JoeF and Others, My Dad was the parts manager at Howell Motor Company in Wilmington NC from 1949-1951. He said most of the nightmares were leaks especially in the open back models, Traveler etc. Another interesting point is that KF was not popular in the southeast and it was hard to get dealers. He said that once they got a dealer they would establish a group of assoc. dealers under the umbrella of the main dealer. In his case there were 7 assoc. dealers that received their cars and parts through him. He said his biggest nightmare was that every day the dealers would wait till the last minute to call in their orders and he would have to fill them and take them to the bus station before he went home that night. Another thing was that there was no going to the shelf and getting a starter, generator, fuel pump, dist, carb, starter drive etc. The mechanic would come to him and get the parts to REBUILD the unit thus the details in the shop manuals explaining the rebuild sequence. Things that used to baffle the mechanics: Keep in mind that all the other established dealers in our town, Ford, Chev, Pont, Chry, Ply, Hudson, Packard,etc had the best mechanics. Can you imagine telling a newbie that he had to get a tool and spread the opening of the rear end carrier in order to get the guts out? Can you imagine telling a new body man that he had to sign out a tool to spread or pull together the hood so it would fit in the space between the fenders. I will be glad to ask him and his friend any questions about the going on's at the KF dealership including the practical jokes. Just let me know. Cheers! Bill
