JerseyHarold

I have a 4-wheel, 1000# rated engine stand that was made offshore (it may have come from Harbor Freight many years ago) and my 230 flathead sagged when I put it on there. I ended-up supporting the front of the engine with a wooden stand to keep it level.

Ed, It's at 2700 Hooper Avenue in Brick, (732) 477-5300. I used Mapquest to get directions...took about 40 minutes door-to-door from Freehold. Definitely worth the trip. Harold

A couple of weeks back I heard that Harbor Freight has a retail store in Brick, New Jersey, about 20 miles from where I live. Then a few days ago, I got a Harbor Freight flyer in the mail complete with a coupon (don't know where they got my name). So, this morning my son and I took a ride down there. It turned out to be a nice store with all sorts of cool stuff. They had a 'dollar days' circular as well, and I wound-up buying a number of small but useful items. This is one of the few stores I've ever seen where there were a lot of guys actually doing some serious shopping. I'm planning to visit them again. Sure beats the mall my wife and daughter went to! On the way home, we stopped at 'Future Classics', a nearby collector car store. They had a red '51 Cranbrook convertible on eBay a while back (discussed here in the forum at that time), and I wanted to see it in person just for jollies. The car has a 'Duffy's' sticker on the trunk, so it migrated here from Iowa at some point. Nice clean car, but of course I spotted a number of non-original items and some questionable restoration work that I kept my mouth shut about. Kinda pricey at $27,500. on the windshield. All in all a fun day. Harold

Ed, I took a look at your Jeep. Definitely unique. With a gallon of Rustoleum and a trip to Manalapan Brake Parts you could have that thing roadworthy in no time!

Reg, I kinda figured that was your Suburban...glad you got a bid. I listed my '51 Business Coupe also. More as a 'politically correct' gesture for my wife since I'll probably never get to fix it up and we can use the cash. Hope I don't get any bids! Harold

Shel, I've also run into instances of eBay notifying 'select' accounts about special offers they're running. Like you, we have a 'main' account and a secondary account and I think this one came in on the secondary. I'm sure there's a strategy to what eBay is doing, but their logic escapes me. Harold

eBay Motors has a 'free listing' day for vehicles today (actually yesterday and today...I just found out about it). You still pay the sales fee at the end if it sells. If anyone wants to test the waters with a car they want to sell, this is a good opportunity to do so. Might even list one of mine at a healthy price just to see if there are any bites. Just wanted to pass the word around. Harold

Those repro red firewall tags have been around for a long time. I was at Carlisle in the early '80's and Ed Spiegel's wife Darlene (Mopar vendors out of Pittsburgh area...don't know if they are still involved with the hobby)was telling me how there were only a limited number of repro's made and I'd better get one before supplies run out. Guess she was wrong......

Reg, Glad you connected with Jackie. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours. Harold

Reg, Great looking car! Have you tried Google or Zabasearch to see if Elbert is still around?

Take a look at antennas meant for 73-77 Chevy pickups. A Mopar parts vendor recommended those years ago and the contour is just about exactly correct.

FWIW, when I sell stuff on eBay I refuse to take personal checks just because my account number, routing number, and signature are on the BACK of the check which then gets returned to the buyer. Also, I bought a counterfeit-detector pen at Staples so any cash I get locally (like from selling on Craigslist or area classified boards) can be checked. You can't be too careful these days!

The rear fenders are the same 50-52 except for the trim hole locations, as Ed said. The holes are slightly higher on the 50; 1950-52 Mopar replacement rear fenders were shipped without holes so you could drill the height you needed. The front clip, windshield , dashboard, and front doors do not interchange from 50-51. I've got a '52 Cambridge 4-door and a '51 Concord business coupe so comparisons are easy!

If you have a line on repro '51 hood letters, please let me know. Mine are all crazed and faded.

A few weeks back there was a thread on a '52 Cambridge on eBay that got cut down into a convertible. Buy this Cranbrook and build one yourself! Link to the sale..... http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Plymouth-Cranbrook-1952-Plymouth_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ6387QQihZ013QQitemZ230191544576QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

One more thing to consider with S&H on eBay....The sellers don't pay commission on S&H, so they save a few cents on eBay fees by inflating the shipping charges.

Tim made a very good point about the Post Office having some pretty good deals on shipping. For example, they have 2 sizes of Priority Mail flat rate boxes.....cram just about anything into one, it goes anywhere in the country for $8.95, and gets there in a few days. These boxes (as well as many other shipping supplies and boxes) are FREE (my favorite 4-letter word starting with 'F'...). The Post Office will send you bundles of boxes at no cost! Quite a deal. Check it out at the link below: http://shop.usps.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10001&catalogId=10152&top=Y&categoryId=11820&parent_category_rn=&top_category=

Looks like another eBay frill that won't be of any use to me. I rarely bid on anything anymore, and if I sell something it ends-up going to a 'one-bid wonder' at the opening price.

About 30 -35 years ago the price of '55 Chevy NOS hood ornaments was on the moon. Some sellers thought one piece of trim would fund their retirement! All that changed very abruptly when one person took their NOS ornament to Taiwan and started making repro's from it.

Way to go, Don. Wouldn't it be neat if they each wanted a P15 when they get older?

Those things live down your way? YUK!

Pump brakes real fast to build up pressure. Downshift to a lower gear. Shut off engine while in gear to slow down with engine compression (won't work on fluid-coupling transmissions). Honk the horn. Use the (marginally effective) hand brake. Scuff tires against curb. Pray.

Claybill, Keys are not too big of a problem. Any good locksmith can make one by 'impressioning' the lock for a few dollars.

I think you can use a '53-up switch in your dash. They are better because they don't have the armored cable, just a regular wire terminal. I did that in my '52.

This one was on there a while ago at some absurd price......now it's more within reason. If anyone responds to the ad, let us know what you find out. Harold http://newyork.craigslist.org/brx/car/456465518.html