hipogt

Thanks everyone for your comments. This is an odd duck with it undercoated and then repainted the body color.

I am appraising a 1955 Thunderbird that has the complete floor pans undercoated. As I was a judge in the CTCI I remember that Ford never applied undercoating to the pans in the "Early Birds". Is that correct? The undercoating surprisingly is not applied to any part of the suspension, frame or running gear. Looks as if the body was taken off the frame, undercoating applied, painted the red body color and then set back on the chassis. Strange. I have attached a few pictures. Happy New Year, Guys. Bill Krieger AACA #489880

I was a judge in the Classic Thunderbird Club International and their feelings were that NO Early 'Birds had floor pan undercoating. I am appraising a 1955 that has every part of the floor pan undercoated and then repainted the body color (red). It is my understanding that FoMoCo NEVER undercoated the floor pans on these cars - am I correct? Odd thing is that the undercoating was installed ONLY on the floor pa with none on the frame, running gear or even the air duct work under the front fenders. It looks like someone took the body off the frame, undercoated and painted it and set the body down again - crazy Also note on the pictures it has teh original style tape used when built. ! I'll attach a few pictures. BTW: Happy New Years, guys. Bill Krieger AACA member #489880

On a very late 1957 Thunderbird (November 23 =, 1957 build) there is a strange exterior color code of XE6. Didn't think there was ever two exterior color codes much less three. The "X" is Dusk Rose and the "E" would be Colonial White. Padded dash is black and would go with either color. Anyone ever see this in a T-Bird? See attached cowl tag (don't know why it is upside down). Thanks, Bill Krieger AACA #489880

Trying to figure the color of a very late (November 23, 1957 build) T'Bird. The code is XE6XA. I assume the last two characters are the seat colors (black and white) but what does the XE6 decode to? Does this indicate the hardtop color - Colonial White body with a Sun Gold hardtop? Doesn't seem appealing to me and what does the 6 mean. Been involved with "little birds" since 1987 and this one has me stumped. Could it be a mis-stamped tag? See attached photo (if the photo is upside down I have no idea how to get it right. Tried to fix it several times with no luck). Anybody ever run into something like this? Thanks for the help, Bill Krieger AACA #489880

Appraised a 1930 woodie last week and I don't think it is a real Ford product. It has two doors, roll-up canvas/plastic side curtains and no second seat. I think they called it a Huckster wagon. This was never made as a Ford model, was it? It has all the "right" wood design on the side as a station wagon would. Anyone know where/who built it? Thanks

Are radio antenna cables for a non-power antenna difficult to find? Mine has been taped together and doesn't work. I find a lot of replacement antennas but want to keep my original one. You'd think they would be easy to find a new one but I am striking out.

My cousin has a 1962 Oldsmobile convertible that had 8.50 X 14" wsw tires originally. Now he is driving on P225/75 R14" that is the correct conversion size. Only problem is that the tires are 14 - 15 years old! The radials on my Mustang went flat after 13 years causing about $500 damage to the fender not to mention the wiring ripped out as the steel belt whipped around. Now we can't find a P225/75 R14 narrow wsw tire anywhere - even Coker doesn't supply them anymore. What has anyone else done to change to a radial narrow wsw with a bias ply size of 8.50 X 14"? What other sizes are compatible? When I bought new radials for the Mustang I could pick from a 185 to a 210 without hitting into the fender or the suspension. I settled on a P205 that work just great but I don't know the different sizes for a 1962 Olds with an 8.50 X 14" size. Somebody out there must have run into the same problem and has a fix. Bill Krieger

Maybe this has been beaten to death in other posts but I haven't seen the thread. The rules state that "headlights should be of the period and matching" Does "matching" mean ALL headlights or, on four headlight cars, only the two low/high beam ones and the two high beam ones need to match in pairs? The rule book doesn't mention four headlight cars. I'd think that only the two need to match because at the factory the different headlights have different part numbers and therefore could have been different manufacturers or even if it was the same manufacturer, the light could have a different logo. Is there another post about this? Thanks, Bill Krieger

I judged in Puenta Gorda in 2001 and it was a beautiful spot. Hope everyone came through this hurricane in good shape. Bill Krieger

I hate to be a whiner, but the newsletter had only one crummy article. Isn't there more we could have said about judging in the last three months? Also what about the judges who had milestones in 2002 below 100? Look at the empty air in the page and, if necessary, use a smaller typeset. Nothing stokes interest or pride than seeing your name in print IMHO. Bill Krieger

My cousin just bought a 1962 98 Oldsmobile ragtop and it has "mag" style wheels on it that he wants to dump. What years and makes of GM wheels can he use on this car? The tires on it were 8.50 X 14 and they had those "flipper" type hubcaps that he wants to install on the car again. I think those "flipper" hubcaps had clips that fastened to the rim.

One other thing about renting your car to get a cash reward, my insurance co. - Hagerty told me in no way would I be allowed to take money or gifts to show my car. I had the oppertunity to have the car in a static display for a weekend at a new shopping center and I called the insurance co. to make sure I was covered - I was told I was not covered.

Have you tried Ssnake-Oyl? They refurbish Mustang belts and did a nice job on mine. Their number is: 903/526-4500 or on the web @ <A HREF="http://www.ssnake-oyl.com" TARGET=_blank>www.ssnake-oyl.com</A>

Okay, but what about mid-fifties cars? I did chassis at a recent show and the cars had a variety of caps (metal and plastic). We were going to deduct, but since the rule book has nothing to say about later caps and none were the "Red Crown" or other Warshawsky-style I decided not to deduct any points. One style I think is wrong were the valve stem remover wrench style. I don't recall ever seeing those from the factory but again, if the rule book isn't more specific and I don't know for sure, I won't deduct.