wayne sheldon

The two early Cole automobiles look great together! I hope your health issues are not serious. Don't want you missing very many events and showings with your cars!

DD, You do very nice work!

Looks like the classic "pig in a poke"! (Ever read the etymology of that one?) Don't know if the wood is any good. Don't know if the engine is any good. The upholstery might be rotten? However all in all, it doesn't look very bad in the photos. One might be able to spend a few days cleaning it up and have a nice running car for cheap! If it were close by, and a year model I wanted? I would consider making an offer for it.

I have mostly been avoiding this thread. But sometimes it is like a train wreck? You just GOTTA look! I try to use something close to proper grammar, and spelling. But sometimes I like to use offsides. I is as I speaks! In school, I was always a couple years ahead of my class in most subjects, especially English and writing. However, my spelling, although ahead of my class, was not as good as I wanted it to be. For that reason, I do rely on spellcheck, and Webster, even google, to make sure of some of my word usage and spelling. I also proofread most things a couple times at least! The funny thing, however, is much of my need to proofread is due to the fact that someone (not me!) spilled hot chocolate on my keyboard a few years ago! My quick action saved the computer from total loss, but to this day still, several keys do not work like they are supposed to! It becomes quite annoying to go back and put in all the letters and numbers that are missing. Do you have ANY idea how many times I have nearly posted "bra" or "bras" instead of "brass" because the "s" doesn't work reliably? And spellcheck doesn't catch those ones! Wrong word usage does bother me, maybe more than it should? But if your brakes take a break, will your car be broken? Vary rare sounds right. Maybe it is rare? Maybe it is not rare? It varies. Does a dose of does doesn't? Two too to fore for four they're their there, actually can make sense? (Can you figure it out?)

For what it may be worth. I saw the one Badger car somewhat over fifty years ago. I remember it well. The fellow from Southern California was trailering the car up to Northern California to attend the annual Blossom Tour put on each year by the Santa Clara Valley HCC Regional Group. I think I was still in high school (maybe the year after?), and my best friend and I went to look at the cars at the host hotel. We knew a couple people in the club, and wanted to see the cars! We met the fellow with the Badger there! He was particularly memorable because about half way trailering from Southern California, his modern Cadillac (if I recall correctly?) blew the transmission! They got the car to a shop to replace the transmission, but that was going to take a few days. So they unloaded the Badger, put all their luggage into it, and left the Modern Cadillac and trailer behind driving the Badger about three hundred more miles to attend the tour! They were the talk of the tour! The only one survivor of a little known marque, and driving a significant distance with it after the tow vehicle broke down. He was friendly, and I spoke with him for some time about the restoration of the Badger (I don't recall a lot of details). On the last day of the tour, the fan broke, and damaged the back side of the radiator. They had to stay an extra day or two to get the radiator repaired before driving back down to pick up their tow vehicle and trailer. I doubt the OP steering wheel is from a Badger automobile? But it would be nice to see a picture of the whole wheel.

I like that! My comment about smog checking my model Ts was intended as tongue-in-cheek. Although as others have pointed out, we and our clubs do need to keep a sharp eye on lawmakers because they often do not have our interests in their hearts or any real sense of right and wrong or practical reality.

Yeah that speed for a top speed is absurdly low for a car like that! Every model T Ford I ever had would go faster than that! And that includes the TT truck I had forty years ago. It did have an overdrive, and in overdrive, it would do 42 mph on level roads.

They appear to be common standard model T ignition coils. from basically 1918 through 1927, although they will fit some earlier years just fine. Replacements were manufactured almost continuously into the 1960s! Although these do appear to be model T era. Value? Not a lot really. Their condition isn't really bad looking, and they may or may not be easily repairable. But the condition isn't really good either. Antique stores often ask $30 to $50 apiece in similar condition. And sometimes they ask a lot more (I have seen them ask a couple hundred for one coil!). However, in the model T hobby, ones like these usually sell for between $5 and $10, sometimes less. Ford built more than fifteen million model Ts! Each one of them had four coils when they left the factory. They probably sold another million or more replacements during the model T years, and maybe another million or more later replacements! That is a lot of coils scattered around the world, and a lot of them still exist. These coils usually need to be rebuilt in order to use them in a model T. The old style (large!) capacitor inside them has to be replaced by a very specific modern replacement if they are going to work reliably. The wooden boxes need to be fixed up, and the coils properly adjusted. There are a couple ways to adjust them, all requiring special equipment designed specifically for these coils. During the model T era, these type coils were adapted to many non-model T uses. So much so, that aftermarket part suppliers not only continued making replacements for model Ts? They also made cheap replacements for some of those adapted uses. Most of THOSE coils are useless junk, and people that know how to spot them (not easy without taking them apart!), generally won't take them even for free. Those adapted uses include stationary engines, railroad service cars, and electric fences.

I saw pictures of a car in a museum a few years ago. It was cosmetically restored on one side, and left as "field find" on the other. The idea was to show the difference between what it was, and what it could become. Interesting visual effect? But kind of a waste of a vehicle? I can't help but wonder if this was done for a similar reason?

I wonder how often the smog check? And what kind of smog check would they give my model Ts? I still consider moving to Nevada a distinct possibility! Besides, I was born there!

Criminy! Many cars from the late 1920s into the 1970s used similar twist on caps, both on radiators and gasoline tanks. They came in several common sizes. There may be a common size that although looking ugly should work okay. Whether any are still available from local auto supply stores or not I do not know. But it may be worth checking into. If you find a proper cap for your car? You may want to consider one of those generic caps to leave on the car when it is parked somewhere. A lot of us have cheap caps to use for local driving, and the nice one (or two) for shows, tours and other gettogethers. Some of those generic caps may need some trimming around the outer edges to fit your unusual cap's design.

About forty years ago, I had to have some glass work done. At the time, I was looking at a project that if I got it would need some special curved glass. I talked to a couple local shops that told me they did that all the time, how easy it was (yeah, IF you have the setup for doing it!), and how cheap it was. They also said I could get either ,aminated or tempered, as long as tempered wasn't used in the windshield (tempered might not shatter and can crush a skull or break one's neck!). Apparently a few shops doing that work kept them competitive (who would have ever guessed?)! But those people eventually retired, and their shops closed down. Two different local shops told me they were set up to do it, and if I got the project (I didn't), they could have the glass ready to pick up in a week. Just another thing our no-can-do anymore world has lost. The point being, that when these IH Travel-alls were in daily use, replacing the windows was not a problem.

My "mini-barn" (a Tuff Shed) was built pretty tight, and remained rodent free for many years. I also kept Irish Spring, mothballs, and trays of antifreeze inside. I also have a storage shed that is not tight at all, things of lesser value are kept in there. I used a roller-bucket and antifreeze trap in there with some success. We also had a barn cat, that I know kept the rodent population down. But, she became too old, and none of the other neighborhood cats wanted to take over the job. So, eventually, and believe it or not? The rats decided to invade my mini barn, and chewed through an aluminum vent cover! Once inside, they began doing significant damage to a lot of things. Not only did the moth balls and Irish Spring not keep them out, they ATE the Irish Spring! I had to take almost everything out of the mini barn. Clean things, throw out a few things, repair some damage. I sealed it up extra tight. Two years now, and no new signs of activity inside the mini barn. The barn cat eventually left us (after fifteen years!), and none of the other feral or neighborhood cats seem to want to take over the job.

Which one is the new one? And which one is the old one? I am certainly no expert on carburetors of that era! However, it appears to me that one of them has a manual choke on it, while the other may have had an automatic choke? It is usually easy enough to put a manual choke onto a carburetor set up for an automatic choke. I have done that a couple times on 1950s/'60s cars or trucks when the automatic chokes became too unreliable or I changed a carburetor with an automatic choke onto a vehicle that was set up with a manual choke. It often is NOT easy to make an automatic choke work on a vehicle not set up for one. Sometimes there is some link missing that is not easily adapted around.

Hey there Kevin! I believe the Chalmers Detroit is in the last photo of the 1911 Cole toy tonneau. The Sears is next to the 1911 Cole in the first photo of it! (Not counting the advertisement or engine photo)

Wonderful additions to the Cole collection! I also love the Sears parked next to the 1911 toy tonneau. Is it yours also?

Some years back, I heard of a Paige truck still surviving, but never got to confirm it or see photos of it. I have a 1927 Paige 6-45 automobile, so have been interested in the marque for many years. Quite a few Paige automobiles still exist, although few are driven regularly. I don't think many of the trucks survive.

This is one of the things I love about this website! Even some old idiot like me that has been around and seen so very much over the years can still find things to learn about! Thank you DD!

Just a minor criticism, a matter of semantics. You should not use the phrase "no rust", as a significant portion of the vehicle is covered with rust. A qualifier, such as no "major" rust, or no rust "through", even no "significant" rust. You are correct that compared to how rust can be, it is in very good condition with solid metal. This trucks condition should in no way be played down. It should be described accurately, as for the most part you have already done. It is nice enough that if someone can find the appropriate headlamp and fenders? It could be freshened up a bit, and mechanically sorted out and then preserved as a true survivor! I am past the point of getting any additional projects (I already have four I need to finish!). But this is something that a few years ago, I could have easily fallen in love with! I don't wish to criticize. However, we see a lot of real rust-buckets claimed as having "no rust", when clearly that is not the case. It sometimes gets so bad that I have seen cars so badly rusted that one could punch a hole in the body side with a bare fist that were claimed to "have no rust". When the actual condition is pointed out, sellers try to claim that "rust" only means "rusted clear through". And even at that, in their photos areas can be seen that ARE rusted clear through. This truck is too nice to get lumped in with those real rust-buckets.

A lot of jack-stands have a triangular shaped base. A friend was helping place jack-stands under a car, I mentioned to place the triangle so that the flat side of the triangle was facing toward the door. He asked why. The car was at that point sitting on two stands, wheels and tires all in place as they would mostly be while being stored, and I knew the transmission was still in neutral. I was at the back of the car next to the spare tire. I grabbed the spare tire, and gave it a yank! The stands tipped back across the flat side of the triangle, and I pulled it another couple feet. My comment, "In case of fire." If you are concerned about a car getting knocked off such stands and rolling away, or landing on you while you are working under it? Alternate the directions of the stands (with triangle placed legs!). If you are just storing the car, and concerned about fire? Face all stands "flat toward the door". Since I grew up in "Earthquake country"? I do add that consideration. While we are on the subject. I often stack blocks of wood to support cars when I am working on them. Same rules of physics and geometry apply. There is a human tendency to place all stacked blocks perpendicular to the axles or frame rail they are placed under. THAT however is not the best way to place them! It is much more stable if the blocks are placed at 45 degree angles to the axles or frame rails, and alternated. One stack angled to the right, the other angled to the left. With the blocks all pointed the same direction, the car being bumped or pulled from the side of the blocks can tip off easily! Alternating the direction of the blocks puts the stability from one direction on one set of blocks, while the stability from another direction is handled by the other set of blocks. Again, if for long term storage (not crawling under!), and concerned about fire? Place all stacks the same direction, so the best tipping would be toward the door. Always. All surrounding circumstances, space, clutter, work planned? All need to be taken into consideration. Sometimes one way is best. Sometimes the other way is.

Nice fabrication work! I guess you can get bulbs for those?

"Rims" were steel, almost always! "Wheels" had been wooden spokes from very early onward. Wooden spoke wheels were on their way out about 1930, however, continued to be an option on many cars and some small trucks into the mid 1930s. Wooden spoke wheels are not a bad thing! They were NEVER because the people or engineers did not know better. And the technology for both steel wire and steel disc wheels also goes back to the beginning of the automobile! In the United States, the choice for wooden spoke wheels was a practical one. While much of the British Empire and Europe were using costly steel wire and steel disc wheels before 1910, the United States chose wooden spokes. This was largely due to Europe not having good supplies of appropriate wood for wheel spokes. Whereas the United States had millions of acres of old growth hickory forests! Hickory is one of the best woods in the world for wheel spokes! Oak is very hard, in fact so much so that it becomes brittle under the kind of stress an automobile puts on its wheels! Most other woods are too soft, or too weak. A few other hardwoods also have various issues that make them a poor choice for automobile wheels. Hickory has the right balance of resiliency, and strength, couple with the fact that it is good to work with. Wooden spoke wheels continued to be used in this country because they were good, and relatively cost effective. Eventually, manufacturing capabilities did make all steel wheels more economical, and the wooden spoke wheels began dropping to the wayside. Even when steel wire and stamped steel disc wheels became cheaper, many people preferred wooden spoke wheels, hence they continued to be offered as an option for those that wanted them. Wooden spoke wheels were also used on racing cars! Under the grueling abusive conditions of dirt tracks and high speeds, wooden spoke wheels rarely broke! Neat truck! But I cannot help with what it is worth.

I haven't seen any recent posts from Ed M?

Looks like common electronic schematics to me! I have read hundreds of them, and repaired thousands of pieces of equipment. I hated being stuck in the shop doing the work bench repairs. Most of my work was out in the field. Farmers weren't the only ones that could be out standing in their field!

With only three or four strands unbroken? That alone could be making the lamp dim. Replacing the switch might not help at all if the real problem is the wire!