unimogjohn

Bill, Chris was right about my crimped line. Also there is a single rubber line that connects to the distribution block. That is often blocked by old fluid or the rubber has swollen and cut off the fluid supply. I got my replacement lines at Carquest, but I know NAPA has the lines also. But the pedal going to the floor indicates a total failure of one of the hydo components or one of the three rubber lines. Was there any fluid left in the master cylinder?

Still Monday, about noon. Getting hot outside now, heading up to over 90 degrees with afternoon thunderstorms. This morning changed the oil in the 23 McLaughlin Buick. No filter. Takes almost six quarts to the fill mark. Also headed up to attic and pulled down the other tire pump. I think that this one is more correct. It is a two tube, high pressure pump. The tires hold 60 psi. Not that I would want to pump them up manually. Here is a pic.

It is Monday morning, June 24th. For your morning coffee we have a Greg report. "Capping off the weekend. The pleasant weather was conducive to getting some things done on the black Avanti, but nothing that really shows. I secured the new forward fuel line to the frame with a clip and screw. I shot some undercoating to the underside of the left front fender. I secured the upper and lower hardware of the front shock absorbers. I installed the two shields that protect the torque converter housing. I installed the upper control arm rebound rubbers. This required the old chain around the frame and under the floor jack to elevate the arms enough to sneak the rubbers in place. With Friday's delivery of upholstery panel board in house, I laid out the two upper rear quarter panels and have roughly cut them to shape. I disassembled the heater and have begun cleaning and repair. Like I said, time spent that doesn't show. A very pleasant weekend." =

Speaking of things to take. One item will be a tire pump. Here is a pic of one I have. It is a single barrel, long throw, pump. I think that it is a teens pump. What do you think? I also have a double barrel pump. That may be more appropriate. I will post a pic of that pump tomorrow. Here are some pics of the motor analyzer. It is all complete to include all the connector cables and instruction manual. The date on the manual is 1934.

Bill, that S thing is the crank handle. Not something I want to use. The long rod is for the jack, a wrench goes on the end to turn it. The jack has two sets of screws, one for bringing it up to the car and a second one for lifting. A pretty stout piece. It is Sunday, June 23rd, PM. Three weeks or so before we head off to South Bend, IN with the McLaughlin Buick. Time is marching on, and I have so much to do. Today Tim, our son and helper, finished putting on the last of the two tires. The car is now on all of its wheels and is looking great with her new shoes. Tomorrow we are going to change oil and then take her for a spin. Oh, and I borrowed three tire spoons from Greg to help us with the tire installation. Those spoons and the mechanical tire spreader made the task an easy one. But alas, I have to return the spoons to Greg this coming week. So have ordered a couple for my travel tool kit. You really only need two, so ordered two curved spoons. Who knows, I may need them someday. I always like to take an interesting piece of automotive history to display with the car. So this year I will be taking an auto tune up and diagnostic machine that was made for use in the 20s. It is all complete and in great shape, to include instructions. It is the size of a small suitcase. I will pull it down tomorrow and take a pic for you.

It is Saturday morning, June 22nd. A family picnic today so not a lot is going to be done on the car front. But I did manage to put the 23 McLaughlin Buick tool set together. Joe sent me a list of the tools from his documentation. So with his hammer, and an older set of pliers from my tool chest, I am declaring victory on the tool front. I will clean them up, but do not intend to paint as I do not believe that anything came painted. If painted it was probably just a semi-gloss black. I have a much used tool bag from my Unimog days that I will use to carry most of them in. It is well used and looks like it was made in the 30s or so. It is all in the presentation. Here is the final set.

Still Friday, PM, sun is setting for the day. Another item or items for the 1923 McLaughlin Buick are the tools that came with the car from the factory. I have a bunch of 1920's tools that came with the 28 and the 23, plus a couple of other I pick up along the way. The attached couple of pics is what I have. There are duplicates of some of the wrenches. I have to dig out my McLaughlin factory parts manual as I remember seeing a diagram of the tools that came with the car. That little picture will be my factory documentation for the judges at the Buick Nationals next month. They require that a set a tools be displayed, and they should be clean and in good working order. I have to do some work on mine to make them presentable. In 1923 most of the tools were in a individual pouches in the driver's side door. The rest were stowed under the rear seat. In the 1928 Buick, everything was under the front seat. I do not have pouches in mine so they are just going to be in a tool bag consistent with the period. I know I am missing a ball peen hammer and a set of pliers for sure. I think that I do have the pliers and Joe Hopkins on this forum has the hammer for me. Will give you a report on what I am missing when I find that book.

Bill, will check the shelves at Home Depot and see what they have as well as the local restoration. Going to visit Paul Rose of Vintage Restorations next week so will see what he has also. It is Friday, June 21st, PM. Worked a bit more on the tires for the 23. Got the tube and flap in both tires and are now ready for installation on the rims. That will have to wait until Sunday. With my help gone, and my promise to not mount the tires on the rims until he returns, I jumped on the creeper and began the cleaning of the underside of the car. With a spray bottle of Fantastic and a couple of rags, I started from the back and moved to the front. After about an hour I was done. Kinda nice rolling around on that creeper, nice and smooth, and comfortable too. Beats crawling around on your back and elbows. Now I would not want to eat off the frame, but at least all the grime is gone. Here are some shots of the after.

Bill, great idea. This is one product. Automotive OEM Product Catalog - full line of materials and parts - 3M US: Automotive OEM: 3M But I think that Greg is concerned that with adhesive, the weld becomes permanent. Restoration down the road would be much more difficult. But will discuss with him.

Still Friday. Talked to Greg about the Jaguar hood issue. Here is what he recommends. THE FIX I talked to my airframe restorer expert Greg, and he said that the only way to make a permanent repair is to cut and weld in a new piece. However, he recommended a semi permanent fix until the next paint job. He is going to cut and bend a two feet long piece of aircraft aluminum strip and then bent it over on itself. So it will be in the shape of a flat U to fit over the broken section. It will then be pop riveted into place with aluminum studs. This will give it the necessary strength to support the twist in the hood when using the prop rod.

Michael, I asked Greg the same question a couple of days ago. Of course he looked away and mumbled something about being way behind and waiting for parts. So I guess the answer is "no progress". He did tell me that the car is all done and is now ready for the engine. He also said that he has to get back to it soon. So I expect that when the weather turns chilly he will be back on it.

Still Thursday. Went out and took some pics of the Jaguar bonnet damage. Suggestions for repair would be appreciated. I also can see some repairs made in the about the same spot under the paint. So it is a long term problem. I can eliminate the strain on the bonnet by using a very long prop rod/broom handle in the front of the hood to the hood lock below the radiator.

Still Thursday, but PM. My work is done. Spent the afternoon with the rear tires for the 23 McLaughlin Buick. My "helper" left me for the day, but I promised I would not mount the tires. But nothing was said about taking them off the car and taking the tires from the rims. I also put on the new/old spare. It is a Universal brand tire that I bought when I purchased the car in 2005. It did not have a spare tire. This tire has been on the ground so it looks a little used. At least some of the nubs are worn off. So it will be the spare and the four new Universal brand tires will be on the ground. All five have the same tread pattern and looks the same. I then put on some leather preservative on the straps that hold the spare tire on and remounted the tire to the rear of the car. And a reader wrote me and asked the cost of the tires. Well, $1200 and I picked them up when up at Hershey, PA for the big AACA meet in October. I did not buy new flaps or tubes. That would have added another $80 per tires. So far my tubes and flaps look to be in good shape. I did take a look at the date code on the old tires, 1970 looks to be the year of manufacture. They are the Lester brand and look new except for the checking on the outside of the tires from old age. But the still have a life to live. I am giving them to Paul Rose of Vintage Restorations in WV. Paul has an original 1923 master roadster that still runs and drives. But he uses it sparingly and uses it primarily for display. These tire will be much better that what is on the car now. I also included a picture of the hood. Polished them up. Looks good. Oh, and I have an issue with the Jaguar. The aluminum hood or bonnet has a split in the flange that tucks under the hood shell. The hood has a single prop rod that holds it up, but it is way back and hood cants itself from the stress on that side. All the hood weight is on that little space. So the metal fatigued and just broke. I has to thing about how I am going to repair the split and reinforce the lip to handle the stress on that side. I will talk to Greg about it, maybe even take the car down to him. I know that you can probably weld in a strong patch, but that would wreck the paint job and I am not about to do that. I will post a pic of the problem later on.

It is Thursday morning, June 20th, early. Plan on continuing the cleaning of the 23 McLaughlin Buick. I need to get under the car and do some deep cleaning. It will give me the opportunity to try out the new Leslie creeper that I bought myself as a Christmas present. Meanwhile, Greg is pressing on with his projects. Here is his report from early this morning. "I know, it's been pretty quiet. There's been a little progress, but seems there's always a snag. Something that needs to be ordered, a couple 8-32 screws from the hardware store that hold things up. I've gotten the two lower rear quarter upholstery panels for the black Avanti ready, but to do the uppers I need to have more panel board. Ordered today. The stainless brake crossover lines aren't here yet, but even if they were, I need new fittings. They should be ordered tomorrow. I got another (small) box of parts in the mail today. Another car payment. In it, a new tachometer sending unit circuit board. I'd robbed the one out of 5054 to keep another car going, now it's time to pay the piper. He's expensive. Before installation the board must be housed in the old sender . Would have been an easier job if I'd been more observant. The printed instructions go on and on about how this thing was tested before it left , if you wire it wrong or look at it cross eyed and it doesn't work, shame on you. No returns. Being very careful to transfer the wires to the right location, I was unable to see any labeling on the new board. After making a couple email inquiries, I accidentally noticed some very tiny characters on the opposite side of the board. Wires secured, I then closed the unit and attached it to the harness. Now I need screws to mount it under the dash. While under there, I changed out a few instrument lamp bulbs. The Avanti uses red colored bulbs and any deterioration of the color negates the red glow. Today's shipment included some new bulbs, but not enough. Need to order more. Changing them isn't a chore to relish with the steering and emergency brake in place. Defroster hoses to order and install, on and on. As for the day job. Still gnawing on the Wright V8-60 connecting rods. The main beams are roughed out on the bandsaw and now I'm milling on the caps. It occurred to me that there was a flaw in my plan. These rods will need to be left or right hand. In order to do this I was going to make them ambidextrous and just swap the direction of the cap to have the oil dipper point the right direction. Here's the rub: to maintain the strength of the boss for the bolts, I've offset them to be integral with the beam. It occurred to me that with the bolt boss offset, I can't swap the cap direction. I'll have to leave the cap heavy in the dipper area and finish them when know where they go. Or maybe I'll make the caps with both dippers and eliminate the one I don't need? I'll get back to you on that one." =

It is Wednesday, June 19th. Tim, our son, and family arrived from Seattle at 2:00 AM. But by early afternoon we had all recovered from a very late night to start on the 1923 McLaughlin Buick tire switch. The first one took us almost two hours, the second one about 30 minutes. Once you figure out how to do it, it goes pretty quickly. Will do the other two in the next couple days. We also got the hood back on the car too. It is looking whole again.

Bill, now that you have the baby home. How about posting a couple of pics. I know that we all would like to see them. I know that Chris would not mind you posting here or you can post over to my blog.

It is Monday morning, June 17th. For your morning coffee we have a weekend report from Greg. Here is his report. Make sure you watch the video. It is a good one. No wonder Greg loves his Dodge. "It's been a good weekend for sure. Saturday was beautiful, a great day for working on the black 5054 Avanti. It was also a good day to chase parts in the maroon Avanti, Seabiscuit. Shot some undercoating in the right front fender well and then got started on the supercharger cooler, the reservoir stuff. Some of that equipment hangs from the bumper bracket and you can't tighten it up until the bumper is in place and adjusted. I don't have a replated bumper yet, so nothing under there can be secured. Just off the shelf. Saturday night we traveled to Culpeper, Va , the site of the Library of Congress Film and Audio lab and repository. Our Wright Experience associate Paul Glenshaw was showing and narrating his accumulated film clips of the 1908 Ft. Myer aviation trials . We were there just to heckle him. Quite a nice presentation. Sunday....well, there are two old car shows to attend on Father's Day. Barb and I chose to make a quick walk through at the local. We took the '21 Dodge Brothers because it is easy. No quite so, this time. Attempting to start it for the ride home, it wouldn't. Quick troubleshooting revealed the carburetor and vacuum tank were dry. Never troublesome, the vacuum fuel pump wouldn't, so Alice Feser, who was there as moral support for John , drove us back to the shop. Armed with a can of gas, a funnel and Crescent wrench, we got it running again. A couple stops on the way back tells me that the vacuum tank needs a rebuild. With it back in the shed, it was time for Barb's ham dinner. Then a call from my oldest, and it was off to spend time with Nathan. That was a great way to end a great weekend. As for the enclosed, let's title it Barb drives the Dodge........... Making it brief, gotta go."

And here is the final batch for your enjoyment. Did you like the Porsche tractor? One cylinder diesel.

Roger, Wayne says he has the formulations from the supplier. Thanks the reminder. It is Sunday, June 16th, PM. Just got home from the car show. Wayne met up with me at 6:30 AM, and we motored into town. Registration was to open at 7, but the early birds must have arrived really early as their was probably 50 or so cars already in their positions on Main Street. But we found our spot on a side street. We like it because it is out of the sun for most of the day. The downside is that we do not get the traffic that the main street does. But that suits us just fine. We had a great day visiting and talking to folks. Met a couple of Jaguar folks who were just starting to restore their cars. So they took lots of pics and I have their emails to send them more information to help them with their projects. The show is a local one. Most of the cars are modified more modern cars. There were a few original cars, but they are in the minority. I think that there were about a dozen or so British cars there, and the Jaguar was lumped into that class. At about noon a team of six judges appeared and seemed to be pretty knowledgeable about British cars in general. There was no way out of the show streets as every avenue of escape was blocked so we were all resigned to stay until three PM, by which time most of us were thoroughly baked from the sun. Oh, and Greg and Barbara came by. Good to see them. So we talked a bit and they were off looking at the cars. He had brought his 1921 Dodge touring car just to take it on a run. It was not in the show. About an hour later they came back. Odd, but good seeing them again. But Greg said that the car would not start and did I have any tools so he could remove the fuel line from the vacuum tank. So I pulled out the Jaguar tool roll and gave him what I had. Should do the job. A few minutes later he came back and said that the vacuum tank was dry. Alice had our Passat so he took Greg and Barbara back to their place for fuel so he could full the vacuum tank to prime the system. Hope they made it home OK. Anyway, back to the show. Wayne and I waited for the awards since we could not leave anyway. I was surprised when our name was called for 2nd place. 1st place was given to a very nice MGA, restored to the nines. So it was a good day, a very good way to spend Father's Day with lots of families and dads. Here are some pics for your enjoyment. And Greg just called. They made it home. He had to stop a couple of times to refill the little vacuum tank as it ran out of fuel. So the vacuum tank has an issue. Greg said that he had just rebuilt it, in 1971.

Thanks Chris. Yes, she is a nice old car. But it is like driving an old tractor with very little brakes. You really have to plan ahead as only brakes on the rear. Still Saturday. I did some clean up work on the Jaguar. Heading to the local car show with Wayne and his gold Corvette. Speaking of Wayne I did run over to his place this morning and saw his 64 Corvette. Stunning. Two tone blue below the bumper line. He calls it a shadow effect. Looks neat. Here are some pics.

Still Friday, getting late. Just a quick update. Wayne hauled his newly painted 64 Corvette home. I am going over tomorrow to see it and will take some pics. He is happy with the job, but the painting showed up a couple of flaws that everyone missed, so he will have to decide what to do. Talked to Steve re his 67 Camaro. It is back in the shop, for more electrical work, will be back home in a couple of day. Of course after a nice weekend when he could have been driving it. I worked off and on the 23 McLaughlin Buick. Filled up the radiator and it did not leak. Of course a hose needed a little extra pressure on one of the clamps. Good to start the engine. After "tickling" the carb, and giving her full choke, she fired right off. Pulled her out of the garage and let her warm up. The old engine sounds good, even without an exhaust system. Gave her a good wash, cleaned up the engine bay and did some minor tinkering. Tomorrow the hood and engine side panels go back on. She will then be complete again. I did get one headlight to work by adding a ground wire to the socket. The other side is a no go. Will do more investigation on that tomorrow. Here are a few pics. I have a fitted bedsheet to the top. I have it there to protect the top from the dust and the cats. They just love to sleep up on the top. Nice place to view the world from.

It is Friday, June 14th, AM. The big storms came and went yesterday. The entire area got hammered, but the storm was split by our mountain and went south and north of us. Good deal. Wayne came by early this morning and picked up the open car trailer. He is bringing home the 64 Corvette today. Hope to see it tomorrow or even this PM if he needs help getting it into the garage. Going to fill the radiator on the 23 and pull her out of the garage for a wash job and general cleaning. And Greg has a report for us too. "The forecast of bad weather missed. Although we had a squall come through first thing this morning, for the rest of the day it was rather pleasant. Especially this evening. Good climate for the tin barn. I spent a while tightening things under the front. Also, I'd noticed that there was a clearance problem between the steering ram and the high output blower pulley assembly, a closeness due to my choice of front engine mounts. They sell mounts now that are intended to be used with the R-3 carburetor enclosure to prevent it from rubbing the underside of the hood. So it rubs the steering ram instead. Another job I hadn't looked forward to was the loosening and lifting of the front of the engine to allow me to slip a couple large flat washers on the mounts. This gave me some room. Even though I'm not looking forward to the windshield/rear window installation that lies in my future, I know that I must get started on the upholstery reclamation before that can happen. The rear quarter panels have now been taken apart for new cardboard and batten. The vinyl is in pretty good shape but I need to do a lot of cleaning before anything goes together. So ends another full day."

Larry, what does the oil in the pan look like? Is it still clean or does it have the dreaded milk shake look? When cool, smell the radiator opening. What does it smell like? Water or exhaust? John

It is 4 AM on Thursday, June 13th. Up earlier than normal. Waiting for the huge storm that is suppose to hit us today at some point. Lots of weather just to the north of us right now. But in the lull before the storm Greg continues to press ahead on his black Avanti. Here is his report. "More done on the 5054 Avanti. It's not coming as fast as I'd like. Almost the middle of June already. Getting the front shocks back in place shouldn't be that big a deal. I decided to replace the rubbers and NAPA should certainly have them. Well, you know how that goes with today's counter help. After several trips, a call to NAPA Rob for the part numbers that the counter guys didn't know how to find, I scored the replacement rubbers. The bushing for the eye end of the shock wasn't quite right. Too long and too big around, but I was able to shorten and lathe turn the excess. The bushings were lubed and pressed into place. So, with the new nuts and washers from the hardware store and the temperature in the tin barn at Perfect *, I just got back from hanging the shocks in their places. I'll go back to double check and tighten next time. Things are coming, but at a snail's pace." Johnstone. For your interchange: NAPA shock abosorber replacement rubber mounting washers 650-1113 " " (with modification) bushing 650-1110

It is Wednesday, June 12th, PM. Done for the day. It is hot and muggy outside. Storms heading this way this evening, and severe storms all day tomorrow. Mounted the other headlight this morning. The JBWeld set up nicely. Here is a pic of the car with her eyes. Connected up all the electrics and have lights on everything except the headlights. I will add a ground wire to each of them tomorrow and see if I can get them to light. But the back light works along with the stop lamp, the cowl and fender lamps work also. The fender lamps were a requirement in England. They are marked Lucas. Not much else going on except I have a bad case of poison something or other on one arm, and it looks like hell and feels worse. Tell me how much I love farm life. Oh, I am finding a tick or two almost every day eating into my old body. I hate those little buggers. They are really bad this year.