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I can’t answer the tube question, but your car appears to have conventional drop-center wheels in the pictures. You don’t have to worry about that locking ring!

Great looking car and congratulations!

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I was following the auction too, and was surprised with the price but I had no idea their value. I had several offers for mine which in effect came with my car, but I still don’t plan on selling it even seeing that ending.

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Thank you David, I will look into their services.

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I have one in North Carolina that I would loan, but it might be too small as it’s for the Ford cars. If you don’t find one quickly I will dig it out and measure it.

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I wish I could make the meeting with mine but I am unable to attend. Hopefully someone will report back about this meeting so that we all see them and their differences. I will forward good pictures of mine to anyone who will be going that is interested in comparison, but it is the camera angle making him look in a different direction.

I wasn’t expecting that question to turn into quite the conversation about this little guy, especially being a dealer accessory which are usually frowned upon compared to factory ones. If anyone knows of a very reputable place to have him repaired and plated please let me know, he’s been on my shelf a long time and deserves to be restored.

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I agree that the small base is not an alteration. Maybe there were two different ones to fit different styles of radiator cap? If I’m able to get to the meet next year maybe we can get them together for a comparison, that would be something…

Is there one at the museum?

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Of these pictures, I see two different bases, one smaller and more rounded up than the other. Are there two different ones?

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It’s a good thought, but my chart shows glycerin is 1.26 SG, plus I think it’s easily evaporated. If it was an easy answer to use a different fluid someone would have marketed it already. I think the answer is about the dyes used and what might last more than a couple years.

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Checking the SG of different fluids out and there is nothing close enough to Bromide to use as a replacement from what I have read.

The dye strength is the issue, I wonder what was used in the day that isn’t available now? I’m sure it must have been discontinued for health reasons…

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Peter, how long have you had your car? It looks like the one I remember as a kid in the early to mid 70’s at the Endicott Estate, and being from Massachusetts could be the same one… You must remember Bill setting up at those fleas as well?

Great looking car by the way, I was responding to the thread while you were posting it.

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Thank you for the pictures and comments, it explains the reaction I got when I mentioned having one. At some point I will take your advice and have him restored to his original state. Seeing the pictures shows that I didn’t quite get the arrow tip right, I continued the groove all the way forward not adding a rib to define it.

Bill Williams was a good friend who got me hooked on mascots as a kid, he would set up at many small fleas in the New England area and he would take payments over time. By this I mean I would give him $25 at one show, and more at the next one until I had paid for a mascot he had. I showed this to Bill after buying it, he was impressed and offered to get it restored for me, but I was months away from getting married and didn’t have the spare money to do it. His price to restore it was in the $300 range then, which was 1992. A lot of money compared to the NOS 31 mascot I have on my car now that was bought a year or two after that for not much more. Bill claimed the 31 Archer Mascot was so common, due to thefts at the factory of them, that I should have shopped around more! It’s a story I have heard several times now but it doesn’t seem to affect their prices now…

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Sorry about the sideways picture, but until we can preview a post there’s nothing to do…

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Well, I ran away for the holiday and came back to quite the conversation…

I have some reddish color Viton washers somewhere that were kicking around my desk when I retired that I might try making a bead from and see if I can get it to fit the glass. A very interesting subject, please keep the comments coming!

Thank you for the information,

Mark

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Thank you again Greg

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Thank you Jim, that’s the article that kick started my searching out if anyone has made any improvement in the quality of the dyes used. There is also a thread somewhere about adding more dye to the faded solution that went back around 10-12 years ago on a Ford forum but I found several negative threads that were posted well after those. I’m going to try to get mine to work, and if I have to I’ll put a read bead that will float on the fluid so I can see it after It fades out…

Thank you all for the comments!

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Thank you Ed, I asked them about it and they claim that they have absolutely no issues with the dyes fading, but a simple google search brings up far to many comments to the contrary. That said, I can get that same quality liquid for less through a Ford dealer than them and they have the same problems – I am sure it’s all coming from the same sources.

If anyone knows of a product that isn’t fading I would be grateful for that referral.

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I will send you pictures of the dash in mine, they match well considering that it is 88 years old and somewhat darkened with age.

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Hi Greg, the book is a softcover with removable 8-1/2 x 11 page size, page number 186 is the last one, plus I have the introduction letter which is loose in the back. It’s dated 1933 in the front index page. 90% of the content is general shop equipment, that last 10% is specific to the usage.

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As fascinating as that book must be, I think this one is more useful. It gives you a look at the specific special tools used for repair work. Not as good as an actual repair manual, but as they do not exist this is the next best thing.

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I took my belts from a 31 into NAPA and they measured and matched them up with stock numbers. They even took back the first pair they ordered for me as they were 1” too tight.

I don’t know what they are for your car, but for my 31 Model 43 the belts were NAPA #B53

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