Project 32

Hell Doc.....Just jump in there with both feet.....  If the new wife allows you to survive this, she's a keeper...

Surely a keeper she is... Connie encouraged this buy :~)

Having met Connie with Alan for lunch, I concur.  I believe she has a bit of motor oil in her blood.

Doc:

Pictures as you go?

Alan.

If you need any tips on restoring a Vintage widebody don't hesitate to ask!    

You know, idle hands are the devil's workshop. So how come you are STILL so evil, Alan??

It's a former Jersey resident thing.

So #32 arrived from Ohio yesterday AM.

Silver blue VS wide body. A previous owner bought it as a roller from VS and finished the speedster at home and it looks it.  

Things that need attention: Check and probably replace a bad electric fuel pump ( will run on direct gas into the carbs. Yank out the dune buggy fiberglass seats and driving lights, address the bare bones poor dash layout, replace the multi speaker ladened door panels, replace the cheapo license tag light and wiring needs improvement. Front parking lights were not used and need to be added.. CMC chrome roll bar will get the boot, push rod tub seal leaking. 8 front and 10"rear x 15" chrome smoothie rims w/ baby moons have hefty rubber to make up for the 17" rims that were not used..I'll need to figure that wheel and tire issue out w/o breaking the bank.

The VS Stayfast top was installed with a single pivot point... it works and looks much better than the tension arms that are normally used....Someone added zippered in Stayfast cloth side curtains to the VS top and that person was a Genious as it fits well!..................Stay tuned ~

Damn!  Got it running this afternoon ( minor fuel pump issue ) Connie and I headed out in the rain top down for a spirited spin through the neighborhood...the MoFoCo 1915 motor #@*! flies but will need a clutch now scheduled for next Friday or Saturday. We are going to do a quick once over and have this for our Carlisle driver..wait till you see the unique zipper out side curtains that work !

I AM looking forward to seeing those. I considered that.

Alriiiiight, Dr. Clock with a Speedster at Carlsile.  Priceless!

Sure beats that Gazelle thing he had one year........

 This was not in the cards to do this speedster in under 2 1/2 weeks and if you saw how disassembled the wide body speedy is tonight... you would say "No Way" ....I have a rush plea for every part I need but it is do-able .... I will get it to Carlisle.

 I bought the dark purple Gazelle in the Car Corral that Saturday AM and sold it the same day :~)

I don't care how fast you sold it (and with a Gazelle......faster is better), it was still one ugly Gazelle.

All parts are on order or have arrived, need to decide and order the 8" & 10" wheels tonight, decided to retain the CMC roll bar and not to redo the entire dash ... a quick freshen up will do ..limited time until Carlisle going to be a very long 3 day weekend in my home shop.

It gets deeper and deeper as I get further along on this VS wide body kit a previous owner assembled..( it's a no brainer that he didn't read Kirk's disclaimer stated it's a labor intensive assembly for the very experienced builder) Resolving electrical woes ( don't ask) and shoddy workmansip  that will continue in the morning...has "way kewl air horns" though ~ Made new door panels, changed out a couple of gauges and switches, added a second speed to the slow wipers.

Finally figured out the wheels they are in route via a brown truck.... 8" and 10" American Racing Torque Thruster polished aluminum's.

4 front and 4.5 rear back set, they will be pushed out a bit from the 3.5 back set VS wheels and that will take them to the max just inside the wheel well lip

Looking forward to seeing those wheels Alan - it will be nice to have lots of input on wheel size that fits the wide bodies - many just don't fit right in my opinion.

I did a dry fit of the wheels.... WOW !

Not sure if I can pull this not so quick resto off by Carlisle ...I figure another 30 plus hours to go ..we'll see what gets done tomorrow afternoon and over the weekend.

If not you still have the "Ed" car.

This is a Vintage Super Widebody, not a CMC, so don't assume that Alan's wheels will fit a CMC.  Alan will be able to fill us in on that.  

Alan, post some pictures of those wheels when you get a chance.

Unforseen problems popped up on this 15 day project but we did it,  it's onthe floor with wheels and tires on, runs ...Connie was a huge help too. Tomorrow pm I'll take it for a once around the neighborhood.....Still have about 6-7 hours of little stuff but it came out bettter than anticipated and the wheels make the car...pics soon.........Good Night  zzzzz ~

Dr. Clock= Dr. Machine= The Man

Alriiiight!

just wait a gol durn minute, here.

Merklin said that he had Connie out there workin on this thing, too!  "Connie was a huge help too."

I can see him getting the big pieces together, but SHE's the one who's making it look purdy!!

I'm jus sayin.......

Let's see pics of this ride!! Alan is da man!!

Finished the mechanics 10pm last night.......pics soon ~

OK now it's ready ..had to switch out a alt. problem... cu ya tomorrow !

We need to install a web cam in that Amish garage!  Alan has to have tooth picks holding his eyes open.  He's a true time machine. 

Toothpicks .....you got that right !

During Carlisle the rear main seal got a bit worse and finally let loose after returning home. Over the past few weeks I pulled the motor doing an entire reseal and clutch set then back in on Sunday afternoon.  Waiting on another exhaust set up to get here.

So here we are some weeks post Carlisle, the mystery motor sealed ( what a poor job a previous owner did) and stuffed it back in...Connie and I went to the Hershey car show last weekend only to have more motor issues ( insert: previous owner again) oil is full of oil pixie dust a very nice metallic brown so I yanked the motor on Sunday afternoon and took a quick look at things i.e. the  excessive end play and pronounced it as terminal. Going to Maryland on Saturday to either have our friend Warren rebuild this unit with another case or grab a balanced 1776 he has ready to go.... Anyway, when I am done with this super wide body VS someone is going to get a very nice sorted ride for a bargain.

The motor case is history, the previous owner(s) screwed up the end play.

The Mofoco heads, stroker crank, pistons cylinders all are A-OK. Having another case machined for the stroker crank, add in case savers, new Engle cam etc. While that's being done I'll tear down and rebuild the 40 Webers. Going to be a nice VS wide body speedster for someone.

Alan--I am in awe of your talent!

Thank you Mr. Crosby, however once I do something at least a dozen times I catch on :~)

It's been a long four months fixing and upgrading this VS wide body speedy that had a persistant oil leak.  Replaced the push rod seals, dizzy O' ring, etc and still had the problem so, I pulled the motor for a full inspection, found  a crack in the case at # 3 webbing...surprise!

Had a difficult time finding a good used type 1 case at a reasonable price... by chance, I came across four stored in a shed.

Checked and machined the case for the stroker crank, larger cylinders etc.  

  Installed the new 2117 cc stroker motor, clutch, rebuilt Webers etc. in tonight, hooked everything up cranked it  and it fired ...tomorrow is another day to do some dialing in and a few odds and ends to get this out for a test run.

Just in time for the Palooza too!