Story and photos by Mark Wing
Larry held a work day at his garage on the last Tuesday of the month. Paul and Marilyn Duncan, Dave Ferro, Mark Wing, Kirk Peterson, and Don Neidigk were there all or part of the day. Projects this day included Paul and Marilyn continuing work on their 1918 pickup truck engine and body, Dave working on a generator for his 1927 speedster, Mark Wing replacing a front cross member on a 1915 frame, and Kirk working on “Buster” – his Montana 500 coupe.
The primary project for the day was babbitting the main bearings and rod caps on the Duncan’s 1918 pickup. This car was purchased by Marilyn’s father in Kansas in the 1950’s and it hadn’t run since. It was originally a touring car cut down to a farm pickup. The Duncans brought it to New Mexico some years ago and are now restoring the car to sound driving condition to give to Marilyn’s brother. The Duncans are using a 1926/27 engine for this project. Marilyn was cleaning the main bearing caps as well as wire brushing the body side panels in preparation of welding cracks.
Dave Ferro has been focused on rebuilding a generator over multiple work days. He had replace several parts in the generator, but it still wasn’t working. Dave ultimately realized that the field coils needed replacement and he now has them on order.
Mark brought the 1915 frame that he found in Tucumcari, NM to replace the broken front cross member. This frame is destined for the early 1915 Coupelet project. The replacement cross member was in good condition but rusty. It was media blasted as well as the area where the cross member seats on the frame. A portable media blaster was used on the frame section while the cross member fit nicely in Larry’s blast cabinet. The old cross member was coaxed out with a pneumatic chisel and grinders. With help from both Larry and Dave, the replacement cross member was riveted in place. This process was spread out over three days with much of the last day spent on trying to remove a 1/4-inch dip in the driver’s side frame rail. Thanks Larry and Dave!
