Post...Post Report

Coupling Sleeve 

I finally got a chance to check out the Borg Warner Overdrive.  It didn't take long to find the culprit.  The splines of the coupling sleeve that connects the OD output shaft to the rearend's pinion stub shaft was totally worn out.  The spines were completely gone. You can see in the picture that the splines are missing for almost the first inch of the sleeve.  This is the second time this part has worn out, although the first time I caught it before a failure left me stranded.

A similar part is used in the Mitchell OD and that part has failed on other Model A's.  Mitchell has upgraded their design by putting a grease fitting to help eliminate wear due to dry splines.

I will have to see if this part is available from anyone who might still be selling this unit, if not I will check with my contact at Nashoba Technical High to see if they can make a couple of replacement sleeves.

Output Shaft of Overdrive

The good thing is that the rest of the overdrive is in good working order, so once I get a replacement sleeve this will be a good unit to sell or just keep as a back up.

Happy Motoring

Post Trip Report

The trip to Gettysburg was just a little over 1000 miles round trip and everyone enjoyed the event hosted by the Hub City Model A Club.  Job well done.

The Model A's that made the trip all arrived home with out any problems on the last day on the road.

I finally was able to get our Model A up off the ground and took out the rearend. We did some testing to make sure the problem was isolated to the Overdrive; all the test pointed to that as the source of the problem.

As you can see in the picture the Borg Warner OD is out and resting on the transmission jack.  I have had this overdrive unit in the Model A since 1991, so I can't complain about its reliability. I have had to service it a couple of times, but the unit always gave me good service.

In anticipation of this unit getting old and harder to find NOS parts, I had purchased a Volvo overdrive setup from Rich Little in California.  This unit is very well designed and parts, if needed, are readily available.

Yesterday a few friends helped me install the new overdrive.  Thankfully, Jack had the special tools that made the pinion gear removal and installation so easy.  The installation of the overdrive is very straight forward.  The one area that is a little stressful is the installation of the reverse lockout switch on the transmission tower.  This was done carefully and all the electrical connections checked out A-OK.

This final step was the test drive, and the new unit performed perfectly.  It's great to be back on the road again.

I will inspect the Borg Warner OD to see what the cause of the problem was and report my findings.
in the meantime ....Happy Model A'ing

Headin' Back Home

The storms of last night were really something.  Thunder & Lightning and heavy rain.  Bruce saw the owner of a Roadster lift the car cover just enough so he could re-park the A under the hotel's portico.  He must have got plenty wet just getting to the car.

The good thing is that the sun was shinning in the morning for our return trip.  There were two groups departing Gettysburg.  We (Doug & Nan and Jack & Jo) left early so we could get back to Port Jervis, NY to pick up Jack's pickup truck, that had been repaired by the local Ford dealer on the way down.  Fortunately Jack had stopped the truck before the transmission ran out of fluid, so the dealer could fix the problem by replacing the transmission cooling lines and associated filter.  We did make it to the dealer before they closed at noon. Jack paid the bill and we were off.  From there it was a  short ride to Middletown where we would check into the hotel and meet up with the Model A group later in the afternoon.

The Model A group left Gettysburg and headed towards Harrisburg and since it was Saturday morning they elected to get on US 15.  Once in Harrisburg they jumped over to the secondary highways and cruised along with little traffic.  Traveling through Jim Thorpe, PA on back roads Bruce was curious if any one had seen Pauxatawney Phil, to which Wayne immediately instructed Bruce to look under the car on the side of the road...yes there was a furry Groundhog.  Was it Pauxatawney Phil, well who knows?

They passed by a working coal mine and the famous #9 Coal MineTour and Museum.  They stopped for pizza nearby and Wayne said the pizza was awesome.

Continuing on they stopped to check out the famous Dingmans Falls.  This is a beautiful area with multiple water falls.  Although the park was very busy, the park rangers gave the Model A's special parking.  The Model A Passport was working again.  One good thing, all the rain the last few days really increased the water flow over the falls.

From there it was a short driver to the Hotel where we were all back together again.  Once everyone was settled we gathered for some refreshments before heading to the Texas Roadhouse for dinner.  I don't think any more people could fit on this bed. :-)

On the way home from dinner, Bruce took us by the Orange County Speedway to get up close to the race cars tonight.  The noise and dust from the dirt track was amazing.  I'm sure the neighbors must have ear muffs on during the race.

So, with that we will close another day.
Home tomorrow.

Last Day of the Convention

It's hard to believe today is the final day of the convention and the last day to tour the

area's attractions.  After a bite of breakfast Jack & I decided to check out the Repair Tent Area.  A few A's were being worked on.  There was a sedan with it's rear drums off and both of the wheel bearings were toast.  Looks like they had been running dry for quite a long time and the bearings had totally failed.  When we returned later in the afternoon they had just finished installing new bearings and seals in NEW drums.  The old hubs were too scored to re-use.  Good thing Bratton's wasn't too far away.  The car was from Florida so if it was driven from there it sure needed to be fixed before the return trip.  As with any convention the repair area is where all the action is and this one was no different.The crew that headed up this area did a great job taking care of headgaskets, bearings, carbs and ignition problems.

Bruce & Trish decided to tour the Harley Davidson Factory in York.  This is a very interesting tour that allows visitors to see process of assembling a motorcycle from beginning to end.  You get try them out, but only in the show room, not on the road.  Both Bruce and Trish said the tour was excellent.

We (Doug & Nan and Jack & Jo) headed into Maryland to visit the Union Mills and Homestead and

Grist Mill in Westminster, MD.   It was a pleasant country ride to the Homestead.  We signed up for the guided tour and learned about the history of the homestead.  Started in 1797, by two brothers of the Shriver family, and yes it is the same Shriver as in Sargent and Eunice.  Interestingly, the two brothers (sons of the original brothers) were on opposite sides during the Civil War.  As both troops headed into PA, one brother hosted the Southern troops and a few hours after they left the other brother hosted the Northern troops.
The grist mill was one of the first automated ones in the area and getting to see how the original small home grew to 23 rooms.  It was also interesting to see how the home was transformed with it's modern amenities in early 1900's (e.g. indoor plumbing, electricity and phone).

Flower garden at the home

The small home grew to this

Wayne and Sue visited the Eisenhower Farm and then visit a fair in Hanover which offered unique crafts by local artisans.

Andy & Marilyn revisited some of the battle sites in the area and did some shopping in the downtown area.

Andy & Marilyn at the Battlefield

 The day concluded with the Banquet.  The primary function of this event is to present the Fine Point Awards.  There were some pretty amazing cars entered into the judging.

The banquet came to a scrambled end as there was a major storm approaching the area.  As I'm typing this the thunder just knocked out the cable TV and the rain is coming down pretty good.  Hopefully no hail is included.

The return trip starts tomorrow.

The Grand Tour

Another fine day today, just right for the Model A driving on the Grand Tour.  We had time to get

a bite to eat before the tour and this morning we had coffee with some folks from Ontario, just outside Ottawa.  We shared stories of touring with our clubs and they sure seemed willing to drive their A's.  In fact they have registered for the New England Meet in North Conway.  That is one of the benefits of attending a national meet, getting to chat with Model A'ers from all over the country.

The scheduled departure of the Grand Tour was at 10 AM but things were running a little ahead of schedule so over 300 Model A's were out on the tour a little after 10.  Since we were driving modern, they brought up the end of the line.  Once on the main road, we found the traffic to be extremely heavy, all the way through Gettysburg.  It took about an hour, but once through the city our directions took on some very nice secondary roads.  We passed by beautiful homes, large meadows and fields and many Apple and Peach orchards and a Covered Bridge.

The one glitch in the route was that the county decided to resurface one of the roads with hot tar and

stones.  Fortunately they left one side of the road clear until the Model A's passed through the area.

The final destination was the fair grounds where the Model A's were parked for display.  We also had a very good BBQ chicken lunch, complete with Whoppie Pies for dessert.  The county fair was also being held here and there was a great display of antique tractors.  The ones that caught our attention however were the two tractors

made from Model A parts.  They were well done home made units.

The return trip home was a little more direct and we were happy to be driving behind a large group

of Model A's.

Back at the hotel it was time to cut some trail dust with a trip to the lounge!  We had a light supper before  Jo was scheduled to make a  presentation to announce the Model A Youth Scholarship recipients.  I am happy to say our granddaughter Jordan was a recipient.  Congratulations Jordan.

Tomorrow is the final day of the meet and will feature self guided tours and the banquet where the winners of the fine point car judging will be announced.

Model A Tractor

"A" Touring we will Go.

Today we would hit the road and go in many different directions.  The only critical item that needed to done first was to get the Tallone's car to the dealership to be fixed.  The new brake job done before leaving was having a problem, so it was off to the local dealership it were it was to be repaired.  Boy, cars needing repairs on this trip is getting to be a problem.

Before heading out for the day I managed to take a few pictures around the grounds. The touring class was being judged and I estimated about 40 cars in this class.

The flea market was winding down, but it was a pretty good event with lots of good Model A stuff available.

If you look close you will see Jack searching for some rare Model A parts that needs to go home to Maine.

I also found this highly optioned Sedan.  How about those skirts.

Like I said, we were off in many different directions today.  Some of us were going to the Synder's and Utz factories to see how pretzels and potato chips were made.  Others were going to take the bus tour to Antietam.  Following those stops we took in the Million Dollar Quartet show and the Washington County Transportation Museum.

Bruce & Trish, Doug & Nan and Gene & Barb visited the Snyder's pretzel factory and Utz chip factories and found them pretty interesting.  You got to see the process from beginning to end on how these products were made.

 Bruce & Trish's Sedan looked pretty nice parked in front of the Snyder's factory.

Seeing the truck unload its potatoes at the Utz factory was pretty interesting, especially since as soon as they were unloaded they went right to chip making machine.  That's a load of spuds!

Wayne & Sue and Andy & Marilyn went to the Antietam battle site.  Antietam was the bloodiest battle of the war with over 23K casualties, in one day.  It was this battle that triggered Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation.  The river ran red with all the dead.  It was a victory, barley,

for the union but it was a significant victory just the same.    The fighting at Burnside Bridge, so named after General Burnside, was the scene of fierce hand to hand combat.  Over 5000 men died at this bridge and first hand reports recalled the Antietam River ran red with blood.
                                                       

Andy & Marilyn visited the Washington Country Museum which revealed some pretty cool cars which was manufactured in

Hagerstown, MD.  This 1925 Dagmar is a big car with dual spark plugs per cylinder and 60 HP engine.

Later Doug & Nan, Gene & Barb and Jack & Jo had tickets to attend the sold out Million Dollar Quartet at the Totem Pole Playhouse.  This was a great performance about a most amazing event that took place on a cold night in December 1956.


The story was great and the music was amazing.

The ride back to the hotel was filled will conversation about the performers and the story itself.

I took Gene to the Ford dealer to pick up their car which was all fixed.  Gene said they replaced the two rear brake rotors, under warranty, and that fixed the problem.  We had just a few minutes to rest before heading out to dinner.  The recommendation to eat a little Italian restaurant was too much to pass up so we did head to La Fonte where the food was as good as reported.

Back to hotel again for dessert, well actually it was the Ice Cream social.  Ice Cream with your choice of toppings was a good way to end a busy day.

Tomorrow is the grand tour and it should be a great opportunity to see all the Model A's attending the convention.

Touring the Battlefield

Another sunny and warm day was the forecast for today.  This would be good news since we all had plans to visit the the Gettysburg Battle Field today.    First stop however was to grab a bite to eat at the club's hospitality room.  Nan was able to get into the fashion swap seminar and buy some stuff before we even finished eating.

A few of us also checked out the repair tent, which had a bunch of cars in for service.  We could see front ends being checked, tune-ups and oil changes being completed, and head nuts being torqued after a head gasket replacement.

Eternal Light

Our group went different ways but we eventually all ended up at the National Military Park Visitor Center.  Many of us elected to use the tour bus available at the Park Headquarters.  We purchased our tickets for the Battlefield and the Eisenhower Farm.

 The tour guide on our bus was extremely knowledgeable and provided us with great information

about the Generals strategy on both sides.  How the battles raged over the three days of the encounter and the engagements leading to the end of the conflict.  The statistics of the battle were mind blowing in regard to the loss of life, both human and animal.  I was surprised to learn how many horses/mules were involved, estimates were about 80K.  A cannon and caisson required 6 horses each, so for every cannon that was a team of 12 horses.  Over 51K soldiers killed.  And one civilian lost her life.  Yes,  Jenny Wade, a 20 year old seamstress, was killed in her sisters home buy an errant bullet while baking.

We were also told that Lincoln was not the keynote speaker for the dedication of this National Cemetery, it was actually Edward Everett of Massachusetts.  He spoke for almost 2 hours, Lincoln only a few minutes, but those few minutes and 272 words live on forever.

North Carolina Monument

The tour also took us by many of the monuments erected to honor every regiment that was involved in the battle.  These ranged from fairly simple to very elaborate.

Back at the visitor center we ate and hit the gift shop before our tour to the Eisenhower Farm.  This was the only home that Ike owned.  He and Mamie bought the 175 acre farm and completely renovated the old farm house to the tune of $200K and that was in 1950.  The home is one that looks very livable.  The furnishings are all original to the family and looks like time stood still.

It was a great day for learning about one of the deadliest battles of the Civil War.

The day ended with a beautiful sunset.

Let the Convention Begin

Today was the first day of the convention and the parking lot is filled with Model A's.  Visitors from

all over the country are here.  For many of us the first thing on the agenda was a seminar on retrofitting a Model A carburetor to operate better when using an air filter.  Later some took in another seminar on repairing the Model A steering system.  Both seminars did provide attendees with valuable information for future projects. Some also took a bus trip to a factory that made all kind of things out of Gourds.

You can't attend a national convention without visiting the flea market where you are sure to find some rare parts you can't find at your local flea markets.  I saw many unusual items, but held back on buying anything.  Well, actually I did buy a pin for Nan's collection.

In the afternoon we traveled to downtown Gettysburg.  We did some obligatory shoppingand bought a few items.  We did stop for a tour of the Lincoln Train Museum.  The museum had a great video recounting the last train ride of Abraham and his son Will to Springfield, IL.  We got to take a simulated ride in the last train.  It was pretty neat, with bumps and sounds and our guide was President Lincoln.  Others toured to the monument at the  National Cemetery.

Back to the hotel to rest a bit and then it was for a bus ride to the Gettysburg Visitors Center where we had a private visit to the famous Cyclorama.  The host club did a great job arranging the event which included a seemingly endless supply of appetizer foods.  No one was going home hungry from this place.

The movie of the battle at Gettysburg was excellent and the Cyclorama was very good and something to put on you bucket list if you have not visited this area.  We got to hobnob with some real celebrities, yes General Robert E. Lee and President Lincoln.  We asked Mr. President if he would do anything different...His answer: He would have passed on the theater tickets. ☺

Tomorrow it will be off to more history of the area.

Gettysburg Train Station where Lincolns
train stopped on it way to Springfield

Very interesting Radiator mascot

Up in Smoke

Sunday dawned bright and sunny.  Slowly we all started to gathered for breakfast at the Sleep Inn.  

The coffee really helped get things going.  Since we were now radio-less we were relegated to the back of the pack, which meant someone else was going to have to lead the group.  The two candidates were Andy or Trish.  Trish thought the directions and her iPad would be enough to do the job.  Andy wasted no time to defer to Trish.  After loading up the Model A's and moderns we headed out to see what adventures the roads would take us on today.

US RT 6 out of Middletown was a pleasant road, what we would call Model A friendly.  Traffic was light and with Bruce setting the pace at about 45 MPH, Wayne and Andy followed along with me and Jack bringing up the rear.  Following along made for a nice view of the Model A's in front of us. The rural nature of the area really did make the ride very pleasant.

We were cruising along, enjoying the drive.  As we neared Port Jervis, we were descending Slate Hill when Andy, and I, noticed a lot of smoke coming from Jack's truck.  I had no CB, but thankfully Andy contacted Jack informing him of the SMOKE and Jack pulled over immediately.

The Model A's continued down the road  to a large pull out to park safely and I turned around to return to Jack.  Jack was already out inspecting the problem.  With a trail of fluid behind him and a puddle underneath the truck he could see it was transmission fluid.  There was no hope of a quick repair, so the only thing to do was call AAA.  Oh no - not again.  The best arrangement was to have Jack's pickup towed to the local Ford dealer and hope the repair could be made asap.

The only problem was that the dealership was

not open today (Sunday).  Jack & Jo were thinking of renting a car to continue, but car rental locations were closed as well.  So the only option was to load up Jack & Jo's stuff into our car and continue to Gettysburg.  Jack left the keys with a detailed note of the problem in the Service Drop Box and will call Phil's Ford service department tomorrow to work out the repair.

With that, we headed off to the interstate to get to Gettysburg.   We kept in touch with the A group and they were making very good time.  We were hoping to catch them but our lunch at Mooses' biker bar took longer that we expected, but the food and outdoor patio setting was great.

Meanwhile the A group followed roads that would take them through the less traveled areas around the Delaware River and the country side of eastern PA on the way to Harrisburg. From there it was a little more of a challenge to find Model A friendly roads down to Gettysburg.

Although we were on the interstate and the A's on secondary road including a dirt road!  Yup a dirt, well actually it was gravel road, we arrived at the hotel complex at the same time.  The parking lots were full of Model A from all over, what a great sight.

In attendance are Jack & Jo, Wayne & Sue, Bruce & Trish, Doug & Nan, Andy & Marilyn, Len & Peg, Gene & Barbara, and John & Martha. We all got checked in and registered for the event which starts tomorrow.

The Big Bang!!

With great anticipation of the journey to begin, we gathered in Marlborough before setting off to

Middletown, NY where we spend the night.  The weather was overcast and cool which was actually good for traveling in the Model A.

We used Google Maps to layout a route taking secondary roads instead of taking highways.  This would be a little slower but a lot more enjoyable than the high speed traffic we would otherwise encounter.
Our plan was to follow RT 20 to Sturbridge and then turn south through Holland and into Connecticut.  The road though Holland was definitely one we would have classified as "the road less traveled."

It may have been a road less traveled but it was still a relaxing ride.  We finally made it back to a real

road and enjoyed the country side as it passed by.  One thing that did surprise us was the number of fields we passed still growing Tobacco.  Connecticut tobacco leaves are still highly considered for for cigar wrappers.   So in addition to the local corn it looks like tobacco is still a cash crop.

We were making decent time and called Bruce and Trish to let them know were on track to meet them for lunch in Canaan.  Bruce and Trish had started yesterday and toured to Stockbridge visiting sights along the way.

All was going well until we hit the little town of Winsted.  Stopping at

the traffic light I let out the clutch and there was a loud clunking and BANG!  Oh No!  I disengaged the overdrive and I was able to move.until the next light and then another clunk....then nothing.  No movement at all.  Nothing we could do so it was time to call AAA.  The tow truck came very quickly and got the model a loaded.  He was very considerate of the way he strapped down the car, even changing the way he held down the rear wheel so as not to have any straps rubbing on the fender.
So while Nan and I headed home the rest of the group continued on and made it to the hotel on Middletown,

We made it back home, reloaded to the modern car and hit the highway and made it to Middeltown, NY in time for dinner, well maybe just a little late.     Tomorrow it's off to Gettysburg.

A's Ready to hit the road

On the road again, this time to the MARC National Convention in Gettysburg, PA.  Members of the Minuteman Model A Club are preparing their Model A's for the 440 mile trip.  The Model A's have been on the road before (boston-to-kentucky road trip) and this trip should be a pleasant journey to Gettysburg where we will eventually meet up with the hundreds of other Model A'ers.
Joining in on this trip will be Doug & Nan, Wayne & Sue, Andy & Marilyn,  Jack & Jo, and Bruce & Trish.
More posts will be forthcoming once we get on the road.