unimogjohn

It is Monday, September 16th, PM. Nothing is easy in Avanti land. It has taken me about four hours of hard work to get the leaf spring and axle married and back together. The first problem I had to solve is how to get the spring locating pin back into the perch on the axle. If I used the new plastic pads the pin would not go deep enough into the bushing. Solved by using the old pads, which were half as thick. Then the pin would not line up with the bushing, about 1/8 inch off. I pushed and pulled on the axle to see if it would move. Nope, held solid by the traction bar. Now I did not want to tear into that and open up another can of worms. So end up putting my back on the rear shackle, and lubing the pin. Got the shackle to go far enough that the pin dropped in. Was I a happy camper. Everything else went back on just fine. New grade 8 bolts are in each end of the spring shackles too. Then I looked over at the other spring and wheel and noticed brake fluid down the tire and onto the garage floor. Oh well, looks like I need new brake cylinders. So will order two today, one for each side. Might as well replace both. Here are some pic. PS. Just a quick update. Called Dave Thibeault of Studebaker Parts & Services. He has new cylinders and the four little adjusters for the brake shoes. So I ordered them. Should be here in a few days. Maybe will have the old girl back on the road by the end of the week.

Here are some more show pics for your enjoyment. Also we signed up for a day tour in a couple of weeks. We will be going up into the Blue Ridge mountains with a bunch of 50/60s Jaguars. More on that as we get more information will probably be about a 200 mile trip.

It is Sunday, PM. Wow! What a day. As you know we went to Jaguar Concours in Reston, VA. What a bunch of really nice cars. The only real disappointment was that there were only 54 cars registered. Last year they had more, and in years past they had up to 90 cars. Lots of folks stopped by to look at the car, and of course Alice invited one and all to come get in, feel, and experience being in an old Jaguar. We had people lined up waiting to get in. By the end of the day both of us were hoarse from talking to so many people. Our Jaguar was judged in the "Driven" class. The judges were very knowledgeable, experienced, and very professional. The cars received a 0.9967 score out of 1.0, which was good for second place. Today, we were good, but not the best. I know what we got marked down on as I could see and overhear the judges during their discussions. First, the seat leather piping was worn on one corner of the driver's seat (needs to be redyed), the chrome on the door latches is overly worn (they need to be re-chromed), and one of the door panels has a deep scratch (needs to be redyed). I am sure there will be more when I get the judges sheet, but this is what I was able to glean from watching their inspection. First place in our class when to Bill for his XK140 Blue FHC, and third went to Dave in his XK 120 White FHC. I have included pics of them and their awards. Here are some pics for your enjoyment. The most spectacular Jaguar in the show was a newly restored, but driven, 1937 SS100. It was truly impressive and done to an outstanding standard. I have included pics of the car too. All in all it was a great day. Our Jaguar ran great and it boogied down the road at about 65 mph. We met and talk to a lot of great folks who really appreciated the car. And finally, the weather could not have been more perfect.

It is Saturday PM, September 14th. Did the final clean on the exterior of the Jag this morning and put it away in the trailer. Tomorrow, Sunday, is the big show. But tonight we went to the reception at the local Jag dealer. Wow, what nice cars. We had a good time talking to other owners, but quickly found out that most had modern Jags. We are leaving at about 6:30 AM. Hope to be on the show field at 8 AM so we can head out and get a big cup of coffee to start the day. Here are some pics of the event. Love the new F Type, and the price was only $110,000 not including all the little add ons. Way to rich for us. We also found out that the "old timer" Jag group is organizing a day long tour of the XK and Mark cars of the 50s and 60s. So we quickly signed up. It will be a day long tour of the Blue Ridge mountains. It is going to be September 28th.

Still Friday, but PM. After some maneuvering around the pastures and trees I got the trailer positioned and set up in the pasture. This will be it winter home and home to one of the cars, probably the Jaguar or the 23 McLaughlin Buick. Have not decided what car yet, but I am leaning towards the Buick. Oh happy day, the big white truck came up the driveway and dropped off the Avanti leaf springs. This has been over a month long endeavor. But they are here now. Unpacked them and they look very good. I was going to replace the bushings, but they look very good. I hope to have one of them in the car early next week. Yahoo! The Avanti will be back on the road again. The next project on the Avanti will be to change the engine oil and power steering fluid. Will also pump out the ATF in the supercharger and put in fresh stuff. Greg told me that he had made a special tool to remove the control value to enable you to put on the new power steering hoses. He said that he would look for it. Sounds like a couple of days kinda job. Here are some pics. Tomorrow is the Jaguar concours reception at a local dealership. They are going to have several F Types for rides and demo. We are not going to take the Jaguar as we would have to come home in the dark and in deer country. We are planning to leave here on Sunday about 6:30 AM. Have to fill up and drive about an hour and a half to the show. Registration and the tech inspection starts at 8 AM. Hopefully, we will be able to have a good cup of coffee before all the activity takes place.

Friday morning, September 13th. Had a big storm roll through last night. What a light and thunder show, and a half of inch of rain to boot. Big day, expect the long awaited Avanti leaf springs today. In the meantime, here is another Greg show report. "Here we go with Greenfield Village 2013 Old Car Festival Chapter 1 Part 2 *Street scene *A MacIntyre *Our IHC in front of the Wright Cycle Shop *A Jackson *A lineup of cars Only one more installment of "just cars"

Still Thursday, but PM. Greg dropped off the Suburban and trailer, and we invited him to stay for dinner. He told of his wonderful adventures at the show. Said that it was the best time he ever had. And tonight he sent me a link to a UTube movie of the event. Interesting to see so many early cars. When I go to a show their may be one or two, this show had hundreds. Looks like a great time. I may have to put this on my bucket list for sure.

It is Thursday morning, September 12th. Spent the morning under the Jag. It has a stainless dual pipe exhaust system. So crawled under as far as I could go and took Fantastic cleaner and cleaned/polished the pipes. Fantastic removes all the grit and grime, and also any soot and grease. A great cleaner. Also took the time to clean the rear pan, which is under the trunk area. Was a little dirty from road grime. The judges always seem to like to find fault there. So now it is nice and clean. And for your morning coffee, Greg has a show report for us. "My Summer Vacation by Greg Cone. I'm not sure how to report on the trip to the Greenfield Village Old Car Festival. I bought a small digital camera the night before I left, sure that Barbara could program it ready for me to shoot. That turned out to be a challenge but we were able to get it working somewhat. An epic trip, I think the best way to cover it would be to break it up into chapters, so much happened. In an attempt to avoid clogging up everyone's computers, I'll begin by sending photos of some of the cars I really liked and general shots of the village. Since I don't know how to caption the photos, I'll just list the cars and you'll have to play match the make with the picture. Let's call this Chapter 1, A fine collection of Automotive History. Part 1. * The Miller's 1904 Sunset * EMF roadster * The Miller's 1908 Cadillac * Cartercar *International Harvester *Street scene That's all for this installment."

Chris, the site was hacked by the Free Syrian Army or something like that. Guess we are pretty important. Anyway, Peter restored it to the last backup, but we lost a couple of days of posts. You have to recreate what you previously did.

John, that is a great price on that 1928 Buick, standard model. Looks to have most of its interior except for the headliner. Everything is pretty complete. Would be a great car to have.

Here is the company for woven brake material. You have to make sure that you get the correct rivet to attach them. Brake Linings - Moulded Brake Linings, Woven Brake Linings Brass Brake Lining for your vintage car. Most machine shops can attach the lining to the backing plates. And yes, most restoration shops can do the entire job for you too. Just depends on your desire to do them yourself or pay others to do it for you.

I am not familiar with Chrysler brakes. Do you have actual shoes or pad that go around the drum?

Try Fort Wayne Clutch. Fort Wayne Clutch & Driveline NEW & REBUILT / REMANUFACTURED CAR and HEAVY DUTY TRUCK CLUTCHES - CUSTOM DRIVESHAFTS

Still Thursday, but PM. Done for the day, going to hit the pool and chill out. Hot in VA, says 93 degrees, but with high humidity the heat index is more like 102 degrees. You just run for shade if you are outside. Storms are suppose to come tomorrow and cool us down for the weekend. Oh, the Avanti springs were shipped back to the owner, not to me. He told me that he had to reboxed them and put them on an express truck on Tuesday. So I should have them Thursday/Friday. If they do not show up he said that he would refund my money. I just don't understand how this could be so hard. I finished cleaning the Jaguar this morning. It is a good as I can make it. I am done. Cleaned the wheels and white wall tires and then took some Maguires leather conditioner and applied it to the seats. I find that it is easier to just us my hands to rub it into the leather rather than a cloth. Leaves my palms nice and buttery too. Here are pics of before and after of the wheels. They were not that dirty anyway, but now they are nice and bright.

It is Wednesday morning, September 11th. Just got a note from Greg. They made it home safe and sound. He will be bring the Suburban and trailer back in the next day or so. Looks like the site is still having hacking problems, but was able to get back in. Over the past few days I have been cleaning the Jaguar. It is about all done and ready for the big concours on Sunday in Reston, VA. Really the last thing I am going to do is treat the leather seats, that will be done today. A couple of days ago I pulled the carpet out of the car. It is in good condition, but had a few spots with either grease or black tar on them. So I did a deep cleaning of both the carpet and and carpet liners, which go on top of the carpet. Both came out great. I also could see some rust forming again on the metal floor panels. So I cleaned them and then used Eastwood's encapsulator paint to prevent any more rust formation. Will keep an eye on it over the next few years or so. You can see that there has been damage to the metal, but it is still strong and no rust through. The other half of the floor is plywood and it is in very good condition. Here are a couple of pic. The dark stains on the carpet is where I really had to clean the carpet to get the stains out. They will fade as the carpet dries out.

It is Tuesday, PM. Looks like we have lost several posts from Greg due to the hacking problem of the forums. So here are his posts. "We've had a wonderful time at the Old Car Festival in Dearborn. Quite unlike any "car show" I've attended. Greenfield Village is the product of Henry Ford's appreciation for history. It amounts to a small town of historic buildings tied together by streets , roads and railroads (with live steam trains running on schedule). The show is very much like hundreds of antique vehicles (boneshaker bicyles and motorized up to 1932 ) descending upon this town for a cruise-in. Parking was arranged for us usually in chronological order on shady lawns but the really neat thing is that we are encouraged, actually expected to drive around . With intersections patrolled by traffic cops (in period costumes) , imagine traffic jams of cars from 1886 up to '32 of all kinds. Should you see something you'd like to ride in, if you see it coming by with an empty seat, all you'd have to do is stick out your thumb. We also spent a lot of time giving a receiving driving lessons too. Dan Miller checked me out in his single cylinder '08 Cadillac and I made him drive the old IHC in return. All this going on in addition to the usual Village route of house tours, carousel and train rides, etc. There was also in addition to old car games, a judging of cars for place prizes. And although I declined to enter that, I was surprised to learn that the museum staff had voted the Harvester the best unrestored vehicle there and awarded it the Curator's Choice Award. They need to get out more. But to report on the Harvester's behavior, I'd have to say that it did exceptionally well. It has no excuse for starting and running so well. The glitches were minor. On one lap of "the block", I had Dan pull over so that I could check the gas supply on hand. I'd put about three gallons in the tank at home. Pulling the gas cap, I looked in the tank to see the bottom. That's when it quit. Who knew I'd put that many miles on it. That's when Glenn Miller hopped out and hot footed it to his trailer and can of spare gas. Saved my life again. The only other incident was a spec of carbon that fouled one of the spark plugs. A minute cleaning and both cylinders were firing again. The gas lights worked well for Saturday night's after dark Gaslight Parade... hanging out with friends and making some new ones, just everything went well. And today was also Girl's Day Out. Barb, Jeannie Miller and Pam Nash took in a House Tour of Marshall, Indiana. So now tomorrow we have to look at some equipment and then for some business at the Ford Museum. With no plan, we don't know what day we'll be home. I've taken plenty of pictures but until I get home and read the manual , I don't know if I got anything and if so, how to get it out of the camera. Still a dinosaur in the computer age. It's been a great trip." Next report from this morning. Looks like it was written Monday PM. "Greetings from Strasburg, Ohio. Wherever that is. We just crawled out of the Suburban after a marathon drive through the Ohio byways in the dark. It has been another very special day of coincidence and I'll bring you up to date next missive. Should be home tomorrow night. Beat." Found a link to the show. Greg's car is not there, but some nice cars. http://www.macsmotorcitygarage.com/2013/09/08/greenfield-village-old-car-festival-2013/

Bill, when you blasted through Winchester you were close to Dave/Trimacar, Chris, Greg and of course, me. We are all about 30 to 40 minutes from 81. Have a great time at your show.

It is Saturday morning, early, September 7th. We just got a report from Greg. " We left Thursday morning for parts Midwest. Nice day and the miles went well, the only backtracking was to fetch an errant clip-on mirror that decided it didn't want to go along. That was on Rt 68 out of Cumberland. Miraculously, nothing broken, not even the mirror glass. To avoid toll roads I opted to take Rt 70 across Ohio, overnight in Dayton and then North on 75. As we were enticed to attend by my friends Glenn and Jeannie Miller we stayed near them in Plymouth Michigan. Today, Friday, was early registration, our reason for being there early. Met in the parking lot by Glenn, we also noted the arrival of Dave Liepelt and father. The former driving a truck hauling his I think 1911 Overland and a trailer hauling an early twenties Willys coupe. Watching him unload was a hoot. The Willys was backed off the open trailer, then ramps placed so that the Overland could be backed down off the truck onto the trailer and then off the trailer . Dave, the sly dog, then offered me the chance to drive the Overland around a bit, which Barbara and I had to do, just to be polite. Dave doing this to entice me to get to work on mine. It sure felt good. After the registration packet was picked up, Glenn and Jeannie just happened to cruise by in their 1904 Sunset and offered a tour of the Greenfield Village layout. Who was I to say no? Now, after a tour of their restored 1850's home and shop and a nice dinner out, we're getting ready for tomorrow. That's the latest from Detroit. Tomorrow starts what is supposed to be the greatest assemblage of early cars, shown and driven. Looking for ward to it. I bought a camera for this trip so there should be some photos coming. Ps. Mike, are you coming along with Pam? It would be great to see you." =

It is Thursday, early PM on September 5th. Boy I am glad that I am not the only one who has trailer mishaps from time to time. I am sure that Chris turned into a very religious person when that Avanti started rolling off the trailer. I hope that his heart has slowed down a bit. Greg came by last night and picked up the Suburban and enclosed trailer. He said that he was going to leave this morning. Hope that he has a great trip and show. The show is Saturday and Sunday. He said that the old IH is looking and running great. I spent this morning cleaning the Jaguar. It really looks good except for the wire wheels and white wall tires. I have to do some cleaning on them before the concours in two weeks. I did take some time to clean the mechanism that allows the steering wheel to go forward and backwards for driver preferred driving positions. When I got the car the steering wheel was locked down tight and I had to use a pair of large channel lock pliers to get the lock to release. I have not touched it since then. So this morning I got the lock to easily release and I lubed everything up and made sure that everything worked correctly. I even took some chrome polish on the spring and metal sourround, and cleaned them up. When the car was new I think that they maybe were chrome. Now it has turned almost black and there is no chrome. So maybe they were just polished metal? But I took my polish and got all the back off and now the look presentable for a 1953 car. Then Shadow and I went for a long ride in the country. I think that we logged about 50 miles or so. When I got home I had a package from Bob Helm's Studebaker Parts. The power steering hoses for the Avanti had arrived. They look great. I still have not received the used Avanti leaf springs. The seller say they should have been delivered on Tuesday, they were not and Wednesday either. If they do not show up by Saturday I will ask for my money back. I do understand that I may be out some money, but he is a player on the Studebaker forum and will not like my input. So we will see.

Chris, I felt the same way, but you do it over it and move on. You will love the result. I was impressed with the overall cleanliness of the business too. I have been in places that were dumps. I think you will be happy in the end.

It is Tuesday, Sept. 3rd, PM. Got up early and headed over to pick up Chris and his Avanti. Loaded up and got the car to Maaco. We had an interesting unloading. I thought I told Chris to put on the emergency brake and he though I said to take it off. Sooooooooooooo, when I removed the front straps, the Avanti when to the races. Down the ramp with Chris in hot pursuit and me holding on to the end of the strap. Thank goodness that we were on the flat. Chris grabbed onto the fender well and it split. But within fifteen feet we had it stopped and we both looked at each other in total disbelief. Oh well, no real harm done. The fender was cracked, now it is just a bit bigger by a foot. Anyway, it is in the shop and will be there for three weeks or more. The head painter, with 20 plus years of experience, came out and went over the car with Chris. And the owner was there too. I cannot fault their customer service or interest in the car. I left Chris talking with the owner. Got home and got the Suburban hooked up to the big enclosed trailer, and it is ready for Greg to pick up.

It is Monday PM, September 2nd. Took the Jaguar out for a nice run this afternoon. The concours is in two weeks so I have to start prepping in about a week or so. It is pretty much ready to go. Off tomorrow morning to pick up Chris and his Avanti. Off to the paint shop we go. And for your evening reading, Greg has a weekend report for us. "It's been a good long weekend. With the Harvester starting and running well, I found time to work on Avanti 5054. I need to get the quarter upholstery panels in, so thanks to Coco and White Post Restorations stock, I had some scrim back foam padding. My first tries at the job resulted in Wrinkle City, so I decided to stray from the cotton wadding that was originally used. By gluing the foam to the cardboard backing, gluing the vinyl to the foam, the vinyl had an idea of how to fit into a concavity. Saturday was spent trying to redo the panels, Sunday too. Multiple attempts glueing and fitting, but I finally got decent results. I'm just not as good as the guys who did it all day long at the factory. The panels get screwed and glued into place. I'll wait until the quarter vent windows are ready to go in to complete the stretching and gluing of the vinyl. Next I'll spend some time renewing the original cardboard headliners. The rear slides into place before the back window goes in. As for the IHC, today I've got the side and tail lamps working with new wicks and the refilling of the fonts with kerosene. Also working are the acetylene headlamps. The Prestolite tank borrowed from the Stoddard, It's temporarily mounted and plumbed into the original system. Now the plan is to not fix anything that isn't broken. For some reason it's trailing oil smoke. I guess I can't blame it, but I don't like it. I'm NOT going to take it apart to check the rings, etc. I did try 50 weight oil with some snake oil ring seal, but that doesn't seem to make any difference. I just guess it is what it is. Plans are to leave for Dearborn on Thursday." =

It is Sunday, Sept. 1st. Just got home from taking the 1923 McLaughlin Buick up into the mountains of Virginia. Every year a number of the neighbors have fall parties for the folks in the neighborhood. We were invited to such a party today. It was on the back roads, one lane gravel roads up into the hollows. It was close by, but it was still about five miles off the main road. We got lost and had to return home for more directions, but finally we made it. The farm was high up on the mountain. It has been in the same family for seven generations. The house was built in 1820 replacing a cabin that was built in the 1700s. Quite a place and still a working farm. These are the Virginia mountain people. So we had a pig roast and everyone brought food. More that everyone could eat. And we had a local band playing mountain music. Took some pics. We even got to try some moonshine, or "apple pie" as they called it. It was really good, and everyone had a mason jar full. At dark we headed back down the mountain. It was really dark when we got home. The car ran great and did not miss a beat. I am uploading a video of the band playing. It will be on Youtube in a few minutes. http://youtu.be/ceFZoqNybjI

Chris, sent you an email. We will haul your Avanti to the shop to get her new coat on Tuesday. Already have the trailer hooked up. So pull everything to include the tail lights. Will load Greg on Tuesday PM or Wednesday AM. No big deal.

It is Saturday, August 21st. Still waiting on the Avanti leaf spring. Did talk to the seller and he said that it was spent to NC by mistake. He promised that it would be here on Tuesday. Speaking of Tuesday, I will be getting the Suburban and trailer ready for Greg. He is going to leave on Thursday morning and wants to pick the truck up on Wednesday for the trip to Dearborn. I hope that some of you will get to see him and his International Harvester speedwagon. If you do, make sure you stop and say HI. I also thought you might want to see this video. I did not know that a Jaguar 120 set a major speed record in Belgium in 1953, which has not been broken since then. Here is the link. Car Video, Automotive News, Reviews and Crash Tests - MSN Autos