Avanti R2, 1963, refresh

[Roger Zimmermann]

Roger, thanks for the comment. Can you post a few pics of your Cadillacs? I think that we would all like to see them.

If you go in my public profile, you can see my cars in the "album".

[unimogjohn]

It is Friday, August 13th. Finally, a half inch of rain. The first real rain we have seen in over a month. The pastures, flowers, and garden are parched.

I have made all the arrangements to pick up the 03 Suburban in FL on Monday. Have an airplane ticket, cashiers check, and my GPS to get me home. I hope to be on the road back to VA around 1 PM, but may delay if the car is not inspected by my independent mechanic. I am sure that will set me back about three hours. Oh well, it cannot be helped. It is 1,000 miles to get back home.

I saw Greg yesterday and returned the regulators and alternator he lent me. He showed me the dozen or so 20's airplane engines that his company picked up a week ago in MI. It was like going into the storage unit of a museum, and the floor knee high in almost complete engine. They all are unrestored, and look mostly complete. What a find. It is amazing that they have survived in a collection all this time.

But Greg has been busy, so here is his report. He also told me that he is still waiting for brakes lines that were missing from his kit; and still waiting on the special cam that he ordered from a Studebaker speed dealer.

"Haven't seen any great strides this week, although tonight I was able to finally get the toeboard carpet in place, the steering column too. Nothing is secured, but it's almost mine at this point. I've some fastnener issues that a look at Feser's car will determine. Often when putting something back together that's been apart for some time, for me the trail grows cold.

Ordered more parts today. Body rubber for around the door glass, clutch rod boot. Amounts to another car payment.

I guess I should have ordered a new knob for the turn signal lever. I reallly wanted a new knob with the arm attached. Use to see them at the flea markets, but guess they're all gone now."

[unimogjohn]

It is Monday, August 16th. Took the Avanti out for a long run on Friday. Suppose to be a cruise-in at a local pub, but it was raining, and I was the only one to show up. But we had a nice dinner with friends including Greg.

I was concerned that the alternator/regulator was not charging at the right amperage so I wrote Dave Tbow, the regulator rebuilder. He assured me that I was running just fine, and the higher amperage I was seeing was probably the reason my alternator burned up.

Well, another adventure. Today I get on an airplane and head to Ft. Lauderdale to pick up our new tow vehicle. A 2003 Suburban 2500 LT with the towing package. I will hopefully be on the road by 3 PM for the start of the 1023 mile journey back home. I am going to have the truck inspected and serviced before I start the trip to back home. I hope that I will have nothing to report except that I made it home. Oh, and I am making this trip solo. Alice declined to go on this adventure; I do not blame her.

Greg continues to make progress on his Avanti, but is being held up by parts.

Here is his weekend report: Well, as you can tell things have slowed here.

Doing little piddly things that you can't see. A few calls to the brake tubing outfit have only resulted in elevator music so far.

The prototype camshaft is supposedly enroute from the grind shop for John Erb to inspect and then send on to me.

The doorway rubber and clutch boot may show up tomorrow? The shop doing my seat upholstery is still saying months. So in the meantime, I've spent two days giving the console vinyl the onceover. What I could remove came out for cleaning, reglueing where necessary, and redying. What wouldn't come out got it in place. Cleaned and reinstalled the chrome plated parts. If I hadn't told you, you wouldn't have noticed.

I might reinstall the voltage regulator this week, that'll get it off the shelf.

Our summer is cooling off. Hershey is something like six weeks away? I've seen all kinds of weather for that swap meet, even snow. I've come to the realization that the warm weather I like to work in is fleeing and as for getting this car running this summer .....I've missed the window of opportunity.

[unimogjohn]

It is Tuesday, August 17th. Made it home with the 03 Suburban. No problems, but just a very long drive. I think 17 hours driving and over a 1,000 miles. I had the pedal to the metal most of the time. I think that my driving average was about 64 mph. Attached is a pic of the GPS and the various readings for your enjoyment. I did a couple of mileage test runs too. At a steady 55 mph I got 19.5 mpg; at 65 it was 17 mpg; and at 75 it was 15 mpg. The truck has the 6.0 Vortec engine in it.

A very special thanks to Bob Dunn, the local president of the AACA chapter and master mechanic. I took the truck to him for a mechanical inspection, and he spent about an hour or more running tests, etc. He pronounced it a good truck and so off I went.

Here are a few pics of the truck at home. I do need tires and shocks, and a few light bulbs, but that is about it. Going to take a nap now.

[bhclark]

That is a good looking Suburban! Can't believe it is an '03 as good as it looks.

naughty boy driving 80mph!

Pretty good mileage for such a vehicle if you keep the speed down.

Congrats on your purchase and safe trip home.

[trimacar]

John- how'd you find the Suburban? I'm looking to upgrade on mine, it's a '96 that's showing some age. Need a 2500 with the biggest engine I can get, trying to get up into the 20-oughts (2003 and up, as you did).

[unimogjohn]

Dave, I got it on Ebay. There was one locally, with the big 8.1 liter engine. Went for much more money than I wanted to spend. I will keep looking for you.

Greg is continuing to work a bit on the Avanti. Here is his report from yesterday.

Typical, arise, shower, stumble down the steps to work. As the brain warms up I usually sweep floors or clean equipment. Can't do much damage that way while I wait for the test pattern in my head.

Finished assembling the two remaining Wright A connecting rods. They thread together and the bores must line up when torqued. Next setup is to bore the big ends.

Bill called and said to expect him for lunch. He flew in and I drove us to the Mexican. After our return, nice day and all, I took a longer lunch and went with him back to the Warrenton hangar where he keeps it. He offered the ride and who am I to say no to Stearman time? Took the longer, scenic route. We not only dodged some birds, but upon arrival at the airport we also had to avoid some helicopter traffic. He got us back to Earth safely while the Huey still hovered at the end of the runway. Taxied back and while putting it away heard some strange sound effects. Apparently they were practicing the autorotation thing and it went wrong. Busted up the helicopter on the runway. Sure glad we got in before they closed the airport. Bill returned me to the shop so I could resume connecting rod manufacture.

Knocked off at quitting time, went off the air for an hour or so. Back on the floor to find UPS had brought that rubber shipment for the Avanti.

Took my five mile bicycle ride. Talked by cell to friend Temple . He didn't want to be bothered, standing in line for a free hot dog . At the Bonneville Salt Flats. Speed Week, you know.

Sorted screws , drove to the storage hangar to start test fitting the over door rubbers. Drove back to the shop with the stainless trim. Buffed it and cleaned the horn relay. Back to the hangar and test fitted the stainless. Ditto the voltage regulator and horn relay.

What now? I'm bored.

=

[bhclark]

John...Look in northern inland Florida. (got to avoid possible hurricane vehicles)

Lots of low mileage cars down there.

You can buy a lot lower mileage car down there than you can farther north.

When we bought our minivan, we got a florida van with 30,000 miles for at least 2 grand less than what we could have bought locally with 70,000.

[Roger Zimmermann]

naughty boy driving 80mph!

That is the speed we are driving on freeways in Europe, sometimes a little bit faster!

[unimogjohn]

It is Friday, August 20th. Finally recovered from the long drive, not rummy any more. Glad that is done. Spent the day getting new tires on the Suburban, and realize that it does need new rear shocks at least. One is leaking. Off to Ebay to find a pair.

But Greg is still in Avanti land working. Here is his report.

Well last evening (I think) I made a return trip to the Feser Avanti for some brake line research. Packaged some of my old lines to ship to Brake Lines R Us for reduplication. They were mailed out today.

Only work constructive was the installation of the new starter solenoid that I bought during lunch. You know the luck I've been having with the new parts gotten in an attempt to meet or exceed what I had on the car. When the time comes to try it, if the starter don't start, the rusty old solenoid is still on the shelf.

Tonight I worked with those new upholstery quarter panels. If they look ok in the daylight, I'll put in the quarter windows with adhesive and screws next time.

Now to try to get the contaaaaaaaaaaaact cemmmmmmmmmentttt offfff myyyy fingerssssssss..............

[unimogjohn]

It is Sunday, August 22nd. Greg came over and measured the original brake lines still on the car. He is having fits trying to get the correct lines for his car. Also he has found out that one of the lines is missing from the "kit". I did not run into this problem as I had not replace my lines forward of the rear axle, and went with the Turner brake conversion so I did not have any front caliper lines to fool with.

But here is his report.

Thetan at the controls of the International Harvester. He brought it in safely. And, no termites were harmed in the process.

Otherwise, time spent on the Avanti was installing the quarter windows, the over the door rubber seals, windshield post stainless, door post stainless, some seals for the rear door post, and the pursuit of better fitting doors.

[unimogjohn]

It is Wednesday, August 25th. Greg continues to press ahead. Here is his report from the past couple of days.

"The past few nights I've been working in the upholstery department. Replacing a couple panels that an Avanti owner, even the long time owner with hundreds of thousands of miles in them, probably has never noticed before. Those filler pieces between the rear seat and the side panels. My old ones were pretty sad, so simple. Knock out some new ones. Not only were they faded to beat the band, but rock hard and water damaged too. I have on hand some NOS elk vinyl that Phil found at South Bend (the last they said) in the seventies. Although in storage all these years, it is now old new vinyl. I figure it is good for some of these insignificant panels for a driver. And I need to settle up with Phil now that I'm cutting into it.

Used the old ones as patterns. Cut, stuffed and glued last night. Tonight I installed them. Not as easy as it looked. Getting plastic to stretch and shrink when it doesn't want to go there.

A study of the originals show that they did some tuck and fold where it doesn't show. And I'm hoping that when the seat goes back in that it will pull some of the wrinkles that happen where the padding doesn't allow you to glue the vinyl down. Then, if it doesn't suit, I'll pull it up and try it again. Won't be the first time I didn't get it right the first time.

Otherwise the sample brake lines have been sent to the "Always Get It Right Brake Line Company" for copying. Hope that isn't the end of the story. The several that I correspond with have been having trouble with their kits too. One to the point of having them flare the ends of his predetermined lengths and send them to him straight so he can bend them. If you want a good time, ask him about them.

When you order them they ask all the right questions. Trouble is their information doesn't match the "no hillholder" cars. If I get them to bend the front to back lines correctly and include the master cylinder pipe.....maybe I'll tell them the set is for a '30 Whippet and anyone wanting a set for their Studebaker Avanti will know what to order to fit their car.

And a camshaft might be enroute.

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

=

[unimogjohn]

It is Thursday, August 26th. Greg continues to press ahead with his interior work. Here is his report for the past couple of days. His parts are sooooo rusty; the car must have been parked in the lake. Mine was no where near as bad.

"Can't replace it all. The arm rests will return to duty. Complicated. When I called the upholsterer about making replacements, Kevin wasn't too excited about it. I can see why. Very complicated.

So tonight I looked them over and decided to give them the onceover. Rusted steel inside, I bead cleaned and sealed them with rust proof enamel. Scrubbed them with lacquer thinner and a toothbrush, especially in the stitching and beading. Hosed them down with a couple coats of vinyl coloring.

Notice one of them was signed by Felix at the plant."

[unimogjohn]

It is Friday, August 27th. Would you believe it, it is 57 degrees outside this morning. Almost cold.

I have spent several days sorting out the 2003 Suburban and getting her ready to pull. Installed the new Petronix brake controller, got new tires all around, changed the oil and air filter, and went over the truck from top to bottom. The only thing left to do are to replace the shocks, and they should be here early next week. I do plan on getting the transmission flushed when the truck has to go in for its safety inspection in a couple of weeks. The fluid looks OK, but I am sure that it has never been changed so it is time. The local shop does it for about $200.

Still on the hunt for a good enclosed trailer. I am finding out that a new trailer is about the same price as a used trailer. I still cannot decide if I should get a 20 or 24 ft model. They both look long. I am leaning to a new 20 footer with a V nose.

Going to change the fuel filter in the Avanti today too, and take her for a quick spin.

Greg must have the market cornered on clamps. You will see what I mean when you read his report.

"While waiting on the UPS truck.....

Called the tube works today. They've gotten the sample brake lines and will get right on it. With apologies.

Camshaft will be in the mail for about a week.

Ordered new chrome bezels for the rear seat ash trays. Old ones were showing rust. New ones cost less than replating the old ones. When installed in the armrests then the rests can be put to rest.

While rummaging around where the back seat goes, dawned on me that that rear seat panel has vinyl trim and that's what pulls the wrinkles from those bolsters. Dug it out of storage and after cleaning, I began regluing the trim. Old, hard, it was reluctant to go back in place. Hoping that Weldwood gel formula contact cement will hold it. Then recolor the trim and it will be ready to reinstall. After I mak sure the tank is clean enough inside to pass gas."

[unimogjohn]

August 30th, its Monday. Another hot one today, suppose to be over 95 again today, and for the next few days. The heat is just not giving us a break.

I did take the Avanti out for a couple of spins during the late evening. Everything is good. Replaced another fuel filter just to make sure that I am picking up any debris.

Also played with the Suburban for a few hours. Got a few minor things adjusted and fixed, and put on the rear shocks that had arrived on Friday. The front shocks should be here today or tomorrow. The rears were shot. One was leaking badly, and the other had no resistance or rebound at all. I replaced them with KBR G2 shocks. Here are a couple of pics.

And of course, Greg continues to press ahead. Here is his report and pics.

"Busy weekend, even got some Studebaker in.

The new chrome bezels for the rear seat ash trays arrived Friday afternoon, so that was the green light to install the arm rests and lay that back seat panel in place. Took a few minutes to check out the rear seat heelboard carpet.

And the super double top secret camshaft arrived Saturday. Lots of other things going on, but I did find time to press the cam gear in place and do some preliminary degree wheeling. You know, it's all in the timing.

[trimacar]

John, I'd advise you to get the longer enclosed trailer. More room to move around car for tie down, and you'll hardly know the difference in the few feet. Of course, make sure it's tall enough for that big Buick touring! You'll want one with a winch and a power jack, minimum.

I haven't seen any good used trailers come up for sale lately, but will ask around.....best dc

[unimogjohn]

It is Friday, September 3rd. Still summer here, actually still the heat of summer. We have to run for the pool and the shade from 10 until 7, just too hot still. Over 95 each day.

I did manage to get the two front shocks on the Suburban. Not a hard job, just a bit constricting trying to work around the tires, which I did not want to take off. One was seeping. Sure glad I replaced all four.

Greg is still pressing ahead. Looks like his brake line issues are behind him. Here is his report and engine pic.

"Still here and still at it. Most of this week has been spent inspecting that cam that arrived. Mainly it has been practice in using a degree wheel and finding the intake lobe centerline position. Never really had to do that before. And documenting the opening and closing positions of the intake and exhaust valves, as well as the lobe (lifter) lift. I've gotten the results, now for some decisions.

Otherwise, Inline Tube Company sent me a package today. Some of the brake lines in the kit I bought wouldn't fit the car, or were missing. After calls, emails and waiting, I followed their advice. Sent them samples and they duplicated them. Arriving in today's big brown truck, and they weren't long in being taken to the car and installed. Nice fit this time."

[unimogjohn]

It is Saturday evening, Sept. 5th. We just got home from taking our Avanti on a nice long drive through the country side. We even stopped for a nice dinner. She ran great with no issues or problems.

And Greg's work is getting exciting. Here is his engine report.

"Friday Night - Decided this was the weekend to get the engine in the car.

Saturday - Began engine reassembly and fixed some of the bugs found during the first try.

The new hamonic balancer was off in a couple ways. The timing mark was only off about a half inch. Made a new mark in the proper location. Photo of old and new balancer. Also, it could not be installed so that the oil return groove would disappear into the seal, and it also wasn't in line with the rest of the pulley system. Comparison ot the two resulted in machining .180" off the snoot. Now it fits.

Disassembled the valve rocker shaft assy for cleaning.

Sunday - The heads were torqued, valves adjusted, removed the engine from the buildup stand, and it is now resting on the transportation stand.

Machined an alignment arbor and the clutch has been installed with temporary bolts. I hope a hardware store is open tomorrow.

Some hardware and logistic problems should be the only things standing in the way of dropping the motor in the car."

[unimogjohn]

It is Monday, September 6th. Stupid me! Sometimes I do not like to report my failures, but I am afraid I must.

I was working on the engine, doing some cleaning and adjusting, and decided I better move it out as the engine was running inside the Avanti garage. So looked in back of me and started to slowly back up and out of the garage.

Oh no, heard a noise and looked to the front. The hood was up and just hit the top of the garage. Thank goodness the garage is pretty flexible, but I did not catch it in time. I bent both hood hinges and bent/broke the support mount. Now the hood is way out of adjustment and will not close.

The driver's side hinge is really bent, and the passenger side hinge is bent just a little bit. I did not damage either mounting point on the hood or the body so that is a little plus.

Greg has a couple of hinges, so going to take these over and see if I can bend them back into the correct shape. If not, SI has NOS units for about $150.

Like I said, stupid me.

[Guest stude8]

Bent metal is sometimes repairable, lets hope you don't find fiberglass fracturing when the hinges come off.

Stude8

[unimogjohn]

Stude8, pulled the hood and hinges off last night. Everything looks OK on the fiberglass. I will check more closely today in the bright sunlight.

It is Tuesday, Sept 7th. Yahoo! Greg is getting some place by installing the big pieces. Here is his Monday report and pics.

"This morning I prepared the engine for installation. Couple trips to the hardware store for bolts and nuts, attached the bellhousing and throwout bearing assembly, etc. Used the liftgate on our big truck to transport the engine and lift to the car.

The intermediate crossmember was installed with new hardware and with that done, the engine went right in just like it wanted to be home again.

Needed Unimog John's advice on front mount placement. Understand that he broke his car in the process. Doesn't he know that no good deed goes unpunished? Sorry John. Bring the hinges over and we'll straighten them.

It was a hard charging weekend, but a good one.

Now I'll start adding parts. Not loooking forward to lifting that transmission back in place. I've noticed that this old iron and steel gets heavier as it ages."

[bhclark]

John,

Every time I do something like that (all too often), I just calmly say to myself "and that's why you can't have nice things".

[unimogjohn]

It is Wednesday, September 8th. Here is Greg's report from yesterday. He is move right along now.

"Tuesday already. Installed the coolant manifold this evening. And the blower bracket.

Then turned my attention to the transmission. Rebuilt, it needs gear oil and put up in the car. Now I'm looking into the shift lever assembly. Busted bushings, missing snap rings and return spring and a worn out nylon cover all to be addressed."

[unimogjohn]

It is Wednesday, early PM. Well, we found the trailer for the cars, but it is 350 miles away. So we have another road trip all set for this Friday. It will be a one day, up and back. Alice says she will go if I buy her lunch and dinner, and of course Shadow will go also, for a few dog bones.

We have made the deal and will be bringing the balance owed when we inspect the trailer. Based on the pics and discussions the trailer is in great shape and well maintained. It belongs to a racing promoter and was used to haul NASCAR show cars to various events a few times a year. It was always parked inside too. It is a great find, and an outstanding deal. Here is a pic of the rig.

Now I just have to sell my open trailer and the little Trailblazer.

[Larry Schramm]

John,

Would reconsider selling the open trailer if you have a place to store it. I bought an enclosed trailer first and ended up buying an open trailer because of the utility of being able to load about anything in any condition on the open trailer when I did not want to dirty the enclosed trailer.

Just a thought.

[unimogjohn]

It is Thursday, September 9th. Oh that Greg continues to be very busy. Close to getting the transmission in now too. Here is his report from last night.

"Got more done tonight. Out of excuses, I decided tonight was the night to get the transmission in place. Well, with no lift or transmission jack, wrestled with it until I finally got it up in the car. Not in place, but up in the car.

While trying to get the spline engaged, I remembered an old trick the Steve and I would use on his '57 Chevy. Steve (in the days before he owned this maroon Avanti) had this Chevy 210 series two door. 261 six cylinder truck engine with a 235 head. Three speed transmission. Hand carved walnut shift knob on a Hurst shifter. And he'd take on anything that pulled up beside him.

A regular at the drag races. He routinely would show the way to whatever they paired him with....until the trophy run. He'd outshift the second gear synchro and then have to limp around town all week with a broken gearbox. On Saturday the A&P would pay him and we'd head to the NAPA store, buy a second gear for $17. 58 , then take the car to my house where we'd roll the two right wheels up on the curb and do the transmission trick. Overhaul and red repaint.

We could do this in no time and the trick to getting it back in place was to use four long bolts with the heads removed . That would position the trans and allow us to find the spline. Then back to Mason Dixon in Hagerstown on Sunday. Did we realize what good days those were?

Otherwise, I made the new nylon bushings for the shift lever, found new snap rings at the hardware store, overhauled and repainted the stuff. I will order the missing anti-rattle spring sometime.

Tomorrow is another."

[unimogjohn]

It is Friday, Sept 10th. Another driving marathon. We left this morning at 4 AM and got home at 7 PM. The total trip was 650 miles. Mileage going down was 15.6 mpg, ran at the speed limit and a bit over. Coming back with the trailer it was 10.2 mpg going 55 to 60 mph. The Suburban had no problem pulling the trailer.

But it was a very long drive, especially in the morning and in the dark. Alice did do the last two hours heading into Concord, NC. I slept. I think the total drive time was 14 hours or so.

We arrived at Millsport in the heart of NASCAR country. Had a great time visiting with the crew there and took a picture with them. The trailer was washed and ready to go. We were in and back out on the road in twenty minutes. A long day for sure. Tomorrow we will actually go over the trailer again. But she sure looks fantastic. The only thing I have seen that needs looking at is the little battery for the emergency brake, one terminal has corrosion. The trailer brakes do work fine. I will give a mechanical report tomorrow. Oh, did I say that the trailer is HUGE!

Here are some pics.

[bhclark]

I'm sure you were the most talkative of the bunch!

Looks like a fantastic trailer!

Well built and easy for you to customize to your needs!

[unimogjohn]

It is Saturday, September 11th. Ran out this morning to go over the trailer. Other than the gunk on the little brake-a-way battery everything looks great. Pulled the battery and put the volt meter on it, read 10.6 volts. It is rechargeable so will put it on my smallest charger and see what happens. Worse case I will replace it, I think they are about $25 dollars down at Tractor Supply. I also ordered a sand foot for the lift, that is $10 delivered from Ebay, and I found a new tire/rim combo for $110 delivered also on Ebay that I will use as a spare. I hate not having a spare.

Also received from Rock Auto a new trailer electrical connector. The one currently on the Suburban does not have a cover, and while I was able to get it working I could not get anything out of the right turn signal. So I ordered a new connector. If it does not rain too hard tomorrow I will put it on. Hope it solves the problem.

Then I ran off to see Greg with my bent hinges in hand. He worked them over, bending, heating, and adjusting. We matched them to the set he has for his Avanti. I think he spent about 30 minutes, it would have taken me several hours for sure.

He was having fits trying to get the transmission into his Avanti by himself. That is a no go, it is a two person job. Boy, that little bugger is heavy. But we got it in and seated. He headed off to Sears for a flex coupling for his ratchet so he can tighten down the top bolts on the bell housing. And I headed home to see how I am going to get the trailer up our driveway and into the pasture where it will be parked. Last night I drove it through a side gate, but had to go way into the neighbor's pasture to do it. That will not work in the winter as the ground will be wet, and I am sure to get stuck. I will let you know what I come up with.

Update - well I decided to go out before it rains and see if I could replace the trailer connector socket. It took a couple of minutes to figure out how it connected, but managed to get it out without breaking anything, and the new one just slipped right in place. Maybe took ten or so minutes. Guess what! I can now turn right. Everything is now working and I even have a cover when it is not in use. Yahoo!

Edited September 11, 2010 by unimogjohn
Update for socket replacement (see edit history)

[trimacar]

John, on your comment that the trailer is huge......we have a 2500 Suburban and a 24 foot Haulmark....we'll be at a rest stop...and look back at the truck and trailer.....and the first thought is.....what? We're pulling that huge thing behind us??.....trailer seems to dwarf the Suburban....but you go down the road fine...

[unimogjohn]

It is Sunday, September 12th. Rained last night, got 1/2 inch. First rain in a month. I am sure all the trees, plants and animals appreciated it.

Thought I better try to put on the bump stops on the Suburban's front suspension. Pricey little devils, to the tune of $40 each from the local dealership. Seems that no after-market vendor is making them.

Come to find out they are critical on how the torsion bars system works. They are actually part of the system, and the front control arms rests on them, there is no clearance. They are also made out of a special rubber like material, but looks to be a plastic synthetic blend of material.

To get them in I had to jack up the suspension, but the entire process did not take me more than 30 minutes per side, once I figured out what tools I would need. So in about two hours or so it was done, and even greased the steering system and ball joints, which looked like they had not seen any grease for a long time. Here are some pics of the old and new parts and where they are installed.

This afternoon I am going to clean and paint the hinges for the Avanti. Here is what they look like now after Greg's bending and heating work. They were not that pretty before he started.

[unimogjohn]

Still Sunday, but PM. Done for the day. I used a brass wheel to peel away the rust and layers of paint on the hinges. They look pretty good now all cleaned up. Took some metal paint prep and cleaned them up and then spray painted them with a couple of coats of flat black. Done, will let them dry overnight before test fitting tomorrow.

Oh, tomorrows project. My Kubota tractor's black seat cover shrank and became very hard and brittle. It was letting water get into the foam liner. So we pulled off the old cover and went down to the local fabric store.

Alice went in, but asked what color? I did not care so I say just pick what you like. She came back with with semi-gloss brown marine vinyl. Said it was on sale too, five bucks. So that is what it is going to be.

Planning on using contact cement stick it to the foam. It does not have to be pretty, but water tight and functional is the key.

[unimogjohn]

It is Monday, September 13th. I have three projects that I want to get done over the next couple of days. One, repair the tractor seat; two, replace the fuel filter on the Suburban (this is the last maintenance item left to do), and three, clean and paint the underside of the Avanti hood. The underside of the hood is a combination of red and green paint. I plan to clean off all the old glue from the heat/sound pad that was removed, will use Goof Off to remove the glue. I will paint it flat back. I also have to repair the hood prop rod as a mounting bolt was broken off. Now where did I put that flat headed bolt?

And here is Greg's weekend report. "Trying to recall what went on this weekend. Saturday John Feser saved the day. He came by and offered to help put up the transmission. Who was I to say no. It had been fighting me for several days.

That morning I double checked the bore of the pilot bushing with a .750 reamer. I knew we had one because the Wright propellers get reamed for the 3/4 propeller shafts. Might have been a burr or something. I also polished the nose of the transmission input shaft. With John's help, it went in this time.

Other accomplishments that I recall: Shifter linkage cleaned, painted and installed. Shifter reinstalled. Driveshaft installed. Intake manifold installed (minus one misplaced bolt). Cleaned and painted the crankcase breater and bell housing front cover plate, then the started installed.

And I left the camera lying by the car, so you'll just have to take my word for it. Will catch up on photos and correspondence later."

Edited September 13, 2010 by unimogjohn (see edit history)

[unimogjohn]

It is still Monday, but PM. Finished for the day. I did manage to get the fuel filter changed in the Suburban. A messy job, but I was prepared for the fuel leaking everywhere. I guess I was done in about an hour. Half of that time was looking for the right wrenches to fit the odd ball sizes.

Then Alice yells that she thinks she might have a buyer for the white 1989 Ford Taurus SHO. This car has been sitting in the pasture since the summer of 2008. Well, other projects must be put aside to see if I can get the old girl running and moving again. There was nothing wrong with her when she was parked.

As luck would have it I did remove the battery a few weeks ago so it held a good charge and was all ready to go. I headed out to the pasture, put in the battery and turned the key to run. Nothing....... tried again, nothing. Then I remembered that you have to have the clutch in. She started, died, started died, and then finally caught and idled fine. After a warm up period I drove her out of the ruts she was in and onto the lawn at the front of the house.

She got a very good wash, three actually, an engine cleaning, and a general mechanical going over. Took her out for a nice ten mile run. Boy, I forgot how powerful the SHO Yahama engine is. It was a pleasure to drive. Good thing I have another one in the pasture if this one sells.

Here are a few pics. I washed one side and left the other dirty so you can see how bad it was.

[unimogjohn]

It is Tuesday, September 14th. I am off this morning to buy two gates, a 12 and 10 footer. This will give me a large opening to turn into the pasture from the driveway. Discussed with my bride, Alice, and she concurred as long as I did not trim the trees back too far. She hates it when I get out the chainsaw. Also going by the DMV to title and get plates for the new trailer.

Greg worked real hard this weekend and Monday. He got lots done it looks like. I see that he did also install the alternator. I expect that by next weekend he will have the car running.

He also told me that he rebuilt the brakes a few years ago, but plans to got through them again. I asked him about the seats. He said that they were still being done. The vendor is making two good seats out of four bad ones. It is taking a long time, I could not wait that long, as been about three or four months right now. Oh well, glad it is not me.

Anyway, here is Greg's report. Photo descriptions:

* Shift and linkage prior to installation. Waiting on anti rattle spring and some spring washers to complete.

* Recored radiator now in place.

* Coolant tank has a new gasket cut for it, installation held up due to misplaced new thermostat.

I'll buy another tomorrow.

* New shift boot. Misplaced shift knob. Saw it somewhere.

*I'm retiring the toy R3 fan and returning the standard fan to duty. Hoped to bead blast remove the old

finish and repaint, it doesn't think so. Soaking it with paint remover for a while.

* Cleaning the hose clamps. Although it is a driver, I can't help but look for details of originality.

Hose clamps, certain bolt types, blue stripes on the heater hoses, markings, etc. The restorer in me.

*While looking through the fan collection, ran across this momento. Bad night for 'ol RQ1580.

Going to the store in my (then) daily driver gold R2 fourspeed. Didn't make it.

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

John, I always enjoy your updates

Have a question, if you don't mind. Greggs fan has blades unevenly spaced. I have seen this before, but don't know the reason they are designed that way. ???????

Thanks

Ben

[trimacar]

Hi- I believe the reason for irregular spacing of car fan blades is for noise reduction. Thus, no harmonic is set up by blades going through air at regular intervals. As long as the fan blade assembly is balanced overall there's no other vibration incurred.

John, on your car washing....reminds me that Harrah's car collection used to have a 20's sedan that was original and barn fresh on one side, and totally restored on the other...with a dividing line right down the center of the car, everything...paint, upholstery, etc.

Anyone know where that car is today?

[unimogjohn]

David, I do not know if this is the car you saw or not. But when we were at the Canadian Transportation Museum in Ottawa a couple of months ago there was a car in storage (I think it was a Dodge), and it was half and half. Here is the pic I took of the bad side, but you can see the restored part on the other side if you look closely. The new side was looking a bit dated. This was taken in their long term storage facility that is usually closed to the public.

[unimogjohn]

It is Tuesday. Here is Greg's report for today.

"So I get the fan stripped, bead blasted and a coat of paint. That's when I see that this must be the one that Steve put into the radiator when the water pump croaked. So decided to pull the last fan from my spares stock, and it a nice one so will use it. A rerun of paint remover and blasted, and several coats of enamel. It's drying now. See pic.

Also visited the car long enough to install the dipstick assemble and the throttle bellcrank, both requiring removal and retorquing of head bolts."

[unimogjohn]

It is Wednesday, September 15th. Yesterday I did get the two 12 ft gates for the new entrance to the pasture. This should give me more than enough room to take a turn into the pasture with the trailer. Tomorrow I plan to cut through the fence and install the gates. It should only take a couple of hours, I hope.

I did not get the title to the trailer through DVM. They did not like the person who signed the title. He was not the counsel for the firm nor an official of the company. So now I have to get a letter from the company saying it was OK for the person to sign. Nothing with DMV is easy.

But today I did manage to get one of my three projects done. The tractor seat is finished and installed. It turned out pretty good. At least it is back together and I can use the tractor again. Here are the pics. It cost about $10 to do. If I had to replace it, it would have been at least $150 or more for a real Kubota seat. So it was worth a few hours of mine time to do it. It will be interesting to see how it holds up. Oh, I used waterproof contact cement to glue the vinyl to the foam.

I hope tomorrow to have the time to install the hinges on the Avanti, and clean up and paint the underside of the hood. That is the plan anyway.

Edited September 15, 2010 by unimogjohn (see edit history)