pmhowe
-
Posts
403 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Forums
Gallery
Events
Posts posted by pmhowe
-
-
I think it is important to ask and answer the question you have posed, just to be assured that you have done due diligence and don’t end up feeling that you have been robbed. Others on this site are more experienced on that aspect so I will defer to them.
I mostly focus on another set of issues, but I don’t buy many cars. I use these guidelines:
- What is the car I really want? And why?
- What is my max? This is a hard upper bound dollar amount. It is to be avoided and a last resort for something very special and way past the “I’d like to have” and pushes the budget.
- What is my goal price? I’m after the kind of car I really want. I’m willing to pay this price, if it is a good solid car
- I want to know: Mechanical condition. Interior. Paint. Undercarriage. Electrical. How the previous owner cared for it. Did he love it and cherish it? Did he know what he was doing? Why is he selling?
- How does it drive? I want to drive the car. Partly to see if it behaves well, but mostly to see if it is for me.
If all of the above provide good answers, then I start rationalizing like crazy, decide why I absolutely need another car, then buy it. That is happening with less and less frequency, however.
-
21 hours ago, Tom Barrett said:
Pierce built an eight cylinder Victoria in 1930. I think it’s a rather nice looking design, but buyers evidently didn’t agree, as it was only produced for one model year. Mine was the ninth to the last model B produced in 1930, with a body number 200, so that’s probably as many as they built. Can’t figure out why the style didn’t catch on.
I agree with 58L-Y58 in part. In that time period, Pierce had their two door Club Sedan that would have been in direct competition to the Victoria coupe. They also had their Club Berline which was a slightly upmarket four door variant. I think both were better looking than the Victoria - but that is just my taste. I briefly had a 1930 Club Berline that I Ioved. It always bothered me, however, that I thought the Packard club sedan of the same period was better looking. What the heck, I would love to have any one of them today! All photos from the internet.
-
5
-
-
My wife and I spent a year in England back in the 1980s. Three days after arriving in England, we had to drive from Cambridge to Cardiff, Wales. We counted nearly 100 roundabouts on that trip. We were seriously challenged in Swindon, Wiltshire where five roundabouts were looped together in a pentagonal configuration. We went round and round until we were almost dizzy before we successfully launched our Austin A35 onto the proper highway. After that, we were never again threatened by a roundabout. We actually found the roundabouts to be a remarkably efficient way of handling traffic.
-
1
-
-
7 hours ago, edinmass said:
a 80 year old lady walked up and said “nice Model T”.
She was probably pulling your leg. A lady who was 84 in 1984 grew up with Model Ts.
Happy New Year! May your Duesenbergs run at least as well as the Model Ts.
And may my cars run almost as well.
-
1
-
-
For some reason, most (like 80%) of the pictures showed up as small square boxes with a ? in it. This is very frustrating. I use Safari on a Mac. Can anyone suggest what causes the problem?
Thanks, and apologies to Xander for a slight temporary diversion of the thread -
Hi Leomara,
Those distributor synchronization tools are rare as hens’ teeth. Go to the Thread "Setting up Dual Points" in the Technical sectionfor a good description of alternative ways to do it. I Followed David Czir's approach. It worked quite well. Hope this helps.
Phil
-
Well, that was a bit humbling. I gave my best, thoughtful answers, and still only got 50%. I'll have to go watch the filmstrip.
-
1
-
-
@32buick67A charming Christmas story. Also, a handsome car. Thanks for sharing.
-
1
-
-
9 hours ago, Avanti Bill said:
I don't use battery disconnects because if there is a draw I track it down and fix it.
I agree with that philosophy and immediately do try to track down errant electrical leaks. Still, I want a good battery disconnect to prevent bad consequences from potential rodent damage.
Of course, manually disconnecting the battery works just as well, I just have to remember to do it. The disconnect makes it easy to do, so I get into the habit of doing it.
I know two instances where a treasured car was lost because the owner forgot to disconnect the battery. Cars burned, garages burned. I suspect chipmunks.
-
4 hours ago, nsbrassnut said:
If you like feel free to PM me and I can share what I did for my project.
nsbrassnut, that is impressive. It makes me think I just might be able to do the seats for a Packard rumble seat coupe I have (with no tufting) and redo the seats and not botch the job totally.
I know it is a hassle, but please do take the time and effort to share what you did for your project on this site. It will help me and probably countless others.
Thanks
-
2
-
-
13 hours ago, Rapier said:
thge nasty plastic (Blue) crimp-on terminal ends and the modern plastic covered wires.
Bernie, I suspect there are not enough Lagonda purists in the world, let alone in your country, to worry about the blue plastic. However, an easy and nice solution for you is to buy some black shrink wrap tubing, cut to fit, slide it over the blue, heat it with a heat gun or your wife's hair dryer, and enjoy something that will fool most people into thinking it is "as original".
A beautiful car. Thank you for your many posts and pictures.
-
6
-
-
Not mine. For Sale. I saw this on Hemmings and drooled over it … until I saw the missing head and missing instruments. The engine compartment picture almost made me cry.
https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/listing/1927-pierce-arrow-80-morgantown-pa-2751282
How could someone lose a head? Still..what a neat car!
https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/listing/1927-pierce-arrow-80-morgantown-pa-2751282
-
In the past, I have had good success using Keiser31's approach. but I am wondering, would it be even better to start with his approach, and then use an impact wrench? It seems to me that one is more likely to do more damage (i.e. are more likely to break a stud or bolt) applying brute force with a breaker bar than to have the pulsating force application of an impact wrench. What are your experiences?
-
1
-
-
-
On 11/30/2023 at 9:56 PM, keiser31 said:
Packard twin six. You all should know who is sitting in it.
Well, I know the chick, but who's the guy sitting next to her?
-
59 minutes ago, John Byrd said:
and the battery cost $392 bucks !!!!
I knew battery costs are increasing, but that seems outlandish! What kind, brand, model did you buy? You didn't tell them its intended use was a space launch, did you?
-
2
-
-
-
My decision would depend upon the condition of the wiring. If it is awful, I'm with you; do a careful and authentic rewire. However, if the first look doesn't scare you, I would set about disconnecting the battery, and carefully cleaning and reconnecting each connection. I figure, if one connection is bad, there are probably others, so I would set out to check and clean them all. That way, I get to learn more about my car and become comfortable about the integrity of the electrical system. As I do it, I learn about other units as well.
-
3
-
-
Oldtech, your post brought back great memories. Back in the late 1960s and early to mid 1980s, my friends and I were into British sports cars. All of our cars had distributors with a knurled adjusting nut to advance or retard the timing. We would adjust the timing just as you describe.
Alternatively, we would advance the spark until we would just get pinging on a hill, then back off a little (this latter approach would probably not be the best on a low-compression 1920s or 1930s car).
Once the timing was satisfactory, we would adjust the carburetors to give the maximum RPM at idle, then enrich the mixture slightly.
Two books that described these procedures are “Tuning for Speed and Tuning for Economy”, Philip H. Smith (1968) and “Robert Bentley’s Repair Manual for British Cars”, John Organ, (1970).
-
1
-
-
4 hours ago, Fordy said:
One of the most sensible replies ever made!
But it reminds me of the University of Norfolk school cheer: "We don't drink, we don't smoke. Norfolk! Norfolk!"
-
2
-
-
What 61polara said: According to the Cadillac and LaSalle Club Authenticity Manual, prior to 1934 engine and chassis numbers did not match, but were close. In 1934 Cadillac started making the numbers match.
-
2
-
-
A truly handsome car. Congratulations!
-
John,
I think that question is going to be tough to answer definitively, However, I can make a guess.
Engine numbers for the 5th series ran from 125013 to 166770, for a total production of 41,757. The engine number for my 526 Packard is 163364. This places it in the last 3400 produced. My car has five priming cups (it has a whistle in place of the missing one).
I’ll make two assumptions: 1) Packard was careful to use its engines sequentially (some car companies were not) and 2) since my engine has priming cups, all the previous ones did also. Then I can conclude that at least ninety percent of the 5th series had priming cups.
Maybe there is a member who has a car with a higher engine number and can pin the answer down more narrowly.
Hope that helps.
Phil
-
1
-
-
Here it is right side up... but it looked good upside down, also. Thanks for posting it.
-
2
-
Chrome in a pinch
in Technical
Posted
I'm impressed by that last image. Thanks for posting. I'm going to give it a try.