My Le Mans

April 27, 1998

Well this is it, she is mine. I have looked for a Le Mans since the mid-1970's this one is in BAD shape but its mine. Expect to see her on the road in 8 to 10 years, first thing is get the DMV (Dept. of Motor Vehicles) to give me a title on the car, then it comes off the trailer and gets dismantled. Sand blast the frame, paint it, get the wheels rebuilt and new tires put on and re-assemble the frame with the wheels. That way I can roll it around where I need to work on her and then put the body back on and remove the aluminum skin and redo the wood. With the body on the frame I hope I will be less likely to make major mistakes on the wood dimensions etc. This year, the goal is get the frame apart and painted and the wheels and body back on. Then I stop for a while and start collecting all the missing parts....

April, 30, I got her titled by the DMV it was pretty easy. I had to take the car to the DMV so they could verify the serial numbers and that was it. The lady explained that since there were no records of that car, it made it easy. So here is the basic info...1934 Le Mans, ser. no. 60217, British license number AYW 709.

First sold March 1934 to a Mr. S. Bocock of East Finchley, London, the car was known to the UK SOC in 1965 when a Mr. Marsh owned it and also in 1974 when a Mr. Moir owned in London. It came to the U.S. sometime after that but was never registered and the import/export papers were lost prior to my purchasing the car. It was originally black with green interior and will probably be British Racing Green when I put it together. That would make it my first car that is not Red.

August, 28... Not much progress. I had a heck of time with the city to allow me to build a 14ft. X 16ft. addition to the back of my garage JUST for my Le Mans and it also took longer to build than I expected. Actually longer to finish then build, it seemed to take forever to get all the details done. But the car is in there now and coming apart. The good news is the engine is free turning! but the cam riser on the number 1 Intake valve is pretty badly scored, the rest look ok. The wood is in good shape, it will make great patterns and so far parts have not been a problem to find, except for the steering wheel light switch, that seems to be impossible (so far). And the frame may be bent slightly. But otherwise still basically on schedule for a rolling (no engine, no body) chassis by Xmas with new brakes, paint, etc.

Dec 5 and 6... Wow, has it really been since late August that I did any major work on the toy...not really, I did tinker with the car and bought a few parts. I got a steering gear switch and I am looking for the other end now at the steering wheel itself, hopefully I got some wheels too. I purchased them and a friend of mine picked them up, hopefully they are as good as he says. And of course its pretty obvious my overly optimistic schedule is way behind on getting the frame done by Xmas but I am happy with the progress on getting parts so that makes up for being behind.

Jan 1999...LOTS and lots of progress and lots of pictures...Santa was good to me and gave me a whole week to work on the car undisturbed. Some bad news and some good news, the frame has one pretty bad crack in it and the front leaf springs are wrong or at least different between left and right. The engine has the speed counterbalanced crank in it and that’s good. As expected the engine at one time threw the number 2 rod out the side of the block, I expected this since there is a plate on the side of the block. The cylinder skirt is broken in the block from the rod incident and the hole in the block is pretty big but it’s all sealed up with the external plate so I will leave it alone. The cylinders are +.40 already but they look really good, only slight scoring on the number 2 cylinder. I have not measured them yet but I am very pleased with their condition. The one potential problem with the motor I have found so far is the flywheel, its been badly buggered to get the bolts in. Two of the bolt holes have been bushed, I assume because they were oblong but I have never seen that happen to a flywheel before. Anyway 2 of them have been bushed and the bushings stick out the back of the flywheel and the crank was re-machined to accept the bushings. I don’t know what I will do about this mess, I might leave it alone but the machining is so poorly done that I am assuming just from the cosmetics that it will be a problem with balance, etc. The transmission gears all look very good with little wear on them, the shifter is all messed up. The shifter has been broken and welded at least once; I will get a new one since they are available. I also found out that I have the wrong dynamo housing with no tachometer drive gear.

Wow, I am rereading this and it sure makes my car sound BAD, but its not all that bad, the frame appears to be straighter than I expected and there is virtually no rust on the frame. The body is easily rebuildable, it’s not as bad as it seems.

Feb. 1, 1999. I have been spending a lot of time on the frame, its bent as I expected. After welding up the crack I found the distance from the rear front spring hanger to the very tip of the frame was not the same. This was because one dumbiron was bent upwards, so I bent it back down and removed a "twist" in the dumbiron at the time. Got the distance within 1/16 of an inch, close enough for me. From the front of the frame to the first cross-member (the one behind the engine not the one that the steering mounts to), there is 1/4" difference in the diagonal measurements so the frame is bent by 1/8" there. I will leave that alone since for me to try and fix it might make it worse. The rear section is the bad one, rear cross-member to tip of frame is out by 3/16", I would normally leave that alone but when I measure diagonally from the front of the frame to rear of the frame, I am out by a total of 7/16". The diagonal measurement is off by 7/8" which means I have to move the frame 7/16" to the right to get it inline.

Feb, 8. I spent the weekend measuring and fiddling with the frame. I removed a twist in the rear section which helps but I could not get the rear section straight. I just don't have the right knowledge and tools to hold one side in place while I bend the other. I am also confused on the bend or more likely which side is bent and which side is straight. The thing is so flimsy and flexible that you have to move the frame past where you think it should be, heat it and hope it does not flex back to its original position. I have talked on the phone (my wife will HATE the phone bill) to 2 people in the UK and Phillip in Canada and another 6 people in email who have all said...leave it alone, its under a half inch, its close enough. By getting rid of the twist I have the frame 3/8" off from front to rear. I hate the idea of putting the car together knowing that its not perfect. During a restoration, I know that you often can't get things perfect but this is not a easy one to go back and fix after the car is finished.

Feb, 9 HELLPPPPP, I can't decide what to do about the frame, People in the UK, people in the States and Canada and my own wife say leave it alone and move on, I hate leaving it bent that 3/8". Temporarily I will move on to the front springs, I hope that re-arching them will make them the correct length, they have too much curve in them right now. They are supposed to have 3 5/8" camber or curve and they have 4 1/2 inches, remove that inch should increase the length the need 3/4" and then I get to play with the leaves to get them right. The rear springs look original that is a good start.

Mike

Click on picture to get a larger picture.

Wrong front fenders and cut rear fenders, no problem to fix, just takes money. The proper fenders are available new from the UK.

Other side of the car, this rear fender may look ok but its not. WHAT IS THE CUTOUT in front of the rear fender?

Good view of wrong front fenders, also the side marker lamps are wrong. But these cars did come with cycle fenders and I actually thought of putting correct cycle fenders on. I changed my mind; I want the real thing.

A view of the transmission and interior of the car...not much there, no floorboards, no nothing.

No gauges, except for the Singer oil pressure gauge, but these are easy to find. Even new ones are available at a cost of course

Wrong carbs, but this is a common replacement for the original and I have been told the car actually runs better with these. And since these 30FAI's are the same as on my Singer 4AD, I know all about them and have the parts to rebuild them with.

Engine view, missing distributor but again it’s easy to get one.

The front of the flywheel. BADLY butchered, looks like there are 2 bushings in the flywheel, at the top right and bottom left in this picture. The bushings are recessed and stick out the other side, butchering the crankshaft itself.

The beautiful counterbalanced crank. Notice the wired on oil filter that has gaps at the bottom with 1/4 to 1/2 inch gap between the mouting plate and the filter, does not do much good the way it is.

The crack in the frame. Pretty hard to see the crack but trust me its there, it starts at the bottom and goes all the way up. It has a really poor quality looking weld on the outside and a small plate with the 2 bolts holding the plate on, and then the plate is also welded. I will post better pictures after I start getting the frame cleaned up and painted.

The project as it sat on Jan. 5. The frame was apart and all I had left to remove was the front leaf springs.

The project on Jan. 30, it took me several weeks to get the sandblasting company to make the time. It kept raining here in S. Cal and they kept getting behind, but I patiently waited and it was worth it to save myself the many hours of sandblasting. I primered the frame with 2 part self-etching primer, kind of a yucky green.

A much better view of the crack in the frame.

Here is the crack with 1/4 of it welded. In this picture I only have welded 1/2 the crack on the other side of the frame, you can see some burn through so I know I am getting a good weld. I stopped here to check alignment, looks good so I continued.

The crack all welded up and ground back down, after a coat of primer no one will ever know it was cracked. Except for the few bolts that will be in place, I will be making a plate on the inside that will wedge up against the frame and be held in by 4 or 6 bolts. Just in case my welding is not up to par :-). With the plate on the inside of the frame it will be much stronger since the plate will wedge in between the channel and look much better than the way it was.

Oh oh...I don't think diamond plate is original. And its welded much better than the other items that were welded on this car, I think I have to get/make a new crossmember because removing those welds will be next to impossible.

Click on picture to get a larger picture.
Wrong front fenders and cut rear fenders, no problem to fix, just takes money. The proper fenders are available new from the UK.
Other side of the car, this rear fender may look ok but its not. WHAT IS THE CUTOUT in front of the rear fender?
Good view of wrong front fenders, also the side marker lamps are wrong. But these cars did come with cycle fenders and I actually thought of putting correct cycle fenders on. I changed my mind; I want the real thing.
A view of the transmission and interior of the car...not much there, no floorboards, no nothing.
No gauges, except for the Singer oil pressure gauge, but these are easy to find. Even new ones are available at a cost of course
Wrong carbs, but this is a common replacement for the original and I have been told the car actually runs better with these. And since these 30FAI's are the same as on my Singer 4AD, I know all about them and have the parts to rebuild them with.
Engine view, missing distributor but again it’s easy to get one.
The front of the flywheel. BADLY butchered, looks like there are 2 bushings in the flywheel, at the top right and bottom left in this picture. The bushings are recessed and stick out the other side, butchering the crankshaft itself.
The beautiful counterbalanced crank. Notice the wired on oil filter that has gaps at the bottom with 1/4 to 1/2 inch gap between the mouting plate and the filter, does not do much good the way it is.
The crack in the frame. Pretty hard to see the crack but trust me its there, it starts at the bottom and goes all the way up. It has a really poor quality looking weld on the outside and a small plate with the 2 bolts holding the plate on, and then the plate is also welded. I will post better pictures after I start getting the frame cleaned up and painted.
The project as it sat on Jan. 5. The frame was apart and all I had left to remove was the front leaf springs.
The project on Jan. 30, it took me several weeks to get the sandblasting company to make the time. It kept raining here in S. Cal and they kept getting behind, but I patiently waited and it was worth it to save myself the many hours of sandblasting. I primered the frame with 2 part self-etching primer, kind of a yucky green.
A much better view of the crack in the frame.
Here is the crack with 1/4 of it welded. In this picture I only have welded 1/2 the crack on the other side of the frame, you can see some burn through so I know I am getting a good weld. I stopped here to check alignment, looks good so I continued.
The crack all welded up and ground back down, after a coat of primer no one will ever know it was cracked. Except for the few bolts that will be in place, I will be making a plate on the inside that will wedge up against the frame and be held in by 4 or 6 bolts. Just in case my welding is not up to par :-). With the plate on the inside of the frame it will be much stronger since the plate will wedge in between the channel and look much better than the way it was.
Oh oh...I don't think diamond plate is original. And its welded much better than the other items that were welded on this car, I think I have to get/make a new crossmember because removing those welds will be next to impossible.