Above 1200 Sq/FT Restored 1930's Auto Shop

[markviii]

assuming he joined June 1 until today, that's 110 days, so around 65 posts per day. Not bad! And welcome, noelalford.

(oops! I checked his profile. He joined June 24, so 87 days for 83 posts/day. A speed reader!)

Diversions into the jack threads was a good excuse to take a break in hopes you wouldn't have to study for the eventual test. Never fear! The promised test will appear when you least expect it.

Chris

 

[BB767]

Personally I'm starting to get the impression she's just toying with all of you. It's been extremely busy times here and all (look at how far behind I am after all) and I've never known her to to make idle threats, but about this "purported" test, well...........

Slightly doubting Thomas

 

[charlief1]

Personally I'm starting to get the impression she's just toying with all of you. It's been extremely busy times here and all (look at how far behind I am after all) and I've never known her to to make idle threats, but about this "purported" test, well...........

Slightly doubting Thomas

Maybe she just plans to test you first Thomas. A trial test for the man that started it all would be fitting I think. No open books though.

 

[BB767]

OK now that I've stirred that pot up (maybe the couch for me tonight?!) let me do a little catch up of my own. Here are some of the latest happening. You'll get to see and read how serendipity...



...and this car and...



...this 500 ton press...



...and this amazing 1890's building...



...are all intertwined with the fabric top finally getting installed on the Corvette. I've taken notes over the last 8 months that the top saga has taken place in case someone wants to make a movie about it. What a goat rope it has been but now it's done and it looks as nice and operates as smoothly as I always knew it would. But before I delve into that and the latest shop powder coating project there was racing last weekend.

While trailering the Impala to the event, the truck towing it had some transmission "issues" so Cameron just backed the Impala off the trailer and drove it the remaining 250 miles to Stanton. It is a Pure Stock Muscle Car after all.



He did set a personal best time at the meet...



...and was killer off the lights getting one .001 reaction time which is virtually perfect and had several others that were close to that one. Personally I think it was from all that seat time he spent driving to the event.

The Chevy II...



I was able to back it off the trailer at the beginning of the race weekend and drive it back on the trailer at the end. Nothing broke and it shifted fine but I did not do any power/speed shifting.



Here the brain trust was trying to figure out why I was running about 1/2 second slower than I should be. Never did figure it out but the car was faster as the weekend progressed. Maybe the new clutch is still getting broken in? We have one more event before the race season is over so there's still hope.

I have a piece of older shop equipment that is being refurbished at present that I need to post and the Corvette top saga with all its twists and turns among others so please stand by. Thanks again everyone.

Thomas

 

[noelalford]

How long did it take you to read it all ?

I have no idea! It was faster than the 83 posts a day because I joined to read about something else and stumbled through at least 3 other large threads before ending up in this one (I have no idea how I ended up here). I read most of it in my garage so I could put the good ideas into action immediately! Or in the alternative, avoid working in the garage since it's a bit overwhelming. This place was filled from floor to ceiling with junk, old tools, furniture, miscellaneous artifacts, bits of hardware, some of the interior of one of my boats, various parts of some of my International Scouts and . . . well, you get the idea. I think that's why I couldn't stop clicking next page on this thread since in some ways there is a correlation. I just don't have the budget or same level of treasure, mostly it's just junk. I have almost everything on casters now so I can make space to work so hopefully progress will continue exponentially.

Also, I bet the soft top NEVER comes off if it was pressed on with a 500 ton press!!

 

[Pointbock]

...the truck towing it had some transmission "issues" ...

Thomas

not that cherry Chevy?

 

[BB767]

not that cherry Chevy?

The very same, sad but true. It wouldn't shift into overdrive at first and then after the first refueling stop it wouldn't shift out of 2nd unless you disconnected the battery for about 10 seconds to reset the sensors. Turns out to be some internal seals have deteriorated. We're guessing it's from lack of regular use. I'll admit there are times when that truck isn't driven for several months. I use it primarily for towing so it sits in the barn frequently. I'll correct that by using it more regularly.

Once again, the worst thing you can do to a vehicle is not use it! Funny thing is I make a point of regularly exercising my specialty cars but didn't think to do it to the truck. I guess I thought since it's a modern vehicle (but it's still 22 years old!) it didn't need that attention. Live and learn.

Wiser Thomas

 

[ZRX61]

Was this car painted while the door & trunk lid were off the body?

The Chevy II...

 

[mdbeck1]

The very same, sad but true. It wouldn't shift into overdrive at first and then after the first refueling stop it wouldn't shift out of 2nd unless you disconnected the battery for about 10 seconds to reset the sensors. Turns out to be some internal seals have deteriorated. We're guessing it's from lack of regular use. I'll admit there are times when that truck isn't driven for several months. I use it primarily for towing so it sits in the barn frequently. I'll correct that by using it more regularly.

Once again, the worst thing you can do to a vehicle is not use it! Funny thing is I make a point of regularly exercising my specialty cars but didn't think to do it to the truck. I guess I thought since it's a modern vehicle (but it's still 22 years old!) it didn't need that attention. Live and learn.

Wiser Thomas

Please tell me that you weren't towing that car with the pickup in overdrive. My transmission guy told me that's why the ****** went out in the wife's suburban (many years ago). Since then I've paid closer attention to the user's manuals. You're not supposed to tow in overdrive. Something about the pump cycling on and off continually.

 

[oberst]

Hah! Trailering drag cars has sure evolved. Compare the Pure Stock pits with Tommy Ivo's rig in '65

 

[charlief1]

Please tell me that you weren't towing that car with the pickup in overdrive. My transmission guy told me that's why the ****** went out in the wife's suburban (many years ago). Since then I've paid closer attention to the user's manuals. You're not supposed to tow in overdrive. Something about the pump cycling on and off continually.

Yes and no Beck. The newer trannys hold up better because of different designs. The first versions were built for mileage and the newer ones are built to hold up towing in OD now.

 

[perry71]

I have not been to stanton in years . hung out with my buddy in the pits with his rail dragster. that was a good time . Thompson racing - waterford ,MI if you ever see him

 

[perry71]

Hey Thomas are you going to this auction sep28 ? . can get your self a new/old 327 impala ....LOL
check out the NOS cars from the 1950's-60's that have been sitting at the Lambrecht Chevrolet dealer . this is amazing . watch all 3 videos -

the auction will be live here - https://www.proxibid.com/asp/Catalog.asp?aid=68561

 

[mdbeck1]

Yes and no Beck. The newer trannys hold up better because of different designs. The first versions were built for mileage and the newer ones are built to hold up towing in OD now.

Thomas... Sorry for the interruption but I need to know...
We lost that ****** in a 95 Suburban (4X4). Are you telling me that I could have been pulling in OD with my 01 Silverado all this time? If not around what year model did they correct this problem?

 

[charlief1]

Thomas... Sorry for the interruption but I need to know...
We lost that ****** in a 95 Suburban (4X4). Are you telling me that I could have been pulling in OD with my 01 Silverado all this time? If not around what year model did they correct this problem?

The 01 would've done well pulling. Once they went to the 4L60E and made some better internals the trannys really worked better. In the 80's and up to mid 90's the internals were the biggest issue but once they got the shifting and internal issues worked out they do fine. With the 2004R and the 700R4 they weren't made for heavy duty use but got put in trucks and HP cars so they didn't hold up that well. The 2004R had better gearing but GM went for the 700 instead. Properly built the 2004R can hod up to a 1200 HP engine and the 700 can do around 700 (ironic I know) before it breaks.

 

[BB767]

Please tell me that you weren't towing that car with the pickup in overdrive. My transmission guy told me that's why the ****** went out in the wife's suburban (many years ago). Since then I've paid closer attention to the user's manuals. You're not supposed to tow in overdrive. Something about the pump cycling on and off continually.

Yes and no Beck. The newer trannys hold up better because of different designs. The first versions were built for mileage and the newer ones are built to hold up towing in OD now.

Thomas... Sorry for the interruption but I need to know...
We lost that ****** in a 95 Suburban (4X4). Are you telling me that I could have been pulling in OD with my 01 Silverado all this time? If not around what year model did they correct this problem?

The 01 would've done well pulling. Once they went to the 4L60E and made some better internals the trannys really worked better. In the 80's and up to mid 90's the internals were the biggest issue but once they got the shifting and internal issues worked out they do fine. With the 2004R and the 700R4 they weren't made for heavy duty use but got put in trucks and HP cars so they didn't hold up that well. The 2004R had better gearing but GM went for the 700 instead. Properly built the 2004R can hod up to a 1200 HP engine and the 700 can do around 700 (ironic I know) before it breaks.

charlief1 has a pretty good handle on it but there's more to it than just the type of transmission. It's how you drive while towing.

My Silverado has a 4L80-E and I have no problem with it towing in OD.......on flat terrain which is what most of our interstates around here in Central Illinois are. I don't use cruise control and in hilly country I'll either let the speed bog somewhat so it doesn't downshift or I'll manually shift out of OD. I think problems would occur using cruise control while towing because the cruise in the truck is not sophisticated enough and with a little speed loss it hammers down a gear which I think is pretty hard on transmissions. I'm actively engaged in the operation while towing and am pretty sensitive to managing momentum. If the OD isn't constantly hunting back and forth between gears I'm not doing any harm to the transmission

We do the same thing with our aircraft. We use all that energy to get the aircraft to up to altitude and then actively manage the decent profile to minimize using either the speed brakes or having to add power at an intermediate level off. In busier airspace that is almost impossible but I find it very rewarding to manage my energy to the best extent possible. In the South Pacific with no other traffic flying into small islands, it's not uncommon to bring the throttles to idle at the top of decent, say 35,000' and not have to power up until about 1,500' above ground level if you manage the decent correctly. That's about as efficient as you can possible get. In many countries where you can tell the controller when you want to start your decent you can achieve good fuel efficiencies with active energy management.

I've found some road surfaces where I can't maintain speed on level ground using OD, wind speed and direction play a part as does the load that's being towed. When towing the Impala on an open trailer I literally can't tell it's back there it tows so easily.

That's been my experience, your results might differ. So mdbeck1, the real answer to your question might be.....it depends.

Thomas

 

[BB767]

Hah! Trailering drag cars has sure evolved. Compare the Pure Stock pits with Tommy Ivo's rig in '65

Thanks oberst for a great picture and you are so right. Enclosed trailers were pretty unheard of in the 60's, even with the big names. Now they're everywhere.


Thomas

 

[BB767]

Was this car painted while the door & trunk lid were off the body?

Under different light conditions it shows up more than other times. There was some bubbling of the paint at the bottom corners of the rear window that was addressed. We tried to match the body color as best we could. Since I had planned to use it as a race car...



...generally speaking its looks fine from the stands. It's for racing and going fast, not to look pretty at car shows. Sharp eye there Rick.

Thomas

 

[BB767]

I have no idea! It was faster than the 83 posts a day because I joined to read about something else and stumbled through at least 3 other large threads before ending up in this one (I have no idea how I ended up here). I read most of it in my garage so I could put the good ideas into action immediately! Or in the alternative, avoid working in the garage since it's a bit overwhelming. This place was filled from floor to ceiling with junk, old tools, furniture, miscellaneous artifacts, bits of hardware, some of the interior of one of my boats, various parts of some of my International Scouts and . . . well, you get the idea. I think that's why I couldn't stop clicking next page on this thread since in some ways there is a correlation. I just don't have the budget or same level of treasure, mostly it's just junk. I have almost everything on casters now so I can make space to work so hopefully progress will continue exponentially.

Also, I bet the soft top NEVER comes off if it was pressed on with a 500 ton press!!

Let me add a belated welcome noelalford and thanks for posting in. Garage Journal is an amazing site with a tremendous amount of information available. We've got a good bunch here on this thread also so pull up a chair and enjoy yourself. You're among friends here. I've got more coming in the pipeline so stand by.

Thomas

 

[BB767]

I have not been to stanton in years . hung out with my buddy in the pits with his rail dragster. that was a good time . Thompson racing - waterford ,MI if you ever see him

Hey Thomas are you going to this auction sep28 ? . can get your self a new/old 327 impala ....LOL
check out the NOS cars from the 1950's-60's that have been sitting at the Lambrecht Chevrolet dealer . this is amazing . watch all 3 videos -

the auction will be live here - https://www.proxibid.com/asp/Catalog.asp?aid=68561

I'm not familiar with Thompson racing but I'll pay attention next year. Stanton is a favorite track among us Pure Stockers. It's in a nice country setting, the grounds are always clean and trimmed and the track crew is friendly and professional. They know how to run a bunch of cars safely through in a hurry with minimal waiting in the staging lanes.

Boy, the Lambrecht Chevrolet auction. Someone posted about that here a while back and we all agreed it'll be fun to watch. It just so happens I get back from Brazil the day before but I find car auctions to be dangerous places for me.....if you know what I mean!

Thomas

 

[BB767]

From drag racing, for all you AG fans, we go back to farming..... In mid August the Alfafa next door to the shop was cut for the 2nd time of the year. After it was cut and dried for a couple of days...



...it was raked into wind rows to prepare it for baling.



I didn't get to show the raking process last time...



...so here it is.



After the raking...





... later that same day it was baled. This time we decided to used square bales...





... instead of the round bales which, as you might recall, was done after the first cutting in June. Once 10 bales were done, the weight of them made the out-feed platform go over center and it would automatically drop the 10 bales on the ground on the fly without stopping the baling process.



The first cutting after the first year planting was fed to cattle but this 2nd cutting of hay looked so good we thought we might sell some of it to horse ranches in the area. The smaller, square bales would easier to handle than large, round bales for those customers. In the background beyond the trees is my barn and just out of frame to the right is Mr Johnson's old restored shop. I'll get some posts on here about recent activity in there shortly.

Thomas

 

[BigAl62]

Talk about making hay while the sun shines! (I can't help myself, I'm a punaholic!) But seriously, great pictures.

 

[Firefighter315]

The first cutting after the first year planting was fed to cattle but this 2nd cutting of hay looked so good we thought we might sell some of it to horse ranches in the area. The smaller, square bales would easier to handle than large, round bales for those customers.

Thomas

Good call on square bales for equine sales Thomas! Alfalfa can be very high in protein - even up to 50 to 100% greater than the typical daily requirement for even highly active horses. Most in the equine industry only use square bales because it is easier to split off a thin "slab" and give it to the horse as a treat of sorts. It is good for growing yearlings, but can also cause problems with body chemistry if given in too large a quantity. They will eat whatever amount you offer them, so you have to be careful. It is usually hung in a small net bag with large openings or in a thin metal rack on the wall of the stall and doesn't stay there long.

Dairy farmers don't mind the round bales because cattle need the added protein for milk production.

.......thus ends the alfalfa equine class........ (it's a Kentucky thing I guess)

 

[ZRX61]

Under different light conditions it shows up more than other times. There was some bubbling of the paint at the bottom corners of the rear window that was addressed. We tried to match the body color as best we could. Since I had planned to use it as a race car...


...generally speaking its looks fine from the stands. It's for racing and going fast, not to look pretty at car shows. Sharp eye there Rick.

Thomas

Once ya painted a few cars you tend to notice all sorts of things. If you ever see one of those new Camaros that are bright green, take a look at them through polarized sunglasses. They have vertical stripes in the paint all the way along the sides of the body. Take the glasses off & the stripes disappear....

 

[gordyy]

Looks to be a good second cutting of hay there!!
you sir are too busy Flying, Fixin, Farmin, and even a little time for drag racing

Hope your having a wonderful summer in the center of the universe even if it is officially fall. Up here in ND we are still in summer although finally a bit of rain (I was running out of grass to cut) We have still been hitting the 80s on a regular basis here

 

[Turbo1Ton]

Beltsville Shell is up for grabs again. First to PM will get it.

That is just a great story. The only way I can think to describe it is American Graffiti meets Hollywood Knights. I am not fortunate enough to have lived during those times, but reading that book put me front and center and I felt like I was there. By the time I was old enough to drive, gas was just about a buck a gallon and there weren't really any speed shop type places for guys to hang out, that were in their late teens, early twenties. We did plenty of working on cars, and our neighbors all hated us because we were loud and stinky (the cars, well, probably us too!), and it was a blast, but there were no more car clubs like the JTRAMFGS gang. At least not in NE Oklahoma.

Jeff

 

[Turbo1Ton]

Beltsville Shell is on its way to the next reader GT-TX.

Jeff

 

[hobbitss]

Talk about making hay while the sun shines! (I can't help myself, I'm a punaholic!) But seriously, great pictures.

A little Lime marking is needed to mark the ultra-lite runway and helipad...

Tool Shed!!

 

[BB767]

We were doing some cleaning of the old family home next door to the shop this last week.
Chris and I plan on moving in there on a temporary basis while I build our retirement home in the woods behind it. At any rate we came across a couple of Mrs. Johnson's treadle powered sewing machines...





...one of which was this model #5 Free Sewing Machine with base cabinet. During discussion with one of the family members both those machines were owned by Mrs. Johnson's great grand mother which would date them from sometime in the mid to late 1800's or so.



Much like her husband, Mrs. Johnson apparently never threw anything away either. In one of the cabinet drawers was this illustrated instruction book and...



...this insured warranty card which spelled out all the protections one received when purchasing a Free Sewing Machine including but not limited to "breakage, wear, fire, tornado, lighting and water." While all that is nice enough what really caught my eye was...





...in another drawer were these name patches in it.



These are mostly used ones with the bottom left two in the style of the one I had found out in the yard several years before. See page 24, post #468 to review that somber event. I still have that special name tag put away and it will eventually be displayed out in the shop along with other of Mr Johnson's effects. Note the bottom right name tag...



That belonged to Mr. Johnson's second oldest son, Don, who was the auto mechanic out in the shop and the person responsible for the trailer building era in the mid 1970's until his passing in 1977 I think it was. I asked his widow several years ago if she had any pictures of Don out in the shop that I could post here but she only had one that wasn't all that good unfortunately.

So the quest moves on, finding more material related to the shop. I haven't been cleaning the tool shed in some time much to Joe's disappointment. I haven't been able to dispose of much of the material from out there that I'm not keeping so I can't clean any more at present since I have no place to put it all. What I really need is someone with a trailer to show up and volunteer to take those items to swap meets. I might be able to make tham an offer they can't refuse. I don't have the time to do it and many of the items are so old I don't know what they are or what their relative worth, if any, might be.

More's in store.......

Thomas

 

[Kevin54]

Thomas.......You need to take those patches and put them in a frame under glass, to hang in your building. Also in one of your garage pics, I saw where you had a diner booth (IIRC). What you need to get now is a mannequin with a work shirt, and sew one of the tags to the work shirt and have him sitting in the diner booth for some company out there.

 

[Turbo1Ton]

For those that are interested, the Lambrecht Chevrolet auction was this weekend...

http://autos.yahoo.com/news/thousands-travel-neb-vintage-chevy-auction-151655435.html

Jeff

 

[hobbitss]

I haven't been cleaning the tool shed in some time much to Joe's disappointment. I haven't been able to dispose of much of the material from out there that I'm not keeping so I can't clean any more at present since I have no place to put it all. What I really need is someone with a trailer to show up and volunteer to take those items to swap meets. I might be able to make tham an offer they can't refuse. I don't have the time to do it and many of the items are so old I don't know what they are or what their relative worth, if any, might be.

More's in store.......

Thomas

 

[e-tek]

Sweet catch-up. Love the racing and Vette shots - but the story of Virgils patches is awesome.

Hope your dream home is everything you want it to be!!

 

[BB767]

Sweet catch-up. Love the racing and Vette shots - but the story of Virgils patches is awesome.

Hope your dream home is everything you want it to be!!

Everything is a compromise but...



...no trees will be harmed and it will have a car port or more properly a Porte Cochere!! A preliminary look at a work in progress, the future residence of Mrs Mark VIII.

BTW, another nice picture of Mrs. e-tek. Thank you for sharing!

Thomas

 

[e-tek]

Very nice - but please don't call it a Porte Cochere!!

 

[markviii]

Trust me - it won't be called that! But, it is what it is:

www.yourdictionary.com › Dictionary Definitions‎
The definition of a porte cochère is a large entrance way of a courtyard, or a porch or driveway cover.noun.

Interior plans are still being "tweeked", but we're on the right track. There's time to work on it to get it right.

Chris

 

[HOTFR8]

That is going to be a 'great' property once the house is built.
Any chance we can see the house plans ?

 

[Bob Heine]

That is going to be a 'great' property once the house is built.
Any chance we can see the house plans ?

Thomas and Chris were kind enough to include them. Just click on the plan in the thread and it takes you to more plan drawings of the interior layout.

 

[charlief1]

That sewing machine isn't quite as old as you think Thomas. Took a while to find anything about them but the Free brand was created after 1910. Looks like it was made sometime around WWI period but the company stayed around until the late 50's. What I did find interesting is that there's a sewing machine collector society.

Free.
In 1895 the Illinois Sewing Machine Co was founded using assets from the former Royal Sewing Machine Co of Rockford, Illinois. Will C. Free became the president by 1910, and organized a parent company - the Free Sewing Machine Co. Production continued in Rockford until 1958, when it relocated to Los Angeles, California. Manufacture finally ceased about 1969.

http://www.ismacs.net/free/home.html

 

[akqj9]

I have been following this thread for a long time like many others, and today I went back to the first page to see the original shop. One line on the first page really stood out: "I'll post some more pictures if there is any interest.
"

I think you have some interest...