Incomes are falling, asset values are falling, tax revenues are falling.

Just four years ago a 57 Covertible 283 converted to stick shift passed through my area for $75,000.

It was a wonderful driving car and the only 50's car that had cougars honking and waving at me.

100% sure the top lense (dome) on the 160-180 is the turn signal and 99.9% sure the top bulb on the Clipper is the turn signal.

I believe this is still the industry practice as well. That is, the next time I get one I'm sure on dual filament tailights the high candle power filament is tabbed to be on top. And on vertical dual bulb assemblies the top lense is the turn signal.

There is probably an SAE or DOT standard for this, but you have to pay for the SAE stuff.

Dear Willis:

I have been following this thread to see if my list will out.

The radiator cap suggestions are very good because most of those caps are shot. But if you fill the radiator to the top of the fins that will suffice for short distance low speed driving. The benefit of the pressure cap is reduced temperatures in the water jacket and it reduces cavitation.

I guess it looks like you have a gauge problem. The best way to handle that is to send the sender and gauge to a good rebuilder who will return a calibrated set.

Or you can put a mechanical gauge in place of the present sender.

Sometimes the little things work best. I had a car in the other day with rear suspension noise. Knocking, vibrating, load sensitive, left rear, directional, speed sensitive, etcetera. Brought it in, checked the lugs. Three were loose. And this problem had been looked at by other people. However, you won't know how to diagnose a loose wheel unless you test it.

In the end unless the item is a must have buying sight unseen is a big problem. I never bought anything on Ebay for over $100.

However, if that car has been seeing weather it is entirely possible that the original paint started to fall off. I remember Turnquist's mint original 39 V-12. The car looked fantastic, but he never never took it out. It sat in his climate controlled garage which is where I saw it. He had a plaque in place of the front license plate stating the history of the car. The car was at the 53 CCCA grand classic, and is pictured in his book. Those are the only times I know of it ever being outside.

So for this case, I would have to make an appointment to see the darn thing, and if it sells beforehand, then okay.

Dear 1949:

Okay, so it doesn't pass governor override functionality and I agree about a mechanical problem. But before that you can take out the solenoid and test it on the bench. Even test it under car by laying on a piece of wood and a jumper wire for ground.

I assume the spacer plate is in correctly given it has already been looked at.

There is a blocker ring inside the unit that gets stuck.

If you put the wheels up you can move the pawl in and out manually too.

Dear 1949:

Things seem to be getting out of hand here.

It looks as if you manually engaged the overdrive at the relay and that you heard the solenoid engaging. That's good. For safety a test light works as well without risk of short circuits.

So all you need to do to test functionality is run a jumper wire into the car and take it out on the road. Take your foot off the gas and clip the jumper to the ignition key.

If that's all working the problem is in the governor-kickdown-lockout-relay circuit.

For now just take your kickdown wire from the governor and put the two leads on the same post. Then disconnect the ignition interrupter. You can do the same with the lock out.

If the OD still is not working then the problem is in the governor. A metal strap is used for ground. It is notorious for corroding (even when it looks perfect). Remove the governor, clean up the area under the screw and add a #10 anti-shake washer.

You can hook a multi-meter up and test the governor on the road as well. If all is good then move to the next item in the circuit and test functionality. If the governor doesn't work then you can buy a new one.

Hope this helps, and also, do not try to operate an engaged overdrive in reverse.

Considering that new domestic top line cars easily top $50,000, $40,000 seems okay for a car that requires nothing.

The only setback is that it can't be used because the weather will destroy it. A reconditioned car is a better choice for the road because nothing is lost by driving it.

That car is a museum piece.

Of course I can't afford it

More money than brains which is why I don't have any.

There is a genuine Chrysler Imperial Lebaron Town Car hotrod out there. They brag it is one of two made and has been greatly improved for weddings. They changed the top insert into a sunroof and it is painted garbage truck white for extra tackiness.

My thought on that is "Not my @#$%^&* wedding!"

Of course another thing I don't understand is why all these Packard experts paint the radiator shell. They didn't build a single one of those Individual Custom Eights with a painted radiator shell. Years ago there was a mint low mileage 904 Dietrich coupe floating around. I guess they took it apart and painted the radiator. Why not turn it into a retractable? Maybe it's a cost saving measure. Maybe they need the money saved for chrome plated wheels.

I always felt that the Individual Custom Eight by Dietrich was the high point. Everything that followed was an encore.

To see one turned into a hotrod with an ersatz painted radiator represents a behavior problem of highest rank. Akin to colorizing a great B&W film, or touching up a Rembrandt.

This is first class junk. And those wheels look stupid.

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There is a clip inside the pump that holds the shaft. If that clip is missing the shaft will move.

I always found that I could never out produce a competent specialist, and that it was in the best interest of the customer to out source when possible. Only when the customer's car has an exception core is it worth doing the work in house. There are a few places for which that isn't true, but they aren't handling items that are critical functionality.