Barry Wolk

Down to the finishing touches. I sent a message to my wife that I'd be a little late as the striper was coming. She read it as something else, entirely. The man showed up on time and showed me what he had available in red. He was willing to mix whatever color I wanted but I had an OEM piece with original paint. After looking at internet pictures for the '42-'48 I saw different shades of red all over the place. The first piece he did next to the paint made me very glad I chose the sample color I had. It really makes the trim jump out at you. What a steady hand.

I mentioned to you on the Lincoln Forum that the NAHC in the Spillman Branch of the Detroit Public Library, the Benson Ford Research Library and Ford's staff Historian. I'd also recommend The Detroit News or the Detroit Free Press data base for other historical info. They've been around longer than that. Wasn't the first black-owned Ford dealer in the same area?

Continental Motors in the '30s and Continental Division of Ford in the '50s.

It fits under the rear seat.

I used 1" wide UHMW tape on the Steyr and 2" on the Ruxton. 76445A14

I don't think it's possible to be more pleased than I am with the outcome. The side hood spears have been hewn from blocks of aluminum. They have been metal finished and the driver's side polished to a high luster to remove all scratches from the aluminum before it is copper plated. Many plating shops apply copper like it's Bondo. They apply too much so they can use it as filler. If you don't need to fill a layer of copper only a few molecules thick is necessary to act as a bond coat for the nickel that follows. The object should be to apply as little base as you can for the best finish. Like a good paint job, the work is in the base. The first show it's committed to is Ford's employee car show that's a huge "Bring whatcha got" format. That's not until July 17, so I've got some breathing room. I'm glad I live in an age when a solid object can be created out of a conglomeration of ones and zeros. The number "12" fits into the two holes. The backside of the numbers are a lousy factory fit. They have time to un-chrome the numbers, file them to fit the grooves precisely allowing for the thickness of chrome. This car will likely have the best-fitting 12s, ever. This has been a learning experience. I think that I proved that you can solve some problems by throwing enough money at it, but it also proves that the DIY or small-scale digital parts reproduction is a long ways off for the average consumer.

The front suspension, steering and brakes are done. I finished the lubrication system except that I'm lacking one ferrule compression nut for the 4-mm tubing. The front end could roll on it's own now. It can steer, too. It should be a pretty lively driver as it's just two turns, lock to lock. The Rube Goldberg steering works. I wasn't pleased with the lower gap on the kingpin. All the weight rides on the upper bronze bushing, but a suspension will make noise if the kingpin is allowed to move.When I test fit the lower trunnion on the taper I didn't have much of a gap. When I installed what appeared to be factory keys the trunnion wouldn't seat as far as they did without. That told me that the key was too thick. A little lapping with 320 paper and I took off enough for the taper to fully engage. A brass washer filled the gap. The lubrication system is complete. I'm sure it's why this car wasn't worn out. Houston, we have a problem. One of the bolts that holds the radiator to the block is just gone. Melted away. I got the repaired radiator back and was looking at my needs when I noticed the missing stud. By the time I got rid of the corrosion there was nothing left to tap into. This presents me with a dilemma as I always want to fix things right. Fixing this right wild entail removal of the head and jugs. The jugs would have to be heated and either nickel-welded or brazed, both of which risk warping the casting. I'm half-tempted to just make a clean, flat, surface in that area with some JB Weld and use a good sealant. I'm open to suggestions, though. FYI, the hot water rises through the smaller opening after it passes through the cylinder jugs and head. The hot water rises and mingles in the top tank with hot water from the other cylinder bank. With the engine running the generator shaft-mounted fan moves cool air through the radiator core. That drops the temperature of the water in the radiator and it falls back into the engine cooling it without a water pump. Charming simplicity. A view from the other side of the radiator. The two arches are the exhaust crossover pipe and the intake manifold feeding both banks. The exhaust pipe heats the base of the carb for better early air-fuel mixture.

It still works great! I took the tie rod ends and the axle that needed the studs welded to my favorite welder. The king pi assembly was ready this morning. The stars aligned and assembly on the front suspension began. After installing a number of parts backwards I figured out how it all went together. The bushings for the springs need to have a new ID cut so I went to Positive tool where he reamed them while I waited. I couldn't find a C clamp easily, so these worked fine. The washers at the top and bottom trunnion are dust shields to protect the spring limiter and bushing from road grime. The large bolt passes through the bushing and the other through the loop in the spring. It's a pretty clever set-up. The springs needed to be spread apart about 2" so there's tension on the components at all times. The top bolt, with the squared off end has two threaded holes in it for lubrication. You can see the hole in the end. There's one on top, too. The lower bushing bolt has one tapped hole for compression fittings for 4mm copper tubing. The top bolt extends beyond the assembly. It will receive a dog-bone shaped shock link. With the king pin assembly installed it was a simple matter of installing 3 bolts to attach the brake backer plate. I used the 2 new cams the machine shop made. The brake shoe spreader is the larger circle. It has two parallel grooves. The end of the shoe sits in this groove. As the brake lever rotates this part it spreads the brake shoes apart working against the fixed axle at the other end. The brake lever attached to the splines of the shoe spreader. You can see how the lever captures the cable end. This is the new replaceable seat for the rear seal. The inner bearing presses it in place and the seal fits over it. This is a very important part. It's the keeper that holds the locknut that keeps the correct tension on the rear bearing carriers. I only have one and its keeping abilities are limited so I've enlisted the help of Josh Highley, hot rod fabricator of choice. He just happens to have a computer-controlled plasma cutter he can program to make a couple of these. If anyone needs a couple, chime in. Note the pattern of the tangs. Pretty well thought out. Rubber parts are on their way. Can't do much on the rear suspension without them.

The Mark II wasn't "hand-built" either.

This. I think this is a dumb thread.

First impressions are everything. I felt as though I had stepped back in time. There was hardly any cars on the street as this town empties out on a holiday weekend. My route was Grand River Avenue, west off of Beech Daly from Redford to Farmington Hills. What struck me is how little that street has changed since this car was new. I'd say that 98% of the buildings were around when this car plied the road. There wouldn't have been much traffic when this car was new as austerity measure leading up to WWII caused rationing of fuel and tires. New is exactly how everything felt. The steering is taut, the engine responsive and the steering lively for such a ponderous car. I am so glad I put radials on it. As you can imagine, Michigan's roads, with the freeze-thaw cycles and ineffective legislators our roads are a rutted mess. It handled potholes without unannounced lane changes and it stopped extremely well considering the tires are only 5" wide. It shifted as smooth as butter with no clutch chatter at all. The brakes are pretty nice considering there's no power assist. On our way home from a friend's 125 car collection I was able to take my hand off the steering wheel with no deviation of course. With the windows up you hear next to nothing from the outside and even less from the engine. Visibility is incredible as the upright seating is very CUV-like. I love the bench seat. Why did that go away? I love that there's no center console. Some things will need adjustment. Dan did such a great job building the seat to accommodate my weight that I feel crammed into the ceiling. I can lower the sea one inch. That should help. When Dave rejet the carb he leaned it by 10% or 4 jet sizes. It runs out of steam at higher rpm so you find yourself short shifting. We'll see if one jet size increase cures that malady. The oil pressure is low on the gauge, but there's no heat or valve noise. I'll have to confirm good oil pressure before I drive it cross-state. The steering wheel is off-center enough to bug me, but I can't fond fault in mush else. I still have the door lock cylinders, a little dash chrome and windshield wipers to install, but that's about it. I'm pretty pleased with the outcome and I'm pretty pleased with myself. I'm still grinning from the ride home.

Gave my back a break from working on the wiring and worked on organizing my work product. Every bore is honed, every threaded hole is tapped, every stud has had a die run down on it, every clearance hole has had its paint removed and all the mechanical parts are gathered for assembly. Once the rubber parts arrive I'll have already pulled the differential in wait of the new bushings. Without pulling the engine I should be able to change motor mounts and the transmission mount. That locks everything in position so that the drive shaft and differential are in alignment. Since this has no universals on the drive shaft alignment is important. I duplicated the original piping for the tie-rod oiling system. It has a rather Steampunk look to it with the brass straps. I exactly duplicated the originals in thin boss that I cut into thin strips with a photo trimmer. It probably won't be any good for that anymore, but who trims photos anymore? I ran into a problem in soldering the copper tubing to the cast iron tie rod end, like the originals. I used a torch with Mapp-gas but the acid-core solder refused to flow. More heat? Brazing temperatures?

More jewelry.

Sometimes you need to make parts that won't be used on the car. Close inspection revealed something funky with the radiator. We have an old-time radiator shop in Royal Oak that probably should have been shut down eons ago. I explained that the radiator was not normal as it had no hose inlet or outlet. I surmised that the only way it can get pressure-tested is if I fabricated some blank up panels. With the lid screwed tightly the unit can be pressurized through the overflow tube. There is no thermostat and it's not a pressurized system. It purely works by convection. Marked the shape and hole locations on a piece of 3/32" mild steel. Cut, shaped, punched and ready to install. A nice layer of UltraBlack and the ends are nicely sealed up. I'll let the sealant cure overnight and take it to the radiator shop tomorrow. I just ordered the stuff that will make this car ride and drive like new. After powder-coating every tapped hole, bronze bushing or clearance hole has to have the powder coat removed. I'm told that paint is about 1 mil while powder-coat is 4 mils thick. Lots of prep time, but worth it.

The deal is done. Steve, from Tedson Industries, came out to test fit the mock-up CNC'd out of foam. It's an exact replica of the side I have, only inverted digitally. Thankfully, Ford built their cars symmetrically. That was a legitimate concern raised by several people. However, it fit right into the intentionally elongated slots. The tangs that locate the trim also serve to secure it. The finished piece will have sligtly shorter tangs, but will otherwise be the same. They will be making me exact copies out of solid blocks of aluminum. The spears that so often broke will be almost solid aluminum. The part will be milled wit a tapered edge all the way around and final fitted to the car before metal finishing and plating. Since the original scan was off of my original trim, replete with scratches, bubbles and pits there will be a fair amount of metal finishing involved, but that is what will bring the finished aluminum piece within specifications as it existed before it plated. I think it might be a good idea to scan it after fitting and metal finishing so it can be used for replicas for others. The numer 1 and the number 2 fit in the holes in the side badge to denote the car has a V-12 engine. I gave Steve those nicely chromed parts so that he can accommodate their size and shape as they have to fit into the slotted badge area. After chroming the slots get painted a bright red, like the original. That matches the headlight and tail light rim details. I want to thank my Ford friends that guided me through this process. I'd also like to thank the people that helped me search for an original trim. I'd like to thunk the select few that let me know that they had the part, weren't using it, but wouldn't sell it at any price.

I like to do exploded-drawing-like photos so I can study them before final assembly. The part to the upper right is the horn button and shaft. It is the length of the steering column and slides through the center of the steering column shaft. On the end of the shaft is a copper contact. There is a spring under the horn button that presses against the steering column. To keep it from popping out there is a spring clip at the bottom. The shaft actually only moves about a quarter-inch, just far enough to complete the horn circuit. The steering column, at the top center has a taper on one end for the steering wheel and a pinion gear at the bottom. The black "T"-shaped part below the column is the rack and pinion box. The pinion slides in from the top and the toothed rack slides in perpendicular to the pinion/steering shaft. The cut of the teeth in the rack maintains the orientation of the ball on the end of the rack. We'll get to the ball in a minute. If you can envision the steering wheel turning the pinion, which creates lateral movement, you can see that the sole function of the rack and pinion is to move the ball about 4 inches. The ball has an inner bushing that can swivel about 10-15°. There is one set screw that holds the steering column in. For final assembly the steering wheel and horn button buts be assembled as a unit before inserting it into the rack. The device below the ball is a tiller. It's basically a lever that sits in a bottom and top bearing assembly which is bolted to the body as the fulcrum for the lever. Movement at the top of the tiller produced movement in the opposite direction at the bottom. You'll notice that the top of the tiller is longer than the bottom. This actually adds something that standard period rack and pinion didn't have, power steering. The mechanical advantage picked up by the simple machine of a lever probably reduced steering effort by 25%. The top of the tiller fits into the movable bushing in the ball which smoothly adjusts for the lateral movement. The top of the tiller is fully inserted at dead center and pulls out slightly during turns. Ingenious. At the bottom of the tiller are two taper receivers for the ball joints. The lateral movement is transferred directly to the kingpin assembly by a very unusual (unusual to me) tie rod assembly, one to each wheel. What's odd is that there's no adjustment. I'm used to being able to give a coupe of twists to set up proper toe-in, but you can see there's nothing to adjust. The factory offered 9 different-length tie rod assembles you could mix or match to get it right. That option doesn't exist anymore. While this seems unnecessary complicated, it really isn't. Under normal circumstances you want as few wear points as necessary. A normal solid axle car normally only has 4 wear points in the tie rod ends and connecting rod ends where this could have wear in the rack and pinion, ball end, both upper and lower tiller bearings plus the 4 tie rod ends. On a car without a power lubrication system the car would get ridiculously loose very quickly, but the lube system seems to have done it's job.

Hi John, Thank you for the compliments. I posted the build sheet for this car and trim rings were optional, but not delivered on this car. Personally, I love having a story to tell that squarely places this car in the period of austerity just before (30 days before Pearl Harbor) the US entering WWII. The previous owner was going to doll it up and give it all the options it's missing, but my decision to leave it as it came is what makes the story interesting, at least to the shows that have requested our presence. As far as a CCCA classic I'd say it really doesn't fit their criteria on a number of different levels. It's a production-level car with nicely finished body and trim sitting on an antiquated platform and powered by an anemic 12-cylinder. It's not even particularly good looking. I think the Continental Mark II fits their parameters far better than this car, but that's not my sandbox. They get to make the rules. As far as being proud of the work, I am, as this is not my line of work. However, whoever did the body and paint and the interior are the ones that really should be proud, as all I did was nuts and bolts. Yes, it is more challenging putting a car together you didn't take apart, but you really don't need vast knowledge or the level of skill it takes to do body, paint and upholstery. That's artistry and rises to a different level than mechanical aptitude. Now, there's a difference between an assembler and a builder. On this adventure I was just an assembler of a really big jigsaw puzzle. Sharing the journey is as much for your entertainment as it is for my solidifying the planning aspect of the project. By writing it down it embeds the thought and images in the process. It makes it very easy for me to refer to the thread than it is to sort through hundreds of pictures. Another HUGE benefit are the real experts that offer up their help in resources and technical advice. I post my threads in 4 places, so you can imagine that I have no shortage of willing helpers. I now have Steyr enthusiasts in Europe guiding me in that project. Since I started doing this with the build of my Spartan trailer 12 years ago I've never felt so connected to the outside world as I do now. I've enjoyed the ride.

Outside for the first time in months. Now you can see the true color scheme. Where it all began in 2004.

Dan is done. I could not be more pleased. This is exactly as you would have seen it sitting on the showroom floor in November of 1941. We took very few liberties as Dan worked off of the original interior bits. The seating surfaces are Bedford Cord. The side panels are English Broadcloth. The pile of the carpet is even the same as the original. The original would have had darker carpet, but Dan made mats to protect the carpets for show. The originals had vinyl binding for the carpets, but I don't thing anyone will notice they're leather. The front kick panels look like they are a different color carpet, but it is the same. The design of the interior is elegant and befitting a Lincoln Zephyr, but Dan's craftsmanship shines through all of that. I see a number of "Best Interior" awards in this car's future. Bravo, Dan Kirkpatrick.:beer:

Up until a few years ago cable or mechanical brakes had a bad connotation, to me. However, after going through the brakes on the '33 Continental and now the '39 Steyr they really aren't so bad. In fact, they certainly have some advantages over hydraulic brakes. Properly maintained they probably have the same safety record, the operative words being "properly maintained". Mechanical brakes don't have the problem of bursting brake lines that leaves you with only emergency brakes nor are there any cylinders to rust up from brake fluid being hygroscopic. Interestingly, the two systems I've work on are quite different. The '33 Continental Flyer has Steeldraulic brakes which has individual cables leading to 4 levers. Each wheel has to be adjusted individually, and that can be a real PITA. The Steyr has basically two cables with equalizer rollers. Working properly, I think that is the superior system. If you were to lose one cable the car would stop straight in the Steyr. Losing one cable, especial front, would do very bad things to trying to keep the '33 Continental going straight.

Once it's on the internet you can post what you want. I wouldn't bother asking permission. Why would anyone care if you're not making money off the pictures.

OK, how great is the internet and forums like this for this type of project? Apparently there are people in Europe following this project and one of them made me aware that by following what I saw made me make a mistake. The only guide that I have to go by is the manuals for the Steyr 50, but this is a type 55, the luxury version. On the 50 the differential is mounted exactly the way I mounted it, right to the frame. However, on the 55 the whole differential is isolated from the unit body. The mounts on either side get brackets that keep the differential centered in the body holes with rubber isolators. My I-pad is turning out to be the best shop tool. I can read numbers that i couldn't read with cheaters over cheaters. The bearings in the starter/generator could not be serviced, so they had to be replaced. One side of the armature came off with a little persuasion, but the other side was a struggle. Once out we discovered that the shafts had been slightly bruised from some previous work. Some mils filing and the new bearings pressed on nicely. The inner workings of the Siemens generator/starter are quite simply and very sturdy. One of the brushes is electrically connected to the outer casing who one is isolated. The third connection is ground. The body of the generator has to be electrically connected to the winding section so any paint or clear coat was scraped away from the mating surfaces. The center section was glass-peered and clear-coated. The end caps very closely matched the hammer finish factory installed on the aluminum end caps. The front shaft gets a variable-diameter pulley and the rear gets the pusher fan on front of the radiator. From what I can discern from the remnants of the coatings this is pretty much what it looked like new.

This car is different in so many ways, but maybe I haven't been exposed to as many systems as I once thought. After the Ruxton, and now this, my eyes have been opened. Everyone that sees this car wants to know what the goofy-looking lever is. I was surprised to learn that it's a very rare factory hand-brake option that increases the amount of pressure you'd be able to apply to the brakes. The emergency brake handle is bolt-upright. If you were a tall person, with the seat all the way back, the hand brake would be nearly out of your reach. Even a person of shorter stature would have to lean forward to operate the brake. Since this car has cable brakes the mechanism uses a series of levers to provide enough force to stop the car, but these cars were driven through the Alps and braking becomes a strong consideration. I surmise that the handle extension was a form of power brakes with the power being added by your right arm. You would be able to exert more force on the pedal and the handle if your back were pressed against the seat than reaching forward for the handle. I found some hammer finish paint that exactly duplicates the finish on the aluminum generator/starter end caps and brush cover. The front top spring was installed when I got the car. When I took it out for inspection I found the bushings were beyond use but the spring moved freely and pretty equally to the bottom spring so I asked if Scotty wanted them relined. The back spring had been taken apart and painted, so it just needed tape. The front spring had never been taken apart. It had the original rectangular rivet. Taking the spring apart revealed that there was very little lubricant and lots of rust. My sand blast booth is getting quite a workout.

Today's project was to disassemble the last of the parts. This is the starter/generator. I really didn't know this before finishing the Ruxton, but a generator is just an electric motor. If you put power to it, it turns. If it's turning it's putting out power. You put power to it to start the car and it switches over to power output with the car running. The starter/generator sits atop the engine like Porsche and VW, and it does have a fan on the end of it, but this fan is to cool the radiator, not cooling fins. With the front cover in place the hand crank can be used to start it, even with a dead battery. Some of you may recognize the pulley assembly. It too, uses interchangeable spacers to tighten the belt It came apart pretty easily. The brushes looked pretty new. I can't figure out why they used open bearings if there was no provision to grease them. The grease was rock hard. Bearings are cheap. Catastrophic failure is not. When working on a system like this it's best to take a picture of how it goes back together. The housing is pegged to locate it on the pedestal and then it's held in place with a wide strap. Let the powder-coating begin. The parts on the left are all brake activation parts. They originally had some type of light galvanizing. These will have a replica color of silver powdercoat. Most of the parts are protected with a shield. The parts on the right will get a semi-gloss black powdercoat finish. Those are mostly suspension and drum brake parts. These parts will all have to be pre-baked to vaporize any oils left in seams and oil passages. The Steyr looks lost in the shop now that the wall is gone. I inadvertently acid cleaned my floor in an industrial accident involving spilling a half-gallon of electrolyte on me and the floor.

Printed in what format? What material? How do you turn a drawing into a model for 3-D printing? It still has to be digitized. The drawing is missing a dimension. I'll pay you $100 if you can find that drawing.