unimogjohn

Tuesday morning, March 7th. Spent the day yesterday pulling the open car trailer out of the pasture and then fixing the equalizer spring shackles. They tend to flip when there is no load on the trailer. As a result the axle flips upwards and then only rides on one axle. Not good when towing. So I spent a couple of hours flipping the axle back into place with jacks and levers. That little effort took about two hours. Of course I had to pull the trailer out of the pasture where it resided over the winter. Too restricted to use the Chev Trailblazer, I used the Kubota tractor with the new hooks I put on a few weeks ago. Worked great. Speaking of the Kubota, I got the new LED lights yesterday so put one in. As a test I went out this morning at 4 AM and compared the two different LED lights. The one with the cover is actually brighter, and the new light was a bit dimmer, but more sharp. Both are very good and a vast improvement over the bulbs that were on the tractor. I think I am going to go with the LED bulb with the cover on it. I also got the LED daytime running lights for the Suburban. Today we are loading up a neighbor's old Honda, I think it is a 1987, for a trip to the shop tomorrow I am told that the shop owner has an Avanti. So that will be a treat to see it. Still waiting for brake parts to arrive. I am soaking the brake fittings every time I go into the garage.

Sunday morning, March 5th. Received the brake lines for the Suburban yesterday and opened the box this morning. Here is what is inside. I also removed some plastic panels under the engine and steering and found that I can see the entire length of the passenger side brake line. I have been soaking the brake line fitting in Kroil so hopefully they will give up a bit more easily. I also got a couple of LED headlight bulbs for the new Kubota tractor. Easy plug and play. The new lights have a frosted cover on them. They seem to give off a lot more light. Anything is better than the stop light bulbs that were in there. I did see some daytime running light LED bulbs with a projector in the front so I think that I will order them and see if they project more light than the frosted ones. The frosted ones can then go to the rear of the tractor for running lights. LED bulbs have really come down in price over the past couple of years. I have also ordered a Eastwood 100 lb capacity blaster today. On sale with free shipping, so for $125 it was a fair deal.

It is Thursday, March 2nd. Well I got the Suburban moved into the garage and on the lift. The leak is from the master cylinder, and it just puked all over the garage floor. Not that all the lines were any good. Everything must be replaced. Going to pick up some soft lines and replace them also. Here is what I saw.

Still Wednesday. Been hauling bark and top soil with the Suburban and dump trailer. Coming home the brakes got soft and then almost nothing. Major leak on the driver's side front. I am sure that it is the dreaded rusted brake lines. So I ordered a kit to do all of them. $77 to my door. Guess the Suburban goes on the lift tomorrow. So much for not having to do repairs.

It is Wednesday, March 1st. Spring has sprung around northern Virginia. Plants are starting to poke their heads up, pollen is in the air, and their is a slight greening going on. We took a couple of days to spread 2,250 lbs of lime and fertilizer around the farm. Took the Avanti out after adjusting the throttle to transmission shifting problem I had with it downshifting when it reached 2500 rpm. The adjustment was way off. I took it out for a short run and it did not downshift so I am making progress. But it runs like it is just chuggling with a few surges now and then so something is still off. Oh, and I seem to have a battery issue. I am charging at 35 amps, so I charged up the battery and am showing a normal 10 amps after starting and 3 amps running. All the electrics seem to be off, yet the battery seems to be discharging. Will have to continue to investigate. The Jaguar refused to start also. Turned out that the brass contacts on the fuse block have a slight corrosion on them. I will take the little Dremel tool with its wire wheel and clean them all up. Otherwise the cat ran just great after a winter slumber. And it looks like Greg is back at it also. Just got his "beach" report. Awoke this morning, lingered in bed for a while and then decided to get it done. Fair weather, chance of rain later today, time to sandblast the Overland back seat. Sandblasting apparatus can function smoothly, or not. Today went well with few stoppages. I did decide that buying and sifting play sand still does OK. I also noticed that it's a good deal these days. Although the bags are marked 50 LBS, they must be stuffing at least 75 into them. Three bags blown away. Now for a good cleaning and to begin the installation of the wooden moldings and metal beading, and more dent picking before priming and sanding , readying for paintwork.

It is Sunday, February 26th. It has been really nice so we have been driving the old cars, not working on them. Last weekend the car crowd went to our first show of the season. It was hot rods, muscle modified and restored cars. Nice break from the winter cold. Here are some pics.

Welcome home! Actually, both places are fine, but I will follow you no matter where you post.

You need the rubber window strip from Restoration Stuff that Grimy noted. Here is what it looks like on my 1923 McLaughlin Buick. I also have a rubber flap at the bottom of the windshield. I could not tell if you had this or not from the pics you posted. It is available from Home Depot. It is a shower door bottom seal and it fits into a groove at the bottom of the windshield frame. .

It is Tuesday, February 7th. Cannot believe it, it is going to be 71 degrees or more today. OK, OK, this is the last new tractor report. I bought a degree gauge for the tractor so I can tell if I am approaching the OMG, tip over moment. Feels OK at 15 degrees. And Greg sent a short report this morning. He has been having "correct" fenders fabricated for his 1911 Stoddard Dayton race car. It has taken a few years just to get to this point. Nate and I spent some time jigging the Stoddard Dayton rear fender into position , our initial layout in preparation for making the irons and the inner apron.

It is February 5th. Still no old car work. Neighbors have been bringing over their modern cars and farm equipment to the garage. It has been fun working with everyone. And I am still playing with the new tractor. I bought a mechanical thumb for the backhoe. It will be a great addition to the hoe in picking up stuff. Here are a few pics. It is bolt on.

JW, thanks for the suggestion on the rubber washers. I will have to make a trip to Home Depot next week. It is Sunday, January 29th. It has been a long time since we have heard from Greg. I know that he has stopped working on both Avanti's as they are in an unheated hanger. And he has been really busy building engines for the Curtiss Jenny airplanes. But it looks like he has found some time to work on his very old cars. Here is the report that he just sent me. "Guys, I haven't had much time to concentrate on matters Overland lately, day job stuff gets in the way. I have been trying to sneak in quiet time with the '10 Overland body restoration. With some work having been trusted to the likes of Walter Higgins and Thetan Ogle, I find it very relaxing to get some things done on my own. I find it interesting that this is coachwork that is a transition from typical horse drawn carriage trade construction of wood subframing but also has newfangled automotive sheet steel paneling that is nailed to the framing. This one also has bead lines that are rolled into the steel, wooden moldings screwed in place, and half oval steel moldings screwed in place. That's what I'm working with now on the front seat. I'm not sure how they did it, so I'm using a modified method that Mr. Baldwin and I tried on a Simplex body he was building. An aluminum skin, it had applied aluminum half oval moldings attached with counter sunk screws and JB Weld. This time I epoxied and screwed the wooden moldings in place, these screws get hidden with wooden plugs . The wooden moldings then get the half oval steel moldings on top of them and there I used the JB for adhesion and to hide the countersunk screws. Bruce Van Sloun advises me that the body on his Overland was very finely finished with the use of old style (not at the time) coach putty (white lead). I'm filling the irregularities with good old fashioned Bondo. When all the sanding and filling is done, I think I will then treat the wood and fillers with a coat of Smith's Penetrating Epoxy to make sure things are stable. And Bruce, on the heavy wooden molding at the center of my front seat, I find that it didn't follow the sheet metal completely. A gap in the center about 3/16" or so on the underside. I don't know if yours shows this, but I filled the gap by epoxying wooden fillers prior to the Bondo. Photos show the moldings before filling and after."

Yes, a battery is a battery.

It is Friday, January 27th. I wish I could report that I have been doing old car stuff, but I have been focused on the new tractor. Did all the maintenance on it, made adjustments and fixed some little stuff. Today I added two bolt on hooks to the loader bucket, and a LED light bar to the props. The light bar is connected into the headlight switch. I may but it on its own circuit, but for now it should be good. Boy, the thing is sure bright. The bar can easily be rotated so if I have to use the backhoe at night, I will have more than enough. Next week I am planning to do some major gasket work on the Avanti engine. I have all the gaskets for the carb base, rocker cover, intake and valve oil stem seals. I am planning for a couple of days, probably three do do the work and then cleaning and painting.

Just a FYI. I use four plastic saw horses, one at each corner, to get frames off the floor to work on. Saves the old back and brings the work closer to you. Great work by the way.

Picked up the new Kubota B3600 tractor today. It is home and ready to go to work.

Friday, January 20th. Big day. Going to pick up the new Kubota tractor with its loader and backhoe. Excited to get it home. With winter here and all the old cars sleeping, repairs and upgrades have turned to the farm equipment. I always needed some hooks on the little tractor to attach chains for lifting and pulling. I settled on a couple of bolt on hooks. Should make light work of lifting things around the farm.

Thursday, January 12th, and 64 degrees. SPRING! For a day. Going to get snow and freezing rain on Saturday. Today was just great. I called the dealership this afternoon and bought the Kubota B3200 with loader and backhoe. Will pick it up at the end of next week. Going to borrow a flat bed trailer and tow it home. If borrowing does not work out, will pay to have it shipped home. So I spent the morning cleaning up the mower deck. It will work on the new tractor if I decide not to sell it with the old little Kubota tractor. It cleaned up pretty nice. All lubed up and ready to work. I also replace two light bulbs in the dash of the little Kubota, oil pressure and alternator indicator lights. They have been burned out for years. Figure I better replace them as I plan on selling the little Kubota tractor. I am in no hurry to see so will spend some time cleaning it up and getting it ready. And we had folks come over this afternoon to see the llamas and the old cars. Great time.

Tuesday, January 10th. Wish I could report that i am working on an old car project. Alas, no; just too cold and the cars are really laid up for the winter. So you will have to settle for now and then farm stuff. At least it is mechanical. Put the pallet forks on the little Kubota today and lifted out the mower deck from the run in shed. Boy, the pallet forks really worked great. They are really going to come in handy around the farm. Over the next day or so I am going to clean up the deck and find some nice spot in the garage for it. Going to do some work on the Kubota also. Speaking of Kubota tractors, I think I am going to go look at a used one with more capacity and attachments. Here is a pic or two. This one is about two hours away. Will be a nice little road trip.

Still Thursday, Packick/aka Joe sent me a note and said that the 1923 McLaughlin Buick made the latest issue of the Buick Bugle. By George, there it is. Here are the pics to prove it.

It is Thursday, January 5th. I wish I could report that I am working on the old cars, alas I am not, today anyway. Spent the day helping neighbor Jack pick up his new snow blower. Got it home and Jack came over to see what we had to do to hook up the PTO. It is way too long for his little Kubota tractor. It took us two tries, but we got the PTO cut and connected to the tractor. He is ready to blow snow. This little endeavor took about six hours, but we had a good time. We are suppose to get snow tonight, but less than two inches, too little to blow. Received the pallet forks for my little Kubota today. Plan on putting them on tomorrow to see how they work.

Stephen, are you sure that the plugs were fouled with oil? The engine will not start or run at all with oil on the plugs. Does the engine smoke on start-up? Color? I would run a compression test and see what the values are. Let us know what you get for readings. A compression gauge is only a few bucks and a good tool to have around the shop. But it sounds to me that the plugs are fouled with gas. I bet that the carb needs a rebuild and the fuel system serviced. You could have a load of bad/old gas that will have to be removed. I can usually tell bad gas by smell. If it smells like old paint thinner, it is bad. Keep us posted.

It is Wednesday, January 4th. A very unusual day, it was over 60 degrees; so took the opportunity to put anti-freeze in the 1923 and 1928 Buicks. A big cold front is coming in over the next day or so so even through the garage is heated, I need some cold protection just in case the power goes out for an extended period. With that done I fired up both cars to circulate the coolant, and then took the 28 out for a final drive of the season. She ran great. Really a pleasure to drive on the country lanes. Tomorrow I am heading out with a neighbor to pick up a slightly used snow blower for his tractor. I have been finding him good used equipment for it. Last month I located a nearly new chipper. I am turning into his personal shopper.

It is Tuesday, January 3rd. I hope that everyone had a great holiday season. Not too much going on in the old car world. Just had too much to do on the farm and the holidays. Speaking of the farm, I bought a pair of pallet forks. They fit on the loader bucket. They will really help me pick up debris and fencing materials. Here is a pic. Hope they will arrive in a few days. And I decided to update the trailer wiring on Brownie the Van. I had an old blade connector on her for many years. Now I do not have any trailer that has that style any more, so I put on a 7 pole connector. Just am not using the electric brake circuit. But at least will not have to jury rig the van's trailer wiring to pull the trailers in an emergency, it will be just plug and play. And of course the neighbors are still coming over to the garage to work on their cars and trucks. Bill brought over is 1991 Toyota Pickup for service work and inspection. So we changed all of its fluids, and also determined that he has a broken emergency brake cable and needs new shocks. So he will be back when he get some replacement parts. Enjoy helping out the neighbors.

It is Wednesday, December 28th. I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! Here is a brief update on happening here. It was beautiful and 63 degrees here yesterday, so woke up the Jaguar and took it for a long spin on the country lanes. I also found some time to up back in the electric clock. She is whole again. I finished up the air compressor by fitting the final air line and plumbing all the tools for the new air hose, type C fittings. Made sure they all had oil and more importantly still work. Some of these have been spinning along for over forty years. And for Christmas Alice gave me a Made in England, picnic basket set. A great 1950's piece for the Jaguar and Avanti. It looks like "12" the cat is a keeper. He comes and goes every evening. Walks in like he has always lived here.

Whoa now. You are trying to eat the elephant in one bite. I guarantee you that you will quickly become overwhelmed and that will leave the car in pieces never to be whole again. This happens about 98% of the time. You will not be the first nor the last. This is what I would do and have done. Clean the car thoroughly to assess what you have and get familiar with the car and its systems. Change out all the fluids in the transmission and rear axle. Grease all the fitting. Clean the underside of the car. See if you can turn the engine by hand after taking out the plugs and putting in some lube/oil If the engine turns, drop the engine pan and clean out the gunk in the pan and reinstall and put in fresh oil Put in new plugs, adjust the points, put in a new battery and attempt to start with remote gas tank. If it starts, then I would drop the fuel tank and have it cleaned. Then you can go onto the brakes, suspension and actually seeing if the car will drive and stop under its own power. All of this will take you a few weeks, and will give you many successes in small steps. You will not get discouraged and quit. And shiney new chrome and new paint does nothing if the car is not running and driving. These are the last things you need to do. And you must make a budget. You can easily spent over $20K just getting a driver quality car, expect to spend double that and more to get an "as new" car and that is with you doing most of the work.