I had a very productive weekend, installing and otherwise taking care of a variety of long standing items on the never ending “to do” list.
Years ago, the former owner of
thelews car, one Vince Canepa, remarked to me that he hated car shows and Concours d’Elegance, and other Pagoda owners looking at his car. You see, he could not stand people nit-picking little details, and perhaps took it all too personally. So personally, I guess, that he sold the car! Anyway—I’m the opposite. I listen and learn from experts, car show judges, etc. and when I can make the changes, I do…it just takes time! Here are just the latest revisions, all from critical commentary from my friends...
1) Added the missing bracket that holds the air-line to the intake manifold (along with the auto transmission dip stick tube). This missing bracket—two pieces—was pointed out to me in 2011. Sourcing it was another problem entirely. Joe Alexander had two of them, the week before, but they had gone out to members here who needed the air line it was attached to. We scoured Joe’s bone yard, and alas—nothing. I could have stolen the set from Alfred Esser’s car,
whose engine bay parts at Joe’s had just come back from the plater, but I stayed honest—besides, it would have been way too obvious. Early this year,
Gernold Nisius of SL Tech came through with the parts, freshly plated.
2) Added my new replacement VIN plate to the doorjamb. This has been missing forever, and it took several false starts and incorrect manufactures over more than a year before I finally got it right. It is a nearly perfect reproduction of what was once original to the car. Unlike many that are screwed on after a restoration, I used the more original rivets. Thanks “you know who” for your help with the data plate.
3) Installed the bracket that holds the top of the radiator fan shroud to the radiator itself. This piece is often missing on cars that have been apart, and is NLA. I tried getting one last year to no luck, but when I least expected it, once again, Gernold came through.
4) Replaced the window winders. At PUB 2009, Dave Gallon pointed out to me that my window winders were not quite correct for my car. Of course, the proper ones are NLA, and hard to find unless you like pitted chrome. The problem is I had bought replacements back in 2002 from MB, and they had changed the plastic knob. I believe I only had one original, and it was pitted as was most of the original chrome on the car when I got it. Earlier this year, Scott Allen (scoot) came through with a nice set of reasonably original ones, a bit more appropriate for the car. They fit over nylon washers that Joe Alexander’s friend Paul Hackman told me I was missing, and of course supplied. Now, the knobs on the winders match more closely the rest of the knobs in the car, like the ones on the radio, the cigar lighter, etc.
5) Installed the wholly non-original but perfectly functional cup holders. If you followed the thread on this site, you’ll see some other posts. I ordered two, and they could not have been easier to install. Looks like they were custom made for the tray in a Pagoda. Now at least, I can have a bottle of water or something without fear of it falling out of reach. I elected to screw right through the carpet, and tested the obvious: you can remove the cup holders and not see any holes. I used the same mounting holes for the box.
6) Pulled the distributor cap, added some lubrication. Thanks Naj, for the gentle reminder.
