Above 1200 Sq/FT Restored 1930's Auto Shop

[600SL]

Nice job on the shop. Nice car.

But calling that scope vintage is sure making me feel old. I would love to get a scope like that but cant afford the space.

 

[BB767]

Now what do I do, I'm at the ATP!

OK Tim, here's more material for you and others. If you were to step into the barn at present...



...this is what you'd see going on out there.



There really is remarkable variety of vehicles out there right now. Truly a strange mix.



I am finally getting to spend some time sorting out Gus, the 1948 shop Jeep pickup truck. My good friend, Lou Bingham, the Bonneville Salt Flats racer from the 1950's and '60's, is visiting us again this summer. He's digging in right along beside me helping out with various repairs Gus needs. I'll post more about those in a bit.



So here we have a '48 Jeep pickup, far right a 1961 Lotus Mk19, in the center is a Titan Formula Ford and on the left...



...a former Roger Penske owned, Mark Donahue driven '66 Lola T70 without its nose and tail bodywork in place.



The race cars were at Indy last month...



...for the 2nd Brickyard Vintage Invitational. The Lola qualified and finished 2nd.



Everyone had a fantastic time there once again and no cars were harmed. Those cars have now all been readied for Road America and the Hawk with Brian Redman later this month in Elkhart Lake, Wi.

I've been so busy after my retirement I'm afraid I'm really far behind posting here. Check back, I've got more that I suspect will be of interest.

Thomas

 

[BB767]

Nice job on the shop. Nice car.

But calling that scope vintage is sure making me feel old. I would love to get a scope like that but cant afford the space.

You'll notice when it's not in use, I tuck the Sun Scope away in a corner, under the furnace hanging from the ceiling in the lift room. It is admittedly a large piece of equipment though. Mine is from 1970 making it 45 years old now. I'd say that qualifies it as vintage and yeah, I remember when they were new and cool. Time moves on!



Lou and I cruised over in the coupe to a nice local car show the day after the 4th. Kind of a rare lazy day for us around here. Tomorrow is filled with projects already! Stand by......

Thomas

 

[Amitygravel]

Hello Thomas ! Hi Chris !

It was great seeing you and enjoyed our visit !

Lou ! I'm glad I got to see you too , hope I can make it down to visit before you head back west !

I need to thank Steve and his wife Chris for their generous hospitality too. Great food !

Thomas , I believe Seymour may be making a play to become the new Center of the Universe. !

I have a few photos I will get transfered over and try to post them later.


Craig.

 

[flht1997]

Just spent a week on the motorcycle and was trying hard to remember the name Philo, but with no internet at my disposal I could not. Just found out i past about 9 miles from your place on the way home. We camped in Danville and past right on by. Oh well maybe next time.

 

[Grizz1963]

As always, just thankful to be along for the ride.

Thank you both for the constant updates.

Of course there is also a thank you for all the contributors to the threads, without which this place of refuge would not be possible.

 

[GoodJobTim]

What Grizz1963 said. No pressure from me Tom, you built it now go and enjoy.

 

[stillp]

Wow. What an amazing thread. Many thanks Chris and Thomas for letting us all share your journey.

I found Garage Journal via Jack Olsen's 12 Gauge Garage, which is a great thread, but doesn't have the breadth of interests that the Restored 1930's Auto Shop does.

By the way, I'm a Welshman living in Rugby, England. I used to fly to the States 3 or 4 times most years, flying Continental from BHX - EWR then on to various other destinations, but I think the closest I ever got to The Centre of the Universe was Milwaukee. Unfortunately on my last trip I was taken ill in Florida and now can't fly any more, so I'm now (mostly) retired. Best job I've ever had, but I do miss the travelling. I've really enjoyed your thread, and looking forward to more, especially more details of the TR4. I have a TR4A that I restored in the '80s.

 

[BB767]

Just spent a week on the motorcycle and was trying hard to remember the name Philo, but with no internet at my disposal I could not. Just found out i past about 9 miles from your place on the way home. We camped in Danville and past right on by. Oh well maybe next time.

That had to be frustrating for you flht1997! The shop is pretty close to both Interstate 57 and Interstate 74. Those are two major north/south and east/west Interstate Highways.

Instead of camping in Danville...



...perhaps we could have found a spot for you just outside of the barn as seen above.

We had the wettest June on record so everything is extremely green around here right now.



That's my field of dreams and alfalfa right next to the shop. This is our third year alfalfa crop and 4 weeks after the first cutting it's ready to be cut again. In the background are the arborvitae trees I planted 3 years ago along with the Walnut trees seen along the road to the shop planted at the same time.



This is what the hedge row I cleaned up next to the shop...



...looked like 3 years ago in 2012.



The grass there is now fully established and flourishing.

So as you say, oh well, maybe next time.

Thomas

 

[BB767]

......

Of course there is also a thank you for all the contributors to the threads, without which this place of refuge would not be possible.

I couldn't have said it better myself Grizz and you're one of those contributors of course. Thanks everyone for several years of interest and keeping me on my toes here.

Thomas

 

[BB767]

Wow. What an amazing thread. Many thanks Chris and Thomas for letting us all share your journey.

I found Garage Journal via Jack Olsen's 12 Gauge Garage, which is a great thread, but doesn't have the breadth of interests that the Restored 1930's Auto Shop does.

By the way, I'm a Welshman living in Rugby, England. I used to fly to the States 3 or 4 times most years, flying Continental from BHX - EWR then on to various other destinations, but I think the closest I ever got to The Centre of the Universe was Milwaukee. Unfortunately on my last trip I was taken ill in Florida and now can't fly any more, so I'm now (mostly) retired. Best job I've ever had, but I do miss the travelling. I've really enjoyed your thread, and looking forward to more, especially more details of the TR4. I have a TR4A that I restored in the '80s.

Hello stillp. Thank you for the kind words and you are most welcome. I've operated many flights out of Birmingham back in the '90's and early 2000's. If you flew Continental around that time, it's entirely possible I was part of the flight crew. Back then we overnighted in Stratford-upon-Avon...



...which I found exceptionally charming. Perhaps I liked it so much because I love history and because it had such a low key, small town feel, even with all the Shakespeare tourists out and about. Many of the crew frequented the Dirty Duck pub.

Breath of interests, now that's an accurate way to sum up what's going on in this thread. I've said it before mostly in jest, but reading all of this thread just might be the equivalent of a college education.

I'll see what I can do about more TR4 material, but right now...



...Gus is center stage getting some much needed attention.

Thomas

 

[MG David]

I do like the pictures of lush grass near your shop. The countryside always looks at its best after a good watering with rain. Do you harvest the alfalfa yourselves?

I live in Warwick which is the next town up river from Stratford.

 

[flht1997]

Well that makes me feel worse Thomas! The campground in Danville was pretty good, just alot of mosquitoes. We took 74 to normal then 39 up to Wisconsin, I hate Chicago on a motorcycle.
We didn't get too wet on the trip but the fields were standing water in Illinois and Indiana. Have fun on second crop. Me and my dad just put up 1,050 bales of first crop, which doesn't sound like much, but he is 83 years old and with my back, I cant stack more than six high.

 

[stillp]

Hello stillp. Thank you for the kind words and you are most welcome. I've operated many flights out of Birmingham back in the '90's and early 2000's. If you flew Continental around that time, it's entirely possible I was part of the flight crew. Back then we overnighted in Stratford-upon-Avon...


...which I found exceptionally charming. Perhaps I liked it so much because I love history and because it had such a low key, small town feel, even with all the Shakespeare tourists out and about. Many of the crew frequented the Dirty Duck pub.

Breath of interests, now that's an accurate way to sum up what's going on in this thread. I've said it before mostly in jest, but reading all of this thread just might be the equivalent of a college education.

I'll see what I can do about more TR4 material, but right now...


...Gus is center stage getting some much needed attention.

Thomas

I certainly flew Continental from Birmingham many times during the 90s and 2000s, so once again the vortex has made a connection!

Stratford is usually too crowded for me to enjoy, and parking is expensive. I prefer MG David's home town of Warwick for a day out, although both are an easy drive from my home.

My garage is about 15 feet wide by 20 feet long, which seemed huge when I moved in, but is now pretty well filled with the TR4A and an assortment of woodworking machinery (so we have something else in common!) and wood stocks. Still more space than I had when I restored the TR4A though, that was done in a single garage 2 feet wider than the car, and only a few inches longer. Took me 6 years, but I did all the panel work, welding, and spraying myself to save money. The best compliment I've had was from a guy in Coventry who flagged me down to tell me he used to work on the Triumph assembly line, and it was a pleasure to see one that hadn't been over-restored.

Looking forward to more great tales from Philo.

Pete

 

[Mark Garrett]

Hello Thomas, They say that confession is good for the soul - so here goes!
I have been watching/lurking since about page 45 or was it 55 and thought it was time I said thank you. I have never had the nerve to write anything until now as I have felt that I am not contributing anything but I do want to compliment you on a magnificent work from Page 1 until now. Thank you for sharing your shop with the world and for inspiring me to tidy and organise my garage, spend some money on a large roll cab toolbox, and build a shed for the 'yard stuff' to clear out of the workshop.
There are so many things that I could say I enjoyed; the lift, the work and welding benches, restoring the Walker jack and even how you decided what to keep and what to throw away. However I think the highlight must be the AL JERAULD Y Manifold story.
Keeping the Hudson Terraplane was also a fantastic idea.
Thank you once again for all your posts and for the pleasure you have given me reading them. I am so looking forward to the class test!!!!!!!
Greetings from Northern Ireland

 

[BB767]

........ Do you harvest the alfalfa yourselves?

........

No I don't have enough acreage to justify...









...owning and operating the large equipment necessary. I have a nearby neighbor to that for us or I help out if I'm around.

Thomas

 

[BB767]

I certainly flew Continental from Birmingham many times during the 90s and 2000s, so once again the vortex has made a connection!

Stratford is usually too crowded for me to enjoy, and parking is expensive. I prefer MG David's home town of Warwick for a day out, although both are an easy drive from my home.

My garage is about 15 feet wide by 20 feet long, which seemed huge when I moved in, but is now pretty well filled with the TR4A and an assortment of woodworking machinery (so we have something else in common!) and wood stocks. Still more space than I had when I restored the TR4A though, that was done in a single garage 2 feet wider than the car, and only a few inches longer. Took me 6 years, but I did all the panel work, welding, and spraying myself to save money. The best compliment I've had was from a guy in Coventry who flagged me down to tell me he used to work on the Triumph assembly line, and it was a pleasure to see one that hadn't been over-restored.

Looking forward to more great tales from Philo.

Pete

I hope when you flew Continental your crews took good care of you. We operated a pretty nice carrier back then. Since the merger much of what we did so well has sadly been lost.

Pete, I think pictures of your TR4A are in order if you can post some. I admire your tenacity restoring the car in that small a space. That takes real dedication I'd say.

Thomas

 

[BB767]

Hello Thomas, They say that confession is good for the soul - so here goes!
I have been watching/lurking since about page 45 or was it 55 and thought it was time I said thank you. I have never had the nerve to write anything until now as I have felt that I am not contributing anything but I do want to compliment you on a magnificent work from Page 1 until now. Thank you for sharing your shop with the world and for inspiring me to tidy and organise my garage, spend some money on a large roll cab toolbox, and build a shed for the 'yard stuff' to clear out of the workshop.
There are so many things that I could say I enjoyed; the lift, the work and welding benches, restoring the Walker jack and even how you decided what to keep and what to throw away. However I think the highlight must be the AL JERAULD Y Manifold story.
Keeping the Hudson Terraplane was also a fantastic idea.
Thank you once again for all your posts and for the pleasure you have given me reading them. I am so looking forward to the class test!!!!!!!
Greetings from Northern Ireland

Greeting to you as well Mark. Many thanks for your heartfelt post. I didn't mean to ignore you, honest. I saw it the day you posted it and have been meaning to reply but my days have been going so long lately I just haven't had the chance. Even now I'm wrapping up a 12 hour day but it's all good.

No worries about you thinking you haven't anything to contribute. I really appreciate you letting me know this thread has had a positive influence on you. That's very helpful feedback for me. I just write about "stuff" i'm doing here and many times I wonder how it's being received.

I've been doing several things out in the shop and around the property but haven't taken the time to post about them as yet. This summer has been filled with mowing (record wet June this year) road racing, drag racing and a few car shows with more to go as well as refining the new house design. I've also gotten a couple of shop improvements done that I'll post about as well.

Please check back here every so often and I'll have more for you. We're really getting the shop set up nicely and it's been great fun working out there with Lou contributing his vast years of experience both as a service station operator and as an old hand land speed racer from the 1950's and 60's.

Thomas

 

[Gingger22pm]

That's good news Thomas because I'm getting withdrawal symptoms from not reading about your projects, it's been too long! It's a shame for us that you're enjoying yourself so much these days

 

[stillp]

I hope when you flew Continental your crews took good care of you. We operated a pretty nice carrier back then. Since the merger much of what we did so well has sadly been lost.

Pete, I think pictures of your TR4A are in order if you can post some. I admire your tenacity restoring the car in that small a space. That takes real dedication I'd say.

Thomas

Thomas, Continental certainly used to be one of the most caring airlines, but as you said, since the merger the 'customer service' department seems to be staffed by people who don't understand either of those words. Having said that though they were quite helpful when I was taken ill in Florida, so perhaps I owe them an apology. On the other hand, they've just erased all my reward miles - not that I'd have used them, but I would have transferred them to someone else or made a charitable donation. No warning of the expiry was given.

Anyway, I didn't wish to hijack your thread, but since you asked about the TR4A, here (I hope!) are some fairly recent photos:

I'll add some 'before' photos when I can find them.

Pete

 

[Sweet Old Bill]

Pete,

You were a lucky man to have that "surrey top"; that was the term my grandfather used. I too was lucky enough to have had a TR4, sadly not a TR4A. With the roll up windows, it would still leak, but you could see what was coming.

Enjoy,

 

[stillp]

Thanks Bill.
Triumph referred to it as a removable hardtop; the "Surrey Top" is the canvas cover that fits between the front and rear screens. However most people, like your grandfather, refer to the whole thing as a Surrey top.
Yes, the TR4 and 4A are British cars from the sixties, so they leak! Rain gets in, oil gets out.
Here's a few 'before' pics:

 

[rlwhitetr3b]

If you have a British sports car sitting in your driveway and it is not leaking at least one vital fluid there are only two possibilities.
1. It is not a British sports car
2. There are no vital fluids left in the car

 

[charlief1]

If you have a British sports car sitting in your driveway and it is not leaking at least one vital fluid there are only two possibilities.
1. It is not a British sports car
2. There are no vital fluids left in the car

You forgot the third reason. All time has stopped and the world has ended.

 

[bazzateer]

Being British I'd like to rebut those statements.....................................but being honest, I can't.

 

[stillp]

Yes Baz, when did we forget how to put things together properly?

Pete

 

[charlief1]

Yes Baz, when did we forget how to put things together properly?

Pete

I believe it was around 1776 Pete.

 

[stillp]

Ah yes. That was partly brought about by a pamphlet called "Common Sense", writtem by some guy called Thomas Paine!

Hmmm...


Pete

 

[markviii]

All things seem to make it back to The Center of the Universe through the vortex in some form or another!

Chris

 

[BB767]

Ah yes. That was partly brought about by a pamphlet called "Common Sense", writtem by some guy called Thomas Paine!

Hmmm...


Pete

Hey, I resemble that remark!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kudos to you Pete for knowing an important historical fact that most Americans don't know.

While many of us can deal with weeping or leaking fluids (nether of which my TR4 does BTW and all fluid levels are at the correct amount ), it's the various assorted and myriad electrical failures that have endeared British vehicles to us and I lay that directly at the feet of Lucas Electrics, the Prince of Darkenss!
http://www.mez.co.uk/lucas.html

History loving Thomas

 

[ZAPPER68]

it's the various assorted and myriad electrical failures that have endeared British vehicles to us and I lay that directly at the feet of Lucas Electrics, the Prince of Darkenss!

How true...my ex had an MG and the electrical system seemed to have a 'mind of it's own'. Much to my relief both of them are no longer part of my life...LOL!

 

[stillp]

Thomas, that is of course an important part of British history - the 18th century TP was a British citizen, at least for a short time after publishing his pamphlet! I've recently been reading a book called "Liberty's Exiles", about the American citizens who didn't support independence. Seems there were a lot more of them than one would have thought.

Loved the Prince of Darkness link! Of course electrical failures are leaks too, when the magic smoke leaks out!

There must be something wrong with your TR4. Perhaps it has an identity crisis from having the steering wheel on the wrong side.

The British motor industry had some ral quality problems in the sixties, some perhaps due to government interference such as locating car factories in areas where the available workforce consisted largely of redundant miners or shipbuilders. I knew someone who took the sump (oilpan) off a brand new Hillman Imp, and found inside half a dozen pop-rivet mandrels, a Band-aid, and the handle of a china teacup. A colleague of mine bought a new Morris Marina, and 4 days later I looked underneath it and found a large rust hole near a rear spring mounting!

Thomas, I was meaning to ask you, when you were flying did the flight crew always fly with the same cabin crew?

Pete

 

[BB767]

Very nice work on your TR4A Pete, especially considering the work space (or lack there of ) that it was restored in.

Any country that could produce the...



...Supermarine Spitfire,



...de Havilland Mosquito,



...or the E type Jaguar has my unswerving admiration and respect no matter what missteps may have occurred in subsequent years.

As for the composition of our flight crews back then, we frequently flew with the same "core" crew all month. If we had a crew of 8 or 13, many of them would be the same. In some cases if it was a senior trip, the same core crew might fly together for years as was the case when I was flying exclusively to Zurich and later to Sáo Paulo. In my opinion, that was one of the reasons we had such great rapport with our passengers back then. Our cabin crews knew and recognized the same passengers who frequented the same routes and really got to know them well. It created a very welcoming atmosphere for the flight. Now crew members can trade trips around much easier and as such you wouldn't be with the same crew as often.

Thomas

 

[stillp]

Thanks for the compliments Thomas, and for listing a few British achievements. We could add a few more, such as Rolls-Royce and Bentley (both now German owned though), Bristol cars, Jensen... We invented the jet engine and the junction transistor (that might be contentious), radar, and many others. Unfortunately governments of all political colours have failed to support our engineering capabilities since the fifties.

Lovely aircraft photos by the way. Did you ever visit the RAF Museum at Hendon?

Thanks for the info about crews. I remember a senior flight attendant whose pre-takeoff speech was something like "You have boarded flight CO27 from Birmingham to Newark Liberty. If Newark is not in your travel plans for today, now would be a great time to let us know"! I liked her sense of humour.

I know I couldn't have done what you have with Mr Johnson's property. Apart from not having your vision or your energy, I have a serious problem with throwing things away! I'd have wanted to save all those old cars, and as a result would have saved none. My garage is not too dissimilar to Mr Johnson's shed.

Pete

 

[BB767]

.....

Did you ever visit the RAF Museum at Hendon?.....


Pete

Yes I have Pete and it was fantastic. Not very crowded most of the time I was there which made it nice for wandering around. I actually went there a few occasions in the 90's while doing London trips. I happened to have struck up a conversation with one of the museum security folks on a visit. It turns out in the late 1970's he had attended a specialty school at Chanute Air Force Base in Rantoul, Illinois which is but 20 miles distant from Philo. He in turn, while going to that school by day, at night had made great friends with the owner of a pub in a nearby town and still comes to visit him on occasion. Turns out the pub owner had gone to high school with Chris and myself years before. What are the odds, eh? No 6 degrees of separation there.

Thomas

 

[BB767]

Update On Repairs On Gus

Here's an update on one of the repairs to Gus...



... the 1948 shop Jeep truck. Since day one of owning Gus, shifting the 3 speed column shift has been a problem. The shifter would frequently hang up either not going into the gear selected or being stuck in neutral. I finally took some time a couple of weeks back and with Lou's able assistance, we decided to address the problem and see what it needed to be fixed.





I had this swell hard cover shop manual and it was time to put it to use. Once the shifter column was removed the basic problem found was...



...this broken mounting bracket on the base of the shifter column.



It had been repaired before but that repair was poorly done and had broken again. One of the most important steps for a good weld repair is cleaning the area to be welded. This mounting bracket was covered in layers and layers and layers of grease. I started with cleaning it in my solvent tank using a nylon brush to scrub the area. Then I decided to soak it for 24 hours in a sealed container of gasoline to help dissolve grease in the metal pores. After that it was soaked in dawn dish soap for another 24 hours, then rinsed thoroughly and dried with compressed air. It was pretty clean after all that.

The old weld repair was ground off and a proper diameter steel rod was cut to mount the bracket...



...as seen by the arrow, which helped to aline the two pieces while it was welded.





With that completed it was...



...primed and ...



...painted.



It's like it had never been broken.



With the shifter column reinstalled along with new replacement rubber bushings (circled) which attach to the shift rods (arrow) Gus now shifts like new. The transmission lever snicks positively into each gear without a hint of a problem.

Next up for Gus is going completely through the brake system. Some of the brake lines appear to be original lines and in need of attention so I'm gathering up all the replacement parts I can find. I will fabricate any hard lines as necessary since I have a double flaring tool and it's really not difficult at all. Right now all threaded fittings are getting a daily soaking of Areokroil penetrating oil to help prevent any frozen threads.

Gus now runs and shifts so well I'm sure Mr Johnson would be proud.

Thomas

 

[jbmatth]

Great summery as usual Thomas, your continued dedication to Mr. Johnson's shop, this thread, and life in general are what make this such a great thread. One other thing to mention about welding cast parts would be the need to preheat the material and for a slow cool down. This allows for a better penetrating weld and a weld that wouldn't have the propensity to crack.
JB

 

[stillp]

Yes I have Pete and it was fantastic. Not very crowded most of the time I was there which made it nice for wandering around. I actually went there a few occasions in the 90's while doing London trips. I happened to have struck up a conversation with one of the museum security folks on a visit. It turns out in the late 1970's he had attended a specialty school at Chanute Air Force Base in Rantoul, Illinois which is but 20 miles distant from Philo. He in turn, while going to that school by day, at night had made great friends with the owner of a pub in a nearby town and still comes to visit him on occasion. Turns out the pub owner had gone to high school with Chris and myself years before. What are the odds, eh? No 6 degrees of separation there.

Thomas

That's the power of the vortex again!
I've been to the RAF Museum several times when meetings in London have finished early. Usually I've been during school trips, so it's been very noisy, but once I was the only person who wanted the free guided tour, so I was shown round on my own, by an ex-Hunter pilot. On another day I visited at the same time as a small group of Battle of Britain veterans. A great privilege to see them, but unfortunately I had to leave for an afternoon meeting very soon after they arrived.

Nice work on Gus, and thanks for the clear description. Not many would have bothered with the steel rod to get the alignment right, but somehow I'm not surprised that you did the job properly.

Pete

 

[stillp]

All things seem to make it back to The Center of the Universe through the vortex in some form or another!

Chris

Chris,
Yes, they certainly do, as shown by Thomas' post above about the RAF Museum!

Pete

 

[charlief1]

Re: Update On Repairs On Gus

With that completed it was primed and painted.

Thomas

I'm shocked and disappointed in you Thomas. No powder coating? What's happened to the king of powder coating? Has Chris called a doctor in to make sure you're ok?