Bryan G

A noble gesture, indeed. The young man, by his chosen vocation, has shown he has at least a passing interest in cars. One challenge is, when you're 18, you still really don't know what you want. Friends have two sons around 20. Both went off to trade school, and now neither is working in their chosen profession. One was trained as a diesel mechanic but is now doing carpentry. The other got a nursing degree but is working for FedEx. Both, by the way, are into cars...but not my kind of cars. Marketplace is littered with father/son projects that didn't pan out. I've bought a couple and resurrected them. In each case, dad (or grandad) somehow though junior would be interested in a 4 door sedan from the late forties. That kind of kid exists, but is uncommon. From what I see, pickup trucks still hold plenty of interest. A '93 F-150 is an antique to that boy. I would at least pursue an angle like that. I really hope it works out; this could be life-changing.

Supposedly he only had liability on it.

These are tanks; this is Chrysler before corners were cut. The semi-automatic is pokey off the line but once you drop into high gear you can keep up with traffic just fine. Driving it will become second nature quickly. Mechanical parts aren't that hard to find.

Couldn't help but think of this:

Maryland no longer charges a regular fee; you just have to pay for what you use. Transponders are free for MD addresses. When I tried to get one for the RV I had, I found it wouldn't let me do it online. I was able to do it fairly easily on the phone. Their customer service is surprisingly good. Likewise, I couldn't find a way to grab one for my '49. Since I sold the RV I've just taken to carrying that transponder in the old car. Though the tags were returned over a year ago, it still works fine, deducting from my account just like it should. I don't attach it to the windshield but just hold it up as I go under the receivers.

I briefly owned a '50 that was its near twin (aside from those wheels-ugh!) If I'd had the money to keep that $2000 car, I would have gone "full beater" with it. You could have a lot of smiles per mile with something like this, if you're not picky.

Last year a Jet kept showing up in my searches, about 2 hours away and about half this price. I really, really wanted to like it. I truly did. The factory just forgot to make it special. The best thing I can say: it's the cheapest way to get yourself into a Hudson these days, if that's your only goal. I'd take it, apples to apples, over a comparable Ford or Plymouth just for the novelty factor, assuming they were all the same price.

An easy substitute for moth balls: ping-pong balls. The principle is quite simple: the mice bite into them and, the balls being empty, the rodents starve to death. Problem solved! (Mercilessly stolen from Gracie Allen!)

A '72 or '73. The '71 had a different grille design and it changed again for '74, along with a slightly different hood. I owned a '74 and wouldn't mind having another. When these were designed, there was nobody in the room asking "how can we lighten this thing up a bit?"

Gosh, making me work!

A friend of mine has owned Cadillacs since he started driving in the fifties. He related to me once that him and a friend owned one together, I think an early fifties model, and they wanted to add AC. They found a window AC that I guess must have used a belt-driven compressor, and they were able to rig something up. They mounted the evaporator in the trunk. Had to have been a real Rube Goldberg affair! Once I was asked if I could look at a late model Volkswagen with an AC problem. Well, I've never really been a mechanic, but as a favor I took a gander. I found that the single cooling fan wouldn't come on at all. Now, I'm not a VW fan, but I was very impressed: on a hot summer day, we could not get that car to overheat sitting still with a non-running fan. The needle actually never left 1/3 on the gauge. But, sitting still, no AC. As soon as you got moving at all, it would cool off. Lesson: a good shroud or aux. fan can make a big difference. I have an ARA flyer showing the dealer-installed options available for the '72 Chevrolet line. The most popular models could be had either in-dash or under. They even offered the package for the LUV. I did have an early 80s S10 with ARA in-dash AC. I had to put two and two together to figure that out; the control panel didn't match the owner's manual, and there was an ARA sticker on the door jamb (but at the time I didn't know anything about them.) It never worked all that great, but does rank as my first air conditioned vehicle.

Just today I was talking to a body shop owner who was super excited as they're about to take delivery of a laser welder. I wouldn't say they are very common, but some of the more forward-thinking shops are making such an upgrade. For this plate, I guess an epoxy isn't a good option?

This DeSoto is my kind of car. I wouldn't do a lot with it, just tidy it up, get the wiring squared away, and get the car as reliable as it can be. And then I'd drive it. $4500 will get you a dented Elantra at the local buy-here/pay-here, or you can have this. Were I in the market for another car from this era, I'd have to at least give it a solid look.

Are you a rookie when it comes to carbureted cars? Are you giving it gas while cranking it (pumping the accelerator?) Were you trying to start it from cold, or was it already warmed up and you were trying to restart it?

The whitewalls will really make this pop; keep your eyes peeled for any interesting chrome accessories you can add. I wonder if rocker moldings were ever offered? Maybe some red striping, if done right. I also like the idea of the 2-tone, though I'd wait and see. I've thought seriously of having it done on a couple cars of mine. Oh...and maybe a hood ornament?

Someone brought a 4dr to the demolition derby about 10 years ago; might have been a '63, a little hard to tell. Certainly the oldest thing I've seen out there in a while. The first time it took a hard hit, the cloud of "rust dust" was almost as big as the car!

What was the price differential for 4 vs 8? I'm thinking in '34, every dollar very much counted.

The market has changed; I was just thinking of shops I've worked with. #1-Still in business, will work on anything, but pricey. Quoted me $5000 to do the seats on my $4500 car, plus materials. Must be busy. #2-Hung up their hat during Covid, never opened back up. #3-Has a backlog of custom work, that pays $$$$$. No time for junk like mine. #4-Friendly, cheap, but a total hack who got run out of town for not paying his rent. #5-Keeps a large crew busy doing late model insurance work. I think they still do some older stuff but it can't be cheap. I keep forgetting that this isn't 1993 anymore, and you can't get a seat redone for $315. I bought an old heavy-duty sewing machine. Maybe I'll learn to use it someday.

I always have one eye open for my next project, and have often thought of a trade. Surely, I've imagined, there is someone out there who, I don't know: 1) Has an older, nicer, but non-running car that they'd trade for my reliable driver. 2) Has 2 'Super Sixes' but would like to have 1 Super Six and one Flying Flivver. I still have an inkling of hope that it might actually happen someday. I will say, I've seen my share of sour barters. The last one I did, both of us felt like we got the short end and it messed up what had been a good working relationship.

The flasher on a 49 Chrysler (2nd series, at least) is where you describe, a cylinder to the driver's side of the voltage regulator, held to the firewall with one bolt. Mine is a 3 wire. It's a pretty simple device and easy to unhook. Might just be time for a replacement.

After performing a hot adjustment of the valves on my flathead Chrysler, I was left with a particularly quiet engine. So much so that the faint valve tap when cold would make an untrained ear think something was wrong (since you can't hear much else.) It's gone in a minute as things get up to temperature.

When asked, I tend to give the answer that my car is "nearly all stock". One of the most frequent questions I get from folks: "is that the original paint?". Well, it's the original color, and I think much of it may have been factory applied, but various areas I know were resprayed (probably before I was born.) Most folks don't want that long an answer...and wouldn't know if it was right, regardless of what you told them.

I'm a big Studebaker fan, yet have never owned one. I'm also something of a fan of the "Silver Streak" era Pontiacs. A very tough call, but I think I'd make the trade. Straight eights are a great conversation starter, aside from being smooth and easy to work on. I don't see these cars as being all that common. My gut tells me, either way you go, you haven't lost.

Growing up, small-town parades were loaded with fun stuff, like the local trucking company that would run through with 4 or maybe 6 trailers behind a truck. A favorite was a double-ended mid-60s Chevy pickup owned by a local feed store. The rig still existed into the 90s but I haven't checked in a long time.

I used to volunteer at a booth up at the big annual street fair in our county seat. When I would show up, my friend Robert would always let out a big sigh of relief. See, for several years he was the mayor, which meant he had to pick the "Mayor's Choice" at the car show on the next block. Not being a car guy at all, I was just what he needed! We'd make the rounds, I'd make note of the vehicle with the best body/paintwork (whatever it was) and suggest it to him. Sometimes my choice raised his eyebrows. I doubt any of my picks made anyone too upset. (Awful hard to find a 60s car at a small town show without a crack somewhere in the sail panel! No crack=trophy.)