Sharing a few of my recent flea market finds. This is not a late April's Fool post!

I know what kitsch means.

First of all, is this velvet painting of rather questionable taste. I remember seeing these things for sale at the San Jose flea market back in the early 1970's. Besides Devils, there were sad eyed children, voluptuous nudes, Matadors, ferocious tigers, equally sad clowns, African American couples sporting huge Afros, dolphins jumping out of the water and various portraits of Jesus, Elvis Presley and President Kennedy.

These velvet paintings were so common at this time, but try looking for one now. They have been replaced by these equally awful plastic 3 D pictures. The velvet paintings are not often found in thrift stores like Goodwill or the Salvation Army, especially ones with "questionable " subject matter like the cautionary tale related in my recent find. I actually remember this exact image, which was available in different sizes. I recall that there was a version that included a Harley Chopper. Just another vehicle to take you down the "Road to Ruin!"

I could imagine that some young biker had this thing hanging in his room or apartment. When he moved in with his girl friend or got married, his new Woman probably tossed that thing into the rubbish heap! Or after he was gone, his long suffering Mother tossed this questionable work of art into the trash! That's probably why so few have survived.

Now that I've found this one, my quest is to find the one with the Chopper!

The early Z car was an influential design.

A lot less questionable was my find of two, (count them, two!) Datsun 240Z Tonka toys. I didn't even know that these things existed. Genuine steel Tonka toys. Even at the peak of my Z involvement I never saw one, or heard of these things being mentioned. They would have been a great find for a Z lover. I did an internet search and found that they aren't as valuable as I hoped that they would be. But I bet that any Z fan would find them as irresistible as I do.

Pure patina and simple mechanical beauty

Bold gears and screw drive.

My last find was an antique automotive jack. It has an exposed gear drive with just the right amount of patina. Manufactured by the Elite manufacturing Co. of Ashland Ohio it carries a patent date from 1908. This jack just has such a beautiful mechanical appearance, with the exposed gear and screw drive. This jack dates from the era of the Model T Ford and it still works. I don't know for certain, but I wonder if it is constructed from cast iron as opposed to steel, so I don't know what load capacity it can handle. I'm sure that Model Ts and the like were much lighter than the average ton and a half car of Today, not to mention the two ton plus,  SUVs and trucks that are now so commonplace.


I still enjoy looking for treasures at local swap meets though I've mostly been restricting myself to actual "antique faires."  I attend these with my Wife. I've found some great stuff at those faires, and swap meets, though not always auto related.

I had a previous couple of posts a few years ago, where I shared pictures of my Den, and some of the treasures that I had on display there.  I've added a few things to my collection since then.

XK 120 Fixed head coupe.

I've got a great aluminium model of a Jaguar XK120 fixed head coupe. I saw this at the Clovis antique fair that was held in conjunction with the British car show a couple of years ago. I initially passed on it. Upon my return I was disappointed to see that it had been sold. When my Wife and I were leaving, she unwrapped a paper bundle and presented me with the model. I lucked out that time!

I had wanted an aluminum airliner model, as these were very popular in the 1940s. I had previously passed on a couple that I had found. At the time, I didn't realize how much these things were selling for.  They are quite expensive. I settled for a cruder reproduction from Hobby Lobby. I would bide my time until the right example came along.

It sports the period vibe.

While touring a shabby little thrift store in Oildale, my Wife spied an interesting find. A very appealing aluminum model of what could be the famous flying boat, "The China Clipper." I don't know the vintage of this model, but it does seem to be more in spirit with what I was hoping for. At 25.00 it was quite the bargain.


A trip to a small swap meet and car show in the town of Gustine resulted in a pleasant find. A very common, but very attractive model of an early S Type Jaguar sedan.

There's just something about a white Jag.

At a swap meet in Capitola I found a pressed "tin" model of an early Mercedes SLR. It is made in Japan which leads me to believe that it is from the late 1950s or early 1960s.

Everyone needs a Mercedes.

Probably the only Aston Martin that I''ll ever be able to afford!

I even found a replacement for the little James Bond Aston Martin DB5 model that I once had, but disappeared.


I'm very excited about attending the British car swap meet at Dixon Ca. on May 19th.  Dixon is a small town just south of Sacramento, just a few hours drive away. I am curious about what treasures are waiting for me there. Unfortunately, the timing of this swap meet is in direct conflict with one of my favorite automotive events.

I will be sorry to miss Friendship Day, sponsored by the Mid Peninsula Antique car club. This event has been postponed for the last two years. I've gotten to see some very impressive cars close up and speak with their owners. Everyone there has always been very welcoming and friendly, just like the name would imply!

Not my best work. More bodges that I'm not proud of.

The velcro seemed like a good idea at the time.

That sticky mess of melted velcro adhesive would still allow the rear view mirror to slip down. Usually while going over a sharp bump or pothole. I got to the point where I would reflexively reach over and push the mirror back up into position.

I had tried a few different fixes. I tried bending the mounting clamp edges in a bit, but that hardly made a difference. I cut some closed cell foam and jammed it up into the clamp before forcing the mirror back in place. I was always worried that too much force might result in a broken windshield.

I visited Pick and Pull and bought a mirror from an XJ8 and thought that I might give that a try. I wasn't sure if the wiring was the same.

I also picked up an oval shaped mirror from a Crown Vic, if I gave up on trying to use the OEM part.

Eventually the velcro strips seemed like the best idea. It seemed to work, for a while at least. The heat in the windshield melted the adhesive. Like many things I learned to ignore it.

A couple of years later (!) I'm finally disgusted enough to try a better fix.

Inside the sunglass holder this screw head is visible.
A quarter turn is all it took.

I did some research on the Jaguar Forums and learned how to remove the control panel and access the wiring. I unplugged the wire and completely removed the mirror.

This is the sunroof motor. Right between those brass colored holding clips
 I found a ready made hole.

First I cleaned up the melted goo off the mirror arm with WD40. Then I cleaned that off with Castrol Super Clean.

This sloppy looking fix has been sitting there in plain sight for a couple of years.

This is the mounting button area all cleaned up. I was prepared to mount an American style
universal button underneath this if needed. Note the little protrusion at the top of the plate.

I applied the same process to the windshield. I tried tightening the clips again, with no success. Hey, I gave it a try. It appears that that area in front of the wire is supposed to click into place with the little protrusion at the top of the button plate.

You can see the clips and past evidence that someone tried to glue it on.

The mirror mounts by sliding it up into the mount from below.  I figure that it was designed to break away when struck in a collision.


To keep it from sliding down I figured that I would string something through the mount and fasten it to a screw under the switch panel. If it can't slide down it can't fall off. A simple solution that is undetectable.

I worked a length of bailing wire around the mount leaving to long untrimmed ends.

The ends were wound one way and the other the other way.

I didn't even have to drill a hole as there was already one provided for me. I inserted a plastic anchor and screw.

I wound the ends of the wire around the screw, restraining the downward movement of the mirror.

With everything back in place, the fix was completely hidden. While threading the wire I was concerned that I might have damaged one of the mirror dimming wires. I didn't want to risk having a short circuit in that area, so I left the plug disconnected but taped it securely in place. It wasn't like the mirror had been auto dimming before this.

I found out why.

Those dark spots spell trouble. I've read that there is a light sensitive liquid
 encased in the mirror that can leak out. It's refereed  on the forums as Dragon's Blood! 

Some double sided tape and it was as good as new.

A new mirror glass had been glued over the existing mirror. There was some dark spotting evident on the original mirror. The replacement glass had fallen out while I was cleaning up the unit. Well, it wasn't going to work now either, but at least it wasn't going to fall off while driving either.

Not the kind of repair that I would proudly share with my fellow members of Jaguar Forum. But it worked! My quality of life while driving has been measurably improved.

Now to do something about those shock absorber mounts.

Nothing to be proud of here. Sacrificial tires.

Step one, remove wheel.

Recently I've been so busy that I haven't had much opportunity to work on any of my cars, even a little bit.

Now it seems as though I'm finally going to get a free moment or two.

I've had to face a basic truth, that I like to drive my cars, and I miss them when I don't.

Driving them is my little reward for all the hard work that I do.

It is the whole reason behind all this hobby car business.

My XJS has been sitting on ramps and jacks for several months now. I found that the battery has gone completely flat. The most important question hasn't been answered yet. Gonna put that on hold for a bit more.

My XJ6 has been sitting because the bad suspension has worn out the inner treads of the front tires. I also recall that the steering felt very twitchy. After looking at the old tire I realized that it had also sustained a tread separation which caused a bubble in the tread. Replacing it with the spare settled down the steering again. The real problem has been that I've needed to use my truck every day for the last couple of months. So I just let the car sit, I'd get to it eventually.

But I really wanted to drive my car. Last week I started it up.

I noticed that the car was making a bad squealing sound and the steering was very hard.  Sure enough, I checked the power steering fluid level and it was pretty low. I topped it off and the sound disappeared as well as the stiffness. I had noticed a red fluid leak so it appears that the power steering system is leaking.

Down to the cords.
What a shame the rest of the tread is still pretty good.

The next day I drove the XJ to work, but I was concerned about having a blowout from wearing the tire down to the cords.

Well, I would prefer to properly fix the suspension first, but what I needed right now was to replace the front tire. I took a trip to Calderon's, the used tire store. I found a pretty good tire that cost me 60.00. Those used tires aren't as cheap as they used to be. But the price includes mounting, balance, and disposal. I brought the spare wheel in loose. I've had a bad experience at another used tire shop. They were very sloppy in lifting my minivan and damaged the pinch weld on the rocker panel. That really ticked me off since it made it look like the car was owned and worked on by a klutz. I've had much better luck at Calderon's.

The installer was taking quite awhile putting the tire on. He told me that this rim was in really bad shape. It is a chromed stock alloy rim. He pointed out that he had found water in it, and the tire bead sealing lip  was badly oxidized. It did look a mite pitted. He said that It might not hold air. The tech scrubbed and sanded the seating area and even applied a heavy coating of sealer, but still wasn't sure if it would work. I told him that I would hope for the best.

After installing the left front tire I checked the right front tire and realized that I'm going to have to replace that one pretty soon also.

Here's my 60.00 used tire prepared to give up it's life.

The title mentions "sacrificial tires." What does that mean? It simply means that I know that the worn suspension is going to grind the inner treads off of these used tires. I know that they aren't going to last that long, but it's more important, (to me) that I get some use out of this car. I spent 180.00 on a new battery last year. I don't want to ruin that! I'm going to keep a log of how long these used tires last.

The fault lies not in the stars,
but in those  suspension arms.

After the XJ passed the smog test last year, I realized that I had two years before I had to go through the whole hassle again.

I don't like just putting on band aids, but I also don't like letting the car just sit. So there are a few things that I need to attend to.

Replacing the worn front tires will eliminate the possibility of a blow out.

I've noticed a clunk going over bumps which I think is from the upper shock absorber mounts. I've ordered those from Rock Auto. It's not too big a job, I've done that on the XJS already. More about that on my next post.

On the drive back from buying the car in L.A. I had the rear view mirror fall off. I stuck it back on, but there is a problem with the mount. I tried tightening the clip but that didn't seem to work. I came up with this bogus idea of sticking it on with tape. I figured that the velcro tape would stick better and resist melting in the high heat of the windshield area. It doesn't. It's a bit surprising to me that the adhesive actually melts. I've lived with this problem for quite a while.

Not my finest hour.

I went to the wrecking yard and found a mirror from an XJ8 and another from a regular Ford. If I get that fed up with the Jag part, it's easy enough to just glue a new mirror mount button on.

I'm going to fix it one way or the other.

Today after I filled up the gas tank the CEL came on as I drove away.

I've have driven the car for a long time with the CEL on. The car has always run well, and even the fuel economy hasn't been affected, so I don't think that it's dumping tons of extra pollutants into the atmosphere. For some reason aging Jaguars are very susceptible to triggering codes. It's a common problem well reported on the forums. My '96 Mustang with over 200,000 miles has only tripped the CEL when a leaking intake manifold allowed water into a couple of spark plug enclosures.

I just hooked up the code reader and cleared the code. Better than covering up the CEL with a piece of black tape!

Since I passed the smog test last year, I've got the remainder of 2019 and all of 2020 before I really have to worry about passing smog again. My goal is to get the XJ6 into good enough shape to drive around locally. Then I'll go on from there.

Like I stated at the beginning, bodges and procrastination, nothing to be be proud of is happening here.

"Hey, I could make a living doing this!" The final installment.

This is where it ends.
Quite a come down from having an actual shop of my own.

Trying to find a way to cut costs I moved my inventory out of the shop into -------- a public storage space. But not just any tiny storage space, a 10 ft. by 30 ft. space. I moved all the parts racks that I had built along with my metal shelving and organized it all into a most useful arrangement.

Costs were now much lower, if only for the storage. Only around two hundred and fifty dollars a month. The time and cost of transport and selling had not.

I was still doing the swap meet circuit. I kept this up for another year and a half.

I was even selling on Craig's list. I would offer a particular part and state there were more items available. If the buyer wanted to see more, they could meet me at the yard.

I would meet the buyer outside the storage yard and we would ride in together.

That's because the yard had prohibited renters from running a business from inside the units.

You just couldn't have buyers showing up at the gate expecting to get in.

I found that there were actually quite a few people running different businesses from their storage units. It usually just provided them with a place to securely store their tools and equipment. There were gardeners and construction contractors. Handymen, flea market vendors, even a guy who kept coin operated washing machines and driers for his laundromat there.

If you were running a little business and were living in an apartment, where else could you store your tools and equipment?

I had a lot of respect for guys who were hustling so hard to make a buck.

Working out of a storage unit has some advantages, but you have limited access to the unit. At the last yard where my Wife and I kept her stuff, hours were cut back to 6:00 pm. on weekends. This was quite a change from when the closing time was 9:00. That would make it hard for swap meet vendors to make it back in time to unload their truck. Maybe that was the intention.

If you are lucky enough to have access to garage at your house, or someone else's then you have a great spot to start building a business. You have the convenience of constant access to your stuff. You can work on your inventory at your convenience, which makes it easier to keep your day job running smoothly.

Eventually I reached the point where I stopped going to swap meets. I just didn't have any new inventory and had frankly just started to burn out. I just wasn't making enough money to make it worth my while. Especially considering how much time was involved.

I brought what was left of my inventory home and just started selling through CL. Generally I would meet the buyer at a nearby "neutral spot." Usually not too far from a freeway exit. I know that you have heard some horror stories of CL sellers being victimized by criminals. Luckily, I never had that experience, although I stopped meeting people at my house. No need to tempt Fate.

photo source: alcometals.com
This is where my Datsun parts ended up. Sad.

I also went through a ruthless purge. Any broken plastic interior parts, or rusted or tweaked metal was brutally discarded. Well actually it went to the metal recycling yard. I discarded almost a ton of sheet metal. It netted me very little return.

It was sad, but I had been holding onto many parts for years. Truthfully, the inventory had been picked over pretty well. All the gems were gone. Buyers were getting to be quite picky. All the local parts hoards had been exhausted, mostly purchased by me! I wasn't going to be parting out any cars at my house.

I've sold a few parts since then. I advertise them at a pretty low price, since I really want to get rid of them and I like to pass a bargain on to someone who can use it. For example, I was clearing out some early Z tail lamps. I was pricing them at around thirty five dollars apiece. The seller bought all three. He mentioned that these could have been sold for quite a bit more. I acknowledged that was true, but would he have contacted me and bought all three? The seller admitted that he probably wouldn't have, since he really didn't need them.


I still have several crates of parts stored in a little garden shed. As well as some hats and t shirts tucked away in my garage.  I've been thinking of posting on CL again. Maybe even hit another swap meet and set everything at blow out prices. I could certainly use a few extra bucks. Time will tell.

To reference a line from the poet, from T.S. Eliot, "That this is the way the World ends, Not with a bang, but a whimper."

Or maybe it just fades away slowly from disinterest!