wayne sheldon
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Posts posted by wayne sheldon
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I am really enjoying reading this thread, and the comments from people "in the know". I also appreciate the questions asked by people that aren't all that personally involved. Good stuff!
I think I would have liked to have done a bit more showing of my cars. But I never had any cars that were truly show-worthy. I was invited to show a car a few times at lesser venues. Usually in cases when the venue wanted a certain marque or class of which a car I had at the time was good enough to fill a space. I enjoyed the experience, although I always declined to have my car judged (why waste their time?)
I do think I would have enjoyed showing cars more often. Although I don't think I would have ever made it to Pebble that way. I was never one that wanted trophies or ribbons.
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Such a wonderful thing!
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30 minutes ago, Avanti Bill said:
Out of the Hospital and took some pictures with the staff, looks like he'll be OK. Good News.
THANK YOU for the update!
I keep looking in here to see if someone can let us crazies know how Jay is doing. I don't any longer have news or social media that I trust except for a couple antique automobile forums! Whether celebrities or hurricane damage, I find the reporting on these sites more reliable with less blowing things way out of proportion than on most media sites. (Antique automobile people tend to be more sensible than most people!)
I, like a lot of people in the hobby, have met Jay Leno. He is one of many truly interesting people I have met through this hobby. Although I am not silly enough to think he is a personal friend (Hey, I only actually met him once!), we chatted antique automobiles for some time. I found him to be friendly, intelligent, and interesting. As such, he is a person I care about.
I check this thread often, make comments or add related stories in part to keep it in sight near the top of the list, in hopes that others with better contact than I have might report in here.
Hey out there Jay! Get well quick!
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It IS a BiFlex bumper, I have had several of them over the years. They were very common, offered as factory options on dozens of marques, as well as popular after-market accessory for anything from a model T on up! They came in lighter weight versions (which are actually not very common!) for smaller cars. And most of them were about the size and weight of yours, but in varying widths to fit or style for different larger cars. The cast clamps that hold the two sides together came in several styles, some fairly plain, others with diagonal ribs or even the BiFlex name cast in. The variation may have been a year/style thing or not, I don't know.
I think I still have most of one badly damaged one in my junk pile. It had collision bends when I bought it for very cheap a very long time ago. It turned out to be a fortuitous purchase a few years later when the plating shop lost the clamps for a very good friend's bumper he was restoring. I gladly donated my bumper's clamps to his car. I could still straighten and make replacement clamps for my bumper if I had a car that could use it.
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Don't let the borer beetles get into anything else! If they are still alive? As much as I rarely ever destroy anything antique, I would probably burn those wheels. And you wouldn't believe the amount of time and effort I have put into restoring original wood spoke wheels!
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15 hours ago, Walt G said:
A sheet held up in the back of a car for photographs was used as a regular "prop" up until at least WWII. This was especially in favor at the salons and motor shows in Europe and England. It also helped with the ghost appearances of people walking some distance behind the car as the use of glass plate negatives was prevalent and the exposure time was much longer. The photo could then be used in sales literature as well so nothing in the back ground of the car would let the viewer loose focus, and it saved an artist from using and air brush or a brush to paint out any distractions. All done by hand before computers.
A major part of my wife's family heritage was in a small out of the way lumber town 90 to over 120 years ago! We found a rare original photograph of the town about forty years ago in an antique shop. The photo was in terrible condition, folded, torn, with small pieces missing. I had a large format negative made of the photo, had it blown way up in size, then by hand and ink drew in all the missing pieces! We then had copies made for family members.
My first hand experience with "photoshop" before computers.
Most people today just don't realize about such things!
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Thank you for that Walt! I love it. Looks like an English Austin (is that a 7 series?). And since Mr. Punch was English? As much as I would enjoy seeing ALL of it? Don't spend much of your time posting pieces of it. I know how your time is. And I do appreciate so many of the postings you make time for here, as I am sure many other people here do also.
Thank you.
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And I would have guessed it was an Edsel! Guess that shows how much I know about postwar cars.
I will admit to liking a fair number of postwar cars. Just not enough to buy one at anywhere near their market value.
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For people not familiar with these incredible engines, and their very important place in history, a recent thread with some discussion about them.
It must be an honor to work on one.
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Many many years ago (nearly 50!), at a club meeting, another conversation drifted off into territories related to this. A well respected club member, professional mechanic, expert repairman, one of the most safety conscious people I have ever known, admitted to a car being destroyed by fire. He told how he had been working on it, with the carburetor removed, and a bizarre set of circumstances while rotating the engine ignited fuel at the open end of the fuel line, which in turn blew some into the intake manifold, and caused the engine to fully run, which then pumped gasoline out the fuel line end in large volumes which became a blow torch as the engine continued to run at high rpm with no carburetor and the ignition turned OFF!
He did manage to get the fire put out after emptying a couple fire extinguishers. The car was totally destroyed, he had some burns, but he saved this shop!
About two seconds from everything is fine to all He!! is breaking loose!
Be careful out there!
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Dreyer's Ice Cream was founded in Oakland California in the 1920s. Breyer's Ice Cream was founded somewhere back East a couple years before Dreyer's. It took a few decades, but both companies grew and expanded until their territories crossed into each other. Dreyer's chose to market their product East of the Mississippi under the alternate name of "Edy's". They did this to avoid confusion due to the similar names. Breyer's wasn't so nice, and stuck with their original name as they expanded to areas Dreyer's had been in for nearly half a century by then.
The ice cream truck is a 1919 Model T Ford chassis with original wooden after-market body, originally built in Oakland California. It was thoroughly restored in the 1960s to a very high degree of quality. So much so, that it won more than fifty first place and Best of Show awards at over a twenty year period. And they weren't all small shows! Not at all! That truck won Best of Show at one of William Harrah's Reno car shows! Before Pebble Beach became what it is today, Harrah's Reno show was one of the West of the Mississippi top car shows, with some of the highest judging standards in the world in those decades. For ANY model T, and a truck? To win Best of Show at THAT show was shocking to many people.
After it had won many awards, the truck was used by Dreyer's for promotional appearances all over the country. It was lovingly maintained for many years by the fellow that had restored it. And by the way, he is a long time one of my best friends. I have ridden in the truck many times, and even drove it in a parade for him once when he was unable to attend the parade himself.
The black canvas side curtains are changed to display the two different names depending on where the truck was being shown.
One more bit of ice cream trivia. It was Dreyer himself that is claimed to be the inventor of Rocky Road ice cream.
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I have seen several vintage automobiles done this way, including a few model A Fords, a Pierce Arrow, a Studebaker. Most were being turned into crude delivery vans. A couple were for handicap access (there was a Pierce Arrow shared a few years ago that was done for that purpose!). I think I saw pictures of a Packard done for that reason also?
It wouldn't be too difficult to take this sedan back to its original form, provided the all steel body is basically decent. Those bodies survived in large numbers, a lot of them rotted out on the bottom if left out too long in harsh environments. I would suspect a back section could still be had fairly reasonably and grafted into place, complete with proper rear window.
Pictures in the ad are lousy, and I didn't notice a price? But the car looks fairly solid, and with almost no wood in the body they are usually fairly easy to restore. The sort of thing a good DIYer should be able to handle. Club support is good, and most parts are available.
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Studebaker's marketing was changing model designations a lot during those years. But I think that is what amounts to the "standard" or "light six" model, or the small Studebaker for its year. The last of the four cylinder Studebakers was about a year to two years earlier.
I would recommend checking the serial number and data plates on the car to verify year and model. It looks very much like the 1923 I went and looked at for sale about six months ago. This car appears to not have the cute little cowl lamps that the 1923 had, otherwise it is almost identical in style and appearance. It is possible that this car could be early enough to not have those cowl lamps?
Not as impressive as the larger models, but these Studebakers are good cars and usually quite reliable on tours (once reasonably sorted).
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That is the nicest (?) gasifier I think I have ever seen!
I have long wanted to play with one of those. Just to get a better understanding of the times and how people dealt with the hardships of that place and time.
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Great photo!
This one can be pinned down really tight, a "mid" 1917. The aforementioned horn button is the first clue. That style horn button began showing up early in 1915 only in the Center-door sedans and folding top couplets. They were the first Fords factory equipped with electric horns. The open body cars, touring cars and runabouts along with the commercial chassis had bulb horns until June of 1915 when some touring cars and runabouts began getting the electric horns. Touring cars and runabouts were (randomly?) outfitted with either bulb or electric horns at least through August of 1915, and some empirical evidence indicates that a few open body cars may have left the factory even as late as the end of calendar 1915. That style horn button continued all through 1916 and nearly all 1917. 1918 models got an "improved" combination horn button/light switch mounted on the side of the steering column. Some early 1918 model year cars did receive the older style horn button and simple light switch mounted on the firewall, but that crossover time didn't last long.
The large and complicated 1918 style combination switch didn't last for very long. When the starter and generator option was first offered early 1919 model year (actually about December of 1918!), among the changes necessary for the new system was a change in the dash panel (earlier cars didn't have one unless it was after-market) with a better light and ignition switch. So the horn button was simplified, but left on the side of the steering column where the combination switch had been. That horn button with only a minor change to the button itself in the last couple years of model T production remained there on the side of the steering column.
The next set of significant details are the windshield and its particulars. A careful look at the split between the upper and lower glass and frames shows that the division between them is even with the windshield hinges. This was the way of virtually all touring cars and runabouts for model year 1915, all of 1916, and about half of the1917 model year. As far as I have heard, the exact timeline is not known, but roughly springtime of 1917 Ford altered the hinges for the side of the windshield, placing the hinge pin about three inches above the division between the upper and lower glasses. The offset is very noticeable, and can often be seen even in poor quality photos.
One more important detail. One that often cannot be seen except in very nice high detail era photos, and the detail in this photo is very nice!
Look carefully at the mounting bracket down near the bottom of the windshield frame. Just behind the chimney and top cap of the kerosene side/cowl lamp, are two little bumps on the outside of the windshield mounting bracket. Those "bumps" are the two large round head screws that secure the windshield frame into the mounting brackets. Earlier open car 1915 model, all 1916s, and early 1917 windshield frames were riveted into the mounting brackets. The rivets can only rarely be seen in era photographs due in part to their smaller size, and the fact that the rivets ran "front to back" instead of in from outside like the later machine screws. Again, the exact timeline is apparently not known. However, the low number of era photographs showing that combination of "even-fold" hinges and screws in the mounting brackets was likely produced for probably about two or three months only! Mid "model year" 1917, or early "calendar year" 1917, likely produced somewhere between February and May of 1917.
Probably more than you wanted to know. But I really like this photo!
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A longtime good friend of mine went to his family's shop to tinker on the collection almost everyday until he caught covid about a year short of a hundred!
I think the longer you work on your cars you enjoy? The longer you can work on your cars you enjoy!
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Good luck! Keep hoping. I remember reading your original posting years ago. But I had no answers then, and nothing more now. I do know that there was a good book on the subject a couple decades ago. But I never had a copy, and do not recall the title or author.
Sorry. I would have expected somebody to remember the book and have a copy?
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18 hours ago, BadGoat said:
Reminds me of the accident call that I took while on patrol one cold night that was a deer hit that really messed up the Corvette that the young lady was driving. after making sure that she and her passenger were ok (and sober) I asked for her drivers license and registration, while it was cold and dark outside I went back to the patrol car to run the information and start the report. I was glad that I was in the vehicle when I read her name to enter it in the computer as I busted out laughing (would not have been good in front of her) Her name was Bambi Hunter and dispatch informed that this was her third animal (deer) incident recorded in the previous 90 days. Some times you just can not make this stuff up.
That is SO-OO bad! Nasty. Just plain WRONG! It is going to take twenty minutes before I can clear up my eyes from laughing! (I am sorry) The irony, the Karma that must be involved?
I don't know. Some people just cannot seem to avoid hitting deer. And I will add, that deer can jump from shadows in ways that NOBODY could miss them! But usually, most of the dozens of times I have seen other people hit deer? They just aren't watching for them. Many, many times, I have watched as others driving ahead of me would hit deer that I would see in plenty of time for them to miss the deer. I see them from farther back, and they don't see them until too late. I have never actually hit a deer.
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I managed to find them last night. Wasn't easy.
I agree with Mike West. There is a lot wrong with the Franklin, but the price is right. One question though. Is the engine the original? If not the original Franklin engine, is it the correct year/series engine? I am not a Franklin expert so cannot tell myself. A decent looking and probably with very little effort a very usable car! The wrong parts do not seriously detract from the appearance, and likely improve the drivability. It could probably be made more year correct without a lot of trouble, Franklin parts are still usually available (excellent club support!).
If I were in a slightly better place right now? I could be seriously interested (I would want to make it more year correct myself) (and I am on the left end of the continent). It could be a great car for many people.
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2 hours ago, Walter Jones said:
Even back then they didn't know what to call it.
And THAT is one of the most common and contentious discussions often found on these antique car forums!
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It does sadden me a bit that a steam car was involved. But I know these things can and do happen. I also know that I would rather be hurt doing what I love doing than to sit safely at home not doing things I enjoy.
I hope his injuries are not worse than alluded to, and he can recover fully and quickly!
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You know better than most how far people today have come.
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Jay Leno Accident
in General Discussion
Posted
Like so many things in the universe. There is how the universe usually works? Common realities? Followed by "sometimes it can go another way!" And then there is Hollywood. It is always a matter of perspective and perception.
The fact is, that liquid gasoline rarely ever flashes or explodes. However, given the right circumstances? It can.
Vaporized gasoline is much more dangerous than liquid. But even that generally needs a flame or well placed spark to ignite. my work for many years had me working around hot running equipment needing fuel. Probably more than fifty, maybe more than a hundred times, I have seen gasoline spilled onto very hot exhaust manifolds. The gasoline landing on the manifold vaporizes almost instantly! Other fuel landing on cooler pieces takes awhile to evaporate. Even with running engines, in the hot sun, knowing the distributor or magneto is flashing sparks inside its little housing? I have never seen spilled gasoline ignite.
My dad did manage to create an interesting flash once however. He knew plenty. One of the rare times his garage wasn't packed to the rafters, and he was cleaning it. There was a nasty oil spill on the floor, he had wiped up most of it. He wanted to use some gasoline to clean up the last of the stain. He knew the potential, and he also knew chemistry well enough to keep it within safe limits. Sure enough, the small amount of gasoline created enough airborne vapor and the hot water heater picked that moment to fire up! He had the doors open, front and rear, and the amount of gasoline in the building was so small that he said it made an interesting swirling flash around the inside of the garage! No damage to anything. He didn't even singe his eyebrows. But he loved to tell the story for years, always with cautionary comments about how just a tiny bit more gasoline could have been a disaster.
I often wish I had been there to see it.
I have seen so many things that could have become a disaster, but didn't. The fact is, that gasoline is not that explosive, unless under very certain circumstances which almost never happen accidentally. Hollywood loves to make it happen for their movies and tv shows. But it doesn't happen often in the real world. Knowing that, it could be easy to become careless. But that is something we must NOT do! Every now and then, enough gasoline, enough of it vaporized and exposed, and some silly spark, or flame in the wrong place? And it is that two seconds again!
I could tell a dozen more tales. Like the young man that worked for my dad for a year or two when I was still in high school. He was somewhat messed up after a long tour in Vietnam. Liked to play with fire.
But for now, I know Jay will be hurting for awhile. I am very grateful he was not hurt any worse than he was.
Be careful out there guys! It may not happen easily, it may not happen often. But it can and sometimes DOES HAPPEN! Yes, I still use gasoline as a cleaner. But I only use small controllable amounts, in well ventilated areas (and have a couple fire extinguishers handy!).