Let the games begin!

    Taking the 41 apart has become a fall ritual but I'm hoping this is the last year I'll have to do this.  This year's plans call for a paint touch up on the front end to repair all the chips, converting the rear main seal to a one piece by machining the rear of the block, adding air conditioning with heat and defrost and reinstalling the stock 5 lug axles in the rear with wheels to match the front wheels.  The door panels are going to have to be removed too in order to readjust the driver's door and fix the lock mechanism.  Both vent cranks don't work right and a couple of the window cranks need to be replaced.  There's a few other items on the list that will become apparent later.
     I had some spare time today so I got started with the disassembly.  The chrome trim down the middle of the hood was removed along with the grille, headlights, parking lights, front bumper and hood.  That pretty well cleared the front end and makes it ready for removal.  In order to remove the hood, the first step is removing the hood springs.  I failed to take pictures last year of how I was able to accomplish this without any special tools.  14 large fender washers are all that is needed to remove the springs.  First, lower the hood as far as possible while still being able to get your forearm between the hood and front fender.  This will stretch the spring and separate the coils.  Next, insert the washers between the coils taking care to add washers to the back as well as the front of the springs.  Here's a picture of the spring and washers with the hood nearly closed.

And here's a pic with the hood open after the washers are installed.  I only inserted 11 washers but I was still able to work the bottom hook off the bracket. 

Once the bottom hook is removed, the bolt  holding the upper bracket needs to be removed and raised a bit in order to remove the upper spring hook.  To remove the washers, use a floor jack to stretch the spring a bit until the washers can be easily pulled out again.  Lowering the jack will restore the spring to its original shape.

Removing the front bumper makes accessing the rest of the front end parts easier.  Here the floor jack is used to support the bumper so I can remove the bolts holding the bumper to the frame horns.  Jacks stands are under both sides of the frame for safety.  Notice the hood trim has been removed from the center of the hood.  I was unaware that the hood is actually a two piece unit and bolts together in the middle. 

     With the bumper removed, the rest of the front end parts were easy to unbolt and remove.

     That's all I was able to accomplish today.  It's Halloween and my grandson's birthday.  He is coming over later to trick or treat.  ;)

One last time and some mellow sounds

     Sat, Oct 20 was an open house at Steve's Antique Auto Restoration.  One of our club members works there so several of us showed up on a cloudy, rain threatening day to see what the place was like.  Here's some pics of the cars that showed up.

Road Rodz lined up for one last time in 2012.

The Hudson above belongs to a customer of mine as well as a customer of Steve's, Glen Kellogg.  Glen has quite a nice collection of Hudson's and a beautiful garage/shop where he stores them.

     The rains came just after I left Steve's to visit my friend Dennis, the guy who sold me the 41.  All the other club cars got wet too.   Today was wash the dirt off from that Saturday shower before I begin taking the 41 apart for the winter projects.  Rubbing dirt into the paint while leaning on the car is a good way to ruin the paint so it needed to be cleaned.  I've been wanting to record the sound of the dual exhaust system on the 41 so before the wash, I set up my camera on a stand behind the car and shot a short video with sound so others can appreciate the mellow tones of a nice sounding cam in an old Chevy 6 cylinder.  Here's a link to the video on Youtube.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Pp-uwOqh3E&feature=youtu.be&noredirect=1

 

Limo Service

     Yesterday was Sat, Oct 13, 2012.  That date is nothing special in my family but it will always be a special day for a young couple who were married yesterday.  Emily and Matt tied the knot at a Methodist Church in Alto, Mi, on a rainy Sat afternoon.  I'd like to think my wife, Cathie, and I had a small part in helping to make their day something special.
     Earlier in the week I received a phone call from a fellow car friend who is the president of the Grand Rapids Street Racers Association.  Dan informed me that he had received a message on his phone from a guy looking for someone with a 40's era car that was willing to do a photo shoot on Saturday, Oct 13.  The guy left his first name and phone number and that's all that Dan knew.  The 41 was still all together so I figured I'd give the guy a call and see what this was all about.  The fella's name was Bob and when we talked, he informed me his daughter, Emily, was getting married on Saturday and she and her fiance, Matt, were big into 40's era style and had chosen to do a 40's themed wedding and reception.  Bob wanted to surprise them by providing a 40's era car to drive them from the church to a nearby pub and be available for some pictures.  Emily and Matt are both from the Lowell and Alto area but met in Los Angeles.  They both work in Hollywood in the music/movie industry.  Bob and I discussed compensation for my gas but he insisted on paying much more for my time.  I asked if it would be ok if my wife came along and he approved without hesitation.
     Cathie was quite excited when I told her we had a "Limo Gig" lined up for Saturday afternoon and we would both be dressing up in 40's style duds.  What the heck!  We wanted to fit in too!  A car show was scheduled on Saturday morning so we planned to attend the show until 2, grab some lunch, change clothes and head to the wedding.  Bob had asked us to arrive around 4:15 because the ceremony was scheduled for 4:00 and he didn't want Emily and Matt to see the car until after folks had been through the receiving line.  I shared our plan with several Road Rodz club members but we all were concerned about the weather forecast for Sat.  All the local tv stations and weather.com were calling for day long rain.  Club member Ken takes most of the pictures for our club as well as maintaining the club blog and Facebook page.  He was quite excited when I told him of the Limo Gig and said he would try to make it to the church and take some pics for the club pages.
     The weather forecasters were right on the money with their rainy prediction and the morning car show was a rain out.  I was a bit concerned about driving in heavy rain since I knew the windshield had leaked last year when we had been caught in a heavy shower.   I took a couple large towels to put on the floor in the back seat to protect the carpet from muddy feet and grabbed a couple hand towels just in case the water started coming in around the windshield again.  Good thing we brought the had towels because Cathie and I stayed busy during the drive to the church soaking up water that came in the corners and center area of the windshield and ran down the dashboard.
     We arrived at the church right on schedule while everyone was inside.  As soon as the ceremony was completed, a couple of young men came out with a Just Married sign and several tin cans tied together with fly fishing line.  I gave them a little help in affixing the sign and cans to the back of the 41. 

     Emily's maternal grandfather came outside just prior to the bride and groom making their exit.  He informed Cathie and I that his first car was a 1941 Chevy 2 door sedan just like ours.  He was smiling ear to ear as he checked out the 41.  That's him on the far left of the next picture.  This is Emily and Matt just as they came through the door and saw the car waiting for them.

    Despite the rain, the happy couple was all smiles.

     I managed to grab another pic from behind the car as Emily and Matt sneaked in another kiss!

     Kenny made it to grab the club pics and added these to Facebook.

Ken also got a nice shot of Cathie and I in our best attempt at 40's clothing.

     Cathie came up with an idea that capped off the 40's era atmosphere.  Once the 41 was running, I turned on the radio with the usb drive connected.  The first song up was Glenn Miller's band playing "In the Mood".  Emily and Matt loved it!
     Bob invited Cathie and I to join the the wedding party for a quick beer at the Alto Bar before they all headed off to the wedding reception on the party bus.  The rain quit while we were in the bar making the trip home less of a water catching contest than the ride there.  We followed the party bus to the expressway and honked the ooga horn as we buzzed by at 75 mph!  What a great event and we both felt privileged to have added a small part to the theme of their special day.
     The 41 is back in the garage ready for the winter changes to begin.  The new speedometer/odometer that was installed last winter now shows 2965 miles.  The car spent quite a bit of time on the road this year and other than the rear main seal leak, it has been trouble free all year.  The new windshield glass panels and rubber frame have been sitting in the garage all summer but Saturday's rain experience just confirmed the importance of giving a high priority to getting those parts installed.  I should add, the heater/defroster worked flawlessly yesterday keeping both of us quite warm and the windshield clear of fog.