Art Anderson

George, essentially right! That first Chevy 6 was characterized by its use of dozens of stove bolts, which were at that time a standard item in just about every hardware store. A stove bolt is the common 1/4-28 bolt (1/4" diameter, 28 threads per inch, with a slotted head. In the days before high compression heads, and insert thin-shell engine bearings (cars of the era almost universally used "poured bearings", the babbit metal being cast into the block, rods and bearing caps, then bored to the correct dimension, then worn in to correct fit by turning the crankshaft with a lathe before final engine assembly/reassembly), the idea of torqueing cylinder head studs, main bearing and rod bearing cap bolts hadn't been a need--"just tighten them until they are TIGHT". So, the coarse thread of a stove bolt was considered all that was necessary, and they cost less to make than the much finer, more accurately cut threads of the various SAE bolts that were already on the horizon--just one more way that Chevrolet could make a "six at the price of a four". Also, this engine became known, and was advertized as, "The cast iron wonder", as it even had cast iron pistons, themselves a throwback to years earlier in a day when aluminum pistons were in general use throughout the industry, primarily in the Model A Ford. Art

You got it, Harry! When asked about that statement upon the announcement of the forthcoming Ford V8, HF simply stated that a V8 was nothing more than two four cylinder engines. Art

Harry, yer too good! OK, now for a bonus: Henry Ford, when confronted with the new 1929 Chevrolet "Stove Bolt 6", made a blunt statement giving his rationale for staying with a 4-cylinder engine. What did he say? For bonus points, why did that first Chevy 6 get the moniker "Stove Bolt"? Art

Scott, some fairly serious cutting and splicing will need doing for such a project, but when one thinks about it, all the cuts will be straight, and the only correcting of a body line will be the bottom of the rear bed sides, due to the slight upward angle there. Key here will be to get the measurements, then plan the cuts, and make sure they are straight, true and with the bed sides, square with the top edge of them. Putty work should be minimal even, just finishing off the splices in the bed sides themselves. In a project such as this, the old Amish carpenter's advice comes to mind though: "Measure as many times as it takes, but cut only once." Seriously, I'm looking forward to seeing how you get along with this project! Art

What marque used the advertising tag line "The penalty of leadership"? And, A very famous woman, perhaps the first woman to do so, was featured in early print ads for the Terraplane. Who was she, and what was the tag line? Art

Hi Dave! And to add to that, "You gotta be nuts to drive a Stutz", to which Bearcat drivers retorted: "But nothing could be worser than a Mercer!". Sure would have been fun to watch a Bearcat and a Raceabout going head-to-head in a match race, huh? Art

OK, Now, many people have heard the slogan "The car that made good in a day", right? OK, now which car maker had that slogan. Who was it? And, for extra credit, how did they come up with that advertising line? Art

Still no takers? Art

Actually, the VW Kubelwagen was the standard Beetle platform, with unique bodywork added to it. Kubelwagen also had slightly different rear suspension geometry, and the front torsion bars set differently for greater ground clearance, as well as larger, offroad tires. Kommandanteuren used the same suspension setup as the Kubelwagen. What is interesting is, "Kubelwagen" is almost a generic term, used by every maker of offroad battlefield wheeled command cars supplied to the Wehrmacht prior to, and during WW-II in Europe. The wood, charcoal, and coal gasification units were an aftermarket device, supplied not only to the German Army, but also in limited numbers to favored civilians as well. They weren't unique to Germany though, as this type of fuel-making system was also marketed in Switzerland, France, the UK, Ireland and Sweden during hostilities, for civilian use. Art

Harry, Around this part of the country, you could buy one of those, under the brand name Kar-Kool, which you filled with ice to provide the cooling. In some areas, they were available for rental, using dry ice as the coolant (believe it or not, there was a time when dry ice was readily available in just about any town of any size at all. Art

Can't think of the brand names for these off-hand, but basically those were portable airconditioning units for cars, which were introduced in the late 1930's. They used several means of cooling incoming air (which came in the front, circulated over cooling fins, then into the car via a sheetmetal chute that went through the slightly opened side window. They were made to use Dry Ice, ordinary frozen water, and also as "swamp" or evaporative coolers, depending on what part of the country you were wanting it for. Often times they were rented by the day, from one gas station to another down the road, of the same brand name--just turn in the warmed up unit, get your deposit back, or pay another rental charge, take a fresh one to the next city or town. Art

One down, two to go. Art

Still no takers on these? Art

Harry, From 1914 through 1925, Fords came only in black from the factory, due to the long lead times required for colored finishes to dry, not to mention the very high labor content in painting car bodies in other colors. Black enamel was available with added Japan Dryer, which made those bodies dry quickly in fairly low-temperature drying ovens. Conventional enamel paints took too long at too high a temperature, which would have seriously weakened the wooden body structure (bear in mind, all Model T Ford bodies, just like their contemporaries, were constructed of wood, covered with a sheet steel or aluminum skin) if not presenting a serious fire hazard. Art

Sorry, But outside rear view mirrors were not standard equipment on most, if not every car in 1953! They were dealer-installed options back then, and didn't become standard equipment on all cars from the factory until the late 1960's. Art

Actually, it was the grandsons of Henry Ford (Henry II, Benson, and William Clay Ford) who named the Edsel after their father, Edsel Ford, who was the only child of Henry and Clara Ford. Art

Ford bought out Lincoln at the pending bankruptcy of that luxury car maker, in 1922. Art

Bingo! Art

There was one other of these that comes to mind: In the very early 20's, Harry C Stutz was forced out of the company he founded in 1911 which carried his name, so he went across town (Indianapolis) and started HCS (His initials), but HCS went away in a very short time (but not until the HCS-sponsored Miller 122, driven by Tommy Milton, won the 1923 Indianapolis 500). Art

IIRC, while from the middle 1930's through the 60's, virtually every pickup truck maker in the US used the same set of standard bed lengths and positioning over the rear axle (same amount of bed ahead, and behind, the rear axle centerline), due to some serious armtwisting by FDR's administration of all truck makers of all size trucks, in order to foster an aftermarket for specialty truck beds and bodies, that the OEM companies might not make due to limited demand (Stake bodies, Livestock bodies, Utility bodies come to mind here). Thus for years, Ford, GM, Dodge, Studebaker and International Harvester used the same basic frame widths on all trucks, at least in the cargo area, and their pickup boxes standardized at 8' (3/4 ton) and 6 1/2 feet (half ton short box). For almost all these years, the length difference was 12" ahead of the rear axle/wheel arch, and 6" behind the wheel arch. This was certainly true of GM, Ford and Dodge in those years, stepside as well as wide beds (after 1958 anyway). However, by the mid-70's, Dodge had changed their short box to being more nearly centering over the rear axle, and I believe that Ford did as well. The best way to determine what length that Ford short box should be is to search out the following dimensions for the two different lengths of pickups: WB for the long bed (you should be able to get that off the model, with a pair of calipers--just mock up the chassis and suspension, then measure the distance between axle centerlines with a pair of dial calipers), and then find the wheelbase of the short bed. A plus would be finding the length of the Ford short Styleside box, see how that compares with the long box in the kit. As for shortening the box itself, cutting down the front part is easy, just remove the difference in wheelbase just behind the front wall of the box, and glue the front wall part to the shortened bed side. For the rear, you will need to remove the unwanted length IN BETWEEN the rear edge of the wheel arch (wheel opening) and the rear end of the bedside. This does leave you with what to do about lining up the seams in the bed floor. I've done several of this type of conversion over the years, and found out very early on that it's easiest to remove the bed floor itself, completely, cutting it way from the bed sides, and the wheel wells which intrude into the cargo area itself. Be sure to save any "flange" on the wheel wells, as those will be needed in the newly reconstructed box. Thin out the bottom edge of the wheel wells, so that they don't just appear too thick when you look at them afterward. Next, take a piece of Evergreen Styrene "corrugated" metal sheet plastic that has at least close to the width and spacing of raised ribs of the original kit bed floor. Cut a piece of this that fits, both length and width-wise, and install that--LOTS easier than trying to fix the original kit bed floor with 2 different seams in two different areas. Art

I can think of only two marques started by the same man, both of which carried his name in at least one form, that survived even into the 1970's, Oldsmobile and REO, both names based on the name of Ransom Eli Olds. Now, two famous luxury car marques, still in production (but for how long?) were founded by the same man. Hint: This man was also present at the startup of a major automaker, who is still in business today, and manufactures one of the luxury marques founded by our "mystery man". Art

Now, for an auto parts question! This one isn't hard, but many really don't know who it was. One man started two MAJOR auto parts companies, both known for their sparkplugs. Who was he, and what two companies did he start? (hint: Both company names bear his identity, in letters) Art

OK, Time for some 1930's car makes, each one begun as a cheaper alternative to their original, well-known makes. How many can you match up to their original, "parent car marque"? Hint: All these are prior to 1939! Viking Pontiac Mercury (2nd hint! This is not a Ford product!) Lafayette Erskine Rockne Terraplane Zephyr LaSalle Whippet Essex Art

The four interlocked rings of the Audi badge represent the pre-WWII company Auto Union, which was a merger of four companies at the lowest point of the Great Depression in Germany in 1932: DKW, Horch, Audi and Wanderer. Art