JerseyHarold

Does NYS DMV still have those pen vending machines to benefit a charity? I remember them from years ago.

One more thing to try is to cut a piece of thin, flexible plastic (like from a plastic milk jug or antifreeze container) and use it as a scraper to get crud from between the cylinder and top of the piston. Just slide it in there and try to pull out whatever dirt you can. It will give your penetrating oil an easier path to the rings.

The car has lots of potential. How did you strip the paint?

Check the Mass Air Flow sensor if it has one. If dirty, it can cause poor performance without setting a code. If the Jeep is a '94, it has OBDI which has a less-complex computer than OBDII.

Joe, We're planning to come down on Thursday. We just have to finalize the tour time and make a room reservation. Mapquest is quoting about 4 hours door-to-door, so if we leave between 6 and 6:30 AM we should get to DC just after rush hour. New Jersey schools are closed this time every year because of 'Teacher Conventions'...a quaint tradition here in the Garden State. That translates into a four day weekend for students and teachers. I've always taken those days off so we can do 'family' things. I'll let you know where we're staying once we get it figured out. Maybe we can get together. Greg, Very interesting website. We don't have mobile internet, but I may copy some rest-stop info from the site so we can plan our stops a little more intelligently.

We're planning to take our son for a look at George Mason University in Fairfax, VA in a few days and I have a couple of questions about the area. I plan to come down I-95 from NJ and arrive at the school in the mid to late morning timeframe. I've heard DC traffic can be bad during rush hour. What time does it usually subside? Are there any road construction issues to worry about? Can anyone recommend a reasonably priced motel and resturants in the area? Areas to stay away from? Any advice appreciated. Thanks. Harold

Since odometer tampering was legal until the early seventies, my assumption is that any car that got sold before that time was probably clocked. Which is why I'm very skeptical about low mileage claims on an old car unless there is a pile of documentation to support it. An owner-operator of a Crown Victoria airport cab (he bought it new) once asked me how many miles I thought were on his car. The odometer said about 60K, so I ventured that the car had 160K (he kept it in excellent condition). It turns out that the car had 560 thousand miles on it! Sure proves the value of maintenance.

Try this site: http://forums.aaca.org/ They have a general buy/sell forum and marque-specific buy/sell forums as well. I've sold a few things there over the years.

I think a smoother material with a solid surface (like vinyl) looks better for kick panels. Just my opinion, though.

I was in Wal-Mart over the weekend and found that they are selling gray fuzzy trunk liner material made by Ozite in the auto department near the mats. It comes in 36" X 72" rolls. You can't use it for an authentic restoration, but it might come in handy for a restification or for a newer vehicle.

If you start with a complete but pitted original, it is possible smooth it out then make a mold of it and cast your own copy. There would probably be a market for it if it came out nice.

Burger, shmurger. The best fast food is served at the Mighty Taco, a chain in the Buffalo area.

Not any of those guys because they're DEAD!!

Around 1978 I bought a '71 Pinto from a friend's brother for $25. A local garage told him it needed both an engine and transmission, so it was offered to me for what the junkyard would pay. It turned out to need a 3" piece of vacuum hose that connected the carb to the transmission modulator. We used it for 2 years then sold it for $600. It was one clean little car.

Somebody here must need one...... http://cnj.craigslist.org/pts/1417948292.html

I got my '66 Sport Fury convertible in 1985, and the '51 Concord and '52 Cambridge in 1988. Maybe they'll be done by 2088.....

I recall reading several years ago that some '50 Plymouth hoods had the emblem holes in the wrong place and that's why the emblems were installed upside down. The article went on to say that the emblem can't be mounted upside down if the hood holes are in the right place.

If someone takes the time, energy, and money to get an old Plymouth back on the road then I see no reason for them to be ostracized from the POC. If your car is a daily (or frequent) driver, some modifications help the car be safer in modern trafffic. It isn't economically feasible to bring some cars 'back from the dead' if 100% originality is the goal, so modifications are good because at least that's one more Plymouth that survives. Personally, I'm not in favor of massive modifications to a nice car (Troy Trepanian comes to mind) but that's another story. A real POCO is a very good idea. If it is launched officially, I'll join.

The aluminum is abrasive to some degree...aluminum oxide sandpaper, for example.

If you can get the drum off the hub, you should then have enough access to the retaining bolts to pull the whole axle out and take it to a machine shop. They might be able to press the hub off the axle and then you can replace the drum.

To expand a little on Pat's idea of contacting a realtor, why not check the 'house for rent' ads in your area? The owner might be willing to rent the garage to you separately.

They probably do get a large part of their business from commercial accounts. One of the people I spoke to told me she is an outside saleswoman for the store.

I'm coordinating a project at work and found out that we need small, odd size screws to complete it. I was going to go to Grainger, but found out about this company: www.fastenal.com This is a retail chain with over 2000 locations plus online ordering. The catalog is over 2" thick. They seem to have a lot of unusual hardware items so it might be worth a look if you're chasing something out of the ordinary. For example, they list a number of varieties of drive nails, which are used to attach the cowl weatherstrip on our Mopars. There is a location only a few miles out of the way of my regular commute, so I stopped in today and they're getting me what we need for Monday.

I bumped into this Town Sedan online being sold by a dealer for $995. I know there's some interest in this body style here so I thought I'd post a link: http://buzztrader.com/cars/1/03/0/19481030533.html Harold

The funny thing about the business coupes is that, even though the rear windows are the same 50-52, the roof itself is different for the 1950 because the front windshield is narrower.