franklinman

I'm sure this topic has been covered here on the forum at some time in the past, but my searches didn't bring it up. The literature I have also doesn't cover it, nor can I come up with anything on the 'net. I'm trying to document what spark plug(s) were supplied by the factory as original equipment in the early 4 cylinder 12 Volt cars, most specifically 1925 models. I've found mention of the C-4 plugs being suggested in various manuals/parts lists, but nothing factory specific. I've also seen the c-18 being suggested as the best currently available replacements, which seem to run pretty darn good in my '25 roadster. Can anyone cite any factory documentation on plugs?

Hi Matt, All national HCCA tours are limited to pre-1916 vehicles. HCCA Regional Groups can set their own limits for regional group sponsored events.

I would have much rather had the original '33 Pontiac! I've owned a few and was the '33-'34 T/A for POCI in the early years. They were really nice cars, both from the standpoint of looks as well as driving. The Woodlites, real or repro, are all wrong in scale for the car. The chopped top doesn't do anything for it's appearance, at least for me, and the oversized wheels/tires just look wrong for the car's overall size. Oh, and the outside exhaust pipes just look pimp on this car. And I do agree with Matt on the upholstery too. I wouldn't have that stuff on my pontoon boat, let alone one of my cars. I guess it's each to his/her own, but then don't be disappointed when you try to get 30K for such an abomination!

OK, I'm curious about the new cylinder heads that are available too. I've done a search on the fellow's name, austrailia, DB high compression heads, etc. including numerous combinations of the words/terms. Can anyone supply website, address, etc. regarding these?

Here at my shop we call that a bad case of the "while we're at its"! The worst one was a 1909 Cadillac Touring that came in for some mechanical service and to have the gas tank cleaned and repaired. Since there is no way to remove the tank without lifting the body off you can guess where that one led to.

Hi Ron, Yes, we're from the good ol' USA. The logistics for participating in the London to Brighton are a bit more involved than a simple tour here at home, but altogether not that terrible. The expense is certainly greater. We shipped our car in a container to a friend in Scotland and flew over a week ahead to allow us time to give it a final go over and do some test driving (after doing extensive mechanical maintenance here before we shipped it). We then trailered the car down to London. There's a good bit to arrange but again it's not all that bad. If you'd like to discuss the process in greater detail, shoot me a PM with a phone number and I'd be glad to talk to you about it. Good luck, Bob

Hi Ron, Yes, we're from the good ol' USA. The logistics for participating in the London to Brighton are a bit more involved than a simple tour here at home, but altogether not that terrible. The expense is certainly greater. We shipped our car in a container to a friend in Scotland and flew over a week ahead to allow us time to give it a final go over and do some test driving (after doing extensive mechanical maintenance here before we shipped it). We then trailered the car down to London. There's a good bit to arrange but again it's not all that bad. If you'd like to discuss the process in greater detail, shoot me a PM with a phone number and I'd be glad to talk to you about it. Good luck, Bob

Hi Ron, Yes, we're from the good ol' USA. The logistics for participating in the London to Brighton are a bit more involved than a simple tour here at home, but altogether not that terrible. The expense is certainly greater. We shipped our car in a container to a friend in Scotland and flew over a week ahead to allow us time to give it a final go over and do some test driving (after doing extensive mechanical maintenance here before we shipped it). We then trailered the car down to London. There's a good bit to arrange but again it's not all that bad. If you'd like to discuss the process in greater detail, shoot me a PM with a phone number and I'd be glad to talk to you about it. Good luck, Bob

If you really want a traffic challenge try doing the London to Brighton run. It's only a little over 60 miles from London down to Brighton, but it goes right through all of London traffic for almost the first half, and don't forget there's another 4-500 pre-1904 cars along for the ride too! I have to say though that it was possibly the most fun I've had with my clothes on! Great people, great scenery, unforgettable memories (I still can't forget being handed a glass of wine by a bystander, while driving our 1904 Cadillac through a roundabout, and right in front of a police officer at that!). We've never been treated better at any old car event. It's not a cheap proposition, the exchange rate was $2.06 to the pound the year we went, but it's worth every penny if you ever get the chance to go.

Mattml430 is basically correct in his response. Unless you have some of the actual paint used on your car leftover, the odds of a good match from someone elses formula are basically nil. Add to that any fading due to age and you're pretty much out of luck. If you have a real good auto paint supplier they should be able to do a custom match from a part of your car. We use almost exclusively PPG paint in our shop and our dealer has been very successful with custom matches over the years for us. The old formulas are no longer much good as the newer paints use different tinting components as well as simply being different paint materials. The generally accepted "modern" replacement for what was known as "dodge brothers blue" was 1957 Studebaker "Admiral Blue". It was one of their "Spring Colors" and doesn't appear in all color chip books that I've seen, but is out there. Good Luck.

Actually Greg sold the car to Jerry Greenfield (sp?) who then later sold it to the Indy Museum. We did the car back in '84-'85 and it looks like it's held up pretty well. I had stopped by the museum shortly after they acquired the car but it wasn't on display at the time. I inquired about it and a guy told me that they were having problems getting it running. I offered to send them copies of the information we had on the car (manuals, etc.) which I did, but I never heard anything further from them. Everyone else that had a hand in bringing the car back has passed away, including Greg, so I guess that I'm the last one living that had any hands-on experience with it. I was a good runner/driver when it was here, and I always thought it was a very handsome car. Glad to see it back on display.

That is the first time I've seen this car since I painted it for it's then owner Greg Tocket. He later sold the car and it ended up in the Indianapolis Speedway Museum. I wondered where it ended up. I was a great car.

I was pretty certain that the 1923 was different. So it looks like the 1924-25 and possibly early 1926 cars used the same shell. I was surprised to see the mention of the special cars having blue leather upholstery in the open cars. I've never seen anything but black in any original cars that I've looked at.

What is the "automatic" windshield wiper and the motometer "with lock"?

I also thought that the cowl lights indicated a "Special" series car, but I have seen a number of cars with them that did have painted shells. I also thought that plated bumpers were only on the Special series cars. I've owned a number of DB's over the years but all were the earlier "Low Radiator" cars, so this is the first time I've owned a later "High Radiator" car and I'm a little weaker in my knowledge of these. My car is pretty much all original, but has been painted, only once from what I have been able to determine. I can't find any evidence of plating on the shell. I know what you mean by the space behind the steering wheel! I get in and out through the passenger side door most of the time and fit OK that way. I do have the crank hole cover, it just happened to be out when the pic was taken. Definitely don't want to be sucking in the road dirt going down the road. Sounds like we're not too far from each other. I assume from your handle that you live near Hershey. I'm just outside of Dillsburg. Hope we'll run into each other somewhere this summer. Thanks for your input.

I recently acquired a 1925 DB Roadster, my first of the high radiator, final series "slow-four" models. The radiator shell on my car, which I strongly feel is the original to the car, has the license plate bracket riveted on the bottom, just above the crank hole (see attached photo). My shell is painted, and in excellent condition. I would like to have a nickel plated shell for the car, to go along with the nickel bumpers, cowl & headlamp lamp rims, etc., but I would prefer to acquire another shell to plate and not have the car off the road while I wait the 2-3 months to have it done; and also retain the original shell too. I've been seeing different shells, some with and some without the license bracket. I've always assumed that the 1924-early 1926 shells were the same, but obviously that is not the case. Can anyone tell me when the license bracket was added, along with any other differences I should be aware of? Thanks, Bob

Thanks for posting this information. I was able to contact the seller and make a deal for the whole lot. I just brought everything home today. He was great to deal with and everything went very smooth... well except for the rain all day.

I'm sorry to have learned that John apparently passed away some time back. I spoke with him often years ago when I was active in the DB community, and sold him all of my left over parts once I'd sold my last DB car. I still ran into him at Hershey most years and always enjoyed talking with him. He was always very friendly and helpful to me. Since I've now gotten another DB I had thought about trying to contact him but just hadn't gotten to it yet. Does anyone know what happened to all of his DB cars, parts and literature. He had a lot of very interesting stuff I know.

I don't believe the '21 steering wheel has an aluminum spider (mine was cast and painted black) and the wood rim was round and held to the spider with a large oval head wood screw at each spoke end. The later cars, I believe beginning with the 1924 cars, did have the aluminum spider with the ends of the spokes inletted into the rim, and the rim was more squared off, in profile.

Not for the '66 Broncos, but was used on the later 1st series Broncos

I've only been to the facility once, to check out a car for a client. I called beforehand to discuss the car with one of their representatives, just to get a basic feel for the car, and then set up an appointment to go down. Thank goodness it was only a little over an hour drive, because it was a complete waste of my time. The car was no where near the condition that it was represented to be in my phone conversation. I knew from a couple of photos they had posted that there were a few issues (what car doesn't have some?), but seeing it in person was a total disappointment! On well, it's not the first time I've experienced that, and it probably won't be the last either. They did have a lot of different vehicles on display and I probably should have take the time to look around, but I just wanted to get out of there at the time.

Ford wasn't alone in this. Several examples come to mind, my 1907 Franklin and the T-Head Mercer among others.

Locomobile, regarding your comment that "everything they sit on the counter is $100"`, let me tell you that very little that we buy only costs $100. In the 40+ years that we've been doing automotive restoration I have seen the prices for paint, and all related materials go through the roof. The last gallon of paint, a single-stage red, that I bought was almost $900, and that did not include the reducer and/or the activator/hardener! Yes, you can buy "cheaper" paint, and that is just what you're going to get too. I've had this discussion so many times that I've actually thought about printing up a schedule of cost(s) for all the various materials that are involved in doing a first class paint job. Most people just refuse to believe it though. I have actually given a customer a list of materials and told them to go to the distributor and order it themselves. When they get the prices, which are higher in most cases than what I quoted them due to the fact that we do receive a discount due to being a shop, and after they pick themselves back up off the floor, the general comments I get are either that it's a ripoff, or that they (the customer) can get the same thing cheaper elsewhere. I just tell them "that's fine, but you'll have to find someone else to use the stuff". Yes, today's modern paint materials are indeed expensive, much more than in years past. I can remember when a gallon of Sherwin Williams' best quality "Coach Black" enamel cost less than $30, and in my opinion it was better than much of what we can get today. Unfortunately, for any number of reason(s), those paints are no longer made, and in may cases are now illegal to produce/use in most places. But the fact is that if you want a job that looks right, and will hold up (with the right care) it takes time and materials, neither of which is cheap. Yes, some folks can do the work themselves, and save a lot of money doing so. But let me tell you that modern paint materials are different and you'd better have the knowledge of how they work, the right equipment and facilities, and most importantly the proper safety proceedures to follow when using them! This stuff can be very hazardous to your health if not properly handled! And no amount of money saved on a paint job is worth dying for! There are several threads going on currently here in the AACA forums that have touched on the current cost(s) of the various aspects of restoration work. Unfortunately, very little in our hobby is cheap anymore and I don't see it getting better.

I personally love that word "recommissioning". Exactly WTH does that tell anyone? It has become an all too commonly used term with the auction crowd. To me it says that no one has any idea (or refuses to admit) what condition the car's mechanicals are in, and that it could require anything from an oil change, gas and a new battery all the way up to a full mechanical restoration. When you're dealing with a car of this type, those costs can, and often do, go through the roof! For my two cents worth, I would be very suspicious and fully expect the worst. YMMV.

according to the Dodge Brothers production record, your car with a number of A651509 would have been built between May 20-27, 1926, which would be a 4-cyl. model.