On this work party day at Larry’s garage, Ken Carpenter brought his 1916 speedster that he wanted to get running again, Michael Housholder was rebuilding coils, Kirk Peterson was assembling a lower-geared rear differential assembly, and Bob Ross was repairing a wire wheel.

Ken Carpenter, along with his friend James, trailered Ken’s 1916 speedster to the work party.  The speedster had been rebuilt a couple of years ago, but now wouldn’t start.  This non-starter car’s engine was frozen solid.  With some detective work, it was found to have rusty cylinder walls and one stuck valve.  The head gasket must have been leaking and moisture crept into the cylinder.  Once that was resolved, the car still wouldn’t start, even with fresh gas and a tow behind Bob Ross’ pickup.  More troubleshooting revealed that the carburetor was also very rusty and would need to be rebuilt.  Luckily, Larry has NH carburetor parts in stock, but the speedster wouldn’t run under it’s own power at this work party.

Michael Housholder was rebuilding the coils for his 1925 pickup truck.  The rebuild includes new capacitors and points.  Using Larry’s new ECCT coil tester, Michael was able to tweak the points for optimum performance.

Kirk Peterson wanted faster acceleration and better hill climbing capability from his 1925 “barn fresh” coupe – affectionately nicknamed “Buster” after it’s previous owner  Kirk was assembling a whole new rear end with a 10-tooth pinon and 40-tooth ring gear combination.  Once complete, he’ll swap out this new assembly for the one currently on the coupe.  Included in this new assembly are modern bearings to replace the Hyatt bearings in use now.

Bob Ross is assembling a set of wire wheels for his 1924 Tudor.  The wire wheel that he was repairing on this day had hairline cracks that required brazing.

Larry and Lorna recently took a trip to Northern California to visit his family  Larry brought back some interesting items including an anvil that belonged to his grandfather, a old portable steam cleaning unit, and odd oscillating machine no one had ever seen before.  Larry challenged the work party attendees to guess what the contraption was without looking at the label.  Everyone was stumped – but the oscillating movement was hypnotic!  It turns out that it is a piston knurling machine!  This piston knurler was used to increase the diameter of pistons before oversized pistons were commonly available from the parts houses.  In the earlier days of motoring, it would have been a thrifty way to get more life out the parts on hand.  An interesting item indeed to add to Larry’s extensive collection!

Thank you Larry for another enjoyable and productive work party!