60FlatTop

The '60 Buick 401's are real good performers. I had a six year old black Invicta when I was 17 and have put about 12,000 on my white Electra. Just be careful about getting a little nutsy with them. Like when your first born is standing in front of you with a camera: Bernie

First fire in the furnace today. Yep, the digital thermostat read 53 degrees in the garage this afternoon so I checked things over and bumped the set point up to 56. It went through the first cycle nicely and felt pretty good. Bernie

I took the door panel and lower hinge off one of my cars in about the same amount of time one of those car TV shows takes. Somehow it just felt more rewarding. Then I came in and watched a rerun of Wonder Woman. She had to find a porpoise with a deadline before it blew up an oil tanker Then Star Trek came on they had to repair the ship's engines and escape before their ship blew up. Deadlines, always deadlines. THe car I'm working on is 66 years old and if the job doesn't get done on time I'll drive something else. My life is so unrealistic......... Bernie

Find an old short wave radio guy. You can spot them by the slide rule in their pocket protector. They can slap an oscilloscope on it and find the problem in a couple of minutes. In the 1990's I had a big Allen automotive test center in my garage. They aren't around much anymore, but a home unit will get the same results. Bernie

My car was stolen early this morning and someone took it down a road past the No Motor Vehicle sign. Luckily they returned it with the camera on the front seat: Still warm at this end of the state, but I guess it could have been hotter. Bernie

I liked it a few years ago when it first made the rounds of the internet, as well. There is another one out there with the original "innocent" owner of a black '55 Chevy. She was 101 in 2011 and had bought the car in 1949. The story of the purchase would have been more interesting. It is almost 2015 and I am 66. I bought my 1964 Riviera in 1978; 35 years to go. I plan on making it, plus. Her concours car is a little different. My stuff is always a work-in-progress. My Packard and I have been together since June. So we are still making friends with each other. The relationship is a bit casual. You know, "I'm going to the diner for coffee. Wait for me in the parking lot." Bernie

Well, you can't law laws that are so obvious they actually reduce crime. Budgets depend on it: http://www.newsday.com/opinion/the-paradox-of-school-speed-cameras-editorial-1.9155908 Bernie

Those snap in bulb sockets rely on tension for a ground, whether they are metal or plastic. I like to solder a chassis ground wire to the bulb housing just to be sure: Bernie

Maybe someone has a rotted body with a salvageable upper trunk section. I would like to get the upper rear corners for a "period" Derham style knock off project. Thank you, Bernie

When I get a quart low my eyes turn blue. Bernie

Rule #1: Cars dissolve in water. And that's what they make rain out of. Bernie

It is interesting that so many replies are coming from those whom have done work for others or typically do their own work. Wouldn't a question like that usually be answered by those who waited and paid? Bernie

I do pretty good outsourcing work since the light came on about 20 years ago. I was going over a front and back porch rebuild with a Scottish carpenter. The guy was telling me all the reasons he wouldn't do what I wanted in a broken dialect that made me think "The Boat" was in my driveway. He had lived in the US for 30 years! I realized he couldn't speak the language because he had never listened to a word anyone had said to him. If he had he could have spoken our language fluently! I bet most of you know at least one of these people. You either work with one or married their daughter. I just stay away from the ones that roll their R's or use "mit" instead of "with". And that's just the carpenters. Henry Higgins could tell me he was a mechanic and I would still do that work myself. Bernie

I have a Cadillac logo cheese box. There's a great piece to denigrate the image. Being a family coat of arms, I don't think one can register it as a trademark. At least they shouldn't be able to. I use the O'Daly family crest in some of my dealings. If someone served me papers to stop using it, their lawyer would learn how to spell shillelagh pretty quick. Maybe the waste basket was to put old gaskets and seals from the 4100 and Northstar engines in. Bernie

Shot? Every time I see "My Mechanic" I cringe. Did he break the 1/4-20 cap screws. Just drill them out and Heli-Coil them. If the casing is porous coolant would have been leaking in and it seems like you would have known. If the cover was being cleaned and glass beaded in the inside (?) a little aggressively, well, mechanics will be mechanics won't they. Bernie

Here is a freshly painted part that is 28 years old and I doubt if more than 4 or 5 of the hundreds of thousands built have been treated to this detail. Cost to prep and paint: hidden in the invoices; added value to the car: negligible. The balance of skills mentioned above makes a successful combination. I did some work myself and the grunt work was done by my nephew. The money to pay him came from the profit of the sale of a project car to a guy with rose colored glasses. My nephew is rebuilding an 1800's house. I tell him he can get $80 per hour working on cars. You can hire an out of work carpenter for $15 an hour. Work on a car for an hour and pay the carpenter for 5. I have seen many areas in life, outside of the car hobby, where the simplicity of that thought gets overlooked. Bernie

How much could one put into a simple garage diorama like this? Its just a wave of the hand: Back in the 1990's I had a customer who had owned a 1941 Cadillac since 1964. Among other things, all the door weatherstrip was shot. I forget the installed price including the rubber, but he wanted to reduce cost. So I told the owner I would deduct the full hourly rate for hours he worked with me. He took the right doors, I took the left. An hour into the job with sweat just pouring off him, he asked for a ride home. Another had a 1959 Caddy that needed a brake job,.... and while you have it, the steering link, the wiper motor, the rear window rollers, as I remember there were something like 27 added jobs. Delivered the car and the invoice. Comment "Gee, that's an awful lot for a brake job." I'm planning to get back into it again just because I like it. My specialty was making freshly restored cars steer, start, and stop. Bernie

OOOOhhhh, Boy, that sure reminds me of a building operations consulting job I once went on. I have a little windshield time to do today. Maybe I will reminiscence about that job. Bernie

Marty, Thanks for the welcome. I have been a Packard fan since I was 15 and let a couple go over the years. Straight eights are a favorite driving engine of mine. I was snooping around a 1950 Hudson Commodore Eight on one Friday in June, then the Packard showed up on Saturday. Brought it home the next Tuesday on a flatbed (some assembly required. New York State was originally called Sherwood Forrest and the elected officials are mostly stricken with Robin Hood Syndrome. They define anyone they are not completely supporting as rich. If they can squeeze a nickle from a fee, tax, or surcharge they will grab it. Drive into New York on Interstate 90 sometime. There is a big sign at the border "Start Paying Here!" Hoping to exercise the Packard every day until snow falls. Bernie

This seems to be a quiet corner of the AACA Forum so here's a tid bit. I got my '48 Deluxe Eight inspected today, transferred the Pennsylvania title in June. Mileage showed 32,499, which I believe to be true. I just have to figure out why it appears to have had a decade or so of outside storage and what led up to it. Bernie

Interesting to pick 13 years old. I got my first car when I was 12. It was a 1949 Plymouth. When I was 13 I pretty much knew enough to stay away from Chrysler products. :) Bernie

Sure Jetstar you told your wife the cars were your friend's. I know how that works: Bernie

We took the '60 Buick over to the town five miles to the west for lunch, as is kind of typical for us, then I ran up and got the "new" Packard inspected: That was my third time driving it. So I did drive at least one old Buick and one old Packard. The Packard is a 288 flat head eight with standard. It drives smooth and has a good feel. The car is a 1948, same as me. Bernie

That's not a good assumption to make. Who is "they"? A Dynaflow may not move when put in Park, but take off in low, or after what seems like a long delay. And it will move when shifted into Low or Reverse. That problem is caused by a loss of suction in the pump. The clearance of the pump can become worn and allow the prime to flow back to the pan or, if you are lucky, a seal can allow air to break the vacuum holding the prime. I was lucky. A can of Trans X restored the seal performance and the car shifts instantly. I did that over two years ago. Be careful dealing with "they's". Bernie

Over the years I have notice the warm key experience on a few cars, mostly 1960's Cadillacs. There can be a lot of current through the ignition switch and I attributed that to be the cause. I toyed with the idea of an ignition relay as a way to reduce the current. That is the most constant flow. The design ampacity of the switch should prevent the heat so resistance is building up somewhere. Visual inspection or and ohmmeter should find it. My idea of a relay was to reduce the possibility of failure of a hard to get ignition switch. Bernie