Not an R700, Not Even a Mack

[yarnall]

21 hours ago, Joseph Cummings said:

Gas motored Tandems and single axles used to be everywhere when I was a kid. Working in my uncle's garage we got them in all the time. Being a good carb and ignition guy and we had a Sun distributor machine I could get them all running right on. They always came in missing, with the carb messed up, late timing, governor disconnected, vacuum filter on the distributor for the gov clogged, the guys always were smiling after they tried them out. I had boxes full of jets, power valves, 50 cc reo accelerator pumps, different accelerator pump cams.

We were one of those old time garages with the Black & Decker Vibrocentric valve and seat grinders, a Van Norman boring bar setup with a "sucker outer", a piston skirt  knurler, and a Winona intheblok crankshaft grinder. I had other family in philly that was still making tar top batteries and repairing and rebuilding them up until at least the late 80's, They were kind of big in the antique truck scene, really big in the antique motorcycle crowd too

Maybe I could get you to tune up a couple of my gas jobs????

You’re related to the Battery Boys, John and Matt Smagach?  I tired to call John yesterday but no answer. 
mike 

[Joseph Cummings]

2 hours ago, yarnall said:

Maybe I could get you to tune up a couple of my gas jobs????

You’re related to the Battery Boys, John and Matt Smagach?  I tired to call John yesterday but no answer. 
mike 

Yeah in a round about way, they were at our house for all the holidays, at my uncle's house all the time, took me to car, truck, and motorcycle shows all the time when I was a kid. Matt has been gone I guess like 20 years from a heart condition. I haven't been able to get in touch with John either. I have to try and call my cousin and see if she knows anything. You know he moved to upper Bucks don't you? Damn, I hope he is OK. They actually followed my uncle home when he was out in one of his Pierce Arrows in like 1965. That is how we all met.

Here is one of the Pierces with the new owner. The women are my Aunt and My Cousin

 

[cruiseliner64]

On 12/1/2024 at 12:35 PM, Joseph Cummings said:

I remember when a 2 stroke detroit was a common sound, Now I very rarely hear them

When i was a kid we lived close to a company who had 25 Bedford TM trucks (GMC Europe) Every morning around 6am we could hear them starting up and leaving the yard.The sound of those 8V71s was my alarm clock for years...No wonder I am a truck nut!!!!

Paul

[mowerman]

We had Brockways like that and my area produce outfit they were very loud trucks and Joseph my pops best friend had a 37 La Sal in the same condition it kind of looked similar to the pierce arrow. Thanks for that. That’s a really cool photo  bob

[mowerman]

And that looks like an expensive SOB ha ha

[Joseph Cummings]

1 hour ago, mowerman said:

And that looks like an expensive SOB ha ha

Well the original owner was George Frederick Tyler and this was his "Summer Cottage" called "Indian Council Rock" in Newtown PA. Somehow my uncle's father was friends with him and got the car for my uncle

 

[mowerman]

My god what a pad it looks like royalty lives there Also that car would look right nice in my driveway

[mowerman]

My father-in-law was raised rich.   I have seen old movie films of him as a toddler. Parents were dressed really well in front of an expensive house and car not sure what happened in between. He wound up being a career, navy man with a little bit of above average income when he left this world. also, I forgot to mention my dad‘s friend took me for a ride and that old La salle I don’t remember a whole lot about the car, but it was a convertible and it was all cleaned up car  was immaculate and it went down the road really smooth and quiet for a very old car

[mowerman]

I was a young teenager at the time and I was pretty much very impressed with this thing.

[Joseph Cummings]

18 minutes ago, mowerman said:

My god what a pad it looks like royalty lives there Also that car would look right nice in my driveway

"The mansion, which had more than 20 fireplaces, also had many elaborate features such as gold fixtures in every bathroom. In addition, the Tylers had a 10-car turntable garage, enabling each car to be cranked to its own spot. Henry D. Slepper of Boston was hired to oversee the mansion’s interior decorating. Forty servants staffed the Tyler residence in its heyday, and they lived either in the east wing of the house or in the small
cottages situated on the estate."

https://www.bucks.edu/campus/newtown/campusmap/tylerhall/

[mowerman]

I’d like to be in there will pretty impressive thanks for that

[Mark T]

Seeing that picture of the Pierce puts it into perspective why some used to refer to the LTL as the  Duesenberg of diesels.  What classy looking cars all those types were.

[Joseph Cummings]

1 hour ago, Mark T said:

Seeing that picture of the Pierce puts it into perspective why some used to refer to the LTL as the  Duesenberg of diesels.  What classy looking cars all those types were.

Very well built cars too. I always remember helping my uncle rebuild a 6 cylinder Pierce for an earlier car and it had a roller cam. To me as an early teen a roller cam was pretty exotic stuff for race cars and I couldn't imagine them having such advanced designs in a car engine built in 1919