Hemmings Classic Car – October 2019

RECAPSLETTERS Continued from page 37

Continued on page 41

through more than 20 obituary accounts,

and even the death certifi cate, which

listed pneumonia as the cause of death,

with long-term lung issues contributory

factors, but no mention of a broken jaw

or arm as a secondary cause.

Two early authors, Arthur Pound and

Maurice Hendry, covered the incident but

failed to list Byron Carter as the person

fatally injured. So, where did Carter get

injected into the story?

Louis Fourie

President, Society of Automotive

Historians

West Vancouver, British Columbia

ALWAYS GREAT TO SEE A “PLAIN-

Jane” classic, as they are just so rare! I

was wondering, though, do you know

what is the signifi cance of the “Silver

Streak” designation on the front fenders

and the dashboard under the odometer

on the 1950 Pontiac Chieftain profi led in

HCC #178?

Keep these kind of articles coming!

Ken Weber

Tampa, Florida

THE ACCOUNT OF “SAVING A

Sprite” in HCC #179 was a real boost to

my sometimes fl agging optimism. I love

the little Austin-Healeys, and have a ’62

model that is mechanically identical to

your feature car. It pains me to see how

both these models have almost vanished

from the roads, the few remaining often

being extensively modifi ed from original.

I’ve had mine for 51 years now.

After the restoration I did on mine,

I ran into something that I think has

bothered other owners of old cars with

drum brakes: the less effective braking due

to modern brake shoes’ friction mate-

rial. I’d started to notice this back in the

1980s when I couldn’t get asbestos linings

anymore, and more recently I could well

understand why most of these cars have

been converted to front discs.

Last year I started trying to fi gure out

some treatment of the modern linings that

would give them a better coeffi cient of

friction against the drums. Well, it turned

out there was a fi ne product already,

only the manufacturers didn’t know of it:

belt dressing, by Cyclo. Not every brand

works, at least for beefi ng up brake shoes.

However, when I sprayed a bit onto a

clean modern test shoe I was using in a

test setup with a spare brake drum, the

increase in friction was promising.

I cleaned the brakes, fi rst with

one of the commercial acetone-based

cleaners, then blotted on the belt

dressing—onto the shoes only, not the

drums—with a cloth. On the car, this

has given dramatically improved stop-

ping power and so far hasn’t worn off in

three months of in-town driving.

Fred Woodworth

Tucson, Arizona

I WAS FASCINATED BY THE FEATURE

in HCC #179 on Doble Steam Motors.

Abner Doble and his cars have dogged me

all my life and I would like to share some

memories.

I grew up in Daly City, California, and

it was at the Silverado Concours that my

dad took me to as a child where I saw my

fi rst Doble; the same red roadster pictured

Hemmings.com I OCTOBER 2019 HEMMINGS CLASSIC CAR 39