Durant Mike
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Posts posted by Durant Mike
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I had my 1928 Durant radiator restored at "The Brass Works" in California and was 100% satisfied with their work. Yes it is pricey but not that many are restoring these old radiators. Mine was $2,800 when it was done. If you intend to show the car at the AACA events, the modern core will not work and you will get points taken off by the judges for being incorrect.
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Thank Billy Durant for adding Frigidaire to the GM Line! A visionary for sure!
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Hi John
Not sure if this is your car or your restoring it for someone else. If your not a member of the Durant Motors Automobile Club (www.durantmotors.org) you might think of joining. it publishes a quarterly magazine with all sorts of parts listed for sale. Also we have a number of members who have lots of parts but only sell to club members first. There is a member in Texarcana, TX that has a bunch of parts, especially Star and probably could help you. You can also go on the Durant club web site and go to the forums section and place an ad for the part you need and maybe someone will reply. There is not charge for this posting. Also if you need any technical help it's a good site to post.
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18 hours ago, greenie said:
You have company. I cringe to think that someday a guy will walk into my vendor spaces are ask me if I take Venmo, or zell, or worse yet- crypto.
I used to do PayPal, but that’s no fun anymore, lol
Funny you say Zell. Was parking cars at our church on Thursday night for the football game at the University that is next door. Church makes extra money for letting cars park there at $30 a car. Young guy pulls up in a loud Camaro and says to me "Zell", "Zell" I looked at him thinking he was from another country and did not speak English for gosh sakes. I waved him on to the next person taking the money. I sure would have understood what he was saying if he had said "Do you take Zell"? I had no idea what he was talking about. Then yesterday I saw an ad on TV for Zell and now know what it is. I'm getting Old!
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Durant Motors Automobile Club will again have a spot in the Chocolate field C-44, C45, C-46. Look for the red tent and stop by to say Hello! Even if you don't own a Durant product, but have an interest, need some help with a restoration or just want to find out "what the heck is a Durant", we'll gladly answer questions and try to answer your questions. The Durant Motors Automobile Club is one of the friendliest family oriented car clubs out there. With Chapter meets and National meets throughout the U.S. and Canada you always have a great time touring in the old cars and gathering with like minded people like you. Ask for Mike, I'll be there!
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21 hours ago, Steve Moskowitz said:
As stated above Mike, they just went in the mail this weekend.
Thanks Steve, as a matter of fact the package came in the afternoon mail.
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Has the packages gone out for the vendors, parking passes etc? Don't remember receiving mine yet. Have to look through my stack of papers I guess.
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Ok, my two cents from a Durant man. I agree with Steve on his evaluation in the $500 to $700 range in the condition it is in. If it was perfect I still would not value it more than $1,000. The Star Motors signs that are green turn up more often and are seen by Durant collectors more often and are just about in every Durant owners garage it seems. This one is the later sign for the company used in late 1929 but mostly in 1930 to 1931 when the company went out of business. I've seen a couple at Hershey over the years but the price is ridiculous and they never sell. Always important to put a fair price on them and get them out there in the hands of those Durant people!
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On 7/18/2022 at 12:42 PM, stretch cab said:
Newly married, going to college and broke is a good way to set this up. Probably should say, not a mechanic either. Had an older car that would do some crazy stuff when you pressed the gas pedal hard. Motor would rev up and stay that way until you shut it off. Wife did not like driving the car that way to say the least!
My mechanic skills were maxed out immediately as this had to be a huge problem. So, I took the car to a mechanic who was the son of an acquaintance/friend. The verdict came back that I needed a valve job. Didn't know what a valve job was but I did know I had a problem so I said, fix it. Got the car back and the bill and still the car would stick wide open upon a rapid acceleration. Now broker than before I decided to look at it myself and noticed the motor tipped up toward the passenger side, (if I remember right) and would lodge there until the ignition was turned off. Upon a closer look it was evident the driver's side motor mount was broken. I fixed that myself and all was well.
Lesson learn: Try to do it yourself first and never trust a mechanic! You might have to use one, but never blindly trust!
Same thing happened to me one night in my brothers 1968 Ford Torino fastback with a 351 in it. He let me drive it and me and two of my other friends went over to another town to check out what was going on. A rival town with our football team. Pulled into the grocery parking lot, cruised through in front of the local guys all parked with their cars and when we went to pull out the throttle stuck wide open and off we went like a bat out of #$$$. My friend dropped down to try and pull the pedal out but nothing would happen. I knew a traffic circle was coming up so started to panic. we found a clear spot on the side of the road and pulled into it at about 90 miles per hour then shut the car off. When we restarted it it was fine. Drove home and when we went to cross a four lane highway, it did it again. Found out it was also a broken motor mount that when you got on it, it would shift the engine and lock the linkage. Sure did pucker some 16 and 17 year olds for sure!
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Well it wasn't actually with a driving car, but one night while my Wife was going to college, I went out in the garage to work on my Durant. I have an air system in there and after cranking up the compressor, started to remove some bolts with the air wrench. I got up to move around the car and got my right foot caught up in the air hose. I tried to kick off the hose and untangle my foot while still having some forward momentum. This resulted in my falling forward on the garage floor, and striking my face on a nearby floor jack. Ouch! next thing I was covered in blood and went into the house to see what I had done. When I hit the floor jack it forced my front tooth through my lip and chipped my tooth. Washed it off the best I could, no one else was home, and could not find a band aid that would stick to the lip area. Good ole duck tape worked great. I was done for the night and came in to watch some TV. My wife had made a thing of stew in the crock pot for me to eat for dinner while she was gone. When she came home she immediately saw that I had not touched her stew and wanted to know why, thinking it wasn't any good. I got up from the couch and turned to her to tell her with a fat swollen bruised lip, and a piece of duck tape holding things together. She didn't say anything else! Everything healed nice, a little scar though and the tooth is still chipped a bit, but my mechanic ego is still bruised a little. Stupid things do happen!
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I have noticied that many "baby boomers" of which I am myself that have the older cars are seeming to loose their confidence in driving as they age even in modern cars let alone older cars. It irks me that all these great cars are not being driven because the owners are scared to drive them on modern roads. Of course you don't take a T or even another model 20's car on the interstate buy most highways will be OK. Just stay in the slow lane and let the cars go by. Except for the AACA shows and even some of those now are not showing the older cars as much because the owners are aging and don't want to drive them anymore. In the Durant car world we have a hard time getting many club members to even bring their cars to a meet. A number of people show up, but with no cars. We even had a club meet once in Charleston SC where 30 member's showed up but not one person brought a car. We had two people bring parts but no cars. Don't figure! It's important to get these out and let people see automotive history, particularly now that EV's are being pushed so much. Let everyone know the history of the combustion engine and that they are alive!
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Thanks for the reply! Yep it's all flat glass. The broken piece has an identical piece on the left side of the car so they should be able to cut it OK. I'll look up some here in the Orlando area.
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I'm at the stage now that I need to get the glass pieces cut for my car. Shop is about to finish the painting and I need some information on where to get the safety glass for the car. I have all but one piece of the original plate glass that was in the car (one piece broke on me) to use as a template. Do I look locally at an automotive glass place or do I have to go to a antique/classic car specialist shop? Any suggestions on who I can go to?
Mike
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Great looking car and I wish you good luck with it. Loved this year Buick Electra and the Oldsmobile 98 of the same year. My dad's boss had an Oldsmobile 98 we used when I was a kid. They were great.
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14 hours ago, Rusty_OToole said:
Non ethanol if available, and the lowest octane you can get. Gas was about 60 octane back then compared to 87 for the cheapest regular today. Also, add some Marvel Mystery Oil, Redex, Bardahl or your favorite upper cylinder lubricant. Today's gas is too dry. Some find that adding up to 25% kerosene makes their twenties or thirties car run smoother, cooler and develop more power also stops vapor lock.
Hand not heard about using 25% kerosene in the 20's or 30's cars very interesting. Use this instead of Marvel?
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BTT: Donations are being accepted. The Museum Foundation just received a substantial donation, so let's get this museum built! Any donation accepted.
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Car is looking great and I'm really impressed with your wood and steel work. It's going to look great!
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Well I really thank you all for your replies. That gives me some places to go for sure to start my search. Appreciate it!
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I've been browsing some of the sites that supply running board rubber and also top material but have not found exactly what I need. I'm looking for "Cobra long grain" for the top material 54"? wide which is correct for the 1928 Durant's and for the running board rubber I need eighth inch rib spaced rubber which was also correct. Can anyone suggest a good source for these? Thanks.
Mike
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21 hours ago, Durant Mike said:
What a beautiful car, I wish you a lot of luck with it.
I've seen a couple at various AACA shows, and judged one once in Naples, FL show. I even know one of our Durant club members who has one. Great car and a great one to keep on the road.
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Thank you Gary for your input. I'll find someplace to make them for me.
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Went several years ago and judged some cars there. That was the only thing I liked. The event was a real disappointment! Car corral had some cars but mostly modern cars and trucks for sale. Flea market had very little pre war or even antique car parts, mostly hot rod parts. Won't go again unless it's to judge cars for our club.
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Just like all other repair specialty shops they all charge just about what they want to. Your at their mercy since the people that rebuild engines with babbit bearings, rebuild generators, transmissions gauges etc are just not there anymore. The original craftsmen have died, their children are retiring and passing on and very very very few younger generation are picking up the trades like that. I just sent some small parts of to a well known chrome plate shop. Nothing large, just some hood hold downs, an emblem, some other small parts, Price quoted $1,500. Ouch. When asked I was told that the major supplier of nickel now is the Ukraine and with the war going on now, prices for plating has just about doubled. What are you going to do?
Rugby trucks
in General Discussion
Posted
Rugby trucks were manufactured by Durant Motors here in the U.S. They had plants in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Lansing, Michigan and Oakland, California. The Canadian plant was at Leaside outside of Toronto. Cars were also marketed by Durant under the name Rugby outside the United States due to another car already having the name Star in areas such as Australia and New Zealand. Durant made trucks, Star made trucks based on their car chassis but slightly modified. As time went on it's almost certain that many Rugby trucks that were not sold and exported ended back up in the America's.