Elcar project. Parts needed.

[V.Milke]

Hi:

I recently got a 1926 Elcar 8-81 project... and a very difficult one, by the way. Chassis is sound and very complete, and that is why I want to save it, but body is almost non-existant, and getting a correct one seems an impossible solution, so I am thinking of going for a woody body, made as close as possible to a period correct woody.

I am in the process of locating information (I already got 'Elcar and Pratt Automobiles: The Complete History: William S. Locke', which is a truly fabulous book!) and also buying books and getting information for period correct woodies.

The most difficult part has been finding any parts for the car. Can anybody point me to any source? I am missing radiator cap, emblem, tailight, headlight lenses and trim rings, sidelights, dashboard pieces, etc.

Does anybody know of somebody with a Elcar 8 cilinder car from the era that I could get in touch with?

Thanks for any help,

Victor Millke

[Durant Mike]

Victor

Make your plans and reservations now for Hershey Pennsylvania for the show in October. It's one of the best places to find parts for cars. Bring good walking shows and some $. If your going to find parts it's going to be there for sure.

[V.Milke]

Mike:

Yes! I been at Hershey a few times. This past year, a few days after I had gotten the car, I saw a full radiator with emblem. I only needed the emblem but the owner was selling the full thing at a rather steep price, so I passed. I need the emblem, so perhaps I made a big mistake in letting it go.

Thanks,

victor

[TheMoneyPit]

Watch e-bay for both the emblem and hood ornament. I've seen both there as well as an Elcar Moto-Meter in the past, but the word STEEP does not do the ending prices justice in any of these cases...

[V.Milke]

Yes! I have been running an ebay search for a couple of months without a single item yet! I guess this will not be an easy project for me, but I am enthusiastic about it.

thanks,

victor

[Guest wk's_olds]

You might try contacting the Hubbard Hill Museum in Elkhart, Indiana, the place where the Elcar was produced. They had one on display several years ago.

[Guest wk's_olds]

Never mind the previous response....the HHM was closed down and the old cars autioned off. I didn't know this until checking.

[V.Milke]

Several years have go by... and sadly, I have only found a handful of parts for my project, including the full radiator I had mentioned seeing in Hershey, that I finally was able to purchase.

Car is a 1926 Elcar. Any information on:

Headlights

Taillights

Hubcaps

Door handles, interior and exterior

... and so many others...

Any leads, greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Victor

[one-shot]

Check with Sam Winer junk yard on Prospect Street Elkhart. Going in those building is a walk back in time. I think they had a truck made by the same company. The son (65 +/-) took down a old shed wall in the 60s and rolled it across folks yard to Crawford street, made the local newspaper. If I remember the story right the shutter car plant had a fire of unknown origins. The Hubbard Hill stuff was Mr. Fieldhouses life time collection. He had old cars stuffed everywhere around town. He donated paint (Fieldhouse Blue) to paint everything that didn’t move.

[West Peterson]

Victor

Have you ever talked with Bill Locke? He's pretty much the historian of the Elcars, and may know where the best places are for parts hunting.

Send me a PM if you need his contact information.

[V.Milke]

West: Yes, indeed I have. I visited Bill about 3 years ago. In fact, you gave me his contact information. He is an incredibly fine gentleman, incredibly knowledgeable about Elcars. He sold all of his cars and parts, and I already visited the man who has all of them, another great guy, and he has them in Elkhart.

One-shot: Thanks! Sounds like quite a place! I will try to contact them and see if they have anything Elcar, though I would be quite suprised if they did.

Victor

[one-shot]

I talked to the night watchman (from the Elcars) as a kid. he still had his black round mechanical device that had to be wound at every watch station to prove you were making your rounds. He claimed the fire was not accidental and kept the device to prove he made his rounds. Most of the kids that sold newspapers and metal for scrape knew the truck and several old cars were back there.

[one-shot]

I checked with my sister in Elkhart and the Ruthmere Mansion on Beardsley street has a restored Elcar, check the website for tour days. They also have a few other old cars. I don’t know if they came from Hubbard Hill or one of the other collections in town. I’ve been gone too long.

[one-shot]

Spoke to my Sister this last weekend and she said the vehicle they took out of a building at the Sam Winer Junk yard was an Elcar converted to a truck. Check the online Elkhart Truth sometime in the early 60s and the story is there. The junk yard is only three or four blocks from where they were built.

[V.Milke]

One-shot: Thanks! Interesting story.

I looked on the net for the Ruthmere Mansion on Beardsley street hoping to find any pic of the restored Elcar. The mansion looks like quite a place to visit. I am sorry I didn't even know that it existed when I went to the Pedal car museum in Elkhart, where they have many Elcars. Next time I am in the area I will be sure to stop by.

Thanks again,

Victor

[TheMoneyPit]

I thought I'd posted these - must have not gone...

[V.Milke]

Beautiful ornament! Thanks for the pics!

I understand it is very rare. I had only seen it in one original pic. Most cars with ornaments had a winged ornament with a motometer in the middle.

[V.Milke]

Trying my luck again... I still need for my 1926 Elcar:

Taillight

Headlights

Hubcaps

Door handles...

Anybody? Thanks!

victor

[vintchry]

Apropos nothing, Ralph Van Dine had two 1925 Elcars, one serial number apart. They were garaged in his property in Brookline, Mass. until he moved to Silver Spring, MD. He drove the first one down with no problem. The second one he drove down and the fan sheared off into the radiator. Disgusted, he sold it on the road in New Jersey to a wrecker for $50.00 and took the bus home.

[V.Milke]

Interesting story!

The pic I am attaching, which is one of my favorite pics, will show you the two cars that were down here, together, in a picture taken in the early 80's... and coincidentally, also one serial number appart.

The Touring car, serial 38772, was parted out and unfortunately I only received a very few parts from it when I got my Seven seater, serial 38773. The picture was given to me by Bill Locke. He had both cars listed in his registry and book...

[alsancle]

So Victor, how big an engine is in that thing?

[V.Milke]

Well, A.J., as far as I understand, not very large... a 4HM Lycoming 8 cylinder, 260c.i., with an interesting Swan manifold and carburator made to supposedly save on gas, which could be adjusted from the dashboard. I checked the size here:

From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elcar_Seven_Passenger_Sedan-8-80

and it gives some more information:

• Eight cylinder, vertical, cast en block, 3-1/8 x 4-1/4 inches (260.78 c.i.d.; 4.273 liters); valves in side; H.P. 31.25 N.A.C.C. rating
  

[jeff_a]

My grandfather's '26 Elcar, now in the Elcar Museum, had a radio when it was new. Does your Elcar have one, too?

----Jeff

[V.Milke]

Jeff: I don't believe my car ever had a radio.

Which of the cars at the Elcar museum was your father's? I've been there. Great place with a very nice and helpful owner.

[jeff_a]

Have you ever noticed a dark Blue & Turquoise 8-81 Landau Roadster? From Kansas, my grandfather traded a Travel Air biplane for it.

[V.Milke]

Yes, of course I saw the car, and seem to have heard a sad ending to the story, in the sense that the plane was crashed afterwards... or something like that. Beautiful car!

I saw it in two tone blue, but it is now restored in silver and black. Send me a PM in case you want the pictures I took of it before restoration and a few I have of it after restoration.

[jeff_a]

Thanks Victor. I had not heard about the repainting to Silver & Black. I sent the museum a bunch of primary source material about the car a few years ago, including some pictures of my family(Dad, Aunt, Grandpa, Grandma) driving out to Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado and back in it.

Edited April 13, 2015 by jeff_a (see edit history)

[jeff_a]

Thank you for the pictures of Glenn's Elcar. It was nice to see it on display at the Gilmore Car Museum show. You're right about the plane; the new owner had it a whole day before he managed to crash it. It's debatable whether the Travel Air biplane or the Full Classic, Lycoming-Straight-Eight Elcar would be worth more if both were around today.

Edited April 17, 2015 by jeff_a (see edit history)

[Linda Wilson]

I see no recent posts so hope there are still Elcar enthusiasts looking here. I am George Byington Pratt’s granddaughter and will be visiting  Elkhart in May 2019. Is the Elcar Museum still open ? I cannot find information on it.

[sagefinds]

I'm pretty sure I have still one of those cowl lights like the '26 touring has and I always thought it was Elcar.  Not sure if I saw a car or a picture years ago but something identified it. Also not sure where it is now,maybe in the swapmeet stuff,but if it turns up,I'll sure give a holler.

[John_Mereness]

May I suggest the Horseless Carriage Club website (it is great for parts for sale and cars for sale. though do not know about parts wanted) - and you probably need a picture of the exact part(s)  you need too.

 

https://www.hcca.org/classifieds.php?want

[jeff_a]

On 1/26/2019 at 5:34 PM, Linda Wilson said:

I see no recent posts so hope there are still Elcar enthusiasts looking here. I am George Byington Pratt’s granddaughter and will be visiting  Elkhart in May 2019. Is the Elcar Museum still open ? I cannot find information on it.

Hi Linda,

Much of the recent news about Elcars is on the CCCA, General forum here on AACA. "alsancle" started carving out spots there for "Elcar", "Dupont", "Classic Era Peerless", "Franklin", etc. within the AACA CCCA Forum. Just scroll down until you reach the right thread. It has 113 replies and 13,000 views.  Lots of photos of Elcars there, since no one  has started an Elcar Forum.

 

The Elcar Museum isn't in Elkhart. It is a small private museum in Bristol, IN, which IS in Elkhart County. Sorry, I have not been there. I'll send you contact information by PM.

 

These forums and their posts stay around forever, pretty much, so you can use the Search function; typing in "Elcar", and get a surprising amount of posts about Elcar.

Edited January 28, 2019 by jeff_a (see edit history)

[Linda Wilson]

 Thank you so much for this information, I will look elsewhere on the Forum to see more recent Elcar news. When  my family had a reunion in Elkhart at least 20 if not 25 years ago, there was a wonderful museum there and was so much fun to see. 

[g-g-g0]

The museum that you likely remember visiting was the S. Ray Miller museum. It was a wonderful collection of cars and assorted other interesting things. He had several automobiles including an Elcar and other cars that were manufactured in Elkhart. Mr Miller died in 2006 and the contents of the museum were sold at auction to settle his estate. 

[Linda Wilson]

Yes, it was the S. Ray Miller Museum. It was a very special visit for my mother who was born to George B. Pratt in 1916 when he was 58 years old! 

 

 I have a attached a picture of the home she lived in for several years in Elkhart before they moved to Southern California.  Could you tell me if the car in the picture is an Elcar. 

 

 Thank you for your help. 

[jeff_a]

The auto is from 1903-1905, way too early to be an Elcar(1916-1931).

[Linda Wilson]

Once again, thank you! Wish the pic was more clear so we could enlarge the radiator, maybe it would have an identifying emblem.

[jeff_a]

I re-posted your photo on the "What Is It?" Forum. The guys there may be able to sort it out.

[C Carl]

Hi Linda. You may be able to post significantly more detail. Look at the car in the photograph with a magnifying glass. If you can see more detail than what we see here, take a VERY close-up digital picture of the car only. You will want to fill the screen of whatever camera you are using, as much as possible while still maintaining very sharp focus. Intense illumination at a shallow angle to eliminate reflections, (or better yet 2 different shallow angles), along with camera stabilization/physical support may make identification more than just a guess. The guys on the "What Is It ?" Forum are absolute wizards who must have something like a photographic memory. Details which may be recoverable might include fender contour, door and entrance profile, or some specific identification cue to dead nail what this car is.

 

But again, this depends on whether you are able to see more details under magnification. Also, you may be a considerably more sophisticated photographer than I, and have a camera with a true optical zoom lens. Cell phones, nor iPads have such engineering.

 

Does your stately family home still stand in Elkhart ?       -     Carl 

[one-shot]

Here is a  news story from the Elkhart truth . Pics Out of order but you get the drift. Three of my uncles worked at Elcar when the lived on Crawford street according to the city directory of the time. 2 minute walk to work.

Harold

 

Edited January 29, 2019 by one-shot (see edit history)