Avanti R2, 1963, refresh

[SeventhSon]

Why didn't you just drive them around to their spots, John?

[unimogjohn]

Chris, the 1923 McLaughlin Buick is now parked between the second and third bay doors. So the only way to get it into place was to move it sideways. The 1928 Buick has not been started in a few years. It has a cracked water jacket in the block that I have to repair or replace. I did not have enough room in the house garage to do it, now I do. It is on the list for this winter.

[SeventhSon]

Ah, I see. So, the little wheelie things aren't so good for pushing big old iron around? Good to know - I almost bought a set of those, but instead just used the floor jack and brute strength lol.

[Guest Corvanti]

i got a set of "wheelie things" about 5 years ago at Harbor Freight. before using them, i checked the wheels for movement. kind of hard to do so. i liberally sprayed some PB Blaster on the wheels - worked fine after that.

[packick]

A friend of mine bought a set of those "wheelie things" from Harbor Freight to move his Model A around.  He had the same problem John had so returned them and bought another brand.  That brand, whatever it was, worked good.  Maybe he should have used PB Blaster too.

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

 A little lube goes a long way.

 

  Ben

[unimogjohn]

It is Thursday, September 3rd. Just a couple of small updates.

Trailblazer: The newly refurbished computer with a new flashed memory arrived today. It will go back in tomorrow morning. They did send back the old one with a tag marked "BAD". I hope this gets the Trailblazer back on the road. Will only take about 30 minutes to put everything back together and hook up the battery.

The garage: The construction crew was suppose to be here this morning to finish putting in the retaining wall posts, 12 of them. Of course they were a no show and no calls either. Sure glad that the wall is not critical right now. They did deliver the stone this morning. One size with dust for the driveway and a clean one to finish off the base of the building. A total of 20 tons. This will be the last project for the new garage for this season other than finding and mounting cabinets inside.

Here are a few pics. The Kubota with the little post hole digger, the holes, and of course the rock.

Another hot one, about 97 degrees so nothing is getting done outside.

[unimogjohn]

It is Friday, PM on September 4th. Hot again today and waiting for storms. You can only take about 15 minutes and the sweat is just pouring off of you. Too bad I do not have the Trailblazer in the garage with AC.

The Trailblazer computer fix: In a word, "nope". I put the computer on the truck this morning and got it to talk to the security system after a few reboots. Hopeful, I turned the key and nothing. Back to the drawing board.

I put on the scan tool and the car sees the computer and everything looks good. But the ABS and brake lights are still on. So I guess I had better trouble shoot the ABS system.

According to the web, there is a little computer that control the ABS and it sits on top of the unit. Found it under the car on the frame. I was surprised that the mounting is so rusty. Visually, everything looks OK, wires are connected, etc.

Did some more research and discovered a GM service bulletin. It said that techs were replacing the ABS computer when that was not the problem. More common was a ground fault, and the bulletin said to inspect and repair that first.

Well, found the ground and sure enough it is rusty. Managed to get it off without damage to the hole. And yes it had corrosion all around it. And of course it is an odd size so will have to go in to town tomorrow and see if I can find one. It will take me only about 30 minutes to clean everything up and make a good ground connection. We will see if that helps. A new little ABS module is about $300. Don't want to go that route yet.

And guess what? The front drive line is falling apart from rust. Great living in the NE, the rust belt. The rear drive line looks great as it is aluminum and not steel.

So the Trailblazer still sits on the open trailer in the front yard. If this ground issue does not fix the problem I have run out of ideas.

Edited September 5, 2015 by unimogjohn (see edit history)

[unimogjohn]

It is Sunday, September 6th, AM. Looks to be a beautiful day today, mid 80 and very low humidity. All great day to spend outside.

Yesterday the contractor crew came over and put in the 12 round fence posts. Buried them about three feet deep. They put in some concrete to stabilize them and tamped them into their respective holes. They are so solid you can hit them with a hammer and it sounds like you are hitting a bell. I headed off to Home Depot and picked up 12 pressure treated 2x6x10s for the wall. They are coming back on Monday to install a couple of rows and do some work cleaning out around the building and leveling the pad with rocks.

If we want to go higher with the wall I can get more boards. I will probably do that.

While at Home Depot I was also able to pick up the metric bolt for the Trailblazer ground. I will clean up the frame and ground wire today and see if that has any effect on the no crank situation.

And Greg came by yesterday and picked up the Suburban with the white enclosed trailer. They are leaving for the Ford Museum on Thursday for the weekend show. He has lots to do to get ready including picking up the 1910 Reo at David Coco's place. Dave is making a top cover for it.

Here is Greg's sort note: "Coco has the REO and is progressing nicely with the top boot. That will neaten up the car a lot.

Wednesday evening I replaced all inner tubes with Universal metal stem type, aired them on Thursday morning before Coco came down to haul the car to his shop. Notice in the photo that there is a tire missing. It was flat by the time he got home.....tube blew out. Lasted less than an hour. Not pinched, not punctured, just blew out.

Got a shipment of Coker's tubes in the mail today. Tough choice which to hope might hold air."

Greg sent me a pic of the cover David is making, and am including pics of "garagehenge".

[packick]

John, re. the retaining wall, is your plan to fill in the space between the wall and the garage to the same level as the garage base, or just have a gradual slope towards the wall?  

[unimogjohn]

Joe, for now I am just going to go up about 18 inches and see how that looks, and how well the wall is holding up. I will probably go higher to reduce the slope and be able to mow it as the grass fills in. If I want to make it level with the garage I will need to go up about four feet. I think I would then need some lateral support. I suppose I could attach rebar to the garage end posts (there are four of them) and then to a few of the pilings for lateral support should I go that high.

Maybe something like this. http://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-1-1-2-in-x-14-Gauge-x-72-in-Zinc-Plated-Slotted-Angle-800517/204225758

The Trailblazer saga. Well I cleaned the mounting point and connections for the ABS/brake ground. Everything is nice a shiny and down to bare metal. Turned the key to the start position, and nothing. The warning lights for the ABS and brake are still on. I am going to locate all the grounds and clean them. This has got to be something simple.

Edited September 6, 2015 by unimogjohn (see edit history)

[Roger Zimmermann]

John, a probably stupid suggestion about the Trailblazer: did you try to start it with the other key, if you have the second one?

[unimogjohn]

Roger, tried both sets of keys. No change. Guess I am going to have to take it to the dealer. I have no where else to go.

Since Greg has the Suburban I am down a truck. So started up old Brownie the van and put her to work. Cleaned the inside and will wash it tomorrow when it cools down. She will do just fine for the next couple of weeks.

The work crew was here early this morning attempting to beat the heat. The great garage wall is done. Looks really good and should do the job of holding the hill just fine. It is 28 inches high, and I could go higher if need be. Just think that I will just leave it alone for the fall and winter and see how it does. If no movement may go higher.

They are coming back on Thursday or Friday to finish up spreading the gravel for the driveway and around the building to create that finished look.

Alice has the house garage all cleaned out of my car stuff. Now it looks like a garden center. Not a bad look and much more organized that with all those car parts.

[trimacar]

Greg was over today, putting tubes in the Reo flat tire. Yes, tubes, am sure he'll update, but let's just say my right eardrum is still ringing, literally, 4 hours later......wow, not a good thing to be in a closed garage when a high pressure tire decides to fail!

[unimogjohn]

It is Tuesday, September 8th, early. Greg is up late and so our times seem to meet with his report for the weekend. He has a tire and battery report for us. Looks like I will head into town and pick up a new battery for the Suburban. Cannot let him down. David Coco and I both know that. David, the boot for the Reo looks great!

Here is Greg's report: " Preparing for the Ford Museum Old Car Festival this coming weekend. My one getaway this year so it's a great time for things to go wrong.

My tire covers are done and installed except for securing the side wires. Devised a wire tightening tool from a gate hinge and a piece of allthread which required some simple lathework. That's when I found out our shop phase converter was kaput so a drive to Rob's was in order to do a three minute job. Oh well, great day for a ride in the 'biscuit. So now the tool is ready to try.

That required retrieving the REO from David's Auto Trim and Tire Shop. He called this morning to say it was ready for pickup.

I had planned ahead. The tow rig graciously lent by John Feser was borrowed on Saturday instead of my usual wait until the last minute. Drove it home and parked it. So hurrying to get the REO back for more work, grabbed the keys to the Suburban only to find it was dead in the driveway. Knowing that anything manufactured post 1964 is way beyond me, I was smart enough to put my hands in my pocket and back away from the vehicle. Grabbed the pickup and drove the hour to Coco's.

The top boot turned out just like the old photos. After admiring his work, I turned to the tireless wheel. With reasonable struggle I was able to load the tube and mount the tire on the wheel. Inflated, I sat back on the floor and leaned against his Pierce to rest and admire, David nearby on his stool. This lasted less than a couple minutes when the tube/tire erupted in a loud bang. Either the soap used to mount the tire let it slip out of the side ring, or the tube failed and blew the tire out of the way. Don't know which and it doesn't matter now.

Installed another tube and so far he says it is still holding. So now I still need to revive the Suburban and/or get the old car back from David's somehow. Thursday morning is coming faster and faster.

Ps. Not until I threw the latest blown tube alongside the previous did we see possibly some similarity in failures. I'm thinking that I'll dismount that one for further study when I get the thing back here. Or the rupture could be on the opposite side of the stem......."

=

[unimogjohn]

Just a quick update on Greg's adventure. I picked up a new NAPA battery this morning, and we installed it in the Suburban. She fired right up. Greg is going to head to David Coco's place in Winchester, VA and pick up the REO and bring it back to the airfield hangar. Greg says that he still has a few hours of work to do before they head off early Thursday morning. I did not ask him, but I bet they are driving straight thru to Dearborn, MI, a distance of about 500 miles. I think that with just a couple of stops they are looking at a 12 hour drive time.

[unimogjohn]

It is September 10th, early on Thursday morning.  Greg must be on the road this morning on his next adventure.  Of course it is raining its brains out.  But we need it, first rain in almost two weeks.

 

Received this from Greg last night.  "John the truck is fine.  Picked up the REO.   My son, Nathan, came by last night, and he was witness to the fine art of high pressure lock ring tire maintenance.    We dismounted that troublesome tire,  homemade a flap from an expended inner tube and today I'm  hard wiring the tire covers.   

 

 Lots to do yet as any "vacation"  plays out."

[unimogjohn]

It is Sunday, September 13th, early PM.  Have been looking around for some work benches for the new garage.  Have not found anything so I decided to build one from the scrap I have around the farm.  It is 10 feet long by about 28 inches wide.  Strong enough to hold some auto working tools.  And I have lots of room for under storage.  May not be pretty, but the price was awesome.  Nothing.  Not going to put a finished top on it right now.  I like the look of the planks.

 

Used the end irons from the 2 post lift shipping container

Rotting planks left by contractor

Lots of left over screws

 

Worked on detailing the Jaguar for the Concours next Sunday.  She is all ready to go.

 

I also ordered a small blast cabinet from Eastwood.  I received it yesterday, but it will take me a few days to put it together.  I know that my air compressor will not power it 100%, but hopefully Wayne will buy his new compressor and I will get his old one.  I will have to bug him.

 

 

[unimogjohn]

What!!!!!!!  My new bench is full .........  I guess I just have too much junk.  At least the work table is free so decided to at least unpack the Eastwood blast cabinet.  Here are all the piece parts.  The blue powder coating on the panels is very nice.  Going to read the instruction manual tonight.

 

 

[SeventhSon]

Nice use of the packing container ends and scrap wood John. That's what country folks who remember the Great Depression would do - waste not, want not! And what's this I spy - a little fridge, a coffee maker. I predict a bathroom before the end of this year!

[unimogjohn]

It is Tuesday, September 15th, PM.   Just received a note from Greg that they made it home from Dearborn, MI late last night.  This is what we all missed.  Found on the net:  

 

Edited September 15, 2015 by unimogjohn (see edit history)

[Alfre]

John been following the  garage build it's  great. Will the Jag be at Hershey?

At this time I am at the VCCA tour in Richmond VA.

Al

[unimogjohn]

Al, yes, the Jaguar will be at Hershey.  Come looks us up on Saturday.

 

Give us a tour report when you get a chance.  I am sure you took pics.

[unimogjohn]

It is Wednesday morning, and we have a trip report from Greg.

 

"Our long distance outing this summer was the Ford Museum's Old Car Festival.  Been planning on this for months.  Good excuse to take out the REO , give it some attention and get it running.

 

 Tires wearing thin so Coco would make up some canvas covers to protect what's left since the tires are unobtainable (yes I have tried Coker Tire and yes I have advertised in England and Europe).

         

Always a good running car,  and since the Festival encourages the unrestored,  it would fit right in.  After moving it to Hyde Manor I began to clean it up.  Since the top when up has some hanging  fabric and when folded it looks like a bag of rags,  I engaged Coco to stitch a period correct to boot.    As usual we chased details to the last minute.

 

I had one tire go flat and this proved to be the result of my use of too large a tube.  New tubes of a smaller size  were ordered.  Coker Tire.  They replied  to me....back order.    Mid August.    I cooled my jets and did other things.   Demounted an Overland tire and pulled its tube to use.

   

Just some cleaning of things and adding wet stuff was all that was required to get it running again.   Mid August's call to Coker and the tubes were "a month out".  Oh crap.   Try Universal.

 

They had them on hand and were next day arrival.      Four new tubes and in the trailer for delivery to David's .      A blowout before it arrived at his place.    Fixed it (not a day at the beach).    

     

Blew that tube when leaving his place.   Replaced that one.    I don't know how many I changed (yes I looked for debris and/or wire,  etc).   In fact the night before we left I replaced it again and upon arrival at our first night's  Dayton destination,  Barbara, Nathan , Paulela Burchill and I  were standing by the trailer  when that one exploded inside.   Same wheel.

         

This problem caused us to detour from our original plan to survey the route of the 1909 Cobe Trophy races  ,  a road course in NW Indiana.    Instead we dropped off some work for a machine shop in Ohio and on to Dearborn to deal with tire problems.

   

This event is not just an old car show where you stand around and dust off your ride.  Limited to pre 1933 ,   it attracts all manner of transportation.  And you are encouraged to keep them in motion.  Driving the streets throughout Greenfield Village,  there are traffic jams with Model T's,  Stanley Steamers,  high wheel bicycles,  huge trucks and even breakdowns and accidents are managed by Keystone Kops  and whisked away by the museum's  Model T tow truck.  A wonderful time of riding around,  hopping rides,  giving and receiving driving lessons,  etc.

 

There was also the opportunity to visit the museum ,  Dave Liepelt's personal tour of the railroad round house,   and some good eating after hours.

     

We had carefully driven the REO to its designated parking area without incident.

 

Photos of:  Barb being driven by Paul Rose in his creampuff  '23 Buick .

                   Nathan being driven by Derek Moore in a Mercer.

                   Nate adjusting his wrist band,  guess why.

                   A International gas truck that made the driver look like a child.

 

   To be continued....."

=

[unimogjohn]

Still Wednesday, September 16th.  The contractor crew finished up the drainage around the back of the garage.  And we picked up all the construction debris and will haul it to the dump when the Suburban returns.  

 

Putting the Jaguar back on the lift today.  Final clean up and detailing before the Concours on Sunday.

[unimogjohn]

Still Wednesday.  Used the Kubota tractor for a couple of hours to move and spread the remaining gravel.  Now that is all done, and I have a cleared driveway in front of all the bays.  Yippi, now I can get the Avanti out, she was blocked in by all the stone.

 

I also took a few minutes to open little boxes inside the shipping box for the Eastwood blaster.  Lots of parts.  The instructions say to expect a two hour job.  So maybe it will only take me four hours.  Going to wait for a rainy day to do the construction.

 

 

[unimogjohn]

It is Thursday, PM, September 17th.  Busy day.  It began with taking Brownie the 1979 van out for a run of about 30 miles.  More than she has gone in the last ten years.  She ran great.  So I decided to take off the two front tires and take them down to get new air stems.  The old ones were about ready to fall off from rot.  I looked at the tires date code and it said 2001.  So the tires are 14 years old.  They still look new, but are cracking between the treads.  I told the tire place to put on new tires.  I will pick them up tomorrow.  I will then check the backs and if they are in the same condition, I will replace them also.  

 

Then I decided to start up the Jaguar and position it so I could put it on the lift.  Hit the start button.  Humm, the electric pump was pulsing and the electric SU pump was clicking away like crazy.  So I stopped the cranking to investigate.  Wow, about two pints of fuel on the ground.  What is going on?  Had Alice come out after I had put the Jag on the lift.  Had her get in the Jag and turn on the key so I could see what was going on.  Fuel spewing from the flex hose.  

 

I removed the hose and could immediate see that it had failed.  The rubber was cracked under the wire flex tubing.  

 

I ordered a new one and hopefully it will be here by Saturday.  But just to be on the safe side I contacted an old Jag mechanic to see if he had one.  He did, one that I could borrow.  So I am going to pick it up tomorrow.  I did head into town to see if I could get a fitting that would accept a rubber hose, but none were to be found that would work.  I went to a dozen places.  So hopefully I will have the Jaguar running tomorrow PM.  I was worried that we would not make the concours on Sunday.  

[trimacar]

Rubber hose victim of ethanol fuel, I bet.

Had two of my cars have fuel pump failure , and one with rotted hose, from running ethanol gas.

Gotta love legislated failures....

[unimogjohn]

David, I am sure also.  We now have a station in Marshall, VA that carries real gas, but only regular.  Corvette Wayne has a stash of real gas race fuel.  I bought six gallons from him and put three into the Jaguar and three into the Avanti and filled them both with real gas.  Only using real regular gas in them now.  All my mowers and gas tractors get real gas also.

 

I was so tired to rebuilding carbs and fuel pumps on the farm equipment.  It seems like the non-gas stuff turned to muck in less than 30 days.

 

I am still using Stabil year around also, figure that it cannot hurt.

[unimogjohn]

It is Friday morning, September 18th.  If it is Friday then we must have another Greg report from the Henry Ford Museum.  This is only part 2 so more can be expected.

 

"I'd better get back to the Old Car Festival story before the trail grows too cold.

   

Having driven the REO very gingerly to its display area,  we set out on foot to see the sights and  to catch up with old friends.    Glenn Miller made a special effort to make sure Nathan and I got our rides on the demonstration copy of Henry Ford's  1901 racer,  the Sweepstakes.  

 

As is the theme there,  with so many examples of old transportation passing before our very eyes, it wasn't hard to flag down any with empty seats available.    One,  special to me, was the magnificent  Stoddard-Dayton  seven passenger touring car.  Lucky for me the owner could get it stopped because I'd run out in front of it waving my arms.   Huge.    

 

Paul Rose was intent on wearing out his Buick.  Too many to mention (I understand there were over nine hundred applicants),  we made the best of our time until our appointment with Dave Liepelt,  a museum staffer.    That was  for our personal tour of the railroad roundhouse.

 

Then another special event.  Nearing darkness,  we hurried back to the REO  to get it started for the gaslight tour.     An annual event for cars with lamps lit,  it has also been referred to a gaslight traffic jam.  Barb, Nathan and I began our lapping of the village circuit.   Once, twice,  and then on the third circuit......as we approached the  most difficult part of the course where after passing through the covered bridge,  the street winds up a hill to an intersecting T in the road where a stop is required.   I noticed the car was faltering a bit and then  just as it was our turn to stop......bang.

 

More to follow.

 

          Photos:  Nate on the Sweepstakes

                         The big Stoddard-Dayton

                          Paul Rose again

                          Railroad repair shop

                          A cold and blustery day,  Barb trying to warm in the back

                          Nathan amused about something"

=

Edited September 18, 2015 by unimogjohn (see edit history)

[unimogjohn]

Still Friday and AM.  Forgot to bring in the camera last night from the new garage and was too lazy to go get it.  Hence no pics of Brownie with no shoes and the Jaguar flex fuel line. 

 

So here are the pics.  Note that you can see light coming through the flex line in the pic with it in a vice. And in another shot I am pointing to where the hose had broken.  Hope to pick up its replacement today.  Of course it has special fittings for attachments so you cannot just make something up without damaging things down the line.  Of course it has already been buggered up as the copper line had been cut and a rubber extension inserted.  I guess that it was for a more easier installation sometime in the distant past.

 

 

[unimogjohn]

Still Friday, but mid afternoon.  Picked up the new tires for Brownie the van.  They will go on today.  Next I have to take off the rears and get them in early next week.  New shoes all around.

 

Hopped into the W8 Passat and headed off to Dave H.'s home to get the Jaguar flex fuel line.  Got it! Will install when it gets a bit cooler outside.

 

Dave lives about an hour away from us.  He has a big four plus car garage that is jammed with parts and cars.  He has a 1964 Mercury Caliente, 1937 Cord that he as owned since 1953, a couple of Ford Model A, and a completely original 1954 XK120 OTS, which he has owned from the mid 1960, said that he paid $400 for it back in the day.   He told me that he has other cars in another garage nearby.  One is a MGA Coupe.  Here are the pics I took.

 

 

 

[trimacar]

Nice! I knew about Dave's cars but glad to see them in his garage!

[unimogjohn]

David, he spoke highly of you and your Cord at the ADC Museum a few years ago.  One day we will all have to go out and have lunch with him.  Interesting guy for sure.  I would like to see his other garage also.

 

And thanks Dave!  I put in the new flex fuel line and no leaks.  The cat fired right up.  I used two Italian made hose clamps from the era.  I hope the car won't mind.  At least they look period.  In actuality I am not suppose to have the rubber line.  It was all copper to the flex line when it was born.  At sometime in its life it was cut apart.  After the Jaguar Concours and the AACA Hershey Show I plan on putting in a metal fuel filter tucked onto the frame.  It does have a fuel filter before the electric fuel pump now so I am getting filtered fuel.  

 

Here is a pic of the installed line.

 

And Joe in Washington sent me a pic of his 1955 Buick Special on his new lift.  

 

 

 

[unimogjohn]

If it is Sunday, it is the Jaguar Concours.  We were up and at em at 5:30 AM.  Hit the road at 7 and were in line for the pre-safety checks at 8:15.  I think that we were in our position by 9:00 AM.  The car ran great, and we were cruising along at about 65 to 70 mph.  The new tires are great.  

 

I think there were about 50 Jaguars there.  Way down from previous years.  Fewer and fewer of the early XKs and many more modern Jaguars.  Times they are a changing.

 

But we had a great time talking to folks, and Alice was the gracious hostess inviting one and all to sit in our Jaguar.  We were awarded a second place in the Driven Class of XK120/140/150s.  First place went to a beautiful pastel blue XK150 Coupe.  He should have been in the Champion class as I think he would have won that class.

 

Here are the pics I took.  The 1950 XK120 (green with spats) took first place in the Champion class.  It was the cat next to ours.  It was a very nice car.  Had been restored 15 years ago, and then sat for the next 13.  They just got it serviced and running last week.  I sure hope they plan on using it more.

 

And of course we had some excitement too.  A 1975 Cadillac that was in the show as a guest caught fire.  Sure glad we all had extinguishers.  It was quickly put out, but the car had to be towed away.  It was a carb fire, which caught the rubber lined air filter on fire and spewed out a huge flame out of the filter housing causing some of the wiring and insulation to catch on fire.   

 

 

Edited September 20, 2015 by unimogjohn (see edit history)

[John Byrd]

  Great photos John !  Yours and the blue 150 (?) are the stars to me.  Love them all, but I'm afraid if I had one of the early roadsters that I would be tempted to do what we did to our Tiger....take the convertible top out and hang it in the shop, ha !  The early roadster/ convertible Jags, like my Tiger, look so clumsy with the top up !

[unimogjohn]

Monday, replaced the borrowed flex fuel line and did a two hours cleaning of the underside of the Jaguar.  The judges at Hershey take no prisoners.  I really have to work on the engine compartment and make sure it sparkles.  The interior is already gleaming.  

 

I also took off the rear tires of Brownie the van and replaced them with new ones.  She is now fit for the road again.  

[unimogjohn]

We have a report from Greg on this day, Tuesday, September 22nd.  Here is his final trip report from the Old Car Festival in Dearborn, MI.

 

"OK,  I'm getting complaints from the Peanut Gallery about not concluding our Greenfield Village event coverage.

 

When we left our intrepid  party, we were with our 1910 REO,  in the dark,  in a traffic jam at an uphill intersection; and I might add  in a REO that had faltered and quit with a bang.   No,  not a tire this time.  A backfire signaled the need to get out, get help and get it out of the way.  Pushed across the street and into  a driveway,  

 

I pondered what course of action to take.  A cell phone, the Paul Rose clan,  a '23 Buick and a tow rope to the rescue.  We finished our third lap of the gaslight parade  in tow.  Deposited in our designated parking place,  old REO spent the night under the stars.

 

I thought part of the problem might have been a weak battery,  so the next morning Nathan and I went shopping for  a new one.   Back at the Henry Ford  we hopped a ride with Rob and Paulela in their REO to get started on ours.  A morning's work and lots of help to no avail.   I resigned myself to the fact that it was done and we were going to do other things without it.  I was really disappointed that Nate wouldn't be tooling around in it.

 

After seeing some of the exhibits and hopping a few rides,  I was notified that the class judges wanted to see me.  They wanted to present an award to a dead car?

       

The Paul Rose Towing Service to the rescue.    Actually, Paul and I both had earned a Curator's Choice Award for I guess the best Unrestored Car in Tow and Unrestored Tow Car Award.    I think everybody enjoyed the show.

 

Now that we've been back in Virginia I've had time to roll the old car out of the trailer and start the autopsy.   It would run briefly on the fuel squirted into the priming cups but wouldn't continue.   This seemed to me that the ignition was working,  nothing had jumped timing,  was getting plenty of fuel to the carburetor,  had compression.....just wouldn't use the fuel it was getting.   

     

I took a night to dismantle the carburetor and manifolding.   Gaskets looked fine except one of them,  obviously ancient was discolored .     Fresh gaskets cut and they happened to be ready when the next evening I was favored with a visit from a friend who I'd never met.  Bruce Van Sloun,  a REO, Overland, Ford, and Autocar guy from Minnesota rolled up his sleeves and joined in the fun.          

 

With everything back in place,  he pulled the crank and seems its health has been restored.  Seeming to be on good behavior,  we did take it to a show in Manassas where it was noted to be the oldest car in attendance.   

         

Now that I've returned the Fesermobile and matching trailer to John and Alice,  I guess the REO will rest comfortably.    And it still has air in the tires.

 

Moral of the story:  If you like early cars,  do attend the annual Old Car Festival in Dearborn.  There's nothing like it."

 

Photos:       Paul hooking me up.

                   A couple shots of being towed through the reviewing stands.

                   Bruce  making some hot laps   (Note to self: add water next time).

          

           

       

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Edited September 22, 2015 by unimogjohn (see edit history)

[unimogjohn]

Still Tuesday and this is the garage and car stuff I did today.  Not too exciting, but progress none the less.

 

I still had the shipping legs from one of the lifts and a couple of 2 x 12s.  So decided I would make another table.  So here is the result, a new 6 ft long work bench.  Cost:  Nothing.  Here are pics of it upside down, finished and then one in it's place.  Now my work space is complete except for a couple of hanging cabinets.

 

Here is a pic of Brownie the van with her new shoes.  She looks very happy.

 

And I also spent about three hours detailing the engine bay of the Jaguar.  It is about as good as I can get it.  Here are some pics.

 

But I do have a problem.  I do have modern style speaker covers on the back shelf of the Jaguar.  These certainly are not correct and will result in the ire of the AACA judges at Hershey.  If I take them out, there will be big holes in the shelf.  I think my only option is to somehow cover them in a similar material as the shelf.  The shelf is a real light mohair type fabric.

 

I also could just cover them with something that does not look like a speaker cover.  These are the shock strut covers from the 89 Taurus SHO.  I could just glue some fabric on them and call it done and hope for the best.  

 

I certainly welcome any ideas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Alfre]

If you can cover them with some period material that covers the complete aria at about the same height as the speaker covers it might work.

Al