wayne sheldon

Always a wonderful feeling to hear one run again for the first time! (As long as there were no nasty noises? And you said there weren't!)

Must be a hundred good shops doing automotive tops with good reputations from coast to coast! Where are you located? Makes a huge difference for recommendations. Some people have gotten good service from boat shops. However, proper fitting is somewhat different for antique automobiles than it is for boats. Be sure to have several good pictures of what your car should look like finished when you check into any such shops.

It is not the top I would be worried about ruining. It is everything underneath the top! If the top doesn't shed water reasonably well? One good rain could lead to serious rust issues (could take years to show up?), total destruction of upholstery materials (could show up in months), or even lead to wood rotting issues. Numerous types of top materials were used back in the day, some based on canvas, others on oil-soaked cloth of several types. Many materials used for automobile tops were not much different (except for chemically being synthetic?) than Naugahyde (which is actually a modern trade name!), or other similar modern top materials. Colors and surface patterns of course varied considerably over the years. Your car currently has some sort of off-white cloth material, and may or may not have had something similar when it was new. When the car was new, the top material should have been somewhat water repellent. However, it may not have been really good at it. Quite frankly, Even most high end automobiles were not expected to survive and be in regular use for several decades! If there was some minor seepage, or leaks around the seams or edges, it may not have been considered a problem. Today, we should care whether our nearly hundred year old cars can survive the next century. To that end, we should make a bit of an effort to make sure that if we get caught in the rain? That the top can do its job well enough to not cause serious problems. I can't think of any really good way to test the top. Subjecting it to enough water to see what happens could do considerable harm if it fails the test. There must be some good top dressing out there that would make the material, and seams, all shed water all the while looking good? Scotch Guard is a great product for many things! And lousy at others. Some years back, several companies were pushing Scotch Guarded towels. They were HORRIBLE! What good is a towel that refuses to soak up water? I don't know if it would work for what you need or not? I sure would like to hear from someone that has tried it? Another possibility might be to get a yard of similar type material? Treat it, and then hang the piece in something like a basketball hoop and fill it with a gallon of water. See what happens? Just a thought?

It looks like there were a lot of really nice cars at that meet! And that Locomobile is yours jrbartlett? Nice! The Paige looks like the one Chris Paulsen had. He had it for sale for some time, but I never heard whether he sold it or not?

That Locomobile Sportif looks like one I have followed on a few nickel era club tours! Did it used to live in California?

"Gum Dipped" was part of the manufacturing process back in the 1920s, and used as an advertising slogan by Firestone for decades. I doubt that it has any significance to the tires today, other than the historic context. It was used on black tires as well as whitewalls for decades.

Not a battery radio. I have a 1931 General Motors plug-in electric radio and phonograph. Big and proud, on the end of the tone arm, is the "GM" logo and "General Motors" name. The thing is almost four feet tall, on spindly legs, with two little doors front and center behind which are the radio tuner and dials. It is a neat looking radio! My wife heard it play before she bought it. But I have never turned it on. Those familiar with such things won't until after the circuits have been rebuilt.

Car is a couple years old. I can see the right side oil sidelamp behind the lady's elbow. Oil sidelamps were only installed on non-starter model Ts. Beginning early in 1919, all coupes and sedans were sold with the starter (and generator, battery, etc) as standard equipment. The car is a coupe, one with suicide doors. However, which version of the coupe I am not certain. Pre-starter makes it almost certainly built before January 1919. That series of coupes began about September of 1918 as the new 1919 model. They were supposed to have the starters from the beginning of the 1919 model year, but production delays (seems that happened a lot!) had the first four months of 1919s without starters (although some of them did get upgraded later!). Latter half of 1917 and 1918 model T coupes were called "couplet", and had removeable pillars in the body and doors so that with the windows lowered, one had an open sided fixed roof car. The 1917 and 1918 removeable pillar couplets came in at least four significant variations. The last couple (and most common) couplet variations look enough like the later (1919 to 1923) coupes that without seeing certain specific details, they are difficult to tell them apart from the later coupes. So, whether it is one of the removeable pillar couplets?Or one of the few four month nonstarter 1919coupes? I can't tell. The shock absorbers (extra springs) are Hassler brand. And the car has a nice dogbone radiator cap with larger MotoMeter.

Jorge Amado, I have seen that photo somewhere before, I remember the Le Zebre and the fellows standing around. If I recall correctly, someone where I saw it before was able to identify where the photo was taken, however, I do not remember where myself. The other four cars are all Ford model Ts. Depending upon what country this was taken in, they could have been imported from either the USA, or Canada or even manufactured in England or around Norway. They do not look like the English Fords, they had a style all their own. From the viewer's left, the first, third, and fourth, cars all appear to be 1915 or 1916 models, and likely all 1915 because they appear to have that one year only brass trim on the headlamps and oil sidelamps. The late 1915s and 1916s had black trim on the lamps. The second car, the one behind the fellow in the suit and tie, is a 1913 Ford based upon the windshield that folds forward at the top. One can tell by looking at the windshield hinges. That car does not have the original Ford oil sidelamps. Wonderful photo! Thank you for sharing it here.

AACA and VMCCA started out with slightly different age or year classifications. Both had some sort of slowly advancing system. In the 1960s, their status was old enough that a lot of people wanted to include newer stuff. Several states had some kind of historic or collector status, some did not. A few years of debate happened, and several states and clubs settled on the 25 year rule during the 1970s. Like the "R" and "P" words, this sort of thing will never be resolved in a way that everyone will be happy about it. I like to see people enjoying whatever kinds of cars they happen to like! Whatever it is, whether I have any interest in it or not? I like that they like it. The only thing that really annoys me is when individuals are clueless about the difference between a personal vision and actual history.

I can't help you with the current question. However, did you see the folding landau irons in the parts for sale section a couple days ago? Looked like maybe there were two pair? One damaged or bent. All looked a bit long, maybe too big? Maybe they could be altered to fit?

FIRST! Do not let it sit on the flat! Newer tires do not like to sit flat, the rubber in the casing tends to crack and separate. 2. Be gentle removing the lock ring. THIS is where most of the damage is done to the lock rings. Try to push the tire bead in toward the center of the rim, away from the lock ring. Most lock rings have a small edge that the tire' bead sits onto. This makes the tires very safe to use once properly aired up. There is NO way the ring can get knocked loose short of a collision as long as there is adequate pressure in the tire. The downside of this is that the tire bead must be moved off of the ring's lip before the ring can be removed. Many bead breakers can perform this task, as long as they do not have to damage the ring in the process. I have two hand operated bead breakers that I can use either one. Once the ring is freed from the tire, the "split" rings are easy. Using a screwdriver under the end of the ring where there is a little notch for this purpose, carefully lift the end of the ring. Small tire irons work better, however large screwdrivers can do the job of prying the end of the ring up and over the edge. Once about five inches of the ring's end is up and over? It will stay up and over. THIS CANNOT BE STRESSED ENOUGH!!!! Do NOT force it! Finesse it. Work it slowly. Carefully work it loose. Up and over an inch or two at a time IF (big IF) the rims and rings were properly restored, and kept dry, and not too many years have gone by since this was last done? It should go quickly and easily. However, if a lot of time has gone by? Or rust is still an issue? It can be difficult the entire way. Work it loose. Do NOT force it! Once the ring is removed, getting the tire off is the next step. Sometimes they will slip right off. Sometimes they will fight you all the way. Some rims have a slight drop center. The tire will push in, but does not want to come out! A trick. I have made several (I tend to lose them and need to make another?) small hooks out of roughly eighth inch steel rod. A hook on one end, and a finger loop on the other end. Use a tire iron or screwdriver to push under the bead, and lift it slightly, then slip the hook under the bead, and twist it to hook inside the tire casing (be a bit careful to not damage the inner tube.) Then working the tire's bead while pulling the hook will usually get the tire bead pulled out. The inner sidewall may or may not pull out easily. It is a matter of preference. But I usually do simple tube repair or replacement without loosening the inner bead. I pry the outer bead out enough (two inches will usually do it?) to work the tube out and back in. A simple nail flat, I sometimes pull only enough of the tube out to patch the tube, and then slide it back inside. After you get the ring out? Inspect it and the ring groove carefully. Clean any rust to prevent future problems. Paint hidden areas heavily and allow time to dry. Check the ring in all directions for round, twist, egg shaping, etc etc etc. Sage advice has always been to not repair or straighten damaged rings. However, realistically, that is not good advice today! Many different companies made many different wheels for many years! The fit is very important, and you could probably find twenty correct SIZE rings that won't fit properly for every one ring that you can find that will fit like it should. Getting proper replacement rings is simply NOT practical! So repairing them is what needs to be done. I have straightened and repaired at least a dozen of them over the years. Most of them are soft enough to bend back to proper shape easily, and cold. I often use a piece of cardboard large enough, then draw a near perfect circle to match the desired size of the ring (inner or outer or both?) to check roundness. And lay it on a very flat surface to check that. The two ends of a split ring like yours should lightly touch each other and be near perfectly in line and round! I often use my car trailer's tongue or ratchet tie-downs as a bending jig. Heavy pickup bumpers and trailer hitches also work well. Do bending carefully and slowly. Be very fussy about getting it near perfect!

My first model T speedster (a 1920) fifty years ago I named "Jennifer", a reference to the Curtis Jenny aircraft of a couple years earlier (that car felt like it could FLY!). Several years later I had to sell the car to pay some of the kids' hospital bills. Never named another car.

It isn't the voltage that kills. It is the current. A six volt 90 amp car battery is more likely to kill than is a twelve volt 50 amp car battery. Secondary (high) voltage to your spark plugs is somewhere around four to ten thousand volts, however, the amperage is minimal and the duration (for each pulse!) is in the milliseconds. And Frank DV is right. One could sit on a major high voltage and high current power line, and not be harmed. As long as there is no pathway through your body to ground. If you can figure out a safe way to get there. Do NOT get between that same power line and the steel tower it is hung from. A "capacitive" discharge by inserting your body in the field between the power line and the tower also can kill! Electricity is funny stuff.

Is someone hinting that someone may know?

Nice to see a car like this being brought back to the fine machine it once was! It doesn't have to be perfect. No need to all be done at once. It got old over decades, and yet survived many more years. It should be driven and enjoyed again. Thank you for the updates!

Happy Birthday! (You mean I am older than you?) The 1927 Paige 6-45 in my garage has been waiting for me to have enough time to do it justice for way too long. My dad bought it to restore in 1967 when I was fifteen.

That is the best way to stay healthy and be happy! Keep working at what you enjoy.

Does Phil think it is more fun to work on his car? Or get paid to work on other people's car?

Properly adjusted, I would take era mechanical brakes over era hydraulics any day! The main reason is that the mechanical brakes can sit for ten years, and after a few squirts of oil, and a few miles of working the pedal while driving, the brakes will work as well and be as safe as they were when the car was parked (as long as it wasn't parked in a swamp?). Hydraulic brakes do not like to be left idle at all. I have seen modern era hydraulic brakes fail after sitting only a month or two. And I have seen them work fine after sitting ten years! It is the not knowing I don't like if car has sat for awhile. Properly maintained and adjusted, good mechanical brakes should work as well as similar size hydraulic drum brakes. The big problem is that too few people know how to adjust them properly! (A hint, the angle of each and every lever is critical!)

Despite the look and apparent size, these cars aren't all that small inside. Made to look like a two-door sedan, it is actually a coupe, with a single seat for two people! I have never sat inside one myself, but have known several people that have owned these, and I have been told they are not a bad fit for most average size people. There were a few oversize people back in the day that had photographs taken of them in the cars. One fellow (I don't recall his name and lost the link to an article about him), famous for his nearly seven foot height, had one of these back in the early 1930s. In his case, some modification was required to move the one seat back into the storage space normally behind the seat. A great aunt of mine had one of these when they were new. She spent about a year after finishing college driving all over the United States. She began in New York, spent a couple weeks around Chicago and went to the 1933 Chicago World's fair, before continuing around more states. She eventually found her way into Nevada and settled down. She became a "desert rat" and geologist. She was one of the most interesting people I have ever met! The car was long gone by the time I came around. But she talked about it and her many travels often. This one photo can be found all over the internet, and gives an idea that these cars could be used by almost anybody. Happy Moore was said to weigh 500 pounds, and took the whole front seat. But he drove that car.

Sure happy to see the current status of that early collector car! Thank you.

Good to hear that you are doing better!

This is a nasty subject loaded with pitfalls and landmines and serious potential legal ramifications. As TerryB says, having or "owning" the historic piece of paper is fine. But it is what one might or might not do with that piece of paper that matters. I generally avoid this subject for a variety of reasons. The really stupid thing about it is that a few states actually encouraged residents to get "lost" titles and "attach" them to a car missing its title. THIS, while MOST states consider the practice absolutely ILLEGAL! Point of fact and discloser, I do not know if any states still do that anymore or not. There was quite an uproar about this issue a few years ago, and talk then of doing away with the practice of using illegitimate titles in a couple of those states. Point of fact and opinion. Only a few states managed to maintain registration records all the way from the beginning of registrations. And NO states began registration with the first car. That coupled with owners losing registrations, moving, dying, and a hundred other reasons, leaves millions of legitimate automobiles with no official record of title. State governments have an obligation to their citizens to have a reasonable process for regenerating a title for cars that have had their titles lost along the way. Marrying a legitimate car with an illegitimate title was never right. The possibility always exists that the title's actual car may exist somewhere. In addition, nearly a dozen states did not require automobile registration for decades! That left a lot of cars as having never been registered! States need to acknowledge those facts and provide reasonable means for licensing cars whether their registrations were lost or never existed. Hot rods and other types of re-creations are a whole other can of worms.

I like to hear someone is happy with their new old car!