3macboys

I've got the downspouts as well - from what I can determine it looks like everything dates to around 1900-1910 - quite the bit of craftsmanship involved in it all and then the spikes and wedges to mount the downspouts are another neat little piece. It seems like I'm always on a time line when I'm dropping stuff off at the shop and the immediate location it all goes to is the showroom which results in the place getting cluttered fairly quickly. It's not all bad as it forces me to deal with it in a timely fashion but this is how the place often ends up looking: \ If you look closely at the magazine rack you'll notice a little promotion for the club The other side of the chassis of the 30 Dodge And along the other wall

I think that Civic would look pretty good sitting right about where the fifth wheel is

I sent it to a buddy of mine who's a former Forensics Officer. He suggests trying Oblique lighting which thanks to Google is Oblique lighting uses a light source positioned at a low angle. Oblique lighting is usually used to show detail by creating shadows on the surface of the evidence. Oblique lighting is commonly used when photographing impressions, tool marks and certain types of fingerprints.

That is so close to being able to make it out...Looks like it starts with 1F1Y.... If you don't have a service manual already I'll grab a picture of the first few pages and you might be able to piece together the faint info from there.

I did remember this morning and newest manual that I have is for 1981 - I can't image they changed the labeling much between 81 and 86 - and it only give the public VIN location that you already have. I can't remember what year it started, but all vehicles were required to have at least secondary/hidden VIN. Most of those locations are only known to industry insiders and a select law enforcement personnel. Some vehicles had many locations, some only had the one other location - of all the crazy vehicles to have fantastic secondary VIN's, Dodge Neon's had labels on pretty much every panel. That being said a common location for trucks is on top of the frame rail under the left rear cab corner, the top of the rad cradle and on the cowl, usually the driver's side. No big state secrets there, any vehicle thief who reVIN's vehicles already knows those spots. The last two aren't likely of much use on this truck but worth a shot for a similar surface.

I think rocketraider might be onto something

You might look into the I think about 98-06 Crown Vic set up. I can't remember the exact years, but I believe something changed in the last few years that doesn't work as well. In any event, it's a bolt in and drop out deal that if the width works might be the simplest option, suspension and all.

I'll try to remember tomorrow to see if I have a service manual that will show that information but in the meantime if you haven't already try taking a few pictures from different angles of the door jamb sticker - It's surprising what the camera will bring up that you can't see by eye. Don

Don't forget that they had business interests on both sides of the border - starting off in Windsor, Ontario amongst other thing making the Evans and Dodge Bicycle before getting into the automotive parts business. Short story here https://www.windsorpubliclibrary.com/?page_id=15694 from the Windsor Public Library. The universities in the area might have the records, specifically Oakland University where Meadow Brock Hall is located.

Actually the weather has been to a benefit here, I actually had the overhead doors open yesterday to help clear out the odor from me debacle with the parts cleaner fluid. I'll have to get a few pictures tomorrow but after going a bit of a buying spree last week I've been working to clean up the mess that I've made dragging stuff home. Here's a couple more pictures of the new entries to the place. But really my favorite piece from last week was several pieces of copper work - if I claim that they came off a coach house does that count as car related? I'm also gearing up for another Nostalgia Show this Sunday in Woodstock. Sadly the cars have take a wee bit of a back seat but back to them tomorrow!

That was the bonus clue - I think that they are 1968-69 Buick Skylark

Welcome aboard! Pictures are always appreciated here, especially when trying to describe an issue. I Googled those fenders so see what I could find and this one is currently on Ebay but being an NOS fender it should give you the answer. I have no connection to the seller, just something I stumbled on but the link is here: https://www.ebay.com/itm/115198248208

Looks to be 1934-35 but some info days will fit bezel up to 37

Thank you very much! I will admit that I was a little concerned when the first book in the list was from the Great British Bake Off, but I suppose there's fibre and grease there and perhaps a little sponge as well

I'm going to have to take a closer look at the tin. Now you have me wondering if it was used on something like the rear end gears.

Not the best of pictures and I'll try to get a better one in the next couple of days but this is one pound tin from Imperial Oil of Sponge Grease. I've never heard of it before and can not find any information online.

I'd say that you can take that as a win! 4 out of 7 you are still on the plus side... The rest of this week had led to little work on the fleet. I think that I've cleaned the showroom out 3 times of stuff that's been dragged home, a combination of great finds and some family furniture pieces for storage, because of course we must have room for it! A couple more fun finds on the week An yes that price for gas is per gallon! I do wonder when gas started to be a real floating price, that sometimes seems hourly. For the station to have invested in a painted sign gas must have stayed the same price for a long time. The head rest that is still intact on the one creeper is stuffed with horse hair. All of the casters are intact and actually work on them, though I'm not about to put them into use.

You ever have one of those days where you think that you have the world by the tail, only to have the world turn around and slap you to remind you who is in charge? Yesterday I went to the parts store on my way home and picked up a pail of cleaner for the parts washer. I thought bonus, it's even on sale this is good! Fast forward to this afternoon and I'm casually pouring it into the parts washer not thinking about much other than making sure that the fluid isn't splashing back on me. Then it happens, I start to notice a little different sound but don't think much of it. Slowly I realize that sound is the reservoir under the tub is overflowing and that sound is my on sale fluid running down the side of the machine and all over the floor! It's a good thing that it was still a nice day today temperature wise so I opened both overhead doors to vent out the fumes for a couple of hours. I don't recommend this method to degrease your shop floor, however, it is surprisingly effective!

A couple of coats top and bottom with Por15 from a spray can and I'm happy with the end result. One little bit of progress on the day! This picture was after the first coat on the top.

Since it was beautiful sunny, warm day in southern Ontario and the seat frame from the 55 Met was handy I decided that it was a perfect day to attack it. It was either keep messing around with a rusty piece of metal or give it a quick sanding and clean it up. The weather dictated that today was the day so after a light sanding outside to knock of the loose rust and dust etc it was set up on the saw horses. I used some 3/8" bolts with nuts to support it through the track mounting holes.

After a solid afternoon's effort today the pile of Metropolitan parts have been reduced to this: Either into a labeled box, placed with the car or put on shelves upstairs and labeled I've taken to putting a clipboard with every car with a list of either the service it needs or parts to order. In this case of this car as I was sorting the parts I started the list of what I'll need to get in order to complete the car. The list is by no means complete but it's a start of what we'll need and I can start ordering parts as finances allow.

This seems to have been a week of dragging stuff into the shop and filling up some of the space that I've made, which is partially true, but with a couple of busy days next week it should mostly be cleaned up and put away. Today was another day of bringing stuff in, but it was a completely different and I found these literally in my own back yard, less than ten blocks away from home. Filled the truck with Chev/Olds Kent Moore tools from about 66 to 72 with a few later ones in the mix as well. Really neat stuff and some of the tools still have the plastic/wax coating on them from the factory. Interesting thing about the GM tools is that a lot of them were packaged in cardboard boxes with only a few in the Styrofoam ones. My previous experience with tools of this age from Chrysler/Miller Tools was they were all in the Styrofoam. I've only found later Ford/Rotunda ones in the red plastic cases so I'm not sure who they were shipped in this time frame. Better part was finding out a bit more local history and confirming a local urban legend about the previous owner of the building the tools came from. Fun day.

Today was another recovery day of bringing parts home that had been scattered at friends for several years. The end result is that we now have another Lego car with a lot of assembly required for a 55 Metropolitan. The car has been on quite a voyage over the last 20 to 25 years, having at one time thought to have been lost in a barn fire. Now the job will be to sort through the pile of parts and determine what is good, what's bad and starting the restoration process. Fortunately, my youngest is home from university on his reading week so I had help and he's keen to help with the car as we get to it. Some of this stuff I had been searching for years at my parents garage and basement, not realizing that it had been moved to another spot.

I'm going with muskie or pike based on the fins - that's car related right?

This old thread might help you as well: