There's always surprises

When I went out to the garage this morning, I discovered that someone had stolen my wheels!

criminal

 The old tires weren't even safe for working around the car--especially since this will be a rolling restoration. They were all different sizes and a mix of bias ply and radial tires. Plus a couple of them would only hold air for a couple of days. So after jacking up the car and putting it on stands, carefully removing the early 53 wheel covers (apparently, from what I've read, they're rare as hens teeth and priced accordingly) I made my first surprising discovery--on the right hand of the car the lug bolts/nuts are standard right hand threads--counter-clockwise to loosen them. But on the left (driver's side) the lugs are left hand threads. I don't know if this is by design or not, but threw me for a loop until I noticed. One advantage of this is that the wrench turns in the same direction (towards the front of the car to tighten, back of the car to loosen).

Update: My friend Mark sent me this on the lug nut discovery:

When I was a kid and my dad taught me how to change tires, all lug nuts were right hand on the starboard side and left hand on the port, so as not to come unscrewed easily. Or so my dad said.

Anyone have any idea when this changed?


Once I got the wheels off, this is what I faced:

Front brakes--a bit small!

Not only were the brakes small (the reviews of the V-8 model at the time were highly critical) but the wheel doesn't turn freely--the brakes are partially applied at all times. I was expecting this--when brake hoses get old and brittle, they start to break down on the inside. To be brief--it allows for fluid to be pushed through under pressure from the master cylinder, but doesn't allow it to return easily. 3 of the 4 brakes were locked up (the car has enough power to spin the wheels, but I can't turn it by hand).

So I'm at a juncture. I was originally planning on starting to do more cosmetic work and then fix some of the mechanical upgrades while I was reassembling--but I want to be able to safely move the vehicle around as I work on it (or as I need the garage). So I'll be ordering a disc brake conversion. This, along with a dual master cylinder will give me a bit more modern--and much safer--braking.

Since the sun was out, I thought the ol' girl would like to warm her bones. So she's out sporting her new shoes (actually, for those who have asked--no, the wheels weren't stolen--I just took them down for new tires) and getting some fresh air this afternoon.

Baby got a new pair of shoes (and I need to sweep yet more leaves off the driveway)