linus6948

The Black Bears are becoming such a problem around me that the state of PA is allowing a second 5 day hunting season in this WMU/wildlife management unit where I live. The real problem is very few hunters are going out for Black Bear nowadays. Most guys I ask say it`s too much of a PITA to hunt them and you can`t even give the meat away as very few people will eat it and even the programs that feed the hungry that accept Deer meat don`t want Bear meat. The state of PA forbids the use of dogs,lures and bait in hunting Bear so getting one even if you go out for Black Bear it is more chance luck that you even see one, they seem to disappear completely during the few days you are allowed to hunt them.

Well this evening I took a ride in the coupe and I encountered a Mother Black Bear and her 3 Cubs, this same female had triplets last year too.

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One of my favorite and most useful tools that I have been able to acquire is my 2 post lift. It is a 1970 Benwil that when new was in a Chevrolet dealership,It has long arms on the left and short arms on the right, the theory was more room for the mechanic to enter and exit the car. This idea never was repeated again and I`m told no other lift had this unusual arm configuration. I found it by chance on Craig`s list about 20+ miles away for $500. When I got there I found a rusty pile of junk that was once a lift, it had layed uncovered in a vacant lot for years. I offered $350(scrap-value) and we settled at $400. It took quite a bit of time and labor but I was able to restore it to it`s useful purpose again, also about $40 worth of kerosene and two large tupper-wear containers.The industrial ribbon chains that do the lifting were totally rusted and the links were frozen solid and replacing the chains was $600-$800 so I used time and kerosene to dissolve the rust. It worked like a charm and I also located a place that still serviced these lifts and I was able to get a service manual reprint from them and I was able to speak to a older tech that knew everything about my lift. Someone had changed the lift arms over the years to make it like a normal 2 post lift, he told me to put it back to the original arm configuration and explained why and I listened.The only difference is you have to pull your car very close to the right side post when pulling onto the lift, I set up two mirrors to help me accomplish this. This lift runs on 3 gallons of 10W30wt motor oil instead of hyd fluid which was aimed at the Chevy dealerships, he told me every Chevy dealership in the US had one of these lifts so there are a lot of them still in service today.

Well the Bride came out for her first ride in the Coupe in about 15yrs, She liked it, we took a 20+ mile ride and went over the top of the Francis Walter Dam and She took some pictures on the top and headed down. The sky started getting dark and it started to spritz so we headed home, She is a little nervous about the age of the tires, I bought them in 1990 from Coker Tire, they are bias ply reproductions and still look like new. I see no cracking or checking of the sidewalls of between the treads, I probably have less than 1000 miles on these tires. Any opinions about continuing to run these tires, replacing them is not in the budget right now. They were always indoors and not exposed to sunlight since they were put on the car.

They are such a problem in PA Frank that you can hunt them 24hrs a day, 7 days a week and you can hunt them over bait and use spotlights, basically anything goes and the Coyote population continues to steadily grow.

Day Shots

The Wild Turkeys seem to do pretty well in my part of Pennsylvania, plenty of White Tails and way too many Black Bears and Eastern Coyotes which are a hybrid cross between Grey Wolves and Coyotes. They look a lot like German Shepards, I had a small pack of them around my place a while ago but I finally shot the Alpha male and the group broke up. I have a couple hundred game camera shots day and night of them coming in to gnaw on a "Coyote Popsicle".

Well I was so successful at cleaning the seats that I now feel compelled to cover them up to protect them, I wanted something 50-60`s period hot rod and always liked the fur interior of the Pharaohs Mercury in American Graffiti so I looked for fur. I wound up making friends with the Heir to a now closed Teddy Bear factory and he sold me enough Tan Teddy Bear Fur to make throw covers for the seats. I got the front seat covered and I like the way it looks and it feels pretty good to sit on too.

I had my coupe out for an airing after Dinner and ran across a trio of Turkeys out for their evening constitutional, big healthy birds all of them.

I don`t know if anyone else had a similar experience but I had a heck of a time getting duplicate keys made for my D24. I went to the two nearest Hardware stores to me, one has been there since before WW2 and a large True Value Hardware also pretty vintage. Neither of these establishments had the necessary key blanks to duplicate my car keys,both places said they haven`t had those key blanks for 8-10 years. This was becoming an issue because I only had one set and they weren`t pretty. I know I had made extra keys years ago but they seem to have gotten lost when we moved a few years back, and the set I had in hand were aluminum keys, and the ignition key was slightly bent and was starting to crack in the middle. So I started calling locksmiths in the nearest "big city" and most said no, finally I called the ACME Lock and Safe Co (reminded me of the Roadrunner Cartoons). and an old timer answered said sure he could make then for me. I took the 20 mile ride and got steel keys cut for $3 a piece, this is cheap as I`ve seen these key blanks on Ebay for $12-$15 a piece uncut. What was funny was all these people were quite versed in keys, and none had ever seen car keys made from aluminum blanks before. I got lucky and the new keys all work, the locksmith was a little concerned at first because the aluminum keys were so worn. It`s definitely a load off my mind to have spares again and put those aluminum keys into the archives.

The first of the Tan Lap Belts gets installed for the front seat.

I also put a "wanted" ad in the classified looking for rear fender stone guards for my 48 D24, and I also received a questionable response definitely from a foreigner with a gmail account "fishing" for information and my phone number. So I guess our classified are being watched by those same people who let you know that you have won the Foreign Lotteries and have money coming once you send them a small fee. Here is the response I received... Still interested in purchasing the above ? Let me know! What's your phone # ? Cheers, Khayr Marsh 1635 Undercliff Ave Bronx, NY 10453 USA

Repainted the fluid drive rear fender script, it never had any paint since I`ve owned the car. I also spent some time freeing up the exhaust manifold damper and it`s spring which was frozen solid, now it moves and functions beautifully like the workings of a Swiss watch.

One expression I have always liked and have often observed in life.."Having a Big Education Does Not Make You Smart, Only Educated"

Well the Lavender essential oil finally arrived from Portugal and I added it to the mix, now it smells like you are chewing Wrigley`s Spearmint Gum while waiting in the Red Cedar Paneled Parlor of a New Orleans Bordello, and I haven`t seen a Moth or Mosquito anywhere near the car.

Yes Don they do, but it is an even bigger pain in the neck than regular antique plates and it almost doubles the cost. I got a set on 1948 NY plates with the car and was going to use them but then something happened and I never did. I posted in another thread about how I got my coupe which was pure chance. The rest of the story gets even more involved... I get the D24 home from where it had been put into "mothballs" literally and my Father was over to see it. He stood there looking very oddly at the car, almost the "deer in the headlights look" and I got concerned and asked him what was wrong. He didn`t say a word but came to life and darted all around and inside the car like a little kid. Again concerned I asked what was up and he said I HAD THIS CAR, I didn`t understand until he explained. After he got out of the Navy, the first car he bought himself was a black Dodge D24 custom club coupe. He courted my Mother in that car, they went on their honeymoon in that car and for all I know I could have been conceived in that car. A few years later he gave it to his baby Sister Jody and she learned to drive on that car and she drove it for years. My Aunt came running over to my house and she too melted down when she saw the coupe sitting in the driveway. I knew that day in 1987 I could never ever get rid of this car, too much family history wrapped up in it. A few months later my Aunt Jody was killed doing something she loved, riding her motorcycle on the NY thruway she crashed trying to not run over baby geese crossing the road. I then decided not to use the date of manufacture plates and applied for vanity plates which I never had to turn in because NY went to another color. So I will continue to carry that old NY plate on the front of the car for my Aunt. I took this picture this morning for my Cousins.

Well it took less than the promised 2 month wait for the State of PA to release my plates, so back on the road legally registered and tagged for the 1st time in 14 years.

I`m more than convinced Merle and I`m a wizard now at popping these fuel pumps in and out so I`m going to do something about it before it happens, and thanks Don for the link.

Yes it does look like a leak, but it was fuel that had came out of the line to the carb when I removed the old pump, there was still a residual drop hanging when I took that picture.

The pivot pin looked ok to my untrained eye, but I have to say I was not impressed by the weight/heft of the pump and the cam lever itself just seemed "cheap". I can now see why guys buy the rebuild kits and redo their original or NOS pumps.

I think I was about 8 when I was taken to Eisenhower Park in Long Island where an Antique Car Show and picnic was being held. A friend of my Father had two cars at the show and this man let me sit and "air-drive" in those cars for literally hours. Never a lecture or a reprimand came out of his mouth, he let me rock the steering wheels and bounce on the seats and I was hooked. The same man who would become a "Dutch Uncle" to me gave me my first antique car when I was 14 and I`ve always had at least one in my life at all times since, he helped and advised me till his death a few years ago and I miss him dearly. I really don`t know why they got into my blood stream but they did, an old car still stops me dead in my tracks when one goes by. In fact the whole reason I got my present car was a woman selling a house she inherited to my friend.She saw me do the Exorcist 360 Head Swivel when an old car rolled by and asked me if I liked old cars because she inherited 3 and had one left she couldn`t seem to sell. Not 30 minutes later I was buying it from her because I made me her take me to it immediately and it was at yet another house she had inherited from her father that was close by. Plus she asks if I could clear out an area in her basement cluttered up with NOS parts for the car. I`m ashamed to say I`ve still haven`t gone thru some of the milk crates I hauled out of there. I`m also ashamed to say I left a full nose clip and complete engine and transmission on blocks behind as I had no place to keep them at the time. That`s one I wish I could do over, no kidding. Paul

UPS came late, bad storms in the area, the new Airtex pump looks good but does not have the weight and quality of construction that the old AC pump has. It went in much nicer on the lift in the shop then when I was doing them under the car on my back in the garage. I lowered the car and hit the priming pump switch for about 5 seconds and raised the car back up to happily find the glass bowl filled with fuel. The car started right up and I wanted to take it for a short test spin but the weather again turned foul and I put it in the garage instead, I don`t intentionally drive the car in the rain anymore if I don`t have to. I`am certainly indebted to all you guys on this forum and thank you for your ideas and input, this site is an invaluable resource for knowledge and support. Paul