Michael J. Barnes

On the HCCA site. Sorry — not sure how to post pics and links here just the way others do.

Have walked by this little roadster on Pender Island many times. Today got close enough to take some pics. Too bad — too far gone. Too close to the salt air for the body panels not to crumble away.

If we had not bought on Mayne Island five years ago, we would be unable to do so now. Almost no houses for sale and prices up 40%. Covid caused this great shift in people’s perspectives: they retired or have continued to work remotely. The Gulf Islands were suddenly appreciated for their quiet. Not too far, not too accessible either. But jobs are a funny thing over here. There are always Help Wanted signs up. But the older, settled demographic does not want to work! And young people cannot afford to buy a place and move here.

Thanks, Dennis.

Thanks for the invite. But my boat is very broken — the topic of occasional posts. Also, my wife and I are babysitting our grandson. But you have a good idea for down the road, or for downstream. Car folks meeting by boat, over water.

I am just northwest of you on Mayne Island. At the other end of the island, it may be possible to view Orcas.

I have no connection to this car apart from living near it. https://vancouver.craigslist.org/rds/cto/d/delta-southeast-extremely-rare-vintage/7349848280.html

If you are a more experienced mechanic than me, you may want to skip this post. It could cause you stress reading about my mistakes. Also, the motor in question is a Mercruiser 4.3. It looks a lot like a car motor to me, but maybe this posting will get deleted for not belonging. I was reinstalling the big flat intake manifold at the top of the V6. Not ever having heard of inch-lbs, I thought the manual said foot-lbs. That is 12 times too much torque and I promptly broke a bolt in the block. Started to drill out the bolt. Broke a small drill bit. Watched Youtube and learned about diamond hole saws. Finished the extraction after a few hours with a saw and several bits, and prepared to reinstall the manifold for the second time. Now here is where things take a turn for the better. For one thing, the threads were still intact. For another, I rehearsed many times laying the manifold down flat without any jiggle that would smear the gluey gasket material. Finally, I am sure the second time I laid down the thick bead of Loctite gasket material fore and aft, I did a much better job. Too much frankly — it did ooze out somewhat — but the first time I think the beads were too thin and wobbly.

Could you tell us a little more about the Auto Data Book: author, publisher, date of publication? It looks like some folks would like to try to find a copy. Me for example. Thanks.

Do you have the heads for these?

I see I was not reading the previous messages thoroughly. When I got my old Cadillac, the grease in the wheel bearings had turned solid.

Kurt — hoping the tour ended successfully for you.

Like Leland, who started this post, my dad was born in 1918. He died in 2008. His family was poor enough during the depression that my dad did not like to talk about it, but some break ups and adoptions in the family made him sad. Cheap with himself, generous with others. He is the reason I am only “sort of” a car guy, because he refused to drive a decent car — EVER. His last employers were a bunch of doctors (he was an accountant). They would take pity on his taste in autos and give him one of theirs from time to time. But he really didn’t care. The late Cadillac Carl — of blessed memory here — once asked me what I had driven, and about the only “sporty” thing I could name was my Civic SI. It sure wasn’t much of a driving pedigree. Carl, I believe, drove many fast and grand automobiles. But the taste in Civics I got from my dad — he liked small English standards with a stick. Why? Of course because they were cheap to buy and cheap on gas. (They are also fun to drive.)

Peter and others: I was going to say: “You hijacked an obituary post!” But I would have to add: “Carl would have loved it. You added a detective story, mystery, intrigue, and then you solved it. Again, Carl would have smiled.” Happy driving, folks.

Around a dozen years ago I bought my Cadillac V63 touring. Right away I joined the Cadillac LaSalle Club and started poring through the roster as soon as it arrived, looking for owners of cars like mine. What a find! A virtual twin of my car was in Seattle — just 4 hours south of my home in Vancouver. I wrote Carl Fielding an old-fashioned letter — that must have been before the roster had everybody’s email — and he phoned me as soon as he got it. That began our friendship. Carl was so trusting he simply put a key outside the rented garage he kept his 1924 Cadillac in. Any time I was passing through — generally on the way to my son’s lacrosse tournament — I could and did let myself into the garage to inspect his car in as detailed a fashion as I wished. I viewed his car closely twice. Carl and I never met on those occasions. I thought perhaps he was shy, but I think he was just busy both times. Carl’s trust in other people probably cost him a few fortunes. He did not mind telling the stories. Who he rubbed shoulders with said something of his genius — Gore of Goretex, the Paulings of Linus Pauling (two Nobel prizes). His stories were sometimes hard to believe owing to their extraordinariness, but he did not seem to have any motivation to lie or exaggerate. In fact he seemed naturally simply truthful. Innocent in a way. “A holy fool” — though he was not religious. (He did have respect for the faith of others, however.) Great compliments are being expressed in this forum — perhaps others as well. I would invite you to submit stories too! Many of you, over the phone, heard the same ones as me. Did he race cars on mountain roads in South America? I never got the details. Some kind of tour, again in the company of some important or well-connected people. He spoke Spanish without an accent, and was proud of the fact. Share away; share the details; and happy driving.