DJKSETX

These still available? djksetx@yahoo.com

For Sale: English Ford Dagenham factory letters full set of 1958 - 27 car & 41 Thames plus a ’57 index, ’59 11 car and 3 Thames letters plus a multiple page tech description of the Taunus M17. The ’59s & Taunus are in poor to fair shape, the ’58s in good or better condition. $50 plus $4 P&H. DJ Kava, 1755 Bandera Dr, Beaumont, TX 77706 djksetx@yahoo.com

It has been a year since visiting this site to peddle a '65-66 AMC AM/FM radio leftover from my car rotation caused by lost hurricane storage. Back to Buda QU. As far as I know it is ringer for the Atlas but will ding a few '09 guys to see if there were casting differences. Atlas did the first ones and when sales/production out paced their shop added Buda. It too was primitive in production methods and production meetings indicated they had constant visits with engineering part chaser to insure delivery. They shifted to the bigger Continental for the new '12 models with a lingering few Model 20s. Production was about 5,000 per year and to save shipping costs the managers in separate land deal sold the space next door to Continental. The thing I wanted to add was a president Chapin's comment about a complaint to the NYT about one of the their ads. He mentioned that they designed them and suppliers were free to modify for commercial use. Easy for manufacturers to change bore, harder on the stroke. SIA decades ago had Continental history with all sorts of specs indicating something like the '14 6-40 Light Six was repeated for years. I suspect the Buda QU is also one of these. The 7Xs Hudson Stepdown showed the weakness in the cars. On the race track first was braking wheels followed by an "severe usage" parts number sees. Generally the u-joints held up but what your brother may have had problems with is the bonded rubber mounted center support bearing bracket. Parts books actually have two durometer hardness numbers. In the '60s I broke them a number of times in Texas but corrosion and could mess them up. There is at least one '70s published account how a Chicago car at 60mph froze up and sliced a hole in the floor next to his standing kid!

Still available.

Still available.

Working on a story. Can anyone ID the make model of these fuel tankers being shipped to Russia in 1932? You can answer here but best if you email djksetx@yahoo.com. Thanks. Who might have been brokering trucks to Russia in this era?

For Sale Rambler Collision Parts Cat '58-64 Minor stains $14 plus $6 P&H. DJ Kava, Beaumont, TX djksetx@yahoo.com

For Sale NOS ’58 Rebel/Custom LH grille, perfect mint. Had a ’58 Rebel and actually gave the car away and a month later did a free brake job on it. Kept the grille for an art sculpture piece but after 20 years lost my vision. Never opened the little bag, some sort of lumpy metal thing inside. With the price of chrome plating these days $250 plus $20 H&S. DJ Kava, Beaumont, TX djksetx@yahoo.com

These trucks all went to Russia with Etnyre bodies. Interested in make and model.

Nice to stumble on to you guys. Mostly a Hudson Motors historian but have some questions for you catalog guys. I used peak at them myself a couple of decades ago. In 1909 the 1st Hudson Model 20's had 3 3/4 x 4 1/2 B&S. It was made by Indy's Atlas but their production demands added Buda. I've lots of productions meeting minutes indicating problems with getting Buda up to speed. The 4 1/2" stroke was used until the Continental started the '13 larger Model 37 fours. I've seen catalogs that called the '09-10 Model 20s as a Buda QU. Then later with different sizes as QU. Anyone familiar with these? Hudson made parts for WWI Nash Quad but haven't seen much on engine specs. Certainly not Hudson. I don't visit often so send me an email and post here for a thread. DJ Kava 1755 Bandera Beaumont, Tx 77706 djksetx@yahoo.com

For Sale 1977-79 Caddy LH rear view illuminated thermometer mirror, NOS in box Group 10.185; #20000654. Fits C & D models. $295 plus $18 P&H. Purchased for a ’77 Coupe Deville, now three cars back. Just looked and it’s still as new. DJ Kava, 1755 Bandera Dr, Beaumont, Tx 77706 djksetx@yahoo.com

Help. I need a '90 Brougham RH parking light lens for state inspection. Bought one off of eBay and it arrived today and was for the Front Wheel drivers. The one I need has the yellow lens below and not on the side. This is my daily driver. Uncracked used ok. DJ Kava, 1755 Bandera Dr., Beaumont, TX 77706 409 617-1751.

Help. I need a '90 Brougham RH parking light lens for state inspection. Bought one off of eBay and it arrived today and was for the Front Wheel drivers. The one I need has the yellow lens below and not on the side. This is my daily driver. Uncracked used ok. DJ Kava, 1755 Bandera Dr., Beaumont, TX 77706 409 617-1751.

Ben F. Gregory was a very talented individual who had basically a 6th grade education who ran away and joined the circus as a bicycle performer doing a loop after rolling down a high ramp. He graduated to one of those motorcyclists inside the large wooden barrel. During WWI he worked in Walter Christie’s truck preparation for Roy Chapin’s Motor Transport that drove trucks overland to eastern ports to free the railroads for armaments. They needed repair and prep for shipment and Gregory was a mechcanic. After the war he built some front wheel drive race cars powered by surplus aviation engines including a Hisso. These he barnstormed at the Midwest fair races. He was also an inventor and held several front wheel drive patents culminating in a handful of prototype FW production called the Gregory that was displayed at the KC auto show circa 1921 (at the beach away from files). He abandoned autos when the aviation bug bit and purchased a series planes and returned to barnstorming. He survived the Depression traveling from south Texas northward with spring. Often crashing he had a near fatal accident circa ’41 that crippled him & financially bankrupt & broke up his family. He worked as an aviation engine inspector in KC during WWII. Then his situation improved reuniting the family and permitted him to experiment with front wheel drive once again. Shelton’s Machine Shop was a noted go to place for one off experimental work in aviation & racing. After the war the still handicapped Gregory was a regular and started another series of odd cars FW prototype cars, one which is at the Lane Museum in Nashville and a couple with a local collector in KC. [The Shelton shop’s building existed 10 yrs ago & may still exist.] I spoke with Shelton’s son who recalls these prototypes and rescued (stole) the Lane “Black” car from AMC that purchased all the stuff along with the Mighty Mite rights. Gregory & the Mighty Mite is a convoluted story that his daughter and Shelton’s help clarify. As noted there is considerable Mighty Mite info on the internet but this is the preamble. One Hudson executive who worked on it said, "It came from the Nash side." That connection I don't know.

The girl looks like the model for "The Scream" an important painting!

I was an enlisted USAF weather observer in the late 1960s at Reese AFB, Lubbock, TX. The Base Operations Ford station wagon had a flat mounting plate on the tranny hump less than a foot square. The decelerometer sat on it and when the runways were frosty the driver would run down the concrete, stomp the brake and measure how well the tires gripped. The weather observer was then required to encode a remark on the observation indicating that the braking action was poor etc. This was to prevent the 'Nam jet training aircraft from running off the end of the runway into the cotton fields. DJ Kava Beaumont, TX

Recently I purchased a WWII box wrapped in oil cloth at an aution. Inside was a box of Hudson Invader marine engine spark plugs. This was a Hall-Scott design Hudson made for WWII landing craft. What other applications did these Champion 62S plugs have? Thanks. Please answer directly with the subject "Hudson Plugs" DJ Kava 1755 Bandera Beaumont, TX 77706 djksetx@yahoo.com

I've been working on early Hudson history and have run across mention of the Philadelphia dealer's Derham bodied series circa 1915. No recognized photos of these models has showed up so it's unknown if they are limos or town cars or both. Derham did a similiar series production for Packard dealers. Can anyone enlighten me? Also interested in the dealer magazines Thomas-Detroit Doings and Chalmer-Detroit Doings circa 1907-12. Photo copies are fine. Thanks. DJ Kava 1755 Bandera Beaumont, TX 77706 djksetx@yahoo.com

I'm a writer/historian and interested in finding the Thomas & Chalmers-Detroit dealer magazine called "Doings." I've photocopies of only one each. Anyone have them or able to direct me to an archives holding them? Will purchase. I looked back in the previous pages and don't see any mention of the E.R. Thomas cars of Buffalo. Is there no one interested in these? Been assembling racing records of Thomas, T-D, C-D and Chalmers. Any pen pals on this? DJ Kava 1755 Bandera Beaumont, TX djksetx@yahoo.com

I have a couple of suggestions on why the very early cars are few and far between. The 40 hp model with its American & British engine was basically a hot rod and they were simply flogged to death. The Model 30 with its Continental engine designed by Howard Coffin only had two ball bearing main bearings. Judging from comments in the SAE Transactions a crankshaft longer than 19" proved unacceptable in this configuration. The Model 30's crank turns out slightly over 19". A mechanic?s column in one of the trades noted that when the main bearings wear they had to be taken apart the races machined and oversize ball bearings were used. If not repaired the car would run until the balls wore out and the rear of the crank would drop causing clutch misalignment and slippage. That would normally junk a car. I also found a Chief Engineer Geo. Dunham patent that used the same oil for both the engine and the tranny. This idea had a brief fling both here and in Europe. Without proper maintenance it doesn't take much imagination so see that sludge would soon form in the tranny or inept shifting might promote metal circulating through the engine bearings. Soon separate lubricants were developed for each unit. I'm not sure exactly which Chalmers cars used this feature but the design certainly would shorten the life expectancy. DJ Kava Beaumnt, TX

I?ve gathered a number of performance events of the E.R. Thomas Motor Car Company of Buffalo, NY. Most all of these appear to date in 1906 era and come from Thomas literature and Chamber of Commerce type publication called the ?City of Buffalo.? The literature had a footnote: -?All of the records with the exception of that of the Vanderbilt cup race were made with regular stock cars of owners, and without the aid of professional racing men of factory employees and with especial tuning up.? As result few of the participants were noted. Any help? Thanks. DJ Kava 1755 Bandera Beaumont, TX 77706 djksetx@yahoo.com ________, 1905 Chadeayne starts trans contintental run in August, 1905; 48 days beat the 1903 record. Dates and details? 1906 ________, 1906 Raced in Vanderbilt Cup placed 8th, did fastest lap and the highest American car to place. Drivers? July 12-28, 1906 Glidden Tour: Perfect score & return to Buffalo; over 2,000 miles without a mechanical adjustment. Buffalo, to Bretton Woods, NH via Montreal and Quebec. 1,134 miles, 48 starters, 30 finishers, 13 perfect scores.[John Bentley Great American Automobiles] Drivers? ________, 1906 Three perfect scores (all the Thomas cars entered) in Chicago-Elgin-Aurora endurance contest. ________, 1906 Two perfect scores (all the Thomas cars entered) in the San Francisco-Del Monte reliability run. ________, 1906 Road record, Buffalo to Rochester, 68 miles in one hour 32 minutes and 45 seconds.[not in sales literature list] Record Philadelphia to Atlantic City, 60 miles, 90 minutes. Record Philadelphia to Reading, 61 miles, 2 hours. Record Philadelphia to Wilkesbarre, 146 miles, 6 hours. Record Cape May to Philadelphia, 93 miles, 2 hours 45 min. ________, 1906 Hill climbing record of the California Pasadena-Altadena course. ________, 1906 Stock touring car record for five miles, standing start, in four minutes, 55 seconds (one mile in 57 and 2/5ths seconds) at Atlantic Beach. ________, 1906 Atlantic City, NY One mile in 55 and 4/5ths seconds Atlantic City. First and second in one minute class. First in $4,000 & $5,000 class touring car championship classes. ________, 1906 Twenty-five mile record for stock touring cars, St. Louis-34 minutes, 36 seconds. ________, 1906 First, 50 miles for touring cars at Pimlico track, Baltimore. One hour 6 minutes, 36 seconds. ________, 1906 Lowered 50 mile stock touring car record, Hawthorne track, Chicago, to one hour, 6 minutes and 19 seconds. ________, 1906 Lowered 50 mile world?s record for stock touring cars, Point Breeze track, Philadelphia, to one hour 4 minutes, 19 & 1/4th seconds. ________, 1906 One mile prize handicap, Atlantic City, one minute, 21 and 2/5th seconds from scratch. ________, 1906 First in free-for-all event in annual hill climb of the Granite State Automobile Club, at Manchester, NH ________, 1906First in five mile novelty race, planned to show facilities for control of cars entered, Kansas City May 10, 1906 Motor Age, Wilkes-Barre, PA a 50hp Thomas was entered by E. R. Keiley in both the ?Cars costing $2600 to $3600? and ?Stock cars costing $8,000 and under.? Race scheduled for 5/9/06. A C.W. Keiley had entered factory 36 and 19 1/2Hp Maxwells. Results unknown. ________, 1906 First in free-for-all at annual hill climb of Rochester Automobile Club. ________, 1906 First and 2nd in class for cars costing not more than $3,500 in annual hill climb of Colorado Automobile Club. ________, 1906 First in class for cars listed at from $3,500 to $5,00 Empire City track, Mt Vernon. First in Dealers? Handicap (Thomas from Scratch).

The white 1917 Chalmers speedster was featured in Automobile Quarterly, 35-3 (July '96) beginning on page 98. There ae Several good photos. The car set a 24hr chassis record at Sheepshead Bay in November, 1917 driven by Joe Dawson. There is a plaque on the dash. DJ Kava

The second post has a file match on car number 19 and driver Matson and must be: June 18, 1909, AAA Indiana Trophy Race, Crown Point, IN. Mechcanic named Schnor. Thanks for the posting. DJ Kava

I posted this on the Chalmers board. I'm primarily a Hudson historian but since all the major characters one time owned chunks of Chalmers-Detroit company have followed them back. The young owners were interested in racing and by '09 had a semi-factory team that even prepared a special small bore motor to qualify for one event. The ads and various literature bits note a number of events, some without dates, drivers or other details. Below are 14 events with all the known facts from my files. The most import of course would be the dates and drivers. It should be possible to track the cars around the country for the season. You can correspond directly at djksetx@yahoo.com, subject Chalmers Racing. Thanks. And yes I know about the Hammond book on Chalmers and he was a frequent correspondent before becoming sick. I wrote a 1000 word book review for the Society of Automotive Historians Journal awaiting publishing. DJ Kava Beaumont, TX 77706 1954 Hudson Hornet Special 2dr sd 1966 AMC Marlin 1968 AMC Rebel cv 1977 AMC Manador sd 1977 Coupe Deville Undated 1909 Chalmers-Detroit Races During 1909 the Chalmers-Detroit Company entered both Model 30 and Model 40 cars in numerous racing and endurance events. They are sometimes listed as 30 & 40 horsepower models. __, 1909 Private Match Race, Pointe Breeze Track, Philadelphia, PA, CD40, driver Harvey Ringler. Match Race with Ira. L. Brown in a Buick. No stops 50 miles in 59 minutes and 46.5 seconds. __, 1909 New Jersey Auto & Motor Club Endurance Run, CD30, Perfect Score photo shows license plate #6335. __, 1909, Hartford Endurance Run, Hartford, CN, 40 Pony Tonneau, Lorimer. Won with Perfect Score. ___, 1909, _____, Columbus, OH, CD40, Lorimer. Won 25 mile race in 25:06 2/5. ___, 1909, Pointe Breeze Track in Philadelphia, CD40, Lorimer won 10 and 100 mile event. ___, 1909, Brighton Beach, 100 mile Marathon, Lorimer won 100 miles in 112 minutes. ___, 1909, Bridgeport, CN Hill Climb, 40 & 30, Lorimer & ? Set new records for course twice in a day. Touring car and Roadster classes $2,001-3,000. Time for Roadster 1:16 2/3. The 30 won its class. [The Champion Car p24] ___, 1909, Altadena Hill Climb, Pasadena, CA, CD40, Won Free For All for stock cars taking Perpetual Challenge Trophy, won the event for roadsters from $2,00-3,00 class. Driver unknown. ___, 1909, Plainfield, NJ, CD40, George Rankin winner $2,000-3,000 class. ___, 1909, Shingle Hill Climb, New Haven, CN, CD40, won. ___, 1909, Fort George Hill Climb, New York City, CD40, Knipper won in $2,000-3,000 class. ___, 1909, Columbus, Ohio. Lorimer won 100 mile race in 112 minutes. ___, 1909, Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, PA CD 40 driven by Dingley(?) defeated 15 bigger cars, one 90hp, four 70hp, seven 60hp, three 50hp, beaten by 90hp car. Awarded ?Consistency Prize? because it did not stop a single time. May ___, 1909, Harvard Trophy, Readville nr Boston. Lorimer placed 2nd in race for Harvard Trophy; 25 miles in 24 min 45 sec, forced a specially constructed foreign racer to establish a new world?s record for that distance. Car #23.

I'm primarily a Hudson historians but since all the major characters one time owned chunks of Chalmers-Detroit company have followed them back. The young owners were interested in racing and by '09 had a semi-factory team that even prepared a special small bore motor to qualify for one event. The ads and various literature bits note a number of events, some without dates, drivers or other details. Below are 14 events with all the known facts from my files. The most import of course would be the dates and drivers. It should be possible to track the cars around the country for the season. You can correspond directly at djksetx@yahoo.com, subject Chalmers Racing. Thanks. And yes I know about the Hammond book on Chalmers and he was a frequent correspondent before becoming sick. I wrote a 1000 word book review for the Society of Automotive Historians Journal awaiting publishing. DJ Kava Beaumont, TX 77706 1954 Hudson Hornet Special 2dr sd 1966 AMC Marlin 1968 AMC Rebel cv 1977 AMC Manador sd 1977 Coupe Deville Undated 1909 Chalmers-Detroit Races During 1909 the Chalmers-Detroit Company entered both Model 30 and Model 40 cars in numerous racing and endurance events. They are sometimes listed as 30 & 40 horsepower models. __, 1909 Private Match Race, Pointe Breeze Track, Philadelphia, PA, CD40, driver Harvey Ringler. Match Race with Ira. L. Brown in a Buick. No stops 50 miles in 59 minutes and 46.5 seconds. __, 1909 New Jersey Auto & Motor Club Endurance Run, CD30, Perfect Score photo shows license plate #6335. __, 1909, Hartford Endurance Run, Hartford, CN, 40 Pony Tonneau, Lorimer. Won with Perfect Score. ___, 1909, _____, Columbus, OH, CD40, Lorimer. Won 25 mile race in 25:06 2/5. ___, 1909, Pointe Breeze Track in Philadelphia, CD40, Lorimer won 10 and 100 mile event. ___, 1909, Brighton Beach, 100 mile Marathon, Lorimer won 100 miles in 112 minutes. ___, 1909, Bridgeport, CN Hill Climb, 40 & 30, Lorimer & ? Set new records for course twice in a day. Touring car and Roadster classes $2,001-3,000. Time for Roadster 1:16 2/3. The 30 won its class. [The Champion Car p24] ___, 1909, Altadena Hill Climb, Pasadena, CA, CD40, Won Free For All for stock cars taking Perpetual Challenge Trophy, won the event for roadsters from $2,00-3,00 class. Driver unknown. ___, 1909, Plainfield, NJ, CD40, George Rankin winner $2,000-3,000 class. ___, 1909, Shingle Hill Climb, New Haven, CN, 40, won. ___, 1909, Fort George Hill Climb, New York City, CD40, Knipper won in $2,000-3,000 class. ___, 1909, Columbus, Ohio. Lorimer won 100 mile race in 112 minutes. ___, 1909, Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, PA CD 40 driven by Dingley(?) defeated 15 bigger cars, one 90hp, four 70hp, seven 60hp, three 50hp, beaten by 90hp car. Awarded ?Consistency Prize? because it did not stop a single time. May ___, 1909, Harvard Trophy, Readville nr Boston. Lorimer placed 2nd in race for Harvard Trophy; 25 miles in 24 min 45 sec, forced a specially constructed foreign racer to establish a new world?s record for that distance. Car #23.