Dan Hiebert

Motor oil prices are pretty even across the board at the chain auto parts stores up here. Walmart tends to be a few cents less expensive, but they usually don't have what I want if it's for one of the old cars. Gotta shop around, Advanced Auto Parts is the only place up here that stocks the Valvoline racing oil that I started using in the D24, and TSC is the only place that stocks SAE 30 that I use in my Beetle, although the SAE 30 is labeled as "all purpose lubricating oil" and not "motor oil". Our TSC is relatively small, and caters to farming and "hobby farming", so all their lubricants tend to be for diesel and machinery requirements, and older engines.

I like the mounting on the rear of the bumper. It looks slicker than the factory mount on our car.

Roger that, I'd also read that dissertation last week about sealed beam headlights. What I was getting at was that sealed beam headlamps did not just pop into existence in 1940, Govt. mandate or not. There had to have been some R&D, and my thinking is more along the lines to assuage fears of sealed beam auxiliary lights not being original on late 30's cars. Someone may have made available auxiliary lights with sealed beam lamps as the "latest and greatest feature to improve you're driving experience". Uncle Sam had to have gotten the notion from somewhere. I've found several writings about factory installed headlights but haven't found anything yet on the evolution of auxiliary driving lights that covers it. Something that makes me go "hmm" now, and I'll halfheartedly look for more info, but won't lose sleep over it.

Here in Maine, they call black bears "ghosts of the forest", because they are still very wary of human contact and people just don't see them in person (in bear?), even though there are lots of bears here.

The factory front plate mount for our D24 is similar to what Eneto-55 shows. It clamps onto the front of the bumper via one of the bumper bolts. Which just happens to be in the center of the bumper. For consideration, Maine requires two license plates, too, but allows for the use year-of-manufacture plates for antique cars. Maine only issued one license plate in 1948, so it is legal for us to display only the rear 1948 plate. The car does have to be registered as an antique, though. Might that work in Idaho?

I prefer the smaller lights. To me, the proportions of the bigger lights just do not look right, they block too much of the grill's aesthetics, and they make the car look like you're going for an MG outfitted for the rally circuit look. If you're wanting auxiliary driving lights (vs. fog lights, in my mind there is a difference), I wouldn't worry too much about being period correct when it comes to safety. Everything I find about driving lights circles back to headlights and specifies what you already know about sealed beam headlights being introduced in 1940. No mention that I can find yet regarding when sealed beam lamps may have been introduced for other applications. My thinking is that things like a sealed beam headlight may have been introduced as an accessory item such as aux. lights or fog lights for a few years first to make sure they work. That's just a "maybe", though. I would be itching to put those Trippe lights to good use, too.

I had looked that Revell (Germany) chrom (sic) stuff up. The testing videos I watched were all done on plastic, thanks for showing us how it looks on metal. From the comparisons I saw, it looks like probably the best chrome paint available, and appropriately costly. Apparently, you can apply it over anything, but if you clear coat it, it will dull significantly. I'd be interested in durability, since it is intended for models that don't get much wear and tear, or exposure to weather. That's something I could envision painting the inside or backside of chromed parts with if I want some shine with the paint protection. Ooh - or maybe resurfacing the headlight reflectors on the Terraplane!

I didn't take any photos, as I know my camera's limitations. Perusing photos, both here and elsewhere, none do justice so far. The corona we could see up here was a good 10-times bigger than shown in any of the photos or videos I've seen so far, not just a haze circling the moon, more like stereotypical sunburst designs, with wispy tendrils reaching away from the sun/moon. That's why I was so ho-hum about the event, I'd only seen photos that all just show that small haze of a corona, I wouldn't call them boring, but they aren't spectacular either. Actually seeing it without the filter of the camera lens made the difference.

Ok. So. That was probably the most spectacular celestial thing I've ever seen. I still wouldn't go out of my way to see another total eclipse, but I am definitely glad I got to see this one. We were in the 100% zone, the skies were crystal clear, and we had an unobstructed view, so for three minutes and some seconds, all you could see was the sun's corona, and three stars/planets that popped up, seemingly out of nowhere. Like turning on a light switch. Funny light effects for an hour leading up to it during the partial eclipse, then BAM, it's dark, the temp dropped a good ten degrees, the wind stopped, everything got quiet, and you could look at the moon/sun with the naked eye, surrounded by the awesome display of the sun's corona. I guess I was expecting groups of white-robed Druids to pop up chanting pagan rituals, not that that didn't happen, but I didn't see any. I had to go through town earlier in the morning and it was already crowded at 0800, but then we stayed home. Had some friends over later to watch the event, who said it was packed downtown when they went through at about 12. Doesn't look like we got the full quota of madness that was predicted, but still got enough people to challenge our planning and preparations. Traffic on I-95 northbound was not quite bumper to bumper, but it stopped to watch the event for a good 45 minutes. The day isn't over yet, though, and tomorrow is worthy of staying home, too, everyone who trickled in over the past three days will be leaving at once. I got a kick out of this - there was a rumor going around that Taylor Swift flew into the Houlton International Airport on her private jet to witness the total eclipse. A friend was assigned to monitoring inbound air traffic, (his wife and kids were who came to our house to witness the event), all he would say was that a fancy private jet flew in, but he wouldn't confirm/deny her presence, despite our encouragement to propagate that rumor whether true or not. So, if you've never been outside, standing on the ground, to actually see a total eclipse in person, I think you've missed something worth seeing. Won't be another one in North America for something like 20 years.

Facebook didn't exist when I first joined, I think Zuckerberg was only a gleam in his daddy's eye. I've talked to a few folks that know about the Forum but don't seem to want to join because it isn't FB. I ask them what kind of info they get from FB versus what they are looking for, usually don't get a sensible answer. Seems to me they can't grasp how helpful the Forum can be, they lean towards thinking the Forum can't possibly be better than FB just because it existed before FB.

Neat thing about being a MoPar fan, you've already experienced one with your Chrysler, so going to look over another vehicle in the same family shouldn't give you any surprises. You already know what to look out for since the cars are so similar.

I had to drive to Buffalo when we had that partial eclipse in is region in 2017, I was on the NY Throughway / I-90 when it "hit". It was mid-dayish, and there didn't appear to be even the slightest amount of interest from the motorists on the road with me. The service plazas were packed, but they always are that time of day. Clear skies are now forecast for Monday, but we might have a bit of a reprieve in the lead up, because we're having a "winter storm" today through Saturday which may tamp things down a bit. Tuesday, when everyone leaves at once, has the potential to be chaotic. I'm bemused that so many people are expected in the area this weekend, I'm half tempted to wander about town with no destination in mind just to witness and have fodder for storytelling in my declining years.

I think FB's security has gone down the tubes, as Los_Control notes, they have no control. I got kicked out of FB a few months ago, and I don't even post anything. Trying to get back in for a little while (I did like to use it to see what friends and family were up to) it wouldn't let me because I, and this is verbatim - "violated community standards by typing too fast". To me that is so ridiculous that there has to be some phishing, hacking, scamming, etc. attempt involved, so I'm out and back to keeping tabs the old fashioned way. If I had the opportunity to refer someone to the Forum when I was on FB I would have, but it would not have been via any links. I otherwise refer folks who I think would benefit from the experience to the Forum once in a while, but I give them the site's name and/or address, never a link.

Dog and cats. Wife insists we have a dog, always a German Shepherd. The one we have now (Heidi) is a rescue from the streets of LA of all places. Terrified of loud noise and bad weather. Like some people I know, she's quite friendly, but doesn't have any manners. We don't get out enough (with her), and we don't get enough visitors to train her. Unlike our last GSD who hated people in general, but loved other animals, this one loves people but hates other animals. We've got her to where she tolerates our cats, and she has to be on a leash when she goes outside or we'll lose her chasing chickadees, red squirrels, or the neighbor's dogs. Both our cats are old-ish, but we don't know how old they really are. One's a sweet little calico (Millie) that weighed 18lbs when we got her, now she's half the cat. She hangs out in the basement and is getting old and creaky. We'll have to try that hemp oil thing, too. Our other cat (Ollie) is a big fluffy Norwegian Forest Cat (according to his papers, but I have doubts, I think he's just an alley cat) that we inherited from a friend who died. Really good mouser and used to be my shop buddy until the neighbors got a dog that kills everything, and Ollie wandered a lot, so we keep him inside now. He used to be a tad standoffish, but is an attention whore now. Keeps Heidi in her place.

A plain old tarp or canvass sheet would trap moisture, but good quality car covers breath, so it should not be a problem.