neil morse

In another thread, someone suggested that people have to drill through the engine-turned panel to install a starter button. That's simply not true. In fact, that would be a very difficult way to try to do it since those panels are not at all easy to remove and there is very little room behind them. There is plenty of space install a starter button on the underside of the dash. Here's a photo of what a previous owner did on my '41. I'm assuming that the '40 dash has the same basic design.

All's Well That Ends Well Some of you may have seen my post on another thread about my frustration with my front seat recovering project. It turned out that the three yards of fabric that SMS had made up for me were not sufficient for the upholstery shop to do the job because the bolt of fabric wasn't wide enough. Not having any experience in these matters, I had just asked the shop how much fabric they would need, and they said two-and-a-half "yards." So I ordered three "yards" from SMS, figuring a little extra wouldn't hurt. Almost a year later, when the fabric had finally been delivered and the time came when I had worked my way to the top of the queue at the shop, I delivered the fabric and the seat cushions to the shop. Later in the day, the guy called me to say that there wasn't enough fabric because it was too narrow. His calculations were based on a 60" width, and the fabric SMS had provided was only 50" wide. I had never gotten any specifics as to width from either the shop or SMS -- I just naively figured that they were speaking the same language and there was some kind of industry standard as to what a "yard" of fabric was. Well, apparently not! As has been nicely explained to me by a fellow forum member, bolts of fabric vary in width and you always have to specify. So lesson learned, but a little too late to help me. SMS first said they had more of the fabric, then said they couldn't find it, and finally stopped communicating with me altogether. I was super bummed. However, I then got a call from the shop saying that they had discovered some fabric in their own stock that they thought was a "pretty good" match and the right width. And it was only $65 a yard (as opposed to the fabric from SMS that cost $149). I went over the shop and had a look. It was almost as good a match as the SMS fabric, and by that time I had really had enough, so I said, "Great, let's do it." Yesterday, I went over to the shop and picked up the "new" seat cushions. I am finally a happy camper with no more blankets on my front seat! An extra bonus was that they found the original material on the backrest under the previous reupholstery job. I have seen a lot of samples of fabric that is supposed to be appropriate for a '41, including from LeBaron Bonney when they were still in business, and none of them looks quite like the original stuff. Here's a photo of it for the benefit of anyone who's looking for stuff to do a full interior. For comparison, here's what LeBaron Bonney suggested: It's hard to tell from these photos, but the "stripes" are much wider on the original fabric than on the suggestion from LeBaron Bonney. If anyone is interested in having a swatch of the original fabric, I would be happy to send you one.

This really isn't an answer to your question, but I'm throwing it out there anyway. On my '41, a previous owner had disabled the switch on the carb and installed a starter button under the dash. The wiring is very simple -- just as you say -- the starter button is simply wired to the two leads that come off the carb switch. I would probably not have made this modification if it hadn't already been made before I bought the car. I believe in keeping things completely stock. However, I have to say that I'm in no hurry to change my car back to the carb switch. I know they can be troublesome, particularly when they don't operate as they should and cause the Bendix gear to stay engaged with the ring gear on the flywheel after the engine starts. I've seen some pictures of ring gears where the front quarter inch or so is completely worn away on every tooth! Buick used the accelerator/starter system for years, and I'm sure there are folks here on the forum who will help you get yours working. But you might want to consider just bypassing it and going with a starter button.

I really like the look of this T&C! You usually only see examples that have had a six-figure restoration and look it. I especially like the blackwall tires with the white painted "doughnut" beauty rings. If I had that kind of money, I would love to just clean this up a bit and enjoy it "as is." But I don't have that kind of money!

Looks like another handsome MoPar in decent shape. This is just down the road from me, and I would be happy to go look at it if anyone is interested. Interior looks good except for glove box door which appears to be cracked. Photos are not good, as Leif says. I had the 4-door version of this car back in the 90's, so I know a bit about them.

Hey, be careful out there! The image of you speeding down the highway with your eyes closed is a little bit scary. 😄

Very cute!

Be still my heart! I love the step-down Hudsons and the '48 is my favorite year. Putting in a new wiring harness would just be a fun project to me. But (probably) fortunately, I only have room for one collector car at a time.

The Astradome dash is, alone, worth the price of admission! This looks like a great deal me

All I know is that you could definitely get it back in 1990 when I did my Windsor Highlander. I would be surprised if you can't get it these days. After all, it's an official tartan!

Come on, people! I don't understand how this car has not sold. I'm afraid it's just an indication of the lack of interest in cars of this era. Unless there's some hidden defect that I'm not seeing, this is a great price for a car that you can enjoy for many miles!

Spectacular photo! I'd love to know the back story on that one.

All of a sudden, there seem to be a bunch of good choices for anyone who's got $25K or so stashed away! This one is at the top of list for me.

Sign me up!

If it's like the '41, the parking lights have dual-filament bulbs and act as both parking lights and turn signals. The lever for the turn signals in on the right-hand side of the steering column. I don't know about the rear turn signals in 1940.

Looks like an undercover cop car with those dog dish hubcaps and black wheels. It has been cleaned up nicely and looks like it could be marketed as a low milege "time capsule" car. But usually we see pics of a pristine interior and engine with those. Makes you wonder what kind of shape the interior is in.

I have never been a fan of these behemoth land yachts, although this appears to be a decent example. Also, a car of this size is certainly not what comes to mind when you hear the term "sport coupe!"

I have B.F. Goodrich Silvertown bias-ply 6.50X16's on my '41 that were on the car when I bought it six years ago. I'm not sure how old they are, but they have performed very well in the time I've owned the car. The whitewalls are still very presentable (no brown streaks), and Goodrich was one of OEM suppliers for '41. I don't know what kind of tubes are on my car, but I've heard that truck tubes are thicker and hold up better.

A DeSoto? No, wait, he's got one of them, too! 😁

Yes, Harold Lloyd with his wife, Mildred Davis.

I saw this parked on the street near my house this morning so I thought I would post it just on the off chance that anyone would be interested. It looks to be in very nice shape, top is in good condition, interior looks like well-maintained original as far as I could tell from looking through the windows, a few parking lot dings on the exterior, but paint looks good. I have no idea, of course, what the seller is asking.

But remarkable car, that's for sure!

Thanks for this, Bloo. I'm not happy with your answer, but I certainly respect it. Lesson learned, although too late to be of much help for me now!

Speaking of SMS, I don't want to hijack Brian's thread but I wanted to briefly mention a possible problem that people should be aware of. Brian and others of you are undoubtedly experienced enough so you would see this coming, but I got completely blindsided by it and really got burned. The issue is what is considered a "yard" of fabric. When I decided to do the front seat only of my '41, I got an estimate from a shop that said that they needed 2.5 yards of fabric. I ordered 3 yards from SMS, and it took nine months for them to make it up but I was very pleased with the match. Well, last week the time finally came for my date with the upholstery shop to have the job done. I dropped off the seat cushions and the bolt of fabric only to get a phone call later in the day from the guy at the shop saying, "I can't do this job with the fabric you gave me -- there's not enough." He acknowledged that he had told me he needed 2.5 yards, and that I had given him 3 "yards." But here's the kicker -- it all depends on the width of the bolt of fabric. His estimate was based on a width of 60" (which is wide enough so one piece extends the full width of the seat). The fabric that SMS supplied had a width of only 50". He said that 60" is standard and that's what he expected to get. Being new at this, I just assumed that a "yard" of fabric was a standard measure in the industry, and neither SMS or the guy at the shop had said anything about width. So now I'm back to square one as far as getting fabric for the job. SMS has no more of the fabric that they made up for me, and the stuff they supplied is clearly not enough. And I can't even just put the cushions back in the car while I sort this out because the guy at the shop had already pulled the fabric off them before he discovered the problem. I would be very curious to hear from people about what happened here. Do I have a legitimate complaint against SMS? (I paid them about $500 for the fabric and shipping.) Should they have told me that what they were supplying was only 50" in width? Or should the guy at the shop have alerted me to this potential problem? Again I don't want to hijack Brian's thread with some kind of prolonged discussion of this, but any advice I could get on this would be most appreciated. Thanks!

Barn find fairy dust! 😄