Work Party at the Azevedo's Garage

On a cool Saturday (January 28th), Tin Lizzies members gathered at the Azevedo's garage to work on their Model T projects.  John Seawell continued work on his small-drum rear end assembly for the T he's building up from parts he's collected.  He's considering a closed car, instead of a speedster as he originally planned, as it would be more practical for year-around driving comfort.  Assisting him were senior club members Larry, Neil, Ken, and Kirk.  The bearings, ring and pinion gears, and seals were replaced and the assembly is now ready for installation.

Steve Suttle brought his sharp looking 1925 coupe to adjust the trottle linkage.  This coupe needs only minor refinements as Steve has already corrected the more important repairs since he acquired it a couple of years ago.  Modifications to upholstery door fasteners are among the items still on his "to do" list.

Larry had been keeping track of engine performance data from cars from his collection as well as other peoples T's.  The data gathered includes various engine, head, and ignition system combinations.  Larry's hand-written values were entered into Excel (a spreadsheet program) by Kirk and Don to assist Larry in plotting and analyzing the engine performance data.

John Hayne, making his first appearance at a work party in memory, brought a 1926 engine with frozen exhaust manifold studs.  Some lubrication and the correct tools were all that was necessary to free the rusted studs.  Will we be seeing more of John at work parties in the future?

Joining the Club that day were Dan and Deedra Hogan who have an interest in Model T's since seeing Mark and Susan Wing's 1925 coupe at Los Poblanos farms last year.  The Hogan's are considering acquiring a depot hack sometime in the future.  This was their first visit to Larry and Lorna's house and it was an opportunity for them to see a wide-range of Model T years and body styles and to see first hand what Tin Lizzies work parties are all about.  

Neil and Bob

Neil at work installing valve covers and gaskets.

Linda and President Dean!

John assembling the rear end of his T project.

John, Neil, and Kirk

John brought a late model block to the work party to loosen exhaust manifold studs.

Vernon and Don

Larry taking a break from babbitting with Steve

Steve with is fabulous 1925 coupe!

Kirk and Don entering engine performance data into Excel for Larry's data analysis.

Guests Dan and Deedra with John at the lunchbreak.

The work party resuming after lunch

Dean and Ken

Larry assessing how to load Tim's firetruck engine into the back of Neil's truck for transport back to Neil's shop.

Loading the engine into the pickup bed.

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Larry, Tom Miles, Dean, Kirk, Steve, and other club members have been volunteering their time to rebuild a 1923 Canadian block engine to raffle as a fund raiser for the National Model T Museum in Indiana.  Larry was busy this Saturday babbitting the block, main bearing caps and rod caps.  He'll be holding a seminar on babbitting techniques during the Annual MTFCA business meeting in Albuquerque scheduled on March 22nd-25th!

It was another great work day.  Thank you to Larry and Lorna for hosting the event!

Larry pre-heating the engine block and mold prior to pouring the babbitt.

Babbitted, and now ready for boring!

Pouring the babbitt

Larry setting the babbitt into the block before line boring.

Babbitting a main bearing cap.

Ready for cleanup before machining.

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