mrpushbutton

We have a nice restored car but none of the controls in the center panel have knobs. I am interested in buying a set, or obtaining information on what they were, what they looked like. email me at john(at)stahlsauto(dot)com

Looking for the controls in the center of the steering wheel. I have seen both a bakelite/plastic wheel and a wooden wheel. The car we have has a wooden wheel, no controls in the steering column. Help! you can email me directly at john(at)stahlsauto(dot)com

In response to those who devalue the worth of appraisers, one thing the good ones have is accreditation, which is very important when dealing with insurance companies.

I should have mentioned that I knew that it has a Shutte body, and they made many re-fit bodies for older, "experienced" chassis. Here is a pic of the 1914 Cadillac we have in the collection with a Shutte body.

Need help with this one, I got nothing

Belay that order, we found one!

I made that name up at the dawn of the internet, when internet handles became "a thing". It is because I restore 1956 Packard pushbutton transmission shifters, and have kind of become the expert on this system.

Looking to buy complete transmission or trans case. Please PM me or email me at john(at) stahlsauto(dot)com

Have you pulled the coolant (aka "water") distribution tube out of the engine and examined it? often times this is a big source of cooling issues.

We don't know the state this car was found in before this abhorrent "work" began, but I see a couple of misconceptions being stated over and over again. The idea of rod building being cheaper than restoring to original is blown apart by how much these guys invest in these projects. For the money they have into them a restoration back to original would be a comparable expense, unless we are talking rat rod (which this car wasn't headed for). The fact that cars are rodded with intact bodies and flawless body and paint work tells us that the car wasn't "too far gone", or we wouldn't be looking at it with an absolute straight body and beautiful paint, we'd be looking at your typical rat-rod, with rust/patina, rust out holes and the "as found" faults that a rat rod has. The fact that the car is seen completed with a straight, beautifully finished body tell us that this is a choice, and we are two different kinds of people, as different and as intense as religions. We antique/classic/original car guys see the car as a piece out of time and we are the current caretakers. They see the original car, in whatever condition (including a well running older restoration) as inherently broken, and in need of the "#1 Summit Catalog" treatment of a Mexican-built Chevy engine, T-H transmission, GM Tilt column, Ford 9" rear end, repro Rustang II front end, E-Z wiring harness, Classic Air AC, the same seats, and lastly, of late--very minimal sidewall large diameter tires and wheels, for all of the heavy G-force formula 1 driving they plan on doing (sic). They are the automotive equivalent of high school girls who all want to be like that one cool girl in school, whether or not they can pull it off. The rodders claim "I want to drive my car" and that our original cars "can't be driven". We know better, of course. They have climbed every mountain there is to climb with Ford, Chevy and Plymouth cars, and are looking for the rod no one else has, hence the run of Graham Sharknose cars that have been rodded lately. It's not as though everyone in the antique/classic restoration community was given a crack at buying this rare Cadillac, all turned it down and it's either rod or being smelted into razor blades and household appliances. They are publishing articles showing nicely restored cars, as they bought them, then progress shots of the butchery, then the finished product. Dang near every show on cable TV that deals with old cars is about rodding, save for Wayne Carini. In conclusion, I don't buy into the idea that "the car was too far gone, they had to do this". The numbers don't support that. It's a choice. One I don't agree with.

What we are looking for is the deep offset backing plates, spindles and drums from these Lincolns, specifically.

Listen to the experienced voices here. Have the car trailered home and go through it there. Go through the brakes completely, trusting NOTHING as-found, and the same for the fuel system. Get a fuel pump rebuild kit and a new fuel flex line and just replace them out of principal. Drop the tank and get a look inside. After you have done all that. drive around the block. Then go about a mile, then two, keeping track of how it runs, fixing things until you can trust it.

Looking to buy 1939-1940 Zephyr front spindles, backing plates, shoes, cylinders and drums. Please contact me though this forum, or email at 56packman(at)gmail.com

My condolences to his family.

The stamped ribs on the hood are unique. I see several differences between the Otto and whatever this is in the photo. The inner fender line is very different, the hubs, as have been mentioned and the radiator set back, which was also mentioned.

Help us out here gents.

Mike Dulinski could sell you a used set of bars that haven't been bent for a reasonable amount.

I have seen the arms bent like that on cars with the automatic control "timing" box shunted out of the system improperly, where the limit switches are bypassed. The pivot arm goes 180 degrees the other way, the operator does not realize that the back end of the car went up, then down in the same operation and the arms start bending. So did this car have its automatic control timing box working, or was it "manually controlled"?

One point of view, and one that doesn't get what this is all about. The difference between someone who owns the car for its historical place in time and one who just sees it as inherently broken because you can't go 80 mph in modern rush hour traffic a vast difference, a different as religion. Look at the publication, and the mindset of their readers. They make money by telling their reader what they want to hear.

It depends on the job. Body construction and paint increased in quality by quite a bit when robotics came in because of the deadly repetitive nature of that work, and the type of person who was put into those jobs. The body welds are absolutely uniform now, and paint is as well.

A lot of these are added using a momentary single-pole, double throw switch and are wired INCORRECTLY, some going right to the solenoids, some going to the wrong side (non-limit switch side) of the T-L compensator boxes, such that the limit switches are bypassed. I have fixed two cars Boojed this way, and had to replace the link arms coming off of the compensator gearbox rotary arm, as the drive lever assembly had been allowed to turn beyond its normal stop limits and the arms bent. I dare say many of these switches were added by electrical invalids who couldn't figure out how to repair the T-L "Control assembly" (black switch/timing box on the frame).

Buy the kit from these guys, it will be freshly made, from the latest material so that it will coexist with the moving target we call "Gasoline". http://then-now-auto.com/fuel-pumps/

I visited Barney's place in 1977-'78 and met the man. I was crazy about 1932 Buicks then, before I came to my senses and fell in love with Packards. I was "given audience" with the great man himself by his wife, who was by then his eyes (I think his eyesight was going south on him) and his protector/gatekeeper. To see all those cars standing on end was a sight I'll never forget.

We are devoted to original cars, plain and simple. Is it conceivable that somewhere there is a guy with a complete car that could use a better condition body to start with as a project?