rocketraider

Keith. When you are old and gray and done with them, pay it forward by finding a youngster who'd cherish them. They ARE out there. I sure do miss Auto Restorer magazine. I don't like reading things on a screen.

I'm ignorant here. Is the Ford's top vacuum or hydraulic operated? First thought is make sure no linkage is binding and lubricate all the pivot points. Disconnect the actuators and if the top operates freely you've narrowed it down to the actuators. Might try wiping the cylinder rod with some hydraulic fluid. If hydraulic, you may have to top off and bleed the pump and lines. I'm not familiar enough with vacuum cylinders to offer anything there. I'd rather deal with this than a 1970s GM all-electric top though!

There was a forum member years ago who had Cadillacs. He'd have described that injury as "Caddy-whomp". Have often wondered what became of some of those folks. Sure many of them have passed. I miss them.

I'm the same except for the Buick. Rounded corners didn't "work" as well with the delta-wing styling and that stamped sweepspear at the rear has always jarred me. 59 Pontiac quarterpanel bright trim did too. Didn't work with the sheetmetal and especially the rear bumper lines. Looked afterthought-ish. Now my finny Cadillac dream is a 1962. One of those years that the styling told the world you had arrived. Chevrolet's blatant 1970 ripoff of that grille didn't work for me either. But boy do I dig a 1969 big Chevy. Not that I'm opinionated or anything...😁 Class is class, and gauche is more often than not fugly.

Were I that Prius I'd be looking for an exit. That finny thing behind it might be hungry!

For whatever reason the 59 fins never "did it" for me. Too over the top. The toned down 60 fins were exponentially better. I do understand the 59's appeal though. I also like the 59 Buick better than the 60. I wouldn't want to polish that grille though!

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All electrical equipment runs off magic smoke. When you let the magic smoke out it won't work anymore. Maybe that would work for you, George. Used to hate when we meggered generators and high-volt cabling and I made sure I wasn't anywhere near when we did hi-pots. And yes, sometimes we let the magic smoke out.

I've never seen one but they were always popular for Cadillacs. DK if a Cad unit is the same. Check with National Antique Olds Club and see if any are known.

Was there a rash of English teacher nervous breakdowns 🥴🤯 at your high school? Just askin'... 🤓

And it was! 🙂 Worked too! Now back to cars. They're more fun.

You're thinking millennial. I'm thinking Strunk & White. The sentence would neither have made sense nor had the desired impact without the coordinating conjunction "so". Grammar and style lesson for today, boys and girls.

Firestone got burned so bad on that Explorer mess that they won't tackle ANYTHING out of the ordinary. Because of knuckleheads' stupidity and not checking tire pressure on their Fords, the rest of us are now saddled with tire shops who are afraid and nuisance tire pressure alarms on our vehicles. But it couldn't POSSIBLY be the idiot vehicle owner's fault, could it?🙄 I worked with a guy who wanted an alarm for every conceivable (and some inconceivable) condition. Pissed him off in a controls upgrade meeting by saying "so you, as a rated control room operator, are incapable of monitoring your equipment?" Yes, he drove an Explorer.

From January 1965 chassis parts catalog. Sheetmetal screws inserted from tire side of wheel well thru wheelwell and into tank mounts. No size specified.

Curious who the Virginia Buick dealer was? Because that sounds like something Wyatt Buick in Danville would have done before GM "encouraged" them to cede their franchise to the weaselly Chev-Cad dealer down the road in 2012. Wyatt had been in business since 1924 and had held Virginia auto dealer license #5 all that time. I can garondamtee the current GM dealer wouldn't have done it for you.

That is proof if any were needed that modern vehicles are too damn complicated. After I retired I looked at a new 2017 F150. The sales brochure was the size of a small-town phone book and well over 2/3 of it was about the truck's technology features, 90% of which I neither need nor would use. Asked the sales manager what happens when all this stuff starts failing in 10-15 years. "Well, we hope you'd be back to buy another one before that happens". Bought a 65k mile '08. And it has more electronics than I like.

Oh, y'all are wicked... That's why Virginia exempts antique-licensed vehicles from the state safety inspection. Odds are a mechanic unfamiliar with them would do more damage than repair. Couple years back gas mileage dropped on my 93 F150 and when I took it to an independent shop I've used for years for a tuneup, the SM told me they no longer had a timing light in their shop, and the mechanic who handled older cars had finally retired at 71. A 27 year old vehicle is not an older car. Well, not THAT old... and said truck is just electronic enough that I'm not comfortable working on it meself.

Wonder if that's where some of that gold-plated rust on NC49 near Asheboro came from?!😺 I can't say too much bad. Long as I could deal with the owner himself I did well, decent parts and fair pricing. But if I had to deal with one of his minions, hoo-boy.

Even though I was and am always suspicious of New England cars because of rust, Goldenrod always had some interesting stuff lying around. Now that I think of it, I haven't seen one of his print ads in a couple years.

It's a GM E-body. Not 100% sure but a 66-70 E-body (Riviera, Toronado, Eldorado) door glass may work and might be what your window came from as those did not have vent windows. Someone who has a Hollander interchange manual can verify.

Those cars came out when I was in 10th grade and I thought they were the toadiest things I'd ever seen. Worse than a Nova. Then my best friend got one with a 340 and made me crap my pants with it. Toady or no, I developed a respect for the little A-body Plymouth. Shame they were so susceptible to rust.

In a story on historic car company mergers, Nov 12 2020 issue of Old Cars Weekly has some 1928 Dodge factory ad photos of the cars in low light with head/cowl lights on. Along with very stylish late-20s ladies. Text suggests Chrysler was going for upscale ladies' magazines with these ads. House and Garden and The House Beautiful were mentioned.

Heh. The Riviera was the simplest and most conventional of the GM E-bodies. I can only imagine what you'd think of servicing a Toronado or Eldorado. Though after owning one, a Toronado is no worse than any other vehicle once you understand them. They could have done better with front brakes though. Wheel cylinders are shared with Nova so they're readily available, but you have to take half the front suspension loose to replace one.

The ShopRat hasn't been on the Forums for many years and I've seen other names here that brought back good memories of people. Some are no longer with us, I'm sure. I don't truly "hate" any car, but there are plenty I'd never even consider owning. Whether weird/uninspired styling, weird/overly complex engineering, or combinations thereof. Heh. That eliminates 90% of what the carmakers are peddling the last five years!

Watts Auction selling a 1959 Edsel in Pittsville VA Friday Nov 6 4pm. Appears 2DHT. Near Lynchburg/Roanoke/SML area. www.wattsara.com 434-821-5263 Also a 1951 John Deere M.