is it" thread about the gas headlamps on 1915 model T Fords. That was what lead up to DDave starting this thread rather than continuing the drift under a heading where it would get lost. Link to hopefully find that thread for anyone interested. It got rather long, mostly because of me. (ME? WORDY? Can't be!) https://forums.aaca.org/topic/388259-maybe-a-ford-model-t/#comment-2458007 The car in question was an era photo of a 1915/'16 model T runabout (very similar to DDave's project). What was very unusual about the car was that it had gas headlamps on it! Now, this is a subject I have studied quite a bit. I have participated in dozens of discussions on model T forums about this, and traded emails with some of the best researchers on the subject. I have also closely looked at many hundreds of era photos of specifically 1915 and 1916 model Ts. I can say, with some authority, That the USA Ford factory did not generally produce 1915 model and style cars with acetylene gas headlamps! There is a caveat or two in that statement. There MAY have been a few sold to military and/or overseas use, and there MAY have been a very few out of Canada with gas lamps (although the evidence suggests even any Canadian such cars may have also been for military use?) In that thread, I went into greater detail, and explanations. I went into how rarely era photos can be found showing gas headlamps on 1915 and 1916 model Ts. Yes, I have seen several of them over the years. Very few of them. So, guess what showed up yesterday on the MTFCA forum? Mixed in a thread of maybe thirty era photographs, by a forum friend that has posted hundreds upon hundreds of era photographs over the past few years?

A lot of hobbyists back in the 1950s and 1960s, wanted an EARLY model T touring car. I think most 1912 touring cars for more than twenty years when they were being restored had the fore-doors left off! A very good friend of mine in 1970 had a beautifully restored (early step-side) 1912 touring car. Whoever had restored the car did a very nice job on everything, except the fore-doors which were left unrestored, and left off the car. I remember many discussions in those days saying that the "fore-doors" were optional, and therefore correctly could be left off the cars. Even in my youth, I doubted those statements. I was studying era photographs when I was in high school, and recognizing the year/model variations, had noticed no clearly 1912 T touring car without the fore-doors in era photographs! Part of the problem with our automotive history is that after World War two, most "history" was written from memory, and memory is sometimes faulty! Serious research was just beginning in those early days of the hobby. The Benson Ford Archive was opened up, thousands of totally unorganized boxes of records were dug through, sorted out, and real details found. And even some of those "records" were found to be incorrect! Records of changes were misdated after-the-fact, several changes in the records were found that actually never happened! Records needed to be compared with factory and other era photographs to verify many things. People still argue over numerous things, when was a change made? Was something printed in era sales literature actually done or not? (e.g. Wire wheels the only wheels standard on sedans in 1926 or 1927? It is in some of the sales literature and letters to dealers, however hundreds of era photographs, sales records listing otherwise, and intact surviving cars say it never happened!) Regardless, wonderful car! And so nice to have such hobby history with it.

Studebaker might have done better and survived longer if the other big three had copied them. For a lot of buyers, it was their uniqueness that turned the buyers off. If they had been copied, Studebaker might have been seen more as a leader than as an oddity. I love Pierce Arrow fender headlamps! As for other odd headlamp placements? How about Hupmobile from 1911 through 1914?

Thank you! About needing tires. Initial reports on the English Blockley tires has mostly been very positive! One current thread on the MTFCA forum about a Blockely failure turned out to be a rim cut due to a rusted sharp rim edge. No clincher tire held on by air pressure can survive a rim edge sharp as a knife! All other early reports have been very happy with both the tires and the service! I bought a bunch of innertubes from them earlier this past year. I have never been comfortable with long distance over-the-phone business transactions. dreaded the idea from the start. After figuring what I needed from their website, I phoned them, taking into consideration the time difference, and they made it easy from there onward. They helped me with the exchange rate, credit card dealings, and a minor address issue (their website didn't recognize our American addresses format). The innertubes were delivered to my door in less than a week! (From England!) The quality looked fantastic! (It has been a couple decades since I have seen a new innertube so well made!). All the reports about their tires that I have heard from people I know is the same. "Best they have seen in years!" Of course a final report won't be known until several people wear out a few sets of tires. But so far they seem really good. With recent exchange rate changes, our cost for Blockleys (I hear?) are now cheaper than the American Company Asian made tires.

Thank you Peter G! I always wonder if I should click the three dots and "Report" or not. I don't want to be a complainer, nor do I necessarily want to add to a long list of others that may have already reported that stuff. However, sometimes at the hours I am wondering around here? There may not be many others to report it? Two nights ago, there was a lesser attack, maybe fifteen to twenty spam under General Discussion during the wee hours PST, I don't know about many other topics that night or if it continued to be added to later. The following morning yesterday, it was gone (thank you!). Then, folks, last night under General Discussion there were more than THREE and a HALF PAGES of spam! At forty replies per page that was nearly 150 spam in one long dump! Last night I did click on "Report". Again Peter G, thank you. I did wonder last night if your rapid closing them down the night before didn't goad them into the larger attack? A silly thing. I actually like Spam occasionally. Bread, cheese, mustard. Nice easy lunch. And I have on occasion fried it (like the commercial says, "Mmm-mm"). I find myself thinking these other spammers should be slow roasted alive over an open flame. My apologies if anyone finds that comment offensive.

There was one huge custom car that got a lot more press than production right after 1920 that famously used fender mounted headlamps. The name escapes me at the moment, but as I recall it was in one of Floyd Clymer's books. There were a few other very low production or prototype cars that tried similar fender headlamps. Even a few after-market accessory companies tried to market retrofit headlamp kits. I have read a few articles saying the Pierce Arrow would quickly jump upon such endeavors and put a stop to them. One of the few automobile manufacturers to actually offer fender mounted headlamps, and publish sales brochures showing them, was Metz. For 1914, awfully close to just after Pierce Arrow's introduction, and issuance of the patent. They were offered as an option on one specific model, the 1914 "speedster" sport roadster. Some number were built and sold, very few survive. I did see a photo of one at a gathering a few years ago, but do not have a copy of it The following photo was borrowed from a website that had it mislabeled. It is the commonly copied picture from the 1914 sales brochure. It can also be found in one of Floyd Clymer's books. Not nearly as nice as a Pierce Arrow!

I don't want to get picky here, but will point out a few things. The side (running board) aprons (one well respected expert I know insists that they are supposed to be called "shields"!) appear to be originals! That is a wonderful thing! The original late brass era T side aprons ("shields!) had a significant "bulge" at the rear of the apron. Reproduction ones were never done properly, being smoother all the way front to back, and looking more like the 1918 and later style. 1915s did not have the front flap on the top to block out some of the draft coming in over the windshield. That one on your car was not done properly (too big and unfinished!). I would recommend carefully removing the material since 1915s aren't supposed to have it anyway. The windshield is a later version with offset folding hinges and bolts attaching the lower frame into the cowl mounting brackets. The offset hinges hold the folded windshield slightly higher, offering a bit more wind protection for high speed driving. That change was made midyear 1917 models. The coil box lid is also a 1917 or later version. Not much change in the coil box itself, however the lid before 1917 was a mostly single piece of metal stamped to generally the same dimensions, but out of one piece of metal whereas the 1917 and later ones were made of simpler stamping and three pieces of metal (not counting latches or the piece inside that is supposed to keep the coils from shaking up and losing contact). The correct coil box lids for 1915 and 1916 are few and far between often selling for close to a hundred dollars for nice ones! And, just so you know, a lot of 1915 model Ts are running around with later coil box lids! Not a big deal for most model T folk. Your left rear fender is a correct late 1915 or 1916 brass era rear fender, with the flat curve. This version began showing up on cars in late 1915 and ran through most of the 1916 model year cars. It has the later mounting bracket on the underside to clamp onto the body-fender iron. That bracket attached to the fender with either two or four rivets in the top of the fender, plus two rivets in through the outer lip, and two more on the inner skirt! The earlier 1915 rear fenders had a mounting bracket with only three rivets through the top metal and none on the lip or skirt. They had a tendency to vibrate on rough roads and fenders began splitting within months on some cars, hence the bigger bracket and more rivets. The right rear fender is a 1917 or later with a crowned curve. The bolt sticking up out of the driver's "not-a-door" is not factory issue. 1915s from the factory came with either a bulb horn or a magneto powered electric horn. If the car had the electric horn originally, it would have had a horn button mounted on the top left side of the steering column, a couple inches below the spark and throttle quadrant. If that is the original 1915 to 1917 steering column, it should have two small holes on that top side of the column (unless somebody filled them in?). The bulb horns had the horn hidden under the engine's hood, with the bulb mounted up by the driver's left knee. They weren't all that loud when they were out in the open. Once Ford put them under the hood, they became even more useless. That bolt sticking up on the body side is almost certainly for an after-market hand mechanical Klaxon horn! They were a very popular accessory back then. I have probably seen more than a hundred era photos of 1915 and 1916 model Ts with hand klaxon horns on them! Wheels of course are 1920s style demountable rim wheels A lot of people run their 1915s that way. The spare tire carrier is also much later style. And I agree, that tool box has GOT to go! Spare tire carriers for model Ts before 1919 were strictly after-market! Many manufacturers, and many styles out there. The steering wheel looks nice. Is the steering wheel spider brass? Or plated/painted iron? A 1915's steering wheel originally would have been an iron spider, with a wooden rim, and the whole thing painted black! But a lot of people love their brass spiders and natural finished rims! All in all, a pretty nice looking model T! A little cleaning up, and probably a bit of sorting it out and with a little luck you might have a great fun model T there!

When I was still in high school, oh so very long ago, and had joined a local "antique" car club, there was a very nice older couple that had an early 1930s Buick sedan. It was a very original car, never had much restoration done to it, but looked and ran really nice. They were quite active in the club and toured with the Buick a lot! He probably told me fifty different times how he was never able to get the rear wheel cable brakes freed up! He had disconnected the rears, and used only the front wheel brakes. He often said he had to be a bit careful not to need to hit the brakes too hard because that could throw the car into an uncontrolled skid! However, for the most part, he said the car stopped just fine on front wheel brake only. So, I understand Buicks and their brakes from that era. At least you don't need to worry about the squirrely skids. Take care of you and your health my internet friend!