Spring has finally arrived in Albuquerque and the day was warm and comfortable.  This work party included our most senior member (and one of the Tin Lizzie of Albuquerque club founders) Mistee Thomson.  Participating for the first time is the Tin Lizzie’s newest member Jeff Richards, a friend and neighbor of Vernon Armstrong.  Jeff is planning on driving Linda’s 1926 Fordor (LuLu Bell) on the upcoming “Neon Lights” tour in Tucumcari, NM, and is quickly immersing himself in the driving and mechanical aspects of tin lizzies.  Also present was an out-of-state visitor – Mark Stegall, Mark Wing’s friend from Santa Barbara, CA.  Dave Ferro was also there, having recently returned from his primary residence in Florida.

Orlando Ortega (Portales, NM) has been preparing his 1924 Model T touring car for the upcoming Tucumcari tour that he is organizing.  Portales is four hours away, southeast of Albuquerque, and near Cannon AFB.  Orlando wanted to replace the loose exotic hardwood spokes on his touring car with hickory.  He had disassembled his wheels and cleaned and painted the hubs and felloes at home the previous week.  On Friday, March 28th, Orlando, Larry, Vern Willan, and Kirk Peterson accomplished the task of respoking the wheels in a few productive hours!  Orlando is planning to finish the new spokes with a stain and high-quality varnish.

Orlando’s respoked wheels after staining Orlando and Bruce working on Bruce’s magneto. Bruce’s magneto and crankshaft. Mark drilling out the babbitt on his engine. Mark Stegall (a visitor to Larry’s Garage) cleaning excess babbitt. Vernon, Jeff, and Bob working on Bob’s coil box. Roger, Bruce, and Orlando working on Bruce’s magneto. Larry, Bob, and Dave checking Bob’s coils. Mark Stegall examining the tappet reaming operation Larry showing Mark how to set up the mill for reaming. Top and Bob working on Tom’s spring for his 1926 touring car. Jeff, Orlando, and Marilyn A new bushing was installed and reamed to the correct diameter. Marilyn and Susan Paul backing up his 1920 touring car Mistee restoring a split rim for his 1926 touring car Paul and Jeff aligning the top irons Vernon, Dave, Paul, and Jeff Lunchtime in the barn Mistee Paul and Jeff examining the linkage rod and fan belt rubbing problem. Jeff and Marilyn

Projects at this busy work party included Tom Miles working on front springs and bushings, and running board supports for his 1926 touring car.

Bob Ross found that his 1926 roadster was lacking power.  He had checked the problem at home but the car was still running poorly.  At the work party different remedies were tried such as installing a different carburetor, adjusting the coils, and cleaning/adjusting the contacts in the coil box.  The coil box contact adjustments seemed to have the biggest impact and the roadster is now running better.

Mistee brought split rims for his 1926 touring car project.  He was tapping and restoring the latch mechanisms.

Roger and Orlando were helping Bruce with his magneto.  Bruce’s 1925 Tudor magneto had literally blown apart when magnets let loose and created a huge hole in the his hogs head.  The rebuilt crank and magneto assembly were mounted on the large lathe for accurate height adjustment of the magnet retainer plates.

Mark’s 1925 touring car engine block was ready to have the lubrication holes in the babbitted bearings drilled and dressed.  A new camshaft bearing was installed and the tappet holes reamed to accommodate the new oversized tappets.

Paul and Marilyn Duncan had installed new top bows for their 1920 touring car, but found that the combination of top bows and irons varied in length.  New member Jeff Richards, Vernon Armstrong, and Dave Ferro were helping the Duncan’s correct the this problem.

This was a very busy and unique work party with so many new faces joining the Work Party regulars.  Thank you Larry for a very enjoyable and productive day!