Richard F

I have ordered and used these halogen bulbs and they are brighter. The only caution I have is that they are more sensitive to voltage fluctuations. In an old 6v electrical system that is unregulated (i.e. third brush voltage regulation) they will pop with voltage spikes over 10.5v (as opposed to about 11.6v for tungsten). I blew out two headlamps and one taillamp until I cranked down the third brush to around 8 volts max.

I'm installing a rebuilt water pump on a 30's car and after I cut new gaskets I realized that I may be a bit out of date on gasket technology. For years I used the old standby permatex Type 2 and 3 sealants depending upon whether I wanted more or less hardening. But there are all of those colors of RTV type gasket makers out there now that claim greater heat capability or some kind of technological advantage. Plus there are other gasket sealants such as Hylomar that claim to be for particular applications such as water pump flanges. Anyone have experience as to what is today the best gasket sealant for such applications as water pumps, fuel pumps, oil pans, manifolds, etc?

I think we need to remember that the corporate world no longer has much to do with national boundaries. Ford owns Volvo, Jaguar, Mazda. Is a Ford Ranger any more of an American product than a Mazda B2000? Volvo trucks are made in the US by Ford while what used to be Ford trucks are now called Sterling. Paccar, the parent company of that very American producer of Kenworth and Peterbilt trucks now make thousands of units in India and China for those markets. Are they still American? And what about Chrysler? Aren't they a German company? How much GM stock is currently owned by overseas investors? How much of Mitsubishi is owned by Americans? Does it really matter? I was sitting in the Marriott hotel in Chongqing, Peoples Republic of China, not long ago having a drink with the CFO of the Cummins Diesel plant there. He told me that over half of the diesel engines currently made in China are Cummins. The Chinese lady that was with me was surprised at that but she couldn't quite believe that the Marriott we were sitting in was an American hotel--she thought it was Chinese. And when you come right down to it, how much different is that 2005 Pontiac or Buick from a Toyota Camry or a Hyundai anyway? If you want a real Buick, buy a '55 Roadmaster or a Series 90 from the '30's. They're more fun to drive anyway.

I just ran across a non-classic, 39 Ford Tudor Deluxe for sale for well under $10,000 that is tempting me. It's unrestored and unmodified and has been in a museum collection on the West coast for many years, until recently. The interior is original and without tears or wear spots, headliner the same, engine seems strong. The paint has a lot of crazing and chips but there is no rust or apparent body work and the chrome is very good. The price seems fair to me but probably not a steal so it's hard for me to convince my wife that this car needs to take up space in our garage. If this car were a full classic in this kind of unrestored condition, I wouldn't hesitate... but a Ford Tudor? It seems like most of the 30's Fords have been modified as hot rods and the few that haven't have been restored heavily with a lot of replica parts, which are so easily available. I know that over 100,0000 Ford Tudors were made in 1939, but how many unrestored examples are left that aren't a pile of rust? I wonder what kind of demand there is for unrestored Fords. Anyone have any thoughts on whether this car might be worth saving from the hot-rodders even though it is a non-classic? Would I be shunned at a CCCA event if I didn't feel like driving my Auburn that day and came in one of Henry Ford's V-8 potatoes? Even though I am a CCCA ad ACD member and generally prefer the early 30's classic look, I have always thought the late 30's Fords had nice styling compared to other mainstream cars of the streamline era-- at least the front end and fenders. Like I said, this one's tempting me.

Does anyone know when vinyl or imitation leather was first used in American car interiors and by what manufacturers? Was it first considered a premium "miracle of modern science" material, or a cheap substitute for leather? The earliest use I know of is 34-36 Auburn open cars which, according to the ACD Club Judging standards, used vinyl on seatbacks and door skins with leather on the seats, themselves.

You could have a good fuel pump and still be experiencing these problems-- essentially a form of vapor-lock caused by the inability of mechanical pumps to draw fuel up to the front of the car without vaporizing, due to high volatility gasolines of today. If all else fails, the solution is to install a 6 volt auxiliary electric pump as far back and low on the fuel line as you can so that it pushes fuel up to the the engine. You can find a couple of other threads on this forum on 6 volt electric fuel pumps.

Randall, By far, the best stuff I have used for restoring suppleness to leather is something called Leatherique Rejuvenator oil. It's not really an oil and the description about collagen sounds like something out of cosmetic counter sales hype, but it really works. Not cheap, but you can order it at: www.leatherique.com You may have to lightly sand the surface of the old leather with something like 600 wet/dry before you rub in the oil to help it to soak in. It sounds strange but sanding leaves the surface very smooth and breaks any surface barrier from old wax or dirt. Put the oil on overnight or leave it on for a few hours with the car in the sun-- then take it off with the cleaner. I found that the suppleness lasts for about a year.

There may be one to two day seminars on various antique auto technical subjects from local automotive museums in your area. The Towe Museum in Sacramento CA (of which I am a member) for example, offers the following seminars this year (open to anyone who wants to pay the modest enrollment fee): http://www.toweautomuseum.org/html/mt-class.html

Probably worn gears and adjustment of the head unit is needed, but there may also be something going on with the cable. I had the same symptoms a couple of years ago with a 30's Stewart Warner unit. My suggestion is to find the nearest trucking center on an interstate and look for a commercial speedometer/tachometer repair service nearby. There should be one in the vicinity of those areas where the International/Peterbuilt/Freightliner dealers all seem to congregate. If you are on the West Coast, the one I have used that has an older guy that likes to work on the really old instruments, is: Commercial Speedometer Service Inc. 2446 Evergreen Ave. West Sacramento, CA 95691 916-371-5873 It might be best to take in both the cable and head unit.

Frankly, I wouldn't worry about parts much. Buy the make and model that you like. I have never had trouble finding a part for a '34 Auburn although most people can't seem to believe that. If the car has any collectible value, there is someone-- probably more than one, that has NOS, used or reproduction parts for your car. You just have to know where to find them and the way to do that is to join the national club for that marque, AACA, CCCA or whatever applies. I can find just about any tuneup and maintenance part for my Auburn at the local NAPA dealer. You can get any rubber part for any major (and some minor) American made car from the 1930's on from Steele Rubber products. But most of all, component parts in the 30's and 40's were made to be repaired and not just replaced as they are today, so unless a part is completely destroyed in a collision or something, you can rebuild it or fix it.

Modern cars require little effort and demand little involvement or thought by the driver. Vintage cars make you aware that you are driving a machine and you have to be involved with it. This is both the pleasure of driving them and the distraction when all you want to do is just get somewhere. You may think that air conditioning, comfortable seats and ergonomic interiors are something that you can do without, but if you are married or have kids, will there be times when they will have to ride in it as well? Will they share your sense of sacrifice? Unless you live on the coast, central California is hot 4 or 5 months of the year. What are they going to say when their shirts begin to stick to the seats from the heat? Older cars often have poor insulation through the firewall and they do get hot. Older cars also require regular maintenance--a lot more-- frequent oil changes and lubrication at least. It was no accident that the old full service gas stations would check the water and oil at every fill-up. They needed attention. Older cars have single hydraulic brake systems and for safety sake, they need to be in top shape at all times. Even then, they will not stop the car in anywhere near in as short of a distance as that Honda Civic in front of you. And you won't be going 70 mph on the freeway... welcome to the truck lane. Do you ever get in traffic jams? Stop and go traffic is no fun in a vintage car. Many had marginal cooliing systems to begin with and vapor lock can even more of a problem today with current gasoline formulations than it was when those cars were new. Of course, there are some things you can do to make them more drivable and safer. Add an electric auxilliary fuel pump. Put in seat belts. Maybe consider a 12-volt conversion, electronic ignition, auxiliary electric radiator fan or radial tires if authenticity is not important to you. Some cars of the 40's and early 50's have a reputation for reliability (such as the Chrysler products of that era) that might make them a better daily driver but might not appeal to your sense of style. Now if you still feel good about the idea, by all means, go find that 1949 Buick or whatever suits your taste and have fun. I'll be the guy giving you the thumbs up from my '34 Auburn on Highway 99 outside of Sacramento. But maybe not every day... not if it's over 95 outside... or raining... or if I have to get there fast... or if the freeways are jammed up... or maybe not if my wife's along and she's a little cranky that day. Those days you can find me in that new Volvo with the cruise control set....

For an online price guide and one that lists obscure and very old marques you might look at: http://www.manheimgold.com/car_lo.html This source tends to be conservative about prices but I find a lot of other "price guides" go the opposite direction in an attempt at selling guides (particularly printed ones) that make owners feel good (so they sell more guides, presumably). No one wants to read that that classic car they paid $30,000 for two years ago is actually worth $20,000 to 99% of the market. I tend to take a very critical view of prices on eBay. The few collector car eBay sales I know of didn't actually sell at the auction, but only later when so-called "reserves" were never met. I suspect that most eBay sellers are not really serious about it since it costs essentially nothing to list a car there. The truth is that a rare car is worth whatever someone will pay for it at any given point in time and how well a seller reaches the small number of potential buyers that may be out there.

Halon is, of course, no longer allowed by EPA to be produced. However there are a few manufacturers still selling extinguishers using recycled halon and servicing can still be obtained in a number of places. I bought a 2.5 lbs chrome halon extinguisher from H3R a few years ago. They have other sizes as well as non-chrome ones for a bit less. Very nice chrome finish and looks real good in a classic car. Their vehicle order page is: http://www.h3r.com/products/home_vehicle.htm

On the subject of pedal cars, maybe someone can help me identify this pedal car that is a part of my family history. The photo was taken in 1927 in Flint Michigan and is my Uncle Dick with a Christmas present. The car came from Mott's Department Store in Flint and was a gift from the owner to my grandfather in return for fixing some steam pipes in his store that winter. My mother seemed to remember it cost $150 in 1927-- way beyond the range of my family at the time if it had not been a gift but her memory may have not been that good since $150 seems like a lot for a toy when you could buy a car for $500-600 at the time. No one in the family remembers what kind of a car it was, but since there were a number of auto makers active in Flint at the time (Dort, Flint, Buick, etc) I always thought it might have been made by one of the body works like Fisher Body. But now that I see your post, I can make out similar parts such as the grill louvers, windshield frame and bumpers. If your's is a Cadillac, maybe some of these cars were made by Fisher since they were located in Flint. My uncle's car had nice detailing like the Nickel plated step plate, bumpers and radiator and pinstriping. The windshield and top folded down and the doors opened. You can see running lights on the running board like Studebaker had as an option in the lete 20's.

Another source of 6-volt halogen head and tail lights bulbs is: http://classicandvintagebulbs.com/index.html These are made in Australia but there are North American distributors listed. I have bought them from Marc Michon in Fresno CA (scout@madnet.net). One thing I learned about halogens is that they are less tolerant of voltage spikes in unregulated systems than standard bulbs. If you have a third brush type generator, make sure that it is adjusted properly or you will blow out the bulb. Marc told me that the halogens will pop at about 10.5 volts whereas tungsten bulbs will take up to about 11.6 volts.

The responses to this post have been very helpful to me. I sat down with my wife and we talked about what she likes and doesn't like. It pleases me that my interest in old cars has rubbed off on her enough over the years that she is now has the bug (although not my interest in the old technologies) but it has been difficult to try to see my hobby from a different perspective. It's also interesting how there are some common themes running to the "what appeals to a woman" question... not that I am suggesting that women are predictable in any way... not hardly. But I am convinced that women don't see things the same way as a man might.... hardly a revelation, that. Anyway, the 'what car for-my-wife' dilemna is now down to a short list: Mercedes 190sl--Sporty, cute, "it's a Mercedes", "you can work on it" (not looking forward to those twin solexes, though) Another 55-57 T-Bird--Cute too," just like the one I was going to get" Fiat Spyder-- "I always liked my Fiat" British sports cars have been booted off the list, thanks mostly to this thread. Larks, Metropolitans, my Lowey coupe and their American kindred did not make the final cut either. I also note that Fiats are not "cute".... not sure why. So I'm off to look at 190sl's. Good thing I live on the west coast since rust seems to be an issue with some of them.

Jan et al, So glad to get a woman's input. You are right, of course. I think I will suggest she take the Acura and let her decide to sell either it or her Volvo, then she can take the money and get what she wants. She does generally defer to me on whether her final choice is a "good" car or not, but I can do a little looking and give her some choices. That's why I am looking for ideas. As to those ideas, thanks everyone. I don't think she can fit her golf clubs in the Isetta so maybe that one's out. I always thought a Metropolitan had a feminine kind of appeal, too. But don't they have some kind of weird, British Austin drive train? No flames on the hot rod idea, but knowing my wife, it's probably not her thing. If anyone can help the ignorant on what to look for in British sports cars, I'd appreciate it. I ought to look at an Alfa too. She really loved that Fiat... if only it wasn't such a constant problem. (No... no...that's my preferences again. I have always lusted over pre-war Alpha Romeos, like a 1750.) But I might consider at 50's convertibles, if I can find a good one. By the way, the last ring was an anniversary ring. It's been a while since engagement rings were on the agenda. I picked the setting and let her get involved with picking out stone... It ended up at a little over two carats. God help me when she starts to look at cars....

I'll look at Triumphs. Don't know much about them but I remember I used to like the looks of the TR4a's. The Karman-Ghia is certainly something that I could work on, but the problem with air-cooled VW's is that I was a line mechanic in a VW-Porsche dealership for three years in the mid to late 60's, and for me at least, they lost their romance. It would be like meeting an ex-wife in a bar. Still looking...

I am the happy owner of a '34 Auburn Phaeton. Although the car is jointly registered to both me and my wife, it is, in her words, my car. Although she likes to ride in it, go to the occasional show and caravan, she has never driven it and is intimidated by its size, poor visibility, and the effort it takes to steer the long-hooded beast. When I explain the free-wheel or the vacuum operated, two-speed rear end, she says "it's too complicated for me." Lately she has been hinting that she would like a vintage driver of her own, one that is not so old that it requires a different technical skill but a car with some style. She has, at one time or another, owned an over-powered '65 Corvette, a Fiat X1/9 (terrific little car when it ran, which was seldom) and currently drives a competent, but boring Volvo S80. She has recently been offered (free from an old friend with a terminal illness that she has been taking care of) a '55 Thunderbird. It would be perfect (the price is certainly right), except for the fact that the owner once had three '55's and this car was assembled from two of them by welding together the front and back of two different frames. He did the work himself and although he may be a competent welder (former airline and Marine pilot) he is not a professional welder or frame man. So it is essentially a salvage vehicle. I told her the car scares the hell out of me. If she doesn't take the T-Bird he intends to give her his '02 Acura SUV, a car I have little interest in and need like a hole in the head. So at the moment I am looking for something in the 40's through 60's era that: Has some style from a woman's point of view; is an unmodified driver but neither a 100 pointer nor a basket case; and, has some collectible interest. I would prefer not to have to spend more than about $20,000 but would go a bit higher for something interesting and under-priced. I've been thinking about a small British sports car like an Austin Healey or an MG TD, TF or even an A, a mid-50's Studebaker Lowey coupe, or another two seater T-Bird. I figure the early Corvettes are probably out of my price range. ...and I thought picking out a diamond ring was tough. Anyone got any ideas, here?

McCahill wrote in Mechanix Illustrated monthly from something like 1947 up into the mid 1960's at least. Let's see... that must be about 200 road test articles. The vendio site has 19 of them apparently for about $2 a pop. Here are a few free McCahill quotes that I picked up somewhere. Wish I had the entire collection, and if anyone ever puts together a book, let me know. On the 1955 Ford V8: "The '55 Ford has digaway boff by the treeload." On the 1962 Plymouth: " It was raining like tears in a onion cannery when I did my test.......I don't know of a car in its class that can top Plymouth. It offers the best roadability in its class, and this, tied up with good brakes makes it just about the safest. .........the slightly teutonic looks of the Valiant, stand out like a hip flask in a bikini." On early 30's Classic Imperials: "These long-hooded brutes had more sex-appeal than a boatload of starlets anchored off Alcatraz." On the Jeep CJ3: "The standard seats are rumored to be made of foam rubber. For my dough, some stew blew the foam from a short beer between some plastic -- and that was that. Aside from their lack of comfort, they are cut so that with a well-planned wheel spin you could toss Gramp right over a vegetable cart, and into a saloon on one bounce." On the 1960 Dodge Dart Phoenix: "When equipped with the optional D-500 engine, displacing 383 cubic inches with 2 four barrel carburetors, it should be able to chew around a race course with enough stuff to turn the humidity into steam.......... (and) make a helluva ridge-runner for the moonshine boys." On the 1959 Dodge: "The front end is as new as next February's cold." On the 1959 Plymouth: "Plymouth for 1959 is the best car of the low priced three in our bald-headed opinion, and we've tested all of them." On the 1959 Imperial: "This doll was as loaded as an opium peddler during a tong war. Swivel seats make it as easy to get into as a floating crap game with fresh money. On the 31 degree banked turns the big Imp hung in there like oil going through a hose." On the 1966 Dodge Coronet Hemi: "WThis family sized rig has all the belt of a 2 mile swim in a whiskey vat. When you put your foot through the firewall make sure your teeth are well anchored. It is as furry as a mink farm and as snarly as a bengal tiger in a butcher shop." On the 1965 Aston Martin DB5: "Built to do 150 mph, (the DB5's) are real beasts and about as gentle around town as galloping hiccups at a prayer meeting. This Aston is as docile as a puppy with a full tummy in traffic but a snarler when you give it a whip." On the 1957 Imperial: "It will get down the pike like a vaselined arrow, and with no more effort than skipping off a cliff." On a 1963 Mercury 427: "It has more hair on its chest than a middle-aged yak" On the 1962 Chrysler 300: "I had the car for over a month, and had as many adventures with it as a Siberian trapper would have in Miami Beach. The new 300 is the old Windsor, sexed up and poured into a sport suit. When you slide behind the wheel you get the feeling that this is a big compact, and not an oversized barge as awkward to handle as wearing moose antlers in a telephone booth. A functional car that gives top performance with lots of room for beaucoup stuff, which might include wine, weazels or women." On the 1959 Chevy Impala: "The rear deck treatment is pure Louis Armstrong: gone, man, gone!"

When I was a kid in the 50's I used to love to get a haircut. Once a month I would walk to a certain barbershop in my neighborhood on a Saturday that had a huge stack of old Mechanix Illustrated magazines, where I would sit for hours reading Tom McCahill road tests of cars. I think that in a large way he sparked both my interest in cars and in language. He was, without a doubt, the master of the simile and one of the most colorfull writers of his day. It seems to me that someone, somewhere, must have re-published a collection of McCahill articles. Has anyone ever seen such a collection? I would love to get my hands on a copy.

I've had the same experience driving with gawkers wandering all over the road, particularly on the freeway. I'm usually careful to leave a lot of room in front since I know I can't stop as quick as any modern car, and keep a lookout on the sides. The only thing that really scared me is to look in the rear view mirror and see the middle of someone's grill, ten feet behind me through my tiny rear window.. half the time there's a cell phone in the driver's ear. Since I'm always in the slow lane on freeways and not usually going over 55, idiots getting on from a short onramp on the right and trying to beat me to the end of the merge lane also scares the hell out of me. But I guess I never thought to be cautious when stopped at the gas pump. If I had heard Mark tell that story about the Graham before, maybe I would not be so quick to pull into a busy station. In fact, I was filling the car at the local Costco when it happened and they are always busy nowadays... saving ten cents a gallon looks pretty stupid in retrospect. I was lucky to have such a cheap lesson. Places I will be more careful: gas stations and parking lots... and I will never parallel park my classic on the street again if I can help it.

Try telling cars from the twenties and thirties apart from the back. Virtually all cars had small round tail lights on pedestals and nearly all followed then-current trends in trunks, bustle trunks, rumble seats, fender flares or whatever ruled the day. Maybe a few had distinctive bumpers. Styling of that erea was dictated by assembly and metal stamping technology. The exception that I can think of is the Cord 810 which was truly trend-setting but of course couldn't make money because the roof on the sedan was assembled from something like 7 welded panels. Modern cars are also dictated by today's constraints-- many regulatory in nature-- squeezing the most interior space, side airbags and progressively chrushable chassis into the most slippery exterior shell to get the highest fuel ecomomy. As a result, most manufacturers come up with simlar solutions to the same constraints. The only really new designs that I see today are the retro cars and the (to me) hideous box-on-wheels cars exemplified by the Honda Element... and if that is trend-setting in the same way as the Cord 810, I'll be driving my current cars for quite a while. The 50's and 60's were the anomaly, where designers ruled over engineers and the "longer, lower, wider" philosophy brought forth a lot of strange examples where form had nothing at all to do with function. The worst looking car? Any GM make from 1958, except the Chevy which took another year to get truly ugly.

Good grief. I just had some idiot back into my '34 Auburn at a gas pump while I was filling the tank. He was in a big pickup and was trying to squeeze into the front pump while I was filling the car at the rear one. While talking to the guy at the next isle over (have you ever NOT gotten into a conversation at the gas pump in your classic car?), we both heard a sickening crunch and I felt this terrible pucker when I saw that it was my car. I dropped the gas pump handle (probably not such a good idea) and headed for the front of the Auburn, expecting the worst, as about twenty onlookers suddenly appeared out of nowhere to see a classic car in distress. To my amazement, there was no discernable damage. The plastic bumper of the pickup just kind of rode over the sprung bumper on the Auburn and other than a tiny curl of black plastic hanging on the top edge of one side of my bumper, there was nothing to see. no scrapes, nothing out of kilter... nothing. I told the character in the pickup we both were pretty lucky. It got me to thinking. Has anyone ever seen any test data on whether 30's vintage sprung bumpers can withstand a 5 mph hit? Maybe they flex enough that they are actually tougher than modern bumpers even though they look fragile.

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