Above 1200 Sq/FT Restored 1930's Auto Shop

[R1chy]

Fact or fiction...

I should have studied this more closely when I was there.

But if you study that photo....is the switch plate crooked? Or is it level, and the old siding, split on the doorway end, as hanging down slightly?

I think we need a photo with a level to know for sure.

Someone needs to clue Dave in that this a softball and part of Thomas' disinformation program trying to convince us he is human. Careful study of this thread will identify Thomas' other deceptive activities undertaken to convince his readers the COU (Center of the Universe) is not perfect.

Even the test is a scam. Careful readers have identified Chris as the master mind having complied the test a long time ago, leaving it up to Thomas to develop content to meet her test questions. Some even contend that Thomas is an actor hired by Chris to play the part.

But I've already said too much....

 

[markviii]

Someone thinks I have some sort of super-natural powers around here. LOL Sure wish I had the time to think all this stuff up! But, they say that truth is stranger than fiction - or something like that. As I've said all along, I'm just along for the ride and every day's an adventure.

Chris
P.S. R1chy - no scam when it comes to the evaluation. If you're following carefully, you won't need to cram to pass!
(material just keeps showing up on my computer screen and desk - when will it all end? Maybe I should go back to work so that I have more time!)

 

[Laro13]

Hello Thomas,

The Beltsville Shell has safely entered the European continent.

Now I have to find the time to read it.



Thanks again.

Jasper

 

[BB767]

Beltsville Shell

I'm relieved to hear and see that is made the voyage unscathed! Thanks Jasper.

Gingger22pm, Peter if you have not heard from Seagoon before too much more time passes, perhaps MisteR Tee would send you his mailing address and you can mail it to him, skipping Seagoon for now until he pops back up on the thread. That way we can keep the book moving. If you don't check in on this thread periodically you do so at your own risk!

The current UK BS 1.0 list.

1. Gingger22pm
2. Seagoon
3. MisteR Tee
4. MG David
5. Armour
6. bazzateer

Thomas

 

[Gingger22pm]

No problem Thomas, I'll wait for someone to contact me and let you know what's going on.

Come on Jasper, have you not finished yet?!

 

[jbmatth]

Thomas,
I'd like to give you another quick update on the HaSPHS. If I'm posting too often on here let me know and I'll tone it down some. I took the motor in to a repair shop here in town and they said it was toast. I was able to purchase another from them that will work wonderfully but is much too new for the rest of the HaSPHS, so I'll see what I can do to disguise it some. You will be glad to hear I've decided to have the majority of the parts powder coated for many of the same reasons you've mentioned before. Here is a picture of how it was after the initial disassembly and cleaning. (I didn't do much to the base as I can't get it into the blast cabinet so I'll have to have that done.)

I'm slowly taking the parts back off that have be wire brushed and media blasting them prior to taping them off with high heat tape and delivering them to the powder coating facility. With any luck I should have this thing back in one working piece in the next couple of weeks. If anyone has any questions feel free to ask. For further detail I'll have it on my thread as well.

 

[BB767]

JB, it looks great and so far I don't see any parts badly worn or damaged.
Good call trying to dress up the modern electrical motor so it will blend in better.
It'll be interesting to see what you come up with.

Powder coating the saw makes so much sense doesn't it?
Here's a thought for your powder coater.
Have him heat the parts in the oven for a "while" to boil out all the grease and oil that might still be in the pours of the metal.
When we were powder coating the Walker Floor Jack, the side frames had to be heated several times.
Each time we did it we got a little less oil or grease pulled to the surface that had to be removed.
Kept heating it until no more material could be seen coming to the surface. Otherwise that oil stays deep in the pours and prevents the powder coating from bonding with the metal and it will eventually flake or chip the finish off.

Personally I don't think you're posting too often, I'm highly interested in how those two projects are coming along and I believe others here are too.
I knew the HaSPHS could turn into an outstanding piece when done correctly and it looks splendid.

Many thanks for your attention to detail. You're doing Mr Johnson proud.

Thomas

 

[merr6267]

Good morning, (evening) all.

I've been a pretty faithful follower of this thread since somewhere near the 50th page, and I'm just checking in from my last morning in Shanghai, China.

I'm not a resident of this place, but rather just here for a short work trip. I'll be back to the frozen Middle-West after a short 13.5 hour flight in a BB747 headed to Detroit.

Every detail of those behemoths amazes me, much like Thomas and Chris's place. I've said it every year, and every year I've had a conflict, but I have plans to make it to MMM or US131MSP for one of the PSMCDR meets to say hi.

Thanks for being such an inspiration to all of us.

Respectfully,
Phill

 

[BB767]

Drag Racing 2015 Dates

Good morning, (evening) all.

I've been a pretty faithful follower of this thread since somewhere near the 50th page, and I'm just checking in from my last morning in Shanghai, China.

I'm not a resident of this place, but rather just here for a short work trip. I'll be back to the frozen Middle-West after a short 13.5 hour flight in a BB747 headed to Detroit.

Every detail of those behemoths amazes me, much like Thomas and Chris's place. I've said it every year, and every year I've had a conflict, but I have plans to make it to MMM or US131MSP for one of the PSMCDR meets to say hi.

Thanks for being such an inspiration to all of us.

Respectfully,
Phill

Hello Phil and welcome to a long time friend that I hope I'll get to finally meet this summer.
If it helps with your planning the PSMCDR 2015 drag race dates for Martin, MI are June 19 & 20th and Stanton, MI is September 18 & 19th.
If you can manage it, I'm certain you'd enjoy yourself plus I'd like to make your acquaintance as well. Win - Win!
The pits are open to everyone so don't be shy, stop on by my pit and say hello.

Some in the industry have referred to current day, wide-body aircraft as a million pieces of aluminum flying together in close formation. They are just spectacular triumphs of modern technology. Boeing aircraft are especially near and dear to my heart. They never let me down in 27 years and 24,000+ hours of flying them. I've said it before; If it's not a Boeing, I'm not going!

Many thanks for your long term interest with this thread and your kind thoughts. It's sure nice to know I've had a positive impact.

Thomas

 

[jbmatth]

JB, it looks great and so far I don't see any parts badly worn or damaged.
Good call trying to dress up the modern electrical motor so it will blend in better.
It'll be interesting to see what you come up with.

Powder coating the saw makes so much sense doesn't it?
Here's a thought for your powder coater.
Have him heat the parts in the oven for a "while" to boil out all the grease and oil that might still be in the pours of the metal.
When we were powder coating the Walker Floor Jack, the side frames had to be heated several times.
Each time we did it we got a little less oil or grease pulled to the surface that had to be removed.
Kept heating it until no more material could be seen coming to the surface. Otherwise that oil stays deep in the pours and prevents the powder coating from bonding with the metal and it will eventually flake or chip the finish off...

You're doing Mr Johnson proud.

Thomas

Thank you Thomas! I didn't mention it but we do plan to bake the parts prior to taping and powder coating them. I've been doing some work on the motor disguise, but I'm not sure how it will turn out, time will tell I suppose. More media blasting in my near future and then I'll be off to the powder coating shop.

 

[Seagoon]

Re: Beltsville Shell

I'm relieved to hear and see that is made the voyage unscathed! Thanks Jasper.

Gingger22pm, Peter if you have not heard from Seagoon before too much more time passes, perhaps MisteR Tee would send you his mailing address and you can mail it to him, skipping Seagoon for now until he pops back up on the thread. That way we can keep the book moving. If you don't check in on this thread periodically you do so at your own risk!

The current UK BS 1.0 list.

1. Gingger22pm
2. Seagoon
3. MisteR Tee
4. MG David
5. Armour
6. bazzateer

Thomas

I sent a PM as requested but no response so maybe it didn't arrive. What's the next move?

Vaughan

 

[Seagoon]

I just tried another PM to Ginger but it doesn't seem to have gone anywhere. Could it be because we are both on fairly low post counts? Is there a minimum limit before we are allowed to PM?
Just in case Ginger, try e-mailing vaughanvfr (at) ntlworld.com

 

[jbmatth]

I just tried another PM to Ginger but it doesn't seem to have gone anywhere. Could it be because we are both on fairly low post counts? Is there a minimum limit before we are allowed to PM?
Just in case Ginger, try e-mailing vaughanvfr (at) ntlworld.com

I'm not aware of any such limit, I know I was sending and receiving PM's when I had about a dozen or so posts.

 

[BB767]

I just tried another PM to Ginger but it doesn't seem to have gone anywhere. Could it be because we are both on fairly low post counts? Is there a minimum limit before we are allowed to PM?
Just in case Ginger, try e-mailing vaughanvfr (at) ntlworld.com

Hi Seagoon, good to see you checking in and not to worry. Peter and I have exchanged PM's before and there is no minimum post count to be able to use the PM feature. I'm confident he'll get it or we'll get hold of him one way or another.
Also he seems to check the thread fairly frequently so even if he didn't see that he had a PM he'll see your post on here and will let us know he's in contact with you. Thanks for your follow up.

Patience Grasshopper, patience.

Thomas

 

[67ImpalaSS396]

Congratulations Tom for making the February, 2015 issue of Chevy Classics magazine! The article is about the PSMCD event at Stanton, MI. There is a nice picture of your car up against Steve Arp's '70 454 LS6 Chevelle. I'm sure you already have the magazine in hand, but I wanted to give you props for your drag racing efforts!

Regards, John

 

[Gingger22pm]

Hi guys,

Just checked in and see I've missed a load. Very strange the PMs haven't come, I'll recheck my settings. Anyway, thanks to Vaughan for his mail address, I'll get in touch this evening.

Patience rewarded Grasshopper.

 

[Gingger22pm]

Seagoon, MisteR Tee, my apologies. Your messages are all present, I found them lurking in a bit of Tapatalk I didn't even realise was there. Every day's a school day. Glad it wasn't in the test.....

So Scunthorpe for Vaughan then Croydon for Maurice. Maurice, I'll pass your details to Vaughan with the BS1. Vaughan, your bike ride sounds like a good plan dependant on timing, I'll keep in touch and we can arrange.

Thanks and apologies again. Stole Thomas' thread for the reply so that the Centre of The Universe knows that we have got up to speed.

 

[markviii]

If you always come back to The Center of the Universe, you will never get lost in space!

Keep Centered.

Chris

 

[Jeff Joslin]

I joined GarageJournal a few years ago, back when Thomas dropped in on the Old Woodworking Machines site, http://owwm.org/, looking for help in his search for drive screws for the nameplate on the Walker jack. I read the entire GJ discussion, which was maybe 70-something pages. I just stumbled across this discussion again, and yumpin' yiminy, we're at 421 pages now!? A few days later I'm all the way up to page 195...

While continuing sorting and relocating items from the tool shed...

...I located some very large, heavy duty mechanical jacks. The tires in the background give some size reference.

First up is a Simplex Track Jack No 1, US Patent July 8, 1903.

Ah, this is my territory: old patents. I am co-director of the "Directory of American Tool And Machinery Patents" site, http://datamp.org/. Jacks are outside the usual scope of what we cover, but I haven't scratched my patent-searching itch for a few days.

1903-07-08 was a Wednesday and patents are always issued on Tuesdays. I think that the date is actually 1905-07-18. I found a jack patent issued to Walter B. Templeton on that date (click on the pic to go to the DATAMP entry):

Then there is this...

...interesting jack with curved jaws. I suspect the top jaw should be turned around so it would work with the lower one.

Patented June 30-1903.

OK, that date is a Tuesday. And here's the patent (click on the pic to go to the DATAMP entry):



A subsequent post in the original discussion suggests that it may have been made by Bloomfield Manufacturing Co., so I have tentatively marked the patent as made by them.

This jack has two fixed jaws....

...stacked one on top of the other.

It's an Amson No 4, manufactured by William E Pratt, MFD, Chicago. I can't readily find any information on this jack or company. The two fixed jaws are very interesting and I bet all of you are looking forward to finding out their purpose also, right?

No patent date to work from, but I did notice that it's "Samson", not "Amson". Wm. E. Pratt Manufacturing Co. made mainly automotive jacks, both ratchet and screw type. The jack shown above is older and I'm pretty sure it's a wagon jack. Searching for Samson jacks turned up a 1902 catalog of Illustrated Catalogue of Railway, Steamship, Machinist, Factory, Mill and Electric Supplies

And then there is this very elegant jack that appears to have two jaws stacked one on another also. ...

It still had vestiges of green paint remaining. It had a Patent #2185478 cast into the handle but when I did a search of that number I came up with a tubing and casting head design from April 3, 1937. That didn't look like it related to this jack in any manner, so I'll have to do a bit more research.

That's a stumper. Can you provide a picture of the patent number?

Jeff J.

 

[BB767]

Congratulations Tom for making the February, 2015 issue of Chevy Classics magazine! The article is about the PSMCD event at Stanton, MI. There is a nice picture of your car up against Steve Arp's '70 454 LS6 Chevelle. I'm sure you already have the magazine in hand, but I wanted to give you props for your drag racing efforts!

Regards, John

John, I'm completely unaware I was in Chevy Classics. That's not a publication I receive so you are the first to alert me to it.



Did it have my good side to the camera at least? Boy, you talk about David vrs Goliath. Here's my poor, humble, innocent, little, itty, bitty small block Chevy II running up against one of Chevy's meanest junkyard dogs of all time, a legendary LS6 Chevelle. Only an L-88 Corvette had more horsepower. Talk about an underdog, I was doomed from the start. Best part of it all was Steve is such a quality fellow, it was an honor to qualify and run against him. We both had a ball racing each other.

I'll have to check around to see if I can come up with an issue and take a look. Thanks John for the heads up!

Thomas

 

[BB767]

.......

Thanks and apologies again. Stole Thomas' thread for the reply so that the Centre of The Universe knows that we have got up to speed.

Never a problem Peter. All you UK boys are right on the ball.

A reminder to everyone, once you have finished reading it and have sent it to the next reader, please post that you've sent it and to whom it was sent. That way we all can keep track of it.

Author Cary Thomas is fascinated by what we're doing here with his book. Here's part of an email he sent me the other day about it....

......I love the “brotherhood of the travelling book”! It just gets better and better! I’ll post an update to the BLOG in a few months. Who knew the book would become a world-traveller!?.....

Chris and I and Lou will be seeing him and his wife Nan again next month. I'll pitch him the movie idea at that time.

Thomas

If you always come back to The Center of the Universe, you will never get lost in space!

Keep Centered.

Chris

Good one Chris, way to go! Another nugget for the test.

Question: What world famous phrase was first coined on the shop thread?

Answer: Keep Centered.

Soon you'll see bumper stickers and tee shirts with that phrase on it show up everywhere and remember, you saw it first right here!

Delighted & Centered Thomas

 

[BB767]

I joined GarageJournal a few years ago, back when Thomas dropped in on the Old Woodworking Machines site, http://owwm.org/, looking for help in his search for drive screws for the nameplate on the Walker jack. I read the entire GJ discussion, which was maybe 70-something pages. I just stumbled across this discussion again, and yumpin' yiminy, we're at 421 pages now!? A few days later I'm all the way up to page 195...



Ah, this is my territory: old patents. I am co-director of the "Directory of American Tool And Machinery Patents" site, http://datamp.org/. Jacks are outside the usual scope of what we cover, but I haven't scratched my patent-searching itch for a few days.

1903-07-08 was a Wednesday and patents are always issued on Tuesdays. I think that the date is actually 1905-07-18. I found a jack patent issued to Walter B. Templeton on that date (click on the pic to go to the DATAMP entry):




OK, that date is a Tuesday. And here's the patent (click on the pic to go to the DATAMP entry):



A subsequent post in the original discussion suggests that it may have been made by Bloomfield Manufacturing Co., so I have tentatively marked the patent as made by them.



No patent date to work from, but I did notice that it's "Samson", not "Amson". Wm. E. Pratt Manufacturing Co. made mainly automotive jacks, both ratchet and screw type. The jack shown above is older and I'm pretty sure it's a wagon jack. Searching for Samson jacks turned up a 1902 catalog of Illustrated Catalogue of Railway, Steamship, Machinist, Factory, Mill and Electric Supplies

That's a stumper. Can you provide a picture of the patent number?

Jeff J.

Hello there Jeff. Those who are regulars here know that to skip checking in here on a periodic basis is not something to be done lightly. You do so at your own peril!

Gee, it sure is nice to have friends in high places. What an absolute wealth of information you are. Many thanks for taking the time to research and post it for us. All very interesting.

I think I'm going to try to get good quality copies of those patent drawings, have Chris frame them and then display them with each jack.

I'll be at the shop tomorrow and I'll get a clear, in focus picture of that last jack's patent number for you. I'll also try to find patent dates for the Samson as well to let you work your magic. Nice job and very cool web site, thanks.

Thomas

 

[bazzateer]

Just found out I will be briefly deployed abroad either late Feb or early March so if the book reaches me in time it could temporarily leave Europe for a quick sortie!

 

[MG David]

Baz, I guess most people have the book for a week or so as they read it as well as sign it. So it will probably be well into March before you get it. Thomas may have some statistics on the average time each person has the book.

 

[bazzateer]

Not a problem, just thought it would be cool for it to get around even more!

 

[tdkkart]

That's a stumper. Can you provide a picture of the patent number?

Jeff J.

My grandfather had a couple jacks like this, Dad always called them railroad jacks. For some reason I thought they were a John Deere product, but that makes no sense because everything else on Grandpa's farm was Farmall/International Harvester.
I do remember my cousins and I using them to jack up concrete slabs we were breaking up during a barn remodel.

 

[BB767]

More Jack Information

Jeff, here's a little more information for you to tackle if you like.

First off...



...Walter B. Templeton's Simplex N0 1 jack's patent date is indeed...



...July 18th, 1905 just as you suspected. Excellent sleuthing on your part.

Next...



...the elegant handled jack that tdkkart had thought was maybe a John Deere product. Upon closer examination I can understand perhaps why. On mine, seen under all the grim and grunge, are vestiges of JD green paint.



You can catch wisps of green in this close up of the patent date cast into the handle. To the far left is cast a large number 3, then a diamond with an indistinguishable character in the center. Next to that, the patent # then reads PAT. N0 2185476. I'm very certain the last number is a 6 and not an 8 even though from this picture it looks different. It'll be interesting to see what that might turn up. There are no patent dates on this jack nor...



...on the Samson N0 4. If it is indeed an older wagon jack, I'm unclear how the 2 parallel jaws would be employed. Perhaps someone familiar with old wagon jacks such as this would enlighten me. I'm always willing to learn so please don't be shy. Enquiring minds want to know!

I appreciate your efforts Jeff and the patent drawings are terrific. Again, welcome to the vortex!

Thomas

 

[Jeff Joslin]

Re: More Jack Information

...the elegant handled jack that tdkkart had thought was maybe a John Deere product. Upon closer examination I can understand perhaps why. On mine, seen under all the grim and grunge, are vestiges of JD green paint.



You can catch wisps of green in this close up of the patent date cast into the handle. To the far left is cast a large number 3, then a diamond with an indistinguishable character in the center. Next to that, the patent # then reads PAT. N0 2185476. I'm very certain the last number is a 6 and not an 8 even though from this picture it looks different. It'll be interesting to see what that might turn up.

Patent 2,185,476 it is. That turned out to be in the DATAMP database already, entered by one of our other patent stewards:

...on the Samson N0 4. If it is indeed an older wagon jack, I'm unclear how the 2 parallel jaws would be employed. Perhaps someone familiar with old wagon jacks such as this would enlighten me. I'm always willing to learn so please don't be shy. Enquiring minds want to know!

I'm not really familiar with wagon jacks but I think that the idea is that one jaw or the other would be hooked under a suitable part of a wagon or carriage. The two jaws at different heights are intended to make the jack more adaptable.

I appreciate your efforts Jeff and the patent drawings are terrific. Again, welcome to the vortex!

De nada. And I'm up to page 329 already!

Jeff J.

 

[Sparky1982]

I've been reading this thread for some time; I had a bookmark and would check in occasionally to catch up. Since I've finally reached the current date I thought I'd register and say how much I've enjoyed following your hard work and how impressed I've been with your attention to detail. I'm based in London so have no space for this sort of thing, and almost no need for a car, but one day...

 

[MisteR Tee]

Seagoon, MisteR Tee, my apologies. Your messages are all present, I found them lurking in a bit of Tapatalk I didn't even realise was there. Every day's a school day. Glad it wasn't in the test.....

So Scunthorpe for Vaughan then Croydon for Maurice. Maurice, I'll pass your details to Vaughan with the BS1. Vaughan, your bike ride sounds like a good plan dependant on timing, I'll keep in touch and we can arrange.

Thanks and apologies again. Stole Thomas' thread for the reply so that the Centre of The Universe knows that we have got up to speed.

Got the message thanks Gingger, getting eager now!!!

 

[Laro13]

Got the message thanks Gingger, getting eager now!!!

Have some patience.

I'm half way, I'm really enjoying reading about the car adventures in Beltsville in the 60's.

 

[BB767]

I've been reading this thread for some time; I had a bookmark and would check in occasionally to catch up. Since I've finally reached the current date I thought I'd register and say how much I've enjoyed following your hard work and how impressed I've been with your attention to detail. I'm based in London so have no space for this sort of thing, and almost no need for a car, but one day...

Hi Sparky1982 and a note of welcome to you. Thank you for hanging in there and checking in with us. It's just a shame I couldn't have met all you folks in the UK when I was flying all over the UK frequently in the late 1990's and later. Continental flew into all the major cites in both Scotland and England. I spent so much time in London on layovers that I knew the Tube system quite well. It's a very efficient way to move around the city.



My favorite spot was the duckpond in St James Park. I'd pick a bench to sit on and read a book for several hours while the world passed by. I've spent many pleasant hours there over the years. London is a fabulous city with much to offer.

Thomas

 

[Vernmotor]

That is a very cool picture.Looks like a very nice place to sit.

 

[bazzateer]

My old 'office' is a 5 min walk from that spot. Often used to pop out for a 30 min R&R.

 

[Sparky1982]

My current office is not too far out of shot.

 

[oberst]

My favorite spot was the duckpond in St James Park. I'd pick a bench to sit on and read a book for several hours while the world passed by. I've spent many pleasant hours there over the years. London is a fabulous city with much to offer.

Thomas

I honestly cannot imagine the same person who (apparently)(obviously) keeps as busy as you do "sitting and reading a book FOR SEVERAL HOURS!"

There must be something in the water over in Merry Olde that slows the metabolism temporarily!

 

[markviii]

We are both readers, so always have a book or two going. For us, UK flying was back before internet access and GJ, so being "stuck" on layover in London, or elsewhere gave plenty of time to read or explore. But you can only spend so much time at the British Museum exploring all the galleries before you have to get outside and breath some fresh air.

Point of Interest: A plaster casting of the Parthenon frieze (Elgin Marbles) is located where? At the University of Illinois in Urbana, IL, at the Spurlock Museum, right in our "backyard"!

Chris

 

[dcm5652]

I hope you don't put that on the test...

 

[markviii]

All info on the thread is fair game. Keep studying!

Chris

 

[jbmatth]

Point of Interest: A plaster casting of the Parthenon frieze (Elgin Marbles) is located where? At the University of Illinois in Urbana, IL, at the Spurlock Museum, right in our "backyard"!

Chris

Well this might be cheating but with a quick google search it sounds like there is one in the Spurlock Museum which is located on the UofI campus in Urbana, Il. that appears to be basically Champaign, Il. which just so happens to be in your "backyard". Am I right, am I right?!?!?! What do I win? Free admission to tour the Restored 1930's Auto Shop hosted by the one and only Chris this time rather than Thomas? Oh I hope I'm right, the suspense is killing me, I have to know. Oh please Mrs. teacher mam please tell me I'm right.

JB