1932 Ruxton, or how I became an unwitting restorer.

Is the car going to have normal headlamps or Woodlites? I've read that some had regular headlamps and others were later changed over to regular headlamps after some owners were disappointed with the light intensity from the Woodlites.

It has Woodlites I'll be reassembling those shortly.

I'm the old grey bastid pulling the trigger on this, and my dear friend Dan Letinski is my colleague. As to why base/clear, nearly everything today is done that way, and soon enough everything will be waterbourne. We have enough to stay with the car for touch up in the future but hope we never need it. In any other material each color would have to go on, be nearly finished and polished before we move on to the next. Imagine the time involved on that process. Old lacquers dried in minutes, cured within an hour, give or take a few, but then you have the lines to deal with. One thing I always work toward is the LEAST amount of material applied in each application. The end result stays true to what we might see on an original with regard to material on door edges and such. So many cars are simply too "thick" to suit me. We get excellent coverage and reasonable dry times to move on to other colors using basecoat materials. The clear I use, while a bit more $$$, levels down as close to lacquer as possible in reflective quality. Once cured and polished, most clear coats end up with a "cellulite" look to them weeks after final surfacing. That just wasn't seen in cars back then, not even on Model A Fords. Enjoy the show!

Jocko

The Enthusiast Garage

Monroe, MI

Here's a color picture I can show you.

My new addition to the manpower ranks fixed a seal in the water pump and repaired two cracked venturi tubes. Like working with Greg. I find myself being more valuable as a helper than as the actual person that touches the bolt for the last time. I've been told that I make a top-notch helper.

The fuel pump needed a new gasket as it had to be removed to get the oil chamber cover off. Not a great design.

We assembled the jewelry that hangs off the rear of the frame. The plater put a substantial copper base on the piece, making the lenses impossible to fit. A lot of fine grinding was required to get the glass to fit again. They do great work, but often create more work on the other end.

In the secret stash of Metro bolt I found some 6-32 chrome plated round-head screws to match the originals.

The final paint has been applied. Tomorrow is touch up and clear coat.

Here is their work. The stripes will align when the door dovetails are installed.

It's better every day. Today was touchups and striping the window openings. From the earliest discussions on this paint job I recognized, early on, that there was a relationship to the ever decreasing size of the stripes. It seems that the math goes much deeper than that. Jocko has discovered that the original design had many repeating dimensions that were easier to sort out in millimeters, probably the original design language.

Hot off Dan's cell phone. Holy crap!

I got a lesson in wiper motors today. Sent the pair off to Fiken's. Got a call asking what year the car was. I was told that the judges would know that the wiper motors were not available in 1930 as they didn't come out until 1932. I explained that this was a car that was factory-finished and titled as a '32. He also thought it odd that I sent him two left park wipers, as most cars have wipers that park on opposite sides. I assured him that I had numerous factory photos of them parking the same way.

Once he understood that the motors were period-correct and parking-correct everything was right with the world.

I assembled the windshield and, as suspected the hairline cracked by another inch with little force on it. Another will be cut.

The side rear windows presented no real challenge. The window frames are some pretty early use of extruded aluminum. The 1/16" window setting tape was a perfect fit. The excess is easy to trim away.

Hey Barry, what did the wiper guy mean by wiper motors didn't come out until 1932. Does he mean electric? My 28 Durant has a Trico wiper motor on it and the info was confirmed by Trico historians.

No, he meant that that style of vacuum motor didn't come out until mid-'32.

I was looking for colorizing software to get a better impression of the strips but it still leaves a lot open to imagination. Sadly they're not automatic.

Half a day for touch-ups for the painter. They retaped the whole car for clear. I ducked in for a second to get a shot of the first coat and then they kicked us out for the day.

However, it was a great day. I had the exhaust pipe bent by 7°after measuring the angle of the frame and the angle the muffler hung down. It's now nicely tucked into the space it's supposed to sit in. Best $5 I spent on this car.

Dave took the starter apart and found nothing wrong at all. He believes it was cutting out due to the engine misfiring and momentarily speeding up, disengaging the bendix. He thinks it'll work fine now that the car has a proper firing order. After I left yesterday Dave finished the valve adjustment, installed the oil galley covers and reinstalled the water pump, crossover pipe, carburetor and fuel pump. After the carb linkage change we now have a throttle stop. Actually, we had it all along, it was just installed backwards.

Dave installed the water pump drive shaft this morning. He made it look easy by using string to bind all the parts together instead of struggling to clamp them with my hand, like I did. I learn something new every day. As soon as he finished that he was papered out of the engine compartment. We next chose to work on installing the chrome hub rings on the wheels. After the painting is done it will need to roll out of the space so they can refinish the 4 fenders, luggage rack and front valance. The luggage rack was damaged at some point. It was bowed inward about 1/4" which made the whole thing out of square. Using a set of wood blocks in different configurations and a 20 pound sledgehammer we beat it square and flat.

While I had the help I made a V-block out of a length of hardwood about 12" longer than the 36" white Oak dowels I ordered. I determined which side of the dowel would present the most character in the wood grain, line them up and marked their orientation. Using that mark I lined it up with the bottom of the groove and screwed them in from the backside, but not so deep as to be cut by the saw blade. Now that I had a round object secured to a square object it was a simple matter of setting up and making a pass on my Shopsmith table saw leaving me with the cut-off being the exact half of the dowel I need.

The luggage rack came with chrome plated stainless strips, but it was used with the luggage rack in place, so they faced down, which would ruin wood strips. When used without the trunk the rack and the strips face rearward. The owner has opted to travel light which would leave the strips exposed. They've opted to have me make the strips out of Oak as a decorative element as many came that way. On Packards, I understand, the metal strips were wood grained metal.

Now that the clear-coat has been applied the car can be repapered, except for the door openings. We're still locked out of the inside of the car. The door jams get sanded free of overspray, taped off and shot the color of the window area. Stripes will be applied on the B pillar as it can be seen through the door gap as it's the lightest color on the car. Once that's done I can bust through the paper barrier and reinstall the firewall and floorboards and make it drivable.

We'll likely be pulling the oil pan tomorrow as I'm expecting a new set of gaskets for the front cover and the oil pan to resolve the leak caused by having the cover off so many times. A spare cover came with the car. The old one was bent. I discovered pry marks in the old cover consistent with someone breaking the edge of the pulley I had reproduced. The new one looks used, but unscathed. It will find a new home. We could probably stop the leaks with more sealant, but why risk it? We should be able to do the timing gear cover from below.

Working on the headlights, finished up the driving lights.

Installed the hub covers with rubber washers as keepers for the 5/16" bolts. A dab of Loctite Red and they're good to go.

Tomorrow were being visited by a producer and video crew from Yahoo Autos. They covered the Pebble Beach event last year and somehow heard about the project. I was contacted and told them they needed to speak to the owners of the Ruxton. They were agreeable, as long as Yahoo Autos didn't reveal the color scheme. So, I guess I get to tell the story of "How I became an unwitting restorer." Subtitled, "NEVER, ever, do another project with a deadline, ever again, never!"

I would love to see the video once its all done.

There is a reason the call them Dead-Lines.

Dead lines? Runnn awayyyyy..Fast as you can.... I hate when someone say's, "I need it by this certain date." Especially if it is old, and rare, and basically has parts that are impossible to get easily. I must say, You have done an excellent job so far seeing what you were up against Barry. My responds to anyone that wants anything in a hurry is to line me up with all the parts and supplies I need to get it done, and you will have it when it is ready. Dandy Dave!

Barry,

I've been following along throughout this amazing project. You've for sure come along ways tackling this project from when I've last visited your shop several years ago. Even though the pictures are in black and white they for sure give, I believe, anyone viewing this thread a real good idea of just how much effort/work is involved in this paint scheme. Great job for sure by all parties involved, it's really sure to standout in a crowd. This would have been a great feature story to capture for the AACA Antique Automobile, again just an opinion. Scott...

Deadlines are for TV shows. That's my normal response to such, however, if it can happen there's nothing wrong with a little extra effort now and then. I find it's not nearly as easy as it used to be (!) but something makes me hit this gig hard. I'm not far from, "Never again..." myself, but the next one needs to make Labor Day. Go figure, huh?

I never did care for Woodlites. They don't do the car justice or any car of the period. I guess they were the fad of the day. I imagine it all boils down to what the owner wants.

I came in this morning to find the the car gleaming in the bright lights. No drips no runs no sags. Sanding and buffing tomorrow.

Before that happens a tedious detailing of the door openings began. The opening for the doors is painted the lightest color, except where the colors register in the door gap. In this picture the color stripes have been painted on the B pillar and covered with tape. The door jam opening will now get painted, the masking tape removed and the painting of the body will be done.

The back side of the doors gets painted the lightest color, too.

We received the gaskets today. Dave removed the oil pan and I cleaned the surfaces. He reinstalled the freshened starter and installed the spare front cover with a new gasket and crank seal. We worked together to install the massive gaskets on the oil pan and helped with the installation. We're waiting overnight to let the sealants set and start it up again tomorrow. We re-re-installed the water crossover pipe and finished up the cooling system. I repainted the oil filter housing while Dave did a final clutch adjustment.

The interview crew from Yahoo Autos showed up and wanted to get a shot of the engine bay being uncovered.

They interviewed me in the cleanest room in the building, the chrome room. That was fun, but I wish they had read the thread before the interview. They followed me around while I performed different tasks. I finished up cutting the Oak strips while they filmed, and then had to blow the saw dust off their expensive cameras.

Test fit.

If Jocko finishes the door jamb painting tonight we should be able to get it ready for the upholsterer by Monday, Tuesday at the latest. Then the push is to get the fenders and front balance done. The metal work is done, they need to be epoxy primed and sanded for paint. The paint is much simpler as they are only two colors.

Nearly finished the headlights.

Assembled the front and rear bumper and set the new windshield glass. The chrome shop did a top-notch job.

Pebble quality paint finish. The paint looks to be a mile deep.

Final touch up and clear coat of the details and the door jambs.

The paint is more than amazing. It's spectacular.

I took the paper off everything but the roof. It really looks like something now. Tomorrow's first task is to install the hinged windshield. We'll be starting on building the doors the doors tomorrow. Once we can close the doors and drive it on a trailer it'll go to the upholsterer who has some of the work done. he'll have 4-5 days to install it so I can have it back in time to install the freshly painted fenders and front apron.

Finished the wiring of the new sockets for the alien-looking Woodlite headlights. Oriented the lamp properly, so that the filaments were horizontal, allowing for a high and low beam. The old headlight bulbs are the same wattage filament, but block each others light so the light bounces off a different part of the reflector. I believe the lower filament is high beam and the top filament is the low beam.

The bottom reflector.

A view inside with the top optics in place.

A 4° bend and we have a basic exhaust system.

Stopped by for a visit today. Truly impressive project!

Thanks, Bill.

Today was a momentous day, but I'll start with the more mundane stuff.

At my request Jocko finished off the polishing of the windshield and cowl area so I could install the tilt-out wind screen. They tilted out quite a ways for ventilation. I've learned that the early sedans didn't have the cowl vent. They were likely a running improvement over having to pop open the windshield. A simple flip of a lever under the dash opens the cowl vent into one of three positions.

I wish I could show you the videos I took, but I can't seem to be able to convert them to b & w. We put the front tires on it and fired it up and ran it through the gears. There was a little bit of gear noise that went away with a load on the trans.

The upholsterer will need the car ready to cover. I've started covering all the seams in a 3M sealer. Looks like a job for Gorilla tape on some of those seams. I preserved, rather than restored the wood dashboard and steering wheel. I used a very fine steel wool to even out the texture of the finish and used compressed air to blow 80 years of dust out of the cracks and crevasses. The steering wheel, too, just needed to have years of hand goo removed. The dash panel is a perfect fit, only needing trim on the windshield and dashboard side or the wood.

Dave fired it up and drove it out of the space it has sat for the last 8 months. It took several turns, but he was able to maneuver it out of the shop, completely under its own power for the first time since 2006. He then proceeded to scare the crap out of me by taking off like a shot to speed up headed for a cinder block wall. He slams on the brakes and it gives a little screech and drags the car to a halt, very effectively. He flashes me a big smile and proceeds to accelerate backwards through my lot. I didn't know whether I wanted to choke him or jump for joy that I accomplished what I set out to do, give my friend his car back with the ability to stop and go. Today proves I was able to attain that goal. The rest is up to the other players.

The bucket seat worked out well for testing.

Congratulations, Barry!

Barry,

Great Story, Great Photos, Great Car. Would love to see this Ruxton parked next to a Cord L-29 at Pebble Beach someday.

Jeff

It'll be parked with the other Ruxtons at Pebble next month.

The owner says I can show the car in color, but I see no reason to. The few people that have seen the car have said that b & w photos add to the mystique.

Today's first task was to install the top. I built the frame out of Oak and aluminum edges. The original system simply drew the top tight with wood screws, but they all rusted away. I embedded T-nuts in the frame so that I had better compression of the edge sealant. We really don't know if the strip caulk was 100% successful so we'll float in some self leveling butyl caulk to make a perfect seam.

The doors received their final glaze and were installed on the car. Then my work began in ernest. I have the task of building the doors. I have to install the latch mechanism, door open/lock mechanism, window lift mechanism, new felt guides and rubber stops. Jocko grabbed some Dynamat I had lying around the shop and installed an 18" square and the doors now sound like a bank vault closing.

Look at the reflection of the chromed lock mechanisms on the foam insulation on the floor. This is the finest, and most complex, paint job I've ever seen.

The car goes to the upholsterer on Friday and back to us by Wednesday so we can do final assembly by Friday the 8th.

Final assembly should just consist of bolting up front and rear fenders, mounting the headlight bar and running lights. Everything mechanical is pretty much done. Each bumper is only 4 bolts. The most complicated task is probably the luggage rack. The spare tire stanchions are held to the frame by 3 bolts each. I still have to attach the vacuum wipers, but that should be easy. Jocko said he would handle attaching the webbing the prevents the metal hood parts from rubbing on each other or the body and radiator shell.

Thanks to Greg for the alignment. It was right on the money. The car tracks as straight as an arrow. Thanks for the assist on the brake adjustments and, it stops on a dime.

Jocko brought on some extra help. He had 4 fenders, 2 rear side windows, the brake light housing, front valence and radiator shell to paint. It's crunch time.

Thanks for posting this thread. I've really enjoyed watching the process and the topnotch craftmanship involved in the restoration of this unique car. On July 25, the New York Times posted an interesting article on the history of the Ruxton.

Barry,

Everything looks like its coming together for you. The reflection on the paint looks wonderful. I can't wait to see it in person. I agree on keeping the black and white pictures. Dont spoil it for us that get to see it at pebble for the first time.

Runs like a top.

It looks so nice out in the sun.

I've just about finished building the doors. Added sound deadener to the inside. That really makes them sound solid.

I've finished off everything that needs to be done so that the upholsterer can work his magic in 5 days so I can have it back for final assembly. The painters will install the fenders, but I'll have to wire and install the headlights and tail light. The bumpers and spare tire brackets should be easy.

So few parts left to install, but so little time. This will be right down to the wire.

One week to go, but another momentous day.

I promised the upholsterer we'd leave around noon, but we didn't leave until 1:00. Jocko tied it down in his 5th wheel trailer and took it to Skip's shop. I believe we delivered it in fine form. I took great care to seal off any fumes coming from the engine as the crankcase gasses just vent to atmosphere through the oil galley covers. A mixture of 3M rope sealant covered by Gorilla tape is a great combination. I finished getting all the doors and windows working, but was frustrated with the passenger side lock. I couldn't get it to go into the lock position like the other doors. I asked Dave to take a look and he reminded me that it was supposed to work that way so that you didn't lock yourself out of the car. It may seem strange to us but cars typically only had one door lock, and that was on the passenger side. It was customary in the early days of the car for you to exit curbside so that you didn't have to step into the mixture of mud and animal waste that made up many roads. This was a throwback to the horse and buggy days.

The reproduction polished stainless Ruxton handles have been shipped. That was one of the final details.

I told Dan to smile.

As I mentioned, the cloth came from the same manufacturer as the original. The cloth shimmers as you pass by it.

The painters will mount the light bar while the fenders are being installed. I can then install the headlights and running lights. The upholsterer has promised a 5-day turnaround, giving us very little time to get everything installed. We may have to pull an all-nighter to get it done, but I'm pretty sure we can do it. I've hired some real talent.

The wipers arrived and I've ordered the correct screws for elimination of every Phillips head that could ever be visible. If it had a seat the car would be drivable. It fired right up this morning. The trick is to pull out the choke, but be ready to push it back in right away. That seems to be all it needs to get it going. I'm very pleased with Dave's final fiddling. At my request Dave did a safety check on everything I've done to the car. He found and fixed a brake line connection.

The car has had a persistent oil leak for much of its history. At some point the motor mount support plate was bent so a standard gasket didn't fill the gap. Modern sealants did and the leak seems to be cured.

Barry. Beautiful Baby from what Larry and I saw just a short while ago. Sweetest Ruxton around. . Dandy Dave!

Lots of parts ready to go back on the car.

Made the leather mud flaps today out of pigskin sole leather. I used electric shears to cut the pieces close and my stationary belt sander to give them their final shape. Now everything smells like bacon. They will be embossed with the Ruxton Griffin image and then stained black. I like them with a natural finish, but apparently they were originally black. The sole leather is twice as thick as what was on there. It should hold its shape better.

The luggage rack is about to be painted so I readied the white oak strips. I used my belt sander to slightly adjust the size of the ends as some were a little fat for the end fittings.

When they fit properly I shot them with a urethane on the backside and let that dry overnight. I'll give them a couple of coats tomorrow and install them in a couple of days.

Ready for primer. They're still hoping to get color on tonight.

This is the remnants of a batch of aptly named clear coat.

I'm hoping everything is black when get in tomorrow. Fingers crossed!

Barry, it sure is looking fabulous ! Love all the updates, thanks for keeping us posted. Check this out today (Aug 4th ) ! http://theoldmotor.com/

I saw that.

Since most of you know that the base color is black and the light color Wimbledon White I guess it wouldn't hurt to show color shots.

Jocko was hoping to have the fenders in color by last night and clear today, but that may not happen. Looks like clear tomorrow. They saved a lot of time by changing the procedure just a bit by spraying just the highlights in the fenders white. The color is tapeable after an hour so it'll be masked off and shot black tonight. The black you see now is the bonding primer.

The existing rear view mirror was what I thought was the dumbest thing I'd ever seen. It would only tilt vertically, giving you a great view of the passenger in the rear seat, and nothing else. I went for authenticity and had a replacement mirror made.

I was thrilled to have that part of the project done and showed it to Jocko to show how dumb the mirror was. He looked at me and said, "That's supposed to be two mirrors." Duh.

Pretty clever for a 1930s accessory.

I had to have words with the machine shop. They got busy and put my projects on the back burner. I got their attention today.

I had asked them to make me a stamp that I could either burn or press the Griffin image into the new mud flaps. I had thought that I might be able to use a single die to emboss the image, simply flipping it over to make a reverse image. The tail of the animal is so thin that I risked bending it when hot or in a press so I had them make a left and right die.

Using the die for the hub cap a rubbing was taken to use as a basis for programming their CNC.

The material is .250 and the image is carved out .150.

Once the background material is cut away the block will be cut in two. I understand they tested it on some leather I left and it made a perfect image.

I also jumped on them to complete the air cleaner. The car requires a bit of choke before starting. This will likely create enough restriction to where using the choke may not always be necessary.

The bottom is solid. The perimeter will be a stainless 50 mesh of stainless steel with the area between the perforated tube and the outer mesh stuffed with bronze wool. It can easily be dipped for cleaning. The upper lid slides up if the bronze wool would need changing.

Jocko wanted some more flexibility on where the hood mounts so he had me make the steel plates that will allow him to widen the holes for better final positioning.

Dave spent the day at the upholsterers installing sub-systems that I'm preparing for him. This is advancing things considerably. He reports that the headliner is in and all 4 doors are upholstered. Tomorrow is the day it's supposed to get the rear cabin and carpet installed. It's supposed to be back to us by Wednesday. This door looks just like the original black and white factory photos. The Austrailian stainless steel interior door handles are exact replicas of the original, but will not break off in your hand like the original cast Zinc handles.

Speaking of door handles the replica Ruxton-specific handles came in. I think I'll let Dave install those, too.

The owner asked me to stain the wood strips before clear-coating. It only darkened them slightly, but brought out more of the detail in the wood than the clear finish I put on the test strip. In this picture you can see the white Oak underneath. In the sun it's a honey color.

Hi Barry,

I know your busy but I would love to know where you got the interior door handles from. I could use a few myself. The project is coming along very nicely. I am looking forward to seeing it in a few weeks.

Thanks

Allan L.

The interior handles came from Vintage and Classic Reproductions. They are exactly what's pictured in the factory photos. They are beautifully made. The exterior, Ruxton-specific, handles came from American Eagle in Clawson, MI. They too, are very high quality.

Today I came in to find that they had not only applied color, but clear-coat as well.

The fumes must have been getting to the geezers as they took their first selfie.

That last photo reminds me of these guys.

They did a great job on the Griffin stamp. They soaked a chunk of leather in water for about 20 minutes. It turned the water brown. The 1 ton press made a nice impression, but the leather mildewed overnight. That won't work. I wet another piece and dried it with a heat gun and it curled up and then got wet again from what was inside.

I came up with the idea of turning their manual press into a hydraulic press by using a bottle jack. The press had an unused device that holds the upper press shaft in place. I simply used a 2-ton bottle jack to provide the added force. The top impression is in wet leather. The top impression in the dry leather was made with a 170 pound person hanging on the end of the lever. The second one down is my weight of 250 and the third with the 2-ton jack maxed out. It had all the detail but not quite the depth of the wet piece, but was deemed easily recognizable as the Ruxton emblem.

The emblems are designed for all four to face away from the car. They will be painted satin black, like the originals. I tried liquid shoe polish, but it's too shiny and the applicator left streaks.

The images are off-center for a reason. They all line up with the white detail line. They are all tucked under the body, somewhat, so the image is closer to center than they appear away from the car.

I finished fabrication the missing air cleaner. I showed it to the painter's crew and they said it looks too "perfect" or too modern, but it looks just like the original, IMO. I'm going to zinc coat the neck and paint the top and bottom black. The screen is stainless. Jocko is bringing some bronze mesh with much larger squares. We'll see how that looks.

I thought I had nailed it based on the factory photo.

I used lacquer thinner on the whole tanned surface to remove any oil and to help bond the paint to the leather. I gave the untanned side 3 coats as it absorbed most of the paint. When that dried I gave the top just one coat. Jocko thinks that the less material the better. I bent the front flaps to match the arc of the trim. I didn't want the paint to crack after bending the leather. I think they turned out stunning, if I do say so myself. Thanks to Dave at Positive Tool for working up the programming for the stamp.

I'm also pretty pleased with myself for the way the air filter turned out, too. Jocko was right, the 8 wire per inch grid is far more period-correct than the 50-wire material. I unwound 6 pads of bronze wool and shook out any broken pieces. I took Jocko's advice and installed some of the 8 wire material over the holes I drilled in the center tube to prevent any bronze fibers from being sucked into the carb.

I had the machine shop radius the hard edges as some suggested. Painting it black helped the period look, too.

I am greatly disappointed that the upholsterer is keeping the car another day. However, the painter still has more work to do so, it's not the end of the world that they have more time. At 5:00 today the upholsterer hadn't started the carpets. Argggg! It's scheduled to be picked up tomorrow morning giving us all day Thursday and most of the day Friday to get it out the door. The front fenders are ready to install.

All I can say is "Wow!". This was, by far, the most distressed panel on the car. Jocko literally reshaped it to look right. It had been stripped previously with a 24 grit grinder. What a mess.

I was tasked with obtaining and laying out all of the fasteners the painters will need to complete the installation of the fenders. We have new beaded welting which will be fitted as they go. I was also tasked with grinding the markings off of all of the stainless fasteners. I made new rubber gaskets for the panel overlaps up front, radiator mount pads and thin gaskets to go between the headlight bar and fenders. Under each stainless steel grommet is a fat o-ring that will beep the trim washer from making contact with the paint. It's an invisible fix.

Down to the wire and looking absolutely fantastic!

Barry

After grinding off the bolt markings, are you replating the bolts? If not, what prevents them from rusting?