Winston wakes up!!!

I really should read what I write sometimes. It seems my tense use needs a little to be disired!!! If you see errors feel free to advise me of them.

Today Winston sprung (sprang) back to life at 10.32 am after a 25-year nap, actually he purred. After installing the rebuilt carbs, points, plugs and condenser… and adding a few jumpers we filled the carburetor bowls with gas and after a few times turning over he was running just as smooth as could be. It is pretty amazing how after a few normal replacements an engine that sat for 25 years just sputters to life. We filled the bowls again and ran the transmission in each gear and listened for abnormal noises and it sounded ok. Hopefully it will do the same under a load. We found a package of banjo washers (for the brake lines) and finished the brakes. We blew out the gas lines and installed a fuel pump partially. When we get the tubes for the tires and get them mounted Winston should be ready for a shakedown ride up and down the street!

Nice "new" carbs

Selfish Day

Wednesday I got selfish and worked on my car all day. I managed to get the rear deck on and a few little things painted. I’ve been working on getting my firewall “items” mounted. I’m hoping to take my car down the street this summer one way or another. I’m determined to drive it even if I have to sit on a milk crate to do it. I’ve resigned myself to the fact that my chrome won’t be done nor will I have my fenders painted and on the car.

But I will drive it this summer!!!

Yesterday we got into Winston a bit. We did the regular reconnoiter on a car that has sat for 25 years. Pull the plugs and put in a few squirts of oil and tried to turn it over. The starter wouldn’t engage so we pulled it out and oiled the bendix drive and put it back in. It worked for a bit then began to smoke so we took it out to have a look at the brushes, not good. We had a used starter so we put that in and it turned over. Oil was low so we put a bit in. First test on the compression got us from 0 to 60 psi. A little more work got us from about 70 to 140 which should be enough to get the engine running and get it blown out a bit and worked in. By blown out I mean the usual and the unusual…when we were turning the engine over to check the compression a bunch of seeds came out of the tail pipe. Dad says that it’s usual for cars that have sat for years, mice you know.

I pulled the carbs off and they are on their way to getting rebuilt. They look in pretty good shape as far as old carbs go.
On all 4 wheels the brakes have been taken removed and new seals have been put in all the brake cylinders have been rebuilt. They were a mess we had to put the torch to all but one of the front cylinders (6 in all.) One of the rear cylinders was seized up so bad it almost was scrapped, it broke coming apart, but we had a used cylinder to get the broken piece off of.

That’s the major thing going on with Winston, there are some minor things but I only have a few mins to get this in the Blog.

Later

Meet Winston

Meet Winston! Winston comes out of Chichester, NH. He’s in to get back on his feet after a 25 year “NAP.” Hopefully in a short amount of time he will be back out on the road for the summer.

Winston

This TF is basically in to get systems up and running after sitting for 25 years. He’s definitely getting new tires and a brake system overhaul. The carbs will get rebuilt and a new wiring harness (the old one seems like it had a short and was a little burnt here and there.) I believe also a new tonneau cover to offer a little rain protection. Baring any surprises that should get Winston back on the road for a few shake down rides this summer.

The TF was always a favorite of mine; I almost bought one when I was 17. It was a basket case and would have had to been put together. And there was the question of where I was going to get 700 dollars to buy it. Dad said no and that was the end of my TF (possession without owning!) Anyway, I guess it was the octagon gauges or something but it still is a favorite. You don’t see too many coming into the shop and this month there are two, Winston and another for a restoration.

TF dash

Time to sign off for now it's another nice day and I want to get outside for a bit.

The sheet metal is back on BlownTC. When I pulled out the nails tacking on the metal skin I didn’t realize how many there were until I started putting them back in! I took pictures yesterday but didn’t get a chance to put them on. It looks real good. I cut out two plugs and welded them on to cover up two holes made years ago to attach a radio antenna. Next thing is to finish stripping the firewall and get the body done, then I’ll take a break and do some work on mine for a bit.

Sheet metal on!

A pic of the rear.

I actually started working again on my TD yesterday. I was cleaning up a bit and moved the cover…then lifted it and looked at it…then fiddled with this and fiddled with that…next thing I knew. So I began working on the rest of the engine. I didn’t have the generator on yet so I pulled it out and had two??? Thank god we stamp them, one was mine and one was to my dad’s car. I got out my horns tested them, they sounded great, and sand blasted them clean for painting. That’d about where the day ended. Today I got a lot of the other firewall attachments out and cleaned them up painted them and have them ready for tomorrow. I put my gas pedal in and called it an early day because of the snow. How weird is this weather?

We had to find a few pieces of carburetor linkage for the Jag 140. They should be in the shop next week. The manifolds were put on and most of the carb linkage. The windshield is being assembled and hopefully will be on soon (I promise a pic on that one.)

On RacerTD the work is going slow because of the wait on getting the center panel back refinished. But the carpeting is in and the seats are ready to go in (waiting on getting the dash finished and in.)
So that’s pretty much where things are, I’m off to Buffalo on Friday for a few days to recharge and raise a little hell, so the posts will be a little slow for a week. I may post from Buffalo…who knows?