NATC Half-Moon-Bay Tour
May 21-23, 2010
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| Annie (last car on right) parked in front of the Pigeon Point Lighthouse. |
The Nickel Age Touring Club (NATC), affiliated with the Veteran Motor Car Club of America, is holding a three-day tour out of Half Moon Bay. Lynn had applied to take Bugsby on this tour, but the car is still in the upholstery shop and isn't available; the effort to make a new top for the old boy has taken longer than expected.
Instead Lynn decides to take Annie. As late as Tuesday of tour week, only three days before the start of the event, Annie is still off the road with broken differential gears. New ring and pinion gears were ordered from Industrial Sprockets & Gears in January, delivered in February and installed by Lynn through early May. Not detected by Lynn until too late, the right axle was too long (by about 1/8") for the new gears. As a result, the right axle engaged both spider gears, effectively locking the differential. The gears suffered damage on a test drive a week before this tour.
Fortunately Lynn had made the acquaintance of Bill Hund on a tour in October, 2009. During a conversation with Bill over lunch, Lynn learned that Bill could rebuild gear teeth in some circumstances, reforming the teeth through welding and grinding. Bill comes to Lynn's rescue by repairing the fresh damage to Annie's new ring and pinion gears. He expertly rebuilds three broken teeth on the new ring gear and one chipped tooth on the pinion. Even more remarkable, Bill turns the job around in only 24 hours as a favor to Lynn as he knows of Lynn's plan to go touring later in the week. Thanks Bill!
The gears are repaired on Tuesday, reinstalled and adjusted on Wednesday. Lynn drives Annie from Livermore through Pleasanton to Sunol and back on Thursday, a thirty-mile test drive. OK, Annie's going touring tomorrow, ready or not!
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| Our cars parked outside of the Johnson House, an early stop on our tour. | At the Long Branch Saloon and Farms, a friendly horse and rider greet the horseless carriages and drivers. | |
The day tours are:
- Friday, May 21 — half-day shake-down tour to Johnson House, Long Branch Saloon and Farms;
- Saturday, May 22 — full-day tour into Redwood City (collectors garage, museums) and drive along Skyline Drive;
- Sunday, May 23 — half-day tour to Pigeon Point Lighthouse.
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| On our second day, we stop at the fabulous garage of a local collector. | |
Lynn is constantly on edge during the tour, expecting fresh damage at every moment. He is happy to report that Annie handles herself well during this first major outing with her new gears. She completes all days of the tour without serious mishap.
Lynn notes several items needing attention when he returns home: new/stronger throttle return spring (to reliably return throttle to idle - causing inconsistent idle and backfiring during compression braking); restrict exhaust pipe tip (to increase back pressure and reduce "tug boat" chugging of exhaust); clutch engages too abruptly (likely the leather extenders under the cone-clutch leather facing).
After returning home, Lynn removes the differential cover and inspects the differential gears. He gingerly feels around the bottom of the case, dreading that he might find big chunks of metal indicating new damage. As far as he can see there is no new damage to the gears. Yahoo!
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Copyright © 2018 Lynn Kissel
Last updated: June 6, 2010