1957 Ford Country Sedan mocha silver V8 4dr wagon

[mustang6984]

Careful about throwing around those invites sir! I am about 18 months away from moving to my chosen locale for retirement...and about a year after that...I will be loose upon the world..free to travel where I please. However...I shall not be flying in...I am done with flying. I'll come over on one of those REALLY big canoes...you know the ones...7-8 decks high with lots of food on board? 

[petew]

Jim, I am thinking of building a cup shaped filter from brass mesh that will go in the radiator inlet neck nicely and can be cleaned out easily.

Google "Gano Filter" it's a coolant system filter that is easily removed for cleaning.

[djfordmanjack]

way cool tip !
I had never before heard or seen this. Thank you so much !

[petew]

You're welcome , seemed like the perfect answer to your problem .

[djfordmanjack]

Guys,.... after 10 months of hard work and many a $ spent, I was finally able to register the 57 today. Lots of bureaucracy had to be dealt with and everything from triple inspection to taxes to insurance and police permit is behind me as of today. Actual plates and sticker on car and good to go until 07+4=11/2019 
Replaced an obvioulsy faulty power valve today and she seems to run much better than lately when a set of fouled spark plugs nearly stopped her.
Took her for a nice short drive downtown this evening and I am happy !

[hiball3985]

Congratulations That was a major hurdle.

[mustang6984]

Ah...the victory lap! Congrats sir!!!

[Ecode70D]

OK... Let's see now.......
10 months of bureaucracy
Triple inspection
Taxes
Insurance
Police permit
200 miles each way for inspection

Now that you are legal I have the two questions.
  How often can you drive the car, and approximately how much in dollars did you spend , not counting the work that you put into the car? 
   I'm starting to get the feeling that they don't want people to be driving old cars.   

[mustang6984]

OK... Let's see now.......
10 months of bureaucracy
Triple inspection
Taxes
Insurance
Police permit
200 miles each way for inspection

Now that you are legal I have the two questions.
  How often can you drive the car, and approximately how much in dollars did you spend , not counting the work that you put into the car? 
   I'm starting to get the feeling that they don't want people to be driving old cars.

LOL!!! Kind of like trying to license a home-built in CA. Or a resurrected car for that matter.

[djfordmanjack]

Yes, it is not getting easier. The federeal inspection person even complained about the rough looks and paint of my wagon. There is a condition rule in historic vehicles that says cars have to be in cond #3 ( from 1-excellent to 5-non running projects). #3 means clean paint and no surface rust. That was just a so-so with my wagon and close.
Anyways, Jay, concerning your question. taxes and insurance will be roughly around $1000 a year and I must not drive it more than 120days and 1900miles a year.....I need to keep a roadbook for and with the car. That's the official laws. I have been told though, that there are people who stretch those rules just somewhat, but I do not know any of them in person.

I spend roughly 4.5k to get the car streetlegal here ( it was roadworthy and even registered in the UK when purchased). Not counting my approximate 600 working hours. It's a long way from when we used to get a can of paint and a few bolts fromt he home improvement store, to keep our old cars running, like we did 20+ years ago.
It has become very complicated, and they do not want old cars on the streets for environmental reasons (they say). all they want is really selling and selling and sellign of new junk, collecting taxes and wrecking 'brandnew' cars after 7-10 years. The energy needed to BUILD one average new car will make up for 50k miles of driving a used one. Not counting how the new wrecks need to be recycled and need even much more energy for the electronics, aluminium, fibreboard, foam and whatnot getting recycled. In my opinion, this is just a BIG lie. driving and keeping an old car on the road is not doing more harm to environment than frequently buying and wrecking new ones. JMHO. my 62 Mercury Comet easily averaged 25mpg with its 144cui six and my 1964 4 cyl Ford Taunus wagon does better than 30 !!!! well, and where's the 54 years of evolution ? ( Let's not start to talk about saftey, because that is a whole different topic, as we all will agree)

[Ecode70D]

    That's just plain awful.  I can't imagine having to log into a book and record the mileage every time that I take one of my cars out for a drive.  That's precisely the reason that I have never used antique plates, because in my state there are also certain restrictions, but not that bad as yours.  If we have an antique car without the antique plates, there are no restrictions.  When you were here did you notice that  none of my antique cars had antique plates?   Now couple that problem with 50 states and every one is different.
      Is it my understanding that the cops can stop you at any time and check your book?     
      I suppose that it is mostly about money because there is no logic to most of that stuff.
         

[mustang6984]

    That's just plain awful.  I can't imagine having to log into a book and record the mileage every time that I take one of my cars out for a drive.  That's precisely the reason that I have never used antique plates, because in my state there are also certain restrictions, but not that bad as yours.  If we have an antique car without the antique plates, there are no restrictions.  When you were here did you notice that  none of my antique cars had antique plates?   Now couple that problem with 50 states and every one is different.
      Is it my understanding that the cops can stop you at any time and check your book?     
      I suppose that it is mostly about money because there is no logic to most of that stuff.
       

Oregon has been experimenting with computers installed in cars that record the miles you drive, then they bill you accordingly. Idea is that in time they will do away with gas tax or lower licensing fees, and charge people for the amount they actually drive on the roads.
Problem with that is people who NEED to drive, will pay much more than those who barely drive, and if you work a low-paying job, and live a considerable amount of distance from the city where your job is...because that is where you can AFFORD to live, there will be yet another bill for you to shell out cash on every month from already meager paychecks.
Technology is making "big brother" a bigger intrusion into people's lives all the time. UGH!

[djfordmanjack]

Jay , yes I know that you don't have historical registrations on your cars. I would have applied for a non histo, if it wasn't for....more rules....hahaha.... just in short. we MUST not and can not register a car older than 20 years with older environmental issues in Austria if it is imported from the US. BUT...if the car was a former in -state car or it came from the European Union, it is not an issue. so that means. GB residents are good to import a vintage car from the US, and there are no environmental laws in England for pre 60 cars I believe, so my og San Francisco based wagon was registered in Birmingham, UK as an everyday car, even with holes in floor and a-posts. Since the UK are still member of the Union, it was ok for me to import it without toll and customs taxes and I could have registered as a modern vehicle without environmental issues. BUT I would have had to pay 20% NOVA (environmental) tax, not on the purchase price, but on actual collectors value ( same as in Mass).
that means 20% x20k thats 4k for just registration taxes. the historical exempt allows for a zero Nova tax permit ( which I had to get from my local tax department). Well, that said, we still pay another 20% environmental pollution fee on registration taxes, which is another $150 a year or so, even though registered as per histo vehicle law. and then we can only drive them 120 days a year. and we have to pay for 365 days of road tax and highway toll....well.... and we pay, and we pay, and then we pay some more. and after all is paid, we still pay some more....
in 22 years of driving histo plate cars ( and then some !) I have never been asked by a police officer to show the roadbook. I have yet to meet one in a hundred or more vintage car friends I know in person, that actually HAS a roadbook. WHAT ? I hear you ask....
You would have to understand European thinking, and I know that you do, Jay. Much of all of that bureaucracy still dates back to the empires of 19th century and has been overruled and obsolete, and they are still keeping on, as to why, nobody knows.
It seems that officers are advised to NOT check the roadbooks.
Now, in come the Maseratis, Porsches, Jags and 300SL. You know who owns those precious and expensive cars. not the eaverage person. And they like to run long distance Oldtimer ralleys and frequently. the go on the Mille Miglia in Italy. which is a 1000 miles race and they drive theri cars back all the same. so that is 200o miles for one rally. Now I would like to see the organizers and driver's faces if they had to stop at 1900 mls.....hahaha.... some of my collector friends say, there will be vintage cars on the road for as long as wealthier persons want to take out their 1million $ ferarris and the like. Which is a good thing for the little and average vintage car guy like us. Let them roll !

[djfordmanjack]

Hugh, I feel your concerns and yes it is a tough thing for the average working person. electronic devices will be used in future, but they need to help low income people getting to their job.

[hiball3985]

Here in the land of fruits and nuts they want everyone to be in an electric car or a bicycle. On one of our local 4 lane roads they just took two lanes away for bicycles only, so now you 30 cars backed up sitting there idling at the stop signal while one guy goes by on a bicycle 

The future of electronic monitoring by big brother is scary. I see the day in the future when every time you go over the speed limit it makes an automatic deduction from your bank account