unimogjohn

Bob's may have them too, but Olsen's is a safe bet that they will have them. Bob's Automobilia You can download Bob's catalog too. Always a good read and to have around.

Mike, what a great looking car. She sure looks to be a beauty! How does she run? I have to look up the word "treacle", never heard that one before. But yes, it is like treacle, it really sticks to the gears. Some heat it up in a bucket of hot water for easier, quicker installation. You can also use it in the steering gear housing, which usually leaks badly.

I would talk to Waldrons. They are a big supplier of old exhaust systems. Waldron's antique exhaust, car exhaust, truck exhaust, exhaust pipes, mufflers

Tom, forgot. The gaskets between the heat riser/stove and then the to the manifold also probably need to be replaced. You can send pics of them to Olsons gaskets in WA for NOS ones, and they should be able to match them up. However, I took mine to the local Carquest part place and was able to look through their stock to find a couple of gaskets that were close. So bought them, and trimmed them to size. Worked great. Saw that you were looking for the CarbDoc. Here is his contact information. 800-945-2272. Jeff Dreibus The Old Carb Doctor

Brian, you are right. I just keep looking for something to do, but am down to the little stuff now. But she does get started and/or driven every day. I did find the high/low resistor for the Avanti's instrument light circuit. NOS for $25 plus shipping. So will go ahead and order it and some extra red tinted light bulbs for the dash. Greg is waiting for parts so he is pondering what happened to his rebuilt engine, what he did wrong, and what he is going to do with the new engine when he gets it back together. Here is his late Tuesday, May 25th report. "Tonight I spent some time researching the motor oil without zinc situation. Some pretty good forums going over it. I've decided to change my approach. Some decisions verify my old dog mentality, and that I made some poor choices. It appears that thanks to the EPA, most oils that display the API rating level on the label might as well have a skull and crossbones as far as older flat tappet engines are concerned. Ever decreasing levels of ZDDP to protect catalytic converters are a death sentence. You can buy over the counter additives to replace it. I did use it in the rebuilt engine. Valvoline racing oil still has it. No API rating because it is for a specialized off road market. Also read to stick with a straight weight oil, not multi weight. Another mistake on my part to join the twenty-first century. I once sat in on a Harold Sharon seminar where he broached the subject of multi weight, and I remember him saying that the multigrade oils, like 10-30 are merely a10 weight oil with plasticzers. Maybe ok for these new whiz bang roller motors. Break-in period should be 3000 miles. Recall my amazement of how a fresh engine can be run a few minutes on the dyno and then flogged repeatedly? So, I haven't yet decided to do about the camshaft, but I've altered my plan and now will stick with it. However, the trip to the dyno for the first engine was useful in that it accelerated what was going to happen to it, probably twenty miles outside Montello, Nevada, some day in the future. As a result, the fresh engine will pass the dyno and go directly into the car. Otherwise tonight I disassembled the oil pump to hose it out and blow it dry.

Tom, yes, you should be able to turn over the engine easily with a crank. You might try to contact Fred. He has a lot of stuff for the 20s cars. fred.rawling@live.com Watch Ebay too, they come up from time to time. Also, you can get a tool that turns the flywheel also if you just want to rotate the engine. Your local parts deals should have one. They look like this. SNAP ON A-144 FLY WHEEL TURNER: eBay Motors (item 280510819778 end time May-29-10 18:30:59 PDT) However, our flywheels are large, and the tool will only move the flywheel an inch or so before it pops off the tooth. But it does work. Yes, you do have to remove the bottom bell housing cover, but I am assuming that you have that off already. You can rebuild your own carb. Only two gaskets to make, and there are only two places that usually get clogged, both are the metering jets. Both jets or tubes are easily gotten to. You just have to be careful that you do not force things too much or you will break things, which is very bad. Here are some pics of my 28s carbs. The two tubes on mine were clogged with old gas and debris. You just have to put in some carb cleaner and blow them out. Rebuilding is just a case of taking everything apart, use the spray carb cleaner, and reassemble. So rebuilding is easy, just takes a bit of time; and there is not a lot of parts either. Here are the pics. Caution: do not soak the carb body in cleaner. It will eat it up. Use the spray, let it dry and you can use a dremel tool or small scraper to get the old deposits out of the bowl.

It is Tuesday, May 25th. Slackers! Looks like both Greg and I are slowing down. I did get out yesterday and replace two instrument light bulbs. Both bulbs were low enough in the panel that I could get my hand in there to replace them. I then looked for the resistor that controls the high/low of the instrument lights. Found it, and of course it was broken. The wire coil was split in half. So I am on the hunt for a resistor unit. Just got a note from Greg, so here is his report for Monday evening. "Pretty quiet here. Trying to get moving again. Today did a test fitting of the set of .010 undersize main bearings in the block so that I could measure the ID. With that information at hand I called the crank grinder with the results. Don't need him to cut to a wrong size. I called and got more bearings coming. Hopefully they'll be here about the time the crank finds it's way back. This evening I hand cut a few gaskets. Have yet to decide what I'll do about another cam. Still pretty bummed about the whole thing."

9 times out of 10 the float has become fuel logged. Just take off the top cover and observe if it has sunk. You can dry out the float and re-coat it with Superglue or buy a new one from Bob's Automobilia for five bucks or so. Or make your own. I get my cork squares from the local hobby shop and then coat it before use.

Paul, I think your cap is correct. Are your wires 7 or 9mm? You should be using 9 mm. However with that said, you can make brass shims to make your wires hold better into the cap. Also make sure that the brass ends are in good condition and spread equally around the spark plug holes. It take a little playing around, but you can get them to say in. I am told that in 23 the wires did not have the rubber caps on them. I have 7 mm caps on, a struggle to put on, but they help to keep the wires in also. The caps are becoming very hard to find and expensive, so I try to make due with the ones I have, one on the car and one spare. Good luck, let us know what you decide to do, and how it turned out.

I used the stain to darken the wood just a bit so it matched the age of the car and would not stand out as being redone. I tried doing it with just the natural color of the wood, and it looked like the car was wearing white socks with black dress shoes. But again, that is just me.

Taco, they come on Ebay from time to time. However, most folks are converting to sealed bearings versus the oil driven lubrication. The following picture is one example on how it is done. Hope that this helps. Any good machine shop should be able to do it for you.

I used a minwax light oak stain, and then five coats of tung oil. Here are my wheels. The stain was put on twenty years ago, and just two years ago put on two more coats of tung oil. Here are a couple of pics from the 28, front and rear wheels. Excuse the grime, it has not been spruced up after the winter.

Ethan, first you have to assess their condition. Wood still tight, not split, etc. Just make sure that the wheel is sound and ready for road use. Examine each wheel for striping, paint color, etc so you can bring back to original. But it sounds like your wheels need a refinish job. So sand, apply a very light dark stain, and either apply a spar/marine semi-gloss varnish or tung oil. I use tung oil on mine as I can recoat the wheels every couple of years without standing or removing the old material. It is more a sealer rather than a paint. Also some folks have their spokes painted a body color. Just depends on what you want and what the aim of your restoration is. Refinishing the wheels is not a hard job, but it does take time as it is all hand work.

Late Saturday evening. Greg has been busy, but we have been at a big neighborhood farm party. Lots of great food, company, and a huge hot air balloon for everyone to ride in. We took the Avanti over and spent a lot of time telling its story. Coming home in the dark found out that I am still missing a couple of instrument lights, and on high, they look dim, and on low, they all go out. So another thing to chase down and fix. Here is Greg's report with some good pictures. "I'd rather have been watching the Soupy Sales TV show. But drug out the cylinder block and hosed it (and myself) with the power washer. A long time. With the various oil gallery plugs out I got it again from all directions. Pic enclosed. Since I haven't had time to do it to the 304 block, did it too. It's been on the back burner, so I also took the time to get it's reground crank off the floor and with new main bearings, set it in place . Pic enclosed. Also enclosed is a pic of another reminder to CHECK EVERYTHING no matter how trivial, even if you just took it out of the box. I didn't. Pic is of the original (red) harmonic balancer and the repro (black) one. Nice piece of work by a harmonic balancer manufacturer. Photo'd with the keyways in alignment. Notice the timing marks. One thing the Studebaker guys seem to agree on is the ignition timing, 34 degrees total. After a few runs we began looking for anything wrong. I thought to pull #1 spark plug and stick a dial indicator down the hole to find TDC. Checked the mark and found that I'd been running the thing at 44 degrees. So I retimed it at 34 with a sigh of relief that I'd found the problem. We were amazed that it didn't make a bit of difference in power (or lack of it). This was prior to pulling the valve cover to measure the valve opening (which led us to the camshaft problem). So check everything, even the things you don't realize to check."

It is Saturday morning, May 22nd. Looks like the new tappets may have been the issue with the old cam. Here is Greg's report from late last night. "Progress, some, but not a lot. Took the crankshaft to Lee's where I chucked it in his lathe and used his journal polisher. The journals looked so-so and I think they'd be ok. But that's what I said last time I polished it, so I dropped it off to be reground. When the machine shop guy learned that I had wiped the cam, he asked me if I'd done something stupid like use new tappets on an old cam. Got a good chewing out. He had also verified the breaking proceedure of running at fast idle for at least twenty minutes. When I talked to Delta, I asked them about that, since it didn't make much sense to me. Until it was explained that the cam lobes only get lubrication by way of cam bearing runoff and what the crank splashes. Didn't realize, now I do. This weekend I plan to pull the block outside, remove the oil galley plugs again and get after the thing with the pressure washer. Can't do much else until the crank grinder verifies the journal sizes and then I can begin ordering replacement parts. That's the latest."

Don, I will pass on your comments. Greg does read the blog from time to time, but I doubt he has the time now. Here is what he reported to me this morning. I so expect a late PM report so hopefully he will have figured out what when wrong with the build. "I took the crank to Lee's this morning to polish the journals. I could probably reuse it, but since that's what I said last time, I decided to go ahead and have it reground this time. I called the crank grinder and got a good chewing out for using new lifters on an old cam." Also, I was amazed, the old SHO battery when to full charge this morning. I have it on a Battery Tender now to continue to slowly top it off. I thought for sure I would be putting in a new battery.

Leif, this vendor has some similar. You might download the catalog and take a look. Antique Auto Top Hardware Company

Still Thursday, but late. Greg has been busy at his shop. The engine is apart. Here is his report and pics. "Pics of: Camshaft. Doesn't look too bad. Measuring across the lobes reveals as much as .075" difference in heights. Don't know what they were to start with. Tappets and mains took it hard, so did the rod bearings. Might be able to reuse the cam brngs. The crank will have to go out for regrinding or polishing. It does show some scoring, but I'll leave it to the crank grinder's judgement. I'll deal with Delta Cam in my day job. Gave them a call about what I could have done wrong. I passed all the questions except one. Did I use new tappets or reground originals? I used new ones. Anyway, all is not lost. Just a lot of time and money. If at first you don't succeed. At least I wasn't skydiving."

Berry, sent a note to the SHO group on Yahoo Groups. The 89 SHO is the same body style as the 86, and a lot more impressive. How do they get in contact with you if they are interested? Can they send you an email? If yes, what is it? TX

Update: Here is what Greg said this evening. "As of now uncertain why it happened. Oil pump fine, waterpump fine, everything fine. Now as to my distain of multi-weight oil which I used, having to add zddp, etc. Not fine. Heading back over to pick up the remains." Oh, and I have gotten a couple of emails asking me to post pics of the white SHO. Here are a couple. Really dirty and grungy, but this is as she is.

It is Thursday, May 20th. I have to report that Greg just sent me some very bad news. His new engine is toast. He did send me a very short report. But on my Avanti, I have been driving it every day. It is running great, never fails now to start when cold or hot. There has not been a hint of misfire at 2K rpm now that the distributor is down tight. So I am not going to replace the plugs now, but I do have two sets waiting if I need too. And the coolant seep has stopped. So everything that I wanted to do is really done for now. I still do have a small drip, drip, drip in the power steering; and I have used about a quart of engine oil in 250 miles. I am watching both closely. The car just begs to be driven. So I am on to other mechanical tasks for now. Going to see if I can get both SHOs running, cleaned up, and back on the road. They have been sitting in the pasture since 2008. Both have 200K miles on them, and they were our commuting cars when we were working. Both have little issues; one no temp gauge readings, and the other has a power steering leak in a hose that is between the firewall and the back of the engine. Well, enough about me; here is Greg's report. "The good news is the magneto works fine. The bad news is I wiped out the 288* cam and the new lifters, which wiped out the new cam bearings, the new rod bearings, the new main bearings, and who knows what else . Trouble is I don't know why. Bringing it back for teardown." When I get anything else from Greg I will give you a report.

Hi all, I need to troubleshoot why one of my headlights is not working. But for the life of me I cannot get the trim rim off. It has a screw on the bottom and have removed that, but cannot get the rim off either by turning or pulling. Anyone know the proper way to do it? My manuals do not have any instructions. Thanks

There is usually a small bolt on both ends that hold the pipe semi tight. The one on the carb side I think is behind and not easily seen. Other than that, they are just press fit. So they are just stuck. Use Kroil, PB Blaster, ect and some heat to get it to break loose. Let us know how it goes. You may up ending taking apart the exhaust at that point so you can rotate the pipe.

Still Tuesday, May 18th, and just got Greg's report for the day. So will do a quick update. The UPS truck came in late too. The SS rear cross member came in along with the four hangers. Tomorrow I will put the car up on the ramp and see if I can get a couple of straps installed. The cross member will have to wait for a few days, looks to be a major project. Will have to cut out the old pipe, grind and prep the frame, and weld in the new. Looks to be a couple of days project for sure. Here is a pic of the pipe and hangers. And, here is Greg's report. "Spent some time at Lee's this morning but having a hard time remembering what I did. I don't do well first thing in the morning. Oh yeah, quite a few who stopped by saw the oil filter that I was using and they told me to ditch it. Bad news. They all said to use a Wix. So I picked one up . Cut the old filter apart and didn't find much debris, some flecks of paint. Also with a few runs on the motor, I asked Lee if it was oil change time. "Well yes." So I changed oil too. I'm breaking it in with 10-30 HD Pennzoil. With zddp additive. Also today I machined a spacer to bring the water pump pulley out to align with the crank pulley and also made a spacer to move the idler pulley. The distributor is reinstalled. Will pick up new belts tomorrow. Maybe run it again to check things out. And to illustrate how slow I can be. It dawned on me that the time spent on the distributor could have been detoured by trying my Schieffer magneto. That's all that comes to mind."

Mike, per Mark Shaw in a 2007 post, "Autolite 3077 or 3076 plugs". I am running the Champion W18 plugs, same ones since 1984 in my 28.