Skirts/love em or hate em...today hate em!

[Rodney Bullock]

Well , went down to the garage to ply with my beloved Plymouth and like all things pampered it had a problem:mad: Flat tire. Jacked it up and up and up. Got my lug nuts off, Could not get the tire off without removing the skirt. I thought I did this along time ago. I have the wing nuts on screws for the attaching legs that hold the thing in place. I got under there(jack stands in place) took these wing nuts off and then I got my tire off after fighting it left hand threads! I keep tubes on hand so I pulled one. I rolled the tire and there was a nail in it:mad: I got a nail in the tire in the garage. I got to clean up now, real good. Tomorrow I will be at the tire shop early, get my tube in and I gonna try to put some miles on it. It's supposed to rain. Sometimes I just can't catch a break.

[Don Coatney]

Just another reason to go tubeless. Tubeless tires can be repaired without removing the tire from the car.

However removing skirts (one of my favorite subjects) is fodder for another forum not so family oriented as this one is.

[claybill]

hey rodney...listening to the stories of your life lately has been terrific!

at least you are getting stuff done. it is still cold here in n.illinois but this week it has improved enough to get excited myself.

been thinking about puttng skirts on my 48 convertible...dont want to get ones that dont look right or fit well. maybe i'll just leave it alone.i have those chrome fender guards that have to be removed for the skirt clearnce,

and lots of re-paint..$$%^&&^*$$$$$

i put a set of bubbly ones on my 41 convertible and it is sooo sweet..

bill....aka, claybill

[55 Fargo]

Well , went down to the garage to ply with my beloved Plymouth and like all things pampered it had a problem:mad: Flat tire. Jacked it up and up and up. Got my lug nuts off, Could not get the tire off without removing the skirt. I thought I did this along time ago. I have the wing nuts on screws for the attaching legs that hold the thing in place. I got under there(jack stands in place) took these wing nuts off and then I got my tire off after fighting it left hand threads! I keep tubes on hand so I pulled one. I rolled the tire and there was a nail in it:mad: I got a nail in the tire in the garage. I got to clean up now, real good. Tomorrow I will be at the tire shop early, get my tube in and I gonna try to put some miles on it. It's supposed to rain. Sometimes I just can't catch a break.

Rodney, you need a break from the Toys, there gonna drive you mad. How about you come up North and make sandbags for the flood, now this is meaningful labor, forget about all them nasty cars for a few weeks. Nah I couldn't do it either if I were you, couldn't leave my Babies for too long, I understand, Heck Rodney, these cars are like Kids to you, you love em, pamper, and heck they still act up................LOL

[Rodney Bullock]

Fella's the drama continues. The wife and I went back down to have Mr. Tire put a tube in the tire. I was gonna leave it however the guy said that he might as well do it now. He did it in about 10 min. We took it back to the garage 3 min away from the shop and I just put it back on the car. 4 min. Putting the darn skirt back on 20 min. Thank goodness it was in the garage. I had to lay on the ground with those wing nuts. I finally got it so It was good and tight. Let it down off the jack and the wife was firing up here hot rod(Buick) and away we went. I can sleep tonite. If we don't get the rain I'm riding tomorrow.

Fred, I would come up there to help out...if you really wanted me too:eek:

Claybil, skirts on a 1941 Heaven just heaven. I would give anything for a convert. The open air

Don, oh boy

[steveplym]

You know what they say Rodney, no problems, no fun with old cars. Sometimes I just wish I could have more fun without the problems.

I agree with Don removing skirts is another subject for another forum. I like, and I assume Don agrees, that the skirts be removed. I'll stop there.

[Norm's Coupe]

Rodney,

Yes, skirts can be a real pain if you have a flat, and even when you want to clean the whitewalls. I take mine off to clean the whitewalls instead of jacking the car up, it's easier. But...........in the end, those skirts add a nice look to cars in my opinion, so I keep them on the car during the warm months.

As I was growing up, my parents always said hold your head high when walking. Well..........after working in the flooring and roofing area's since 1968, I had to always look down at the floor or roof. So..........I still do that. By doing so, I'm constantly on the lookout for screws and nails laying in the driveway or garage, especially after doing some sort of project using them.

While cleaning the garage and building your new workbench, you might think about making it brighter in there. Paint all the walls white, then add lots of shop lights. When leaves blow in, sweep them out right away to keep the floor clean. If I open my overhead door on the garage at night, the light from the inside the garage will light up about 10 to 12 feet of the driveway, and I'm considering adding two more 4 foot double shop lights, to make it even brighter. Right now I have 5 four foot double shop lights in a 2 car garage that is about 440 square feet. You can never have too much light to see things. I also have a magnet with an extension handle to go over the floor if I do some work with nails or screws. I make a sweep with it each time I use those items in the garage too. Those are real cheap to buy and they also come in handy for picking up wrenches, etc., that you may drop under the car when working under the hood. They have a real strong magnet, I've even picked up a pipe wrench with mine. Don't even have to get on the floor to reach that tool you dropped. Just stick the magnet under the car along the floor and it'll snatch it right up for you.

[RobertKB]

Cars, like the ladies, always looking better with the skirts off!

[Rodney Bullock]

Norm's Coupe, Those are some wise words. My garage could be brighter. The nail was picked up smewhere on the road...I think. The Studebaker was in that garage for sometime and it was ok however It could have dropped out of something. I should clean up more often. we have been getting alot of rain here as I was going to build the bench today. I would have to fix the flat to get the car out of the garage anyway.

You guy's are so wild, leave the skirts on:eek: The mystery is the best part, is the hub cap on or off:o you can't see unles you remove...the skirt.

[BobT-47P15]

Just need a floor jack and a little patience......you can clean those

whites. A bit more bother than with no skirts. Guess that's paying

the price for "cool".

(Would have to remove them to change a flat.)

[Norm's Coupe]

Just need a floor jack and a little patience......you can clean those

whites. A bit more bother than with no skirts. Guess that's paying

the price for "cool".

(Would have to remove them to change a flat.)

Bob,

I see you have one of those small little floor jacks. I bought one of those to keep in the trunk some years back in case I have a flat on the road. However, I have never taken it out of it's plastic case to see if it will jack the car up high enough to change a flat. Will that one jack up your convertible high enough to get the wheel off?

Just curious, figured if it didn't get high enough when I needed it, I'd just call a toll truck to change the flat.

[Plymouthy Adams]

for safety and simplicity the small trolly jack is a must in my opinion and really can be put in the truck in a small box and not look out of place...

[Norm's Coupe]

Tim, that's why I bought the one I have in the trunk. Don't trust bumper jacks, especially old ones that came with our cars. Then, the bottle jacks must be on a level surface to be safe, so didn't want one of those either. My small floor jack did come in a nice plastic carrying case and like you said, doesn't look out of place in the trunk.

[BobT-47P15]

Norm, that jack works ok for the front.

However, the rear leaf springs stretch so far that I need to put a block

or two of wood on top of the jack and then it seems like I still had to use

the bumper jack to finally get the tire off the ground....last time I removed

one. Been a while, but I think that was the deal. It gets pretty close

to the top of that bumper jack. I normally apply the rolling jack under

the frame.

[Norm's Coupe]

Thanks Bob. I was wondering about that since it says on the jack it only goes up 13". I know on the regular garage floor jack it goes up higher than that, and have to jack it up pretty high to get the wheel off the ground. But.......I would think if you put the jack under the pumpkin of the rear end, we should be able to get the wheel off the ground. Have you tried it that way? Of course, with that short handle we have on those, it would be a little bit of a pain to do under the pumpkin.

[Rodney Bullock]

Hey Bob, you got the right idea, jacking up the car to clean the tires is a great way to get the full treatment. I get the wife to keep pulling the car up until I clean the whole thing. I need a small jack like that, I have a big 2 ton floor jack. I hate pulling it out and around. At the car wash I pull the car up to the front of the bay and as I wash the car I pull the car back(my exercise) This is becoming harder and harder as the years go by.

Bob I thought I could change the tire without removing the skirt as well, I think if it's on the lift you can do it.

[BobT-47P15]

Norm - have never tried putting the jack under the pumpkin. We used to

do that in the old filling station days.....the car would teeter just a bit but

was OK for changing a tire. Those commercial larger jacks also have a

round cupped piece about 4 or 5 inches in diameter to go under whatever

is being raised. These little home jacks only have a disc a couple inches

in diameter. Likely would make a stability difference.

I think I got my jack at Tractor Supply Co...

it seemed somehow just a little better than the ones at WalMart. Don't

know that it really is - just my impression.

Rodney - it might be possible to remove the tire with skirts still on when

using a lift....you can get under it better and angle the tire. My skirts

sit pretty close to the side of the tire....only a couple inches of

clearance. Don't think I'll try removal without taking off the skirt.

Guess all this stuff is what makes these old cars fun.

(And a bit more work.)

[Don Coatney]

You guy's are so wild, leave the skirts on:eek: The mystery is the best part, is the hub cap on or off:o you can't see unles you remove...the skirt.

Rodney;

Here in Tennessee when we remove a skirt we do not expect to see exposed nuts. Must be different in your part of the country.

Also here in Tennessee I always drive around with exposed nuts as I dont use hubcaps and that is acceptable as I dont have skirts.

I should mention that the sheep in Tennessee are nervous.

[Norm's Coupe]

Bob,

Like I mentioned before, I've never taken my small floor jack out of the plastic carrying case it came in. Suppose I should test it someday though, before I actually need it.

When I need to jack up the car at home I have two of the regular floor jacks, one 2 1/2 ton floor jack and one 3 ton floor jack. So, the little one is just for carrying in the trunk for use on the road. Depending on what I'm doing under the car, I will jack the car up by the front cross member or by the pumpkin. To just work on one wheel, I will place the jack under the frame. The car doesn't seem to teeter when using the front cross member or the pumpkin, but I do ALWAYS use jack stands for safety when going under the car, no matter where I place the jack. I have four stands so I can get all the wheels up at once, if needed. At home, I will also place a jack stand under the frame, even if I only jack up one wheel to change the wheel.

Both of my home jacks have the 4 or 5 inch plate, but I changed those to the flat rubber pads.

[Plymouthy Adams]

Rodney;

Here in Tennessee when we remove a skirt we do not expect to see exposed nuts. Must be different in your part of the country.

Also here in Tennessee I always drive around with exposed nuts as I dont use hubcaps and that is acceptable as I dont have skirts.

I should mention that the sheep in Tennessee are nervous.

Don knows that virgin wool comes from ugly sheep....

[Don Coatney]

Don knows that virgin wool comes from ugly sheep....

What I dont know is where virgin sheep (ugly or otherwise) can be found here in Tennessee:rolleyes:

[moparjack44]

Cars, like the ladies, always looking better with the skirts off!

Old cars, no skirts, no problem

Old ladies, no skirts, no thanks

Jack

[DonaldSmith]

I have a compact hydraulic scissors jack for my My DeSoto Suburban. The lift is not high enough, so I have two 2x6 blocks, suitably painted black, to place under it. They stow under the wood floor, in pouches made from a towel, so they won't rattle. To raise the front high enough, I have to put the jack under the sway bar bracket.

Since the trunk is open to the interior, I didn't want the jack in the open, so I found that I can stow the jack out of sight, in the big bracket that secures the spare tire. At the bottom of the opening in the bracket, I covered the metal edges with split rubber hose, to cushion the jack. I made a wood filler for the underside of the top of the bracket, so the jack has something level to fit against. The wood block has a recess for the top of the jack. I slide the jack into the bracket, and pup up the jack snug against the wood block.

For future reference, perhaps for the next owner, I took pictures of the jack in use at the front and back wheels, and in its stored position in the bracket. I keep the pictures with the tire iron that storwes under the wood floor. I included some helpful notes: Block the opposite wheel, and slide a wheel under the frame to support the car in case the jack fails.