Vintage Photo Of The Day

[goodfellow]

Wow, that Edsel took a hit. It takes a lot to crunch an Edsel; they were literal tanks.

[john k]

More great pics, must comment on the Schykill garage.   Fine modern looking building for a pre-WWI shop, most repair at that time was done in horse barn or in doorways of blacksmith shops. 

[Uncle Buck]

I don't think that was a run of the mill repair shop. Likely for fancier cars of that era.

That last picture was a death car for sure. Slim chance anyone walked away from that!

[Rural53]

Roughly the same location.

[muddy]

upload file image

Sent from my twisted mind of the mudman

[Rural53]

[muddy]

Now that's a badass photo!

Sent from my twisted mind of the mudman

[muddy]

Sent from my twisted mind of the mudman

[slip knot]

Did anyone else cringe at the picture of the guy putting $1 gallon gasohol in the GTO. 

[muddy]

Sent from my twisted mind of the mudman

[john k]

Liked the pic of thd guy in the gas station suit putting on the spin balancer.  These were great as they balanced the wheel and drum, on the car.  The little round knobs on the center of the device were held briefly to change the weight and location.  Was spun up by an electric motor.  One checked for (balance) by watching the antennae for shake, or rest your head on the fender.

[goodfellow]

Liked the pic of thd guy in the gas station suit putting on the spin balancer.  These were great as they balanced the wheel and drum, on the car.  The little round knobs on the center of the device were held briefly to change the weight and location.  Was spun up by an electric motor.  One checked for (balance) by watching the antennae for shake, or rest your head on the fender.

Quite right John. I worked in a shop in the late 1970's that still used the old Hunter model 106 balancers. They taught me how to operate it, but there was only one old mechanic in the place that could actually get the balance right on the money using those machines. It was a combination of experience and "know how" that wasn't in the instruction manual.

I recall that he used the clamp on weight disc to roughly dial in the balance, but then rested his hand on the fender or bumper and mentally calculated the amount of weight and the position needed to complete the job. None of that was in the book. If you just went by the book, you got in the ballpark, but the balance wasn't perfect. When someone else in the shop used those machines, there was a good chance of a customer "comeback?.

[muddy]

Sent from my twisted mind of the mudman

[Rural53]

I would say wheel balancing would be easy compared to...

June 1942. "John Sonesen, propeller grinder at a Hartford, Connecticut, plant, inspects a blade for a vertical balance during the operation of grinding it to correct contours in a template. This Hamilton blade will be assembled in a pitch-controlling Hydro-Matic mechanism to help power one of our new warplanes." Photo by Andreas Feininger for the Office of War Information.

[john k]

Neat prop photo, liked the idea of repairs to aircraft done right before it leaves the hanger, on a car, the foreman says ya got 15 minutes, do it right, I dont care if it is muddy now get going.