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Reo Royale


alsancle

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Yes that is the one. Having trouble with the carb. Car starves for fuel but dumps gas out of the carb. Not sure where to look for help.

There is a forum for royale owners withs some guys that are experts. You should join. Did you buy a kit for it? Here is a thread discussing the carbs:

http://reoroyale.freeforums.net/thread/18/carb-kit-jon-hargrove?page=1&scrollTo=180

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There was a Royale here in NZ some years ago - it is probably the years since I have seen it. I think it was a coupe. It was blue and had right hand drive. I heard a rumour it had gone to the US but can't be certain on that. Whether or not it was the smaller 8-31 I don't know. If it was in the US the right hand drive would make it stand out. There also a big black sedan I saw on a trip to the north about 40 years ago which I presume still survives. I guess both of these cars were supplied new to NZ.

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Guest stephen48
There was a Royale here in NZ some years ago - it is probably the years since I have seen it. I think it was a coupe. It was blue and had right hand drive. I heard a rumour it had gone to the US but can't be certain on that. Whether or not it was the smaller 8-31 I don't know. If it was in the US the right hand drive would make it stand out. There also a big black sedan I saw on a trip to the north about 40 years ago which I presume still survives. I guess both of these cars were supplied new to NZ.

I have known of two surviving Reo Royales here. There was a sedan in the Auckland area in the late 1960s and it is now stored in the Southwards museum awaiting restoration building.

Also there was a Victoria coupe in the Christchurch area that I last heard of in the 1990s. It may still be there.Both of these are right hand drive .As with any car there are usually more surviving than are generally known so it would not surprise me if there are others. Reo sold well here back in the day.

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It would be interesting to know how many Royales were sold in NZ and Australia when new. I'm still trying to find the U.S. production. Some books list numbers measured in thousands but I really think that total production is measured in hundreds. A 5% survival rate would mean an original production total of around 1000 cars for all years assuming there are around 50 cars total today. We know of about 35 so I'm assuming there are probably 50 or more.

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Guest stephen48
Re my first post #48 I meant to put that it was probably ten years since I had seen the coupe. It sounds to be the same car stephen48 mentioned. The black sedan was near Opotoki I think.

The sedan that was in the Auckland area was two tone , black guards and top with a mustard / brownish colour in the centre. According to the owners son at the time his father salvaged from a wreckers yard.I saw it many times in late 60s and possibly early 70s as the owner lived in Avondale in a side street off the street I grew up in.They let an advertising agency use it for a petrol advertisement during which the engine was ruined so it was sold and has not run again since.Recently I saw photos of it on flickr in the Southward Museum storage shed taken on their recent open days.So I assume they aquired it when the Allen family sold it after advertising it in the Vintage Car Club magazine. It was an impressive car.

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In regards to the painted wheels and stainless (or chrome) spokes...

It seems that there are several cars that have had this beautiful treatment done. I find it very interesting, though, that on the restored cars, everyone has chromed the lock rings. The factory photos (and the photo of the original car from Chicago), show that the spokes only were plated. The lock rings were painted the same as the wheel (even on the cars with all painted spokes and wheels).

First post here as I just found the thread which is great...

West (long time, no write!): I thought the same, body color, and I like the idea... but then I bumped into this original pic that shows them in a dark color.... Perhaps the car's dark trim color or maybe black. Looks interesting, and great!

Victor

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  • 3 weeks later...

Chuck's dad Max Hamilton owned the one off Dietrich bodied Royale for many years. He purchased the car from an ad in the Wall Street Journal in 1960 and owned the car into the 1980s when it was sold to Alden "Peach" Thomas whose dad was the Reo Chief engineer. Alden Thomas had the car restored in the 1980s to its original colors (or close).

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Guest Chuck Hamilton

-Mark, dad purchased the Royale just north of Baltimore from a private owner who wanted to sell one of his three cars-the Royale, an L-29 Cord and a Graham Hollywood. Of course the aluminum bodied Royale was the choice. But dad drove away but stayed overnight not too far away. I u derstand the car was sold in New York and then moved to D.C. Assumption would be it was sold to someone in Baltimore.

The car was tan and brown. The only body flaws were one piece of wood on the drivers side needed replaced nd there was a tear in the aluminum body. The interior was a brown doe skin, very plain. We went back to get the car and typical Max Hamilton style, oil change, pugs gapped, brakes checked and off to WV.

Dad's prioity was always the driveability--cars were meant to drive not sit around and look pretty. He rebuild the engine firsta nd then on to the other mechanics. He had it painted to match an ad in gray, back and red pinstripes. The interior was done by an upholsterer who owned a 1926 Olds opera coupe.

From there on it was pure driving pleasure and maintenance. Smokey Mountains, Winchester, VA, Niagra Falls, Lansing, Michigan, etc. The Niavra Falls trip was combined with a lead on 2 Royales buried in muck in a farmer's field--never for sale as many told him. Dad bought them both (including their SS wire wheels which the Dietrich did not have) The parts Royales were garaged in Lewiston, NY.

Well I answerex more than what I was asked but the discovery of the Dietrich once agains fuels my passiom.

Chuck

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Hi Chuck, could you describe what you mean by doe-skin? Was it a leather? Most closed cars were done in cloth during that era (although leather was an option for all closed Royales). Here are some pictures of the interior of the twin to this car on the Packard chassis. Did the interior look something like this? Btw, some pictures of those two buried Royales would be car collector gold!

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Guest Chuck Hamilton

It wasnt typical mohair, it was a soft leather much like a suede. The old interior shots of dad's car followed the original fairly accurately. The present upholstery is beautiful and who's to argue. LOL. I'm new here and cant seem to open the thumbnails. Would love to see the Packards so I'll keep trying. If you could sent them to cfh0521@gmail it would be appreciated.

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  • 2 months later...

Is it just me or the entire forum been slow this fall? Ed, Dave, Jason, West, etc, where are you guys??? Don't tell me facebook!

This restoration project has been going on all fall. I started with a list of about 12 things I really wanted fixed which seemed to me to be about 2 or 3 weeks worth of work. As I'm sure many of you have experienced it is very hard to find a place to draw the line. Where I'm going now is a 90 point car or so.

You can see the picture of the original paint which was described as "tomato" in a period article on the car. It is close enough to the current color (basically the same minus the metallic) that I'm not respraying the body, only the hoods and fenders. I'm not a huge two tone fan so the fenders will be body color.

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What are you doing with the tan belt molding on the body?

Still in Florida? I'm leaving the gold alone. We haven't found any of the trim color anywhere (the fenders were red under the gold) so in the interests of not going completely bankrupt I'm going to stock with the moldings as is.

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I haven't been posting either so I shouldn't complain, but there has been very little to view unless you are into Buick.

The tires turned into a complete fiasco. I ordered a single 700x18 Bedford Blackwall to see how it would look. The shop called me and told me I ordered the wrong tire. Come to find out that I have 17 inch wheels when the rest of the world is running 18 inch. One of my Royale buddies came up with a set of 6 wheels but I need snap rings. Actually scrounged 4 at Hershey but in the process have been communicating with Coker about their new snap rings. Also, Coker is re-manufacturing the outside rim. Wheels will arrive this week, one is going to Coker to see if their rings will work with my wheels. We will mount my single tire on one of the wheels to see how it looks, potentially use it to fabricate the side covers.

I'm thinking chrome snap ring and painted wheels. Maybe a darker shade of the body color. Thoughts?

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