aint that an avonta...yeah i know thats not how ya spell it, but still?? 65? realy?

I was not refering to antisemitism. This mechanic just did not like Ford products or the man who invented them. In 1975 this mechanic tore apart his Rambler transmission for repair. He got very upset when he cleaned one of the castings and saw the fomoco logo. He went on an on how no one cared anymore what they put in automobiles. I then pointed out to him that the transmission had 268,000 miles on it and the casting he had cleaned was just fine. He just grumbled.

Dipstick looks just like the one I won on eBay, hopefully it works with minor to little modification on my 327!

Wednesday 10th September 2008

Arrived at the workshop to find Wade sorting through some old clothing and linen he'd brought back from Gilgandra which is about 280 miles North West. While Gina and Wade were there visiting Gina's 89yo Mum, Wade had cleaned out the shed, taking eight loads to the local tip, but had saved the clothing and linen for use as shop rags. Showed Wade the rivets I procured for him last week and he approved of the sample one. Also showed him the connectors I bought and the rivets too, but my rivets proved to be too long for the job. So I left to see Richard and pick up the "approved" rivets for Wade and to try and find some shorter rivets for myself. Mission accomplished, except the rivets I got had larger heads but I thought I could grind them down to suit.

Then it was on to photographing Richard and his cars and along the way hearing stories about them. Including back to the original owner in the case of the '24 Vauxhall 30/98 and some of the features and fittings adorning it. Richard is the only Top Bow maker in the Australasian region, and regarding Packards, he tells me he made a set for a Twin Six from Denmark, one of only 2 known of that particular model. He made them from photographs and measurements only, not having the old ones for patterns! All in, I spent a very enjoyable hour and a half there with Richard, most of which was just talking and photographing and getting immersed in his cars, stories and Top Bows after the rivet business was done. I've included a link below to my Picasa webpage which contains the pic's from today. There are some very interesting pic's there especially of some of the '24 Vauxhall 30/98's features. One of those pic's is of an original conrod, but Richard has had new conrods made in England from aluminium as the original duralium ones can fail over time.

Then it was off to Dick Smith Electronics for the replacement Tilt Switch for the boot light only to be told it was a discontinued line but a similar one might be available from Jaycar Electronics. Back at the workshop Wade said he'd check out Jaycar, and tonight I did too, so no doubt I'll be off to see them in the near future. Then to the new rivets to be used as wiring contacts. I offered my suggestion of grinding down the heads but, after some consideration, Wade came up with the idea of putting them in the drill press and using a file to bring the heads down to an acceptable size. And..... it worked, spent a half hour or more chucking up the rivets and applying a file to them as they rotated in the drill press! See pic's. And last, I have included a couple of pic's of dipsticks for Eric following on from our Chat Room session last night. And I've emailed Richard a link to this post and asked him to advise of any errors I've made in my comments or captions, so these may be updated in the near future.

EDIT - Link to Picasa album now included
http://picasaweb.google.com/ozstatman/WadeSWorkshopSept08#

Further EDIT - Picture fixed

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Keith, I'd be interested in that drum puller, I used to have one just like it and sold it when I bought my '56 thinking "I'll never need it again!". Guess what, now I have the '37 chassis and need one!

i need one too and i will trade the drum puller in the following pic for one.

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Does anyone have or know where I can get a J6065-1 Torsion Level Suspension Holding tool for my 400?

I was just browsing the "Serviceman's Training Book" for the 24th Series Packards, published in August 1950 and see that it identifies the engines as "Thunderbolt". So my guesstimate that the timing of the trademark was about 1953 is obviously incorrect.

I don't know what year it was, but I saw a head marked HC. I assume it stands for high compression. Does any one know for sure what it means and what year(s) it was for?

If you are referring to Ford's antisemitism it is only fair to point out that he did not hold such a position for very long. In 1927 he repudiated his former views and even burned a valuable library of antisemitic books. This in spite of the fact that Jewish scholars argued that they ought to be preserved.

It may be fair to criticize Ford for his antisemitism but it is also fair to give him credit for NOT being an antisemite the last 20 years of his life. I don't believe there is any sign of antisemitism in the first 50 years either.

I don't particularly like Ford or his cars, both are over rated in my opinion. But fair is fair.