bamfordsgarage

Hello all, the Dodge is parked at Tim Adams', Jerry is airborne home, and my dear old Mum has rallied considerably — and against the odds — from a couple days ago. Still, at 90, she has health issues on a number of fronts and is nowhere near out of the woods. Think positive. No idea for a while about when we will be back on the road. Thanks to all who expressed their concern and best wishes for Mum, and of course to Tim for making this hiatus as painless as possible.

Hello all, Day 6, Panama City to Tallahassee and home for me, and back to Elko GA for Jerry and the Dodge. I'm afraid my elderly Mum took a bad turn last night. She fell ill the day we left Virginia and we've been keeping in touch with home ever since. Now it looks like I need to get home pronto. Jerry just dropped me at the Tallahassee airport and is driving up to Elko where Tim Adams has kindly offered to throw the old heap into a shed until we're ready to resume the journey. Jerry will make his way home from Atlanta soon after. The kindness and generosity of Forum members has been just great, especially with Jim Yergin storing the car for the winter and now Tim keeping it safe until whenever (hopefully not too long, or we're liable to come back and find it sporting a Dakota front clip, power windows, solid floors, shiny paint...). Many thanks to all for your encouragement and assistance.

Hello all, Day 5, Vidalia GA to Panama City FL, 357 miles today, 1,263 total. What a great visit with Tim and the Lady Adams. That gal sure makes a fine club sandwich. As we were fixing to leave, they offered to put us up for the night and we could make an early start tomorrow — when he described her omelettes, it was all we could do to climb back in the old tub and press on. We liked leaving Vidalia so much we did it twice. Some gas stations in the US need a zip code to pay at the pumps. As we Canadians are not equipped with zips, I gave my Visa to the gal at the Shell before we filled up. Thinking I had already paid (actually, not really thinking at all) we gassed up and drove off towards Tim's place. About 15 miles down the road Jerry made some comment about gas stations and it struck me that I never got my card back. Or signed the sales slip either. Back we went and the gal pulled my card and the paperwork out from the cash drawer with a smile and good wishes for the rest of our trip. That Tim sure has a lot of interesting projects on the go, and a very well equipped shop to do the work. He's not just a first-rate car guy either — much of his last year or more has been occupied with renovating and expanding their 100-year-old house. This is no easy task, I know. We live in a 99-year-old house that my bride dearly wishes I would spend time on instead of all that garage work I love so much. Anyway, we really enjoyed our tour of the cars, the house, and the shops and were delighted with the excellent wheel Tim gave us (I tried to pay but he was very uncooperative). We threw our welded-rim spare up on the car-top carrier and put the Tim-Rim with a patched tube and new tire in the back seat — we've learned not to pack our spare tires out of easy reach. About 15 minutes over the state line we heard a hissing sound from the back seat. Apparently the Georgia air in that tube wanted to experience Florida first hand. Aarrrgggghhhh! Tomorrow we find a local tire shop and try to mount the tire as a tubeless and re-repair the tube to carry as a spare. Tire troubles are a hassle but it could be much worse — bearings, tow trucks, collisions, bandits, vandals... Tomorrow is a big day for us — we go just a couple miles further south on US 231 and when we turn right on US 98 we're heading home! We plan to follow 98 and/or the coast road all the way to Mobile. If all goes well we'll be in Mississippi or even Louisiana by nightfall. Pictures: I don't know where he finds the time to post 10K on the Forum with everything else he's doing; At work on the tube; Hey Jerry, I think we're in Georgia; Is there anybody working here?; 'Cause I sure would like some of that 37¢ gas!

Stuff to do with camping at Hershey in October — an old mattress for Jerry, air mattress for me, sleeping bags, Coleman stove, 10x10 canopy, folding table, lawn chairs, cooler, 2nd spare tire, roll of rusty screen from the old Packard plant, folding swap meet shopping cart...

And Day 4, Sumter NC to Vidalia GA, 247 miles today, 906 trip total. Yesterday as we seemed to be wasting our time trying to get a usable spare we debated how badly we needed one right away — after all, we could probably go thousands of miles without another flat. Two miles north of Lyons, GA we were very VERY glad we persevered yesterday. Right rear this time and for no apparent reason, but we had the spare on in 10 minutes and rolled gingerly into Lyons on our questionable welded wheel. Luck was with us — KK Tire was closing in 15 minutes and they had our flat repaired in 10. We were visiting a Model T Forum member in Lyons and he kindly offered the use of his yard to swap in the freshly-repaired tire and his MIG for Jerry to fix up the questionable weld from yesterday. It was a Model T sort of day — breakfast was with another Model T forum member and scholar in Sumter SC, who toured us through his cars and stuff and gave rides in his original Mercury-bodied early-20s T Speedster (earlier than and nothing to do with Mercury cars by Ford). Most T speedsters are homebuilt affairs with often crude and skimpy bodywork. Mercury, however, was one of the best manufacturers of factory speedster bodies and original Mercury bodies are rare and highly prized today. Tomorrow we head due west to Elko, GA to meet up with a Mr. Timothy Adams Esq. who has kindly offered us a spare 16" rim. We do have an extra tire with us, so with Tim's rim and our 2nd tire that will give us two usable spares for the road! At the rate we've been going, that should keep us in spares until Friday. Upon leaving Tim's place we drive south into Florida, turn right and head for Mississippi. Once we've made that right turn, every mile we travel brings us a mile closer to home. Pictures: Jerry going for a ride in the Mercury Speedster; Dodge and Mercury — a contrast in sportiness; Life in the slow lane, getting passed by semis going uphill; Fixing the rim for good in Lyons, GA; 1918 TT (Model T Ton Truck) in Lyons, GA

Hello all, Day 3 (yesterday), Hillsborough NC to Sumter SC, 289 miles today, trip total 659. Sorry I'm late but the dog ate my homework! Actually the wireless went down at our hotel last night and was still down this morning. I'll post today's report shortly. Yesterday we were determined to get a usable spare — of some sort — before we left Hillsborough. We tried to source a more modern Ranger-type rim, but could only find 14" or 15" ones that seemed far too wide for our fenders and the tire diameter would still be less than 28". Maybe we didn't try hard enough or weren't looking for the right thing but that angle seemed to be a dead end. Then there a few places that were suggested to us as possibly having an old Mopar rim. We got so excited with one guy came out of his shop, spied the Dodge and exclaimed "Hey, I saw y'alls cahr at Hershey!" Alas, no amount of looking through his junk piles could produce a 16" rim. We tried to get our old one welded, but the regular shops wouldn't touch our job for liability reasons, although we eventually found a body shop owner who agreed to weld it for us. That started out OK when he pressed the crack shut and laid a nice bead on the outside of the wheel. We were outside poking around in the yard and didn't notice him then starting to lay a big fat bead inside the rim — all the way around. Turns out he didn't have a grinder (or didn't want to have one) to shape this inside bead such that a tire could actually be re-mounted on the rim. Long story short, we bought an angle grinder at Home Depot and plugged into the tire shop's power so we could spend the next hour fixing the welder's job enough to get our tire mounted. We weren't out of Sumter until almost 5:00 but at least we had a usable spare. Sort of usable, anyway — on close examination, his outside weld didn't seem to fully mend the original crack, so there was no telling how long it might hold if we had to use this wheel. We something astonishing in and around the body shop yard that we sure don't see in Canada... Kudzu. We were told this remarkable weed was planted along roadsides in the southeastern US some 50 years ago — on purpose, no less — and has since overgrown large areas of land near the affected highways. It can grow up to a foot per day, the roots are very deep and strong and the plant is near impossible to kill. There were several cars in the back lot that were totally covered with kudzu to the point of being unidentifiable. He told us that if they drag a car into the back during the growing season and it can be completely covered within two weeks. Pictures: Looking for rims; welding our rim (note the cool air-brushed woodie in the background); finished product — yikes!; finishing the finished product; Kudzu at work.

Afterburner tip...

If you can't feel the scratches you have a decent shot at getting rid of them. Maybe talk to a reputable glass shop and get their opinion. Chances are your scratches weren't actually caused by the plastic scraper, but by a bit of road grit already on the window that got picked up by your scraper and dragged along the glass.

Hello all, Day 2, Lynchburg VA to Hillsborough NC. 141 miles today, trip total 370. 141 miles with no spare and no flats. So far so good. Tomorrow we should be able to find an acceptable 15" rim at a local wreckers for our emergency spare. Thanks to Greg/Robert/Jersey for your suggestions, and to everyone else for your kind comments and good wishes. We tooled around historic Lynchburg this AM admiring some of the great old houses. At one point a local mechanic stopped to take some pictures of the car and ended up taking us to his nearby shop where he thought there might be a 15" Ranger rim kicking around. No such luck but we all three enjoyed the visit. Then just into NC we saw this bright blue P15(?) alongside the road just north of Yanceyville. It was for sale and there was a big wrecking yard of mixed vintages just behind it. Alas we couldn't raise anyone in the house or on the 'phone to see if our 16" rims might be sitting in the yard somewhere. We're staying in Hillsborough tonight with friends we met a couple years ago in the western states when they were part of a New York to San Francisco rally that followed the original route of the American leg of the famous New York to Paris race of 1908 (http://www.longestautoracecent.com/). Jerry and I found out about this rally too late to get in at the beginning, but drove the Dodge down to Laramie WY and joined up with the group for the final 10 days into San Francisco. That was some great road trip. Jan and Ed Howle drove this 67 Beetle on the 2008 NY to SF rally and it was one of only two cars that completed the run entirely "on their own rubber" with nary a repair and only a cracked windshield worse for wear. That's the third time they've driven the Beetle across the US, as they were also in a couple of previous cross-country Great American Race events with this car. (Jan wants to make sure everyone understands that is not their gate and also not their house in the background.) April 14 they pile into the Beetle and depart New York for San Francisco once again, only this time the car will go into a container bound for Beijing. The Howles and a number of other intrepid souls will spend the six weeks from Jun 04 to July 21 driving to Paris France through China, Kazakhstan, Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Germany, Czech Republic, and Switzerland. (http://world-race.net/) Now that's a road trip! For a Mopar connection to all this, check out the Howle's lovely 1932 DeSoto rumble-seat roadster that they drove cross-country (is there some pattern here?) in the 2006 Great American Race. Other than the up-draft carb and oddball air cleaner, then engine looks very much like the one in our trusty D25.

Rule of thumb — if the scratches are deep enough to catch with a fingernail, you're not gonna polish them out.

Hi Greg, thanks for your suggestion. Our rims are 16" — are there modern Ford or Dodge rims available in this size also? I know so little about newer stuff...

Hello all, welcome to our journey from Warrenton VA to Edmonton AB via Florida, Texas, and points along the way. This trip actually started in Edmonton last September when we drove to Hershey, PA for the big AACA swap meet and car show Oct 06-09. Our '47 D25 (Canadian Dodge) wintered in Warrenton at Gentleman Jim Yergin's place — we flew into Dulles yesterday, picked up the car this morning and hightailed it west from there. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Day 1, Warrenton VA to Lynchburg VA, 229 miles. Jerry and I were joined at Jim Yergin's place this morning by Chet Brzostowski (who picked us up at the hotel), Joe Flanagan and Rodney Bullock. With a little gas in the carb and a few goes on the starter button the beast fired up and soon settled into a smooth idle. Not bad after four months of hibernation. The oil and coolant levels were fine, the tires were still up, and we were set to go. The six of us piled into the Dodge and drove into Warrenton for a nice lunch at the local Red Hot & Blue. It was a tight squeeze on the way into town and tighter still on the way back after six hearty lunches. Our plan was to head towards West Virginia for a drive through the scenic Allegheny Mountains (check out this site: http://www.antiquecar.com/legendary_west_virginia1.php) and then down to North Carolina where we need to be Sunday afternoon. We stopped in Marshall VA to have a look at Marshall Ford, which Jim says is sort of the oldest Ford dealership in the US. But only sort of — Ford does not recognize them as such since the dealership has changed hands over the years. Still, there has been a Ford dealership at this location right from the Model T days, and that's good enough for me. We were so close to WV we could almost see it when there was a funny noise on a gentle right-hand bend followed by that lurch and rough ride that can only mean a flat tire. Dang. If only it were just a flat — turns out the left-rear rim split right open for about 10" right along the bead line. Upon close examination we found rust inside each end of the split, so those weak spots have been there for a while. Double dang. Anyway, we bolted on the spare and headed for NC. West Virginia will just have to live without us. After Hillsborough NC we head for Sumter SC, Lyons GA and then on to FL. Right now we're running without a spare. Not good. We'd like to get this rim welded up and/or get a replacement rim as soon as possible. Odds are we can go a few thousand miles without another flat but we sure would like to have a useable spare just in case. Can someone suggest a friendly welder or vintage wrecking yard, more-or-less on our route, that might have a spare rim? Maybe there's a Forum member in the area that can help. Or perhaps someone can courier a 16" rim to us in GA, or...? All suggestions most welcome! _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Todays' pictures: The Gang of Five after lunch (l to r) Rodney, Jerry, Jim, Chet, Joe & your reporter Chris; Marshall Ford; Hey it's only flat on the bottom; 16" Split rim.

Jerry and I are at the Edmonton Airport now, waiting to board for Ottawa where we connect on to Dulles. Looking forward to seeing you guys tomorrow. I'll start a new thread for our return trip, titled "The Long Road Home..." Here's hoping for a grand adventure!

Hey that's pretty cool... Thanks!

Hi Cap'n, it should be about Thursday Feb 17, plus or minus a day.

Thanks for asking. We've moved up our departure by a month. My beloved is going to Nicaragua for two weeks in March and we've decided at least one of us ought to be here to help my 90-year old Mum with anything she might need. It was easier for Jerry and me to change our plans than for Michelle, who needs to book her time off well in advance. We fly into Dulles this Friday afternoon. Chester B has kindly offered to pick us up Saturday AM and drive us out to Jim Yergin's place. Joe F and Rodney B are going to show up mid-morning and we'll have a little P15-D24 wake-up party for the old Dodge. With luck we'll be up and running without much trouble, have lunch nearby with the P-D gang, then hightail it south soon after. If there are other forum members nearby, I'm sure you would be welcome to join us for the wake-up and lunch. We expect to be home in Edmonton around Feb 23. We have stops/visits planned in Hillsborough NC, Sumter SC, Lyons GA, Tallahassee FL, Mobile AL, Stennis MS, Nawlins LA, Brownsboro & Dallas TX, Route 66 OK City to Bristow OK, Manhattan KS, Pikes Peak & Loveland CO, Laramie WY, Deer Lodge and Helena MT, and Lethbridge AB. Google figures this route at about 4,800 miles. It would be nice to connect with a few Forum members en route if that works out.

'99 Sable last week, the morning after we got back from a little vacation.

I posted the photo on the MTFCA (Model T Ford Club of America) forum. One of the members has this photo in a book with the following caption... "A 1920s coal-gas powered taxicab operated by John Lee Automobile Engineers in Keighley, England. The bag atop the vehicle stored sufficient fuel for 15 miles of driving." The car is a 1915 or '16 Model T Ford Town Car. Ford built a small number of these cars for the livery trade and few survive.

The first two pictures today go with the last one from yesterday (oops). And we're done.

Last ones for today, tomorrow will finish them up. This late model Chev was the only American car we saw newer than the embargo and was doubtless highly prized by the owner. Would be interesting to hear the story of how it ended up in Cuba. Last car in the set had had an engine transplant — there was a stick shift poking up through a crudely cut hole.

More pictures. The Alfa was an unexpected sighting.

One more batch today, not many left now. It was fun to meet and visit with the Chevy guy — he had very little English but his son had a bit more and was able to help us communicate. He was so very proud of his car and all the work he had done on it. Note the custom patch panels, extra trunk lock, lighting, etc. This one still had the original 6-cyl engine or one very much like it.

More Cubacar pix. That Plymouth engine should be safe. Aero, it's hard to get a handle on how many of these cars still had their original drivetrain. For example, that Cadillac in the last photo had a stickshift that was very likely bolted to something other than an OHV V8.

A couple orange oddballs in this batch...

Thanks for the Uruguay pictures Phil — looks like some of their iron is much older than in Cuba. We saw only one pre-war vehicle in Cuba, a 20's Model T ruck in a Havana restaurant. Rockwood, I think you have hit the nail on the head with the appeal of these Cuba cars. For me anyway. Despite their age, they are still in daily service and probably have been since new. Think about it... when our P15-D24 cars were new, the average owner considered a five year old car to be very much used, and a 10 year old car to be basically worn out and worthless. These Cuba cars have been in use for 50-65 years now, five+ times their North American life expectancy. Remarkable!