60FlatTop

I am pretty laid back about money. I have been buying and selling stuff since I was about 12. I am very sure I am ahead. A few years ago my Wife gave me a check to rum up to Tractor Supply and buy a new tire for the lawn tractor. The tires were out of stock, but I came home with a collection of little over 4,000 license plates in my truck. Talk about your Jack and the Bean Stalk Syndrome. They had been flowing out for weeks through Ebay sales and I was down to the last of the pickings. I was still taking checks as payment. A guy in some parish in Louisiana bought about $275 worth. To expedite, I just packed them up and sent them off. Then, no check. I Googled the town. It was small, maybe smaller than mine. So I called the local police. I figured they knew the guy and I just wanted them to stop into the coffee shop or bar where he hung out and lean on him a bit, no charges or anything. You should have heard the constable's drawl, "You sent all those tags before you got the money? That was a stupid thing to do." I couldn't help laughing then or now. "Yeah, I know, but can't you just mention it to him." "You really did that? I don't think I would." Oh, well, we still had groceries that week. I can just see them with a foot up on the bar rail "Did you get some license plates from a Yankee? I got a call about them in my office." " Stupid guy, huh." "He got anything else for sale?" Bernie

That's interesting. We had a welder in our town who had a '56 Roadmaster that ran on propane. He did a lot of welding for the railroad. I was about 15 years old when he showed it to me. The tank was in the trunk and he gave me a pretty good look at it. I'm only a 20 hour drive from Sarasota and we have always had a lot of snowbirds. Bernie

That's neat. I just bought 4 of them. Our dog is lying next to my chair and I think he feels me eyeing him up for an implant. Putting one in a Wildcat would be a handful, just to keep on topic. Bernie

I ask young people technology questions about nanoseconds and the say "Give me a minute to download that." You can bet your octets that ain't the right answer. I just want my quality analog TV back! Bernie

I am in favor of, first, supporting businesses that are geared to support the hobby. However, their purchasing power is limited. Putting together a package or kit can override the quality of the components. I purchased a front end rebuild kit for a '62 Electra I had. All the pieces came in individual unmarked brown cardboard boxes. The castellated nuts for the ball joints were so poorly made they slid over the threads. Luckily, I was able to use the old nuts. I used the kit and let it be a warning for the future. Today I ask, specifically, for the name on the box. If they can't tell me I won't order it. I won't accept brown boxes, imitated logos, or anything I doubt. "I think is not good enough." If they can't tell you they are holding the box don't take their word for it. The MOOG and GM numbers are easy to find and I use them to search Ebay and Google, planning way in advance. I have a set of Moog 1960 Buick ball joints and with a running search of Moog numbers I have amassed almost all the parts to rebuild the Packard front end. And it doesn't even need it yet. Patience and time will get you the parts and quality you want. Bernie

Here's a good one. Imagine you woke up with no idea of how old you are. Then try to figure out your age. I have been doing that for a few years now and the answer keeps coming up; about 45? Works pretty good until I remember how old the kids are. My Great Uncle Denny O'Brien (now you know this is trouble already) had a visit from his Daughter in the nursing home. He put down the paper and said "I'd like to live another 25 years." His Daughter said "Dad, you are bedridden, in a nursing home, can hardly walk, and need to be cared for. What ever do you want to stay around for?" She told me he "just wanted to see what happened". I would have said "Just for the anticipation of you cheery visits!" And that's why I'm going to outlive Uncle Denny. To this ad and the political incorrectness, the worst thing is to ignore it. That would be like throwing out Walt Disney's Arabia, although I liked Popeye's more. Bernie

The airport is where the macadam road is. That's the Brockport International Airport. They say a guy from Canada stopped in with a Piper Cub and the International name stuck. Bernie

There was a chill on the greens at the country club so the airport is the next choice for a Buick. Bernie

I think you are well on your way to having 20 gallons of rum at that point. Bernie

I like the story about the auditor and the cruisers; out there saving the world from evil. Were caffeine and doughnut sugar contributors to this incident? I bought my Mother a car that had two of the title numbers transposed and asked a couple of friends to take it down to the Daley Plaza DMV and get it fixed. The game warden overheard and called it in.

I just looked up AB&I foundries 800-468-4766. When I was in my 20's I worked at Genecast Foundries as a mechanic. We had a 3000 # pour Bessemer furnace and a few induction furnaces where we took on contract jobs for International truck axles and housings, kind of a similar use application. We also cast some of our machine repair parts like auger screws and sand destructed boxes. All you need is a mold. I bet they'd run 20 or 30 off for you. Or find a local foundry and show up about 1 AM with a couple dozen donuts. I'm pretty good at stuff like that. Whatever you do, don't let them talk you into helping them change a furnace roof between pours. Donuts are a lot easier. Bernie

99% pure?????

Thursday afternoon I will probably just decide to GO. It's 5 hours for me. I go back a couple of decades and remember the pre-computer and pre-cellphone days. Remember that lille diner in the corner of the Hummelstown Plaza, filled with Hershey guys for supper and the long line at the phones? I did a job in PA back in 2011 and stopped in that diner on the way home. No pay phones but the ghosts of Hersheys past were a strong presence. Bernie

You might want to pop the distributor cap off and put vacuum on the advance diaphragm. Then release the vacuum and make sure the points go fully retarded. If the breaker plate is dragging some you might have too much advance on the warm start because they haven't had time to creep back. That's the one where is started great at home, drove 4 blocks to the gas station and it just grunts. Bernie

Sprinkle a little of this around the OUTSIDE of the garage. They keep it right next to the pellet guns. Or try a couple eye droppers mixed in the polish. Bernie

I thought the 1:33 one was a '57, too. B

I haven't converted any cars to electronic ignition or 12 volts. I do avoid inferior parts with formerly superior names. If I don't have old stock ignition parts I go straight to NAPA and buy Echlin. They are the easiest quality parts to obtain. The Warner and Standard parts sold at the discount chains are real crap. I read an article about Mrs. Warner raising the riot act at a stock holder's meeting about the quality of parts with her family name on them. I wish I had saved it. She wasn't happy. Right before Delco came out with the electronic systems they produced a point/condenser set that was prone to failure. I guess the production lines wanted something easier to drop in. I have been using an inductive KV meter on plug wires for the last 30 years.I rarely see more than 3500 to 4000 KV on the secondary system of a properly running engine so the high voltage output doesn't mean much. Points handle that fine. More voltage and I start looking fr problems. Shuffle around in the parts drawer and find a set of points. Then take them to NAPA and compare them to the Echlin. Bernie

My Golden Hawk was fast and pretty hot looking. Especially with fresh gold and white paint and no hood. In 1965 you couldn't find a good hood. All of them were folded because the full service gas station attendant didn't pull the hood forward before lifting, something I get to do on my '86 PA today. The car had an awful steering radius. I had owned a '58 Chevy prior to the Studebaker and could U-turn the Chevy in places that took two swings with the Stude. The rear brakes were hard to work on with the taper fit hubs and drums. At the time the Ultramatic transmission linkage was not firm and had a vagueness to it. But I made that 140 MPH speedometer hit 135. It was one of six cars I left behind when I went into the Navy, the one at my parent's house, not the shop. I picked up a '36 Chevy while home on leave and the village code said one car in the yard. I gave it to a deserving friend. Another time while home on leave I left a $30 deposit on a black '82 GT Hawk. I never followed through, but every time I drive by that shop I remember it sitting there. Bernie

I have to go with the GT Hawk myself. I drove a '56 Golden Hawk to High School for a while. The Avanti was different and neat when it came out but it has that non-automotive look to it. It doesn't have the organic look that cars had. It looks more like something to keep vegetables in to keep them from spoiling. I still remember how European my Hawk felt with the gauges, almost flat windshield, and long hood. The roof on the GT made it just classier.

Found while looking for something else. Something to remember from the old days.

Ohhhh.... what's that other French name they put on cars? Deluxe, that's it! Maybe even Royal deluxe. aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8 I expected more, well, kind of. I like that concept car. And when I saw this topic I thought "Oh, don't let it be that 3.6 with a 6 speed transmission." I just can't figure out why that newest rendition of the Chevy 4.3 can't go into some upscale car with a three speed plus OD. What a pleasure it would be for an old fart torque engine driver. Bernie

Would that park in Class D or with the modified? Bernie (being a troublemaker)

Just shutting down and heading out to the garage- You will find a pretty well burned post if that was the problem. After looking up the kit on Ebay I figured I should pick up at least one or two. They were cheap. Good stuff for the Murphy's Law shelf. Today "I" get to examine all the details on the Snap On mid-rise scissors lift I bought myself for my birthday. Better than a computer. Bernie

I have had the electrical contact on the starter solenoid plunger weld itself to the stud contact under the solenoid plastic cap.Then you get a permanent mechanical connection. Last time I when to an auto parts store to get one the guy just said "Duh." Here is one of the GM kits from Ebay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/DELCO-STARTER-SOLENOID-TERMINAL-STUD-REPAIR-KIT-GM-1949188-NOS-/371138980577?hash=item56699b6ae1:g:i7AAAOSwd4tT5Rpu&vxp=mtr On the older solenoids with a "start" wire on the solenoid the start wire can also weld and the engine won't shut off with the key. That's a fun one, too. Bernie

Four years is a long time. If you will just be visiting the car on weekends I figure it won't be licensed. The car is really at risk if everyone involved doesn't love that car. Taking up garage space, hard to start after sitting, a blown brake line, towing out of the garage with no brakes, a power window left open when it is under a tarp outside, and that little kitty in your signature could become the big nasty racoon taking up residence. As am old guy, those are things I have seen happen when the owner is away. And things committed by the most well intended. Look at old cars and pay attention to the "rain lines" etched into the chrome. My friend Vince's Mom said "Oh, Vinny, we thought you'd want a new car when you came home so we had that old '32 Ford coupe towed away." Trust, but verify. Bernie