Pete

Hi Chysler1941. I'm in the same boat. I asked about it and received an "I don't know" answer. You'll see a note I added to the left of this post.

Vermont: The NWS said the low for last night would be -5. When I got up this morning they said it was 3 above. My weather station said it was -21. Why do I keep checking the NWS? When I lived in Minnesota we had -35 officially one night. Some small town in northern MN had -70. I was living in Chicago in 1985 when they set the record there. Lake Michigan was frozen solid as far out as you could see. Oh well. The car started and I'm at work. Life goes on. Pete

In 1997 I drove my 1938 Dodge Brothers half ton pickup from Minnesota to Vermont via Canada. About 6 years ago I drove it on a tour of 600+ miles over one week. The truck is as original as possible and performed great. Pete

I had that happen to me. Driving on the Interstate in New Hampshire at 2:00 in the morning in the middle of winter. At 70 mph the front left wheel came off. Luckily it wedged in the wheel well and I was able to nurse it over to the shoulder. I just had new snow tires mounted and at least one of the lug nuts wasn't properly tightened. I heard something a little while before it happened, but I told myself it was a wheel bearing going bad, and I elected to ease it home for another hour to two. To add insult to injury the local repair shop who "fixed" it totally screwed me over both in quality of work and price It was right after that I bought my first cell phone. As stated above, if you hear such a sound, pull over and check the lug nuts. Pete

I remember seeing a film on the evening news back (probably) in the '60's. A whole bunch of retired B-36's were in a plane graveyard. They had this huge guillotine that they stuck the front of each plane into and chopped off the cockpit to save the gauges, etc. Pete

My old car mechanic's advice is to use detergent oil if your car has an oil filter, non-detergent oil if it has no filter. My '39 Plymouth sedan has a filter, my '38 Dodge pickup never had one. So I use detergent oil in one and not in the other. If you've been running non-dengent oil for a long time and then switch to detergent be sure to change the oil and filter soon after as a lot of gunk will break loose. Peter

I have a '39 Plymouth. It's a 2 wire setup. Both the sending unit and dash gauge are stock. I had a calibration issue with the dash gauge. I replaced it with an NOS unit and it now reads correctly at all fuel levels. I replaced the float with a nitrile one and also added a ground wire between the sending unit and the sheet metal.

Hi Dan, It seems that many drivers who drive reasonably at home go a bit nuts when traveling out-of-state. Some of the worst are big new SUVs charging up the Interstates headed for a quick weekend at the ski resorts . The locals here have names for them. "Mainiacs" and M*ssholes are a couple. I haven't heard one for Connecticut yet, so maybe the group can make some suggestions. I don't know what Vermonters are called when they drive crazily out-of-state. I suspect it may be "Vermonsters." Pete

I used to lose my right front hubcap with too much regularity when I hit a pothole. All the other caps held on fine. I tried bending the retaining clips on the wheel but it didn't seem to help. I asked my shop guy to do something about it when the car was in for other work. He bent the clips and I haven't lost one since. And that cap is not harder to get on and off than the others. Pete

Questions for you guys who used the Rustyhope kit: Did you keep the original master cylinder, or upgrade? Did you use any addition parts like proportioning valves, etc.? Pete

Hi non-stop, I until several years ago I used to go to Silicon Valley on regular basis for business. My wife and I also have a number of relatives living there -- Palo Alto, Woodside, San Jose. I've spent time in those 6 lane parking lots. My daily commute to work now is an old federal 2 lane highway through the woods and along the river with lots of cows farms and very little traffic. Very low stress. I've found a home and I'm not going back. Pete

I have a friend is has been a senior software engineer for both Amazon and Google. He's well thought of in the industry and has authored a number of popular books on programming. A while back he told me when it comes to collecting and selling your personal data: - Amazon is evil, but not too evil - Google is evil - Facebook is extremely evil. Never sign up for an account. So I haven't. And it's not just the info you give them. They cull info about you from all sorts of sources.

I learned to drive a stick in a 1969 Mustang Mach 1. If you didn't get the pedal action right it pretty much jumped straight up into the air. I learned real quick. I learned to double clutch in my 1938 Dodge Brothers pickup. No synchromesh. Once you get into the rhythm it's pretty fun. Pete

Sometimes you've got to learn to drive like the locals. When I moved from Chicago to a smaller town, I was amazed that drivers stopped at a traffic light as soon as it turned yellow. In Chicago 10 or more cars would have "made" the light. Learn fast, or rear end the car in front of you. Where I live now in Vermont there's only 1 intersection with traffic lights in the county I live in. For you Californians, my county is just about the same size as San Mateo county. Been there. Like it here better. And I'm a native Californian. Pete

Hi all, I've experienced crazy lane usage by drivers both in passing and coming at me. Up here in Vermont we don't have many cops and the tourists seem to take advantage. It used to be Massachusetts drivers seemed the worst offenders, but Connecticut seems to have passed them in sheer speed. The scariest drivers I've ever encountered was in Quebec. It seems to most drivers the traffic regulations are only suggestions and not very good ones at that. Pete

John Jerome's book "Truck" is a great read. I first read it back in the 1970's and reread it once or twice since. The local folks he talks about in the book remind me of some of the locals around here in Vermont. I like his self-deprecating humor, and I especially like the fact that when he's done working on the truck he goes inside, sits beside the fire, and has a glass or whiskey. Obviously he has his priorities straight. Pete

Hi all, My '39 Plymouth has its original 201 engine. Not sure of its internal wear but it does pretty well. The car does a good job in the mountains of Northern New England. Only downside is starting from a dead stop at the bottom of a long steep incline. I usually keep it in 2nd for a good bit until it gets up to around 35 MPH. At that speed when I shift into 3rd it has enough RPMs to slowly accelerate until I crest the hill. From a rolling start it's good. Sometimes I'm leading a parade at the top of the hill. They usually back off when I put it up to 50 - 55. Pete

We're just starting to get fall colors in Vermont right now. It usually peaks around the first week of October, so it appears to be late this year. Pete

HI all, After owning my '39 Plymouth for a couple of years, I recently removed and cleaned the filter canister. After cleaning off the exterior grunge I noticed a faint stamping on the side that said "inlet." It had the pressure side plumbed to the canister outlet and vice versa. It had probably run that way for years. The oil always seemed to look dirty much sooner than it should have and there was a bunch of sludge in the bottom of the canister. I replumbed it correctly, but in a new filter element, and changed the oil. Just returned from a multi-hundred mile trip to Maine. Used about 3 ounces of oil and it still looks new on the dipstick. Pete

We have a nesting pair of loons on the lake about 500 yards from our house. Love to hear their call. A naturalist told me that loons usually call when they feel threatened, so they must like you...

I've been dealing with them since the 1970s when they (he) was located in Ohio. Never had a problem. Prices can be a bit on the high side, especially for rare and hard to find parts. They know what they have and what someone out there will pay for it. Pete

How can you measure something that doesn't exist: https://www.amazon.com/Order-Time-Carlo-Rovelli/dp/073521610X/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

Good post guys. I'm curious, what are using using to measure AFR?

Al, I drove my '38 Dodge Brothers pickup through Two Harbors when I moved from Southern Minnesota to Vermont. Beautiful area. Pete

dpollo, I appreciate the reply. I ordered a new gasket and it appears to be rubber. I'll install it without the Permatex so it will be easier to remove in the future. If it still leaks I'll go with plan B. Thanks, Pete