JV Puleo

I continued on making this tool today. First, milling a slot for the cutter. Then a notch so I can access the slot for some set screws. I stopped in the middle of this to grind this tool. I'm not certain it will work and I confess that tool grinding is not a strong point with me but I think it's ok. We'll know soon enough. Then drilled and tapped two holes for the set screws that will hold the cutter. I also drilled and tapped two holes for soft point 5/16-18 set screws to secure the tool to the boring bar. This is the finished product. I was tempted to stay late and try it when I discovered I'd failed to take into consideration an anchor for the boring bar gearbox to pull against. Since I'm working from the opposite side, and the rack is on the left, it's on the engine side rather than the outside. I'll have to make something for this but by the end of the day my thinking is muddy at best.

I have no conflicting desires in this area but the chance of ever getting this are nil. 1914 Silver Ghost with a London to Edinburgh tourer body...

The next, and most tedious step is turning most of the tool down to 1-1/2". Several hours, and a large pile of chips later.... And tried on the engine. The idea is to mount a cutting tool so that it will turn the OD of the saddle and face off the ears... I certainly hope it works as planned!

Failing a stand... you could make a plate about 8" square with a hole in the center and countersunk holes for flat head cap screws. This would be attached to the bottom of the jug to give a large flat surface around the hole. That could increase the clamping surface as much as needed to attach the machine. It would be a bit of work but the piece would work for both jugs.

Yes... one of those. Van Norman and Kwik Way also made a stand usually used to old Motorcycle cylinders. There is no great challenge to blind boring aside from measuring the depth and knowing where to stop. The combustion chamber, at the top of the jug isn't bored so the bored surface stops before it reaches the top.

I think the ideal machine would be one of the old Van Norman cylinder boring tools. It was literally a "portable" unit and years ago, when this was a lot more common, there were guys that would come to your house and bore an engine one hole at the time. Those machines clamp to the flanges on the bottom of the jug so they are ideal for blind hole boring. I don't know how common they were in the UK or if you had a similar machine but its the sort of tool that vintage motorcycle shops have (or had).

This is the micrometer holder with the 10ths reading mic fitted. I had to run out for a screw... with thousands of them around the shop I didn't have the right one. The material I needed also came in so I started on the tool I designed to finish the front side of the small saddle. A great deal of this will end up as chips on the floor. You can see here what I'm dealing with. The casting isn't really round and it doesn't line up perfectly. This is to be expected with a sand casting but I need this to be round because the housing that covers the gears is attached by clamping it around this piece and the corresponding piece on the timing gear. It uses a square rope seal which ought to work just fine if the surface it clamps to is both round and flat. As it isn't it would probably leak like a sieve. The aluminum bar drilled and reamed to 3/4" to be attached to the boring bar and then counterbored 2" to fit over the end of the saddle. I'll be mounting a cutting tool on this that I hope wil turn the saddle round and face the ears of the cap off perfectly flush. This is very experimental but I think it will work. I also had a very nice visit today from Gary Ash of the '32 Studebaker Indy car...a project that would be over my head.

If it is a modern piston it is almost certainly cam ground so it isn't actually round. But, cam grinding wasn't invented until much later. The original pistons were round and cast iron. Modern aluminum pistons are cast or forged from alloys that have a very low coefficient of expansion but it will still be higher than the iron. Then you have to consider the depth of the ring grooves. It is probably doable but like all these things requires a lot of thought. It would almost certainly be more efficient to have the jugs bored to match the new pistons. The piston clearance should also be looked at. The clearances suggested for modern engines presume the use of an electric starter. I'm guessing that when the car is intended to be crank started perhaps the clearances should be a tiny bit larger. (maybe .001-.002?) The pistons for my car - which I'm making myself from a pattern made by a good friend - were cast of 356T6 which is not a piston alloy and expands more than modern piston alloys do. I did this, partly because that is what the foundry next door could do and partly because the Mitchell is a crank start car. I may get a tiny amount of piston slap when the engine is cold but it will warm up and the ability to turn it over easily for starting is important.

I don't think that is body that was on the car when it was built... The movie was "The Great Gatsby". Oddly enough, I worked for Ted Leonard who owned the car at the time the movie was made. After the filming, and before the release of the movie, it was on display in the lobby of the Gulf & Western Building in New York. For a month I had to sit by the car and talk about it to anyone passing through the lobby. Ted Jr. and I drove it through Manhattan for the premier of the film. I think our passenger was the producer...but as we weren't allowed in we just took the car back to the garage where it was being kept. I was in the movie also with my Cadillac as was the late EA Mowbray whose SG Permanent Salamanca (S111BG) was "Daisys" car. Within the last few months I've had a call from someone who is running down the provenance of the car and was able to give him a few bits of information they didn't have.

It's been many years since I looked at that stuff... I knew it wasn't many but I didn't know it was that few. Somewhere around here I have an owners manual with the chassis number written on the flyleaf. I think it is AMS220. It would be interesting to know if the car is still around. I don't think it was in the RROC book 30 years ago when I was a member.

AJS and AMS series PIIs were left-hand drive. Most were sold on the American market but some went to other places where LHD was desirable.

While I wait for some aluminum bar I need, I'm tying up a few loose ends. Today I made this little piece for the big boring bar micrometer. The original mic - which I have - has an odd size barrel and isn't interchangeable with the 10ths reading B&S micrometer head I have. Rather than make another device like I made for the 3/4" boring bar I made this new piece that will attach to the original holder and allow me to use the 10ths reading head.

Actually, I'm in complete agreement with both Matt and Ed on this. I was thinking more in general terms than referring to this specific car. I also prefer a well used, but well taken care of car that hasn't been messed with by someone trying to win prizes. I've seen quite a few in the last four or five years too...enough to convince me that they are out there and it only requires patience to find them. That said, it's easier once you are inside the loop, talking to other car enthusiasts who share the same outlook. To my mind, the car that started this thread is somewhere between "restorable" and "parts car"... as it is complete, I'd rather see it restored but I realize that is quite unlikely and baring that, what do you do with it?

There are those of us who will never be able to afford a finished car whether it's a good buy or not. Yes, I get the arguments in favor of them but my choice would be a car that needed work or no car...if I had to settle for something in the 50s, 60s or 70s just to get one that was "show ready" I'd quit and do something else.

You should also check to see if there is room for a lock nut on the underside of the stud. These were often left out but if you can put them on it eliminates the purpose of slightly oversize threads since the tightening pressure is now on the stud and the nut. Mitchell left them out everywhere but I'm putting them in. Hones only rough up the surface - we used to call them "glaze breakers"... I suspect taking .005 out would take a month - not being sure what those metric measurements come out to in thousandths. One of the modern methods of boring a cylinder is with a powered hone...that would adjust the diameter and take some of the taper out but it's done with a specialized machine. A spring loaded hone is just going to follow the surface and won't do anything regarding taper. I think you really need to check for taper. In the days before air filters the bores wore quite fast. A car with relatively low mileage can still have badly tapered bores. I had to go .080 over size to get the taper out of mine and I doubt the engine has a lot of miles on it (it wouldn't have survived if it did). I've never seen studs with two different tolerances offered in BSF but not being in the UK, I've never looked for them. There must be industrial suppliers that may have them. I'd just plug away at making them...no one is going to do a more conscientious job than you are. Another thought... a split die in 3/8 BSF in a die holder with the adjustment screw in to open the hole in the die a bit. That may be how they were made in the first place. You'd cut the threads about 90% of the way on the lathe then run the die over them. Herbert's made a really neat lathe mounted die holder - I've never seen one but it was adjustable and was used with interchangeable dies. I think it was called a Coventry die head or die holder... makes sense since they were in Coventry. jp

Yes, and mouse urine is very corrosive so I'd be worried that there is extensive wood and metal damage to the body that isn't immediately visible. I'll bet the interior stinks and there is no effective way of fixing it without pulling it all out.

That makes good sense. I doubt my uncle could have afforded a new car. This must have been just after he returned from France so late 1921 early 1922.

Nice! I could use one of those too. re the studs...It is possible that you are just dealing with the slight differences in tolerance that old nuts and bolts suffer from. There is a good chance that the tool making dept at Humber made both the taps and dies and that, while they worked for them, they are slightly different than the modern versions. You can compensate for that easily enough. I'd do one end of all 8 studs first, then do the other end to a slightly different tolerance. If you are a few thousandths under the stud will screw in...and this is a good place to take advantage of modern adhesives like Locktite. Studs with one end slightly oversize so it is tight in the hole are still made. Try the other end of the stud (where the nut goes) in the hole and see how it fits. If close enough, they can all be the same.

If you haven't done so already, you should check the bore for straightness. Is that a spring loaded hone? If so, it will follow the bore so if it's tapered you will still have a tapered bore after it's honed. The idea is to break up the surface so it isn't polished looking. There is a cross-hatching pattern that is supposed to be superior for modern chrome rings but I doubt it is necessary in an engine like this... I'd just pass the hone through the bore until all the glazing is gone and the surface is an even grey color.

I'm a long way from doing that job and I will be out of the country for February and early March so I have plenty to do...

Ooops... I have to take that back. One of those guys is Paul Zangari (owner of an unrestored 1931 Chrysler CM6 roadster) - one of my oldest friends and the afternoon news anchor on a local radio station. so... at least one of us still has gainful employment. Paul, and his brother John (both of whom are in the pictures) have a Saturday morning "car talk" radio program that has been running for something like 20 years now. In fact, I do the show with them a few times every year and sometimes fill in for one or the other if he can't be there.

You are welcome any time...the great advantage to not working for the trade is that I don't mind interruptions, especially when accompanied by interesting conversation. jp

I'm in luck there. A prominent restorer, who must remain nameless, gave me his formula. I'll experiment first in any case and, if I have a problem, I also have a backup plan. What's the title of the bearing book? Perhaps I should look for a copy for my library.

I think this has been a really productive day. I had a very nice visit with Ted (Christech) of Oldsmobile fame who dropped off the motor and speed controller he offered me. It looks as if it's just the thing. Thanks again Ted! I also started on the thrust bearing that will go in the smaller of the two saddles on the crankcase. This is a piece of bearing bronze - something I bought on ebay because it had a "buy it now" price that was extremely reasonable even though I didn't have anything I needed it for at the moment. It's sure handy to have it in hand now. I thought I'd have to make some special bearings some time. Drilled and reamed to 3/4" And the OD turned on a mandrel. I can't finish this until I've finished with the front saddle and for that I'm waiting on some materials but here it is, on backwards. When finished the flange will provide a thrust surface for the gear that goes on this shaft. I also made a small piece to improve my measuring device. I learned that the tolerances are so close (probably something like .0001) that the set screw that retained the micrometer head bound up if it was tightened. A look at some other tools showed that it should really be clamped in place so I made a small sleeve and slit it with a .040 saw. This is the smallest saw I've ever used and I have to learn how to to do this well because I will eventually have to split the main bearing shells. And the piece in place although the reflection prevents seeing the slit which is actually facing the camera. I will use a clamping set screw collar which should hold the mic without interfering with it's operation.

Al, if you go to our web site and look under books you'll find The Collector's Guide to Military Pistol Disassembly and Reassembly...a book my friend Stuart (the little kid in the cannon story) and I did a few years ago.