Changing of Ownership

Were certainly more than two that got away!!!! Test Driveable (by me) '38 Willys Two Door Coach; '57 Monarch Turnpike Cruiser Four Door Hardtop (owned for awhile); my one real CAR regret. Will be in touch about the fenders. Thanks.

OMG! OOPS........ :mad:

Anyone besides me have this kind of luck?

Doug, since I'm following your thread on the Ford F1, decided to come back and read this one again. Missed a lot of the posts while I was 'off forum' due to work this summer and fall. Very interesting reading. And great that your dad is still involved with older cars.

r1lark,

I'll very thankful that Dad is still able to enjoy the cars with us. He will be 90 in May and is still Membership Treasurer of our local Car Club and genuinely capable of doing the job.

I should be so lucky ......

Just not going to tell him about the OOPS.:mad:

Well dang it, I missed watching my thread hit 5,000 views yesterday! Thanks for the interest guys & gals!

Busy yesterday getting the Snow Blower ready (gassed up, tuned up & greased) for our next round of snow tonight. On my way now to search through several boxes and find the binder Dad put together on the Whippet. Seems he has the paint information with colour code and maybe, just maybe, I can get lucky on the fix.

Here's hoping everyone has a HAPPY EASTER!

On the Whippet front:

Thursday decided to fire her up as the body shop called to say he was able to slip her in to fix my oops.

I was extremely surprised to turn the gas valve, hit the starter and she fired right off! Because I was frustrated last fall trying to get her to idle down properly I just left it till now and sure enough it hadn't fixed itself all this time.

After tinkering some I decided to put another spring on the linkage at a different spot and with a short drive around the block things were much better.

The shop is only about 3 miles from my storage garage and it wasn't quite rush hour so off I went. Because the shop is near my home I turned off the main road and then.... it was doing the high idle thing AGAIN!:mad:

Made it into my driveway and just couldn't figure out what was going on. Started to play with the mixture screws and it helped to the point I felt comfortable to go on the short distance to the shop but now it was sounding like a popping coming from the carb which I suspect meant I leaned it out too much but at least it wasn't running so high I was scarred to shift it into another gear for fear of over reeving the motor.

I went back yesterday to find work progressing along and glad the access to the inside was OK for him. I just hope the colour match isn't going to be an issue but he isn't new at this so.....

The big push to fix things up is because on May the 4th it will be Dad's 90th Birthday and I want to have everyone at my house for an afternoon BBQ to surprise him with not only that, but have the car there too. (It just wouldn't be good for him to see the boo boo right?)

Stopped by the body shop early today and says almost ready for painting. He had to have the paint supplier come by and use the spectrometer(?) to do a colour match for the paint.

Might have it painted tomorrow if the paint comes in.

Mean time, took a few minutes to attend to the trunk I plan on using for her.

I had to fix the left latch spring and with a bit of chrome polish was pleased how the one on the right turned out.

Will be welding up those holes and the top needs to have some straightening.... but at 20 bucks well worth the effort!

Today was both GOOD & Bad....

The good was that the body work & paint was finished and looked like this.

I was really pleased with the colour match and blending in once seeing it outside!

Need to completely wash the rest of the car but no biggie there.

Thought this was an interesting shot with the image reflection in all that stainless.

THE BAD........

I could not get her to stay running for very long! Consequently had to tow it home on a strap from the paint shop and then tonight grab the car trailer, load her up and park the whole unit in the carport at my other place before the rain starts.

Not sure what the exact problem is but it acts like the carb runs out of fuel. Maybe the float is sticking at the top? Shutting off the fuel or... my vacuum tank is not allowing fuel to supply the carb fast enough? or...... ?????

After sitting for a bit after running and shutting down it will start again for the brief time then quit again.

Any suggestions welcomed here. Think I will post a HELP on the Technical Forums and see what people think there too.

After running so well most of last year it has me stumped right now.:confused:

Today was a SPECIAL DAY ! It was Dad's 90th Birthday and while it was just him, mom, my wife & I for a BBQ dinner, my sister, her daughter and her friend drove up from Gatlinburg, Tn just in time for cake and ice cream.

I wish I had more time to have dealt with the carb problem but managed to bring the Whippet home on the trailer, give her a good washing and put a few balloons on before it was time to go and bring them over here. I know he did not know what to expect and think he was pleased. I even persuaded him to get into an old overcoat and a cap which has an actual 1928 dated chauffeur's pin on it.

It may not show in the picture but Mom is making an effort as she is dealing with several health issues with the most disturbing to her being told not to drive for now till all testing is complete......

This is the guy who put 28 years effort in getting the car from this,

TO THIS,

I'm damn proud and lucky to have him around still!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD and thanks for everything!

Hi Doug. Count you blessings. This is very heartwarming.

Very happy for you and your folks, Doug.

Ben

Hi Doug. Count you blessings. This is very heartwarming.

Thanks Pat and you can be sure I do!

Very happy for you and your folks, Doug.

Ben

Thank you Ben.

The cars are great things for sure but family means everything right?

As is life right now earning a living is fortunately keeping me tied up for the most part. However, a road trip with regard to the antiques is in the planning stage and looks like it will be just Dad and me!

Will be posting pictures when we have completed the journey.

Have decided the date will be July 13th. Not taking a car but picking something up that Dad has always wanted to do for his car.

I'm so blessed to still have him here! All I had to ask was, Do you want to go on a road trip? Before he even heard what I was planing, he says, Why not? What time and when?

Hope I can have his smarts and will at 90!

Then there is Mom.... they both went to the Casino last Friday night and there is a drawing for 5 new Chrysler 200's. Guess who's name they pull?!!!!!

The kick here is, she doesn't want the car but will take the cash! Then tells me she is going to live another 10 years to figure out how she's going to spend it. ha ha

Much better news to hear than 5 months ago.......

I like GOOD news!!

Have a good time with Dad.

Ben

How do two guys who have a passion for old cars spend a wonderful day?

Film At 11.

RATS!

I'm soooo challenged when it comes to the technical things! I wanted to post a short video I'm sure everyone would enjoy but will instead post some pictures with my story.

This is about going to pickup a 1927/28 complete Whippet motor, transmission, rad and partial frame that was advertised for sale on the buy/sell AACA forums.

While I had the Whippet tuned a bit better and had driven it almost 250 miles last year, with the carb acting up it was also showing signs of general wear and use and Dad had been saying he would like to see the motor rebuilt.

I emailed about the motor listed and asked for some pictures to be able to ensure it was a correct year motor that just might be a good core for a rebuild. Turns out it was used as a stationary unit to provide power for a hydraulic pump being used on a home made lifting unit. I was assured it would turn over and had been under cover since out of service so decided to take Dad and go get it if he was up to the drive/day.

As stated earlier, all he wanted to know was WHAT TIME & WHEN.

Being that it would be a 6 hour drive just to get there we started at 6am.

Naturally there had to be a pit stop for us both.

With our destination being New York State we decided to cross the border at Fort Erie, Ontario into Buffalo, New York which meant we had to cross over the Welland Canal which allows boats to go from Lake Erie down to Lake Ontario and.... we had to wait for what else? A lift bridge.

Pulled in about 1pm and there she was.

What I wanted to post a video of was the unit these guys had attached to the boom you see. It was an old International truck (late 30's?) that had served as a tow truck in it's former life, was reconfigured to a bush / lift unit with large tractor tires on the rear axle for traction, a late 40's cab and an even newer 6 cylinder motor! Quite the rig and running beautifully!

With it loaded onto the trailer and securely tied down we were off towards home, this time taking the southern side of Lake Erie.

(cont'd)

The trip home was fine, staying off the toll roads and skirting along the Lake whenever possible. We have never been that way and were truly surprised to see the Cleveland waterfront.

Stopped in Sandusky, Ohio for dinner where Dad enjoyed a perfectly cooked steak!

We reached the Ambassador Bridge at 10pm to cross back into Canada and declared my purchase which surprisingly resulted in no duties and a "Have a good night".

With having been on the go for 17 1/2 hours and traveled 650 miles, at 90 years old Dad never missed a beat in the conversation, thoroughly enjoyed seeing what he could and is looking forward to seeing what we can do with this engine.

Today I took some time to start and clean things up a bit and assess what we have.

After some PB Blaster and a light tap on a wrench the plugs came out easily and looked in good condition with no oil deposits. I poured some light oil into the cylinders before putting the plugs back to coat the walls before trying to spin it over. The oil looked fairly clean on the dip stick and shows no evidence of moisture.

I popped the cap off the distributor and was surprised to see water inside! It must have been from the rain we went through yesterday and even though I covered it with two tarps it also rained heavy during the night. Even so, the points looked quite good (not any signs of wear) and the inside of the cap seems fine too.

Being close to supper I buttoned things up and took a bit of cleaner to the rad before going in.

Even the oil pressure gauge cleaned up a bit.

I will be setting this on a dolly tomorrow as I need the trailer for work and poke along with it as time allows. Hopefully it is a good usable engine. At the very least it is a complete parts unit.

Most importantly, Dad and I shared one possibly last adventure together for a common interest!

Doug, great story and pictures. looking forward to a video of it running!

I have had little time for cars since the summer has been a busy one this year (a good thing). However, with the weather changing now things are slowing some and I was able to finally get into the Whippet motor we brought home.

While the frame was mounted on 6x6 wood blocks I needed it to be mobile and was able to mount the whole thing on a furniture dolly. It makes things a lot easier in my much cluttered garage. When we bought it in "as is condition", my interest was in the motor mostly and it did turn over by hand crank with seemingly good compression. I have have had the cylinders soaking all this time hoping the rings will be freed up if they were tight or stuck from sitting all these years. The one issue we found was that the clutch would not move at all so today I decided to see what I could do. I had sprayed the outer parts with penetrating oil periodically and with a hammer began tapping the clutch rod at the housing. Surprisingly I gained a bit of movement but it would not return on its own. I then cleaned up the grease fitting for the throwout bearing and it took grease.

After some more gentle taping it moved a bit more but would not go any further past that point and still needed assistance in order to return.

My next move was to take off the inspection cover and...... SURPRISE!

Like all long time stored things, moisture and mouse condos are not kind!

With some vacuuming and liberal amounts of oil it looked like this.

It is amazing how those critters will get into the smallest places!

For now the plan is to keep soaking everything and start cleaning off the years of crud before taking off the starter, carb and checking out the distributor.

In the mean time I found a small gas tank I think will work.

After clearing downspouts and putting away hoses for the soon to be here BIG CHILL I managed to force more grease into the throw out bearing and sprayed more oil on the clutch to see if eventually it will release at some point. I also had a bit of degreaser left in a can and under all that dirt & grease found a brownish red paint on the bellhousing. Not sure if the Whippet was painted that colour or not.

I also cleaned off the block where the stamped engine number is and it reads: 9653553.

Wondering if anyone is familiar or knows what year it is. I'm assuming being a 4 cylinder the 96 denotes that but the rest I'm not sure about given they were made from 1926 on.

The trany seems to shift gears nicely too.

Going to take off the carb next, clean as required and check the distributor before hooking up the small gas can and putting on a muffler.

With almost daily soaking and tapping on the clutch pedal I had some success last night. I say some because the actual clutch plate has moved more but does not seem to be coming back yet..... guess the shaft has sufficient rust / buildup holding it in place. More soaking, more soaking.......

Next I'm going to take off the starter and see by slim chance if there is enough room to get a bar on the other side and tap away to get some movement. Even just a bit of movement might give it a chance to break loose. Naturally I could disconnect the bell housing from the motor (and most likely have to do that anyway) but I'm not in a hurry and will keep poking along.

With temps back up in the upper 40's today managed to steal more time for the Whippet motor.

Still spraying the clutch from the inspection cover side but no luck yet with what I believe is the pressure plate sticking. What has me wondering is that the clutch pedal moves but with the trany in any gear, while I push the pedal to it's max, the tail stock does not turn????? Shouldn't it allow the trany and flywheel to separate when the clutch is pushed in?

Guess the next step is definately going to be taking the clutch and trany off the motor as..... while taking off the starter I placed the nuts and bolts on the top of the bell housing (bolts with nuts and washers bolted together) and..... naturally one of those pieces fell into the open inspection cover area! DOHHH!

After trying to fish it out with no success moved on to more cleaning/scraping and took off the coil and solenoid. Thought the coil was interesting labeled as Blue Streak and an interesting wire connector setup. Something I've never seen before.

Also has printed description/identification on it.

I found this on the starter when it was off.

It also was mounted with the oil cap on the bottom so not sure what is going on there.

After more cleaning around the bell housing bolts will attempt to take off the trany / clutch as a unit before I take off the carb.

Plugging along......

Doug - so glad that you've updated us. The fun you're having is fun for us too! Hey - I did a quick Google search and found this claiming to be from a 1955 magazine. A bit different logo, but similiar connectors.

Keep pressing on and we always look forward to your updates.

Chuck in Kansas

Chuck,

Glad you are finding it enjoyable as I indeed find myself enjoying the journey / challenge with this motor.

I'm not a mechanic as such but turned a few wrenches on my cars when I first started driving (mostly because I wanted to save the money) and had taken 'Auto Shop' in High School. I'm somewhat motivated because I watched Dad over 28 years restore the Whippet and since he has passed her on to me want to do my part to complete what he started. It has also been fun talking to him about what I have been doing! Man, at 90 he remembers everything still and if it wasn't for his eyesight would be there (maybe even in the way HA Ha) LIKE A DIRTY SHIRT!

Thanks for the coil picture. Interesting design to keep the wire securely in place. Don't recall seeing any at car shows over my years attending them. Will be great if it is still in working order.

I dropped the starter off yesterday to be tested / cleaned as there was the remnants of mouse housing and such plus a loose collar between the spring and gear that did not look right so did not try to put any juice to it. I always have the one on the car now but figured it can't hurt to have a good spare.

Plan on a few hours with more cleaning on Friday.

LOOK WHAT I FOUND BY THE CURB WITH THE GARBAGE CANS!

Seems very original and complete but needs the speed cable connector at the axle.

Just what I need in my already cramped garage........

I really need to turn a blind eye!

Friday's motor work was a bust as the phone rang with work for the day but after a stop at the store came home with this.

Since it was only 28 outside and the garage is NOT insulated I was very happy that it achieved this in a short time.

This was at the medium setting and very comfortable while in coveralls and a jacket. Yes there is plenty of ventilation (per warnings) and I was able to do a bit of cleaning on the bike as it was too late to get dirty on the motor.

Spent time on the motor this afternoon, mostly scraping and loosening bolts in the bell housing. Did not need to fire up the heater as it was 56 degrees today and left the big door open.

The red paint (looks like primer colour here) is on the block as well as the trany & bell housing but was under all that hardened oil & dirt. Not sure if it is the original colour or not.

Any Whippet owners out there that might know if this is correct for 27 / 28 Whippet 96's?

Clearly this has been apart before at some point as there is a mix of different sized bolts & nuts plus..... look at those square head bolts!!!!

I think I'm going to have to support the motor before I take out all the bolts and try to take off the bell housing and trany so moved on the the carb. It needs to be cleaned too before taking it off as look at this.

With some very careful work it is coming along. The choke and throttle valve are free but can only imagine what the inside will look like!

Wrapped things up for tonight and will see what the week allows for.

With some persuasion (hmmm) I went downstairs last night to sort through what has become over time the library of my cars history's, clean car parts and boxes of stuff Dad has given me....

In one of his boxes I came upon a small file labeled 'Car Advertising & Correspondence' and what do I find inside?

Perfect for me to aid with my clutch issue and how to proceed. I believe it was from the WOKR Magazine that he subscribed to back in the 60's. It now has been scanned and in a file box marked 1928 Whippet.

Also in the same file was the receipt when he had the 1920 Overland motor rebuilt.

Makes for an interesting read comparing the costs then vs today. I do know he was not happy when he got it back. There was an awful whine when she started up and the owner said that they had it line bored and had to cut the gears in the trany in order to mesh properly. He said it would either wear itself in and quiet down or.... get worse.

Dad was so mad he drove her hard the next few times out and surprisingly things did quiet some. What he had really wanted was to have it sit there and idle where you could hear each cylinder fire off but....

With contemplating a rebuild for the Whippet only wish I could do that for around $1,000 bucks! HA!

Imagine paying:

- $7.50/hr for labour

- $270 in parts

When I called him to say what I found in his file he said that "Yes, it was $905.00 but because of the noise and questionable statement about the rebuild condition, the bill was reduced to $514.24!!!! I think that is why the bottom corner is ripped at the total and a second receipt shows the $514.24 amount.

It fires him up even today at 90 years old like it was yesterday!

The weekend was about extended family, friends and Holiday best wishes so only had a bit of time on the motor.

In the weekly sales flyers was advertised an extendable magnet that I picked up and was perfect to find the missing bolt down in the bell housing. What surprised me was picking up two pieces of flat steel that clearly had broken a long time ago and sitting at the bottom in all that crud. Just maybe that is why they welded a tube in front of the rad to hold the hand crank? I need to call about the starter.....

Will continue to clean the exterior in preparation for taking off the clutch & trany hopefully later this week.

Poking along......

Well Doug - now you have a mystery as to the broken flat steel; just what was it? Who has a guess?

Good job, thanks for the update Doug - keep pressing on!

Chuck in Kansas

Remember - the reason for the season!

Well Doug - now you have a mystery as to the broken flat steel; just what was it? Who has a guess?

Good job, thanks for the update Doug - keep pressing on!

Chuck in Kansas

Remember - the reason for the season!

I'd like to find out too! My guess is that it might have something to do with the pressure plate and as it looks like an old break, something I didn't do when taping on the clutch pedal.....

Hope to spend tomorrow afternoon removing the clutch and trany. First I will have to modify the blocks the frame is sitting on the rolling frame as I can't reach three of the lowest bolts right now. I'm also going to have to figure how to support the motor before I take all the bolts out (not a big issue).

In the mean time tonight I took off the carb and was able to get a good look down the inside of the throttle body. No picture but surprisingly it looks quite clean in there. I like this carb as it seems to have a cast upper top which to me, being cast, heat might not have affected the softer metal like the Tillotson on the Whippet now. It is somewhat brittle with more than one patch and is acting up if you recall.

With the carb and oil pressure gauge line removed bagged, tagged and in a safe place it made cleaning access much better. Say all you want about an oil leaking engine. When you go to work on it, when they sit for all these years, once cleaned up, under all that mess, you sure have something that is in not bad condition.

Dad also gave me a muffler he had laying around that I think will work as a temporary one when it comes time to fire her up. I just have to figure out a bracket or two to keep it mobile.

Managed to make an effort with removing the trany/clutch assembly with limited success. :confused: After raising the whole unit with a few 2x4's and removing all the bolts It would only move out about 1/4 inch!

Clearly I'm missing something and working blind without a service manual. It feels like it is stopping against something.

The throwout bearing is sliding fine but that spring is attached to what looks like the back of the flywheel so not sure if I should take out the four bolts or not.

Decided to call it for the day (late anyway) before I got too frustrated and went at it with a pry bar and hammer. A fresh start might let me see something I have missed.

Earlier in the day I came across what was reported to be the original hood on the Whippet and went at it with a bit of cleaner. Not sure how Dad picked the shade of green paint on her now but guess he was guided by the green that is on the inside of the old hood. It looks to be on the bluish side here but is green.

I also wire wheeled the hand crank on the weekend and shot it with some paint.

Thats quite the hole someone blew through with a torch to access the crankshaft.

HOUSTON WE HAVE SUCCESSFUL SEPARATION!

After a few suggestions from the fellows over at the Willys Overland Knight Registry I was able to take off the trany and bell housing. Thanks John for your suggesting the wiggle, jiggle, hold your tongue just right and pull till it comes loose! That was the trick along with some time and effort!

Once it was out on the floor,

time to see what things looked like inside....

YIKES! :eek:

Rubber gloves, a freezer bag and antibacterial soap are called for! LOL

Found in all that crap what would appear to be the front door of the Mouse Condo?

That does not look factory to me.

Then I turned to the pressure plate and clutch.

It would appear the clutch plate was stuck to the spline shaft and possibly a bit in the pilot hole by the looks of the rust.

With more cleaning it started to look better.

I'm going to set the trany assembly off to the side for now and concentrate on cleaning the block while I wait for a reply on the carb.

I did slip over to Dad's garage where the heat is better and sprayed the exhaust pipe which my son took to work and planed the matting surface. It was warped some and pitted. There was no gasket in there but will be putting one on for sure.

All in all, not a bad day!

NEWS FLASH!

What ended as a great day just now became even better! My oldest son just called this evening to say that while he was out celebrating his 29th birthday a few days early he also proposed to his girl friend and she accepted! He stated the wedding is to be sometime the spring of 2016.

He also asked about what it would take to get my 1958 Buick Special convertible back on the road that they would love to have it for wedding pictures. Guess I will be flipping back and forth between the Whippet motor and the Buick......

I have a definite deadline now on the Buick and sitting right there beside the Whippet motor.

And the pressure builds. Don't you hate deadlines, even if they are for a noble cause?

And the pressure builds. Don't you hate deadlines, even if they are for a noble cause?

It is kind of mixed feelings for sure but..... when the other son says to you, "Dad that's great, I'll help you" (knowing in reality he is too busy with school) it means to me I'd better step up.

Sometimes fatherhood takes some big shoes to give you that kick in the butt.

Lord knows I'm lucky to still have a great example that guided me around.

In anticipation of having two projects on the go decided today I'd better start to CLEANUP and get organized!

Had to clean the floor around the Whippet motor anyway and moving it around was bugging me because of the stuff I had amassed. I also had to get up into the rafters for the Buick parts I have so...... spent most of the day picking up, deciding what was worth saving or throw out knowing I will eventually need to unbury the Buick in order to get at her.

Man it gets dark fast this time of year!

You can only imagine what it looked like before!

At least one side has floor space now and once I move those riders out will tackle the stuff around and on the Buick.

Dei,

The Buick looks pretty complete from the pictures. How much work do you have left on it to make your dead line?