Hi Friends,
This week's edition is being written by both Ben and Harriet! Ben is reporting on his 28 Ford Model A and Harriet is reporting on everything else (the good stuff)!
OK...here's Ben's portion:
This will be the "technical" portion of this blog. In case you don't know, the "technical" portion is the "important" part!
As Harriet has said earlier, the day we arrived in Bend, we dropped off the Model A at the mechanic's place where he (Mike) has been working on the motor since that day. The very next day Mike removed the motor and checked it out thoroughly. What he found was that is was a "sick puppy"! It needed a LOT of work to make it like new again. The work needed included new bearings for the crankshaft and connecting rods.
The engines in Model A Fords are different from more modern engines in one major way. When Model A engines have worn out bearings you just don't go down to the bearing store and buy new bearings! Model A bearings need to be poured. That means that a specialist in pouring bearings needs to be hired to do the job. In the simplest terms what he does is heats the bearing material (Babbitt) to a temperature where the Babbitt become liquid, and then "pours" the liquid bearing material into the engine. A few pictures following will maybe help to explain this process.
First, the crankshaft is ground and polished to perfect dimensions.
Then the Babbitt material is heated until it is liquid and to the correct temperature.
Then the engine "block" is heated to the correct temperature so the Babbitt will flow into the the bearing area correctly.
Sorry, I didn't get a picture of the actual pouring of the Babbitt material being poured into the bearing areas.
Then the freshly poured Babbitt is machined until it is the correct size and shape to fit the crankshaft shown in the first picture. This is what it looks like when it is near completion.
This is a very simplified description of what was done. The connecting rods are done in a similar way. The two guys doing this whole process did it in about 2 hours and 15 minutes, which is very fast!
While Mike was working on the engine, he suggested that I take the rest of the Model A to Culver, about 1 hour north of Bend, where there was an 80 year old guy who is another expert Model A mechanic who could check, and adjust, the brakes as needed. What he found was that the rear axle was not rebuilt correctly 2 years ago in California, so we spend a couple days fixing that. Here it is on the lift. Much easier to work on and clean the underside when it's up in the air!
Then the brakes were checked and adjusted as needed. Once the engine was all put back together we took it to Culver and installed it into the Model A. Then all the miscellaneous parts were attached to the engine, and the vehicle was tested for running correctly, and the brakes were tested and adjusted correctly. Wow, what a process, and accomplished in a very short time by very qualified mechanics!
Then the Model A was taken back to Bend and the rest of the parts were reinstalled, like the hood, windshield wiper, head lights, horn, etc.
Here is the Model A all put back together, and running really nice. We have been using it for a number of short trips around Bend.
As a reminder, this is a 1928 Ford Model A with a Martin-Parry body. There are only 2 of these known to exist in the world at this time. We will be working on trying to track down a lead to a 3rd one in Northern California during this summer. Maybe it will turn up another, and maybe not.
Today, Friday, we will be taking A. J. Parry, grandson of the "Parry" of Martin-Parry, and president of the Martin-Parry Corporation, to lunch. We met him and his wife last year here in Bend, and have enjoyed visiting with them. In addition, we will be showing our Model A to others in the Bend area as time permits.
That was the "technical" part of the blog, And here is the not so interesting stuff by Harriet: (So he says!)
I told you last week that I had caught a bad cold, and I'm much better this week. Those meds I got from the doctor at the Urgent Care helped a lot, I'm sure! Dried me right up and the coughing ceased.
I felt good enough that we went to the Sisters Rodeo on Sunday after attending church in Sisters with Ken and Bea, Ben's brother and sister-in-law. It was a lot of fun, even though it was cold and windy and not much sunshine. We were pleasantly surprised when the rodeo clown turned out to be JJ Harrison, a fellow we've seen several times at the Pendleton Roundup. He is so funny! He doesn't wear the outfit below all the time, but when he does, the crowd is practically rolling on the ground with his antics! You should see him dance in that thing!!!
There were the usual events, lots of brave cowboys getting tossed around on horses and bulls, calf roping and calf wrestling, barrel racing... all very fun. I'm always glad it's them and not ME out there trying to ride something for 8 seconds. That's got to be the longest time in the world when you're on a one ton bull who is trying his hardest to get you off his back!
Then there was this man and his horse, which is a Mustang, bred and born in the wild, and caught by BLM in May 2013 and bought and trained by this man. This horse can do amazing things, including sit like this! Notice he's only got a very small rope around the horses neck just to hang on, basically. The horse is doing all his maneuvers by voice command. Then they both sat in the car and the horse stayed still (seated) while he drove it out of the arena! Very entertaining!
We've had a pretty busy social schedule. We're trying to get together with people in this area, and I've gotta tell you....we've been eating very well at Bend's fine restaurants! Oh, and of course it's great to visit with all our old friends, too! We're making new friends, too. We've gone the the local Model A club's Wednesday morning breakfasts twice now. We'll probably go again next week and drive our pretty red car so everyone there can admire it! We've even got people scheduled to come here to visit us (it is a beautiful spot), and now that Ben's car is drivable, very fun to go around town and see the sights! We've bought a Bocce Ball set, and hope to use it soon on this lovely grass that's all around our trailer.
The forest fire I mentioned in our last letter has been contained so the mountains are sticking up there bright and shining with their snowy coats. We have had some very, very cold weather (at least for us thin blooded Bajaians); hail storms, rain, freezing nights, highs in the 50's! BRRRRR!!! Thankfully, it has warmed up again, and I am sitting outdoors as I type this. I was even able to get my nice warm sweatshirt washed today (I didn't need to wear it outside on the way to and from the laundry room!)
Sam and Zoey, our dogs, are adjusting pretty well. They haven't caught a squirrel yet, but then, I have them on leashes all the time so that restricts their movement a bit!! They tear out of the trailer every morning first thing sure they'll catch one unawares by that pine tree just out the door! Hasn't worked so far, but they're not giving up! In this photo they are enjoying the morning sunshine and chewing on some rawhide bones (leashed to the trailer steps). Squirrel harboring pine tree is there by Zoey in the grass.
I'm in the process of adding photos to our June Picasa album, so check it out! Some of Ben's "technical" pics don't have captions yet. I'm waiting for him to do it....and that may take some time!!!
Until the next time, as we transition into Ben doing all of this .... (I hope!)
Your friends in Bend, Oregon,
Ben, Harriet, Sam & Zoey
This week's edition is being written by both Ben and Harriet! Ben is reporting on his 28 Ford Model A and Harriet is reporting on everything else (the good stuff)!
OK...here's Ben's portion:
This will be the "technical" portion of this blog. In case you don't know, the "technical" portion is the "important" part!
As Harriet has said earlier, the day we arrived in Bend, we dropped off the Model A at the mechanic's place where he (Mike) has been working on the motor since that day. The very next day Mike removed the motor and checked it out thoroughly. What he found was that is was a "sick puppy"! It needed a LOT of work to make it like new again. The work needed included new bearings for the crankshaft and connecting rods.
The engines in Model A Fords are different from more modern engines in one major way. When Model A engines have worn out bearings you just don't go down to the bearing store and buy new bearings! Model A bearings need to be poured. That means that a specialist in pouring bearings needs to be hired to do the job. In the simplest terms what he does is heats the bearing material (Babbitt) to a temperature where the Babbitt become liquid, and then "pours" the liquid bearing material into the engine. A few pictures following will maybe help to explain this process.
First, the crankshaft is ground and polished to perfect dimensions.
Then the Babbitt material is heated until it is liquid and to the correct temperature.
Then the engine "block" is heated to the correct temperature so the Babbitt will flow into the the bearing area correctly.
Sorry, I didn't get a picture of the actual pouring of the Babbitt material being poured into the bearing areas.
Then the freshly poured Babbitt is machined until it is the correct size and shape to fit the crankshaft shown in the first picture. This is what it looks like when it is near completion.
This is a very simplified description of what was done. The connecting rods are done in a similar way. The two guys doing this whole process did it in about 2 hours and 15 minutes, which is very fast!
While Mike was working on the engine, he suggested that I take the rest of the Model A to Culver, about 1 hour north of Bend, where there was an 80 year old guy who is another expert Model A mechanic who could check, and adjust, the brakes as needed. What he found was that the rear axle was not rebuilt correctly 2 years ago in California, so we spend a couple days fixing that. Here it is on the lift. Much easier to work on and clean the underside when it's up in the air!
Then the brakes were checked and adjusted as needed. Once the engine was all put back together we took it to Culver and installed it into the Model A. Then all the miscellaneous parts were attached to the engine, and the vehicle was tested for running correctly, and the brakes were tested and adjusted correctly. Wow, what a process, and accomplished in a very short time by very qualified mechanics!
Then the Model A was taken back to Bend and the rest of the parts were reinstalled, like the hood, windshield wiper, head lights, horn, etc.
Here is the Model A all put back together, and running really nice. We have been using it for a number of short trips around Bend.
As a reminder, this is a 1928 Ford Model A with a Martin-Parry body. There are only 2 of these known to exist in the world at this time. We will be working on trying to track down a lead to a 3rd one in Northern California during this summer. Maybe it will turn up another, and maybe not.
Today, Friday, we will be taking A. J. Parry, grandson of the "Parry" of Martin-Parry, and president of the Martin-Parry Corporation, to lunch. We met him and his wife last year here in Bend, and have enjoyed visiting with them. In addition, we will be showing our Model A to others in the Bend area as time permits.
That was the "technical" part of the blog, And here is the not so interesting stuff by Harriet: (So he says!)
I told you last week that I had caught a bad cold, and I'm much better this week. Those meds I got from the doctor at the Urgent Care helped a lot, I'm sure! Dried me right up and the coughing ceased.
I felt good enough that we went to the Sisters Rodeo on Sunday after attending church in Sisters with Ken and Bea, Ben's brother and sister-in-law. It was a lot of fun, even though it was cold and windy and not much sunshine. We were pleasantly surprised when the rodeo clown turned out to be JJ Harrison, a fellow we've seen several times at the Pendleton Roundup. He is so funny! He doesn't wear the outfit below all the time, but when he does, the crowd is practically rolling on the ground with his antics! You should see him dance in that thing!!!
There were the usual events, lots of brave cowboys getting tossed around on horses and bulls, calf roping and calf wrestling, barrel racing... all very fun. I'm always glad it's them and not ME out there trying to ride something for 8 seconds. That's got to be the longest time in the world when you're on a one ton bull who is trying his hardest to get you off his back!
We've had a pretty busy social schedule. We're trying to get together with people in this area, and I've gotta tell you....we've been eating very well at Bend's fine restaurants! Oh, and of course it's great to visit with all our old friends, too! We're making new friends, too. We've gone the the local Model A club's Wednesday morning breakfasts twice now. We'll probably go again next week and drive our pretty red car so everyone there can admire it! We've even got people scheduled to come here to visit us (it is a beautiful spot), and now that Ben's car is drivable, very fun to go around town and see the sights! We've bought a Bocce Ball set, and hope to use it soon on this lovely grass that's all around our trailer.
The forest fire I mentioned in our last letter has been contained so the mountains are sticking up there bright and shining with their snowy coats. We have had some very, very cold weather (at least for us thin blooded Bajaians); hail storms, rain, freezing nights, highs in the 50's! BRRRRR!!! Thankfully, it has warmed up again, and I am sitting outdoors as I type this. I was even able to get my nice warm sweatshirt washed today (I didn't need to wear it outside on the way to and from the laundry room!)
Sam and Zoey, our dogs, are adjusting pretty well. They haven't caught a squirrel yet, but then, I have them on leashes all the time so that restricts their movement a bit!! They tear out of the trailer every morning first thing sure they'll catch one unawares by that pine tree just out the door! Hasn't worked so far, but they're not giving up! In this photo they are enjoying the morning sunshine and chewing on some rawhide bones (leashed to the trailer steps). Squirrel harboring pine tree is there by Zoey in the grass.
I'm in the process of adding photos to our June Picasa album, so check it out! Some of Ben's "technical" pics don't have captions yet. I'm waiting for him to do it....and that may take some time!!!
Until the next time, as we transition into Ben doing all of this .... (I hope!)
Your friends in Bend, Oregon,
Ben, Harriet, Sam & Zoey
