unimogjohn

Mid afternoon on Saturday, April 21st. Has been warm most of the day and now it is getting hot, mid 80s. We are suppose to get heavy thunderstorms so put all the toys away. But I did get some quality Avanti time. Alice and Melissa came home from Master Gardener and helped me put on the front bumper. Easy deal with three people. I even put on the rubber grommets on the bumper arms where they go into the body. Then put back on the grill. I still have the wings to hook to the attachment points, but will save that until tomorrow. I can now say that all the exterior body parts are back on the car. A major milestone for the Avanti. She is looking good. Here are pics of without and grill and with.

Still AM on Friday. Went and pulled the Avanti from the garage and did a test fit to see what my plan looks like. It works, but it would probably be better if I just took the time and have it cut and re-stitch to the correct configuration. I think that it just does not look right with the little tab tucked under the panel. Here are the pics. One of the hole to be covered, the old panel fitted, and the new carpet in its configuration.

Roger, yes, it was great. Had a nice steak, and roasted sweet potato and asparagus. A nice end to birthday. Oh, and then we stopped for ice cream on the way home. But back to the Avanti. I pulled out the old panels and the new carpet to see if I can somehow get them to fit. Remember I bought this carpet kit off of Ebay. It was left over from a project never completed. I got a great deal so could not pass it up. The quality was good too. The new carpet does not match the shape of the original panel. But by doing some creative fiddling I think I can "almost" make them fit. Of course I could take the old and new down and have them re-stiched, but what is the fun of that. So this is what I may do, to make do. First, here are the pics of the front and back side of the driver's side console panel. Second pic is of the new carpet and its shape, and then third pics are of the front and back of the new carpet over the panel and how it might look. I folded over the carpet on the back and this piece would be cut off. The last pic is what the finished panel would look like. The carpet would be glued to the panel. Any other suggestions?

It is Friday, April 20th. Looks to be a nice day today, will have to find something interesting to do. Maybe take a look at the side panels that go on the front of the Avanti console. They need to be redone. But Greg has no problems with projects, he has them lined up. Here is his Thursday PM report. "Nonstop busy kind of day. Was able to get all four left bank holes bored to accept cylinders in the Wright V8, now I'll get all their retention bolt holes done before I rotate the block and do the other side. Pushed the Stude Avanti block outside, hosed it, wiped it down, took the air hose and blew the oil galleries and bolt holes out and then protected the exterior by brushing on a coat of epoxy primer. I'll use a small hone to clean the lifter bores and it will be ready to start it's reassembly. I'm still getting these great incoming photos of the space shuttle as it was airlifted to nearby Dulles airport. Disappointing that we didn't know that it's flight path was right over our shop."

Thanks for all the BD wishes. Glad I do not feel that old. I did get some time in on the Avanti and got both vent doors in and operating correctly. Had to clean out the goo left on the sills. Boy, that stuff was welded to the fiberglass. No issues with them going in and did not break anything. Here are the pics. Pic 1 is the open hole without the door, Pic 2 is the vent door in the open position, and Pic 3 is the vent door in the closed position.

It is Thursday, April 19th, 66 years young today. We are going out to a nice dinner tonight so am excited. I have been on a weight reduction effort and so far have lost 27 lbs since December. A dinner out will be a nice treat. Also excited to work a bit on the Avanti today. Hopefully, the rain will stay away. Suppose to be 70 today. The glue dried nicely on the little vent flaps. Hope to have them in this morning. Going to put a little anti-sieze on the the ends where they go into some little bushings. That should make for a very smooth operation. I had previously taken the control panel apart, cleaned and lubed all the controls. Greg is really moving on his projects. Here is his report. "An eventful day on several fronts. The day job recreation of the Wright V8 engine reached a milestone. After much calculating (the old way, ciphering with a lead pencil), rechecking and rechecking the figures several times, I began boring the holes for the cylinder installation. Photo enclosed of the boring head in action and then a pic of the first cylinder set in place. After the eight large holes are bored, then the thirty-two retention bolt holes and reverse counter-bores must be done. Each deck will also receive four holes for the push rod guides, but I'm not brave enough to drill and ream them until I can visually verify their placement. I guess as of now it is a Wright V 1/8. Another milestone. Lee called this morning to say the Studebaker black Avanti block had been resurfaced, and he's ready for me to get it out of his way. As rusty as the decks were, he said it only took .005" to clean them up. After work I got it unloaded and mounted on it's engine stand. Too dark and rainy, it needs to go outside for a good scrubbing and cleaning. Maybe tomorrow. Then reassembly can begin. Yet another milestone. David (Trimacar) Coco, after having his '10 Hupmobile apart for a number of years for a "quick repaint", now has it off the stands and resting on four tires. His efforts have awarded him a place on my list of Greg's Laws of Restoration: *To be considered a successful clincher tire repair, it must remain inflated at least until the stitches come out*"

Still Wednesday, now PM. Finished gluing the rubber onto the flaps. Here is what the entire assembly looks like. Will put them into the car tomorrow. Should be easy. You only have to put the pivot post into the fittings and then attach the push/pull cable. With that said, I wonder what will go wrong?

It is Wednesday, April 18th. Raining here today and only 50 degrees. Big change from a couple of days ago. I am not complaining, we needed the rain badly. So decided to work inside on the Avanti. I could go out into the garage, but decided to work on the little vent flappers that control the outside air and inside heat. When you open the vent then the ambient air from the outside comes into the car. When you close them, then you have heat. It is important to have a good seal when either is selected. As you can see, my seals were none existent. They had become hard goo over the passage of time. I carefully removed the staples that held the corners of the rubber to the cardboard like plate and then carefully scraped the goo and gunk off of each plate. The plates themselves are pretty good. I am gluing the edges where they have started to come apart. But they should do the job. Pics show the scraping and junk that came off. After I was satisfied with the cleaning I put on some outdoor contact cement and put the new rubber/foam material onto the flappers. I am only doing one side at a time. After a few hours I will put on the other side and let them cure overnight. I have the flap and rubber/foam weighed with some iron to make sure I get them nice and tight. A little job, but even the little jobs take time. I think that I have four hours into it up to this point. I will put them back into the car tomorrow and will have a functioning heating/venting system again. I still have to rebuild the kick panels that go over the vents. I will leave that for another rainy day.

It is Tuesday, PM. Lots of new action on the forum. I like it. And here is a quick report from Greg. "Did time at Lee's after work on the black Avanti engine. As of now all cylinder bores have been honed, and it is scheduled to have the decks remachined tomorrow. The Trimacar Hupmobile hood project moves along. In order to get acquainted with the paint Dave brought along, I decided to hose the insides of the panels. Single stage acrylic enamel. I'll let it harden for a couple days and then do the outsides. Now, what's next?"

Dave, sent you a PM. John

I just knew that it would show up. Found the radio antenna grommet. Spent a few minutes and put it on. And the space shuttle Discovery is arriving atop a Boeing NASA 747. I was outside, but they turned before they got to the farm so I did not get any pics. But here is one from the TV.

Been out working on the barn and when I got back in Greg's report was waiting for me. So I have a nice report to read for my second cup of coffee of the morning. Here is Greg's report. "Another day, more to do. First I'll get back on the Wright engine case. Set up in the mill, yesterday I machined the first deck reducing the thickness and down to a certain distance from the center of the main bearing. First side went well and now to get the second done. Also, after work I returned to Lee's machine shop for another round with the Studebaker block. He had been successful with the sleeve installation, I was to assist with some grunt work. Remounted on his boring stand, I was to run a tap into all of the head bolt holes to make sure they were good to go. With this done, we did some layout work to prepare for the valve reliefs that help define the Paxton engines. He pulled a homemade tool from his arsenal, one that allows the use of a valve grinding stone to grind the chamfers. Nice job he got. The next step will be for him to hone the cylinder bores, to do this he uses a deck plate of thick aluminum that when bolted and torqued down to the head surface, will simulate the stresses of the block in service. Couldn't find the bolts. So on today's list of things to do is a trip to the hardware store for bolts. And didn't I have a hood for Trimacar to work on? While I'm doing that, I can plan the rear axle swap for the maroon Avanti car, the resistor installation for the Dodge coil, maybe try to recall where I was on the black Avanti car. And maybe even check on Matheson piston ring manufacture. Guess I'd better sign this off and get to work."

It is Tuesday, April 17th. Yesterday it was a blistering 90 degrees. What happened to spring? No car stuff as I did farm stuff and continued work on the barn extension. Putting hurricane straps on all the joists. But we have a great car story from our friend on the forum, David Coco (Trimacar). "Spent all day thinking about it, I had to solve the problem of changing a clincher tire, without the help of my buddy Greg. He is going all out to fix the hood, and I couldn't lay the tire change on him too. So, all day to think of a plan. Also, I have some period tire tools, with clamps and curves and wedges, all made to dismount and mount clincher tires, although the use of some of the french curves and wedges escapes my comprehension. But, I made a plan. First, the wheel had to be stationary. I have a huge vise, grabbed an old axle shaft, clamped it in vise and slipped the wheel over the shaft.This put the wheel horizontal, about chin level. Remember this, it's important. Now, to remove the old inner tube. A french curved tool, bend the tire nine ways to Sunday, and out comes the tube. New tube, apply flap, bend tire again and insert stem (remember I only have one side of tire off rim). Now, stuff tube and flap into tire, using hands only so no pinching. Inflate slightly, take a nice white mallet, and hit tire all the way around to seat tube. Deflate tube. Take another of the period tools, that clamps the two sides of the tire together. Clamp. Secure clamp with c-clamps. Now, start working way around with big screwdrivers, barely inserted in rim so as not to damage tube or flap, and get 80% around. Now the hard part. Needed to take a big bite, so grabbed the closest thing that might do it. A pry bar. Got a big bite, pulling it down toward me, FLOOPT it slips and hits the top of my head. Ouch. That'll leave a mark. Walk over to work table. Man, that was dumb. Rub my head. Ouch. Rub it some more. Quit rubbing because it feels funny. Look at hand. Red. Oops. Walk in house. Daughter Emily, "Pop, what happened?" Uh, I hit my head, does it show? "Well yeah, the side of your face is red with blood...." Crap. Wife takes charge. Off to emergency clinic. 5 stitches in scalp. Gotta love old cars. Wife says "are you all right?" ....well, no, the damned tire isn't all the way on the rim yet....."

Chris, she looks so sweet compared to when I saw her the first time. Now she is sitting proud. Great job. Can hardly wait until she rumbles up our driveway for the first time. Congratulations on getting her to this point. Keep us posted on the shops progress too.

It is Monday, April 16th. Took a day off from working on the Avanti. Figure we need three people to put on the front bumper so am waiting until I can recruit helpers. But we did take the Jaguar out for dinner in the evening. The headlight aiming worked great, and we can now see in the dark. Success! And here is Greg's report too. "After a weekend getaway, catching up with old news. Photos enclosed of day job Wright Brothers 8 engine project. It's back on the milling machine, the main bearing saddles have been trimmed to proper length and for the first time a crank (four cyliinder) has been laid in place to check my work. I'm also checking the magneto gear train. The Hupmobile hood is in pretty good shape now, it should see color next week. Lee called Saturday morning to say that the sleeving of the Studebaker block went well, why wasn't I at his shop to work on it? Can't be everyplace. And this bit of wisdom found in the Sept 1950 issue of Antique Automobile. (Reminiscent of the days of two wheel brakes) "A steep hill and a broken axle will bring thee nearer Heaven than an unbroken word and a life of good deeds." Been there done that in the old Dodge. I was playing mountain goat with it once upon a time. After the snap, I got it down safely, arranged for a trailer to haul it home. Machined a new axle shaft for it from alloy ETD 150 and it is still giving service. Sometime later I was talking to an old Dodge man. He asked me why I didn't drive the car home? "With a broken axle it wouldn't go!" He said it wasn't a problem. Then he told me that I'd broken the right side shaft. I had. Then he said the repair was simple. The right shaft is the short side. Floating axles, they simply unbolt/pin and slide right out. Remove them, roll a sleeve of paper to stick into the right side housing. Take a stick or something to insert into the left side to push the broken stub through the differential and let it drop into the paper sleeve. Pull out the paper and broken stub, take the longer left side shaft around to install in the right side. That will lock the differential. Drive it home. "

Your Y looks like crash damage. What does the other side look like?

A neighbor is looking for an engine for his 1936 Ford. Thought would ask here first if anyone had a source for one. He is in northern Virginia, about 60 miles west of Washington, DC. You can email me direct if you want. Unimogjohn@aol.com

Still Saturday, early PM. Done for right now. I got the brackets back off without much difficulty. After all this is at least the fourth time. I then started to assemble the brackets, wings, and the main bumper. What a contraption. If you do not have everything just perfect, then nothing goes together. But after a couple of hours it is complete. I have no clue if it will now fit the frame. It will probably take more swearing, banging, pushing and shoving to get it all centered and back on. I will cover the wings so they do not scratch the paint when attempting to mount this thing. Going to have to enlist Alice to help and maybe one other person. I think it is a three person job. Oh, and of course another mishap. I was slowly tightening the wing, brace and bumper together, and I heard a faint "pop". It was chrome flaking off the bumper. S***! So I immediately backed off the nut. But the deed is done. I will get some clear coat and dab it on the "scab" to stop any rust from forming. Oh, did I tell you I am having a good time?

It is Saturday, April 14th, AM. Well, messed up. All the work yesterday to put on the bumper brackets was for naught. They have to come off. Seems that the completed bumper with wings has to be put on the brackets and then the brackets inserted back into the frame as a complete unit. There are two bolts that attach the wings to the main bumper and to the brackets. These bolts are blind and cannot be attached without the brackets being off. It has been a few months since I took the bumper off so I guess I did not remember how it came off. Oh well. So today's work will entail undoing what I did yesterday. And here I was so proud of myself. That will teach me. And Roger, good eye. Yes, I had to remove the grill. No big deal. Only took a few minutes. But again, another backward step.

Leif and Mike, Here are a couple of pic. The third pic is my 23-45 McLaughlin Buick and the others are John Lee's 24-45 McLaughlin Buick. Both have the bar below the lights. Just thought folks might want to see what you are discussing.

Roger, I received a note from the Jaguar XK 120 forum, which said that the way I have mounted the bracket is correct. If it goes on top of the fender it will ride on a lip and will pull the fender in too far. So my guess is correct. But thanks for making the suggestion, it seems like the normal way it should have been. It is Friday, April 13th PM. Done for the day. I started the day by taking the loader bucket to the fab shop about an hour away. A new loader is about $1400, I hope to get this one rehabbed for around $500 or less. Last night I aligned the Jaguar headlights to the best of my ability. Both headlights were pointed down and off to the side. Now at least they are straight ahead and have some height. We are going to take the Jaguar out to dinner tomorrow night so we will see how they do coming home in the dark. Also cleaned and conditioned the leather seats. *They sure look good now. * Worked on the Avanti today too. Got the bumper brackets mounted, dropped a wrench on my face (ouch!) and fitted the front bumper. I then realized that I have to mount the wings first so tomorrow I have to take off the bumper, mount the wings and then the bumper. The wings are going to take some finesse to align, but I hope to have the front bumper on tomorrow. Here are some pics.

Roger, a very good question. I am on a Jag forum so will ask.

It is Thursday PM, April 12th. I was able to squeeze in some time on the Avanti and the Jaguar today. On the Avanti I scrubbed, degreased and painted the bumper supports. On the mounts was missing a bolt because it had an adjustment that partially covered the original holes due to the impact damage. So I left the adjustment and just drilled out the hole for the support. Here are a couple of pics of the supports and the enlarged hole with with new bolt. A couple of weeks ago we drove the Jaguar at night. The lights were terrible, the aiming was way off. So tonight will attempt to adjust them. Here are a couple pics of the lights and the adjustments. I will let you know how it goes. I also decided to check the wipers to see how they work. They didn't. The shafts were rotating, but just spinning inside the wiper heads. I tightened the passenger wiper and it held so it works. Had to take the driver's side off and spread the little bronze bushing, made some adjustments, and tightened it down. It works too. So now I have wipers. When I was looking over the car when it was on the lift I noticed that two little support straps to the rear fenders were not attached. So I took a few minutes to replace the bolts on one side with new ones, and then reused on of the bolts/nuts on the other side. Now the front edge of the rear fenders are nice and solid. Interesting what professionals leave off or forget to do when doing a restoration. Well at least it gives me something to do. And finally I took off the loader from the little Kubota tractor. It is rusting out and needs metal replacement. So it is going into the shop tomorrow. Going to add teeth to it to increase it versatility around the farm.

Mark, she certainly looks great. You have done a super job. I am sure that she will have many admirers at the swap meet. Look forward to your continuing posts.

It is Wednesday, April 11th. Taxes are done with the exception of printing and signing. What a pain. There has to be a better way than this. Oh well, done for another year. No work on the Avanti today, but I did get goodies in the mail. The Studebaker Lark horns arrived. Pretty crusty, but not broken. Will test them tomorrow and then clean/paint them. They are in the same style as on the Avanti so one should work out. Also received four bottles of zddp for the Jaguar and Avanti. And I just had to have a Jaguar cap for the car show on April 29th. Cold here in northern VA. And we got a little sleet and snow this afternoon. Weather is so odd here this year. We are suppose to be at 80 degrees on Sunday. Will be a nice day for a drive in one of the old cars.