unimogjohn

Still Wednesday. Used the Kubota tractor for a couple of hours to move and spread the remaining gravel. Now that is all done, and I have a cleared driveway in front of all the bays. Yippi, now I can get the Avanti out, she was blocked in by all the stone. I also took a few minutes to open little boxes inside the shipping box for the Eastwood blaster. Lots of parts. The instructions say to expect a two hour job. So maybe it will only take me four hours. Going to wait for a rainy day to do the construction.

Bernie, are you going to put full fenders and running boards on the car; or what they call bicycle fenders just over the wheels?

Still Wednesday, September 16th. The contractor crew finished up the drainage around the back of the garage. And we picked up all the construction debris and will haul it to the dump when the Suburban returns. Putting the Jaguar back on the lift today. Final clean up and detailing before the Concours on Sunday.

It is Wednesday morning, and we have a trip report from Greg. "Our long distance outing this summer was the Ford Museum's Old Car Festival. Been planning on this for months. Good excuse to take out the REO , give it some attention and get it running. Tires wearing thin so Coco would make up some canvas covers to protect what's left since the tires are unobtainable (yes I have tried Coker Tire and yes I have advertised in England and Europe). Always a good running car, and since the Festival encourages the unrestored, it would fit right in. After moving it to Hyde Manor I began to clean it up. Since the top when up has some hanging fabric and when folded it looks like a bag of rags, I engaged Coco to stitch a period correct to boot. As usual we chased details to the last minute. I had one tire go flat and this proved to be the result of my use of too large a tube. New tubes of a smaller size were ordered. Coker Tire. They replied to me....back order. Mid August. I cooled my jets and did other things. Demounted an Overland tire and pulled its tube to use. Just some cleaning of things and adding wet stuff was all that was required to get it running again. Mid August's call to Coker and the tubes were "a month out". Oh crap. Try Universal. They had them on hand and were next day arrival. Four new tubes and in the trailer for delivery to David's . A blowout before it arrived at his place. Fixed it (not a day at the beach). Blew that tube when leaving his place. Replaced that one. I don't know how many I changed (yes I looked for debris and/or wire, etc). In fact the night before we left I replaced it again and upon arrival at our first night's Dayton destination, Barbara, Nathan , Paulela Burchill and I were standing by the trailer when that one exploded inside. Same wheel. This problem caused us to detour from our original plan to survey the route of the 1909 Cobe Trophy races , a road course in NW Indiana. Instead we dropped off some work for a machine shop in Ohio and on to Dearborn to deal with tire problems. This event is not just an old car show where you stand around and dust off your ride. Limited to pre 1933 , it attracts all manner of transportation. And you are encouraged to keep them in motion. Driving the streets throughout Greenfield Village, there are traffic jams with Model T's, Stanley Steamers, high wheel bicycles, huge trucks and even breakdowns and accidents are managed by Keystone Kops and whisked away by the museum's Model T tow truck. A wonderful time of riding around, hopping rides, giving and receiving driving lessons, etc. There was also the opportunity to visit the museum , Dave Liepelt's personal tour of the railroad round house, and some good eating after hours. We had carefully driven the REO to its designated parking area without incident. Photos of: Barb being driven by Paul Rose in his creampuff '23 Buick . Nathan being driven by Derek Moore in a Mercer. Nate adjusting his wrist band, guess why. A International gas truck that made the driver look like a child. To be continued....."=

Al, yes, the Jaguar will be at Hershey. Come looks us up on Saturday. Give us a tour report when you get a chance. I am sure you took pics.

It is Tuesday, September 15th, PM. Just received a note from Greg that they made it home from Dearborn, MI late last night. This is what we all missed. Found on the net:

Bernie, In a word "Wow!" She sure looks great. And fine proportions also. Is really coming along now for sure. Great job!

What!!!!!!! My new bench is full ......... I guess I just have too much junk. At least the work table is free so decided to at least unpack the Eastwood blast cabinet. Here are all the piece parts. The blue powder coating on the panels is very nice. Going to read the instruction manual tonight.

It is Sunday, September 13th, early PM. Have been looking around for some work benches for the new garage. Have not found anything so I decided to build one from the scrap I have around the farm. It is 10 feet long by about 28 inches wide. Strong enough to hold some auto working tools. And I have lots of room for under storage. May not be pretty, but the price was awesome. Nothing. Not going to put a finished top on it right now. I like the look of the planks. Used the end irons from the 2 post lift shipping container Rotting planks left by contractor Lots of left over screws Worked on detailing the Jaguar for the Concours next Sunday. She is all ready to go. I also ordered a small blast cabinet from Eastwood. I received it yesterday, but it will take me a few days to put it together. I know that my air compressor will not power it 100%, but hopefully Wayne will buy his new compressor and I will get his old one. I will have to bug him.

It is September 10th, early on Thursday morning. Greg must be on the road this morning on his next adventure. Of course it is raining its brains out. But we need it, first rain in almost two weeks. Received this from Greg last night. "John the truck is fine. Picked up the REO. My son, Nathan, came by last night, and he was witness to the fine art of high pressure lock ring tire maintenance. We dismounted that troublesome tire, homemade a flap from an expended inner tube and today I'm hard wiring the tire covers. Lots to do yet as any "vacation" plays out."

Bernie, what are the length and width of the finished car? Have an idea yet? Luggage goes behind the seats?

Just a quick update on Greg's adventure. I picked up a new NAPA battery this morning, and we installed it in the Suburban. She fired right up. Greg is going to head to David Coco's place in Winchester, VA and pick up the REO and bring it back to the airfield hangar. Greg says that he still has a few hours of work to do before they head off early Thursday morning. I did not ask him, but I bet they are driving straight thru to Dearborn, MI, a distance of about 500 miles. I think that with just a couple of stops they are looking at a 12 hour drive time.

It is Tuesday, September 8th, early. Greg is up late and so our times seem to meet with his report for the weekend. He has a tire and battery report for us. Looks like I will head into town and pick up a new battery for the Suburban. Cannot let him down. David Coco and I both know that. David, the boot for the Reo looks great! Here is Greg's report: " Preparing for the Ford Museum Old Car Festival this coming weekend. My one getaway this year so it's a great time for things to go wrong. My tire covers are done and installed except for securing the side wires. Devised a wire tightening tool from a gate hinge and a piece of allthread which required some simple lathework. That's when I found out our shop phase converter was kaput so a drive to Rob's was in order to do a three minute job. Oh well, great day for a ride in the 'biscuit. So now the tool is ready to try. That required retrieving the REO from David's Auto Trim and Tire Shop. He called this morning to say it was ready for pickup. I had planned ahead. The tow rig graciously lent by John Feser was borrowed on Saturday instead of my usual wait until the last minute. Drove it home and parked it. So hurrying to get the REO back for more work, grabbed the keys to the Suburban only to find it was dead in the driveway. Knowing that anything manufactured post 1964 is way beyond me, I was smart enough to put my hands in my pocket and back away from the vehicle. Grabbed the pickup and drove the hour to Coco's. The top boot turned out just like the old photos. After admiring his work, I turned to the tireless wheel. With reasonable struggle I was able to load the tube and mount the tire on the wheel. Inflated, I sat back on the floor and leaned against his Pierce to rest and admire, David nearby on his stool. This lasted less than a couple minutes when the tube/tire erupted in a loud bang. Either the soap used to mount the tire let it slip out of the side ring, or the tube failed and blew the tire out of the way. Don't know which and it doesn't matter now. Installed another tube and so far he says it is still holding. So now I still need to revive the Suburban and/or get the old car back from David's somehow. Thursday morning is coming faster and faster. Ps. Not until I threw the latest blown tube alongside the previous did we see possibly some similarity in failures. I'm thinking that I'll dismount that one for further study when I get the thing back here. Or the rupture could be on the opposite side of the stem......." =

Roger, tried both sets of keys. No change. Guess I am going to have to take it to the dealer. I have no where else to go. Since Greg has the Suburban I am down a truck. So started up old Brownie the van and put her to work. Cleaned the inside and will wash it tomorrow when it cools down. She will do just fine for the next couple of weeks. The work crew was here early this morning attempting to beat the heat. The great garage wall is done. Looks really good and should do the job of holding the hill just fine. It is 28 inches high, and I could go higher if need be. Just think that I will just leave it alone for the fall and winter and see how it does. If no movement may go higher. They are coming back on Thursday or Friday to finish up spreading the gravel for the driveway and around the building to create that finished look. Alice has the house garage all cleaned out of my car stuff. Now it looks like a garden center. Not a bad look and much more organized that with all those car parts.

Joe, for now I am just going to go up about 18 inches and see how that looks, and how well the wall is holding up. I will probably go higher to reduce the slope and be able to mow it as the grass fills in. If I want to make it level with the garage I will need to go up about four feet. I think I would then need some lateral support. I suppose I could attach rebar to the garage end posts (there are four of them) and then to a few of the pilings for lateral support should I go that high. Maybe something like this. http://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-1-1-2-in-x-14-Gauge-x-72-in-Zinc-Plated-Slotted-Angle-800517/204225758 The Trailblazer saga. Well I cleaned the mounting point and connections for the ABS/brake ground. Everything is nice a shiny and down to bare metal. Turned the key to the start position, and nothing. The warning lights for the ABS and brake are still on. I am going to locate all the grounds and clean them. This has got to be something simple.

It is Sunday, September 6th, AM. Looks to be a beautiful day today, mid 80 and very low humidity. All great day to spend outside. Yesterday the contractor crew came over and put in the 12 round fence posts. Buried them about three feet deep. They put in some concrete to stabilize them and tamped them into their respective holes. They are so solid you can hit them with a hammer and it sounds like you are hitting a bell. I headed off to Home Depot and picked up 12 pressure treated 2x6x10s for the wall. They are coming back on Monday to install a couple of rows and do some work cleaning out around the building and leveling the pad with rocks. If we want to go higher with the wall I can get more boards. I will probably do that. While at Home Depot I was also able to pick up the metric bolt for the Trailblazer ground. I will clean up the frame and ground wire today and see if that has any effect on the no crank situation. And Greg came by yesterday and picked up the Suburban with the white enclosed trailer. They are leaving for the Ford Museum on Thursday for the weekend show. He has lots to do to get ready including picking up the 1910 Reo at David Coco's place. Dave is making a top cover for it. Here is Greg's sort note: "Coco has the REO and is progressing nicely with the top boot. That will neaten up the car a lot. Wednesday evening I replaced all inner tubes with Universal metal stem type, aired them on Thursday morning before Coco came down to haul the car to his shop. Notice in the photo that there is a tire missing. It was flat by the time he got home.....tube blew out. Lasted less than an hour. Not pinched, not punctured, just blew out. Got a shipment of Coker's tubes in the mail today. Tough choice which to hope might hold air." Greg sent me a pic of the cover David is making, and am including pics of "garagehenge".

It is Friday, PM on September 4th. Hot again today and waiting for storms. You can only take about 15 minutes and the sweat is just pouring off of you. Too bad I do not have the Trailblazer in the garage with AC. The Trailblazer computer fix: In a word, "nope". I put the computer on the truck this morning and got it to talk to the security system after a few reboots. Hopeful, I turned the key and nothing. Back to the drawing board. I put on the scan tool and the car sees the computer and everything looks good. But the ABS and brake lights are still on. So I guess I had better trouble shoot the ABS system. According to the web, there is a little computer that control the ABS and it sits on top of the unit. Found it under the car on the frame. I was surprised that the mounting is so rusty. Visually, everything looks OK, wires are connected, etc. Did some more research and discovered a GM service bulletin. It said that techs were replacing the ABS computer when that was not the problem. More common was a ground fault, and the bulletin said to inspect and repair that first. Well, found the ground and sure enough it is rusty. Managed to get it off without damage to the hole. And yes it had corrosion all around it. And of course it is an odd size so will have to go in to town tomorrow and see if I can find one. It will take me only about 30 minutes to clean everything up and make a good ground connection. We will see if that helps. A new little ABS module is about $300. Don't want to go that route yet. And guess what? The front drive line is falling apart from rust. Great living in the NE, the rust belt. The rear drive line looks great as it is aluminum and not steel. So the Trailblazer still sits on the open trailer in the front yard. If this ground issue does not fix the problem I have run out of ideas.

Bernie, you have been a busy boy. The body looks great! Can't wait to see it test mounted on the frame. I can almost see you running on the byways. I know you have lots more to do, but you have made great progress. Question: Is the firewall original or did you have to fabricate one?

It is Thursday, September 3rd. Just a couple of small updates. Trailblazer: The newly refurbished computer with a new flashed memory arrived today. It will go back in tomorrow morning. They did send back the old one with a tag marked "BAD". I hope this gets the Trailblazer back on the road. Will only take about 30 minutes to put everything back together and hook up the battery. The garage: The construction crew was suppose to be here this morning to finish putting in the retaining wall posts, 12 of them. Of course they were a no show and no calls either. Sure glad that the wall is not critical right now. They did deliver the stone this morning. One size with dust for the driveway and a clean one to finish off the base of the building. A total of 20 tons. This will be the last project for the new garage for this season other than finding and mounting cabinets inside. Here are a few pics. The Kubota with the little post hole digger, the holes, and of course the rock. Another hot one, about 97 degrees so nothing is getting done outside.

Chris, the 1923 McLaughlin Buick is now parked between the second and third bay doors. So the only way to get it into place was to move it sideways. The 1928 Buick has not been started in a few years. It has a cracked water jacket in the block that I have to repair or replace. I did not have enough room in the house garage to do it, now I do. It is on the list for this winter.

It is Monday, PM, August 31st; and another really hot one. Almost 90 degrees and the humidity is way up there also. Spent the morning moving the 1923 McLaughlin Buick to its resting place for the next couple of months. Used the little roller shoes to help move it. I would declare them almost worthless. If you have all the little wheels going in one direction you can move it but no way if you have to have get them to move on their own. I end up using floor jacks and the tractor to shove it into place. What a pain. But happiness happened. My propane dealer stopped by in his big white truck and filled up the two propane tanks. I am at about 77% for both of them, 150 gallons. So I am set for winter. Anyway, now I have a spot for the 1928 Buick. So I put a little strap on her rear bumper and pulled her out of the house garage to the point where I could turn her around. Decided I better wait for Alice to come home and help pull her into the new garage. While waiting I did give her a bath. Looks much better now. We used the little John Deere garden tractor for pulling, it quickly dug into the loose gravel in front of the garage. After several attempts and much cussing I got the Kubota and pushed on the rear spare tire assembly to get her in. That finally done, we have given up for the day. This is the last big piece of junk from the house garage. Now I just need a couple of days to make it pretty again and move over the last bits. Getting close to being done.

Roger, you are correct. They have restored five and have four more to be restored. They are all limos and used to transport guests from the airport to the hotel. I think they said that each restoration is $400K. They have a lot of add-on to include additional air conditioners. The engines are also highly upgraded. It would not surprise me if parts of the cars are armored. And Greg has a weekend report for us too. "Busy weekend gone by already. Saturday saw Barbara, Nathan and I at my old alma mater White Post Restorations where they were celebrating seventy-five years of operation. I had joined them when Billy was dipping his toes in the auto restoration field. I have been very fortunate to have found employment in career fields that fueled my restoration appetite. Fifteen years with WPR and hard to believe I'm working on twenty-five years since I was offered the opportunity to transition from the restoration of brass cars to brass airplanes. WPR had a very nice display of automobiles previously restored there, including the Marriott 540K Merc cabriolet which I believe was finished in '83. These and over a hundred cars that turned out to help celebrate. A catered lunch for past employees and customers and lots of familiar faces made for a very nice time. One special guest was my old friend and mentor Dave Plank. Dave turned my head to old cars early on with a ride in the backseat of his '23 Model T. I was hooked. Afterward we stopped by Paul Rose's restoration shop. Nice visit. He was caught in the act of detailing his '23 Buick which will remain in unbelievable un-restored condition. Then it was time to change gears for another celebration for Birthday girl Barbara. I had schemed to take her dancing at the Glen Echo Amusement Park. Although she guessed the surprise destination, she didn't foresee time spent riding their 1921 Merry go round. Saturday's hard charging and late night did take its toll on us." =

I was at our local "Cars and Coffee" event this morning when my friend Wayne pulled up in his 1973 Corvette Coupe (with T Tops). I was stunned, no shocked to see a for sale sign on it. Seems Wayne is starting a pickup project and needs room in his garage. If you are looking for a great corvette for local shows and cruise-ins, this would be a great car. The car has been restored, while not back to original specs, it is truly a geat looking car and turns heads running down the road. It is so clean that you could eat off of any piece of it, including the undercarriage. After I picked myself up from the shock, I told Wayne that I would put it on the forum. The car is located near the hamlet of Orlean, VA, which is about 60 miles due West of Washington D.C. Wayne wants $18,500 OBO for the car. It has 66,000 original miles with 3,000 since restoration. His email is: partndn at BlazeBroadband dot com telephone is 703 909 0813 I am going to include the pics I took of the car at the event this morning. I am sure that Wayne has many more pics if you are interested in the car. OK, here are the specifics of the car. ENGINE: 350, with 4 bolt main block, .030 over, balanced, aligned bored, blue printed, 10-1 compression. Polished and chamfered crank, re-conditioned rods. 64cc, 461 iron heads, matched ports. Comp cams 270 hydraulic. New rod, main, headbolts. Blueprinted HEI tach drive Distributor. Low profile polished aluminum intake with 600 CFM Edlebrock carb. All machine work by Tysons Automotive Machine, Vienna VA. It has ceramic coated Hedman Hedders, chambered off road exhaust system, and a new Dewitt aluminum direct fit radiator. TRANSMISSION: Turbo 400 by Rogers Automotive, 2400 Stahl converter. DIFFERENTIAL; Rebuilt, all new components, 3:73 posi. REAR SUSPENSION: New leaf springs, new half shafts, trailing arms, bearings, cross member, etc. FRONT SUSPENSION: Restored original with new springs and heavy duty gas shocks. BRAKES: New calipers and slotted rotors with chrome plated pistons, stainless lines. INTERIOR: Two tone Buckskin and Fawn, C5 seats, new carpets, 200 watt stereo and Vintage Air AC. WHEELS: American Torque Thrust II, 16x8 polished with new low profile tires. WIRING: All wiring has been replaced with new harnesses. MISC: All vacuum hoses have been replaced. This is a car you could fly-in and drive home. It is a really nice ride. Disclaimer: I have no interest in this car, except to say that I wish I had room in my garage for it. It is that nice.

Another Sunday report. This morning we dusted of the Jaguar and headed to our local "Cars and Coffee" event. Quite a few nice cars to include a 1937 Pierce Arrow that is all original. Here are the pics I took.

And we also took a tour of the White Post restoration shop area. Lots of stuff to see, and the place, although cluttered, was very clean. We were told that there are 15 full time employees. Greg told me that when he worked there in the 80s there were almost 40. Clearly the recession hurt them a bit, but now they are going full speed again. They are looking for talented folks in the metal and fabrication area as well as experienced trimmers.