bob_amos

Norm, If you were refering that '54 wagon gate to me, I sold mine. Sure did hate seeing to go but it will finally get the attention it deserves.

I love the heat!!! Since my shop is big in the automotive air conditioning business this heat has helped spur business... It's about time too!!! 'Been very slow lately. Personally, I am a cool weather kind of guy. But I can sure use the money... and so can my employees.

Shel, Nice shot. I am using it as my desk top background. 11 more of these and you've got a calander.

I'd love seeing the Alpine prices go up, way up. I have owned one since 1979. But I'll never sell it. It's going to be willed to my son. He loves the car too.

Let's hope that this is not just the normal "Lip service" that our wonderful leaders have given us for years and years... wouldn't it be nice if they would actually do something for the people of this nation as they were elected to do. Ficion is such a big part of the governments of the world and ours is the best at it. I'll believe they really want to help when I see it though.

Now I am truely pissed. This gas price thing has gotten us all. Today my wife and I decided that, in order to save a tank of gas a month, to not have lunch together any more. Weird you say? Well, we have eaten lunch together every day for the last 15 plus years. We really enjoy being together during our work day and this half hour was a real pleasure for both of us. Now, those greedy idiots that are running up the price of gas has stepped way over the line that was my personal limit. This greedy foolishness has got to stop.....

Todays cars are generally a no retorque type of thing. There are many mechanics today that don't even know that they are required to retorque some of the older engines. If you don't mention this to the guy he may do the same thing and the results will certainly be the same. It never hurts to help advise the mechanic doing the work on these older vehicles. Being a professional mechnic for over 40 years I know what I am doing but never turn down a suggestion on something I may have forgotten or maybe never knew because I just didn't have to oportunity to do that particular job in the past. We just had a 49 Pontiac flathead 6 in the shop that had an intake gasket problem that we just could never really get worked out. Surfacing the manifold and progressive torquing just didn't help. In the end, we installed an Egge made gasket and all was finally well. The owner was the one to recommend Egge, even though I have used them in the past.

EGGE MACHINE COMPANY 11707 Slauson Avenue Santa Fe Springs , CA 90670 866-586-EGGE (3443)

Do I ever remember those RC bottles!!! I use to drink a few swigs out of the bottle then refill it with salted peanuts. All for the price of a nickle for the nuts, a dime for the soda and 3 cents deposit. Whice I actually got back, not like todays redemtion values. What a drink!!!! I tried it with todays bottles but the nuts just don't seem to travel through the bottle like they use to. Gawd, them were the dayz!!!

Yes we all know that the price of fuel is high but there are places that we have no choice but drive to. What I have been doing is drive one of my vintage vehicles to work and back one day a week. I drive to work, 45 miles, by freeway then return by a more leisurly route through the back country roads. I enjoy this drive home. I also use one of the cars to go to the post office on Saturday and make a few short trips when needed. Since I now car pool 3 of the 5 days a week I use to drive I am doing my part in conserving fuels. So, the extra driving of one of my vintage vehicles is still loads less than I would normally drive. We try to attend more local events these days and avoid the long distance ones. In Sept. the Golden State Region hold its annual meeting in Central California. As of today my wife and I are planning to attend but will only be there the one day of the meeting. We have to attend because I am the membership chairman and she is the treasurer. Not much choice for us. But we won't be staying the 3 days the club normally holds this event. We can cut the motel costs and maybe afford a couple tanks of gas. If things continue to rise we may not even be able to afford that. Maybe we can car pool to this event? We'll see. With this thinking going on throughout the entire country as well as Canada, there is no way that the economy will have a chance to recover. I know our check that was suppose to help the economy will end up in the hands of the oil people instead of stimulating the economy. People like Richard, aka mr.belvedere, has young children so the pinch is even tighter for him. We are fortunate that our 5 children have grown and live on their own. It's tough times like these that set the people of North America appart from the rest of the world. We always find a way and will come through it all somehow.

Have your guy perform a cylinder leak down test. This will point you in the right direction as to where the compression is leaking. Once you know where it's going you then can make a decission as to how to approach the problem. A head gasket is an easy fix on our flatties as opposed to an entire engine. You troubles could be as easy as the gasket or an entire engine or anywhere between. Since it all went away so rapidly I'd say that it's not in the pricey part of the engine. The leak down test will confirm the fault.

Check with Tony C. He just installed an A block in his '50 Busycoupe. And I must add, a very clean installation too. He can tell you all the pitfalls as he fell into many of them along the way.

Here's a trick to increase the clearity of the You Tube picture. Up in the address bar add the following to the end of the address and hit enter. It will clear that fuzzy picture. Try it, it works. &fmt=18

Skip, Ya know, I get the same kind of thing when I try to see a photobucket site. (and everyone here uses photobucket) My provider has something that won't let me see the site. So, I have to view them at the shop. Wierd how that happens to some of us. Sure wish I knew how to overcome that problem.

How cool, I love that stuff. Is it a coolant warmer? There were so many wierd things on the market back then. I love seeing it.

Well, it must have returned. I just watched it. I am going to add this place to my list at the shop and give him a try the next time I am doing a customers' car and runn into a parts problem.

Macster, I can photograph mine for you. I will need an e-mail address to mail it to. Send me a private message to secure the adddress. Bob

I had the good fortune to get to visit Jay's cars, along with a few of the guys here from the Golden State Region, and he has such a wonderful collection. The people there are real people too. They were great hosts and seemed as proud of the vhicles as if they were their own. They told us Jay calls in around 3pm every afternoon and selects a car to be ready for his use when he arrives. His cars as driven and not just display pieces. Nothing better than a man and his cars, especially if they are vintage tin.

Well, Thanks, Glad you liked it. But to be honset it looks beeter in a photo than in person. Not that it's a bad looking car but it's notnear as nice as it photographs. I bought mine about 18 miles from home and Tony C. and I went out and picked it up Drove it home but it sure was running hot. Real hot. Seems someone tried to seal a cooling system hose leak with silicone and it worked its way into the radiator covering up almost every tube. Had to do a real, real good clean out of the entire system.

No, I don't mind at all. For some reason my Road Runner internet will not let me see anything from Photobucket. Thanks for helping out.

I have my 53 Cranbrook's photo in my profile. Don't know how to have it show up here though. It's good to see so many 53's.

Yup, sounds like the elecrolytics. They don't make them like they once did but if originality is your desire, have the old one removed and melt out the wax that seals them in. Capture the wax and place the modern units inside. Now, use some wax to fill the capacitor and do the final fill with the old, discoloured, wax to finish it off. No one will ever know. But then, no one will ever know if you just use modern partsbb and don't worry about originality. The new ones won't match the rating of the old ones but get as close as you can get and make sure the voltage rating is equal or higher than what is now in there. It's not a critical thing.

There are loads of parts still avail from some of the better parts houses out there. This site is also a wealth of knowledge. I'm a 41 plus year professional in the automotive repair business and have tons of contacts. These guys here have helped me find things time and again. They even found my personal car. A, now get this, '53 Cranbrook. Can't remember who, but one of the guys pointed it out on the "Bay" and it was 18 miles from home. So when there are questions that need asking, this is the absolute best place.

Pure fun!! Thanks for sharing that with us.

We did the same with our phone. We were always getting slammed so we dropped it in favour of the cel phones. We do have cable as I am a BIG sports nut. Cannot do without my sports. We also have cable internet. As to the tubes. Tube and More, also known as Antique Electronics Supply, has loads of new tubes along with some used ones. Tubes are still being made in Russia. The vibrator tube they offer is pricey but is solid state and is really not a vibrator but a substitute. I understand they work well without the noise. Me, I like the noise of the original vibrator.