unimogjohn

Still Monday. Last night I backed up the 28 Buick into the garage. I figured that in the morning I would just put it into second and drive out to the driveway since I could not use reverse to back out. Well, I went to pull out and, low and behold, the gear shift slid easily into first gear. What! The Buick had healed itself over night. I had first and reverse when it was cold. It must have been the long drive yesterday that freed up the shifter. So I decided not to change transmission oil, and we will see what happens tomorrow when I attempt to back out of the garage. What a great way to start the day. Then the Buick and I went on a nice five mile drive around the "hood". And I got some seat time behind the little John Deere tractor/mower. Got all the pastures mowed and cleaned up, about four acres. A fine day for sure. And it was 82 degrees to boot, 15 degrees above average for this time of year. Had to turn on the fans for the llamas, they were hot! If I get a couple of hours I am going to experiment with McGuires Showtime spray and/or Detail spray on the 28' s main body. She is still sporting about 80% of its original paint, Harbor Blue and Black trim around the windows. Every time I wax it, lots of blue come off, I am afraid of going thru the paint. And the shine does not last long before it starts to oxidize. So I think I will take a softer touch and see if I can get a little shine out of the paint with the sprays. Oh no, another stray cat showed up a few days ago and has not left. So it looks like we now have twelve cats.

Monday, October 17th. Been using Brownie the van to run lots of errands. More folks are seeing it and just love the period look of the interior. Too much fun. Going to drive the 1928 Buick and then going to change out the 600 weight oil from the transmission and replace it with 90 weight. I will see if that frees it up. If not I plan to remove the top cover of the transmission (where the shift mechanism lives) and investage the issue. I received this little package from the AACA on Saturday. It is the little plaque and name pate for the preservation award for the 1923 McLaughlin Buick. I sent in my $15 for the board that it mounts on. They even have the little plate engraved. What a class organization.

Thanks for all the hints. I think I will take off the shifter cover and peer inside to see what is up.

Hi everyone, I have a transmission shifting issue with my 1928 standard, model 29, Town Brougham. When cold I cannot get the shifter to move from neutral to first or reverse. It feels like the spring detent is frozen. I can get it into second and third with no problem. When the gear oil heats up, about five or so miles, it will let me shift normally into first and reverse. Is there something I should look at to correct the problem? I do have new 600 wt transmission oil in the transmission. Should I add some Seafoam detergent to free up the detent/spring?

It is Sunday, AM, October 16th. Beautiful day here on the east coast, going to be in the 80s for the next few days. Perfect car weather. I took the 1928 Buick for a good 30 miles run yesterday afternoon. Ran great. Went to Camaro Steve's house, but he was called out to go to work. But Peggy was home and took a couple of pics to show him what he missed. The 28 does have one problem. I cannot get it to shift past a detent in the shift pattern to get it into first/reverse until the tranny fluid is hot. Second and third gear shift just fine. It is like something is stuck, there is a spring detent in neutral so maybe that spring is sticking?

It is Saturday, October 15th. Wipe on, wipe off, polish. That is what I did all day yesterday. Wow, Brownie the van is huge when you go to polish him. But I got it done for the most part. I still have a few areas to do, but the main body is all spit and polished. Looks pretty good for a 37 year old van. It has a clear coat on it (original) so I have to put some clear on the areas where Daniel put in the patch panels, and I still have some rust removal to do on both of the doors. The original clear coat for the most part is good, but there are areas where it is flaking/wearing off. I will have to address those at some point. But she looks pretty good, a good twenty footer for sure.

It is Thursday, early PM, October 13th. Took Brownie the van on a long run this morning, over 50 miles. Ran great. And AnniesSS on the forums took lots of pictures of the cars coming onto the show field, including our McLaughlin Buick. Here is a link to all her pictures. https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipPprPu-wtJMDRs5fBq49ujvXxp7_D3SmBPAILb2fybm1NgBn99942BbcR3oZVEgsw?key=MmEzamNqQVEwQjZZaWpVWU9kdUY5aXVCenhpY0J3 And Packick sent me a pic of the car being judged. I am pulling up the hood for the engine inspection.

Bill, the link works fine. Pretty intensive work done and looks to be first class. What mechanical work have you had to do? Is the car running and driving also. Looks great from the pics so far. Great job in keeping her alive. You will now have to go to Hershey next year. Keep posting on your progress.

Still Wednesday. OK enough. Brownie the van is done for now. I installed the wiper knob. After and before pics. I feel so much better now.

Ben, re the plugs. Maybe twenty years. And found a video of us arriving at the Hershey show field. We are the first car in the video. That is Joe holding up the sign so they know where to direct us.

Wednesday, early PM, October 12th. Packick (Joe) and Kathy have left the building. They are flying home to their farm and car barn in Ferndale, WA. Thanks for all the help and assistance Joe, and I am sure that Brownie the van is also very happy with your work. Speaking of Brownie, Joe and I changed the last four spark plugs We got them out pretty easy from the underside of the truck. Sure nice to be able to use the lift for that. Also put in a bottle of gas treatment. Now I am just going to drive Brownie for the next couple of weeks to burn up all that old gas in the tank.

The AACA just posted the Hershey awards. Our 1923 McLaughlin Buick was awarded its First Preservation Award. Class 17B First Junior 1920 Cleveland 40.................................................................................................... Gary Smith, Wilmington, OH 1923 Studebaker Light Six ............................................................................................ Scott Mrdeza, Lennon, MI First Preservation 1923 Buick 45..................................................................................................................John Feser, Marshall, VA Repeat Preservation 1923 American D66...............................................................................................Susan Manherz, Thurmont, MD

Then Joe and I turned our attention to Brownie the van. So we pulled the engine cover and to change the spark plugs. What a job, 4 plugs changed in 3 hours. I forgot how terrible the access is. I am going to put the truck on the lift tomorrow and attempt to get the other plugs from below. The plugs we took out were done so glad we got them replaced. I also replaced the air filter, it was not too bad except for the mouse junk. More tomorrow. And here is a pic of the 23 and 28 together in the garage.

It is PM on Tuesday, October 11th. Joe and I headed out this morning in the 1928 Buick. The car ran great, and we had fun bouncing down the country roads. No water in the oil either, so the repair was successful.

Monday morning, October 10th, and we have a great news report from Greg. "Subject: Done , gone and went... Newest news on an old project, the 1908 Matheson engine restoration has been finished and has left the building to be reunited with the rest of the car now in the capable hands of Dave Staadt. An incredible amount of time spent, it will be hard for me to realize that that party is over, and I will be able to return to my own projects without guilt. I'd also like to thank the owner Dave Noran for the opportunity to stretch my limits and for his patience . GREG."

Sunday, October 9th and we have the final car show of the year for us. The all British show in The Plains, VA., the Hunt Country Classic. Beautiful day, but with high winds. Cooler, but with no rain. Only about half the usual number of cars showed up. No clue as to why as it was a perfect Fall day. Here are the cars we saw. -

Dale, there was one at Hershey yesterday. A nice little rig.

Sunday morning early, October 9th. We did have a good time at Hershey, but we got wet most of the day. I am sure the car is still damp in the trailer. We have to get it into the garage this morning to let it dry off, especially the top. I took almost 150 pictures. I think you can see them here. https://goo.gl/photos/kPCp9L6nP2HFPreA6 There were hundreds of nice cars and lots of people attended in spite of the rain. The crowd really started to thin at about 3 PM, but still lined the lanes watching the cars drive out. It was one huge car parade. Here is just a small sample of the cars.

John, is this the one? If so it is a Marmon. It is 8:30 PM on Saturday. Just got home from Hershey. Will have lots of pics tomorrow. Left at 4 AM. Rained or sprinkled most of the day, but that did not dampen our spirits. Lots of great cars and super folks. OMG, I almost forgot. We have an all British car show tomorrow, the Hunt Country Classic. We have to be there about 9:30 AM. Sure glad the Jaguar is ready to go.

Still Friday. Packick/Joe complained that I did not put up the picture of me using the cut off wheel on the shock mounts. So here it is. We are leaving at 3 AM tomorrow for Hershey. Rain is predicted. Expect to be on the show field about 8 to 8:30 AM. We are going to be in class 17. Drop by and say hi.

Friday, early afternoon. Joe and I headed out to the garage this morning. We were determined to get the front shock on Brownie the van and to put the new seal in the sunroof. I tackled the shock and Joe did the seal work. I used the new bracket that came yesterday. It fit great on the little shelf of the A arm. I did cut off the old bracket and smoothed the perch. We decided to just bolt on the bracket. Worked great and the shock is doing its job. Joe had to cut down the seal, but it went in fine and is back on the truck. Here are pics of this mornings work to include a couple of Brownie out in the pasture. He looks pretty good for an old van.

Still Thursday, but PM. Packick/Joe and I went to the local junkyard this morning. I am looking for new bucket seats for Brownie the van. Joe was looking for cup inserts for his 1993 Ford P/U. All the seats I looked at were junk, but Joe scored on the cup inserts, $5 for two. We then went to work on Brownie. Changed the rear end oil, and cleaned the purch for the shock absorber mount. The new mount is suppose to be here today. At Hershey I picked up four little radio knobs. I hope to able to use one on my wiper control for Brownie. The old one just fell apart many years ago, and I resorted to using a yellow wire nut. Oh the indignity. These closely match the style of the old one. Hope that one of them works.

And it was a beautiful day at Hershey. I think that it hit 72 degrees, just perfect for walking. We left at 6:30 AM and got home at 8 PM. It was a long day.

It is Thursday, September 6th. Packick aka Joe and I dropped off the 1923 McLaughlin Buick at Hershey. Then we headed into the show and spent four hours looking at all the parts and junk, and hit part of the car corral. We did not buy much, I spent a grand total of $3 and Joe $17. Guess we did not need that much. As usual the for sale cars were over priced in our eyes, but then again they always are the first day. I saw quite a few sold. There were some really nice cars. The Europeans seem to be the big buyers the first day. Here are some of what we saw.

They are held in place by a big C bracket that fits over them and into the grooves in the rubber. The brackets are bolted to the A arm and the frame. They are not going anywhere.