There are a couple of things that I noticed, that I would consider removing from the website, if I were them.

One of the first statements on the front page of one of their articles from the time, says something to the effect of "We gathered together some of our best engineers...."

Now granted I am not an engineer, but when I first read about this, one of the first things that I said to myself was "What about the water?" Being that they built tons of bunkers and missile silo's even prior to 1957, I'm sure that the intrusion of water to anything buried below ground was not foreign to them. I would love to speak to one of the persons that designed the vault and ask them why they did not take(more?) measures to at least try to keep water out. One of the articles written after the opening, stated that at one time the water was above the roof line of the car. If you will look at the pictures of the vault right after it was opened, you can see the mineral stains at different levels on the walls of the vault, where the water was at various times. It appears that the only thing that kept the water level from going any higher was the lid of the vault. It may have been a little non-traditional, but I never did understand why they did not put a small hole, say a half-inch in diameter into the top, that would have allowed air to circulate, and , if needed a hose to be inserted from time to time and draw any accumulated water out. They were banking on success 50 years later. Since technology did not afford such small electronics at that time, they would have had no reason to suspect that cameras would at one time be small enough to see into the vault.

Also in one of the pictures there is a sign that is mounted in the vault that tells the name of the company that poured the concrete. That is odd now, taking into account the fact that the vault really failed for it's intended purpose. It is only as good as the people that designed it, though.

I'll see if I cannot find the picture tommorrow and edit the post.

Sad sad saga. Killing a perfectly good 1957 Plymouth because of faulty engineering.

-FF
1986 Fiero 2M6

quote Originally posted by Fieros_Forever: There are a couple of things that I noticed, that I would consider removing from the website, if I were them. One of the first statements on the front page of one of their articles from the time, says something to the effect of "We gathered together some of our best engineers...." Now granted I am not an engineer, but when I first read about this, one of the first things that I said to myself was "What about the water?" Being that they built tons of bunkers and missile silo's even prior to 1957, I'm sure that the intrusion of water to anything buried below ground was not foreign to them. I would love to speak to one of the persons that designed the vault and ask them why they did not take(more?) measures to at least try to keep water out. One of the articles written after the opening, stated that at one time the water was above the roof line of the car. If you will look at the pictures of the vault right after it was opened, you can see the mineral stains at different levels on the walls of the vault, where the water was at various times. It appears that the only thing that kept the water level from going any higher was the lid of the vault. It may have been a little non-traditional, but I never did understand why they did not put a small hole, say a half-inch in diameter into the top, that would have allowed air to circulate, and , if needed a hose to be inserted from time to time and draw any accumulated water out. They were banking on success 50 years later. Since technology did not afford such small electronics at that time, they would have had no reason to suspect that cameras would at one time be small enough to see into the vault. Also in one of the pictures there is a sign that is mounted in the vault that tells the name of the company that poured the concrete. That is odd now, taking into account the fact that the vault really failed for it's intended purpose. It is only as good as the people that designed it, though. I'll see if I cannot find the picture tommorrow and edit the post. Sad sad saga. Killing a perfectly good 1957 Plymouth because of faulty engineering. -FF 1986 Fiero 2M6

http://tulsaworld.com/webex...rom63781&archive=yes

Employees of True Gun-All Equipment Corp, set reinforcing steel in place this morning, preparatory to lining the big hole with concrete.

http://tulsaworld.com/webex...rom63710&archive=yes

Only technical difficulties ``such as striking oil in making the excavation,'' stood in the way today as Golden Jubilee, Inc., prepared to bury a new Plymouth automobile and assorted 1957 artifacts in a vault in the Courthouse lawn to be unearthed 50 years hence.

The technical difficulties also included finding some material for a vault which would assure that the ``time capsule'' and its contents would remain intact for 50 years.

Everything else was arranged including the automobile supplied through the cooperation of the Plymouth division of the Chrysler Corp. via the Wilkerson Motor Co. here.

The car will be covered with a special preservative provided by the Dobeckmun Co. of Cleveland, Ohio, a casing developed during World War II to protect military equipment. The encapsulating, the goo itself, and two company representative all were donated by Dobeckmun.

``The two company representatives,'' hastily explained Chairman Lewis Roberts of the Golden Jubilee Time Capsule Burial Committee of the Golden Jubilee, Inc., section of the Oklahoma Semi-Centennial Celebration Commission, ``are not being donated. Only their services.''

quote Originally posted by jweisman: I heard they found Hoffa in the trunk

Heard a funny, funny incident once regarding Hoffa.

Back in the days before the kind of talk radio we have now, there was a host here in Houston who had a reputation for being pretty harsh with callers. His name was Alvin Van Black. I heard this phone call while driving between clients one afternoon.

A few months after Hoffa vanished, a woman called Alvin telling him that she KNEW where Hoffa could be found. This drew a series of questions and insults from the host, belittling the woman. She maintained her stance. She must have been some body's grandmother. She sounded so nice, and knowledgeable, though a little naive.

Finally, the host had had enough. He said, "OK, Where is he?"

"Well...he's working in a maternity hospital in the northeast. He's in charge of labor."

I nearly ran off the road. I couldn't see through the tears. She sucked all the oxygen out of the air!

Alvin Van Black was silent.