Sloth

Hello Alan, thanks. No evergreen trees over here, all trees in my neighborhood are at the moment leafless. Only the Ivy is has some green leaves. We have some large old Oaks, Birches and Willows. Further a variety of Apple trees, Prunes, Cherry trees and some Acacia trees, and one Walnut tree. In the spring most of them bloom very well, its a nice and colorful sight. A few years ago we lost a very large apple tree (she was at least 30 feet high), this, due to a summer storm with strong whirlwinds. I was very fond of that tree. The stump is still standing, could not bring myself to bring it down, maybe this spring. Regards, Harm

Hello, today Anna and I started removing a lot of branches, blown off the trees. We are happy that no damage to our property is done. But we have still a lot of bad weather, wet snow, rain, hail and a lot of wind. After a while, we got wet and cold, so we retreated to the shop, where it is dry and warm. Started filling and continued to sand the body. Regards, Harm

Yesterday, removing excess glue and started sanding the Cleveland body. Had not much energy and a terrible headache (not a hangover 😊, just an area of low pressure is approaching, that means bad weather!). Woke up this morning, a lot of noise outside. At the moment a heavy storm is blowing. They called her "Ciara", and a strong girl she is. The forecast for the next hours: she will increase in strength. Furthermore, thunder and a lot of rain, I think, we can do without this kind of weather. Mike you may keep Ciara 😄. Regards, Harm

Hello Mike, no damage done I hope? At the moment Ciara -the storm that is😃- is blowing mightily over here. Two threes down and a lot of flying branches, and way to much water in the trenches. No Cleveland work today.

Hello Allan, Sorry, can't tell, because my steamer broke before the cane was properly steamed. Thanks for the compliments. Regards, Harm

Hello gentlemen, today I had a productive day. Started early, the target was to attach the moldings on the tonneau. First, split the cane in half round pieces each 1/4" thick (the cane has a diameter of 1/2"). I tried to split the cane by knife, it worked, inch by inch and not nice in appearance, but after 20 inches I was worn out . So, after a some heavy thinking (2 seconds), I just planed it to thickness. The planer made short work of it ( 1/4" thick). Tried to bend the cane, first by steam, but after half an hour the steamer gave up the ghost. So what to do? I could bend it by hand, so I tried it. Must say, it went really good, and much easier than I thought and managed to make them off one piece of cane for each side. All the moldings are done, even the door came out nice. I am relieved that this job went so well and quick, thanks to the excellent quality of the cane. For attaching the molding to the tonneau, I used PU glue and very thin nails (I used a pneumatic nailing machine with small 3/4" long thin nails with T-head). Furthermore, I adjusted the air pressure for the pneumatic nailing machine to the lowest possible, workable setting. If not, you shoot the nail right through the cane and destroy it.... Tonneau molding right side Detail of tonneau molding Tonneau molding rear side Tomorrow removal of the excess glue, than start sanding and filling all the small holes and sanding again and so on. That phase of the project is certainly not one of my favorite jobs, but I know, very important for getting a nice end result. One wood job left: the floor boards. I make them, as soon as I am really sure that the engine and the control mechanics fits under them. Regards, Harm

Hello Al, Not yet, first hinges and the cane. And then some brackets. Regards, Harm

Hello Mike, I wish you a fast recovery, COPD and paints are not the best combination I can imagine. Thirty five years ago, I got floored by using phenol resorcinol glue, I nearly choked. Since then, I am highly allergic for the stuff. So my (needless) advice: stay away from those paints, as solvents in the paint find their way in your body through the unprotected skin. Best regards, Harm

Hello, "To hinge or not to hinge" that was the question. YES, this afternoon I received the hinges, and (to my surprise) about 40' 1/2" diameter cane. Hinges and cane are of excellent quality. So tomorrow its steam bending time, if the weather behaves as promised. Hinges, brass, 4"long 1 1/2" wide and 1/4" thick, rust free steel hinge pin. Untreated cane, 1/2"diameter. Regards, Harm

Hello gentlemen, this morning, I started in the workshop at 8 o'clock. Today's target was to put the tonneau body together. Well at 19.00 hr , mission accomplished, I am a bit (very) tired now 😊. So unexpectedly, it took me the whole day to complete this task. The reason for this is simple, for a dry run, I assembled the tonneau without glue, and left -so here and there- some screws out. (does not really matter that much...uhhh) Everything fitted nicely, so I disassembled the whole tonneau. Then started to put it together with glue and all the screws. Mmm, needs some adjustment here and some attention there, well I thought it fitted nicely one hour or so ago 😥. Long story short, even at a dry run, one shall install ALL the fasteners which are initial foreseen, or you have to fix a lot of small -but time consuming- adjustments! I must admit, I forgot this lesson, I remember it happened to me before, oh those shortcuts.... But I am very happy now, the tonneau looks very nice and is sturdy. Now I have to wait two days, letting the glue fully harden, and then remove the excess glue and sand the whole tonneau. So I can truly say, the end is near (for this part of restoring the Cleveland that is....). This afternoon I got message from the post office, they received a package for me. I hope the hinges are in the package, will get it Monday. Coming days some brackets must be forged. And now its time for a nice gin tonic☺️. Regards, Harm

Hello Al, Yes the shifter for the gears, the handbrake and the ignition timer, come up on the right hand side through the seat, indeed by the right leg. The floor pedals are for the brakes, throttle and muffler cut out (+ a bell pedal, which I don't have -neither bell nor pedal- ). Furthermore, at the heel board under de front seat (seems to me as being more a leather flap), you will find the on/off handle for the oilers (3 of them), the carburetor choke and the on/off switch for the ignition + a switch for battery 1 or battery 2. Usually telephone batteries, what ever they may be. With exception of the oilers, its the same number of manual controls as I have at the 1909 Flanders, but just situated on other locations. I am very curious how the planetary gear box behaves. Regards, Harm

Hello Al, Your are right, patience is a nice thing, I don't have much of that stuff (as I am told by Anna...) And me too, still waiting for the hinges. Thinking ahead on the mechanics, well, completing the body proved to be a good thing. Some of my ideas on the mechanics (gear shifting mechanism) needs re evaluation🙁. In short: the shifting mechanism as it is now, does not fit nicely under the seat. But first I have to complete the body, without any adjustments left for a later date... Regards, Harm

Hello Al, Not yet, everything is ready, but the weather must improve a bit. I don't like to do the steaming inside the shop (moist and machines.... you know what happens). Regards, Harm

Today I completed the moldings for the front seat. They are about 3/4" wide and 3/16" thick. On an picture I got of the car of Roger Weiss and a picture of a sales catalog, one can clearly see that the molding on the front seats are not half round, but flat and fairly wide. I made them from an ash board, planed to a thickness of 3/16". I clearly had a to learn how to do that. My planers minimum is 1/4", so I put the board with two sided tape on a piece of plywood, then planing very thin layers from the ash. First time, the ash was catapulted through the shop, the plywood was still on the planer... 😲. No harm done to Harm and his shop cats. The next try, was planing with thin layers. After the planing, it was plane sailing, sawing the molding parts out of the board. A bit of sanding, rounding the inside of the molding, and glued and tacked the pieces on the seat. Front seat molding For keeping the tonneau in position on the under body I will use dowels. I used two round pieces of 3/4" beech wood, very though and strong. I will use two dowels on the rear frame of the tonneau and two dowels on the upper frame. Further I have to make two steel brackets with thumb screws to lock the tonneau on the under body. Measuring the position of the dowels on the tonneau and the under body, and holding both in line, took a lot of time. After drilling the holes, the dowels fitted nicely in under body and tonneau frame, so no need for elongated holes, I am happy! Dowel in rear frame of the tonneau Both dowels glued in the rear frame of the tonneau Today, I tried again to order 1/2" cane for the tonneau seat. I asked the sales person (who was very knowledgeable on the subject) what his thoughts are, on using cane for molding purposes. He was positive about it, but he warned me that the dimension of the cane I asked for, was impregnated to make it water repellent. So I can't use that, not for ammonia and not for steam bending. He told me, as he has to order a new large batch of cane, he also will order some not treated cane. This will take some time, we will see... We also discussed the use of an ammonia solution for bending. He told me, that years ago, they used it successfully for some time, but after a while, experienced loss of quality of the cane. Further more, paint and lacquer did nor stick well on it, so they reverted to steam bending. Regards, Harm

Hello, Some time ago, and with a lot of help of Alsfarms, thanks Al 🤗, I made a drawing of the sills (thresholds) for the Cleveland. They are 'deep etched' by a company who are specialized in this kind of technique. Today I received them, I am really pleased with these sills, the are sharp and crisp etched. Only thing left to do, rounding the ends. Threshold for the Cleveland Continued building the steam box, and cleaned the moldings below the front seat from excess glue. Regards, Harm

Hello Mike, Thank you. 21, well, in my mind yes, but almost every morning my chassis tells me another story 😊. Regarding steam production, I will give it a try. If it is not enough, I have a large propane gas ring, this together with a large water kettle will do (I guess). Regards, Harm

Hello, to start with, I got a very nice birthday present from Anna: a large 12" disk sander. Heavy, for such a compact machine, 100 lbs... One of these days I must make a stand with swivel wheels for it. Much to heavy to carry around, me not 20 anymore😊 Disk sander Today, I used the sander a lot, for fitting the moldings under the front seat. A lot of sanding was needed to get them fitted. To increase the strength of the glued joint, I used 6 1/4" wooden dowels between the body and the molding. Molding drivers side, dowels clearly visible. Molding driver side, just glued it. Furthermore I started building a simple steam box. Using some Youtube movies as guidance, building one is straight forward. Will use the household steam cleaner, obtained permission from Anna 😀. Steam box Regards, Harm

Hello trimacar, Thank you, I will give it a try, would be easier than steam bending. Regards, Harm

Hello Al, The center to center measurement of the copper return bends is 2" (see picture). I used two sheets of 0.02"copper sheet. Sheet dimension 40" x 80". Regards, Harm

Hello jdome, Thank you for this information. I must admit, I never thought of reed. Called some artist supply shops, no problem, they sell the stuff, but I am warned about the quality. Regards, Harm

Hello Mike, That you for the answer and the link, I contacted Woolies. This is very nice stuff for the trim on the seat edges. Will order it very soon. Regards, Harm

Hello Al, Not yet, last two days I cleaned the shop and the tools. All very dusty. Regards, Harm

Monday and today, I got the side and rear boards of the tonneau done. Also fitted the rear posts, a very time consuming affair. Today made the rear door, but can not finish it, because I am waiting for the hinges and latch. I ordered the brass hinges at the Restoration Supply Company (no. BRA314). Gentlemen, I need some help: around the edges of the body, a molding of a 1/2 round piece of ??? is used. What kind of material is used for that application. I must admit, I have no idea and can't find anything about it on the Web. Furthermore, it seems to me that 1/2 round material is not easy to bend in one direction (laying flat), the other direction seems no problem. Please be so kind, to let me know what your thoughts are about this. View of passengers side tonneau seat View of drivers side tonneau seat View of rear entrance door Rear view of entrance door I am nearing the end of the body building. Jobs left to do, making the molding under the front seat to the dash board, mounting the slats in the front seat. Making floor boards, for the front seat and the tonneau. Finishing the tounneau seat boards. Gluing and mounting the whole tonneau together (its now temporarily fixed by screws). Making some brackets for the tonneau, and making some brackets to keep the tonneau fixed on the main body. I will use steel locating pins to fix the position of the tonneau on the main body. Attach the main body to the chassis (6 carriage bolts). Regards, Harm

Hello Steve, Thank you for your post. Until a few years ago, I had regular contact with Roger. But since 4 years, I didn't got reply's to my questions. So I expected something had happened. Roger has helped me a lot with the answers, regarding restoring my Cleveland. He wrote that he knew for a long time, that my Cleveland existed, but as he wrote to me, "no one in his right mind would take this on 😄 ". Regards, Harm

Hello Al, We had a very nice weekend, but got way to late to bed. We are a member of the neighborhood association (taking care of each other and providing help were needed etc.), twice a year we have a celebration. That is a Midsummer outing and the New Years celebration. This year the board had decided we should have a "cycling diner". Some people cook the appetizer, others cook the main course and some cook the desert. Anna and I cooked a main course for 6 neighbors (Boeuf Bourguignon). Saturday afternoon we were ready. So at Saturday evening 6 o' clock , we went on our bikes to the neighbors (1 mile away) who served the appetizer. Then back to our home for the main course, then off we went for the desert (2 miles away). After that, we all gathered at the Inn on the end of our street (2 miles away). Here we all started the well wishing and talking about the latest events in the neighborhood (a lot of gossip 😁). So Anna and I went to bed early Sunday morning. Yesterday was not a good day.... 🥴 we are getting to old for this kind of bed time. The weather over here is mild, a lot of rain and windy, temperature about 48 F. No frost or snow in sight, at least not for the coming 14 days. Regards, Harm