60FlatTop

Guess how stupid I was! And it could be genetic. An couple generations ago the Daily's, Faries, and Coffey's were all related in Rochester, New York; check the family tree. I had a positive ground 1935 Nash Twin Six Ambassador Victoria 2 door sedan. In the winter the battery went dead so I inadvertently recharged it backwards. Everything seemed fine until I noticed the amp gauge went to discharge when I revved the engine. I called an electrical engineer friend who told me it would be very hard to do that..... but if anyone could he suspected it would be me. He recommended I drain the battery to an equally "flat" condition and recharge it correctly. He was skeptical. I hooked the fan from an old dash mounted heater to the battery with vise grips on the wires and sucked all the juice from the battery. Then recharged it positive to positive. Everything restored to original and I think the battery lasted another four or five years. And I sold the heater on Ebay! You learn stuff working on cars. Bernie

I like the car and $8.500 isn't a bad entry fee. In fact it is a good annual budgetary figure. I like to generalize project costs at 50% parts and 50% labor. $8500 annually puts you at $700 per month or $350 parts/$350 labor over the next 8 to ten years. You would get to do all the work, farm out the paint and complicated stuff, and have years of day dreaming for about $20 a day. And some have sold for as high s $80,000. Bernie

That was at noon. I just got back from going out for coffee with this one:

Well, March in New York is pretty good today.

Minga! Must have backed into a deer!

I just read a bunch of stuff about cars sunk in the ground, swapping transmissions, and buying choices for Rivieras. I have a brilliant idea! My wife is working at the library, she left me money to deposit in the bank at the other end of town, and the sun is shining. In less that 5 minutes the '60 Electra is going to have engine oil splashing on its innards, pink fluid flowing in the torque converter, and golden, fresh 90 wt. whirring through the bevel gears. I'll be rolling up Main Street smiling like Uncle Miltie. Its good to be me. Bernie

Please note Glen Burnie is spelled with a "u". Shake all thoughts of any other Bernie from your head. Here is a neat seller's trick; move the car 3 feet before taking a picture. Here is another Craigslist treasure. A little Chlorox helps sometimes too:

I'm curious. Did you install new 1/4" stainless lines? Bernie

Here is a shot showing the Chevy body mounts in place: And here is one with a garage full of icons:

Who wants a brown car? I bet you have a 1/4" strip of brown metal running along your quarter windows, too. I forgot to paint mine. I wouldn't put lifting pressure on anything but the body mount locations even if you have to jack slowly from side to side. If you have friends over give one a can of beer and a hammer. Tell him if he sees you roll the windows down and start to slide a 2X4 through, he should hit you with the hammer until you stop. If you can, get the rear wheels off and balance the third member on a floor jack so you have the lowest clearance. I did mine around 1994 and 20 year old stuff was still in stock. A ;76 Impala is pretty generic as a GM body/frame car. It turned out they were nearly the same. When I put the body back on the frame I nailed together 3 2X4's about 4" long an put them in place of the body mounts. That gave me extra finger room while I did final checks and got things where I want them. In 1988 when I had that garage built I was planning a 24'X24" to add onto later. My wife said for the age I was I'd better get what I wanted (40). It's 26 X 40. Imagine what she'd let me have for the age I am now! Might even be able to get a mistress, too! Bernie

We had a '64 Impala two door hardtop with a stick six once. I thought it denigrated the idea of having an Impala. I don't think I would do it unless I could find a factory radio delete plate. Imagine showing up with a stick shift, radio delete car............ nah, somehow I imagine a swarm of Mopar guys running up. Just keep saying to yourself "Dynaflow, not Dynarow." and watch out for them slickers in western New York! Bernie

I changed the water pump (no bolts broke) on my '60 a few years ago. I took the radiator to a friend's shop to recore just for general principles. He was completely against replacing the core because of its condition and the inferior quality of the replacement cores. Then he went the extra mile. Radiator paint is a special blend that enhances heat flow. Being a fussy PIA, I said it was OK for the core and tanks but not the supports. He graciously glass beaded the supports and painted them satin black, then attached them to the painted core. It cost around 250 bucks. Bernie

That wear will get taken up by reducing the tow-in when the car is moving. It is possible the car will handle poorly and you could end up buying four radial tires. Then you will triumphantly proclaim radial tires are the best thing ever. You'll still have worn out suspension parts. Lower outer pins used to be pretty easy to get and a willing machine shop could spin a couple out easily. Two eighths is a quarter inch. I would replace them. Bernie

But you wrote, but, twice to describe the job, but maybe I am reading more into it. But you can't be sure. Bernie

Here's the '58 in art form; watercolor subdued sun with light shade: Art for Buick sake. Bernie

I wonder what Darwin would have thought. It sure looks good to me. Bernie

That thing on the right in this picture has a few rattly parts, especially after 50 years: Bernie

Compnine used to be free. It does a pretty good job, here is the report for my 1994 Impala SS: http://brockportinternational.com/xjs/Dir5/Impala/Vehicle%20VIN%20Decode.htm Four cars are an exact match. Every option showing 6303 is an SS. That was the total production. It is about 20,000 for 19995 and 1996. The wheels are imported Holden Commodore 17". They ran short of wheels and limited production for '94. Bernie

You think they are trying to suck the nasty smell out of the interior? Bernie

I have had the body off my car twice. I would not recommend stripping it to the shell to make it lighter. That makes more work, longer reassembly, and more little $100 jobs you didn't think of. It looks like you already have 200 of them. It is easy to add another 100. I snaked the frame out from under the car alone. First I bolted a chain to my body mounts at the base of the cowl. Then centered a come-a-long on the garage cross tie above the car. I put a vertical 4x4 support from the cross tie to the floor beside the car. Raising the rear and setting it on a stack of tires got me up in back. I raised the front to clear. With the rear wheels off I could support the third member with my floor jack and side the frame right out. I was able to reuse the oval rear mounts. The others I just went to the Chevy dealership and asked for 1976 Impala mounts. They worked fine, as almost any GM mounts would. Bernie

When I work on wipers I always use a spray bottle to wet the windshield to avoid the wipers dragging dirt across the glass. I used to take it with me to use to wet the windshield at the garage for the state inspection. The guys got to know me and think I'm a bit fussy. Now I take all the cars for inspection in rotation on the same day. If the priest is available he sprinkles Holy Water on the windshield for the test. Usually they don't touch anything. The mechanic makes the sign of the cross in front of the car and puts the new sticker on. The elders in the Irish families have been known to be a bit touchy. Bernie

There also might be a chance that the owner still has it an may be coming around to realizing the actual value of the car. It is slow to sink in sometimes. It was around 2006 when I made a reasonable offer on a black 1986 Jaguar XJ12 at a gas station in Rush, New York. I spend money like a drunken sailor (something I learned in the Navy) so the offer was fair and a 12 cylinder Jag is not an easy sell. The guy was certainly "not going to give that car away". Over the years the car went from in front with a For Sale sign into the fenced compound behind the building where I saw it last with the hood tilted kind of funny to one side. It was a sharp car with red leather. He may still think the car is still some treasure as the lower fenders rust away and the rain etches the chrome where it drips from body seams. My guess is he didn't smarten up and I didn't either. That would have been my third V12 Jag. I don't want that car any more, but I think another XJ-S will come to roost in my garage before the fat lady is done singing. Bernie

Not a lot of options? Is that why it says Limited on the quarter? Anyone remember the 1977 Ford LTD II? I bought a nice bronze 2 door that was a couple of years old, plain Jane car. On the decklid it said LTDII-S. I asked the salesman if the "S" stood for stripped. I do like that black Buick a lot. Bernie

In the 1990's I had a 1956 Olds that I did a brake job on. That car had rear brake drums that were made in two pieces. one was damaged and needed replacement. Similar to the Buick, it had a 5 on 5 bolt pattern and a width of over 2". I did a little scouting around and found a common '67 rear drum had the same measurements. The only difference was a flare around the perimeter that was a splash shield of sorts. I took a nice '67 Olds drum to a machine shop and they skinned the flange off in a lathe. I was good to go for about 50 bucks. That 2.25 drum should have an obtainable newer application somewhere. I actually came out with a better drum. Bernie

Leicester is a town now? That Seldon name just jumped off the page. 1960 Buick's had bucket seats. Bernie