Avanti R2, 1963, refresh

It is Sunday PM, September 7th. Just got home from an afternoon of Avanti fun. Greg called this morning and said that Paul Rose was over helping him put on the doors and windows of the black Avanti. When they were done they wanted to take the Avantis out to lunch. So Alice and I headed over with the green Avanti. Paul has his new 63 light metallic brown Avanti R1 and Greg had his Maroon R2. Greg took us to a local themed diner, good food, and a Cobra hanging from the ceiling.

Paul has had his Avanti since early August. He has gone through the car with a bunch of repairs and upgrades. He did pull the engine and put in new freeze plugs and a new rear main seal. He also wanted to check the clutch and flywheel. Both were just like new. The car has only 11,000 miles on her. She is mostly original to include paint and interior. She looks great. Here are a few pics for your enjoyment. It is a four speed car.

So after about 60 miles we were back home. The green Avanti ran great, except for a slight engine miss at low speed. I am putting in new plugs and adjusting the timing to hopefully take care of that problem.

And as we were driving along the transmission suddenly downshifted from D to 2nd gear. Scared the heck out of us. It finally upshifted, but this happened about 6 times before the problem disappeared. I have asked the Studebaker Drivers Club forum for their advice and counsel.

It is Monday, September 8th, AM. Going to replace the spark plugs in the Avanti this morning and see if I can eliminate that miss.

And here is Greg's weekend report. He talks about removing the intake on the black Avanti. He has a built to spec R3 engine in the car. It has R1 reworked heads with bigger valves, etc. He said that it is just not running right and suspects a vacuum leak. He told me that he was going to remove the intake to see if that had not seated correctly and leaking. The result is in his report.

Greg's report. "A great weekend it was. Weather conducive to work and play. Sunday was an especially good time. Paul Rose arrived in the morning bearing gifts in the trunk of his low mileage Studebaker. He was put to work helping me with some detail work on 5054, things that required more hands than just mine. We adjusted the fit of both doors and the hood. Also got the door glass installed on their tracks. It's little chores like this that will make a car out of it and I sure am glad those are done.

Then we were joined by John and Alice Feser in theirs to qualify our parking lot as a mini Avanti meet. Since we all had gasoline in our tanks, we paraded to a neat diner in Manassas for lunch.

Winding down this evening, I decided to remove the intake manifold to look for any vacuum leaks that would cause the 5054 engine to run rough. Nothing evident.

Thanks Paul, John, Alice and Barb for a good day."

=

Still Monday, late AM. Well, I got up early and changed the spark plugs in the Avanti. Not a real tough job, but you have to have some smaller extensions for the ratchet to get at all the plugs. And of course you have to remove the air cleaner assembly to get a two of the plugs.

The old plugs were Autolite Platinum AP85. I put these in in 2009 when I bought the car. Being a novice Avanti owner I took the advice on the plugs from a search of the web. We will see how the NOS Champion UJ-12Y perform.

The Autolite plugs were all firing, but were a off-white/brown, which tells me that they were running a bit cold. Also all had a bit of carbon build-up, and two had significant carbon build-up around the electrode, which I think was causing the stumbling. Also they were all at .040 so the gap was OK for platinum plugs. The Champions are set at .035.

Of course it started raining, so I retreated and covered up the Avanti. When the rain quits I will head back out, do some cleaning under the air cleaner area since it is off, and then put everything back together again. Then a test run.

I will run it a couple of hundred miles and then pull a couple of plugs to see what they look like and will report.

Here are pics of the old plugs.

Update: Joe Hopkins sent me this link. It describes the various issues with plugs. Very interesting. So my two bad plugs were "ash fouled". http://www.verrill.com/moto/sellingguide/sparkplugs/plugcolorchart.htm

OK, got everything back together and started up the car. Fired right up. Still raining so will not take it out until the roads dry up a bit. I will also put on the timing light and check to see where the advance is set at.

On the transmission, the consensus was either low transmission fluid or a misadjusted throttle to transmission link. So I let the engine warm up and checked the fluid. Well, it was down about a quart and a half. So filled it back up to the fill mark. This is the first time I have ever added any transmission fluid and was a bit surprised that it was low. I have to read up on the throttle adjustment procedure and measurement and check that off the list.

Oh, decided to see how many miles I have put on the car since 2009. The car had 44,068 miles when I bought it, and now has 46,470. So in about five years of ownership I have put on 2,402 miles.

Update: I read up on how to adjust the throttle to transmission linkage. Required some tweaking of the adjustable throttle rod and the linkage. All set up correctly now. Just waiting for the rain to let up so I can road test her.

Still Monday, but PM. Well I took the car out for a run. Runs fine and did not drop back into second. Even stood on it going up a couple of hills. Moved right along.

But, when I got home I put a timing light on it. The book says that it should be at 24 degrees at 1600 rpm. Well at 850 rpm we are at 24 degrees, but when we moved to 1600 rpm the line was no where to be seen. So my timing is off by at least 30 degrees. The problem is that the vacuum advance junk is hitting the intake so I cannot move the distributor back to lower the timing degrees. I think that I have to pick up the distributor, keep the rotor in the same position and rotate the distributor clockwise a few teeth so then I can move it counter clockwise to decrease the degrees. That is the plan anyway.

I also looked to see if the vacuum advance needed to be disconnected and the book said nothing about it.

Just another issue to be worked out. I guess I might have to ask Greg on this one.

It is Tuesday, September 9th, PM. I read and re-read the shop manual for the Avanti. I found the section where it describes the adjustment of the throttle rod, which modulates pressure going to the transmission. It was way out of adjustment. So adjusted it to the factory specs and took the Avanti for a ride. The transmission seems to work just fine. I will have to take it for a much longer ride to be sure. The transmission fluid was also about two quarts low so brought it up to the proper level.

I talked to Greg about his auto transmission re-builder that did his black Avanti transmission. I think I would like to find someone knowledgeable of the Borg-Warner transmission to do a complete service and adjustment. I am especially concerned that the transmission comes out of park and shifts into reverse when the engine is running. So Greg gave me a name and phone number and will see if he can help.

I also put the timing light on the engine. It is close to being correct, but the advance is too high at 1600 rpm. But the distributor's vacuum module hits the intake so I cannot lower the timing by rotating the distributor. Greg gave me the procedure to re-position the distributor. Looks like fun. Enough confusion and steps to make sure I will mess it up.

Just about finished the clean-up on the Jaguar. A week and a half before the big concours. Still waiting for the parts I ordered, and of course half of them are backordered.

It is Friday, PM, September 12th. The Jaguar is done, or at least to my level. I also changed the oil and filter, 3 gallons worth. I will do a final cleaning next Saturday and then drive 40 miles to the concours on Sunday. I also put on the hi-temp paint on the exhaust manifold. Certainly not perfect, but better than the rust. Here are before and after pics. I heated up the engine to cure the paint. I will check it tomorrow to see what the color looks like.

Also ran the Avanti, hard. Really worked the transmission and it did not miss a beat. It even downshifted into its passing gear, which is 2nd, and then upshifted fine. First time it has every done this. So looks to be a success.

On the "oh no" side, I noticed oil on the front of the engine and the underside of the hood. Got under the car to see where it might be coming from. Looks like the timing chain cover seal on the crank has let go. Gee, what is up with the old girl. So I have another job to do. The whole front of the engine has to come off and the radiator, radiator shroud, and hood have to be taken off too. At least I will also replace the power steering pump, I have a spare.

It is Wednesday, September 17th. The Jaguar clean-up is done. Ready for the big show on Sunday.

As you remember I had a rust hole in one of the battery compartments. Joe Hopkins recommended that I just drill it out with a step drill, paint it and put in a rubber grommet. Sounded like a good plan and bought a step drill and went to work on the hole. Turned out that it became exactly a one inch hole, and I just have a grommet to fit. Looks very good.

Next I tackled putting on the battery covers. I know they do not exactly fit because the one battery is larger, and the other has no battery. So I will take a deduction for having only one battery, but at least I think they will not deduct me points for not having the two covers. We will see.

Finally I decided to just brush paint the cowl in the engine bay. The plate looked terrible and your eye is immediately drawn to it. So brush painting hopefully would not make it worse. I quickly painted it and it turned out OK. Certainly not perfect, but the color is correct and it looks much better.

So with the Jaguar done and ready to go I can start on the 23 McLaughlin Buick and get her ready for Hershey on October 11th.

It is Thursday, PM, September 18th. Just could not leave the Jaguar along so finish the final vacuum of the interior. I must admit, the cleanest she has ever been.

Then I had to move the white car trailer into the front yard from the pasture. It will take the 23 McLaughlin Buick to Hershey. In order to make room for the trailer I had to move "Brownie" the 1979 Chev Van. I have had Brownie since 1981. I think I paid the princely amount of $5,500 in cash. Brownie has served us well and really looked good until we moved from Seattle to the northern VA area, also known as the rust belt. But she continued to make daily runs until her unofficial retirement in 2002. That is when we bought our 02 Chev Trailblazer. Since then she has seen very limited use, and I think that maybe she was started every six months to a year just to move her around. Well, today I said no more. She is going to be used. So attempted to start the 350 4 barrel engine. With a couple of spins she started right up. So we then went for a little ride. Everything is OK and she runs good. Decided to change the oil (was done 3 years ago), and give her a wash job. Then we ran to the local filling station and gave her fresh gas. The stuff in the tank was probably ten years old. Tomorrow, she gets an interior clean up. And then we are going for a long ride. She has some body rust and age patina, but she is back on the road.

Oh, and the white car trailer, it is full of "junk" that Alice has been collecting for a big community sale on Saturday. The sale of the stuff is going to benefit our local trail system organization. Once that is done I can move the 23 Mclaughin into it as we begin to make it ready for the show on October 11th.

Have maybe a llok at the brake fluid. It may have a high content of water since this brake fluid is probably older that 12 years...

By the way, those G-vans are less sophisticated than the Trailblazer, but, with proper maintenance, almost inderstructible.

Friday morning, September 19th, and we have a report from Greg about his black Avanti.

"Running a little late for a weekend update, or a little early. With the 5054 Avanti workspace being unheated, all Winter I look forward to the coming of warm weather. I really got gypped this Summer. And now with Fall's chill in the air and Old Man Winter bearing down my neck, I'm getting very anxious to achieve my goal of having 5054 at least able to start and run before I have to cease work on it and finish the Matheson.

At this point I've heard it snort, but it wasn't happy. Investigation proved that the replacement cylinder heads and the R-3 intake manifold weren't milled at the same angles. I won't mention that the manifold worked on real R-3 heads with no complaint.

The only reasonable remedy was to adjust the angles on the only portable component, the manifold. Not about to pull the engine apart to mill the angles on the cylinder heads since the difference is only +/- 1/2 degree.

Not wanting to risk screwing up the manifold (there aren't many of them), I thought I'd trust the job to friend Lee. In his custom engine builds he mills them every day.

He told me how to measure the difference in angles with a feeler gauge, mark it and he'd get to it. When he told me what machine he was going to use, because it has a large cutting surface, I asked how he would manage to not cut into the large lump that was in the way. He said it wasn't a problem and I figured I'd shut up and maybe learn something. Then he showed me the door and said he'd call me.

I waited and fretted for a couple days with no call. What if he cut the angle the wrong direction? How could I gracefully retrieve the manifold without torquing him off. I would do it myself.

Today I went over to see what was up and try to get the manifold back. When I surveyed the situation I saw that the manifold was mounted in the machine but no work had been done. That's when he told me he couldn't do it. There was a big lump in the way.

So now the monkey is on my back. You machinists know that there's nothing much more fun than trying to clamp a clumsy casting to a mill table. All evening was spent rigging up a way to adjust and hold it to precise angles and have it not get away during the milling operation.

I had to set it up so that I could recut the ports by .035" on the outboard edges and hardly anything at the inboard My makeshift arrangement held while I took passes .005" deep . Better safe than sorry.

With the one side milled, I'll try the other side another day."

=

It is Monday morning, early, September 22nd. This morning we have a Greg weekend report.

"On the positive side, I finished milling the manifold for Avanti 5054, tried it out and I've decided the operation was successful. Engine starts and runs like it should. That's the good news..

On a different note, I'm sad to report that the AACA's Shenandoah Region has lost another of its founding members. My friend and mentor Bob Pierce. Maybe saying something about him will help relieve this lump in my throat. Probably not.

I would have met him when I was just entering my teen years. That Ralph Stein coffee table Treasury had turned my head from hot rods towards the restoration of antique cars. Part of this change of mind was also due to a ride in Dave Plank's '23 T when he took me along backseating on a club scavenger hunt. What fun these guys were having.

Dave was a Pennsylvania transplant, arriving in Winchester in the mid fifties to manage a Hershey's restaurant. Already infected with the old car virus (it was running rampant in Pa.), the Model T key on his chain made him some friends very quickly. John Jackson and Bob Pierce among them. The old car phenomenon was growing from an unusual interest to a wholesome activity with social and historical benefits. The small group of local enthusiasts petitioned the AACA and soon became a vital addition . I fell in with this bunch in 1962 and the fellowship did alter my course in life.

I don't know why I thought I could restore a car. There wasn't any serious background in my family, but I started the search for a one. John Jackson urged me to go get the '29 Stiudebaker President roadster out Airport Road. Two hundred and fifty dollars ?!, Plank had a rusty '21 Model T not for sale, but I could have it for fifty bucks......

Then Bob Pierce stepped up with a '30 Model A Ford for one dollar. This was the beginning of a steadfast friendship. He didn't live far from home and it could be snatched with a chain.

I could afford it, Bob got a dollar and his wife Shirley got a rusty pile of junk out of the backyard.

Bob taught me to drive in his Model A's when my Dad didn't have the time. In fact my first solo was in his gleaming black '54 Buick. "Take it downtown and back".

I was often his copilot on the many club runs, watching carefully how skillfully he double clutched and caressed the shift lever into position. A Model A symphony.

He taught me how to have good fun with the old iron, like putting snow chains on the A when everything else was snowed in. A salesman by profession, sometimes I'd skip school to ride along with him on his Warenton route. Funny thing. I don't remember school but I remember those trips and the sidetrips to look for junk. He was everybody's best friend, a leader in his church and community.

Of course as life has a way of getting in the way, I found myself a resident in the Warrenton community and out of touch with so many, but I did keep in touch with him by my email posts.

And then he fell ill and when finally diagnosed as incurable, an amazing transformation took place. It was as if he was relieved. He said he'd had eighty wonderful years and began preparing his family and friends for his departure. We buried him Saturday and we sent his spirit aloft with a gaggle of balloons and the sounding of a Model A horn.

How fortunate for me to have known him. How fortunate for me to have fallen in and grown up with the members of the Shenandoah Region. Those were fun days of road trips, tours, picnics, camping out, roadside repairs and fine friends. It did alter my life."

=

Still Monday. Nice write-up from Greg. I did not know Bob. I am sure he will be missed by many. RIP.

Just a couple of stories. I was asked to show the humiliation of the car trailer hauling "treasures". I should not speak ill of the endeavor to sell at the flea market. The girls made over $1,400. They were very happy and the trailer is half as full, but not empty. Today we have to move the remaining stuff over to the other enclosed trailer so I can move the 23 McLaughin Buick into the white one for its trip to Hershey in early October.

An on an amazing note. You remember three months back when we picked up another two cats, Cricket and Bella. Well, I did not tell you that Cricket disappeared the next day. She growled and hissed at us that first day, and was not happy at being on the farm being a city girl. So I guess she decided to walk back home. We looked and looked for a week and then we had to head to Seattle for three weeks. We did not forget about her, but wished her well and hoped that she did not end up as critter food. A bit over two months have now passed, and still not a sign of Cricket.

Then a few days ago I was feeding the llamas and out popped a black cat from under the barn floor. It was Cricket. A little skinny, but OK. So scooped her up, growling and hissing and brought her inside the house. She was hungry for sure. We let her head back out, but fed her twice a day under the barn. Gradually, over a few days of petting and talking, she decided that she liked us. Now she is in the house and not leaving. Decided she liked the farm.

Ah! the animal stories! Fortunately for Cricket, this one has a good outcome. Probably Cricket is like our dog: Juma hate flies and most all what's flying. She is happy inside the house...

Still Monday. Well the Jaguar Concours is over. It was a great show with over 60 fine cars in attendance. We even had a good turnout of XK 120s, more than I have ever seen, to include two Fixed Head Coupes like ours. All the cars were beautiful to include a couple of new F Types that the dealership brought in. A bit over my head for a two seater, $110,000 on the window sticker, but they sure looked like fine modern cars. The oldest Jaguar there was a 1950 Mark V in great condition. There were many XKEs and many XJ6s; and many Jags of the modern area.

We were judged in the Champion class. With everything exposed a five person judging team poured over our green machine. I must say they looked at every nook and cranny. At the end they went over my defects and I had to sign off on them. I figured where I would get major deductions and I was almost right on.

I lost major points for an incorrect generator (I have an alternator), a non-standard fuel filter that the judge could see, a non-standard oil line (braded line versus a hard line) and radio speakers on the back deck. I am sure I also received a few partial deductions for some minor stuff. But all in all she looked really good, and we lots of visitors. It was a lot of fun for sure.

Our competition in the Champion class with two other FHCs. Both were direct from restoration shops. They were stunning. Both received over 99 in the judging scale. The green one was almost perfect, the silver one was very good, but had quite a few modifications like an aluminum radiator, disc brakes, etc.

In the end the Green car won first place, the Silver car, second, and our Pastel Green car, received a 3rd place award with a 97. 6 score. I was happy.

Here are some pics of the show for you morning enjoyment.

and some more pics. Oh, most of the award winners received over 99 points. So you have to be really spot on to get an award. I really do not know why were received an award with our points. Maybe it was that the car was mostly original and not restored. It was fun being judged in the Champion class, but I don't think I would do it again. An original car cannot compete with the restored cars, so I will head back to the driven class if we do it again.

The Jaguar Mark V was a stunning car. Here are the other pics I took of it.

Wow! Thanks for sharing John. We'd never see that many Jags here. The Mark 5,7,8 & 9 were seriously classy if somewhat outdated cars. That looks like Ontario Canada on the Mark 5's sheet. Is that what it is? A Jag has been on my bucket list but as I get nearer the 25th year of my forties, I don't think it will happen.

Pat, yes, he trailered it all the way from Ontario. Campbellville is just west of Toronto.

Still Monday. Alice worked all day to clean out the white trailer so by the end of the day she had done it all except for a couple of boxes that will leave in a few days. I have moved the 23 McLaughin Buick into the white trailer.

The 23 is in good shape and everything works just fine. It is just dirty and dusty from last years National Meet and a couple of short tours around the farm. My plan is to really do a deep clean starting with the underside of the car and the wheels. I have not cleaned the undercarriage since I started putting it back together in July of 2008. There is no heavy grease or oil so it will be a light cleaning.

I do have to readjust the rear brakes. The brakes are actuated by various rods and the adjustment is making them longer or shorter in order to squeeze the brake bands against the drums at each wheel. My right rear brake locks before the left side so have to get the car off the ground and have Alice work the pedal while I look and see what is happening. Brakes are critical as I only have brakes on the rear, none on the front. The emergency brake is good and it is the expanding type inside the metal wheel drum. The brakes are external to the drum and contract in order to stop the car.

I also have to take some time to free up the steering. The car is really hard to turn.

Here are a couple of pics of the car as she looks today. I will roll the car in and out of the trailer for the work. I have to put up the top to dust it off, that has to be done outside as the car is too tall to keep the top up in the trailer. The top is black, and I have a sheet covering it so it should be pretty clean anyway. I use sticky tape to clean the dust off of it after a light vacuum. Dave Coco (Trimacar on this forum) did the top for me.

John, our little Anglia has mechanical brakes too, although all 4 wheels. Pretty amazing how well they work when adjusted properly ! Oh, the show pics are great, congrats ! That big ole' Buick looks so elegant, good luck.

It is Tuesday, September 23. Oh noooooooooo! Went into town this morning and started to come home. Boy the steering is getting harder by the second. Stopped and looked at the ground and a puddle of power steering fluid is quickly forming. So limped home and pulled up on the ramps. What do I see? Well it looks like the power steering cooler has sprung a leak. The entire unit looks rusted. So I have ordered a new one and it will be here on Thursday. So tomorrow I have to take off the front bumper assembly to get to it. I have already disconnected the lines to it. A bit messy.

Then I crawled under the 23 McLaughlin Buick. Everything is just dusty. I will have to do some touch-up painting, but really, everything looks pretty good. I also put on some tire polish, rubbed it in to remove the gloss, and now it has a flat mat finish. Looks good. I will have to do both sides of each tire.

John:

I just e-mailed you about the 1910 we looked at. Sorry about your luck. I hope the new unit goes in easy. I always love to see the photos of your 23.

What "tire polish" are you using on the tires? I bought my new 550x21s from Universal also. No mater what I have used to scrub off the mold film it still shows

up. I have tried several dressings and they just add a bit of gloss. I like a smooth matt finish as you do. I guess I will have to keep scrubbing.

What is usually left is a brown /gray spotty film.

Enjoying this thread immensely. An interesting article on the Avanti:

http://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-american/curbside-classic-1964-studebaker-avanti-fall-forward-onto-the-sword-rise-like-the-phoenix/#comment-237699

Larry, I have newer, 2 years now, Universals also. I have the same problem as you. It seems like they used wax to preserve the tire during shipping to the US. My tires were made in Vietnam.

Based on a couple of recommendations and seeing results, I selected two products. I have only used the Eagle One product so far on the Jaguar and Avanti. The key is to put the stuff on with a sponge and work it in. Let it soak for about five minutes and then buff it off. This leaves the flat mat finish.

I bought the Eagle One product at WalMart, and ordered the Hot Stuff from Amazon.

Here is a pic of the products.

It is Wednesday, AM. Working on stuff for the AACA Hershey Show.

One thing that you need to show with the car are the appropriate manuals. I was lucky enough to find an original 1923 McLaughlin Buick Reference Book a few years ago. And I also have an original carburetor information and adjustment booklet. I have reproductions of the Shop Manual and a 1922 Parts Manual. These are all needed for judging. You can lose a few points for not having a Reference Book for your year and model of car. The others are optional.

Another judging are are the tools that came with the car. I was lucky enough to find a tool diagram in the 1922 McLaughlin Buick Parts Book. To add to that I met with the Buick tool expert at the Buick Nationals in Indianapolis. He drew an outline of all the wrenches that came with the car as well as point out identification marks on the other tools. Armed with that information I descended on Hershey last year. I found a dealer that had thousands of tools and I looked for hours to find almost everything. Then I had to haul around all those tools for a couple of hours until I left for the day. My back hurt when I got back to the car.

The only tool that is not correct is the tire pump. It should have a straight wooden pusher, rather than the cured one I have. Since I will will be heading for Hershey for a day before the show on Saturday, I will look for the correct type. I should be able to find the correct shape for not too much money.

I will clean all the tools before the show with a bit of oil and then polish them to remove most of it. I will not paint them. You do get points off for rust on the tools. I have seen judges for the appropriate manufacturer's mark. So just not any tool is deemed correct.

Here are pics to include one from the parts book.

My last topic of the day is on the interior of the 1923 McLaughlin Buick. Everything is correct except for the rear passenger area. The back floor should have wool carpet. The car had nothing when I bought it. However, they did put carpet on the bottom half of the front seat so I had something to go on. I also found a small scrap piece of carpet.

I have a rubber mat on the front floor. Some folks say it should be battleship linoleum. I have not seen linoleum on any original 23 Buick, so do not know what is correct.

I remembered that when I bought the car I contacted the LeBaron Bonney Co to get some samples to match the back side of the front seat. They sent me some samples and I found a match. So this morning I went through my boxes of stuff and found what they had sent me. I gave them a call and the carpet number and said that I wanted a yard. Oh no. That carpet is no longer made by the same manufacturer. They said it is a bit darker and the original stuff I wanted is no longer available. So they are going to send me a sample. I really have little choice but want to see how much darker it is.

The carpet should also have a vinyl finishing tape all the way around. I will have to see if I can find some and see if I can have it sown on before the show. If not, oh well, it is what it is.

Oh, and the carpet is about $90 a yard plus shipping, thankfully I only need a yard.

Here are a few pics to show you what I have.

John, Thanks for the pictures of the Jags, I especially liked the line of E-Types. I cut my teeth working on those cars when they were just old used (abused) cars.

Still Wednesday, early PM. Had to get busy on the Trailblazer. Heavy rain is suppose to hit us in about an hour.

Found a blog about replacing the power steering cooler and what all had to be removed. Fun job, only took about a half an hour at most. Did not break anything either. So removed the grill, driving lights, bumper cover, foam, and the steel bumper itself. It was then a very easy job to remove the two bolts holding the cooler onto the frame. The cooler itself it toast, rusted out. I guess I cannot complain too much. The truck has 175,000 miles on her with a lot of hard use. The new cooler comes in tomorrow via UPS. Bought it on Amazon as they had the best price, $91.

Only thing major on the truck for repairs was that the front differential blew a main bearing and the entire unit killed itself before I caught it. The cost for repairs was $2500, $2300 for labor. You have to remove the engine pan as the assembly is part of the engine and most of the suspension. The mechanic said that it was the worse job ever. They tell me now that it is easier to replace it when the body is off. So that is the process now.

Here are a bunch of pics.

Oh, and there is a real wild black cat hanging around the farm. And boy is he feral as you cannot even approach him if he sees you. He does come up to the back of the house so I have been leaving some food out in the morning and night. Other cats don't seem to mind him. So I guess that we now have eleven cats.

Still Wednesday, but PM. Had a few minutes so decided to jack up the front wheel of the 23 MB and begin the cleaning and detailing of the wheel and tire. I spent about twenty minutes. Here are the results. Came out very good, used Windex and a microfiber cloth. It did put on tire black on both sides of the tire. Three more to go. One of the pics is a before shot that you have seen before, and the other two are of the cleaned wheel.

It is Thursday, September 25th, PM. Done for the day, and I am pooped. Spent five hours on the 23 McLaughlin Buick. All the wheels are now done, both sides; and and the rear end cleaning on the underside of the car. Also spent some time on the chrome on the front end, and vacuumed out the interior. Tomorrow will pull it out of the trailer and put it up on ramps so I can get the remaining undercarriage and engine/transmission. May put up the top to see what work that needs.

At 4 PM the UPS trucked hauled up the driveway and dropped off the new power steering cooler. In 30 minutes I had everything hooked up and back together. The part, made in China by Dorman, was an exact fit.

I guess that today was a car day. Actually, it was rather enjoyable. Now where is that beer.

Here are some pic of today's activities.

John if you need help binding the carpet let me know, That's one of those "bring it to me and will do as you wait" deals..since we're only 40 miles or so apart....I have some vinyl binding, could also probably come up with leather binding if needed...

John:

I was talking to my students about the 23 today. So I showed the U-tube videos you made. They were impressed.

Tires are looking good. I will look forward to seeing you at Hershey.

Larry

David, thank for the offer. I will take you up on the piping for the carpet when I get it. Here are two pics of the carpet in the 1928 Buick. The carpet is original. You can see the piping and how it goes around the foot rest. I am going to assume that the 23 is very similar in construction.

Larry, hope to see you at Hershey too. I am going to spend the day there on Wednesday and also pick up my show packet for the Saturday event. One less thing to worry about.

It is Friday, September 26th. Got the 23 out of the trailer and up on ramps so I can get under it. Lots of room now to crawl around. Cleaned everything I could touch with Fantastic cleaner. Lots of cobwebs for sure, and some road grime and dust. Looks good now. Also wiped down the engine. Now it pops. All this took about three hours.

Next up will be to clean and polish the body. The interior is in good nick so should only have to wipe everything down.

Here are a few pics of the car after the cleaning.

I also need to check all the lights. They do not judge them for functionality, but I need to have them working as will be driving a couple of miles from the trailer area to the show field.

John:

I keep putting these photos into a file since you take better ones than I do. Looking great! But still enjoy seeing it in the metal!

Larry

It is Saturday, September 27th AM. Remember a few weeks ago I ordered a correct tool roll for the Jaguar? Well, it finally came. What a nice quality piece. Here are pics of the before and after the tool stuffing. Sure beats the black cloth bag that I had. A nice addition to the "boot".

I do not have a correct rear view mirror on the Avanti. In fact the one I have cannot be adjusted to actually see out the rear window, and it is also incorrect. I looked in a vendor's catalog and they listed a nice reproduction for $75. But then I saw the same mirror with a new stem and base for $45. So I snapped that one up. Now I have to remove the old button on the windshield and glue on the new base. I think that I will try that today.

Hope to have a couple of hours to starting cleaning and polishing the exterior of the 23 McLaughlin Buick. Should not be a hard job as she really looks good already, abit a little dusty in places.

Still Saturday, but now much into the PM. I cleaned and waxed about 1/3 of the 23 McLaughlin Buick. My oh my, she sure shines right up. Concentrated on the front so have the fenders and hood done and most of the cowling before the windshield. Still have to do the splash apron under the radiator and front springs. Hope to have the four doors done tomorrow.

Remember the old black fabric tool roll that was for the Jaguar? Well now it is the tool roll for the Buick tools. Originally the 23 had its tools in the driver's door. They were inserted into cardboard sleeves mounted inside of the door flap. Well, the cardboard got wet and the tools went under the seat or just got lost.

I then turned my attention to the Avanti. It took me forever to get the original rear view mirror button off the windshield. I ended up using "goop" to soften the glue holding the button and used a length of wire to cut into the backside in between the glass and the button. Took me a couple of hours to get it off with out doing any damage to the window. Then I glued on the new button and waited a couple of hours before I did a test fitting. I will let the button dry overnight.

It is Monday, September 29th. Almost finished with the cleaning and polishing of the 23 McLaughlin Buick. Only the rear of the car to go. Then will refresh the interior and top.

And Greg is working hard on his black Avanti R3. Here is his report.

"Just a note to report some activity on 5054 Avanti. My nicely painted coolant expansion tank hadn't been pressure tested. It looked good but squirted water. It has been stripped of paint, disassembled with the aid of an acetylene torch, all joints cleaned and re-soldered. Now painted again, it will be ready to re-install when the coolant system has been proven.

Being able to move the car will be a big help in looking for bugs and will make it ready for transport for other work. A replacement master cylinder had me at a standstill (even though the car couldn't stop). I had good brake fluid showing at all four bleeders, but no pressure.

Paul Rose had presented me with a master cylinder with a stainless steel sleeved bore. An overhaul kit that I'd ordered did arrive yesterday and now that the master is reassembled and mounted , I was then able to pump up brake pedal pressure.

A test drive of out of the shed and back in was all I dared with no gas in the tank, but any round trip is a bonus even if it's only thirty feet."

=

It is Monday, September 29th, PM. Well, I think that I used up most of the day working on the 23 McLaughlin Buick. I finished waxing and detailing the body and then turned my attention to the interior. I used the rubber cleaner on the running boards and interior floor mats that I used on the tires. I must say, they look like new.

My rear tail light was not working so pulled the cover off and found the bulb burned out. So replaced it. I also took the time to paint the interior of the light with silver paint. I also used some silicone to attach the lenses to the little frame. They had been loose and you had to be very careful not to drop the glass lenses. At least now they are secure.

I also found a major sin. I had used phillips head screws to attach the passenger foot rest. This is a big no no as phillips head screws were not in use in the 20s. So put in some correct slotted screws. Boy, dodged a bullet on this one as it would have been a major deduction during judging.

I also received a little led red light for the rear of the car. Better safe than sorry. I want the old girl to be seen day and night.

If it not raining tomorrow I will pull it out of the trailer and put up the top for a general inspection and cleaning. Getting closer to being done.

Here are some pics.

Still Monday, went out after dinner and went through my spares. I am going to take a couple of small tubs worth of stuff. To my surprise I have collected four distributor caps, two new, two used. They are impossible to find and if you do you will pay at least $250 for new ones. I have one set of new points, and two rotors (one new/one used). I will try to find another set of points at Hershey. I see a new rotor on Ebay for $150 starting bid. Some folks are converting Volvo caps to fit the 1923 Buick engines.

I have spare plugs, coil, water pump packing, light bulbs and leather fan belt; and some miscellaneous other odds and ends.

I am missing two dust covers for my tire filler stems. One for a rear tire and the other for the spare. If I do not have them I will lose more points during the judging. So I have ordered a couple from Universal Tire. I was going to wait until I go to Hershey, but may not be able to find any so thought it wise to get them. So $60 shipped to my door.

I cheated on one dust cap. It has a rubber stem, not a threaded metal stem, so I siliconed one to the bottom of the stem. I think it will hold, pretty solid, and should be OK tomorrow.

Here are some pics.