60FlatTop

Might want to do a hormone check on that last one. You know how those Brits like to dress up. The Jaguars look real. Bernie

Since my wife doesn't read this forum, I can say that my average cost is about 5 to 10% of it's estimated value annually during each 10-15 years of ownership. With one in the garage for 35+ and another approaching 15 years I guess I am qualified. This year I am adding temperature control and I know it is important, cooling next summer. That will add another $1,000. This car claims Pebble Beach Standards (over restored to the point it may be considered modified?). You definitely have an environment and temperature sensitive car. It is not a car to let sit for six months under a car cover. It is quite a liability. Bernie

The best piece of adice came from a friend of mine during conversations in the early 1990's. He said join the club before you buy the car. Don't buy the car and then join the club. The BCA has the Torque Tube for those models. Become an active member and use all the resources of the club to help you make the best purchase possible. Once you have selected the model you want to own you will find there is a finite number of them left in various conditions. The better the condition, the more likely a member will know about it. They know about the bad ones too. Let them guide you. The last thing you want to do is secretly make that "big score" and then show up at a meet to hear someone say "Oh, you bought THAT car." Spend an active year researching. It is not a long time when you remember some have had cars for more than a year and can't toss the keys to their wife to let her run up to the store for a gallon of milk. Bernie

Three feet! Craigslist and Ebay sellers, just drag the thing three feet so it is not sunk in the ground. It might sell. Bernie

Another Ebay car with a reserve, I expect I know the outcome without evaluating the details. Bernie

After watching this for a few days, I have a great idea. Let's get Quentin Tarantino to produce a movie about the Buick guys attending the Velocity channel annual car show. Maybe it could be called "Rebel Without a Clue". The Buick guys would help keep the misguided out of tattoo shops. Bernie

I usually give a little spritz of silicone spray into the end of hoses before I slip them on. If you are going to make new fuel lines use the first step of double flaring to make the ball shaped end. This will allow use of the factory style Corbin clamps, keep the hose from slipping off, and eliminate a sharp edge that could cut the hose from the inside. Bernie

Wasn't his name Ferris Bueller? Bernie

Before kids played video games and had computers, actually 1965, Louie's Auto Parts on Drake Rd. in Clarkson, New York was sold. I was nearing the end of my 16th year and working at the tire shop on the Main Road, RT. 104. The real estate agent who had sold the yard stopped in and told us the cars were being scrapped and we could buy anything we wanted while they were cleaning up. I knew the place well. There was a '40 Ford convertible, a couple of Mercury coupes, some '30's Cadillacs, and a few Hudsons worth picking parts from. Junk was going for 20 bucks a ton at the time so I figured I could scoop up a few deals. Just as I walked up to the agent in the yard a 1938 Caddy was being fork lift carried across the yard, die cast grille bright and shiny. I told him I would be interested in the grille. I remember he told me something like $60 (in 1965 money). Then he quoted $30 each for a few fenders from other cars. All the time the Trojan was carrying cars across the lot and dumping them into a pile. I told him that he was a little whacked and the stuff was going for a penny a pound. My idea was to pull the parts, estimate the weight, and give a generous offer above junk rate, but not 1000's of times more. I went home with my money and they scrapped out the lot. Since 1965 I have seen this scenario over and over again with junkyards as well as individual cars. I am sure it is as inevitable as more wars to end all wars. Humans just do stuff like that. I haven't stopped offering and a few times I have been able to "buy myself some work". Bernie

I'm curious. What is your personal estimation of the vale of the '95 Riviera convertible? Bernie

It is good to see you surface here. That is a lot of work that went into the website and all those pictures. There were some red flags and using the "Whois" for domain name search can be a money saver I saw the default link to 1954 Buick and wondered about the Earl connection. The 1943 Buick domain got me, too. Somewhere in my piles of stuff are a few of the reprints of Smith Motor Compressor Manuals UI did in the 1990's. Reprints are a labor of love for sure. It is good the confusion is cleared up. What is your Ebay user name? Bernie

Come on, how do you put "They often call me Lamar, but my real name is Mr. Earl" to music? Its as bad as "They often call me Mirro-Magic but my real name is Mr. Bernie"

Just ask for the car to be repaired to the condition it was in before the accident. That should be an option. Exclusivity of the conversion will not get you much in the financial world when it is a daily driver. Here is my '86 Park avenue convertible. I know of another in Canada but it is partly dissembled and hasn't run in a few years. I have about $12,000 in it and stated value insurance for $9,000. Stated value is the only way to insure cars like that. If I wanted to sell it the process would be long and drawn out. It is not iconic, well known, or in a bracket of "must haves". In fact, if we took our cars to the Buick Nationals they would be wedged in between a couple of hearses. I also have a 1994 Impala SS insured with J. C. Taylor as a collector car for about the same value. Appraisal books call it a Caprice because the SS was an option package. It is under-insured as well. There were only 6400 of those built compared to about 45,000 made in '95 and '96. Rarity does not mean value, especially when you are the seller. Predicting an incident and preparing is the best way to minimize your risk. If a car is one of one or one of two there are a couple of real obvious steps one can take. I'm sure they don't need to be listed here. Just keep demanding repair or replacement in kind. Bernie

Having a domain name and a gmail address might raise a red flag. And no postal address was provided. Searching "Whois" on the domain came up with: http://whois.domaintools.com/hometownbuick.com . And they have 25 other sites based mostly on Buick years. The prices listed are reasonable. And putting up 3000 pictures for inventory was a lot of work. Sure are a lot of red flags. Try www.14943buick.com or 1946 and see where they send you. Bernie

I was at my local junkyard on Wednesday. The owner is 79 years old and things are slow. Many take off parts are stored in old city busses. That's the place I offered $1,000 for all the loose hub caps 10 years ago. The ice may be breaking. I asked how much he wanted for the contents of the tail light bus, he said $200. I will probably buy them and market them online, but it is a real PIA to make money that way. Every government agency wants a piece. It's time consuming and a person could make more money at the end of the day pumping gas for minimum wage. Sometimes you just have to accept change. Patronize the guys whom are still dedicated. Some do a little extra to attract attention, like this guy: Paul love's old Cadillacs best, even has a Cadillac crest tattoo. I'm not even that devoted. They are real people and pretty good guys. Give them your business. He might need to make repairs on the truck: Bernie

I went to it once around 1994. I flew out from New York and I think it was a March or April one. As I remember the difference between Rochester airport and Ontario was about 70 degrees. After just missing the event three times while working at a Xerox plant out there I just decided to go. I stayed in Diamond Bar, not too far from the fairgrounds. It is more a cultural event. Parking is best when you bring an old car and hang a For Sale sign on it. The car corral side backed up to the Pomona Dragstrip and somewhere I have a film photographed picture from the end of the strip toward the starting line. I went for three or four days and just hung out. Went to Palm Springs, Brea and the Brea Valley, accidentally up the road the the Chino Correction Facility, old town Pomona, Kenne-Bell Buick, Fontana where I saw the stacked highway interchange, the Living Desert. I was alone and really had a good time. People gathered in the car corral and small bands played. It was neat. The real for sale cars were awful. They were sun fried. Once I started looking at them I found every piece of rubber hard as a rock and the upper surfaces of fenders, hoods, and roofs were deeply pitted (lots under new paint) from the sun cooking the paint off and the metal exposed to the elements. I only saw one car I wanted and I'm pretty sure it had been garaged all its life. It was nice to get back to the rust belt and see a pliable car. I had fun but distances for dragging parts were long, like a small western Hershey. Would I buy a ticket and fly out there again, sure! Airfare is event cheaper now. If I needed parts I would find them online and have them shipped. Its a hang out and be social event. Bernie

Although I haven't looked at an air ride car in quite a while, The control may be service related. If you raise an air lift car on a lift the axles drop in relation the the frame. That would make the ride height sensor think the car was sitting too high and release all the air from the bags to lower it. If any part of the inflation system is not working when the car comes back to the floor she lies on her belly, not pretty. I bet you have seen some 1990's Lincolns in that position. The dealer service shops knew about this precaution. The corner garage may not. I would figure that to be an over ride. Bernie

If you brought up a page with the product you might be able to try a couple of key words in your browser history. Bernie

Well, I stuffed a few in there. Bernie

I have a set of NOS hangers on my car that I bought from Joe Galina around 1995. I guess you need to hop into one of these for another set: Bernie

I have color coded vacuum lines on my '64. I parted out a 1969 Cadillac and took all the nicely weather protected hoses from under the dash. There was a lot and the colors matched pretty good. When I ran short I used standard, uncolored, hose inside the console. What shows in the engine compartment is all correct. One good thing about New York rust belt cars, stuff under the dash stays nice and doesn't get cooked on all our grey cloud covered days. Bernie

You can drill out the rivets and cut tire sidewalls into strips to rebuild the old hangers. Bernie

Winter weather is really here now and I just came in from working on that garage temperature control. I have had a gas furnace in there since 1988. I just turned it on when I went out to work. With the digital age upon us check this out> I ran a CAT 5 wire the 150 feet to the garage inside one of those thin plastic water lines. I decided on hard wire instead of wireless. That wire connects to my router in the house and a web based thermostat processor for the garage. Here's a shot during installation: I needed to locate the thermostat off an outside wall so conduction wouldn't keep it too cool. I mounted it a little over 5' off the floor on the edge of a shelf: Now I have local control or I can open a browser on my phone in the diner and let the furnace make it nice and toasty while I drive home. I plan to set it for 53 degrees and see how it works out. The processor is capable of calculating my cost based on the BTUH input so I can watch an ad hoc budget and adjust or curtail accordingly. Another feature is inputs from other devices. I'm going to alarm the doors and windows as well as install fire and smoke detectors. The inputs will text or email me an alarm in about 15 seconds. All that and I still have biased tires on my old cars. Go figure. Oh, and how is this for blending into the hovel in that corner of the garage: Bernie

I thought about it a bit and then didn't answer. But I just looked at the Australian post and it clicked; sure! Bernie

That's a nice collection of cars to get together. And its the beginning of your summer weather. I was hoping to get to Sydney this February or March, then shifted to the Canary Islands, now shifted to the Caymans. Maybe I'll get back around to Oz. That's a really nice bunch of cars. Bernie