Restorer32

Whatever happened to the custom bodied Graham Paige Dual Cowl owned by the cigarette company in Canada?

We have made maybe 6 of those gull winged headers over the last few years. At the Abelove auction we purchased a '39 Packard conv body just so we would have a cowl and windshield so we could fit the headers and hope to offer them for sale again but they will be expensive. Extremely labor intensive.

'38 and up had that extremely difficult to duplicate gull wing shaped header bow.

'37 is not the same as '38.

Speaking from the other side of the curtain we have done over the years maybe 12 repair jobs on antique cars that were insured by various specialty insurers, Hagerty, J C Taylor, Grundy as well as others and have never had a problem, even when we had to "modify" our original estimate. One thing to bear in mind. If you have a claim the adjuster who shows up to look over the damage will likely have no or very limited experience with antique cars. Once had an adjuster question our estimate to straighten a badly bent Pierce bumper and have it replated. I quote..."Can't you just order a new one?" This was a 1929 Pierce that had been hit hard in the back end.

How's this for a 1 in a million shot? Fellow has a '38 Super 8 4 door conv that is missing the entire conv top assembly and wants us to fabricate one for him. We can do the work but, and here's where the 1 in a million chance comes in, we need to find someone who would loan us the top from a '38 and allow us to disassemble it and use parts of it for foundry patterns. It is a complicated assembly. Maybe a "one hand washes the other" scenario? Anyone have such a top that needs some parts but is basically complete that we could use for patterns in return for supplying any missing/broken parts?

I used to enjoy sandblasting. Take a badly rusted wheel rim or frame or whatever and watch the ugly disappear before my eyes. Instant gratification.

What's that epoxy stuff many swear by ?

Years ago we were hired to get a '33 Cadillac V12 running that had not been run in many years. This was not our first rodeo so to the displeasure of the owner I insisted on removing the heads just to see if everything looked OK before we tried to start it. Passenger side head and block looked great, nice and clean, no ridge at the top of the bores. Driver's side head a different story. Laying on top of piston #2 were several shards of glass as if someone had broken a champagne flute. Now, these shards were too large to have entered thru the spark plug hole. 2 questions. #1 How did those shards of glass end up on top of the piston and #2 What would have happened had we tried to start the engine with that glass in there?

Ran when parked,

Even as late as 1958 some hearses and flower cars were metal over wood construction.

I was Summertime help at my Dad's tire shop in the mid-late 1960s. Guy came in complaining that one of the front tires on his Caddy was severely unbalanced. I dismounted the tire and found a 14" crescent wrench between the tube and the tire. This was back in the day when most tires were tube type.

We rewooded a 1949 Bentley Sedanca Coupe by James Young that had a LOT of wood framing in the body.

Important to distinguish between wooden body framing and wooden frame rails. Two entirely different things.

If there is no compression it can almost sound like the starter is not engaging when it actually is.

In 1980 or so at Hershey we were asked by AACA officials to remove a sign we had posted on our camper advertising '64 XKE parts.

Deceased friend of mine was turned away from his first Hershey because his car was "too new" so he parked his Auburn Boattail in the parking lot.

Ft Wayne Clutch has done work for us for 30+ years. Even laser cut new steel discs for a multi disc clutch in an early American La France.

Not sure how much if any of that $90 goes to the AACA or Hershey Region.

I don't care about spaces being primarily used for parking. I will care when those spaces are empty.

The problem is if AACA actually tries to enforce the rules how do they go about it? It is illegal to question anyone re their handicap. To do so could open the AACA to lawsuits. In Pa there is a State agency that does nothing but monitor adherence to the ADA and they would be only too happy to sic a band of attorneys on the AACA. Win or lose it would cast AACA a fortune in attorney fees.

Unfortunately that is not true. At 74 I have severe arthritis. Even with a cane I can only walk 100 feet or so at most and only then with very bad pain. This was my 55th Hershey. Would you feel better if I pushed a walker all over the fields? In any case AACA cannot outlaw golf carts because of the Americans With Disabilities Act. Yes there were many carts being driven by folks who didn't need them but it is illegal to even ask someone what their disability is. You'll get old some day.

I smile when I think of the Beauchamps. I remember a time when Earl pronounced his last name as "Beechum" while Judy pronounced it "Bo shamp" He will be missed for sure.

Being in the restoration biz we always had quite a few applicants when we advertised for help. Not now. We have been advertising for help for several months and cannot even get anyone to apply. We pay well, work a 4 day week and provide some benefits. Used to be we would be swamped with applicants wanting to work on antique cars. This area used to have a reputation for good work ethics. What happened?

When we were in the old Green field we would sleep over Saturday eve in the camper and wander home Sunday morning.