Avanti R2, 1963, refresh

[TexRiv_63]

John, that is a breathtaking car! I'm very jealous...

[unimogjohn]

Straight-Shooter, yes, it was on the British forum site as well as the general AACA for sale/wanted forum. It sure caught my eye, and as they say, the rest is history. Now my adventure begins. We plan on getting her home in mid January. We have an enclosed trailer so it will not be difficult. We are planning for some extra time as we will not be travelling at 70 mph plus as we did in the Passat W8 rocket. And we do not like driving at night either. Planning to make a stop in Dayton, OH to visit the Air Force Museum and the Wright Brother Museum on the trip, so it make take us three or four days. No rush as they say. Will keep everyone posted on the trip for sure.

[packick]

John, now you have to change your AACA Forum signature to add the Jag to the fleet list.

[unimogjohn]

Joe, you are right. I have to do some updating.

It is Friday, December 30th. Leave on our week long cruise tomorrow. Baltimore, MD to the Bahamas. We are looking forward to it.

Bought the shop and maintenance manual for the 1953 Jaguar, not much money, only $20 shipping included. I could have ordered a CD for $8, but I like the feel of paper when I am working on cars. On the hunt for a car cover. Rick, a former Jaguar dealer in BC, Canada, wrote me to change the rubber oil line from the filter housing to the gauge. He said that mine looked original in the pics I sent and they tended to become brittle and burst. So that will be my first maintenance job on the 120.

I also received the 1953 VA license plates for the car. NOS, never been issued. One is great, and one has some paint loss. Went to the hobby store and picked up some paint and will do a touch up. They will look fine with a little polish to take off the oxidation. Not show, but good driver quality. I don't know if I will use them to register the car or just when it is parked on the display field. A problem for later when I see what they look like on the car. Here is a pic.

I have posted pics of the 120 that I took at the Muncie, Indiana shop on my picture site. If you want to see them they are at Picasa Web Albums - John and Alice

John Lee in Australia called and said that he had some old starters and would look for a bushing for my 1923 McLaughlin Buick starter. He wrote back that the same problem just surfaced on his 24 McLaughlin Buick. He looked at the old starters, they are missing the bushings. He said that it must have been a common part failure. We discussed how we were going to make up new ones, so he is on the hunt now for the plastic and will fab something up while we are out bobbing in the ocean.

SeventhSon is coming out this morning to look at and drive the Avanti. Got to keep that boy hooked. But he is making great progress in tearing into his new Avanti. When we get home I will start removing everything I can before painting. I hope to have her in the shop the second week in January. Need to have her out of the garage to get the Jag in. I am out of space. I guess now we need to discuss expanding the barn to make it car friendly. The barn? Actually a "run in" shed that is used for llamas and hay bales.

And last but not least is Greg's report. He is back at work.

"Well into the Holiday week, other than making time for visits with family, not a lot to show for it. Not like some who find and buy fancy sports cars.

I did take the time to operate on the cranky electric fuel pump for the Avanti. The new gasket set came in. I've gotten it reassembled now, did a function check by touching wires and things to my battery posts. It tried to work, so sometime when I feel like it I'll make some adjustments. The pump reinstallation then, (maybe May?) when the weather suits me.

I was scheduled to Lee's this evening to be there while he honed my R-3 block, but he waved me off at the last minute, so tonight I took care of an errand involving a quick trip to the Burchill old car repository. And it's been pretty quiet here at work too. Most of the crew didn't show. Probably home playing with the toys they got for Christmas.

That made for a good time for me to resume work on the Wright eight engine. The main bearing caps have been installed on the crankcase and now I'm beginning the fixturing to do the line boring process.

Hard to believe we are about to tear off another calendar year."

Edited December 30, 2011 by unimogjohn (see edit history)

[Bill Stoneberg]

John, You are a very lucky man. The 53 Jag has always been one of my favorites and was my 1st car when it was just an old beat up sports car. It taught me enough so that I got a job later on as a Jag mechanic.

Now you get to learn the interesting SU carbs double overhead cams and all the rest of the fun stuff.

Enjoy the car, I am envious.

[unimogjohn]

Bill, thanks. An old Jag mechanic! I think I may be calling on you for sure.

Oh, forgot, the Jag does not have seat belts so I will be adding them. Any recommendations?

Edited December 30, 2011 by unimogjohn (see edit history)

[unimogjohn]

It is Saturday, December 31st. Well we are off for the cruise dock in a couple of hours. So this will be my last post for a week or so. But can hardly wait until we get back. Have lots to do. First, have to strip the Avanti of her bumpers and trim, and trailer her to the shop for her body and paint work. Then box up the bumpers and send them off. And finally, go and get the new Jag. All in the middle of January as we have another trip planned for Seattle at the end of January. Don't you just love retirement.

But Greg is back working, doing his boring work. Here is a short video he took of his work.

And here is his report.

"The story of a machinist's life in one word: boring.

Wright Baby Grand crankcase set up on the milling machine with my fixturing to allow initial opening up of the mains with a 3/4" boring bar.

I got this step done today, next I'll replace the 3/4 bar with a more substantilal 1" bar and cutting bit and bore some more.

Coming along, so far no boo boos to fix.

Happy New Year everybody!"

[unimogjohn]

It is Saturday, Jan 7th. We are home from the cruise. Had a great time, and everything went perfect. The ship and the crew were flawless. Great food and company. Weather was so so. Big wind storm around Bermuda kept us out of Nassau for a bit and canceled another port of call. But we had fun anyway.

The best thing is that we took a day long tour of the Kennedy Space Center. Saw lots and learned more. Here are just a couple of pics.

Tomorrow I start pulling the Avanti apart for her painting appointment in mid week.

Greg has been a bit slow off the mark. Only one report from him in a week.

"Not much to show for myself lately, but tomorrow it will be back to business as usual.

Determined to finish the Avanti electric fuel pump project, I found that it's electric switch was intermiitent in it's operation.

The switch was removed from the spare pump, that did the trick. The pump has now been reinstalled under the car, some test running and it seems to be it's old self.

Probably the most enjoyable part of the pump repair was the association with Andrew Booth. He's the guy in England who has undertaken the parts duplication and repair of these obsolete Stewart Warner 240 A's. His helpful advice via email and he has called me twice. Very generous with his assistance.

When I asked him why his interest in these things, the reply was that they were used on Ford GT-40's and 350's. He then made sure I was versed on Ford racing history. He is aparently untertaking the restoration of a 40.

Otherwise, not much to report."

=

[unimogjohn]

Still Saturday. Just opened a report from Greg. It is dated last Thursday.

"Busy day today. Took some time away from the Wright Baby Grand engine block (I'm facing the sides of the main bearing saddles). See pic.

Got into the traffic flow to DC for some museum time, afterwards detoured to a plating facility for help on the Matheson camshaft. One of the original maker's photos of the engine show a gleaming camshaft. Since this component lives outside the engine in plain sight, and exposed to the elements, I think having it plated for protection a good idea.

Last night I worked at Lee's . He decided to set up my Studebaker cylinder block and hone the piston bores round and true. I think he needed the entertainment value of having me to bark at. He/we got four of the holes done before he called it quits for the day.

Today after I returned from my trip to the metropolis, I hurried over to help him finish. He had it done and ready for me to load. Once I'd had it back and mounted on the stand, I had a chance to measure the bores. They finished with an oversize of only .004" He's a one of a kind. Gives me hell while labors on my heavy motor block, then refuses any payment.

I'll get even with him, though."

[SeventhSon]

Welcome back John! Glad to see you posting again - missed your daily report.

[unimogjohn]

It is Sunday, January 8th. Well as promised I worked on the Avanti all day, a good 8 hours worth. Got most of it done with the exception the final two bolts on the rear bumper and the "supercharged" emblems. They will be done tomorrow.

Just a couple of surprises. A make shift repair job on one of the bumper brackets, you can see the repair in the 2nd pic as compared to the other side (side to side angle brace); a bad fiberglass break where the front bumper attaches to the fender; and a couple of fiberglass cracks here and there. Everything should be easily fixable.

Had to grind off the bolts holding on the rear license plate holder. They just spun. The bumpers look great and should come out really nice without much repair before plating.

Here are a few pics of the activities.

Edited January 8, 2012 by unimogjohn (see edit history)

[Roger Zimmermann]

Is that an illusion or the car was once red?

[unimogjohn]

Roger, yes, you are right. From the factory it was red with red interior. As purchased it was dark green metallic, a 1968 Ford color, with a dyed black interior. We will be keeping the dark green metallic, but going back to a red interior. The Avanti red that came on the car is so flat, almost a primer color, so we decided to keep the green as we like it. We know that it was not offered by Studebaker. But we have a "Hot Wheels" Avanti in the same green color! It is a very light metallic also, no big flakes.

[unimogjohn]

It is Monday morning, January 9th. Just received Greg's report from last night. Here it is and make sure you look at the picture.

"This nice weekend lent itself to working outside the shop. Saturday we were dispatched to investigate a Model A Ford that is coming up for sale. A good project for someone. As a bonus we were shown an extensive collection of early phonographs, some wax cylinder types and also the more modern flat disc record kind. It was really interesting to be see the development from 1896 to about 1920.

Then for some time spent with Seabiscuit, the maroon Avanti. Having stood idle for a while, I'd started the thing one evening last week. Although it had been running well, I took a look under the hood in the dark. While it was running I was able to see my old nemesis had returned.

Sparking from the coil secondary terminal to it's negative post (point side connection). I pulled the center coil wire out to find that the bakelite nipple has been burned away. The coil is a high performance Mallory. I can't imagine why the fire has been detouring to find an easier path to ground. And the car still running well. The ignition cables are silicone covered real wire, not that phony baloney carbon stuff. Thinking that perhaps the spark plugs were at fault, either gapped too far or even burned away like the coil, I took a look. They are like new.

I found that the distributor points were kindof frosted, maybe from the high voltage finding its way through them, so I put in a new set. Also a new over the counter coil. For my effort, now the good running car skips and pops at part throttle. Put your foot in it and it runs like a scalded dog. It's just unhappy at part throttle or cruise.

I played with the point dwell and also the timing. Put in the new condenser that I hadn't changed with the points, no change. Tried altering the carburetor idle mixture adjustment screws, it still falters.

Knowing that with my foot in it and it gets better leads me to discount fuel starvation (remember I disturbed that electric pump). Now I'm wondering if it isn't somewhat like a vacuum leak. But remember it was running well before the ignition adjustments. I checked the vacuum hose connections to find them ok.

Then the sun went down, the temperature went down, my interest went down.

So back tomorrow it's back to work on the Wright eight job.

The Matheson engine cam is still at the plater's."

[SeventhSon]

Oooo - that's a hot fire! I didn't know bakelite would burn like that. Yikes!

[Yellowriv]

John, I cant believe that whoever painted the car even masked up around the number plate!!

[unimogjohn]

John, I am sure that it was a quick and dirty paint job done in the early 70s as the color dates to 1968. The car was "old" by then. In my youth I remember that folks got rid of their old cars when they reached around 50,000 miles, and by 100,000 they were junkyard bound. I am always amazed that so many cars survived to this day. My Avanti has only 45,000 original miles so I guess that is why she is still around.

[unimogjohn]

It is Tuesday, January 10th. Yesterday was a bad day for working on the Green Avanti and its tear town. I did nothing. Today I have to get it all done, and it is cold. Greg called me and told me to take off more stuff like the headlight buckets, rain gutters, and to check for broken plastic washers under the wiper head. So will do those today. Also wrote a note to Jerry's Chrome in GA to make sure they had time to do the bumpers before I boxed them up.

Got a surprise in the mail today also. I purchased a set of Jaguar XK 120 manuals off of Ebay for not much money. I was surprised when it came in this binder, see pics. The manuals are in good shape and just fine for my purposes. They look to be original issue. I love paper manuals.

And Alice and I went off to the bank and wired the money for the Jag. That put a dent in the old savings account. So with a confirmation from the seller today or tomorrow the car is officially ours. Planning to pick it up the middle of next week, Wednesday thru Friday, if the weather looks OK.

And of course Greg is busy, here is his report and pics.

"Good day to be indoors. Snowing out there.

Maroon Avanti: I'm doing my homework on the coil problem. Taking voltage readings and gathering information. Dave Thibeault referred me to the Mallory tech rep, but until I have all my volts in a row, haven't contacted him. I do see that the coil I used might not be compatible with a point and condenser system. Stay tuned.

Wright 8 cyl engine: Otherwise, my day job allowed me to finish facing the main bearing locations in the Wright Baby Grand crankcase, and also machine the reliefs in the base casting to receive the main caps. Turned out well. Now for the first time I'm able to nestle the upper and lower castings together. Time to take a break from it to ponder the next operation."

[unimogjohn]

It is still Tuesday, PM. I removed everything off the green Avanti except for the rain gutters (could not figure out how to get to the screws) and the windshield wiper studs.

The rear bumper was a b**** and used every tool I had. And those idiots from sometime in the past fiberglassed over two of the screws that held on one of the buckets. Took me over two hours to find the bolts and then used the Dremel grinder to release them from their prison. Someone had also spliced in wires and did a terrible job so will have refitting to do when I get the car back. But the buckets are out.

I also got out the supercharged emblems, now that was fun. Only gunk left on the little door seals so glad I got in there. The panels will need to be rebuilt, but that does not look that difficult.

I will tackle the wipers tomorrow morning and if that does not work out then I will work at their shop for a few hours to help prepare the car.

I do have the car loaded and she is ready to go. Actually, she really looks kinda racey without the bumpers. Getting excited now. Happy to be getting her into the shop.

All in all it took me about 25 hours to get her ready for the body and paint shop. It will probably take closer to 100 hours to put her back together.

Also going to see if the shop can replace the back support tube that goes under the spare wheel well. I have a SS one that I purchased last year. I just do not have the skills to weld it in.

[unimogjohn]

It is Wednesday, January 11th. This morning I take the Avanti to the body and paint shop, Yahoo!

My next task is to fire up the 28 Buick from the enclosed trailer and move her into the garage. That frees up the trailer for the trip next week to get the Jag. Only one issue. the trailer is in the pasture and I have to hook it to the tractor and make a figure eight with it to get it headed back out the main gate. Did I say that it is down hill and then back up. And the pastures are pretty wet from the snow a couple of days ago. This may be a big challenge.

Oh, and here is Greg's interesting report.

"Another interesting day . Another trip to the Air & Space Museum facility at Silver Hill. Another research mission to view a piece of fabric formerly found on a Wright B, in fact the B that it's owner Robert Collier lent to the U.S. Army to fly while they didn't have an airworthy machine of their own. That was March, 1911.

It's alway enjoyable to visit the place, see what's going on. And being the kind who likes to walk into a museum and ask "What's new?", I sometimes slip off the leash and get to visit with the staff, and see incredible artifacts. Like today.

In the same building , right beside the Collier fabric ( a remnant from the beginnings of our Air Force) they were preparing the museum's collection of space suits for transportation to the new facility at Dulles. The articles are photographed and packaged.

I wandered over to see what Ben Sullivan was about to photograph. He was delighted to show me Neil Armstrong's fecal containment garment (lunar underpants). I guess it would be a long wait before stopping at the next McDonald's.

Anyway, back at the ranch this evening I did more ignition documentation so that when I call Mallory's tech rep I might not appear to be quite as clueless about Ohms, Volts, external resistors, etc.

Then, with a need to tear something apart, and still in the ignition mode, I started the overhaul of the distributor for the black Avanti R-3 engine. Disassembled, bead cleaned some of it, wire wheeled some of it, now soaking some of it too. It really doesn't look bad inside. Flyweights good and tight on their pivot posts, slots not badly worn in the point cam plate, shaft and bushings appear good at first glance. Think I'll just clean, repaint, reassemble and with new point sets and condenser, give it a try in Seabiscuit (the maroon Avanti). This must be the NOS distributor that I bought from the factory on one of my visits to the Studebaker national gathering in South Bend. Probably 1972 or 73.

Still no word on the Matheson camshaft at the plater's.

[unimogjohn]

It is Thursday, Jan 12th. Early, way too early, just could not sleep thinking of all the ways to get the enclosed trailer out of the pasture. I have to get it out before our trip on Wednesday to pick up the Jaguar XK 120. It will not happen today, rained very hard last night, and as a result I will just slip and slide and tear up the pasture. I have to wait until the ground freezes and that maybe be the weekend. I should be able to get the 1928 Buick out as the trailer is on a high flat spot. So getting it to the road without too much difficulty is possible. At least will get that done today if it stops raining.

The green Avanti made it to the body and paint shop yesterday. They are going to do a test panel to make sure that the paint, filler and primer are going to stick to the underlining substrata. They are even having their "paint" representative come in to look at the car. I went over the car in detail with the body supervisor and painter. I am confident that Chris will do the right thing, and it will be beautiful when done. Also talked to the trimmer. He will redo the buckets and rear seat. I know that he wants to do more, but I am really stretching the budget now.

Enough about me. Here is Greg's report from late last night.

"A damp and dreary day. And night.

Day job: I'm about to do the main bearings in the Wright vertical four. All but a few of the Wright engines use cast babbitt inserts. I should pour a set for the V8 while the babbitt pot is hot. I've a fixture with molds to form them. Oh rats, I am changing the V8 mains from four cylinder diameter (1 1/4") to their six cylinder diameter (1 3/8"). That means different size molds. Today I started cutting and milling a set.

This evening I took time to visit Weldon Britton. He wanted me to stop by over the Christmas holidays, finally made it.

Then it was time to get something done here at the shop. Cleaned some distributor parts, got the casting primed and painted.

While I waited for paint to dry, decided to get back to the engine block for the Avanti R-3 engine that will go back into the black Avanti. In preparation for a good cleaning, inside and out, I started the removal of the screws that plug the oil galleries. Got them all but one, that one is buried inside the rear of the thing. I'll have to use an Allen wrench/socket tool to get there. That means a run to the hardware store. But not tonight. And maybe tomorrow evening I can hook up with Mitch and let him knurl my pistons.

Tried the Mallory tech hotline, got the voicemail. I'll try again tomorrow.

Our Cliff did answer one of my questions for me. When measuring voltage at my coil with the external ballast resistor in line, I found that with the distributor points opened, I was reading a full twelve volts downstream of the resistor. With the points closed I got a reading of about six volts. Didn't know why the difference. Cliff reports that a resistor will only work when under a load (a dead short with the points closed). That was with the engine static, not running.

Now my question is: With the engine running, does changing the point closing (dwell angle) change the voltage reading?

To be continued........"

[SeventhSon]

John, glad to see you got the Avanti in for her new paint and interior. I can't wait for the day I get to do the same! Make sure you get your sleep - can't get run down when you have that big trip next week to get your Jag. If you need any help getting that trailer out of the pasture let me know!

[unimogjohn]

Thanks Chris.

Just talked to the interior folks at the shop. They talked to Studebaker International (SI) yesterday and, determined that they cannot replicate the interior seats for the price of the SI interior kit. So they will use that kit, rebuild the seat foam, and install. They are also going to repaint the door panels using the color matched vinyl dye from SI.

I also ordered the little roof sail emblems from SI yesterday too along with other little rubber bitc for the re-installation of the bumpers, radio antenna, etc.

The emblems are fastened by the little PAL nuts that can only be reached if you rip into the interior of the car. So the shop is going to drill them out so they have a flat surface to work and paint on. They will use adhesive to put on the new emblems. The old emblems are OK for a driver, but they are a little pitted and have stress fractures in the plastic. So this little trouble and expense will be worth it in the long run.

Talked to Greg about what foam material to use for the vent flaps. He said that it has to be very soft. I told him that SI had a kit. He said get the kits and be done with it. Finding the right foam at Home Depot is a crap shoot.

[unimogjohn]

Still Thursday. Well got the 28 Buick out of the trailer, across the soggy pasture and into the garage. So now the trailer is empty and ready to go, but still in the pasture. Am going to hook it to the little Kubota tractor, which is 4 wheel drive and push it back through the gate, about 50 feet or so. It is a little uphill, but should make it ok. Then it will be on a dirt access road for the neighbors property. I plan on asking the neighbor, who is a renter, if I can just leave it on their side of the easement. If not I can back it back in facing the opposite way. Then the Suburban will be able to pull it out on the flat with 4 wheel drive. Plan on doing that this weekend. Want to have everything ready to go by Monday for the drive on Wednesday. Tuesday is my "back up" day.

Greg lent me his wooden shipping container for the Avanti bumpers. So packaged them up and will take them to the UPS store tomorrow or Monday. They are going to Jerry Forrester's Chrome in GA.

So, the green Avanti is in the shop for body and paint work, interior is being worked on, and bumpers are off to GA; check, check, check. So with all this work progress I am done for now. Next will be the re-assembly in a couple of months. That will be fun.

[pacerman]

John, I have been following your posts for months and enjoying them, but I must make a comment. I was told never to ship anything in a wooden container via UPS. Their material handling system has a way of destroying wooden containers. Personal experience: An NOS rocker shaft for one of my Ramblers was shipped in a wooden crate especially made for it and the rocker arms. It arrived here in California wrapped in plastice with a few pieces of wood from the crate and no rocker arms. Joe

[unimogjohn]

Joe, thanks for the advice. The box has been back and forth several times to GA with no damage. But will check with the shipper.

It is Friday, January 13th. Glad I got most of the work done on getting the enclosed trailer ready to get the Jaguar. Raining hard again today and snow expected. A hard freeze tomorrow so will make my first attempt at getting it out of the pasture.

But Greg was busy on the black Avanti's R3 engine. Engine work! Here is his report.

"I picked up that Allen wrench/socket thing and was able to remove that oil gallery plug. So then Mitch called and said "Let's do it". Gathered the R-3 pistons and off to meet him at his shop. He had rescued a piston knurling machine from a shop where he used to work. A thing of the past, it was going for junk. He gave me a lesson on it's operation and he even let me try my hand on a few.

As for results, we found that knurled surface could be raised at least .025" (on the diameter). That's way more than I need. So we brought them up about .020 which makes them too large to fit into the bores. The next operation will be to file the crests of the knurled surfaces until each piston is a proper fit in the hole. I need to double check my specs to determine what clearance I will use.

I learned a long time ago, too loose is much better than too tight.

It was a great excuse to go visit my old friend and recall old stories."

[unimogjohn]

Still Friday. The rain and snow held off, but the ground was semi-hard from the freeze last night. So hooked up the trailer to the little tractor and off we went down the hill. The tractor went a bit sideways at one point, but the 4 wheel drive pulled it around the steepest part and back up the hill. Here is a pic of the hill/pasture.

Got it back on the flat and hooked the trailer to the Suburban. Only about twenty feet to the road so we will not have a problem getting to the road. Checked all the tires and made sure they were topped off, 45 psi in the trailer tires; Suburban 35 in front and 45 in the rear. Filled the Suburban with gas yesterday so we have a full tank. Planning to leave at about 5 AM on Wednesday.

[Roger Zimmermann]

... He had rescued a piston knurling machine from a shop where he used to work. A thing of the past, it was going for junk. He gave me a lesson on it's operation and he even let me try my hand on a few.

Never heard about this "procedure". As the friction surface will be smaller, this rescue process can only be used when the engine will not be used to a large extend. Am I right?

[unimogjohn]

Roger, I had never heard of it either. Here is a short explanation from Wikipedia.

"Knurling may also be used as a repair method: because a rolled-in knurled surface has raised-up areas surrounding the depressed areas, these raised areas can make up for wear on the part. In the days when labor was cheap and parts expensive, this repair method was feasible on pistons of internal combustion engines, where the skirt of a worn piston was expanded back to the nominal size using a knurling process. As auto parts have become less expensive, knurling has become less prevalent than it once was, and is specifically recommended against by performance engine builders."

As I read Greg's narrative the pistons are now too large for the bore so he has to remove some of the knurled metal to get it to fit to the recommended tolerances. I believe that the knurling was done as the pistons had become too loose in their bores after the bores were cleaned up. Greg did not want to bore out the block and put in larger over-sized pistons. Wanted to keep his R3 components.

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

Oh you young whippersnappers!!

Back in the far away days of the 1950s, this [knurling] was done frequently. If recollection serves, we did it to reduce piston slap in slightly worn engines.

we also filed down the ends of oversize piston rings for a better fit im a worn cyl. Just ways to stretch the life of our cars a little. This was the day of 60000 mi to 80000mi before reringing and new bearings. Ahh, the good old days!

Ben

[unimogjohn]

It is Saturday, Jan 14th. Not much going on today. Just too cold. Have not heard anything from Greg for a couple of days.

I did take the wood shipping container with the Avanti bumper inside to the local UPS store. It is going "ground" and will arrive in GA on Wednesday. The weight was 70 lbs and the cost was $65. I did not think that the cost was that bad. So now everything is in the shop. The waiting begins.

I did get a small box of rubber and emblems from Studebaker International today also. I will have to make one more small order for little parts when I start the re-installation process.

Getting anxious to head to Muncie on Wednesday. Wish we could leave tomorrow, but prior commitments preclude it. On well, will just have to cool it and wait.

When the Avanti comes back home it is going to live in the barn. To that end I am putting in a new wood floor for it to sit on. It will be 10 feet wide by 20 ft long. So over the next week or so I have to move 200 bales of hay to other parts of the barn. That is about four tons of moving and stacking. Not looking forward to it, but nobody is going to do it for me. We also figured we need to buy about 40 2x6x10 pressure treated wood for the flooring and support, and then about 8 sheets of plywood for the decking. And of course we will need about 150 metal hangers too. At least all the construction will be done on the ground.

[unimogjohn]

It is Sunday morning, Jan 15th. Enjoy a ride with Greg and Jim in the Maroon Avanti.

"Got in a little shop time today. Fitting the R-3 pistons in the black Avanti engine. The Paxton spec sheet calls for .009" piston to wall clearance. I chose to file the knurling until I could get the piston into the bore with a .007" feeler gauge. That should be adequate.

And friend Jim Davis stopped by. Always glad to see him, when it comes to aviation history, he's the walking encyclopedia of who did what. He had his video camera with him, so he recorded things here in the shop that interested him. He's a master at making his subjects feel ill at ease and speechless.

Enclosed is a good example.

Steve, this one's for you."

[unimogjohn]

And for you that are interested in the restoration of the very first Avanti. Here is the latest from the museum web site. Click on each month for pics.

LeMay Museum > Avanti 1001 Progress

[unimogjohn]

Still Sunday and still cold.

Jim Davis also produced a little video dialog with Greg on all the engines in the shop that he is working on. All of which are documented in the blog. So it is nice to see "moving" pictures. Here it is for your enjoyment.

[unimogjohn]

It is Tuesday, Jan 17th. Got the barn almost cleaned out of all the hay bales. A local kid came over and moved everything, about 200 bales to other places in the barn. So now the 20 x24 foot bay is all clear. Best $20 I ever spent. Next week I will be able to start on the new floor for one of the cars.

I also got a call from Chris at the body and paint shop. They found several places where the body needs to be re-glassed. Stress fractures around the tail lights, bumper mounts on the front fenders, antenna, etc. While metal cars rust, fiberglass cracks. Just about the same result, $$$$$$$$$$$$$. Told them to go ahead a fix everything. I am in just too deep to start worrying about pennies at this point.

This time tomorrow/Wednesday we will be on the road to pick up the Jaguar XK120. Leaving about 5 AM. Weather looks OK so it should be a nice drive. Will be home on Friday. Going to stop at the Air Force Museum in Dayton for a few hours too.

And here is Greg's weekend report.

"It was a good weekend.

Friday I finally contacted the Mallory tech rep to discuss my toasted ignition coil problem. He remarked that I was using the wrong combination coil and resistor. Gave me the part numbers and after calling and driving around, I couldn't find any Mallory agents in the area. I then tried an over the counter stock coil and a well used original resistor. The car ran fine. Another instance of trying to upgrade and getting bitten in the a$$.

Sunday we drove to Rob's and Seabiscuit/maroon Avanti seemed to enjoy it. Found a new glitch. The gas gauge had been loitering around a half tank, so I filled it up. Then it registered a tank and a half. The needle stayed there until the switch was off. The return trip was with the needle plastered, still past the full mark. I've never had that problem on any of my Studebakers, but oh well, it is getting older all the time.

Today's day job was one of fits and starts. When the crowd left and things were quiet, I stayed over to get some things done . After some downtime and dinner, I was looking for something constructive to do since I was getting a late start. I know, the gas gauge. Why don't I pull the sending unit out of fifty-fifty-four/black Avanti?

I've found that Mother Nature wants her things back. Men dig the ore, smelt and founder it, bend it , shape it, make it into things. She wants them back. She'll eventually get them , sometimes after a long battle, but she'll get them.

Case in point: I started unscrewing the back seat panel that covers the fuel tank compartment. Hoping for the best but expecting the worst. Didn't like what I found. Over the years I've found that there are places in the Avanti that mice seem to really like to call home. Under the back seat. The vanity in the dash. And especially on top of the gas tank. Perfect location. Dark, cozy, no human traffic.

I found what must have been the lost colony of mousedom. Completely filled with cotton stuffing that they'd been harvesting somewhere else in the car, or maybe one of the others in the garage. When removed, I found what Mother Nature had sent them to reclaim for her. The fuel tank. While removing the debris the top of it fell in. RUBAR. (rusted up beyond all recognition). So I began the tank removal process.

If any of you Avanti guys want something to lie awake at night to worry about, there's always that cozy space on top of your fuel tank that might be harboring the mother of all mouse nests.

PS. WANTED: Avanti fuel tank in good condition."

[unimogjohn]

It is Wednesday, January 18th. Well we made it to Muncie, IN. Twelve hard hours of driving. Wind, rain, sleet and snow. It was tough going for half of the way. Going home does not look any better as more snow is expected the entire way.

But we survived and arrived at 5 PM to pick up the Jaguar. We got it loaded and strapped down. Now in the hotel for the evening and then to the Air Force Museum tomorrow. Oh, with the trailer empty we got 10 MPG at about 60 to 65 mph. Going to take two days to get home.

Here are a couple of pics of the car in the trailer.

And here is Greg's report too.

"Got the wasted tank out of the black one tonight, made a special trip for the camera to record the destruction.

Then I decided to make some progress on a favor for Andrew. He brought me a sample of some hardware for an aircraft restoration he's doing. I think it's a Kinner Sport. The things have been here for a year or two or three. Time to get it out, so I began.

Grabbed the camera to record that progress for proof. Then I remembered.

The only computer here that still takes the floppy discs (that my camera uses) had been on the sick list. Cliff the computer expert

diagnosed the problem yesterday. It wouldn't light off , power pack problem. He brought in a replacement pack, made the swap and the computer is up and running again. Except now it won't let me on my email account. I guess I'll just have to describe the photos until I can figure something else out. All I know about computers is that if in the course of action a strange warning appears, I throw up my hands and carefully back away from the keyboard and run for help.

Photo 1. front of rusted out fuel tank.

2. rear of rusted out fuel tank.

3. special bolt being machined in lathe....threading operation.

The pictures really turned out nicely. Great composition, nice colors and contrast. You'd really like them."

=

[Landman]

Congratulations on the Jag John. Glad to see someone able to get one. Looking forward to see photos of the dash. That wood really turns my crank. :)

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

`

NICE, John.

Be careful on the way home.

Ben

[SeventhSon]

Very nice John, I love the color! Have a safe trip home.

[unimogjohn]

It is Thursday, January 19th. Late in the evening, but here is Greg's report.

"Ok , just a quick update. I've had a couple good suggestions on how to overcome my email/camera pic problem. An external floppy disc drive for one. I'll have to order that. Other suggestion is to load the pics on a flash drive and transfer them to this computer that's email friendly. Bought the flash drive and don't know how to use it.

So.....day job going well. I've poured all the babbitt inserts for the v eight engine and a set for the four I'm working up. Today I' ve noticed that the camshaft journals need to be ground, so it's packaged and on it's way to Delta. They said my Studebaker cam is done.

I've ordered a new fuel gauge sending unit for the black Avanti also.

And tomorrow is a road trip. I've been asked to evaluate a Model A roadster that a friend is interested in purchasing. Not looking forward to tomorrow's early start. Heading out for upstate Ohio and maybe into the jaws of Old Man Winter. We'll see. Might pass the Fesers along the way.

Got some things to do yet tonight. Signing off."