Vintage Car Thread - Discussion and Parts Requests

[dh66]

Got home from work today to an empty driveway. My truck was gone. (It's not really vintage, just kind of old) About the time the police showed up, a roll back with the suburban on it pulls up. He was supposed to repo a Tahoe from 2nd Avenue NORTH. I live on 2nd Avenue SOUTH. He'd gotten back to the impound and everybody freaked. He was very apologetic as he dropped it back in the driveway, but all I could think was WTF????? What are the odds of that?

 

[Fading Fast]

Got home from work today to an empty driveway. My truck was gone. (It's not really vintage, just kind of old) About the time the police showed up, a roll back with the suburban on it pulls up. He was supposed to repo a Tahoe from 2nd Avenue NORTH. I live on 2nd Avenue SOUTH. He'd gotten back to the impound and everybody freaked. He was very apologetic as he dropped it back in the driveway, but all I could think was WTF????? What are the odds of that?

That is a WTF moment. I can't image - based on your comments - that your truck looks much like a Tahoe (that's probably reasonably new if it was being repossessed). I get that the repo business is a tough, roll-up-your-sleeves affair, but you would think there'd be a little more verification. Glad you go it back and now you have a cool story to tell.

 

[BobHufford]

Wow Dale ... that would be quite a roller-coaster of emotions I would think. Glad you got it back.

 

[Bamaboots]

Damn, Dale. In all my years responding to repo complaints I've never heard of anything like that. The nit-wit didn't even take the time to check his paperwork against vin. Unbelievable!

 

[dh66]

Damn, Dale. In all my years responding to repo complaints I've never heard of anything like that. The nit-wit didn't even take the time to check his paperwork against vin. Unbelievable!

Oh.....if you'd seen this dude it'd be believable.

Fading Fast, a Tahoe is just a shorter wheelbase version of a Suburban, so I can see where he'd get confused, but like Bamaboots pointed out, any experienced repo man would've double checked the vin#. I get mail for the north side address plenty often enough, and I'm sure they catch their share of mine. I never realized we had similar vehicles.

Edit: I guess we don't, anymore.

 

[Stearmen]

Got home from work today to an empty driveway. My truck was gone. (It's not really vintage, just kind of old) About the time the police showed up, a roll back with the suburban on it pulls up. He was supposed to repo a Tahoe from 2nd Avenue NORTH. I live on 2nd Avenue SOUTH. He'd gotten back to the impound and everybody freaked. He was very apologetic as he dropped it back in the driveway, but all I could think was WTF????? What are the odds of that?

That reminds me of a few years back. This young guy we knew, had a Dodge Spirit, it came up missing, turns out the apartments he was living in were repaving, and towed it to the other side of the buildings. We were pretty mean, we said things like, when you've lost your Spirit, you have no hope, it went Avanti, and maybe a Gremlin did it. We came up with a dozen or so.

 

[HeyMoe]

The Old Lady this morning.

 

[Big Man]

I heard an interesting story about my Dad today that I'd never heard before.

When my Dad (1924-2008) was in high school, he drove a '42 Plymouth. That Plymouth, which is almost identical to my '48 Plymouth, had a throttle lock on the dash (see the photo). According to what I was told today, my Dad (who used to drive fast - very fast, some would say) had a car load of friends and was headed down the road past the house here in Nebo. To prove (show off) to his friends just how fast he could drive, he pulled out the throttle all the way and bent it down so it couldn't be shut off. Running wide open full throttle in that '42 Plymouth he came to a hairpin curve. Instead of trying to make the curve (which would have been impossible at that speed), he went straight down the side road past, Lentz Boat Landing, out to what was called "the point" and straight into Lake James. He had to find someone to pull the car out of the lake, but (other than his pride) no damage was done to the car or to the occupants.

I live in the old house where my Dad grew-up and drive my old Plymouth along the same country roads he did back in the late ‘30s and early ‘40s. I know exactly the place this story happened, and especially the hairpin curve where he had to go straight (it’s hard to take that curve at anything over 15 mph). As this story was being told to me, I could see it all playing out in my mind. What a ride that must have been.

Gee, I wonder why Dad never told me that story?

 

[ingineer]

Scary story BigMan;
Never understood why motorcycles had kill switches (thank the Lord for that) and cars did not. times ago the key would be all that was required.
Not any longer
who remembers to grease the throttle linkages?
obligatory and perhaps anti theft kill switch :
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0..._m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1SR5G3ZKWS0QXXTBCNH4
so many times i got educated

 

[Fading Fast]

Big Man, thank God someone was watching out for him and his friends that night. And on a much less important note, I'm amazed the car was okay. Now that you know the story, it will be interesting if you can find others from that time who might be able to fill in additional details.

 

[Big Man]

Big Man, thank God someone was watching out for him and his friends that night. And on a much less important note, I'm amazed the car was okay. Now that you know the story, it will be interesting if you can find others from that time who might be able to fill in additional details.

I would guess my Dad had many "close calls" in his early driving days (as did I).

I know the area well where this incident occurred. At "the point" the lake bank drops off ever so gradually to the water. If the lake was down at all, then the car probably mired up in the mud before it actually hit the water.

There is one of his contemporary friends still living that I need to call and ask about this story. Knowing how close this friend was with my Dad (and knowing the stories that I do), there is a 99.9% chance that if my Dad were in any kind of trouble, then this friend would have been right there with him.

 

[GHT]

On our side of the pond there are so many, so called, agencies that purport to find work for your vintage car, in return for a modest fee. It's about a pound a week, but you have to pay, up front, a year's subscription. They also have spurious 'adverts,' like: "Wanted urgently, late 1970's Ford." They make a big play that it's really quite cheap, and you won't get anything if you are not in. So many owners hope that their car is the next Jaguar in Inspector Morse.

It's just one big scam, a right con. It might not sound much at a pound a week, but these agencies have 500 or more cars on their books. £500 x 50= £25000
And if you think about it, a film company is making a period movie, filming will last about 16 weeks. It would be cheaper, easier and no extra cost for overrun if they simply bought the cars they need and sell them at the end of filming.

I was approached, by text, from a film company. Some students, from The Arts College, were seconded to this film company, it was a project in their final year at university. They got my number from one of the students, whose father was a friend of mine. This student had also seen my car. The hype they used about the ongoing publicity and how much work I would gain from the said publicity. But when I said that I get £300 per wedding plus fuel and that I would want the same, up front, as well as £100 royalty every time it was aired, on any network, anywhere in the world, they said that they would think about it. Never heard from them again. I wonder why?

 

[Stanley Doble]

My home town of Port Hope is one of the few in Ontario that still has the original late Victorian main street that has not been modernized out of all recognition. It has been the scene of quite a few films.

Once I was called on to appear in a film or at least my old 71 Fargo pickup truck was. I asked for $250 for one night's work plus a tank of gas, and got it. Other car owners got $50 which was their first offer, and some of their cars were worth 50 times what mine was.

The transportation coordinator showed up at the local cruise night and made offers to the owners of the cars he wanted. I think there were about half a dozen local cars, all from the seventies. All hot rods and muscle cars except my pickup truck.

The show was called The Michelle Apartments. My truck is only on for a second but it's on there.

So, movie offers can be legit but you must insist on going along with the car. And, realize they will treat it like a rental. If it's a real nice, or valuable car, don't let them drive it or better yet, don't rent it at all.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I learned a long time ago not to rent anything to any kind of theatrical or movie-making troupe, no matter how much "money" or "acknowledgement in the credits" they wave around like I should care. Every single thing I've ever rented out has come back damaged, without exception, and if they can manage to break a Western Electric telephone, I don't even want to think of what they'd do to my car if they got their hands on it.

 

[Big Man]

Anyone have any recommendations on how to speed up an old vacuum wiper? The wipers on my old '48 Plymouth used to be as slow as molasses on a cold day, but recently just quit working all together. I tried oiling the inside of the vacuum motor by pulling the vacuum line and giving it a shot of oil. That didn't really help. I disconnected one side of the wipers (passenger side, of course) and that seemed to help a lot. The driver's side now works, it's slow, but it works well enough to drive in the rain.

Any thoughts on what could help improve efficiency, or do I just need to bite the bullet and have the old motor re-built or even replaced?

 

[Braz]

I assume you've checked the vacuum line for leaks. Vac wipers were never very good and it wouldn't take much of a leak to really slow things down.

 

[Big Man]

I assume you've checked the vacuum line for leaks. Vac wipers were never very good and it wouldn't take much of a leak to really slow things down.

When I was in high school (1970-1974), I drove a school bus. It was a 1952 Dodge bus with vacuum wipers. Pulling a hill always stopped the wipers from working. I remember that all too well.

Tracing out the vacuum line and checking for any leaks is something I haven't done. Thanks for reminding me that should have been the first thing I tried.

 

[Stanley Doble]

Usually a shot of oil fixes things. What about the rest of the mechanism? Are the pivots rusty or have you tried oiling them?

Worst case, you may need a new or rebuilt motor. They are available. Incidentally Chrysler was the first company to use electric wipers, they may be available for your car.

The AACA Forum is an excellent place for this kind of question.

AACA Forums

 

[AtomicEraTom]

Not particularly vintage, but people keep telling me my Cadillac is a "classic." I think they're using the term very loosely.

Anywho, my passenger mirror unfortunately was KIA a couple Sundays ago. On Sundays, they let the St. Mary's parishioners park in front of the church. Usually, you can only park on one side of the street, opposite the church. With cars on both sides, it's very narrow. As I was driving past, a big truck was coming at me, and very far past center. I had to choose to run into him or try to squeeze over. Unfortunately, I tagged the mirror of a Pontiac parked in front of the church.

I called the PD and waited for the lady, as I knew the 9:30 mass was almost over. She came out, explained the situation. There was no damage to her car and she was not concerned whatsoever. I told her the police were on their way and she just wanted me to make it quick. They pulled into the nearby parking lot, I told her to wait and I would bring the officer over. I told him my side, we headed over, and she was gone. The officer told me he would just have to take my word for it, then.

I got the replacement mirror in the mail today and it's at the body shop awaiting paint.

 

[Talbot]

An electric wiper upgrade is great if its not too fiddly. I upgraded to electric on my old 49 Ford years back and was very pleased with the result.

I tried the same on my 54 Chev and gave up in frustration with the cable drive arrangement. Very challenging.