Richard Coney

Nice colour Al. Looking good!

I would be interested in knowing that too. My P7 Roadking's steering box is nearing the end of its useful life as it is very "notchy" when you turn the wheel from lock to lock. I was going to get one of the overhaul kits, but wondered what to do if I find the worm itself is worn when I take it apart. I've acquired another column from a Deluxe, complete with column gear change (my P7 has a floor shift) with a box attached, but whether it's any better than the one on the car I don't know yet. By the way. What's the easiest method of removing the box please?

Really good advice Tim. I agree with all of that.

Over in the UK I believe the compressed waterproofed cardboard that's used to make door cards and kick panels is called mill board. It is not that easy to find over here, though an auto trimmer in Kent sells it in four foot square sheets. I bought seven sheets when I was passing last year, three for my P7 coupe and four for a friend who was retrimming his '48 Chevy coupe. It feels somewhat waxy, probably the waterproofing, and can either cut with multiple passes of a blade or with a fine-toothed blade in a jigsaw. Obviously the latter's quicker, but there's a bit more cleanup required and a lot more mess. My interior's mostly done now. Though more expensive, I'm glad I didn't compromise and use hardboard (masonite?).

Nice looking truck. I like the two tone paint. Richard

When all is said and done Glendale, it's your car. Do want you want with it as long as it gets back on the road where it belongs. I have a '53 Ford F100 pickup that had the old (though admittedly not original) flathead V8 in it. I'm having it fitted with a sbc and 700-R4 overdrive auto, for reasons of reliability and cheap spares. I've had criticism for putting a Chevy in a Ford, but then people forget that huge numbers of Ford street rods have a sbc engine. My truck, my choice.

These are clip-ons that fit on the front edge of the doors with grub screws, and I can see both sides of the car, but it's not great, especially as I drive the car on the "wrong" side of the road.

That's a blast from the past! My first American car was a 1970 Ford Maverick six cylinder two door in that very same red. It had a bluish plaid interior in some sort of vinyl. I got it in 1975 in exchange for a Ford Cortina MkII 1600E, one of the rustiest cars I ever owned. Being in England, owning any sort of American car was considered weird, still is come to think of it, and it was the fulfilment of a dream for a 21 year old kid. I loved it, though it was not without problems and I had absolutely no spares backup for it. I recall it had a column shifter. One very cold winter's day I was showing off to a girlfriend at the traffic lights (as you do and that age) and did what I thought was a pretty slick shift from first into second and the pot metal (Mazac) column shroud that contained the shift lever cracked in half! I was left in second gear with no way of changing up or down. Can't remenber how I got home that night. We couldn't get parts so a friend helped me install a 'Sparkomatic' floor shifter. Much cheaper than a Hurst and we could soon see why, but to be fair it did the job. I scanned some old pictures of some of my first cars from slides I took in the 70s a while back and I've found some of my old Maverick. In the second picture I also owned the Triumph Herald convertible. The lime green '70 Barracuda convert belonged to a neighbour. He was the coolect guy around at that time.

Here's another nice looking car that has "the look".

I suppose I should add my tuppence worth from the UK perspective. Our roads are regularly criticised for their lack of general maintenance, but to be fair, living in the London area with a large volume of traffic, they are pretty good by most standards. I had a '48 D25C Special Deluxe coupe which had modestly wide modern radials with a 1 inch whitewall. The car drove fine with no perceivable wander and was stable at (sensible) faster speeds. However, I found that it was an absolute bear to manouvre at low speed, particularly when parallel parking (we are encouaged to do that over here). With my bad thumb (arthritis) it was a real pain, literally. I considered buying bias belt tyres (tires) for the Plodge, but thought it would be an expensive exercise if I subsequently found it made no difference. In contrast, my '39 P7 Roadking coupe, which I bought a couple of years later, had wide whitewall bias belt tyres fitted. Now I'm sure someone on the Forum will correct me if I'm wrong, but as I understand it the front suspension on the two cars is essentially the same. The P7 drives fine, with no particularly unpleasant road wander (admittedly not as good as the Plodge with its radials), reasonable stability at speed and far lighter steering for parking. All in all a far nicer driving experience, considering its age. Both cars came with the tyres, so I haven't actually bought any, though I reckon with hindsight I probably could have bought a set of Coker wide white bias belt tyres for the Plodge and found a great improvement with the lightness of the steering. My thinking is that as the cars were designed and manufactured for bias belt tyres (there was no choice anyway), then there's no reason why they should not drive and ride as originally intended. Most roads are presumably better than in the 30s and 40s anyway. Of course you have to drive them sensitively, with due regard to their age, not like a modern car. Rodded examples, with revised suspension and much more powerful engines will definitely benefit from radials. No question. Then surely you should make a decision based on availability, price and your personal view on how they look, same as you would with everything else. Hope this helps. Richard

I agree. I would love to see some photos please, especially the window mouldings. Did you stretch it cold or use a heat gun to soften the plastic as it stretched around the curves? Perhaps a way to look at it is to treat the overlay as a protective screen, which will suffice until the time is right and, if you are intending to pay someone to do the woodgraining rather than do it yourself, the funds are available. If, in the meantime, you have some fun doing a nice job and the plastic film stays in place, you might never need to get around to doing it properly.

Now I am so pleased that someone has suggested this as an option. I thought about what we used to call 'sticky back plastic', or Fablon, the other day as a cheap and very quick 'fix', pending a proper regrain job, but wondered whether I would be laughed off the Forum. I suspect that the problem would be stretching it around the compound curved edges on the dashboard, but then again, if the vinyl products that are available these days are thinner and more sophisticated than in the old days, it might just work with the judicious use of a hot air gun. It might be worth a try. It would only cost a few Dollars (or Pounds in my case) to find out. Any more of you tried adhesive woodgrained plastic? Come on, don't be shy. Don't worry, I'm already prepared for the inevitable cries of derision.

Being the most basic of the models in 1939 my P7 Roadking business coupe came with rubber mats. No argument about that. My question is, as mine are the originals and after 80-odd years are now very worn indeed, does anyone manufacture replacement rubber mats that would fit? Otherwise I'll be forced to go the carpet route whether I want to or not.

No need to be. None of them are anywhere close to hi-Buck projects. I simply don't have the disposable income to buy an expensive old car. The way I looked at it was buy several cheap old cars as and when they come up and gradually, as funds allow, bring them back to a nice safe, working, and preferably smart, condition. Having said that, despite their rarity in the UK I do seem to have found some nice raw material. The Buick is all ready to go once the weather improves. We have had the worse summer for years! The truck was going to be a cheapy, which I could drive about and haul stuff as well. That's turning into a money-pit, but as it's a F-car, as I believe you call them on the Forum, perhaps we'd better keep quiet about it. Lol

Hi Robert. I'm afraid there is no hope for me. I've still got "Baby" the '55 Buick century, plus a '55 Ford F100 pickup, and the P7 business coupe (Polly). I've also a faint possibility that a good friend who is moving house will sell me his 1948 Chevrolet Aerosedan. It's all sorted except for paint and reassembling. I'll PM you with pictures as the guys might think this is getting too far off the Thread. Regards, Richard

Hi Robert. Nice to know you are still collecting. Nice coupe! Regarding clear coating patina, I suspect much will depend upon the prevailing climate in your particular area. Whilst I know it does rain in California, it's a lot dryer than the UK and most US States, so retaining the patina, stabilised or not, is probably less of an issue compared to wet States. People certainly appreciate the effect over here, but how they stop their cars from rusting away before their eyes to the point of being dangerous, I have no idea.

Way to go Tim! Any way you look at it, rust is slow death to a car. (Sometimes not so slow). And now for something slightly different.

I just remembered I had a picture or two of the woody. Also, check out the '57 Pontiac ambulance. This car seems to be doing the rounds over here, never particularly expensive, but also rarely held onto for too long. I suspect that the novelty of the three seat front bench and single 'attendant' chair in the back wears off pretty quickly. Now the Dodge pickup seen at the same show was really nice! More pictures of the old girl available if you want.

Beauty is the eye of the beholder, they say and I can certainly understand the appeal of some of these cars with excessive patina, but would you actually want one? I confess that while I enjoy looking at certain weathered (surface rust) cars, I honestly don't think I could own one without wanting to get it repainted. My '39 coupe has patina that probably dates from a respray in the 1960s, with its fine web of crazed paint. I'm sure it's not the original paint. Some think of this as a 'badge of honour', evidence of a long and fruitful service. I think of it as 'worn out' and something I would dearly love to replace if I could justify the expense. Nevertheless, whilst the car is probably worth quite a reasonable sum compared to what I paid for her, and could perhaps command a premium because of the appeal of its subtle patina amongst those in the hobby who would appreciate it, a decent respray would probably price it out of its limited potential resale market here in the UK. If I spent £6K on a decent bare metal respray I would be most unlikely in the current economic climate to recoupe that financial outlay. Nevertheless, there's a post-war shoebox Ford surfer-style woody over here with a finish similar to the eBay cambridge that I would dearly love to add to the collection, and a respray would most definitely be on the cards!

Thank you. That would be most interesting.

Squeak, squeak!.......

I'm confused!

The garage is supposed to be for the Buick. It's about 30ft long and just under 10ft wide. I have a new carport alongside the house for the Plymouth and I have no idea where the truck will live other than on the front driveway. However, for the last year the Buick and Plymouth have been "swapped" so I could drive the former and work on the latter. You can just see the carport in the picture attached. It's probably a good job I got outbid a week ago when my old '66 Mustang came up for sale!

Thank you. That's very helpful. What about the mish-mash of cotton, threads, scraps of rag etc.? I wondered whether in this car it was just the felted cotton that the generations of mice had industriously chewed up, along with anything else they could find to make their bedding. I presumed that the stuff I found in wads up in the headlining had been transported up the hollow windscreen pillars and deposited there as a nest. I should say that I haven't had the headlining out. It's only what could be seen and felt on the front edge when I opened it up to access the two vacuum wiper motors. The attached picture (if you can see the details in such a small photo), also shows the springs that hold the structure together. Richard

It's a 1955 Buick Century Riviera Hardtop. I also have, (though it's been in bits virtually since I bought it last year ), a 1953 Ford F100 pickup. The Buick is stock, running and used when the weather permits (not much this year!) The truck was completely stock, but needed so much work to the suspension, engine etc. I made the difficult decision to rod it. It should look the same after the work is done, except for a slightly lower stance at the front, but it will have Mustang II ifs, rack & pinion steering, disc brakes, 9" Ford rear end, small block Chevy V8 and a four speed auto transmission. I attach some pictures. Regards, Richard