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Not much has been going on with the Limited or any of the other 58's but I might have to get my but in gear with one as my oldest son came over to show his mother & me something. It seems that he has purchased an engagement ring for his girl friend and it is some ring! We are truly happy for them! The date hasn't been set right now but plans are for the spring of 2016. I gather from his questioning me on what it would take to get the Special back on the road that he would like to use it for the Wedding car :cool: so .... guess I have about a year to make that happen since 2015 is right around the corner! :eek: It's a great motivator for me and would be in heaven if this can happen! I did not use it for my wedding as the forecast was for rain the day before and ALL DAY the day of the wedding (which it did). Will have to see how all this plays out but really excited. I do have my work cut out for me. Let's see; new battery, new complete brake job, find and assemble new exhaust system, Oh Ya - that pesky leaking torque tube seal.....

Welcome to the Forums Tim. Glad to hear of another hobbiest / collector that still has his High School car too! And a 'T' Bird at that! Looking forward to pictures. We all love pictures and it's story here.

With some persuasion (hmmm) I went downstairs last night to sort through what has become over time the library of my cars history's, clean car parts and boxes of stuff Dad has given me.... In one of his boxes I came upon a small file labeled 'Car Advertising & Correspondence' and what do I find inside? Perfect for me to aid with my clutch issue and how to proceed. I believe it was from the WOKR Magazine that he subscribed to back in the 60's. It now has been scanned and in a file box marked 1928 Whippet. Also in the same file was the receipt when he had the 1920 Overland motor rebuilt. Makes for an interesting read comparing the costs then vs today. I do know he was not happy when he got it back. There was an awful whine when she started up and the owner said that they had it line bored and had to cut the gears in the trany in order to mesh properly. He said it would either wear itself in and quiet down or.... get worse. Dad was so mad he drove her hard the next few times out and surprisingly things did quiet some. What he had really wanted was to have it sit there and idle where you could hear each cylinder fire off but.... With contemplating a rebuild for the Whippet only wish I could do that for around $1,000 bucks! HA! Imagine paying: - $7.50/hr for labour - $270 in parts When I called him to say what I found in his file he said that "Yes, it was $905.00 but because of the noise and questionable statement about the rebuild condition, the bill was reduced to $514.24!!!! I think that is why the bottom corner is ripped at the total and a second receipt shows the $514.24 amount. It fires him up even today at 90 years old like it was yesterday!

Spent time on the motor this afternoon, mostly scraping and loosening bolts in the bell housing. Did not need to fire up the heater as it was 56 degrees today and left the big door open. The red paint (looks like primer colour here) is on the block as well as the trany & bell housing but was under all that hardened oil & dirt. Not sure if it is the original colour or not. Any Whippet owners out there that might know if this is correct for 27 / 28 Whippet 96's? Clearly this has been apart before at some point as there is a mix of different sized bolts & nuts plus..... look at those square head bolts!!!! I think I'm going to have to support the motor before I take out all the bolts and try to take off the bell housing and trany so moved on the the carb. It needs to be cleaned too before taking it off as look at this. With some very careful work it is coming along. The choke and throttle valve are free but can only imagine what the inside will look like! Wrapped things up for tonight and will see what the week allows for.

Friday's motor work was a bust as the phone rang with work for the day but after a stop at the store came home with this. Since it was only 28 outside and the garage is NOT insulated I was very happy that it achieved this in a short time. This was at the medium setting and very comfortable while in coveralls and a jacket. Yes there is plenty of ventilation (per warnings) and I was able to do a bit of cleaning on the bike as it was too late to get dirty on the motor.

After reading this thread, can I eventually say I have a barn find even though I PUT it in two different barns before she ended up in it's current Pole Barn? (even has the Barn Dust on it from the last barn storage) LOL While not for sale, sounds like it could bring an extra buck? (SHHH, better not tell the wife.) ha ha

LOOK WHAT I FOUND BY THE CURB WITH THE GARBAGE CANS! Seems very original and complete but needs the speed cable connector at the axle. Just what I need in my already cramped garage........ I really need to turn a blind eye!

Chuck, Glad you are finding it enjoyable as I indeed find myself enjoying the journey / challenge with this motor. I'm not a mechanic as such but turned a few wrenches on my cars when I first started driving (mostly because I wanted to save the money) and had taken 'Auto Shop' in High School. I'm somewhat motivated because I watched Dad over 28 years restore the Whippet and since he has passed her on to me want to do my part to complete what he started. It has also been fun talking to him about what I have been doing! Man, at 90 he remembers everything still and if it wasn't for his eyesight would be there (maybe even in the way HA Ha) LIKE A DIRTY SHIRT! Thanks for the coil picture. Interesting design to keep the wire securely in place. Don't recall seeing any at car shows over my years attending them. Will be great if it is still in working order. I dropped the starter off yesterday to be tested / cleaned as there was the remnants of mouse housing and such plus a loose collar between the spring and gear that did not look right so did not try to put any juice to it. I always have the one on the car now but figured it can't hurt to have a good spare. Plan on a few hours with more cleaning on Friday.

With temps back up in the upper 40's today managed to steal more time for the Whippet motor. Still spraying the clutch from the inspection cover side but no luck yet with what I believe is the pressure plate sticking. What has me wondering is that the clutch pedal moves but with the trany in any gear, while I push the pedal to it's max, the tail stock does not turn????? Shouldn't it allow the trany and flywheel to separate when the clutch is pushed in? Guess the next step is definately going to be taking the clutch and trany off the motor as..... while taking off the starter I placed the nuts and bolts on the top of the bell housing (bolts with nuts and washers bolted together) and..... naturally one of those pieces fell into the open inspection cover area! DOHHH! After trying to fish it out with no success moved on to more cleaning/scraping and took off the coil and solenoid. Thought the coil was interesting labeled as Blue Streak and an interesting wire connector setup. Something I've never seen before. Also has printed description/identification on it. I found this on the starter when it was off. It also was mounted with the oil cap on the bottom so not sure what is going on there. After more cleaning around the bell housing bolts will attempt to take off the trany / clutch as a unit before I take off the carb. Plugging along......

Mr Earl, My 58 does the same thing although I'm not sure it is supposed to but.... when I push it back in the base which is still on the car it indeed works like it is supposed to for the radio. I guess you would just need to make sure the base stays clean in order to make contact. Heck I've even seen guys shove a coat hanger in the broken off mast and still received the local stations.

Just a bit of trivia info for your pleasure. I have a customer that used to work for Packard here in Windsor, Ontario, Canada back in the 50's. Part of the work they did here according to him was changing out the standard transmissions to automatics when a customer ordered it, amongst other work. I know he said Packard sent him to school for his certificate training and also was at the Detroit Plant occasionally. Here is one shot at the garage entrance he worked at. One more with him driving two Beauty Contest winners on the Ambassador Bridge in a convert.

Sitting here watching the snow coming down and waiting for that first call to go out to shovel, reflecting on the past summer looking over gas receipts for the Cougar..... I was able to register for 4 local fun type Car shows (non judged), managed one night at the Woodward Dream Cruise, drove to a good sized swap meet filling the trunk, connected with another couple who have a 78 Mercedes SL and would like to do more shows with us, drove 2,522 kms (1513 miles) at a cost of $352.00 cdn with no major issues after 7 years storage before putting her away again for this winter...... In retrospect kind of nice to just be able to turn a key and go.

WOW IS RIGHT! Incredible, the power of the internet.

Well, at this point in time I still have the Cougar and while I did not push the sale this year decided to put it back in storage for the winter. Plan on bringing it out in April when the weather breaks and once I replace the window lift will see what then what market says to me. With the tank topped off and some gas treatment off we went the 28 miles to park for the winter. Battery disconnected, dryer sheets in place and cover put on. The computer display showed that it was using only 8 L per 100km or 27 miles to the gallon going 58 miles/hr. The odometer reading was: 69823.2 kms See you in April 2015.

Like last year at this time only got the cold temps and flurries but .......... Something must be up?!

With almost daily soaking and tapping on the clutch pedal I had some success last night. I say some because the actual clutch plate has moved more but does not seem to be coming back yet..... guess the shaft has sufficient rust / buildup holding it in place. More soaking, more soaking....... Next I'm going to take off the starter and see by slim chance if there is enough room to get a bar on the other side and tap away to get some movement. Even just a bit of movement might give it a chance to break loose. Naturally I could disconnect the bell housing from the motor (and most likely have to do that anyway) but I'm not in a hurry and will keep poking along.

After clearing downspouts and putting away hoses for the soon to be here BIG CHILL I managed to force more grease into the throw out bearing and sprayed more oil on the clutch to see if eventually it will release at some point. I also had a bit of degreaser left in a can and under all that dirt & grease found a brownish red paint on the bellhousing. Not sure if the Whippet was painted that colour or not. I also cleaned off the block where the stamped engine number is and it reads: 9653553. Wondering if anyone is familiar or knows what year it is. I'm assuming being a 4 cylinder the 96 denotes that but the rest I'm not sure about given they were made from 1926 on. The trany seems to shift gears nicely too. Going to take off the carb next, clean as required and check the distributor before hooking up the small gas can and putting on a muffler.

I have had little time for cars since the summer has been a busy one this year (a good thing). However, with the weather changing now things are slowing some and I was able to finally get into the Whippet motor we brought home. While the frame was mounted on 6x6 wood blocks I needed it to be mobile and was able to mount the whole thing on a furniture dolly. It makes things a lot easier in my much cluttered garage. When we bought it in "as is condition", my interest was in the motor mostly and it did turn over by hand crank with seemingly good compression. I have have had the cylinders soaking all this time hoping the rings will be freed up if they were tight or stuck from sitting all these years. The one issue we found was that the clutch would not move at all so today I decided to see what I could do. I had sprayed the outer parts with penetrating oil periodically and with a hammer began tapping the clutch rod at the housing. Surprisingly I gained a bit of movement but it would not return on its own. I then cleaned up the grease fitting for the throwout bearing and it took grease. After some more gentle taping it moved a bit more but would not go any further past that point and still needed assistance in order to return. My next move was to take off the inspection cover and...... SURPRISE! Like all long time stored things, moisture and mouse condos are not kind! With some vacuuming and liberal amounts of oil it looked like this. It is amazing how those critters will get into the smallest places! For now the plan is to keep soaking everything and start cleaning off the years of crud before taking off the starter, carb and checking out the distributor. In the mean time I found a small gas tank I think will work.

Robert, Glad you have had a great season so far! Time sure flies when you are having FUN right? Snowmobiling is definately something you and the wife should try! I enjoyed it with my wife and kids for years......

And here is the current tired engine in my truck showing (look closely) the temp wire and the heater hose connection with shut off. Yes it is dirty (and not show worthy) but using oil like it does and another motor to replace it, haven't put the time into cleaning it up......

Robert, Here is a shot (not real clear) of my spare 52 flathead that was supposedly taken out of a dump truck. It shows the temp unit and where the hose would be attached on the passenger side atleast.

Thanks David for the comment on my thread (58's). I can see why you have an interest! Sorry I can't help with a spare lens, maybe someone can help. When you say yours is sun baked, do you mean it is just really dull and won't polish up or has the checking lines going on? If it is just really dull you might try using one of those lens polishing kits offered and see what that does or get a can of clear coat and give it a coating or two. I had some luck doing that on a set of fender mounted plastic turn signal lenses on my 52 Ford truck. There should be some used ones out there somewhere. If I'm correct the Century, Super and Roadmaster use the same lens. The Limited and the Special are different. Good luck.

While not my car thought I'd post a shot of a fellow car nut's '59 to help with your vision. The trailer he had made from a smashed up El Camino. (Needed a lot of tweaking to get the balance right) Good luck on your car! I think they look GREAT!

Here is my buddies Canadian built 1960 Ford Monarch Lucerne which his Dad had purchased new. Just came back from the Ypsilanti Orphan car Show in Michigan traveling nicely down I-94 at 65mph.

Since this came to me via email and here in Windsor, thought I'd share another Canadian Buick with you all. Pause it when it shows the price sheet, interesting. Sorry I missed this cruise night since it will be the last for the season there. Enjoy.