JV Puleo

Today was unscheduled. I had planned to work in the yard if it was nice but it rained last night and we have a minor leak in the roof in the office so I came in to check to see if there was much water in the bucket...and discovered it was completely empty. So, I went down to the shop and made a couple of 1" buttons with a 3/8 hole in the center. These will be used to get the center-to-center measurement for the bolts that will hold the 2nd bracket. I have the measurement for the first bracket 4.108 " so I set it up in the mill in order to use the table advance to get the measurement exact. Then center drilled and drilled the holes. They came out fine so I bolted the bracket to the crankcase and use the little tool I'd made for the pattern to locate the center of the threaded sleeve. I also put the buttons on the rear two holes to get a proper measurement. The distance between centers for the first two is 4.108. The distance on the 2nd two is 4.273. Neither make any sense and you have to wonder how they managed to build cars when their notion of precision was so loose. It certainly illustrates why Cadillac won the Dewar trophy.

I made an effort today to do things in a rational order so I would't have to set the machines up more than necessary. The first step was to thread the ID of the threaded sleeve, then mount it on a fixture and turn it down to 1.5" Rather than finish it, I made two more of the projections for the Banjo fitting. Then turned the Banjo down to 1" thick And put the barrel shape on. Then I set the lathe up for threading and finished the threaded sleeve. In the midst of this my neighbor delivered the casting for the bracket so here we have the sleeve just about where it will go when I've machined the bracket. Then I threaded the two pieces that will go into the Banjo. I can insert one of them but the second one has to go in at an angle and I won't be able to calculate that accurately until I have the 2nd bracket done and mounted. This is the only Banjo that has an unusual angle and the only piece of the system that isn't adjustable so I need everything else in place before finishing it.

This has been one of those days when I worked all day and didn't finish anything...but at least I did get something done. I started by milling flutes in the base of the pattern I'm making. It bolts to the sump here. Then, because I'm waiting on some materials and the casting for the other bracket I decided to make some of the bits I will eventually need. I cut pieces for another banjo... I was going to make a 1-1/2-18 threading gauge but, low and behold, I already had one. I think I made this for the priming pump...I can't even remember now but finding it saved a good two hours work. Last up today was another threaded sleeve – this one for the bracket that is at the foundry. I got the hole bored to size but my back is killing me from standing all day so I'll thread it tomorrow.

Aside from me, and you and a small number of others who would look at a bracket and say "that must have been a week's work."

First thing this morning I milled off the ends of the threaded sleeves in the sump. They are a lot longer than needed...I'm not sure why I did that but there is only about 1/2" of thread in the bottom of the sump and if you screwed these in deeper they would act like a stand pipe and prevent completely draining the sump. I took them down to the point where I was taking about .025 off the cast iron. This makes them perfectly flush and it makes the two bosses on the sump both flat and parallel. I also drilled the cross holes in the Banjo bolt, finished threading the output end and screwed in a flare fitting. The 3-way oil connection finished. It's much too heavy to not have something supporting it and this required some thought. I have to make a pattern for the holding bracket but it has to be sturdy enough to use align everything before I have it cast...this is very much a evolutionary part. I keep changing the design while working on it. The first piece is the base that will bolt to the sump... I then made another piece to fit into the slot. I've a lot more to do on this tomorrow but I need some 3/8" aluminum plate to finish it so I'll go as far as I can until that comes in.

As of this morning I still hadn't worked out how to mount the 3-way oil connection so I roughly assembled it on the engine. It will need a support bracket attached to the engine with the sump bolts and, in order to do a neat job and have everything fit I will have to make another rear Banjo. Since I've already made 5 of them, that doesn't worry me. I finally got some measurements to work with...so I moved on to machining the cast iron sump. In order for the brackets to be secure, I need a flat surface to bolt them to and the edges of the sump are anything but flat. I put it in the mill only to discover I couldn't reach edges so I had to fit the table "extenders" I made when I was working on the crankcase. All this took time but I did eventually get it set up. and milled the edges flat. I did the opposite side as well, only to make them match. Then I set the sum up to fit the threaded sleeves I made for the Banjo bolts. Tapped 1"-16 And screwed the threaded sleeves in with Locktite. I'll machine them flat tomorrow.

I had an unusually productive day...starting with cutting the notches in the lock nut... Then I made an aluminum spacer. This is 3/8" thick and is there to take the place of the mounting bracket I haven't designed yet. Then I cut a piece of 1-1/2" hes stock for the Banjo bolt. Drilled and reamed 7/16" While it was in the chuck I started a 1/4 NPT thread - This arrangement of a chuck-in-a-chuck is not ideal. I don't recommend it unless you have no choice/ In order to face the hex stock off I only dared take a very light cut. In addition to starting the threads I also center drilled it. This is because I am going to turn it on a mandrel but it's so long that the mandrel I have won't go all the way through. so the mandrel is being held in a collet while the live center is up against the work piece. I turned it down to .936... .0015 smalller than 15/16. Then cut a relief 1" from the end and threaded it for the lock nut. This is roughly how it works...it is a 3-way union that will connect the sump to the hand priming pump and to the oil pump. The bolt had to be this large because the lock nut had to be able to fit over the flare fitting. I bolted it all together, with the fiber washer gaskets, and marked the centers of the oil inlet and outlet tubes with a transfer punch. Because the diameter of the bolt is so big, I've decided to put all of the relief for the oil passage in the bolt rather than half in the bolt and half in the Banjo. Today's last step was to take the head of the bolt down to the finished thickness. I still have to put chamfers on it and drill holes through it but it's nearly done and tomorrow I'll get to see what I'll have to do to fit it to the engine.

That was my reaction too...I've never even bought a lottery ticket.

Well, I was going to fix the lawnmower this morning but it was so widy and cold I talked myself out of it and came in to work on the car. First, I threaded the straight pieces for the Banjos. Then I reduced the OD on the lock nut from 1-3/4 to a little more than 1-1/2. It doesn't need the extra width and this might make it easier to design the holding braclet. Then I drilled and tapped the Banjos. Counterbored the straight pieces. And soldered them in place. The last step was to take the holes out to 15/16". This time I did it in the mill. The piece of ground stock you see under the Banjo was there to get the base flat...I pulled it out before the cutter got to it or I'd have had a mess on my hands. They came out well but I confess I'm still having a tough time visualizing this piece in place and a bracket to hold it secure. Making the parts and then figuring out how to attach them is not the way to go about things but in this case I haven't thought of anything better.

There were several early manufacturers that used bronze bearings. Mathewson was one...I have a 1908 or 1909 two volume book on automobile design that lists the specifications for many of the popular makes at the time, including the bearing material for the crankshaft and I was surprised at how many used bronze. So, I don't think it's out of the question that what you have is what it came with. If I were a gambling sort of person I might try it myself...

I think that what is called Brewster Green today - maybe going back to Ford using it – is lighter than the color Brewster used. In any case, I want a very dark green which I think will go well with the polished brass of the lights etc. The chassis and wheels will be a cream color - which is what it was originally. Mitchell offered their cars in either dark blue or a dark maroon - either of which would be satisfactory but I still like green better. The Woonsocket Body Company, the predecessor to Waterhouse (the Waterhouse brothers bought the Woonsocket company when it went bankrupt) was located about a block from my shop. I think the police station is on the site now. Another of my ideas is to make a custom body and add a "Woonsocket Body Company" plate. Did they even make bodies for cars? I don't know...they did eventually. In fact, they made some of the Ruxton bodies. Whether they did it in 1910 is another question but I suspect they would if they had a customer. It's all a bit of a spoof...like my electrical stuff that is marked "Pendleton Manufacturing Company, New London, Connecticut". That was my great-grandfather.

Oddly enough, that is just about the color I plan to paint the Mitchell though I'm not all that fussy as to the exact shade as long as its very dark. Brewster Green - which is, I think, even darker is also good.

Moxie... there was one built on a RR chassis I once saw photos of. Moxie is a soda and some would say it is an acquired taste. I think it's the official soda of Maine.

Well, you are a lot younger than I am so you may have to drive it... Actually, I really do think I'll finish and I'm not upset by how much time it's taking. Like so many jobs, the engine has proved to be much more of an ordeal than I anticipated but that has a lot to do with the fact that it wasn't a very good engine to begin with. That is something I didn't know when I bought it. But, if I'd waited until I could afford something better, I'd still be waiting. If I'd had the wherewithal to buy a much better car, even in this condition, I'd be ahead of the game but at 68, my time for doing this sort of work is limited...at some point I won't be able to shift a 75 lb chuck. A Pierce or a Locomobile or any number of better cars would not have so many of the problems attendant with shoddy original workmanship.

I just want to live long enough to take it for a ride. That said, I think that after this engine the chassis will be a cake walk.

I'm sure you've all heard the old saying "he doesn't know what day it is." This morning I set the alarm off because I didn't know what day it was...I actually thought it was Thursday. Had I realized it was Saturday I might have stayed home, fixed the mower and cut the grass. Instead, I set up the radius tool to turn the barrel shape on the Banjos. Then went on to the lock nut. I thought I had a fixture in this thread but either I don't or I couldn't find it so I made another. I turned the thickness down to 3/8" Then knurled it... The knurling screws it on very tight so I'll leave it on the fixture until I've cut the notches for a hook spanner then use the spanner to remove it. The last bit today was to make the straight pieces that screw into the banjos. I got them to the point of being ready to thread but I really have to go to the market...I'm down to a few potatoes and maybe a jar of pickles. And I noticed that this is my 500th picture post... I've no idea how many pictures that is but it must be several thousand.

I like that... and I like the cars from the "unpopular" years. Heck, if this keeps up I may actually own an open 20's car some day... that was something that was unthinkable for a person of modest means even 40 years ago.

This morning I finished this large disc... But before pressing it in, I milled off the excess width on the bracket. Then glued the disc in. It's actually a press fit but I figured the glue wouldn't hurt. Then I turned up a 1" OD plug with a 1/4-20 threaded hole in the center. This is for a screw to allow the molder to pull the pattern out of the sand. I pressed that in and plugged the small holes that line up with the sump bolts. This is the only practical use I've ever found for JB Weld... it's just the right consistency for making fillets and plugging holes in patterns. When it was hard, I took it over to my bench sander and evened up the faces. They weren't off by more than a few thousandths but I like things to look finished. I took the pattern next door. It will probably be a week before I get the parts bgack so I started on the two banjo fittings I need for the 3-war oil connection I've designed. I faced off one side, drilled and reamed to 7/8". These Banjos will have different internal dimensions than the ones I made a few weeks ago for reasons that will soon be apparent. This small piece will be a lock nut. In this case I had to bore it because it's being threaded 15/16-20. I threaded it before taking it out of the chuck. The OD and the other face get done on one of my holding fixtures. The last job today was facing the two Banjos off to 1" thick. It's amazing how fast a job like this goes when you've done it before.

This is a case where making the pattern is more work than making the part once I have the casting.. The plate bolted to the crankcase... I turned a piece of aluminum to 1.125"...this is to find the center of the hole I'll have to bore for the oil well to screw into. Flipped the engine over and put the new piece in the corner. It has a 1/2" hole in the center so I used a center (from the mill) and pressed it into the plate with a big C-clamp. That marked the center... Then over to the mill to put the hole in. I started with 1" Then used the boring head to bring it out to 2.125 (It actually came out 2.160 because I miss-measured something but that's not important here.) The piece all bored... Next, I turned a piece to go into the bored hole... Made another measuring error and had to do it over... I'm almost there but it's the end of the day and two errors in one day are more than enough. I'll finish it tomorrow.

How about using the center of another rotor with a couple of studs in it... then simply attach a handle.

Thanks... if you have any questions feel free to ask. I finished up 15 of the slots in the aluminum slab this morning...I have 7 more to do on that piece but I have to turn it around in the mill because there isn't enough travel under the spindle. since the mill was clear, I started on the pattern for the bracket that will hold the oil well. I've spent a lot of time measuring and drawing this. It isn't an easy part to visualize or make and accommodating the Mitchell company's erratic measurements makes it all the more difficult. It has to bolt up to the lower edge of the sump. the holes are a nominal 4-1/8" apart but I've learned my lesson on that score and started by making two 1" round pieces, 1/2" thick with a 3/8 hole in the center and attaching them at the holes the bracket will bolt to. The distance between centers is actually 4.108" so next I bored two holes exactly that distance apart on the edge of a piece of 1/2" aluminum plate and glued the round pieces in with superglue gel. When the super glue had set up, I attached it to the crankcase. Tomorrow I will locate the center of the hole that the well will screw into. Ideally, it needs to be in the corner of the magneto bracket, away from the mag but reachable from the top. After taking a lot of measurements it came to me that what I needed to do was attach first so I can locate the hole perfectly. I don't know how well the superglue will work but this is only a pattern...it probably won't even look exactly like the finished piece because I have make it such a way that it can be machined. Often that requires leaving something square ...to be machined off after all the other steps are completed.

I'm glad I'm not the only one then. My neighbors have been a big help to me - having a foundry next door when doing this sort of stuff is a great advantage so the truth is I'd do it for free if I had to...as it is, I'll probably make the pattern for the bracket tomorrow and by the time they get it done I'll have finished the mold job.

I haven 't been idle that last few days but I have been struggling with a "little" job I offered to do for someone. I confess to being absolutely useless at estimating how much time a job will take and that's especially true when it's something I haven't done before. All I have to do is mill some tapered slits in a slab of aluminum....except there is a lot more to milling cast aluminum than I'd anticipated and getting a smooth surface is a challenge. I've finally gotten to '"passable" - this is not a precision job - the pieces are intend to be a mold for casting solder sticks but they have to be smooth enough for the sticks to come out when they cool. Like so many other things I've done, a better way of doing it came to mind but too late to start over. But, since this is a mind deadening job, I took a break and made the last part of the oil well... this is a piece of 1-1/4" brass bar... I drilled and reamed it to 7/8 ID and then threaded the OD so it will screw into the cap and the lock nut I'd made will screw on to it. If things go as planned, there will be a bracket attached to the engine the this will screw into. The lock nut will then be tightened against the bottom of the bracket so it can't move. A piece of 7/8 OD tubing will go in the center, holding the "dipstick"... it's all more complicated to explain than it is to show and there are enough close measurements involved that I do not intend to solder the pieces together until I have everything in hand and can roughly assemble it to make sure things fit.

How, exactly do you do that? Do you have to put something on the back side? I ask because I have a few holes in my chassis that I'll have to close up...one from a brace that goes to the sub=frame that I have to move forward and some others from running board brackets I won't be using (though I could put bolts in those). I do have a proper torch but I've done very little welding and none of it very good (or if it came out good it was pure dumb luck).

I had an idea last night about how to go about making the pattern for the bracket that will hold the oil well. It isn't immediately obvious how difficult it is to make a part that fits perfectly with the original parts and doesn't look contrived. it would be a lot easier if I had accurate drawings of the engine to work with but even if those existed, my guess is that the actual measurements would be sightly off. In any case, I needed to measure the distance between the holes for the sump bolts so while I was in the shop I threaded the inserts I started yesterday. Then threaded the inside... These should work but before I opened up the holes in the sump - and ruined the threads that are there, I though it prudent to make certain the inserts would work. Every time I've taken something for granted with this car its come back to bite me so I'm being very cautious and making all the bits that will be attached before I remove any material from the original parts.