unimogjohn

It is Thursday, Nov. 4th. Normally, I do not post non-car stuff, but this just amazed me. Remember a few weeks ago when I said that we were having a "stink bug" problem with hundreds/thousand trying to get inside the house. Well a few made it in, and we are still finding them in any dark corner like printers, clothes, books, etc. Not many, but just enough to be irritating. Maybe, 5 to 10 per day. So yesterday, it was cool inside the house so decided to start the pellet stove for the evening. This would give me the chance to make sure that it was working OK for the season. Well, opened up the front to check the burn pot, and the ash pan had about a hundred of the stink bugs in it. Hummmmm. So cleaned them out, and checked for more. Found lots around door gasket and the sides of the stove and vacuumed them out. OK, so good. Decided then just to light the fire. Well, the combustion blower would not come on so got fault lights on the control board. So I pulled all 400 lbs of stove out and checked the blower port. This is a big chamber that houses the fan blade that pressurizes the stove and pushes out the exhaust to the flue. It is about 3x4x8 inches, a little rectangle. Well, I opened the inspection door and the entire box was jammed full of stink bugs. What a sight, it was so full that the fan was jammed. I figure that there were thousands. Here are a couple of pics. Anyway, cleaned them all out and blew out all the heating chambers and started the stove. It took about three hours to clean them all out. The first pic is of the combustion chamber exhaust port that goes into the flue. Look at those pesky guys! And the second pic is of the chamber itself. See how they are packed in there; this is just usually a big empty space. A couple of days ago I did take out both old cars, and the bugs were in the door jams, etc. I think I will pull the seats today and make sure that I get them out of their hiding places.

It is Wednesday, Nov. 3. Another hard freeze last night, old man winter is coming. Got a call from my friend Wayne this morning. He has a painter coming over on Friday to take a look at his 73 Corvette so if the painter has time I will drive the Avanti up to see what he thinks about painting. Greg is busy as always. Here is his report. "Got a few minutes with the car this evening. Replaced the rubber fuel lines and with a handful of new hose clamps, finished the engine installation and gave it a short test run. Meanwhile back at the warm shop, I was able to get black on the front brake dust shields, then returned to the pile of bucket seat track hardware. Rusted, busted, welded, brazed, all manner of destruction awaiting repair. Took them apart last winter. The trail grows cold. Down to bedrock on the Matheson cylinders. The bare cylinder castings with studs and a couple fittings weigh in at 30# each."

It is Tuesday, Nov. 2nd. No Avanti work for me except to talk to Greg about taking my bumpers to Reedsville, PA at the end of the month. While presentable, they need to be re-plated. Jerry Forrester will be at Reedsville, and he usually takes in stuff to be re-chromed back to GA. Then I can pick them up from him when he comes back up to York, PA in the spring. Have an email in to Jerry to make sure that this is a good plan. I did get both the 23 McLaughlin Buick and the 28 Buick running and out of the garage. Both started easily and ran great. The 28's carb has to be removed AGAIN. I have some crud in one of the jets/tubes. Oh, well, it only takes an hour or so to fix. Greg is working too. Here is his not too happy report. "PO'd. Called the upholstery shop this morning, first of November. The front seats (and healthy deposit) they've been holding since early in the year were to be done the last of October. Guess what. Aren't done. Haven't even started on them. Don't even know when they can. As this project drags on and on. I tried to get something done on the car this evening in an unheated building. That didn't work out very well either. I thought I'd maybe get some paint on those brake dust shields here in the shop. Remembered when I shot the paint on the Stoddard Dayton fuel tank when the furnace was on but the tank was still cool. Cost me a repaint. So, I gave it up and resumed stripping the paint on the Matheson cylinders. Tenatious, it must be soaked, then scrubbed with a wire brush before hosing down. Must be an eigth of an inch of it. Maybe in a better mood tomorrow.

Roger, I am prepared to spend around $3 to 5K for a decent paint job. I just have not found anyone good yet that understand what fiberglass is and how to paint it. And Greg just set me a couple of the pics of the R3 Avanti repro heads that have been on order for about a year. They will go into his next Avanti project, a black R3 Avanti.

It is Monday, November 1st. The weekend was fun. I got the Avanti out, and we had a nice 120 mile run on the backroads of VA and then on the freeway with speeds up to 70 or so. I must say that she scoots pretty good, and is nice and solid at speed. No issues or problems. The reason for the ride is that I have started getting estimates on paint work. The first place I went to has a good reputation for painting old cars and doing a good job; and is a quick 10 days. Their price $1700; and I take off all the bright work and bumpers, they will mask everything else. The second shop does high end work on customs, restored cars, etc. Their price was approximately $5000. Time to complete is 90 days or more. Right now I am not comfortable with either shop. I have one more to go to that has a good history with the Corvette community. We will see what that brings. Greg has been busy too. Here is his report for the weekend. "They told me so. I took the front rotor hubs to Mitch on Saturday so that he could true the surface that receives the rotors. Afterward I assembled them using the new studs. Put them on the spindles and checked for runout. Now they are only running out .010". Better, but not good enough. Like I was told, the rotors themselves will have to be cut to get them to run true. I hate doing it, the new rotors don't come with much extra thickness. To remain within tolerance, there won't be many trips to the brake lathe. Hope to get another forty-seven years out of them. But for now the rotors are back where they belong, wheels attached and the car is mobil again. Took some time this afternoon to remove the outlet elbow from the fuel tank. Man was it tight. In an effort to prevent any debris left in the tank from finding it's way to the carburetor, I made and installed a finger screen. Ellbow is now back in place and replaced the hoses with new."

It is Friday, October 29th. Well, I at least fired up the Avanti and headed out for a drive. Hopefully today I will find the time to get a couple of paint estimates. But Greg is getting close to have his Avanti back on her wheels. Starting to get really cold that old hanger too. Tonight we might get our first freeze. Old man winter is fast approaching. Here is Greg's Thursday report. "Well, they almost had to give me oxygen today. In last night's episode, I relayed how I jumped the gun and disabled the car by breaking down the front hubs. This made the car a monument to Sherwood Egbert. This morning I came face to face with Larry the Electrician, conduit bender in hand, saying that he was to go to the storage hangar (where I'm working on the car). He's to install new lighting. Great! The last time there was work done up there, the crew succeeded in knocking a distant 4x4 out of the rafters through the Avanti windshield. A frantic call to the brake parts supplier who did the UPS tracking trick assured me that the parts were down our street. The electrician was only here to recon for the job which he'll do first of the week. That gives me the weekend to get the wheels under the car. Rotors and cylinders came after lunch. Wagner rotors MADE IN USA look great. New cylinders always look good no matter where they were made. I blast cleaned the front hubs and bollted the rotors on. Mounted one on the spindle and checked it with a dial indicator to find .015 runout. I don't think the newly machined rotors at fault, so I'll take the hubs to see Mitch's brake lathe Saturday. Otherwise, loosely assembled the caliper cylinders to the brackets, new brake pads and stainless crossover pipes too. All that stuff is in one place ready to install. Need to find the new rubber hoses here somewhere. Matheson: Beginning to soak the cylinder castings to remove paint for inspection and repainting. Signing off. Busy day tomorrow starts early and runs late.

Tony, I doubt that you will find any used, but this company is making them new. Howell's Sheetmetal Co. - Model A Ford & Model T Ford Parts

It is Thursday, October 28th. Here is the latest "brake" news from Greg. "The saga continues. At the parts store first thing this AM. Armed with part numbers, cross references, models and years. He says "It's a good number, 1 1/8 bore, but I'm finding two different cylinders. I'll order both." He had them by lunch time. Pulled the first one out of it's box, looked the same only different. Opened the other. No cigar either. We disassembled the first one to see if it could be made to work. I said get the calipers to check the bore. Book says 1 1/8" and it measured 1". I said give me my old one back. This was supposed to be easy. I can order a new one from the Studebaker guys. So I've gone back to plan A. Hone the old one and stuff a kit in it. Rule #1 : I can do anything the hard way. In an effort to push this brake job along (my shipment of new parts evidently crashed and burned somewhere along the way), I decided to investigate this rotor swap project. I find that disassembling them wasn't bad. Press the studs out one at a time and the hub and rotor fall apart. I'm sure putting the new rotors and studs together with the old hubs will be a piece of cake. Like the master cylinder. See Rule #1. Matheson: The primer was cured enough to scuff and recoat.

Bob, looks to be a very nice car. Why not post some other pictures of the entire car for us? And thanks for the paint information too.

Greg had a visitor to his workplace last week, and so naturally Greg gave a tour of the facility and Wright Brothers aircraft history. So in return the visitor sent some pictures of a car he is restoring in England. The car is a 1924 Willys-Knight. Here is just a little bit of what he said about the car. I found it very interesting. "Please see the attached photographs our 1924 Willys-Knight Model 64 Sedan that is now almost completed and needed only the upholstery to finalise. The car came from the Maine estate of Admiral Richard Byrd and was known as "Wickyup" and was stored in a ruined outbuilding with a number of other cars. At some point the roof partially collapsed and crushed the front section of the WK's roof. Hope that you find these interesting."

I would call Ft Wayne Clutch. They are a great source for information also. Antique clutches

It is Wednesday, October 27th. The big storm that hit the midwest yesterday came through about 3 AM. Thankfully, very little wind so did not lose power, but we received 1 1/3 inches of rain in an hour or so. But the threat of bad weather did not deter Greg. Here is his last night's report. "Getting older but not smarter. First thing this morning I hit the parts store. Checking on price and availability of replacement master cylinder. My last cylinder, not very old, show signs of rust pitting in the bore. I've got a kit to put in it, but wanted to see how much for a new one downtown. Young but sympthetic counter help. Cross referenced the casting number, fits a Chrysler. I can use it if I use bushings for fittings. He can have one for me by noon. OK. Back to the store after work, he's got it. I also pick up a new stop light switch. Here's where I'm still stupid. Didn't take my dial calipers along. Back at the ranch I check the bore. Need 1 1/8" and this measures 1 1/16. So I called Rob the Chrysler King who also happens to be the NAPA guy. So if you are using the stock system and want to interchange to the Chrysler master, it looks like Wagner # F27047 is also the CarQuest E27047, and it fits '56/58 Chrysler and /61 Dodge. So I'll try it again tomorrow morning. As that ate up most of my allotted Avanti time, I did sneak in more paint removing of the rotor dust shields. Maybe I should have tried brake fluid instead. I did get them soft enough to glass bead them clean. As for the Matheson, I spent the evening up close and personal cleaning the rough cast part of the flywheel. A long time ago I decided that any restoration is based on opinion and also compromise. Decisions can be based on evidence and judgement. The compromises come from factors of materials available, method of construction, cost, ability, etc. Studying the factory engine photo, it looks to me like the flywheel had been painted, then machined. Traces of gray paint are still found in the rough cast, none on the rim or faced areas. That's how I'm going to prepare it. Tonight I scraped and scrubbed the rough parts, then gave it a first coat of epoxy primer. Not wanting to overrestore it, I'll sand and prime a couple times, but not fill it with Bondo. I want it to look as if it had been done on a good day at the Wilkes Barre, Pa. plant."

It is Tuesday, October 26th. I have done nothing on my cars for several days. Have to get one out today for a drive, we are having a super fall. I also have to start thinking about winter, so will take the time to do some cleaning and detailing on the car that gets out of the garage. Will also do a lube job and an oil change. There is a nice Avanti video on YouTube from Germany. Greg presses ahead on his off work projects. Here is his last night report. "Slow night for Avanti business. Anticipating the new brake parts, took some time to remove the caliper bracket attachments and the dust shields. The former blast cleaned and painted, the latter soaking in paint remover. Also prepared the gas pedal link for installation. As for the Matheson Big Four. The stand has been made to allow working on the crank/flywheel. This will allow convienience in rotating the unit for further cleaning, priming, sanding and painting. While giving it a cursory inspection I was pleased to find timing marks buried under the modern times black enamel. As for the late breaking news, careful examination of pictures reveals the removal of the starter ring gear. A modern modification. A nineteen hundred ought something car, especially one of this calibre, should have an electric starter like King Kong needs a trip to the vet to be neutered. It also means that GREG needs to figure out this make and break ignition. Pictured are some of the timing marks. Notice how pretty the old style numbers for the 2-3 TDC and the valve timing marks done by some workman with a cold chisel. Gives the car personality and character.

Watched the show last night, and it was more just a take off of the Pawn Stars format. Really nothing inventive. On the show they kept talking about "attention to detail" then they proceed on the bicycle to replace slotted screws for phillips, and phillips screws for rivets. And the painting on the little faux gas tank looks like a job I would do, not too good. Oh well, it was a little entertainment, but mindless.

It is Monday, October 25th. Sounds like Greg had a good weekend. Here is his report. "Well, what can I remember about this weekend? Worked on the Avanti both days. Saturday morning I began hooking up enough stuff to be able start the engine by the dangling ignition switch. That's a milestone. Oil pressure gauge plumbed, but that's the only dash gauge working. Tightened the exhaust downpipes, borrowed a timing light to set the timing and things sound fine. I began to troubleshoot the temp gauge and tachometer. Didn't get very far because here at work, even though something (like a volt/ohm meter) has been kept in a cetain place (like for fifteen years), someone takes it upon themselves to put it where THEY think it should live. Without telling anyone else. Happens all the time. So I did a little with my 'teens volt/amp meter but gave up on that until I find the right gauge. Decided it was time to connect the clutch linkage. Machined new coupling pins from grade 8 bolts to replace the originals that I've misplaced. Now the linkage is complete to just short one clevis pin for the pedal. That will be another milestone. When the Brinks truck arrives with my brake parts, I can get that system finished maybe next week? With the clutch and brake systems working, I can move the car under it's own power. If I had a seat to sit on. Not about to try the old apple crate trick. The front seats are still in Ohio for recovering. They told me end of October. I hope that's completion date and not when they'll start . And I got word that the counterfeit R3 heads are finished. These will replace the real ones on my black '64. And I had been putting off securing the hose coupling the fuel filler with the tank. Been holding off to see if I'd have to pull the tank to clean it of debris. Watching the clear fuel filter has shown it be clean, so today I secured the coupling hose clamps. Just for kicks I started it again to hear it run....and guess what. The filter ran dry even though I'd put more gas in the tank. Those gremlins were just waiting for the chance to clog something. The Matheson flywheel has been subjected to multiple coats of paint remover and hosing. Found traces of buried gray paint which may veify it's original color. It is now about ready for metal cleaning, priming and painting. I'll have to make a stand to support it so I can rotate it . Flywheel and crank weigh in at 210 lbs. It was a good weekend. Got things done. Made a couple calls to return timing lights, stopped for ice cream, rode the bikes for +/- 5 miles, ate some good food with good company, and today I walked a passerby through the shop. A new acquaintance, he's an ex Navy fighter pilot who had just made is first landing on a grass strip in his homebuilt RV-4. Compared it to checking out in the F-18. Saturday evening my work was interrupted by the familiar tune of a Stearman overhead. 'Ol Bill setting up to sideslip and grease it in on our grass strip. A beautiful evening with just a hint of chill in the air. He's on an FCF (functional chech flight) to test the magnetos he just changed. He points to the empty front seat and who am I to say no. No better way to witness the beauty of nature than with a geat friend and a great airplane. So how was your weekend?"

It is Friday, October 22nd. Here is Greg's report from last night. "Studebaker news: Made my decision on the motor oil to use. I had this brainstorm the other day. The failures of these flat tappet, high valve spring loaded engines is due to the EPA mandated reduction of ZDDP in today's motor oils. This to avoid damage to catalytic converters. My idea was that recip aircraft don't use cat converters! Maybe Big Brother EPA hasn't screwed up Aeroshell oils! Phone calls to find info on the zinc content last week didn't get very far. In fact nowhere. Today I went to the local supplier to look him straight in the face. When I told him of my idea to use aviation oil in the car, he first offered me Brad Penn oils that are still old formula. A good idea for cars that won't stray far from their neighborhood, but what if I need oil when in Haystacks, Kansas? (Avantis are meant to shorten long distances). He made a phone call and got some good information. Aeroshell in the car? Bad idea. Apparently there's no zinc in it. Supposedly the higher head temps in the mostly air cooled engines can cause the zinc to build and form a hot spot for preignition. Not good for air travel. I was advised to use Shell Rotella T-1. Oil suitable for turbocharged diesels, among other things. It is service rated CF which is an old formula and supposed to have adequate zddp. I'm sticking with straight 30 wt like I did in the old days and it isn't synthetic. I know a lot of you guys really have good luck with the new oils, but I've had only bad. It's all way over my head. Don't breakin with synthetic, possible ring trouble. Then after the engine is used to mineral oil, change over to synthetic? Thanks, but I'll stick to dead dinosaurs. And just in case there's been a devaluation of the Rotella zinc exchange rate, I dropped in a bottle of Zplus for this cam/lifter teething period. I've read that diesel oil may have more or harsher detergents. It never ends. So tonight I put oil in the car. And crossed my fingers. Matheson: I manhandled the crank assembly into the paint room to begin the stripping of the paint on the flywheel. It is taking a while for the paint remover to soften it up. Probably a couple days. Photo provided.

It is Thursday, October 21st. A friend from Australia sent me a link to a great car restoration video made in the 60s. I was surprised that I had not seen it before now. It is in four parts, and here is a link to the first part. You can easily find the other parts on Youtube. YouTube - Bullnose Morris, old 1960's film of car restoration Part 1 of 4 Greg presses ahead on his many projects, and his report for Wednesday follows: "I see that Unimogjohn writes that he loves the Fall, when all the colored leaves start to drop. John, look at it this way, the colorful leaves are like the flowers on the grave of my good friend Summertime. I intended to get some things done on the Avanti tonight. My intentions started going downhill as I drove to the car through the chill damp mist of your raw Fall night. Forced myself to put the coolant reservoir back on, some carburetor return springs, tightened a radiator hose and then turned out the lights, turned on the heater as I drove away to find some supper. As for the Matheson. Applied a second coat of Glyptol and now considering the next hurdle. I think it will be stripping the paint from the flywheel and getting it primed, maybe painted. Usually not a bad job, but this time I need an engine crane to lift the thing. Pics: Avanti....forgot to take the camera along. Matheson: Second coat crankcase and some flywheel details, and Factory photo of the engine.

It is Wednesday, October 20th. I love the Fall, just when the leaves turn color and start to drop. So I pulled the Avanti out for a drive down the country lanes around the farm. It is great to see all the leaves on the road and seeing the Avanti pushing through them. But, I have to be careful, the deer are running all over the place, and they do not look left and right before crossing the road. Greg continues to press ahead on his quest to get his Avanti moving and driving before winter sets in. I tried to coax him to consider the Turner brake conversion for the front disks. No go. Here is his report. "Odds and ends for the Avanti. I bought some wiring harness loom at Hershey. This to cover the new starter cable. So I got that done, hooked up the oil pressure line to the dash, screwed on the spark plug cable brackets, and pulled the front rotors off in anticipation of the brake job. Spent a bunch of money during lunch. Ordered the front brake parts. Enough to make you lose your lunch. My Studebaker background dates back to the old days when you could get NOS parts cheap (dirt cheap by today's standards). I know that the big guys are changing over to more modern disc brake systems, but I've decided to stick it out with the Dunlops. VISA will need to borrow some dough to cover today's phone call. Start adding by hundreds for cylinders (they even want a hundred bucks apiece for the rears, common everyday straight through bore cast cyliders), and then start talking rotors, that's crazy. For rotors I had a choice of foreign made assemblies, or Wagner brand, which come without the hubs and studs. I'm going with Plan B. At least I'll know that the hubs will go back on. A few years ago I had overhauled the caliper cylinders. Rebored and sleeved. And turned the rotors so thin you could almost see through them. Stopped good though. Now I've decided that the car deserved a new set, this over a bowl of soup. And on the Matheson front, tonight I sealed the case interior with a first coat of Glyptol enamel."

It is Tuesday, October 19th. Here is Greg's report from Monday's work. "The mileage is starting to show. Crawlling around on the floor, busting knuckles, and getting back on my feet...... it just isn't as much fun as it used to be. But the Avanti's front brake parts look as grody as ever. I'll open them up tomorrow to view the damage. On the Matheson case.....it was inverted and then more of the same as last night."

Here are a couple of more links that document the barn find of the Chrysler Beach Wagon.

Here is a video update of Greg and his 1911 Stoddard Dayton. Greg has it stored in a private museum and goes up to check on it from time to time. I know that he is expecting that the fenders will be completed in 2011. It is not my video, but a good friend of Greg. And now you know what Greg looks like too! And here is another interesting video that you all might enjoy. A 1927 Chrysler Beach Wagon.

Alan, here are some pics of the Matheson. They were take a few months back.

It is Monday, October 18th. Going to be another fine day. Heading out this morning to drive my 1928 Buick Town Brougham around the country side. Greg continues to press on with his Avanti. I know he want to get it back on four wheels with brakes and an engine running. It is very cold in that old barn/hanger, and if it runs/drives he can move it to the factory building where there is some heat. Here is his report and pics. Nice weather weekend, so made some progress. Avanti: Popped the rear hubs loose. Linings and drums in good shape. Even though I'd overhauled them in '05, the rear cylinders were corroded and locked up. Gave them the beadblast, rattle can and hone treatment. New rubber kits, and they're back in place. Hubs, washers, nuts and cotters. From the picture you can see that I'll do some cosmetic painting under there. Matheson: Finished stripping the crankcase, brass fittings removed too. They'd never been out and the oil filler and breather were a bear to loosen. Once clean, the aluminum case was treated to my old trick of burnishing it with a rotary soft wire brush to bring up the lustre, then it is sealed by rubbing aluminum enamel into the pores with a rag. It takes time but I like the result.

Alan, I do not know too much, but here is what I know. The Matheson is being restored. The body is being done in Oregon and is about done. Greg is going over the engine. He told me that it had been rebuilt, but the owner wanted Greg to completely go through it. I will see if I can find a couple of pics of it in my files. I do not know if I have a pic of the complete car. The engine is massive, it looks like it belongs in a tank. It is one very impressive early automobile. Here is a link to some great information on the car. Matheson Automobile Photograph Collection : Hagley Digital Archives Here is a shot of the engine before Greg started working on it.

It is Saturday, October 16th. Got the shims today to adjust the hood on the Avanti. I raised the hood by 1/4 inch, but it really did not have an effect on the overall height of the hood. I must be doing something wrong, so going to drag out the manual to see what it says. But I did find the time to upload my Hershey, PA and Asheville, NC car pictures. They are at Picasa Web Albums - John and Alice - Hershey, PA a... I will post a few here also.