unimogjohn

It is Friday, July 19th, PM. Just in from a late lunch at the hotel. The hotel had hot dogs and bratwurst plus the fixings for sale out in the courtyard. Beats heading out in a car to a restaurant. We headed to the Buick pre-war forum members breakfast at 7 AM. It was fun to finally put some names to the monikers on the forum. Joe and I had a good time talking to a bunch of folks. We had our gift exchange, which is always fun. Joe finally got some GM books that he wanted after exchanging a Buick thermometer he initially won with Larry. I got a jigsaw puzzle of cars. My present was taken, a pair of fender lights from the 30s, and I think appreciated. We all had a fun time. Then we got on the bus and headed to Notre Dame for a self guided walking tour. So we walked and walked and saw great school buildings and a very nice church. The grounds were beautiful with lots of trees and flowers. The girls enjoyed it. Nice to say that I saw it. Then it was back to the hotel and lunch. The clouds are starting to roll in now and thunderstorms are expected this afternoon. Not many cars in the show field. Most are just parked around the hotel, but there are lots of Buicks. Heading off to dinner tonight, think we will try Mexican for a change. Tomorrow morning around 6:30 I plan on getting the 23 out of the trailer and loaded with what we need for the show. About 7 we will head to the show field. Should be a fun day. On Saturday afternoon we will load up for the trip home and then head to the big dinner at the hotel. On Sunday we will be making a B line for the farm. Will make it in one day so we will be on the road NLT 5 AM.

It is Friday AM, July 19th. Hot again today and suppose to be heavy thunderstorms so the 23 will stay in the trailer while we are away visiting the Hudson Museum and NDU. Heading down to breakfast to visit with the forum guys soon. But first we have a report from Greg. "Work goes on. Not much progress to show. This evening I finished cleaning, repairing and retaping the underhood wiring harness on the black Avanti. Next I'll use the new clips that I made to secure it in place. Yesterday was a day off the job. Saddled up old Seabiscuit, the maroon Avanti, and met Trimacar Coco. He was trying his luck with a newly rebuilt carburetor on his Pierce Arrow, and I was his wingman. A beautiful day to convoy to Rob Burchill's, the site of a stop of this week's AACA tour. It was a good crowd, well behaved even when provoked. It was an opportunity for me to get some hands on, a Model A was acting up and I got to change the points, probably the first time I've done that since high school. While wrenching, I also got some time with my International speed wagon, with assistance from Peter Jakab. It's good to get these museum types out of their usual surroundings and put them to work. Liked to have gotten that on film. I also got to meet West Peterson and discuss a few things with him. He didn't like my shirt. The tour's evening entertainment was a showing of a silent film with organ accompaniment at the Weinberg Center. That's always a must . Then an enjoyable drive back to Hyde Manor. Seabiscuit and I both enjoyed the day's run." Note: Here is a bio of Peter Jakab. I had no idea he was also a Wright Brother's airplane expert. Dr. Peter Jakab | National Air and Space Museum

It is Thursday, July 18th, early PM. Heading off to dinner tonight at the Studebaker home in South Bend. Looking forward to it. The day started out really nice. Joe and I hit the flea market, and we were able to find some stuff. Joe got a couple of horn buttons for his 55 Century, a rear license plate emblem, carb, and thinking of a NOS air cleaner set up. Me? I got a new spark plug wires and connectors for the 23. Mine are OK, but they are a bit too short and have a habit of popping out of the distributor cap when I use the spark control. Nice new set from Bob's Automobilia. Then we pulled the 23 McLaughlin Buick out of the trailer and started her up. Actually, she started really well and I stalled it getting it out of the trailer. Of course it flooded and it took most of the battery to get her going again. But we made it to the show field and to pre-inspection. Lights, check, fire extinguisher, check, paperwork, check, turn signals, we all held out our arms, check. Made it through. We got our pictures taken and then headed to a parking stall for the day to let folks take a look at her. Here are a couple of pics. We then headed to the Studebaker museum for a few hours. It was another great museum. Who knew all the different cars Studebaker produced over the years. I especially like the 30s and early 50s cars in addition to the Avanti. They also had a couple of concept cars from the 60s too. I took lots of pics and will post them tomorrow. But here are a few to keep you interested. We made it back after lunch and it started to turn dark and sprinkle. So Joe let us off near the car and we ran to the 23. Of course we left the top down. We jumped in and she started right up. Headed up to the trailer about 1/4 of a mile away. By the time we got there it was coming down and we were laughing all the way. What a great time. As I pulled up into the trailer the skies opened up. It stormed it brains out for over thirty minutes. We hid in the Suburban and waited for Joe to come rescue us. We waited, waited, waited. But Joe never came. We wiped down the car and its interior and then grabbed an umbrella and headed back to the hotel as the rain had let up. About an hour later as we watch from our room window, another huge gusher came with lots of wind. Cars were scrambling. A couple of convertibles had their tops down and were getting drenched. Glad that were were safely inside and the car was in the trailer. Tomorrow we head off to a tour of Notre Dame University in the morning. In the afternoon we are going to unhook the trailer and fill the truck with gas and then head to the Hudson Museum. Oh yes, and the we have the Buick pre-war forum breakfast tomorrow morning to meet all the guys.

Here are a few pics from the ACD Museum. I have tried to up the car information with each pic. Hope that it is readable. The model and year of the car are on the bottom of the placards.

It is Wednesday, July 17th PM. Done for the day, and it was a good one. Spent the morning at the ACD museum. What an outstanding collection and museum. We spent over four hours there and that was quick. Many beautiful cars, and most I have never seen before. Will upload pics tomorrow and post a few. I think I took 160 pictures. We then headed for lunch and of course had fried chicken and all the fixings. We then decided to go to a huge open air flea market close by that was billed as the biggest in Indiana. Well, it probably was, but the quality of the market items was not worth the effort to walk up and down the isles in about 100 degrees. So we packed it in and headed back to the hotel. Many more cars came in today. Here are some pics of just some of them. We met up with Larry and Joan. They drove their 37 from PA in two days. Only had a couple of over heating issues, but they made the 500 or so miles. We also heard that Dave made it in his 1928 Buick. Will meet up with him tomorrow. Remember that I bought the engine block for my 28 from Dave. He is from Baltimore, MD. Tomorrow is another day. We are going to take the 23 through tech inspection and then will head off to the Studebaker Museum. Think that we will hit the pool tomorrow PM. It has been really hot here, you just cannot be out in the sun for too long. Tomorrow will be hot too, but thunderstorms are expected for Friday. Saturday is suppose to cool off to the low 80s and overcast. Now that sounds great for the show.

Some were setting up this afternoon, Tuesday, to be ready for the opening tomorrow, Wednesday. I am sure that Wednesday will be the best day.

Still Tuesday, later in PM. Joe (Packick on this forum) and his bride Kathy rolled into the hotel after flying all day from Seattle, WA. We had a nice dinner at the hotel and decided what we are going to do tomorrow. Will register in the morning and then we will be heading off to the Auburn Cord Dusenberg Museum Home and then to the town of Shipshewana in the afternoon. Shipshewana Home Page - Welcome to the Town of Shipshewana in Indiana Of course there is dinner and Joe found a great recommendation for a place that does great fried chicken so we will head there, wherever that is. Joe just sent me a link to the restaurant. http://www.riegsecker.com/shipshewana/bluegaterestaurant/

Paul, it seems hotter, but it is about the same, humidity is lower. But it is still hot, 96 degrees hot.

It is Tuesday, July 16th, early PM. We made it to South Bend and are checked into the hotel. Very nice digs. Just a few cars here so far that we can see. Will be moving the trailer to its special parking area tomorrow. Right now we are in the middle of the show field. Kinda lonely out there right now. Going to take a couple of tours tomorrow, maybe the Studebaker museum. Glad we are at home base and can relax. More tomorrow. Oh, met the show host, Mike, and he said that they expect about 400 cars in total.

Still Monday, but PM. Made it 465 miles from home. We stopped as planned near Toledo, OH about 6 PM. It was hot, over 90 most of the way. But it was comfortable inside the truck. It liked to run about 58 mph, 2,000 rpm, and we got 10.5 mpg. Not bad for pulling a heavy load. Fueled up once, $103 for 29 gallons. Gas was $3.61 per gallon. Really no issues except that a check engine light came on for an hour or so and when went off. It kicked off when a sound like a turbine spooling up when we pulled away from a traffic light. It did not sound like it was coming either from the engine or transmission. Could the vicious fan do this? The alternator is reading about 13.8 volts, it usually reads 14.2. I will have to watch both things tomorrow. We have 133 miles to go to South Bend so we will take our time tomorrow and leave here around 11 AM or so and get into the hotel about 2:30 PM

It is Monday, July 15th, AM. Almost time to head to South Bend and the Buick Nationals. Have to put in a few more things and then see if we can get out of the pasture and onto the road. Thank goodness for 4 wheel drive. But before I sign off, here is a weekend report from Greg. "Busy weekend, good weekend. Work on Avanti 5054: Some shop cleanup uncovered a few parts that were on the misplaced category. A few things good to have back. Today I began cleaning and repairing the underhood wiring harness. Not only is the tape covering in need of renewing, but some of the wire and terminal ends are in need of help. I'm replacing some of the wire and reusing the terminals. Time consuming, but worth the effort." =

Paul, most auto parts stores like NAPA, Carquest, etc, sell a variety pack of several different materials in various sizes. For the carb you would use a fuel resistant paper material. This is just an example from Amazon. Fel-Pro 3060 Gasket Material : Amazon.com : Automotive

It is Sunday, June 14th AM. Spent the day yesterday waxing the 23 McLaughlin Buick in the trailer. She is all done and ready for the Buick Nationals in South Bend, IN. Wheels up is tomorrow about 7 or 8 AM. Going to stop somewhere near Toledo, OH for the night and then roll into South Bend about mid afternoon. It is about a 640 mile trip. Now if we can just get out the pasture. We got a total of 6.2 inches of rain over the past two days. Hope that today is dry. Will post reports on the show and the hotel is suppose to have access to the internet. I am sure that I will be taking lots of pics too.

You can also make your own gaskets and a new cork float. Cork is available from any hobby shop/store. Cut it to the same size and shape as your original. Then use Super Glue to seal it from the fuel. You can also dry out the old cork if it is still serviceable and then coat it. My 23-45 does not have locks on the door. Locks are on the combo switch and transmission only. What model do you have? Pics would be helpful too.

Bill, the trailer 26 ft. When I bought it I figured that I could put some cabinets in the front for storage, etc. As you can see I have not done that yet. The reason I bought the trailer was that it was too good of a deal to pass up. When I first saw it I immediately thought of the movie I saw a lad. It was titled The Long, Long Trailer with Desi and Lucy in 1953, and I was 7 years old. Here is the movie trailer for it. Go to minute 2 and this is what my usual predicament is. Still raining off and on here. I did spend some time waxing the 23. Got all the fenders, cowling and hood done. Tomorrow will finish up the rest. Too humid to more.

It is Friday, July 12th, early PM. Heading out to put some wax on the fenders of the 23 MB. We had a whopper of a storm last night. Lots of thunder and lightning. We got 2.5 inches of rain out of it and more is suppose to be coming in this afternoon. Sure glad I got everything moved around yesterday. And we have a report from Greg. " A request from the peanut gallery. More squirrel pictures! OK, here's a typical scene on a typical commute home after a typical day's work. A hungry mouth waiting patiently to be fed. While on that subject, getting in more time with the nighttime flyers. Since I've developed a routine for feeding them, they've starting to anticipate me. Quite often they will fly to the feeder to meet me. They come swooping in like shadows in the night. Holding a flashlight, sometimes you can see them but usually not. They move a lot of air when they fly by. I can't tell if they are playing with me or trying to run me off, but they even buzz me. Last night twice. Once beside me and once, if I had hair he'd have put a part in it. The draft felt is like someone blowing out a candle. The other night one grazed my wrist, it felt like being brushed by a feather. They make sounds. Sometimes squeaking to each other, but last night there must have been something up in Squirrel City. One chirped like a baby bird. And like the day grays, they chase each other to maintain a pecking order. Squirrel racing I call it. They're a pleasant diversion from milling metal. Avanti 5054? I've gotten the universal joints installed and the driveshaft in place. Old wheels on and jack stands out, it's back on the ground, but after all that work the car still looks the same. "Sheesh" as Trimacar would say. I've a new master cylinder on order, should be in today. That would leave the power brake booster. I've started stripping the paint from it prior to sending it out for overhaul. Knocked offline by last night's storm, and not having many braincells available first thing in the morning, this installment is on it's way." =

Still Thursday, PM. Finished up strapping the car to the trailer. I like to use the X pattern as it tends to stop the side to side movement of the car. But I don't think that she is going to move a bit during the trip. Smelled gas when I went into the trailer and gas was coming out the filler. Expansion and the car is on a downward angle resulted in a spill. So I removed about two gallons to make sure it does not happen again. No harm done. Made sure everything was aired out before I put the battery charger on. Oh, and I got a note that the new Optima 6 volt battery will be here on Tuesday. Too late. We will be long gone. Just going to take the battery charger just in case. But we should be fine. Now that the McLaughlin out out of the garage, the Jaguar gets to go in. So took the opportunity to take a nice twenty mile drive through the countryside before I put her away. Sure runs good. Here are a couple of pics.

It is Thursday, July 11th, late AM. Well the rain is holding off this morning so decided to start the 23 McLaughlin Buick and pull her into the trailer. She started easily on fresh gas, but I decided to get out and put the moto-meter on the radiator so I did not forget it. Bad idea, as the engine died. It was a bit of a struggle to get her going again. The choke has to be set just right for her to cough to life. I thought the battery was going to poop out on me, but the engine started. My top it just a couple of inches too tall for the trailer entrance so have to put it down. I can put it down by myself, but it is a two person job to put it up. During the judging of the cars on Saturday the tops on all the cars must be up to include a display of the side curtains. My side curtains are still original and brown. David Coco (Trimacar on this forum) said that he can do me a set so it is on my to do list when I get a few pennies in the bank. Maybe this winter. But at least I have them so all they can do is mark me down some points. Such is life. Here are some pics of the car. Will head back out in an hour or so and strap her down. It is just too hot right now and my shirt is drenched. Summer in VA is just so much fun. Oh, and the car is all packed too, except for our personal stuff. I think i transferred the garage to the Suburban.

Still Wednesday, PM. Still hot and humid here. I had water just pouring off me when I was working on the trailer wiring. But got her fixed and everything works. Put in a short extension of wire on the broken one. The other two were fine except for the coating. Both got some black electricians tape. Put the rubber casing back in place and then used tape to close everything up. Rerouted the wire. The repaired break is now behind and below the emergency chains.

Just a reminder to bring something pre-war for the gift exchange. We all love presents. Here is mine.

Still Wednesday, but early PM. Boy I am sure glad that I decided to hook up the Suburban to the enclosed trailer this morning. Hooking up the connections I spied a deep cut in the electrical cable. I could see that one wire was badly damaged, and upon inspection, I have two wires cut and one with the jacket cut exposing the wire strands. Glad I caught this now and not when we were on the road. If the rain hold off this afternoon I will make repairs. I will braze the lines back together and use some shrink wrap to protect the individual lines. On a more happier note, I wrapped my gift for the Buick Pre-War breakfast on the Friday of the Buick National meet. It is a great time to meet those that banter back and forth on the net. We always have a great time. One of the things we do is to bring a gift to exchange. They are not gag gifts, but usually something related to the pre-war years. I went into my parts bin to find a couple of thing that I am never going to use. I wish I could tell you what they are, but members of this forum and also members of the Buick forums. So it will have to be a surprise. Oh, and I used the only wrapping paper I could find.

Dan, the largest Studebaker supplier is Studebaker International. However, with that said there are many good Stude vendors out there. For things other than parts like distributor, carb and rebuild parts I use Dave Tbow (Dave Thibeault 13 Nick Lane Maynard MA 01754 PH: 978-897-3158) I also use John Myers, Welcome Absolutely the best Studebaker reference site is Bob Johnstone's Studebaker and Avanti Page (Studebaker Vendors)

Dan, a nice truck and not too many around. Many vendors still have parts available even some sheetmetal out there. Studebaker Drivers Club has a huge forum and can usually point you in the right direction. Here is a link. Studebaker Drivers Club Forum Let us know if you decide to buy it.

It is Wednesday, July 10th, AM. Raining here this morning. Looks like I will not be loading the 23 McLaughlin Buick this morning. The grass in the pasture is too wet. I would not be able to make it up the little hill without slipping and sliding. Maybe the sun will come out later on. No rush anyway as I can always hook up the Suburban. Have to pack it first. Have most of what I am taking in it, but not arranged yet. Looks like I am taking the entire garage! And here is a report from Greg. "Avanti 5054 action. A little. Finding that the drive shaft was showing signs of rusting beneath the paint, it came apart. Last night I sandblasted it and got it primed, painted it this morning. Didn't have any excuse not to put new Universal joints in it, so off to the NAPA store armed with some part numbers. Didn't work at first until I offered a Spicer part number. They could reference that, but they'd have to order it. Armed with the same Spicer number, I went to the CarQuest place. With no Studebaker listed in their parts catalog, it did cross reference and they had two in stock. Johnstone: CQ 210-0153 is the current PN. Anyway, tonight I began assembly, front joint went well, the rear one didn't. I somehow dinged the cross , a needle bearing had become deranged with the resulting scar on one of the journals. Back to the store tomorrow for a replacement for the replacement. Otherwise, enclosed are a couple pics relayed by old friend Andrew King of the Skies. He's on a working vacation and as the photos attest, he's misbehaving in a Fokker DVII. Bad boy!" =

Bill and Chris, not on my forum for either Greg or myself.