Rusty_OToole

The prototype was made by cutting the frame of a used Hupmobile at the firewall and adapting it to bolt onto the Cord unibody in place of the stock subframe. The result was a wheelbase considerably shorter than the Cord. They then designed a new front with a different look from the Cord.

They had to redesign the front of the car and shorten it anyway to fit on the frame they were going to use. The prototype still exists. If you look underneath you can see where they took Cord fenders, shortened them, welded them together and smoothed them over with lead. The hood and grille similarly hand made, with multiple screw holes where different emblems and trim were tried then the holes filled. This from an article in an antique car magazine some years back, sorry don't remember which one.

If you are not familiar with early cars (before 1920) the open touring was the most popular body. Sedans were very expensive and seldom seen. Tops came in 2 forms. You could get a folding top which most people seldom or never folded down. Or you could get a fixed top, which looked the same but did not fold. This made the car a little cheaper. The California top started as a replacement for the stock top. It had more looks and style, and was never meant to fold down. Some manufacturers offered them as an option on new cars in the early 20s. This was about when the sedan became popular so the California top was a short lived fad, starting around 1916 and most popular from 1920 - 24.

Ford V8 of the thirties was the fastest low priced car (except for the Hudson Terraplane Eight). The Ford was a favorite of Dillinger, Barrow, and other fast moving bandits. Although Alvin "Kreepy" Karpis, Public Enemy #1 at the time, was captured in a 36 Plymouth.

100 years ahead of its time. Fuel sipping 1 cylinder engine, biodegradeable wooden front axle body and chassis. The tree huggers would love it.

They featured a rear engine, transaxle and independent rear suspension years before VW. It even looks like a VW van.

Capone did have a custom built Cadillac. Even then Cadillacs were a favorite of gangsters and characters from the wrong side of the tracks who hit it big. The upper crust favored Packards, the really rich owned Pierce Arrows. Ford bought Lincoln in the early twenties and tried to sell Lincolns through Ford dealerships. This worked about as well as selling Rolls Royces in Kia dealerships (not very well). There were a lot of Ford dealers who just wanted to get rid of their Lincolns and go back to selling Fords, some sharpies went around buying them cheap and reselling them. A lot of them wound up in the hands of bootleggers and hoodlums. Lincoln also supplied cars to the police around Detroit. The police models got front wheel brakes a year before the regular line. The Hudson Super Six and Studebaker Big Six (sometimes called the Whiskey Six) were favorites of the working bootlegger. They were big and could carry a load, and were 2 of the fastest cars on the road, but were not unusual or fancy enough to draw attention. Another favorite for transporting liquor was the REO Speedwagon truck, it had pneumatic tires and a top speed of 50 MPH, twice as fast as the typical 20s truck with solid tires.

Was the car out of use for months? Could be a little corrosion on the points. Clean with contact cleaner or brake clean spray then drag a strip of white copyer paper thru them till it comes out clean. Getting power to the coil? And to the points? Check with a test light. With the test light between the points side of the coil and ground, does the light blink off and on when you turn the engine over? If so your points are working correctly. Try these things, if it doesn't work get back to us.

Randy Ema of California is the Duesenberg expert. He can help if anyone can. A sample of his work:

I was going to say "unlikely" to the idea of a Stutz or Delage engine showing up in the wheat farming regions of western Canada. But as Cadillac Jack used to say, anything can be anywhere. Ken Purdy bought his ex Barney Oldfield Mercer Raceabout from a farmer in Delburne Alberta in 1948. Maybe the old boy had a few more goodies stashed in the machine shed.

Does anyone know where the backup light switch is on a 51 Chrysler Windsor? Thanks.

If you can find a patch of the original paint anywhere on the car, it can be matched. Glove box door, firewall, or a spot where a fender or other part bolted on and protected the paint. Sometimes you can strip off old paint jobs down to the original and polish it up. Or, once you know what color it was you may be able to find it on an old color chart.

This must have been about the last all new, heavy truck gas engine before diesels took over that market. They debuted about 1960 as a V12 or V6. Immensely heavy, high torque, low HP, and very thirsty. Made to run on low octane gas and haul a heavy transport truck over the road for 200,000 miles between overhauls. If it only had 100,000 to 200,000 miles on it, it is unlikely it would need much work to put it back in commission. I would try to find a carb and plug leads and see if it will run as is. In a light weight "special" it will just loaf.

Nash made a Twin Ignition Eight with overhead valves.It went in their top model,the Nash Ambassador, in the 30s. Never heard of anyone else who had one.

Rolls Canardly. Rolls down one hill, canardly get up the next.

Too bad you didn't service the car and clean the water out right after the flood. If done properly almost all damage could have been avoided.

Any good auto parts store should carry it. Incidentally many of us use TDH tractor fluid, ISO22 or ISO32 grade. It is made for transmissions, differentials and hydraulics on tractors. Walmart and auto parts stores sell it. ISO22 is best if you can get it, ISO32 is easier to find.

I would use cloth seat covers. More comfortable and will preserve what life your upholstery has left. If you can't find good seat covers they aren't hard to make if you know someone who can sew. Some kind of plaid material with vinyl at the top and at the front of the seat was often seen on those cars when they were new. In fact Chrysler offered a plaid upholstery option called the "Highlander". Here are some photos. http://forums.aaca.org/f145/1947-chrysler-windsor-highlander-334589.html

It's not the management. They couldn't care less. They are responding to complaints from other tenants. If Mrs Peasy Weasy spots something she doesn't like she always thinks the world is supposed to change for her convenience, and management always knuckles under to the Peasy Weasies.

Some cars had a throwout bearing made of hard carbon. Early VW beetles for one. If Delahaye bought their clutches from an outside supplier it may be interchangeable with some other vehicle, probably a light truck of some kind. I say that because the Delahaye was one of the biggest engined cars made in France at that time and if there were any ready made components they were probably made for trucks. You would think in this day and age there should be some sort of hard self lubricating plastic. I don't know if you could buy a chunk of hard carbon material and turn a new one on a lathe, if such material is even made. Maybe a brush for a giant electric motor or generator???

It depends what all was done. Some Fluid Drive cars were converted to a 3 speed manual by swapping over the clutch, bellhousing, transmission from a standard car. In that case you would need to find a Fluid Drive car or at least the Fluid Drive, bellhousing, flywheel, clutch, and transmission also it is possible they changed the special carburetor and removed the resistor/circuit breaker box. Personally I would prefer a manual trans. You say they did not do a nice job. Would it be possible to fix the worst parts and make a good manual trans car? Or do you really want the Fluid Drive? If you want to go Fluid Drive your best bet is to find someone with a parts car or who has stripped a car and has all the parts at one go. Do you have a repair manual, parts manual or some other reference to show what the original parts looked like? You might start by going over the car and figuring out what parts have been changed or removed. Then you will have a better idea what you need.

How about the Stutz Vertical Eight or the Marmon Roosevelt straight eight advertisement with a squad of Revolutionary War soldiers firing a volley "eight firing in line". Or the Harley Davidson line up of flathead, knucklehead, panhead and shovelhead motors?

Is there any way to make a less unsightly drip apparatus? How about an old Turkey carpet? Those things absorb an amazing amount of stains without showing them. That might do it. Spread a piece of plastic, cover with a layer of oil dry, and lay a cheap yard sale or thrift store area rug on it. If they hassle you tell them it's your prayer mat and they are interfering with your religious observance.

Two uses from the teens and twenties for old powerful luxury cars: Cut off the back of the body and build a tow car or service car for garage use. Or, discard the body entirely and turn the chassis into a giant vacuum cleaner. No kidding, they did this. Attach a blower to the engine and connect it to a big box or tank with vacuum hoses running out. Tow the chassis to the client's house, run the hoses inside, and do their spring cleaning. These giant portable central vacuum cleaners predated the home vacuum cleaner.

Only if you allow me to add the Scott Flying Squirrel