Avanti R2, 1963, refresh

[unimogjohn]

Bill, you are right. I put the little lawn tractor behind it during the winter. Lots of room.

[SeventhSon]

John, does this mean your plans for a garage expansion are cancelled? Or is the trailer storage merely a stopgap measure to protect the cars until the new garage gets built?

[Yellowriv]

Hi John, I too have been following your thread with great enjoyment since you purchased the Avanti. The variety of material in is great.

Reading about your XK 120 has prompted me to put up a couple of pictures of my 1950 XK 120 OTS that I purchased recently. It is an early - No 195 - RHD Australian delivered car. I've wanted one of these for about 30 years. Its Pastel Blue with Duo Blue trim. Fully restored in the mid 90s and only travelled 320 miles since! I've spent the past 3 months slowly recommissioning it. Nearly there now except for replacing the unused flat spotted tyres. It lives with my Buicks, Alfas, Cadillac and Fiat. Some more and better photos are in my profile.Hope you don't mind me hijacking your thread....

Regards

John

[unimogjohn]

Been off the computer for a couple of days as my favorite laptop had bit the dust. Have been updating an old one for use right now, and am on the hunt for a new one. Oh well. They are just like old cars.

Chris, to answer your question, the architect came back with a huge estimate for just designing and furnishing drawings, and the county was going to make us expand the septic system and put in a new well. So for the limited space we were going to get for the add on, we decided to kill the expanding the garage/apt project and go in a different direction. And the trailer was too good of a deal to pass up for a very good trailer. And it does give me room for another car in safe storage.

John, feel free to post your cars and projects if you do not want to start your own blog. Wow, that is one sweet looking Jaguar. What is the story? We all love stories.

And Greg has a report for us, Thursday, November 15th, AM.

"Hasn't been much fit to print. This head cold has lingered which curtailed my evening project time. Just tonight I've tried to get back into the swing of things.

Matheson engine: The water pump is in very good condition mechanically. Cosmetically it needed some help, so the housing has been stripped, taped off, and bead blasted to clean it of corrosion and old finish. For rough cast brass and aluminum parts, I then like to burnish them with a rotary wire brush to brighten them up. Next I'll prep and buff the polished brass parts, prep the hardware, make new gaskets and it should be ready to reassemble. Looking forward to another check mark on the list.

The black Avanti 5054? Dormant due to cold weather. I did order some rubber seals that mount above the door, the supercharger out for overhaul.

The maroon Avanti, Seabiscuit: I've found an intermittent front wheel wobble on some curves to be very annoying. I'd ordered a pile of new front end components to replace the ones Steve put in back in the seventies, but I didn't order the desire to lay under the car to install them. In a very unusual move on my part, I'm going to farm out the job to someone else. The car is scheduled to be dropped off at the Burchill Service Department in a couple weeks.

Day job still devoted to Curtiss OX-5 engine discovery. When I get time I'll present a photo essay of the unusual valve operation."

=

Edited November 15, 2013 by unimogjohn (see edit history)

[unimogjohn]

It is Sunday, early PM, Formula 1 watching time on November 17th.

Went out this morning and decided to fill up the 23s radiator with antifreeze and to see if she will start. Oh, the right side back wheel is flat. Looks like the rim has moved and canted the valve stem. That means that it is pinched and the tube is now leaking. But the tire filled back up with air so I can move the car. I will have to jack up the car, loosen the wheel and move it back into position on the rim. You have to get the wheel nuts on tight so the rim does not move. But you have to be careful or you will strip the wheel bolts, and they are very hard to come by. When you use the brakes the tire rim wants to move from the wheel rim resulting in the movement, hence everything must be very tight, snug does not work.

But now with the tire filled and antifreeze in I can attempt to start the car. She cranked a bit, but then easily started on full choke. Yahoo, we have power. So back her out of the barn and let the engine warm up. Alice then got home and we put the top down and moved it into the trailer. Now she will be nice and dry for the winter. Put in some Stabil in the fuel tank and ran the engine for about fifteen minutes to make sure some got into the vacuum fuel tank/pump and the carb.

I put a jack stand under the axle in case the tire goes down before I can get back to it. Here are some pics.

[dibarlaw]

John: Seeing your 1923 with the cardboard "piddle pad" makes me feel better about my 2 Buicks and their combined incontinence problems.

[unimogjohn]

Larry, yes and thank goodness for cardboard. Actually, the 23 and 28 only leak coolant. Now the Avanti and the Jaguar dripping oil are another story. But they are not too bad.

[unimogjohn]

It is Sunday, November 24th, PM. Getting ready to call it a day. Brrrrr, it is sure cold outside for us. 23 degrees and dropping. We might get snow on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Before the cold set in I did get the Avanti for a couple of drives. The slight engine miss seems to have gone away with the replacement of the fuel filter without the return line fitting. I also jacked up the 23 McLaughlin Buick and moved the tire on the rim so the tube stem was centered and not pinched. Hope that this stops the valve stem air leak.

Greg has slowed down too now that the cold weather has hit. Here is his report on the past week.

"I'm still here.

You don't hear me complain when the temperatures and humidity reach triple digits, and you won't hear me complain much (out loud) as the temps fall. It's just that my productivity plummets too. Winter is here, and I hate it already.

Day job OX-5 detail is now to sort through parts that the boss has been stockpiling since he was knee high to a tail skid. I've been working on valve gear and there's a lot to it.

The camshaft has been sent out for a fresh grind to its valve openers and also a touchup to the bearing journals.

This would be a good time to familiarize you with how things work the Curtiss way, actually the Charles B. Kirkham way. He was the Curtiss engine designer, although I've read where Charles Manly (Langley Aerodrome project) may have had some influence.

The photos show how there's a multiple opening arrangement for each cylinder. A conventional inner lobe between two discs with one side milled flat.

The inner pointy lobe pushes a tappet, push rod and rocker arm that then opens the exhaust valve which is then spring loaded to close. Conventional.

The intake valve operation isn't very conventional. The tappet has an independent outer sleeve that rides on those discs. That outer tappet rides on those discs until it encounters the flats, then it's pushed down on those flats by spring pressure.

Outside the crankcase, surrounding that earlier exhaust push rod is an intake pull tube which is connected to an H shaped rocker. The pull tube has a compression spring that maintains the pressure of the tappet to the discs. When the exhaust tappet falls on the flats, it pulls the H downward and opens the intake valve. A light valve spring then makes sure the valve is closed.

Lots of pieces, lots of motion, lots of friction, lots of drag, lots of wearing parts.

So much for mechanical stuff. Here's something else you didn't know. Photos included. The photos document the reason why we've renamed Timmy. He's now Chub."

=

[unimogjohn]

It is Monday, November 25th, PM. Cold here today, I think it made it to 26 degrees and that is it. Too cold to even look in on the cars, even the ones in the garage. But we did head out and picked up a slightly used 6 x 12 ft dump trailer for the farm. I don't think that it had been used in several years. It is a bit crusty, but all the panels are solid. And I think that I can repair the fenders enough to make them presentable. So it looks like I have a bit of repairing to do in the spring. I will probably get it blasted and a few coats of good paint on it too. Should give us many years of service. I have the charger on the battery so tomorrow I will know if the hydraulics work or not. Also have to check out the lights and electric brakes too. This makes trailer number 6.

Edited November 26, 2013 by unimogjohn (see edit history)

[John Byrd]

John, do you think Greg might enjoy this ? There sure are some fabulous pictures of some old and unusual aircraft. John

http://forums.airshows.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=55583

[Guest BillP]

John, I don't know if you noticed when you were here, but I have one of those dump trailers like yours. I bought it new and soon discovered that the paint was a rare and special rust promoting formula. "Of course we don't warranty paint, mister." I got a five gallon tub of asphalt foundation coating and slobbered it all over the inside of the bed. It helped.

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

John, do you think Greg might enjoy this ? There sure are some fabulous pictures of some old and unusual aircraft. John

http://forums.airshows.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=55583

WOW! Some beautiful planes.

Ben

[unimogjohn]

Bill, thanks, will look into that paint. I have plenty of time. I think it will be a loooooong winter. Snowing here right now.

John, thanks for the link to the vintage airplanes. What great shots. I did forward the link on to Greg.

And speaking of Greg, here is his November 27th report.

"It's been a cold, rainy day. A good night for working in the shop. Another Matheson engine adventure. A component that's been waiting for attention is one that would cause me to look the other way when I'd pass by. The Matheson Parts List illustration calls it a carburetor. Could have fooled me. I've never seen anything like it... outside of a marching band.

Disassembly will not only allow me to freshen it up, it might also clue me on it's operation. I'm enclosing some photos so you can remind me how it goes back together.

Wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving!

=

[unimogjohn]

It is Friday, November 29th, early PM; and we have a post from Greg. Hope that everybody had a great Thanksgiving, we did with neighbors and friends. I am still full of all those delights.

Here is Greg's report.

"Very pleasant this Thanksgiving Day. The weather was sunny and brisk, the food plentiful and warm, company bright and I took advantage of my son's strong back to help me load some junk. Actually what looks like an episode of Sanford and Son is actually an attempt to jump start the next project. Although I'm sticking to my plan of getting black 5054 off the unfinished list, I'm really looking forward to resuming the restoration of the 1910 Overland Model 42.

A great car, one of it's last outings was an antique car tour in Maine back in the eighties. A dreadful experience, it spent a week in pouring rain without cover. The glue joints of its wooden body construction failed, metal parts rusted so badly that I couldn't even shift the transmission. Pretty much ruined it. So it came apart for a "quickie" and you see how that worked out.

A lot of undercarriage work was accomplished, but life got in the way and the body and engine have been waiting patiently since '89.

So now the engine and body parts have been transplanted here at Hyde Manor so that I can take a look at what's to be done and figure out how to proceed. The trail has grown cold.

So with the Matheson engine on the front burner and the Avanti 5054 shivering in the cold until I resume in the Spring, I may consider sending things out to be done. Trouble is that I don't share well, especially the things I like to do myself."

=

Edited November 29, 2013 by unimogjohn (see edit history)

[unimogjohn]

It is Saturday, AM, November 30th. Yesterday it warmed to a balmy 41 degrees so was able to do a quick walk around of our new/old dump trailer. Pretty sad. In addition to all the surface rust, the tires are starting to check (and one was put on backwards), the dump does not work, the lights do not work, and the electric brakes are suspect. I did spend a few minutes cleaning out the bed. It was full of just old junk, leaves and frozen dirt. It needs a good pressure washing, but it is just too cold to do that.

I did change the one wheel that was backwards and checked the air pressure in all of them. All were about 10 lbs psi, so inflated them all to 65 psi.

I then played with the lights and got them almost working. The only thing not working is the right turn signal. Rather than continue to fuss with them I ordered a new led system, which will be here next week. Also ordered a new male socket for the wiring harness as it looks like the one on the trailer now has been drug across the pavement for a number of miles. One side is pretty worn down. Also ordered a new brake away switch, the one on the trailer is broken too.

With the light semi working I decided to see what was up with the dump pump. Everything looks good, but nothing happens when you press the controller up or down buttons. It is dead. Looks like someone had been in the controller as three of the four screws holding it all together are missing. The gut are a sealed unit and can see them working. I don't think that it is the issue. If it warms up today I will see if I have any power coming out of the solenoid switch on the pump body.

[unimogjohn]

It is Sunday, December 1st. Just a quick note. Now the cold weather is here we spent the last two day deconstructing our main bathroom. Gutting it to do a complete redo. Just about done, just have to rent a demo hammer to remove the tile floor. Not looking forward to that little task.

And we lent the Suburban to friends who needed a big truck to move lots of things to Boston. They left today for back home and called us early in the AM. Said that they hit a patch of black ice and were in mud up to the running boards. The police were there as there were dozens of cars into the median and the guard rails. Fortunately they spun into the median. But they called back later when they go the truck out of the mud, and said that the front tire was blown out. They had the truck towed to a local garage and they pronounced it healthy. No other damage. So with a new tire they are on they way. Will let you know what shape it is in when I get a chance to get under it and do an inspection. Sounds like the front end got a bit of a wack.

[unimogjohn]

It is Monday, early morning on December 2nd. And we have a morning report from Greg.

"Got some things done. I'd retrieved the Overland side and lock rings from storage and decided to get them cleaned up and ready for whatever finish they'll get. With them ready, I could mount tires on the chassis and it could be portable for the first time in more years than I'd like to admit. So I spent some hours standing at the blast cabinet sandblasting . Big wheels mean lots of inches of circumference. Flipping and turning, each of the dozen rings have four sides to clean and it's slow going. I did get them all done.

Today Barb and I made the journey to the Burchill Auto Bed and Breakfast facility to see the marron Avanti, Seabiscuit. He's got the underparts down and ready for me to decide which direction we're to go on it's rehabilitation. I was glad to learn that he didn't find anything problematic, in fact he asked if I wanted to go through with the replacement of components that are serviceable, but my reply was to go ahead. Now's the time. No excuse not to.

A good time was had by all..........

=

[unimogjohn]

It is Wednesday, December 4th. Nice day here. The Suburban made its way home with a new tire. Everything else looks OK. But now it is throwing a limp home mode engine code, so got some throttle body cleaner and sprayed it down. Will let it sit for a day, spray it tomorrow, and then see how she does. The TB does look a bit dirty.

Worked on the dump trailer and got all the lights to work to include the turn signals. I did get a new LED light kit and will put them on when I get a few hours. I did also put on a new break away switch as the old one was really crusty. I cleaned the connectors of the hydraulic motor and was able to get the bed to go up and down. Have more cleaning to do, but looks like she will work just fine.

We have been demoing our master bath. Took three days. Here it is in the dump trailer. Now ready for the magic to happen over the next couple of weeks.

Edited December 4, 2013 by unimogjohn (see edit history)

[Roger Zimmermann]

And you will stay without a bath or shower for all that time, lucky guy!

[unimogjohn]

Still Wednesday, and we have a report from Greg.

"It's been a fast paced day, even after work.

Back to the Matheson carburetor story, I've been cleaning components and studying their purpose. Matheson Carburetor 101. The throttle is a rotating barrel with multiple passages and surprisingly, revolves on ball bearings.

The base of the unit is a fuel manifold that has brass plugs in places where they had to drill passages. I tried to loosen the plugs to no avail and decided to forego destroying something irreplaceable trying to get them out for cleaning the inside of the manifold. Better safe than broken. Scars were evidence that someone else had given up too.

While getting a closer look at the thing, I noticed something suspect. Inside one of the holes were some tiny little legs. Somehow one of our evil little Asian Stinkbugs found his way inside to sleep. Now wouldn't that have been the sh*ts if this thing wouldn't have run because of a stinkbug?! These things are really a problem.

Realizing at least one plug must come out, I held my breath and played the torch on it until it loosened with a big wrench. Now I can clean the manifold inside.

Avanti Seabiscuit: Rob had sent the front suspension parts with me to clean and press out the lower inner bushings. I'm making the tooling to push the bushings and after a trip to the hardware store I'll be able to try it. I'm also following advice offered by others and have ordered the heavy duty sway bar kit that improves the handling. Rob can't get over the fact that the car is based on nineteen thirties engineering with few upgrades.

Overland: A talk with Scott during lunch leads me to believe he will help out by taking on the woodwork restoration. That's great news.

Enough for today.

=

[unimogjohn]

It is Thursday, December 5th, AM. Sorry about the pics not snowing up automatically. I just got a new Windows 8.1 laptop and stuff is much different, photos are only part of the story. It will take a couple of days to figure this one out. If anyone has a hint on how to make the pics appear, let me know.

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

"An evening's work. The initial buffing of the Matheson carbureter body.

Always a fun job, buffing, especially when the subject is full of nooks, crannies, and other ways of snagging a ragwheel being spun at 1725 RPM by a 2 hp motor. Great way to have the part snatched out of your hands, bounced off any nearby anvil, your head and then flung off into outer space. Tonight's episode is the initial "cutting" to be followed by another session of "color" buffing with a finer compound for finish."

=

[MCHinson]

John,

I don't think the photo issue is on your end. I think it is an issue that cropped up with the recent server migration. I have sent a message to the new IT group asking for them to check it out.

[trimacar]

Sheesh, John, hope they get that picture thing straightened out. You type so fast I can't keep up with the reading, so have to just look at the pictures......

[Roger Zimmermann]

.... hope they get that picture thing straightened out.

It is apparently. Thank you, IT group!

[unimogjohn]

It is Sunday, Dec. 8th, PM. Been snowing for most of the day, mostly light stuff with a sleet mix. The temperature has hovered around 27 degrees. So we have about two inches of light snow and lots of icing on the cars and roads. We are suppose to get lots of freezing rain tonight and tomorrow morning.

Yesterday the FedEx stopped by and delivered the four new trailer tires and rims. So this afternoon I opened one of the boxes and peeked inside. The tires look great. I am sure they will look good on the truck. I have ordered more clearance lights for the sides and back end so now I have a complete light package to retrofit when the weather gets a bit better. Oh, I paid about $140 per wheel delivered to my door. It included the high pressure valve stem, new lug nuts, and the chrome center cap. Really not a bad deal.

Here are some pics of the farm, frozen window on the truck and of course, the tire.

Edited December 8, 2013 by unimogjohn (see edit history)

[unimogjohn]

It is Monday, December 9th, early PM. Just a quick note and a report from Greg. Had a good snow and ice storm yesterday. Lots of trees down due to icing. So far we still have power. We are to get another wave of snow tomorrow. They are saying 5 to 8 inches. I did order a new tire tube for the 1923 McLaughlin Buick. I did not replace them when I put on the new tires, so it probable that one would give up the ghost. I think that they are about 20 years old, but looked very good. I think I pinched the valve stem on the rim so it was not a tube failure per se.

And here is Greg's weekend report.

"Old Man Winter did his best to upset any plans made for this weekend, so without any adult supervision, I worked in the shop. That consisted of getting some Seabiscuit underparts degreased, depainted, bead blasted, primed and painted. An upper control arm, two lowers, lower inner pins, and a remaining upper inner pin. A worn upper arm has a replacement in the mail.

The king pins themselves when cleaned disappointed me. Although dimensionally they measured fine, I found some scoring on the uppermost bearing surfaces. I've never heard of a Stude breaking one, but the score could be blamed if one did.

Inquiries are being made into replacing the pins which New Old Stock are no longer available. Better safe than sorry. It's only (lots of) money."

=

[unimogjohn]

It is Thursday, December 12th, AM. Just in time for coffee, a Greg report. We have been working on the bathroom full time. Our son, Tim, came in from Seattle and has been going full speed on it. Plumbing and electricity have been moved, new walls constructed, and last night all the wall board went up. Starting to look like a bathroom again.

And here is Greg's report.

"I've been giving spare time to the Avanti undercarriage items. Pressing bushings and bearings from the spindles, sent out a spare set of king pins for renewal, bead blasting, priming and painting.

Today the sway bar upgrade arrived UPS. That front one is substantially heavier. Word has it that it is quite an improvement in handling. Didn't really need it, I'm not going to rip and race. And when Steve owned this car, he could wring it out to the point that the hub caps would fly off and he'd have to go back to look for them. I guess I'm gaining on this project little by little.

Rob: I picked up the set of shock mount rubbers today so scratch that from your shopping list."

=

[unimogjohn]

Good morning, it is Monday, December 16 AM. Still working on the bathroom remodel. Our son, Tim, has finished the walk in shower and laid the tile floor with heating elements embedded in the mortar. The plan is to move grout the floor do lots of finish work. Tomorrow the new slipper tub, vanity and toilet go back in. Wednesday he heads for home, and we will complete the final detailing.

While we have been busy with home improvements, Greg is working away at his shop. Here is his report.

"The cold and wintery mix hasn't stopped progress.

The maroon Avanti, Seabiscuit, is still at Rob's waiting for parts. Cleaning, painting, assembling being done. The new king pins are still in the mail. Rob didn't like the scoring he found on the lower king pin pivots, so they've been brazed and the worn surfaces dressed. The inner pins and bushings have been installed in the upper and lower control arms. The outer hardware is loosely installed in order to keep track of them. I've had an awful time keeping these small parts in their boxes, they seem to want to crawl out and escape.

And of course, enclosed are pics of Matheson brass gizmos that are now sanded and buffed. Got to keep that project moving too.

=

[Guest Texas Old Car Guy]

John:

My wife knows I spend quite a bit of time reading things on forums like the AACA, Ford Barn, etc. every morning and fortunately she doesn't see what I read or she would divert my efforts away from tinkering with my old cars and have me tackle a bathroom remodel like you and your son are doing. It looks nice even though I have to get out of my chair and turn my body sideways to see what it looks like!

Fred

FYI in case you are interested in replacing the UNIMOG - here's one for sale near me around Austin, Texas on Craigslist. http://austin.craigslist.org/cto/4243346741.html

Edited December 16, 2013 by Texas Old Car Guy (see edit history)

[unimogjohn]

Well, Tim goes home tomorrow PM. He is working hard to get everything wrapped up. He even let me do the plumbing and fixtures, and a bit of electrical. He is the contractor so I try to stay out of his way. It has been so cold there would not be any outside car activity anyway so this is a good excuse to stay inside. The heated floor is fantastic, nice to work in your socks, but maybe not the safest thing. Here is what the bathroom looks like today as we approach the finish line.

I do not know why the forum flips the pictures back to their original positions even though I have rotated them in PICASA. I can see you all now picking up your laptops or looking at the monitor sideways. Really I tried!

Edited December 17, 2013 by unimogjohn (see edit history)

[Roger Zimmermann]

Even if the pictures are side way, the bath room is good looking!

[unimogjohn]

Thanks Roger. Glad that it is almost done. We have some finish painting and general detailing for us to do tomorrow. Tim leave for back home in about an hour. He did a great job. Last night he did not quit until 2 AM.

And Greg has put together another fascinating Matheson engine story for us. Here is the carb story.

" OK, sorting out the operation of the carbureter, kinda got it now, so this is Matheson carbureter 101.

This is the first carb I've seen that has rocker arms. And it is fed by an engine driven fuel pump. Fuel enters that glass bowl by that pipe with the fitting seen below it. The fuel in the bowl finds it's way out of that chamber and enters that manifold log that contains three jets and needle valves. This feeds fuel to the Low, Medium and High speed circuits. The volume of fuel flow for each jet is adjusted manually by the needle valve setting.

Now here is where the rocker arms come into play. Instead of having a butterfly for a throttle, this has a rotating barrel with three air passages, for Low, Medium and High speeds. When the barrel is rotated exposing a passage, the fuel is sucked out of it's jet. But as the photos show, the Medium and High speed jets are blocked by plungers when the Low speed passage is exposed preventing any fuel flow from them.

That rotating barrel also has a couple ramps machined into the outside of it and the rocker arms have those adjustment screws. Those screws actually ride on the outside of the barrel, which keeps the plungers pressed down on the jets. The tricky part: the ramps are arranged sequentially so that as the throttle is opened the ramp for the Medium circuit lifts that plunger to uncover that center jet allowing fuel to flow. Further opening of the throttle brings the High speed ramp around to allow the High speed jet to be uncovered. At this point all three jets are exposed and we're really going places.

Since this carbureter doesn't have a float and needle valve to control fuel level in the glass chamber, there is a standpipe inside that big brass tube along side. The pipe beneath sends the overflow back to the fuel tank.

As supplied to me, there were a couple problems to resolve. The rocker arm adjustment screws had been replaced by a couple plugs that didn't even reach the barrel that made them function. That's been solved.

The tube that contains the overflow should have a brass cap, so I'll machine one to suit. And just for fun I put the unit on our scales. 9 lb. 14 oz. That brass cap might put it on 10 lbs even.

Quite an interesting device for feeding fuel. Evidently of Matheson design, it was from the early days of engine design when some manufacturers were using "surface carburetors" that merely sucked fumes from a box of gasoline soaked corks. And of course the Wright Brothers were using gear pumps for a simple "fuel injecton". I really like the innovation that was taking place in that period of history."

=

[unimogjohn]

Still Wednesday, but PM. I thought that I would close out the bathroom remodel topic. Tim is headed back home to Seattle, and we just have a little touch-up painting to do to complete the job. He also had the time to hide all the cords for the bedroom TV by adding an electrical and cable box behind it. And he even made a new closet from a little alcove in the bedroom. He used the door that came out of the old bathroom. The new bathroom has a pocket door that Alice and I have to stain. Here are the pics of the completed bathroom.

It is suppose to get up to 70 degrees on Sunday. I hope to get the Avanti back out of the barn and into the garage. Of course I will take a quick spin if the salt is off the roads. Also plan to update the dump trailer lights to LED, and put on the four new tires.

[Scotts_DG8]

John,

I always like all the different turns your activities takes you. Gregs updates on the Matheson have popped up off and on now for a long time and I find them totally interesting but I keep wondering, will it ever get done so I can hear it run? By the way your bathroom side project was a nice diversion and looks nice, real nice, you and your son did one heck of a job on that. Scott...

[SeventhSon]

I'll say! Who knew John has a first rate contractor right in his own family! It's hard to find someone who can do the work and will show up to do it - too bad he lives 3000 miles away.

[unimogjohn]

It is Thursday, December 20th. For your morning coffee we have a report from Greg. All I can say is WOW!

"OK, so you're tired of the Matheson carbureter. Tonight I'm enclosing the graduation photos.

They include the machining of the overflow tube cap. Its dimensions were calculated by the known diameter of the tube, scaling the illustration in the parts book and doing the math. Machined for a snug fit, buffed and installed.

Also the aluminum air inlet components were prepped, buffed and installed. You'll notice that the inlet is designed to hug the exhaust manifold so that warm air is drawn into the carb.

For those of you who think I spent too much time sanding, buffing and polishing, all I can say is that beauty of appearance was just a way of life in those days and I've the factory photos to go by. Shiny finishes and attention to detail wasn't invented by the over-restorers. My unrestored and barn fresh '10 REO has all the screwdriver slots in alignment."

=

[Guest Texas Old Car Guy]

John:

Tell Greg that after looking at his work in the photos immediately above it's a shame to waste those pieces of art by putting them on a car! They should be mounted on a walnut base and put on the mantel!

Fred

[unimogjohn]

It is early Sunday morning, December 22nd. 68 degrees here at 4 AM. Almost balmy. Suppose to get up into the 70s again today.

Did not get to do much car stuff yesterday as we had an escaped llama wandering around. "Peanut" the llama has decided to jump the fence line several times over the past week so I had to put up another level of electric fence around one portion of the fence line where we think he is jumping out. Llamas usually do not assault the fence line let alone jump, but I guess we have a leaper. Anyway, the revised line took me about four hours to accomplish. Hope it works.

But I did manage to put the new tires on the dump trailer. The old ones were really weather checked and starting to split. The rims were rather ugly too. So the new all black ones are on and looking good.

[John Byrd]

John, doesn't this make two "leapers" you have now ? Peanut and the Jag.........

[unimogjohn]

It is Tuesday, December 23rd, AM. I certainly hope that everyone enjoys this holiday season with family and friends, and I wish everyone a very merry Christmas.

Started to turn cold yesterday so decided I better do some maintenance on the modern iron. So the Suburban got an oil change and a good look around after her off- roading experience near Boston a couple of weeks ago. Everything was good until I got to the engine bay. I noticed that the alternator was hot, I mean hot after only a few minutes of running. I could also hear a slight rumbling too. So decided to be on the safe side and ordered a new alternator from NAPA. So got it late last night. Now the weather has turned cold again so I do not feel like putting it on. So may wait a couple of days until the temp gets back into the 40s or so.

And Greg has another Matheson engine report for us too.

"OK, here's the plan.

I have been searching for a sewing machine motor that we've had lying loose. I want to try it for motoring over just the camshaft on the Matheson engine. That way I can adjust and observe the make and break ignition operation.

I've looked for that sewing machine motor for three months now. Easily lost, covered up, stashed beneath something in this building, in one of the two hangars on the hill, one of the hangars at the airport......I just can't look for it any longer so I stole one off another sewing machine. Surely the theft will get me into trouble but I guess that's the price I'll have to pay. I need to get this ignition sorted out. Out of excuses.

Enclosed photos show the intended method of mounting the motor on the engine stand, and I'll then buy or make a pulley to mount on the camshaft and a V-belt to connect the two.

Sounds easy but as we know, it's the simple things that are the hardest."

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