60FlatTop

Before you dig too deep into the engine for the cause of the overheating park the car on a level floor, put it in neutral, open the door, and push with your foot. It should roll. If not, check the brakes. I do that randomly with my cars just from habit. Always remember, the cost of progress is problems. Gee, it never overheated when the clutch shook. Once I took over operations for 8 buildings. The boss was totally frustrated and said "Everything you do turns out to be a major project, ***** was here for 20 years and never had to fix that much." That was the same guy who said "Look at your hands. You can't be working, you don't have any bandaids on." Bernie

Yeah, maybe they were working night and made nocturnal omissions........... while they were awake! I think there's another name for that. Bernie

Ante up another $1500 and you get a little more HP. Not many of these unmolested and owned by a 67 year old. Bernie

I have never used a service to buy an unseen car. My best resource has been the club rosters. Over the last 20 years I have sent out a few $50 bills to local club members. That was when a 50 meant something. I would send at lease $100 or more depending on the car today. I started sending cash because the guys never cashed my checks. I think they were just happy to do it. About 15 years ago I had a great customized Chevy Fleetline from Goodguy's classifieds checked out by a Cadillac Club member. Actually, I think it was in Indiana. I looked at local members and found a guy who owner 3 or 4 mid '50's hearses. I thought, well, this ones is eclectic enough and gave him a call. It turned out he knew the car and worked in the shop that had installed the exhaust on it. He told me his opinion might be biased because the car belonged to a friend. I sent him a very objective checklist (like, are there water stains near the rear window trim and the like). Being a non-professional, he did a diligent job. He even offered transportation from a friend, which we used. It turned out to be a wonderful car. I serviced the car when it arrived and, as I remember, I only did about $350 worth of work on it. That is a benefit of membership, whether the AACA, BCA, CLCA, RROC, and many more, each with specific areas of expertise. I've probably listed 20 to 30 thousand members in that short list. And the local members know these cars. Very few are hidden away and unknown. The ones that are being used are known even better. A friend of mine promotes the resources of the club in every purchase. He says "Don't buy the car and then join the club, join the club and use its resources to buy the best car you can." That avoids the uncomfortable moment when one arrives all smiles at their first outing and someone says "Oh, you bought "that" car." All the members knew, the seller knew, the only one out of the loop was the uniformed buyer (and I have been looking for him since I was 12). That Roadmaster is a nice car and over the next 20+ years it is going to be hard whether to take the Buick or the Bird, Strive for a minimum of 15 miles per week on both. They will always maintain their highest value if you do. And while their value stays optimized, you will quickly forget the details of each expense. And ALWAYS wear out tires before they dry rot! Bernie

Always one to look at the most positive side of things, I often tell my wife that many people live much more blissful lives than I. Ebay Motors parts compatibility program is the extreme of relational data base programming gone wrong. Of course, when Ebay's new Man Machine interface Customer Representative tells you that O2 sensor fits your '64 Riviera you better find a threaded hole real quick. Bernie

Ever hear the one about the Hoosier who got Buffaloed into trading his Duesy for a Pierce? I think it happened on Oneida Street. Bernie If you got that cars could be an obsession.

So now you can spend the night cracking walnut shells in the driveway...... very slowly. (It gets boring up here in the frozen North). Those are the four bolts hidden by the flywheel, aren't they; I remember them from when I was a kid. Isn't that car silky to drive? Just think of that one hundred pound 80 year old woman in the showroom sliding in for a test drive. They made the clutch and the door handles just for her. I can imagine the conversation: "Hey! Where do these go?" "Oh Sh**!, they go up under the flywheel." "But it's all back together." "Well they over engineered a lot of stuff back then." "If he complains we'll put them in under warranty." June 2015 at the diner. "Remember that Buick with the extra bolts?" "Must be OK, haven't heard anything." "These home fries suck and the coffee tastes like soap. Should I tell the cook?" "Nah, he don't care." Good luck, that Roadmaster is a great car. Bernie

A Bentley would be a idea tour car as you describe, but they do push to the high end of a budget. Now, right in the middle of the two you are looking at is little sweetheart: http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C536340 I started building a replica of one of these Railtons on a 1933 Terraplane 8 chassis maybe 20 years ago. Simple, reliable, and if repairs are ever needed, very reasonable to fix. I can only think of one ride more exciting: That did it! I'm heading for the garage to get a car out! Bernie

I just leaned my head back and looked at the set of mechanic's books my Mother helped me buy in 1959; just wondering how old and old timer is. Finding an identifiably bad part is really a good thing. There have been a couple in the saga. I have to admit, I was concerned when you wrote the replacement was a 12 spring instead of a diaphragm clutch. Did someone miss Sesame Street the day they did "just like"? I was in a similar situation with my '86 convertible; new engine, rebuilt transmission, rebuilt subframe. The engine was running rough as a cob. I bought an old OTC 4000 meter for the ODB1, new injectors, and more. I couldn't pin down the crappy running. I disassembled every component of the fuel inject system and engine management. I did a homerun continuity check on every wire to the fuel injectors and found nothing amiss. I confided in my wife that I was going to put 200 miles on the car no matter how it ran and them go through everything again. That was 350 miles ago and over the weekend she asked when I was going to do that big job I told her about. It's running fine. I don't know what changed, just my abstinence and willingness the break the damned thing and let triple A bring it home. Given all the effort into finding a untenable problem, if it was mine, I'd say dammit, I'm putting 200 miles on it and hope I break what's wrong, let it shake. I'd just keep it off the show field and only visit my best friends. When all else fails illogic is the only logical path. Try it or toss it on a flatbed and send it up here. Sometimes busting the bronc has to be taken literally. Bernie

If you took the time to post the cars on the forum asking for advice you probably aren't really as excited as you could be about them. I think every time that Hudson moves power is provided by four Frenchmen. The Peirce-Arrow, being a coupe and in an undignified "wrong" color doesn't have the majestic look one of those cars should have. I bet you'd get a lot of "Nice Studebaker" comments. The car to find is the one that gives you heart palpitations until it is in your garage. Objective questions and answers will be cast aside in the rush to take possession. Five of the six cars I have were total impulse buys, consummated within hours. I am still excited to own them and usually walk backwards when I leave them parked just to enjoy looking. I'm pretty sure my next one will be the same type of illogical impulse buy. There are other places in life to be pragmatic, not cars. Especially in Italy, owning the car should be like being in Rome with Audrey Hepburn! Bernie

That looks like a home made water jacket distribution plate on the Hudson. It may be just a fabricated cover without the correct internal passages. If the original rusted away that new one could have cause overheating problems. The head sure looks like it has been off since painting and the coolant temperature sensor is not connected. You mentioned the Hudson needs mechanical and electrical work. I bet it overheats. I would be real suspicious of previous work that will need to be redone. Bernie

They are quite different cars. That is one thing about the hobby, when one finds a car they just have to have it may be a dark horse you never thought of, even a plow horse. I have driven a 1933 Hudson-Terraplane convertible coupe. t was a pleasure to drive, very responsive and agile. It is a little tight for a 200+ pound driver, but the fun of driving the car made up for it. Overall it was quite sporty. My final thought after a few drives to test the cooling system was that there would be a lot less modified 1930's cars if they all ran like that little Terraplane Eight. I drove a 1931 Pierce-Arrow Model 42 convertible coupe, as well. It was surprisingly "sporty" to drive. I liked the feel of the larger car and the large rounded hood out in front of me. It had great acceleration. I have not driven the Pierce-Arrow since it has had and overdrive added, but I did get a ride in it. The overdrive made a good improvement from the passenger's seat and would be a good addition. Both cars were in excellent condition. The sun is shining in my window and it is a beautiful day. It would be hard to decide which to take for a ride. I would lean toward the Pierce today. In your situation buying both would be the obvious solution. If you are under 50 years old you will never regret the purchase, although you may regret leaning one behind. The only regrets in life, that I have, are cars I either didn't buy or sold. The rest has been routine. If you can only have one the Pierce appears closer to driving and enjoying. The larger car would be my first choice. If you need some help PM me, I have a couple of good project managers that can take care of things here. Buying both fits the Mirko name best, too. Bernie

Pretty close to the state of delirium would be my guess. Two of those '39 Special converts are etched in my mind from the early 1960's. 50 years later I still look for them when I drive by the locations. One in Bergen, NY and the other in Spencerport. Bernie

It's not always obvious to someone new, but if you climb into the back seat and look in the top right corner there is a zipper. And the whole thing just comes apart. Bernie

A family dispute in Scotland? That's as rare as an argument between an Irish father and son. One of the favorite stories my Mother told was of her Father and Brother repairing the barn roof and her seven Sisters standing in the driveway praying that one didn't get thrown off. O'Briens, all. I bought a gas pump from a guy. It was lying in a hedgerow. I gave him $50 and he died that night at the Rod & Gun Club. Three years later his step son came over and said the coast was clear. The value had gone to $1,000 by the heirs. We got it from the same hedgerow. When in doubt, get out. Bernie

My little convertible doesn't even have a frame and I don't get cowl shake. Maybe it knows I'd use the "bigger hammer" in the background if it misbehaved. There is a '40 Lincoln Continental parts car in Mooresville I could use, certainly not need, but could use. I seem to attact temptation. Bernie

Thanks for seeing through the western New York colloquialisms and catching that these are things I would really do on my own car. I'd make it shake. If someone standing by didn't see what was wrong I'd shake it until I broke something. Just a random thought; that car should have a diaphragm pressure plate. Could they have slipped a 12 spring B&B in there when the clutch was replaced? I am contemplating a ride out to Mooresville, Indyanna. Maybe that's not far? Bernie

GM cars leak the best. That's what keeps them from rusting. Fords are pretty dry underneath and the oil pans rot through. Bernie

The comments gave me a flashback to 1978 when I paid $2,000 for my '64 Riviera. The real "in the know" group showed pity for my foolishness and were sure to tell me that I could buy the best for $1,000 easily. I wonder if a 30 year old kid working the swing shift in a power plant bought it. It surely wouldn't have been a seasoned expert. They are too smart to overpay. All my bargains belong to someone else today. The cars I overpaid for I KEPT. Trust me. Bernie

Imagine buying a project car for 6 cents a pound, what a deal! It reminds me of a banana sale in 1975. My wife and I had just started dating. She was a Hippy and made granola, baked bread, and all that natural stuff. I had a friend who sold wholesales produce and one day he had an excess of bananas. They were aging fast and sold for 10 cents a pound. She bought 10 pounds for a buck. Banana bread, what a deal. It sounded good and all our friends and parents ate banana bread to over flowing. I think the rest of the ingredients cost over $20. Kind of like a car project on a smaller scale. Bernie

If you are bored some day look for the Robin Williams monolog on Golf. Then just change the words to suit your conspiracy. It's like the auto manufacturers putting 18 adjustment screws on a carburetor. Try it. Bernie

My car has crank windows and they work without the ignition turned on as well, so the concept applies to both power and manual windows. Could we have uncovered a GM conspiracy here? Bernie

That's what the tree is for! None of you guys have ever burned oil off a clutch plate that way? OK, here's the money maker and how you win at pool. There are two ways to service a Buick with a torque tube. Roll 'er out front under, which is my preferred way; or, the flat rate way, disconnect the shocks and Port-A-Power the rear end back enough to get room. Now out of the eighteen jobs, who pushed it back and bent the springs and tore up all the rubber mounts? "Not I" said the mechanic. Could have been decades ago. It's peach pits up here. The seeds are inside the pits and pass as easily as a rearend rolls out from under a Buick. I'm reminded of servicing hydraulic windows on a Cadillac some years back. The owner was emphatic about showing me a car that worked correctly. You should have seen his face when he saw how they worked correctly. His wife even mentioned how impressed he was. I told her "With ******'s money and my patience there is nothing we can't do." She even smiled. Bernie

Tanks, .....for the memories. Back to the '60's in an '86. Bernie