Julian1v

Many thanks. I would appreciate your thoughts on that.

Thanks Auburnseeker. I have tried Steele who said they didn't have the correct seals. ( By the way, I love your Sportabout ). I know that Metro sell "universal parts". Has anyone used these in their projects? And if so, were they satisfactory? Thanks for your interest all. Any tips greatly appreciated. I want to get the old girl watertight before the Australian winter. Also, to all of the forum members, stay safe everybody. This virus is really nasty, and lot of people who restore these beautiful cars are in my age bracket, hence more vulnerable. Then again, out in the garage, surrounded by fuel vapors... maybe that's the safest place. Take care anyway.

In another post I mentioned that I am in the process of restoring a 1953 Plymouth Cranbrook convertible club coupe, down in Australia. A lot of good work has been done but one of our last problems is getting the weather seals between the roof and some parts of the body right ( windscreen-top bow and roof to rear quarter windows particularly ). The old weather seals have crumbled away. We managed to import some seals from the U.S. but not all, and we are looking at having someone fabricate the remaining bits. Our problem is, we don't have any pictures that show the profiles of the seals. Does anyone in the forum own one of these cars, or is able to put me in touch with someone who has one? I think the '54 Belvedere convertible also has the same weatherstripping. We would love to get some pictures of how certain seals look and fit.

I managed to find an old school electric motor repair shop where the 72 year old electrician completely rewound the motor for me as well as checking all of the other parts; he said the bearings were still in very good shape. Not bad for 65 years! Rugged traditional tech..that's why Voyagers 1 and 2 are still working. In the conversation he also mentioned how the skills required to do these jobs are fading away with his generation. He said he looked for apprentices but no one was interested. It seems to me a young person could set up a very good future business for him/her self with these skills.

Hi all, I am hunting for a vintage Redmond electric motor. It operates the cable pull system for the roof of my 1953 Plymouth Cranbrook convertible. Even if it's not working I am still interested. There are not many details on it but it shows as: REDMOND 1-59 ? 6V 6x5 There are no other numbers on it and no Chrysler part numbers either. It is approximately 6” in length. I believe that these motors may have been used in other marques as well.

Just back from China and waiting for the corona virus to settle before returning. I was in a remote area so luckily, far from the infection vectors. The silver lining is that I'm back with the car for a while. The things I'm looking for at present are weather strips and rubbers. I purchased a set of supposedly complete rubbers for the convertible but they sure as heck were not complete. Some profiles were wrong, especially the cowl strip and I'm still looking for roof rail weatherstrip and the stripping to the rear side windows. Any leads will be greatly appreciated. Franky, did you find any suppliers for your '53?

Have been away for a while with my job but back at home for a while because the corona virus has shut down work in China. Luckily I was in a remote area so not close to any infected places. I got home with no problems. The silver lining is that I can get back to the restoration process. I had a disappointment with a " complete" set of weather stripping supposedly made for only this model. Some rubber was missing and other pieces were wrong in profile. Is there anyone in the forum who could give me some leads on accessing weather seals? It seems like the '53 Cranbrook convertible is a total orphan in this regard. I need a correct cowl seal, roof rail stripping and stripping around the rear side windows. Maybe details of someone who could fabricate to order? Any advice is most welcome.

Thanks for that info Billy. I've seen one of these but I didn't know what it was. I noticed the dragonfly logo as it shot past us at an intersection. I have just looked it up on the net and found that the frames and panels are manufactured in Suzhou which is where i am based when I'm in China. I am definitely going to look out for these. I'll try and find the factory and see if someone will show me around. I'm not sure what to think about electric cars though. Great acceleration and no emissions are all good but I am not convinced about traveling in one over the distances we drive in the US and Australia. The EV fans always talk about increasing ranges but I bet the range diminishes big time if you're traveling with two or three passengers and luggage at highway speeds. There's no way I want to stop in the outback with a flat battery and no help for 400 miles.

Much more to modern taste. I'll have to go to Starbucks to read it! ( Along with a translator).

My pleasure. Wherever I go I'm always looking for automotive curiosities and the huge Chinese market has quite a few, often downright weird. Japan and Korea have a number of interesting cars that you will never see outside of their borders as well. I'll post them when I can. I was going to add that when Chinese friends or acquaintances see pictures of my '53 Cranbrook, they are mystified. "Why do you want to drive a museum car?" This is because car culture is only a little over decade old here. 20 years ago, people would stop talking and look if a car drove past. The oldest vehicles you see on the road here are VW Santanas made in the early 2000s and they were all taxis ( there are a few even older ) . Private car ownership, as a mass thing is only 10 to 12 years in the making. As for classic cars. There are none outside of museums.

I hope I didn't rave on too long. Yep. It is definitely eco-box. It works but has no personality. As to the star, yes, the Party has its tentacles into everything there and expects everyone to demonstrate loyalty, so an enterprising designer would get "brownie points" for making that connection. There is a character 大 which means 'big" or 'major" that looks similar, so I suppose that could also be the inspiration. Maybe there's a combination meaning.

I know we are in a forum devoted to classic/antique cars but I am often asked about the Chinese auto scene when people know that I drive over there. Some probably want to question my sanity in doing so, but being on the road has given me the opportunity over the last 8 years, to get a feel for what's trending. So if the moderators don't mind, I'll give you some brief observations about the modern scene there. First, the car I drive is 5 years old. It's a first generation JAC electric car. It's spartan inside ( plastics and fabric are pretty simple ) but comfortable enough. The build quality is acceptable: the panel fit is OK and there's no body rattle yet. The turning circle and maneuverability are OK but the ride is hard and there is too much weight over the front suspension because the battery set is heavy. Braking seems OK but not as good as a western made vehicle. As mentioned above, it has surprisingly good pickup from a standing start but you wouldn't push it too hard after that. Later models of this car have improved considerably though. The Chinese auto industry is, like everything else over there, making generational leaps every few years. They have good European and American auto industry professionals employed to teach and oversee design and assembly, and the "shotgun weddings" between the various western companies and their partner Chinese firms required by the PRC government, ensured a sizeable transfer of IP. Ford, GM, Benz, BMW, and VW, and some others are manufacturing in partnership with Chinese companies; Volvo is owned entirely by Geely Motors and MG / Rover by SAIC Motors. These vehicles are built to western standards although the delivery quality and finish can be variable. As for the local designs, they are at the standard of first-generation Korean cars at the moment. They look OK but reliability and longevity are still issues. There are no equivalents of those classics like the Chrysler Imperial, Datsun 1600, Toyota Hilux or Corolla; cars that you would have to attack with an A-10 Warthog to kill. Looking in the car park of my workplace, which has about 40 vehicles in it this morning, the JAC is the only local brand. All of the others are either direct imports ( 2 Mustangs, a Mercedes sports and a Fiat Spider ) or partnership brands such as Buicks, Cadillacs, Chev, VW/Audis and a few Ford Focuses ( Foci?). That means my Chinese colleagues would rather spend more to own a "foreign" brand than settle for a local vehicle. They are relatively well-paid workers of course. People just entering the car market are the buyers of the local brands. So to sum up, the Chinese auto industry has not yet developed the standards of reliability and finish that we see in the west as well as in Japan and South Korea, concept cars at the 2019 Shanghai Motor Show notwithstanding. I think it will be another decade before there is complete convergence, but with 600 000 engineers graduating every year in China, I can see that the talent potential has to be there, so I would not be dismissive of native Chinese vehicles in the long run. They are definitely going to be competitive in their own right in the not too distant future. As for the JAC logo, I am still trying to figure out whether its a "wannabe" copy of the great Mopar symbol, an interpretation of a Chinese character or just creative coincidence.

I can't help but notice how similar the logo on the JAC car I drive in China is to the Pentastar. Pity the performance isn't, although to be fair, being an electric car it moves quickly enough from the lights.

Fire wise, we've been lucky so far but as I live across the road from 700 acres of wild scrub, we are always a bit on edge in the dry weather. Re the Falcon, to paint and restore or not, ... it's a hard one. There's a pleasing side to driving a car that shows its history. I had a VC Valiant a while back that was totally original... just a rectangular box without a hole drilled in it anywhere. No exterior mirrors, no aerial, even the radio blank plate still intact and totally original vinyl seats. I relented a tiny bit and drilled supports for seat belts but that was it, ( metal dashboards are not kind to people when there's an impact). I sold it to a young guy when I moved to China for work and told him to do the same. Don't touch it. It was what made it unique. I saw a photograph of it not long ago... he couldn't leave it alone. Now it looks like all the other ones around. Ah well.

I like the survivor Falcon next to your beautiful Buick as well! Is that an XK?