Rusty_OToole

20 year old cars are common now but they weren't in the fifties. We are really spoiled and don't realize how lucky we are. Late model cars will go for an astonishingly long time with minimal upkeep compared to the Model A era. At the end of WW2 all cars were at least 3 years old and cars 10 years old or more were common. But as soon as new cars were available the old ones got junked. The interest in old cars was practically nil. Just today an old friend, who is not into antique cars, told me how they used buy cars from the junk yards for a few dollars, thirties cars that were being scrapped because they had a dented fender or bald tires, most of them were driven to the junkyard by their owners or by used car lots who just wanted rid of them. Including coupes , roadsters and touring cars that would be worth a fortune today. He said there were lots of Packards but nobody cared about them. Fords, Chevs, Dodges and the like they considered the best buys. You could keep them going with odds and ends picked up in the junk yard and if something expensive broke, scrap it and pick up another one. They would do this every few weeks. Among those guys Model As were popular for obvious reasons. I can believe that up to the early 50s, nearly half of all Model As built were still on the road. The herd rapidly got thinned out in the fifties and sixties, then in the seventies they became valuable collector's items and few got junked after that. But I seriously doubt 44% of all the ones produced survive to the present day.

Lowest category is parts car. Rusted, wrecked or stripped to where its only value is to be stripped of usable parts. Restorable means "Needs complete restoration of body chassis and interior. May or may not be running but is not weathered, wrecked or stripped for parts to the point of being only useful for parts. Needs everything, may or may not be operable, but is essentially all there and has only minor surface rust if any rust at all. While having a challenge for the restorer will not have him chasing around after missing parts" Next category better is Good, meaning a drivable vehicle needing little or no work to be functional but not in the best of condition. Even from 20 feet away it is obvious it needs work. Next is Very Good, a nice car that shows wear and tear only if you look close Fine, looks like it just rolled out of the showroom. Will win minor shows where they are not too picky. May be driven up to 1000 miles a year if you are real careful. Excellent, the best in the world. Will win major shows.95 point car, in other words an expert with a magnifying glass cannot spot 6 flaws on the car. Normally transported in climate controlled trailer, if you drive the car it immediately drops in class. If you are buying a car on a value for money basis do not even look at those 2 for one second. There is no way in the world you can make anything out of them, at best you will end up with a nice car that cost you more than it is worth, at worst you will spend a lot of money and end up with nothing. If you don't understand how this could be, suppose the owner of those cars went out and spent $1000 on spare parts tomorrow and threw them in on the deal. Would you pay $1000 more for them? Neither would anyone else. The best value for money is to buy a #3 car (Very Good) and maintain it carefully. Lube, oil change, regular cleaning, washing, waxing. Once in a while it will need a few hundred or a few thousand in repairs. If you don't neglect or wreck the car it will always be worth more than you paid for it and you can write off the running expense as entertainment. For comparison a 1941 Cadillac sedan in #3 condition is worth about $14000. There is no way in the world you could restore the heap in your picture for only $10,000. You might be able to do it for twice that if you are a good mechanic, do as much as possible yourself and have friends in the trades who will help you on the cheap. Of course if you did do a really good restoration it would be worth more money. If you were lucky you might break even on your out of pocket expenses and nothing for your labor. But you would have to be an awfully clever restorer to do that well. So, buy the better car and enjoy it. Do not buy the best in the world because it will soon deteriorate into a #3 anyway, even if you keep it locked in your garage. Get a nice car and let the other guy take a bath on the restoration.

You are doing the right thing in planning out your restoration campaign, all part of being organized and having things go smoothly. There are 2 different ways to look at it. One is to do the way the factory did, which is to build the chassis complete, build the body, then mount the finished body on the chassis. You can work on the 2 separately as sub assemblies. In fact you can break the whole vehicle down into sub assemblies, chassis, power train, electrical system, body, etc then sub sub assemblies, as,( engine, trans, dirveshaft, rear axle) as sub assemblies of power train, which is a sub assembly of the chassis. Another way to organize is more useful if you are not doing a full strip down and rebuild. In that case the rule is to do mechanical repairs first, then paint job, upholstery last. This saves you from the mechanic scratching the fresh paint while trying to repair the engine, or the painter getting overspray on the interior when painting the door jamb etc. Last thing you should buy is tires. They have a limited life and lose strength over the years even if just sitting. Also can get stained by grease, oil, paint overspray, and generally get shop worn, cracked and tired looking over the course of a multi year restoration. Better to use any old tires until the project is all done.

Was it in a book published in 1951? Model A's kept their popularity as everyday transportation for an astonishingly long time. Good ones were in demand as late as the early fifties when they were 20 years old or more. In those days a car was old hat after 2 years and typically worn out before it was ten. In other words it would be much more unusual to see a 20 year old car on the road than today. I could believe almost half of them were still on the road at that time.

All else being equal I would say buy the Cadillac even if it is a few bucks more. Do not worry about what you can sell them for, either one will be a bottomless sink hole of money. The only way you could show a profit would be if you bought the car and restored it perfectly. Then you would still be in the hole, but with average luck, in 10 or 20 years prices go up to where you can make some money. If you do not finish the car, the value will be about what you paid for it if you do not mess it up too much. If you cheap out, the car will be worth no where near as much. You would be surprised how picky people can be for a $20000 car. Old Cars Price Guide says in #5 Restorable condition $3520 for the Buick, $4560 for the Cadillac, $4800 if it is the deluxe. In #2 Fine Condition $20,510 for the Buick Century sedan, $26600 for the Caddy fastback sedan, $28000 if it is a deluxe.

Irv Gordon's 66 Volvo has 2,970,000 miles on it. 2.97 Million And Counting; '66 Volvo Is Nearing Its 3 Millionth Mile : The Two-Way : NPR

VW beetle was an exceptional car and gave good service but not particularly long lived. Among imports in the fifties and sixties the record breaker is Volvo. The first car to add a seventh digit to the odometer because so many of them went over 100,000 miles.

One other thing we should clear up. Ford was not responsible for the change from right to left hand drive. Detroit made Model Ts had the steering on the left, and the only opening door on the right. Often the spare tire was mounted where the driver's door would be, the door being non existent. But Canadian made Fords had doors on both sides. Reason, cars for export to British Commonwealth countries from Canada went duty free. Detroit made cars paid import duty. So export orders to RHD countries were filled from Canada to avoid the tax. Ford could have made RHD or LHD but went with the prevailing fashion. He may have been one of the first to adopt this practice but was not the only one.

To answer your questions #1 there were some LARGE cars with POWERFUL engines that were capable of sustained speeds over 100 MPH even though they had babbitt bearings. In 1933 or 34, a Pierce Arrow V-12 set a new speed record, 117 MPH average for 24 hours. This was on the Bonneville salt flats, officially timed by the AAA, on a course surveyed by the Utah highways department. The record was broken a year later by a supercharged Duesenberg also with babbitt bearings. Other American cars like Packard and Cadillac were capable of high speeds of 80 to 90 in stock form. Insert bearings were introduced by Chrysler in 1934. Full pressure oiling had been used by some makes before 1920. Eventually they were adopted by the whole industry, Hudson and Chevrolet being the last holdouts. #2 Getting rid of the car, or never driving over 50 are the most practical solutions. If those do not appeal to you, you can have the engine rebuilt or replaced with one that is externally identical but has insert bearings, full pressure lubrication and aluminum pistons. Then you can go as fast as you like, within limits. You can go over 65 but it will cut your gas mileage drastically. #3 Already answered. Chrysler was first with insert bearings, gradually adopted by the whole industry. Hudson and Chevrolet were the last holdouts, the only makes to use splash lubrication and babbitt bearings after WW2. #4 Also answered. The bigger more powerful cars naturally were capable of higher speeds than a cheap Chevrolet. Especially if they had full pressure lubrication, in spite of their poured babbitt bearings. Some owners of prewar Packard, Cadillac and Pierce Arrow cars drive hundreds of miles in a day at speeds of 70 or 75 MPH without damage or excessive wear. Especially if they have the overdrive transmission. Hudsons had babbitt bearings and splash oiling but they did not blow up at high speeds. They would however wear out faster than cars with insert bearings and pressure oiling. At normal speeds they would last just as long, but if you drove them 70 or 80 MPH it would cut engine life by half or more. Jack Kerouac's friend Neil Cassidy bought a brand new Hudson in California in about 1948. He headed out for New York City running as hard as he could go with no breakin. Then headed down the Easter seaboard. By the time he got to Texas the engine was shot. With side trips he probably didn't have much more than 10,000 miles on it. And it probably still had the breakin oil in it if it had any oil at all. My dad had a 47 Hudson Commodore Eight, which he loved, and which he drove hard, the engine wore out in 1951. It probably had less than 40,000 miles on it. He thought nothing of driving it 70 to 80 MPH, a lot faster than you could go in most cars at the time. He said he never had a car that handled as well, or held the road at high speeds the way a Hudson did, until he bought a Mercedes Benz in 1971.

Another factor was the cast iron pistons. They were hard wearing and quiet as they could be fitted tighter than aluminum pistons due to a lower heat expansion factor. But they were heavier than aluminum pistons and therefore put more stress on the rods and bearings at high speeds. As I reported above, the pistons themselves were prone to breaking under extreme stress as well.

My father owned several of those babbitt bearing sixes and so did other people we knew. They were reliable and long lived if you kept the speed down to 50. 55 ok 60 pushing it a bit. Go over sixty and the engine life was about 100 miles maybe less. My father demonstrated this one night when he took us out on the brand new 4 lane hiway in our 51 Chev sedan to "see what she would do". What she did was blow the top off #6 piston after 4 or 5 miles. Not when going full throttle but when he backed off. Others have reported knocking out the rod bearings after a few days or weeks of speedy driving. They did not seem to mind hard work as long as you kept the RPMs within limits. The last of these engines (1953 up) had full pressure oiling and insert bearings and stood up much better.

Don't leave the key on, but if you do, the resistor will get hot but should not burn out unless it is old or defective. Your battery will run flat first. It is theoretically possible to burn the points this way but I have not seen it. You would have to leave the key on for a long time.

Canadian Service Data Book says your car came with 6.50 15 tires. This would be about right for a 4 1/2" wide rim. So maybe your spare is the original size and some previous owner put the wider wheels on the car probably with oversize tires. Width is measured inside the rim where the beads seat. Heavier cars like the straight eight New Yorker and Imperial, station wagons, and limousine had bigger tires and wider wheels. It is possible that Chrysler offered 18" wheels as an option. Some owners of limousines and station wagons used for bus service, or who lived in rural areas in the west where roads were rocky and rugged, preferred the oversize truck tires as they gave higher ground clearance, longer wear, and could carry heavy loads without danger of a blowout. Or as you say it may be a misprint. I went to Coker Tire's website and entered 1947 Chrysler Windsor C38, and got back a choice of 670-15 or 205 75 R15 tires. So those would be the closest available to your original tires. Using oversize tires will make your car go faster for a given RPM. This is desirable as the original gear ratio was rather low for today's highways. You might consider 215R75 or even 225R75 tires. Get the narrowest ones you can find and they will be ok on your rims.

Good catch. DeSotos indeed were very well made, long lived cars. When cars were impossible to get during WW2 a New York taxi company kept their prewar DeSoto Skyview cabs in service for the duration. By the end of the war most of them had over 500,000 miles on them. DeSotos were a favorite of cab operators because they were the biggest car in their price range, or the cheapest car in their size class, depending how you look at it. They were also durable and simple to repair. There do seem to be an awful lot of forties and fifties DeSotos around, for a car that did not sell in large numbers when new. A DeSoto was basically a Chrysler Windsor at a better price with simpler trim, instruments, and fittings. They seemed to appeal to a conservative customer base that took care of their cars and did not use them hard.

The ballast resistor will get hot and smoke if it is connected to power, the engine not running, and the points are closed. Then it is grounded and receiving full power from the battery. If the points happen to be open it will not get hot at all as the circuit is effectively "switched off". When the engine is running it will get warm as the points continuously switch the power "on and off".

B.F. Goodrich announced the first tubeless tire in May 1947. I believe Chrysler offered them as early as 1951 although they did not become standard equipment on all Plymouth, Dodge, DeSoto and Chrysler cars until 1955. B.F. Goodrich Co. announces development of tubeless tire — History.com This Day in History — 5/11/1947

The catch can syphon system only works on a pressurized cooling system and only if the rad cap is sealed at the top and bottom. On an unsealed system it will catch the excess coolant but not suck it up again.

Here are the original colors used by Chrysler in 1930. Color Chip Selection Color Chip Selection You won't go wrong using the same colors the factory used. Any auto paint company should be able to mix the paints. Just give them the name or number of the color. It may take a day or 2 to get the formula from headquarters but they can get it. If not there are companies that can.

Or, take out the axle with spindles and take it to an auto machine shop. They will press out the king pins on a hydraulic press, remove the old bearings from the spindles, fit the new ones, and hone them for a perfect fit on their Sunnen hone. Then they will fit the spindles to the axle and hand it back to you good as new. The last time I had this done the cost was $85 but that was at least 10 years ago. Grease your car every 1000 miles and they will last longer than you will.

Can you find the serial number? That will give the most accurate ID.

What a coincidence. My first Mercedes was a 1962 220SE sedan. It may have been the only one in Canada, I was told by the Mercedes importer in Toronto that they were never officially imported. As this was in 1972 it is not quite the same thing. But I drove it as my only transportation and liked it. If I found another one in decent shape I wouldn't hesitate to buy it.

Wonder how they got it out? Or did it go to the bottom and it's still down there?

As long as it is the right amp rating voltage doesn't matter. Old cars all use the same glass tube fuses in different lengths and amp ratings, if it is the same amps and the same length it is the right fuse.

Looks like a 54 to me. Note the "hear" tail lights, a distinct feature that year. Of course many parts could be changed, they also made different versions of the VW for different countries.

Ha ha ha black is the only shade black comes in. Over the years they may have changed the paint formula but that does not confront a complete paint job, although it might for a partial or touch up. Go ahead and use the Corvette black.