TTR
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Posts posted by TTR
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On 1/28/2023 at 2:13 PM, R Walling said:
... 13 older cars, and every one of them could go cross country ...
Oh man ! If I had been given every car this ^^ claim has been made (but not proven) in past 4+ decades, I'd need a largest building in the world to store them all in. 🙄
OTOH, the caveat in the above claim is likely in the word "older", which could mean anything between a brand new car purchased a day or two ago (but is now "older") to a vehicle that's 100+ years old. 😉
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17 hours ago, SC38dls said:
TTR, I’m not saying it’s wrong I’m saying it’s a marketing home run. I’ll bet he is covering his cost by the admission fees and fees to get a bidding ticket. The commission and tv revenue is probably pure profit or very close to it. Being number one or two in the muscle car era auctions BJ has done a fantastic job of creating events that draw in that many people over that many days at multiple events. I have no interest in the event. If I wasn’t visiting a brother I would have never gone to one. Still I admire the man’s business sense in creating a market tool that is so successful.
dave sI'm not saying it's wrong either and I agree that "B-J TV", just like all commercial marketing outlets, be they magazines, other TV shows, etc, is/are a great way to entertain(?) the public, while subconsiously selling them pipe dreams and other stuff.
My earlier comment was referring to surprisingly amount of people, including countless antique/classic/vintage car enthusiasts I've encountered over the years/decades, who still believe all the "results" are actually REAL, when in fact there's no adequate way to confirm all and as mentioned by others, just creating (as there supposed to) an distorted "illusion" of always hot and vibrant "market", especially and perhaps only if "you" buy/sell your ho-hum rides through B-J.
Brilliant brainwashing ! But again, that's what TV is all about.
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6 hours ago, SC38dls said:
BJ must be making a fortune off these shows......
TV rights and advertising
The guy is a genius to be able to make that kind of money having other people spend a fortune.
Well, that's what TV is all about !
While I don't have time nor interest to watch much what's in it, I'm always amazed to learn there's still adults(?) believing B-J type auctions, car, etc building/restoring shows, etc are somehow different than Housewives of XYZ, Kardashian's, Pro Wrestling or any other, fully scripted "Reality TV" to fill airtime between (or including product placement) marketing.
Just like commercially produced consumer magazines.
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1 hour ago, Aussi John 1 said:
My 29 Studebaker President, has travelled over 30 thousand miles in the last 20 years. It has been from Sydney where I live, to South Australia twice, Toowoomba in Queensland and many trips to the Western plains of NSW.
Very cool ! Please feel free to share more details about these travel experiences.
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4 hours ago, TTR said:
While this car with the last VIN digit being 8 after few zeros arguably put Ferrari on the map by winning 1st OA at Le Mans...
Somewhere in my photo files I might have a few shots when I did some (minor) work on this one long ago.
While it wouldn't have to have significant racing history, this represents one of very few Ferrari models I've lusted to have since my teen years, but... ☹️
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18 hours ago, edinmass said:
This is serial number eight Ferrari, the eighth Ferrari ever built. It won Le Mans in 1949. You could probably buy 20 Packard split windshield Dietrichs for the cost of this one car.
While this car with the last VIN digit being 8 after few zeros arguably put Ferrari on the map by winning 1st OA at Le Mans, at least in the International racing world, the chronological sequencing of the cars, both race and road derivatives, produced at the time isn’t quite that simple, as there were some others with “8” preceded with one or two zeros, not to mention some with various letter affixes or combinations of them after the numbers.
As for the value, the owner seems to have a quite extensive (and likely valuable ?) collection as is and could probably add any number of Dietrich Packards, should she decide to do so.
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First, I apologize for a long absence of meaningful contributions to this (my own) thread.
Even with the pandemic related concerns, I/we have managed to accomplish fair amount of vintage driving/travel since my last posts here, but mostly I’ve been busy working on client cars, enjoying other pleasures in life and just haven’t had a chance/time to collect my thoughts enough for extensive travel reports.
As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, my Roadster engine, after 30+ years of good service, decided to suffer a top end failure toward the end of 2021, which lead to a complete engine rebuild and it, along with several other “while-you’re-there” mechanical overhauls (=clutch, transmission, steering gear, etc), took nearly 8 months to get her back on the road again, toward the end of July, 2022.
The good news is that since her aforementioned overhauls/rebuilding, finished only six months ago, she has managed to provide over 4500 miles of driving/traveling pleasures, including our (Mrs. TTR & my) 3000+ mile, 3.5 week, 3 (Western) State wide adventure and we just got back from another, almost 800 mile, 5-day vintage road trip through Las Vegas area & Death Valley.
I’ve also taken hundreds, if not more, roadside photos at countless, scenic locations, not to mention hours of onboard video footage captured at some of the most bit**in’ roads I/we have encountered in past 6 months.
I’ll try to make time for more detailed/expanded descriptions of above trips soon, but in the meantime, if anyone else has travel adventures/stories in their vintage cars and wishes to share them here, I for one would love read about them.-
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Another nearly 300 miles in last couple of days, including brief stops at +/- 250 ft. below & +/- 5000 ft. above sea level in Death Valley today. Currently relaxing in the garden at the Inn …
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Thanks to all !
I guess I know my pre-war cars better than I thought. 🙂
After my wife saw the picture (before me) and asked, I said “I think it’s a +/- ‘30 Cadillac”.
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On the wall of our room in he Death Valley Inn.
Just curious.
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About 235 miles to Las Vegas in our PB Roadster this morning.
Clear and sunny, but with no heater, top down and temps reaching high 40’s, it got little nippy during the drive.
Next stop, Death Valley (with similar forecast expected) …-
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7 hours ago, edinmass said:
On a total restoration for a Pebble Beach car……..shipping is an actual line item that can EASILY run 20-30k by the time you’re done……it’s insane.I assume that doesn’t include to-from air freight for the car itself, especially if coming from abroad.
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1 hour ago, Xander Wildeisen said:
What once was a poor man’s hobby, is now a rich man’s sport.
While it can be a "sport" for some, as far as I can tell, owning or restoring antique/classic/vintage cars has NEVER been "a poor mans hobby" .
Anyone who thinks that needs their head or at least priorities examined.
I believe owning/restoring/etc vehicles one has absolutely no need or use for and whether one chooses to restore each themselves or contract professionals, it will cost time and money poor folks couldn't probably even imagine wasting so frivolously.
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22 hours ago, alsancle said:
Restoration work is a miserable tough business. The skilled labor is hard to find, and the number of hours it takes to do good work makes the projects costly beyond what most customers feel comfortable paying.
So even a shop with great employees, a smart boss and lots of experience struggles to some extent. The most successful shops I know have a small client list of guys that are wealthy enough (some measured in "B"s) that they can spend liberally because they want to.
Any shop that relies on more regular folk is going to struggle. If you are honest with those customers about the costs up front you have no business. If you fudge it they freak out when the costs explode.
As someone with 30+ years of "from the inside" in restoration business, I mostly agree on above with minor exceptions (based on my experiences) to last two sentences.
Being honest and clear upfront about the REALISTIC costs involved (not the commonly used "fish bait" to lure in new customers) is or should be most important starting point and if you manage to "scare off" potential new customer with that, you can consider it as "dodging a bullet" of huge amounts of frustration and eventual unhappy outcome.
Over the years, I've encountered "dreamers" with cars of which even the best known examples in the world would be worth a fraction compared to what they want(ed) me to do to theirs, but I always made sure they were aware of this fact before anything got started.
Most of these "dreamers" (thankfully) walked away after I laid g out the hazards and pitfalls, including many initially unforeseeable, but potential nightmares involved, yet couple of those who had acknowledged all this and still wanted to proceed, later cried "Oh, I wish I would've known" BS, at which point, out the door their projects went.
21 hours ago, alsancle said:My advice it so limit the scope of the work to mechanical and MINOR cosmetics. Cars have to run but they don't have to look perfect. I will never paint another car, it makes zero sense.
There is more work out there than shops that can do it. FOCUS ON MECHANICAL WORK. The jobs and scope will be smaller, less likely to be a sinkhole with an irate customer.
OTOH, I do disagree with this ^^. FOCUS ONLY ON WHAT YOU DO BEST, drop everything else and even then it can be a struggle to succeed.
Just like in any other field of business/commerce, majority of the enterprises always have and always will fail before they become (truly) successful. That's just a law of nature (in business).
And anytime somebody asks my advise on starting or operating/running a restoration business, I tell them not to start and especially if they don't know how to operate/run it before starting.
As for the OPs predicaments, there are probably umpteen million shops that work on similar stuff and in similar fashion than in his and as far as I've seen, most have and always will fall on same, self held sword.
39 minutes ago, pkhammer said:I visited a shop last year that specializes in Model A Ford restorations. I was dumbfounded when I asked the owner what the average Model A (total) restoration costs. His reply was "well into six figures". This obviously included total chassis and driveline refurbishment, bodywork, paint, upholstery and some upgrades as well such as overdrive units. So who spends six figures on a Model A? Apparently enough to keep this man's shop (with about a half dozen employees) plenty busy. Costs are what they are. If a total restoration takes 1000 man hours (that might be light), even at $75/hour that is $75,000.00 before parts. There are also plenty of people who still think they should be able to get a quality paint job for $5,000.
With all due respect, but anyone finding this ^^ "dumbfounding" is not familiar with the REALITIES of "complete/full restoration" of an automobile (99% of so-called restored vehicles really aren't).
And keep in mind that above "1000 man hour" (whether in-house or subcontractors) guesstimate is "light" and restoration of any vehicle more complex than Model A obviously compounds that figure exponentially, regardless of the make/model or perceived "market value" of that car.
Simple math.
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Just to make you guys feel better, I regularly ship fairly large (6' x 3' x 2', 150-250 lbs) crates containing NLA and obsolete style windshields and other large curved glass for vintage cars and have a business account with couple of major LTL freight carriers. An average coast-to-coast (or anywhere within lower 48) cost for each shipment is around $250-$350 with my "82% discount" from "retail" pricing.
As for the E-116-YH's shipping problem, I agree with Joe P., the cause appearing to be inadequate packing rather than the carrier, regardless who that is or who works for them.
Shipping things to have them arrive safely is easy. Just pack/-age them properly.
In nearly 30 years of packaging and shipping aforementioned crates (with windshields and other automotive glass inside) to all corners of the world, never really had one arriving to intended destination broken (although about 20 years ago, one long distance buyer made such BS claim), but then again, for each shipment, I spend nearly $100 on materials and +/- 2hrs for building a crate and packing it, using construction/professional grade air, battery and electrically powered tools and equipment to get them done efficiently/quickly enough.
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9 hours ago, Studemax said:
Alcohol is a cleaner.
While it can also be used as such, but where I come from, it has always been considered, first and foremost, a “beverage” or a main ingredient of any. 😁
On the more serious note, original and still in use fuel tanks in my vintage cars ranging from about 65-90+ years old and while some have periodically sat, with and/or without fuel in them, for years or even decades, last time I inspected (last year) their internal appearance & condition, all looked as close to “like new” as possible, considering their ages.
I was particularly impressed/surprised about the internal cleanliness of my Roadster’s 90+ y.o. original tank, for which I’m planning to fabricate a replacement in the near future, but due to other reasons.
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If all this gloom & doom about the modern(?) fuels is so clear to many, perhaps my vintage cars, the way I’ve driven/used them for past 4+ decades, the fuel around here or wherever I traveled with my cars is all just anomaly ?
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I'd say there's likely more than one moral of the story to be considered besides the type of fuel to buy/use, one being not to let cars sit that long, another possibly about the material composition qualities of reproduction tanks.
Based on above photos, was the tank manufactured in 2015 or 2008 ?
How/where was is stored prior to purchase and installation ?
Is it possible for the corrosion already having taken root prior to purchase/installation ?
Etc, etc, etc.
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2 hours ago, edinmass said:
I was looking at three horses the other day while trying to buy a car.......the car was 125k. 100 point CCCA classic.......the horses were 5 million plus..........each. And they were half way through their usefull career on the field. We won't even talk about holding cost and transportation to the shows.
But how many owners of 100 point Full Classics get paid to introduce theirs to another similar vehicle and have them briefly share garage space to sire an offspring, potentially a future Pebble Beach BoS contender ? 😁
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19 hours ago, 1937hd45 said:
I'll never understand how one picks the answer that may be correct, will all the wrong ones cause a fire?
That's the crux of the interweb forums.
People are either too lazy or stupid (or both ?) to realize discussion forums, including this, should be the absolute last resort for asking technical questions, no matter how simple they may seem.
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2 hours ago, rwchatham said:
Is this packard really worth the 4 million asking price ?
Of course it is. Why else would they ask, if they didn't think it wasn't ?
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I've never had or used any tools or equipment specific to locksmith work, just regular shop tools.
Like I said, it's not rocket science and is one of easiest work in (vintage) automotive repairs/services.
The most difficult part can be finding suitable blanks, but even those aren't necessarily that hard to fabricate from scratch, if needed (I've made some).
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On 1/13/2023 at 1:11 PM, TTR said:
While “loaning” your car (or any other personal property) for static display at a dealership, museum, etc, MAY not be potentially as hazardous as loaning or renting it to some commercial photo shoot or filming (for a commercial or a movie), I’d highly recommend having a clear and definitive contract stipulating insurance coverages and other liabilities, etc in case of any accidents or mishandling of said property throughout the duration.
OTOH, if the said car or other property is very dear to you, I wouldn’t recommend loaning it in any case.
I could fill a book or at least few chapters in one with horror stories I’ve witnessed when owners of vintage cars have loaned/rented theirs to filming or photo shoots.Besides, whenever the urge to drive my cars occurs, which is quite frequently, I want to have easy access to scratch that itch.
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18 hours ago, Frank DuVal said:
I like taking locks apart, putting them back together nice and clean. Just like I was curious what makes engines run, I was curious what made locks work.
That’s exactly what I was referring to.
I never went to a class or school for brakes, electrical, engines-transmissions-rear ends, chassis/suspension components or their geometry, machining, metal fabrication, paint & body, upholstery or lock repairs, etc, etc, but as a teenager was just curious about everything automotive and eventually taught myself enough to fix my own cars and now, I make modest living with that education and interest.
I do admit I’m believer/follower of Inspector Callahan’s motto “Man’s got to know his limitations” and at times contract some tasks to others more experienced (professionals) in some specific fields, but have also learned that it doesn’t always mean the job/task they perform gets done right or to my expectations.Full disclosure: I too have had locks re-keyed or repaired, but often found it easier/quicker to do it myself.
how many guys on here know how to drive a standard shift transmission-in a vintage truck ?.....or think they know how HA
in General Discussion
Posted · Edited by TTR (see edit history)
I learned to drive and took my test for DL in a 3-axle, air brake, Scania dump truck with 6-speed (with single splitter, so essentially a 12-speed) at the tender age of 18 over 40 years ago and while most of my cars/drives since have been with automatics, I have driven countless 3-, 4- and 5-speed manuals, including many vintage Ferraris (most with 5-speed transaxles), some of which I've rebuilt myself, etc.
Does that qualify ?
I just finished temporarily rigging up a Cord 812SC 4-speed transaxle for preliminary road testing that will commence within couple of days.
Car was delivered in December due to "transmission quit working" and initial inspections/test revealed a number of electrical, and vacuum shift control malfunctions (some of which I've already repaired) + some mechanical problems, necessitating a complete overhaul, but since I never driven one before, I just want to get a "feel" how it in generally works and to have comparative reference, before proceeding with removal and subsequent overhauls. An interesting project.