unimogjohn

It is New Year's Eve, PM. Not much mechanical stuff done today, too many farm chores. Speaking of farm chores, we had four big round bales delivered for the llamas. See what happens when one gets away. With Alice's help I did get the hood and side panels back on the 1923 McLaughlin Buick. Will install the lights tomorrow. I have to do some electrical work on them also. And a final pic of the debris that came out of the fuel bowl of the little John Deere riding mower/tractor.

I got the fuel shut off solenoid in the mail today so put it on the little John Deere tractor. Quite a bit of dried gunk in the fuel bowl. Cleaned it out and put in the valve. The engine fired right up. Success.

And for those that would like to re-live the garage construction I have uploaded all the pics on my Picasa site. Here is the link. A total of some 640 pics, best to watch as a slide show, set on 2 seconds or so. https://picasaweb.google.com/108456879037339730707/OurNewGarageConstruction

It is Wednesday, December 30th. Quick update, I got the radiator installed on the 23 McLaughlin Buick. Still have to fit the hood, but the hard part is done. And I found out where the term "two post lift" if from.

Oh goody, we have a report from Greg. "Not getting much done but making good time. Day job still busy with OX-5 Curtiss engine work. Studebaker progress? Nate has been by to get more of the R3 together but things stepped up with his day job and we're still waiting on the cylinder heads to be finished. Likely I'll just go fetch them so we can remove the inner of the dual valve springs to ease the pressure on the cam lobes during breakin. I did undertake the repair of the steering wheel on the maroon Avanti. Being molded plastic, they tend to crack, shrink and separate in certain places and the small stainless trim rings rattle around. Rubber molds pulled from the repair of the '64 wheel resulted in a suitable job but for some reason this time those little stainless rings proved a real bear to reinstall. Had to make a male and female die to get them started. The wheel is now in place and waiting for the center medallion to be snapped in place. And as an added bonus, the NOS horn contact plate means that I now have a functional horn again. Had one before, but seemed it chose to sound off only when it wanted to, usually at the wrong time (like in a funeral procession or stuck on during a BLM protest). Photos included of the steering wheel and a moment from our Christmas gathering.

I was out in the pastures today waiting for the llamas to start singing. No singing, but a couple were humming. It is Sunday, December 27th PM. I did get some car stuff in today as it was almost 70 degrees, but overcast most of the day. Went over to Camaro Steve's early this morning. Corvette Wayne came also and adjusted the timing now that the engine is a bit broken in. And then we put on the hood. The Camaro is running good, and Steve says that he has put about 35 miles on it. I headed home and popped into the Avanti and went for a 10 mile ride. The transmission shifts smoothly and goes into all the gears just fine. Remember it does not use first gear when in D, only 2nd and 3rd. It shifts from 2nd to 3rd at about 15 mph. Checked the fluid when it was hot, and it is right at the full mark. I am happy. Going to attempt to replace the rear leaf spring. I may end up cutting the mounting bolts like last time, but this time I have been soaking them with Kroil over the last couple of days. We will see how that works out. Then I went to work on the Craftsman riding mower. I put in the new ignition coil. She started right up. So put almost everything back on. Ordered some fuel filters as it needs one, so do the other mowers. I guess I will now have to put some money into the mower. It needs new tires and a better battery. I will put the hood back on in a couple of days. I decided to move the John Deere mower and she would not start. Just tried to and backfired like crazy. After some troubleshooting, it turns out the fuel cut-off solenoid has quit working. The needle that retracts to permit fuel into the carb will not open when 12 volts is applied. Ordered a new one for $75. It should be here in a week or so.

It is December 26th, late AM. Headed out to the garage this morning and finished up the Avanti transmission and converter fluid change. I did check the main transmission band and it looks to be in spec. I am just going to leave it for now. So I put on the new filter, gasket and cover. Filled the transmission per the manual and then went through the gears in the garage. It is going to be over 70 degrees and sunny tomorrow so I plan to get it on the road for a test drive. It shifted just fine in the garage. On a funny note, we had a couple of small pumpkins on the front entrance gate posts as decorations. Our neighbor put them there, so we just left them. A week ago someone added a Christmas theme. We have no idea who did this. And we were out yesterday near Baltimore, Maryland; and came across this display. It was wild. I bet it was really pretty at night when everything was lit up. Next project. Put the radiator back on the 23 Mclaughin Buick.

It is Friday, December 25th. Merry Christmas and happy holidays everyone! I sincerely hope that you are all having a great day with family and friends. Don't eat too much, and enjoy all the tools and car parts that you will surely receive. There will be no Avanti work today. But I read the factory manual for the procedure for adjusting the forward and reverse transmission bands. Does not look too scary. At least I will be able to check their current positions before I decide to adjust them. Received this card from our son, Chris and daughter in law, Jodi. Thought you might all enjoy it. https://www.amazon.com/gc/view/animated-gc/ref=gc_animated_reveal_new_exp?_encoding=UTF8&code=C4X3TSNGABL79A&serial=

It is Thursday, Christmas Eve, December 24th, early PM. Now that the Camaro is gone, it is time for some love for the Avanti. Went out to dinner last night with Steve and he said that the car ran great except for a weak spring on the throttle rod inside the engine bay. He had a stronger one and that made the fix. I did ask him how much he thought he had into the rebuilds. He said that minus our labor he had $2,000 into the transmission and $3,000 into the engine. And those numbers included everything to include donuts for us. Now enough for the Camaro and back to the Avanti. I got it up on the two post this morning and changed the oil in the engine. I have a big oil leak somewhere by the front cover and fuel pump. When I get these projects done I am going to pressure was the front of the engine and suspension, and then attempt to see where it is coming from. With the engine oil changed I moved to the transmission fluid change. I am sure that it has been forty years since it last change or more. I also took the time to drain the fluid out of the converter. You that to turn the engine by hand to find the little screw that drains it through a small hole in the bottom of the bell housing. With that done I moved to the transmission pan. The filler tube nut was really on very tight, but got it off with a long four foot extension on a big adjustable wrench. That drained about 99% of the fluid out the tranny. I then removed the pan bolts and got the cover off. The cork gasket gave up with a few blows with a plastic hammer. There was some debris in the bottom the pan. Not metal, but kind of a grit. So I gave the pan a good clean outside and in, and painted it as was the original. The valve body is very clean and nothing looks out of sorts. The filter had a little debris on it, and a half inch cut on one end. I wonder how long that has been there? The old and new filter are the same shape, but reversed. On the old one the screen was on the bottom, on the new one it is on the top with the metal base on the bottom. I now have everything cleaned up and ready to go back together on Saturday. In addition to the new fluid I am going to put in a bottle of conditioner. I could do some adjustment to the main servo, but going to let that dog be for now. The transmission and engine only has 44,000 on it so I really doubt that it is wore out. It shifts good with the old fluid, so it should be more than happy with new blood pulsing around the various pumps, etc. Here are the pics I took today. Opps, forgot the weather report. It is 71 degrees, humid and overcast. It is winter!

Joe, agree with the four digit numbering scheme, but Steve's tires do not have that. So they must have been made before 2000. Still too old to be on the road. I have told Steve that he need to replace them. I have started work on an old 1996 Craftsman riding mower. It has a Kohler 15.5 HP single cylinder engine in it. I got it at auction for $400 about 12 years ago. A couple of years ago Alice was using it in the pasture cutting down weeds, and it just quit. So I made a quick attempt to fix it, but just ended up pushing it into the barn. There she sat ever since. So now I am going to attempt to bring her back to life. I checked all the wiring and safety switches, and they all seem to be OK. But she is not getting any spark. So I suspect that the coil gave up. I finally found one for $35 including shipping. So in a few days we will see if that works to breathe life into the old gal. The engine, not Alice! Here are are pictures of the Camaro's engine bay, all ready to go home. And the old Craftsman riding mower.

It is Monday, PM, December 21st. Decided that I better do some Christmas shopping so that took the better part of the morning and early afternoon. But I did spend some time with the Camaro. During the exhaust installation Steve forgot to bring over the brass nuts that are used on the exhaust where they attach to the manifolds. So I got the car back up on the lift and installed them and also checked for tranny fluid leaks and the final fit and finish. Found a little grounding strap that we did not install. Will install that back on top of the intake manifold. Otherwise, no leaks and everything looked great. I have a question for the group on the age of tires. Steve's tires are: BF Goodridge, Radial T/A, P215 70R 14 96S M&S, and are also marked E4 028587 Question. The date code is usually the last four numbers marked on the tires. So was this tire made in 1987? If so it is quite old for running at speed on the road. PS Update. After reading tire information on the WWW. Tires made from 2000 on have a four digit date code, two for the month and two for the year. Prior to 2000 they used the last two number of the serial number. So that would make these tire made in August of 1997. Agree or disagree?

I bought leather padding for my 23 McLaughlin Buick support bracket from these folks in Oregon. They have hardware also. Just download their catalog. http://www.antiqueautotophardware.com/ You can see the bracket on my 1923 in this pic.

Still Saturday, but now PM. Houston, we have lift off! She runs!!!!!!! We had the engine all buttoned up about noonish. Did a final check and filled the radiator and engine with antifreeze. Said our prayers and Wayne poured in just a little bit of fuel into the carb. Steve hit the starter and she roared to life. We ran it on high idle for about 20 minutes and then let it idle for maybe five minutes more. Camaro Steve is so happy, he was jumping up and down and giving everyone the high fives. We topped off the transmission fluid to the tranny and power steering. And have called it a day to watch the football games. Only a couple of issues. The distributor's vacuum advance unit is not working; and an exhaust leak, probably at the donut transition to the tail pipe. Here are a couple of pics and videos of the very first start-up and the engine running at high idle.

Sunday, December 20th. The boys are going to be over in a few minutes (9 AM) to hopefully finish the 1967 Camaro power plant rebuild. Ran out this morning and turned up the heat to 60 degrees, it is 28 degrees outside. Sure hope that we finish today, before the football games at 1 PM. Here are a couple of pics of the engine as a result of the work done yesterday.

It is Saturday PM on December 19th. We all converged on the garage at 9 AM and worked until 2 PM before calling it a day. Everything under the Camaro is done. Starter, transmission cooling lines, exhaust pipe to manifold connections, and bell housing cover. On top of the engine we mounted the distributor, water pump, power steering and various other little parts and brackets. We did have some fitment and adjustments to make to various linkages and components until we were satisfied they were done correctly. That activity took a bit more time than we anticipated. On Sunday we hope to have the engine running and Camaro Steve back on the road. We have the following major installations to accomplish. AC installation, alternator, radiator and shroud, battery. Then it is just the matter of making the final electrical connections, filling the engine and radiator with coolant, putting in the initial fill of auto transmission fluid, and making the static adjustment of the distributor. Then we plan on turning the key and hopefully the engine will roar to life.

Chris, the headers are Chevrolet licensed and approved reproductions. Excellent quality, fit and finish.

It's Friday, PM on December 18th. What a good day. Wayne and I started work on the Camaro about 10:30 AM and Steve joined us about 1 PM. We worked until about 4:30, before we cleaned up and called it for the day. Tomorrow we will meet at about 9 AM and hope to get the beast running. We got the engine and tranny together, and put on the exhaust manifolds, plugs, fuel pump, etc. Then Wayne ran into a problem, the dip stick tube broke off at the engine block. We worked about two hours getting the broken end out. Had to take off the oil pan to make sure that no debris got into the oil. Then we hoisted the engine and tranny into the engine bay, and after some fiddling, shoving, swearing, she dropped right onto the engine mounts. She was home. We spent a hour or so putting back on the driveline, engine mounting bolts and such. Tomorrow we have the exhaust to hook up, mount the power steering and brake assemblies, alt and starter, radiator and the carb and distributor. I hope we have enough time to do it all as we have Christmas parties to go to in the early evening. On well, there is Sunday. It was 37 degrees almost all day, but we were nice and comfy in the garage with the temperature set a 64.

It is Thursday, December 17th, PM. I spent the morning assembling the 1923 McLaughlin Buick's radiator back in it shell and reinstalling the lacing which cushions the hood against the shell. There was some rust starting to form at the bottom of the shell so put on some Eastwood rust eliminator. I have just a little bit of cleaning to do on the front of the engine before I put it back into the car and then put the hood back on. With that done and set aside, the neighbor's dropped by and we finished putting the carb back on the motorcycle. About an hour later, he road off. It started and ran just fine. He was very happy. Then Corvette Wayne stopped by with the rebuilt transmission for the Camaro. Really looks nice. The re-builder said that it was a mess inside with wrong springs, bent parts, etc. He is going to come over tomorrow morning and we are going to start putting it all back together. Steve has to work half a day so he will not make it over until the early afternoon. Wayne thinks we will get it all done tomorrow. I think that may be a bit optimistic, Saturday for sure.

Wednesday, December 16th. Got a call yesterday to say that the 1923's radiator was ready for pick-up. So headed over the mountain this morning and retrieved it. Looks good. I will start the reassembly process tomorrow. Have to do a little painting and clean-up before I put it in the car. The cost was $85. A neighbor came by this afternoon with his Yamaha WR450F off-road motorcycle. It would only run on full choke. So we pulled the carb to see what was up. Lots of debris and varnish inside, so I cleaned everything and put on a new gasket. Tomorrow we will put in back inside the bike to see if the cleaning of the jets and float bowl will make her run. Camaro Steve's transmission is done and Corvette Wayne is picking it up tomorrow. We are hoping to begin installation on Friday and hope to have it all done on Saturday. Needless to say, Steve is really excited.

Bill, just another shot. Steve's Camaro was acting similar to your Avanti. Turned out to be a burned exhaust valve. The cylinder had no or little compression. So, have you done a compression test? My update: I did take the 1923 McLaughlin Buick radiator to the shop. They said it would be 3 to 5 days. Could not believe the shop transformation. Before it was full of old radiators and related parts. Now it is actually clean and organized. Now can they just duplicate the work done by the former owner, Dickie. BTW, he was at the shop "supervising". We had a good talk, but he is done with full time working. But cannot stay away from the shop as it has been his workplace all of his life.

Roger, at what point will you start the painting process? Do you use an airbrush or very narrow paint brushes? Finally, what will you use for paint?

David, going to take it Dickies and try to assess if they can do the job or not. It is not a complex repair. Dickie rebuild the radiator a few years ago, and it is hold up quite well. Maybe he will come out of retirement for me. It will be a nice ride if nothing else.

It is Friday, PM on December 11th. Decided to pull the radiator of the 1923 McLaughlin Buick. A couple of years ago I broke the neck off the radiator by cross threading the motometer. I could still run the engine, but had to put in less water than optimum, and if I overfilled it the water would spray on the engine, cowling, etc. It only took me about an hour and a half to get the radiator out of the car and released from the shroud. It is all ready to head to the shop next week. I wanted to get it done as the big Allentown, PA National Buick show is in early July, and I want to be able to drive the car further than just a couple of miles. Here are a few pics of the disassembly process.

Roger, thanks for the information on rotating the distributor. I need to rotate mine just one spark plug over. Now I think that I can do it. Still, Wednesday, PM. Spent a couple of hours pushing more insulation into the ridge line of the roof. Got about 56 feet of it done, have four feet to go. I cannot finish that until I move out the cars on the four post lift. They are in the way. I have all the parts sorted now by vehicle and in storage containers. Most containers have found a place to live on the shelving. I have the huge Taurus SHO containers to go, I have to find a wall space for them. I also put up more wall brackets for tools and stuff. I can honestly say that I am about done with organizing. I still have some automobilia and books that I have to move over from the house. I will post some pics when I get done. And Greg just send me a OMG moment from Andrew King, the expert vintage airplane pilot. He knows his suff. " Greg's comment: When parts fall off there's a bit more at stake in the aircraft biz...... From: Andrew King <baldeagle527@gmail.com> Sent: Saturday, December 5, 2015 6:56 AM Greg, I'm on another trip right now, and another broken airplane. Didn't even get five miles and suddenly the whole airplane started shaking violently, thought I'd thrown a rod or something. Turned out the prop hub lock nut, the big spanner nut, had come off and gone through the prop. Nothing but houses and trees below, struggled back to the airport at Southbridge, Massachusetts. We drove five hours round trip to Rhinebeck last night and borrowed a prop, planning to head for Florida tomorrow. I'll let you know when I get back.Andrew

It is Wednesday, December 8th, and we have a Greg report. "Day after Pearl Harbor Day already? Things have been moving along here. Nate has been coming by to help. The other night he spent some time cleaning miscellaneous Overland parts. Bead blasting, wire wheeling and some primer. Then he cleaned the aluminum hood former. Looks like it needs some welding repair before it gets buffed. Included in the pile were the two foot rest anchors. One was bent. Being of cast brass, we annealed and straightened. While he was doing that I got in some Matheson time. Lots of cast aluminum and bronze parts that need cleaning and burnishing. And with this current trend of moderate temperatures, I've been able to get in a few minutes with the maroon '63. Avanti steering wheels are known to be prone to cracking and shrinking of the plastic. This one also had some scratching and scraping going on when it was turned. Pulled it off to find the brass horn disc was badly scored and torn. Now is a good time to make repairs to both the cosmetics and function. Requiring some fresh epoxy for that steering wheel job, I turned my attention to finishing the clutch release for the Overland car. New throwout bearing rollers and axles, got them installed and peened in place."