unimogjohn

Congratulation Ron! Now how about some pics of what you bought. And you need to keep us informed of your progress. Does she run?

Matt, thanks for coming over to meet. I am sure that we will see each other again soon. Your car was great! Bill, both Avantis were perfect and looked really good. Nice that both of them had AC in them too as it was hot. It is interesting, not everyone knew of Avanti. Lots of folks thought they were some fancy European car until they saw the Studebaker emblem, and then they could not believe how advanced looking they are. A car before its time. It is Wednesday, July 7th. Speaking of hot, it was 103 degrees here yesterday. At one point the outside temp reading on the VW Passat said 108. Wow! And today is suppose to be another hot one. Our new HVAC is keeping the house cool too, yahoo! But, we did manage to go over and see Greg and pick up his spare Avanti alternator. I have a few parts from my old one (pulley and fan) to move over, but I hope to have it on today. Here is a pic of what is going to be installed. It was rebuilt in 2004. Also for you Unimog fans, a friend dropped off his 416 cargo truck for me to use while he is on a trip for several months. It is much bigger than the 404, diesel instead of gas, and a higher weight capacity. A beast of a truck, but still no bigger than a Chev 4 door pickup. Here is a pic. Greg continues to move along and got a few more parts finished and installed. Here is his report. "Made those shoulder rivets I was telling you about. And installed them. The window regulator assemblies are lubed and ready for the day to install them. Also managed to get the license plate bracket installed. Missed getting more parts ordered by ten minutes."

Jules, If you cannot see any leaks, then I would do as David suggests. When the engine is hot, look for bubbles in the radiator to make sure that you do not have a head gasket leak.

It is Monday, PM now. It was a hot one today, over 100 and high humidity. We are getting a new HVAC system put in today so we spent the day watching the workers work. They got the old system out and the new system in to the point of making the AC operational. A good day for sure. I am heading to Greg's house tomorrow to pick up his spare alternator. Hope to have it in tomorrow too. And Greg continues to press on. Here is his report. I am including a pic of his Stoddard Dayton that he references. "The window winding mechanisms have been undisturbed in the doors until this weekend. The fact that I couldn't raise or lower the windows even with help was a clue that they needed major restoration. I recall rebuilding the door for one of my cars because the stiff operation had shattered the fiberglass panel. The parts were blast cleaned, epoxy primed and since the rear license plate bracket still needed painting, I shot everything with urethane. Drying now. The connecting link on each regulator had once been reinforced after the rivets had been removed and stovebolts were substituted. I'll machine new rivets for the reassembly. A call to the supplier of the window runs led me to realize that the defective lining would remain in my court. Best to just repair the thing instead of trying to have the run exchanged. Their installation will continue after tomorrow's call to obtain the tubular rivets required to attach the vent window weather seals have arrived. That rivetting job best done while the runs are manageable. It's been suggested to me by a friend that I just be more patient with these delays. My physician has suggested that this project is the reason he's prescribing another BP medication. The Stoddard-Dayton project, which began as just a pile of rust swept into a pile, was so much less frustrating."

Jules, do you have a thermostat installed? If yes, have you tested it to make sure it is opening/closing correctly? Partially clogged radiator? Slipping fan belt? When hot observe water flow at the radiator cap filler. Can you see water rapidly moving? If not, you could have a weak water pump. Of course, there could also be scale inside the engine causing hot spots/clogging. Water usage, if your radiator was full to the top when cold, then you would lose some water due to expansion. If yes, then the amount to fill is about right.

Same number as in my 23 McLaughlin Buick. Used on US made Buicks also. McLaughlin used wood for the dash so the mounting bracket had a larger space to accommodate the width of the wood; Buicks used metal, which was not as thick as the wood so the mounting bracket is closer to the face of the speedo/odometer. McLaughlin used white faces on their high end cars, black on lower models. I think that Buick only used black for all. Could also probably used in 1922 also.

Hi, I have a pair of bumper mounts, BUI 14, left and right. These mount the bumper to the frame of the car. I have no idea what year or model they fit. I do know that they do not fit my Buick standard 28-29. The little arm is too short to attach them to the frame. I put them on Ebay if anyone is interested. I know that they are hard to find as it too me 25 years to find the correct ones for my car. The listing is: Buick Bumper Brackets 1928 BUI 14 R and L: eBay Motors (item 190414256439 end time Jul-10-10 09:41:35 PDT)

Dan, it was good to see your Stutz there. Great car! We had a great time at the show also. I did the West Virginia mountains OK with our 2002 Chev Trailblazer I6 engine. We have an open trailer with our 23. So we are about the towing limit of the truck. So will probably going with what you have. Question, what did you get for mileage?

I have a 1923 45 McLaughin Buick, and all engine, suspension and body are all Buick/GM. The special things are the wood dash and trim pieces, which are plated versus painted. Otherwise they are the same. So it would be a safe bet that your parts are interchangeable. I vote with Peocak.

Well we made it home. Packed up and hit the road at 7 am and arrived home at 7 pm; twelve hours and another 572 miles. We had a great time at the show and enjoyed showing the car. There were some really beautiful cars and great people. Would we go again, yes. The event was well organized considering the number of people, and the ability to put the cars inside with air conditioning was great. We met a lot of people, and talked to so many we were about out of breath. This will be my last post for this topic. Hope that you enjoyed it. A friend shot this pic so I thought I would close with it.

Still Monday. And for some good news, a friend in Canada has connections with several parts distributors, and they were able to find the correct Prestolite alternator (they think). It has been ordered, and since I will see him in August I will pick it up then. In the interim I think I will borrow Greg's spare alternator to get me back on the road. Or maybe I will just see if I can modify the Honda alternator before I give up. Had a great time at the AACA car show in Louisville, KY. There were several Studebakers there to include two nice R1 Avantis. One (white) was completely restored, and the other (gray) was an original with a 20 year old repaint that look brand new. Here are the pics I took. And I did meet with both owners and had nice conversations. We had a great time. BUT, I was beat out for an award by a 1923 big six touring car. It was beautiful, and huge. What a great car. (UPDATE: Was just notified that we received a Second Junior Award for the 23 McLaughlin Buick. Quite an honor considering the level of cars that attended.)

It is still Monday, but I have Greg's report from Sunday. Today's project was another two rivets. Get the driver's side run fitted and catch up with yesterday's work on the passenger side. Got the rivets drilled out and parts apart. Started fitting the new run and noticed that it's a blem. The fuzzy felt liner is pulled loose from the channel. I could probably find a way to glue it back in place, but since these things are going on a hundred dollars each....I'll try to send it back for replacement. That means waiting until Tuesday to call the supplier, getting it boxed and a trip to the UPS store, and you guessed it waiting for the new on that's "In the mail". Another couple weeks shot. Meanwhile I'll begin work on the window winder mechanisms . I guess the windows should open and close. Enclosed pic of the door glass outer seals. New rubbers will be ordered Tuesday. Happy Fourth of July.

It is Monday, July 5th. Made it back from KY late last night. But Greg has been continuing on his quest to complete the Avanti before the fall. Here is his report. From Greg: Time today preparing to rebuild the door vent window assemblies. Not a fun job. The window runs were supplied predrilled. It looks like the guy at the factory had a hard time too. Maybe his were predrilled as they came down the line. You'll see that the holes in the stainless sheath were moved around even before today's work. A lot of time was spent fitting the upper end of the run into the cast frame. Once everything is up tight, a hole must be marked and drilled for a 6-32 screw to secure it. The sheath has two extra holes, one at the top, one at the bottom. They hold the sheath to the run. The sheath had been buffed before installation. Also, since the supplied runs weren't factory NOS items (reproduction), they weren't the same dimensionally. Since they were more narrow, the sheath was a sloppy fit. I used a carpenter's clamp to squeeze the stainless channel for a better fit. The factory used 1/8 x 1/4" steel rivets. So did I. Another hard part is getting inside the narrow run to buck the rivets. A lot of time was spent making a setup that I could use in our hydraulic press. Enclosed photos the result of a day's work, two rivets set. Why not persevere and get two more done? There's strawberry shortcake waiting on me.

We saw Bernie and the Dixie Flyer at Louisville. Here are the pics we took. The Firefly was a great hit and always had lots of folks looking at the car and talking to Bernie.

In the US, Vintage Rims Hope this helps.

A couple of additional notes. Lots of people stopped by to say hello and chat. A couple of them stand out because they are major contributors to the forum. Bernie and his Dixie Flyer stopped by to say hello. He has a major blog on this forum and his restoration efforts are well described in the AACA magazine. Here are a few pics of his car, The Dixie Flyer. Also Bob Coker stopped by to see the car since he has been following the blog. He said that I forgot to post some pics of his fantastic 1953/54 Buick from the 1954 GM Motorama Show. So here is some pics of his great Buick. It is awesome.

It is Saturday. The meet is over, we are packing and will head home tomorrow morning. We had a great time looking at all the cars and meeting lots of folks. It was a great adventure. We could not believe the level of restoration on many cars, and those that were not restored shined in all their glory. And there were all kinds and types of cars too, that made it really interesting. I took almost 200 pics, to many to post here so put them on the Photobucket site. Here is the location. Hope that you enjoy them. AACA 2010 Louisville Meet pictures by unimogjohn - Photobucket

Friday night, it is the banquet and opening of the show. We had a great time visiting with folks at the table, and the food was really good too considering the size of the crowd. It was a very good time indeed. Here is a pic of 1/3 of the crowd. It was huge.

Here are a few more pics.

Still Friday, but now 2 PM. Time to get the car to the arena for early placement, lot of other folks had the same idea so it was a long slow grind to get into the show field. I was told that 675 cars were registered, and about 2000 people. We did not have any problems with the car, and even managed to keep her semi-cool while just sitting and waiting. I was waiting for the dreaded vapor lock, but everything was great. We spent about an hour talking to folks, but we had a mile or so walk back to the hotel to make. So we left with lots more cars pulling in. Now we are getting ready for the big dinner in an hour or so. Here are some pics of the cars that were coming in. Lots of great automobiles. I am in awe.

It is Friday, July 2nd. Another nice day, a breeze and about 83 degrees with low humidity. A perfect day. Got up early and headed to the Patton Museum at Fort Knox. First time I had been back there since my Armored training back in 1969. Kinda like going back in time just a bit. It was a very nice museum with lots of equipment. Here are a bunch of pics of what we saw.

It is Friday, July 2nd. We are having a great time in Louisville. We actually saw an Avanti. All original red interior and with a dark shade of Studebaker gray with a bit of sparkle added to it. But, here is Greg's report from yesterday. So here comes the mailman in his little truck. Pulls up to the shop door, hops out with a package. Hurries in, shoves the package at me and says "More Studebaker parts." I look at the package, look at him and say " With all the things I'm waiting for, all I get is this tiny little box?" "where's the rest of my stuff?" He just grins and says......"It's in the mail." He drove off before I could throw something at him. The latest: Window runs arrived. Beginning the disassembly and hopefully reassembly. The job wasn't fun in '72, doubt it will be a day at the beach this time. The reground lifters may hit town tomorrow. Camshaft is ground, Parkerized, in the box and ....."It's in the mail." I've removed the hood cable assembly , gave it a cosmetic makeover. So it's ready to go back in when the carpet is in. Knocked the rivets from one vent window assembly and started some buffing of stainless. Happy Furst of July.

The dinner tour on the Belle of Louisville was the big event of the day. It was so popular that two sessions had to be arranged, 450 for the first trip; over 500 for the second. Lot of people and all talking cars. We were on the first trip. Loaded us into school buses for the 20 minute trip to the dock. Folks were like kids again on those yellow buses, but it seems like most would barely fit into the seats. They were small! Too small for us big kids. We arrived at the Ohio river and went on board. What a grand old boat. Built in 1914 and still chugging along. It is still all steam powered with boilers feed with diesel. It was great to see the river with all its industries on its banks. We saw ship building, metal processing, lumber, coal, sand/gravel, and barge docking stations. Truly, it is still a working river. We had a nice dinner as soon as we got onboard and then left the dock. Lots and lots of Mayflies. These insects live for just 24 hours, breed and die. And they are everywhere that has a shiny surface that attracts them. Lots of folks were "bugged" out by them, but we just brushed them aside and enjoyed the ride. Here are some pics of what we saw.

It is Friday, July 2nd. The second full day of our trip. Today, we are heading to the George Patton Museum at Ft. Knox, then will take the MB into the Expo Center for early placement, and finally the big dinner. But yesterday we had a great time. First, we slept in. We looked around the hotel lots and saw lots of cars being unloaded and driven. What a great sight. Then we decided to take a driving tour of Louisville and headed down into old town. Saw many early homes and buildings. Like going back in time about a hundred years. Then we decided to visit the Expo Center where other events we taking place. So we decided the swine show. Alice loved it. To end the day we went on our first AACA event, the steamboat trip and dinner on the Belle of Louisville. But first, here are some pics of the cars and other stuff we saw.

You can try reverse blowing, hook up a line to the one you took off before the fuel pump and blow back. This should clear the line. You should be aware that in some case you will have a (brass sleeve or sock) in the tank, which also may be full of debris, so this would be a temp fix. I thought I had a perfect tank and line on my Avanti, turned out that it was full of rust and other debris on about the last 10% of the tank. Pulled it, and had it re-done for about $140s. A good investment for sure. Sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and pull the tank. I wish I had heeded my own advice to you before I had to leave the car on the road and walk home.