Roger Garnett

First - If you're looking for a financial investment, forget it. A brass car will probably maintain it's value +/- some. And inflation may wipe out any rise in price. That's not what you're here for. If you want investment, go talk to a investment broker. Second - What car, what kind? Something you enjoy. Find your local HCCA folks or other brass touring folks, and go for a ride. Hitch a seat on tour - many people have spare seats in a touring car, and some need a navigator for any car. HCCA and others are about touring, not showing so much. Get familiar with some of the cars and people out there. Third - Big car, little car? 1, 2, 4 or more cylinders? 10, 20, 30, 40 HP? Most tours are for 4 cylinder cars, as there are more of them and they can go a little faster / further. While many 1-2 cylinder cars can't keep up on a 4 cylinder tour, some can. And we sometimes have a Curved Dash Olds along, who start early and stop less, and have a good time. There are also separate 1-2 cylinder tours, which are great fun for those cars. Fourth - How are your skills? These cars do require regular maintenance and fiddling. You need to be ready to do that, or pay someone to do it. Certainly more than post-war cars. Some finding or making parts, it's all part of the hobby. Fifth - Within the brass genre there's a wide range of cars. Early cars are less refined, later are more production based, and start to have amenities like electric lights and starters. Mid-era cars are brassy, pretty, and all over the ball park on mechanical designs and layout. Model T Fords are abundant, if you are worried about parts and documentation. Roger

Announcing the Maxwell Motor Company forum, a sub-group of the Maxwell-Briscoe email / web group. This is the official Maxwell Club forum for Maxwell Motor Company cars, produced from 1913-1925, when Walter Flanders took over the original Maxwell-Briscoe company. This is the place for discussion of 1913-1925 Maxwell's, and includes searchable message history, storage for files (manuals, brochures, drawings, etc), and photos, plus additional features. It is a subgroup of the Maxwell-Briscoe Owners group. Better than Facebook- you can actually find information previously posted! As a sub-group, one first has to join the Maxwell-Briscoe group at https://maxwellbriscoeowners.groups.io/g/main Note that you MUST respond to the subscription confirmation email with your name, location, and Maxwell Cars owned in order to complete your subscription. Once you join the Maxwell-Briscoe group, you can apply to join the Maxwell Motor Co group at https://maxwellbriscoeowners.groups.io/g/MaxwellMotorCompany

Location sure would help.

The BBC tour was ended by the organizers last fall. The ABC tour has been organized to replace it, and is on the calendar. This has been covered in the Gazette and HCCA news emails.

April 21-27 2024 Snappers Brass & Gas AACA Spring Tour, Thomasville, Ga. Enjoy one of the nicest small towns in south Georgia with its brick streets, fine restaurants and beautiful homes. Visit the Pebble Hill Plantation, Zebulon Theater, Georgia Agricultural Museum, Tallahassee Auto Museum, and more. Tour is for brass era cars, 1915 and earlier. Final registration due by March 15. Contact: Ed & Pam Prince 229-327-1765 momasipia@hotmail.com https://www.snappersbrassandgas.com/

Yes, they are out there, and you may be early -not late. 1 & 2 tours do vary by area and from year to year. There are sometimes a national 1 & 2 (se the Gazette and HCCA web site), and often regional 1 & 2's. Tours for 2024 calendar are not all published yet, and regional tours may only be listed in a regional newsletter or email. Some are annual, some are bi-annual, others are not on a regular schedule. The New London to New Brighton is a great choice, and the only national, annual tour - and it's run as an independent event. There is also the annual Lansing to Dearborn, which is run by the Midwest Brass & Gas HCCA region) , and the Snappers Brass & Gas (AACA region). https://www.snappersbrassandgas.com/ Also check VMCCA, they have some 1 & 2 tours as well.

The 1910-11 REO brakes are pretty poor compared to later cars. The brake band lining material is important - "Green grabber" is a modern material that is recommended, as long as your drums are in good shape. Your local industrial brake relining shop may stock it, or it can be ordered. https://catalog.rowlandcompany.com/item/friction-materials/woven-brake-lining-materials/4280 (BTW, it's flat brake pads on disk brakes, curved shoes on modern drum brakes, flexible linings on brass era brakes and some industrial equipment) It's possible to fit hydraulic brakes, but it's a big $$$$ job. You might get additional info on this in the REOFour email group - https://groups.io/g/REOfour Roger

Peter - A comment on the member and car search -It's fast, but it returns all names / cars to the viewer first thing, causing a lot more data transfer than desired, and slows performance a lot on a slow connection. Just displaying the search box, and only returning the desired data would be more efficient. Hopefully it will be possible to clean up some of the inconsistent data errors, like having both AB and Alberta in the address records, and 3 different versions of Abbot Detroit, and 3 of REO (REO, Reo, R E O) in the drop down list.

Peter - how much longer until we will be able to see a members cars again in the directory?

Matt - I don't have a Brush, but you'll find a bunch of owners on the Facebook Brush group, and the Brush Owners Registry has some reference info for members. https://www.facebook.com/groups/191925051574530 https://brushownersregister.com/ Roger

That's pretty lousy! Was it a "Brush" engine? If so, what was it used in? The 1909 Oakland Model 20 has a 2 cylinder engine, designed by Brush. Check it out! Looks like a Brush! https://www.bonhams.com/auction/28770/lot/521/1909-oakland-model-20-2-cylinder-touring-chassis-no-1627-engine-no-397/

I think that will be a REO single cylinder truck, 1910-1914. I'll post this in the EarlyREO group mail list...

You'll find good help in the EarllyREO group for 1 & 2 cylinder REO's. Sign up at https://groups.io/g/EarlyREO

Actually, it could also depend on weather you have the 5 passenger touring, or the 4 passenger tonneau. Looking at the 1912 catalog at the moment, and they (and the roadster) are all the same.- the arch with flat to the rear. The 1910-11 are different between the 4 (S) and 5 passenger touring (R) models. Best places for help and reference for the 4 cylinder REO's is the Reo Club of America, and the REOfour group - https://groups.io/g/REOfour/ Roger

I expect you are communicating with the EMF registry? http://emfauto.org/EMF_registry.php There's also an EMF Facebook group with 70+ members https://www.facebook.com/groups/398873340836274 Roger

Join the registry... https://www.saxonmotorcars.com/

I've used Fiebing's Leather Dye to touch up leather seats, as well as some wood stain touch up. Nothing as big as a top, but depending on material it should work well. Available on Amazon and other sources in 4 oz and up sizes. Wear gloves and old cloths, and be sure any other parts are masked / tarped over, as it's truly a stain, you don't want it on what it shouldn't be on.

You shouldn't need a custom made pin - Tapered pins are a standard hardware item. (and straight dowel pins) Measure the id (internal dimension) of the hole at both ends to get the diameter, and figure out the length needed. A local hardware or farm store may have a small selection (avoid big box), and Amazon has some, but industrial suppliers like Grainger are the primary source. https://www.grainger.com/category/fasteners/pins/taper-pins The pin is tapped in tight. You might then peen over the small end to keep it from coming out - but remember you may want to remove it at some point as well.

The price looks about what Hagerty lists for a condition 4 vehicle $19,000, even tho it looks more like a #3 ($30,000). Still, it got a bunch more than a very similar car did in September ($10,500) - https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1953-cadillac-series-62-sedan/ The Hagerty price guide (free) is usually in the ball park, so either these are deals, or indicate the market for 50's iron is falling away. That, and people are spending less as prices for gas and such are rising.

There will be a meeting for REO 1 & 2 cylinder owners and fans at Hershey, at 1:00 Thurs Early REO the Curved Dash Olds club tent in the red field, RWK25 to 29 Resurrecting the REO 1 & @ registry Collecting & preserving Early REO history On-line forums - The Early REO group, Facebook, REO Club, AACA, etc Owners, cars, parts - tech, projects, needs, fabrication All REO 1 & 2 cylinder cars & trucks, 1904-1914

F26 - I can't recommend anyone in particular, but you can try on your won, or look for shops that do any similar coils. The Brush coil is of similar operation to Ford Model T, and many other buzz box coils. The basic wiring is pretty simple. They can be tested and adjusted stand-alone, out of the car, with a battery and some wire. Once it's known to work, you can add-in the car's wiring and timer. If you search for Model T coil test and adjustment, you'll find a number of articles, as well as YouTube videos. https://cool386.com/fordcoils/fordcoils.html Roger

Quantify "lots" - boxes, shelves, a room, a garage full, a barn full... Probably best to get in touch with local car friends / clubs and find someone who can help. It helps if you know era or brands of what he usually had- prewar? 50's? Ford vs Chevy , import, other? Get a couple opinions. If you just want the space cleared, find one or two people who will take everything (NOT a scrap hauler!) You can probably get a lot price for everything, or you might be able to find someone who will give you a percentage of sale - but it takes a lot of work and time to sort, identify, and sell a large amount of stuff. There are a few ways to sell such parts, ranging from swap meets and markets, to selling individual bits on-line -including here - but for that you need some idea what you have, and it's value. Some photos here could help with general identification. Here is the list of local regions of AACA: https://aaca.org/list-of-regions-chapters/ You can also find local clubs and regions for specific makes, or general multi-make clubs as well.

Congratulations! Nice simple fix, once you know what's needed.

That cable is pretty simple to make. Looks like like length of cable, couple of crimped ends, and a threaded eyebolt..