Several years ago when I last wrote about colors for our Michigan, we were strongly headed for grey.  Since that time, we have learned that there are several other grey Michigans. So, nope, we aren’t doing that.  We’d rather not be too common in a rather narrow field of surviving Michigans, so we looked closer at browns and greens.  We are aware of only one Michigan that is green, and that one appears to have been repainted and is sitting in a remote barn, unrestored.

The MIchigan Paint brochure (in the Nuts & Bolts, Paint section) indicates that they manufactured cars in “golden auto-brown” and “deep olive green”.  That description is both helpful and spectacularly vague all at the same time. We started trying to figure out colors in November of 2015, by contacting Jim (Jimmy Chips) Wells at the Auto Color Library at TCP Global.  We were fortunate enough to have this unique resource for AUTHENTIC old automobile colors here in San Diego.

Jim helped us using another remarkable resource, the Horseless Carriage Club Gazette of March/April 2005 (Vol.67, No.2) which collects together an amazing spectrum of colors for early cars & buggies. It is probably one of the best, if not THE best collection of color chips available for folks with cars before the 1930’s, with a focus on the 1910’s.

HCCA Gazette March/April 2005, page 32

Using The Auto Color Library and the Gazette, we had TCP Global do several spray outs of different colors. Then time passed……………………………… it does that.  With no regard to what YOU may think about it.

By November of 2018, Janet & I, (along with the encouragement of my Dad and a trip or two to the Nethercutt Museum in Sylmar, California to look at beautifully painted vintage cars) had finally settled on olive green as the color for our car. Time for an interesting story that has nothing to do with paint. (Well, I think it’s interesting and this is MY blog, so here goes.)  The Nethercutt is a great automobile  (and other things) museum. https://www.nethercuttcollection.org

My Dad & I have a connection to the Nethercutt and its founder, J.B. Nethercutt. My Dad, Vince, was a elementary school principal in Santa Monica from the early 1950’s until 1968, when he became an assistant superintendent in Santa Ana.  During the 1950’s & 1960’s Dr. Sydney Wittorf was the dentist for the Santa Monica Schools. My Dad met Dr. Wittorf in the process of being a principal there and Dr. Wittorf became our dentist. He was a really fine dentist who was genuinely interested in kids. I remember getting some small blobs of mercury from him (with appropriate cautionary instructions not to eat it and wash hands after touching it) for my home chemistry lab. Anyway, Dr. Wittorf grew up in Santa Monica, and so did J.B. Nethercutt who worked for his aunt, the creator of a small cosmetics company named after her called Merle Norman. The story I was told is that both Sydney & J.B. used to spoon cosmetics into jars and do deliveries of Merle Norman Cosmetics. https://www.merlenorman.com/page-show?cid=our-history

They and their respective families became life long friends. From my earliest memories of going to the dentist up to about age 20, when I was in the dentist’s chair with my mouth full of tools, Dr. Wittorf would tell me stories about fancy old cars with names I’d never heard of. “Craig, you won’t believe this. Last weekend I got to drive two Duesenbergs.”   I knew Dr. Wittorf. I knew about Duesenberg cars. I’d heard of Merle Norman Cosmetics. But I didn’t know the name Nethercutt until many years later. I understand that J.B. Nethercutt died in 2004 at age 91. Dr. Wittorf died in 2014, aged 101. If Nethercutt was as fine a person as Dr. Wittorf, he must have been a great guy. And what a museum!

O.K., back to car paint. Deep olive green.

We had TCP Global do a few more spray outs to focus solely on olive greens and eventually decided on a color called “Olive Green Deep” that was manufactured by Valentine & Company (later the Valspar company). The color was found on page 32 of the Horseless Carriage Gazette from March/April 2005.

Fast forward to August 2019, I had gotten a pint can of acrylic paint left over from the TCP Global spray outs. It wasn’t a full pint, but enough to do one door of the Michigan and a bit more. I sprayed it to see what “olive green deep” looked like. We liked it.  Bandit (the dog) didn’t really express an opinion, although I am sure she will want to ride in the Michigan when it is finished.)

Ignore the orange peel, it polished out. And the dog doesn’t care.

Green door on original black body (not sanded).

Fast forward again to July 2020, I’m sanding and getting ready to paint the body.  A gallon of Acrylic Urethane “Restoration Shop” paint (HC-32-10 Olive Green Deep, 1912 Michigan) was ordered from TCP Global.  My Dad got a “Covid-free” ride down from Fresno with my sister, Susan & niece, Amanda to help me sand, shoot primer, sand, and maybe shoot green over the next week.

Block sanding primer on the body. Notice crouched awkward sanding position – even sitting on a bucket.

My Dad, Susan & Amanda arrived on July 19, 2020, avoiding all Covid exposure and doing recon on where you can find a bathroom on the 350 mile trip between Fresno and Carlsbad. (Hey!  Pitstops are a real thing. Covid-19 has made many things rather difficult.)  We celebrated Susan’s birthday #LXV, (that’s in Latin) and then got to work. First we raised the height of the body on its platform to a better working height. My back is LXVI years old and my Dad’s is XCIII, so a comfortable working height is important.   I re-used the box my Motor Rotor came in (see Blog Post: Getting Ready for Re-Assembly, January 5, 2018)

Pop & Motor Rotor box.

Body hovers over box on rolling platform.

Sanders take a break to say, Hi!

Plastic sheet spray booth is ready to prime.

Spray bunny heads for the doors. Pop keeps the bunny’s air lines untangled.

Primed body.

On July 27, 2020 we shot the green paint.  All went pretty well until my fabulously expensive Harbor Freight – Maximo Cheapo #62300, purple paint shooter decided to take a dump and simply stay ON. (And yes, it had been scrupulously cleaned in solvent.) When this happened, I opted to just keep moving and smile.  Fortunately there was only a small amount of paint left in the gun and I finished about 2 minutes later. The paint was green, the air could have turned blue. But I behaved myself. Dad would not approve. A new — many times more expensive — paint shooter has been ordered.

GREEN!

Green doors three. Or, Behind the Green Doors.

So what is left to paint?  Door hinges, the four hood panels and the left rear door (the first painted green, but it had a chip when the molding was re-attached.)  All will be shot when the new shooter arrives.

My first project after the months long landscaping hiatus, was an assessment of the leather door cards.  Here is what they looked like – pretty much the way we found them back in Steve Dickey’s Hebron barn in September 2011. (Yeah…. a while ago.)

Door Card – Right Front

Door Card – Right Rear

Door Card – Left Front

Door card – Left rear

Each leather door card had issues.  The right front was in the best condition – by far, but even it was stiff, brittle and had some minor tears.  My quest was to see if some of the supposed “leather rejuvenators” and leather repair methods worked.  My assessment is – sort of. After considerable effort, NONE of these things look new or un-flawed. But, they are original to the car. The right rear door card is a complete loss. Portions had been EATEN by some of the numerous rodents and other vermin that called our MICHIGAN’s upholstery home for decades.

I used backing material (blue jean patches) in areas that had holes kicked into them and long tears and filler materials where the tears came together. Black leather dye was applied in places where the original surface was gone and where the filler showed.

All of the material was saturated with neats foot oil multiple times. It was truly amazing how thirsty this 108 year old leather was. I did as many as 10 applications and it all soaked in (when left overnight or in the sun).

Neats foot oil & right front door card.

Here’s what the completed (but not installed) door cards looked like:

Left front door card, after repair, before installation.

Left rear door card repaired & installed with nickel plated trims.

What you cannot see or feel is that these door cards are now much more flexible and usable.  Before treatment they were almost as brittle as crackers.  The flaps bend upwards when the twist lock / turn button fasteners are opened, allowing for storage between the inside of the door card and the metal door panel. All of the doors on the MICHIGAN have this feature except the right front door which is immediately adjacent to the gear shifter & hand brake lever. (Remember, this is a right hand drive automobile.)  We will see what our upholsterer wants for new door cards.  We will have to replace one of them – the right rear door. The others may stay or go, depending on cost. Our goal is to have a fairly original car, but the contrast may be so much that we will be compelled to replace them all.  We will see.

The work on the MICHIGAN really started to slow down July 1, 2019, when we commenced a major front & backyard landscaping project we had been thinking about since 2014 and earlier. We had the plans for 5 years, but Janet & I had been putting it off mostly because we really dislike the disruption caused by construction activity. Routines stop and reset according to what the construction guys have in mind. The MICHIGAN got neglected while we tore up the the yards, removed trees, installed an outside kitchen & BBQ, enlarged a patio, added a patio shade structure, removed lawns, put in a new lawn, converted all irrigation to drip and low volume sprinklers. Oh…. and there was the new brickwork, and pathways and path lights and garbage can enclosure and gate and plantings and mulch and fruit trees and….. well you get the idea.  But wait, there was also the tortoise enclosure and pond and fountain and…. all together it was a major deal. No time for the MICHIGAN until the landscape work was finally finished in early February 2020.

Rancho Tortuga – with fountain, pond and Rocky outside her condo.

And then came the Covid-19 shut down with all its disruptions to life as we know it. I really didn’t get back into MICHIGAN work until about April 2020.

I found a BUDA, if not enlightenment.

This is not a Buda

Alright, that really isn’t quite true. The Buda found me. Nirvana achieved — in Bellevue Ohio. Who knew?

When you have an obscure website featuring old cars and odd bits of machinery, sometimes nice people in search of information about odd bits of machinery go searching and find you. Google . The all knowing, all seeing eye in the sky.

Back in August of 2019, I got a comment to my website (this very one). Jim Walter asked if I knew anyone that might be interested in a BUDA engine. That prompted a correspondence, exchange of photos and several phone calls. No, I didn’t know anyone that was looking for an engine, but I might be interested. It turns out that Jim’s lady friend, Mary Sieger was selling her fathers property in Bellevue, Ohio. On the property was a garage, in the garage was an old Buda engine & radiator. The engine was on blocks, had a tag on the crankcase, and had a fly-ball governor and exhaust whistle attached as well. Mary explained that the engine was used by her grandfather & uncle to power a sawmill. It was a Buda, “T” model engine.

This is a Buda.   Mary & Jim sent me this photo – among others.

This is precisely the engine that is in our MICHIGAN car. (without the blocks, fly-ball governor or exhaust whistle) So, seeing the opportunity to acquire a “back-up” engine for parts and whatnot, Jim, Mary and I came to an agreement as to price and how I would arrange to come get the engine. The soonest I might be able to get the engine was in October 2019, when Janet & I would be visiting Janet’s sister, Sally & brother-in-law, Clarence in Hobart, Indiana. Janet was going to attend the 150th anniversary celebration of Purdue University and visit with Gamma Phi Beta sorority sisters she had not seen in many years. I was NOT enthusiastic about attending that event, but…….. maybe, just maybe, I had a really great excuse for NOT being able to attend. Like maybe I needed to go retrieve the Buda in Ohio. Perfect excuse. I went with it.

Hobart to Bellvue – approximately 4 hours each way in perfect conditions.

On October 14, 2019, brother-in-law, Clarence Davis and I, packed up his Toyota Tacoma with straps and chains and headed East on Interstate 80-90, bound for Bellevue OH. Bellevue is located almost due South of Sandusky and about 500 miles, round trip from Hobart. This was going to be a long day of driving.

We met up with Jim & Mary a little after noon. And there, on a flat bed trailer was the Buda, in all its rust encrusted glory.

Now we needed to get the motor off the flat bed and into the back of the Tacoma. Jim had a buddy with a fork lift just South of town. Way South. Jim and the flat bed led the way. We thought we were for sure headed on back roads to Kentucky – which is a nice place and all, but we did have a schedule and a long drive back to Hobart.

Once we made it to the farm with the fork lift, the Buda quickly rose up and levitated over to the Tacoma where we secured it with straps and fasteners for the trip back to Indiana.

Clarence prepares to install lifting straps.

The Buda levitates for the first time that day.

Craig happily surveys the well secured Buda while refueling in Bellvue.

Craig & Clarence meditate on the how the Buda is to become enlightened.

Enlightenment is achieved and the  Buda is levitated again. This time at its temporary home in Hobart.

That evening, just as the sun went down, the Buda was placed on a nice wooden pallet in Sally & Clarence’s barn where it now awaits for the appointed time to journey to California.

Some might say, “The Buda abides.”

The Buda is enthroned on a nice wooden pallet.

I’ve added a contemporary listing of the car brands that came equipped with self starters. The list is from the January 4, 1912, issue of The Automobile magazine.  You can see this addition by going to the page heading “Nuts & Bolts” and using the pull down menu entitled “Starter (Acetylene)- Prest-O-Starter, Prest-O-Lite Company.” It is a remarkable list of extinct automobile brands.  Only one company exists today. Check it out. https://michiganmotorcar.com/nuts-bolts-2/prest-o-starter-acetylene-starter/

If you are looking for the statistics and designations for other BUDA engines, I’ve added a listing that was published in 1917 in a company publication called BUDA The Motor.  The listing is at: https://michiganmotorcar.com/nuts-bolts-2/engine/

We captured the rare and hard to detect Detroit Demountable Rim tool in the wilds of Minnesota.  Well, O.K. — I didn’t capture it. A fellow named Mike Flourhaug did.  But it wasn’t easy and there were probably some big mosquitoes.  Check out the addition in the “Nuts & Bolts” pull down menu, “Wheels – Shortsville Wheels & Detroit Demountable Rims” https://michiganmotorcar.com/nuts-bolts-2/shortsville-wheels-detroit-demountable-rims/

I’ve added some information regarding the connections between Prest-O-Lite Company, the Indianapolis 500 Race, and the Lincoln Highway.  Check out the additions under the pull down “Nuts & Bolts” menu and select “Starter (Acetylene)- Prest-O-Starter, Prest-O-Lite Company”. https://michiganmotorcar.com/nuts-bolts-2/prest-o-starter-acetylene-starter/

I’ve created a new page under the NUTS & BOLTS heading for information regarding the restoration of our E&J Model 577 headlights.  Check it out.

The collection of lighting for the MICHIGAN.

Starting in October of 2018, I sent out the right front fender and hood sections to North County Powder Coating, to be gently and carefully sand blasted.  This is the same firm that did such very nice work blasting & powder coating the Michigan’s frame. ( See my July 8, 2016) post “Blasted & Coated”) When these parts came back, the good news was that the parts were mostly solid and not laced with rust holes.  The bad news was that there was lots of pitting on all the parts and the hood panels were both pitted and still warped (The hood panels were that way when we got the Michigan – not a result of over-zealous sand blasting or other problems we created.) In any case, the front right fender had been patched by Phillip Dickey (or the infamous Portage High students) probably sometime in the 1970’s. The left front fender (and the rear fenders) looked pretty good with little peeling or other defects. So….. now was the time to get these body parts primed and painted. But what sort of paint?  In the course of researching “antique paints” it was apparent that “historically accurate” paints either don’t exist, are not clean air friendly (have high portions of volatile organic compounds – VOC) or would be prohibitively expensive to obtain. All of those point to simply using a modern paint system that will result in a durable finish not wholly inconsistent with the appearance one would expect on a car from 100 years ago.  And…. how do we fill those awful pits in the metal?

Bare R front fender and hood sections – Oct. 31, 2018

CHOOSING THE PAINT SYSTEM — One of the things that must be considered when restoring automobiles is what sort of paint to put on the car. These days the choices are numerous. They were NOT numerous when the Michigan was built in 1912, but that does not mean that the process was easy.  Check out this description of the painting process that our car went through.

Click on image to enlarge – full brochure is in the PAINT post in the “NUTS & BOLTS” pull down menu.

MODERN PAINT TYPES: SINGLE STAGE or TWO STAGE? — The current automotive paint types are divided into two major types. We have single stage paints (pigment & sealer all in one) or 2 stage paints which have a base color coat with clear coat on top to make it shine. This has nothing to do with how the paint cures or dries. It DOES have to do with how many times you have to spray the finishing coats of paint.  2 stage paint systems require you spray at least 2 times. First with the base color coat and then second with the clear sealer. Single stage is theoretically sprayed only one time. Because this car is NOT a show car or museum piece, my instinct and knowledge as to what happens to paint on old cars that are actually driven pointed me in the direction of a SINGLE STAGE paint. I understand that touch-ups and color changes are easier if you DO NOT have to sand out a clear coat.  So I’m electing to do an “all in one” paint job. Single stage is the system for me.

I am told that the paints come as lacquer, enamel, or urethane. Lacquer is old school and full of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) which contain solvents & such which are intended to rapidly evaporate into the air to dry the paint. These are becoming very difficult to find and are legally discouraged or actually illegal to spray in some states – such as California.  This type of paint was used for MANY years and is some of what was originally used on the MICHIGAN back in 1912. Enamels and urethanes are the resins that the pigment (if any) is suspended in. I am told that these are sometimes mixed — making the distinctions between enamel and urethane truly confounding. The paint chemists would know — I would not.  I am told that enamels are softer resins and dry to a glossy finish. Supposedly, urethanes of some sort are used by most new car manufacturers and are more durable than other paint types.

ONE PART vs. TWO PART / 1K vs. 2K — A one part (1K) paint is simply sprayed on and it drys by evaporation or heat or a combination. This is much like the old lacquer high VOC paints that relied on solvents evaporating in the air.  A two part (2K) paint requires a hardener or catalyst to be added just before spraying and then reacts, hardens or dries chemically. It is similar to a very thin 2 part epoxy glue.  If you don’t add enough hardener or catalyst, the glue or sprayed paint will never dry. Or if you add too much, the glue or sprayed paint will set up hard before you can get it on the broken part or sprayed out of the spray gun. Oh dear… either not enough hardener or too much hardener is a mess either way.  Almost all aerosol rattle-can paints are one part paints. Recently they have started to produce 2 part aerosol can paints. They all require a system to break open a catalyst pack inside the can and each and every can will be very pricey. It would be nearly impossible to mistake one part and 2 part aerosol cans.  Generally speaking, we understand that the chemical bond in a 2 part paint has a more durable finish than the 1 part paints. So it sounded like we probably wanted a 2 part paint on the car. O.K., so what are the downsides? All of these paints have components that evaporate or react to allow the paint to dry. None of this stuff is good to breathe.  Indeed, commonly used solvents in 2 part (2K) catalyzed paints often contain isocyanates, which are poisonous. While all spray painting should be done with filter masks, the 2 part (2K) paints require a bit more protection — a lot more. Fresh air systems are recommended by the experts and they cover all exposed skin with Tyvek or similar zip up bunny suits.  Exposure to these chemicals can cause permanent respiratory problems and strong allergic reactions. So……. I got the bunny suit and a fresh-air hood to do the painting on this car.

Craig in his Tyvek® bunny suit & fresh air mask spraying primer on the rear fenders.

The “Space Bunny” spraying the splash aprons.

Filling the pits, dings and bumpy splices –The right front fender had two sections spliced in. Both repairs appear to have been brazed in by overlapping the pieces and NOT butt welded. That means there was additional thickness at the overlap from old to new steel.  That means “a bump” where the steel overlaps. The only way to make this disappear is to hammer it as flat as you can ON THE EXPOSED SIDE without distorting the area and apply body filler to blend out the bump.  I can tell you that this took hours of multiple applications of filler and block sanding until the result was basically invisible on the top side of the fender.  Unless I decide later to get very picky – the splices will be visible UNDER the fender.  It’s black under there, behind the wheel & tire and folks will be looking at other stuff. I’m not going to worry about it at this stage. If you want to crawl under the car and look at the back side of the fender – be my guest. No apologies.  I want to get this car back on the road.

The actual painting and sanding had to wait a really long time. Because we were doing this outside (no mist & no breeze), and because Southern California was experiencing an unusually rainy Winter, our first perfect painting day wasn’t until March 23, 2019.

For reference purposes, I am using the following products:

Body Filler — SMART, Ultra Premium® from FinishMaster

High Solids Primer Paint — Restoration Shop® RP 2100 urethane primer with RH 4201 urethane hardener from TCP Global.

Sand paper —  80 grit 3M®, 120 grit 3M and various other 60, 80, 120, 220, 400 grit paper and lots of it. Dura-Block® sanding blocks for the flatter areas and Soft Sanders® sanding blocks for the weird bendy curves and raised bead areas. I have been experimenting with other materials that I can use to sand the raised beaded areas that were formed into the fenders and hood sections for stiffening. These raised sections were very common on early cars, especially so on large flat areas or where vibration was greatest – like front fenders. So far — I have not found a perfect solution for sanding those design features. The Soft Sanders, have worked “O.K.”.  Adhesive backed sand paper is a must with these sorts of sanding blocks. The combination of soft sanding blocks and sticky-backed sandpaper works pretty well either sanding wet or dry.

Hood top section showing filler and stiffening bead.

Right front fender showing spliced section & raised bead

Elbow Grease®  by yours truly & my Dad.  And lots of it.

Sanding with Dad

More sanding.

Still more sanding

DA (dual action) sanders work “o.k.” but frankly they aren’t very helpful on very flat surfaces or areas that have raised beads. It could also be rookie operator issues.  But……. I am getting better.

As of the date of this posting (June 3, 2019) I’m ready to put on a finish coat of black on the fenders, splash aprons, and hood – but haven’t had a nice calm, sunny day yet. I also usually need a “hose tender” to keep the air hoses from getting tangled while I dance about in my bunny suit and try to stay focused on spraying. But we’ll get there.

I will also let you know how happy I am with these paint & other choices when I get further along in the process.

UPDATE:  June 9, 2019 – I sprayed the fenders and splash aprons JET BLACK. They look really nice and shiny.

Freshly painted black fenders baking in the sun.

The black fenders look pretty nice to me.