Avanti R2, 1963, refresh

[SeventhSon]

Well, you had a fine day for it - sorry I missed it. You're getting like Greg - working on all your stuff at all hours. Guess you gotta if you want to make any progress!

[unimogjohn]

It is Sunday PM, October 7th. Just got back from the MG Club show, we are frozen. But that adventure is for a later post. Here is Greg's report on his weekend report.

"Saturday, the nice day that it was, lent itself to making some progress on the Avanti 5054. That was after I boxed and mailed that sample Matheson engine piston pin, sent to have an oversize set made by a company that does that only.

The Avanti's doors, trunk lid and hood have been stored on a floor beneath an airplane, subject to being stepped on. The door hinges were ready (I thought) to be installed. I cleaned the hardware and the threads. Surgery was required on one of the door jam threads, the bolt had rusted into it's nut and stripped it out. I had to use a hole saw and penetrate the kick panel to gain access to the backside of the jamb. A fabricated nut plate was then epoxied in place. One hinge , the upped right gave me trouble. The upper hinges are the ones that have the spring loaded swing arm detent to keep the door from slamming shut. It wasn't allowing the door to move so after multiple hinge adjustments and re-assemblies, all was ready for the doors.

With Barbara's assistance, we were able to get the doors on without barking any paint. They'll require multiple adjustments before they fit and look right, but for now they shouldn't be in danger of being stepped on. I also hung the trunk lid. Now that they are off the floor, I need to find somewhere to put that hood. I won't install it until after the engine is running and adjustments have been made.

Today, Sunday is bleak and raw. Ugly. Nevertheless, I wa determined to accomplish a couple more chores. I've been discovering other small parts and hardware. When I determine where it goes, I've been loosley srewing it in place on the car. Hood latches, hood hinges, things like that. Also, the windshield has been haphazardly stored for lack of space. Today's plan was to get the new gasket stretched into place and then lay the windshield on the car, out of harm's way until it can be installed and sealed.

Now with that done, I've retreated to the comfort of the main shop, Matheson on my mind."

=

[unimogjohn]

It is still Sunday, late PM. Well, today was show day. We woke up this morning to heavy rain, and it was cold too. But I promised that I would take the Jaguar to the all British car show come rain or shine.

We headed off about 8:30 AM in the pouring rain. Sure glad that the wipers did a good job and the car does not leak. But the defroster was having major difficulty in blowing off the dew from inside. I will have to look at the ducting to see what is up. We did have heat, and that was a very good thing.

Arrived at the show about 9:15 AM and to my surprise there were many cars there. But clearly the inclement weather was keeping lots of folks away. We found our spot and then went and looked at all the other cars. Since the show was sponsored by the MG Club, their members were present in great numbers. The cars were great.

We wiped down the car and got ready for judging. But about noon it was clear that only about 100 or so cars were in attendance. The usual number is close to 500. Oh well, next year will be better. They said that today was the first time in ten years that it rained and scared everyone away.

But the rain stopped about 10 AM and held off throughout the day. It was just a bit chilly. You can see all the pictures that I took at

https://picasaweb.google.com/108456879037339730707/MGClubAllBritishCarShow#

We had lots of folks come by and said that they were glad we came and that the car was beautiful. We had a lot of great conversations too. Great folks.

About 2 PM the show was about over, and it was time for the awards. To our amazement our Jag received the "Best in show" Middleburg, VA Mayor's Trophy. Quite an honor to be sure.

So we had a great day and the ride home was uneventful with the car just purring along. Here are a few pics if you do not want to go to our picture pages on Picasa.

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

Nice going, John. Congratulations.

Ben

[Woodfiddler]

Good job on the trophy John. The weather was a challenge, but the reward was sweet.

Chuck

[unimogjohn]

It is Tuesday, PM, October 9th. Joe and Kathy arrived from Seattle late last night, but today, Joe and I decided to tackle the removal of the starter generator from the 1923 McLaughlin Buick.

As you might remember, a little fibre insulating grommet broke in half on one of the pivot arms that lowers the brush that engages the starter. Without that little grommet the starter generator will not work. John Lee from Australia happened to be here when it broke and sent me a grommet he made for his 1922 and 23 cars with the same problem. The deal is you have to remove the entire assembly to get it installed. In pic 9081 you can see the little rod on the left hand side that is missing the grommet.

So Joe and I spent the last four hours getting it out and inspecting the inside of the assembly. Other than the missing grommet things looked good with the exception of a badly worn large brush on the armature. The other three brushes looked OK. Here are some pics. We did not remove the worn brush as we cannot figure out how to remove the plate. The lower plate was easy to remove, and there is a pic of it laying on the assembly.

I have asked John Lee for help on how to remove the top brush holder to get to the little rod on the arm. And to see if I have a worn brush issue. But if any of you have any experience in this, pls chime in. I do have brushes and of course we are going to Hershey and will see if I can find some more.

Here are some pics.

[unimogjohn]

Here are a couple of more pics from Joe. And I did a comparison of old and new brushes on the lower plate. The upper plate has the well work big brush.

[unimogjohn]

It is Wednesday, October 10th AM. I sent a note to John Lee in Australia last night. To my surprise he gave me a call. He gave Joe and I some great tips and some bad news. The back of the starter/generator has to come off to grind off the rim around the arm to fit the new nylon bushing. He also said that the brushes looked about right. Joe and I will take a look at how to remove the back cover today. We have to remove a gear and then slide the cover forward. I think I have a pic of the cover and gear.

I also hope that Joe will help me remove the front bumper of the Avanti today. I have to get part of it back to the plater for a redo. It is a two man job, one holding the bumper and the other pulling the bolts.

Joe and I head to Hershey tomorrow, early AM. We want to get there NLT about 9, so that means that we leave about 5 AM.

And Greg leave for Hershey today. Here is his final report for a few days.

"I've been getting up close to the Matheson cylinder heads. I'm getting a head start on the work they need. The Matheson is unusual having detachable heads in this time period, makes it's ancestry more related to steam or industrial practice.

One head has a serious problem. When they machined the gasket mating surface, they allowed a small ring which mates with a recess in the cylinder bore. I'd suggest it is to protect the gasket, a "flame ring". Close inspection of one showed signs of cracking. I broke it out with my fingers. In the photo you might make out the rust . It's been like that a long time. Not the kind of debris you want rattling around in the running engine. It's been packaged and on it's way to the welding magician.

Otherwise, packing my stuff and heading to the great Hershey flea market and show in the morning.

GREG has left the building."

=

Edited October 10, 2012 by unimogjohn (see edit history)

[unimogjohn]

It is Wednesday, PM. Joe and I worked all day on the starter/generator. First thing we realized is that you need a hurking screwdriver to get the front drive gear off and the case split. So off to Home Depot we went. We bought the largest flat bladed screwdriver they had for $8.

We first tackled the gear end. It is held in place with a large screw and then you had to carefully use a little ram to push off the gear. Success. Then we were able to get the case to release, disconnected a couple of wires and had full access to all the brushes and the little rod that we need to repair. Everything looked great inside so we decided to just replace all the brushes, there are five. The PO had given me new brushes so I had them on hand.

So we got everything repaired or replaced, and put in the little nylon bushing from John Lee. It worked great.

Once we were satisfied with everything inside the assembly, we proceeded to put it back in. Got all that done with the exception of a few wires and cotter pins. But we have to get ready for Hershey so did not go any further. I figure that we need about an hour to check everything over, connect up the battery and give her a shot. We think that we have her timed correct, but only attempting a start will tell the tale. Worse case we could be 180 degrees out.

So it was a good day with the old 23 McLaughlin Buick. She has not had much attention in the past year and starting to show some age again. The boots for all the plug ends are splitting, grommets are coming apart, etc. Nothing major, but she needs some looking over. So this fall she will be a priority.

Here are a few pics of our work. Off to Hershey tomorrow AM very early. Hope to be on the road at 6 AM at the very latest. My wallet is flush with cash so I hope that I will find some good stuff for the 23 and 28 Buicks, and maybe a part or two for the Jaguar.

[unimogjohn]

It is Thursday, October 11th, PM. Spent a great day in Hershey, but we are pooped, so this will be a short report. Walked almost eight miles, beautiful weather. Lots of people, and many folks buying. I scored on some Jaguar tools and electrical brushes for the 23 MB. Hundreds of cars in the car corral, many unrestored and lots restored. Prices looked to be right on some cars, others not so much. Quite a few marked as sold. Here are some pics.

We are heading back tomorrow for more parts search and to see more cars. Saw Greg there too.

[unimogjohn]

It is Friday, October 12th, early AM. Joe and I are ready to head out. First stop, Universal Tire to buy four new tires for the 23 McLaughlin Buick. Then off to Hershey for more walking and looking.

Here are some more pics from yesterday.

[unimogjohn]

and still more including a couple of nice Jags.

[unimogjohn]

It is Friday, PM. October 12th. Joe and I got up early and were at Universal Tire at a bit after 8 AM. Picked up the four tires to the tune of almost $1300, and we were on our way to the Hershey meet. Lots of people today, and it was cold and windy. That did not stop anyone. Still lots of parts and stuff available. We walked over 7 miles and gave up or our bodies gave up at about 2 PM. Decided to head to the AACA Museum. Lots of nice cars there too. Had a nice dinner and are now camped at the hotel. Here are some more pics of the Hershey show.

Tomorrow we will head in real early to see the cars come in for judging. Suppose to be below freezing tomorrow morning, brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Then we will head for home about noon.

[unimogjohn]

and even more pics. I took some pics of the parts too. But you have to know what you are looking for. Nothing is labeled and not much priced. It is a guess and hagle game.

Edited October 12, 2012 by unimogjohn (see edit history)

[unimogjohn]

and some pics of the cars in the Hershey AACA Museum.

Edited October 12, 2012 by unimogjohn (see edit history)

[unimogjohn]

It is Saturday, October 13th, PM. Well, Joe and I made it home from Hershey. We went to the car show this morning and arrived there at 7 AM, in time to see them all come in. We stayed a few hours and walked about three miles. Lots of beautiful cars. The largest groups of folks were around the teens and twenty's cars. I will post a few pics.

And also here is what I bought at Hershey. See pics.

[unimogjohn]

I took over a 100 pictures of Hershey cars. I will post a few here and put the rest on my picasa pic site.

[unimogjohn]

and here are some more pics. Lots of great cars, most you never see.

[unimogjohn]

Joe took some "artsy" pics of cars. Here are a few and one of mine.

[unimogjohn]

And finally I want to thank Suzy and Mike for taking us to dinner on Thursday. They have just purchased a 1927 Buick 2 passenger standard, and Joe and I have been offering our advice for getting "Homer" running. So we met up with them at Hershey where they showed their 1923 American touring car. Probably the only one in existence. Here are pics of the American, and Suzy and Mike. Thank you!

Edited October 13, 2012 by unimogjohn (see edit history)

[Roger Zimmermann]

It seems that you had a nice weather, but somewhat cold. I was once in Hershey; it was also nice but warmer. Lot of things to see...and tired legs at the end of the day!

[unimogjohn]

Sunday, October 14th, PM, and in North Charleston, SC. We drove ten or so hours to spend a little vacation for a few days. So no car stuff except for a link to all my Hershey pics. https://picasaweb.google.com/108456879037339730707/Hershey2012

[trimacar]

Great pics, thanks John, wish I'd seen you there. The greenish plaid side roadster was stunning. The red Buick Model 17, 1909, was a beauty...lots of great cars there....that Mercer touring owned by my friend Fred was a wonderful car...with its companion Mercer next to it....and the two cylinder Autocar restored by Mr. Higgins was a delight....great show...

[Landman]

Just went through your photos. Thanks for sharing.

[SeventhSon]

Lots of great cars there John. Glad to see a couple of Avantis made it too!

[unimogjohn]

It is Monday, October 15th, PM. Having a great time in Charleston, SC. Really a nice city.

Joe gave me his pics of Hershey to post. Here is a link. Also some shots of our trip to Charleston, SC.

https://picasaweb.google.com/108456879037339730707/HersheyCarShowAndCharlestonSC#

Edited October 17, 2012 by unimogjohn (see edit history)

[unimogjohn]

It is Tuesday, October 16th. AM. Off to see some plantations today to see how the Old South lived back in the day. Meanwhile, Greg is back at work, or is that play. Here is his report from Monday.

" Diagnosed with PHS Syptoms: Listless, lazy, visions of flea market spaces passing before my eyes. (Post Hershey Syndrome). No known cure.

While I was away I did receive a shipment of Matheson material. A bar of 8620 steel to make up some replacement head studs and some gasket material that should become head gaskets.

Tonight I did cut the steel into lengths for the stud manufacture.

I also finished stripping the paint from the Avanti radiator in preparation for it's trip to the radiator shop for cleaning and testing."

=

[unimogjohn]

It is Thursday, October 18th AM. Checking in from Savannah, GA today. And today is a full day of sight seeing. Never been here so another to check off the list.

But Greg is working hard, here is his report.

" About time to check in. Steady at work, working on some Matheson hardware after. Enclosed shot of the repro Wright vertical. Today I was fitting the ignition system. The 1910 "Montgomery machine" used a Bosch DR-4 magneto. Getting closer to starting it. Running out of excuses.

The Matheson head studs are coming along. I've gotten the lower ends threaded, tomorrow I'll be doing the upper ends to dimension.

As for my projects, the only thing to report is the arrival of the reground camshaft and tappets for the '10 Overland, and David Coco picked up the Avanti 5054 radiator to be cleaned and pressure tested.

And, today we were glad to have Weldon Britton stop by. During a recent visit to his place we noticed the wreckage of a model airplane (the grandkids). Weldon has a vast collection of them, types that he's flown.

The OV-1 Mohawk model was among his favorites (actually, I don't think Britt ever met an airplane he didn't like), he'd had some under his command. "Tight cockpit" he said. Evidently he'd gotten into some difficulty with "higher-ups" because he had his armorers install .50 calibre machine guns on his. Don't know why that would be a problem, but that was par for the course in Viet Nam.

Scott, the artist that he is, mended the broken pieces, made some new ones and restored the finish. Photos enclosed of Britt's acceptance."

=

[unimogjohn]

And here is a link to Weldon Britton's aviation career. Very interesting stuff.

[unimogjohn]

It is Friday, October 19th, early AM. Packing up and heading out for a twelve hour drive back to the farm. Savannah is a real nice place to visit, lots to see and do, and great food too. But there is no place like home, or in our case, the farm.

Here is Greg's report from last night.

"What takes so long? Tonight I wrapped up the stud party. I chased the threads with a single point lathe tool. Multiple passes until each one was the proper fit with a test nut. As of now they are all cut to the proper lengths, of which there are several.

As I close up the shop, I see that I have company, a furry critter trying to escape the downpour outside. I've always heard that they can predict the weather by the coat they wear, but by doing the backstroke, this one tells me it's raining out there.

No Avanti or Overland news."

=

[unimogjohn]

It is Saturday, October 20th, PM. We made it home late yesterday. We went 586 miles, and the old Suburban made an average of 14.8 MPG, and that was doing the max speed limit.

So today Joe and I tackled the last bits of the 23 McLaughlin Buick starter/generator saga. Got everything buttoned up and ready to go. The starter kicked in real nice, better and stronger than it has ever been. But the engine would not fire. After considerable fiddling and checking, we got her to start. The problem was that the engine was flooded. Tomorrow we will get her out of the garage and down the road. Thanks for the help Joe, could not have done it without you.

Edited October 20, 2012 by unimogjohn (see edit history)

[unimogjohn]

It is Sunday, PM, October 21st. Joe and I spent most of the day on car stuff. Finished some work on the McLaughlin Buick that needed to be done before we forgot to do it. The car started just fine.

Then turned to the front brakes of the 2002 Trailblazer. When we were at Hershey they started pulsing like a rotor was warped, and getting worse. Turned out that one of the slider pins had seized causing the pads to bind up. Not that was the only issue, both sides were worn out and the pads were not completely contacting the rotors. I got some nice rotors and pads on Ebay for just over $100 including shipping. They look pretty good. Anyway we got everything changed out and now stopping is nice and smooth.

We still had some time so decided to pull the front bumper of the Avanti. It has to go back to the chromer for replating. Not an easy task to get it off, but we did it in about an hour. Tomorrow will get it on the little brown truck back to GA.

Here are some pics of Joe and I playing with the Trailblazer.

[Roger Zimmermann]

The rotors you found for a very cheap price are maybe better than the original ones. However, we could not use them in Switzerland: if the original parts are not drilled (they are not) , the drilled ones would not pass our mandatory vehicle inspection!

[unimogjohn]

Roger, that is an interesting fact on the car parts. We can still do almost anything here. But every few years the govt. tries to regulate the after market parts industry and get soundly trashed. Thank goodness.

And for your morning coffee, opps in your case lunch, here is Greg's weekend report.

"Trying to recall what did happen this past weekend.

*Carried the exhaust manifolds over to Lee's shop on Saturday morning. He's got a humongous belt sander that is just great for truing the gasket surfaces. Both manifolds were warped a bit, but now they are flat where they're supposed to be flat.

*Needed the high temperature paint for them, so it was a quick trip to Rob's where I left it. Nice day for a ride with Barb.

*Upon our return, manifolds got two coats of paint.

*While they were drying, it seemed a good time to start cleaning the Overland's cylinders. By nightfall I had two of them cleaned and epoxy prime coated.

*Today was an opportunity to install the manifolds on Avanti 5054. Right side was easy, left wasn't. Steering box was in the way, so I loosened the retention hardware to move it out of the way, then put it back. While wrestling with things, I recalled in the olden days I'd lay the left manifold in place, then install the cylinder head assy.

*Manifolds in, I added the oil pan breather assembly and the dipstick tube.

*Another nice day, we found time to visit the Kernstown Battlefield. I'd lived nearby all my life, but never stopped to investigate.

In my spare time I'm finally getting around to seeing firsthand where I lost family members one hundred fifty years ago.

*Now tonight, after a pleasant day and a good meal, it's back to the Overland department. Three jugs down, one to go.

Back to work."

=

[unimogjohn]

It is Monday, PM, October 22nd. Joe and I continued to work on the 1923 McLaughlin Buick. With some minor adjustments she is starting easily now.

The steering has always been very heavy, so heavy in fact that I had to use to hands to get the wheel to move. John Lee from Australia said to loosen the steering collar and see if that helped. So we did this in 1/3 of a turn on the big adjusting nut. We did this for one full turn and the steering became much easier. Going to drive the car a few miles and see if this does the trick. May loosen it just a bit more.

Joe and I took several two mile trips, the car seems down on power compared to the last time I drove her. Could barely make it up the steep driveway in first gear. I have it on full advance too. I will check all the electrical adjustments tomorrow and see if I can see anything wrong.

Also tomorrow am going to attempt to take off the front portion of the exhaust pipe. It has split and a new one needs to be made.

Here are a couple of pics of the car. Don't mind the dirt, she needs a good wash.

And Joe and Kathy have left for home in Ferndale, WA. Thanks for all the help Joe!

[unimogjohn]

It is Tuesday, AM, October 23rd and having my morning coffee with Greg's report. Here is his report.

"Not much to report tonight, although I did spend the evening on Matheson engine cylinders. It's time to work on the cosmetics. Already coated with epoxy primer, it was lightly scuffed and fresh coat applied. Lots of nooks and crannies. Tomorrow evening they'll get a slight rub with "coach putty" to hide any obvious gouges, casting flaws, etc. When cured, they'll get another light sanding. The object being when painted , they'll look like they came from the Matheson factory on a good day, not to go for the over-restored "glazed ham" look. A heavy buildup of paint isn't a good thing either."

=

[unimogjohn]

It is still Tuesday, but now PM. Spent some quality time with the 23 MB today. I was determined to find out the source of my power problems. Well, it was not one thing, but three.

First, a spark plug wire was off the number 3 plug. Not much power on only 5 cylinders.

Second, the points gap was set too close, .01 versus the .02 it should have been. Easy fix.

Third, I had the exhaust cold weather lever in the wrong position. I had 80% of the exhaust going through the heat riser for the carb. Not a good thing. So now it is set for 100% through the exhaust.

Shadow and I then took a long ride. The car ran great with a lot of power.

Spent a couple of hours washing, cleaning and primping the body and interior of the car. Have to vacuum and clean the top tomorrow. Still a bit of movie mud from our film work on "J Edgar" last year about this time.

Here are a few pics and a couple that Joe sent of me leaning over the engine of the car.

[unimogjohn]

Still Tuesday, later PM. Got a second wind at 5 PM and decided to see if I could get the exhaust pipe off. I was able to get the flange off the manifold, but I could see that the pipe that goes into the casting was cemented in. So I decided to just cut it in half. Figured that I could just replace half. Upon inspection I could see that the pipe is only about 25%, so in a couple of years I would have to replace the back portion. So have decided to take the car to the local muffler shop and have them put in a complete unit. And I do not want to start banging on the cast riser and break it. I am sure that it is a rare part to find. Here are a couple of pics to include the worn out pipe.

After I got that done, and since it was dusk, I decided to check my lights. So here they are in each position. I have one headlight that does not work, I believe it to be a bad ground, so I will be working on that in the coming days. Notice the fender lights, they are required in England. I was told that the govt. wanted to be sure that there were additional lights in case the main ones burned out. I also have parking or running lights too. Each set of lights is controlled by the combo switch on the dash. Oh, and I have a searchlight too, but I have to rewire that to even see if it works. Here are pics of the lights.

Tomorrow morning I am going with a neighbor, Steve, to look at a car. I know that he is looking for an early Camaro so will see what he has found.

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

Believe you are right, John. That pipe is begging to be replaced.

Ben

[Roger Zimmermann]

It seems that Shadow is enjoying the drive, like our dog!