C Carl

Big fine car. Very solid looking. How is the upholstery ? Presently running ? What miscellaneous parts are you looking for ? Thanks for the pictures. Makes it real ! I am sure we all like your new toy, and that most of us envy your palm trees ! - Carl

Hi Jerzjer, and thank you for giving me the opportunity to welcome you to AACA ! Please post a picture of the dash plaque. The Chrysler guys will be along to help you decode it. You will come to find out how much we all here love pictures. Kinda like the lone cowboy at the cantina. Rides up, hitches hoss to post, walks up to the bar and orders drinks for all (perhaps reminiscent of Him and His Uncle, if that makes any sense to you whatsoever). Being one of your new forum friends, I submit that it is analogous to buying a round, if you were to post a couple pictures of your '29 Imperial along with the plaque shot. Sure don't have to be shy here amongst the greatest bunch of "old carsters" anywhere. To paraphrase Arlo Guthrie, you can find anything you want at Ali...... Oops, I mean AACA forums. Forgive me, I have been writing for hours, and am getting ringy, and downright silly. By way of apology here are my two oldest. 1924 and 1927 Cadillacs. Original and unrestored. I have to search long and hard to find pictures new to the group. They are patient, but the same old same old could be pushing it. Please stay with us ! - Carl

Though tempted, I will refrain from making a smarta$$ statement something like : "arrrrrrrr.........., just yank that manual mess and put an automatic in it". For towing, as in all-terrain, all condition off road driving, automatic is superior for a number of reasons. But the conversion expense over the cost to fix whatever mess you have there may not be economically feasible for the short run. I just flat don't know. Most likely several of the highly experienced/professional members here are able to comment. The complexities are way beyond my amateur experience. If you gotta get in there, see what is available for a heavy duty clutch most suitable for towing regardless of price. Make sure your cooling system, brakes and universals are in excellent condition. Always get rolling using "granny low", unless you are starting off downhill. Remember to check your hitch and lashing 1/2 mile out, and shortly thereafter. Safe towing is slow towing. - Carl P.S. Have you ever been punished by the Road Devils for following too closely ? Sometimes you get a well deserved ticket, other times you get a windshield ding. Cover and protect foreword facing glass including headlights. Did I mention towing slowly ? Another reason is that your car is not designed to resist continuous turbulent 65 mph wind loads. Careful. - CC P.P.S. At the risk of sounding like I'm nagging, there is another technique many people don't realize. Pull your rear mounted spare and carry it in the bed of your truck. This reduces a high C.G. high polar moment of inertia. To put it in simple terms, you will have a more stable tow with noticeably less tendency to fish tail. Towing is more dangerous than you realize, until it is too late. Easy does it every time. Over; and out. - CC

I am terribly sorry to see that your wife is ill. I hope she recovers well from the surgery, and regains her health soon. - Carl

Twin6, those two Packards remind me of the pair of late '20s Packard roadsters (one a boat tail), that Sat on the North side of the Sheridan Market for far too many years. North of Seattle on Bothell Way at about the 15+xxx level on the R.H. side Northbound, the market still stands, vacant. I remember the cars back in the late '50s, into the early'60s. They sat for several years, poorly tended. They were tenuously covered in various degrees by canvas tarps in all the misery Seattle precipitation could inflict on them. Maybe some Old Lion who roamed the area in that era knows/remembers.? Harold ? Anyone ? Far too valuable even back then for the scrap heap, someone obviously did not value them enough. Maybe after their neglect at the market, they were scrapped. While I am up : What happened to Felix Derjinsky 's Rolls Royce ? - Carl P.S. Maybe someone up on early 20th century Russian history will know from whom Derjinsky "acquired" the RR, and under what circumstances.

Again, please note the difference in brake drum diameters. Of course they could well have been increased between '17 and'20. - CC

I enjoyed my 403 very much back in the early 60s. Never knew about the pepper mills until right now. About the time of my Peugeot ownership, there was a Dominican playboy who drove for Ferrari. Luck ran out for him in Paris when he ran his 250 into one of the trees in The Boise' (that was in the mid '60s when Porfi' was in his mid '50s - I think at this point in my life, I would trade all my tomorrows for just one of his single yesterdays). Anyway, this fortunate fellow's first marriage was to the daughter of "Old Goat" Trujillo, the vicious dictator of the D.R. Marriage did not last long, and Porfiro Rubirosa "pole vaulted" his way up the social ladder. I seem to remember names like Hutton, Gabor, Duke, Monroe,.................... some of whom he married (large dowry against no guarantees), others treasured toys. About that time the larger of the Parisian pepper mills were referred to as "Rubirosas", terminology now largely forgotten. Oui Sébastien ? Non ? Speaking of lost "classics", where is the "treed" 250 GT now ? - CC

I was wondering the same thing as I tapped out (I also should have taken typing with the girls - who knew ?), my bloody experience. From what I gather, now EVERYONE learns to type very well, but don't learn one end of a screwdriver from the other end of a wrench. - Carl

I still have a proud scar on my left thumb from a "lathe lesson" learned in Jr. High school metal shop. Agree about the buff'. - CC

SOLD ! Came and picked up yesterday. That Buick is gonna do a "reverse webfoot", (some of you will remember Joel Chandler Harris' short story "African Jack"). I am very happy for Gordon and the new owner. The temptation that tugged at me would not have been beneficial if I had succumbed to it. I confess to having a strong crush on the HPOF '34. If I had "Slipped", "Stumbled", and "Fell" in love with it, I really could not have justified a marriage at this stage of life. If I had got hitched to it : "Danger ; heartbreak dead ahead" might have been my fate. Now the emissarys of the African gentleman may have an interest in returning for 3 of the remaining cars. 1932 Chrysler 6 cylinder RS coupe, and 1946 and '48 Chryslers. Check on Seattle CRAIGSLIST. I really had to spend all my limited time on the Bu', so didn't have much time to go into those. The '46 &'48 seem to be extremely solid projects, now well into the uphill swing. '32 runs. I just don't know much more. There is also a degraded '65 or so Riv' parts car that I didn't see. Man and boy do I hope the purchaser is or will become an AACA member, and join us here. - Carl

I just (5:30 PST) called and left a message. Will post when I hear further. - CC

Yeah, in my declining condition I am confusion susceptible. I would love to drive one while I am theoretically still able. I would not feel comfortable on public roads. If I am ever back in Hickory' again, I will take the class. - CC

A 1928 car in the '60s would have been about 40 years old. My '76 Eldo' gets quite a bit of attention from people who were born after 1976. Although these Gen. X, or whatever, do like my '20s cars if confronted by them, they seldom harbor "possession fantasies". I think for many in that age group, this 90-100 year old stuff hardly computes as cars. - Carl

Thanks, George. - CC

The driver is a fellow CLC member with his daughter by his side. He became such a good wheelman (had never thrown a double clutched shift before I "learned him up" - he is a great learner with a PhD and a Jd), that I hade the rare pleasure of seeing my old car in motion from all angles as I drove my E550. "X", you are a genius ! In one short posting, you have conveyed the impression I spent so many "column inches" trying to describe! Thanks again for getting me out and about doing an old car thing. Mark : What were your friend's general feelings about the Bu' ? Was there something about it that put him off ? You guys obviously didn't buy the car. Also he did not take the rocker cover off. Gary and I were prepared to do the first step towards eventually going back to turn and possibly start the engine. Neither he, nor I, nor the owner (the title is now in his name rather than his father), have time for the complexities implied by what we found with the valve(s). Does this engine have the fiber timing gear ? I am trying to rationalize some way to multitask my way back down there. - CC