J.H.Boland

Merry Christmas from the Bolands in Canada. (The Christmas card appeared in "General" but belongs here too).

I'm pretty sure the roadster is a 1925 Reo T-6. Jim

LED bulbs,large original tail lamps,and a snarly ol'fart license plate all help !

Agreed. The cowl lamps on my '29 McLaughlin-Buick are double wired and work out OK because they're fairly large. With the distracted drivers out there these days, even double wired Trippe lights may not be large enough !

The cowl lights are restored originals.There are no repros that I'm aware of.There are a couple listed separately on Ebay under 1926 Buick.

Drill is a dirty word to me.I wanted to do the install using existing hardware where possible.The lamps are a match to what's already on the car. They are controlled by a pair of discreetly mounted toggle switches with illumination to show they are flashing.Flipping them both gives you four way flashers.Where can I get amber bulbs to replace #63 clearance light bulbs ?

Merry Christmas and a peaceful and prosperous new year to all . Jim and Bonnie Boland Ontario Canada

The front lights are the same as the cowl lights and exact miniatures of the headlights.

They show up quite well there. If they were mounted by the headlights, the big shiny headlamp bezels would drown them out. The cowl lights are pretty small to add double contact bulbs and they're back quite a ways. Anywhere else and I'd be drilling sheet metal,something I wanted to avoid.

I did the same with the cowl lamps on my 1929 McLaughlin-Buick. Jim

For anyone to drive their early cars on today's roads, some form of turn signals are a must. (I once made the hand signal for a right turn and got the one finger salute back)!. The rear ones were easy.A couple of NOS old style trailer lights fitted on either side of the single tail light work fine. Because the car has no bumpers (they were still an option on 1925 Buicks),there didn't seem like an easy place to install them.Putting them on the crossbar between the headlights looked cluttered. I finally decided to mount them on the front spring bushing bolts.by replacing the standard nut with a long nut,and installing an extra set of cowl lamps on special brackets using short 9/16 bolts. They look period correct and are far enough away from the headlights to be visible. Just a suggestion. Jim

This socket set was given to me about 50 years ago by an old mechanic that had worked at a Ford garage in northern Ontario in the 1920's.He was right when he said I could use it when working on my '21 Chevy.Some of the sockets are in 32nds of an inch,ideal for those larger headed bolts and nuts on the older cars.Made by the Bethlehem Spark Plug Company of Pennsylvania.

My 1925 Buick coupe was purchased new by a doctor, so I thought the "M D" topper would be appropriate.It's even stamped 1925 on the back ! The second one was acquired by my mother in 1939 when the British royals visited London,Ontario.Number 3 is a Canadian Red Ensign flag (pre-1957) on my 1940 Packard.

I saw a 490 Chevy dirt track racer at Hershey many years ago.The owner told me that a 4 cylinder Oldsmobile head was used (2 port exhaust and larger valves).It also used alloy pistons from a Curtiss-Jenny aircraft and twin side draft Winfield carburetors.It had wire wheels,held a driver and mechanic,and apparently had a top speed of 90 MPH. I took photos of it but they haven't surfaced yet.

In my humble opinion,that style of grill must have been designed by a mad denturist on steriods ! (Just IMHO,of course)!

I picked up this Stromberg Motoscope a few years ago.It has numerous diagnostic features and made a great service selling tool for the state of the art shop ca.1932.

Garage heaters come in many styles.I'm sure the topic has been wrung out on this forum before.A few years ago,I had a small overhead propane furnace installed.I keep the temperature just above freezing,cranking it up when I'm out there.Gas would be fine,but there isn't a line out here.Well worth the investment. Your restoration is an inspiration to all of us.It would be a shame if you had to stop for the winter. Jim

Here's another 1928 Dodge that was part of the same estate as my 1925 Buick coupe.It's a nice "rejuvenated",running car. Sold for about $8500 CDN.

Looks exactly like the one in my 1925 Std 4 passenger coupe.Do you have the control and valve to go with it ? A buffalo robe might come in handy too if you plan to drive it in the cold weather ! Jim

Hi Dave There's bound to be a few of these cans out there.I bought it when I was in the early stages of restoring my 1921 490. It was made into a truck in the mid 1920's but I had found all the necessary parts to make it back into a touring.The truck conversion was just too sweet however so I left it that way.The can looks good on the shelf behind the car (truck). Jim

Here in Canada,income taxes were established in 1919 "as a temporary measure" to cover the cost of the war. Not sure which war we are presently paying off.

Keiser31's photo appears to me to be a Model T Ford.

I wasn't going to go into a history lesson about the Canadian flag on this forum. I display a period correct Red Ensign license topper on my '40 Packard.There are those monarchists among us that never really embraced the "Pearson Pennant",as the current flag was nicknamed.I remember well the "great flag debate" in 1964. It was suggested by Conservatives and (secretly) some Liberals that the all red flag was meant to represent Liberal governments from sea to sea.Opposition leader John Diefenbaker nearly had a fit when the Union Jack was removed from the upper left corner of our flag ! We now have a generation of service men and women who fought and some died under the present flag, so old partisan rivalries should be put to rest. Jim

The flags are the Red Ensign, Canada's flag until 1965.The crest featured a collage of the provincial crests and was modified 3 times over the years.

I can only assume you are right.The sixes were bigger cars. (There are no family members still living that would remember)!