Happy Holidays!  There have been a few events that have changed my train of thought for Cornelia's future build... Look for more information after the first as I think this through.  In the meantime, we hope you all enjoy the holidays, safe and sound, with your families :-)

Took a little time out to clean the new engine and further assess what's needed to get it running properly after sitting for a while.  It may not look that different from the earlier photo due to the crummy lighting, but believe me, it looks like a brand new engine now :-)  If you click on the photo, you can see a much larger image in a new window/tab depending on your browser settings.

I was fortunate enough to find a great fellow in Wyoming with an oil pan and valve cover (we're working out the details for a deal).  From the photos he sent, the valve cover looks pretty darn good (some surface rust) and the oil pan has some minor dings, but I should be able to bang them out.  Then I'll have them powder coated.  The valve cover will be Porsche silver (the closest match to the original silver diamond silver that I've found) and the oil pan black.

Still looking for a good radiator.

The carburetor is the exact same Carter that I rebuilt for Cornelia, so I will be swapping out the carb on the engine with the unit I rebuilt earlier.

Other items on my to-do list for the engine include new wires, points, distributor cap, rotor, plugs, a new v-belt, new ground and battery cables and some new gaskets.  I'll still need to inspect the thermostat and water pump, but that should about do it...

In other news, I have added several new parts vendor links to the links page for radiator restoration, brake parts, and a few others.

I'm also in the process of converting the garage heater from propane to natural gas (the propane tank I had behind the garage lasted only two days... NOT good!), which means we have to get a conversion kit for the heater itself (not a big deal) and run 80 feet of natural gas line to connect it to our house supply (a BIG deal).  I've been calling around to get quotes.  I figure I have perhaps 3 weeks to get this done before we start getting frost!

Well it took a little work, but the new engine is on the stand and in the garage!  I had to remove the rear bell housing, the clutch and the flywheel, but now it at least mounts and balances on the engine stand, and we wheeled it into the garage this afternoon.

I feel MUCH better now since it's not sitting outside, and we have some rain due soon...

You can view a larger image by clicking on the photo to the right.  It doesn't look half bad, but it needs a little cleaning, and although it doesn't look too bad from the photo, the oil pan seems to be pretty badly crushed and dented (not from the hauling, mind you...) up to the point where I'll likely have to replace it.  If anyone has a spare oil pan in decent shape, please let me know :-)

Well we did it - Susan and I drove the 226 miles to Wheatfield, Indiana on Saturday with the F-250 and loaded up a rebuilt motor from a 1952 L-110 Series. It was a beautiful day and the drive went flawlessly. Believe it or not, they had snow south of us though :-)  The photo to the left is of the engine in the back of "Woody" when we stopped in Kouts, Indiana for gas.  If you click on the image, a larger image should open up so you can see a little more detail.  Although I was worried, the engine didn't budge the entire drive home.

I borrowed my father-in-law's engine hoist and removed the engine from the truck bed yesterday, but ran into a little trouble with the engine stand - no matter which way I turn the arms, there's no way to get things to line up to mount the motor to the stand. So now we have an engine hanging on a hoist in the driveway... Luckily, the weather is unseasonably nice.

I found some arms at Jegs that should work, and hopefully they'll arrive tomorrow...  Then we still need to remove the engine that's still in Cornelia, but hey, at least we're making progress!

Well, even though there has been a SERIOUS lack of progress on Cornelia lately, I've received a number of really great notes and photos from several great binder owners starting their own projects.  For example, the photo to the right is of Alex's 1947 KBS-5, and he informs me that it was Cannon Townships' first fire truck - what a great project!

We've also had a lot of new photos added to the photo gallery and even a few new links (look for Glenn's 1951 International L110 Project Blog).

I appreciate the notes and photos - they cheer me up during periods like this when I'm not getting much done on Cornelia.  Good news though...  I set up a time to pick up a rebuilt motor from a gentleman in Indiana, which should be about a 4-1/2 hour drive from here.  Susan and I will be taking "Woody" my '96 F-250 to purchase the rebuilt engine on November 6, weather permitting...

FINALLY got to working on the shop... er garage again in late August to get the siding on and am happy to say that the siding is complete now with the exception of some metal trim around the overhead doors and walk-in door.  As Susan says, it's about time we quit advertising for Tyvek!

Next steps besides the trim work will be to correct some bracing issues inside to the satisfaction of the inspectors, then install the other garage door opener, then get cracking on the ceiling electrical for the lighting and the ceiling itself so that we can insulate it before winter.  THEN we can work on Cornelia in "relative" comfort :-)

Then I'll need to get the electrical in the side walls and insulate them as well, but I'm not sure I'll get that far... we'll certainly try.  I'm just happy to have completed the siding by myself (for the most part - Susan and the boys washed it for me last weekend) over the past three weeks while also doing my web design.

With respect to Cornelia, things are on hold a bit, not just due to the garage, but due to funds.  The exhaust is falling off Woody, the '96 F-250 and I need to replace the entire system from the manifold back, which won't be cheap.  I hope to have that done next week.  Then we're going to take Woody to Indiana to buy a rebuilt motor for Cornelia and take Cornelia's current motor out and set it aside for a proper rebuild while we have something to drive.  Does that make sense?  I hope so - the point is that I want Susan to experience this truck a little before we really start to take her apart for the restoration...