Vintage Car Thread - Discussion and Parts Requests

[David Conwill]

I am looking for a set of four center caps from a 1950s Ford passenger car.

Nevermind. I found some:

At long last, the rolling stock is to my liking.

-Dave

 

[57plymouth]

Thanks folks for the advice. I've been running the car for the past couple days without this piece. I just connected the cable directly to the starter, and it appears to be working fine. The only possible "advantage" I could see from this extra part would be to keep the cable from potentially touching the starter anywhere other than the terminal itself.

I'll keep running the car the way it is now and if a problem develops I'll address it then. Again, thanks.

My 57 Flattie does not have that. Neither does the 59 I have in the shop now, nor did the 2 57's I parted in the past. The cable is directly connected as you state you have yours now. I have been messing with Flatties since 1990, and I've never seen that arrangement. The cable has always attached directly to the stud with a nut and a lock washer.

 

[davestlouis]

david conwill, that car looks great! Are the wheels rusty? A shot of gloss black paint would really snazz-up the look. I had a 65 Mustang convert for about a year, and was struck by how small those Falcon-based cars are...tight fit between the steering wheel and door panel, sitting close to the floor, just not what I had expected.

I was raised around Studebakers, a neighbor had dozens of them, so I'll always have a soft spot for "Studbuckets" as we called them. This guy liked the 49-53 era pickups, had all of them painted dark green with red wheels and brown vinyl seat. He also had several Larks, a burgundy Avanti (not supercharged) and even a couple late 50s single axle semi tractors.

I'm on the lookout for something from the 60s, Dart/Valiant, Chevy II, Lark, Falcon,something along those lines...inline six, simple to work on. I love luxury cars but I don't want to deal with 50 year old power windows and other effluvia.

 

[59 Blue Bomber]

Vintage cars have both the advantages and disadvantages of owning them. The former being they are easier to work on, the latter being hard to find parts when you need them, but at least you can still work on them. I restore old cars, so nothing satisfies me more than being able to rebuild and refurbish something from a vintage car that cannot be found at the local auto parts store. There is a junkyard near me chock full of parts that are just waiting to be "recycled". I have yet to find an electrical or major mechanical part that I could not renovate. I have a 2009 GMC Sierra for the Wife to drive. There is no way I can ever work on this electronic beast, I am at the mercy of the dealer when it comes to major service. My daily driver is either my 1959 Pontiac Catalina 4DR (shown left), a 1965 Ford Fairlane or my lowered 1978 GMC Jimmy, all of which are so archaic, they can be fixed with a little ingenuity and elbow grease!

 

[David Conwill]

Vintage cars have both the advantages and disadvantages of owning them...

Welcome to the lounge. It sounds as though we have similar philosophies where vehicles are concerned.

I will add, though, that carefully selecting a vehicle that uses a lot of reproduced parts can make driving an oldie far less painful (‘55-‘57 Chevies, for example). That’s one reason I picked a Falcon as a daily.

I see you’re in Portland. My best friend from high school, and his wife, are moving to Portland in the next couple weeks. My buddy has been making noises for years about getting a ‘50s pickup for daily use. How’s the supply out there?

-Dave

P.S. I love the Poncho, and I’d really enjoy seeing pictures of the ‘65 Fairlane.

 

[David Conwill]

david conwill, that car looks great! Are the wheels rusty? A shot of gloss black paint would really snazz-up the look.

I agree 100%, and I intend to have the wheels powdercoated gloss black. But, because they are rusty, they really need to be sandblasted first, and I haven’t had the time or access to a sandblaster. They aren’t hurting anything, or in any danger of deteriorating more, so for now they’ll stay. People don’t realize just how hard I’ve had to work to get it just to the state where it looks like it was hauled out of a barn after 45 years!

I had a 65 Mustang convert for about a year, and was struck by how small those Falcon-based cars are...tight fit between the steering wheel and door panel, sitting close to the floor, just not what I had expected.

I’ve never been in a Mustang, but I do own a ‘68 Camaro convertible, and I will say not to judge the Falcon by the Mustang. The Mustang was a stylist’s car, and is filled with compromises as a result. The Falcon, being more practical minded, is a lot more comfortable and spacious, having equivalent interior room to the ‘52 to ‘54 Ford.

Someone installed Mustang bucket seats in my car at some point, which are cosmetically very close to the Futura bucket seat, but have a different seat track. They’re much closer to the floor (about 4-inches), and I’d really like to build some spacers to get them back up where they belong. This would dramatically improve visibility, control ergonomics, and driver comfort.

I was raised around Studebakers, a neighbor had dozens of them, so I'll always have a soft spot for "Studbuckets" as we called them. This guy liked the 49-53 era pickups, had all of them painted dark green with red wheels and brown vinyl seat. He also had several Larks, a burgundy Avanti (not supercharged) and even a couple late 50s single axle semi tractors.

When I picked up my Falcon, I was looking for anything in its size range and built pre-1964. I looked at a Studebaker Lark from about 1962. Neat little (comparatively) car, but too far gone for me. The guy that was selling had a huge collection of Studebakers, including a supercharged Golden Hawk. His daily was about a ‘59 or ‘60 Lark with a six that he’d worked all kinds of little tricks on to make it considerably more powerful all while looking concours correct.

All the more amazing? He was my age (25 at the time)! He said the easiest way to find a Studebaker project was to drive a Studebaker around South Bend, Indiana. Lots of people still holding onto them. He also said lots of NOS parts were still floating around for the Lark, due to the sudden shut down at South Bend.

So if you like Studes, and you’re looking for a ‘60s compact, they may be your best bet after a Falcon for parts availability.

I love luxury cars but I don't want to deal with 50 year old power windows and other effluvia.

Yes, that’s exactly why I like my Falcon. My first car was an ‘86 GMC S15 Jimmy. I drove it from 1999 to 2001, and it was the most decrepit thing ever. The power windows stopped working, the four-wheel drive wouldn’t engage/disengage on demand, and eventually the door locks started giving me fits. I never want to deal with myriad luxury items failing due to old age.

-Dave

 

[HepKitty]

this used to be mine, I posted it in the PR already but here it is again for the gentlemen

By tahmineh at 2010-08-16

1964 Corvair Spyder 150 hp turbo flat 6 if anyone is interested. and yes I've helped rebuild engines and I helped w/ the restore... not that I like sticking my hands in grease by any means

 

[59 Blue Bomber]

Thanks for the props! The Pontiac was originally my Great-Grandfather's car. He purchased it new in Dec. 58 just before Christmas. He drove it daily until he died in 1984, when my Brother inherited it. It was not cool enough and was just too big for him, so he traded it in on a smaller car. It was then purchased by an actor here in Portland, who rented it out to a few movies and Television shows. The movie was "Dead by Sunset" starring Ken Olin, who oddly enough shares my same last name, but no relation. The T.V. shows were "Nowhere Man" and "Under Suspicion" all in 1995. Fast forward to 2008, My Wife, Son and I moved back to Portland from Maui after 13 years, I contacted the then owner, who had pretty much left the car to rot in her driveway and asked her she ever decided to sell the car, I wanted it. I checked Craigslist almost daily looking for it, until May of this year it popped up on CL. I haggled a little about her price and brought it home. The car cleaned up pretty well, but did not run and was missing the carburetor and a few spark plugs. It had not run or been moved in 8 years, so I didn't know what I was going to find. I have since got it running and have been driving daily. It is almost 95% original and the 389 V-8 and Hydra-Matic trans have never been taken out of the car and it has 113,000 miles on it. It still has the original shocks, u-joints and front ball joints! I finally got the car back after 25 years and will be restoring her to her former glory.

 

[59 Blue Bomber]

.

I see you’re in Portland. My best friend from high school, and his wife, are moving to Portland in the next couple weeks. My buddy has been making noises for years about getting a ‘50s pickup for daily use. How’s the supply out there?

-Dave

The supply for vintage cars is surprisingly very good around here...He'll just need to check the usual suspects, but the market is good considering prices are pretty low..It will work in his favor. Does he want a complete runner or a project?

 

[59 Blue Bomber]

[P.S. I love the Poncho, and I’d really enjoy seeing pictures of the ‘65 Fairlane.[/QUOTE]

Dave- Here is the Fairlane. It belonged to my Wife's Grandmother. It's a '65 Fairlane 500. Her Grandmother had the engine replaced in the early '80's because she wore it out! We are not positive, but we think the car has over 225,000 miles on it and purrs like new! Hmm...I guess being a newbie does not allow me to attach photos! I tried!

 

[David Conwill]

Dave- Here is the Fairlane. It belonged to my Wife's Grandmother. It's a '65 Fairlane 500. Her Grandmother had the engine replaced in the early '80's because she wore it out! We are not positive, but we think the car has over 225,000 miles on it and purrs like new! Hmm...I guess being a newbie does not allow me to attach photos! I tried!

It's not being a Newbie. There's no photo uploading on the board at all. It's strictly external hosting via Photobucket or the like.

V8 Fairlane, or I6?

-Dave

 

[David Conwill]

Does he want a complete runner or a project?

Almost certainly a complete runner. I don't think he's very mechanical, so anything that needs to be gotten running will probably be a noncontender.

I thought the Pacific Northwest had a pretty good supply of oldies. Before I stopped reading the national auto swappers, I thought I recalled seeing a lot in Oregon and Washington. I'm surprised the California guys haven't cleaned you out!

-Dave

 

[David Conwill]

1964 Corvair Spyder 150 hp turbo flat 6 if anyone is interested. and yes I've helped rebuild engines and I helped w/ the restore... not that I like sticking my hands in grease by any means

Cool car, HepKitty. An original turbo Spyder? Four speed?

-Dave

 

[59 Blue Bomber]

Dave- The Fairlane is an original 289/ Automatic car. My wife's Dad can't remember if the engine was rebuilt or if they just just replaced it with a correct crate motor. The car has sat for in a barn for the last 15 years and really only needs fresh paint. It is Black with red interior. She washed the car so many times, the paint wore off the tops of the fenders!

 

[HepKitty]

Cool car, HepKitty. An original turbo Spyder? Four speed?

-Dave

yep, 4 speed. I loved the car but didn't have the money to finish fixing it up and I needed money from it for my kids, so it had to go

 

[Land-O-LakesGal]

Here she is the Brookwood

Ok this is my girl....

she is supposed to pull that Trailer behind her but she hasn't done it yet.

You can also get a bit of my husband car emporium in this shot yes this is our driveway.

I love the tail gate on these old wagons

 

[Tango Yankee]

The Pontiac was originally my Great-Grandfather's car.

**much snippage**

I finally got the car back after 25 years and will be restoring her to her former glory.

I love stories like this! :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

Cheers,
Tom

 

[59 Blue Bomber]

Thanks Tango! It is a cool story. I have owned and built many custom cars and trucks over the years, but nothing has garnered so many thumbs up and positive attention as this car, especially when I tell the story of how I got the car and it's history! Surprisingly, the car has stayed mostly intact over the years. Of the modifications that have been done, none of them, so far have been irreversable! Just things that were done, I suppose, to keep it running!

 

[59 Blue Bomber]

Ok this is my girl....

she is supposed to pull that Trailer behind her but she hasn't done it yet.

You can also get a bit of my husband car emporium in this shot yes this is our driveway.

I love the tail gate on these old wagons

I think I'm in love...The '59's are the sexiest car ever made...except for maybe the '48 Tucker, but with only 51 made and 47 known to exist, I don't think finding one of those in a barn is going to happen anytime soon!

 

[Nice Boots]

I should be able to post pictures here soon.

Nice autos!