Norm's Coupe

I had trouble getting them off the first time around. However, now mine are like Robert's. They come off real easy. I didn't use anything on them when I put them back on the car. Don't think being in a dry area makes any difference either. I certainly don't live in a dry area, and I park the car on concrete year round. I think it only becomes a problem getting those things off after the car has sat for many years without moving. Once you get them off, they should come off without any trouble after that.

Forgot to mention this. but......... Hey guys, you are blaming the wrong state for that car. That's not a Texas car. Check out the license plates. That's from those guys on the west coast, California, not Texas.:D

I didn't look at the website pictures before. But.........I still like the overall car. Should get rid of the roll bar though. Not too excited about the tail lights either. I do like tubular grills though. Norm, I think those headlights are off an early 50's model Buick or Oldsmobile. Didn't care too much for the wood on the dash, but otherwise OK. Seems to be real proud of the Cobra Tach doesn't he. But.........did you notice the pitting on the base of the tach. You'd think if you went to that much trouble, you'd have that re-plated, and also get the scratches off the chrome under the gauges. Steering wheel and column also needs to be repainted. Seats and door panels look good though. But.......I would have put a console in for the shifter. That engine compartment is way off though in my opinion. Not only should it be painted to match the car, but.........what's with the blue engine when you have a red car? I realize it's a Ford engine, but you could paint it to match the car at least. Why keep it original colors when the rest of the car is far from original.

I agree, simple hand washing with regular soap is usually all that's required. That said. Greg, did you get your flu shot while at the doctor's office? I think that's probably the best prevention of the flu. I use to get colds and ear infections quite a bit up until about 10 years or so ago, when the wife and I first started getting flu shots every year. Since then, I have not had the flu, nor have I had any colds or ear infections, nor has the wife. So.........those flu shots must help with the common cold and ear infections too. You really don't have to go to a doctor to get them either. Around here they have nurses in some stores giving the shots on certain days. We got ours while at Walgreen's about a month ago. No line, so it only took about 10 or 15 minutes.

Ben, Our home phone is a regular phone line, won't give that up. But........the cell phones are as you mentioned. Both mine and my wife's phones are on a prepaid card. For people who don't use a cell phone much like us, that's probably the best way to go for a cell phone. We buy a card that is worth $100 worth of minutes, or one year length. What we don't use during that year is rolled over when we buy a new card at the end of the year, as long as we don't let the card expire entirely. So........we usually buy the new card about a week before the one expires. We've had our phones for a little over 2 1/2 years now. Started out with a 6 month card. So........I think I still have about $257 worth of minutes and the wife has about $230 worth left to use. That's because each time they roll over the minutes with a new card, we also get bonus minutes. Think it's $10 in bonus minutes each time. Anyway, that works out to only $8.33 per month (per phone) to have peace of mind when out on the road, using the $100 cards. Like you said, finding a pay phone today is like looking for a needle in a haystack, even in the larger cities like we're in. Then when you do find one, it may have the cord cut, speaker broken, or it's full of gum.

Those light kits would be easy to make if one wanted one. That said, Plymouth isn't the only car that had a plastic insert for the hood ornament, or a light kit for it. Of course DeSoto also had the plastic insert one year. But........Pontiac also had one. So.........maybe check some of the vendors for Pontiac. They may be reproducing them for Pontiac.

There's not much room for anything under the hood of a Cobalt, not even your hands. Looked at one when they first came out. That's one tight engine compartment, they even had to put the battery in the trunk. That's when I lost interest in them, after seeing that.

If I'm not mistaking. Before she got into showbiz she was either Miss America or Miss USA. She has aged gracefully.

If you are looking for the parking light housing, David gave you a good answer. They aren't hard to repair. Below is a picture of an extra dome light housing I have. It didn't need patching like Davids parking light housing, but it was rusted and paint pealing off. All I did was sandblast it, then painted it with white aerosol paint. Looks like new now.

If this is the same place, they still have a website too. http://www.atlaschrys.com/

It's been a long time (about 1998) so I could be wrong, but.........aren't Atlas Auto Parts and the Auto Cellar one in the same. Seems to me when I called to order parts back then, they said it was the same. Only reason they said that was because I questioned them when they answered the phone using the other name. At any rate, that phone number may still be good and just the area code has changed. They've done a lot of changing around area codes in the last 10 or 12 years, so they may have a new area code. Maybe try calling information and ask for the phone number. That way, if the area code has changed they'll give you the new one when you get the number.

Didn't know she played Bat Woman. I do remember her on Dr. Welby. Think she was his receptionist or nurse on that show.

Here's one for you. As all the older guys here know, I have a cell phone, but never turn it on. Had it for almost two years now and only used it to make one or two calls during that time. Not much into all this electronic wireless stuff. But........my son is. He even builds the computers from scratch. Even though his job does not require him to have laptop, he does carry one around a lot of times. But.........believe it or not, he does not have a cell phone and says he would not have one. It's kind of refreshing to see someone who is only 42 and doesn't want a cell phone.

I'm not sure you can buy new stops like that. You are correct, Steele Rubber don't stock or make the stops. But.........I believe they will rebuild your old ones for you.

All good advise. As Tom mentioned, a radial tire will do that too if a belt slips. I once had a belt slip on a tire with less than a couple thousand miles on it, while I was on the freeway during rush hour. Was on the front, and it immediately through the car out of control when I hit a joint in the road changing lanes. Luckily I was able to get the car back under control without someone hitting me, or me them. The car was new so took it to the dealer. They changed the tire under the warranty and no more problems with it.

Robert....... I looked it up. It's another gadget that will cost you a few hundred bucks to buy, not to mention the books you may buy to put on it. Then of course, you can hook it up to an iphone, etc. and pay several hundred for that too. Here's a link that explains it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_Kindle No wonder the younger people complain about not having money for cars and other hobbies, they spend it all on this type of junk, when they can go to a library and get it for free.

Ed, What's a kindle? If it's something like a blackberry or notebook type of thing, who wants to sit there and read 300 pages on that small little screen. Enough to make you go blind. It's sort of like looking at pictures on those new little photo albums thingies. In a book album you can see several pictures at once without flipping the page of that electronic thingy.

Actually, some newer cars have to be adjusted too due to the gas. When my wife bought her new 02 Kia back in 02, it wasn't but a few weeks and we got a recall notice in the mail. The recall was to either replace the sensor or reset it due to a change in the gas. It had to be changed, otherwise it would not meet emission testing according to the notice. After that was done, I really couldn't tell the difference in the way it ran. So........it does change something with the new gas.

Randy, You are right on about printing out a book off the internet. Oprah offered a free download of a book she was promoting about a year or so ago. Wife ask if I could download it and print it off. Took forever on dialup to download that book. Then when I started printing it, a couple of sheets of paper must have been misaligned in the paper tray as I only got half of one page on two sheets of paper. So.......finally, I just printed it off (about 300 pages) single sided to keep the pages in order. If it had been a printed book off the shelf, it would only take 150 sheets of paper instead of 300. Robert......... Geez, you guys have to pay for a library card. It's free here. Only time you have to pay anything is if you don't return the book or movie on time. Hope no one from our library system sees your post. They may start charging us a fee. Just what we need in the city, another fee.

Usually if no one replies it means one of two things. Either the person who does know the answer is not logged into the forum now. Or, no one knows the answer off hand. That said, what's wrong with the sockets you have. You can't buy brand new reproductions, so you'd have to buy used anyway and maybe clean them up to work. You can do that with your existing ones. As far as the gasket goes. Pick up a piece of rubber and cut new gaskets to fit. Or, you may be able to get them at Steele Rubber. Otherwise, to get brand new sockets, you'll have to go to the auto parts store, find one that's close to what you need and adapt it to your housing.

Lucky Devil, As the others mentioned, you can stand that nickle up. Actually, that's how my grandfather would tune his engine all the time back in the 50's. Did that without a computer too. The only testing equipment he used was a timing light. Was done by ear and touch. He was far from being more than a true backyard mechanic. Didn't even have a garage to work in. Did all his work in the driveway in front of the shed. His profession was an electrician, not a mechanic. Didn't have any books to study about working on cars either.

Dave, My battery hold down sounds like the one Young Ed mentioned. It's just a universal hold down I picked up at the store, and uses J hooks to tighten the bar across the top of the battery. But.......it's all coated with either rubber or urethane coating, probably urethane, except for the J hooks. If someone wanted, they could pick up a can of "Dip It" that is used for dipping handles of tools into so they are insulated, then brush that onto an original hold down that doesn't have a coating on it. That would prevent them being corroded by the acid.

Here, there are no restrictions on miles driven for collector or antique plates. They do say it's only to be driven for pleasure and shows etc. with those plates. But..........you see people driving to work all the time with those plates on the car. About the same thing the insurance company says. Both of those plates here are also a one time fee. I haven't had to renew my collector plates since I put them on the coupe back in 1995. The only real restriction on those plates here is that you cannot drive the car in January, without a letter from the DMV to allow it. And, that letter is only issued if you are going to a show that month, and is only good for the day of the show. Now, here's the question. What is driving for pleasure? If you enjoy your work, then driving to and from work could be driving for pleasure to some. The same could be said about driving to the store also. Without food, I can't have any pleasure, so again, I'd be driving for pleasure because I like to eat. So........with that in mind, driving for pleasure could mean different things to different people, so that's a very vague statement.

Good luck getting your book published. I'm not much of a reader myself. Can't even sit in the chair and read one whole section of the newspaper without dozing off. But....I wouldn't want to read it on the computer either. Sometimes I'll even doze off reading post on this site. Now, my wife loves to read. She always has a few books to read. She buys some and gets some from the library. But.......here again, she wouldn't read a book on a computer screen. She likes to either sit in her recliner or glider to read a good book. E-books are for those who don't know how to sit down and relax to read. About the only time I can read something without dozing is a good how to book, or a history book.

Merle, I know they are closing the East Troy plant. As mentioned there was an article in the Business section of the Journal not long ago. That's where I read about them still making the Buell. But.........it may just be called a type of Harley when they do. Production would move to some other Harley plant. Actually, they are cutting about 850 jobs nation wide in addition to the previous cuts, according to that article, plus shutting down the Capitol Drive plant for about two or three months to cut back on their stock of bikes.