A GDYNETS PUBLICATION 2013, G. DAVID YAROS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Car Collector Chronicles

Volume VI, Issue 11 Ca s November 2013

Exploring:

Car Collecting Today Classic Rides Reports From the Field Oldsmobile (1897-2004) Cadillac (1902- ) Allant (1987-1993)

High RPMs
With this issue CCC is celebrating its fifth birthday, and beginning its sixth year of publication. During that time we have remained ad free. Being such is critical to the editorial integrity of this publication. We want no constraints on our right to tell it like it is when it comes to anything and everything impacting the collector car hobby. I would be more than remiss if I did not also take official note of the fact that my beloved U.S. Marine Corps celebrates birthday 238 on Sunday, 10 Nov. peratimg from the Saturday night festivities! SEMPER FI! Finally, The Gray Lady is back! She was in the shop from 17 Jun through 8 October, a total of 114 days, An extensive wrapup report is provided this month. Here in WI, fall has arrived. It is now time to begin preparing my rides for their winter nap. I still need to flush and refill the cooling system on the Olds.

Corvair (1960-1969)

= Clickable Link

Nov Automotive Milestones11/1/1895 1st U.S. auto club formed 11/1/1955 Studebaker Hawk debuts 11/1/2008 CCC debuts 11/2/1935 Cord debuts 810 Fords Zephyr debuts 11/11/1940 1st Jeep 11/14/1914 1st Dodge 11/30/1900 Germany patents front-wheel-drive 11/30/1960 De Soto production ends - Stay cool & enjoy your ride(s)!

IN THIS ISSUE: High RPMs 1

GDYNets On the Web The Gray Lady (Wrap-up Report) The Other Side of the Coin CCC Presents

1
In actuality, I am positive that on Sunday, 10 Nov, most of my fellow Marines shall be recu-

GDYNets on the Web

6 7

Find GDYNets on the web:

CCC -THE FORUM -A web site to discuss the newsletter, the hobby and our cars. Car Collector Chronicles Saved 62 -Our 1962 Olds convertible, Ransom Eli Olds and things Oldsmobile related web site. The Gray Lady -1955 Cadillac Coup de Ville web site.

SAVED 62: A website devoted

to our 1962 Oldsmobile Dynamic 88 convertible. The site also has a lot of information on Oldsmobile cars and the company founder, Ransom Eli Olds.

CCC Forum EMail:

THE GRAY LADY: This website features our 1955 Cadillac Coup de Ville, lots of Caddy information and an extensive repair library.

DAVES DEN: -A site devoted to a myriad of interests. Foremost is extensive information on the Steel City of Gary, IN. There are also offerings on steel making, U.S. Steel-Gary Works, U.S. Marine Corps, M14 assault rifle, of course Oldsmobile, and the tragic story of the murder of Gary, IN Police Lt. George Yaros.

OldsD88@gmail.com

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The Gray Lady (Wrap-up Report)

After being estranged for 114 days, The Gray Lady has found her way home to the Yaros Car Barn. It has been a long sojourn, to say the least. On the drive home I had people admiring her while stopped at a traffic light. I had one guy rush out from inside a gas station to look at her and talk to me. All that was nice, no doubt, but the best thing was being able to drive her and have her run like a Cadillac should! Here is my final, full, wrap-up report: The shop called on 2 Oct saying she was ready, when did I want to come pick her up. This was a problem for me, as the Mrs. was heading out the next day on a trip. That meant I had no one to take me to the shop. I explained this to the owner and he agreed to come pick me up. We arranged for that to happen on Friday, 4 Oct. As luck would have it, Friday brought rain. I cancelled the pick up. I was not about to drive the car on rain soaked streets. The only time the pick up could be rescheduled was on Tuesday, 8 Oct. On Tuesday she sat in the lot, gleaming and patiently waiting to be escorted home. Her exquisite lines were indeed a sight for sore eyes! I met with the chief tech who did the majority of the work, to discuss what was done and why. I also claimed the old parts that had been replaced. Why it is important to do so is discussed below. On initially taking the car in I tasked the shop to resolve five problems: Gas tank leak Heater always on Runs poorly, hesitation in engine on take-off from dead stop Brakes not working properly Wipers will not shut off With respect to each I am now able to report the results. In order of listing, the gas tank no longer leaks. The leak was at the float assembly housing. The gasket had been damaged and needed replacement. To replace the gasket the tank had to be dropped. That task was made all the more difficult because the car had over 12 gallons of gas in the tank. The heater no longer stays on regardless of the position of the control lever. This problem was multi-faceted. The heater control lever on a 55 Cadillac operates a cable, which is connected to a Ranco thermostatically controlled heater valve. Both the mechanical cable and the heater valve were malfunctioning. The mechanical cable had jammed at some point, becoming both distorted and inoperable. Since a pic is worth a 1,000 words, here are 2,000 words explaining that problem:

After being estranged for 114 days, The Gray Lady has found her way home to the Yaros Car Barn.

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The Gray Lady (Wrap-up Report)-Contd.

The Ranco heater valve was used by GM from 1950 through 1963. They are repairable, and one may still buy a rebuild kit for the valve. It may be found at NAPA for all of $9. It is Part Number BK 6601000. In the kit are rubber seals to replace those that have deteriorated over time. While it may not look like a big deal, getting the heater valve out of the car and opened up, let alone back together, is a task most would not want to undertake. If one never uses the car heater they can and do ignore the non-working valve. However, with the valve stuck open the heat is on all the time and summer driving is not fun. That is what necessitated this repair. Despite my best efforts (in fact because of them) the car was running more than poorly. There was the hesitation on takeoff from a dead stop. There was the poor acceleration after reaching 40 m.p.h. There was the engine dieing on occasion. These conditions existed even after I had rebuilt the carburetor myself, and had the distributor vacuum advance rebuilt. I am pleased to report they exist no more. On getting the car back I took her for drive, both on city streets and interstate highway. She performed as one would expect and want a mid-fifties Cadillac to perform. She idles fine. There is no hesitation in the engine when taking off from a dead stop at a traffic light or stop sign. The car now accelerates smoothly and has no problem maintaining a speed of 70 m.p.h. on the open road. The major culprit with respect to engine performance was vacuum related, and partly of my own doing. It seems that when I installed the rebuilt vacuum advance I did not seat it properly to the distributor housing. This put the arm that does the advancing in a bind. It had no travel whatsoever. No travel = no distributor vacuum advance. Also, it was reported to me that the distributor cap itself was not properly seated on the distributor. I was under the impression that it could only go on one way. Apparently that is not the case? I had lined it up with the locating pins/notches and secured the clips to fasten it. Even so, it was a hair off in relation to the locating notches and not resting flat on the base of the distributor housing. That made for poor timing and spark which contributed to poor engine performance. The brakes now stop the car. I am still in shock over the condition of the braking system. You have heard the phrase an accident waiting to happen? It describes The Gray Lady to a T. To correct the problems with the braking system the master cylinder was rebuilt. All four wheel cylinders had to be replaced. They were beyond a rebuild. Brake hoses were also replaced. I mentioned above the importance of claiming the old parts. They tell a tale; in my case a couple of tales. The front wheel cylinders had a messy goo in them the consistency of peanut butter! The rears looked as though they had been filled with used oil-dri. There was no way the brakes on this car would/could stop 2+ tons of rolling iron! How this state of affairs got past the mechanic I had work on the brakes a year ago I will never know? What I do know is that guy will never touch my car again! Let the pictures do the talking. Simply unbelievable!

The front wheel cylinders had a messy goo in them the consistency of peanut butter. The rears looked as though they had been filled with used oil-dri.

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The Gray Lady (Wrap-up Report)-Contd.

We are now down to the last problem, being the windshield wipers. The 1955 Cadillac has a Trico vacuum wiper system. You know, the kind that slow down when you step on the gas. The reason they do slow down then is because the engine vacuum is needed for other functions during acceleration. On my car the problem I was having is that I could not turn the wipers off. Oh, I could turn the control off alright. Unfortunately, doing so had no effect whatsoever. The wiper blades just continued going back and forth as if there was no tomorrow. The only way to get them to stop was to disconnect the vacuum line. Despite removal, disassembly, cleaning and freeing up of the wiper motor mechanism it will not hold enough of a vacuum now to operate the wiper blades. I suspect that cleaning of the wiper motor innards lessened the capability of the unit to hold a vacuum. All the gunk and dirt inside was offsetting the leaking of vacuum caused by the deteriorated seal. So, I have to report failure by the shop on this one. I do have to point out however this failure was precipitated by my mandate to cease working on the unit. The shop was willing to rebuild the vacuum wiper motor. I said no. I said no because I can, and shall, have it rebuilt by Wiperman at far less cost. My assessment of the shop which did the work? When I interviewed the proprietor, Bob Bennett, I told him I was looking to get back a car that I can trust. I want to be able to drive the car and not worry about whether it will run, whether it will stop or whether it will go up in flames due to leaking gas. Thanks to Bennett Coachworks , I now have that. The quality of the work was excellent. I can say without hesitation that for major repair/restoration projects one may safely entrust their beloved ride to Bob and his crew. Having given my assessment and high recommendation, I also have some caveats. I will tell you the total bill came to way, way more than I ever anticipated, expected or could have imagined. The parts bill alone was in excess of $1,300. I know from where most of the parts were obtained. I know what those vendors charged for the parts. I know what I was charged for those parts. The amounts were not the same. I also know what NAPA charges for the parts. Here are some examples:
QTY ITEM BC ea 31.41 22.00 89.90 16.00 59.77 16.30 30.60 30.60 31.18 Tot (OPGI) NAPA ea + 9.00 12.49 38.99 14.99 24.99 21.99 27.49 27.49 15.49 BC Markup % 20% 20% 20% 20% 20% 2% 36% 36% 20% = TOT

1 Heater Control Valve Kit 2 gal Antifreeze (Green) 1 Ignition Coil 1 Batt Cable (+) 1 Master Cylinder Kit 2 Brake Hose (Front) 1 Wheel Cylinder (L Frt) 1 Wheel Cylinder (R Frt) 2 Wheel Seals (Front) Subtotal Sales Tax (5.6%) TOTAL

31.41 44.00 89.90 16.00 59.77 32.60 30.60 30.60 62.36 397.24 22.25 $419.49

(31.98) (22.50) (22.49) (51.98)

$10.80 29.98 46.79 l7.99 29.99 44.86 37.39 37.39 37.18 292.37 16.37 $308.74

I do feel a shop is entitled to be compensated for locating, ordering and advancing payment for needed parts. A parts markup provides that compensation. Here, some parts were marked up as little as 2%, some at 10%, most at 20% and a few at 36%. I do not feel a parts markup of 36% is at all reasonable. I will also state flat out that I do find it irksome that a shop would add a markup of 10% to a vendor shipping charge. In addition to these markup practices, I wonder about the shops choice of vendors. Most of the needed brake parts came from OPGI . The OPGI parts are manufactured in China. Somehow, Cadillac and China just do not go together? At the same time, I know full well the difficulty in trying to find American made anything in the 21st Century. I also know that many of the purchased OPGI parts are readily available at the local NAPA outlet. Not only are they available from NAPA , they are less expensive, require no waiting to receive, involve no shipping charges and carry a lifetime warranty. Do not these factors combine to form a win-win for both the shop and the customer? Shop down time is reduced by elimination of delays from awaiting receipt of shipments. Customer cars are not taking up shop space, sitting idle waiting for deliveries from UPS, FedEx or the USPS. The customers bill is lowered because the costs for the parts are less and there are no shipping charges to be billed/paid. Sounds like a win-win to me? I knew going in that time spent was going to be charged at $62.hr. Quite honestly, I think that charge is

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The Gray Lady (Wrap-up Report)-Contd.

more than reasonable. However, I never thought that the labor hours were going to approach 100. I tried hard to be conscious of the labor hours required to perform the repairs I requested. Such awareness is precisely why I stopped the work on the wiper motor. The charge for the hours I guesstimated to complete the rebuild totaled more than the charge to get it done for elsewhere. Sadly for me, my attempts at being aware of the labor hours required to complete all the work fell far short of the mark. That they did gave rise to severe sticker shock on being handed the final bill. The sum needed to settle up (I had previously paid hundreds in the months of June, July and August.) exceeded the amount I anticipated would be due by four! Hindsight is 20/20. If I had my druthers, I would have had the shop contact me at $1,000 thresholds to review our game plan and plot the next moves. Let me state unequivocally, carte blanche is never good when you are the one giving it. It is great if you are the recipient. When going into major repair/restoration on a vintage ride budgets should be discussed by the shop and customer, and subsequently adhered to by them. While they can always be altered if desired, they cannot be reversed once the work has been performed. Readers will note that I have repeatedly preceded the term repair/restoration with the word major. A big part of my problem is that while I viewed the repairs I had requested as being significant, yes, I never thought of them as being a major project. Of course, I did not know the extent of the brake system rot. I was totally unaware of the distributor vacuum advance and distributor cap alignment problems; problems which I caused. Also, it helps to appreciate the fact that multiple small problems can give rise to a need for major repairs. That certainly was the case here. The bottom line is, I now have a ride that I can trust mechanically. I do not have to be afraid to put the car on the road. I know that when I do take her out, she will bring me back home. And, The Gray Lady shall do it in style! Bennett Coachworks delivered precisely what it was that I had asked.

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The Other Side of the Coin

My views regarding the repair work done on The Gray Lady are just that, my views. Moreover, they are the views from the perspective of the owner of the old ride. Is there another perspective, point of view? There certainly is, and it is that of the shop owner. When ones old ride is being worked on a relationship forms between the car and shop owners. Both have to put up with the other, for lack of a better term. If they part with a modicum of respect for each other, the relationship has been a good one. In this instance, on picking up the car I told the shop owner I would be doing an article which would detail my experience as well as provide my honest opinion/recommendation. An advance draft of the article was provided to Bob Bennett, co-owner with his wife Janell, of Bennett Coachworks, LLC. It was furnished to him along with an invitation to respond if he so chose. He did. Here is Bobs take on our dealings, unedited:
Hello David, Like the article, for the most part. A couple of points; Yes, we mark up the parts . . . I only look like Santa Claus. We are expected to stand behind the parts we use and assume liability in the form of a warranty on parts and labor. I am in business to support the car community as well as the 8 families that I have in my employ. So . . . we make money on everything we do, purchase and pay for. We are a Time and Materials shop. Be it a Volkswagen, a Caddy or a Ferrari, they all are charged the same hourly rate, which at this time is $62/hr. We do not give estimates or work from them. Were tasked with doing a job(s) and doing it correctly. All we ask for in return is our rate and the understanding that it is YOUR vehicle that we are repairing and it is YOUR responsibility to belly up to the bar and pay for those repairs. You also failed to make note of the fact that we gave you a discount of $1K. That's a couple of days that someone worked on your car and got paid for, that you did not get charged for. I cannot afford to give away money but I felt a need to help absorb the cost burden that your project incurred. As far as purchasing the parts from NAPA - we tried them, they were not available from our NAPA dealer or the local warehouse - in addition you would have incurred a substantial charge related to your cores - they were not reusable so there would have been a core charge. So . . . Lastly, there are plenty of shops around that can do a crappy job faster and for less money than what we charged - witness the previous larcenous attempt at repairing your brakes. What we provided was a technician with experience working on the exact systems you needed work on, parts that are correct and warranted and a commitment from my entire organization to getting it done correctly. Any questions or concerns, we are here for you. Best regards, Bob

As it is my car and my publication, I do get to have the last word. Bob is correct that I made no mention of the $1K discount (Actually, the discount was one of $1,250.00.). That is because I still have trouble accepting that the final bill totaled $6,129.68 ($1,336.30-Parts, $4,470.89-Labor and $322.49 Sales Tax), let alone $7,379.68 (the total of the bill without the discount). $7K = 1/3 of my original purchase price for The Gray Lady four short years ago! Bobs admission that I felt a need to help absorb the cost burden that your project incurred, I feel, speaks loud and clear of his own view regarding the total amount charged. Evidently, even Bob did not feel billing for 92.27 hours of labor was reasonable? With the $1,250 discount he only charged me for 72.11 labor hours. In my defense, recall that I did say I had no problem with a price markup (see Pg. 4). I do not understand, nor did Bob address, why his mark up is not applied consistently. Why were some parts marked up 36% and others only 2%? When all is said and done, neither of us has a reason to not do business with one another in the future. Nor would we have any hesitancy in that regard. That in itself is saying quite a lot, as Bob did state had he known in advance that I was a lawyer he would not have taken The Gray Lady in to his shop (Evidently he does not like lawyers?). For my part, this experience has taught me what to expect, as well as what to demand, when having work done on my classic rides.

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CCC Presents
This came from the Hemmings Daily blog. Can you tell what that is below the odometer? As promised last month: The answer is that the item in question is a clock in a 1961 De Soto. The two rings rotate in opposite directions. The top ring shows the hour, while the bottom ring displays the minute. I have never seen such a clock in real life. It is different, no doubt.

Who wood of thought?

Ok, Ive had my say for the month. Now its your turn! I invite/encourage submission of your comments, opinions and article contributions. I also ask that you please help spread the word about our publication. Everything sent shall indeed be reviewed by me. Submissions should be sent to CCC at OldsD88@gmail.com. Now that you have finished reading this months issue of the newsletter, come start/join an ongoing dialog with other CCC readers and like-minded car collector folk on the CCC Forum. Stop by, check us out and share your views . ______________________________________

-- RESTORE 'EM, AND DRIVE 'EM!

COMING NEXT ISSUE: TBD