franklinman

Hi Ed, I fully understand where you're coming from. With over 40 years of playing this game behind me, I pretty much agree with you. Trailers are mostly a PIA, but a necessary one in our hobby. I must say that the last Pace we had was probably the best of the lot. I put well over 150K miles on that rig and except for normal maintenance it never gave any real problems. Unfortunately our local Pace dealer closed and there isn't another that close by, although I still haven't ruled out buying another Pace product. I have heard that their overall build quality has gone down over the last 5-10 years so I'd definitely go have a look in person before buying. The Spartan thing came up when a local trailer dealer advertised one. Never heard of them before but it's not a bad looking rig, not bottom priced but not what a Pace would cost either. This trailer will not see near the use that our past trailer's have experienced and will be stored inside so I don't necessarily need the toughest thing out there. I'm no longer hauling commercially or transporting customer's cars. So I just was wondering if anyone had any experiences/opinions on the brand. Thanks again,, Bob

Been doing some shopping around for a new enclosed car trailer. As most of you know the prices and options, build specs, quality, etc. are all over the place. In the past we've owned Wells Cargo, Pace, etc. This trailer will be for personal use only, no hauling of customer cars, lots of long trips, etc. I'm not concerned with the name, and I'm not looking to spend a fortune on fancy paint jobs and doo dads. What I am looking for is a strong, well constructed trailer, with a reasonable warrantee and good dealer/manufacturer support. Thus far for quality and pricing I've been somewhat impressed with the Spartan line, but haven't had any experience with them and don't know of anyone else that has had one either. Looking to hear from anyone that may have. Thanks

Hey West, just noticed your post. I owned and toured a 1911, Mod. 33 Hudson Touring for several years back in the early 80's. I don't recall any "clips" like those shown in your photo on my car. To put the top down you first disconnected the front straps, pulled the cotter pins from the forward socket pivot pins and lowered them down to the bottom of the second socket base. Then moved the front sockets from the front props to the rear and lowered the top assembly to the rear top rests, and strapped it down, Pretty much the same as any other basic 2-man style top. Maybe someone did a little bit of redesign work on your friend's car. My car was sold to Lou and A. Mary Abrams and then onto somewhere in Alabama I think. It was a really nice driving car with one of the nicest clutches I've driven in a brass era car too.

I'm not particularly sure that it's optimism at work in these situations. More I think it's most often the uninformed seller believing that the item is really worth their asking price and stubbornly thinking that everyone is trying to steal it for a lower price. I can't tell you how many cars that I've looked at, most often being sold by the owner's kids or executors, in which the asking price is completely out of reason, yet no amount of proof in the form of recent auction results, other similar cars being advertised, etc. can convince them that their car isn't worth the higher price. I once watched a very decent original Packard Caribbean literally sink into the ground over a period of 10+ years (before a storm finally collapsed the shed roof on top of it) because the owner firmly believed that the car was worth $50K (back in those days a realistic value would have been maybe $5K)! I drove by one day and seeing both car and the shed it was in gone inquired what happened to it. A neighbor told me what had happened and what scrap yard had hauled the car away. A quick call verified the car had been scrapped. So sad but true.

Hi Jay, Have seen you posting for a bit now and just wanted to offer a suggestion. Those braces aren't that complicated to fabricate if you wanted. You just need access to a car with the parts on it to inspect for dimensions. I don't know where you are located but I'd be glad to let you take a look at my car if that would help. I'm sort of surprised that someone hasn't come up with a pair, or at least one side's worth, for you, but you just never know. I have found the roadster specific items are sometimes much more difficult to come by since getting my '25 Roadster, my first non-touring car DB, so that may be your problem here. PM me if I can help you and good luck with your Roadster too.

I think quite often that it's either a matter that the seller actually knows nothing, or very little, about the item(s) that they are selling, or doesn't wish to make any concrete statement regarding the item that they could be held responsible for. I've run into this many times over the years, especially on ebay and when dealing with early/brass-era items. The other issue I run into is seeing some item that I would seriously be interested in, but the seller has a really unrealistic price on it, say 5-10 times it's real value. I know, I know... everyone has the right to value their stuff as they see fit, and I really do support that, but I also have the right to move on too, which I regularly do. But when you see the same item being re-listed for months ( or even a year) with the same outrageous price, you'd really like to say to them "You know, if you really want to sell this ???? maybe you'd find success if you did some research and found what similar parts are actually selling for." I actually did that once (politely and ONLY one time, and gave the seller some leads to where he/she could see the same things being sold for significantly less.). The response I received was filled with obscene profane and actually hostile statements so that was the last time I ever made any suggestions to a seller. Just a bit frustrating seeing a part/item that you or a friend could actually use just sitting. YMMV

it's the same as the one on my '25 DB Roadster.

Reminds me a bit of the "Compression Ball" tutorial that was going around back in the '70's and '80's!

We've been using the Red-Kote for many years in every car we restore/service with absolutely no problems. It's the only gas tank sealer/liner I will use.

Price?

Some years back there was one in the Carlisle, PA area and I believe the owner's name was also Gardner.

I've been playing with the early 4-cyl Dodge Brothers cars, on and off, for over 40 years. They are great cars and, for their age, still enjoy a reasonably good availability for parts, which makes them a fairly attractive earlier car to keep on the road as well. With that said, they are not high value cars. It sounds like your decision on which car to choose, is going to be determined by which one will be the most valuable and/or easier to sell. A running drivable car is ALWAYS easier to sell. Since you state that you and your husband have little knowledge or experience with these cars, I would definitely suggest that you choose the 1917, if it is in running condition. To some DB enthusiasts the '25 may be more attractive than the earlier model, but unless that car is very close to being completed and would require very little investment of time and/or funds, it does not seem to be the way for you to go. Costs of restoration being what they are today, and going up all the time, restoration of relatively low valued cars like the DB's are not an economic winner. Those of us that do them do it because we love the cars. In your case, it just wouldn't make sense. Another suggestion, depending on your relationship with your father, and whether you want him to know what your intentions for the car are, would be to go ahead and market the car while he is available to assist you. His knowledge and experience would be helpful in dealing with any potential buyers. Good luck.

Wow, that's really nice. Good job!

$15,000 would barely be a start towards restoring that car. Unless it has a much higher value than I believe it does, I wouldn't even start on it.

saw this Jewett that's been kicking around on eBay for a bit: https://www.ebay.com/itm/1921-Jewett/254112283321?hash=item3b2a45bab9:g:RDcAAOSw6S9cM7Jv:rk:19:pf:0&vxp=mtr Don't know what they are thinking with that price though!

Dang Terry, I thought I was the only one that used that line. Great minds do think alike.

We use LiBrandi's for virtually all of our plating work. Never been disappointed!

More like Peerless, I would say about 1912-13.

First two appear to be early 20's Cadillac.

This! Vacume tanks are quite simple to repair/restore, and once done properly they are practically bullet proof. I have run 10's of thousands of miles on vacume tanks with no issues. The biggest problems are dirty fuel tanks/lines and/or leaks in lines or gasketing... either are simple to diagnose and fix.

Just a bit of information for what it may be worth. This may not be applicable for all insurance carriers BUT (and it's a big BUT) some policies forbid the use of antique cars involving any type of compensation. That could extend to any type of "gifts" as well as money. I was involved in the repair of a car that was damaged while participating in a wedding and the insurance company tried to contend that the fact that the owner of the car received a meal (at the wedding reception) met their definition of "compensation", therefore absolving them of any responsibility to pay for the repairs. I don't know what the eventual outcome was with regards to the insurance payout may have been. We were paid directly by the owner of the car. The point I am making is that in today's litigious society, the risks inherent in participating in such events are significantly higher than they used to be. Years back I participated in many weddings, parades, and other events with our antique cars. The liability today simply far outweighs the benefits. It's sad but true.

You could always buy a new piece and patina it. It's not that hard to do. Also consider that you will very likely destroy the original patina when you have to heat it to bend the corners anyway.

Up until a few years back our local NAPA stores were all owned by a local family business. They had experienced counter people (yes, some were female!) and store managers and very little turnover in their staff. We did a lot of business with them. Then the stores were sold to a large company that owns, I've heard, several hundred NAPA stores based somewhere out of Georgia. Since then most of the old staff has left and their replacements are worthless and totally non-professional. Recent example; normally I get our masking tape from our auto body supplier, but I was too late to catch their afternoon delivery truck so I ran down the 4 miles to NAPA and went in and asked for a couple of rolls of 3/4" masking tape, preferably the green 3M, which I had bought there in the past. The new "kid" behind the counter went back and came out with a roll of duct tape! I explained that I wanted masking tape not duct tape and in the 3/4" wide size. He said that that's the only kind of tape they sell. I knew better and also knew where the masking tape was stored in the back room. I told him this and asked him to go back and get me a couple of rolls. He refused to even go look. I just shook my head and left, and drove the 15 miles down to our PPG auto body supplier and got what I needed. A week or so later I stopped in and told the new manager that he really needed to train his counter guys a bit better and told him of my experience. His response was while he was sorry, I shouldn't expect the counter guys to know everything they sell??? Needless to say, I rarely do much business with those folks anymore.

We've been using Tom Sunday for many years with never a problem. Very professional and reliable.

What ;you have is a short bed version of the classic South Bend '9' lathe. These lathes remain quite popular today due to the fact that many, like myself, first learned to use a lathe in high school machine shot on a South Bend 9. Yours is a fairly early pre-war model but would still be a very useable unit once rebuilt. I have a WWII era 9, with the Navy department anchor stamped in the right hand end of the front way that still works very well. The nice thing about these things is that there is a large following for them, even a club exists, and a good supply of new, used and replacement parts available. The 9 is a perfect machine for the home hobbyist and many attachments are available to extend it's capabilities. With all of that said, a machine like yours isn't an expensive piece so I'd check around for pricing before I put a large amount of money into it. You may find a machine in good working order for less than what you would spend on fixing yours up. The other part of all of this is coming up with the necessary tooling, which I don't see in you photos and am assuming you don't have. You can invest some serious bucks in acquiring a good assortment of things like a complete set of collets, centers, taper attachment, center rest, etc. Then there are the more esoteric items, like a milling head, if you really want to get deeper involved. Good luck with you find, have fun.