3/7/12

Apologies for the delay, no excuse other than laziness.

That said we have not let up on the project and as can be seen the engine and gearbox are in the chassis. A lot of time was spent cleaning out the accumulation of muck in the water jackets and literally chisseling years of encrusted filth from the outside of the block. As stated on the previous page little has been done on the internals other than a good clean out and fitting new gaskets. The motor had been started about 5 years ago and ran so with a bit of luck all will be good in that department.

A Dixie Aero magneto as originally fitted has been coaxed back to life, cleaned up and fitted as well as the Stromberg M1 updraft carburettor. The water inlet pipe on the right side of the motor was broken, cracked and corroded and this went off for welding up.

The Westinghouse generator caused a few issues as it needed a fair amount of work and fabrication of missing brush and fuse holders etc, it has been "motored" so should be now in working order. A cut out relay is yet to be located in the shed.

Another issue proved to be the clutch assembly. No rebuilder wanted to touch the rotted remains that I carted about to various companies so we ended up doing it ourselves. The main issue was the steel face on the pressure plate being completely shot. Once we had it all pulled down it was realised that we could flip it over to get a good working surface, but someone had beaten us to it and that side was damaged also.

The only available solution was to cut a new disc for the pressure plate and after drawing it up using a computer drafting package it was laser cut for us. The metal discs between the friction plates are virtually identical so these were also replaced as the originals were severely rusted. Cutch facings of the correct Dimensions (1/8 inch thick, 8 inch ID and 6 inch ID) were located, trimmed to fit and riveted on. The bolts holding the release fingers were almost worn through and were replaced with lathed up new ones and the anti rattle springs were replicated by City Springs. Thrust bearing was replaced and parts for the release sleeve made then the lot was fitted and backed up by the original gearbox from this chassis which was cleaned up, fitted with new bearings and put into the parts store as a "spare" several years ago.

I noted that the gearbox bearings were metric when I fitted them and found that this is also true for the thrust bearing which has a 40mm inside diameter and the release sleeve is threaded at 40mm 1.5 pitch. Somewhat odd for a 90 year old American but I have cross checked the same components elsewhere and they are the same.

3/9/12

Without making excuses for the seemingly lack of progress, part of the process we are engaged in with this project involves sorting out the jumble of left over spare parts that have been accumulated and restoring what we can to servicible condition. To this end, in between the reports on what has actually been done on this project, many tasks have been duplicated. Where there has been more than one part available, all those parts have been cleaned and overhauled, with one being fitted up and the rest being put into proper storage for future use. Between the people involved in this we have 5 Model R Hupps including this one and a good stock of ready to fit spares is now on hand if we need something and what we replace if needed will be ovehauled ready to go again. This way if we need say brake bands, we have them on hand so minnimal time is spent off the road. Latest in this line of tasks has been the Sparton Horn and the Westinghouse starter motor which again turned into projects within a project. Parts for the horn were sourced from the internet and are replica Model A Ford items that have been adapted to suit, whilst placing the order a replica cutout relay was bought as the old ones in the shed were beyond rescue. If anyone can shed light on where to get replacement balls for the tailshaft, info would be appreciated.