JV Puleo

Today I put the threaded sleeves in the mount for the water pump. You can see how off-center they are with each other. I centered them as best I could. The end mill left a tiny amount of thread on one side of the hole and a similar amount on the opposite side of the other hole. Since the hole is threaded and the insert is permanent, this isn't important. After the first hole was milled, I clamped it up to drill for 5/16 screws. Then threaded the hole. I bought a new tap for this... I only had one 7/16-20 tap and it is probably about 90 years old. The result is more than satisfactory. Here it is with the caps in place. They will be screwed down tight when it's bored. Then, because it's all set up, I located the hole for the oil filler/return. I planned to bore this out to .950 and thread it for another brass insert but, as the hole got bigger, I realized that the insert would have to cut into the wall of the casting. I decided to go to 13/16 and thread it 7/8-14 - the actual size of the oil connection...this isn't a part that will be taken out once the engine is assembled so I'm not as concerned about wear or stress on the threads. I will put a little Never-Seeze on the threads so it doesn't stick but since it will be constantly wet with oil from the bottom I don't think that is a concern. And I tried the oil filler to make sure everything fit.

Well, that doesn't seem like an odd question - especially as I had to keep stopping to remember the order the operations was done it. The hole in the cap had to be drilled before the hole in the crankcase was threaded...

PII Henley roadster parked on a street in Cambridge..c. 1949

I've been to London many times but never have seen it with so little traffic.

With the new flat head bolts in place I set the crankcase up on the mill. You can see how far it hangs over the front and the need for the plates to support it. I indicated the squared end of the torsion plate. It was out .003 in 6" so I left it alone. I also double checked the spindle though this is just my paranoia acting up. I am plunge milling the holes. For this I had to have a special end mill reground since the diameter needed is not a standard end mill size. It worked quite well. Then I clamped the cap on taking care not to move anything. Center drilled it and then drilled it 1/4" for the attaching screws. Then I took the cap off, threaded the hole and put the first insert in with a drop of Locktite on the threads. From this point forward when I drilled the 1/4" holes I made sure to put cap screws in the finished holes. The third hole was a pain in the neck due to the Mitchell companies very liberal idea of what precision means. This hole had a screw broken off in it which, fortunately, was so oxidized in place it didn't move when I drilled it out. I didn't get the entire piece out because the original holes must have been drilled freehand... It came out all right though... Believe it or not, this took just about all day with 4 or 5 operations that had to be repeated each time but now there are 4 holes in the crankcase and they line up with the new cap.

The Russians had a Motor Transport Corp recruited from civilians who could drive (or their chauffeurs) and utilizing what had been civilian cars before the war. I have a memoir by an officer who served briefly with them before he went to a Caucasian irregular cavalry regiment. His description of the muster of cars for army service is very interesting and I'll try to find it and transcribe it. The old, pre-revolutionary Russian Army is one of my specialties. jp

I have a lot more of them. Most are from a photo album kept by the late Alden Handy of Cambridge, Massachusetts. I never knew him but I worked on his LHD PII about 30 years ago when it belonged to his nephew. That gentleman sold the car but he gave me his uncle's collection of car books and his photo album. I still have most of the books, some of which have been out of print for 60 years now. I did share the album with David Greenlees of The Old Motor and he published many of the Handy photos on his web site but David doesn't do cars at car shows and Handy was present at the opening of the Lars Anderson Museum in 1949 (I have the original ticket, which he kept). My feeling is that most of the cars at those very early old car meets were totally unrestored, originals so I think they are still relevant to a venue like this.

From a completely different source... Peugeot with the Russian Army about 1915. How do I know it's a Peugeot? I own the picture so I scanned the radiator badge at very high resolution and was able to read it.

Here's one for AJ... I just realized that the Lars Anderson Museum opened on October 15, 1949. Many of the photos I have were taken there between 1949 and about 1955. The gentleman who collected them lived in Cambridge.

1919 Lancia, picture taken at Lars Anderson in October of 1949.

My flat head cap screws cam in so I bolted the extension plates to the table of the mill. I should be back in business tomorrow. This also arrived. A piece of cored bearing bronze to make the center camshaft bearing.

I've seen one set, on a late PI Avon. I went with my friend EA Mowbray to look at it. It was a wreck - a real "barn find" if ever there was one but he liked it and bought it. It had 4 stainless wheels on the ground - the spare wheels were missing. A few days later someone that had herd about the car called him and offered him more money than he'd paid for the car, plus a set of six normal wheels. I don't think he sold them but he did eventually sell the car.

1911 Silver Ghost with wooden wheels rebodied in the 1920s. To my eye it looks like an American body. Picture was taken by the Charles River in Cambridge in October of 1949. I'll bet the car sill exists but that this body was replaced long ago. In a sense, that is really too bad because an important part of it's history has probably been erased.

An Iron head PI Newmarket. This was taken on Cape Cod, I think in 1948. It has the later bumpers and tool boxes so it was probably updated by RR of America at some point. I think the only aluminum head cars with drum headlights were the FR series in 1929 and they had the tubular bumpers as well. (I could be wrong about that, its been a very long time since I was working on RRs...but I had S193FR with drum headlights and it was a 29.

I bolted the fixture up this morning and discovered I still don't have enough travel in the table to get the holes I have to drill under the spindle. In this case because the bolts that hold the steel pieces down obstruct sliding the crankcase back. So I countersunk the bolt holes for flat head cap screws. With those below the surface I have pretty much unlimited adjustment room. But, with all the nuts and bolts I have, I don't have the right ones and our local hardware store (which is a very good one) didn't have them either. So, I ordered some. They'll be in late tomorrow. In the meantime, I have another job that needs doing so it's worth waiting for the right bolts. I have so much time in this I don't want to take any chances. I also took a look at the center main bearing problem. The casting has a cruciform cross section directly in line with the center of the middle main bearing. And this odd "flaw" on the upper surface. I'm more convinced than ever that it was supposed to have a hole through the crankcase feeding the center of the middle main but that, for some reason, they didn't drill it. The fact that it has a connection for the oiler but that it goes nowhere is a tip off that they made another cheesy, cost saving modification. I'm not thrilled about drilling this hole but if I'm careful it should be fine. It doesn't have to be very big - just the ID of 1/4" copper tube. This is the top of the case opposite the bearing.

Yes...I think that is it. I haven't been by there in years but, oddly enough, I'm in Woonsocket so just down the road.

One of my favorites. A 1911 Pierce Arrow was taken in Brookline in 1949. Identified as the property of Miss Lyons of Wakefield, MA. She may have been the original owner. I doubt it's restored. I think the picture was taken on the day the Lars Anderson Museum opened.

I wonder if it matters. The side to side movement of the big end will be limited by the position of the small end in the piston.

Here's another. A Packard Waterhouse Convertible Victoria, taken at Lars Anderson around 1950. The owner was Arthur Mellor. Arthur lived at the foot of Wilbur Road in Lincoln RI and he still owned this car when I was in my early 20s. I attended my first old car show with him - he invited me and my friend David Houghton (who lived up the hill from him) to the show not bothering to tell us that he was in charge and that he needed extra help. I think we spent mot of the time there collecting money and handing out the door prizes. I was about 19 at the time and bought my 27 Cadillac a few weeks later. The photo is black & white but I think it was beige and cream colored. When I knew it he'd painted it green and yellow. It was about as 70s "Circus Wagon" as you could get. Arthur also had a Model T that I helped him with once or twice - although I know a lot less about Model T's than I do about Silver Ghosts and PI's. Arthur bought this car from a junkyard in Bellingham, MA (I'm not sure of that...it might have been one town over). The junkyard was still there when I was in high school although with nothing like this in the yard. It had been a Hudson dealership at one point and still had all the Hudson signage. There was a 37 or 38 Chrysler coup in the yard with absolutely new looking original paint and interior and a blown engine. I could have had it for $300 but passed because, to my mind, it was too new to be interesting.

How about this one. The picture was taken in 1953...probably in the Boston area.

To add to Walt G's post... this experimental PII Rolls Royce, 25EX, taken in New York around 1949.

There is an odd "flaw" in the casting on the top that I think is directly opposite the center of the bearing...as if it was originally intended to drill down through the crankcase to the center of the bearing but for some reason they didn't do it. I may very well do that myself although it will require drilling a hole about 7" deep - I have to figure out if putting a fitting there to connect to the oil lines will obstruct the intake manifold...so it's another problem to solve.

This afternoon I changed the mill back to vertical. The only tough part is lining up the head with the body of the mill. Since it's very heavy, and you can't see the connection when it is close, it's a fiddly job. I've only done it four or five times - I suppose if I did it more often I'd be better at it. Then I drilled two holes in each of the two 4" plates. I broke off a center drill on the second hole so it took me a lot longer to do this than I'd intended. This is what I'm aiming for...a way to hold the crankcase steady and flat while positioning it under the spindle. I also discovered this interesting problem. The oiler had a connection on the outside of the crankcase for the center main bearing. But, the output end of that hole is nowhere near the bearing. In fact, it's in a place where it cant' be reached. The bearing itself has 4 holes but no provision for connecting it to the oiler. This will be an interesting problem to solve if I want to get oil to the center main under pressure. It looks as if the center main was splash lubricated and the oiler connection was just for show.

I have absolutely no problem with people making money...I wish I were better at it myself. Nor have I any problem with pointing out to a newcomer that making money at this is not a sure-fire thing and that it is a lot more difficult than popular entertainment makes it out to be. That said, were I new at this (fortunately my experience goes back to the days before the internet) I would find the general attitude on this site to be discouraging. I do not think that is intentional and I've no recommendation as to how it can be addressed but it is something we should all think about if we want others to get into the old car world. Just this week I was contacted by a gentleman who was looking at a RR I worked on 30 years ago. From our conversation I learned that he'd flown out to look at and drive the car then started running down everyone he could find that had previous experience with it. That's the right way to go about it and there are still risks. I knew the car to be absolutely straight and untampered with but who can say what has been done in the 30 years since I've seen it.

I think John S asks a perfectly reasonable question. I've gone out of my way to look at items for other enthusiasts and I'd be extremely PO'd if I thought I was helping another collector and found out all I'd done was waste my time helping someone else flip a car. It's fine if you are paid for it but that wasn't specified in the original post. Are all cars for resale? Maybe on this site, which seems to be overwhelming dominated by the "you'll be under water in no time" attitude. I'm not sure that applies to all of us, especially those who flourish under water.