Larry’s Garage was a hub of activity on this unseasonably warm Saturday.

Ethan Ortega, one of our club’s youngest members and a Ranger at the Coronado State Monument, (a historical site with Pre-Columbian art and the location in New Mexico of one of Francisco Vásquez de Coronado’s camps), was at the work party with fellow Ranger John, to repair a small trailer whose wheels were out of alignment.  The trailer is used to haul items around the monument site and is used frequently.  Bob Ross, our Club’s master welder, helped Ethan and John with the trailer repairs.

Bruce Daniel continued work on his 1926 wire wheel adaptors for his recent roadster acquisition.  Bruce had purchased wire wheels for the car to replace the original loose wood spoke wheels.  Unfortunately, the wire wheels he bought were for a Model A so Larry and Bruce had to make the adaptors to economically make the wire wheels usable.

Art Gebeau continued working on his 1926 speedster engine.  Larry and Art had recently rebabbitted a rod cap when it was discovered that the original babbitt was too thin to bore out.  With a Z head, balanced SCAT crankshaft, and 250 Stipe cam, it will be a super strong runner once completed.  The engine is making fine progress and should be ready for installation into the speedster soon.

Bob Ross is working on a Model TT truck and he was focusing on generator repairs.  He was checking out the generator and replaced a faulty cutout with a “Fun Projects” voltage regulator.

Neil, Mark D., Vernon, Bob, Don, and Art Bruce drilling out a wheel adaptor for his 1926 Model T roadster. Bob Ross was testing a generator. Transmission parts ready for reassembly. Gerald helping Mark with his coupe engine assembly. Mark, Bruce, and Vernon drilling out Bruce’s wire wheel adaptors. Ethan and John working on the trailer John checking the trailer wheel. Bob Ross grinding a weld. A newly rebuilt field coil for the 1924 coupe. Art Gebeau’s 1926 speedster engine with SCAT crank. Larry and Art working on one of Art’s speedster rods. Mark’s coupe transmission during assembly. Larry installing a cotter pin on a rod. Larry tightening a rod cap. A ball bearing 4th main bonded with Locktite.

Neil O’Brien was restoring steering linkages for his son’s (Tim’s) Model T firetruck.

Mark Wing had cracked a low speed drum in his 1924 coupe a few months ago.  The engine had been rebuilt at Larry’s garage in 2009, and Plastigage measurements showed that the rod and main bearing caps were still within 0.0015″ and 0.002″ five years later. There was too much endplay on the rear bearing cap – which may have been the cause a malfunctioning magneto.  Larry added babbitt to the thrust surface of the bearing cap, and after machining, brought the endplay down to 0.002″.  In addition to a new Kevlar band, to replace the one chewed-up by the cracked drum, the transmission was rebuilt with all new bronze bushings, triple gear pins, and all the magnets recharged.  A rebuilt Brad Young field coil was also installed to improve performance and reliability. The hogs head was also bored out, new Oil Lite bronze bushing installed, modern oil seals, and all new pedal shafts.  Helping with the crankshaft reassembly was Gerald Hash, an experienced Model T rebuilder.

On Sunday, Nov. 31st, Larry and Mark installed the newly assembled engine/transmission and it ran beautifully!  After some carburetor and band adjustments, the coupe is on the road again and now starts on mag!  In addition, with judicious use of Permatex sealant and all new gaskets, the coupe is now leak free!

Thank you Larry for your generosity and super productive work parties!