keiser31 Posted October 12, 2016 Share Posted October 12, 2016 Thanks for posting the video so that those like me who could not make it get to see the wonders!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unimogjohn Posted October 13, 2016 Author Share Posted October 13, 2016 It is Thursday, early PM, October 13th. Took Brownie the van on a long run this morning, over 50 miles. Ran great. And AnniesSS on the forums took lots of pictures of the cars coming onto the show field, including our McLaughlin Buick. Here is a link to all her pictures. https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipPprPu-wtJMDRs5fBq49ujvXxp7_D3SmBPAILb2fybm1NgBn99942BbcR3oZVEgsw?key=MmEzamNqQVEwQjZZaWpVWU9kdUY5aXVCenhpY0J3 And Packick sent me a pic of the car being judged. I am pulling up the hood for the engine inspection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unimogjohn Posted October 15, 2016 Author Share Posted October 15, 2016 It is Saturday, October 15th. Wipe on, wipe off, polish. That is what I did all day yesterday. Wow, Brownie the van is huge when you go to polish him. But I got it done for the most part. I still have a few areas to do, but the main body is all spit and polished. Looks pretty good for a 37 year old van. It has a clear coat on it (original) so I have to put some clear on the areas where Daniel put in the patch panels, and I still have some rust removal to do on both of the doors. The original clear coat for the most part is good, but there are areas where it is flaking/wearing off. I will have to address those at some point. But she looks pretty good, a good twenty footer for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
packick Posted October 15, 2016 Share Posted October 15, 2016 John: Brownie looks great! Glad I got out of town before the polishing/waxing started. I guess I dodged another bullet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unimogjohn Posted October 16, 2016 Author Share Posted October 16, 2016 It is Sunday, AM, October 16th. Beautiful day here on the east coast, going to be in the 80s for the next few days. Perfect car weather. I took the 1928 Buick for a good 30 miles run yesterday afternoon. Ran great. Went to Camaro Steve's house, but he was called out to go to work. But Peggy was home and took a couple of pics to show him what he missed. The 28 does have one problem. I cannot get it to shift past a detent in the shift pattern to get it into first/reverse until the tranny fluid is hot. Second and third gear shift just fine. It is like something is stuck, there is a spring detent in neutral so maybe that spring is sticking? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unimogjohn Posted October 17, 2016 Author Share Posted October 17, 2016 Monday, October 17th. Been using Brownie the van to run lots of errands. More folks are seeing it and just love the period look of the interior. Too much fun. Going to drive the 1928 Buick and then going to change out the 600 weight oil from the transmission and replace it with 90 weight. I will see if that frees it up. If not I plan to remove the top cover of the transmission (where the shift mechanism lives) and investage the issue. I received this little package from the AACA on Saturday. It is the little plaque and name pate for the preservation award for the 1923 McLaughlin Buick. I sent in my $15 for the board that it mounts on. They even have the little plate engraved. What a class organization. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unimogjohn Posted October 17, 2016 Author Share Posted October 17, 2016 (edited) Still Monday. Last night I backed up the 28 Buick into the garage. I figured that in the morning I would just put it into second and drive out to the driveway since I could not use reverse to back out. Well, I went to pull out and, low and behold, the gear shift slid easily into first gear. What! The Buick had healed itself over night. I had first and reverse when it was cold. It must have been the long drive yesterday that freed up the shifter. So I decided not to change transmission oil, and we will see what happens tomorrow when I attempt to back out of the garage. What a great way to start the day. Then the Buick and I went on a nice five mile drive around the "hood". And I got some seat time behind the little John Deere tractor/mower. Got all the pastures mowed and cleaned up, about four acres. A fine day for sure. And it was 82 degrees to boot, 15 degrees above average for this time of year. Had to turn on the fans for the llamas, they were hot! If I get a couple of hours I am going to experiment with McGuires Showtime spray and/or Detail spray on the 28' s main body. She is still sporting about 80% of its original paint, Harbor Blue and Black trim around the windows. Every time I wax it, lots of blue come off, I am afraid of going thru the paint. And the shine does not last long before it starts to oxidize. So I think I will take a softer touch and see if I can get a little shine out of the paint with the sprays. Oh no, another stray cat showed up a few days ago and has not left. So it looks like we now have twelve cats. Edited October 18, 2016 by unimogjohn (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Stoneberg Posted October 19, 2016 Share Posted October 19, 2016 (edited) Get yourself a Ridgeback. You won't have to worry about cats for long. Mine did a good job of keeping stray cats away. Edited October 19, 2016 by Bill Stoneberg (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unimogjohn Posted October 19, 2016 Author Share Posted October 19, 2016 (edited) It is Wednesday, October 19th. Played hooky from farm and car chores today. Went fishing! It was catch and release also, so he lives to be caught another day. I went with Camaro Steve, Barney the 53 Ford F100's dad, you can tell which one of us is Steve. Hint, the small, little, puny fish. And I received the preservation award plaque from the AACA for the 1923 McLaughlin Buick. What a nice piece. Edited October 19, 2016 by unimogjohn (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unimogjohn Posted October 21, 2016 Author Share Posted October 21, 2016 It is Friday, October 21st. Started to get equipment ready for winter. Nice day so decided to do a full service on the Generac 20K whole house generator. Been two years so it is due. So it got a new filter and oil, spark plugs, and air filter. All set for the next couple of years. It has 200 hours on it after five years. I completed the little detail spray test on the 1928 Buick. Turns out I had all Meguiar's products. The Ultimate Detail spray worked good as it removed the water spots where the detail spray/gallon jug did not without getting the paint really wet. The Ultimate Quik spray wax worked good as it removed some of the chalk that seemed to be on the paint and there was some blue on the micro-fiber cloths. But not as aggressive as regular polish. The Quik Wax in the red bottle was even less aggressive and seems to do almost as good. So I will probably use the detail spray for daily/weekly use to just get the dust off the car. If it is really dirty I will use the Ultimate Detail spray. As for a quick wax I would use the Quik wax on the 1928 Buick as it is less aggressive. On the 1953 Jaguar or the 1963 Avanti I would use the Ultimate Quik spray wax. I am sure there are other products out there that will do the same job, or even better. This is just what I happened to have. And I do not own stock or have an interest in Meguiar's. But I do seem to buy them all on Amazon Prime. And I just love my micro-fiber towels. I have a couple of cases of them, and they are not that expensive. I do sneak them into the washing machine when Alice is not looking, and re-use them. I usually wash them twice to make sure all the dust and cleaning products are out of them. And for sure I do not wash them with another clothes or materials. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unimogjohn Posted October 24, 2016 Author Share Posted October 24, 2016 Monday, October 24th, PM. Spent the day working on Porsche Alan's Boxster. He bought a new, high performance, cat back exhaust system. The work went really well and the entire exhausted system popped out in a couple of hours. The new one went in easily too, but be took our time to make sure everything was secure. It certainly made a huge difference in the sound. Before it sounded like a sewing machine, now, a Japanese motorcycle on steroids. So it now sounds like a little race car. Alan is happy. I also washed the roof of Brownie the van, of course, water got into the car via the cracks in the sunroof frame where it meets the roof of the van. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unimogjohn Posted October 25, 2016 Author Share Posted October 25, 2016 Brownie, the 1979 Chevrolet Sportvan G20, was made in Canada. So it seems fitting to show a sales brochure from Canada. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Zimmermann Posted October 25, 2016 Share Posted October 25, 2016 The 7. digit from the VIN is telling the assembly plant. 1= Oshawa; 4= Scarborough; 5= London, Ontario. In Switzerland and probably in most European countries, an exhaust replacement with a not homologated unit is not allowed: on the type test document, the OE part numbers are noted; during periodic inspection, those numbers are checked... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unimogjohn Posted October 25, 2016 Author Share Posted October 25, 2016 Thanks Roger. Based on my VIN, Brownie was born at Scarborough, Canada. Here are couple of links to the GM plant and the history of the Chevrolet van. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarborough_Van_Assembly https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Van Roger, thank goodness we are able to do just about anything to our cars, even more if they are over 25 years old. There are some controls on the engine management system, but those are becoming less restrictive due limited government intervention. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unimogjohn Posted October 25, 2016 Author Share Posted October 25, 2016 (edited) Still Tuesday. Spent most of the day working on the Passat W8. Changing the oil is a major ordeal as you have to remove the belly pan to get to it. The pan is light plastic and after 129,000 miles of country roads and a pasture or two, it is about done. I managed to save it this time by pop riveting a couple of metal braces to fix a mounting tear. I also have to use several plastic tie wraps to secure it to the underside of the engine. Alice has ripped it out more than once scraping against curb stops and ruts. I also put on the new to us, winter tires and rims. They look pretty neat on the car. You have to use a long little rod to hang the wheels on to start the lugs or have three hands. Here are a few pics of the old and new tires and rims. Before I put on the old rims in the Spring I will have to do some refurbishment of the rims as they have curb rash. On the rear hatch we have been running a Passa emblem, the t dropped off, but I managed to find it. So today I put it back on with 3M double sided emblem tape. The last pic is of Ernest the dog. He helped out last night chasing a stunk away. His reward, a bath and a dry in the garage. Edited October 25, 2016 by unimogjohn (see edit history) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeventhSon Posted October 25, 2016 Share Posted October 25, 2016 (edited) Isn't Ernest the neighbor's dog, John? He hangs around your house 'cuz the food is better, eh? And the company too. Edited October 25, 2016 by SeventhSon (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unimogjohn Posted October 26, 2016 Author Share Posted October 26, 2016 Chris, you are right, buy Ernie has not gone home for a very long time. So we have given in and welcomed him as our dog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buicknutty Posted October 26, 2016 Share Posted October 26, 2016 John, as a long time Scarborough resident, I remember the Van plant well. It was closed a number of years ago, and the site was redeveloped. Very sad, really. But cool that your van came from my back yard! Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unimogjohn Posted October 26, 2016 Author Share Posted October 26, 2016 Keith, now that is really neat. Wednesday, October 26th. Cold here this morning, 33 degrees, but heading up into the mid 60s by this PM. Going to take out the clock in the Jaguar and send it off to be repaired again. At least it only costs shipping, about $5. And checked on the silicon sealing job on Brownie's sunroof. After three days, including two sitting in the sun all day, it still has not cured. Maybe the silicon was too old. It had a use day of January 2015, but it had never been used. Did not know that these went bad. Looks like I will have to scrape off the goo and start with fresh stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unimogjohn Posted October 27, 2016 Author Share Posted October 27, 2016 Still Wednesday, PM. Before I crash for the evening I thought I better post on today's activities. First thing I did was to pull the non-working clock out of the Jaguar (this is time #3) and sent it off to be repaired. I then washed the Passat and looked again at the roof plastic trim strip that keeps popping out. I am afraid that I am going to lose it if I don't fix it. So today I made sure the track was really clean, and tomorrow I am going to use 3M emblem tape to fasten it into its channel on the roof. That should fix it permanently. The other side is OK, but I can see that it is also pulling up. So will look at that tomorrow also. If the 3M tape solution works, I will order some more tape for the other side. And new headlights came in for Brownie the van. The ones on Brownie are fine and are halogen also. But they are becoming more difficult to find and expensive to boot. I got these on Ebay for $10 each plus $9 shipping. The usual vendors want $48 plus shipping for each one, and they are made in China. At least mine were made in Mexico in 1998. Good to have spares. And finally, I loaded up the white car trailer with summer equipment. Mowers, carts, spreaders, etc. Trying to get stuff out of the new garage so I can get in all the cars and still move around. I won't be using the trailer anytime soon, so it makes for a good winter storage container. So now I can get Brownie the van, the 23 and 28 Buicks, 53 Jaguar and 63 Avanti in the new garage, plus the Kubota tractor. It is great to have the rolling stock under cover and warm for the winter. I also plan to put the Suburban in the farm's run in shed so it will be under cover. The Trailblazer will be in the house garage with the Passat if I can get Alice to move her garden stuff to the shed. I will try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unimogjohn Posted October 27, 2016 Author Share Posted October 27, 2016 (edited) It is Thursday, October 27th. Fall is here. Cool and crisp this morning, but not freezing. Great flocks of birds are heading south. We have Robins in the Dogwood trees eating the red berries. They are fueling up for their trip south. Me, I just spent a couple of hours putting away big fans and summer equipment. Now where did I put those water heaters? I did spend a few hours in the garage working on the Passat. I vacuumed and detailed the inside, and then started to polish the exterior. Got the hood done and a couple of other little panels. The problem is that there are little specs of brown stuff sticking every where there is a flat surface. I have to wet them down with Windex to soften them up and then use a bit of soft plastic to rub and pop them off. Takes forever. Tomorrow I have to spray on some leather conditioner on the seats to keep them nice and supple. I did put down some 3M exterior double sided tape for the roof moulding. Worked great. I laid the tape the full length of the roof. I don't think that the plastic filler is going to come out now. Originally, the plastic filler was just pressed in, and over time the little tangs that were holding it firm to the roof just gave out. The old 2003 Passat is looking much better. I do think the clear coat is starting to give up in spots. Nothing lasts forever, especially paint. And we received a Halloween card from our next door farm neighbors. It seems appropriate to our "cat" situation. Edited October 27, 2016 by unimogjohn (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeventhSon Posted October 27, 2016 Share Posted October 27, 2016 That Passat is a fast one John. Speaking of, what's up with the Taurus SHO? Is she gonna be outside in the cold whilst all the other cars are tucked in the warm garage? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unimogjohn Posted October 28, 2016 Author Share Posted October 28, 2016 Chris, the SHO is in the black enclosed trailer. I plan on getting it repaired and back on the road this winter. The only mechanical thing wrong is a leaking power steering hose. Of course, it is buried deep behind the engine. The intake has to come off the engine and a few other bits. The interior is pretty ratty so it is going to need a deep cleaning and some replacement panels. The worse for me is that the headliner is sagging. The tires are now dry rotted, but I happen to have another set of wheels and tires that looks good for the country roads. But I will get four new tires once I get is running/driving again. I did get vintage car plates for it so licensing for the road is not an issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeventhSon Posted October 29, 2016 Share Posted October 29, 2016 (edited) John, geat to hear that the SHO is under cover and fix up is scheduled! All cool cars deserve to run! Can't wait to see your progress with it (I live vicariously through you John) Edited October 29, 2016 by SeventhSon (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unimogjohn Posted October 29, 2016 Author Share Posted October 29, 2016 (edited) Chris, come over anytime and bring the Avanti. We can put it up on the lift and do a good service in about an hour or so. It is Saturday, October 29th, real early. Cats got me up, ugh! Yesterday I finished putting the leather conditioner on the seats and cleaning the roof of the Passat of those little hard particles and then put on a good coat of wax. Shined up pretty good. I will or should finish waxing today, and then the Passat will be done and Alice can have it back. We have a "hood" party today so I will be taking the 1928 Buick over. Should be fun, but it will take a big bite out of the day. I hope to see a bunch of old cars over in the field. I don't think folks have seen the Buick in a long time so it will be a treat for everyone. Here are a couple pics of the roof of the Passat. One with spots and one without. I ended up softening them with Windex glass cleaner, letting it sit for fifteen minutes, and then using my fingernails to scrape/pop them off. My fingers are sore today. Edited October 29, 2016 by unimogjohn (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unimogjohn Posted October 29, 2016 Author Share Posted October 29, 2016 Still Saturday. Heading off to the "hood" car show and pot luck. Here is a pic of the 28 all ready to go. Also, the rear hatch on the Passat has a protective clear tape on the bumper. After 13 years the tape is giving up the ghost. I will have to order some and replace it. It is catching a lot of dirt and grime and look bad. Cannot be too difficult to replace. And I got a couple of emblems for Brownie the van. It is a sticker showing the engine size. Kinda neat. I am going to mount them above and centered on the Chev Sportvan emblem. Here are a couple of pics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unimogjohn Posted October 29, 2016 Author Share Posted October 29, 2016 Still Saturday, just got home from our little "hood" party and old cars. Good turn-out and even better afternoon. Blue sky and almost 80 degrees. Can I say that it was almost too hot. Here are most of the cars that showed up. I am sure you will recognize most of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unimogjohn Posted November 6, 2016 Author Share Posted November 6, 2016 It is Sunday, PM, on November 11th. I have been really busy working on the farm for the past days. Fixing fencing, mowing and getting ready for winter. The Suburban, Trailblazer, Passat and the Kubota tractor have had their oil changed and serviced for winter. It took me almost four full days to repair or replace entire sections of fencing. That was a huge job. Camaro and Barney Steve headed out today to see if he could buy an old gas pump for his garage. I found a place in Maryland so Steve decided to go see what was available. He found one he liked out of the hundreds in trailers and outbuildings. Here is Steve with his new pump. And some of the other pumps at the business. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unimogjohn Posted November 16, 2016 Author Share Posted November 16, 2016 It is Tuesday, November 15th. Just got home from a short vacation to Seattle. And Greg had a report for us. Remember is building these Curtiss airplane engines. This is his baby. Greg's report: " This was the first time we've run the engine on the airframe after its evaluation at the NY dyno facility. It started with little problem, was run for a while to bring the coolant up to temperature and then the power testing. The way that's done is to make sure the plane is chocked and tied to a pickup truck. The pilot (our intrepid Andrew King) then makes a white knuckled fist around the throttle knob and then tries to shove it through the instrument panel. And with a grimace of sheer determination, holds it there for what seemed to me like hours or until the engine tears itself from the airframe. Surviving today's punishment, it will be examined and readied for more punishment. Hard on it and me too." 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unimogjohn Posted November 18, 2016 Author Share Posted November 18, 2016 It's Friday, November 18th. Not much old car stuff to report. I have been winterizing the farm and equipment. Only have one more snow/wind tarp to put up for the llama enclosures. While the llamas have two and three sided enclosures, snow and wind can still get to them. So I put up the big Costco tarps to close them up and keep out the weather. Better to do it now rather than waiting for the bad weather. Talked to Camaro Steve yesterday. He finally pulled the trigger and bought a new two post lift. $1700 to his door. I will be helping him install it in his garage in a couple of weeks. On my end I purchased some clear plastic dust covers for the cars. I have regular covers, but you cannot see the cars, just lumps in the garage. These keep the dust off and you can still see the cars. Yes, you do have to be careful putting them on/off as they can rip, but a bit of clear tape can fix it easily. They have an elastic band at the bottom so they do not slide off the car. The cost was $11 for the medium size and $15 for the large size (for the 20's cars), and I purchased them via Amazon Prime. Here are a couple of pics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Zimmermann Posted November 18, 2016 Share Posted November 18, 2016 It may be just me with this opinion: I would never cover a car with a plastic cover. The humidity cannot escape and, unless the paint condition is not a problem, the second time you try to use it, the embedded dust will scratch the paint. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spinneyhill Posted November 18, 2016 Share Posted November 18, 2016 (edited) The inside will go mouldy too. The car will "sweat" under the plastic as moisture condenses and doesn't evaporate later; just more moisture comes in. Edited November 18, 2016 by Spinneyhill (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeventhSon Posted December 1, 2016 Share Posted December 1, 2016 Jonh?! Everything OK? We miss you and your car exploits - waiting to see that Taurus SHO get the fix-up treatment. Let us know you're doing OK please! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unimogjohn Posted December 1, 2016 Author Share Posted December 1, 2016 Chris, everthing is fine. We have been on vacation touring the Hudson Valley in New York. Lots to see and do. Highlights were home tours of the Franklin D Roosevelt and Frederick Vanderbilt. Both were well worth the visit. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_of_Franklin_D._Roosevelt_National_Historic_Site https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanderbilt_Mansion_National_Historic_Site Before we left, I did help Camaro Steve put up his new 2 post lift. I do not know if he has it all plumbed and electrified yet. It was standing tall when we finished for the day. Greg sent along this video of the completed Jenny airplane. Greg is in the "hoodie". 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeventhSon Posted December 2, 2016 Share Posted December 2, 2016 Very nice John - we love those old mansions too. They don't build 'em like they used to! Glad to hear from you - have fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unimogjohn Posted December 4, 2016 Author Share Posted December 4, 2016 It's Sunday, December 4th. Went over to Camaro Steve's place this morning to hopefully finish putting up his new two post lift. We got it done! Works great. Even tested it by lifting his wife, Peggy, up and then her truck. Steve is happy. So for about $1800 he has his new lift. Harbor Freight sent me a 25% off coupon. So on Thursday I am going to get their 220v 5 HP 60 gallon air compressor. Camaro Steve will get my old compressor for his garage. Finally, I will hopefully have enough air power to do my projects without stopping every couple of minutes for an air recharge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unimogjohn Posted December 8, 2016 Author Share Posted December 8, 2016 It is Wednesday, December 7th. Excited to go pick up the big air compressor tomorrow. Taking Brownie the Van to make sure it fits inside for the ride home. And I took the 2003 Suburban 2500 into a local shop for its annual safety check. It flunked. The front rotors and pads were really pitted and worn. And to boot, I had a license plate light out. So left with my tail between my legs and headed off to NAPA. Picked up two new rotors for $50 each, pads for $60 (premium), and a $.051 lamp for the license light. The shop quoted me $600 for the brake job, and $36 to change out the light bulb. All I can say is OMG! I changed out the light bulb is about one minute. I have done one side and started on the other. I hope to finish up tomorrow or the next day. The bolts holding in the caliper frame were really tight. Broke a new socket trying to get the bolts off. Used a cheater bar of about three feet on the 1/2 inch socket bar to break them loose. I prayed that they would come loose, and with lots of force they finally started to move. I was so relieved. They were put on at the factory with 360 ft pounds of torque. I had to use a torch to heat up the bolts to release the locking chemical. I think that these rotors were original from the factory. Here are pics from today's work. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Tate Posted December 8, 2016 Share Posted December 8, 2016 Hey John, while you are at HF also pick up the new super duper 1/2" impact wrench to go with the big air compressor! That'll get those caliper bolts off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unimogjohn Posted December 8, 2016 Author Share Posted December 8, 2016 It is Thursday, December 8th, AM. Frank will take a look at them the next time I am in HF. But this morning I was not a HF fan. Got there early, on the first day of the big sale. Oh, no compressor in stock, no idea when they might have one. And the 25% coupon is not good on compressors. So I decided to stop by my local Tractor Supply. They had exactly what I was looking for and it was on sale. For $650 I have a shop air compressor. Now I just have to get it out of the van and into the garage. I will use the little Kubota tractor to help me. Here are pics of the compressor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laughing Coyote Posted December 8, 2016 Share Posted December 8, 2016 Nice compressor John. Looks like you got the 60 gallon one. I bought the 2 stage 80 gallon one 2 years ago. They work well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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