unimogjohn

It is Friday PM, September 17th. The Avanti hood is done. All ready to go back on the car tomorrow. We need three people to mount the hood so have to get a neighbor over for some help. Here is the before and after. Came out good. Only put on one light coat as when the car is repainted it will be taken off again and painted the body color. Oh, the Kubota tractor blew another hydraulic line for the loader. So took off all four to have new hoses built. Get them back on Monday.

Bill, good luck! Hope that you will be able to post and attach pictures of your journey each day. Looking forward to hearing of the adventure. Maybe we will go on one with our 23 next trip.

Still Thursday, but PM. Had a few hours to work on the Avanti hood. Ugh! It was covered in an asphalt type adhesive, which was the devil to get off. Finally had to resort to kerosene and then Goof Off to get the junk all off. This took me four hours of grinding, scraping, melting, and finally scrubbing with soap and water. Looks pretty good, but I still have about a hours work to finish it. Then I will put on a couple of coats of flat black to pretty it up. I think it will look a lot better. Here are a couple of before and after pics.

It is Thursday, September 16th. Greg is making great progress, but he only has a few more days until he leaves on vacation to Idaho and then to Hershey. So things will slow down quite a bit on this little blog for sure. Here is Greg's report. "First thing I did was bolt up the fan to it's hub, then the fan assembly through the pulley to the waterpump. Snugged the belt. Got the exhaust system off the floor. I'm replacing the new manifold gaskets (since the dyno experience) and while I wait for them I managed to get the exhaust system off the floor and back on the car. Everything is loose for now. In order to get the left side exhaust manifold in place I had to take the starter back down for clearance, then heave it back in place. One inlet manifold bolt and clamp still eluded me. I had it in my hand the other day and as Ham Dyer would say ..."The little people got it". Had a NOS clamp which was pressed into service and a new bolt from ACE Hardware (buried under the carb enclosure, can't see the improper bolt marking). This will certainly bring the original bolt and clamp out of hiding. With the inlet manifold tightened I was able to secure the enclosure base and carburetor. I'm probably getting enough together to call for scribbling down a hit list of things yet to do. There's still a lot just to get it to start up. No time to hurry and forget something important. And I'll be leaving this coming Monday for a trip to Idaho to oversee how things are coming in the Peerless restoration department and see the Matheson car I'm helping with. Time is sure a scarce commodity around here.

It is Wednesday, September 15th. Yesterday I did get the two 12 ft gates for the new entrance to the pasture. This should give me more than enough room to take a turn into the pasture with the trailer. Tomorrow I plan to cut through the fence and install the gates. It should only take a couple of hours, I hope. I did not get the title to the trailer through DVM. They did not like the person who signed the title. He was not the counsel for the firm nor an official of the company. So now I have to get a letter from the company saying it was OK for the person to sign. Nothing with DMV is easy. But today I did manage to get one of my three projects done. The tractor seat is finished and installed. It turned out pretty good. At least it is back together and I can use the tractor again. Here are the pics. It cost about $10 to do. If I had to replace it, it would have been at least $150 or more for a real Kubota seat. So it was worth a few hours of mine time to do it. It will be interesting to see how it holds up. Oh, I used waterproof contact cement to glue the vinyl to the foam. I hope tomorrow to have the time to install the hinges on the Avanti, and clean up and paint the underside of the hood. That is the plan anyway.

I am using 30 weight oil. Make sure that after you fill from the top, you turn it 45 degrees, let the excess oil drain out in order to get the correct level. The felt seal does do a good job of holding in the oil. Mine has never leaked and is still original.

These guys have made me a couple of belts. Great service and quality. Might just give them a call. Custom Leather Drive Belts-Single-ply (11/64''), up to 4'' wide

It is Tuesday. Here is Greg's report for today. "So I get the fan stripped, bead blasted and a coat of paint. That's when I see that this must be the one that Steve put into the radiator when the water pump croaked. So decided to pull the last fan from my spares stock, and it a nice one so will use it. A rerun of paint remover and blasted, and several coats of enamel. It's drying now. See pic. Also visited the car long enough to install the dipstick assemble and the throttle bellcrank, both requiring removal and retorquing of head bolts."

Oh, forgot to attach the factory photo of the 28-29.

John, you might try to find some factory pics of your car too. I think that your irons should not be completely painted, but something like mine. You will have to do some investigation. Mine is a 28, but I am thinking yours might be the same.

David, since you are always giving me advice here is my advice. Cut it all out! Doesn't RI Wiring make a pre-made harness for the car? Granted my 23 was not as advanced as your Cord, but I went wire by wire with a schematic and made mine. Of course I had a lot of wire to cut off at one end, but I managed to get everything connected. I plan to do the same with my Avanti when it finally needs it. Actually, the Avanti will be easier, and I think that I would do a modern m/f plug through the wirewall rather than string all the wire through it. Anyway, you are the master, and I am still only the student. It will be fun following your work on that fine car. I want to see it running and driving again.

David, I do not know if this is the car you saw or not. But when we were at the Canadian Transportation Museum in Ottawa a couple of months ago there was a car in storage (I think it was a Dodge), and it was half and half. Here is the pic I took of the bad side, but you can see the restored part on the other side if you look closely. The new side was looking a bit dated. This was taken in their long term storage facility that is usually closed to the public.

It is Tuesday, September 14th. I am off this morning to buy two gates, a 12 and 10 footer. This will give me a large opening to turn into the pasture from the driveway. Discussed with my bride, Alice, and she concurred as long as I did not trim the trees back too far. She hates it when I get out the chainsaw. Also going by the DMV to title and get plates for the new trailer. Greg worked real hard this weekend and Monday. He got lots done it looks like. I see that he did also install the alternator. I expect that by next weekend he will have the car running. He also told me that he rebuilt the brakes a few years ago, but plans to got through them again. I asked him about the seats. He said that they were still being done. The vendor is making two good seats out of four bad ones. It is taking a long time, I could not wait that long, as been about three or four months right now. Oh well, glad it is not me. Anyway, here is Greg's report. Photo descriptions: * Shift and linkage prior to installation. Waiting on anti rattle spring and some spring washers to complete. * Recored radiator now in place. * Coolant tank has a new gasket cut for it, installation held up due to misplaced new thermostat. I'll buy another tomorrow. * New shift boot. Misplaced shift knob. Saw it somewhere. *I'm retiring the toy R3 fan and returning the standard fan to duty. Hoped to bead blast remove the old finish and repaint, it doesn't think so. Soaking it with paint remover for a while. * Cleaning the hose clamps. Although it is a driver, I can't help but look for details of originality. Hose clamps, certain bolt types, blue stripes on the heater hoses, markings, etc. The restorer in me. *While looking through the fan collection, ran across this momento. Bad night for 'ol RQ1580. Going to the store in my (then) daily driver gold R2 fourspeed. Didn't make it.

It is still Monday, but PM. Finished for the day. I did manage to get the fuel filter changed in the Suburban. A messy job, but I was prepared for the fuel leaking everywhere. I guess I was done in about an hour. Half of that time was looking for the right wrenches to fit the odd ball sizes. Then Alice yells that she thinks she might have a buyer for the white 1989 Ford Taurus SHO. This car has been sitting in the pasture since the summer of 2008. Well, other projects must be put aside to see if I can get the old girl running and moving again. There was nothing wrong with her when she was parked. As luck would have it I did remove the battery a few weeks ago so it held a good charge and was all ready to go. I headed out to the pasture, put in the battery and turned the key to run. Nothing....... tried again, nothing. Then I remembered that you have to have the clutch in. She started, died, started died, and then finally caught and idled fine. After a warm up period I drove her out of the ruts she was in and onto the lawn at the front of the house. She got a very good wash, three actually, an engine cleaning, and a general mechanical going over. Took her out for a nice ten mile run. Boy, I forgot how powerful the SHO Yahama engine is. It was a pleasure to drive. Good thing I have another one in the pasture if this one sells. Here are a few pics. I washed one side and left the other dirty so you can see how bad it was.

John, I would contact Fred Rawling fred.rawling@live.com Fred has lots of parts for the 1920s Buicks. You have a great looking car. I know that you will get it on the road soon. They are really fun to drive.

Steve, no air filter on yours. Even in the 20s they did not have much of a filter, just a metal can that dropped out the big pieces of debris, and that did not change until the 30s when they finally went to an oil bath filter.

John, ask and you shall receive. 1925 26 27 Buick Standard NOS fan pulley 192691: eBay Motors (item 150491480315 end time Sep-19-10 19:44:03 PDT) I have seen the round trim/screw in a vendor's catalog. I think it was Snyders. You might take a look. I have also seen them on Ebay from time to time. http://www.snydersantiqueauto.com/ Post some pics of your new baby.

It is Monday, September 13th. I have three projects that I want to get done over the next couple of days. One, repair the tractor seat; two, replace the fuel filter on the Suburban (this is the last maintenance item left to do), and three, clean and paint the underside of the Avanti hood. The underside of the hood is a combination of red and green paint. I plan to clean off all the old glue from the heat/sound pad that was removed, will use Goof Off to remove the glue. I will paint it flat back. I also have to repair the hood prop rod as a mounting bolt was broken off. Now where did I put that flat headed bolt? And here is Greg's weekend report. "Trying to recall what went on this weekend. Saturday John Feser saved the day. He came by and offered to help put up the transmission. Who was I to say no. It had been fighting me for several days. That morning I double checked the bore of the pilot bushing with a .750 reamer. I knew we had one because the Wright propellers get reamed for the 3/4 propeller shafts. Might have been a burr or something. I also polished the nose of the transmission input shaft. With John's help, it went in this time. Other accomplishments that I recall: Shifter linkage cleaned, painted and installed. Shifter reinstalled. Driveshaft installed. Intake manifold installed (minus one misplaced bolt). Cleaned and painted the crankcase breater and bell housing front cover plate, then the started installed. And I left the camera lying by the car, so you'll just have to take my word for it. Will catch up on photos and correspondence later."

Still Sunday, but PM. Done for the day. I used a brass wheel to peel away the rust and layers of paint on the hinges. They look pretty good now all cleaned up. Took some metal paint prep and cleaned them up and then spray painted them with a couple of coats of flat black. Done, will let them dry overnight before test fitting tomorrow. Oh, tomorrows project. My Kubota tractor's black seat cover shrank and became very hard and brittle. It was letting water get into the foam liner. So we pulled off the old cover and went down to the local fabric store. Alice went in, but asked what color? I did not care so I say just pick what you like. She came back with with semi-gloss brown marine vinyl. Said it was on sale too, five bucks. So that is what it is going to be. Planning on using contact cement stick it to the foam. It does not have to be pretty, but water tight and functional is the key.

It is Sunday, September 12th. Rained last night, got 1/2 inch. First rain in a month. I am sure all the trees, plants and animals appreciated it. Thought I better try to put on the bump stops on the Suburban's front suspension. Pricey little devils, to the tune of $40 each from the local dealership. Seems that no after-market vendor is making them. Come to find out they are critical on how the torsion bars system works. They are actually part of the system, and the front control arms rests on them, there is no clearance. They are also made out of a special rubber like material, but looks to be a plastic synthetic blend of material. To get them in I had to jack up the suspension, but the entire process did not take me more than 30 minutes per side, once I figured out what tools I would need. So in about two hours or so it was done, and even greased the steering system and ball joints, which looked like they had not seen any grease for a long time. Here are some pics of the old and new parts and where they are installed. This afternoon I am going to clean and paint the hinges for the Avanti. Here is what they look like now after Greg's bending and heating work. They were not that pretty before he started.

It is Saturday, September 11th. Ran out this morning to go over the trailer. Other than the gunk on the little brake-a-way battery everything looks great. Pulled the battery and put the volt meter on it, read 10.6 volts. It is rechargeable so will put it on my smallest charger and see what happens. Worse case I will replace it, I think they are about $25 dollars down at Tractor Supply. I also ordered a sand foot for the lift, that is $10 delivered from Ebay, and I found a new tire/rim combo for $110 delivered also on Ebay that I will use as a spare. I hate not having a spare. Also received from Rock Auto a new trailer electrical connector. The one currently on the Suburban does not have a cover, and while I was able to get it working I could not get anything out of the right turn signal. So I ordered a new connector. If it does not rain too hard tomorrow I will put it on. Hope it solves the problem. Then I ran off to see Greg with my bent hinges in hand. He worked them over, bending, heating, and adjusting. We matched them to the set he has for his Avanti. I think he spent about 30 minutes, it would have taken me several hours for sure. He was having fits trying to get the transmission into his Avanti by himself. That is a no go, it is a two person job. Boy, that little bugger is heavy. But we got it in and seated. He headed off to Sears for a flex coupling for his ratchet so he can tighten down the top bolts on the bell housing. And I headed home to see how I am going to get the trailer up our driveway and into the pasture where it will be parked. Last night I drove it through a side gate, but had to go way into the neighbor's pasture to do it. That will not work in the winter as the ground will be wet, and I am sure to get stuck. I will let you know what I come up with. Update - well I decided to go out before it rains and see if I could replace the trailer connector socket. It took a couple of minutes to figure out how it connected, but managed to get it out without breaking anything, and the new one just slipped right in place. Maybe took ten or so minutes. Guess what! I can now turn right. Everything is now working and I even have a cover when it is not in use. Yahoo!

It is Friday, Sept 10th. Another driving marathon. We left this morning at 4 AM and got home at 7 PM. The total trip was 650 miles. Mileage going down was 15.6 mpg, ran at the speed limit and a bit over. Coming back with the trailer it was 10.2 mpg going 55 to 60 mph. The Suburban had no problem pulling the trailer. But it was a very long drive, especially in the morning and in the dark. Alice did do the last two hours heading into Concord, NC. I slept. I think the total drive time was 14 hours or so. We arrived at Millsport in the heart of NASCAR country. Had a great time visiting with the crew there and took a picture with them. The trailer was washed and ready to go. We were in and back out on the road in twenty minutes. A long day for sure. Tomorrow we will actually go over the trailer again. But she sure looks fantastic. The only thing I have seen that needs looking at is the little battery for the emergency brake, one terminal has corrosion. The trailer brakes do work fine. I will give a mechanical report tomorrow. Oh, did I say that the trailer is HUGE! Here are some pics.

It is Thursday, September 9th. Oh that Greg continues to be very busy. Close to getting the transmission in now too. Here is his report from last night. "Got more done tonight. Out of excuses, I decided tonight was the night to get the transmission in place. Well, with no lift or transmission jack, wrestled with it until I finally got it up in the car. Not in place, but up in the car. While trying to get the spline engaged, I remembered an old trick the Steve and I would use on his '57 Chevy. Steve (in the days before he owned this maroon Avanti) had this Chevy 210 series two door. 261 six cylinder truck engine with a 235 head. Three speed transmission. Hand carved walnut shift knob on a Hurst shifter. And he'd take on anything that pulled up beside him. A regular at the drag races. He routinely would show the way to whatever they paired him with....until the trophy run. He'd outshift the second gear synchro and then have to limp around town all week with a broken gearbox. On Saturday the A&P would pay him and we'd head to the NAPA store, buy a second gear for $17. 58 , then take the car to my house where we'd roll the two right wheels up on the curb and do the transmission trick. Overhaul and red repaint. We could do this in no time and the trick to getting it back in place was to use four long bolts with the heads removed . That would position the trans and allow us to find the spline. Then back to Mason Dixon in Hagerstown on Sunday. Did we realize what good days those were? Otherwise, I made the new nylon bushings for the shift lever, found new snap rings at the hardware store, overhauled and repainted the stuff. I will order the missing anti-rattle spring sometime. Tomorrow is another."

It is Wednesday, early PM. Well, we found the trailer for the cars, but it is 350 miles away. So we have another road trip all set for this Friday. It will be a one day, up and back. Alice says she will go if I buy her lunch and dinner, and of course Shadow will go also, for a few dog bones. We have made the deal and will be bringing the balance owed when we inspect the trailer. Based on the pics and discussions the trailer is in great shape and well maintained. It belongs to a racing promoter and was used to haul NASCAR show cars to various events a few times a year. It was always parked inside too. It is a great find, and an outstanding deal. Here is a pic of the rig. Now I just have to sell my open trailer and the little Trailblazer.

It is Wednesday, September 8th. Here is Greg's report from yesterday. He is move right along now. "Tuesday already. Installed the coolant manifold this evening. And the blower bracket. Then turned my attention to the transmission. Rebuilt, it needs gear oil and put up in the car. Now I'm looking into the shift lever assembly. Busted bushings, missing snap rings and return spring and a worn out nylon cover all to be addressed."