C Carl

Rich Baumgarten at thehandleman@comcast.net Send him pics from several angles. Also , let him and us know the car and year this handle is from. Good luck. - Carl

Just curious . Perhaps you can help me with a very irritating problem . I noticed your original posting had the last part of the text " edited " out. How did you recover it ? This has happened to me several times , and I figured it was some deficiency with " Auto-Saved " . I am old and lacking computer skills . This intimidates me . I hesitate to contribute because of this . Thanks for helping me if you can. - Carl

P.M. sent , thank you. - Carl

Well , the demon of the black hole has swallowed up the rest of my posting. Auto save does not save everything for me . I hate having my time and verbiage so disrespected. At any rate , time is up for now . Perhaps to be continued at some time. Anyway , very best of luck in the hunt for a daily driver. I would be honored to be of further assistance as to why these particular years cars are so good. - Carl

Well , I am getting very curious as to the condition of the car ? If it is real shabby and all needs work , yeah , go for it ! But for the sake of the soul of the car , you might consider the range of Buick power. A few years back I came across the finest lead sled I have ever seen parked stern to at the back door of a restaurant I was eating at. A '47'Cadillac fastback. This one rivals Cadzilla , IMHO. But it had a huge Chev mill in it . Now this guy had the $$$ to do anything. I admired the car , praising it honestly. But thinking to myself , " with all the speed equipment for 472/500 Cadillac available , it's a Cadillac , why not keep it that way ? " . Uh huh . Yeah , something about the soul of it. Do you guys/gals agree ? - Carl

Welcome to the wonderful world of automobile resurrection ! I don't have much of a feeling regarding the condition of your old car , and what other work makes sense in general , or to you specifically. Pictures in , out , and under would help tremendously . But I gather you are treading new ground here. That can be a very rewarding path. So , what one does with an old engine just purchased is to determine condition. An essential step is to pull the pan and check for , analyze and clean sludge. While you are checking the basement , pull a few caps. A couple rods and a main to begin with. I am an old Cadillac guy , so I invite an old Buick guy to advise as to which main to pull first. If they look real good , very little pitting , scuffing etc. next step is to plastigage to determine clearance. Your forthcoming shop manual will give you the acceptable clearance range. If all is well within tolerance and looking good , zip it up. If things are looking a little questionable , but still within tolerance , you may have to pull all of them. Sounds like this may be your first time down under , so why don't you seek out a friendly member to show you what to look for . It is relatively easy and straightforward. But you really should check. Sometimes you can get galvanic erosion from acidic oil which can eat bearings if an engine has sat for many years with dirty oil . Sometimes it can damage the crankshaft. Now look , if your engine is O.K. why not just make the car safe and roadworthy ? That includes totally going through brakes . And I mean TOTALLY ! Everything completely rebuilt and the lines replaced , unless you know for sure that it has been recently done . Enjoy that old Buick and drive it as intended for a while. It might well cruise at 55-60 . A Cadillac that year sure can , and more. But certainly lots of owners of similar cars can give you the info. If you need to overhaul the engine , talk to a Buick tech advisor. Most OHV engines can fit taller pistons , raising the compression ratio. That would restore some of the power lost by modern higher octane gasoline. Tech guys : can the compression be raised up to 8 or so ??? Do you do this routinely ? Sure wish I could get my old '20s Cadillacs up there ! But they are just singing the old flathead stinky exhaust blues. They would love a drink of 45 octane , just like they were designed for. I think most , if not all of us understand this , but if some(one) among us would like this fleshed out , I would be happy to do so. Where are you, friend ? Sounds like you could use a fellow member looking over your shoulder from time to time . I am in Seattle . Very best of luck to you , Carl

O.K. Guys , here is another long shot. I need a 1920s style amber foglight. Flat glass , drum bucket. I just need one , but if I have to buy a pair , so be it for the right one. I see you have a lot of lights , so maybe............? Thank you , Carl

Great ! So I assume this is done by standard electroplating , right ? -Carl

Very interesting , keiser31 ! That sounds like evaporative vaccum aluminization with fused silica overcoating.This is very common in production of some reflective optics. Astronomical research telescopes generally do not overcoat , as the process induces circular polarization . They just have to periodically re-aluminize. Good to know this precision process is available to our hobby. You are quite right in that for all practical purposes the reflectivity is indistinguishable . Silver simply reflects over a slightly wider spectral range. It would take a spectrophotometer to measure the small difference. No one could possibly notice a difference in headlight usage. However , if it does get dirty , remember these coatings are extremely thin . Any burnishing here will damage and ultimately degrade performance. If necessary , the alcohol in water with a drop of dish detergent is the way to go. Very , very gentle cleaning , as I say , with clean fingers is what many telescope tinkerers do periodically. Thank you very much for the Uvira source . -Carl

Uh , I should have mentioned the obvious. The polishing compound suggested here , along with the finest Jewelers rouge has a very tiny grit size . Even far coarser grit such as 1200 on the right lap in certain circumstances upon some substrates can produce a level of polish . Again , reference "BEILBY LAYER" . I am specifically NOT suggesting anything anywhere near that coarse for the soft silvered surface of headlight reflectors. -Carl

Hi , David and 35cz8 : IMH ( but not totally inexperienced ) O , it is precisely an abrasive which would would serve to "best" clean light dirt and fingerprints. Hard abrasives such as carbon in lampblack , or a wide variety of metallic oxides (e.g. jewelers rouge), can either grind or polish , even at the same grit size . The polishing function will depend on the lap of choice. In this case a rag , chamois , moistened newspaper , or your fingers may be the ideal lap . Almost 60 years ago when I first dabbled in optical fabrication ( grinding and polishing ) , I came across the phenomenon of the "BEILBY LAYER" . You will certainly enjoy Googling it up if you have never heard of this . Now I have been warned against chemical polishes for certain electroplated surfaces . For example I have been warned not to use chrome polish on my nickel plate. Some chrome Polish is acidic , and will accelerate deterioration of the nickel , which is softer and more porous than chrome. Porosity .................................................... STAND BY. ...................................... THE PHANTOM CYBER MUNCHER HAS STRUCK AGAIN !!!! The above is all that was auto-saved from a very well edited and proofed soliloquy about 3 or 4 times the size . Pushed submit , and the finished product is gone. Very little upsets me as much as losing one of my long creations. It eloquently went on and referenced precipitated and vacuum deposited reflective surfaces. It mentioned the uses of such abrasives such as cerium oxide , lead trioxide and titanium dioxide. But , anyway my mind is reeling. I have a policy of not re-writing stolen compositions. So the bottom line is : Try the lampblack/kerosene trick. It was recommended by one of the greatest "Old Bulls" that our hobby has the pleasure of cherishing. Though not a master of anything , I have enough experience to recognize the potential merits of this technique . Give it a try , and let us know how you make out. If my friend says this is the " best " way to polish headlight reflectors , I would discourage anyone from second guessing him. We young 'uns in our 60s and 70s ( and still younger yet as the case hopefully may be ) , are lucky to have him still sharp and active among us. I better get this off before I risk putting yet more time into potential cyber munch fodder ! Also this prolonged thumb tapping is causing painful tendinitis. You wonderful fellow old car guys and gals are well worth a bit of pain. Thanks to all of you out there. -Carl

In unambiguous authoritative unassailable verbiage : Your headlight rims applicability corresponds to all V63 ( 1924 and 1925 ) Cadillacs. It is the headlight buckets which were available nickel plated for 1925. Rims always were. If I knew how to post a picture I would show you a front on of my unrestored '24 7 pass touring. It looks quite nice , almost new or restored , but it is neither. If that pic with Cadillac script on the radiator would enhance your display , I do know how to email direct . My email is mrcfielding@yahoo.com -Carl

Oops . In re-reading the above an error needs correction : In my second sentence the word "would" should be "wouldn't" . Does kind of change the meaning , doesn't it ? If that is my most serious senior moment today , I'll be lucky. Carl

This is a fun forum and a little poking is OK as far as I am concerned. Yeah , and as I suspect most of us are in our 60s and 70s , and should be a bit thick skinned by now. There is probably not one among us who would rather re-phrase some things we have said if we could. We are all fortunate to have guys like Rusty , generously sharing his vast experience , and accurately giving his time. Also very fortunate to have an intelligent car , boat and motorcycle fan branching out into older cars. Maybe he is lucky to be a bit younger than us , therefore having more miles left in him ! Seems the older i get , the less concerned I am with speed. I'll take a back seat to few regarding my youthful velocity capabilities and accomplishments , but recently bought a 200 HP Allante rather than a 300 HP Northstar powered one. 'Nuff fer me at this late date. Uh huh , this old man is getting on. So to throw out an irrefutable lesson from physics for each and every one of you , my dear Motörhead Brothers , a timely reminder : POWER REQUIREMENT GOES UP AS THE CUBE OF THE SPEED , and : FORCE EQUALS MASS TIMES ACCELERATION. Peace , Carl

Dwight and all : The useful range of your tach will be determined in part by the simple arithmetic JV recommends. I say in part , because one of the most useful revs in any engine is torque peak. Look up the specs for your mill , throw in a couple of hundred and you've got it ! ( for my mid '20s Cadillacs , TP @ 2000 rpm ) . In general , you will be cruising and shifting at below torque peak , but that is particularly good to know and monitor when pulling a steep grade. Do you know of an off the shelf conversion kit for mechanical to electronic tach drive ? That is one great looking tach ! I hope it works for you. - Carl

I have got decals from Bob. Check pages 118 & 119 in his catalog. bobsautomobilia.com/CAT59.pdf Phone 805-434-2963 Very reliable. I hope your great Buick runs as good as it looks ! - Carl

Also , it would be a good idea for you to contact Rich Baumgarten. He has many tens of thousands of handles , escutcheons and hinges. Contact him at thehandleman@comcast.net If you can send pics from several angles it would help. By the way , my recent conversations with Vintage Reproductions , were with Australia . I don't know whether you have calculated the time difference and tried that , or if emails to them go unanswered. Perhaps you are trying Tom and Cindy Myers, Stateside . In any case , these people do very fine work , and are highly regarded . Wishing you lots of safe driving and fun with your old car(s). - Carl

I spoke to them maybe 4-5 months ago. They are a small family business. Maybe took a break for some late season skiing , or ? I hope they are OK . Very nice people. Carl

This old Cadillac is on Craigslist Detroit Metro , 1926 Cadillac. Good luck ! - Carl P.S. I seem to remember these cars are about 17' long + or - 6"

Almost 50 years ago I purchased 101 524 . Picked it up on the dock in Seattle after being shipped from Genoa . 1.6 miles on odometer after thorough refresh by factory . Fitted with 45mm Webbers. A white coupe , Borrani disc wheels , 4 speed. Registered as a '59 , but for some now forgotten reason speculated might be '60 . Do your records go back that far ? Thank you , Carl

Hi all , just got off the phone with Kelsey. Bad news ( please don't slay the messenger ) . " There is no date code embedded in these numbers . Goodyear did not do that in the '30s . They are plant codes and have other internal significance ".Good news for some of you fortunate ladies and gentlemen is that some sizes of this attractive tire are available to you. Check their website , and I hope you will be among the lucky . Bad news for me is that 7.00 - 21 is not to be had , abscent about a 3/4 million $ set up cost . Also takes at least a couple years . Consolation for all of us is that we are fortunate enough to be able to enjoy these pursuits and speculations . We got to be born and live in this Great Country where lots of even middle class people have such hobby capabilities . Very best regards to everyone . A particular thanks to Curt , for giving me insight to judging . My 2 old Cadillacs '24 & '27 are great candidates for originality..............Hmm , so many plans , so little time . Carl