C Carl

And then there is overlap and scavenging in the case of OHV engines. - Carl

Thanks much , Mike. I'm glad somebody likes my verbose prose ! - Carl

Yeah , George , I'll show you mine if you show me yours. 1924 7 passenger touring , and 1927 standard 5 passenger sedan. These old Cadillacs are unrestored originals. The '24 unfortunately suffered a repaint over 50 years ago , but fortunately in original colors. They run rather well , though being unrestored they keep you busy. I have put a few thousand miles on the old "Summer Car" , and hope to do likewise with the newer "Winter Car" starting this Winter. I wish you many happy miles of safe driving in your great old cars ! - Carl

Did you take it for a drive ? - Carl

There is at least one reason for a rolling timing retard. I don't know the specifics of your engine , but spark retard at unusually low speed operation keeps the engine running smoother , sometimes allowing the car to stay in a higher gear. My mid '20s Cadillacs have a 5 1/8" stroke. Using full retard on level ground , I can carefully get under 5 mph in top gear. The 87 octane gasoline we have today helps the technique. I accelerate using VERY gentle throttle , and advance as I am able to give more gas. This technique is quite useful in city stop - go traffic, and requires an awareness of conditions farther ahead than with a modern car with an automatic transmission. Just a little bit like driving a large heavy truck in traffic. Also , full retard may help you make top gear starts by picking up velocity first from full stop on a downgrade. These techniques were well known to chauffeurs of the day who wanted to provide the smoothest most comfortable ride. Ability to give smooth acceleration in top gear from low speeds was an article of pride in advertising cars with the ability to do so. Hand throttles may be used for climbing long , steep , slow grades in a lower gear. Loaded with 7 aboard , my 1924 7 passenger touring enjoys this , and gives my leg a chance to rest. Around hilly Seattle , there are occasions where first gear must be used for several minutes. Off road drivers who have to traverse rock gardens with a manual transmission also apreciate hand throttles. Using low range transfer case , low gear , the hand throttle will reduce lurching to almost nil , by eliminating the right leg to gas pedal feedback loop. Some driving 90 - 100+ years ago was off road of necessity. As you learn these driving skills , you will increasingly step back into the past , and get a peep through the keyhole into the lives of drivers who learned to drive in a horse drawn carriage. To them , mastering an automobile with a simple crashboxes became a bit of an art. For us , too . Have fun , and slow driving is safe driving in a very old car. Just as it was back then ! - Carl

That's good news , George. Startup will be routine then (whatever that particular routine may be). Hopefully someone who knows that routine will respond. Again , in general , I retard fully whether using the starter , or pulling the crank for a crowd pleasing show. The old Cads have a primer (choke) on the instrument panel. One pull for my cars after fuel pressure is pumped up. There are primer cups which can help the crank show. On startup with all cars it is a good idea to keep your eyes on the oil pressure. I sometimes have to prime my oil pump if the car has been parked for some time nose up. No problem for me , as I have a priming accumulator plumbed in. I hope someone who can show you the procedures will be available for you. I also hope the weather is good for a drive ! You will absolutely love that fine old car ! Drive it in the frame of mind of the middle age gent who was the original owner. He would have lived half his life in horse drawn days , and might only have owned a Model T prior to this comparatively high performance car. Don't compare it to , or force it to keep up with modern cars , of course. Please let everyone know how you are getting on , and your driving impressions. Comparisons to a "T" , or even a horse drawn conveyance would be interesting. Particularly up hills ! Have fun ! - Carl

Good evening , George , I am not familiar with Dodges of that era. I have mid '20s Cadillacs , and there is a sequence of procedures very different from not only modern cars , but also from contemporary cars with different types of fuel delivery. The guys who will give you this info will want to know how long it has been since it was last started. I am sure you will enjoy your "new" toy ! Easy does it with old machinery , and unless you are 100% sure of the maintenance history of the brakes , thoroughly prepare them for road service. - Carl

Hey , Paul : Open that Canadian up , I am sure you will be pleased with the smell. In high school over 50 years ago , I brewed beer at home , and also distilled moonshine in chemistry lab after school. I had a friend who was an organic chemist at The University of Washington . I remember him telling me that a component of the aging process in alcoholic beverages is the oxidation of aldehydes and ketones. If , indeed , my memory is correct , that would imply that the toxicity might actually have gone down by some very small percentage. Now to keep this posting automotive : My friend was Crellin Pauling. He was the son of the only person to have won two Nobel Prizes independently , Dr. Linus Pauling. Knowing of my interest in old cars , one day Crellin made me an astonishing offer. "My brother Peter has an old car in daddy's garage that you might like to have" , and showed me a black and white picture. An overwhelming love-at-first sight. A 1930 MERCEDES BENZ SS 38/250 FACTORY BODIED TOURER !!! SERIOUSLY !!! Peter had brought the car over from England , fortunately though , it was left hand drive. $2500!!!! Two thousand five hundred bucks was a fair amount of change for a high school kid back in 1961. Even in those times , as you guys and gals know , that was WAY under market. And I knew it. This did not compute for my father or grandfather who unfortunately were not old car guys. Of course , knowing everything I do now , I should have immediately worked my tail off (my high school was very tough and time consuming , so this might have been impossible) , and made a down payment. But I just figured I would get a job after graduation. I did see the car the following Summer. A family car trip to Northern Baja included a stop in the hills above Pasadena , Ca. Visited "daddy's garage". And there was "my" Mercedes . It was up on blocks with the sump open. I took off the newspaper sheets carefully covering it. Pre-War M.B. Racing White. Red leather. L.H. side single sidemount. Rear trunk. The side pipes. Instrumentation looking more aviation oriented than automotive , intriguing , written in German. The huge engine ! The supercharger ! Engine turned detailing most people only see in pictures ! There were no signs saying "LOOK BUT DO NOT TOUCH" . The high school kid touched it. The enormous headlights : "Carl Zeiss - Jena" proclaimed the worlds formost precision optical firm. I spent a long time with Mercedes , my love. I carefully covered her up. I would never see her again. Twice a year Mercedes would go for a good run. Sump plugged , fresh oil , off the blocks , and exercised on the winding mountain road just above. All systems working and up to temp , back to "daddy" she went. Up , covered , drained , resting , waiting for : ? , For me? Or.............. One day Crellin came to tell me a doctor hailed him while he gave Mercedes her semi-annual exercise. "I have forty seven hundred bucks I'll give you for that car". Gone. Gone for good. The biggest "big one that got away" story I have ever heard of. I suppose it is all for the best. No high school kid in the world should have unsupervised ownership of such a car. At least not this high school kid. I went to work for Boeing . Bought "101 524" , a 1960 Maserati 3500. 1.6 miles from a thorough factory reconditioning. Picked it up on the docks , just shipped from Genoa. I pampered that car. Until one night. The relatively recent high school graduate learned a tough lesson in organic chemistry. CH3-CH2-OH and oversteering Italian thoroughbreds are immiscible. Good thing no one was hurt in the single car agricultural excursion. Stan Baker bought the wreck and did his best (those of you who had the pleasure of knowing that great hotrodder and gunsmith know his best was VERY good , to say the least), but it was never the same. The only real tragic aspect to all this , is that professor Dr. Crellin Pauling died prematurely of cancer. I could not play an oncologist for 10 seconds on TV , but we car guys have to wonder about the incredibly wicked solvents poor Crellin would have been exposed to. I have met many astonishing , wonderful , kind , magnificent people in my life. It does not diminish any one of them in the least to say that Crellin Pauling and his father were the nicest people I have ever personally met. I would gladly have died in that wreck , if the years I would have lost could have been given to Crellin. Whew ! I am crying tears right now , so let me add a humorous epilogue. About 30 years later , the then middle-aged high school kid wandered his first Hershey. In the high-end "Jewelry Pavillion" displaying parts for multi-million dollar exotics , a pair of large mint Carl Zeiss Jena headlight lenses carried a $2500 price tag. Each. - Carl P.S. That SS 38/250 was in far too nice original shape to endure restoration. But those times were different. It would be a show stopper in most gatherings either way. Do any of you pre-war Mercedes Benz guys know where that car is now ? I expect the provenance would be known. My doctors tell me that perhaps having ingested too many aldehydes and ketones , I ought to tend to my bucket list over the near future. I would like to check off seeing "my" beloved Mercedes one last time. Thank you for any help. - CC

Hi , Gilletman , I see what you mean from the radiator ! It is a White as perhaps this closer pic shows. Let's see if the resolution is good enough to expand in this posting. - Carl Hmmmm , although some detail has been lost from the original by compression , it is still barely legible. CC

Yeah , Linus , pack a lunch. Go early and linger. Inside , and more outside. I have included this morose , moribund Lincoln especially for you. Sob. - Carl

In spite of the fact that no one asked me what was going on inside VRM where the 1926 Speed Six Bentley dropped in , I was greeted by this contemporary to the Six (see posting 57 above) as I walked through the door. Unless requested not to , I will put up a few more pics in the near future. For your enjoyment , 1927 S :

The very best polish for tarnished reflectors is lampblack and kerosene on a soft cotton cloth. If your reflectors are not ruined yet , give it a try. Of course , use a light touch , as these coatings are VERY thin. If this cheap low hanging fruit is inadequate or unacceptable , Uvira is a relatively permanent solution. It is an evaporative deposition process done in a vacuum chamber. Not cheap , but as I say , extremely durable due to a hard Quartz overcoating. If you avoid unnecessary or aggressive cleaning , it should outlast you , and the next owner. - Carl

Hi , James , raising compression a bit is a very good idea. Your present compression was compatible with the octane of gasoline in the mid/late '30s. Bringing it up to 8:1 would match modern 87 octane very graciously. You would not be loading anything beyond what your engine was designed for. Going for 9:1 or even 10:1 would necessitate other changes , carburation and cam profile among them. You would then have to use high octane gasoline , and the engine would indeed be working harder. If you have the money , know how , and time , you could consider something like that , but I think you would be wise to contact old time Buick hotrodders who have played around with such mods. Hopefully someone who has done so will join in. One of the joys of old cars is in using them just as they would have been driven back in their time. 8:1 will give very similar performance to original. Bearing loads are at max on power stroke , not compression stroke. The slower flamefront propagation rate of 87 octane has to be compared with the faster burning old gasoline. Power stroke bearing loads on an 8:1 engine on 87 , would be similar to a 6:1 on , say , 70 octane. Your exhaust valves may thank you , too. Raising compression on overheads should generally be done with pistons , not milling the head. I expect you have read what Las Vegas Dave has been doing with his low-mileage , original '38. If you are looking to get the most joy from your bucks , go O.D. And in closing , a public safety suggestion : Any juice brake car returning to the road should should have the brakes checked and serviced to make sure they are in PERFECT condition. Maybe also a dual master cylinder . All the best to you , James. You will have a very sweet running old car ! - Carl

After giving this some thought (I might also have heard this a long time ago , if I did I did not take it seriously) , I lean towards discounting it. Wouldn't mind reading debate , though. Anecdotal evidence might reveal weakness in an improperly designed brand X wheel which had fatigue issues. Although engineers knew something about unsprung weight implications , you can see from the mass of components under your old vehicles that skimping on materials generally did not happen. Many old cars look almost like some agricultural machine down below. In fact , as 'Vegas says , to some degree they had to be ! So in general , it is unlikely that the wheels would be under designed , or to have been the sacrificial weak link to what end ? Reduce unsprung weight ? Lacking whatever modern engineering tools like Nastran or finite point analysis , or you engineers tell me what , could some mistake have been made ? Maybe , but those vulnerable wheels would have a recognizable fragility resulting at best in a limited service life. I so , could the slightly higher lateral , and potentially , braking loads (in general braking puts greatest loads on wheels) , accelerate fatigue in a poorly designed wheel? Would that mean that running radials for 90,000 miles would risk failure on a wheel by mistake designed to last only 100,000 miles ? Maybe. The wheels I run last WAY more than that , unless they hit something pretty hard. Modern larger diameter wheels with modern hard, low-meat "rubber band" tires have less protection from road hazards than older generation wheels and tires. Ride harsher too. Look a bit too modern (a bit goofy) to an old guy named - Carl

Whoa there 31 ! I have not missed the point at all ! Carefully read , you will see that I AGREE with you ! No , notice that I said if I had the luxury of being able to O.D. my two '20s Kittys , it would have been done by now. You bet it would have ! Exactly to be able to LOAF along at the normal speeds I drive hour after hour , reducing wear factor generated by my venerable low geared 'Lacs. No , indeed ! Best of all worlds , certainly. You will see I am just reinforcing the safety admonitions without implying that you personally are reckless. Not to mention the ability to hold higher speeds for short distances in rare traffic circumstances where safety mandates you do so. Yes , you , my fellow old Cadillac cruiser , and I are on the same wavelength here. I simply took advantage of an opportunity to testify in my way for leisurly driving of ancient iron. As a peace offering , may I offer suggested reading ? For you and all who might apreciate a new safety tip. On a thread regarding tire size , on the pre-war Buick forum , I have explained a remarkable technique I learned a couple of weeks ago. I took a day long safe driving course out at the racetrack. I learned something so important that it should be sent out to all licensed drivers. You will find a new (seems some young drivers know this , but most oldsters don't) , safer way to adjust blind spots out of rear view mirror adjustment. You will find it towards the end of a long dissertation , most of which may be ignored as irrelevant. But the mirror adjustment trick may save lives. Let me know how it works for you after you get used to it. - CC

Exactly ! I like to keep my mid '20s Cadillacs under 40. They are exquisitely delightful at 25 - 35. I have had to push them harder on rare occasions. They both have stump puller rear ended ratios , which I love for hilly Portland and Seattle where they live. An overdrive would be an appreciated luxury at 35 , and if I had unlimited time and money , it would have been done by now. But not to extract more speed out of them. The cars were capable , in the context of the era , of holding somewhat higher speeds. But we all know that in their relative infancy , cars lacked the safety engineering and handling we 21st century folk take for granted. So prudent restraint trumps need for speed. 35 - 39 mph sure beat a horse back then , and the original owners of these cars likely would have lived over 1/2 their lives in horse drawn days when the cars were new ! By the way , I love the four wheel mechanical brakes on these cars. Particularly the rod actuated brakes on the '24. Very good brakes for the era , and sufficient for the velocities these cars should be driven. Safety first. Let's maintain good safety history , and resist getting legislated off the road. - Carl

Thank you , Steve , glad you could get through all my yapping. I hope Jenz is able to work through it considering the possibility of some idiomatic dropout. I do not know the safety vulnerabilities you refer to , could you please give me a link to the threads which have debated this safety aspect ? Also , precisely what might be the potential danger in your particular application ? I have mounted radials which have been a significant mismatch to mounting recommendations , but you have some concerns I would like to know more about. I will be happy to give you some examples of the indecent liberties I have taken , and the discussions that preceded doing so. Also , the benign results of having done so , in spite of the wide range of inflation pressures over radically different conditions. Your extremely important safety concerns seem right on topic to me. I am curious. By the way , 'Vegas Daves application looks perfect to me , and definitely indicates he is a real cruiser. Thousands of miles of great roads through nearby wide open spaces await ! Just in time for the cool weather ! ALSO : ALL OF YOU WHO DO NOT NEED OR WANT TO READ MY PREVIOUS LONG POSTING , PLEASE DO READ MY COMMENTS ABOUT REAR VIEW MIRROR ADJUSTMENT TOWARDS THE END. IT WAS A REMARKABLE NEW TRICK FOR THIS HIGH-MILEAGE OLD DOG ! SEEMS THAT SHOULD BE POSTED WHERE EVERYONE WILL READ IT. THE LIVES IT MAY SAVE WAS OBVIOUSLY WORTH THE DAY AND $80 I SPENT LEARNING UP AT THE TRACK. Woof , woof , old dog , Carl

Lexol. Lexol , period. - Carl

Dave , Jenz , Dwight , Suchan and all : You just can't have handling that is too good ! Not only for the pleasure of feeling a car doing what it should , but also the increased safety in an emergency. I have been using radial tires for quite a large range of applications for over 50 years. Radial tires have a very wide range of operating inflation pressures. This allows you to tune them , and by extension your suspension , to road ( or off-road) , conditions and velocities. I used to drive all over this country , but am lucky to have done most of my driving in the West , where wide open spaces have roads which are seldom used or patrolled. My driving specialty was covering long distances at sustained high speed. I particularly enjoyed the challenge of high speed driving on and off road in Mexico and Central and South America. I have established long distance elapsed times considered impossible by the professional high speed V8 Ford collectivo drivers in The Andes. I was also the driver of choice by U.S. and British embassy personnel for various weekend mountain climbing expeditions. This required my full-time 4-WD Blazer with automatic trans and rear locker to get trough difficult traction situations , both up and down the access routes. High speed to get to our mountain , and off-road as far as could be driven. Such experience helped me design a '71 Eldo convertible Cadillac off road Baja cruiser. I believe I have covered certain technical aspects of this car elsewhere , but for our discussion here today , let me just say it stands tall on a modified suspension , 17.6% greater cross section torsion bars , taller coils in the rear , 17% greater cross section with air bags to tune for proper F/R spring rate ratio and load. Wears 33" BF Goodrich All Terrain Radial TAs. Loaded for adventure , she tips the scales at 6200-6400 lbs ! Lots of tools , parts , extraction eq'p't , survival and camping gear , toys , and dual spares mounted on the trunk lid chained through a 5 gal. Jerry can locked to the rear bumper. The monster is very carefully loaded , some heavy compact stuff like 200' of 3/8 galvanized cable and associated chains and snatch blocks locked to the R.F. seat mechanism lie on the rear floor. Heavy tool box also chained to the pass seat , tucked close in the well. Heavy stuff securely lashed in the engine compartment. Fore/aft balance is very important. High/low polar moment of inertia considerations will have implications. I suppose we could cover aerodynamic factors at speed , like the need for maintaining center of gravity ahead of center of pressure ( model rocket guys know that one). But for now l am here to tell you that the design was a success. Credit must be given to Bill Monague of the old Off Road Chassis Engineering in So. Cal. Those old Cadillacs are much tougher than their freeway flyer status would lead you to believe. It would almost be easier for me to tell you where that thing has not been in Mexico than where it has. It has traversed a rock garden that high clearance trucks feared to crawl. It saved us when I entered a sweeping left hander and encountered a bus coming at me partially in my lane. With woman and child aboard , I firewalled it and let the 514 cubes ( .050 over) , pull me through a safe line. The top was down as we barely missed , and I still remember those chrome lug nuts on his Alcoas whirling past so close to my head. The thing could roll down the line at over 100, hour after hour to get through the North Mexican deserts. All this on the big radial 33" BFGs. Yeah , a real success. Ask me about it sometime ! Well , that abbreviated intro was a set up to tell you about the slightly larger tire you see in the earlier posted pic. From what I learned from the "Off Roader" , I gave the '76 a light touch. Gas shocks at the corners , air bags in the coils , urethane bushings for the sway bar , and above all , the tires. About the same oversize as 'Vegas is mounting up. But , what gives my mods on this car the high speed handling advantage is the huge operating pressure range allowing me to pump up the fronts for a low slip angle. These light truck tires carry a max load rating at 50 psi. For high speed and handling I ran the fronts at 45-47 psi. The rears don't do anything other than follow on these front wheel drive cars , and can carry 30-35 psi at speed , depending on load. Around town these pressures come down to say 36 psi front , and low to mid 20s rear , depending on load. Now looka here. I reckon that in my prime I could drive one of these FWD stockers as fast as anyone. I was still pretty good when I did this to the '76. ( Was it 20 years,ago ?). The cars handling at that point then exceeded my abilities ! The faster you drove it , the better it behaved ! I did something I hadn't done in years. I scared myself ! I backed off , and never again tried to test its limits. Now THAT is why I call it the worlds fastest ! All right , my treasured cyber friends. So I did the same above light touch to my '76 Fleetwood. The tires were 44 psi radials. Huge difference. My '95 Fleetwood simply rides on 44 psi Hankooks. I pump 'em up just a bit for the road. It feels a little like it is standing on its toes for a while, but once you "get it" , you really appreciate it. These are cars that enjoyed sustained 100 or just a bit more. Late 20th century Cad sedans merely need to be fitted with the very most expensive highest pressure directional tires you can find for the front. Forget the rear. I have driven my thusly equipped '93 so hard through a corner that I flung the rear end out with my go foot on the firewall ! Like Speed Channel footage of FWD rally cars ! Always wanted to do that on a Cadillac ! Check that one off the bucket list. Stabilitrac and Stabilitrac 2 equipped STS and DTS Cadillacs are superb handling cars , with or without the very best directional radials. 21st century cars generally handle so well that they really do not need anything. If you feel they are a bit mushy in any way , you know what tires to give 'em. If you want the advantage of increased handling and safety on your old cars , consider the appropriate high pressure light truck radials. They might look somewhat different for a while. By and by , you will come to love them. They look like they mean buisiness , and identify you as a cruiser. Not for everyone , I will be the first to admit. Seems I am forgetting something , but I have been on this longer than I intended. I have enjoyed tapping this out , and I hope all who read it enjoy it. For those who don't , who may be appalled , or law enforcement officers , E.M.T. personnel or others who have had to deal with the tragic results of automobile accidents , I merely offer : When I drove fast , it was in remote areas in daylight , never driving beyond my visibility. My eyesight was 20/15. Always on roads that were not going through animal or bird habitat . The only little animals or birds I have hit were at or under the speed limit. I hit one deer who jumped right in front of my car at dusk. I had just slowed down to under the speed limit. In Washington State , you can not keep road kill , so I very reluctantly left it. I slow WAY down in areas where deer or other animals are a known hazard at night. Like Key Deer on Big Pine Key , or on 299 west of Austin , Tx. I have never had a ticket , accident , or incident at very high speed , say 90+. Lots of people drive steadily at 85 or so around these parts. These days they generally pass me at 10 mph or more than I am doing. I think my youthful years of fast driving has made me a better driver , now that I am old. I have suddenly driven through at least 4 high speed multi vehicle accidents on the freeway. I have got through them safely because it all just looks like slow motion to me. I do have a couple of fairly fast Mercedes Benz cars. A 2007 E550 , and a 1998 V12 SL600. I do run them up a bit from time to time in remote safe locations. 2 weeks ago I went out to the racetrack. I completed a Mercedes Benz Club Safe Drivers - Safe Families program. Take such a course. Go sharpen your skills. I leave you precious people with a tip I learned that particularly older drivers may well not know : Some people do and do not know how to adjust their rear view mirrors. I thought I knew. I was wrong! We all know to adjust the inside rear view mirror until the reflection of the rear window is centered in the mirror. Correct ! But many of us adjust the outside mirrors so we can just barely see a bit down the side of the car. No ! Not quite ! What you must do for the drivers side outside mirror is lean left until your face is almost touching the window glass. It is from THAT point which you adjust to barely see down the side ! And for the opposite side wide angle mirror you must adjust it from the middle of the car ! Put your head in a line with the inside rear view mirror. At that point , if you just barely see down the side of your car in the right side mirror , your mirrors will now be adjusted properly. You will have complete overlapping coverage . It will eliminate blind spots ! It takes just a bit to get used to. Check it at night on the freeway. You will see an overtaking car in the lane next to you in the inside mirror. It will move to the left. Just as it leaves the mirror , you will see the lights picked up on the inside of the left hand mirror. As it passes out of the field of the mirror , you now will see it in your direct vision. As you pass a car on your right , it will also smoothly transition , always visible. Try it. I have had visibility difficulties because of blind spot . I might have caused an accident. Maybe you too? Other people I have told this to have said they have almost caused an accident because of blind spot issues. And there you have it . Something for everyone. And radials. Some better than others for handling. Try the best high pressure tires. Experiment a little. Try 80% - 90% of the max load bearing pressure. You may see most of that mush disappear. Let the car be all it can be. A bit like putting higher compression pistons in your old '30s OHV car. Or sticking an overdrive in it. - Carl

Hi Jenz ! The problem you speak of has nothing to do with high center of gravity. The miniscule difference in C.G. height caused by a slightly taller tire is undetectable in the real world of handling. With cornering considerations , slip angle is of great importance. Radial tires have a very low slip angle. In general , a high pressure radial has even less slip angle . Directional high pressure radials , better yet. Because I am late for something , I will elaborate later. Feast your eyes on this Michelin LTX 235/75 R15. It is on a '76 Cadillac Eldo Conv. I believe it is the fastest such Cad in the world. I'll tell you why later. - CC

Oh , boy , I should have put in some automotive content to make the above deviancy forum compatible. Here : that was back in the '40s in Door County , Wisconsin. We would camp there Summers form Chicago. Dad had a '39 Pontiac. I remember him racing steam trains , and losing to those high speed flatland locomotives with their huge drivers. One day dad showed up to camp with a brand spanking new '50 Willys Jeep station wagon. Struck the tent , and drove back to Manitowoc to board the ferry at night. Crossed to Luddington , and did pass through Sarnia on our way to Vermont before crossing back to the U.S. at Niagara Falls. Hey , do any of you guys know if the ferry back then was steam powered ? I expect it still was. Anyway , my parents were great long distance car cruisers for the day. If this is not enough old car content to camouflage the above vile offering , I can go on about the trip to camp on Sanibel Island in Florida for a month back in '52 , or '54 when he drove to Mexico City and Acapulco. Then driving across the country to Seattle in '55 by way of Salt Lake and 'Frisco. But didn't I do that elsewhere ? I can't remember. Funny how we have such clear ancient memories , but......... you know how it is. Let's see , what was it I had to do today ? Better get to it. - Carl

Yeah , that brought about the best laugh I've had in a while ! Almost begs for some of the great art and poetry from days of yore. Old fart that I am , I still can recall the first poem I memorised almost 70 years ago. Off the wall of a Wisconsin 2-holer. Couldn't quite read and understand it all. Mom and dad had to help my innocent literate inabilities with a bit a bit of laughter. Fortunately merely scatological in content. So young , it made a lasting impression on me. "Here I sit in solemn bliss , .............." . "Not PART" , they corrected me. "It's not a "p" , Carl , it's an "f". Hey , Jack , thank you so much for the humorous link ! Yeah , I've still got a good smile from that one ! - Carl

Back at ya , Slim ! You and everyone else hanging on this thread will get to panting over these yard dwellers at Bernie's. I enjoy very much visiting with Bernie Long. He is in Burlington , Ca. That is East of L.A. before you get to Redlands , just off I-10. Bernie does advertise in Hemmings , and FYI , is about old enough to be your granddad. I wish Bernie was my dad , but I am afraid he'd'a had to have been a real early starter ! My hat is off , and a deep bow of respect to your energetic self. Wow ! What an incredible sense of pride you restoration wizards must have in your creations ! Thanks again for what you are doing. - Carl

Well , good. That does simplify things. Yeah , clean it well and inspect it very thoroughly. And as Linus says , particular attention to the clutch. Double clutching old crashboxes is made more gracious by using heavy oil. A modern approximate equivalent to what was used in most 1920s gearboxes is 250w gear oil. It is not precisely the same , among the differences is the much higher lubricating quality we enjoy today. Some ancient transmissions called for grease in the owners manual. They would recommend tempering the grease with kerosene in cold weather ! Without any serious suggestions to the contrary , I would blend maybe 20% synthetic grease into it. You appear to live in an agricultural region , so you know how enthusiastic the old timers are about synthetic grease in their heavy machinery. The old guys remember the increased maintainance needed in pre-synthetic days. Amsoil , Lucas , Mobil , and others have synthetic gear oil in 250w. I am sure all of us are excited by your project ! Please give us progress reports. I hope I , and we all , are around to see pics of the parade ! By the way , I may be among the minority around here who don't know the make and year of your cool old truck. I am curious ? Thank you for saving another historic relic for a great many generations to come ! - Carl

FWIW , I agree with absolutely everything said here. While that may seem a little contradictory , let me explain. Having gone through , and not , 2 crash boxes out of the '20s , the first thought is go for the low hanging fruit. But look , is the subject truck pictured in your avatar ? If so , it will be primarily a static vehicle , with occasional short distance use. There is a large difference in necessary prep for a parade , or round the block type of vehicle , and a tour car. If you were preparing for thousands of miles , or returning a truck to service , you would be smart to go into the trans. If not , let the dogs sleep , and use your limited ? time elsewhere. Again , just my opinion. - Carl