unimogjohn

Still Tuesday, went off to town with the Jaguar this morning. She was running great. I rounded a corner and heard a slight pop and the rear end got squishy. Do I have a flat? Pulled over and looked at the tires, all fine. So I headed slowly home, about a twelve mile trip at 20 mph. Every time I rounded a corner I heard that faint pop and could feel that floating feeling. It feels like the rear end or a tire is moving back and forth. Could I have broken an axle and still be able to drive it? But I made it home OK, have to head back into town so will put it up on jack stands this afternoon and see if I can see anything amiss. Oh, and I did check the knock offs, they seems to be tight.

It is Tuesday, August 19th, and here is a weekend report from Greg. "Nice weather prevailed for Saturday. Got in some quality time with the Avanti 5054. I've decided to proceed in the direction of hearing the engine run. I'd been waiting on the repair of an oil temperature gauge. I'd sent it to a firm who supposedly specializes in Auto Instruments in lower Virginia. Thinking it would be quicker being in state, I was mistaken. Numerous calls and excuses so far. Since its sending unit screws into the oil pan, I wanted it plugged in so that I could then add motor oil. I've opted for Plan B. I put a pipe plug in the gauge bung and now have it filled with Rotella T1 30 wt spiked with Lucas engine breakin additive. Cylinder head studs are torqued, valves adjusted, exhaust manifolds tightened, the oil gauge line tightened, vacuum gauge hose installed, brake booster port plugged, valve covers installed, some oil squirted in the spark plug holes and an old set of plugs put in..... the distributor was installed and ready to be timed. ... Unimog John was quick to answer a plea for the loan of a 12 v battery, with that in place I tried touching the cables. I got spark which told me something was robbing current. Made sure the ignition switch was off and tried it again. Spark. Even though I have all the lights disconnected, I pulled all the fuses from contact. Still spark. To begin searching for the current leak I started pulling the wires from the voltage regulator. That's where I found the problem. One of the terminals was getting voltage when it shouldn't . The regulator is a new solid state conversion. The original Prestolite regulators are drying up and I thought what the heck. As much as I hate these new "upgrades" like breakerless ignition and newfangled regulators, I'd give one a try. Some rave over them. This is another example of the old ways aren't so bad. Newfangled regulator will go back for observation while I resort to a NAPA replacement from a '71 Jeep. Different mounting pattern but I find the box of coils, springs and gears much more dependable. The Harvester. The last time I had it out it was running like sixteen. Felt really good until it hiccupped, backfired once and quit. Before it stopped rolling I switched ignition back to Battery timer and it picked up and resumed the pace. I found that the magneto had locked up, kicked itself aside. Inspection showed that the internal bearings that support the armature had spun in the pot metal end castings which allowed the armature to drag. "Pot" is a curious metal that not only gets brittle and cracks with age, it also grows in dimension. Considering different ways to salvage them, instead of surgery which could prove to be lethal , I chose to build up the worn areas with JB epoxy and remachine the bearing seats. The first try, the quick and dirty way of indicating on what I thought was the unworn area turned out to be a steaming pile of failure. The armature still drug due to close tolerances and a bad guess. Only after a fixture was machined to locate the casting for reboring on center was I able to reassemble the unit correctly. I should remagnetize the unit before I try it. Saturday also found us enjoying the evening dining with the Burchills which included round trips across the Potomac on the Jubal Early ferry boat. Nice evening." =

In my opinion, David is right on the price that it will bring. You can always ask for more, and hope for the best. Was it a flood damaged car?

It is Friday, August 15th. Wow, made it back to VA. It is sure good to be back at the farm. Three weeks is just too long. We have spent the last three days recovering from jet lag, and cleaning up the farm. We have been mowing and weeding until we can no longer function. Been like zombies. Today we still had farm chores to do, but closing in on being done. Just got the mowing done when the mower belt on the John Deere gave up. Took the time to pull the deck and clean it real good. It also got new blades. The new belt should be here on Monday. We also moved and stacked 105 bales of hay into the barn. This give us 210 bales for the winter. Still the middle of summer and we are prepared for winter. Go figure. I did get the chance to install the new steering column flashlight mount that I bought at the Buick meet in Portland. I had a period flashlight that I bought many years ago and it has just been sitting in a box. So polished it up and put it on the 23 McLaughlin Buick. Here are a couple of pics.

Well, we get to go home from the Pacific Northwest tomorrow. After three weeks on the road we are very excited about heading back to the farm. Greg sent me a report yesterday. Here is what he has been up to. "A busy but pleasant weekend. Even with showers forecast, we pulled it off. Some time on the hill with the black Avanti, a cruise-in, a Sunday brunch, a Tango class...... I've now gotten the black Avanti 5054 ventilators loosely installed in the doors. No need to tighten them until the doors are adjusted to the body openings and the windows in place. A milestone nevertheless. Window mechanisms are next. Saturday's weather proved to be just right for Paul Rose and family to meet us in Front Royal at an informal cruise-in. A highlight for me was to make the acquaintance of someone from the area who knew the first owner of Seabiscuit, the maroon Avanti. Didn't only go to school with him but raised hell with him in my car. I've been looking for contacts for thirty years. That first owner has since pasted. Sunday provided time for more 5054 work, and more time with Barbara, gourmet chicken sandwiches and practicing some dance steps. Milkshakes on the way home a bonus. =

It is Tuesday, August 6th. Getting ready for my 50th HS reunion this weekend. Catching up with old classmates. Tracked down one from elementary and high school. We were best friends back in the day. Then I went to college and he went to work for his dad. He was a car guy back then too. Had not seen him since we graduated, but we made contact and went to see him with another old friend today. I told him on the phone of my cars, he did not say much, but indicated that he was still into cars. Great to catch up with him. Here is his stable for your enjoyment.

It is Tuesday, August 5th. Still running around the Seattle area on vacation. But Greg has a very short Avanti progress report for us. "All that struggle for this?! I finally have the 5054 vent window frames assembled and ready to install in the doors. Knowing that there is a rubber strip that gets trapped and must go in the doors first, I got them coming. It wasn't until after they arrived that I discovered the clips that hold them in place aren't in the best of shape. I'll try to get some coming and if they aren't available, I'll form some from the appropriate spring wire. Sunday did offer some time on the hill, so I cleaned the rear wheel houses and frame rails. Shot some aerosol undercoating and the rear wheels are ready to go back on. Then I began the replacement of the rusty trunk release cable. Overall a quiet and restful weekend with some progress to show. Also a report from Paul Rose indicates that his confidence level is increasing as he takes the new Avanti on longer jaunts." Oh, while on vacation we visited Mt Rainier National park and did a selfie. Makes you laugh. Not as easy to take as you might think. Stopped by Ft. Lewis where I served almost four years. Here is a pic of the bad boys I got to play with. M60A1 main battle tank, and a M114 light tracked vehicle, the Sheridan. They are in the post museum, does that tell you anything?

Pete, and you only fill it half way with 30 weight oil. I fill mine at what I think is half way and then turn it so the filler hole is half way from vertical. I can easily catch any overfill in a small catch can. If it leaks with 30 weight oil you can go up in thickness.

August 1st, Friday morning, and we have an avaitation report from Greg. "While I've been fighting the Avanti door vent battle, old friend Andrew King has been out doing what he does best. Vintage barnstorming. I'll send along this neat report from him, but I guess I'd better preface a little bit. When Lindbergh made his trans Atlantic flight, he opened up aviation for everyone. Factories sprung up all over the country to turn out aircraft for military and the general public. Not only that but homebuilders also got into the act. I'm not the authority on Bernie Pietenpol's contribution to general aviation, but he built a few light aircraft designed around Model T and A Ford engines. Plans were also sold for their construction at home. They are still being turned out of basements and garages, usually with more modern power. Here's Andrew's tale of rescuing a true survivor with a known pedigree." Date: Wed, 30 Jul 2014 21:23:37 -0400Subject: Wisconsin From: baldeagle527@gmail.com To: gregcone@msn.com Greg, Didn't make it to Oshkosh, but did have a good long trip. I got your message but wanted to wait till I got home (just landed this afternoon) so I could send some photos of the airplane I bought with Bob. It's a Pietenpol built in about 1934 by a guy named Centilli in Grand Rapids, Michigan. At the Piet fly-in at Brodhead a couple of guys from Texas showed up with the remains on a trailer and started selling it off piecemeal. It had a set of WW1 instruments, neat old clincher wheels, honeycomb radiator, it was all dispersing. All that stuff had been together for 80 years and was going to disappear, I couldn't stand to see it happen, so I said to Bob, "We have to buy that thing." So we paid $600 for the engine and what was left of the fuselage and tails, and then went around and bought back everything that other people had bought (and they made a profit...). Ended up with about $2,600 in it, but it turns out to have a cool story, it was owned in the late '30s and '40s in Ohio by a guy named Stan Richards "The Fun Flying Farmer", who painted it in a neat red and white zig zag scheme. I'll attach some photos that happened to show up on Facebook a few weeks ago, and I realized yesterday that they were of the same airplane. Other than that I flew the Taylorcraft to Ohio and picked up the Rudolf Pietenpol and flew it to Brodhead. We had a good show at the farm, about 13 airplanes, and between the end of dinner and sundown (well maybe a little after sundown...) we gave about 90 people rides. We had 3 biplanes and a Cub (I flew) and a Champ just going around the patch and lining up for riders, really felt like 1932. After the Piet fly-in Bob and me and another guy with a Model A Pietenpol flew to Cherry Grove, Minnesota, where Bernard Pietenpol lived. He had two best friends who helped him when he got started in airplanes, Don Finke and Orrin Hoopman, and Orrin's daughter married Don's nephew. Bernis and John still live there and they showed us around the little town (pop 50), where Bernard's shop and house were, where the old airstrip was (about 1/4 mile from the one we landed on), and Orrin's grave stone in the little cemetary, it had a Pietenpol engraved on it. The Piet I was flying was in a flying club there from about '37 to '40, and Bernard, Don, and Orrin surely all flew it, so it was neat having it there. Then we swung south through Iowa and back through Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. Oh, our "new" PIet was named "Blitzkrieg", I'll attach a couple of photos, and one from the GoPro on Bob's airplane of us flying over Cherry Grove. I'm in the red and silver one, and Larry is in the yellow one. Also one from one of the hayfields we landed in during the trip. All for now- Andrew =

Terry, it is Joe Hopkins from Ferndale, WA. Joe is sometimes featured in the blog. We followed his restoration in the blog. I sometimes forget we get first time visitors. I will remember next time. It is Monday, July 28th. We made it back to the kid's home so we are settled in for the next two weeks. And we do have a report from Greg this morning. Looks like Paul Rose has a real Avanti runner on his hands. Here is Greg's report. "This weekend update is mostly concerning the Paul Rose R3736 low mileage Avanti. He had the good fortune to locate a correct 3506 carburetor only fifteen minutes from his home. Barb and I stopped by on Saturday as he arrived with it. Within a few minutes we had it installed and the car started just to see where he stood. Enclosed is his report. It sounds like the confidence factor is building and he'll be venturing cross country in it very soon. The photo collage he sent was taken by his son Preston . Nicely composed. Ps. Paul, I think I have a good set of used "blue stripe" heater hoses off of 5054 for you. To: gregcone@msn.comSubject: Avanti (forward) progress today! From: vintagemotorcar@aol.com Date: Sun, 27 Jul 2014 20:40:33 -0400 Hey Greg, Made great strides today with the 3736! I was able to clean and reassemble the carburetor after soaking parts overnight (lots of varnish on the small parts). I double checked all of the jets and needles (correct). I blew out all of the passages (enema style) and reassembled the carb, making all of the adjustments per the factory manual. I installed the carb and it started right up. Nice smooth idle and good acceleration. I was also able to repair the dash pot unit (I think it’s a stall saver and a starting assist as it works as vacuum is all but depleted, it also holds the throttle open just a smidge to allow for an easy turnkey start). I ran the car up and down the street a few times (spooking the cows) and then Ann, Mary and I went for a 40 mile cruise. We stopped to fill up with high test (as high as it gets anyway). The car runs very well considering the time it has been idle. I think some long runs would be good for it. Upon our return I had some time to start some cleaning and bonding time with the car, not perfect but a great driver for my needs. The interior seems to have some “sticky stuff” on it. I’m using a mild cleaner cut with water and it is easily removed. I did note a small heater core leak that I will have to address, not a big deal. I temporary looped the heater hose at the water pump so it could be driven during the heater core repair (don't worry, not the original hose). Next I work with the original mufflers and head liner now that I can drive the car back and forth from the shop for the lift work. Thanks for all of your support! Best, Paul"

If you want to see more pics of the cars, I have them posted in my blog over in the restorations section of the forum. http://forums.aaca.org/f190/avanti-r2-1963-refresh-269244-105.html

Here are the final pics of the show, and the awards dinner. Joe's 55 Century received a Bronze Award. He was very happy. Well deserved. 285 cars attended the show with 850 Buick nuts attending. A very good show.

The final group of pics. The last few pics are Joe's 55 being judged. Joe was sweating bullets. He said that he was marked down for not having the right color of fluid in the washer bottle, should have been blue versus orange. We will see how Joe did. The awards dinner is tonight. Should be fun.

and still more.

and more.

It is Saturday, July 26th. The big day. Great day for a Buick car show. Beautiful, not a cloud in the sky. Looks to be over 300 cars on display by 10 AM. Here are the pics I took. Lots of great cars. My favorite, a 56 Buick estate wagon.

Chris, no on the water side. I would probably drown. It is Friday, PM, Day 2 of the show, July 25th. We headed off today to tour the Hood River county. We visited Multnomah Falls and then headed up to Timberline Lodge on Mt Hood. The lodge is at 6,000 feet. Built in 1937 by the WPA it is still in use today. Lots of folk out on this beautiful day. Lots of people were skiing and hiking. Very beautiful. We then headed back to the hotel. More car showed up today and this evening. Here are a few shots to include Joe and his 55 Century.

The pic of the 747 on the roof of the "wild waves" building did not take as well as a couple of others so will try again.

and here are the last of the pics. Most interesting to see a Boeing 747 on top of a building with a water ride coming out of the side of the aircraft. A novel use for an old airplane. I have no idea how they got it on the roof. Tomorrow, more car pics for sure and we are taking a trip up the Columbia River gorge.

More pics of the Evergreen Museum. The big attraction was the Spruce Goose. What a monster of an airplane. Was really great to see it up close and personal. It is massive.

It is Thursday, day 1 of the Buick National Meet in Portland, OR. The cars are rolling in, it looks like a hundred or so this morning and lots more by the afternoon. Here are a few of the cars from this morning. After looking at the cars for a bit, we headed down the road to the Evergreen Aviation Museum. What a great place. Lots to see. They had mostly airplanes, a few helos, and a space exhibit. All in all, very worth the trip. Took lots of pics too. Oh, and some Soviet armor too.

It is Wednesday, July 23rd, AM. Made it to Seattle, WA yesterday and visited with family. Today we head to Portland, OR for the Buick National Meet. Hoping to meet up with Joe and Kathy in their 55 Century and follow them down. But it is raining its brains out today and plans may change. I will take lots of pics and report every day. The big show is Saturday, but there are other events during the week that should be fun.

Still Monday. Headed to the shop to pick up the paint for the Jaguar. I ordered a pint of the body color and the color inside the engine bay/trunk. They are both pastel green, but the engine bay/trunk are original. The shade/tint is off between the body of the car and the interior parts. The body is also much more shiny. The body was painted in 2004, its first repaint. It is holding up well except it is starting to bubble a the joint where the top meets the body. The bubble is about four inches long by about a quart of an inch. The body shops says that there is probably filler that is giving up. They doubt that it is rust as the factory used lead to smooth the join. So this is what I got. Without painting anything, and just doing a comparison with the paint on top of the cans, they look to be spot on. The body paint can says that it is a Kaiser-Frazier color called Graygreeen Light, code 45953; the engine bay/trunk color is a Chrysler color called Beltel Green, code 44210. Here are a couple of pics. The cost was $155. Let the touch up begin.

It is Monday, AM, July 21st. Weekend was fun. A couple of events to go to, our county fair, which was a hoot; and a welcome to the hood party on Sunday. Lots of new folks moving in. A great gathering. And I got to take the Avanti. She ran great with her new fuel pump. Nice and smooth. Packing day today, we leave tomorrow for the Buick Nationals in Portland, Or. Flying to Seattle and then following Joe and Kathy in their 1955 Buick Special. Speaking of Buicks, we had a neighbor come by who want pics of them with the 23 so we pulled it out of the trailer and made them happy for sure. I also registered the 23 for the Hershey Fall Meet in early October. And Greg has a report for us. "Another good one. Don't know where it went. Saturday I got some time with 5054 Black, installing the Stewart Warner electric fuel pump. This car had been toyed with by a previous owner and I kept his upgrades and added some of my own. Barb and I fell in with a group of film historians that evening. A worldwide group visiting the Library of Congress film and audio site near Culpeper, they had gathered for several days of watching film clips with the hopes of identification. Their event was culminated by gathering at the newly restored State Theatre to sit back and see more but with live ensemble accompaniment. Made for a classy evening. Sunday, former White Post Restorations accomplice Paul Rose was in the area and stopped in. Putting him to work helping batter rivets in my newly plated vent window frames was like old times. Follow this with going to lunch in the old Dodge Slow Four, it was a good visit. Time goes so quickly." =

It is Friday, PM, July 18th. The "Green Hornet" Avanti has left the front yard. Here is proof. It took about two hours to get it in and everything buttoned up. She started right up. Only took a month to do. I still have a couple of more things to do. I need to remove the passenger side door seal and then reseal both doors. I also need to change the transmission fluid. Will do that tomorrow if it stays cool. And this morning we finished unloading and stacking the wood pellets for the winter. Here is a couple of pics. Glad that it is done.