Norm's Coupe

I think the red one looks good as is. Could have left out that roll bar though.

Rich, Maybe JC Taylor did do that years ago, but.......I have never been ask if I go over 2500 miles a year or not by JC Taylor. Have never had to submit the odometer reading on the car either. So........there is no way they would know how many miles I drive my coupe per year. So........I'm not going to call them and ask. It's best to let a sleeping dog sleep. Don't want them to add that clause to my policy, even though I drive it much less than that. Lets face it. On these old cars it's very easy to play with the odometer reading anyway if someone wanted to.

Rich........everything you said about insurance is true, with one exception. I have JC Taylor Insurance for my coupe. I do not have a mileage limit stated in the policy. I've had my coupe insured with them since I bought it back in 1995. Prior to that I had my 70 Impala insured through them also. Never did have a limit on mileage. It simply says I can drive the car anywhere for pleasure, club activities and shows, but not to work on a regular basis. Sounds like the price of insurance is about the same for both companies. That said, you can buy regular car insurance for your old cars too, and get a stated value coverage. You just have to have the car appraised prior to insuring it. Then just about any company selling car insurance will cover it at stated value. However, usually those companies will have a much higher premium than those like Grundy or JC Taylor.

Actually, this has been in the news around here for several weeks or a month or more, since Harley is a major employer here. Don't worry about loosing the style of the Buell. It's either going to still carry that name, or they are going to make it and call it a Harley of some type. Forgot which, but it will remain. They are also coming out with a lot of different types of bikes that are similar to the foreign sport bikes, in addition to the conventional Harley's. So...........have no fear, "Harley is here to stay".

Like I said, I don't have an original hold down, mine is a universal hold down, with J hooks and a wing nut on top. But........if Michael had a parts book, he'd know that one does look like an original one. But hey..........dezeldoc said he'd take it back. So.......if he takes dezeldoc up on that, he can continue looking. But........he can look forever, and they will still look like the one he has. Michael, At one time I had a couple of new (never used) NOS hold downs like that, that were NOS still in the box. The welds on those were not perfect either, and as mentioned, they were new. I don't think you'll find a perfect one out there anywhere.

Tim, Don't know about down there, but gambling casinos are also exempt from the smoking laws up here too. They do have smokers and non smoking area's set up though, which is fine. But........they really don't have to do that and stay within the laws. That's because the casinos are not governed by state and Federal laws, since they are owned by some Indian tribe. Once they buy the land, it becomes part of their reservation, and they make their own laws on the reservation. That's how they get away with that.

Reg... I have to agree, that is dumb when they pass laws about smoking outside. I knew about the law California had passed a few years ago. They passed a law this year here that takes effect sometime next year. That law prohibits smoking within 200 feet of a government building. It also will make all bars, etc. smoke free. A lot of the bar owners didn't like that at all, since most people who sit in bars to drink are also smokers. But.........after that law was passed, a lot of bars and restaurants started building outside patios, so their customers can smoke. Next thing we know, they'll be passing laws that say you can't do something because you parted your hair on the wrong side, or you are bald. People need to get a life instead of worrying about what other people do. That's one reason I stopped going to ball games too. Can't smoke there either. But........they don't say anything when everyone's spilling beer all over you.

Reg, I didn't watch or load the whole video because I'm on dialup, and would take too long. But.......from the little I read and heard, it sounds like they were against government bans too. All this reminds me of a few years ago when my wife's brother and his wife and my wife and I went out to dinner together. They are both non smokers and so is my wife. So........we sat in a non smoking part of the restaurant, which is fine with me. But.......after dinner the ladies went to the washroom. Since the bill was paid and we were going to leave I told them I'd meet them outside, so I could take a smoke before getting into the car. Was a cold winter night, but my brother in law joined me outside to keep me company. He ask why I didn't just go into the bar to smoke where it was warm. Told him it was too smoky in there and the smoke was enough to gag even a smoker. Now, that's the problem with having special area's set up for smoking. Then you have everyone smoking and the air is just one big cloud. You can smoke without smoking. I will agree, that's enough to gag anyone, even a smoker. So.....the point here is, it's much better to spread the smokers out in a building than having that one area. I could even gag on that smoke coming from the bar standing in the foyer of the restaurant that night. I never use those special rooms. I just wait until I leave that place. Actually, what most people smell in the car or home when the smoker isn't smoking in it, is not the smoke. It's the dirty ashtray. Especially in a car that is closed up all the time. So........I use a portable ashtray in our cars now with a lid on it. Don't even have to put the cigarette out. Just drop it in the cup, close the lid and it kills the fire. Also keeps all the smell inside the cup. What smoke that does get in the car while smoking blows away. My wife's 02 Kia is a good example of that, even though I smoked in it ever since we've had it. It still has the new car smell today. Use the same thing in my new car that I bought a couple of months ago. I don't use the ashtrays in the car. Thinking about buying another one for the house. Even I don't like the smell of a dirty ashtray.

Jon, Looks like you started an interesting thread here. But.......it's too bad we can no longer get the prices we paid way back when.

Well said Tim....... I'm a smoker, but.........I don't smoke in anyone's house or car if they aren't a smoker also, even if they say it's OK. Now, I do smoke in my own home and my cars. After all, it's my home. If a non smoker comes to the house or rides in the car, they just have to put up with it, or don't ride in my car or come in the house. It's up to them, I don't care either way. As far as just smelling the odor of smoking (without someone actually smoking), that's just an odor. The odor isn't going to hurt anyone. Personally, I can't stand the odor of most perfumes or cologne's. Gives me a terrible headache and stops up my nose. So........they aught to ban some of those too. As far as Greg's comment about the mechanic not working on the car due to it smelling like smoke. If I was the owner of that shop, I'd tell him to take a hike. If the law said I couldn't fire him for that, I'd find some other excuse. If nothing else, I needed to cut down on the payroll. After all, there are more dangerous fumes that mechanic gets every day from solvents, gas, etc. than that small amount of smoke smell. If people are smoking outside in the open air, that smoke isn't going to hurt anyone either. Bottom line. People are going to smell some odor they don't like all the time from something. So..........I say we all need to just get over what smells we smell that are made by someone else and just enjoy life, and their company. By the way...........Everyone seems to enjoy the smell of a new car when they buy it. But.........do you realize there are more harmful fumes from all that new plastic and vinyl that's inside the car. The EPA should run a test on the air quality inside of a closed car on a hot summer day with the windows up. It would probably be way over the top from those fumes escaping from the plastic and vinyl. I don't think second hand smoke is any worse than second hand drinking. I'll bet if they ran a study, second hand drinking would kill or injure more people than smoking could ever do. Check out the deaths and injuries caused by drunk drivers sometime. So.........maybe they should ban drinking in public also. Just making a point. I don't agree with banning either. For the record, I don't drink.

That does look close to original. Actually a lot of guys just pick up a universal one from the store like I did.

Actually, I no longer need that temperature gauge. When I rebuilt the engine, I put an aftermarket one under the dash. But.......I did find an original one not long after. One of the guys in the local Ford V8 club had one for the P15 and he gave it to me free. Then about three years ago I found the whole P15 instrument cluster, with ignition switch, dash lights, headlight switch, etc., including the whole wiring harness at a swap meet real cheap. That temperature gauge was intact and also worked. So........then traded that temperature gauge even with a vendor for an NOS new in the box gas tank sending unit. So.....I still have the one from the Ford guy in a box if I need it someday. Won't take out the aftermarket gauge unless it goes bad.

Toothpaste is a multi purpose material. While in the Army, my last duty assignment was at SHAPE headquarters, Paris, France. Took my first wife and then 3 month old daughter with. The army put us up in a hotel in Paris for the first 60 days while our furniture and car was being shipped from the states to Paris. Found an apartment in a brand new apartment building to move into after the hotel. We were the first tenants in our apartment. In the lease it said we were not to make any holes in the wall. Well.....the wife wanted something mounted to the wall in the bathroom (WC), so I made two holes in the wall to mount whatever it was. When it came time for us to move, we took whatever it was off the wall, leaving two screw holes in the nice white plaster walls. Absent of any plaster to patch it with before the owner came in for the final inspection, I filled the holes with toothpaste. Worked great, could not see the two holes at all and we got our full deposit back.:D

I bought a 66 Ford wagon about 1975, from a neighbor who was moving to Florida, to haul stuff around in instead of using my new car. Only paid $100 for it. Kept it until about 1979. During that time I had to replace one wheel cylinder, patch the gas tank and buy one used tire for it. Used it for hauling firewood, hauling girl scouts to and from their camp sites, and hauling supplies to do a little remodeling around the house. Use to lend it to the girl scout leader to haul the girls around in too. They even gave the old wagon a name. "Old George". Don't ask me why they called it that, I never bothered to ask. Then a good friend opened a small printing shop. Lent it to him to use for picking up his supplies, and delivering some of his orders. Taught my first wife how to drive in that car too. Then she drove it to work for about a year before I sold it. Don't know how many miles we put on that old wagon, but was quite a few. When I sold it I put an ad in the paper asking $150. Sold it the same day the ad came out for $125 to a painter who wanted it to haul his paint and ladders around in. So........this had to be the cheapest car I ever owned. Ooops, you be the judge. I also bought a 64 Fairlane for $5.00 back in 1971. Didn't do anything to it, except clean the engine out with some engine cleaner. Drove it about 12,000 miles then sold it for $50.

I use to have a small 12" TV in the garage. Threw it out this spring though. Didn't want to buy a converter box for a B&W TV that I only paid $10 for. Anyway, I've never seen the Hoarder TV show. Must be a cable thing and we don't have cable. Nothing much on TV worth watching anymore anyway, so why pay to watch it. Plus if I was to pay to watch TV, I wouldn't want to pay to watch commercials.

Looks good. Gets the yellow out. Think I would invest in a new toothbrush for my teeth now.

Pat........while it's not funny that the kid got hurt when the shelf fell, the story of why it fell is. My brother in law is a hoarder too. He has a full basement, a two car attached garage and built another 2 1/2 car garage in the back yard a few years ago, in addition to a storage shed. The purpose of building the garage in the back yard was to put his 36 and 38 Fords into, plus a shop area. Well.......he still has a shop in the basement, the attached garage is full and he's never been able to get the 38 Ford into the back garage. He stores it at his next door neighbors house in his garage. The garage in the back yard is only about 3 or 4 years old now. Was talking to him about a week ago on the phone. Said he noticed the roof had sagged about an inch in the new garage. Ask him what he had stored over the rafters. Said the stuff wasn't that heavy, just light stuff like an extra 36 Ford hood, etc. and a few light 2 x 4's. Told him each item may be light, but when you have a bunch of light stuff, it becomes heavy stuff. He makes dump runs all the time to toss stuff. Problem is, he always comes back with more than he took. Every time he tells me he just got back from the dump I always ask what he found, not what he threw away. He's always trying to give me stuff, but I stopped taking it some years ago. Said he's trying to get rid of stuff now too. Problem is, according to him it's all good stuff that he can't throw it away, so wants to give it to someone who can use it. So.....if that's the case, he'll probably never get rid of that stuff. I started tossing stuff about 7 or 8 years ago that I didn't use or need. I use to think like Tim, and say better keep this I may need it. But.........I finally got smart and started tossing it all because the day never seems to come where I need that stuff I kept. Now, there have been a few cases (not many) where I tossed something, then needed it not long after. But.....when that happens, I just go buy whatever that was new and use it. That way I keep a nice neat orderly garage and shop. I don't even need as much storage cabinets as I use to. Have also tossed a few of those, or given them away, since I tossed all the stuff I kept that I might need, but never did. Made both my garage and basement shop a lot larger and neater by tossing stuff. So........Tim, toss that stuff, they have more in the stores. You gotta be brutal.

Reg, That makes it hard to cut down trees that were gifts from someone. When my daughter and son were small back in the early 70's, they each took a maple tree seed and planted them in the yard. My daughter planted her's near the garage just past the back. Then I needed a storage shed built around 1990. Didn't want to put the storage shed in the middle of the yard, so that meant put it behind the garage. Well.........once built, the tree was too close to the shed doors. So.........had to cut it down. Daughter was a little put out because I cut her tree down. Said I could have built the shed somewhere else. But........The shed fit better where I built it.

The guys are right. Some vendors really don't know what they have. A lot of them just guess. Some years back (around 2000) I was looking for another temperature gauge for my coupe. Even back then those things ran between $75 and $150 if they worked. At a large local swap meet I found a Mopar box with a NOS temperature gauge in it. Someone wrote on the box it was for 1946 - 48 Plymouth. The vendor said he wanted $25 for it. I thought great, not only new, but real cheap. Well.........I opened the box and pulled it out for a look. It was no where near a P15 temp. gauge. It was way too big, and the wrong color. Told the vendor I didn't know what it fit, but it wouldn't fit a P15 and then put it back in the box, and laid it back on his table. That guy swore up and down that it would fit a P15, even after I told him it wouldn't. He claimed that's what he was told when he bought a bunch of parts from someone. Told him that guy was wrong too. He still kept saying it was. Finally told him to believe what he wanted to, but I wasn't buying it for my P15, then walked away. So..........maybe he really thought it was for a P15 simply because that's what he was told. That's the problem with buying parts from anyone. Sometimes, they don't even know what they have, so we have to know what we are looking for, so we don't end up with stuff we have no use for.

In that case, I guess the tree isn't in the way then. I should have walked around the building for a look at the other end. That looks like a Willow tree. Those things can be a mess even in good weather. They grow all over the place, even the roots go everywhere. Neighbor behind me had one that use to drop branches in almost every storm. He finally had it cut down. At least it doesn't look like that branch did any damage. But.......then again, I didn't walk around the other side for a better look.

My son has had his 80 Firebird since 1985. He's the second owner.

Reg.... What I want to know is, how do you get that truck out of the shelter with the tree growing in front of the door like that?

Michael, This is one reason we said you should buy a parts book and do a little searching in the archives of this site. There are at least several threads with pictures of the lighter and other knobs in the archives. When it comes to prices though. It's anybody's guess. I've seen boxes full of various knobs and lighters at swap meets over the years. Some of those boxes say $1 for anything in the box. Other vendors will charge what ever the traffic will bear for each knob or lighter. So.......some may charge $10 for that lighter and up. So........that is why we said it's worth what you paid for it. By the way, other parts are priced about the same way. Whatever the traffic will bear. Bottom line. The only way to prevent this from repeating itself is to know exactly what you are looking for when you buy it. Otherwise, you'll end up with a lot of parts you can't use, and have no idea what car they belong to.

Greg, I guess that could happen. But.......they can't sell the car without the title. We've had the one mentioned in the museum for 20 years now. They may move it to a different location from time to time inside the museum, but it's always there. We also keep the insurance up on the car. In addition, we do make a donation to the museum each year. That's not required, but we figure it's worth it to have a nice safe storage place, plus they keep it looking nice all the time. We can also take it in and out if we want to. Some people do that with their cars, but we have never taken this one out since we put it in there. Can't worry about everything, it'll drive one nuts. Let's face it, someone can take your coupe when you aren't home and sell it too, without your permission.

At one time I thought about putting a light in my hood ornament. But........then I ask myself. "How many times do I drive the car in the dark"? I don't think I've used my headlights on my coupe more than 3 or 4 times in 15 years. So........came to the conclusion that the hood ornament would be both a waste a money and time to install it. Might want to consider that because that light won't show up in the daylight.