Bush Mechanic

Hi, Michelle. Sorry for finding this so late. Perhaps I can offer a little history regarding your car. In 1967 it was sold by R L Twentyman of Northcote in Vic, along with my own car, chassis number 5191, to Ron Davis of Ringwood, for the sum of $350 for the pair. (I have the receipt for that sale). It seems Mr Davis sold off chassis number 5949, and dismantled #5191. After his death in 2016 I acquired the remains of #5191, which I have subsequently restored. I believe I have utilised one or two minor parts of #5949 in the restoration. My research shows me that the chassis number of the Grand Prix entrant was 5945, engine #5949. The numbers on your car are reversed, but it may possibly be the Grand Prix car of W H Lowe. The engine numbers generally ran ahead of the chassis numbers with these cars, but yours may be an exception. 5949 should be a late car of the 'shaft driven OHC with magneto' type engine, possibly late 1925 or early 1926. I assume that you purchased it from Neil Kelly, whom I spoke with when he offered it for sale through 'Brass Notes'. It was later offered for sale on Facebook. Good luck with the restoration, if that is your intention. Mick Peart

Thanks Ryan95, It seems it's just a matter of terminology. Your 'joiner' is called a planer here, and your 'planer' is known as the thicknesser. And I take your point regarding the hand saws. I find 'western' tenon saws more difficult to achieve precise cuts with, but that is just me. And I prefer the lightness of the Japanese saw. Also the ability to slip in another blade as required. Personal choice.

Interesting thread. I am certainly no expert, but have built two and a half wooden car bodies recently. The tools I found indispensable were:- A good wood worker's vise. Two Japanese hand saws, a Dozuki and a Kataba. from memory about 20 and 16 tpi. A selection of very sharp chisels, including gouges. A spoke-shave A router mounted in a table, for sheet-metal to timber rebates. Hand-held jigsaw Hand held belt sander, to follow after the spoke-shave. Linisher, (a larger fixed belt sander) So not a huge outlay for someone starting into a wooden body. I do use the band saw at the local car-club workshop, and visit a friend who has a table saw, thicknesser etc to size the initial timber stock. Mortices are cut by hand, with the Japanese saws and chisels. Those saws are wonderful tools. Very thin (replaceable) blades and fine teeth, and as mentioned, cutting on the pull stroke. I don't know what a 'jointer' is, but it does sound useful. And tapered drill bits were available in my youth, but not locally at present. It seems I should be looking on-line for those. Most likely you have different names for the same tools in the US. I find it very satisfying work, and much more fun than finishing sheet metal.

I believe McMaster-Carr stopped dealing with Australian customers due to our new government requirement for GST to be charged on overseas orders. Too much paperwork, apparently. Although I have not tried to order there for a year or so, so it may be worth a try. I have not found a supplier in Aus. with the depth and range of McMaster-Carr.

$950

We lived in a rural area, on a main highway. Our only neighbours were three generations who lived in two houses. Old Aub Scarce drove a dark blue model A Ford, which he had bought new. I scored a ride to town in it once, which was memorable. His son bought an FE or FC Holden, but sadly was T boned and killed trying to get out of his driveway. So Aub drove the grand kids to school in the model A every day, and was still driving it in the early 1970's.

Or just make them from scratch. You can put the genuine burrs on with the screwdriver, when you tighten them up. 🙂

Standard practice, when you're young and silly!

While not a pre-war car, we almost came to grief with 1953? MG ZA Magnette after fitting radials. Admittedly we used the Magnette centres and welded on Volvo rims, 1" wider than original. We were road-racing the car, and after a long mountain stage and chasing an E type Jag downhill, three of the rims had serious radial cracks from the bolt holes. Just too much side load on wheels meant for cross ply tyres. I was mighty glad that I inspected the wheels at the lunch break.

The pilot hole trick is certainly the way to go. Sometimes you get lucky, and are able to get the job onto the milling machine. Then you can end-mill a flat onto an angled break to aid in centring the pilot drill. Especially useful when the stud is below the surface. Some end-mills will leave a dimple, but this can be punched down before introducing the centre-punch. I'm not averse to trying a round or oval burr for a starting cut in the mill, either. Easy-outs can work on finger-tight studs. Which are a rare species, as seizure is the usual cause of breakages.. The stud removers/installers shown by 2carb40 above are a very useful tool, despite their tendency to leave three indents if contacting the actual thread. Far more elegant than two nuts locked together. They are not designed for broken studs, though.

When we were touring in the US, Frank Duval took the time out to show us his collection, and Avantey welcomed us to his home for a weekend, and a drive of one of his cars. Generosity to strangers. I'm very thankful to them, and all of the folk who have offered their wisdom as I learn about the pre-war stuff. And also to SebastionBuick for an invite to visit in France, which was knocked on the head by covid. It's world-wide hobby, with many fine people involved. Thanks, Guys.

Your Grandmother was right once again, JV.

Bob, I think Herman has a Studebaker, an imperial car, in a metric country. The hardware shops won't be able to help him much there. I suspect he is reaching out to you car guys in the US.

The serious shortage of owls in this district has been put down to them eating poisoned rodents. And despite allowing a couple of large poisonous snakes to live in the garden, I usually still have to trap some mice in Autumn, when they try to move inside. Those pesky little critters just keep doing their own thing.

Roundabouts have been in use in the urban areas here in Tasmania for many years, at the intersections that can benefit from them. When folk learn how to use them the traffic flows much better than with lights, and the number of intersection collisions is way down. While the dinky little roundabouts installed in residential areas are annoying, they do slow down the speedsters. The centre islands are usually sloped to allow heavy transport tyres to ride up over them. Roundabouts are very common in Europe, and the drivers know how to use them. We rented a car in France, and took it back to the depot because the darned thing stalled at every traffic stop. Nothing obvious amiss under the bonnet, either. I did feel a little silly when told it was meant to do that, as a new anti-pollution feature.