60FlatTop

5 PM and these two just got put away until tomorrow. No hiccups, burps, farts, or offense actions. Bernie

That's going to keep a smile on my face all day. THEY don't know any better. And how many of us will be looking at cars for sale online today? There is only one qualification for me to buy a car- I desperately want it, can't live without it, and have have it NOW. I have never NOT overpaid for a car. But I have usually sold the ones I paid the least for. Sickness, sickness, sickness. Bernie

Of all the things I tried to teach my wife, it seems like the only thing she got was the term "buying work". Recently we were talking about the Packard I bought last year and she said "you haven't bought any work in a long time." And even that one was a hand off of work in progress. It is all hundreds of $100 jobs and a place to keep it. The key indicator is that nothing ran the bell for you. If you come home with heart palpitations and start emptying the cash from coffee cans you know you found something great. To be able to sit down and write objectively about what you saw and ask the forum......... you know they are a bunch of duds. What if you spend your money and something really great comes along next week? I have three secret cars that I've never mentioned for 10-15 years. Just breathing the names might jog someone's memory. I followed up on one last year with the proverbial $10,000 in hand. The car hobby is transitioning. Each passing of an old timer is going to leave a pool of cars like that, lots of them. The young people whom might have the interest in old cars don't have the money. The ones whom do have money are investing in their future, not our past. There are going to be increasing numbers of good deals, enough to make the real car guys, like us, some great buys. The cars mentioned, stop back in a couple of years and make a decent offer on the Buick sedan. If you buy the sedan that's one less competitor for the convertible I hope to find. Bernie

Although I haven't done the job many times, it is a good idea to RTV or Leak Lock the threads four bolts that are tapped into the water jacket. And I use 4 to 6 fine threads through the oil pan bolt holes to keep the gasket in place while I navigate it. They can stay. They don't hurt anything. Bernie

Tuesday marked 100 traffic deaths in Minnesota for 2015, and those were adult drivers. It's amazing the risk a kid will take when they don't know how dangerous adult drivers are. I probably sat on my Dad's lap and steered when I was 6, but I was 12 before I drove my own car around the back yard (key phrase: my own). Bernie

A faulty thermostat, soft lower radiator hose, or timing issues can cause that. A good plan would be to check all the home repair items; then take it for and exhaust gas sniff. I remember you had a brake issue a while back. Dragging brakes could make those symptoms happen. I knew of one old Caddy that used to boil its transmission fluid and mysteriously spit it all over the engine. The owner was at a cruise in one night and went back to his car to pull the brake pedal up by hand so the brake lights wouldn't stay on. I had to go to confession because of my comments, Irish, you know. Bernie

Cavity creep would be a Newtonian effect in the accumulator causing an equal and opposite reaction; probably the accumulator check valve. You could try sinking your teeth into that. Bernie

Please consider the source. My signature picture was taken by my only son as I approached him at 60 MPH, on a dirt road, with biased tires. I'm pretty sure I was wearing neither a belt or suspenders, certainly not both. As I age 10,000 thoughts get triggered from comments; sometimes they are entertaining. Bernie

That shielded wire could be a life saver when those boys at Fort Drum practice without a ground spotter. Bernie

I am with John on the gauges. My '60 had three on it when I bought it. I took them out. I installed three under the hood of the convertible to keep an eye on the fresh engine. I am satisfied and they will probably be removed this summer. My Riviera has a temperature gauge tie wrapped to the air conditioning line. Somewhere around the turn of the century the hot light would come on. It's a test gauge and the sensor was bad. I gotta pick up a new sensor one of these days. I don't think the term "idiot lights" refers to the lights themselves. Think about the response to a gauge indication that suddenly goes out of proper operating range; what thought will it trigger? "Oh! I'm three quarts low. I thought there were less mosquitoes this year. Or jeez, I should have replaced that 50 year old oil filter hose." Then there is "Damn, time flies. I really put those new heater hoses on in 1990?" or "I knew that fan blade shouldn't wiggle that much." True quote "once it made a horrible noise when I had to brake hard. You mean I need a radiator AND new motor mounts!"; That little bypass hose ruined the whole vacation." Then there was the Griswald's Rolls-Royce that pegged the ammeter every time the brakes were applied. Can't have too many extra tail and brake lights. Idiot lights come on too late and gauges deviate to remind one of what they forgot to do. On a dashboard under normal driving they are pretty much a throwback to the 1950's when they built cars for ALL the ex-pilots from WWII. Now there's opinion the gauge maker ain't gonna like. But anything they tell you really should be predictable. And even my wife knew Navy planes didn't run on steam. Bernie

How about anti-lock mechanical on the rear and hydraulic on the front up to 1965 on the RR & B cars. They even use the power steering ram as an auxiliary bumper. Bernie

Before there were cars, very specific procedures were required before you dumped a virgin into the volcano. I KNOW a lot of stuff I do is just ritual and farting around, but I know I repeat the process the same each time. That keeps you from leaving a step out. Look at the Brits. They had been making gaskets out of oceanographic charts for centuries. Here is a picture of Henry Ford when he visited Britan to show them how to many gaskets. They never figured it out and eventually Ford bought Jaguar and sealed up most of the leaks. Buying Jaguar pretty much sealed the deal for gaskets worldwide. Bernie

I can guarantee that a properly maintained cooling system is more reliable than any gauge you can buy. There's a shocking $0.02. Bernie

Being aluminum with a water seal, I use Leak Lock https://www.google.com/#q=leak+lock&tbm=shop&spd=5677129466281146109 with a gasket on the Buicks. That is for both the timing cover, which I haven't replaced many times and the water pump. After 50 years of owning Buicks, I have gotten away with a couple of broken water pump bolts with the Leak Lock. When I reassembled the Riviera around 20 years ago I used hardened Allen head 1/4-20 machine screws on the water pump, Leak Lock on the gasket surface, and Never Sieze on the bolts. The hardened bolts resist rust and bonding with the aluminum. Seems to be working pretty good. Bernie

Storage units in my area cost about $100 to $120 per month. I have one that is 10' X 10' X 20' with lights. I have lot stored there and a good relationship with the owner would get me another bay for a month or two just to get some elbow room by parking one of the cars there. Twelve hundred bucks over the course of a year doesn't buy a lot in the way of restoration. At the end of two years things should be pretty well settled, references made, and the discovery that everything worn out on the good car is bad on the parts car unless it is physical body damage, that you already swapped. It's a good option when one considers $30,000 to $50,000 on an easy restoration. I wish I could write that renting space is an incentive for speedy work and early completion. Maybe for some, it sure ain't happened here. Bernie

My wife would just sit in awe of the way I handled the situation. hmmmmmmm, I just happened to think; I go on most of the long drives alone these days. Bernie

I have been reading this forum for quite a few years and the most entertaining, drawn out, and usually most expensive stories contain the phrase "my mechanic". You just did what that fabled "my mechanic" would never do. This is post 21 ! Not bad. And that was the whole engine. I have the domain name for www.pragmaticoperators.com. I haven't developed it yet. When I do you are invited to join the PO'ed. It is a better aproach. Bernie

Jamestown is not without its frightening aspects. A couple hundred yards from Lucy's stature we declined a chance for a couple of beers. Inviting place isn't it. I am also a bit re-sculpted. That is a picture of me before the stroke, heart attack, and double bypass, about 40 pounds re-sculpted. Bernie

I knew that red convertible when I pulled my '60 into the parking lot. The last time I saw it was at our chapter picnic when our Finger Lakes Chapter hosted the New York State Gathering. I managed to rack up about 350 miles yesterday. I hit the NYS Thruway about 6:45 an ran the 150 miles to Utica for an earlier appointment to see about 140 dream cars stashed in an old mill. The private collection had a lot; more Bugatti's than you could shake a stick at, '30's Caddies, a new Aston Martin convert, Mercedes from gull wing to retractable hardtop and the in betweens, Enough Porsche's to use an engine for a coffee table, a couple of Jaguars like the ones I shouldn't have sold, a real Cobra, a '30'a Alfa. Just tons of stuff And Bob Malley's blue bus! That was a surprise. So how do I go to a place 150 miles away and make it a 350 mile trip? I came all the way back on Route 31 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_State_Route_31, comes within a mile of my house. I have been reading a book about the Erie Canal from 1790 to 1854 and my route home took me through the path in Utica all the way out to my wilderness area. Great exercise for the car 70 MPH steady driving out and 60 or so, slowing for small towns coming back. What a great prelude to an oil change. I thought about it. Too many cars in the garage to drop the oil when I got home. I lost track of you or I would have talked more! Bernie

Lucy got bronzed for her dramedy show Bernie.

Has anyone on the forum bought one of these TV assembled cars? It would really be interesting to find out where they are today, where the owner takes them, how happy they are with the build quality, and how the cars are holding up. The stories must be as incredible as the shows ........ incredible; interesting word. Cuba is opening now. Maybe the car shows will be replaced by a reality show about a Cuban drummer who comes to the US to play in night clubs and marries a red haired Irish girl from the Southern Tier of New York. Now, there's a hair brained idea from a show. Bernie

Well........ I can't swim. B

What is it about the way this 50 year old car runs that makes it seem "unhappy"? I just put Mobil regular in my happy cars. Of course, the same tanker stops at the Mobil station each time. Bernie

I'm back! Bernie

Seller's remorse is a hell of a lot easier to get over than buyer's remorse. I wouldn't mind suffering a little this afternoon. Bernie