Above 1200 Sq/FT Restored 1930's Auto Shop

[markviii]

Beat me to it! (Tom, do you have any pictures of the rabbits - Lops? - your family had? I'm sure your dad would have approved of the barbeque at some point - away from the house after they had "escaped" -, just to reduce the # of stray pets around the place.)

Off to a short Henry Ford Tour with the car club. I'm only driving up to Normal to Avanti's for lunch, not for the entire 8 hours of the tour. Weather looks good, so Mark VIII is going for a ride!

Chris

 

[Swanny66]

it's good the Mark VIII is getting a run, but What is 'Lops'??

 

[Swanny66]

Double post....

 

[charlief1]

Don't rabbits taste like chicken?

Thomas

Kinda Thomas. If over cooked they are like a stringy dry chicken, but if cooked right they're better than chicken and very low fat.

it's good the Mark VIII is getting a run, but What is 'Lops'??

Lop eared rabbits Swanny. It's a large Belgium breed if I remember right. They can get quite large compared to other rabbits.

 

[type47fan]

Thanks Rob for your perspective on Beltsville Shell. As I suspected it was no different in Canada back then. I appreciate your telling us about "Harvey's Home of the Hot Ones", I can only imagine what that must have been like. Good times indeed! For those waiting on the sidelines wondering if they should read the book all I can say is, try it, you'll like it.

Please post who gets it next so we can keep track of it. I'm starting to formulate a visit to Southern California early next year and if I can coordinate that with board member Wayne and author Cary Thomas, I'll take "our" copy and get Cary to personalize it and then send it along on its merry way once again.

Thomas

Hi Thomas,

Looking forward to a visit from you and Ms. Chris to sunny Southern California! Just let us know what your schedule is.

Cary's passion with Corvettes continues. He's restored the red '62 that's seen on the back cover of Beltsville Shell, a beautiful '56, and is currently working on the restoration of a '67 427 racer, shown in the attached picture.

We continue to follow your adventures with great admiration and interest.

Wayne

 

[Armour]

Hi Thomas, just checking in after an absence from GJ.

Caught up to date with all your posts, loving the projects, keep up the good work

Alan

 

[markviii]

Wow! Welcome back after your 2+year hiatus from our thread!. You must be verybusy to resist the temptation to post. LOL Thanks, Alan, for the positive comments. Keeps us motivated to continue to post new material (and there is a lot more, amazingly!).

I saw an amazing private collection of cars on the tour today (after a yummy meatball sandwich at Avanti's in Normal - doesn't seem like their recipe has changed from the early 70s when I was a poor student living in the dorm across the street - one of those sandwiches made a meal for two of us on a Sunday when the dorm did not serve dinner - sometimes Avanti's would even give us their leftover bread at the end of the day for Free - with butter!). I'm hoping to find some time to learn how to get the pictures from my smartphone (that makes me feel so dumb most of the time) posted on the thread - hopefully before Sweet Old Bill learns to post pictures.

Chris

 

[mdbeck1]

Wow! Welcome back after your 2+year hiatus from our thread!. You must be verybusy to resist the temptation to post. LOL Thanks, Alan, for the positive comments. Keeps us motivated to continue to post new material (and there is a lot more, amazingly!).

I saw an amazing private collection of cars on the tour today (after a yummy meatball sandwich at Avanti's in Normal - doesn't seem like their recipe has changed from the early 70s when I was a poor student living in the dorm across the street - one of those sandwiches made a meal for two of us on a Sunday when the dorm did not serve dinner - sometimes Avanti's would even give us their leftover bread at the end of the day for Free - with butter!). I'm hoping to find some time to learn how to get the pictures from my smartphone (that makes me feel so dumb most of the time) posted on the thread - hopefully before Sweet Old Bill learns to post pictures.

Chris

The newer phones usually come with a cable that will plug into the USB connector on your computer. The phone will usually show up as an extra drive on your computer and you can simply copy the files (pictures) that you want to your hard drive.

The older ones were harder you had to install software for the phone.

I hope this helps.

 

[Builderrhys]

Rhys is restoring an Walker 784 Roll-A-Car...



...floor jack just just like my restored one. He was having difficulty removing a couple of handle parts but managed to prevail. I'm curious how many reading here have Walkers or similar vintage floor jacks they are either restoring or have restored? That would be kind of interesting to know.

Thomas

I managed to get my 884 back together the other day. I too had to press in new Oilite bronze bushings, machine and fit new rear wheel pins. I used some new fasteners such as the Nylock nuts and such but kept the originals bagged and stored for the future. I could not match the original Walker blue as well as you did but it looks and works great. Thanks for the help, Rhys.

 

[Vernmotor]

That looks very nice Great Job (thumbs up)

 

[Lotusnut]

Thanks Rob for your perspective on Beltsville Shell. As I suspected it was no different in Canada back then. I appreciate your telling us about "Harvey's Home of the Hot Ones", I can only imagine what that must have been like. Good times indeed! For those waiting on the sidelines wondering if they should read the book all I can say is, try it, you'll like it.

Please post who gets it next so we can keep track of it. I'm starting to formulate a visit to Southern California early next year and if I can coordinate that with board member Wayne and author Cary Thomas, I'll take "our" copy and get Cary to personalize it and then send it along on its merry way once again.

Thomas. [/QUOTE]

The first response was from dsquires who lives about 15 minutes from me. I dropped the book of tonight and he will post when it is ready to go again.

Rob

 

[dsquire]

Thomas,

I just received the Beltsville Shell book on Monday and could not put it down. It brought back so many memories of my years with muscle cars in Toronto. Just down the street from my high school was a burger joint that was known as "Harvey's Home of the Hot Ones" meaning cars. In the late 60's on a Friday night if you pulled on to the Harvey's lot you were likely to be challenged to race for ownerships. Needless to say I parked across the street in the lumber yard parking lot. Yes it was the same up here in Canada at that time. My wife, who did not know me back then, has heard us talk and is amazed we survived. Come to think of it so am I.

By the way the book is ready for the next reader. It is a great read. Please PM me if you want to be the next to read Beltsville Shell

Rob

Hi Rob

Many thanks for dropping off “Beltsville Shell” a couple of hours ago. I have already started reading it. I am sure that I will be finished reading it in a day or two. From what I see so far it will be a good read. I'll give some more comments when I am finished with it.

Please PM me if you would like to be the next reader of “Beltsville Shell”. It should be ready to go in a few days. If there is anyone in the Kitchener-Waterloo area now would be the time to shout up otherwise it goes to the first to PM me.

Cheers

Don

 

[realvc]

Hello Thomas and Chris
The way you have organized your shop and barn has inspired me to take down the concrete blocks and boards that have been my shelving for years and put up real metal shelves. My shop is really shaping up with some tools on peg board and organizing things in general.

A four year old boy came by the shop with his grand dad and was looking at my vette. The vette is a red C5 vert and the top was down. I asked him if he would like to sit in it which he did but to my surprise he wanted to sit on the passenger side. So I got in on the driver's side and started it up giving a couple of revs. His eyes got big and he exclaimed this is like Lightening McQeen. I took that as a complement.

Thanks once again your hard work and keeping us up to date on the happenings at the center of the universe.
Vince

 

[BB767]

Hi Thomas,

Looking forward to a visit from you and Ms. Chris to sunny Southern California! Just let us know what your schedule is.

Cary's passion with Corvettes continues. He's restored the red '62 that's seen on the back cover of Beltsville Shell, a beautiful '56, and is currently working on the restoration of a '67 427 racer, shown in the attached picture.

We continue to follow your adventures with great admiration and interest.

Wayne

Thanks for the Cary Thomas update Wayne. Clearly Corvettes are life long passion for him. They have been for me as well but I got started with ownership muucccch later than he did. One thing I'm curious about, does he know about this thread and the warm reception his book has received here? I'm sure we all agree he really captured the spirt of the times back then in a very enjoyable and entertaining way.

For now we're thinking visiting in the Jan/Feb time frame. We'll weather watch around here and when we see a nice blizzard headed this way that's when we'll skedaddle out of town for a visit.

Thomas

 

[BB767]

I managed to get my 884 back together the other day. I too had to press in new Oilite bronze bushings, machine and fit new rear wheel pins. I used some new fasteners such as the Nylock nuts and such but kept the originals bagged and stored for the future. I could not match the original Walker blue as well as you did but it looks and works great. Thanks for the help, Rhys.

Rhys, congratulations, you really nailed it! What a nice piece of work that is! Between us I bet we own two of the nicest period Walker Big Boy jacks on the planet. And the best part is they're such a pleasure to use.- Bonus. Many thanks for posting those pictures, that is something to be proud of without a doubt.

The Restored 1930's Auto Shop Gang scores again!!

Thomas

 

[BB767]

Hello Thomas and Chris
The way you have organized your shop and barn has inspired me to take down the concrete blocks and boards that have been my shelving for years and put up real metal shelves. My shop is really shaping up with some tools on peg board and organizing things in general.

A four year old boy came by the shop with his grand dad and was looking at my vette. The vette is a red C5 vert and the top was down. I asked him if he would like to sit in it which he did but to my surprise he wanted to sit on the passenger side. So I got in on the driver's side and started it up giving a couple of revs. His eyes got big and he exclaimed this is like Lightening McQeen. I took that as a complement.

Thanks once again your hard work and keeping us up to date on the happenings at the center of the universe.
Vince

Thanks Vince for the update. I suspect you're finding that the more you organize your shop into the way you've always wanted it you are not only more productive when working out there, but you just like being there. That has it's own reward. Way to go.

Very cool story about the small lad and your Corvette. What do you want to bet he'll remember that experience his whole life. It's such a small gesture on your part but will have a lasting impact. That's one reason I try to get kids or adults for that matter, into the cockpit for a visit every chance I can. Who knows what it might inspire them to become?

Thanks again Vince for posting in.

Thomas

 

[dasvettemeister]

Hi, I'm Dale! After lurking here for some time, and reading through this thread, I finally registered a bit ago. I discovered this thread when looking for information on restoring my (you guessed it) Walker floor jack!

This thread is awesome, and has already been a wealth of information for me - I look forward to watching it evolve more!

 

[BB767]

Hi, I'm Dale! After lurking here for some time, and reading through this thread, I finally registered a bit ago. I discovered this thread when looking for information on restoring my (you guessed it) Walker floor jack!

This thread is awesome, and has already been a wealth of information for me - I look forward to watching it evolve more!

Hello to you Dale and welcome! Congratulations on deciding to save yet another Walker floor jack. If there is any information you need for your restoration let me know how I can help and I'll do my best.

Oak Forest is a mere 2 1/2 hours away from the shop and the 8th Wonder of the World, the Hudson Terraplane. If you're ever in these parts let us know and we'll try to set up a visit.

Now, we need pictures of your Walker.

Thomas

 

[bvince]

I'm curious why the two jaws...

an upper and a lower?

This one had the same arrangement.

Thomas

Hi... I was just researching an old jack I just came across and discovered the photos here. The one with the swaying designed handle is exactly the same as mine. Has anyone found out anything else about it?? I can't seem to find much. I don't have any idea as to what it was used for. I also came across an old 4-way traffic signal with no yellow light. I'm trying to get a value on that also.

 

[dasvettemeister]

Here are a couple pictures of the jack. It was used in my Grandfather's dairy from the 40's through the 70's to service the residential delivery trucks.

 

[dasvettemeister]

Hello to you Dale and welcome! Congratulations on deciding to save yet another Walker floor jack. If there is any information you need for your restoration let me know how I can help and I'll do my best.

Oak Forest is a mere 2 1/2 hours away from the shop and the 8th Wonder of the World, the Hudson Terraplane. If you're ever in these parts let us know and we'll try to set up a visit.

Now, we need pictures of your Walker.

Thomas

Thomas,
Thank you, I will definitely need a bit of guidance on this Walker. I'm not entirely sure of the exact model, as the data plate is missing. It appears to differ slightly from the 784. The jack is worn and loose everywhere, I assume much may need to be machined and bushed. Should be fun though.

I must have missed the Terraplane in these many pages, what year/model is it? I've always been partial to the 1934/35 models - the front end is beautiful. I will most definitely have to get myself down through your area, though I will have to time it with an alfalfa cutting. That is my favorite aroma, with burnt 100LL or race gas bringing up a close second/third.

Dale

 

[BB767]

Hi... I was just researching an old jack I just came across and discovered the photos here. The one with the swaying designed handle is exactly the same as mine. Has anyone found out anything else about it?? I can't seem to find much. I don't have any idea as to what it was used for. I also came across an old 4-way traffic signal with no yellow light. I'm trying to get a value on that also.

Hi bvince, sorry for the delay getting back to you on this. If you've read much here you know I'm out of the country at times.........like this one so thanks for your patience. I still have not run down those unusual jacks yet but one thing I've learned here; stick around, if I don't eventually find the answers to questions, another board member here will! There is an amazing group of folks here who are willing to share their knowledge for the benefit of all of us. Stand by.

About your traffic light, you might try posting questions about it on the Journal Forum titled Free Parking. I bet someone there can help you.

Thomas

 

[BB767]

Thomas,
Thank you, I will definitely need a bit of guidance on this Walker. I'm not entirely sure of the exact model, as the data plate is missing. It appears to differ slightly from the 784. The jack is worn and loose everywhere, I assume much may need to be machined and bushed. Should be fun though.

I must have missed the Terraplane in these many pages, what year/model is it? I've always been partial to the 1934/35 models - the front end is beautiful. I will most definitely have to get myself down through your area, though I will have to time it with an alfalfa cutting. That is my favorite aroma, with burnt 100LL or race gas bringing up a close second/third.

Dale

Nice jack you have there Dale. My guess it's a Tom Boy, 2 ton unit. It looks very complete which is a real plus and since the cover plate is not all banged and dented up I don't think it's been abused, just used......a lot from what you tell me. Walkers are tough and well made, so yours is definitely repairable. Sounds like some bushing work is ahead of you and it indeed will be a fun and rewarding project. You've got good material to work with and HiBall can supply any repairs or parts needed for the power cylinder. Once I get home I can better ID it for you.

Lou Bingham and I are headed out to the Bonneville Salt Flats shortly and I'll file a report on it when I return.



Here's Lou's car and his tow vehicle in front in the tech line circa 1953. He's been at this a very, very, very long time! I've just scanned close to 100 vintage pictures of his that I'll be sharing. Take a look at this video (with your speakers on 'natch):

Lou is seen in his Bird Rock Mobilgas car at the 5:51 to 6:00 mark. Salt Fever is upon us!!!!!!!!!!

Thomas

 

[charlief1]

Well I've got something that will look familiar Thomas. We got lucky enough to borrow a dozer and have been cleaning the old place up. So far we've got 5 piles of wood made out of oak, elm, mesquite, and cedar. If anyone in the DFW or Waco area need firewood send me a note. It's still drying but we've got posts and firewood all over the place and if you don't want to buy some it's gonna be burned. We're planning on putting some seed down this fall for the goats and might have some winter wheat for them to feed on.

 

[dsquire]

Re: Restored 1930's Auto Shop - Beltsville Shell

Hello Thomas and Chris

I have finished reading Beltsville Shell. That certainly brings back a lot of memories from my late teens and early 20s. I lived in a small hamlet and worked at the local garage for a while. Memories fo the cruises down main street in the neighboring city, the hamburger joints etc. We are lucky that we still have 2 of the original hamburger joints from the '50s that are still in business and trying to be as old fashioned as the law will allow. This book was definitely worth while reading. I'll probably go back and read parts of it again while waiting for the name of the next reader.

Would the next person that wants to read "Beltsville Shell" please send me a PM with your mailing address so I can get the book on it's way to you. We want to have lots more readers sign it before Thomas takes it to California.

Thank you Thomas and Chris for making it possible for us to read this wonderful book and experience another trip down memory lane.

Cheers

Don

 

[dsquire]

THomas

The book Beltsville Shell is on its way to the next reader. It is going to impala4speed in Ohio. I'm sure that he will enjoy it as much as I did. Once again, thanks for giving us the opportunity to read this fine book.

Cheers

Don

 

[Blk04Snake]

I've finally read all 356 pages and all I can say is WOW! The restoration of the shop and all the surrounding projects is nothing short of phenomenal. I could only hope and pray to be able to have such a nice shop with all that good old-fashioned well built equipment. You just can't go out and buy new stuff like that anymore, and if any of the old stuff is for sale and the person knows what they have it's very cost prohibitive.

I certainly want one of those old Walker jacks though. We have a few Lincolns at work that are the descendants of the Walker I'm assuming from the reading here? They are a pretty decent jack, but nowhere near as elegant and classy as those old Walkers!

The "Barn" is really nice too. There have been a few Morton buildings put up around where I live recently and they look like a first class building. I've seen other steel/pole barns and they don't look like they're anywhere near the quality. I'll be following this thread for sure for however long it continues to grow. Thanks for the encouragement for all of us to make our garages a better place! Oh, and Gus is great too. I'm a Jeep lover and have two CJ-7's that maybe I can show off someday when I get them together and show worthy.

 

[db2221]

Yup... 356 pages down!

I must say Thomas, an epic journey!

There are a few things which i was hoping to see on my marathon effort.

Do you have a list of all your vehicles? i would very much like to see your collection detailed in one post!

Also... where are the plans for the new house!

Ill have to grab a picture of my uncles garage, where i have helped him build a 1933 Ford Tudor, maintain his 1957 Chevrolet and build his new 1932 Ford Roadster......

here is a pic from facebook (the original comes out too large)

 

[egnorant]

You're famous! Your yard art Terraplane just showed up on my Facebook!!

Bruce

https://www.facebook.com/RoadkillCustoms?hc_location=stream

 

[markviii]

Blk04Snake and db2221 - Welcome and thanks for taking the time to go through each and every page of the thread! Everyone is anticipating the promised study guide that will be coming for the eventual quiz/test (hmmm,,,you would have had a fairly complete list of vehicles, if you had taken notes (including post #s)...). Any clues will have to wait until then - that way everyone will have the same study materials.

dasvettemeister - you might try post #69 for the first pictures of the Terraplane. (I fear you may have rushed in your initial reading of the thread -- there I go helping you study!)

egnorant - just looked through your thread - great project - you appear to have an idea of what we were faced with on our property. I posted on the facebook page about the Terraplane. (I just went back to that facebook page and couldn't find my comment, but I found it on someone's Timeline.)
Here is the comment I wrote: We'd like to thank Bruce who posted in to our garage journal thread to alert us to the picture of our "yard art". Pictures have traveled all around the world since we posted it on 12/28/2009 when we started the thread. Many have traveled here to get a first-hand look at the Terraplane and it has been viewed on all 7 continents. Indeed, it has all the components for a running car, but time has taken its toll. It's worth more being the "Three on the Tree" that it is than as a resto project - that running board will turn to rusty dust in a heartbeat! For many years it was hidden in a jungle of overgrown weeds. Read the thread if you have any interest in how we "discovered" this treasure. Up until 2005 when we bought the 5 acres, the Terraplane and many other things were buried, totally neglected/forgotten, in vegetation for many years. It's been quite the journey - reading the 356 pages of content on the thread may make you tired, but that isn't even half of what we went through to get it to where it is now, almost 8 years later. We are looking forward to the Terraplane and the embedded tree living a long, undisturbed, life right where it is.

Glad you're all enjoying our journey here in the Center of the Universe.

Chris

 

[impala4speed]

THomas

The book Beltsville Shell is on its way to the next reader. It is going to impala4speed in Ohio. I'm sure that he will enjoy it as much as I did. Once again, thanks for giving us the opportunity to read this fine book.

Cheers

Don

Thanks very much Don! Can't wait to start reading it.

 

[dasvettemeister]

dasvettemeister - you might try post #69 for the first pictures of the Terraplane. (I fear you may have rushed in your initial reading of the thread -- there I go helping you study!)

Hana, thanks! I remembered the pictures when I saw them, I had just missed over the details initially as I blasted through this thread in total awe!

 

[ZRX61]

You're famous! Your yard art Terraplane just showed up on my Facebook!!

Bruce

https://www.facebook.com/RoadkillCustoms?hc_location=stream

Showed up on mine too ... & there were some really dumb comments posted

 

[markviii]

Here's another link from 2010 posted on justacarguy's blog:

http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2010/03/1937-hudson-terraplane-without-body.html

Chris

 

[onething]

Take a look at this video (with your speakers on 'natch):

Pretty much a salt novice here. Wide World of Sports 50 years ago is my only connection.

Who is the guy in the red cap at the beginning of the video?

 

[BB767]

Pretty much a salt novice here. Wide World of Sports 50 years ago is my only connection.

Who is the guy in the red cap at the beginning of the video?

I've been gone a week and am just back from Bonneville Speed Week 2013 and it was in a word......awesome! If anyone has ever thought about going out there you simply must do it. Nothing like it anywhere.

Now onething, to answer your question, the man in the red hat at the begining of the video is this gentleman...



His name is Russ Eyers, treasurer of the Southern California Timing Association - SCTA. Those are the fine folks who run the Bonneville event among others. He's been active at Bonneville since 1966 and this year his car with his son Eric driving, qualified for a record in their class at over 245 mph (394 km/h) - no slouch that! I might add he is also one of the nicest, most generous people you will ever meet. Always willing to help out anyone in need.

I'll do a full report on the event shortly but until then briefly I got to do several new and important tasks this year for the San Diego Roadster Club- SDRC and the SCTA as well. Chief among them for the SDRC was...





...relocating a....uh......umm.....well a Honey House. The Club rented our very own this year and it was up to Lou and I to secure one and bring it to our pits.



They had built in skids which made it very easy to move, towing it over a mile back to the pits.



Once there I had to do the final placement by hand. They move easy with a truck but pushing it...



...not so much. As you know I'm a stubborn guy so eventually I prevailed...



...and just in time too!! This young lady was becoming desperate and had just about given up all hope until I showed up, key for the paddle lock in hand.



That smile told me everything I needed to know. She told me I was her hero but, aw shucks ma'am, it wasn't anything...........

To be continued......

Blushing Thomas

 

[donnie]

Did you get to meet Seldom Seem Slim and his wife?
First time in 5 years I have missed speedweek.

 

[BigAl62]

Not at home and you still had a "honey" do list! Sorry, I couldn't help my self (I crack myself up sometimes!)!

 

[BB767]

Did you get to meet Seldom Seem Slim and his wife?
First time in 5 years I have missed speedweek.

Not at home and you still had a "honey" do list! Sorry, I couldn't help my self (I crack myself up sometimes!)!

donnie while securing the club's unit I did indeed make the aquantaince of SSS and the Mrs. Not only are they nice folks but Slim's crew did an absolutely stellar job of maintaining our "accommodations". Best I've ever experienced..... by far! The SCTA will undoubtedly hire them for all future Bonneville events. Well done Slim!!

Juusssssst couldn't resist could you BigAl62.

Thomas

 

[e-tek]

Need more pictures of cool shop happenings!