Coffee 10-4 -14

Thanx DF & CREW

Day late, worked yesterday. Frost on cars this am...34* by VW temp gage.Today I need to reassemble the coal boiler grates, reinstall new firebricks and get a zone circulator to replace the one that quit working end of last years heating season. Plus fall turkey seasons coming up, got to get to range reset rifle scope for the small grain bullets I am going to use, and next couple of sundays go to farm early AM and start calling to see where they are roosting for hopefully a succesful turkey season. Stilll haven't gotten any coal.. missed gettin a good price from greet and meet. need about 5 tons for season.

Sure can tell the cold weather is either here or fast approaching, Sunday morning and 'Coffee' is already on three pages!

This has been a very busy week for me, seems I haven't had a 'not so busy' week for over a year !!

I Drove East to Graftton Ontario on Early Wednesday morning, loaded up a '27 Pierce Arrow and headed back home by 1pm. Round trip was just under 700miles.. Sure glad this truck is comfortable and easy to tow a trailer with. Truck and loaded trailer are at about 17K-18K pounds.. This truck makes it feel like 12K.

The '27 2dr Pierce is one I've known about for several years, it's been advertised all over, and was overpriced for it's condition. About two years ago I made a low offer to purchase it. The seller is someone in the Pierce club, so we know each other. About August he emailed and said he needed the car to go. So he was willing to accept the two year old offer.. Just what I needed, another car I just can't turn down..

This car had been sitting for decades.. And before my friend purchased it someone had left water in it in the winter, and it froze and cracked the cylinder head. I was fearful of what else had been damaged, but it seems that only the head is cracked. My friend had the radiator worked on, but I havnt' tested it yet.

So, since Wednesday evening, I've power washed 98% of the ugly yellow paint off the old paint. I don't know what surface prep the painter did, but it wasn't very good, and this paint was thin and brittle. It washed off the old paint, and only stuck in cracks, and on bare metal parts.

I dropped the oil pan, cleaned out the 1" of old sludge, and found NO WATER, or water/oil sludge.. only oil and dirt. This means, I hope that the block is not cracked and leaking water into the crankcase. I cleaned and inspected the oil pump, and dropped several connecting rods and inspected and measured the crank and bearings. They are worn, but not scored, or hammering.. just worn. So the engine will probably have poor oil pressure when the oil is really warmed up, but for short drives it will be fine, as well as in cool weather.. The bottom of the oil pan is finned, and it's 15" wide by 34" long,, lots of cooling area. Holds 9quarts of 15w-40.
I installed a carburetor, a vacuum fuel pump/tank, made and hooked up missing fuel lines. Installed a better Distributor cap and rotor, made up a new set of ignition wires, and started it right up. The engine has excellent oil pressure during the short [no coolant yet] runs.

I installed a fuel tank, so now it can be driven, once I braze shut the crack in the head.. If that works, or JB weld if not. Then add some water and take it for a drive.

The car is amazingly complete, usually these cars get picked over for all the 'jewelry' , like instruments, switches, door handles, tail lights, hub caps etc. This one is complete, the seller only took what he needed for his other car, and left this donor car otherwise complete.

This car is going to Hershy with me tomorrow morning, and be put up for sale, it will be an 'entry level' Pierce Arrow for someone getting started with Pierce Arrow cars.. These are a very high end collector car, and sought after. At Hershey many Pierce Arrows get sold and head to Europe. This one will probably stay in the states.. but who knows. ?

Well off to the shop, I was there until 0330 this morning, got about 4-5 hours of sleep, now back at it..

Weather: yesterday was a miserable 38* with wind.. felt like January. Today is forcast to be up to 53*. sure doesn't look like it or feel like it yet. This coming week in Hershey is supposed to be 60's and 70's, and some rain showers on Tuesday, Friday and Saturday..

OK, back to the shop.... OH, pictures:
The amazing thing to me is that all the glass is original, plate glass, no cracks, the window regulators still work and the doors open and close just fine.. only the driver's door hinge post has some damage, at some time the door was opened in a strong wind, or the car leaning down hill on that side, or whatever, and the strap that is supposed to stop the door from swinging too wide pulled and split the wood door post, only a split about 9" long, easily repaired. I removed the lower hinge and straightened it, reinstalled and the door edge gap at the back edge, the latch edge is 1/8" top and bottom !! Amazing that these wood body structures are so good. IF they are kept dry. The top is in good shape for it's age. I need to put some black Gorrilla tape on a few spots before I test drive it.

OK, time to braze the cracked head. I hope.

Greg L

Happy Sunday

I guess we got some frost last night. Although the extra blanket was near I suppose it is time to get the stove running.

This season I have taken the Old Mill offline. That old fella is scheduled for a complete A1 Overhaul. It will be getting a rebuilt Keystoker feed system, new combustion blower, new convection blower, new feed motor, two hot water coils, and a fresh coat of paint along with all new gaskets. I would like to have it back on line by Christmas. In the meantime, my Caloric cookstove will be supplying the house with heat until then. Today I am working on the flue adapter I had made.

Neal

Here are a couple pics of the Tesla, almost no mechanical parts, everything is electronic and done from the touch screen in the dash....Neat to see and ride in but I would never want to own one, think I'd prefer the 1927 stuff.
And our youngest enjoying some ice cream just after finishing the ash pan drag at the FAIR

That thing is sweet looking! I certainly wouldn't want to be anywhere near that thing with a wrench though ... Maybe 10 laptops wired in series ....

I don't know where you could use a wrench, there's nothing there...it's very strange. You can't even open the glovebox without hitting a button on the touch screen. If he is still there when I get home from work I will try and take some more pictures

What no pics of the ash pan drag, shame on you. Now I will never find out what the hell it was. Did you run into Wilson?

Yeah I'd imagine that thing is LOADED with electronic gizmos. Probably a bundle of wires in there the size found in the NY Stock Exchange walls ...

Probably a bundle of wires in there the size found in the NY Stock Exchange walls ...

... and then I ran into that d e e p puddle that was deeper than I thought and there was sort of a big spark/explosion and then silence........the fire dept was called to the scene but they were not allowed to go near a burning electric car. Or if they were Chester fire dept they sprayed it with a fire hose until it exploded again. I mean a record of 26 years and never yet saving a building is a record to be maintained and admired.

Yeah water and electricity don't mix well. Tends to let all the magic smoke out of the wires all at once!

Better get some good sunglasses ....

I didn't see him, has he recovered from the long week and been able to get back to work?

Can anybody lend me $4000. As new, never been used for anything but wet downs and annual parades.

**Broken Link(S) Removed**

I hear those come mandatory with every Chevy Volt purchase ....

Monday Coffee's really gone straight to hell......I mean,look at the Pic's......That Poor,Adorable Kid's Having a Meltdown trying to eat That Cone,Physically And Mentally Drained from participating in The Ash Pan Drag! And Wilson...Now Mind You,I've never even met the Man,just seen examples of his Fine Work,but I'm told they got him to be "Some Extra Weight" in the Ash Pan! They didn't tell him the Ashes were still Hot! I hear he's recovering at Freddy's Upholstery Shop As We Speak.....Relax Newbs,Your Stove Will Be Enroute Shortly!