60FlatTop

Wasn't there one base shade in both gray and green with 4 varying tints that were incrementally darker for each ten thousandths of piston or rod deviation from the standard? Bernie

Are you using a spark plug socket wrench? B

Around 1994 I put a new pump on my Riviera and used hardened 1/4-20 Allen screws in place of the standard cap screws, The got a liberal coat of Never-Sieze on the threads. Since then the whole works has been coated with Bill Hirsch engine paint. A can of water pump lubricant in the coolant is a standard procedure of mine. In typical machine use the black coated Allen screws tend to corrode less and the hex socket is as deep if not deeper that the original screws heads, which seem a little shallow. Seems fine so far. Bernie

That's a nice straight car. Plan on getting a lot of pleasure from it. I see you have other old cars so I am not going to preach about betting your life on the four jack stands. You must have other support when you are actually under it. Bernie

5'8", 130- only the cars are big.

I signed up to bid and trying to figure out a way to get there next week. I have had one of his creations so long I would like to pick up a personal item. Too bad they are not selling his suit: I already have the haircut and body language: Just need the hat. Bernie

Pretty close to the cost of one correct biased tire for my car. Bernie

The car doesn't run. It needs a rebuilt carb, $300; a signal light assembly, $300; and transportation away from a place where it didn't sell, $1,000. There is a known $5500 entry fee. And there are things we don't know. I used to buy cars like this based on how much I wanted it, how much I could sell it for if I didn't like it once I got it, and how much I could afford to lose in a year. I do all the work, maybe a head gets dropped off for valve grinding. One can not even think about it if they have to "take it to their mechanic". So, 10 years ago, when I was inclined to do this kind of thing, I figured I could eat $3,000 a year without taking food and clothing from my wife and kids. Could I buy this car from money in the tin car in the garage, get familiar with it, and dispose of it with a loss of under $3,000 if it proved unworthy to keep? Could I sell it for $3,000 or more next spring? Probably more than $3,000 but not much more than $5000. I would be safe in minimizing my loses, pretty sure the tin can would have less in it next year, and at risk of having a car I didn't really have a driving urge to own. Car guys in Milwaukee didn't want it. It is likely car guys anywhere wouldn't want it. Bernie

Here's the news: http://www.abc12.com/story/25890735/mitchell-car-museum-in-owosso-to-sell-collection-at-auction It is a 3 hour flight for me, $400 round trip. Being a '64 Riviera owner I could see spending 5 or 6 hundred of the kid's inheritance on that. Bernie

Our village Buick dealer was next door to the Amoco station. I remember a big poster on the Buick dealer's wall showing the clean internals of an unleaded fuel engine in 1973. It was a big deal to the typical Buick buyer of the time, that age group who usually want to avoid any kind of change. The other day I was in the garage and ran across the ICS correspondence automotive course study booklets I used in 1969, between trying to rescue a captured ship from the Koreans and catching Apollo shot splash downs. Young minds are impressionable and I always remembered the cresyl phosphates replaced the lead in those early unleaded fuels. To the original topic, I used the original biased tires because the stance of the car changes with the aspect ratio and sidewall height of radials. Sometimes the wheel well radius is not filled. And I have my old cars for aesthetic reasons. If they don't look right I just don't like it. If I was to consider a 12 point loss for judging I guess I would have a different attitude, if all the other components left me at 388 points. Bernie Oh, the Amoco- I didn't use that for aesthetic reasons. Growing up with logos from Mobil, Gulf, ESSO, Sinclair, and the like, the modern style of the Amoco always looked cheap and foreign to me. I never stopped unless I coasted in. Now there's an attitude for you.

I have been using ValSpar Satin Black Polyurethane for frames, chassis parts, and under hood items for a couple of decades. It has just the right gloss and is really durable. My '64 Riviera got the treatment in 1994 with an expoxy primer subcoat and still looks great. Bernie

The '63's are 51 years old. '64's and '65's are 50 and 49 respectively. All cars begin to need expensive repairs at the half century mark. That is a lot of what keeps them home and out of sight. Look at the 50ish cars and the age of their mechanicals. Chevy powered stuff can have a transplanted '80's or '90's engine. And I think you can still get a rebuilt small block for around a grand. The Buick should cost about $2500 for a basic job. I have been watching the aging of the hobby for a few decades. In the 1990's the early '60's cars started dwindling unless they were restored. Does anyone remember the restored 1956 chassis at the 2003 Buick Nationals? It was about 50 years old and ready. Mid 50's cars had been pretty much survivors to that point. Now, in 2014, the next group of 50 year old's is in need of rejuvenation. They are staying home needing an injection of cash. So at the next meet take a look at the unrestored 50 and older cars. There is a general lack of attendance. Its the age and cost to keep them going. Lots of '70's and 80's cars out there now. Bernie

Don Booker jgrelining@gmail.com <jgrelining@gmail.com> relines them for $275 each. Bernie</jgrelining@gmail.com>

Here's the one I used to peg the speedometer needle on frequently: The date on the picture is pre-radial except for those Volkswagen ones. After I put the recapped snow tires on I could hardly push it past 110. When we saw radials first start to show up the belts would shift on our heavier US cars and the ass end would sashay sideways when you drove slow. They got that fixed. My Impala SS has been aligned twice with new radials and still pulls to the right. The shop told me it is caused by "radial pull" and they can't do anything. So I'm trying to figure how the car that pulls to the right with radials is safer than the car with biased tires that goes down the road straight... I know a lot of internet abbreviations; is FOS one? Bernie

On the topic of Washington, is there really a petition to change the name of the state to disassociate it with the other Washington? My wife and I were driving the 1960 Electra today and I told her about this topic. She said "You don't look like you are having much trouble." We were driving on a two mile section of scarified two lane that is scheduled for repaving; all those orange barrels and groves. I used to own a red 1967 Sunbeam Alpine and learned how to imitate Maxwell Smart pretty good. So, crisply and authoritatively I asked "Have I ever told you about vapor lock." She still giggles pretty good. We got lunch and came home on the same treacherous route. Bernie

Pretty straight forward stuff. Just follow the cables and look for attaching points. The first time I did mine I missed the mounts at the rear kickup. I guess it was a "forty something" thing. wait until you get to the "sixty something" things! I learned a lot from bad examples when I was a kid, now that you mention cables. In 1964 or '65 my Grandfather and I were removing the engine and transmission unit from a real clean white 1957 Mercury Commuter 2 door wagon. It had a push button shift in the center of the steering wheel. The cable was attached and he, as always, was in a hurry. He pulled the cable to the edge of the frame rail and beat it in two with a hammer. We put a '57 Ford 312 engine and transmission in that one so he brought in his son-in-law to swap steering columns. What a mess! Then we had to change the length of the driveshaft. A torch, inner pipe and four carriage bolts did it. He showed me that you had to blow the bolt holes in 90 degrees from each other to maintain balance. Tip #!: Don't lay the cable against the frame and beat it in two. You know. I am still learning from other people..... in the same manner. Bernie I'm the nerd with glasses, always paying attention, George knew: http://www.neatorama.com/2007/10/01/quote-george-bernard-shaw-on-cynicism/#!bAGNO7

Here is is Sunday morning and I was planning on about a 200 mile round trip ride on a combination of back roads, secondary roads, and expressways in the salt belt of western New York. The roads aren't great and many have tar strips where a low bidder widened them. The only thought I had prior to seeing this message was that I needed to get some gas. And I just drive up the the regular pump at the Mobil station for that. Close to 90 today and don't expect the dreaded "vapor lock", either. I'm about 14,000 miles on my '60 with biased tires. I am about 2,000 miles into the second set of new ones and luckly wore the first set out at the rate of about 1,000 mikes per year. They didn't age rot on the car. The air pressure is right. The steering center link is tight. The steering box is tight with the correct preload. The tie-rod ends are tight. All the pivot points and ball joints are in good condition. The shocks are all fairly new. The front wheel bearing have been replaced and adjusted correctly. My car was purchased in February, 1961, a left over, for a little over $3,000. I feel as secure as the person who laid out that three grand and drove it home the first time. It didn't handle like a radial tired, front wheel drive, disc brake, 3,000 pound car then and it doesn't now. It is very safe BECAUSE IT IS MAINTAINED. A friend of mine was over yesterday looking at the '48 Packard I just bought. The previous owner turned over his expense folder. We looked at the new tires (biased), sandblasting the wheels, the brake job including a new master cylinder and lines, the fuel tank removal and new fuel lines, and a new clutch; close to $5,000. My friend said "Yeah, but none of this shows." And receipt for $500 to rechrome a few parts was in the house. He didn't think the car looked too good. I think the whole radial tire issue is based on cost. Radials are common and cheaper. Digging into the suspension on a 50 year old car uncovers a lot of parts and labor that "don't show" and conditions that are easily masked with some flexible sidewalls. I can tell you, a ride in the Electra or the Riviera, on biased tires today will not be some fight to maintain a straight line on the road. It costs an average of $600 per year in routine maintenance and preservation. Some years I get way ahead and some years I get a small break. Over time the averages work out. If the money isn't spent or the place it is spent is not competent the car will not perform the way it did to pry the premium money from the original purchaser. And I had to smile at the comment about biased tires in the snow: Bernie

Don, It is good to see your notice pop up. I plan to be at Hershey this year, out of commission the last three years. It is always great to be reminded of your website and that fantastic list of car shows. Sometimes I forget to look there. ThankS for all the hard work. Bernie

Here are some Cragar 5 on 5 17"X 8.5" that I put on my Chevy. They have 255-50 Nitto Invo's on them, stock size for the Chevy. Someday when the new paint is on the Riviera I may slide them on. I understand that Cragar does not make the 5X5 anymore. These were new and came from a speed shop close out in New Jersey. I get stopped a couple times a week in parking lots and asked about the wheels, of course I'm in the redneck part of New York. The county just south of me has more cows than people. I'm pretty sure the wheels wouldn't cut it in the metro NYC area, too small. Bernie

The kids need to learn this stuff, especially Wowing the future wife. I took mine out in my '66 Riviera the first time and after dinner, when I turned the lights on, they rotated down and swept across the height of an apartment building next door. And she thought I was as prepared as a Boy Scout when she saw the rear seat door handles. Get them at the right age and you can even talk them into washing your car: A boyfriend with a job and two cars; little did that college girl know how washing that car would lead into a lifetime of washing laundry.

I purchase every piece of NOS or NORS exhaust for my cars whenever they show up. Jolly John has provided a few sections. The pieces are always manufactured mandrel bent and NOT bent up on a pipe bending machine by someone reading an information card. The only company that did an acceptable job was King & Queen Mufflers in Pa. Theirs didn't fit so they paid to ship my originals and the new ones back to be corrected. We have noisy mufflers and improperly bent pipes from the big two in my nephew's tin pile, hundreds of dollars worth. Sometimes he cuts a piece off to scab something together. Sure customer service is great, they get a lot of practice: Bernie

Here's a 16 year old taking the engine out of a '54 Olds junkyard style about 1965: Bernie

Get a '66 T-Bird and your son can REALLY start helping you fix the car....... a lot! Bernie

Just ask my wife; she'll tell you the quote "Restraint is my least recognized attribute". Soooo close to being guilty. Bernie