<VV> VV Sleeping Lakewood

[Tony Underwood]

At 12:22 hours 04/05/2005, Louis C. Armer, Jr. wrote:
>I have to agree with Mike on this one............As ULTRA as you are, it makes
>sense to clean the the 3 areas Mike has suggested so your "used" Rislone or
>ULTRA ATF has half a chance at removing the rest of the crud...


Oh make no mistake.   The pan will come off as will the valve covers which 
come off in any event for new tube seals... which amazingly *aren't* 
leaking.   YET.

I'm almost positive that they've never been replaced, ever.   The wagon was 
parked in 1969 and hasn't been fiddled with since, until I ended up with 
it...  not likely the previous owner ever stooped to do any actual work on 
it before it got parked, since he evidently (according to what I've dug up) 
bought it from someone else who'd parked it for a couple of years, so as to 
flip it in a quick sale and make himself some money.

This is where it got good...

Evidently he bought the wagon from the "Previous PO" for... 50 bucks.   He 
expected to sell it quick, even filled out the title's "to be completed by 
seller of vehicle" box a few days after it had been assigned to him in 
'69... signed his name on the dotted line... and the car didn't 
sell.  Evidently Naderism was alive and well and he couldn't sell it.    It 
remained parked in a corner of an airport hanger from then until his death 
and it finally got auctioned off last year, whereupon it then ended up in 
my clutches when the guy who acquired it from the old hanger delivered it 
into my greasy claws after he lost his storage without ever being able to 
do anything to the wagon except get the brakes working.    He *Said* he'd 
gotten it started and that it "ran well" but after I saw what was involved 
with the stuck-advance distributor with corroding points and rotting plug 
wires and the carbs gummed up with what looked like brown tar, I sincerely 
doubt that this engine *ever* started and ran unless it was with gas poured 
down the carbs and a prayer to the Ignition Gods to make some spark for a 
few moments.

I may have committed a sacrilege by replacing the ailing '61 distributor 
with a '66 vintage 110 variant... it was handy and it works.


The insides of the lower shrouds are pretty greasy and populated with mice 
and vole nut-hoard... and remnants of the top cover sound deadener.  Not 
sure if it got there via rodent transport or if it blew down past the 
cooling fins as the blower sucked it off the engine bay cover throughout 
the '60s.

This engine is all original and completely untouched.    It's almost 
certainly gonna leak like a Cuban tuna boat once it gets going and loosens 
up a bit.    However, with only 58K on it, I'm kinda expecting it to be 
mechanically in good shape.    It's smooth and quiet, no unusual noises 
although I'll know more when I do something about the non-muffler which 
evidently has no backside anymore, just a coffee-can sized hole into which 
the headpipe and former muffler inlet snout now rest.

And, the sound deadener above the engine, under the engine bay cover, has 
mostly disappeared...  its plastic film cover having split and torn and 
gone away.   .

..Where would you suppose most of that batting might have gone...?    The 
top shroud will come off in any event to remove the blanket of 
"burst-o-fuzz" material I expect to see covering most of the cooling fins, 
good time to clean under that crankcase top cover.



>.............You could
>reclaim all that "ULTRA" lead and mix it with some old lawnmower gas to 
>give the
>Lakewood a leaded nostalgic wake-up  trip!!!<GGG>


If gas goes up much more, the grass is gonna just get tall.    Works for 
me, in either event...  I won't have to title/tag as many cars that way if 
they're hidden in the Jurassic Park style "tall grass" around back.



Now that warmer weather has finally arrived (for now) maybe I can actually 
get some stuff done.


By the way:

Those gas prices won't stay this way for much longer.     The spiteful kick 
by OPEC might get them some profits of their crude for the moment but it 
won't last.   They'll be dropping their crude prices soon or else.

Either way, I hope to make the next Vair show in this Lakewood.


tony..