mattimuss

Nope, not bragging...reminiscing maybe Every time I see an old Vega, and that's not frequently anymore, I just smile and take a trip to yesteryear. Sometimes I even smell burnt oil!

When it comes to "un-cool" I have you all beat! My first car, and the one I drove to high school, was a 1972 Chevy Vega Hatchback...rust-bucket-supreme! I called it the "Mosquito Killer" because is used oil so badly that when I came to a stop at a traffic light a large blue cloud of smoke would eventually envelope the car. I would stop at the gas station and top off the oil and check the gas. It was thirteen different colors, a teen's feeble attempt at rust repair and body work! But you know what, I loved that car! It was FREEDOM!

My Grandad was a member of the National Desoto Club for years. I remember hearing the stories of him loading up one of his Desotos and driving cross country with my grams as navigator to the convetions. My wife, daughter and I attended the one in Ohio in '92. Great adventure! He loved his Desotos! At one time he had five or six, with a few other Mopars mixed in... On a chance that there may be some National Desoto Club members here, his name was C. Gordon Matthews, he went by Gordon, and my grams was Lila Matthews.

Maybe with age comes maturity. Or in my case, a keener sense of mortality! I have ridden some sort of motorcycle since I was 10 years old. I have had my share of scrapes and bruises, a few crashes, and one that I thank God every day that I was able to walk away from. I can say with certainty that I have ridden close to half a million miles on street bikes, both state side and all over Europe and the Middle East. I was a Motorcycle Safety Instructor for the Air Force while stationed in Greece. I have taken all three levels of safety schools - multiple times. I have raced both on the track and the street [yes, I do realize how dumb I was]. My race bikes were Honda CBR900RRs; one a '93 red/white/blue model and the other a '96 red/white/black model with a bunch of Erion Racing performance parts. I have raced [novice class] at Texas Motor Speedway and Laguna Seca [the corkscrew is "interesting"]. After telling you guys all of this I will say that I gave up riding about two years after moving to Southern California and haven't ridden since [reference mortality statement above]. I commuted to work on a 1999 Kawasaki Nomad for my first two years here. In those two years I had six close calls. People just do not pay attention to what's going on around them. I never lane split and always rode a combination of defensive/offensive style. The last close call was so close I had to sit on the side of the highway for twenty minutes before I calmed down enough to ride the side streets home. In those twenty minutes I realized that things we not going to get better, and I was playing the odds. I put the bike on craigslist that night and haven't ridden since. I want to make it clear I am not bad mouthing motorcycles, or riding motorcycles. There is nothing like it, especially racing them. The problem is the distracted idiots driving the four wheeled vehicles all around you. And the distractions seem to get worst with each passing year.

Mornin' All, A group from my car club had a "fun-run" up to the March Field Air Museum in Riverside, CA. Nice museum, well worth the drive if you are somewhat local. While browsing the aircraft I came upon a 1939 Plymouth staff car. Anyone else happen upon old staff cars?

I love watching IOM racing. You have to have some huge, brass ones to take part in that insanity! When I was young, and slightly dumber, I used to race. My dream was to run the IOM. Oh well, guess I can still put it on my "bucket list"...

Got 'em working! I found another 6volt horn, harvested the internals, put them in my freshly painted horn and Voilà! I really do like the sound of these old horns, the ol' girl sounds like a tug boat!

Everytime I try to move the doghouse she finds another to put me in...

I HAVE TO concur with Donald! I got a BAD CASE of "newbie fever"...three times! Now I have three "projects" is different levels of disassembly...and none of them are drivable! Thanks God my wife loves me...

Hey All, I have been thinking about this horn all day long. When I got home from work I went out and took two more pictures hoping they will help in identifying the problem. I have never worked with this type of horn so this is all new ground for me...but my gut tells me it is something simple. Thanks in advance for any help offered...

Hey All! Last night I finally got to work on the car again. I decided to try to figure out the horns. They are trumpet horns. The long one doesn’t have contact points [that I can see], the short one does. When I pressed the horn ring all I got was a clicking sound of the relay. I was happy that the relay still worked as replacements are getting expensive. I pulled out my new, complete service manual, but there isn't a lot of info on horns in it. This is when I came in and searched the forum for info and reread my previous post. I soon discovered that Bob is correct and my nice clean paint job was part of the problem. I cleaned all the grounding points and Voilà, the long horn started to work. I then remembered that when I took the short horn apart to clean it I had noticed that the contact points were fused together so I pulled them apart for cleaning. This is where my "novice" skills got me in trouble. When I pulled the two screws that hold the points together I did not have a solid hold on the stack and it feel apart. I quickly regretted not taking a picture before removing the those screws. I cleaned the points and put the stack back together in what seemed to be to best arrangement based on how things fit, but I am pretty sure it’s not correct. While adjusting this horn last night I could see sparks across the contact points, and twice I heard a faint warble like the horn was trying to work, but mostly got just a clicking sound. I have attached a picture of the stack in its current configuration and am wondering if anyone can confirm if it is correct, or if someone can compare it to their horn. As always, thanks in advance for any/all help provided!

That is one happy baby! Looks like everyone had a great time.

Hey Cap, Already ahead of you. When I cleaned the fuel system last year I installed a new inline fuel filter. Tank has been serviced, lines cleaned, carb rebuilt. It's CA gas...

Hey Cap, The sad thing is I did indeed put Sta-Bil in the gas...and ran the engine for a while to make sure that the treated gas got up into the carb.

Thanks Phil! I had it professionally rebuilt not long ago. Now that I have taken it apart I feel a lot more comfortable working on it. I'll be looking into finding a rebuilt kit to have on hand. I think I'm going to put a shut-off valve somewhere in the fuel line, probably between the fuel pump and carb, so that I can run the carb dry after each use to prevent this from happening again. If I remember correctly [hearing this from my Gramps] it's not good to run the fuel pump dry after each drive. Don't hold me to this as it's been years since we have talked about this.

Y'all know what I'm growling about... So, class ended last night and to celebrate I decided to go work on the car. However, when I went to start it she ran terribly and there was gas dripping from the middle of the carb. I know, I let the car set un-started too long. I pulled to carb and took it apart. The jet was almost completely clogged. I cleaned everything up and let it all dry out overnight. I put the carb back together this afternoon, put it back on the engine, connected everything and she's running nicely again. The one major thing I learned is that this is not an extremely complicated carb, bonus! I actually think I can handle maintenance/rebuilds as needed. I also learned that it is a Carter Ball & Ball carb [see pics]. Now my questions: 1. Which model BB carb is it? 2. Should I purchase a rebuild kit to have on hand or are they easily available? Thanks in advance for any/all assistance. Now, onto the brakes!

Hey Ulu, Exactly! I do not want to start a bitch session, and I still like my job and where I work, however...I am very tired of hearing, "Due to budget constraints we are going to have to do more with less." I was working with a younger coworker the other day and she was seriousy pissed/complaing about the job. She looked at me and asked how I remained so calm about the work situation. I answered that this job is a piece of cake compared to all the crap I had to do in the military! It's all perspective I guess... I try my best to live by my signature statement.

Hey Guys, thanks for the replies. I woke up this morning, after writing this last night, I kind of regretted it. I do not want to come across as whining. I am currently taking a Philosophy class [i'm sorry, my brain just doesn't work that way!] and we are required to write an essay every week in addition to homework assignments. I had just finished writing a ten page essay titled "Hamas - Is It Really A Terrorist Organization" [talk about a hard subject to have to write objectively about!]. My brain was pretty frazzled so to take a break I logged in here and started reading what everyone was doing. My 'relaxation' quickly became 'withdrawal' and I posted the message mostly to say I miss the simple life and working on my car. I know I am lucky to be able to go to college and also know that it will pay off in the end. In answer to why I have went back...to better prepare myself for progression up in management. My director informed me that she wants to start molding me to replace her. She feels I would have a better chance if I get a Bachelor's Degree. I currently have two Associate's Degrees from a technical college. I am an Operating Systems Analyst/System Administrator for a college. Read into this title to mean Jack-of-all-trades, Master-of-none in the Geek world. I do feel honored that she has chosen me and is willing to guide me. While it is a lot of work, and I sometimes feel it is very unneeded and mundane, I will just have to reorganize any spare time [now that is a joke!] and really enjoy the times I do get to play with my car.

Someone please remind me why it was a good idea to go back to college... My whole life seems to be centered on homework and family. I have only had three opportunities to work on my '41 in the last four months. I'm going through serious withdrawals!!! I miss my old life...

Thank you, after re-reading it I see your info. Much appreciated!

Thanks for the replies. The flex lines are all new. The rear brake T was taken off and cleaned when I had the diff. rebuilt. The front brake T was the one I was referencing. So, dumb question time...what are the two wires that connect to the top of the front brake T? I searched the service manual, including the wiring diagram. Now mind you, I may have simply missed it, but for the life of me I couldn't find any reference anywhere? If I were take a guess it would be that they connect to a low brake line pressure light. However, this would just be a guess. Everything is now all cleaned up, I just need to get the drums cleaned [cut just enough to make them round] and the shoes arced. Then I should be able to start putting it all back together. Wahoo!

Mornin' All, Quick question to hopefully prevent me from making a $100 mistake. I am about to put my new brake lines back in. While under the car I noticed the brake T is covered in dirt/oil/road grime. Should I pull it out and clean it up? If so, what is the best way to clean it? Are there any precautions I should be aware of? As always, thanks in advance for any/all responses and help.

My Gramps served in the Army Air Corp during WWII. I recently found out that my family immigrated here in 1790. While recently talking with my Gramps I also learned that there has been a member of our family, from every generation, who have served since we immigrated here. On a side note, I would like to thank the members of this forum for all the support you give our vets. I posted this same post on two other forums I am a member of and there has not been a single reply. Not a single thank you. Not a single vet sounding off. This group has always voiced their support. And a thank you to all of our Allied brothers and sisters who have stood by our sides!

Thanks PA for clarifying! Yep, I know definition #1, so I get 50%. I am assuming that definition #2 means that the 'bumper' wants the 'bumpee' to give a status report?

What does "bump" mean?