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Yes, thanks Dave, that’s it! He’s done a couple of steering wheels for me, super nice work, and as you mention, very reasonable…at least I knew it started with an S!!
Wooden steering wheel rebuild, I think I have a card somewhere, Snyder? perhaps, has done a couple of wheels for me, nice work, I’ll see if I can find his contact info…
As many of you know, a few years back I found a 1936 club sedan on a farm in Virginia, about an hour and a half south of Winchester, off I-81. I bought the car, put new tires on it so it was mobile, then a friend of mine and his father took the car to get it running. It had been in the shed since the early 1950’s.
They not only got it running (after cleaning the pan and servicing other things), but I drove it on to the Hershey Red field and sold it, next to the PAS booth.
I could not believe how well it ran and drove, they said it smoked a little and made a little noise at first, but after a few minutes the lifters settled down and even the original mufflers were OK. As one woman said as I drove it on the fields at Hershey, “wow, that car doesn’t look like it should run!”
Great engines and drivetrain. I was incredulous at the way the car ran and drove, after being in hibernation for 60 or so years. The car referenced above now lives in a nice collection of cars owned by a friend of many of us in the PAS.
Congrats, always a good feeling to hear a long dormant engine come to life!
Well, I had a friend who frequents this forum (I won’t mention Bob Coates name, don’t want to embarrass him), who asked me to pick up a few things at Hershey for him.
Pierce cap from museum, sure. Tool role from Karl, no problem. A Rat Fink…uh, what? A two foot tall, cast aluminum, painted, Rat Fink? Really!!
Strangest thing I ever bought at Hershey!
Of course, my big “find” was being able to hug my Pierce ice box, thanks to Stu and Greg!
I’m not going to Google it, which would probably give you some theories and history, but talk off the top of my head.
In the days of stages and carriages, it was very convenient for driver to be on the right, he’d pull up in front of the stop or local saloon, hop down to the right and discharge his passengers.
When cars first started being built, it just seemed correct to keep the steering on the right, as you could judge how far you were from the edge of the road to the right. In some cars, it wasn’t really for the driver’s convenience, as all the shift and brake controls blocked him from even getting out on the right side.
Henry Ford, bless his soul and his idiosyncrasies, for some reason put the steering wheel on the left on Model T of his design (and please note, I did not say “The Model T, if you go back and read period literature, it’s always “Henry introduced Model T”, not “the Model T”, subtle difference but more correct). But, still, you could only exit the front seat of Model T from the right, curb side, there was no door left front. I assisted a curator of a major museum (Peter Jakob, Air and Space) with the acquisition of a wonderful 1914 Model T, and still tease him about the first time he saw the car and reached for a door handle on the left front!
As time passed, manufacturers realized that people preferred the steering wheel on the left, for one reason, to better judge where driver car was in relation to oncoming car.
This is not an authoritative answer, but rather observation from reading and studying early cars for years. Pierce, of course, resisted the change, and I believe it was 1920 or so before PAMCC produced a left hand drive car.
Thanks for pictures, I have a Fleet Wagon emblem in my memorabilia collection, but don’t think I’ve ever seen one….nice and a worthwhile project, can’t be many left!!
A great Hershey, the best weather and the best friends to visit!
Well, it IS an open car now, you know, and they bring the bucks….
You know a car needs some serious work when you can take a clear overhead picture looking DOWN into the interior of a sedan!!
Poor old Pierce, was once a family treasure, now relegated to being a burden on it’s owner. So sad…
Well, going to bring this subject back up to the top.
I’ve had a couple of discussions with Eric Haartz over the last year, and getting something replicated is probably very low on his list of priorities, and his production facilities are very busy so getting a “short” run inserted is not feasible, it seems. He’s usually at Hershey and I’ll probably discuss it with him again, but……
So, in light of that, and the fact that I need material for a 1934 top insert now, has anyone come to a conclusion of what an acceptable material would be?
AACA forums, he has a lengthy description of it on that site. I’m in no way endorsing the accuracy of his description, nor endorsing Matt, just passing it on…there are apparently (according to a well known PAS member) only a handful of this body style out there….
Wow, gams, yep, that’s what they are, but ask a young’un these days to tell you what gams are and you’ll get the “you’re an old guy” stare!
Ya know, it’s probably good to have a left hand drive in a right hand drive world, at least you’re far as you can be from the crazy guy in the approaching lane! As far as women in uniforms, Peter, methinks you might be a bit obsessed, but in a good way……
Bob, he’s going to beat you! To those of you who don’t know, Bob gave his engine to a good friend of mine to rebuild, and I told him at the time, though the machinist is a good friend of mine, slow to return work doesn’t even describe it. I think Bob’s engine has been there, ummmm, 3 years maybe? Don’t feel bad, my machinist friend had one of my engines for 7 years, has to be a record…
Great to hear from you! Absolutely, take a video of the start, and when you take the video, make sure you accidently show us the body colors! Great news, welcome back!
Matt Harwood has it for sale, a dealer, very nice fellow…
Heck, scientists have now said they’ve accidently discovered a new shade of blue.
I think Ed found it a number of years ago! Great car, owned by a pretty darned nice guy, considering!
Item number 142112641774….sold for 4600, a little on high side for condition, but it is the desirable small Model C..
I’m not adding an opinion, but here’s a blurb from Wikipedia (and yes, I realize that it’s not the end authority):
“Characteristics:
The leaf spring acts as a linkage for holding the axle in position and thus separate linkages are not necessary. It makes the construction of the suspension simple and strong.
Because the positioning of the axle is carried out by the leaf springs, it is disadvantageous to use soft springs i.e. springs with low spring constant.
Therefore, this type of suspension does not provide good riding comfort. The inter-leaf friction between the leaf springs affects the riding comfort.
Acceleration and braking torque cause wind-up and vibration. Also wind-up causes rear-end squat and nose-diving.
The inter-leaf friction damps the spring’s motion and reduces rebound, which until shock absorbers were widely adopted was a great advantage over helical springs.” [this last sentence is referenced as being taken from “Springs – A simple study of car suspension”, The Automotor Journal, August 10, 1912, pp936-937″]
