Sloth

Hello Mike and Al, Gentlemen, you are welcome. I bookmarked this website several years ago, I found many very useful tricks and tips. The "Rolled Wire Sheet Metal Hems" trick I used myself several years ago, when fabricating new wings/fenders/mudguards 😉 for the 1909 Buick. Alan, the Alvis TA-21 is (in my humble opinion) a desirable car, some of them have very nice bodies. Well the Cleveland, a good progress today, but have some problems with the camera, I hope to sort it out asap. Would be very satisfying sitting in the new seat, I really wonder how many years ago the last person sat down in this Cleveland (although I realize very well, that my Cleveland body is newly build). Regards, Harm

Hello John, thank you for the compliment. The wheelbase is 72". Regards, Harm

Hallo Al, I must figure out how it originally was made. But as now, I think, it is a hatch with a 1/2" 90 degree edge, with on the top (near the dash) a hinge. For fabricating the louvers I have to make a simple die. But this item is for the time being on the back burner. Below I include a link to a very interesting project, the fabrication of louvers is shown in detail. The writer describes how to fabricate a simple die for fabricating louvers. To me, it seems a very elegant solution. And another benefit, I can easily adjust the dimensions fitting the Cleveland louvers. And above all, as I am a Dutchman: its cheap 😉 . One note, I only need 5 or 6 louvers, so the die can be very simple and if it breaks I make a new one. Further more the nearest shop who can make louvers is about 160 miles away, and they are not interested in it. So I decided to make the louvers myself. Link: http://www.madaboutmorgans.com/handmade_louvers-html/ I plan to build the seat with rounded corners, I spend the afternoon with drawing and visualizing the seat, how to to fabricate the corners. The back of the seat is also slightly rounded, making it a bit more complicated. Tomorrow I plan to make a mock up (building up one edge, made of slices of plywood), just to see if I have the dimensions right. Pictures will be taken... Regards, Harm

Thanks Al, I hope to have the front seat ready before Christmas (this year...😄). Regards, Harm

@keizer31, thank you for your kind comment. Yesterday and today, I spend on making the middle part of the hood. I used a flexible kind of plywood, this type of plywood is used mostly by furniture makers. The plywood proved less flexible than I had hoped for. But on the end I got it done. Whats left is rounding the corners, sawing the hatch for the petrol tank and water tank and fit the quarter round moldings on the lower/bottom sides. Furthermore, I made the dash board. Slowly, it begins to look like an automobile. Regards, Harm Hood, left side view Hood, right side view

Started this morning with the construction of the slope nosed hood. Made the sides 1"ash boards. After a lot of try and error, got the slopes right (I think but not sure, as I have no comparable model to hand). See pictures. Tomorrow, I will saw the horizontal part, and glue the whole thing together. The pictures show some dimensional distortion. During the writing of this report, I walked two times to the shop to convince myself that the slopes are there, and the sides are similar and have the same tilt 🙄. Won't write down the comment made by my wife, . The small slats in the front are temporarily distance keepers. Regards, Harm

Hello Mike, Hardinge collets = top quality equipment. Congratulations with the shaper! Shapers are a nice and useful addition to the shop tools. I have one and use it often, they are more versatile than most people think. Regards, Harm

Hello Al, Nicely written! The quarter round is some kind of pine, I would rather preferred ash. But this is what I only could buy in a small quantity. Regards, Harm

Hello Al, Next: front seat with its curved backside, dash board and the "slope nosed" hood. The tonneau with the rear door will be last, I must sort out several design issues.... The tonneau is not identical to Cadillac or Ford. (To be honest, the Cleveland body looks like a Cadillac or Ford body, but differs on most dimensions). From the front seat on, the Cleveland body is totally different. So the tonneau presents me with some headache. Regards, Harm

Hello Al, That is a very nice made box! I guess the ignition box for the two cylinder Cleveland, is mounted on the dash board. For the one cylinder car, it is mounted near the engine, with the switch mounted on a small strip of sheet metal under the passenger side of the front seat, rather primitive and not very convenient. I think that the 2 cylinder car is a much more sophisticated (modern) car than the one cylinder car. This is something I must sort out. Regards, Harm

Yesterday evening Anna and I started gluing the body parts. Work progressed well, it took us just 3 hours to complete the task. One has to work fast, as the glue sets after 15 minutes. This afternoon I sanded the whole body and where applicable routed the edges. Also made the under frame for the front seat. What I nearly forgot: putting small wooden pieces (blocks) under the body frame beams. They will hold the body 5/16" above the steel chassis rails. So this is done to prevent moisture becoming trapped between the steel chassis rails and the body frame beams. Below some pictures. Regards, Harm

Hello Al, Company left early in the afternoon, the weather forecast warned for thick fog, and right they where. So yesterday evening, Anna and I started gluing the body parts. Work progressed well, it took us just 3 hours to complete the task. One has to work fast, as the glue sets after 15 minutes. Regarding the ignition system, I really don't know. I have the timer, but not much else. I have no coil and no switch, I guess there must also be a battery box for 6 standard cells? Regards, Harm

Hello Mike, I read all the pages of your blog. Mike, you show exceptional craftsmanship. I like this kind of restoring a car, performing all the work yourself , and learning a lot during the process, most satisfying. Reading about the engine, it seems to me as very compact, but rather a complicated and well designed engine. I am anxious to see the first start of the restored engine, keep my fingers crossed. A question: are the crankshaft bearings made of bronze with a Babbitt lining, or just bearing bronze without Babbitt lining? Regards, Harm

Hello gentlemen, Sorry to disappoint you, no gluing today. Got unexpected visitors, nice, so my planning came to nothing. Well Monday I will start again. Have a nice weekend, Harm

Hello Luv2Wrench, I fully agree with you. A kind of Dykem blue usable for wood would be very welcome. I too have problems with the small lines, to be honest I can't hardly see them, so I use a very small pencil line. The problem with this is I have to remember on which side of the line I must saw or mill. Regards, Harm

Today was a productive day, I started at 7 o'clock. First, inserted the timber at the rear side of the front seat and also fitted the quarter hollow. Took some time to get it right. Further more I made a lot of small adjustments and sawed both side boards. The whole affair took the whole day to finish. Both sides are now less than 1/16" equal to each other, I am happy with the results 😊. For my wood work I use the same calipers as for the metal work, some friends thinks its way over the top.... I don't think so, to get the parts dimensional correct, you have to work with tight tolerances. Question to you all, what are your thoughts about this? Tomorrow its gluing time, all the joints and side panels will be glued, and were needed, screwed together. Regards, Harm Detail of inner left side Detail picture with the quarter hollow Inside view, right side. Beam for the holding the floor boards is clearly visible. Front view Side view, right side Left side of the body

Hello Alan, The tanks are not original. I made them several years ago. The material I used is 18 gauge brass sheet. The tank are build by fabricating two sides left and right with 1/2" flanges. I made the flanges 1/2" by using a hard wood pattern to work the brass on. After that I folded the middle piece and rolled the round part on a slip roller machine, I used one long piece of brass. I used a 40" 3 in 1 cheap metal working machine. This machine its a bit flexible, but good enough for my needs. After test fitting I soldered the sides on the middle piece The outlet parts I turned from brass stock with 1/4" pipe threat in it. See pictures. After the soldering both tanks where water tight, no leaks. Regards, Harm Petrol tank Petrol tank bottom view Water tank side view Water tank three quarter view Water tank bottom view

Hello Alan, Thanks, nice house you have, I like the architectural style. The weather, mmm, looks to me as one of those "stay in bed with a hot chocolate and good book" days..... Is the snowfall earlier than normal? Tomorrow, I expect to show some visible progress. Regards, Harm

Hello Alan, This evening (just a few minutes ago, local time, its 17:15 hr) I received the quarter round molding. Today I spend with cleaning the shop and started with the lay-out of the side panels. Furthermore I made patterns for the side panels of the hood (scuttle) and patterns for the front seat. Tomorrow, I start the gluing of the under body and fitting the side, front and rear panels. Regards, Harm To all readers: Anna and I wish you a very happy Thanksgiving.

Hello gentlemen, Thanks for the thumbs up and comments. The body will be covered with a 5 /8" marine grade plywood, expensive, but water resistant. We have some shipyards within 10 miles from where I live, they are willing to sell some. Today, was a very productive day. Nice weather, so I started at 8.00 to set up my outdoor wood shop. Outdoor wood shop. Portable dust extractor connected at the planer (Shop supervisor keeping an eye on the progress). Managed to saw and plane all the remaining wooden beams and boards to complete the under body of the Cleveland. Two weeks ago I ordered a difficult to make (by me) piece of wood. Its 2 1/2" square and 4 feet long with a large quarter round hollow profile milled in it. (I have not the slightest idea what the correct English word for it is). I need it for the backside of the body where the front seat ends and the deck begins. They promised delivery within 3 days.... still waiting. Also sawed and planed the boards for the front seat and the sides of the hood. This is the piece with the quarter round hollow I am waiting for Also waiting for slotted head screws. When every joint is finished correctly, I will replace the Torx head screws by historically correct slotted screws. May be a bit overdone, but I like it. On a side note: its remarkable how fast slotted wood screws are replaced by Torx headed and Philips- or Posidriv headed wood screws. So, it appears to me, that the slotted head screws are not readily available on the market anymore. Took me quite a while to figure out a shop, selling the slotted wood screws (with the right dimensions), not many shops left who sell these. Regards, Harm

Hello Al, Not quite, progress is a bit slow, but at least some. Making the joints is a lot of work, but measuring to get the body dimensional correct, takes a lot of time and thinking. Blow I show some pictures of the body as it is today. Tomorrow should be a nice day to do some sawing and planing outside. Furthermore some steam bending of wooden parts must be done. Have to build a steam box. The body is held together with some small screws, no glue yet. I use Bostik PK75 glue, very good stuff, but when it has set (takes 15 minutes to set and 24 hours to cure to 100% strength), there is no way, to separate the wood parts (a 10 lbs sledgehammer won't work 😇). So I do the fine tuning of the joints just with some small screws, just enough to keep the joints tight. Tomorrow I have also to figure out the dimensions of the front seat. The beam behind the front seat is just a temporary distance keeper, between the left and right side of the body. It belongs on the upper rear (last picture shows it very clear). Regards, Harm

Hello Mike, thanks for your reply, corrected the sentence accordingly. Regards, Harm

After the yearly cleaning of the ditches around the farm land, which did not going well ( to much rain, so the heavy equipment got stuck..), herewith a report of the last days. First I started sawing and planing the ash timber. Small pile of timber, fresh from the mill. Took me one whole day, but on the end I had a fine pile of usable beams and planks. Friday I started with the lower rear body part, a lot of wood joints must be made. Friday, after a hard days work, the beginning of a body frame. Saturday, I completed (more or less) both frames -left and right-. This is the part where the tonneau will be seated. After a hard days work (Saturday). Regards, Harm

Hello Al, Yesterday I went to the mill and got what I wanted. Very pleased with the quality of the ash, $ a positive surprise. Ash under the Cleveland chassis. Started today with building a mock-up of the under body. I did not thrust the drawings I had very much, and right I am. So to morrow some fine tuning is in order. I expect building the real under body next week. Rough mock-up of under body. As you know, the ash will be sawn and planed to dimensional right beams and planks, just what I need for that particular peace of wood. Regards, Harm

Hello Wayne, I have a few editions of the Horseless Age December 1903, and some editions of the Automobile Review September 1904. With your story in mind, I read all the advertisements with a different view. The number of suppliers / manufacturers astounds me. Many chassis suppliers (complete or only the frame). Further ignition, brakes, radiators (coolers) etc, a great many number of them specialized in certain parts. Very interesting information, thank you for putting me on that path. In Europe most car manufacturers made all the parts them-self's, but for carburetors (but even some made the carburetor in house), bolts and nuts. I try to do everything possible, to restore the Cleveland as right as possible. The only drawback: the research is very time consuming. Found some wrong descriptions and wrong pictures of the Cleveland Roadster in the literature. Regards, Harm