Aanderson44

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">My brother is restoring a 1941 Ford Coupe Super Deluxe and is in need of a front seat. Can anyone direct me to where I can start to find one. Perhaps a website or other places I can check for him. Thanks </div></div> Have you tried scoping out Hemmings Motor News (the printed version at the newsstand)? Regardless of the web, sometimes broadening the search for parts and components back into old-school stuff turns up things you'd never find online (not saying that car seats aren't up online). Also, bear in mind that Ford Motor Company was little different than any of the other automakers in the 1940's, in that their cars remained basically the same from 1941-48, due to the 3 1/2 year interruption of WW-II. Such things as seats would be pretty much the same, with changes in upholstery cloth, perhaps a stitching pattern, but that mostlikely would be it--so broaden your search to include 1942-48, and then, do some study: Is the seat for the coupe (either club coupe or the 2-place Business Coupe) is the same as the front seat for the 2dr sedan (and I bet it is!!), then the supply just got bigger. Another thing to try is some good, old-fashioned legwork: Even though many of them have been cleared out, cleaned up (all in the name of beautification and progress ????) there still numerous old wrecking and salvage yards dotting this country--out in rural areas mostly, but they are still there. They can be an "adventure", but the last coupe of 2dr sedan with the seat you want hasn't been looked at yet, certainly not crushed and sent off to the smelter. Good hunting! Art

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Can someone tell me the overall length and width in inches of a '56 Ford shortbed pickup? Either bumper to bumper or bumper to tailgate (I've been told not all pickups came with a rear bumper). I'm trying to figure the accuracy of a model and can't find any info other than wheelbase and don't have a real one I can go out and measure. Thanks for the help! Fred </div></div> Fred, If you are trying to verify the scale accuracy of the Revell '56 Ford pickup, it's pretty close to correct. Art

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Actually, my information about paint pigments is a bit different. Pure, bright color pigments were certainly available then--I've seen far too many examples of paintwork on things other than cars from the era and earlier to think otherwise. However, automotive colors were almost always muted, often severely, to help forestall UV fading, which occurred anyway. A perusal of a paint chip book for cars from the 30's, 40's, 50's and even the 60's shows this muting of colors--most of the chips are just plain awful colors on a page, but take on a completely different character when applied to a car, or just by taking the chip outdoors into natural light. </div></div> That makes a lot of sense, and might explain why some of those brightly colored show cars were repainted after the show. </div></div> Cars shown at the various "Salons" (Packard was an invited exhibitor to many of these, where new cars were shown to the wealthy elite of the 1920's) seem to have been painted, even body styles created for particular salons--for example, far more conservative cars and colors for the New York and Philadelphia Salons, much brighter colors and sportier bodies as one went west--even the Chicago Salon was known for some pretty radical looking cars), with the Los Angeles Salon being a virtual showroom for the likes of Walter Murphy and Don Lee coachworks. "Show Cars" displayed at the salons were available for immediate sale, as they stood, and many were. However, if the car didn't sell here, it might get repainted, perhaps retrimmed, even a touch of restyling by the coachbuilder, then shipped to the next one, and if necessary, the next one, and so on until sold. I think that the key here is to bear in mind that serious conservatism in car colors didn't really take hold until the start of the Depression, due to the sudden incorrectness of flaunting one's personal affluence in the face of neighbors who were struggling just to survive, with the exception of Hollywood, where flashy cars of all makes and price levels were expected, in order to convey the glamor image (Joan Crawford probably enjoyed being chauffeured to work daily at MGM Studios in her all-white '33 Cadillac V16 Fleetwood Town Car). It just depended on the whims of the buyer, and those whims were often governed by their particular social status, and the neighborhood/city/region in which they lived. Art

More faded terms! Sanforized (meaning pre-shrunk, as in clothing) Drip-dry (didn't we kids do that an awful lot back in the day?) Seersucker (remember that fabric in shirts,kids' playclothes, Dad's summer suits?) Hat Blocking Gum-dipped cord in Firestone tires? Inner tubes Bumper Jacks D-A haircuts Flattops "Pegged" pants White Bucks Going to the hardware store for "stove bolts" (1/4-28 bolts with slotted heads) Ten-penny nails Whitewash (lime-based white paint) Cadillac Blue Coral Wax Butchwax (how do you think we youngsters made our flattops stand up straight?) Brylcreem Wildroot Kreme-Oil Tooth Powder Shaving Brush Razor Strop Straight Razor Weekly trip to the barber shop? Wallpaper cleaner (you know, that modeling clay-like stuff you rubbed over the wallpaper to get the grunge from the furnace off of it?) Furnace stoker Ash pit Jerkwater town (where steam locomotives stopped to fill up the tender with water) Coal chute Coal bin Wash tub Wash boiler Sad iron Cooking with gas Coal Oil Back porch Skate key "Church key" Bottle opener Interurban Flare pots Cream separator Milk cans Butter Molds Console radios Darning eggs and needles Laundry starch Fording a creek (or stream or river) Shucking pegs (for hand-shucking corn) Binder twine Lotta things have gone by the wayside over the years, huh? Art

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">i think along with the words and phrases we are losing the stories that went along with the old cars.my Dad told me about a open touring maxwell his family had when he was a kid.he told me about a trip to the Chicago worlds Fair in a 29 ford sedan.i miss the stories.my Mom learned to drive in a model a with my uncle running along side telling her what to do.the cars today have no soul.they are just machines.they like toasters will not have stories. </div></div> On a CD (transferred from a magnetic tape) I have Dad's recounting of a trip from Chase, IN to Rantoul IL (Chanute Field) in 1918 for an airshow--the first time any of them had ever seen an airplane, BTW. The trip home was in torrential rains, Grandpa blowing out the headlights on the Model T by overreving the engine, continuing on in pitch black darkness on muddy dirt roads, all the while with 6 kids and 4 adults huddled in the car, top up, side curtains up--Grandpa cussing in Swedish under his breath. Funny, funny story! Art

Peter, Don't laugh! Rear wheel drive is alive and well! Ford Crown Victoria, Mercury Grand Marquis, Lincoln Town Car, EVERY Mustang ever built, Dodge Magnum & Charger, Chrysler 300C are all rear wheel drive. Also, along the northern tier of counties in IN, from Elkhart east almost to the Ohio line, even McDonald's have hitching racks, for Amish buggies (also in a couple of counties in Southern IN. For the uninitiated visitor/tourist, there are even nice yellow "diamond" signs with a black silhouette of a horse & buggy. Art

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I only mentioned "especially during the Depression" because Dave Mitchell brought up the 1933 Packard stuff, which was the deepest part of the Depression. Still, the printer's ink pallet was wider than the painter's. I was told by an "expert" that because of contaminants in pigments, it was very hard to bring out extremely bright colors, such as yellows, greens and reds, which were almost "dirty" looking in comparison to what it looked like in the print ad. </div></div> Actually, my information about paint pigments is a bit different. Pure, bright color pigments were certainly available then--I've seen far too many examples of paintwork on things other than cars from the era and earlier to think otherwise. However, automotive colors were almost always muted, often severely, to help forestall UV fading, which occurred anyway. A perusal of a paint chip book for cars from the 30's, 40's, 50's and even the 60's shows this muting of colors--most of the chips are just plain awful colors on a page, but take on a completely different character when applied to a car, or just by taking the chip outdoors into natural light. Art

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Peter, Funny you should mention "percolater". I just bought a 50's era GE percolater coffee pot at a yard sale for $2. It was love at first sight. Beautiful round curves, bakelite handle and base, and chrome so deep it looks like you could reach your arm into it. It reminded me of my 55 Buick. It works perfectly.......Bob </div></div> Well, what about the vacuum coffee-makers? Looked kinda like a space-aged double boiler (oh, there's another bygone item, huh?) with a glass rod down the denter to allow the coffee to be drawn back into the lower part, while holding back (supposed to, anyway) the coffee grounds in the upper part. Remember when everyone, everywhere, seemed to keep stuff cold in the Fridgidaire (no matter that it might be some other brand!)/ Oxymoronic brand name appliances like Hotpoint refrigerators,and Coldspot stoves? A wife of a loyal Farmall or McCormick tractor farmer wouldn't dare have a refrigerator, freezer, airconditioner or even a TV that didn't bear the IH logo. Oh, and such marvelous inventions as the Bendix Rubber-Tub automatic washer (it had a rubber washing tub, and a rubber seal around the lid, so that when the pump started, sucking out the water, the sides of the rubber tub were supposed to collapse inward, squeezing all the water out of the laundry--but never did work quite that way! Electric ironers--now those were great! Just sit down, use your knee to actuate the on-off switch, which make the padded, covered roller propel your sheets, even the collars of dress shirts, through the thing, against a curved heated iron? Csr-wise, what about those aftermarket windshield visors, ugly as sin, to keep the sun out? Oh, and then the little periscope units you had to have with them, so you could see an overhead stoplight? What about the little rubber-bladed fans some people screwed onto dashboards, one at each end, to defrost the windshield? Of course, Moo-horns, and Wolf-whistles! (the latter would probably land you in court to answer to a sex-harassment suit today) And, Chrysler Corporation's curious, large center mounted brake lights, the original HMSL's? And, before Port-a-Walls, how about the metal (and plastic!) white beauty rings, so popular on Chrysler Corporation cars in 46-47, as a way of getting around the next-to-unobtainium white sidewall tires. Anyone remember the silly litte cargo trailers that Sears, Wards, and JC Whitney sold, that clamped on to your rear bumper, hinged up and down, with a single, castering rear tire? Plaid woven vinyl seat covers, in absolutely hideous colors, or those hot, sticky (but colder than a welldiggers belt buckle in winter) clear vinyl seat covers??? Oh, and the one present that every boy's dad got, somewhere along the way of his kid's growing up? The dashboard compass! Out front, what about chrome headlight visors, or even those very questionable half-headlight covers, chrome of course! Mudflaps (or Kentucky Go-Fasters) in white, with big red glass jewel reflectors in the middle of them. Venetian blinds for the back window of your car usually denoted some elderly driver, as did stainless steel window shades on the side windows. And for the absolutely fastidious, GM's vacuum ashtray! Free maps, and free air at every gas station--and gas stations seemingly at every street corner, often one on each corner of an intersection. Coming home from a vacation trip with a dozen or more garish bumper stickers on your car, from such scenic places as Rock City. Car games played on long trips, to keep the kids busy: Alphabet games, find all letters of the alphabet from billboards and road signs--of course, the verified sighting of a cat in a window, or a cemetary directly across the road from a junkyard were absolutely trump--guarranteed that the kid who first spotted them (verified by Mom, of course) won the game. On a long trip, when you spotted another car bearing a license plate from your hometown, you honked your horn and waved, particularly if you were several states away from home. Vacuum cleaners? Hoover, if your folks were practical, Electrolux or Filter Queen if you could convince them that Buck Rogers really was real, and the ultimate, the absolute armored car of all of them, the classic Kirby--which guarranteed aerobic exercise with every housecleaning. The ultimate torture for any kid unfortunate enough to get roped into spring cleaning--the curtain stretcher--you know, that rickety collapsible wooden frame, studded liberally with sharp pointed nails, over which you helped your mother stretch and impale the fine curtains from the living room after they'd been washed, so they'd dry wrinkle free (hopefully with no blood spots from young fingers impaled on all those little nails!) How about the pleasure of Mom daubing, liberally, your skinned knee with dayglo red Tincture of Merthyolate--as you tried manfully not to scream your head off (damn! That stuff, and Iodine, stung like blazes!) Brands? Philco, Admiral, Ipana, Maltomeal, Milnot, Lifebuoy, Kix, Kellogg's Pep, Kodak Brownie, Smith Corona, Underwood, US Royal, New Departure bicycle brakes, Armstrong Tires that Gripped the Road, with an ounce of prevention every inch of the tread, Standard Red Crown, Gold Crown and White Crown gasoline, Texaco Fire Chief gasoline, Marfak Lubrication, Good Gulf gasoline, D-X Gasoline, and Clark Super 100 Gasoline served up by Fisbee and the Chief in TV commercials. One game we kids all played back in the 50's, with our bikes: Stealing Mom's best spring closepins, and her best Canasta deck, then clipping the playing cards to the fender brackets of our Schwinns, to make that cool motor sound when we rode. Ahh, those were the days, huh? Art

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">If you can find a library with them in bound volumes, might I suggest scoping out National Geographic Magazine from this era? While of course, color photography really didn't exist quite yet, colorized artist renderings sure did--in car advertisements too. Note that many car ads did show fairly bright colors. </div></div> Keep in mind that those magazine ads are renderings, and many colors that artists used were not available for painting. That is a big mistake that many people make when picking colors. Just because an ad had the color, doesn't make it correct. In addition, many cars that were painted "brightly" for auto show were repainted a more subtle shade after the show. They were eye-catchers at the show, but they were hard to sell, especially during the Depression. </div></div> I'm well aware they were renderings, but we are talking about a 1929 Packard, not a Depression-era car--after all, the Great Depression did not truly take hold until the very end of 1930-early 1931. 1929 was still a year of generally tremendous, if not unsustainable, prosperity and optimism about the future. Time and research experience has taught me that the old adage about smoke being a trail back to fire works just as well when researching cars as anything else. In the 20's, the "Roaring 10's", Packard really wasn't all that different from anyone else, they watched the marketplace pretty closely. Sure, they sold a fair number of formal cars, even less-than-formal cars to the "brahmins", the "upper crust" the "400", but they had their share of younger, more daring customers as well, and by no means were cars of the 1920's, particularly those of a sporting character (and Packard built some of those as well, did they not??) all dark and somber. Packard's production numbers in the 20's were far greater than the number of available old dowagers and old, conservative men that somehow seem to be characterised as Packard's customer base. I also would submit that "art mirrors life", and find it rather doubtful that any automaker's advertising department would have allowed terribly fanciful color renderings of their cars in periodical ads if those renderings ran terribly counter to whatever corporate culture existed, be it Packard or whomever. That is why I made the suggestion as I did. Art

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> I have determined that the primary original color of my 645 was Yellow, and a fairly bright yellow. Since that was Not a standard Packard color in '29, was it a standard Dietrich color or would it have been a special order item? Did Dietrich bodied cars have standard colors? </div></div> The late 1920's were anything but drab, where cars were concerned, particularly if the car carried custom coachwork. Of course, formal bodied cars certainly tended to be very conservatively painted, but with coupes and certainly open cars such as roadsters, cabriolets, phaetons and convertible sedans, brighter colors did happen. If you can find a library with them in bound volumes, might I suggest scoping out National Geographic Magazine from this era? While of course, color photography really didn't exist quite yet, colorized artist renderings sure did--in car advertisements too. Note that many car ads did show fairly bright colors. Art

Gee, Wouldn't it be fun to restore a late teens Model T Ford, and paint it with black japan enamel, squirted on with a glorified garden hose, AFTER the body was asssembled AND upholstered? I've got a T restoration book, circa 1960, with factory photo's showing this. No wonder my dad, at the ripe old age of nine, got his rear end warmed by Grandpa for pressing his finger into a run in the still soft paint on the brand new 1914 Touring! Food for thought! Art

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Here is the second of the hood ornaments: Thanks so much. </div></div> Let's try '56 Studebaker Commander/President sedan/station wagon? Art

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">How about see-through plastic seat covers.....a big thing in the 50's & 60's. As soon as you bought the car it went to a shop to have them installed. Save the nice seats for the next owner! </div></div> Dad never had the clear plastic seat covers--those were, it seems to me, more of a 60's thing--in the late 40's-early 50's, seat covers tended to be those scotch plaid things, woven in fine fibers of PVC, which snagged and broke open in small holes, which snagged Mom's nylons and: One hot summer day, I was out with Dad, probably barely 10, wearing a pair of khaki camp shorts, you know the kind that rode up on your legs when you sat down. The Hudson had been equipped with those woven seat covers from new, and they were pretty well worn. Scooting across the seat, I chanced to slide a bare leg over one of the holes in the front seat cover, and a loose vinyl thread poked me, painfully, in a spot I really don't want to think about even today! I grew to hate seat covers from that day forward! (besides, they were ugly!) Art

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Floyd Clymer's book in the Model A has basic Ford company history, including some pictures of the Ford "X-motor", as it was known. I don't believe there was ever a Ford car known as the "Model X". There were "A", "B", and "C" models in the horselessl carriage era, the Model "K" of 1906, the "N" & "R" predecessors to the "T", and then the common letter models that we all know and love... (T, A, B, C, and V-8 ) </div></div> Actually, Ford never officially designated any post-1927 car as a "Model C" from the factory. General wide public acceptance of Model A, coupled with the perceived "risk" of the V8 introduction led Ford to upgrade the Model A 4-cylinder into the Model B (changes primarily being the counterweighted crankshaft, automatic spark advance, mechanical fuel pump, some oil system revisions--elimination of the exterior oil return pipe--and revising the water pump from 4 mounting bolts to 3), then marketing the car aggressively early in 1932 production as the "Improved Model A", designated Model B (V8's were Model 18's) to provide "insurance" against a feared market resistance to the V8 (didn't really materialize), and the nasty production teething problems with the V8 (which did occur!). By the end of the very short 1932 Model year, the V8 was the engine of choice for most Ford buyers, so with the introduction of the all-new 1933 Ford Model 40 in late 1932, the "B" engine was simply termed the Ford 4-cylinder, and seems to have been relegated to the role of "You say you want only a 4, but wouldn't you really RATHER have a V8?". 4-bangers amounted to less than 10% of Ford production in 1933, and for 1934, only a few hundred were assembled into cars and pickups before the engine was quietly and unceremoniously dropped in early 1934--Ford not to produce another automobile 4-cylinder in the US until 1941, and that was a Model 9N/8N farm tractor engine adapted to car and pickup use, and itself in many ways a very clear cousin of the fltathead V8, using many of the same internal parts. But, a Model C in 33-34? Nope, didn't happen quite that way--apparently a term coined by journalists. Art

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Ron makes a good point. Some of the most stunning cars I've ever seen had very conservative paint jobs. They are usually black, dark blue or some other dark color. In fact, at first glance you might assume the color is black, until you take a second look and discover the hidden characteristics of the paint job. Pin striping on these cars is always subtle, but elegant. The bright work adds a touch of sparkle, but nothing gaudy. Recently, there seems to be a trend towards displaying cars with black wall tires, which is most likely the way they were delivered to the original owner. It takes guts to restore a car this way, but IMHO, it is well worth it. Frequently, you have to study these cars for a moment to appreciate what the original designer had in mind. Then it hits you. Perhaps, it is an acquired taste, but once you get it, YOU GET IT! It?s similar to the difference between receiving fine jewelry in a box from Tiffany & Co, rather than J.C. Penney?s. </div></div> Chuck Pretty much you reinforce my point. From all my reading, as well as interpolating from contemporary B&W photographs (and yes, some of the film and glass plates used back then can give false impressions as to what the true colors really were!)darlier, conservative colors ruled, for the reasons I generally mention, but brighter, lighter colors were out there. Much has to do with personality, not only of the original buyer of the car, but also with the manufacturer, particularly once the Depression took hold. By 1931, conspicuous consumption was pretty much out, unless one was in an occupation where glamorous image was considered important (Hollywood would have been the prime example then, just as now!). Mr or Mrs Gotrocks would have been well-advised to have their new Packard, Cadillac, Pierce Arrow, Lincoln, or even a Duesenberg painted in darker, less conspicuous colors for motoring about a large city where breadlines abounded, or the street corners were populated with apple-sellers. It just wasn't quite proper (politically correct???) to flaunt one's wealth with a flashy, brightly colored new car when seemingly all about were people living in the abject poverty of Depression-era unemployment. But then, even in the relative prosperity of the 20's, so-called "old money" wealthy tended, it seems, to have been a pretty conservative lot, witness the several surviving all-original formal-bodied cars from those years. Regardless of their behavior behind the wrought iron gates of their estates or conntry clubs, those people were rather rigid about presenting the appearance of prim and proper. However, when winter came, and the likes of the Vanderbilts, the Wrigleys, and their contemporaries hiked themselves off, by private railroad car to sunny, warm climates; Miami Beach, Chandler Arizona, Southern California, then they were away at their "playgrounds" and many of them had cars that matched that image as well. On the other hand, I saw the fabulous Bohmann & Schwartz Model J Duesenberg town car built originally for Ethel V. Mars, of candy bar fame a year or so ago, and why, oh why, did the current owner decide that this car looks good in shiny black? That car was originally painted a brilliant metallic silver, even her chauffeur was dressed in a shimmering silver uniform--and the effect must have been stunning! That is a car, which IMHO, would be far better done as it was originally finished--but that is of course, my opinion, and I'm not the one with mega-millions to buy it and have it done over. Oh well!! Art

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">In speaking of the older cars, if it didnot have it you did not need it. Like: pressurized cooling systems emissons fender skirts four wheel brakes Any ideas? </div></div> Of course, what you mention here are things that, in the early days of the automobile, had yet to be developed. Some, like fender skirts, were aftermarket accessories (a few were factory accessories dealer installed), but the various mechanical improvements were certainly wanted at the time, but not yet available. Of course, a correct restoraton of a pre-mid-30's car would not have a pressurized cooling system, no pre-20's car would be properly restored having 4 wheel brakes (or hydraulics on a car originally built with mechanicals, either!). Emmission conrrols? John Studebaker's original objection to his company's producing automobiles revolved around his emphatic statement that gasoline-powered cars were not only noisy, they smelled bad. People in big cities were complaining about the polluted air on city streets from the earliest days of motor vehicle traffic, BTW. To carry this to an extreme here, what pre-1948 car needs, or even should have synthetic cord tires? After all, none of them came from the factory with anything more than cotton-cord tires--if that was good enough then, why not today? I've never seen a single contemporary photograph (taken in the day when the cars were new) of a Model A Ford on whitewall tires, or for that matter, any prewar car having whitewalls that were one-sided only (virtually all prewar whitewalls, if not all of them, wree double-whitewall, the white being on both sidewalls--any perusal of contemporary photographs will point that out as well. Perhaps a few original owners of cars built, say prior to 1958 dressed out their cars with dozens of factory-authorized accessories from the dealership parts counter, but a Model A, or '55 Chevy, restored, but looking for all the world like a rolling advertisement from a 1960-vintage JC Whitney catalog??? Windshield visors? Back in my boyhood days of the 50's, yes, we did see them, but not on every car, and when we did, the drivers of cars thus equipped seemed mostly to be middle-aged or elderly--visors just weren't on every one coming down the street, not even a majority. In short, there are an awful lot of otherwise very nicely restored and maintained antique cars out theee that are loaded with far, far more accessories than virtually anyone in the day when those cars were new would have had. But then, it's all about making a statement, I suppose, and in that, there is plenty of room for individual likes, tastes and dislikes. Art

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Saw this on the Model Club of America web site. A Ford model "X" ? Was there such a thing? Maybe "N"? Car for Sale: Thank you for your suggestions. I have decided to sell the cars to highest bidder at auction on January 31st. I have had some interest shown by a local Ford Dealer, who is willing to take the cars in trade on a newer model. My neighbors son has arranged for an auctioneer, and says he has posted an announcement in the local paper. I have since learned that one car is a Model A, from the first series of model A cars before the T and another is a Model X (my late husbands handwriting is not easy to read), which is also supposed to be an earlier car. It is nice to learn that these old cars are still popular. Sincerely, Alison McDonald Alison McDonald Toronto, Canada - Mon Jan 9 22:06:20 2006 Even if it is a typo, have to beleive someone here would be interested in this auction. I have no connection to this just curious. </div></div> I've never heard of any "Ford Model X", nothing like that in my reference library. The only reference I have to any Ford item bearing the letter X was the so-called "X-8" engine, an experimental idea, which created an aircooled small 8-cylinder engine with the cylinders arranged in a radial "X" pattern around the crankcase, as a possible replacement for the inline 4-cylinder Model T engine, in the middle 1920's. It wasn't at all practical. Ford's letter series started, of course, with Model A in 1903, proceeding with Model C, K, S, R, N, and finally Model T in 1908. I suppose the missing letters were either experimentals or just drawing board ideas which never saw the light of day outside of their experimental laboratories or the fertile mind of Henry Ford and his rather small staff. With the end of Model T in mid'year 1927, Ford went back to "Model A" to dsignate the then "New Ford", to indicate that this was a new car, not just an extension of MOdel T. With the introduction of a 4-cylinder "backup" or "insurance policy" car (just in case the V8 was a total flop--which it wasn't!) in 1932, Ford characterized the new 4-cylinder as an "Improved Model A", which it was, designating that version as Model B, while the V8 cars were designated "Model 18". For 1933, Ford came up with an all new car once again, the V8 version carrying the factory designation Model 40, which term carried over through 1934, after that, there being no other letter designators for US Built Ford cars. In late 1932, Ford introduced, in the UK, from their new Dagenham factory, the Model Y, which was the first of the subcompact Fords produced. Art

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I second that wow. I can get my car painted for what they are asking for some of them models. YIKES </div></div> Truthfully, this model was NOT an expensive project! (Most of mine aren't The total cost of this particular project was less than $30, believe me. There were two kits used here: AMT/Ertl produced the '27 T Touring car, which is basically a stock Model T kit, first released in 1964, this particular example produced in 1988, at a retail price then of $7.00. That kit provided everything below the body shell, along with the radiator, hood, headlights and taillight. The body is actually from a street rod "resto-rod" model kit from Revell, with the requisite modifications to bring it completely back to stock (most of that was in closing in the wheel openings in the rear, done for the extra wide rear tires, and a bit of fussy re-contouring of the cowling to bring it to the correct height to match the height of the AMT hood (Revell's kit was engineered to fit a hood having no "hood shelves", making that kit hood about 1/16" too low, and cost me $10 at a local hobby shop) Tje interior is largely scratch-built from sheet and strip plastic, including building window channels to mount the side window "glass" correctly, and give a proper, scale finished appearance inside (pretty hard to show, with reflective clear plastic used for the "glass"). The paint is automotive acrylic lacquer, Model A Ford "Rock Moss Green" which is a very close approximation of the dark green available on closed-body Model T's in '27, mixed and bottled in small quantities by a model car aftermarket outfit specializing in accurate scale paints in factory colors. All the added detailing was scratchbuild, from bits of wire, even the "ball head" of a straight pin taken from a new shirt bought several years ago (look at the fuel sediment bulb--that is made from the straight pin, with a bit of plastic tubing for the body of it, copper wire for the fuel line, and a couple of drops of cyanoacrylate glue (CA or "super glue:). Other wiring is simply that, wire--fine "beading wire" from the craft store, loomed and then painted to correct color codes, as per my Model T Ford reference materials. The seats are actually from my parts box, originally made for a '03 Model A Tudor sedan, simply resized to fit the T. The biggest thing involved here was the time it took to pull off this project. I tend to build perhaps an hour per day or evening, and stay with a particular project until done. This one was started on January 1, 2001, and finished on July 11 of that year with perhaps 200 hours or so invested. Were I to have built this under a "commision" from someone, I'd have charged a reasonable hourly rate for it, which would have made it VERY expensive, of course, but having done that in years past, and met the resistance of 1:1 car owners for paying the real worth of the labor involved, I just don't do that kind of work for others, only for myself. It is quite true that scale models can cost serious money, mostly for the high-quality diecasts from such as Franklin Mint or Danbury Mint--but from kits, not not expensive. Art

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I have to believe that there is a brain out there able to tell me the bolt pattern for this 1959 Edsel wagon I am awaiting delivery of. I appreciate one gentleman (ART) telling me that all 59 Fords share the same pattern, but then neglecting to say what that is!!!!! ....and I suppose while I'm asking, MR. BRAIN- Can I get away with a 20x8.5 +14mm offset custom wheel on the afore mentioned vehicle? PLEASE ADVISE!!!! I Thank you in advance for your time.. [color:\\"red\\"] </div></div> I don't have any specific information as to the diameter of the 5-bolt pattern for Fomoco cars of that era, but I've been around cars long enough to know that virtually every aftermarket wheel manufacturer out there makes wheels that fit specifically the cars of the major American carmakers, and that goes back decades. All you need do is to tell the wheel maker or dealer what year and make car you are trying to fit, and if they question Edsel, let them know that it's the same as a '59 Ford, and they ought to be able to go from there with no problem. Art

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> [color:"red"] I recently purchased a 1959 edsel wagon and am awaiting delivery, but I needed to verfy it's bolt pattern for a set of custom wheels I must order prior to its arrival. Any experts got the KNOWLEDGE? </div></div> '59 Edsels were all reskinned Fords, so wheel bolt pattern circle is the same as Ford for that year. Art

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">no, there is no oil filter at all! is this common? </div></div> Yes. Oil filters were optional on just about every make of car until at least the early 1950's, certainly in the low-priced field. GM's AC Division produced a bypass oil filter setup that was pretty much the same from 1937 through 1962 (on 216/235 6's), and they aren't hard to find, nor are they hard to install. Art

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Art: Boy do you bring back memories. In 1956, I put together some interesting models. The only thing we had available were the 4 units put out by Revel, all 1956 models, Buick, Ford, Merc, and Chrysler. I was one of the first in my neighborhood to apply and experiment with plastic wood as a moulding compound. I made a complete fishmouth surround for the 56 Fords and then put in a bar grille that I had made from the plastic skeleton that the model parts were attached to. It was also fun putting those Merc taillights on the Ford as well and using the plastic wood to mold in and around them. Then Jo-Han came out with other models. I must have had about 20 or so when I went into the military in 61. While there my mother asked me if I wanted to keep the model cars and I said no, so she gave them to some kid down the block. Who knew then that they might be worth anything. Even at auto events today I see all kinds of pre-made, and promo models but I never see any of the old '56 Revel kits still in the box. Today, even with the full size versions that I have, I still have over 12 1:32, 1:25, and 1:18 scale cars and I find out that different companies are making new ones all the time. Unfortunately with the price you pay for them and the way they are made it does not make for much room to experiment. For example, two cars that I always said would have been great as convertibles are your Lowey designed Studebaker and the 68-69 Dodge Charger. A model of these would be great to experiment on to see what they might have looked like. </div></div> In 1956, Revell, in concert with AMT Corporation (who had the technology inhouse to vacuum-plate chrome parts for model kits) produced the following cars in 1:32 scale: '56 Ford Fairlane Sunliner convertible, '56 Mercury Phaeton 4dr hardtop, '56 Buick Roadmaster hardtop, '56 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz convertible, '56 Chrysler New Yorker hardtop, and '56 Lincoln Continental MkII. Of these, the 56 Ford and 56 Continental were reissued by Revell-Monogram about 10 years ago, and all of them show up frequently on eBay. As for "what if" cars, here is one I started on a few years back, still not done, but I will finish it, probably this year. It's a "What if Duesenberg Inc. had continued in business up to Pearl Harbor?" Styled with many European touches, it "predicts" a lot of Detroit styling of 1942-48. The storyline would go something like this: Independent front suspension, still supercharged DOHC Straight Eight engine, streamlined, with distinctive Duesenberg cues in the styling:

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Very nice job, I thought it was real. That's the car I learned to drive in. BTW, the AACA museum has a very nice example........Bob </div></div> Bob, I can get a bit carried away. '63 Studebaker Commander engine bay:

Just something for the accuracy of your paper here: Duesenberg Inc. was the first to introduce hydraulic brakes, in 1921, not only on passenger cars, but also on race cars--at Indianapolis in 1921, followed by the French Grand Prix at LeMans later that summer. Art

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Very very nice !!! You should now tackle 1 to 1 scale !!!! ............Steve </div></div> Steve, I've pretty much been there, done that, got the T-shirt in years past. I guess I'm far more enamored with miniatures than the real thing--so model cars is where it's at for me, and has been since I was an 8-yr old kid back in 1952. Why concentrate on models? In the late 1960's, when I first heard of the fabulous collection of William Harrah, I came to rationalize my side of the car hobby simply by telling myself that I could have as comprehensive a collection, but at a price I could afford, and my "museum" wouldn't take up nearly so much real estate. Art