JerseyHarold

About 20 years ago my wife and I hosted a party, and one of the things she prepared was Spam hors d'ouvres (she found the recipe in a magazine and wanted to try it). People avoided it like the plague! I had them for lunch for the next week. We still joke about that episode....

The trunk interiors in my cars ('51&'52 Plymouth) are the same color as Johnny S's. I'd call it a dark olive green. This topic has come up in other threads. I don't think anyone has pinned-down the exact color name or number, but it must be listed on a color chart somewhere. I've seen the interior of the trunk lids painted the outside body color, but I believe this was only done on cars not built in Detroit. Harold

Another possibility for a burnt valve is too lean a mixture in that cylinder. Could be a bad manifold gasket or a restriction in the intake runner. Just my two cents' worth. Harold

Throw it on eBay, use proceeds of sale for down payment on new house!

Our friend Ralph, that conoisseur of fine motorcars, is trying to sell another Plymouth. This time it's an early Barracuda (the P15 is still available in another ad). Ladder not included! http://newyork.craigslist.org/lgi/car/519232250.html Harold

Off to a flying start in 2008! This one actually sounds plausible. Probably worth a look. http://newyork.craigslist.org/jsy/car/524628868.html Harold

I noticed one tire of my '98 Lumina looked a little soft, so I inflated it about a week ago and kept my eye on it. It got visibly deflated after a few days, so this afternoon I pumped it back up and went over to my friend at a local dealership. He put it on his lift and sprayed it down systematically to check for the source (the shop doesn't have a dunk tank). Turned out to be a cracked sidewall that was oozing air....fairly unusual and basically a blowout waiting to happen. Quick trip to Sam's Club, 2 new tires, and back in business. I'm happy it didn't blow on the road. Moral of the story: When they go soft, check 'em out!

Clay, Have you tried calling GM with the VIN of your Buick to see if there's a recall on it? Might save a lot of running around and expense. Harold

Looks good. How long was it in the junkyard before you got it? I came home from the hospital in a '52 Cambridge and they are near and dear to my heart. I'm always pleased to see another one saved. The one I have now is a carbon copy of my father's car (long gone), and only 1200 VINs away from it. Harold

Olddaddy, What's the silly game with the pointy ball?? Inquiring minds need to know! Rockwood, Haven't heard the expression 'cheap like Borscht' in many years.....my grandmother used it occasionally, and she didn't say it in English! Harold

This month's issue of Skinned Knuckles magazine has an interesting article on how to do inexpensive woodgraining. On a semi-related topic: Does anyone know whether the dash boards and garnish moldings were woodgrained before or after they were stamped? Just curious. Harold

The molding clip bolt holes on the '51 rear fenders are lower than those on the '50, otherwise they are the same. In the fifties, Mopar issued 'blank' replacement rear fenders so you could drill the holes at the level you needed. The front floor sections (up to the front seat) should be the same or at least interchangeable '50-'51. The floor near the package shelf on a business coupe is quite a bit different than the 4-door, and the trunk floor is much longer than a sedan. You can probably graft the sedan trunk floor onto the rear-most section of trunk in the coupe.

Ed, Back in college, one of my professors had his entire car (a full-size early-seventies GM wagon with the clamshell tailgate) completely repainted at the local vocational high school. He only had to pay for materials, but since it was a big job the car was tied-up in school for a while. Is there an automotive vo-tech school in your area? Maybe one of the instructors can repair the scratch as a class demonstation or knows of an inexpensive local body man. Harold

Ed, if all you want to do is firm-up the floor under under the seat, why not just wedge some wood between the top of the chassis and the remnants of the floor? I've seen it done before and it works. Harold

FWIW, Soylent Green came out around 1973 and was, I believe, the last movie Edward G. Robinson acted in. Look out for the 'scoops'!!

I agree with what you're saying but, since politics is propelled by money, the combined clout of the various aftermarket, street rod, and collector car organizations should slow the movement considerably if not block it altogether.

Thanks everyone for your thoughts. It wasn't unexpected....two divisions are merging and eight people including the division president were cut from mine, and even more from the other division. My supervisor started behaving differently towards me a couple of weeks ago, and work started being diverted around me last week. By last Friday the final red flag was her asking me about six times if I have any appointments Tuesday. Monday morning I called a co-worker friend to say that I probably wouldn't be with the company after Tuesday, and he said 'gee, that's funny, I have to come to the office for a meeting too'. Needless to say, he got bounced as well. I cleaned out my company van that morning before leaving home, and had a list of items to discuss with HR in my pocket. The HR people were shocked when I pulled it out and started asking my questions (the company is fond of the 'sneak attack' approach to layoffs). Reg asked if I'm going to be making lemonade, and the answer is 'you bet I am'! I truly believe that better things are down the road. Harold

I did have a bad day at work. Got laid off Tuesday!

Sorry I couldn't resist.... http://newyork.craigslist.org/lgi/car/505211510.html

Ed, Let me know how the install works out. It looks like the right way to go for brakes. Harold

This is his wife --- why am I not surprised????????? I have to say he has taught the kids to be just like him - our daughter (16) has never met a book she can part with - we probably have over 1,000. Our son has every power ranger, transformer, wooden train, cars, etc. There should be a thread for us crazed wives. Marsha

You left-coasters have all the luck. If that truck were sitting in this part of the country, it would be a pile of rust by now.

She knows. I told her before I did it. After nearly 20 years of owning this car, I want to give it one more season to possibly get to it. It will be worth the same a year from now if I don't. I also believe that if there were any genuine interest in the car this week I would have had real questions about it or at least some picture-hunters asking for more photos.

With a few hours left on my free Business Coupe listing, four 'watchers', and no bids, I decided to pull the plug and hit the 'end your listing early' button. I got one question from someone with a '-1' feedback asking if I'll take 2/3 of my starting price and no-one inquired about more photos or asked any meaningful questions. The bottom line is that I'm not ready to part with the car yet. Oh, well.....

Gary, Good looking car. Welcome to the forum. If you don't already know about it, there is a nice website for 49-52 Plymouths at www.oldplymouths.com Might be worth a look. Harold