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I didn't want to further hijack his thread. Here's what I have. It's all cool stuff inherited from my Dad. I've installed all new lead wires, and they all work great. I've seen these pop up on Ebay a couple of times.
Wow! Thanks for taking the time to post pics. I bet those represented significant cost in those days. Not cheap. Was your dad a professional mechanic I take it?
Wow! Thanks for taking the time to post pics. I bet those represented significant cost in those days. Not cheap. Was your dad a professional mechanic I take it?
Yes, a heavy duty mechanic. Had his own garage with two pits during WWll. Even had a Yellow Cab service contract. Never told me what they cost, but I'll bet I went without new jeans for awhile. I remember his shop as being dark. Even had a battery room. Wish I had pics of it.
Very cool, it would be interesting to find a price sheet.
I've kind of thought a good auto mechanic must have basically had a license to print money in those days. Just tune-ups, tires, batteries, generators, carburetor service, wheel bearings, starters, you know nothing too major, find a good location, 2 or 3 bays... charge a fair but reasonable price.... Sure a Studebaker was different than a Ford was different than a Chevy but, the engine bay was wide open and they all pretty much worked the same.
The important thing, a shop didn't have to disassemble half the engine to get at say, the starter, like stuff today and have to charge a small fortune for labor. It can't be any fun at all to work on any car for a living since maybe the 70s, I wouldn't think. I like driving modern cars and trucks, but when I raise the hood and look, it's just a wall of impenetrable crap. Work isn't supposed to be fun, but damn.
Bob, those are so neat... old guys like me love those analog gauges and meters... grew up in Ham Radio and it's what we used. Nixie tubes were hi tech. I'd love to have those just to display. Used to enjoy going to the old powerhouse at USS and look at the old control panels and switch gear cabinets... analog gauges and pen type charts, both circular and strip.. Digital just ain't got the charm. And you can never peak a transmitter plate voltage with an digital readout... you have to watch that needle to do it juuusssssttt right.
Yep, USS is U.S. Steel... worked there nearly 40 years. They had their own boiler house and power house to generate some of their a/c and all if their d/c power.
I remember when I was a little kid, I watched the spinning wheel inside the glass on the power meter mounted at the service entrance on the back wall of the house. Seemed like that thing turned pretty slow, I wondered how fast I could make it spin? Nobody was home, so I turned on every light and device I could find, the electric stove, etc. That got it cookin' along pretty good! Boy, I bet dear old dad was pissed off on that months power bill.
