unimogjohn

Chris, she really looks so beautiful. Just gleaming in the winter sun. I almost forgot what she looked like when you first got her. Great job getting her this far. And I would at least write a note to Jerry F so see if he can do anything for you re the bumper. You never know.

Larry, yes and thank goodness for cardboard. Actually, the 23 and 28 only leak coolant. Now the Avanti and the Jaguar dripping oil are another story. But they are not too bad.

It is Sunday, early PM, Formula 1 watching time on November 17th. Went out this morning and decided to fill up the 23s radiator with antifreeze and to see if she will start. Oh, the right side back wheel is flat. Looks like the rim has moved and canted the valve stem. That means that it is pinched and the tube is now leaking. But the tire filled back up with air so I can move the car. I will have to jack up the car, loosen the wheel and move it back into position on the rim. You have to get the wheel nuts on tight so the rim does not move. But you have to be careful or you will strip the wheel bolts, and they are very hard to come by. When you use the brakes the tire rim wants to move from the wheel rim resulting in the movement, hence everything must be very tight, snug does not work. But now with the tire filled and antifreeze in I can attempt to start the car. She cranked a bit, but then easily started on full choke. Yahoo, we have power. So back her out of the barn and let the engine warm up. Alice then got home and we put the top down and moved it into the trailer. Now she will be nice and dry for the winter. Put in some Stabil in the fuel tank and ran the engine for about fifteen minutes to make sure some got into the vacuum fuel tank/pump and the carb. I put a jack stand under the axle in case the tire goes down before I can get back to it. Here are some pics.

Been off the computer for a couple of days as my favorite laptop had bit the dust. Have been updating an old one for use right now, and am on the hunt for a new one. Oh well. They are just like old cars. Chris, to answer your question, the architect came back with a huge estimate for just designing and furnishing drawings, and the county was going to make us expand the septic system and put in a new well. So for the limited space we were going to get for the add on, we decided to kill the expanding the garage/apt project and go in a different direction. And the trailer was too good of a deal to pass up for a very good trailer. And it does give me room for another car in safe storage. John, feel free to post your cars and projects if you do not want to start your own blog. Wow, that is one sweet looking Jaguar. What is the story? We all love stories. And Greg has a report for us, Thursday, November 15th, AM. "Hasn't been much fit to print. This head cold has lingered which curtailed my evening project time. Just tonight I've tried to get back into the swing of things. Matheson engine: The water pump is in very good condition mechanically. Cosmetically it needed some help, so the housing has been stripped, taped off, and bead blasted to clean it of corrosion and old finish. For rough cast brass and aluminum parts, I then like to burnish them with a rotary wire brush to brighten them up. Next I'll prep and buff the polished brass parts, prep the hardware, make new gaskets and it should be ready to reassemble. Looking forward to another check mark on the list. The black Avanti 5054? Dormant due to cold weather. I did order some rubber seals that mount above the door, the supercharger out for overhaul. The maroon Avanti, Seabiscuit: I've found an intermittent front wheel wobble on some curves to be very annoying. I'd ordered a pile of new front end components to replace the ones Steve put in back in the seventies, but I didn't order the desire to lay under the car to install them. In a very unusual move on my part, I'm going to farm out the job to someone else. The car is scheduled to be dropped off at the Burchill Service Department in a couple weeks. Day job still devoted to Curtiss OX-5 engine discovery. When I get time I'll present a photo essay of the unusual valve operation." =

Bill, you are right. I put the little lawn tractor behind it during the winter. Lots of room.

It is Wednesday, November 13th, early PM. Boy, seems to be really cold outside, or at least I am, 34 degrees at noon. Well, I put jack stands under the front frame so now I have three hard points in front and two in the back of the trailer. It is as solid as a rock. So moved the Jaguar from the black trailer to the new white one. Looks right at home. Tomorrow will attempt to start the 23 McLaughlin Buick and move her into the black trailer for the winter. She is really hard to start when cold, so will see how she does. Here are a couple of pics of the Jaguar in her new home.

Bernie, the boring stuff is fine with us. Keep us updated. When do you leave?

Bill, glad that you are now following our little activities. And thanks again for selling me your fine trailer. I will get a lot of use over the years to come. Scott, well the blog has sort of morphed over the years as things get done. It is like a book now that you think of it. Actually, it is a good historical document too, I often refer back to it for what was done to the Avanti and what we started with. And why don't you post pics of your cars too? We all know the van, but I don't think that we know the history of the others. Re David Coco and his 1910 Buick. I asked David what does the Buick look like sans engine. He replied that he purchased it many years as a burned out hulk. He has a body for it, but it is a reproduction. I think that he will let us see it when the engine gets back in the truck. Mitch, our local premier machinist, has been doing the work on the engine. He told me that he still has the valves and cages to do yet.

Final report for Monday. Leveled and blocked the new trailer. It is in it new home for the winter. Tomorrow I can move cars around if the weather is OK. And fixed the license plate light on the new trailer. It had the wiring to the plate holder going thru the frame of the tailgate. When someone backed into a tree, the outer frame was pushed in and cut the line. So I removed the plate holder and pulled out the wiring from the inside of the frame. Put the wires back together and now the wires run outside of the tailgate. Doesn't look too bad. Only about two feet of wiring showing. No way to get wire back down through the frame of the tailgate anyway. So it is what it is, at least it works. Life is a compromise.

Still Monday, but early PM. Finally feeling better so headed outside. Suppose to get cold tomorrow with some snow flurries. So decided to see if I could get the new enclosed trailer into the pasture and placed for the winter. Rather than towing it with the big and long Suburban I decided to use the little Kubota tractor. Using the tractor allows me more turning room and maneuverability. Our farm is on the top of a small mountain and as a result we have very little flat land, especially in the pastures. I tried a couple of different placements in the pasture, but they either blocked an exit or the ramp too steep to get a car into it. So I settled in putting it next to the other enclosed trailer. Of course there is a tree there, but figured that I could clear it. So with Alice's help the trailer made the corner. I then had to disconnect the tractor and move it back on the trailer to get the right angle on it to move forward. After a couple of tries we declared victory. Not perfect, but it is level and I can easy get a car into it. Over the next couple of days I will place blocks under the back end and then move one of cars into it for its winter slumber. I think I will move the Jag into the new trailer and the 23 McLaughlin Buick into the black trailer. I want to keep the Avanti in the garage as I want to drive it over the next month or so. The next Jag project is to get the clock out of the tach and have it sent off for repair. Hopefully it will not be pain to get too and remove. Only one electric wire and two screws holding it in. Heck what could go wrong? Hope to have it out in a few days. Then turned my attention to the Avanti. I put in a special three way fuel filter. This was recommended on the Studebaker Driver's Club forum a couple of months back. It utilizes the Avanti's return line from the fuel pump back to the tank. The Avanti uses this to avoid vapor lock. Since my fuel pump return port is plugged I figured that I would try this fix. So I have run the filter for about a month and have noticed that there is often a little engine hesitation when cruising. So a couple of days I removed it and put back in a new see thru filter. I will see if the hesitation goes away. And we had a great time with the neighbors at our "hood" third annual cruise in. Great food and great conversations. We had a few folks that do not have old car, but all said that they were now thinking of getting an old car to drive. So we were successful in getting folks thinking about cars. The only downside is that it was rather cool and windy, which made it uncomfortable by the end of the day.

It is Monday, Veterans Day, November 11th, AM. Today I feel like moving again. Have had cold for a few days so have been staying inside for the most part. I did get the foot for trailer so put that on. Today we are going to head into town and will be able to get that "special" fusible link/fuse that was not installed by Chev for the trailer interior lights. Small progress. And Greg has been under the weather too. Here is his report. "Not much to report. I'd been outrunning a cold all last week, at least until I took time off Friday to lie down. Then it caught me. Now that I'm on the down side of it, to keep myself out of the cold shop, I hopped in a car and drove to Rob's old car repository where the Stoddard and REO repose. Time to drain cooling systems. And read old magazines. It was also the first time I was able to see a new arrival. Enclosed photos of a 1914 Brasie. Not quite as big as a Saxon, it's slightly larger than a cyclecar. Made in Milwaukee I think. Not in bad condition, it's 12 hp four cylinder wasn't nearby. Interestingly , it uses a friction drive system where a driven disc is moved across a rotating disc for different speeds and reverse. Wishing all you Vets a good Veteran's Day. Check your local restaurants for your meal deals! If they are nice enough of them to offer, we should show our gratitude and thank them by showing up. Rhodes and Metz! While eating out with Barb tonight I happened upon an old friend that I haven't seen in years. Julian Marple. I worked with him when I was a novice Tool and Die Apprentice at the Intertype Company in the Industrial Park. If you remember him it's probably from the time he accompanied us to Roy's Sandwich Shop in Gaithersburg. His first time there, we encouraged him to get the Bendershmender sandwich (I think it came on a hand truck , brought by the entire staff with a marching band). Always the big talker, when they took our order (and totally unaware), he says "I'm hungry, bring me TWO of them. I think he got his stomach pumped on the way home. We had a good visit and relived some old stories." = Ed notes. Here are links to the Brasie. Not much information available on the car. http://books.google.com/books?id=XLS3UagARgwC&pg=PA101&lpg=PA101&dq=Brasie+automobile&source=bl&ots=20jEBlzwAv&sig=hDG9mL7Fv82LHew1_a3aASXKSWQ&hl=en&sa=X&ei=MdWAUp2WLcm3sAS7-YEQ&ved=0CFUQ6AEwBjgK#v=onepage&q=Brasie%20automobile&f=false http://collections.mnhs.org/MNHistoryMagazine/articles/43/v43i03p093-112.pdf

David it does for sure. I have a use for all four attachments. The largest ball for the enclosed and open trailers, medium for the horse trailer and the smallest and the hook for my towing strap. Kinda like the Swiss Army knife, only for trailer towing. And I put it on the truck this morning. both the trailer and the truck are level. The truck is a 3/4 ton with HD rubber bump stops as load levelers in the back. It does not drop much when you have a full load on it. Maybe 1/2 in or less. So I should be good to go. Started up both the Jaguar and the Avanti this morning and warmed them up. Both started easily, but I could tell that both starters struggled a bit initially. So we are ready to go to the farm party early this afternoon.

It is Saturday, AM, November 9th. Ohhhh, cold here this morning 25 degrees, but it is going to be a nice day, high of about 53 degrees. Nice enough to get the Jaguar and the Avanti fired up early in the afternoon and head to the farm party. Should be fun. We may have a dozen or so old cars and tractors in attendance. The US Mail brought me the new combo trailer hitch yesterday afternoon. Will be very useful around the farm for sure. I took a couple of pics of the new trailer with the Suburban still attached. You can see in the long shot that the back is higher than the front. I have a hitch now that has a 3.5 inch drop, so bought one that does not have a drop. If this goes not level it out then will flip over the drop hitch and make it a riser.

and don't forget those fire extinguishers. One in the back seat, and one in the garage.

Still Friday, now PM. Had a few minutes so decided to see if I removed one of the maxi fuses and put it in the open slot for the trailer interior lights, the lights would go on. I wanted to make sure that I was not chasing a ghost. So pulled the fuse for the ABS and inserted it into the socket that had the dummy fuse. Well, it works. I now have lights. Here is the proof. I also took the time to open the very nice storage container to see what was in it. Bill had told me, but there were a couple of surprises, like a combo wheel wrench and special Pace cleaner for the trailer sides. Both good finds. I also put the step ladder up to the roof to inspect it. Some of the sealer is starting to peel. So the next nice warm day I will remove some of the old stuff and put on some new. It is not leaking now, but better to do it now rather than later. Oh, now they are calling for snow next week. Go figure. Heading to a farm party tomorrow. It is an annual Fall event. We all bring our old cars out for one last time. Alice will drive the Jaguar over and I will take the Avanti.

Still Friday. Boy, David is really pressing ahead on his Buick engine. Here is his report. Subject: Buick non-progress Well, not feeling well today and the doctor agrees, so not much will be done. Did gather some parts. Shown is the exhaust collector into which the manifolds feed, note the through bolt and lever which control the cut-out. Kroil and patience will free it up, I hope. Also, got out the pistons and rods, they’re all set to install thanks to Mitch and his beautiful work. The Arias pistons are works of art, shame to hide them in the jugs….. Also pulled out Remy magneto, Model S, which needs rebuild or replacement, so I’m on the hunt for that….

It is Friday, November 8th, AM. Remember I said that the only thing not working on the new trailer were the interior lights? Well I spent a hour with the meter trying to find the cause of no lights. Pulled the wiring diagrams for both the Suburban's 7 plug connector and the Pace's circuits. Well, Pace say that it gets it power from the number 4 post, which is full time 12 volts when the key is on. Well, no power from the Suburban. What? So got on the internet and found out that there is a fuse for the 4 post. And Chevy in it's wisdom put in a dummy max fuse. No wonder no power. So ordered a few 40 amp maxi fuses. While I was at it I also ordered a can of special, plastic safe, contact cleaner. Both from Amazon. Will be here on Monday. Thank you Mr. Internet.

If you are following the David Coco, Buick engine rebuild, I received a couple of updates in the last day or so. "With new studs for mounting... Just a test but nice to see it as an engine after so many years...the studs sticking out on left jugs are for mounting intake/exhaust manifolds...the pipe sticking up on left is one of two crankcase breather pipes, internal to that pipe is a downward facing wire mesh cone, and a mesh cover at top of pipe. So did some mundane things, removing nuts and bolts from manifold clamps and studs , they'd only been in place for 100 years or so.. Broke one square head set screw ....next have to get pipes repaired on exhaust manifolds (shown)...and of course cleaning and paint at some point..."

Bill, the guy I bought the trailer from, also had a nice Porsche 356 that he restored for his son. I thought I would post the pics. Of course his son is in NY and cannot find a spot in the garage for it. So Bill gets to exercise it.

Roger, yes. Here is a link. http://www.tricoproducts.com/Drivers/WiperProducts/MoreProducts/Classic

On the Avanti front. I have been replacing windshield rubber blades like crazy. I have a lot of old blades and that is the problem. They are old and falling apart. By chance I saw that Trico now has a classic blade line. So I ordered a couple from Amazon for about $8 each. Put them on today. Looks good and new rubber. Could not be happier. Here is a pic.

Just a quick update on the yesterday's trip. Total trip was 765 miles, got 15.5 mpg going up and 9.5 coming home. We left at 3:30 AM and arrived home at 8:30 PM. Alice and I shared the driving, but it was really tough driving in the dark. Just too many critters trying to commit suicide. The cost for the trip was about $200 in fuel and $70 in tolls in OH and PA. The Suburban ran great, BUT ....... Coming home it went to limp home mode. Alice pulled to the side of the road and I hooked up the trusty scanner. It was throwing codes related to the electric throttle not seeing the pedal, voltage out of range. So cleared the codes to get the engine back to full power. It threw the same code every time we turned off the car. So we just kept it running when we stopped for fuel, refreshments, etc. The Pace American trailer is great, and pulled nicely. The only thing not working are the interior lights. Will have to look into that. I am very happy with the purchase.

It is Thursday, AM, November 7th. Made it home last night. More on that adventure later as I try to collect my thoughts. But waiting for me was a Greg Matheson engine report. Here is Greg's tale. "Things still progressing on the Matheson front. I'm working on the ignition spark advance linkage. Some tarnished brass needs buffing, which I've been doing. Not a fun job. I also got up the nerve to investigate the water pump assembly. It looked to be reasonably intact but showing signs of rust, tarnish and corrosion. And If I'm to sign off on this thing, I'd better open it up. The fascination of this early stuff is the different methods they used. Sometimes the difficulty of disassembly is not knowing how they put it together. This water pump falls into that category. With the cover removed it was evident that the drive gear end had to be stripped of anything that wouldn't go through the packing gland. The gear came off ok, it had a retention nut and washer, it also had a couple radial slots that allowed for timing adjustment. That meant more washers and nuts. But removal of the gear exposed a flange that had to come off. Couldn't tell how, but I did find a clue. Hidden by the gear itself was what looked like a pin or setscrew through the flange. In fact, someone had drilled it about halfway through the shaft. There was faint hint of the other end of the pin. So I began step drilling it from the other side. When just a shadow of it remained, I took said pump to the hydraulic press and put some pressure to the end of the shaft, but very gingerly. Not knowing what else might hold that flange in place, I reminded myself of the Great Steering Wheel Removal Story from Idaho. Trying to remove the steering wheel casting from the column, my associate removed the big nut on the end of the shaft to expose a square key that locked the wheel in place. That is typical of most cars, key seat in casting, key seat in shaft, put the key in and press the wheel on, and then the nut. My man found out the hard way that Matheson had a better idea. What they did was thread the wheel onto the shaft and then press the square key into place to lock the threads. So I put a little more pressure on the shaft and it popped and started moving . That's tonight's success story." =

Bill, thanks for selling me your trailer. Everything was as great as you had described it. It pulled great all the way home from Ohio to Northern Virginia. I could not be happier. Here is a pic of our Suburban and trailer ready to hit the road.

It is Tuesday, November 5th, PM. Just a very quick note for those that are following along. Heading to Thompson, OH from northern VA early tomorrow morning, like 3:30 AM, to pick up the new enclosed trailer. It will be a 700 mile round trip. We are going to do it one day, eight hours driving each way. We will make frequent stops and will probably stop once or twice for quick naps. Alice is a great driver and has pulled both an open and enclosed trailer several times. So we will be spell each other every couple of hours on the way home. We hope to be in Thompson by noonish and back on the road early afternoon.