While this restoration isn’t really a race, the reassembly of the running gear was aimed at actually attempting to start the engine. All to be accomplished before taking steps to put the body, fenders, and other parts back on the car. To that end, I needed to come up with some sort of temporary frame to support the dashboard – firewall on to which the starting coil and steering column are attached. When the body is on the car, this is not a problem. Without the body, the dash just wants to flop around. Probably NOT a good thing.
I made lots of measurements and came up with some temporary wood brackets that would accommodate the floor boards and pedals as well as making room for a temporary seat, should I actually get the engine started. By September this is what it looked like.
Temporary dash & floor board support frame.
On August 22, 2016, I picked up the finished BRIGGS Magneto from Carl Bloom and started re-assembly of the car’s components in preparation for trying to get the engine started. But all that had to wait until after a much anticipated trip East to attend the gigantic auto parts swap meet in Hershey Pennsylvania.
In August, I visited our Michigan’s magneto (Type C, BRIGGS MAGNETO COMPANY of Elkhart, Indiana) that was being repaired by Carl Bloom in Orange, California. Carl has a really interesting shop filled with vintage testing machines and many antique magnetos on workbenches in various states of meticulous repair. Carl had already replaced the old intermittent unreliable coil with a modern coil. The old coil was a solid block of hardened resin of some sort surrounded with insulating mica sheets. The wiring was seriously decayed and brittle.
Old magneto coil with connections and mica sheets.
It was much better for several reasons to enclose a modern ignition coil in the original box and remove the 3 or 4 pound chunk of mystery resin and crumbling wires.
Modern magneto coil in ignition switch box
On the tester, our magneto was working and nearly ready to go. Then there was the matter of the oil channels & oil supply tank unique to BRIGGS brand magnetos. These, Carl told me, needed to be by-passed as too clogged or damaged. A shorter, direct oil line with felt wicks near the armature shaft would be installed.
Briggs Magneto on tester. Ignition switch & coil box in foreground.
Magneto automatic oiler tank.
I gave my approval to Carl to remove the tank and shorten the lines leading to the armature shaft. I would just have to remember to put “Oil the magneto” on my start-up list.
The January 25, 1912 edition of MOTOR AGE gave the following description of the BRIGGS line of magnetos, at pages 74 & 75:
“The Briggs magnetos are of the primary armature type, having a single low-tension winding on the armature shaft, whose current is transformed into high-tension by an auxillary dash coil. The arrangement of the high-tension distributor over the circuit breaker at one end of the machine is conventional; and a feature of the construction is the enclosure of the magnets and rear end of the machine in a metal dust and water-proof case… The magnets are large and carefully fitted to the pole piece. The distributor is made of hard rubber with a secret compound added, which gives it a reddish brown appearance and renders it peculiarly impervious to heat. The circuit breaker is of simple and sturdy construction, the parts are heavy, and the cam is made of steel case-hardened, and operates a case-hardened roller on the striker arm. The circuit-breaker parts are lubricated by means of an oil cup which feeds oil to the cam by means of a wick. Contact points are heavy pieces of platinum iridium with positive means of adjustment, and a shield is provided to protect them from oil. A feature of the model C magneto is an oil tank placed in the arch of the magnets which holds six ounces of oil. The oil feeds automatically from the tank to all bearings and this tank should hold sufficient oil for 15,000 miles of travel.”
A lot was accomplished during July of 2016. After Tori & I got the axles back on the car, I added in the transmission, which I have yet to open or otherwise mess with, other than exterior cleaning.
The transmission goes back in on July 17, 2016
Then I reconnected the drive shaft & universal joint to the back of the transmission. Unbeknownst to us at the time — the entire drive shaft assembly including the differential case had been seriously messed with at some point and was put into the car UPSIDE DOWN.
The drive shaft tube and entire interior differential gearing is all UPSIDE DOWN. The car came to us that way.
My Dad, Vince, came down from Fresno to help re-install the engine on July 27, 2016.
My Dad helped install the engine.
Later in the day, I removed the oil pan to inspect the crank shaft, rod caps and anything else that might look amiss or wrong.
Oil pan, after a bit of cleaning
Crank showing blue silicone sealant towards the front seal and #1 & #4 rods in down position. Note rod caps and main bearings are held down with 4 bolts each.
Nothing seemed obviously wrong or loose. Just inside the oil pan was an interior splash pan which was part of the same oil pan casting (aluminum) positioned so that the crank throws would splash through oil as the engine rotated, with the oil pump pick-up line in the sump below.
Photo from under the car showing oil pan sump pickup line.
Photo shows rod #4 with oil pump drive / cam lobe top center of picture.
Dad points out the splash tray portion of the oil pan casting.
With the engine in, it was time to re-install the leather cone clutch and front universal joint.
Leather cone clutch goes back into fly wheel.
Brake & clutch pedals are already in and the last bolt goes into the universal joint.
By July 31, 2016, I had also attached the water jacket cover, water pump, spark plug & acetylene injector plugs, exhaust manifold & exhaust pipe and temporarily attache the steering column & steering wheel.
June 11, 2016 our daughter, Victoria (Tori) took time off between quarters at U.C. Santa Barbara and helped me with some reassembly. First to go back on was the rear axle & differential, which got grease in all the cups and various friction points.
Tori fills grease cups prior to assembly on springs.
Next up was the front axle.
Tori steadies the front axle before installation on springs.
By June 17th, we had the car starting to look sort of like a car again.
Springs, axles & wheels back on the frame.
Next the transmission went back in.
Transmission back in.
In the process of attaching the transmission to the universal joint that goes to the drive shaft, I discovered a plug on the universal with the logo or monogram shown below. We are pretty sure that the transmissions were nearly unique to the MICHIGAN company. It appears that the transmission was manufactured by the FULLER company ( for more about this, go to Nuts & Bolts, Transmission – ). But that doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with the universal joints. There are three in the car. Two from the engine to the transmission and another from the transmission to the drive shaft. All of which allow the component to be varied and the use of longer or shorter wheelbases or other tweaks between model types. Anyway, we will be on the lookout for any such logos that may lead us to the company that produced the universal joints.
Logo on universal lube plug. CLICK PHOTO TO ENLARGE
Our differential and rear axle were removed along with all other running gear when we sent the frame out for powder coating. That gave us an opportunity to clean it up, look it over from all sides and really inspect it. We found some interesting things. But first we got it cleaner. Eric & I scrubbed and scraped with Simple Green and then power-washer it.
Eric is ready to power wash the differential. May 21, 2016
The result was mostly grease & oil free.
Scrubbing and scraping.
And here’s what we observed — casting dates: Feb 16, 1911 D1, and Jan 27, 1911
Differential housing – casting date: Feb 16, 1911 D1
Axel housing, Casting Date: Jan 27, 1911
While we had easy access to the rear end, I opened up the back of the differential to see if it looked nice or nasty. Actually, it wasn’t bad at all.
Differential open. Ring gear on right side — Which is BACKWARDS. It should be LEFT side.
While the oil was not golden, it wasn’t gritty dirty nasty either – so I count that as GOOD. What was odd, was that the ring gear was on the right hand side of the differential. This is the opposite of what is depicted in various line drawings and brochures that exist for our car. I have attached page 15, of the “announcement” of the “Michigan Automobile 1912” also referred to as “The Michigan Through a Microscope” brochure. Interestingly, the steering drag link shown on page 15 is on the left side, which is the reverse of the actual right hand drive set-up for Michigan’s in 1912. (The 1913 cars did have left hand drive and the gear shift was mounted in the center of the car.) This leads me to believe that perhaps the images on page 15 have been reversed which might explain why our car has the ring gear in the opposite position from what is depicted below. Confounding this is the image of the Sheldon Jackshaft from the Motor Age article at the end of this post. That image has the ring gear on the left side. Is it possible that when Phillip Dickey was going through the car that the axle sides got flip flopped the wrong way? I’m not sure, I’ll have to ask Mike Howard which side his ring gear is on. [UPDATE, January 7, 2017– our ring gear is on the WRONG SIDE. Note the notch in the housing where the ring gear is supposed to go. For further info on this go to my Post of May 31, 2017.]
Perhaps the illustrations have the axle & differential images REVERSED from what they are supposed to be? NOPE – The image is correct. Our car had the ring gear on the wrong side.
While we cannot definitively state that this rear axle and differential were made by SHELDON AXLE COMPANY, the indications are pretty strong. The front axle is marked: SHELDON AXLE CO.
SHELDON Axle Co marking on FRONT axle.
This hidden marking on the front axle (back side on the left) prompted me to see what I could find out about SHELDON AXLE CO. also known as SHELDON AXLE & SPRING CO. (It changed its name to add the word “SPRING” in 1914.)
CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE Sheldon Axle Company advertisement, The Automobile Trade Directory, Apr. 1911
Apparently the company did lots of leaf springs too. Maybe our car has SHELDON springs. I did find this marking on one of the REAR half springs. Is it year of manufacture? Location of manufacture or destination?
Marking on REAR half spring. KALAMAZOO 11
I also found this on the FRONT spring mounting bracket (holds spring to axle). It appears to be a monogram with the letters CBW. It is distinctive, but I have yet to connect it to anything and it is not the trademark used by Sheldon Axle, which is a sort of horizontal double anchor logo. {-o-}
CBW spring bracket stamping
SHELDON trademark at top of advertisement
The differential had no other distinguishing marks. But research into descriptions and diagrams of SHELDON differentials and rear axles seems consistent with the diff on our car. I found the following description of a SHELDON rear axle & differential in the Jan. 25, 1912 edition of MOTOR AGE: Progress in 1912 Axles FULL
SHELDON 201-D axle
This ad from Motor Age, February 1, 1912 shows our rear axle & differential, even though the casting is stamped “D1” rather than “201-D”
With the frame stripped of everything, it was time to take it for sand blasting & powder coating at North County Powder Coating. My son, Eric, and daughter-in-law, Kristie, were visiting from New York and were promptly drafted to assist in getting the frame loaded into our trailer for the trip to the powder coater.
Eric & Kristie helped load the frame for transport to North County Powder Coating.
Once there, Kirsten Weik & Ricardo Delvillar got us set up with a black semi-gloss color selection and we marked the various “be gentle on this area” and “don’t coat here” portions of the frame. These were things like bearing surfaces and the frame serial number stamping.
Marking, taping and plugging frame prior to sandblasting & coating.
Two and a half weeks later we picked up the completed frame and brought it home. It looked really nice.
With the last shackle pins removed we had nothing left on the frame. We drafted Janet to help us lift the frame up and over the differential and out of the workshop. Next stop, the top of our yard and then on to North County Powder Coating.
Frame heads towards the street.
But where did our Michigan go? All that is left is the hind quarters.
In looking at the front spring mount for the rear wheels / differential / rear axle / it was apparent that it was considerably more complicated than the other (unscrew the nut) mounts. Not being familiar with this sort of mount or fastening method, we looked at it and finally came to the conclusion that the pin was driven into the mount, through the spring and retained by another threaded pin. This was NOT completely obvious, as the retaining pin was camouflaged by grit, grease, dirt and detritus, besides being a half inch down in a hole. The clue was a screw slot, revealed after cleaning the hole out. But the screw wouldn’t budge. Applications of Kroil penetrant, were without success, so out came the “heat wrench” propane torch. We heated and lubed several times and then re-lubed with more Kroil.
Heating the spring mount
Finally the screw loosened a bit. More Kroil. Half turn out. Half turn in. Repeat. Full turn out. Full turn in. Repeat. Eventually the screw came out. That’s nice. There was no way to bang the actual shackle pin out. The threads looked like and felt like 3/8 x 24 fine thread, but a bolt threaded in got very tight and started to strip.
Rejoice – a loose screw – left side photo.
Time to call on someone that may have actually done this operation — Mike Howard (another Model K owner). On the evening of May 12, we got a call from Mike. He suggested a slide hammer and a gear puller arrangement. Good news. We were on the correct path to extracting this pin.
On May 13, Dad & I got another (unstripped) 3/8 x 24 fine bolt and an all thread connector nut at the hardware store and welded up a tool for the end of my slide hammer. BINGO! A few hard smacks and the pin gave up and let loose. The rear end was now detached from the frame.
Having removed the body of the car presents you with a fairly uncluttered view of the running gear and drive train.
I ain’t got no body
It also sets your mind to worrying about corrosion hidden in little nooks and crannies. And then you decide to take it all off so you can RE-assemble on a solid rust free protected frame. Well….. that’s the thought. Surface and other rust was evident. Peeling paint was significant.
Rust never sleeps
Peel is real
What should we do? Sand & wire brush? Blast & paint? What was cost efficient? Yes, I have a sand blasting pot and a big compressor, but the last outside blasting job that I did used multiple bags of sand, was messy, and took forever. (My blasting cabinet is a different story and I use it all the time, usually with glass beads as the preferred media.)
After long consideration and discussions with others, I’ve come to the conclusion that while not perfect, the best route is to remove everything from the frame and send it out to be blasted and powder coated. Here is how we removed the engine, transmission, front and rear axles over the period May 9 through 13, 2016.
Motor in a sling
Dad steadies the motor as it is lowered into a custom cart.
Transmission leaves the frame.
Empty frame with wheels
After the shackle pins are removed, the front end rolls out onto the grass.
One of the truly disconcerting things about doing restoration work is figuring out when to NOT go to the next level of disintegrating the car. The ultimate level is completely taking the car apart to the last little nut & bolt. Once you get going, your vision gets blurred and it seems that everything needs to be freshened up. Oh dear. I fear that I may be on that track. The major precipitating event happened when my Dad & I removed the body of the car on New Years Eve, December 31, 2015. I was somewhat shocked to find that the four bolts that hold the body on were not just loose, they had no nuts on them at all. Clear evidence to me that Philip Dickey (we obtained the car from his son, Steve –my wife Janet’s cousin) had been here already. With our trusty Harbor Freight 2 ton crane, fitted to a 4×4 beam with a wire cable yoke, my Dad, Vince and our housekeeper, Juana Rodriguez balanced the load and slowly jacked up the body.
Single 4×4 beam & wire yoke at the balance point
I then rolled the frame & running gear out from under the suspended body.
Ready to roll out the car from under the levitated body.
Next, I rolled in our previously constructed “body cart”.
Body Cart in place
The body was then on the cart which had casters allowing us to move the body around in the workshop.
Body removed from frame to rest on cart.
We felt we had accomplished a lot and deserved to rest up until next year. Which we did.
