unimogjohn

It is Sunday, October 16th. We were at the Indy Car event in Las Vegas when the big crash happened. It was horrific from the start, so many cars spinning, on fire, overturned. We did not know that Dan Wheldon had been killed until almost three hours after it was red flagged. You could hear a gasp from the fans when it was announced. May Dan rest in peace and keep his family in our hearts. Heading home tomorrow.

The main problem is crunching is using the wrong weight oil in the transmission. You need 600 wt. Folks tend to use modern oil of around 90 and it does not have the density to show the rotating gears to allow less crunching. 600 wt oil is available at Model A suppliers.

Here is the id plate and engine ID for my 23 McLaughlin Buick, Model 45 Special. On the engine you can see the stamping CP, which stands for Canadian Product (ie made in Canada). Over the C you can make out an P, which stands product, X is for export. I have not found a stamping on the frame itself. CPX4319 The pic will not load so will have to try tomorrow or take another when I get home.

And here is a work Wednesday PM report from Greg. "Tonight, once again the weather is soupy outside, so I'm in the shop. It will take me a while to get reacqainted with where I left off on the Toledo water pump and Matheson engine. Meanwhile, to keep you enertained, some pics from the day job. The Langley flywheel project continues. Today I decided it was time to try fitting the flywheel hubs to the crankshaft and check their placement. A stand used for working on the horizontal Wright engines will be modified to mount the Langley crankcase. I said crankcase even though it doesn't have one. What you see in the pictures is what you get. The bronze bushing crank main bearings are fitted to what they called the drums. You can see the studs for mounting the five cylinders like the spokes of a wheel. The cylinders hold the drums in place. The drums hold the cylinders in place. You'll see temporary steel plates used in place of the cylinders for now. That's it. No crankcase. Drip oilers keep the crank and bearings wet, then the oil gets thrown all over everything in the neighborhood. Airplane, driver, houseboat, Potomac, everywhere. You might also be able to make out the balance arm on the flywheel. I'm still trying to learn how they calculated the amount of balance weights. Shown is the Port side flywheel, the Starboard wheel hub is visible on the other side. Incredible engineering from the days when they worked with rocks and sticks and wore bearskin robes."

It is Wednesday, October 13th. Heading to Las Vegas for a Army unit reunion and Indy Car races on Sunday. Will be a nice change from the farm. But while I am playing, Greg is working. Here is his report. "It has been raining here all day, too damp to work on the Dodge in that tin shed. So, I grabbed a gas can, got it filled along the way and drove to visit the Stoddard. Did a little primping, dumped the gas in the tank, hung out with Rob for a few minutes and back to my side of the Potomac and the Mason-Dixon Line. Did I mention my new brass dust covers for my Schrader valves? Photo enclosed."

Cardolly, give us the information on the data plate, which is on the passenger side firewall. We need to know the model number of the car. Also give us the engine number, which is on a plate on the side of the engine. You also have a frame number. A tag is usually on the frame, passenger side, behind the front wheel. Dave Corbin is our historian and will give you all the production information you need once you have all the information.

Great find. Congratulations. What does the interior look like? And does it run? Keep us posted.

I thought this was suppose to be a car blog. Have had several request for the injured llama pictures. I aim to please, so here are a couple. Remember to look away if you do not like to see injured critters. He is doing well, eating and walking around. He is on the mend. I also picked up a transfer case for our 2002 Trailblazer. Ours is working but is whining. Some day it will give up the ghost. So now I have a 60,000 mile spare for $125. Here it is.

It is Tuesday, October 11th. A very interesting "work" report from Greg. Just as interesting as his car reports. Enjoy. "Cool in the air, so I'll stay in the shop tonight. I mentioned the day job. My direction gets rerouted by what's happening around me. I've been on the Langley kick because I've had the opportunity to work it in. Today was spent enjoying the company of the Smithsonian's Garber facility crew in Suitland, Md. Another artifact loan, borrowed the original water pump castings for the Langley Aerodrome engine. Although they are "gloves only" items, we'll copy them and then send the copies to the foundry. So while I'm in the sand casting mode, the timing will allow me to sneak in some Wright work. The brothers, having started their manufacturing plant in Dayton, decided that to market aircraft to the public and military, speed sells. They planned to beat the competition badly at the speed contest that took place at Belmont Park in 1910. The "Baby Grand", a half scale airplane. For the engine they combined two of their production four cylinders for a V8. Sixty horsepower that Orville test flew to just under eighty miles per hour when period aircraft were trying for sixty-five. Just before the race, crack pilot Walter Brookins broke it to smithereens. And lived. All that survives of the engine is an original drawing of the camshaft. And a few shots of the plane. We want to hear one run. Although I'm working thirty feet over my own head with no net, this long term part time project is taking shape. The camshaft drawing is the Rosetta Stone. Dimensions, firing order, cylinder and pump placement, etc. Utilizing what we know about the production four, a borrowed six cylinder and the photos, I have drawn up the plan for the crankcase. These plans were then sent to Art Bergstrom, the foremost patternmaker for this kind of project. He's gotten them finished and they are now in house. The photos: Two halves of the crank case patterns The halves together Two shots of the boxes for forming the sand cores. These form the hollow chambers. Note that one box forms the outer walls, the other the inner. Outer doesn't have the windows in it. Then on to the base or sump. Two pattern halves apart, Then together. The corebox to form the hollow interior with dividers for splash oiling. Not shown are a couple more smaller coreboxes and numerous "loose pieces". The loose pieces are removable items to allow the hardened sand to be freed from the boxes, or the patterns to be freed from the sand and yet retain pockets, etc. When the Langley patterns are ready, I'll get all this to the foundry in Baltimore who will do these in aluminum as they were. As you try to understand the process of the patterns and cores, remember that the pattern protrusions are to form core prints in the sand, the sand cores will be registered and held in place by them. Not much on the home front yet tonight."

Still Monday, but 8 PM. Just got back from the vet. The llama looks even worse now after two hours with two vets and two vet tecs. I will take a pic tomorrow, but now he even looks worse. The pic may not be for the faint hearted. Remember our 20s cars were in the filming of "J Edgar" well they finally released posters so I will attach them. The film comes out on Nov 11th. Still do not know if the cars made the final "cut". Greg also made an expanded Hershey report. Here it is. "It has been a busy week. I roamed the Hershey flea market both Wednesday and Thursday. It occurred to me that things are a little different now. I've been going there since that first trip, Rusty Cadwallader, a classmate in our seventh grade offered to let me ride along with him and his Dad. Life has never been the same. And for all these years it has been an annual occurrence (missed only a few) to buy all the neat stuff you could with the cash on hand. Now that some of the project cars are well along, my shopping list has been reduced to incidentals like inner tubes and small ticket items. Not so much buying stuff just because it is neat. Guess I've outgrown my "acquisition mode" as Glenn Miller puts it. So, I bought a few presents for the Dodge, some trinkets for the Dayton. I had a work related field trip on Friday and returned on Saturday for the show. Barbara was a real trooper as we zig zagged through the display cars. The ride home was detoured to Rob's garage so that I could pick up some things. He had a set of spark plug bodies modified with the porcelains knocked out and studs welded in their place. This so that I could resume work on the Dodge. Sunday I threaded them in place and with a chain between them and the engine lift, I succeeded in lifting the front end of the car off the ground. And yes, I have checked repeatedly to make sure I hadn't overlooked a head stud nut. I took one of the modified plugs, cut the stud off flush to drill and tap it with a 1/2" thread. Took a piece of allthread and welded a nut to one end. With that assembly in place I tightened until the weld broke. You know what? That head is going to stay on, with what little use that Dodge will see, I'll listen to it rattle. Sunday being such a nice day, we decided to go for a ride. Seabiscuit (the Avanti) hadn't been exercised much lately, so we used it for a trip to Rob's to get in a little primping on the Dayton. It is going out next Saturday for a show in Rockville, Md and Barb wanted to polish brass and make sure I checked the tire pressures. I installed the newly acquired and buffed dust caps for the valve stems on the tires. Another pleasant ride and weekend was done and now I'm back to business. No photos to show, but I'll have some soon of what's happening here at the Wright factory."

It is Monday, October 10th. Oh no, a sick llama so will be loading this morning and taking him to the vet, which is over the mountains. This is the one that was attacked a couple of weeks ago. So no car work for me today. But I did ask Greg how he did at Hershey. Here is his reply. "Well, I had a good time, picked up some things for the Dodge, mirror, inner tubes, jack, lug wrench, etc. Found some brass dust covers needed for the Stoddard Dayton, that kind of stuff. Spent some time yakking with some old friends, etc. It was a good week. I did have to return home for a Friday work episode, but made it back for the show on Saturday. I did see one Avanti on the field, metallic gray '63 with a red interior. R1 with air. Weather was unbelievable."

It is Sunday, October 9th. Nice weather so have to do lots of farm work. Today's task was to spread pellet fertilizer on the pastures. Still have another days work to go. But the weekend was great. John Lee, from Australia, came with his friend Celia to spend a couple of days with us. We had a great time talking old car stuff. He has several Buicks from the 20s and 30s. Here is a pic of his 24 McLaughlin Buick. John really wanted to drive our 23 McLaughlin Buick, but when I went to start it the starter pedal worked one, and the engine wanted to catch. But when I hit the starter again the pedal rod felt funny and loose. The mechanism did not want to retract. So we rocked the car and got the gear to release from the flywheel. Tried it again and it did the same thing. Got it free again, but nothing happened. The motor does freewheel as it should but I do not feel the mechanical clunk I usually feel to engage the third brush. After some more fiddling, we gave up for the day. Guess what I will be doing over the next few days, trying to get the starter to work correctly. Better that it failed at home rather than on the road. But we went to the 28 Buick and of course she started up and ran great. John got to take it for a nice run. When he came back we discussed issues with the 23. He gave me some great suggestions for adjustments, especially the hard steering. We also discussed some missing bit and pieces, and some recommendations for better performance and reliability. We had a great visit. Thanks John and Celia for taking the time to come visit us.

And still more pics. Did not see an Avanti for sale. Alice like a big Mercedes Benz Fire truck ambulance for sale for $5,500. Would have made a great llama and hay hauler. Forgot to take a pic of that one.

More pics.

It is Friday, Oct 7th. Alice and I ran up to Hershey. What a beautiful day, but it did take over an hour to get into the one parking lot that was open. Lots of people, lots of parts, and lots of cars for sale. Since we were only staying a few hours we just stayed near the Giant Center and the cars for sale. One highlight of the day was seeing Wayne Carini of Chasing Classic Cars standing in the hot dog line with us. Looked like any car nut. Did not find anything I needed, but did make offers on a few things. Dealers were sticking with their high prices on the first day so did not bring home anything. I really enjoyed the cars for sale. The lot was full of great looking cars and quite a few old original cars were there also. Of course they were all full price on the first morning, but by Friday PM and Saturday AM, if you can wait, prices will drop. I have included some pics of cars that I liked.

Many of you know that I know the original owner's name of the 1923 McLaughlin Buick from the 1925 driver's license found behind a door panel. For the past four years I have been attempting to contact someone in the family that knew Ethel Edith Hickmott. We know that she died in 1964 and is buried in Maidstone, Kent, UK. Following a lead I emailed a person in the UK that had contacted the church about the Hickmott family, where she lived and was buried. The church in turn contacted a relative in the US for information, and that person put the note on his family website. My story was on the web site, and by luck I visited the site to update the car's history with new pictures. The note, from 2001 had an email address. Would it still be good after ten years? So I took a chance and wrote an email to him. I was truly surprised when I received this email this morning. Maybe in the near future I will know more about Ethel Edith Hickmott (Nicknamed Ettie) and maybe even a picture or two. That would put an end to my search. Here is what I received. "Thank you for your e mail and the pictures. I am sorry for the delay in replying but I was waiting for my Mother to come over for Sunday lunch to ask her about the car. My Mother will be 94 in November but is still driving and lives by herself now about 5 miles away from where I live so I see her quite often. Anyway Mother remembers the car which she went in as a small child as she was often down at Longfield as her mother Mabel was a sister to Ethel who I always knew as Auntie Ettie. As a small boy we used to go and see Aunt Ettie when she was living in a flat at Eastbourne with her sister Dorothy who I knew as Auntie Doll Doll who apart from being my Mother's aunt was also a best friend to my other Grandmother and that is how my parents met. Anyway Mother remembers the car not in a red colour but in a chocolate brown colour. Out of my Mother's 7 uncles only Uncle George drove- the others couldn't be bothered. This was Ethel's first car as it didn't have to be cranked up which ladies couldn't do so the self starter changed things. Of course at that time there was no driving tests!. The car was probably purchased from the garage Rootes which was in Rochester- not too far away from Longfield. The car was not used that much- going up to Gravesend for shopping and the occasional visit to Birchington also in Kent to visit a couple who Mother thinks could have been related. There used to be one pump in the village. Mother doesn't remember the hood being up. The car was kept in the stable block which at that time didn't have any horses although the carriages were still there as Mother used to play in them. It was quite a large stable block. Eventually Edith swapped the car for a Rolls which was known as Roly. Mother is looking out for some pictures of the family which she has at home but she is not sure she has one of Edith although I know we have some old slides of Edith and Dorothy on the seafront at Eastbourne. There certainly is a picture which has Edith's Mother (my great grandmother)in it with Uncle Bert and Aunt Dodo. We will see what we can find and scan for you. I hope I have been able to add to your knowledge about the car and it is wonderful that it still exists. With all good wishes.

Pat, will pass on your suggestion re lifting the head with compression. Great idea. It is Wednesday, Oct. 5th. Heading to Hershey early tomorrow morning. Have my list of wants in hand including a couple of lists from friends. Always good to have many eyes on those tables piled high with old parts. Greg is off to Hershey this morning so we will not hear from him until next week. He always seems to find exactly what he is looking for. Me, not so much. Here is Greg's report form last night. "After work today I toyed with the idea of driving to Pennsylvania tonight to get a headstart on the Hershey swap meet. Then I sat down and before I knew it, that idea was out like a light. So, then looking for something worthwhile to do I removed the trunk lid from old Avanti 5054 and brought it down to the shop for initial paint stripping. I do the inside of these panels first because they are such a pain. The latest development on the Dodge: It's a good thing I've got people all over the world worrying for me. My buddy Temple called this morning. Evidently he was up all night trying to find a way to get that stuck cylinder head off the thing. His brilliant conclusion was for me to pull the rods and pistons out the bottom of the engine, take a length of wood and a floor jack and shove it from underneath. Great idea! Tried it during lunch. Dropped the pan, loosened that #4 rod cap and guess what?! The piston is too long to come out the bottom. Rats! Talked to Rob tonight and told him about the problem and my return to Plan A with the threaded spark plug bodies to jack the thing loose. He said to stop. He already had some made up. They even have eye bolts for use with an engine hoist. It's good to have friends with the same affliction. I'll be off the air for a few days. It use to be a week of smelling the chocolate. I guess the EPA put a stop to that." =

Hey Roger, here is Greg's response to your question re the stripper. Glad that you asked it, I was wondering the same thing. Greg's response. I noticed a question put to me in your forum concerning my paint removal. Please relay to Roger that in my experience I've been able to use the paint remover to soften the finish (it might take two or three applications) down to the lacquer primer. This I've been able to scrub off with lacquer thinner and Scotchbrite. No paint remover on the fiberglass. This time I seem to have again screwed myself when I previously used the Featherfill to straighten up the body prior to prime and paint. It doesn't scrub off. It remains to be seen if I will have to sand it off or what. Too bad Roger doesn't live close enough to help me out. I'll be leaving in the morning for Hershey. You'll have to do without me for a few days! GREG.

Bernie and Roger, your advice is being heeded. It is Monday PM, late. Here is Greg's decision on the 1921 Dodge engine. Remember, he is writing his report to his private list and not to the forum. I am on his private list and just hijacking for our thread. Of course Greg does not about it and reads it often. Greg's report. "Dodge: OK, so on the AACA forum site there is an international (Switzerland to Australia) conspiracy to get me to pull the pistons. Worldwide they want me to disable yet another car. So, tonight I got started. HAPPY NOW? Head nuts, hose clamps, horn, vacuum tank, plumbing, everything that holds the cylinder head down. Now if I could just get the head to come loose. Stuck tight, I'll resort to jacking the head. Can't do it tonight, don't have any spare spark plugs (7/8" thread). I'll find a couple at the flea market at Hershey to destroy. I'll make machinist jacks by knocking out the porcelains and threading them to take a bolt. The spark plugs appear to be over the valves, so I'll make sure the valves are seated and run the bolts down until the head starts to lift. Avanti: Meanwhile in the paint room, the depaint project continues. All for now."

Bernie and Roger, thanks for the information. I am sure that if Greg still hears the knock the pistons will be dropped. Really a neat picture of the "Penny stopper". And here is Greg's report from the weekend. It is Monday, October 3rd. "He's right. Ol Trimacar says that the onset of this cool weather is a de-motivator. Roger that. Even though the Dodge is coming back together, ain't no way I'm going to lay under in the raw weather we've had today. It's going to be a long winter. So, to get aclimated to working in the shop again, I carried the Avanti hood down to the paint room and I've begun stripping paint. Using paste type paint remover, a couple applications will soften the black lacquer and the red primer. I couldn't find my Bondo squeeges, so I cut a formica paint scraper. Didn't want to use a steel blade that might gouge the fiberglass. I've removed down to the Featherfill layer sprayed on to level the surfaces. Even though it has failed, it is still very difficult to get rid of without block sanding it. I'm toying with the idea of sending the hood out for media blasting. I did manage to get the Dodge oil pan back in place with a few bolts holding it up."

Bernie, here is Greg's response to your comment. "Picture as shot from down under. In response to the forum comment: I find this engine has split skirt aluminum alloy pistons. The pins are retained by bolts as seen in the photo. All bolts are in place. I do find that the pins aren't tight in their bores, I can move them laterally a little bit. Like the hole through the wall of the pin is a little larger than the part of the bolt that protrudes into it. All four pins move about the same distance. I see no evidence that the pin is contacting the cylinder wall. I don't know what brand pistons they are, evidently older than the type with the circlip retainers. I'm told that the '21 Dodge should have cast iron as original equipment. I guess someone has been inside this one before. If I was looking for a project, I'd pull the head, pistons, etc. to renew them. I'm ready to put the pan back up, so I should be able to start up in a day or two and listen for any progress. Thank your Australian correspondent and send him my best regards. The week I spent there on R&R was almost worth my time in Viet Nam."

It is Friday, Sept. 30th. Here is Greg's report from late last night. "Still doin' it. Working in the 1921 Dodge Garage. I wasn't satisfied with the rod bearing adjustment, so I went through them again, and now they are ready for the cotter pins. I still don't know if I made any difference in the noise I heard. While the caps were off, I did try to examine the wrist pins for wear. I pushed, pulled and wiggled the rods in order to feel any excess play. The pins will move laterally in the pistons but no to contact the walls, the rods will easily travel from front to back on the pins, and although I can't feel any vertical slack, I can rock the rods on the pins. They all appear to have the same amount of wear, but I only heard the noise in the #4 cylinder. I know from experience that it doesn't take much clearance for the pin to make noise. Tonight I cut some pan gaskets. Now it is time to start reassembly. Mitch wonders if that incident of the stuck engine due to bad gas might have done some internal damage. Hadn't thought of that. What I don't get done this weekend will have to wait a while. Next week is the annual Hershey swap meet and show. Color me gone. Unless this monsoon weather interferes. Tonight was the first time it has been nice enough to take the Avanti out for a spin. To the gas pump. Half a tank( at $3.29 for regular) of mid grade. Before I got back to the shed I passed some stations advertising $3.15. Timing is everything. =

Oznam, I use full advanced with modern gas using the starter. Full retard if using a crank. Usually do not have to use the throttle, however, it does take full choke when cold. Here is how I start my 23. Hope that this all helps. Give us a report and pics too.

It is Tuesday, Sept 27th. Greg has a real short report for today. I did ask him if he had found the source of the "knocking". Here is Greg's report. " '21 Dodge: Get out and get under. Rod bearings are a now a little too tight. I'll go back through them again." Here is the response I got back from Greg re the source of the knocking. "I'm going to take up on the rods although I didn't find any that were obviously too loose. I'll put it back together after making a new pan gasket set. Then I'll run it to see if I made any difference. If that didn't cure it, I'll have to pull the head and piston. I hate like hell to disturb the head gasket. Don't have another and I'm sure they're expen$ive to buy. I did find a lot of crankshaft end play, but I don't think that would translate into the noise I'm hearing."

Willy, Weed was an after-market or dealer installed manufacturer. They built bumpers for teens and 20s cars. I think it is rare to find one with the "Weed" name plate still on it.