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Locomobile 4 Cylinder Gathering Place


alsfarms

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On 5/1/2022 at 8:15 AM, edinmass said:

Richard…..you never find Loco’s. You must hunt them. It’s a small world(Loco) in the car hobby. HCCA is the club to network with. Also, the Loco threads here. There are only two types of any year Loco………ones that are active and seen at shows and tours……….most of them are well sorted as they are owned by experienced car people. The other type is cars sitting and forgotten till someone passes on. Getting one of them running and reliable is difficult at best. There is no supply of parts at all…….except tires and tubes, and today even that is spotty. A Loco is for an accomplished and experienced car collector. You seldom see them sold outside their little world they revolve around. If you want one…..chase on, one is never going to fall in your lap. It’s a lot of work finding and buying cars……..it isn’t easy. Find good cars is extremely difficult.

Ed, not to nit pick, but in response to my observations on other threads about how difficult it is to find decent , interesting cars in my part of the world you have on a few occasions stated that great cars turn up for you all the time. You almost have to fight them off. A bit inconsistent ?

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Thats going back to May........If I remember my thoughts at that time.........we were talking about the speedster........so good cars from say 1905-1915 are exceptionally difficult to find.......later cars not so much. 

Edited by edinmass (see edit history)
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3 hours ago, edinmass said:

Thats going back to May........If I remember my thoughts at that time.........we were talking about the speedster........so good cars from say 1905-1915 are exceptionally difficult to find.......later cars not so much. 

 

Yes they are . Around here even 1916 - 1929 are difficult unless you are talking about bread and butter cars.

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3 hours ago, alsfarms said:

Agreed, I wonder why the wife has not pushed for a windshield! 

Al

Al, my feeling is people drove for pleasure more than anything in those early years and windshields aren't necessary.

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Pleasure driving may be very true in some areas.  However, the early automobile was looked at as a tool to get around in the wide open spaces here in the early 1900's west.  My Great Grand mother and Grand mother would not have been kind about eating dirt, eating bugs with wind in the face here on a typical early road trip.  In the early 1900's, here in the rural west, nothing was closer than 40 or 50 miles and yes, it was all dirt.  We didn't even get gravel until the 1940's.  To this day we still have our share of back country dirt roads and lots of gravel roads.  Our last main road artery was oiled in the mid 1950's, thankfully.  What a blessing!

Al

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It may be just me, but I don't believe people bought Locomobiles to get from point A to point B. Look at the picture again. The couple is taking a leisurely drive along a body of water. Locomobiles were bought for the prestige of being seen in one. Yes, they are a high quality car and it may have been different in the dusty west. The road beside my house was dirt for a while and I used to tear up and down it in one of my cars, leaving a cloud of dust I had to drive back through to get back home. If memory serves, Al's grandfather was a Locomobile dealer; it would be interesting to know how many Locomobiles he sold. Are there any sales figures Al?

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Here is a slight correction to the story mentioned above.  My Great Grand Dad started the first Automobile Dealership on our side of the country I still live in.  In fact, I still live in the house that se Great Grand Dad built in 1899.  New from his Automobile Dealership he had franchise rights to sell Allen, Jeffery and Kissel Kar.  By association with other dealers of the same era but from different areas he was able to offer for sale a wider variety of automobile makes.  My Locomobile was used by his family and never sold by him out of his possession. I am trying to track information to see if a Locomobile Dealer was located in Salt Lake City. That is probably the means that my Locomobile came into his possession originally.  As shown before, his Dealership building still stands to this day just around the corner from my home. 

Al

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  • 1 month later...
  • 1 month later...

I had noticed an original Locomobile script Solar 1033 brass side-lamp offered and sold on EBAY.  Does anyone know who might have bought this lamp.  My 1909 Locomobile has a very similar script side-lamp on it.  Mine are 933 instead of 1033.  I do assume that the Solar 1033 should more properly be used on a Model year 1910 and my Solar 933 more appropriately used on a 1909 Model year.  What are the thoughts here?

Al

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Model 30 1910 cars are featured in the Locomobile Book" as having Gray and Davis three tier side and tail lamps, Rushmore headlights.

Model 30 1909, I do not have access to a 1909 Locomobile Book, but have never seen one as being 1909 with anything other than Rushmore headlights paired with Gray and Davis three tier side and tail. 

Model 30 1911 and 1912 cars are featured in the "Locomobile Book" as having Solar lamps all around. 

 

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Hello John,

I agree with what written matter you and I have both seen.  However, even early on, I am not sure that these high end automobiles were "cookie cutter" cars.  My 933 Solar Locomobile script side lamps attest to that as well as the 1033 Solar Locomobile script side lamp that was recently sold on ebay.  This same situation is evident on the later series 48 Locomobile offerings.  Some items were, " more or less" standard but not across the board.  What fun is this?  I suppose a running gear could be bought from Locomobile then appointed with the owners own preference.  I guess that is appropriate.  I have seen a few early Locomobile automobiles aborned with high quality headlamps that are not Rushmore.  Ohhhh Boyyy.

Are you gaining on the rear muffler casting?  A few days ago, I picked up a box of Wisconsin Model M engine parts from the Foundry that have been holding up that project for several years.  It is good to finally have those castings in my hands. Any other new developments on your end?

Al

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On the lamps issue, who really cares anyway?  Nobody but us really studies this stuff, and what difference does it make?  I quite simply want to drive the car before I get too old or get "the call".  

The pattern is done and should be here by end of week.  I will take it to the local foundry and get ours done in gray iron. 

 

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John, You have a way with words!  Your thoughts and mine are the same.  None of us know when that certain call will come so I 100 percent agree, let's get on with it and get these Locomobiles on the road.  Keep me in the loop when the castings arrive.

Al

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  • 2 weeks later...
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This post is intended for for those of us interested in and likely owners of the earlier four cylinder Locomobiles.  If you have been watching EBAY, a large amount of Locomobile literature has been up for auction.  One piece that caught my eye was an original 1909 Locomobile Book that would cover the Model I and Model L.  Did anyone reading here purchase that book? I have a decent copy of that document and would like to speak with the new owner of this mentioned 1909 Locomobile Book to confirm a couple of pages of what I have.

Al

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  • 4 weeks later...

Here is a vintage photograph showing a 1909 or 1910 Locomobile Model L Toy Tonneau in the Mt Hood Oregon area, from a historical site. What a delightful picture! The picture was provided by another Brother Locomobile owner from Florida. Thanks for sharing.  Vintage photographs have a character that is hard to replicate in newer settings. Can anyone pick out interesting aspects of this photo?

Al

2120.png.9a316d89c2e849d5a04388da5f527ba4.png

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1 hour ago, alsfarms said:

Another thing I note is the huge size of the Prestolite tank. Who knows what size this one is? I have never seen one lke that.

Al

Me neither. I don't think it is a Prestolite tank, or at least not one for automotive use. The valve is in the center. I'll bet it's an upright welding tank that has been pressed into service here to increase capacity. It may not behave as expected lying on it's side like that....

 

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Bloo, On a good second look, I do agree with you.  That looks more like a small industrial acetylene tank. I have to admit, I have ruined a set of cutting torch acetylene gauges by picking up an acetylene bottle that had been laid on the ground flat. I thought I had given the acetone ample enough time to settle back to the bottom, even after a day......nope and off went the gauges for repair and yes....I did really talk to myself on that one. Like they say, experience is a the best teacher! However, maybe some of the early design industrial acetylene bottles are more similar to a typical Prestolite tank and are designed to function in a horizontal position.  Anyone, with experience, please ad to this conversation.

Al

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More close inspection of the above photograph shows a huge triple twist horn. I am amazed at the size of that horn! This image certainly proves that these horns could be oriented with the bell up, not down as I have been told by probably 75 percent of early automobile enthusiasts.

Al

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Here is a picture out of a 1909 sales brochure showing the horn side. I think this horn is a tad bit smaller than what is shown in the vintage photograph shown above. To me, all this proves is that there was plenty of latitude in how early Locomobile buyers dressed their automobiles.

Al

IMG_20230122_184652243_HDR.jpg.595d2f3cf5065fac06dd86872d22c845.jpg

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I just noticed another interesting feature on the vintage photo above. The speedo is mounted in a non typical manner. The speedo looks to be a Jones unit just like the one I will post a picture of. I will also post a picture of a matching Jones tachometer.

Al

IMG_20230122_185603131.jpg.d3798077dd33bc7f40a60b05b5ab45ab.jpgIMG_20230122_185650091.jpg.9d71c51207f7003439e37a5cb21ba7c5.jpg

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43 minutes ago, alsfarms said:

George,

Do you happen to have any sales literature that would clearly show the detail of a Standard Universal #1 rim. I am not real familiar with SU rim hardware. Does much SU rim hardware interchange with Firestone?

Al

Al,

 No rims shared anything with others. That was the whole idea of propriety design. Firestone are just Firestone. That hand pump has been added to his seat side. That period Locomobile are gravity gas fed from a tank under the seat. The catalog entry states Locomobile uses the force that never fails- Gravity. 

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Gravity is a good and very simple means of getting a reliable supply of gasoline to the carburetor.....unless, for instance you own a Toy Tonneau which has a lower seat elevation so less height for gravity to work to deliver fuel to the carburetor.  Then couple that with the idea that some Locomobiles spent there entire lives in the intermountain area of the western US, going up early mountain roads were likely a bit frustrating or highly infuriating when you were running out of fuel to the carburetor!  Here is a couple of pictures relating to aftermarket products that helped overcome some early design flaws or weaknesses.  This particular item is an exhaust pressure regulator to put a bit of pressure into the tank to keep gasoline flowing to the carburetor even when climbing up steep mountain roads.

Al

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