unimogjohn

Chris, give us a status on what the shop has left to do, and when you expect to be able to drive her home. Sound like things are progressing at a pretty good clip. Her homecoming cannot be too far away now.

Still Monday, but PM. Decided that today was the day to finish the Avanti bumpers. So the rear came off (again), and I elongated the body hole for the wing bolt. Sounds easy, but that rear bumper has four main bolts, all of which are very difficult to get to. So after two hours I was done. All the bolts are back in and the wings are secure. So the bumpers are done! After a quick clean to remove the bugs from the front of the car, I put the Jaguar back in the barn. As usual I got side tracked and forgot to check the transmission oil. Oh well. Will leave that for another day. Since the Avanti is almost done I decided to take her out for a spin and a fill up. Greg's place is close by town so paid him a visit. He was working on the Wright V8. It sure looks big. Greg had seven cylinder heads on. Impressive. Greg went out and looked over the car. And pronounced it OK. He did not like one of the front bumper wings as it was not parallel to the ground. I tried to explain that the brackets were all busted up and twisted. He said, "Well why don't you fix them?" Oh well, another thing for another day. We then went for a ride in his maroon Avanti with the new axle. Greg let me drive. Wow, that car is quick. That four speed is one nice shifting unit. The throw is very short. It would have been great to get the two cars together for a picture. But of course I forgot my camera. Another day for sure. So Shadow the dog and I headed home. Oh, what is that smell? Damn! Forgot the parking brake again. This is the second time. The rear brakes are probably charcoal. Let them cool down and took another short ride. Everything is fine.

Here is what did said about Greg's choice of axle ratios so you know the context of Greg's comments noted above. OK, you expected it and maybe asked for it, so here goes. I would not want to disappoint. I'm glad that you like your girly gears as I believe each is entitled to set up his car however he pleases. Look out for the new economy four bangers with their low end torque, they will eat you alive. I might agree with you if we could drive our Avanti's over one hundred miles per hour on the street, but truth is the only reason to use those gears is for gas mileage (if it is worth the sacrifice). Even the management of Studebaker ( a bunch of old men) suggested a 3:73 with the R2. I'll stick with the punch when I push the pedal and sacrifice the gas mileage. Dick

It is Monday, April 30th. Up early, have to get the Jaguar checked out and put away as it is suppose to rain this afternoon. Going to check the transmission oil and rear end oil. Have not done that yet. Just want to make sure that they are topped off. Attached are pics of David, Trimacar, Coco's Hupp. She is getting ready for her big reveal in a couple of days. Dave reports that she is running, but he has not driven her yet. Still things to sort out, like brakes. And here is Greg's report from the weekend for your morning coffee. " Well, another weekend shot ....... Haven't heard any results of the HCCA tour in W. Va, but they sure had a good day for it. I of course had to cancel, but it was for a good reason and nothing like being punished by being forced to demonstrate the operation of an original 1910 Wright engine for guests. Twice. Can't be many other people in the world who did that today. Id say "After the smoke had cleared", but engine #20 , even with its original 5/16" plain rings, doesn't smoke. After the guests had cleared, and supper was done, I was left on my own. What to do? Take old Maroon Avanti Seabiscuit out for a good run. I'm sure you've been privy to my old friend Dick Bennet's opinion of my choice of axle ratio. Drag racer Dick who prefers a car that can reach top speed before crossing the street. I just hope , as a fellow Studebaker Avanti owner, that he doesn't embarrass us by taking his car out onto the Intestate. By holding up traffic he might anger the Pious Prius owners. Dick, let's just say that your car might be quicker, but mine's faster. But seriously, exceeding the limit is a real problem these days. Unlike the old days they don't issue warnings. It's all about revenue enhancement. And getting into the act is the DMV and the insurance companies. They're ruthless and are anxious to do ugly things to you. Did I ever tell you the story about actually losing my driver's license because of my Stoddard Dayton? And it wasn't even running yet. A title, insurance, and communication problem left me without a permit for months and I didn't even know it. Expensive to remedy, but now taken care of. I don't need more of that kind of grief. Punching it on the onramp, now that's different. But Dick was sure right about one thing. Gas mileage. I drove the Interstate to Front Royal, home of the gas war. Filled the tank and made the return run running with traffic, and topped it off again. The last time I did this, the result was 11 MPG. This time, with speedometer correction, the thirty-four miles cost almost two gallons = 17 MPG. Sometime I want to follow John Erb's advice and start leaning the carburetor to get more . Sometime. Now, I just want to drive it."

Still Sunday, but PM. Just arrived home from the Britain on the Green annual car show. The weather was great, the grounds were beautiful, and there were over 200 cars. The show was held at the Collingwood Museum for American History. It was one of George Washington's five farms. The Jaguar ran great, and we arrived about 9:45 AM. We found our designated spot and unloaded. Almost immediately folks came over to see the car and talk to us. We just had a great time. We made sure lots of folks got to sit in the car and picture themselves owning a classic car. We were in the Jaguar Sports class, which was comprised of all the XK cars (120s, 140s, 150s) and all XKE type cars. There was probably about fifteen total in the class. All the cars were great and decked out to the 9s. A couple of the 120s were recently restored, and one was original to a family. The son of the owner was there with his 150 and he told us that he is passing it on to his son. All the cars were really nicely presented and were certainly more than driver quality. It was then to our surprise our Jaguar won first place in its class. So we got a metal and lots of praise on the condition of the car. The car ran great too, we were on the freeway most of the time and just pooped along at 60 to 65 mph at 3,000 rpm. Here are a couple of pics. But all my pics are available for viewing at https://picasaweb.google.com/unimogjohn/BritianOnTheGreenCarShow2011#

It is Sunday, April 29th. Heading out to pull the Jaguar from the barn and warm her up before the trip to the show. Rained hard last night, but today is suppose to be beautiful and in the high 60s. My kind of weather. And here is Greg's report. Looks like his tour is off. Bummer. "Been busy. Yesterday I clocked out early to tighten and cotter axle nuts, fill the differential with gear oil , mount the rear wheels and try out the new Avanti axle on the maroon car. I was really anxious about it. Seems most of the Studebaker enthusiasts I've talked to told me that I was making a mistake, 3.07 gears were too tall. Maybe if I lived in flat land I might get away with it, I'll have to be light on the clutch, etc. Well, let me tell you. With the four speed, first gear starts fine, be light on the clutch if you start in second. If you enjoy listeneing to the supercharged Studebaker engine as it gathers rpm, the 3.07 is all the more pleasant. I haven't punched it yet, but it accelerates very nicely. Out on the Interstate, now I can keep up with traffic with the engine loafing. What was 22 mph per thousand rpm with the 3.73 is now 27. 60 mph was 2700, now just a few over 2200. So now Seabiscuit really lives up to it's namesake and really has found it's stride. I'll get into trouble for saying this, but when I hear stories of the guys setting Avantis up for the drag strip with 4.xx gears, then they tell me about trying to drive the car to the strip and getting in the way of traffic even though their engines are screaming...I just cringe. To me, the Avanti signifies FAST. On the drag strip it falls into the category of just another car. Way lown the list of et's. Where they were meant to shine was on top end running. When you could take a showroom or dealer prepared car, maybe drop it off at Paxton for a little supertune, and run the 160 speedo out of numbers......that's their reputation. Top Cat. ( Now an Avanti powered Lark, that's the ultimate drag car in my opinion.) So, I used to like old Seabiscuit. Now I REALLY like it. Today I spent getting the Dodge ready for a tour tomorrow. Feser's trailer outside ready to be loaded for the early start to the collection point an hour and a half from here. Reset the ignition timing. Gathered the tools. The spare was always flat, so I pulled it down and stuffed a new tube in it. Found the jack I bought at Hershey and made the missing handle. Aired the other tires, packed the usual equipment under the seat and put some gas in the tank. And of course, true to form, just as I finished the boss came in. "You're going to be here tomorrow aren't you?! When I said that "Well, I had other plans", I almost had to give him oxygen. I'll be entertaining tomorrow. So, no complaints. It's because of him I get to do what I get to do. PS. Paul Johnson. There's a Horseless Club tour coming through your neighborhood tomorrow. A stop at the train museum and lunch at a country store out your way. I won't be able to blow my horn at you. PPS. Anybody know of a 2.87 gearset for the Dana 44? I think my black R3 automatic needs one. =

It is Saturday, April 28th, PM. I was not going to report in as I did not do much on the car front. But habits are hard to break. It is just natural to post every day. Just did a quick polish of the Jaguar for the show tomorrow. I will remember to take the camera and take a lot of pictures. We are excited about going. And spent four hours on the barn. Just as I though we got about 1/3 of the roof on, about 7 feet. Here is a pic. Sorry about the quality, just went out and shot it at 8 PM. Spent the rest of the day mowing the pastures, about four acres today. And of course I have hay fever so after three hours I was miserable. Gave that up for the day.

Still Friday, but PM. Had a very busy day. Spend four hours working on the barn in the morning. We took our time and made sure everything was lined up and square to the existing roof. Looks good. Tomorrow we hope to have the 1/3 of the roof done. We will see. Had an hour with the Avanti and put on the new washer bag that I had bought two years ago. The old one was as hard as a rock. Looks pretty good. It would be nice to have all the chrome redone on the engine and air cleaner. But that would be about $1000. I am not that rich. I think I will leave it to the next guy. I was also able to fit the screw into the passenger side rear bumper wing. But the driver's side is a no go. No way around it. I am going to remove the bumper and elongate the hole in the fiberglass. I need about a quarter of an inch to make it line up. The hold is covered with a larger rubber shim so you do not see it. It is not something that has to be done this minute so will do it went I have some down time. Tomorrow is more barn work and then I plan on pulling out the Jaguar and doing a quick wax job. It just depends on the weather. If I do not get to it, she still looks good. Sunday we go to the British car show, rain or shine.

It is Friday, April 27th. Here is a short report from Greg. "Another day with no complaints. The crankcase is coming along. After rotating it and leveling it with a dial indicator, I was actually able to surface three inches of the six and one eighth inch width. Woohoo. John and Alice Feser caught me in the process, dropped off their truck and trailer for me to use this weekend. Hoping to take the Dodge on a day tour in W. Va. and I'll have to haul it to the assembly point. Then they returned at my quitting time to join them for dinner. They're good people. Then it was time to work on making the Avanti a four wheeler again. As of now, the axle and radius rods are bolted down, backing plates on , brake piping secured and the wheel hubs in place. Tomorrow I'll tighten the hub nuts and cotters, get some differential lubricant in it, put the wheels on and it'll be ready to test. Weather permitting."

Chuck, glad you are still enjoying the blog. The best site for explaining all the differences between the car and engine models are at the the Bob Johnstone's web site. Bob's Studebaker Resource and Information Portal Yes, the R2 is supercharged, the R3 and R4 are upgraded engines with different carb set ups. Alice and I had a nice dinner with Greg tonight and left the Suburban and trailer with him. Also picked up all the supplies for the barn extension. The roof starts to go on tomorrow.

It is Thursday, April 26th. Heading off this morning to get the roofing materials for the barn, unload and then deliver the truck and trailer to Greg. Lots of running around today. But Greg stays put for the most part. So he is always working on his projects. Here is his report from yesterday's work. "Meanwhile, back at the ranch..... during the day I'm decking the Wright eight block. Make that days. A little background. Part of the enjoyment of my career is being able to study the old methods of doing things. And equipment. As times change, so does the equipment and also the methods. Take the machining of the Wright crankcases. Once upon a time, one of the most versatile machines in the machine shop was the shaper. It's a machine that has a ram or mechanical arm that reciprocates. Adjustable in stroke length and in speed, the ram facilitates a cutter, usually single point like a lathe tool. It pushes this cutter across a workpiece and then stops to back up and do it again. Over and over. You can adjust the angle, speed and depth of cut. The work piece is held on a table that is on a track that allows it to cross beneath the reciprocating cutter. With each stroke of the ram, the work is automatically advanced a little. The result is a flat machined surface. (Usually, but then again those old timers could be really creative and cut gear teeth, keyways, etc.) The Wrights had a shaper with a 25" stroke, just enough to scrape the length of an engine block. Close examination of original engines reveal even the number of strokes per inch the machine was set to advance. Even though they have been replaced by computer controlled mills and such making them surplus, we don't have one. I machine the decks with a rotating (fly)cutter. That gets the job done but leaves telltale circular marks on the surface unlike the straight cuts of the shaper. Who cares? I do. So to imitate the shaper cuts, I finish my decking with a tool I made. A shaper cutting tool is mounted in a clapper box which rigidly supports the cutting tool until the cut is finished, then because it is hinged, the clapper allows the cutting tool to relax on the return stroke. I made a clapper box to mount in the milling machine. The mill has a power feed table so that I can pass the case beneath the cutter, return it , adjust the table over a little (.020") and take another pass. Not as fast (even with the table travel on high) or easy as using the shaper (no automatic advance, I have to do the math and watch the dial) but it gets the job done. It takes about five hours to cross the six and one eighth inch width. And on this engine times two. Finished the first side today. There are other places that they used their shaper to machine their block castings, in fact there isn't any other way to do the job. Without one, I have to improvise. The Avanti night shift: Decided to proceed with the surgical removal of the Avanti radius rods. After the nuts were forcefully removed, I slightly spread the axle brackets and cut through the rust captured bolts and bushings . Ace Hardware supplied the new 7/16-20 x 1 1/2" bolts and I've just machined two replacement bushings from stainless steel. The rubber grommets aren't very good, but they'll go back into service untill I get new ones. Cleaned and repainted so the radius rods should go back where they belong tomorrow evening."

It is Wednesday PM. Greg wrote me this morning and said that he would like to borrow my truck and open trailer for the weekend. I said sure. He is taking the 1921 Dodge on a old timers tour in PA. Great to see the old girl getting back on the road and getting some miles on her. Since I had not given the Suburban a bath since our last road trip to pick up the Jaguar in January, I gave her a good one. Actually, I washed her three times to get her clean. So Greg has a nice clean truck to use. Greg also said that if I drove my 1928 Buick to the AACA Apple Blossom show on May 12th, he would drive the 1921 Dodge. It is about 50 miles round trip. So we are going to meet up and drive the back roads into Winchester, VA. Will be fun. Now I have to pull the 28 out of the enclosed trailer and wake her from her winter slumber. I have no doubt that she will start right up. The only things I have to do to get her ready is put on some "top coat" like paint on the rubber/canvas top (I do this every five years or so) to keep it semi waterproof. She still has her original top too. And I need to give the body a was and a wax job. Yes, she still has about 80% of her original paint. I did get some Avanti time today. I checked over my wiring on the passenger side parking/turn signal. Everything looked OK. So I check the bulb. It looked fine, both elements were there. So fiddled with the mounting of the bulb and she started blinking. So the contacts must have been a little dirty. Now I have both parking and turn signal lights on both sides. Here is the proof. Now the only thing I do not have is a high beam on the driver's side. That is little project for another day.

It is Wednesday, April 25th. Have to do farm stuff today, but hopefully I will be able to check out why the passenger side parking/signal light is not working on the Avanti. Maybe I have a bad bulb, I will check that out first before I start playing with the wiring. And I still have the rear bumper wings to attach. I know that I am going to have to remove and enlarge the metal arms that form the bumper support in order to get everything to line up. More fun under the car. And for your morning coffee here is Greg's report from last night. I don't think Greg knows what "sleep" means. "On the day job the Wright engine is coming along. I've gotten both decks bored and drilled for the cylinders and push rod guide bushings. Now I'm beginning a deck surfacing operation that will merit more explanation. But not tonight. Today's weather was decent, so thought I'd better get those Hupmohoods painted. Taped off and scuffed, the insides already in color, I cleaned and recleaned the old dinosaure DeVilbiss gun. Mixed a cup full of the Limco acrylic enamel and sprayed some tests on brown paper. Just like when I sprayed the insides, I couldn't believe the trash in the paint. Dumped the gun, recleaned it, strained the paint again and reshot. Same thing. It almost looked like someone had put fine sand in the paint. With the deadline looming, I decided to proceed, bury the dirt with more color and after it cured and the big show was over, Dave could sand and buff. While I waited for the tack coat to get sticky, I checked the net for details about this brand of paint. I was really surprised to discover someone else had been looking for a reason that he'd been getting the same thing in his paint job. It was diagnosed at "solvent pops", actually bubbles boiling out of the paint itself. I didn't feel so stupid after all. I sprayed three heavy coats on the panels , most of the pops disapated, but not all. Sorry Dave. Like I said. Paint's only temporary. A deadline of my own, the maroon Avanti. It's blocking the Dodge so I need to get it rolling again. I'd thought about blast cleaning and painting hardware tonight, but decided to proceed with the rear axle installation. So as of now, the unit is under the car, U bolts , washers and nuts in place, U joint connected as well as the rear sway bar. I even installed the axle shafts after I smeared the grease in the outer bearings. I had made a couple inquiries about parts that I need, traction bars included. Since I've not gotten any response, I think I'll use a hacksaw to cut the bolts that capture the bars, get the job done. I'd like to get the bars back in place while the brake backing plates are out of the way. And now to clean out the paint gun. Again."

Bernie, I for one will be very sorry to see you stop posting. I have been following you every day with much anticipation ever since I joined the forum group with the Avanti. You will be missed. All the best, and do come back from time to time to check on us.

Yellowriv, yes, refreshed. Have not touched the guts of the engine or transmission. So refreshed it is, for now. Still had the Avanti out this PM so decided to take her for a spin. Went about ten enjoyable miles. She ran great and is sooooooo quiet now with the liner installed. When I got home I took a look at the wiring for the front, drivers side, parking/signal light. The ground wire was broken so fixed it and now have that working. Still have the passenger side signal to work on tomorrow or the next day. Since I had the vacuum out I headed out and cleaned up the Jaguar. We are going to an all British car show on Sunday. Should be lots of fun. This will will be the first show for the Jaguar. If you are local, here is the information on the show. Britain on the Green 2012

Chris, I just love it when a plan comes together. Hopefully, your car will be running and driving tomorrow, and you can take her home on the weekend. Yes, the spring terminates on the valve cover nut. It is not a heavy loaded spring either. I think that SI sells the correct pair. And on money, who knew that I would be into a bit north of $30K when I started my refresh. I am still glad I did it. It has been very rewarding to bring my Avanti back to life and on the road again. As always, keep us posted.

Since I was done with the Avanti for the day I decided to take a few beauty shots. Here they are. The car now is about 97% done. My next job is to enlarge some adjustment holes on the rear bumper brackets so I can get the bolts to the wings to line up. Here are the beauty shots. I took them on our driveway and in the shade to see how they would turn out.

It Tuesday, April 24th. Spent the morning on the Avanti. As mentioned yesterday I put on the driver's side vent screen. See pic. The screens are original to the car. Greg mentioned that they are often rusted out or missing all together. I am fortunate to to have them both in very good condition. I finished putting on the bumper wing brackets and then put in the little rubber wedges and fitted the bolts into the wings. It was some difficult to get everything to line up, but in the end, after considerable fiddling, both bolts went into the wings. So the front bumper is done. Here are pics of the little rubber shim in between the body and the wing, and the wing all securely mounted. I then decided to work on the interior of the trunk. I vacuumed everything and put back all the carpet that was taken out during the removal of the lights, etc. The carpet is original to the car and is in good condition. I used some glue on the carpet where it meets the lip of the trunk in the back. This is just to hold it in place. So here are a couple of pics of that process. I started work at 10 AM and it is now almost 3 PM. All this stuff takes time.

Chris, re your engine. You are missing a spring that goes on the back of your accelerator/bell crank rod. You can see it in the attached pic.

Chris, I can almost hear her now. Looking forward to seeing her on the road soon. Great job for getting her back to life.

It is Monday, April 23rd, PM. Wow, the rain is still coming down, and it has been really cold all day, did not get above 40 degrees. They are saying that we may get a dusting of wet snow tonight. I thought this was suppose to be spring. In between sprinkles I pulled the Avanti out of the garage and put on the second vent screem. I then crawled under the car and attached one of the support arms for the wing on the bumper. My fingers got so cold that I gave up, not having fun on the Avanti. I will do more when it warms up to 50 degrees. Greg has slowed down too. But he continues to move ahead on his maroon Avanti axle refit. Here is his report. "I don't know. Is tearing things apart progress? While Seabiscuit is in the stall during this bout with bad weather, I decided it's time to do the rear axle deed. I got started tonight. I was able to loosen the hardware retaining the brake line tubing to the axle itself, remove the hardware and spring the brake backing plates over the axle shafts, and after all the other nuts, bolts and washers were off, shove the unit to one side. Then down and out. The problem was one that I'd forgotten about, having done this job years ago. The traction bars. They should unbolt at the axle but their method of construction involves a steel bolt through a steel bushing, secured by a nut and washer. Rust has done it's job, locking the bushing in place. I had to loosen the bars at their forward mounts and bring them along. It might be easier to find new bars and mounting hardware than to free these. Tomorrow I'll probably spend time cleaning and painting hardware prior to putting in the new axle." =

Still Sunday, PM. It was a dark and dreary day, raining non stop. Kind of a do nothing type of day. A slow day on the forum too. Is it raining and cold everywhere? But my goal of putting something back on the Avanti kept bugging me so decided to at least refit one of the little vent screens. So I cleaned up one, found some new SS screws and buckets and put the passenger side on. I do not have enough room to pull the door open on the driver side without pulling the car out of the garage so that will have to wait another day. At least I get to say that something was put on.

OK, Roger, will do. It is Sunday, April 22nd. Lots of lightening and thunder, and a gush of rain last night. The temperature dropped like a rock from 85 to 60 degrees. Cold this morning and more rain coming. We may get up to two inches today. Greg usually doesn't report on weekends so was surprised to see a report. You will too. Here is his report. "Got some work done today. I returned to servicing the Dodge ignition. Realizing that I hadn't used a resistor to reduce voltage to the coil and points, I decided to replace the replacement coil with another replacement coil, this one having an internal resistor. Rob supplied me with a NAPA number and the new store in town actually had one in stock. This morning while making the change, I noticed excessive play in the ignition drive, so I removed the whole distributor assembly. Found a lot of slop in the flange that connects it with the engine. I was able to flow some silver solder in it and when reinstalled, took the car for a successful test run. So now it seems to be makeshift, but serviceable. Upon return, decided to direct some attention to the Maroon Avanti axle swap. The ebay New Old Stock axle assembly looks like a winner. The maroon car was ordered new with the four speed transmission and a 3.73 axle ratio. Good for acceleration and ok for the fifty-five speed limit, disappointing to me out on the open road. And at the gas pump. This 3.07 will give the car the long legs it is known for. Taking a closer look at it today , I decided to pull the axle shafts out and repack the bearings with their fifty year old grease. Very surprised to find the grease just as soft as the day it was put there. Other than the petrified gasket and some slight rusting of the cover, everything looks great. It even retains its original painted part number intact. After I repaint it and install a new gasket, it will be ready. I think I've figured out a way to remove the old unit without having to break the hydraulic brake connections. That's the plan. Our spell of nice weather has now been replaced with cold and wet. Bring on the hot and humid. Also an update on the Wright engine V8. As of now the left bank cylinder mounting holes have been bored and drilled. Guess that makes it a V 1/2."

OK, this is our car hauler. A 2003 Chev Suburban 4x4, 3/4 ton, with the 6 Liter engine. The trailer is a 2006 26 foot Leonard. Pulling the trailer we get 11 mpg loaded or unloaded. The truck alone, 14 mpg, but if we slow down to 55 mph then we can get about 17 mpg.

Still Saturday, PM now. I am sitting here with my glass of wine, and it popped into my mind that David "Trimacar" Coco was going to rag on me for not putting on the eye lids on the headlights. As it sit here, stewing and getting ready for the onslot, I decided I better get one step ahead of David and put on the headlight beauty rings. I was going to put on the glass headlight covers with new gaskets, but that is an involved process so decided to just put on the rings. At least the Avanti would have her eye brows. So used some chrome polish on them and put them on. David, hope you are happy now.......