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My 1924 Tourer restoration


Guest rameses32

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Guest rameses32

i thought I would start a thread about my 24' Restoration. Definitely not a quick job. I purchased the car in 2012, and have been working on it sporadically ever since. I'll post some-photos   of the progress.  To date, it has all new bushes, bearings, shackle pins, king pins, rebuilt engine, transmission, diff, brakes and wheels, I'm just beginning the bodywork. I have no interrior, I don't even know what it is supposed to look like. The guards I have were placed under a tarp, outside, 30 years ago, and are mostly rusted away. I did manage to locate a bonnet in Sydney for $100, so that was the buy of the century. Anyway, on with the photos.

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Guest rameses32

I have also rebuilt the horn, starter/generator , starter switch/regulator, carburettor, and Magneto. Here is the magnet charger I built to recharge the magneto, it worked perfectly. In the photo I just have the magnet on the charger but in practice I found it worked better to charge the magnet on the magneto.

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This is all i have of the original floor. I'm sure i will upset the purists, but i am using 19mm marine plywood for the flooring. Waterproof, won't warp, easy to work with.

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Guest rameses32

It's a floor! I am so excited to see the beginning of a floor in my car.for the first time in 40 some years, this car has a bit of floor. I sat and stared at it for a half hour, lol. I cant wait to get back out in the shed.

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This is my car the first day I laid eyes on it, it hadn't been touched in over thirty years. Luckily it was stored inside, well, this part of it was, everything else was lying in the dirt under a tarp for thirty years and didn't fair so well, most of it completely rusted away.

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Hi Mate, The original top toe /floor board on my 28 Senior was originally ply wood so I used the same as you have done. The rest of the ones that lie flat I have used Kapur 3/4" thick boards. The originals would have been Tasmanian Oak but to buy that now days is costly 

You have done a fantastic job on the Steering Wheel. Marvelous what a bit of Elbow Grease can do. What polish did you use on the center?

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Guest rameses32
5 hours ago, Ron Lawson said:

Hi Mate, The original top toe /floor board on my 28 Senior was originally ply wood so I used the same as you have done. The rest of the ones that lie flat I have used Kapur 3/4" thick boards. The originals would have been Tasmanian Oak but to buy that now days is costly 

You have done a fantastic job on the Steering Wheel. Marvelous what a bit of Elbow Grease can do. What polish did you use on the center?

I started with a trim sander with 120 grit sand paper to get rid of the scale and pits. Then started sanding by hand with increasing grits of sand paper, ending with 2000 grit. Then polished it with Mothers mag and wheel polish.

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Hello Rameses.  I am in awe of your work.  I am having difficulty in parting the transmission from the engine on my '26 tourer.  I am at the  stage where the transmission should just pull back from the engine but it won't shift.  The rear engine bearer (which is slightly different from yours) is free but the engine and 'box are sticking together.  I have a trolly jack supporting the rear of the engine but I am not sure what I need to do to support the transmission while I pull it back. How difficult was it to separate yours and was it a pain to reunite after rebuild?

 

Any help or advise would be appreciated as I am about to throw in the towel.

 

Ray.

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Short of a forgotten bell housing bolt there should be nothing holding the gearbox.  Have you dropped the sump? If not, this will allow you to lever the box back against the flywheel.  Then stand over the box and pull it back between your legs.  Second thought: before that you should of course have removed the gearbox top and clutch release mechanism (through the hole at the top of the bell housing).

 

Have fun! 

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Hello Rameses, I have used the Mothers Alluminium Polish and found it to be very good even for doing the brass work on my 1913 veteran Mors  I haven't fathomed out how to post photos on here but when I did the door out side handles for my Senior (They have a black plastic/cum bakelite coating on them) they were covered in old paint and to get them back I did similar to you except I only used 1500 grit. Had to go that way to remove the remnants of the old paint Once polished with the Mothers they came up looking good  Keep up the great work Ron 

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Hi Tony.  I have removed the clutch pedal and the lever on the end. I have taken out the square headed screws and slid the supports off each side. Should the clutch release bearing fork come out now? ..................

..............Next day............  

 

Stupid features here missed a bell housing bolt. DOHHH!  That will teach me to carry on when overtired.!:rolleyes:

 

Ray.

Edited by R.White (see edit history)
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Guest rameses32

I remember separating my engine from transmission was a nightmare as well. It is so completely different than anything even in the 40's. It's one of the things I wish i had taken photos of. I remember I had the clutch input shaft out of the transmission, the top out, the throw out bearing apart, it was a mess.

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Rameses.  I would like to know what you did or had done professionally to refurbish your transmission, please.  I have noticed a considerable amount of wear on the square section shaft/sliding gear surfaces.  I had an idea that perhaps I could get the main shaft surfaces hard chromed?  The main rear bearing could do with replacing with a sealed one.  There are no teeth missing or pitted so I am hoping to improve the screaming racket in 1st and 2nd.  Top is fine.  There is a problem with clutch drag which I suspect is the dreaded pilot bearing.  I do hope your transmission is good.

 

Ray. 

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18 hours ago, R.White said:

Rameses.  I would like to know what you did or had done professionally to refurbish your transmission, please.  I have noticed a considerable amount of wear on the square section shaft/sliding gear surfaces.  I had an idea that perhaps I could get the main shaft surfaces hard chromed?  The main rear bearing could do with replacing with a sealed one.  There are no teeth missing or pitted so I am hoping to improve the screaming racket in 1st and 2nd.  Top is fine.  There is a problem with clutch drag which I suspect is the dreaded pilot bearing.  I do hope your transmission is good.

 

Ray. 

I really cant help you with this, i took my transmission apart and everything was new, i talked to the previous owner and he said he had sent it away in the 80's to someone and they rebuilt it with many NOS parts. It has never been driven since. Same goes for the engine, sometimes you get lucky with an honest seller.

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I see the steering column is in place and the wheel looks good.  Was there wear in your steering box?

 

You are one very lucky guy, Rameses.  To have that trans restored properly is a big bonus. 

 

I was lucky with my '26 Tourer because it was given to me free by the widow of it's previous owner !   I knew the couple previously as they were customers of my boarding cattery.  It may sound unlikely, but the lady was about to scrap the Dodge because it had been the cause of arguments between them.  The husband had liked the Dodge so much that he traded his Rolls Royce Silver Shadow for it.  The Shadow is a nightmare car and they sell quite cheaply but they are very luxurious and I think his wife thought it made her look good.! 

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Following on from Maok's undoubtedly valuable contribution :rolleyes:  I sourced my springs from an old bed stead then I found an upholsterer who restores antique chairs (quite by accident one day) and he helped me enormously.   I found it to be far cheaper buying through the trade than going to a car trimmers.  If you can get hold of an industrial or heavy duty sewing machine you could try doing the work yourself.  i found it very therapeutic but enormously time consuming.

 

Just a small tip.  Make sure the pleats in the leather seat base are in line with those in the back.  It's an easy mistake to get them slightly out of alignment and it ruins the finished look.....  Don't ask!:blink:

 

 Of course you may wish to hand it all over to an expert.

 

Ray.

Edited by R.White (see edit history)
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Guest rameses32

Thats a 240 litre bin, put 30 litres of molasses in it. When i do the guards i will make a flat tank on the ground, big enough to hold all of the guards at the same time using sleepers and plastic sheeting.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...
Guest rameses32

Finished the fuel tank today, 10 days in the molasses to get all of the rust out, lots of pressure washing and rinsing, sloshed kerosene around inside the tank to stop the flash rusting, paint stripper , sand sand bloody sand, paint, done, woohoo:)

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  • 1 month later...

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