John C Bergan

I've been off the grid for several days so didn't get the chance to reply until now. Thanks to all of you who were kind enough to respond with advice. It's really a pretty common sense & logical approach to finding a trustworthy & experienced car enthusiast to assist. I'll do my homework. Thanks again, JohnB

Have any of you requested a professional car inspector to act as your representative in evaluating a car prior to making an offer to purchase? How does one go about arranging this? Must be a trusted/secure list of experienced inspectors for each region or state out there somewhere? Any advice and cautions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance. John Bergan AACA member

Thanks to all for advice and recommendations on the '29 Essex questions I had. The car has been SOLD, hopefully to someone who appreciates originality in this model and restores it accordingly or enjoys it 'as is'. I believe it went for $8K. Stay safe everyone, JohnB

Hey, Jon37, how can I post this on the HET Club forum if I am not a club member? I'd be in favor of doing that but non-members can't login to do posting as far as I can tell. Any ideas on how to get this posted to HET Club? Let me know if you have an idea. Thanks, John Bergan

A '29 two door Essex is available locally and I was wondering if some one could give me an idea of value for a well used but drivable car of this vintage. It is a twenty footer at best but starts, runs rather rough and has fair mech brakes. Interior is there but needs TLC, glass seems OK, lights supposedly work, 6 volt elec, not too bad as far as rust but large areas of paint chipping off - hasn't been repainted I'm quite sure. Owner asking $11.8K obo. Any feedback would be appreciated as I have not seen a comparable make/model listed for sale anywhere. I would like to 'rescue' this vehicle and keep it original before someone takes it and rods it out. Ok, who would like to toss out a few chips of advice? Thanks in advance to all HET enthusiasts! JohnB AACA member

I would be interested in more info and pictures of these vehicles and whether or not they would be available for anyone to have the opportunity to inspect them in person. Thanks! JohnB AACA member# 012941. Email: paradocs@palacenet.net or johnbergan925@gmail.com

A big thanks and hats off to TerryB, misterc9, Willie Wurke, A.Ballard 35R, Carl LaFong, Jack M,Grimy and Frank DuVal; a great support group offering friendly advice, tech tips, stories from experience and entertaining banter. I really enjoy and appreciate your feedback, guys! Keep it coming, I'm a newbie to the vintage car scene and need all the help and encouragement I can get. As I stated earlier in a post, my car is not available to work on right now but I'm archiving all your responses for future (spring'19) reference on the speedometer repair (and other stuff like weather stripping replacing, adjusting column shift function, windshield replacement and brake maintenance - when time and weather permits) . A looming vacation date, fall yard work and unpredictable arrival of winter conditions prompted me to button up the '53 Willys last weekend for an early hibernation so no more joy rides in 2018 for this babyboomer. I will also mention that I own a Mechanics Manual (for the models 685, 675 & 6-226), however I would be interested in any other good manuals or reference guides you might suggest for body and interior maintenance/repair for a '53 Willys. Thanks and have a great week, hope to continue hearing from you and all your Willys Aero friends. JohnB

Hey, TerryB- Yes, the Aero Eagle was a nice find, I have to give my wife, Julie credit for acquiring this car. She spotted it with a For Sale sign in the windshield at Back to the 50's in Twin Cities last June. It is all original and all there with a few minor imperfections (interior very nice!) but dependable & enjoyable, although presently lacking a functional speedometer. And unfortunately I am also older than this car so I am not nimble and limber at this stage as you yourself have pointed out making slithering around behind the dash a nearly impossible task. That is why I was hoping there was a nice, simple, organized, goof proof set of instructions for accomplishing this speedo cable exchange. But I guess like everything else you just do what you gotta do to get the job done. This will be a job for next spring, the Willys has been winterized and put in hibernation mode at an inaccessible site for the next 6 mos - 'salt season' could arrive any day, we already had snow last weekend but of course it didn't stick around. Thanks, JohnB

Thank you TerryB & Spinneyhill for your input on this request. I do have an owner's manual for the model 685 which appears to be quite adequate, however it does not go into any detail on disassembly of speedo cable from the speedometer under the dash. Not sure how best to gain access to this tight spot - do I need to remove the entire dash or is there a step by step procedure for working around existing wire/cable connections to minimize disassembly? Has anyone out there replaced a speedo cable on a '53 Aero recently? Any & all advice would be appreciated. Thanks, JohnB

Attempting a post of pic '53 Willys per request TerryB. Let me know if successful, thanks.

I am the lucky owner of a 1953 Willys Aero Eagle and I am looking for a site that caters to the Aero models. In particular I would be interested in general maintenance and repair tips, however my present interest is to find help in replacing the speedometer cable - what would be the best approach in getting behind the dash to remove cable from meter. This car is equipped with 3 speed on column w/O.D. and has the F-head inline 6 (161 cid) and planar suspension. Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated. Any good maintenance manuals out there?