unimogjohn

And here is a Matheson engine report. Greg called it "shocking". "This Mathesaurus runs on sparks generated by two different sources. It starts on a series of batteries and a coil, then when running a Simms-Bosch magneto takes over. It generates it's own current and saves the batteries for later. The mag has been standing nearby for a long time, a reminder of this project. Tonight I decided that it's next in the long train of things to do. I had offered to send it out to my favorite magneto repairman, but when he offered a few excuses, I knew it was in my lap. Of course to begin the disection of something unfamiliar, photographs are taken before, during and after disassembly. I've restored more than one magneto in my time, but none like this. Sure, it has the stack of horseshoe magnets like most others. And a shuttle wound armature to supply the bundle of wires that lie between the forks of the magnets. Any time you move a wire inside a magnetic field you get current , the more wires the more the current. Wrap another bundle of wires on top of those and spin it fast and you can get enough current to curl your hair. That's why most magnetos spin the armature inside the magnets. Not this one. The magnets stand still, the armature stands still, but there's a steel spool that rotates between the armature and the magnets. And of course most magnetos have a set of points that interrupt the buildup of current, but not this one. It's points are quite remote. Remember the moving contacts inside each cylinder? Four sets of points to time and adjust. It's always scary trying to take apart an unfamiliar mechanism, especially one that's complicated and fragile. Throw in maybe irreplaceable and you decide to go easy. This one feels like it still has strong magnets, so I took the time to cut a "keeper" from a plate of steel. A keeper is placed across the magnets to provide a path for the magnetism, the armature having supplied the path until I removed it. So now that it's apart, I'll have some time to study the situation. I normally send out the armatures to have the miles of wire rewound and a fresh coat of insulating dope. But then again, the normal mags with the rotating armatures with original dope are known to get hot in service, break down the dope and when it starts slinging it can lock up the magneto and break up a bunch of stuff. And leave you stranded. This stationery armature might be a good thing. Maybe we can get away with just a cosmetic restoration."

OK, here is one of Greg's reports from last weekend. "The weekend began with some nice weather, so I got in some time on on Avanti 5054. The front bumper irons had been lying on the floor and it was a good oportunity to put them on. Same with the headlamp buckets and front parking lights. Now I've got the irons to bark my shins. Then it was time to look for the next chunk. Waiting patiently in the tin barn was the steering column assembly. As of now it's been disassembled and cleaning has begun. I found that the roller bearing at the upper end of the column and this one had locked up. Some soaking and attention has it freed. So many parts and so little time."

It is Tuesday, April 2nd, AM. Arrived home very late last night from Ireland. Had a great time. Impressions? The country is universally very clean, very little, if any road litter. Lots of sheep, about 9 million. Folks are really friendly. Food was great, but certainly more expensive than in the US. Gas, about 1.65 EUR a liter, a bit over $9 a gallon, of that 67% is for taxes. We traveled over 750 miles for the week. It was very cold. Hardly every got above the 43 degree mark. Lots to see and do. Stayed in castle resorts, which was great. Sure beats the Motel 6. Driving on the left side of the road is just crazy. A GPS is mandatory if you are going to get around in the cities. City roads are good, the countryside no so much. Little, narrow and curvy roads abound. Huge trucks, and they will eat you up in an instant. Almost everyone does the speed limit which is about 80 to 100 KPH. We had a little Fiat Punto, great little car and never complained. Used about a tank and a half of fuel for the trip. I think it held 12 gallons. Audi is the big car of choice for sure. Did not see one big USA car on the road, they are just to big. Heck the little Fiat was too big on some of the lanes. Yes, and we did see a few old cars, a Mustang, Dodge Charger, MGB, AH Sprite. Would we go back again, sure, you bet! But it is good to be home. Got a few reports from Greg while we were gone. Will post them over the next day or so.

It is Saturday, March 23rd, AM. This will probably be my last post for a week or so. Heading off to Ireland for the week, a spring holiday. So this post is just a bunch of stuff. First is a great Jaguar racing video in 1955. Really neat. Mike Hawthorn(Lemans winner 1955) driving a preview lap on the Lemans track in a Jaguar.(1956!) on Vimeo I have been on the Jag forum asking if anyone knew how to adjust the pre-set radio controls for the English made Radiomobile. After several day one member sent me a note on how to do it. On American radios you just pull out the button switch and push in, that resets the button to the right station. On the Radiomobile you take off the knob, loosen a big screw that is under it, tune manually to the station, and then lock down the screw again. That sets the button. Here is a pic of the period radio. And Greg has been having some discussion of oils in vintage cars. Here is his take on it. Randoil, Thanks for sending the Castrol note. Interesting how they admit to the wanton killing of our flat tappet motors in the name of catalytic conversion. If you want the opinion of a dinosaur who found out the hard way. (Editor"s note: remember a year or so ago the Avanti R2 engine in the maroon Avanti burned up a cam on the dyno during testing, that is the "hard way" Greg is talking about) I don't care for multi-grade oils, even in the Avanti. Sitting in on one of Harold Sharon's Philadelphia seminars, he explained (after personally testing) that a multi weight oil is the lightest grade (be it 10, 5, 0, etc) viscosity with "plasticizers" that are temperature activated (I guess like popcorn) to take up the slack as it warms up. You are relying on the lubrication strength of the lightest grade. I'll stick to 30 or 40 or whatever. Winter temperatures don't matter very much when it comes to using the Stoddard-Dayton. The Studebaker I do allow to warm up first. Although some put up a good argument in favor of, I don't care for synthetics. I find that breaking in any fresh overhaul is a crapshoot. You hold your breath for a thousand miles or more to see if rings are going to seat, valve seals will hold, etc. I'm told that we aren't to use synthetics during breakin. Too slippery and the rings won't seat. Once you get it broken in you are ok to change. Yeah right. If it was able to successfully break in on one type oil, then I'm going to try something else? Don't think so. I'm told that you should maintain just as frequent changing of the oil so what's the point? And of course, I still search out Non Detergent for the old stuff with no oil filter. I am using Shell Rotella T-1 30 wt. in the Avanti. Along with a dose of ZDDP additive and a slug of STP (Studebaker heritage, you know) for good measure. So far, the Stude is doing fine after a long and gentle breakin. I've read that some suggest several thousand miles on a flat tappet motor. So much for taking a fresh engine straight from the assemby room to the dyno to wring it out. Sure didn't work for me. Nice of Castrol to offer you a free oil analysis...... To: gregconeSubject: Back on the oil subject. From: a15speedster Date: Fri, 22 Mar 2013 18:26:04 -0400 Greg, Thought you might find this interesting especially after all of the e-mails about motor oil. I e-mailed Castrol to see if they provide oil sampling. I told them I was restoring a Model T Ford and wanted to keep checking the oil. I worked for another company and we were a Kendall Oil dealer and they had free oil sampling for dealers. That was a pretty good deal. Anyway, the following is what I got back. Thank you for contacting Castrol North America. Castrol always recommends following the guidelines of the original engine manufacturer for the recommended grade and API specific to your application. This information can be found in the vehicles owner's manual or by contacting the manufacturer directly. Classic cars with flat tappet cam engines represent a special case in regards to engine oil lubrication. These engines have valve train configurations that require elevated levels of zddp (zinc dialkyl dithiophosphate) anti-wear for proper protection of the flat tappet camshaft and its lifters. Insufficient concentration of zddp will lead to premature wear and failure of the camshaft and lifters. Current GF-4 and GF-5 fuel economy grade engine oils are designed for extended life of the catalytic convertors in modern passenger cars and have industry mandated limitations on the amount of sulfur and phosphorus within the oil. Castrol EDGE with Syntec Power Technology (SPT) SAE 5W-50 has been recently reformulated to have a boosted level of ZDDP (1300 ppm) to help protect flat tappet cam engines in classic cars. This engine oil is a full synthetic, has excellent cold temperature properties, and has a high temperature viscosity (SAE 50) that is suitable for use in many classic car applications. Castrol motor oil should be changed as recommended by your car owner's manual or the oil life indicator for the type of service (normal or severe) that the vehicle is being operated under. For accurate results, you may contact an independent testing facility to have the oil analyzed. Thank you again for contacting Castrol, we value your patronage! Castrol Consumer Relations =

Stunning. What a great looking Packard. Congratulations and keep us updated on getting her all sorted and tuned up.

Just viewed a very good video on the British Motor Corporation or BMC. Where is it today? I guess it was not too big to fail. And here is the history of the company to include the reasons for its demise. British Motor Corporation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia I wonder what happened to all those spares, repair parts and machine tools. Probably will find them working in China today.

Taylormade, that is one great picture. Thanks for loading it. It is Thursday, March 22nd AM. Where is spring? It is 25 degrees out this morning. No car stuff for me yet, but I did have to climb up on the roof to replace two micro-inverters that are attached to each solar panel. Not hard to do, very user friendly, just four plugs. Two of the panels were way down on power so the company said that they would replace them, but I had to install them. Naturally, my warranty did not cover installation. So up on the roof I went. Had to wedge myself between the solar panel and the roof ridge and just slide along the top of the panels. Got her done. Oh, forgot, I did start both the Jag and Avanti, let them warm up really good. Both sound great. Now if I can get a break in the weather they will be back on the road. But Greg has his two feet planted firmly on the ground. Here is his report. "Just a brief note before I find some midnight chow. I've now worked my way through the Matheson rocker arms and stands. The picture isn't much to look at after the process. The new axles, the bushing of bores in the stands and arm castings, replating of the cam rollers, the redrilling and retapping, a couple trips to Lee's to hone the bushings to fit, etc. etc. They still require some cosmetics to the castings and enamelling before the day they're ready for final assemby. Otherwise, no progress on other cars."

It is Tuesday, March 19th. Got a short note from Dave in VA this morning. He bought a XK 120 without doors a couple of months back. Well, they found them stored at another house. So he ran up and got them. Here are a couple of pics of the complete car with its original doors. He reports that the engine is unstuck, but he is still sorting out wiring issues and cannot find the fuel pump. It is not in its usual place so he has some looking to do. He also found electrical cord for wiring and a cut off switch that was made from an old electrical panel off/on rod switch. But he is making good progress. He is still on the hunt for seats. And here is Greg's report too. "Tonight's time was spent on the Matheson heads, rocker arms and pedestals. They had been cleaned, now they've been checked for any debris or spots I missed and then a light coat of epoxy primer. There's a lot of assembly, fitting, disassembly, adjustment, reassembly, etc. in my future. All quiet on the Studebaker battlefront." =

It is Monday, March 18th, AM. Wow, we got about three inches of the white stuff last night. Really pretty. On the car side, I finally got all the pieces of the Suburban's side mirror put back together. Looks fine and still works except for the auto dimming. Oh well. Adds character I guess. And for your morning coffee, a Greg report. "Not a lot to report other than I'm still here. Worked in a little time on Avanti 5054. The front bumper irons had been brought from the tin barn to get cleaned and painted. That being done, now they've been returned to wait for a warmer time to be reunited with the car. Old dog, new tricks department: Learning how to scan my old photos. Not at all comfortable with modern technology, The enclosed old photo shows Grover Cooper with baby Retha in a Brush runabout (he was the Winchester agent). This was a few years before Retha flunked Greg in her seventh grade Virginia history class........" =

It is Saturday, PM, March 16th. Still doing farm stuff, having fun pulling out tree stumps with the tractor. But I had to run over next door to talk to Henry and deliver a scanner to him. His Dodge P/U is throwing a code since he crossed a stream on his property. He said that it was only 3 feet deep, gee you you think that some of his electrics are a bit crazy? Oh, he has an official FAA airport on his property. It is a grass field and its call sign/designation is AICP. This stands for Ayers International Cow Pasture. I took a pic of his airplane on the front lawn. I think it had a hard landing so there she sits. Then I went over to Wayne's place to see his Corvette restoration progress and his new truck. He bought a 2002 Suburban 2500 to pull his enclosed trailer. Looks to be a very nice rig. Almost a twin to mine. Here are a few pics of the Corvette. He just installed the new fuel tank. Tomorrow he is going to attempt to start it. It looks really nice.

There are quite a few YouTube videos on the subject for modern cars. Here is just an example. Convertible Top Replacement Demo - YouTube

Bernie, thanks for sharing the memories. I sure wish I would have kept pictures of all my early cars. I do remember them all. Can hardly wait until you break into the 60s.

Still Wednesday, but PM. Cold, only 34 degrees and blowing. But I got some car stuff in today. Wandered out to the Jag to put on a new oil line. Last year, when I bought the car, several folks told me to replace the flex line that goes from the top of the oil filter to the little copper line that goes into the oil pressure gauge on the dash. They told me stories of the line breaking from old age and pumping out all the oil in the engine. Their advice was to change it immediately. Well I guess that today is the day. I purchase a new line a few months ago so picked up a few wrenches and headed off to the trailer. Damn it is cold. I got the old line off. It did have a permanent set to it so it is old, but no leaks or seepage. It came off easily, put on the new one, and the job was done. Here are a few pics. I know, not much car work was done, but at least I was able to do something today. The pics are the new line, the kinked old line, and two of the installed new line in the engine bay.

It is Thursday, March 14th AM. I was surprised to log on this morning to find another great report from Greg. He sure is a fine storyteller. Here is his story for your morning coffee. A good read. "Sanding is one of those jobs that allows you to let your mind wander. Kindof like that Lindberg movie with Jimmy Stewart that recounts Lindy's life while he's crossing the Atlantic. My mind wandered to last night. Ken, my boss, invited me to attend a dinner meeting of a local and very exclusive pilot's group (The QB). He was picking up Weldon Britton. Sure, why not. And any time to spend with ninety year old Britt, you know. Having spent twenty years working with Ken, I of course have gotten to know a lot of very special aviators and the room was full of familiar faces and friends. Many of them I've been fortunate to have flown with and have gotten instruction from. I was also surprised and delighted to see a couple other faces from across the ridge. Rob Haun and George (Doc) Phillips. I've known Rob since my days as a neophyte Tool and Die Maker apprentice not long after I mustered out of the Air Force. I went to work alongside Rob and his brother Joey in their father's Fabritek machine shop. Although I've not been employed by a lot of places, I've been fortunate in my career to have worked in places that I enjoyed and hated to leave. That's the way I felt about working for Bob Haun. I reluctantly left to work for Billy Thompson and his new endeavor White Post Restorations. Now Doc Phillips I've known for a while too. Earliest recollection was back in I the seventies. Always with an ear to the sky, once in a while this old thing would fly over. It's engine had an unusual cadence. When I'd see it pointed towards the airport I'd jump in the car and try to race it there. It always won and was put away by the time I'd arrive. Except once. It was evening and I caught it. It was a PT Ryan, an open cockpit low wing monoplane trainer from WWII. I didn't know the guy, but I had to have a ride. When I approached him, he explained that it was near dusk, no time for more than just a trip around the patch. With me strapped in the front seat, this guy starts hand propping it to get it started. It wouldn't. He propped and nothing. More propping as I sat there content to let him pull on it until the next morning if need be. And ultimately it did catch and I got my ride, if even for just a few minutes. My first open cockpit experience. I later was reacquainted with the guy, he was a good friend of the Hauns then and now. Doc always impressed me for someone in the medical field. He's a first rate machinist, welder, and aircraft builder. I'm glad that I don't know how well he works on people. He taught me something early on. During my first visit to his farm and shop, he showed me some components to a project. A Model A Ford powered airplane. Even though he'd gotten a substantial portion of it done, he had given up on it. He had decided to step up. With a personal connection to an important designer, Doc decided to recreate an exceptional craft from the thirties. A GeeBee Model YW. A two place open cockpit direct ancestor of the famous Gee Bee series of racers. (Editor's note: I found a pic of what I think this model is and attached it) Doc taught me that you can spend your time on an airplane that is marginal at best, or you can spend the same amount of time on a 450 horsepower legend. If you are going to battle, make it count. And I hope he went home and got back to work on it. I want a ride. It sure was good the see them." =

It is Wednesday, PM late, March 13th. Still doing mostly farm stuff, but I did find the time to work on the Suburban. Remember a couple of weeks ago when the telephone pole took out my side mirror? Well, Dave found a couple of plastic pieces by the pole and sent them to me. So yesterday I started fitting them back in and today did some gluing with epoxy plastic glue. So far everything is holding, but I still have a few more pieces to go. And there will be a couple of holes where the plastic is missing. Oh well, at least it looks OK again and I did not have to spent $350 for a used assembly or $525 for a new one. At least I have done something car related. And Greg is back hard at work. Here is his Matheson engine report, just in. "Like I said, the Matheson has more going on outside than in. Tonight I've been doing some cosmetic work on the cylinder heads. They aren't bad, but there are a few nicks, pits and dings that might as well be filled. Also, it's time to start making sense of the valve train rocker arm stands, rockers and their axles, rollers and pins. Plenty of work here. Otherwise, the black Studebaker Avanti work has been nil. Actually, that's good considering the recent snow storm put another tree limb through the roof of the tin barn right over the maroon Seabiscuit Avanti without any resulting damage to the car. Lucky. "

It is Sunday, PM, March 10th. No car stuff for me even though it was a real nice day. All farm chores. But Greg work is a different story so here is his report from the weekend. "It's been a topsy-turvy week. This year's mild winter isn't over. Although we didn't get a lot of snow with this last event, it was enough to knock out our power. Of course the draft from a ceiling fan in Idaho is enough to knock out our power. Off work for a few days doesn't help the paycheck or getting any work done, but I did get to spend more time with Mom. She's eighty-five today. I hope to see her tonight, but who knows if she'll be home in time for bed check. I have been able to knock off some work on Black Avanti 5054. The supercharger cooler, tank and breather are wrinkle finished and the breather installed. A couple trips to the hardware store resulted in some mounting hardware and a new hose for the breather. The Bendix pump for the supercharger oil tank doesn't seem to work so I've been watching ebay for another. There was one yesterday. With Trimacar's help we ran it up, but a pump is still on the wish list. Grunt work also on the list, the parking light housings have been cleaned, a wire repaired and the threads retapped. If I had any strip caulk I could go ahead with their installation. That's all I can think of for now. If anything else comes to mind I'll let you know." =

Bernie, it was great to share your adventure with the Packard. You did an outstanding job. I look forward to your next project and hope that you come back to document your progress. You were the one that got me interested in documenting my humble car activities. But I know that everything has to come to an end, I understand, but still sad. Check in from time to time, and let us know what you are up to.

Bob, my green Avanti came out of Rhode Island. Actually, I just got a note from the third owner and was wondered the status of car, so sent off some recent beauty shots from last summer. They are really happy that the car is back on the road after sitting in the garage for 34 years. Called Wayne and asked him if he was going to attempt to start the Corvette. He said that he put fuel in the tank, and it is leaking from the bottom so he has to order a new tank. Tomorrow he plans to put in a temporary container. So he said that he would give me a call to come over. I told him I would hold the fire extinguisher.

It is Saturday, AM, March 9th. The grand snow melt is on. Going to be 55 degrees today and over 60 tomorrow. Got a note from Greg, he is back at work and home (since he lives there too). He had to abandon the place for a couple of evenings as they had no power. Finally got it back on yesterday so we can expect a report from him. Glad that Lee and his hearse are picking up the slack for us. When out to dinner with Wayne and Sue last night, and he told me that he is ready for the first start of his 1964 Corvette's engine. We have no phones so hopefully he will send me an email and I can hop over to see it happen and snap a few pics. On the Jaguar forum this video was posted, which I thought you might enjoy. It is Chuck Berry, and its about a race between a Jaguar and a Thunderbird.

It is Friday, March 8th, AM. Spent the day digging out. In all about 8 inches of the heaviest snow ever. The tractor had a tough time pushing it around, but now we have a way to get out and about. Lost a couple of big branches in trees, but nothing major except for the old Avanti garage. It is squished. Sure glad no cars were in there, only hay and a little garden tractor which was well protected by the hay. Will wait until the snow melts to determine if the tent can be salvaged. We got power last night too, but no phone. I used about 3/4 gallon of propane per hour on the generator in the 36 hours we were out. Not too bad. And I found the time to mount the McLaughlin Buick emblem on the 1923. Looks good. Glad that everyone enjoyed Lee's hearse. Now if I can convince him to keep updating. He also has a good store about his Grandparents, their car and an airplane. I will let him tell you that story.

Sig and Tom, here are the measurements and pics. Top glass with frame: L 39 1/2 inches, W 9 inches. Bottom glass with frame: L 39 1/2 inches, W 9 inches and tapers to 6 1/2 inches at the center. Pics.

Sig, will take measurements and pics tomorrow so Tom can see if he has a match. There are two sections to the glass. The top section is a big rectangle and the bottom has a curved bottom that mimics the curve of the body at that point.

If you need any help with measurements, pics, etc just let me know, be glad to help. I have a 23-45S, right hand drive. Sig, is this you?

Really like everything you are doing. Cannot wait until the "launch". Keep up the great work!

It is Tuesday, PM, 11 PM. Thought I would give you a weather report from the farm. It started sleeting here at about 10 PM, started turning to snow about 10:30, and now at 11 it is snowing hard, and blowing too. The weather folks say that my morning we will have at least seven inches on the ground. It is suppose to snow all day Wednesday, and it is expected that we will get another 12 inches over a 24 hour period. So we may be approaching two feet by the time all is said and done. The electric companies are announcing that we should expect major power outages as trees start to come down under the weight of heavy snowfall. Update, now Wednesday, early PM. Could not send the above message as our broadband went down just as I was going to send it. It is almost 1 PM. Just got broadband back on so have the internet. Power has been off since about 4 AM, on our big generator since then. We have six inches so far and still coming down hard. Have been using the tractor to clear a path to the barns and the main road. Tough going as the snow is so heavy and wet. The old Avanti plastic garage has collapsed from the weight of the snow. Nothing in there now except farm stuff and hay. All the cars are safe and sound. The weather folks are saying that we could get another 6 inches before all is said and done.