Avanti R2, 1963, refresh

[unimogjohn]

It is Monday, October 31st. Cold here, in the 30s. Only got a couple of inches of wet snow out of the storm. That is a good thing. Lots of flolks up in New England received a lot more, up to 30 inches. They said 3M folks are without power. Not good.

Here is Greg's weekend report. "OK, weekend come and gone. Saturday wasn't much. The weather (rain and snow) put a damper things.

I did strip the paint from the Avanti right door. Also evident was a failed patch to the inside panel. I've begun the repair.

Today, Sunday, found us on our way to Rob's. What with cold weather here, it is time to make sure my cars there are properly drained of water. We also moved the Stoddard Dayton out of the doorway to a side parking place, out of the way for the winter.

Not much else to report."

[unimogjohn]

It is Tuesday, Nov 1st. Here is Greg's report from Monday.

"Took off this morning for Baltimore to pick up the Wright V8 cyl crankcase casting at the foundry. Jim Davis as tailgunner. All went well, made it back alive. The corned beef sandwich at Lenny's Deli made the trip worthwhile.

Tonight I got in a few minutes on Seabiscuit, the black Avanti, removed the fan assembly. The fan clutch has gone to lunch, Rob has ordered and received one that might work. I'll take the original equipment sample along to make sure .

Otherwise, I'll get this in the mail and do some sanding on a bronze water pump for the Pope.

Enclosed pics of the V8 castings.

Also, in response to questions raised concerning the rectangular recesses in the pan. Enclosed are photos of a genuine, made in the Wright factory six cylinder engine of 1911. On loan for me to study, you can see that it must have been influenced by the design of the eight. Back to the question, you will see that the upper crankcase retains the crankshaft and it's main bearings and caps. The whole unit then merely sits on the lower sump, reliefs accepting the main bearing caps.

[Roger Zimmermann]

Very nice casting! Dumb question after all I have seen: who is doing the machining? Greg?

I suppose also that there are wet liners installed into the block, after machining, of course.

[unimogjohn]

Roger, I will ask. But I do not think that the Greg's shop has the necessary equipment. I would guess that Greg will probably use the automotive machine shop that he uses for his Avanti and other engines.

[unimogjohn]

Roger and all, asked Greg a bunch of questions I had including Rogers. Here are the questions and his response. And Greg included a couple of unique pictures.

Greg, from the forum and me.

What are the plans for the V8 Wright engine you are fabricating?

Is there only one to be made?

Will it go into an actual airplane?

Will it be made to actually run?

So many questions.

John and the forum,

The crankcase castings are for a duplicate of the plane the Wrights entered in the 1910 Gordon Bennett race, Belmont meet in New York.

They only built the one Model R powered by the V8, it was wrecked prior to the event. It was half scale (21') to their usual planes of about forty foot wingspan machines, and it had twice the engine. When other aircraft were working hard to break sixty miles per hour, Orville had test flown this one to a whisker under eighty.

While I've been digging for information and making plans for some years now, we are now actually underway. With the initial sketches, patternmaking, and foundry work done, I'm about to begin the machine work on the crankcase and sump. There are still some unanswered questions, big ones.

The cylinders shared from their production fours, aren't staggered. That means with no surviving samples, I've got to invent suitable rods that share a common crankpin. And can't use fork and blade. Side by side rods that don't result in offset loadings.

Since I take so long, the engine work supersedes our airframe guys who are busy on other things. Cliff has been working up the propeller shafts and housings, has the two radiators done. Our research department has been studying existing photos and period descriptions in order to start the drawings.

It is definitely being built to operate, we may find out why only one was built and it went to lunch. A massive undertaking, it is also an enormous financial burden on the boss since we don't have any sponsors or funding for it. We've just got to see this monster and bring it to life.

[Roger Zimmermann]

Thank you for the answers! With the last pictures, one of my question was also answered. The cylinders are up the casting!

Anyway, I'm voiceless; the people involved in that "repro" are doing that for the fun, certainly not for the fame. In some aspect, it's like my models and me...

[unimogjohn]

And here is a web site I found with lots of information on the WB Model R airplane.

1910 Wright Model R

and also found a video description and pics of the Model R Baby Grand with the V8 engine. Part of a series if you care to know more. But part 4 has the Baby Grand discussion.

Edited November 1, 2011 by unimogjohn (see edit history)

[unimogjohn]

It is Wednesday, Nov 2nd. Going to be a nice day so I am going to tackle the oil change on the 2003 VW Passat W8. I have always had the dealer do it as it was less expensive than doing it myself, and they always gave it a once over when it was on the lift. But alas, the dealer sold out and the new one doubled the price. So bought everything to do it myself. The W8 is a fantastic and powerful engine, 270 HP out of a little 8. Holds 9 qts of oil. Toughest part will be removing the belly pan.

Greg was back on the black Avanti last night. Here is his report.

"Tonight's story.

With the Avanti down because of fan troubles, I contacted Bob Johnstone, the Studebaker owner's friend. Asked him for an interchange for the fan clutch. One number that came up was NAPA 261306. Rob is a NAPA dealer. I had him order one for me and it arrived yesterday. So after work today, off to pick it up.

While I was there, I finished the winterization of the Stoddard and the '14 IHC by flushing their cooling systems with antifreeze. The '10 REO still drained from last winter. I also pulled the Stoddard oil pressure gauge. It has an internal hemmorage and I guess I'll send it out to a gauge repairman who has the time to fix the leak and recalibrate it. Oil would accumulate in the bottom of the glass lens.

Back at the ranch, I had a chance to compare the fan clutches. This new one supposedly fits an 80's Jaguar XJS. As you can see by the photos, it is noticeably larger in diameter and the bore in the hub much smaller. I clamped it down gingerly on the mill, indicated center and set up the boring bar.

Measurement of the hub assemby on the car told me that I had to rebore the larger diameter to a depth of .135" in a flange that had an body diameter of the same size, so that meant that I'd be cutting that overbore over half of the thickness of the mounting flange. Wouldn't leave much meat. So I did it.

As for the fan itself, a perfect fit. Ready for installation, I'll try to get to it tomorrow. All for now."

[unimogjohn]

It is Thursday, Nov. 3rd. Well, I actually did some car stuff yesterday. Changed the oil myself for the first time yesterday. Nothing unusual except for a over tight drain bolt that I could not remove from the filter canister so got quite a bit of oil all over when I had to remove the canister itself. Oh well. Next time I will work on that drain bolt to see if I can get it loose. What I did find was a destroyed belly pan. It is plastic and was only being held on by a couple of clips and and back 20% was broken off. Ordered another one so will replace it next week. Attached are a couple of pics of the belly pan.

Heading off for five days in Iceland tonight. Taking the computer with me so hope to post Greg's updates.

Speaking of Greg, here is his report.

"Day job went well, I think I put more of the puzzle pieces together on the Wright V8 project.

Worked on that Avanti fan clutch again tonight. It's on, but it wasn't easy. Sure not like N.O.S. that are so easy to work with. This one comes with lots of complications. Bore too small, flange od too small, slots instead of holes in the right place.

I had to forego the usual short bolts and make studs long enough to accept flat washers (to cover the slots), lock washers and skinny nuts, yet not too long that would rub the clutch body.

If I have to go into it again, I'd do it a little differently. Now that it's spinning, I see there isn't much clearance between the blades and the supercharger idler pulley, and there is some room between the blades and the shroud. Next time I'll machine a spacer that will go between the waterpump pulley and the clutch flange. Things might fit a little better. Or I'll try something else.

Now what?

Edited November 3, 2011 by unimogjohn (see edit history)

[Roger Zimmermann]

John, sometimes doing some work yourself let you discover things you would never see!

[unimogjohn]

It is Sunday, Nov 6th. We made it to Iceland! Having a great time taking in all the tours to the back country and the local area. What a nice place. Only 300,000 folks and most of them live in Reykjavik area. The natural areas are beautiful. Weather is OK, but we hit rain, snow, sleet, etc., but it only lasts for a bit. We are able to get out and about with no problems. Only a high of about 39 degrees F, so it is a bit brisk. Here are a few pics. Oh, have only seen modern cars in Iceland so far. Bummer.

But Greg finally has a report with an update of the new fan installation. Also he is working on the broken inner door panel of the black Avanti.

"I've been trying to get something done, but this cool weather is a demotivator for me.

Yesterday I took ol Seabiscuit, the maroon Avanti, out on the road to test the fan installation. I hate it. To the point that I called Phil Ritter to ask a stupid question. "Do you remember ever hearing an Avanti fan?" His reply was "No, I don't think so."

Not so with this Jaguar fan clutch. Being larger and with a whole lot more fins cast into it, it reminds me of a preflight engine runup and testing a variable pitch prop. I'll do something else at a later date. The temperature gauge did work to get up to 180*, but then again , I had the heater going too.

Last night I finished laying up the repair on the right door panel (on 5054), the holes yet to be drilled, but I think I'll try to get the doors and hood over to the paint guy to work on.

That's about all I have for now."

[unimogjohn]

It is Thursday, Nov. 10th.

Looks like we have been spammed! Maybe the forum administrator can remove them.

We made it back from Iceland yesterday. Had a great trip. A nice place to visit.

Here is Greg's report from last night. Daylight savings time has taken a bite out of daylight, and there are no real work lights in Greg's hanger.

" I know things have been a little quiet lately. The time and temperature change have taken it toll, and the sun going to bed early, I haven't been in the mood to push.

Today, however, I did manage to get the Stoddard oil gauge packaged and sent off to John Wolf Company in Ohio . He should be able to troubleshoot the internal leak, repair and recalibrate it. I sent a couple extra internal works along if he needs parts or replacement.

And tonight I cut that new gasket for the Dodge, dropped the oil pump cover for the installation. Side pipe is reinstalled, then started to install the cylinder head nuts, etc.

That Toledo pump is on hold as I wait for some sanding rolls . These for getting into the nooks prior to buffing.

Had the maroon Avanti out yesterday. After an interesting occurance the other day, it developed an occasional miss. And a slight snapping under the hood. Took a look in the dark and was suprised to see a spark jumping. Evidently the last guy to work on it (me) did not get the secondary wire (coil to distributor cap) pushed very deep into the coil. The coil is a hot Mallory unit. A spark would jump from that wire to one of the threaded studs, the point side connection. The current had burnt a hole in the rubber boot to do this. Evidently the spark would jump and find it's way to ground when the ignition points closed? So the points were tarnished a bit. I'm running a single point Prestolite unit, so I popped in a new set and a new condenser and made sure the wire was shoved home. Now 'Ol Seabiscuit wants to get out and go again.

Day job going well, nothing to capture photographically, though. Yet."

[unimogjohn]

It is Friday, Nov. 11th. Alice and I are heading to the movies tonight with Barb and Greg. Opening night of the film "J Edgar". As you might remember our cars were used in the making of the movie a few months ago. I am sure that any sighting will be fleeting. But we all are excited.

And for your morning coffee, here is a short report from Greg.

"Nasty job, sanding and buffing. And this was the easy piece.

The Toledo pump body is next, but another night.

Now for a shower."

[unimogjohn]

In the movie J Edgar. Well, the cars made it into the movie and not on the cutting floor.

The movie was good. But you have to be our age (over 55) to really understand the historical events that Hoover lived in. The acting was superb. The plot, I will leave that to you.

And if you go to the movie our cars made it into the movie three times.

First, at the Lindbergh house as Hoover walks up the driveway, you can see both cars behind his staff car.

Second, at the Lindbergh garage, you can see both cars, especially the 23 in the background, twice.

Third, at the courthouse as the verdict is announced, as the camera pans the scene you can see both the 28 on the corner, and then the 23 in front of the court house; and then one final shot you can see the back end of the 23.

Very exciting. Now back to reality.

[trimacar]

John, saw your cars in the movie last night! Lots of Model A's in the movie, J. Edgar is even driven around in one for most of movie, then they show him going off in a Packard.

The movie itself is one of interest, but mixed emotions, it actually ends up being more of a love story than an action or historical movie.

Was of special interest to my family, as my nephew Lea Coco played Agent Sisk. Unfortunately a lot of his scenes DID go to cutting room floor, he spent 3 months filming, and he's probably on screen for 15 seconds. The scene where he makes the arrest, he says the original scene he filmed was a car chase, running Dodge sedan off the road, with him getting out of car to make the arrest. Oh well.........................hopefully it'll lead to bigger parts.

Next time you get a call for movie cars, get in touch with me, I want in!!!

[unimogjohn]

Jim Davis, Greg's videographer, made a video of the Wright V8 casting process and casting in general. Pretty good stuff.

[unimogjohn]

It is Sunday PM, Nov 13th.

Here is Greg's weekend report.

"Chilly, but not cold enough to keep me from putting the parts back on the old Dodge. It still has a hint of the knock in #4 cylinder, but I know it isn't the rod bearing. I had tightened them up to the point that they were dragging enough to require a hand crank assist to the electric starter. It's probably the wrist pin. The Dodge manual states that it will run without harm. After running a few minutes, it started fine on it's own. A trip around the block with the curtains on. Drained the water, flushed it with anitfreeze and now it is waiting patiently for spring in the back of the barn. Need to put some stabilizer in the fuel.

Avanti running well, used it yesterday for a road trip and today for running errands.

Friday evening we joined the Fesers for a nice night out, dinner and a movie. With their cars on screen, it was hard to keep myself from blurting out that the red Buick touring car had a starter about to let the owner down. Who knew? We did."

[Guest Backyardmechanic]

greg,

You may want to check the starter chain.It should be tight enought so no slack is in it but lose enought so one can move it side ways on the spoket.Lose chain will transver a knocking noice to the # 4 cylinder. Nice DB.

[unimogjohn]

DB, thanks for the advice. I sent your comment to Greg. He said that he would check the tension on the chain.

It is Wednesday, Nov 16th. No car stuff for me. I have been very busy getting equipment and the farm ready for winter. Put the snow blade and chains on the little Cub Cadet garden tractor. I am going to be ready for an early snow storm this year. Not much fun putting on the blade and chains in the cold and snow.

But Greg is moving on his car stuff. Here is his report.

"Is there anybody who isn't tired of this Toledo pump? Tonight's episode of sanding and buffing.

I've been asked why am I doing this? No good answer. Other than the fragments of the old pump were once polished.

Was it originally? Don't know, but might have been. Or, it happened during a previous restoration. I've seen original equipment castings polished before, and the Pope Toledo was a high end machine. Guess you had to be there.

Otherwise, no news."

[unimogjohn]

It is Saturday, Nov 19th. Boy, it sure has been cold so far for being early in fall. Into the 20s and night and only into the high 30s during the day. We should still be in the middle 50s. This is January weather.

Have not been outside working on the old cars, but managed to get a few things on Ebay for them. I got a 1920s AA Badge from England for the 1923 Buick; a new set of carpets for the Avanti; and a few belly pan for the VW Passat W8.

Looks like the Avanti is going back to its original red interior at some point in the future.

Where is Greg? Have not heard from him in a couple of days. I think that he has gone to Reedsville, PA for the Studebaker swap meet Friday and Saturday. I hope that he brings back some treasure.

[unimogjohn]

Still Sunday. Greg was busy this weekend. Here is his report and pics.

"Determined to finish that Pope Toledo pump saga.

Since the pump shaft is still connected to the engine which is four states away, I thought to call the car owner and have him double check the shaft diameter. He responded with what amounts to an oversize dimension (.635) I'd set the body up for a standard (.625), which meant that I'd better open up the bore if the pump was going to actually fit on the car to minimize the curses aimed in my direction. I machined a test shaft and drove to Lee's shop where I use his honing equipment and get some guff all at the same time.

With that done, I cut some graphite packing for the gland assembly and filled the grease cup with water pump grease. Today it will get boxed up for it's ride in the big brown truck.

[unimogjohn]

Greg just sent me a short video of his maroon Avanti running. He said that he finally figured out that his old camera had a video mode. So he tried it. You can tell that the camera is vintage digital, like almost ten years old. Here is the result. You get the idea anyway.

[DavidAU]

Very, very nice job that Greg has done on the Toledo pump John. Sure wish I had someone like him in my neighborhood.

Could you please ask him what clearances he allowed for on the front and back of the impeller.

Thanks

[unimogjohn]

David, here is Greg's response.

The impeller has about .030" total clearance. The tricky part will be fitting the pump to the engine. The captured pump shaft determines where the impeller will live. The mounting holes in the pump casting will determine where the housing will live. Although I was as careful as possible to maintain the dimensions of the original sample, sand castings even though moulded from the same pattern tend to be individuals. I'll wager that there will be some adjustments to be made to the mounting holes.

[unimogjohn]

Greg sent me this note tonight. Some of us get play with old cars, others are into old airplanes.

" Here is some footage relayed to me by my good friend Andrew King doing what he does best. Of course, it's about ALL he does."

1911 Ely-Curtiss.mpg - YouTube

[DavidAU]

Thanks John. I do appreciate it.

[unimogjohn]

It it Tuesday, Nov 22nd. Folks coming in for the week, going to be a full house. I am sure all the cats will scatter for the week.

Been bugging Greg on what is happening with the Matheson engine. He always gives me the same answer, "nothing". Well, he is finally on it again. I cannot tell you how massive this car engine is. When you get up close to it the bulk is massive. Quite an impressive engine.

Anyway, here is Greg's report and pics.

"Time to get back to the Matheson.

It's interesting to see how the other guys did it. Like the Matheson from Wilkes-Barre.

A feature that makes things a bit difficult during the partial reconstruction and fitting of components is the fact that the same bolts are used for the main bearing and the cylinder retention. You gotta have'm both in place whether you are ready or not.

I want to get the crank and flywheel back in the crankcase. I hung the cylinders temporarily so that I could invert the case.

Got that done this evening and then time was spent cleaning the babbitts and also swabbing out the oiling passages. Some of them were stopped up with grease.

The bearings fit the case nicely. Soon I'll run out of excuses why I can't put the crank and flywheel back in."

[Yellowriv]

Fantastic thread John, I really enjoy it.

That Matheson engine is interesting, five main bearings and I cant see provision for a camshaft, is it overhead cam?

[unimogjohn]

John, yes OHV it is. Here is some information from the web. And also a pic of the engine from the web. And there are several shots of the engine in theoldmotor.com web site. Just do a search on Matheson and you will learn some interesting history. Also I included a good pic of the OHV system.

The Matheson Automobile

Edited November 23, 2011 by unimogjohn (see edit history)

[unimogjohn]

Wow, Greg is really pressing hard on the Matheson engine. Here is his report for tonight's work.

"Getting ready to replace the crank in the case.

Spent time cleaning and polishing the crank bearing journals. Lee said that I could use his polisher (like the big guys use at the engine rebuild shop), but this shaft had been reground and doesn't need it. I did scrub the grease that plugged the rifling, and gave the journals a rubbing with 2000 grit wet or dry paper and WD-40. The rod bearings are fed main bearing runoff.

I had to elevate the engine stand so that the engine hoist legs can pass beneath it. The crank and flywheel are now ready to be lifted from it's cradle by the hoist.

Another night's work. I hope the crank finds it's way back home tomorrow night."

[unimogjohn]

It is Thursday, Nov 24th. Hope that everyone has a great Thanksgiving with family and friends.

Greg worked hard last night, into the night. Here is the report.

"My buddy Frank Gable stopped by tonight. Just in time to help me land the Matheson crank. Boy was I glad to see him. I guess he doesn't hear that very often.

With me lifting the flywheel with the engine hoist and Frank carrying the end of the crankshaft, we were able to transport the works

to the awaiting crankcase. Frank directed me and carefully guided the shaft into the main bearings. Glad that's over.

Next is to clean and fit the main caps and bearings. I've been using a babbitt lapping compound called Timesaver that really helps. A powder that you make into a slurry with oil, not only helps the fit, but eliminates the usual sticking of the journals in their babbitts.

Even though the project is still uphill, the Matheson has finally begun the assembly stage. A milestone indeed.

Thanks again Frank!

Happy Thanksgiving to all."

[unimogjohn]

It is Saturday, Nov. 26th. Beautiful day here, I have to make light repairs to the 02 Chev Trailblazer. The LED 3rd brake light went poof. No $1 bulb to replace, only a $120 light bar assembly, now that is progress. And of course I have to take half the car apart to replace it.

But Greg is busy on the Wright V8 airplane engine. Here is his report. Oh, I did ask him if there was a plan to run it when completed. He said yes, they want to hear what it sounded like.

"A brief update on the day job Wright V8.

Working it in, I've borrowed Mitch Sine's AMMCO Universal line boring fixture and have set it up to bore the cam bearing locations.

Now that they are roughed out to slightly undersize, today I'll drive to Pa. to borrow John Jackson's bar micrometer to allow an accurate setting of the cutting tool."

[unimogjohn]

It is Monday, Nov 28th. Company is still here and they offered to help me bore holes in the ground for new fence posts. So it will be a "boring" day for me today.

I was also told that a local town wants me to take the city council in their Christmas parade as I did last year. Looks like it will have to be the 28 Buick. So pulled her back out of storage. Started right up. Checked the oil and it had turned milky so water is present. There was no water in the radiator or engine so maybe condensation? Anyway I changed the oil and she is ready to go except for a good washing. I will check the oil more frequently now. It could be that I have a head gasket is getting tired.

Greg was busy this weekend also. Here is his report.

"Weather was pretty nice this past weekend. Nice enough to allow some work in the tin shed.

I'd gotten the maroon Avanti out for a road trip Thanksgiving day. We'd equipped our cars with auxillary Stewart Warner 240 A 12 electric fuel pumps back in the olden days. Funny how you get used to turning the ignition key and expecting the pump to go BRRR tic tic tic. And when it doesn't you notice it right away even though you're thinking about something else. Anyway, it quit ticking and even though fuel will flow through it on it's way to the standard mechanical engine driven pump.....I put the car away.

So Saturday I pulled the pumps off both Avanti cars, maroon and black. I understand the pumps are NLA, the Ebay NOS pumps are about ten times the original price, and even then the old rubber seals need replacement. I did some research to find that there is someone who offers an overhaul service.

Friday Scott helped me haul the engine from the black Avanti, now it is here in the main shop building. Today, almost nice enough to work outside, but I chose to stay in and tear the motor down. I built this one up to replace the R2 supplied in R5054. A blown up R4, remnants borrowed from the R5 pile and a full flow block that I can't remember where it came from. And maybe one of those Standard Surplus $25 cranks. Lots I don't remember.

One thing I really didn't remember. The oil pump. I know that I put one of the tall geared pumps in it, but I was shocked when I pulled the pan today. I certainly didn't remember that it was a dual pickup model.

OK John E, I know I know. Don't use it. Too much pump. I have another Paxton pump with the standard short gears but for a deep pan. That will go back and this heavy duty unit will go back to the R5 project.

It is torn down now, but not measured yet. The internals look pretty good so far. I'll pay special attention to the Forgedtrue pistons since they have a tendancy to crack.

Otherwise this weekend, did make that road trip to pick up the barmike for the AMMCO line boring fixture. Had a nice visit with the John Jacksons, friends from high school days. Those were the days when I spent as much time in the Jackson house and garage as I did my own. My second family. Hopefully I'll get the Wright eight cam bores done tomorrow.

And one detour found us at my friends Malcolm and Marla Collum's new old digs . Historic and in need of restoration, it is perfect for them. Good thing they are young.

All I can think of for now."

[MCHinson]

John,

I finally got around to seeing the movie, J Edgar. It was not the best movie I have seen lately, but I enjoyed seeing your cars in it.

[unimogjohn]

Matt, thanks. Glad you got to see the "movie stars".

A big thank you to Greg. He took time out of his evening work schedule to take the visiting family on a tour and history lesson of the Wright Brothers and their airplanes. I also enjoy listening in as I learn something new each time I take the tour.

And after we left, Greg continued his work on the Matheson engine. Here is his report.

"Time to settle in the main bearings. But I hadn't really studied what was going on with the caps and inserts. The caps have that funny plug. A look through the copy of the owner's manual explained the system. So I unscrewed the plugs to find that the caps have been sand cast with a sand core which makes them hollow, an oil reservoir. Then there is supposed to be a spring loaded felt wick that keeps the main bearing journal wet . All I had here was the plugs and some of the holes. Someone had done a lot of machine work to keep this motor going. There's also been some shimming done and some of the shims weren't drilled for the wicks. I don't know if they are vital to the life of the bearings, but I chose to put them back. I've redrilled the missing holes and need to look into felt wicking material. The plugs have been blast cleaned, they look to have suffered some rust damage, but they'll do just fine.

The rear bearing cap is missing the internal chamber and plug and has some fresh machine work, which leads me to believe the rear cap is a replacement.

I don't see the need to start over on it. Sorry, but I'd like to outlive this project."

[unimogjohn]

It is Wednesday, Nov 30th. While Greg continues his Matheson tasks, I am still pounding in T posts and stringing wire for the pasture fencing. I have inspected about seven acres and am now in the final stages of making sure that each of the old posts still have good plastic connectors for the wire. They only seem to last about four years before the sun takes the life out of them. Lots of walking. We did get three new gates installed with three new wood posts buried deep in Virginia clay. They are not moving!

Here is Greg's report from last night.

"I got a lot of inquiries concerning the mysterious felt wick oiling of the main bearings. I'd better explain that it isn't the primary system.

The car has a dash mounted oiler that feeds engine lubrication points via individual lines. It looks like a Moller pipe organ. It's the old total loss oil method. Pour oil in the dash oiler, it pumps oil to the bearings and cylinder walls, then you crawl under the car to drain off the excess oil through standpipe petcocks.

The felts must be to prevent dry starts of the crankshaft after standing idle.

The other question is how do the main cap reservoirs get filled? I'm not sure. Each cap has holes that have been plugged. They could have been to allow splash oil to enter. Why and who plugged them, I don't know. For the little use that this car will see, and not knowing how useful the idea of the felt wicking might be, I think that I will just fill each reservoir before I cap them. Should be adequate. Besides, nobody else did it.

As for tonight, I'm doing more investigation. One reason this project landed in my lap was that in addition to the other uncnventional features, it is a make and break motor. That's period lingo describing the ignition system. No spark plugs.

It has a Bosch dynamo , a generator, that feeds constant current to an insulated contact inside each cylinder. Another grounding contact inside the cylinder is cam operated to make it touch it. This gets a current flow between them. At a precise moment, the cam tells the points to break which causes the spark. Like bumping a file across battery terminals.

My plan is to get the components cleaned and installed in their cylinders, and with the cylinder heads off, feed current to them and watch the make and break action in action. Sounds easy, but there's a whole lot of gizmos, shafts, cams, timing issues, etc and I need to turn the dynamo the right way and the right speed. Somehow.

So tonight I'll begin cleaning and prepping parts. That's kind of brainless and it's been a long (but good) day. But that's another story.

Photos enclosed of some of the ignition components.

[John Byrd]

Wow, John and Greg, I am enjoying these posts very much, and appreciate and am amazed by the work- - particularly on Greg's posts, but after seeing this electrical system, I think I would volunteer that I was anxious to rush home and boil my elbows in oil rather than fool with this !! Ha !! John, if you ever want to drive posts in some challenging "dirt", come on over to Hawaii and try our lava. Fencing and farm work is behind me for sure here ! Keep it up guys, and thanks, John

[unimogjohn]

It is Thursday, Dec 1st. Whole house generator 20 KW blinked at me yesterday. Says that the battery is not up to par. Love machines that talk to me. Ran off and tried to trade in the old battery, which is only one year old. No luck, tested good. But to be safe bought another battery and will use the old one in the tractor. But I did manage to finish all the repairs to the pasture fence line and now the llamas have another pasture to roam.

Today I have to pull out the 28 Buick and get her ready for the parade on Sunday. It is about 50 miles round trip so it will be a nice ride for her.

Greg is very busy. He told me that he forget what day it is sometimes. He lives on about four hours of sleep each night. I could not do it.

Here is his last night's report.

"Some project movement.

Day job Wright eight has been line bored for cam bearings. For machining purposes I'm installing a two inch diameter steel bar. This will support the casting on the milling machine table and allow me to rotate the case for the different operations.

I've started on the steel plates that will support the bar.

Matheson. I've been cleaning threads and fitting the ignition components. There are some studs that I'll have to duplicate, the ones missing from cylinder number three. One of the ignitor threads needs to be chased, a special size that's not on hand. 1"-16 tpi. That will be on the Christmas list."

[unimogjohn]

It is Friday, Dec 2nd. Lots of farm work yesterday and still have to bury primary wire and run a new ground wire for the electric fence. Will not be a tough job as the ground is so wet. The electric fence goes around about seven acres and is three and four strands on a pole. I did manage to wash both the 28 and the Avanti. Today will do a little cleaning on the inside of the 28 and maybe a quick polish. I left the Avanti out for the past week as we are using it tomorrow. Should not have as now I have a wet carpet in the driver area. Time to get out the heater.

And for your morning coffee, here is Greg's report.

"Studly.

Let's just say that tonight I got a late start, but met my objective. Cylinder number three now has new studs for the cam tower and the water manifold installed.

Also, an update on the fixture progress for the Wright eight. Might work."

[unimogjohn]

It is Friday, Dec 2nd. Lots of farm work yesterday and still have to bury primary wire and run a new ground wire for the electric fence. Will not be a tough job as the ground is so wet. The electric fence goes around about seven acres and is three and four strands on a pole. I did manage to wash both the 28 and the Avanti. Today will do a little cleaning on the inside of the 28 and maybe a quick polish. I left the Avanti out for the past week as we are using it tomorrow. Should not have as now I have a wet carpet in the driver area. Time to get out the heater.

And for your morning coffee, here is Greg's report.

"Studly.

Let's just say that tonight I got a late start, but met my objective. Cylinder number three now has new studs for the cam tower and the water manifold installed.

Also, an update on the fixture progress for the Wright eight. Might work."