Rick Lay

Hi Mitch - I have some interior photos of my '23 Buick touring I would be happy to E-Mail. I will try your E-Mail link, but if not successful, please E-Mail me so that I can get the right address.

According to the information I received in the mail, Kruse International will be doing the auction duties this year and the auction will be at the Giant Center evenings beginning at 5:00 P.M. Call Kruse for details.

Not Kaiser or Frazer - Kaisers had a stylized "K" and Frazer used the Frazer family crest.

My 1954 Kaiser with 6 volt system had this same problem. I adjusted the timing at the distributor and solved the problem. I do not remember if I ended up advancing it or retarding it ( I put it back to factory specs ), but the solution was to relieve the amount of compression on the cylinders once it was shut off. As reported above - when hot, it would barely turn over due to the amount of compression. After cooling (and the compression diminished) it would spin over fine.

For all those who requested a tour packet for the tour, please be advised that those packets are going out today. The tour is April 13-16 - right after the Greenville meet.

I have been pleased with the items I have sent to Graves Plating in Florence, AL and also with the average turnaround time. I will echo the fact that it is not inexpensive. A door handle was $ 150.00 - but it is a great looking door handle now!

I have one of these wonderful cars also. As you may or may not know (I did not, until after I got the car), these tops go up and down by means of two drive cables connected from the drive motor to the top frame on the left & right sides. If you take the rear seat completely out, you will see the motor and two cables coming out of it. I would follow these to the point where they attach to the frame mechanism. They unscrew much like a speedometer - I would take them loose on both sides at the point on the frame. That way, you can raise and lower the top manually and determine if your problem is with the top assembly or with the motor/drive. I had problems with both - one of my cables had snapped inside its sheathing and then, after getting this fixed, I found that one of my bows was "sizzoring" the wrong way due to it coming loose from an attachment to the vinyl itself - that caused my top to get stuck halfway.

Thanks, Bruce! I have always wanted to know about the pronunciation of Mr. Durant's middle name. I have heard it pronounced another way (the obvious one) and always wondered about this.

The judging will take place on Saturday.

Chris Bamford - E-Mail your photo to peterg@aaca.org and he can post it. I would really like to see it, having seen the car that was in Charleston. I am going to look through my photos this evening for the photo I took in 1995 . If found, I will send it to Peter also.

There evidently are numerous "Herbie the Love Bugs" so I suspect there was more than one "My Mother the Car" also. I also, as a kid, was keenly waiting to see the series every time it came on and dreamed of someday having an antique car. As they say ....dreams do come true!

More thoughts on "Mother" - The car had a modern engine & drivetrain - I don't remember what - but it certainly explains the need to modify the hood area from the standard Model T. The car sold at Herbie's for around $ 8,500.00 plus the buyer premium (Kruse did the sale). Herbies's Batmobile went to Daytona to the Klassix (sp?) museum there. I want to think that "Mother" is in Gatlinburg, TN at the museum downtown. I know that the museum owner bought the "Herbie the Love Bug" VW at the sale and I want to think he bought "Mother" also. I think that Mr. Livingston bought "Mother" at that Harrah sale.

The 1928 Porter (at least one of them) of "My Mother the Car" was in the Herbie Livingston collection in Charleston, SC until his death and subsequent sale of the collection in early 1995. I was at the sale and saw the car - minus the "Porter" brass script and minus the radio set-up that "mother" talked through - I guess souvenir hunters over the years got these. It did have an interesting steering set-up behind the front seat with a small wheel and mirrors which reflected from under the car so that a driver could navigate behind the seat without being seen for all those shots where "mother" was driving herself around sans Jerry Van Dyke.

I too am guilty of having AACA logos on my trailer. I do, however try to be careful where I park the rig and always disconnect (just a few inches) from the trailer - putting the hitch and weight distributing bars inside the locked trailer. The worst thing about this member's story is the Nash. The trailer and suburban can be replaced. I suspect the thieves had no knowledge of what was in the trailer - and probably did not care. I wonder if the Nash is in the Clinch River by now. Otherwise, what would you do with it?

An AACA member was returning from Hershey and stopped to spend the night (Thursday, October 17) in a motel just North of Knoxville, TN. During the night, his suburban and enclosed trailer containing his show car and many parts were stolen. Of course, the police were called, but they gave him little hope of finding the equipment. The East Tennessee Region has just been informed of this tragic event. The suburban was a 1996 Chevrolet 3/4 ton (2500 series) model - dark Blue & Silver. The 22 foot Wells Cargo enclosed car trailer is White with aluminum stone guard and nose cone with spare tire mounted on the front tongue - late model LED taillights - one piece rear door locking bar (as opposed to the split bar). Probably the worst part - the trailer contained a fully restored AACA Senior 1953 Nash Rambler Convertible - solid Red - this vehicle is pictured on page 45 in the July-August issue of "Antique Automobile" magazine. Parts lost were for a 1934 Chrysler Airflow purchased in Hershey. If anyone should run across any of this, E-Mail the East Tennessee Region from our website and we will get the Knox County Sheriff's office in contact.

46. Joined AACA at age 29.

The meet in Cedar Rapids was great and well planned by the Cedar Rapids Region. Nice perks for the judges also with clipboards and cloisonne chips. Thank you Howard for remembering the DF'ers with KK's at the judges breakfast!

I will be arriving sometime Wednesday. Unfortunately, Dawne has to work this year & will be at home. I plan to also be at the lunch Friday.

Our Region may be a bit different in that the club as a whole elects the nominating committee, who then recommends a slate of officers and directors. At the October meeting/tour, the membership is asked to vote for five members they would like to see serve as the nominating committee - the top three vote getters are the nominating committee and they elect their own chairperson. If someone cannot serve, the next highest vote getter serves.

I guess I am "pro" silicone. I have had it in my 1951 Frazer Vagabond since 1989 and have experienced no problems - and have never had to add any fluid. Although I am aware of the "brake light" problem, I have never had any problems with mine. I have it in my other cars as well including our '71 Mustang convertible which we tour in - just completed the SE Division tour with it. As mentioned, getting all the air out takes a while. I know other folks have problems - but it has been great for me.

Rick Lay 509714<BR>Dawne Lay

Terry Bond suggested in an earlier thread that we assemble at 1:30 on Saturday at Class 5.

Saturday at 1:30 sounds good to me.

Our Kaiser club had a chat room there - the word we have is that they have shut down. According to the release one of our members had, they had to cease operations due to lack of revenue.

Dawne and I will be taking the '71 Mustang convertible up to Knoxville to join the East TN Region in the Farragut, TN parade tomorrow morning. Afterwards, the region will assemble at the nearby park for a cook-out until 2:00 P.M. Later on tomorrow evening, we will be back in Athens and going to a region member's house for fireworks and ice cream.