Technical What did you do with your car today? * NEW*

It's just a handle and lock housing. It's a '53. I believe all models Mainline, Customline, and Crestline all use the same piece. The tag light is below the tag. You can see the tag light just peaking out behind the bumper in the first pic.

 

The hot rod was used as a backdrop for high school prom photos. It was a lot of fun............

 

Took the ol' poncho out for a cruise through the oaks.

 

I only I have that trunk latch now that I need it, it disappeared

Sent from my moto z4 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

I learned today a oval port gasket won't seal a square port intake.

 

It started last Wednesday when I took my granddaughter to a weekly Wednesday car show about 30 miles away.
We took the Chrysler:
Fun ride with her to the event. As usual, we went to a local restaurant for dinner, Several pals joined us at an adjoining table and shot the usual bull. The pals just before us and left and shortly I got a text that I had a tire going down on the Chrysler!
We ended up getting a ride to a local parts store for a portable air compressor and a bottle of tire repair sealant. I was hoping to get it back to Smithfield.
Believe it or not; the tire sealant and the air compressor worked just great and we drove home without incident though I did stop several times along the way to make sure tire still looked okay.
After removing the tire, I found the nail and also could see that it had been repaired before. I had the tire guys remove all the tire sealant from inside the wheel and do a more bullet proof tire repair to both areas to ensure will be much less likely to have any future problems from these repairs.
Here it is back on the car in my garage.
Ready to go next week... unless we take one of the cabriolets!

 

It’s more what I was supposed to do with my car than actually did.

A good friend who also happens to cater our Hot Rod Hundred reliability run in Oklahoma asked if I could deliver his daughter to her wedding in my 56 a couple weeks ago. So, I have been cleaning it up good and fixing a couple things including a valve cover leak and the starter solenoid that I thought might be causing an intermittent starting issue. Anyway, I was finishing up all the work a couple hours before the wedding yesterday (because of a hectic week) when I found my starter to be my starting issue. So, not wanting to let down the bride, I called a good friend to explain my predicament. He asked me “So, what car do you want to drive?”. He restores 55-57 Chevrolets for folks and has several finished cars of his own. I picked the one that I thought would work best for a wedding...





Pretty cool how so many in this old car deal are like family enough that you know who to call for help in a bind that will let you borrow something like a 55 convertible.

 

Friday when I started to take the tire from the Chrysler to the tire store; I put it in the 36 Fordy and... it wouldn't start!! Acted like the battery failed so went inside to check my records. Sure enough, it was five years and about three weeks since I installed the five year battery. I took tire to tire store in the suburban.

Let's just say that the original battery installation was "closely engineered" to fit in the truck and be covered by an original 1936 Ford(what else?!) battery cover. I might have gotten a bit carried away with installing 1936 Ford parts on the truck but we call it the "36 Fordy" for a reason.

The 4/16 (April 2016) date is visible on the old battery. The new battery is already in the hole. You will note that I "revised" the opening in the floor to gain better access to the side post battery cables... I'm not sure how I managed to replace the battery the last time without enlarging the hole.

It is still a tight fit but it works and the battery terminals are fairly easily accessed.

For those concerned about such "closely engineered" projects, you will note the old rubber stretch cord across the battery from front to rear. The clearance is tight enough that it still should not fall off even though the metal hooks have been removed from the end of the rubber stretch cord. The rubber serves as a cushion and protector for the battery should the driver find some challenging roadways with some bumps, etc.

Here it is all buttoned up and ready for another five years.
Opportunities!

 

Well it was yesterday, but I tool the Model A pickup out to a cool show hosted by the Aces CC here in So Cal. I ended up serving as the local AAA tow service and jump starter for that Gasser sedan parked behind me. (towed him into the show, then gave him a jump start when it was time to leave)

 

The rain paused for a few hours and the sun came out, so I took the 40 for a spin. This valley is the Isartal near Dingolfing, looking south

 

Beautiful!

 

Beautiful!

(ooops, sorry @gutheriesmith I didn't see you post before I posted mine. I guess we both had the same reaction! )

 

Opportunities

 

Drove old truck to Vintage Wheels swap meet in Franklin Indiana. Great time. This pic is my internet/lunch area, only shade I could find in entire fairgrounds!

 

250 mile round trip to have breakfast at the Knotty Pine in Bakersfield.

 

Sometimes, it sounds like nothing, but it is taking care of a nagging detail. Today, I cut excessive threads off two SS license plate mounting bolts. Too many threads showing on a bolt looks like sloppy workmanship. The 51 has few bolts that are seen; Model A’s have a lot. This was on the 51, but I have spent many hours on the cabriolet getting all the barely visible bolts to the right length. Measuring and cutting is the easy part. Grinding and filing, cleaning up the threads to make them look like it was proper length from the start, that takes more time.

 

Cool, must have been hungry when you got there. Grapevine?

 

Well, I may need therapy after this,

 

Almost. North 5 at Castaic

 

on one of our USA trips we pulled into Bakersfield for a coffee,local women saw us looking around
and asked if we needed directions. She said "why did you stop in Bakersfield, it's the worst town
in USA, get out of here quickly" we then went to the local Chevrolet dealer for a part, everyone was friendly

 

Fighting every bit of me to not play hookie today and stay home and work on the car instead.

 

\

You can can go to work anytime !

 

I fight that EVERY....... SINGLE...... DAY!

 

If I could afford to I might every once and a while

 

I have heard that before about Bakersfield. I don't know, apparently that woman has never been to Youngstown, OH.

 

Nice shot, your dash looks great, and so does your buddy's 57. You should post this in the View Through Your Windshield thread.

 

My son is in the 56, I'm in the 57. Both mine.

 

Johnny
Next time you're in Bakersfield for breakfast give Donna K's a try, no fancy building but unbelievable homestyle cooking, best steak, taters and eggs, oh yea, the salsa too!
Been venturing south from Portland for the CHRR for near twenty years, my Bako pal recommended it, good tip.

 

Looked it up. Yum Yum!

 

Lil, have you ever been to the California Hot Rod Reunion?
The service manager at 3 Way Chevrolet has a really nice, black 57 Chevy 150, nice guy, we parked together many times over the years at Famoso.