Jack Bennett

Thanks for your reply and kind comments 24chry48. I procrastinate every time I put finger to key to complete a on-line order for anything with which to clothe and feed my old cars. Most recently I looked across the bridge and could see far enough into the future that putting a new top on the Fargo cold be seen as a reality. Selection of the tires was much easier because I located a fellow which had four brand new, still in the shipping wrap, 18” tires in his basement. He had apparently ordered them many years, aka decades, ago and had never gotten around to putting them on his car. When I saw the price at which he wanted for the tires, and the fact I’d nearly given up on finding serviceable 18” tires of any sort, made the fact they were also whitewalls a negligible consideration. But, the seemingly simple task of selecting a material of a suitable sort for the new top of an old panel truck loomed on the horizon. But, not unlike the tires, an opportunity to buy the material for a new, antique looking, top reared its head, and could not be ignored. I was convinced that the “Long Grain” vinyl top material sold by Snyder’s, and the other antique car outfitters I buy from, was a no-brainer. But, while meandering around the antique car forums I saw a material called “tuxedo”, which is a much finer grained material than the Long grain I used on the Willys, so I ordered 17 feet, and that will be what you see when you look at the top of my old panel truck. Jack

Hello Walt……Having a single track mind, and even more focalized as I work on these old machines, I immediately Googled “FEDERAL” and “KENWORTH”, thinking they would return a location where the truck may have been used. Instead the results always came up with “KENWORTH” being a truck, and no cities named “FEDERAL”. We do have a “Federal Way” not far from Tacoma, but the truck was bought over 200 miles away in Oregon. So, I Googled just the word “Federal”, and the truck brand “FEDERAL” popped up, and a new link to my 1927 Willys Knight was opened. That sort of history makes my timbers shiver, and I just had to share it. Jack

Hi 1912 Minerva…….How very strange you suggest that. I had nearly finished sanding one panel of the truck side, and I noticed flecks of red and white paint mixed with the green base paint. So, I set aside the surface preparation tool and reverted my scraping to a razor blade. All that was left of the lettering on that panel was the numbers 123-***, but everything had been erased with the paint removal. So, I stopped working on the first panel and began carefully removing the paint on the second panel with a small scraper. Sadly, there was no number on the second panel, and I thought the rest of the letters had became unreadable too. But, a few more minutes of scraping began revealing letters, and the first thought in my mind was putting the clear varnish I’d bought to do the cab inside to a new use. What a cool idea! It will be a tedious task to scrape all the old black paint off, and remove the badly rusted parts of the panel without damaging the lettering……but, isn’t this what it’s all about? Thanks for the suggestion. With my tiny 750 megabyte memory it will be easy to find as I work my way through this. Jack

Just a bit of Deja Vu. In case you missed it, in the comments on the link I provided, Federal trucks were equipped with the same Willys sleeve valve engine you will find under the hood of my 1927 Willys Knight 70A, and were marketed under the brand “Federal Knight”…….and the circle is completed in the Bennett stable. Jack

While not the discovery of King Tut’s tomb, or even finding the lost White House corner stone, in Tacoma, Washington archeology, this rates as a ten on a scale of 1 to 10. I have nearly finished up all the wood work of the cab and bed on then 1929 Fargo Express Panel, and am now preparing the sheet metal for re-installation. During this procedure I use a surface preparation tool, large and small grinders, a small sander and steel and copper brushes. If you have the picture, it isn’t hard to imagine the amount of metal and paint which can be laid to waste very quickly. But, sometime this is destructive, and can actually destroy the historical information shed along with the metal and paint. Thankfully, I was able to move from a power sander and grinder when I found very fragile lettering under the old coat of black paint covering the side panel of the truck bed. So, I discarded the haste of getting the panel prepared for painting, and instead went into the preservation mode and switched to using a scraper and a awl to carefully remove the rust, crud and paint. I dote on history, and the origin and use of my old vehicles is as important as the metal, wood and rubber they are made of. In this case I found, concealed under the flaking paint a hint at what sort of job the Fargo Express Panel done during its service life. We all Know Kenworth, but I had not heard of the “Federal” truck brand https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Motor_Truck_Company until I began stripping the layers of past from the Fargo’s bed. This made my day, and I am seriously considering on using the “ROBERTS MOTOR COMPANY” logo on the repainted truck bed panels………. Comments are welcome and will be part of my decision as to how the truck will be finished. Jack

HI 24Chry48……..It is without a doubt that your “cringe” at spending money, while totally dependent on its availability and liquidity, on tires for your collector cars is figurative, rather than literal, I’m placing my bet that you do it, regardless. I do metal detecting with a machine which cost me over $800.00 in the 1980’s. The tools (digger, pin pointer, battery packs, and my essential camouflage clothing and sexy finds pouch) probably cost another $500.00 or $600.00 dollars. I will not expound on the other expenses such as gas and car maintenance here, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t worthy of consideration as a major expense. And, not unlike the flotsam I collected while engaging in the equally expensive hobby of genealogy, at the end of a days metal detecting search I have some pull tabs, a few bottle caps, a penny or two, and loads of discarded lip stick tubes and bobby pins. Yet, I can’t wait to buy more batteries, add a new sniper coil or a set of waterproof headsets, and head for the inviting mud and dog poop to search a new park. In appreciation of forum “topic” rules, I need to be super careful not to let this post stray too far from antique cars, so I’ll talk about that instead of my boats and bee keeping hobbies. I have a fake left arm……..no complaints though because the titanium holding the pieces together feels no pain, and it is much better than having no arm at all. However, the people who installed this arm don’t know much about mechanical devices, and upon completion I had lost a good percentage of the range of motion normally expected of a fully functional arm. The lower half of the windshield of 1923 Dodge Roadster I adopted was broken and needed replacing. It really stymied my aspirations of returning the windshield to its magnificent state of clarity when I learned that the replacement glass would cost $200.00 and change. Being retired and frugal to a point of being painful, I resisted paying this much for a piece of glass, cut and installed by a professional auto glass dealer, and, instead opted to buy a piece of uncut glass for about $95.00, and cut it myself. I had missed the fact that the windshield was 1/4 inch narrower at the top than at the bottom, and therefore, the perfectly rectangular piece of glass I’d so carefully cut did not fit the frame. So, a bit of force, applied to strategically determined places around the top perimeter of the glass would surely force it into the snug, but very wobbly frame. Remember the goofy arm…….? Well, it doesn’t respond to pressure, and can do some really stupid stuff if pressed beyond it’s own limits. As the frame twisted, and the spiderweb of cracks spread across the face of my previously flawless glass, the $200.00 cost of having the glass professionally replaced, seemed far more reasonable that it appeared to be only seconds before. Reasonably, I could have just reinstalled the windshield frame without any glass at all. Or I could have opted for a much cheaper, non-safety glass replacement from Lowe’s, but that was not reasonable. So my next trip was to Tacoma Glass, and in my company was a empty front windshield frame from my 1923 Dodge Roadster. A few days later I returned to the dealership, handed them my credit card and collected my beautifully finished windshield. Now, as I nurse a cold MGD and peer through the magnificently clear windshield of my roadster, I don’t even think about the cost of replacing a piece of glass on a 100 year old car, I am just grateful I still have the eyesight to enjoy the view and am capable of having the car and the ability to do it. Jack

Hello Walt…..Hooray……Bravo……..Whoopee…….Kudos………Accolades and any other source of praise you could be rewarded with for making this post. I am 100% certain that you already realize that my wheels will be painted on a whim, and that will probably be determined by the time of day and number of MGD’s I’ve drank prior to starting the task. The wheels I am about to paint is on a 1929 Fargo Express Panel truck I, admittedly, bought on a whim. Thus far I have chosen purely transportation related vehicles as the receivers of my ministering, and this panel is the first 100% commercial vehicle I have owned. In the nearly eight decades I have been afforded life, I have learned that there is no “right” way of doing anything, and the illusion that I would even need to replicate the way the wheels on this truck looked in 1929 is surely nothing more than a mirage. I do appreciate the thought behind your statement, leading into the comment “I am not going to get into this much, because it would take a lot of comment”……………………… On a 95 year old commercial vehicle, or a solely transportation/luxury, and totally hobby related vehicle, whether or not it is painted, fully restored or just sitting on rims in the garage, its rich, and rust colored patina allowed to shine through is wholly dependent on a great number of things which go much deeper than a layer of paint or the type of tires were chosen to compliment the cars appearance. Rather, your statement echos and amplifies why I would post a thread and make a time worn and much overworked topic, such as the selection of tires being appropriate to the vintage of a car, the main subject. It is needless to say that whatever I choose to do with anything, in this instance the tires, on my old (zombie) truck is done on a spur of the minute whim, is immune to criticism or judgement, may be totally insensitive to period correctness, and its undoing, and redoing is what the hobby is all about. And, the comments which impart the welcome inclusion of those who are physically, financially, demographically or, for any other reason unable to actively own their own car, or physically work on one, is indeed what this sort of forum is all about. Personally, my old car hobby is just like a juicy pie, sliced into manageable portions, and served up in quantities which are both digestible as well as fulfilling a taste particular to the minute I select to partake. Now that I have had my fill of the verbal side of working on my old truck (making comments on the forum) I will retire to the garage, crank up my radio to some good music, and sand the fenders of my old truck in preparation to painting them. And, Sir, that is a comment, and I welcome anyone with a old car, a radio, and hopefully a cold MGD, to chime in and keep this forum rocking. Jack

Hello 69merc. For fear that I would be home-locked during the fairly long, and all too common, Washington State rain, damp and windy season, which makes a week end drive in my old Willys or Dodge border on insanity, I undertook reanimation of a more modern 1951 Plymouth Cambridge. I has electric windshield wipers, which aren’t appreciated until you remember your vacuum powered wipers won’t work during a long hill climb, modern lighting and a heater. Also, it has full wheel covers, and, in spite of it not being a Porsche 911, it is a classic Plymouth with gobs of aura and pride. This, after looking at your beautiful Mercury, I am certain you understand. Not putting wide white walls on my Plymouth would be the equal to you contracting me to install a new, glistening white, environmentally friendly flush mechanism and ultra modern styled commode in your refurbished bathroom. And, upon completion of the install, and my departure, for a long weekend, from your home, you notice I overlooked putting a seat on the commode. And why I like white walls on my Plymouth becomes perfectly clear. Jack

Hi prewarnut…….You are a lay-psychic in that you have touched on a subject I am presently at odds with myself. I like to close out my day by doing nothing other than looking at the work I’ve accomplished on my old cars, and making a loosely structured plan for the work I intend on doing tomorrow. On both the Willys and the Dodge I disassembled rhe wheels, separated the spokes from the drum, and meticulously sanded each piece prior to painting and reassembly. Regardless of the color the wheel was previously painted, the spokes were left neutral, sealed, stained and recieved several coats of spar varnish or lacquer. But, these two cars were in far better shape than the Fargo, and I am not looking forward to removing the spokes from the drum or the rim from the spokes to renew their appearance. I will repeat what I’ve previously said many times before and that is the belief that “Far more damage is done while “fixing” these old cars than was ever broken by normal use”. And that includes removing age warped spokes from a rim to which they were attached ninety five years ago, and, sanely believing they will go back together without use of a tool which went extinct in the 1930’s. That fairly clearly dictates that whatever I do to the wheels of the Fargo, it will have to be done with the wheel intact, and that eliminates removal of the rim and hub from the spokes, and that really complicates doing a decent sanding and paint job. I have been looking at photos of other Fargo panel and pick up truck projects and find that it is a fairly common practice to paint the spokes and rims in a color which matches the paint scheme of the body. As a interlude to a final finish of the wheel dilemma, I am thinking about putting all white walls out, painting the rims, hubs and wheel center black and painting the spokes green, to match the body color. One good thing about working on a zombie machine is the amount of latitude I have in doings things like this. Especially, with full knowledge that what doesn’t work today only means I still have something to do tomorrow when I change it. i too am involved in a dilemma with the immorality of hijacking someone else’s thread, and stepping on their topic when I reply to a comment addressed to me, on their thread. Seems like a self defeating expectation of a viable format for a forum, kept alive, and interesting, when it is based solely on exchange of written ideas and opinions, and users are discouraged from answering another members question regarding “spark knock” with a response more related to atmospheric temperature, spark plug temperature range and gasoline octane rating than saying “thunk……thunk…….thunk…….”. That said, I want your input on the wheel color thing and, if it’s done on this thread I promise I won’t complain, and if you put it on a new thread, I will read it. Jack

That is one beautiful car…….and the white walls emphasize the colors very well. On this this car it is easily seen that the tires, being a common accessory on every car, regardless of year, make or model, acts in the same manner as proper punctuation does in a sentence to impose a breath of pause between essential words, and those which define the meaning of the sentence. There is absolutely no doubt that these tires did not happen by accident, they define the space between the pavement and the car, and demand, without words, “Look at me”………”Aren’t I beautiful”? Jack

Going to add this….If you noticed that there are four, brand new, white wall tires on the Fargo Express Panel I’ve recently adopted, you may have also noticed that one side of the truck has one white wall and one black wall exposed to view. The other side has two black walls exposed to view. Sadly, the truck doesn’t have third side because it would have two whitewalls exposed. This weird arrangement gives me the ability to get some idea as to whether I want to show the truck with white walls out, or all black walls, as I progress through the body work and color scheme. I am leaning toward all white walls, and, regardless of whatever input I get on this thread, think I will stay with that decision. But, it is a topic I can post without (hopefully) evoking a argument, and I do, sincerely, appreciate the opinions, information and assistance. Jack

Hi alsankle……..How very true that we can do what we want with our cars. But, while “car” is a important word in this thought, “we” and “ours” the tie breaker is when it comes to adding things like a moto-meter, instead of a radiator cap, wind wings or some nice brass body trim. I chose this mundane, and overworked, topic because, as “ours” and “we” can be used to replace “you”, “me”, “they”, “them”, and on forever, “tires” can be replaced by a million other things “our” old cars needs, and falls right in line with other things “we” buy for “our” family, pets, and maybe more hesitantly, ourselves. One thread on this forum was devoted to a members plight because the white walls on his old car was turning yellow…..note, I said “tires”, but could have easily said “teeth” or “underwear”. Another AACA member was lamenting on the restriction that another, very popular, but far more strict on the use of aftermarket, non-oem tires on his classic Chevy was a reason for denying membership……and it was treated with the same level of angst as if his wife had filed for a divorce. A term I overuse is “my”, and it is usually associated with “my” old cars, and it can be discussed for hours as long as it doesn’t stray into becoming “my” lawyer, “my” church, “my” finances and “my” personal affairs. Isn’t it wonderful though that the width of a slab of rubber, on a tire which must be special ordered, at costs we can ill afford to spare, on a old car which sits idle for 9 months of the year, can be a non contentious topic, which will provide hours of word fodder for similar thinking brothers of a different mother, without one referral to any of the aforementioned, and not one single word of anger to be heard. Yep, if the very idea that I would even consider spending a fortune for a set of tires for my old car says reams about me, what is said if I go a tad further and add a white wall to those “Coker” sweeties? And, honestly, if you like writing, and the forum is your canvass, isn’t writing about the tire choice, on “your” old car, as challenging and fulfilling as a thousand page thesis on the price of tea in China? Jack

I like white walls on the tires of each of my antique cars. But, I have been gently chastised regarding the use of these tires and the fact (?) that very few antique cars came equipped with white wall tires, and they add a natty look to a otherwise good restoration. OK…….I do the toe twist and look down with a abundant show of shame, and, wven though my white walls are here to stay, express my undying gratitude for the person offering the information. And then my boat is (literally) rocked while I was watching the movie “USS Indianapolis” when they show a wide angle shot of the Capitol, supposedly shot in the late part of the 1930’s. In this, intended to be period correct photo shot, a number of 1930’s cars are shown….and to the last one, are all sporting white wall tires. Among shop worn threads this topic should rate a really high score. But, it carries he same amount of talkability as “what oil to use in a antique car engine” so let’s toss it around for a while. Jack

I ran the tests on the engine I bought to replace the one original to the Fargo. But, I was told that the guy, who sold the engine to the guys boss, from whom I bought the engine, thought it may have been rebuilt. The engine specs were all good for a engine of the sort, and the age of the one I bought. I bought an engine to replace a locked up engine in a ninety five year old truck. The purchase of the truck, and everything I spend to return it to being operational, is considered in the same vein as when I owned a boat, used the motor home and ate in a restaurant. In the same breath, I will add that more stuff is broken by being fixed, than fails through normal use and it is not on my list of pleasures to needlessly “fix” anything on this engine. So, not knowing when, or if, the inside of the engine was sludged up or would need to be disassembled, I bought five quarts of 30 weight, non detergent motor oil, off the shelf, at a O’Reilly’s, which I pass wherever I go. The 30 weight oil is less than $.6.00 a quart, which makes it easier to throw away than the $7.00+ a quart for the next step up of multi-vis oil. Now I have ran the engine to its normal operating temperature and can see that it is still clean, has no water or gas and seems to be ok. Now I will replace it with new straight 30 weight oil, because that’s what the other cars in my stable use, buy a new filter, which is actually a sock, and feel relatively confident my old engine survives another seventy years. My KIA gets serviced and fed by the KIA dealership, and I have a lifetime maintenance and oil change contract. My Ford E-450 based motor home is dropped by the Ford dealership, I come back to pick it up in a day or two, and the extent of my involvement in maintenance and lubrication service starts and ends when they anvil my credit card. The 1995 Ford F-250 is a different story altogether. It is used on the Highway, at highway speeds, and has recently been depended on to pull a trailer, and the truck it was carrying, over 400 miles. This truck is fed high quality, high detergent, multi-vis oil and the transmission and differential is maintained, by me, by the book. Now, to the drudgeries of cyber talk. I have been advised to stick to “the topic”, and refrain from making comments to posts and threads other than those I, personally, originate. Thus, since I did not originate this particular thread, and the issue was extensively discussed, with exactly the same outcome, in a 2013 thread, I must step away from further comment. Jack

Hi ABear. I am not a professional anything now, other than a retiree who treats the privilege as if it were a profession. I look at the title of this forum, and they have included “antique” as their first name, and the continuation of the title, being “automobile collectors association” hints that it is a place for people interested in “antique automobiles” to congregate and discuss their hobby. I have as much fun communicating with folks on the forum as I have maintaining and driving my old cars. And when the weather, my health or even just my attitude makes working on the cars impractical, this is the nearest outlet available to actually doing it. I have also tried a hiatus from posting to the forum because there are some folks who have drifted so far away from the hobby aspect of our affliction that they have forgotten that this is not a owners manual, and any posts must be understood by the aspiring antique car hobbyist as it is tolerated by the “old school” type of person, regardless of how “passionate and insistent” their ways may imply wisdom. My 1923 Dodge Roadster has no modern oil seals, rather, both it and my 1927 Willys Knight use felt seals, and implores the operator to avoid overfilling the transmission, crankcase and differential to prevent lubricant loss and counter contamination of clutch and brake linings. It also, in a very non contentious way that a semi-grease weight of lubricant be used in the gear boxes, and a straight weight, non detergent oil be used in the engine to prevent damage to the brass bearing surfaces. That said, I just finished installing a 1951 Dodge pickup engine in my 1929 Fargo Express Panel truck and have left the original 230 cubic inch flat head engine installed in the 1951 Plymouth Cambridge I drive regularly. IF you want to gather information on any procedure or material used in the restoration of a HOBBY vehicle, you only need “Google” it, and a million answers are available right in your own living room. But, if you want to “talk” to people to explore the possibility of buying a old vehicle, and entering the Hobby of old car restoration, you “talk” to others with similar interests on a forum such as this. However, joining such a group does not imply that you are neither dumb or totally ignorant of the answers to the questions you ask. It is suggested that any person who is able to acquire a classic or antique vehicle has a lifestyle which permits it. That fairly well eliminates the severely mentally impaired, the demented who devotes free time to conceiving criminal activities, and most certainly, has demonstrated that their anti-social personality demands immediate medical attention. I use the forum as a method of expressing my ability, as a retiree, to buy and own a collector vehicle, and I am not ashamed of being able to communicate with others regarding the pursuit of the affliction as a hobby However, when my experiences on the forum, while sparring with the pride and egos of the elite, and those who deem themselves as the sole possessors of old car information, exceed the amount of sweat and blood I’d shed by installing a clutch, in the mud, on a sub-zero weather day, and trashing my mind too boot, on my old truck, I’ll take the truck and leave the forum to the warriors who have survived combat in the (lubrication) pits of hell. Jack

I have taken the liberty of posting a thread time stamped 2013, regarding the same subject. Note the comments, who made them, and what the one piece of semi-authoritative material says about what oil to use in a “FLAT HEAD”……and not a “FLAT SIX” 218 and 230 cubic inch MOPAR engine. I don’t know where you live, but anywhere short of north of the Article circle, I’d still stick with straight 30 weight, non-detergent motor oil. And, be prepared to provide anyone who goes “crazy” at hearing any advice which may disagree with this, the telephone number of a good psychoanalyst and a anger management specialist. Jack

I am sorry to have offended anyone with my drivel. And, you are correct that only the owners of an expensive car should be allowed to post on this forum. And, only a idiot would assume that only high quality, high detergent, multi weight motor oil had been used in a seventy year old engine, and it would also imply that it was a idiot telling someone who had asked about “which oil to use in a TUG engine, that using a non detergent oil prior to cleaning out the sludge, was bum information. It is apparent that I have both presented my age and experience as fraudulent, and I am trying to subvert the knowledge of a person who previously used Facebook as source of automotive information is not in keeping with the forum standards. I do feel appropriately bad, will delete my abusive and presumptuous comment, and exit the forum again. My apologies……I am not a professional, little more than a hobbyist, and will limit my future internet sojourns to Facebook.

Since I bought the 1929 Fargo Express Panel a few months ago, I have concentrated most of my efforts to get the sheet metal and rotten woodwork back into a condition I could determine if the truck was even repairable. I have managed to fit enough pieces of the rotten wood together to make a relatively accurate set of patterns, and have managed to complete fabrication of most of the wooden body parts. The doors were a real task since the regulators were broken, badly bent and rusted beyond recognition. The windows were both broken with most of the glass missing. These I have replaced with plexiglass, and I personally think they look better than the glass originals. The original flathead six cylinder engine had been left outside with four of the six spark plugs missing, and the bores had sat since, at least, 1976 full of nasty water and debris. The engine was locked up and four of the six cylinder bores was badly rusted and deeply pitted. So, rather than beat a dead horse by attempting to rebuild a engine, I could never determine a model for, with no transmission or drive shaft, I elected to replace the 1929 engine with the engine and transmission from a 1951 Dodge 1/2 ton pickup. This was a learning experience since the Canadian built Fargo engine had a 25” head, and the pickup engine was only 23”. That measurement gradually evolved into a 7” difference between the motor mounts, and entailed moving the 1951 engine 7” toward the truck rear to place it in the rear mounts and allow the fabrication of new front mounts. The change back to the spring daylight savings plan gave me enough daylight to get the engine complete and ready to run. So today the 1951 Dodge, 218 CI engine started and ran like a new one. OH, that is if a new one had a leaking fuel pump, a broken fuel pump settling bulb and a leaking carburetor. The original engine I removed from the truck used an odd looking electric fuel pump so I took the electric fuel pump I’d installed in my 1951 Plymouth Cambridge, hooked it up to the Fargo engine, and it works great….But, as I said, the carburetor started leaking. I have a few problems though and I need some help. The original radiator, with honeycomb water passages leaks too bad to even think about repairing it myself. And, the clutch pedal on the 1951 bell housing is about 5 or 6 inches too far to the left of the steering column to fit into the firewall slots which would allow it to be fully depressed. And, the biggy…..the original, 1929, engine I removed from the truck used a electric push button, mounted on the engine bell housing, to engage the electrically operated starter. The 1951 Dodge engine has a manually operated starter, with a yoke mounted atop the bendix housing on the starter, and the starter is engaged by pressing (with your foot) on a pad mounted to the floorboard. I need to fabricate a device which mounts to the floorboards, and is used to depress the extension on the starter. I won’t tie up space here by trying to detail how it works because, if you don’t have it, the explanation would not help anyway. But, if you do have a 1950’s vintage dodge pickup, with a manually engaged starter, I would really appreciate a few photos of the device to give me a idea where to go with this. Jack

Even if you are a professional detailer, and used the hot water/steam pressure washer to make, instead of spend money, I’d still advise against buying it. I am supposing the Mack truck is being worked on as a hobby project, rather than a vehicle to use in commercial trade. As such, my recommendation is that, since you will have plenty to do as recreation/relaxation projects working on the truck, you have little need of another machine, namely a fuel sucking, storage space gulping pressure washer, which is very needy of maintenance in itself, to play with. There are some environmental friendly engine degreasers available, and, as you have read in the responses, there are some really good, off the shelf, cleaners and degreasers available which work well with a little elbow grease. A suggestion I do have is that you get a good, stiff, nylon brush and visit the Dollar store and stock up on their three for $1.25 paint brushes. These are great for doing seamers, and are cheap enough you can trash them after a rough days use. Oh, and the cold water machine……unless you have stripped the truck of all electrical devices, removed all dash panel instruments and taken out any wiring which will be damaged, I’d pass on buying the cold water pressure washer too. Jack

My curiosity got the best of me, and I won’t sleep tonight if I don’t ask. It piqued my interest in what a “road roller” was when you mentioned that a friend had bought one. I call a big, heavy machine with a huge, heavy roller, used to compact new laid asphalt a “steam roller”……which is surely a dated colloquialism which should have died out when “steam rollers” became diesel powered. But, someone tuned in and mentioned that they too had bought a “road roller” themselves, and it too has a silver dome engine. So, either the two of you are from the same generation, and the same demographic area, which commonly call a “steam roller” a “road roller”, or I need to ask…….”what the heck is a “road roller”. In order to establish my qualifications to ask such a question I present my credentials in the form of a Silver dome engine, which too remains unidentified, but was in a 1929 Fargo Express Packet Panel truck I bought a few months ago. Could you please post a photo of your “road roller” to put my curiosity to rest? Jack

I’m missing something here. I tried the Amazon.com link you posted, and sure enough, they have rolls of 14 AWG, red braided copper wire, exactly as you said you are looking for. It is true that “the things you are looking for are usually found in the last place you look”. This being the case, why wasn’t Amazon the last place you looked, and bought all the wire you need from them? Jack

My comment too, is a little off base Actually, the raccoon problem on McNeil Island is also a result of a prankster. It seems that the settlers on McNeil Island recognized that an uncontrolled raccoon population, on this little eleven acre island, could be disastrous. So, in about 1856 they hired a wildlife veterinarian to come to the island and “fix” all the raccoons they could trap. But, as the story goes, a young prankster stole, the vets spay/neuter kit, and the vet stormed off the island without touching a single raccoon. Jack

Reminds me of a, not too pleasant, memory from a time in the 1960’s while I was stationed in Germany. My rotation date back to the states was near, and the time for me to take my personal car to Bremerhaven for shipment was upon me. So, as was done, I made contact with another female dependent who needed a ride to Bremerhaven to pick up their family car which was arriving in country. Drop off of my car, and pick up of hers went flawlessly, and in no time we were back on the Autobahn heading home toward Schweinfurt. The autobahn had no posted speed limit, and cruising at 90 miles per hour was a pretty usual thing if you didn’t want to get some single finger greeting as a slow poke. So, I can only suppose we were doing at least 90 MPH when the car, I think was a Mercedes, blasted past us as if we were standing still. Nothing seemed out of place until the car was nearly out of sight, and was little more than a dot, about the size of a kids toy block, on our wind shield. And then, as the car topped a rise in the highway, it became immediately apparent by the light between the bottom of the car and the black of the pavement, that the car was now airborne. As the car topped the hill, and we had just began our ascent, the car disappeared from sight, and was presumed gone. But, as we crested the hill the car could be seen again, but this time it was rolling end for end, and reducing itself to shards of glass and metal as it tore itself apart as it careened down the Highway. Bodies could be seen as they were thrown from the disintegrating car, and I was truly shocked at the sight. That shock was 99 on a shock scale of 0 to 100, but it immediately went to 100 when I looked at the woman driving our car, and saw that she had released the steering wheel, and was now covering her eyes with her hands. I would estimate our speed to be well over 100 MPH, and we were now driving through the debris field, and shredded bodies, which had been a car and its occupants only minutes before. My impulse to grab the wheel was suppressed, and, out of sheer luck, she returned her hands to the wheel and regained control of the car after just a shout. But then, she began crying and as our car slowed, kept repeating that we had to help “them”. Sadly, German law dictates that if you are in attendance at an accident victims death, you become legally responsible for disposition of that person remains and may be held fiscally responsible for their death. Thankfully, she came to her senses and we proceeded on to Schweinfurt without further comment or incident. Jack

In the Army we would disassemble our beds once a week, and exchange our used linen for clean at the supply room. On that day we folded our mattress and placed our naked pillow atop it for “airing” and inspection. This was a good practice, and I brought it forth into my, now single life. Actually, it means I no longer bother making up my bed, and instead just roll the covers back to allow “airing”. Since as a retired guy, I have to ration the time I waste by replacing tools to their “proper” place, and retrieving them for their next use. So, to save time, and use every available minute on a project, I now have the garage divided into projects, with the tools necessary to do it piled accordingly. This way, in the same vein of thought that an unmade bed is a healthy bed, a cluttered garage is an effective garage, I will never bother hanging up, or storing….i.e. “hiding” a tool again. Jack

Old speedometers have some tiny springs, and even smaller screws. It was more out of pride in myself to improvise ways of handing these feisty little critters, with my arthritic hands, using the tweezers she used on her eyelashes, and the little brush she used to apply makeup, than fear of the whooping I could expect to get if she found out what I was using them for. Jack