Kegan

Back at it again. Life and an accident put the brakes on for a bit. Trucks in a new shop now getting some much needed new fire! Step panels are at the fabrication shop, manifolds getting powder coated, and the top is almost done. Excited about the 90 days.

Hey all I haven’t gave up we just had to shut it down for a bit till this plague blows through. Should be back to work on it in a few weeks I hope

Next on deck. Brakes and getting the wheels put back together and new tires on so it can be rolled down to the other shop do a little body work and lots of clean up and sanding and a little paint. Those mechanical breaks are no joke. Lots more to them than you realize. The lining was garbage so bought new from Myers Early Dodge and new rivets. Gonna have to replace a couple springs which Myers carries as well. We decided to take one apart at a time just to use the other for reference. The emergency break and moving pets inside were quite froze up. Larry got the whole system apart and blasted and painted and the new lining put on. I’ve been underneath scraping grease as hard as stone and thick as can possibly be getting ready for some chassis saver for the axels and frame before the brakes and wheels go back on. This is gonna be a semi slow process cleaning the undercarriage as it is covered in funk....

I was really hoping to save the top but it just wasn’t possible. Both outer rails were badly rotted. Three of the ribs were broken. Most of the top strips were loose with several broken. So off she came, loaded into the truck and headed for the wood shop! The same friend that did the beautiful job on the back doors is also doing a whole new top! I’m excited to see it when done!

This truck sure turned out to be a much bigger project than I had anticipated! I would like to stop here and say THANK YOU to all my friends for the help and support I have gotten with this truck! It would never be where it is now without all of them! I’d also like to say to all of you. The next time somebody walks by and asks a question (no matter how stupid you think it is) or says nice job or wants to show you what they have, give them two seconds of your time. I all to often have been snubbed at tractor shows by some of the big boys thinking. The attitude of what a stupid question, or they don’t know anything why are they even here, or oh they just have a little piece of shit ________ fill in the blank, or that guy doesn’t know anything! Those are the new people in the hobby. Those are the people that in a few years after gaining some knowledge will be your next buyer, your friend, your driving partner. They just want to learn. Without the friends I have made through the whole process I never would have been able to accomplish this. These rare people took time out of their lives, space out of there garages and barns, room on there work bench, took time out of their own lives and have shown and taught me soooooo much! Those are the people that make this love of things old go round and round! Without the teachers this is a dying art! I know of several people that wouldn’t give me the time of day on this project but I also met several people that have dedicated their minds to this project and me. Be one of those and not the other!

This was a pleasant surprise. Took a DA sander and wore wheel to the body. There’s a lot of original blue paint under all that filth. I think it’s gonna get a good go over and clear. I like ol Norman’s patina. There’s something to be said about original. It only original once!

This is what I decided for the floors and bed. The floors and bed were both rotted badly. I couldn’t decide what wood I wanted to use. I had a few black walnut cut out of my front yard and had the pleasure of using a friends Minneapolis steam engine and saw mill to process the logs. The boards have been drying for two years. Gonna go through the stack this weekend and pick out the boards I want. Get them ready for the planer. I’m sure original was ash or white oak but I don’t have a stock pile of ash or white oak and not everybody gets to say those birds right there cane from my front yard and I got to saw them into lumber with a steam engine and be a part of every part of the process to being floor boards. Should be beautiful.

All put together restored, rebuilt and painted this was a big day for me! There are so many little things I’m skipping over in these posts but if something seems like it’s out of sequence it because I just found pictures or remembered something I forgot to share. Like I said before I’m just trying to get everyone up to date so I can do a weekly post instead of a daily post

The oil pump rebuild. Not quite sure how that oil pump was ever pumping anything. It was so plugged with sludge. The new gasket we made for it turned out quite well and then a pic of it installed!

A couple more pictures of the wheels I’m quite proud of them. I threw a tire and cap on just to see what it was gonna look like! They are not as dark as they look in the last two pics but I love the color!

The windows are out. Haven’t replaced the glass yet but yes I am. I kinda didn’t want to but everybody scared me into it. The window frames need some love anyway. They were froze right up but we got them moving. They are getting a complete rebuild. Also after talking to several people apparently the vacuum windshield wiper bodies that were that trash pot metal are all destroyed and finding a good usable one is next to impossible. And isn’t not something we can rebuild so it’s getting a hand operated wiper. Already purchased one.

Tail light was stuck, couldn’t get the cover off and it was filthy. Gave it a week long soak and bang she popped apart! Got it all cleaned up and reworked it. Got it working like a jewel now!

This steering wheel started as a mess and turned out beautifully another one I lost track of hours on polishing and sanding and sanding and sanding some more then coating with the same pecan stain and Spar. I couldn’t be happier!

Started with a filthy grease, dirt and oil covered mess. I see why it costs so much to have somebody refinish wood spoke wheels. I lost track of hours a long time ago. there are lots of hours into sanding and cleaning. this from start to finish... I chose to keep the wood grain and use spar on them. I researched many different product all having good and bad. This was what I chose. I love the look. The amount of time and energy spent on these wheels in uncountable!

Got the Delco Remy Corp. Klaxon 18B horn back together and tuned after I took it apart and sandblasted and knocked all the dents out and straightened it up. Larry tuned it and filed the points. Sounds pretty damn good! It’s gonna get a coat of gloss black paint and she’s ready for Norman!

Pulled the trans and did a complete run down on it and pulled the little brake controller apart that was froze up and cleaned it all up. Works like a charm now! Surprisingly the trans was in great shape!

I got to hear the starter turn over on a battery. The middle bearing was trashed. More garbage pot metal. Larry machined a new one, cleaned it up and she works as good as new now! One step closer to hearing Norman run!

Took the old rotted running boards to a friends shop and he fabricated up some new ones. They turned out beautifully. we mocked up the newly bent pieces and came up with a plan. Larry drilled and welded them during the week and then cut them to size today! They couldn’t look any better. Seriously they look exactly to a T like the originals and so much better than the rotted hole filled ones that were on it. Now I need to find linoleum matting to put on top of them before the trim goes on. which I think I found from Battleship Linoleum. They look awesome! I painted the frame, front axels, and steering gear box with chassis saver. Looks really nice! These posts are slightly out of order but I’m trying to go back through old Facebook posts for pictures just to get everyone caught up to where we are now... once I get caught up I’ll do posts as things are going on..

Picked up this awesome original advertising mailer for 9 bucks! Not one other bidder😳. Advertising the new powerful fast four Dodge Brothers engine and Graham Brothers trucks to go with the other one I found last year. Both are gonna look awesome framed to display with the truck!

Well it’s official, the race engine got its heart back yesterday. The master race engine builder Larry Middlebrook showed me how to clean up the cylinders, taught me how to put the rings on the pistons “without breaking them”, and insert the pistons into the cylinders and attach them to the crank. It was a big step in the forward motion of bringing Norman back to life. We couldn’t get rings for the pistons without buying brand new pistons. My pistons were in great shape so there was no need to spend all that money. Larry figured out that Ford Model A rings would work great if he put the pistons in the lathe and took just a little off the ring grooves. There was plenty of meat on the ring grooves to do so. Larry’s idea worked perfectly and there just happened to be a set of rings there in the garage that were about to be returned. We had to order an extra set of four. I got the head all cleaned up from the oven and ready to install. I have run out of engine parts to clean finally! I was gonna buy a new shaft and impeller for the water pump but Larry decided there was no need. He’s gonna put some weld on the worn shaft and turn it back to stock on his lathe. Now if we can just find an 8 bolt top Stewart Warner vacuum fuel tank, life would be great! HUGE THANK YOU TO LARRY FOR ALL HE HAS TAUGHT ME AND TAKING THE TIME AND SACRIFICING HIS BARN FOR THIS PROJECT! These rusted piles of scrap iron and younger people out there that don’t have a clue but want to need more people like Larry in this hobby.

Oh I skipped one of the steps. Larry put the pistons in the lathe and turned down the ring grooves so we can fit it with model A rings. We can’t find original rings anywhere without buying new pistons and Norman’s are really nice. Motor is going back together nicely. Larry said there crank was a little tight so Curt Connors stopped over and helped figure out what was up. Waiting for rings to come in. Chasis saver is gonna go on probably this week. I’m finally getting low on parts and pieces in the engine compartment and front end to clean and get ready for paint which is a good feeling.also started restoring the vacuum fuel pump right about here.... float was cracked all round it, springs were junk and the gaskets were cashed out!

It’s just an old Graham Brothers hubcap to some but to me it was one more piece of the puzzle that I needed. This one just came in the mail from a guy in New Jersey and has just the perfect original patina for old Norman! These GB “Graham Brothers” caps seem to be quite hard to find! And the last picture is all of them after a good blast and buff on the wheel! In between everything else that was going on. I at home in my dining room have been spending countless hours on the wood wheels and steering wheel sanding and staining and shellacking. Wait till you see those beauties but I’ll save that for the next post! Maybe tomorrow..... If you cheat you can actually see one of them in the picture with all the caps but I’d wait till the next part of the story to see the real pics!

Do you happen to have a picture of what they look like?