1986 Suzuki Samurai

 We need something like this again. 

Manufacturing processes, metal stamping

Volkswagen hoods

 

Renovation solutions

 Here's a hard one. A heritage house comes up for sale and you want it. Price is right but it's rough, nothing is near code... 2nd floor is a bit spongy, etc etc.. and you really don't like the seven foot ceilings. Hmmm So you bite the bullet... and realize its going to need a roof... and floor joists etc. Eight foot ceiling height requires raising the roof.  This of course is going to affect the overall aethetic of the building. you do it.

So, was this a successful solution?

Sidecar Sunday

No, that's not a Zeppelin.  When gasoline got scarce during both world wars, there was a lot of development on wood and coal gas as fuel. These vehicles required a large bag for the gas, previous post here.

 This image is a colorized version of this photo and I bet those smiling passengers are paid actors.                  Thanks, André!

Armstrong fork, 1955

This fork was presented as an alternative to telescopic or Earles forks as manufacturers moved away from girders. Honda stepthroughs used a variation of this design slightly later.

Cast iron bench

Nice lines on this cast iron bench. It looks vintage, or at least old enough for the wood to rot. No name cast in that I could see so maybe it is actually fairly modern.. I'd buy one.

 

We used to make things in this country, #378 Eskiloos boots

Eskiloos were a specialized fashionable line of waterproof, fleece-lined boots produced by Uniroyal (often under the "Dominion Rubber" brand in Canada) during the 1960s and 1970s, designed for cold, wet weather. It was an outgrowth of the Rubber Machinery Shop which was established in 1917 in Kitchener, Ontario, by the Canadian Consolidated Rubber Company Limited. RMS was a self-sustained division of Dominion Tire Company which was acquired by Uniroyal, but operating and maintaining its own facilities for sales and manufacturing. Although Uniroyal would be RMS’ largest client during the period, economic conditions saw the company branch into other industries and begin manufacturing machines for such diverse purposes as producing medicated Band-Aids and cutting wooden bungs for whiskey barrels, and products such as portions of the (now removed) peri-telescopes on the CN Tower. 

How to make a lathe

 We were talking about the proliferation of lathe manufacturers at the turn of the last century, this Lindsay books reprint of a 1920 South Bend booklet shows how prevalent machine tools were in society.       This is an instruction book to build your own lathe at the school shop. Comprehensive instructions, full drawings and the cheater page at the end, if you can't cast these parts yourself, your implied "substandard" school can't do the process (ok, I exaggerate), South Bend can supply the rough cast parts you need.

 Lindsay books used to supply reprints of long gone technical books, he closed the business in 2012.

 

Bugatti 35C

 1928 Bugatti 35C, known as ‘Genie, from the Alan Haworth collection.

   The car was sold to John Bentley in 1989 and as of 2019 is owned by collector Peter Rae who has ensured its safe keeping and in as near original condition as essential maintenance allows amid its utterly authentic originality. GNE’s current value must be heading towards £5 million.  Ownership history from Porschecarhistory.

Save wheat, save meat

  I've read lots about the severe hardship experienced by England after WW2, export or die, gas rations etc., but wasn't aware there was a similar situation on this side of the Atlantic. These posters from 1947 promote the American voluntary food conservation campaign aimed at preventing famine in post-WWII Europe and curbing inflation. Introduced by President Truman, the campaign encouraged citizens to help feed a devastated world while stabilizing the economy.