JerseyHarold

The wagon is a '52 according to the trim and dashboard.

Gotta love that Belmont Blue dashboard....

'XXXX' or '0000'- grade steel wool is much better than Brillo or SOS. It is a finer grade and won't leave scratch marks.

On another note..... Light gray is an excellent color for the car. The fact that it will hide some blemishes is a bonus. When I worked for a large homebuilder, we painted all the houses with a very light tan paint to disguise the not-so-great drywall work.

My experience is the same as others have reported. If you have good prep work, Maaco will shoot the paint very reasonably ($$) and you should be pleased with the results. Some areas also have budget-priced body shops that advertise in the local newspapers. You may want to check them out. Another possibility is to speak to a local used car lot or cab company and see who they use for their paint work.

Sort of related.... Years ago a local body man offered a service where he would put a tiny bead of caulk around the perimeter of each piece of chrome trim to keep dirt from getting in. Might have trapped more moisture than it was worth.

The place in Ra-cha-cha that serves the garbage plate was still there as of a few years ago. Don't recall their name.

I wonder what the seller wants for the '66 Sport Fury parked next to it.

Just got this one: 16582481412386 Expires 6/21/09

I just remembered another good Oldsmobile website.... www.classicoldsmobile.com

Like I said, I've had some success at oldspower.com. It's worth a shot. I've also advertised various items on the AACA website, with mixed results. My feeling is that the AACA people have been involved with cars longer than participants on newer websites, and they either have the part already or can remember when it was on the 'dollar table' 30 years ago and don't want to pay today's prices.

Now here's a topic I can sink my teeth into.... Several items from my gourmet past are worth mentioning: 1. Bloomin' Onions---deep fried whole (breaded?) vidalia onions cut apart to look like a flower 2. Giant fried turkey legs (my daughter reminded me of this one) very popular in Disney World 3. Shredded swiss cheese with shredded ham on a roll 4. A GOOD burrito... popular but might be pricey for ingredients, also difficult to make unless you've had practice rolling stuff in the past 5. Buffalo wings 6. Pierogies and potato pancakes (might be a little too ethnic for your area, maybe not) I'll probably remember some more later on. Buffalo has an amazing variety of fast food that's only sold in that region. I have lots of great gastro-memories from when I lived there. If you want to get some ideas, try going to buffalofoods.com or mightytaco.com .

It can't hurt to call the seller and ask him what's going on with the brakes. He may have the parts you need or know who does.

Have you tried contacting Draw-Tite or Valley Tow-Rite? They may have made one in the past or be able to advise how to use one of their modern products on a P15.

Bingster, You have to target what you're looking for and then search for websites with classified ad forums...there are plenty of them out there. The one here has lots of good parts......it might pay to look at real old postings and inquire if the part is still available. You never know. I've used this 'target marketing' approach recently for selling stuff with good results. If I have an Olds part, for example, I post it on a few Oldsmobile websites. It usually sells pretty quickly, with no eBay nonsense to deal with. Just my .02

Randy, Check local auction listings for restaurants going out of business...there are equipment bargains out there if you look hard enough.

One of many business ideas that has danced in my head is to buy an older station wagon or small truck (a Dodge Route Van would be ideal), dress it up with a big plastic hot dog on the roof, and become a food vendor. The beauty of this idea is that all the restoration costs would be a deductible business expense!

You can make some serious money with a rig like that. Back in the sixties, my father's friend had a hot dog unit in the back of a Rambler wagon. Easily took in $400. per weekend with it (big $$ in those days).

How about this..... Sand down the pits, spray the part with 'Featherfill' or similar product to level everything off, and sand until smooth. Now here's the kicker: send the part to a Vacuum Metallizer (chrome plated plastic) and get it coated that way. Might be cheaper and would still look like chrome.

I've got the '52 Ross Roy book squirreled away. Lots of amazing facts in it!

Sounds tasty. You're making me even hungrier than I am....my wife is making Halibut with sides tonight. I'm online until dinner is ready.

Don't the MC caps have a little air bleeder hole in them? It would let oil leak out.

A few years back I heard that Canadian platers were less expensive because of fewer environmental regulations and the favorable exchange rate. Don't know if any of that still applies.

I just bought a fuel pump for my '98 Lumina from Rock Auto a few days ago. My mechanic couldn't find it locally for less than $300. and I paid $200. including shipping. I ordered it Tuesday afternoon, and it arrived on Wednesday. My mechanic had no problem with the quality.

FWIW, I don't think whitewalls were available on new Plymouths in the early fifties due to the Korean war.