Classic Hifi Care

Was this morning at an ACE hardware store that also sells Purina animal feed. The fixed burros on the grille, a Trager pellet grille. Free food and free coffee is always a good thing. There were 31 cars there of all descriptions. A GTO, a '65 Mustang, a couple of street rods, even a Cadillac I had not seen before, a 66 convertible. I went to Discount Tire afterwards and got the tires aired up. The kid who did the job had never worked with hubcaps before. He asked if my Buick had a carburetor on it. I said yes, a Carter AFB. He had never seen one before. I also told him the car had a distributor, plug wires, a metal, belt-driven fan and the first CVT transmission, one that actually works, unlike the new CVT's. And a drive shaft to the rear wheels. The young man couldn't get the hubcaps on. He was using a foam pad under his hubcap hammer. I told him he was being too gentle, to hit it hard between the potmetal fins in the hubcap. He was amazed I could hit them that hard and not break something. He told me "old cars" must be tough.....

Your seasons are reversed from ours. Now it's fall and I needed a car fix.

I used to go by Hagerty Insurance's big office building all the time, and I'd stop and check out the cars in their display area. But then my office moved, and I stopped driving for work, since courts do most things by Zoom. So I commute by bicycle almost all the time and don't pass Hagerty. But Thursday it was raining, and on the way home I drove past. The star position was held by a pretty '68 GTO. In the area behind there was a bright red '73 AMC Javelin, and the most spectacular one, a 1960 Plymouth Fury convertible with Virgil Exner's exuberant tailfins that rivaled the '59 Cadillac. When I started driving, my Mom had a '60 Plymouth Fury wagon, a wonderful two-tone vehicle.

The other "fix"was a literal one. This summer the plastic tailgate latch handle on the Ranger broke for the 2nd time. Gene's Auto Parts, our local junkyard, is accessible only by car and not on my bike commute route. So I decided to repair the handle. Some epoxy, a 1/8" fiberglass sliver, and a 2-1/2" #6 stainless machine screw did it. Then I engineered a cable-and-pulley system to equalize pressure on both ends of the plastic handle (and to allow opening the tailgate even if one end breaks again). Now I'm ready for winter.

Chris Campbell

The first car shows of the season, I am jealous and wish I was there to enjoy all of them that are coming up. Have fun all winter long and be sure to include a few photos along the way.

Bill