unimogjohn

Mike, congratulations on your great find. Looks to be a great project. I really don't think you will have much of a problem getting the parts you need to get her back on the road. As far as vendors are concerned here are some I use. Transmission: Northwest Transmission Parts Engine rebuild parts: Egge Wiring: Rhode Island Wiring Hydraulics: Apple Hydraulics Suspension: Egge Gaskets: Olson's Gaskets I am sure you can still find rebuild parts for the carb and water pump. You would be amazed at what NAPA and Carquest still have on their shelves. I would keep it 6 volts. If your starter, generator are good then you will not have any problems with 6 volts. Try Ebay for parts too. Keep us posted on your progress.

It is Friday, May 30th, early PM. Cold last night, even lit the pellet stove for some inside heat. But today it is a bit warmer, maybe heading into the 70s by this afternoon. I got a package this afternoon from FedEx. It was the bumper I ordered for the John Deere tractor the day before yesterday. That was a real quick delivery. It looks to be well built and is power coated. Should do the job nicely. So I spend a few minutes and mounted it on the tractor. Looks pretty good and will be very useful around the farm. While looking at the old tattered seat on the John Deere I decided to work the adjustment. Well, the seat did not adjust. The mechanism is stuck hard. I removed the seat, used lots of WD40 and a rubber hammer and was able to get the rails to finally move. Took about an hour to get both free as I had to remove the frame and word on the individual rail. Got them both freed up and working. Put the frame back on and worked the seat mechanism back and forth, works good. The seat probably has not been adjusted in ten years or more. It froze up and they just lived with it. I put the old seat back on and worked it more. Works great. Wayne/Buick Skylark and Corvette and Steve/Camaro called this morning. They want us to go to a night car show tomorrow night in a town about 50 miles away. Of course we said sure. I am going to take the Avanti so will do some clean up tomorrow. I also have to get the Jaguar ready for a Sunday show so that has to be done too. Looks like a busy morning tomorrow. I do have an issue with one high beam light not working on the Avanti so I have some work to do on it. I think I have a ground and high beam wire crossed on the plug under the fender. I do have both low beams.

It is Thursday, May 29th, AM. Yesterday was sure hot and stormy. Summer is really coming soon. I did some more mowing with the JD tractor. Is doing a great job. Starts up easily now after I replaced the spark plug and cleaned the carb with some spray in throttle bottle cleaner. I have fresh gas in her too, and have added some Seafoam to the gas. This really has made a difference in its running. Seafoam has a lot of cleaners/detergent in it and does wonders for cleaning the inside of the carb. I did order a new drive belt/traction belt to the transmission. The old one is original so it is 19 years old. It does look a bit rough. So at the end of the season will replace it with new. You have to remove the back end of the tractor and gas tank to mount it. I also ordered a hefty front bumper, will be great for pushing stuff over. That is about it for refurbishing the tractor. Figure I have about $500 into it now. Should be good for another ten years or so. Here are a couple of pics of the family with the old cars, and Alice and me with Evan in our "boat". Thought you might like to see them.

Still Tuesday, still Tuesday and still waiting for the big thunderstorms. Had a few sprinkles, but really nothing yet. One the radar they are inching towards us. Over the next couple of days will be getting the Jaguar ready for the All British Car Show at Lilypons, Adamstown, MD on Sunday. The show is about 70 miles north of us. It will take us about an hour and a half to get there in the morning. Nice ride as we will be using the back roads. Last year we took 1st place in class. Got a surprise in the mail today. The JD chute deflector. So got it on and mowed some grass. I am so happy that I got the old mower working again after so many years. And here is what the llamas look like after Alice gets done with shearing. Not pretty.

It is Tuesday, early PM, May 27th. Waiting for some big thunderstorms to come in this afternoon. Getting very dark. Radar shows them about fifty miles away. I worked on the John Deere garden tractor all morning after I had gone into town and had the new front tires mounted. Got them on and then decided to see if I could mount the mower deck. Oh no, a problem. The hydraulics that raise and lower the deck is not moving. I found the valve for it under the tractor and discovered that the pin that controls the up and down is frozen in the controller. I took some WD40 and lubed it up and then moved the pin back and forth with a large screwdriver. That did it, the hydraulics work. I then mounted the mower, installed the drive belt, and hit the PTO switch. She died........ Gave it more power this time and the mower deck came alive and the engine kept running. Did some test runs, and she is cutting great. Only things to be done now is a new seat (sent the new one that did not fit back this morning) and a chute deflector (should be here today or tomorrow). I looked and it could use a new belt from the engine to the transmission, but will save that for next spring. I have included a pic of the new hood on the tractor. Alice is out giving haircuts to the llamas. Some are OK with it and will stand for the two hours it takes to do one, others will fight her tooth and nail. Then it takes much longer. I have to give her lots of credit, I would pay someone to do it. She uses scissors too. The electric clippers scare the heck out of the llamas.

Chuck, will ask Henry why he stopped flying the plane. Stay tuned. We had a nice weekend with a visit from our son, Chris, and his family, Jodi and little Evan. Evan, who is three, had a great love for the Jaguar and the tractors. And he really enjoyed the ugaa, ugaa of the 1923 McLaughlin Buick's horn. We took both the Jag and the 23 our for long runs. Both ran great. Chris and I spend some time working on the John Deere tractor. Changed the oil and put in the new fuel pump, and added a new top cover for the engine. Two new tires came via UPS so they will go on tomorrow. The seat also came in, but it was the wrong mounting, so it goes back for a replacement. Chris helped cleaning up the mower unit. We greased and adjusted everything so it is ready to go on the tractor, maybe tomorrow we will be mowing. And to top off the weekend, we have a Greg report. "Nice weekend that it was, I found myself down with a cold, so there wasn't much socializing.Taking it easy, I did find some time for the Avantis. The thermostat gasket began leaking on the 'biscuit, seems the bolts weren't very tight and it was easy enough to cut another gasket and install it. With the coolant topped off and the gas gauge reading low, it was also a good day for a road trip to Winchester where there's un-ethanol for sale. About fifty miles each way. Upon my return I lifted the hood to check the coolant level and found another leak. Fuel. Although they aren't that old, the fuel filter hoses were found to be harder than a, well, woodpecker's nose.Cracked and leaking. Thanking whoever for mandating the ethanol I've had to use, I immediately got a new filter and hoses. My words of advice. PINCH YOUR FUEL HOSES AND MAKE SURE THEY ARE SOFT! Watching your car burn might not be much fun. My fire extinguisher was still in the Harvester. There is a God. Otherwise, with my weather here at last, I did get in some time on 5054. The ERB supercharger back in the bracket, I resumed plumbing its cooler and dry sump system. I'm ready to secure the hardware after the front bumper brackets are tightened. I can't do that until the bumper is on and now I find that I'm unhappy with the front bumper at hand. Guess I'll put one on my Christmas list. Satisfied with the progress, I then turned to the old Dodge Brothers that was waiting in the back of the garage. With air in the tires, water in the radiator and fuel turned on, it wanted to go out. So we did. I have to tell you , maybe it's after driving the Harvester, it sure was something to see the telephone poles flying by like.....well, telephone poles. With the A/C on and the wind in my face it sure was pleasant. Around the block and then I followed the trail of the leaking water pump back. Any round trip is a good trip. Remind me to get some packing and water pump grease. Also with time to meet Barbara for dinner, it was a very pleasant day. But how can we thank those who fell making it possible? And there are so many who don't know our history....or care." =

I would also put your wanted ad over at http://www.jag-lovers.org/ It is free.

Still Tuesday, but PM. Worked on the John Deere tractor for most of the day. Finally got it to turn over with a newer battery. But she would not run without starting fluid. I figured that it was either the fuel pump or the carb was gummed up for sure. I took the easy one first, the fuel pump. Took off a cover and there is the little vacuum pump. One screw was missing on the cover plate, one hose clamp was off and one fuel line had a split in it. Sure glad I had a bucket of old nuts, screws (like everyone has) and found one that fit. So I took off the pump, cleaned it out, and repaired the fuel line. Sprayed in some starting fluid and she fired right up. Started to die, but slowly rumbled to a nice smooth cadence. Now that she runs I ordered some parts. Two new front tires, a new seat, a new top engine cover, and a mower drive belt. Now I am about $350 lighter in the old wallet. Took a look at the mower and it is not in bad shape. It has not seen much use. So lubed up the spindles and will clean it up tomorrow. Oh, the engine has an hour meter, but you could not see the numbers as the lens was cloudy. So used some rubbing compound and am now able to see the hours, 538. Then I spent another couple of hours scrubbing her down and getting it as clean as possible. She is looking pretty spiffy. Will change the oil tomorrow when I get a new filter.

Here is the dinner picture. Had to do a separate post to display the pic.

Just a follow up on the trailer move. We went over to Henry's farm last night for a thank you dinner. So took some pics of the farm. First are a few of the trailer axle construction, then the burned up Kubota that he is restoring, his airplane on the front pasture, his kids, and then the dinner table. It was a great dinner with some great conversations.

It is Tuesday, AM, May 20th. Heading out to see if the battery charged up on the old JD garden tractor. Maybe it will start. But in the meantime we have a Greg report. "When last we visited I was about to mention that Barb and I were leaving Cape May, and I spied the Bonhams auction sign along side the road. That led to an unexpected detour. Not only did we get there just in time to see the good stuff go across the block but old friend Fred Hock was seated on the front row. Sandwich between friends, they were enticing each other to bid on things like double decker busses, etc. For a look at the offerings and results, Google Bonham's Auction Cox Collection. Since then it's been busy and I'm just now settling in to the evening car work without much to report. I did have a good time this past weekend. My youngest son Logan, who has been living and working in Richmond, has decided to seek his fortune in California. Leaving in a couple days, he was home to visit. This gave us a chance to play cars. My boys have covered some ground in the Harvester, not just the annual Fetch the Christmas Tree" run. Now that old Termite Transfer is running again, it was time for Logan to get checked out in it's operation. Even with its unusual method of control, he did a great job driving us around Hyde Manor. Then it was Avanti time. He'd had plenty of back seat time in it before I parked it in the eighties, but now I wanted him to drive it. Even with its lack of tolerance for mishandling (like a fractious horse) Logan managed the equipment like an old pro. Then with playtime over it was time for a family get together at my Mother's about an hour away. It was a real treat for me to send him ahead in the 'biscuit while I trailed in his car. It was also the first time I'd seen the car from behind since the seventies when Steve and I would convoy Avantis. A bittersweet day. It isn't until they come to visit and you have to see them go, that you're reminded how much you miss them." =Here is the link to the Cox auction. http://www.bonhams.com/auctions/22174/

It is Monday, May 19th PM. Ah, life on the farm. A good story from Sunday. Our farmer neighbor, Henry, bought two 40 ft shipping containers to use for storage on the farm. Problem is that they are fifteen miles away. Not wanting to try to have them delivered, Henry decided to make an axle set and tow it home with his Russian built tractor. So with a welder in hand he fabricated the mounts, expanded the axles and off to the races we went. Not quite legal, but in farm country we are given some leeway. We did have a wide load signed truck leading and pack, and of course we had a rotating yellow light on our roof as we brought up the rear. We met at 5:30 AM and blocked the roads in town, not that there was much traffic, and proceed to head for home. What a fun time at maybe 5 mph. But we made it via all the back roads and the first trailer is now at the farm. In a few weeks, after haying season, we will go help pick up the second one. In the afternoon we had new friends over and of course I had to show them the cars. When we got to the 23 I decided to see if she would start. So oiled the rockers, turned on the fuel, adjusted the choke, and wallah she started right up. Will be getting it out of the trailer in a couple of days. And today a neighbor called, she is moving and did I want some old equipment that was broken or no longer in use on her farm. Of course I do. So headed over and loaded a John Deere 325 garden tractor (has not run in several years, but has been in a garage), a snow blower, which will not start, a rototiller (condition unknown) and a lamp style heater. Ahhh, treasures. I have the mower deck to the tractor, it was sitting in a field where it broke so I have been told. Does not look too bad for sitting outside for about ten years. So will check that out tomorrow. They said the blades stopped working. I figure a spindle is frozen. I have the battery charging tonight, we will see if it holds a charge and then see what is up tomorrow. Who knows, maybe I can get it to spring back to life. Of course it needs two new front tires, a seat, an engine cover, filters, oil, etc. But if I can get it going for $500 or so I will have a great tractor. A used, running example is $2 to 3K.

And here are the racing pics. We were right next to the track so just had to walk twenty feet to the fence line. I also caught a few cars at speed with my little camera, so they are a bit blurry.

More car show pics. I estimate that there were about 300 cars at the show.

It is Sunday morning, May 18th. Wow! What a great car show at Summit Point WV yesterday. There was much to do from looking at all the cars, watching the vintage race cars, and driving on the track. Lots of very nice cars, most were show quality with only a few drivers. Ninty percent were muscle cars or hot rods, but very nice stock for sure. Only maybe five or six British cars in attendance. I parked next to a white MGA race car that was very nicely restored. Turned out he was the president of the local MG car club. So we had a nice visit. Had the opportunity to get on the race track at the lunch break for the racers. Twelve of us in a pack. The only direction was not to wreck as the crews and ambulance medics were at lunch. I was in a very fast bunch of Mustangs and Corvettes so they left me in the dust after the first couple of turns. No matter, I then had a clear track. Had a lot of fun slowly bringing the Jag up to speed. The last of three laps I hit it pretty hard and pushed it into the corners with my little skinny tires biting the road. I must admit they held pretty good, and the drum brakes experienced no fade even after standing on them for a couple of 45 degree turns. The best part of the run is coming out of a long sweeping corner and into a very long straight. Wow, we were up to 95 mph! She was rock solid. I took a video but it did not turn out as the camera did not focus, but the sound of the engine during shifting was fantastic. Watched most of the vintage racing too. Lots of old racing cars going for the gold. The racers were courteous so there was no banging that I could see. But they were going might fast in those little machines. I took pics of the car show and of the racing. They will be attached in a couple of posts. The Jag took one of the "Top 50" awards. Did not expect one as it was not a sports car type of show, and there were many, many beautiful cars there.

No one is making them premade that I am aware of. The long grain cobra fabric is available from the usual Buick vendors. Remember to put back in the two little vertical flaps on the rear of the top if you have that type of top. Fabricators usually leave them off as they are "too hard" to make.

Pat, I don't know. Here is a link if you want to know more history. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Havilland_Canada_DHC-4_Caribou It is Thursday, May 15th. Going to get hammered with lots of rain over the next couple of days, maybe 3 to 4 inches. But the weather looks great for car show on Saturday. And we have another trip report from Greg. "After viewing the inventory of the Bonham's auction housed at the airport, (we'll get back to the auction) we continued over the road to the Cape May Zoo, stopping along the way for lunch at the Rio Grande Diner. Photo 1 answers the question "Why in the world is it taking so long to make a BLT and cup of soup?!" Photo 2 Siberian tiger pondering his lunch. Photo 3 Mike. Either playing possum or taking a catnap. See Photo 2.... Photo 4 The zoo also had flamingos and a dear. The zoo was a pleasant stop with an array of wildlife, plenty of things for the kids to do. The day was overcast, cool and a bit windy. We started, boarded and began the trip home, as usual hugging the shoulder of the road. I must admit that while bumping along at 15 per, we occassionally backed up some traffic. Here in Northern Virginia that is permission for the traffic to retaliate. Short tempers, colorful language, flying fingers, burning rubber, the whole bit. However the New Jersey drivers didn't get a single ruffled feather. Some actually stopped to take our picture. Nice experience. We discovered the downside of driving in New Jersey when we got back to the hotel. Before shitting down I often throw the switch back to BATTERY to test that system to make sure it was working well for the next startup. It wouldn't run. Only on MAGNETO setting. A quick inspection showed that the timer had disassembled due to the rough roads, the cover hanging by the wire and its roller and thumbnuts somewhere in the road . That meant old Harvester was running great, just wouldn't start. I've never been able to start on the mag. With another tour route planned for Saturday, the old Tetanus Transfer was done. Next, By chance to the auction." =

Still Wednesday. Greg came by with the truck and trailer was able to spend some time talking about the Cape May trip. He really had a good time. He did get the ignition timer fixed on the IH so the truck is back on the road. We are going to take a road trip in a week or so to deliver the IH back to Rob's place and Pick up the Stoddard Dayton. The Stoddard is going to be used in a wedding. I did do some car stuff over the past couple of days. The 1923 McLaughlin Buick's tire is hold air just fine. So decided I better paint the rim while it is off the car. It got a bit banged up putting on the tire, actually two time, so it was time for a refresh. I know that Greg strips everything and they sprays the primer and color coat. But, being a non fancy guy I just used a fine brush and gloss black Restoleum. Turned out great and you cannot see any brush marks. Just fine for a wheel rim. Decided that I am going to the car show at Summit Point Motorsports Park in WV on Saturday. For the price of $15 you get into the show, able to watch vintage sports car racing, and take three laps around the track. Just cannot beat that. I sure that the Jaguar will be right at home with all the vintage racers of the day. Everyone else had things going on so I will heading up solo. Yesterday was a record breaking day of 94 degrees. Too hot, too fast. Here is how Karma the cat handled the heat.

It is Wednesday, May 14th. Here is a morning report from Greg, and a couple of pics too. The Cape May experience in photos. Barbara has submitted hers, a couple included. 1. What remains visible of the WWI Liberty ship Atlantus. A huge troop carrying ship made of cement. Google it for some very interesting reading . 2. Remains of the gun emplacement used for defense against enemy attacks on the East Coast during WWII. I understand that the damage inflicted upon our shipping by German submarines wasn't highly publicized . 3 and 4. As we approached the Wildwood NAS and museum, we rounded a corner and I was immediately stuck with a familiar sight. "Holy sh!#" DeHavilland Caribous. A herd of at least a dozen of them intact. One is a rare sight, but I hadn't seen this many together since I'd served with them in Viet Nam. My inquiries resulted in little information. Apparently they are being upgraded , their wonderful old radial engines being replaced by turbo prop configuration. My old friend Weldon Britton helped select them for Army Special Forces operations because of their amazing Short Take Off and Landing capabilities. Now being fitted with turboprops, they must be perfect for clandestine operations. among other things. Seeing them was a special treat for me. Next episode, A day at the zoo! =

Chuck, glad that you are still enjoying the little adventures. Seems that there is always something to write about. I would tell you about the little black bear invasion and the neighbor's bird feeders, but that is a nature story, and we boys are car nuts. And lucky for us Greg just sent me the first of his Cape May reports from his touring weekend. "Our Cape May getaway might take a while to relate. The dotted lines still disappearing before my eyes. Four days on the road and yet another one today to visit with Mom....... I'll try to recall the Cape May trip. Got there Wednesday evening and so did Rob and Mike. Thursday morning Rob's REO (red touring in pic) was unloaded. Before loading it, the fresh engine, transmission, brakes and lots of other stuff had not been tested due to lack of hours in the day and the rotten weater we've had. That it made it onto his trailer was all that he knew. Any adjustments or faults to repair would have to be in the hotel parking lot or along side the road. Thursday afternoon a gaggle of us did some local touring to see WWII gun emplacements, a lookout tower and what remains of a WWI ship that was made of concrete (!). It had run aground in the twenties and broke up with little of it remaining to see. The day's further excitement was due to my lost camera. After my lengthy search, we drove modern to the Walmart in a neary town to buy another. After examination it was found to be less than desirable, a return trip to exchange it for a better one. As predicted, Barb found the lost camera the next day, in plain sight of course. With no instruction and no time to learn, I began taking pics with the new camera the next day, but now I find that the images are in supersize mode . I'll have to send a few at a time. I know there must be way to reduce the images to be email friendly but there again, no time for this old dog to learn a new trick. Sorry. Friday was our longest run. We found that even though the Harvester was running very well, the hard rubber tires and low ratio sprockets held us to about fifteen miles per. That's not even considering the problem of the New Jersey segmented roadways. Even though the old thing rides like a baby buggy, with the solid tires you can run over a dime and tell whether it's heads or tails. Rolling over the roadway joints was like running over bricks. Was really jolting us. This made us the slowest of the participants, making us Tail End Charlie and a one car tour. Barbara was taking this whole thing like a real trooper, facing into that fifteen mile per hour gale. To be continued....." =

Dave, Rhode Island Wiring has them. You have to tell them what style of connector you want and the length of the cable. The cloth holds up well, but does fade in direct sunlight. http://www.riwire.com/

and here are a few more. The little 64 Studebaker Lark was R2 Avanti engine powered with a flight-o-matic tranny. He said 1 of 5 built. It was nicely restored

It is Saturday, May 10th, PM. Just got home from the Apple Blossom car show in Winchester, VA. Wayne, in his 1964 Buick Skylark, and me, in my Jaguar, headed over the mountain to the show. We arrived at 8 AM and were among the few arriving early. In fact it looked like a meager turnout until about 10 AM when the majority of the cars arrived. It looked to be a great turnout considering the impending weather coming in. I figure that by noon there were about 300 cars on the field. So it turned out great. The weather started coming in by about 1:30 PM and the skies opened up. What a gusher. Lots of folks headed for the exit, but I could not leave as I was told that the Jaguar had won the Outstanding Foreign Car Award. So I hung around and let the committee do its thing and was presented with the award. The Jaguar seems to be always a hit. Anyway, headed home in the downpours. On the plus side I found a gas station with real gas, so took the opportunity to fill it since I was just about out. Honestly, I could not feel any difference in engine or drive-ability, but at least I felt better paying 20 cents more per gallon. Here are some pics of the cars I liked. A good day for sure.

Here are a few more pics.

Still Friday. Wayne and I just got back from the AACA tour. We took his 1964 Buick Skylark convertible, which really ran great and easily kept up with traffic. Here are some pics of the cars. We went to Steve Peiper's home garage and car collection. He must have thirty cars. Quite a collection, from hot rods, to classics, to race cars. In his youth Steve was a racer. He raced at internationally at Le Mans, and of course regionally. This is his private garage, with its own machine shop, metal fabrication, and upholstery areas. He was a great host. It was a fun little tour, maybe 30 miles each way. Tomorrow is the car show. Wayne is dropping by at 7 AM and we plan to be there by about 8 AM. Wayne is bringing his 72 Corvette to the car corral.