The new tuned magneto has since behaved itself.  The starting routine that seems to work best is as follows:

1. Open valve on gas supply line next to the carburetor
2. Pull out the choke wire
3. Turn the engine over 4 or 5 cranks
4. Push in choke wire
5. Get in car, verify in neutral, push in clutch pedal
6. Adjust gas to 1:00 position and spark to 1:00 position
7. Turn switch to BAT.
8. Push Shower of Sparks button.
9. Turn switch to MAG. after it starts.

Normally that will start the car……. Except when it is warm.  That routine has yet to be perfected.

On August 31, 2022 we started up the car and went out to visit friends. We picked up Bryan & Carole Gunner and then proceeded to visit Dave & Anita Trotta, where their son Nick, climbed aboard and we drove a short distance through the neighborhood.

Craig, Nick Trotta, Bryan & Carole Gunner get a brief ride.

We probably put a total of 10 miles or less on the car, but it was overheating at every stop.

When we returned home I set out to see if a Gano coolant filter I had installed might be plugged. It was. It appeared to be small fibers and rusty goop.

Rusty gunk and fibers in the Gano filter.

Clogged Gano filter – other side.

After cleaning the filter, I could see that there was considerable oil and water around the threads of the valve chamber plugs. A bubble or two was also present. So I removed them. This was obviously a compression leak and perhaps something more sinister.

Bubbles and oil around the threads of the valve chamber plugs.

Front 4 valve chamber plugs removed. Oily valve tops.

I decided to remove the water jacket cover as well and try to see if we had a cracked or leaking piston or a hole in the water jacket that might penetrate the cylinder wall.

Putty knife used to break the sealant and separate the water jacket cover from the block.

Water jacket cover opened showing tops of cylinders and coolant galleries full of water.

The height of the water was reassuring (indicating small or no leaks). I then re-installed the valve chamber plugs without the spark plugs and filled each cylinder with compressed air as I rotated the fly wheel to a “valves closed” position and looked for bubbles. There were none. On the compression stroke, the compressed air would push the piston down, rotating the flywheel part way. This was true for both “suspect” cylinders. Trapped air could also be released through the priming cups. All in all, this was a very reassuring result. No apparent leaks in the water jacket and reasonably tight piston rings. I suspect the culprit was the copper ring gaskets I made to replace the old flattened ones I had removed from the valve chamber plugs.  Standard sized replacement gaskets were not to be had through any of the gasket resources available. They were either too large to fit in the recesses in the head or too small to go over the threaded plug. I had made solid copper wire rings and soldered the break.  I think I will try stranded wire in the future to see if it seals more securely and crushes better than the solid annealed wire. The leaks prove that I’m not getting full power from the engine and that is a bummer.  For the time being, I’m going to reassemble the plugs and gaskets as is, but with a bit more anti-seize paste and tightening the plugs a bit more.  Maybe I can get them to seal up.

As reported June 20, 2022, the Bosch DU-4 Dual Magneto was working on the bench.  The next day I started to make the modification of the dash board to accommodate the somewhat smaller diameter of the Bosch switch & coil vs. the larger diameter Briggs switch & coil. I got it all wired in and timed by June 29, 2022.

My custom turned collar and plywood back plate for the Bosch switch and coil.

Bosch switch & coil installed. The Briggs switch & coil & mag soon to be removed.

After completing the change over to the Bosch setup, we tried a start. It was miraculous. I primed the engine by pulling the choke wire, cranking the engine 4 or 5 quarter turns, switched the switch to battery and pushed the shower of sparks button.  Pop pop pop vroom!  She started right up!  Hooray! Problems solved. Then I turned the switch to the Mag. setting and there was a slight change in the RPMs, but otherwise it was idling just fine. Eureka!

Janet & I took several short trips around the neighborhood to confirm that the car was running on both BAT. and MAG.  It was.  There was some stumbling when accelerating but this was probably an ongoing carburetor issue. NOT an ignition issue. We were happy and my Dad, sister Susan and her husband Dan were due for a visit in early July. We would have a lovely drive in our all but completed car………….

Ahem…….. not so fast buddy.

First it flung the cover for the interrupter (points) off into the street. Which didn’t cause it to immediately stop because the piece is only needed to short out the magneto circuit when you want the car to stop.  We didn’t see it leave the car, but it couldn’t have been too far because our drive had been short. What is amazing is that we didn’t discover that it was gone until 2 days later. We drove along our route from 2 days before at about 2 miles per hour with our doors open looking at the street. Janet spotted it on the curb where some thoughtful neighbor placed it.

Interrupter cover for Bosch DU-4 Dual magneto. Found by Janet on the curb North-east corner of Hillside and Sunnyhill.

The cover went back on the magneto and we got another couple of rides out of the car over the next few days. The last time we took it out before my Dad & sister arrived the engine got fairly warm. The Motometer on the radiator indicated HOT, and the overflow pipe was spewing steam.  We had gone on a “long” ride — about 5 to 7 miles. The engine was stumbling when it limped back into the garage. Not a good sign.

For context, you must remember that this magneto (the “new” Bosch) is over 100 years old.  It had been sitting unused for probably 80 years. That insulating resin in the coils and windings hasn’t been in a  hot engine compartment for a long long time.  It could melt and fail at any time.  And it did.

When my Dad, sister and hubby Dan arrived all ready for a ride in the newly completed Michigan – it refused to start. Not a cough or sputter. The “new” magneto was dead. We took pictures anyway  – even if we had to roll the car out and then back into the garage.

July 10, 2022 L to R: Dan Kehler, Janet, Susan Kehler, Vince Correll, Craig. All disappointed because the magneto failed.  But the 48 star flags look nice on the radiator. They are 1912 appropriate – both Arizona and New Mexico joined the Union in 1912.

So……. we need to send the magneto off for repairs. Our Horseless Carriage consultants recommended Bob Smith, the MagnetoDoc of Gardenerville NV. On July 11, 2022,  I called Bob, and let him know a heavy package was on its way to his place. Then I crossed my fingers. Would this be a long term solution?  Only time will tell.

Two days later, Bob confirmed by phone that our troublesome mag had arrived. He noted that someone had reversed the base and had probably had it opened up during its prior life. I just wanted reliable — “Bob please proceed to fix what looks iffy or typically fails.”

I got our mag back from Bob on August 20, 2022.  Would it work?

Freshly refurbished Bosch DU-4 Dual Model 5, magneto. This thing should work.

On August 23, 2022, I gleefully installed the mag and set to timing the car.  It wouldn’t start.  I retimed the car setting the fly wheel to #1 & 4 to TDC and watching the battery interrupter points just barely start to open as the fly wheel hit TDC — just as I had before.  It wouldn’t start, just a single pop and maybe a backfire. I timed it again. One pop. I checked the battery.  I timed it again to the magneto points. (This car has points for battery start and points for running on magneto– hence the word “DUAL” in the description. And they are a couple of degrees different.)  No change – one pop and maybe a backfire when cranked. I let the car sit for a day or two. When things get frustrating, parts sometimes get broken.  I called Bob and asked for advice. He said check the wiring.

I pulled the entire thing out of the car and put it on my bench testing rig. It all worked as it should. Nice strong sparks on BAT. Nice strong spark on MAG. Nice shower of sparks on single plug when set to BAT and shower of sparks button pushed (also called trembler button).  Everything works.  Hmmmm. What’s wrong with my install?

Bench testing the Bosch DU-4 Dual Model 5 magneto. Everything worked as it was supposed to work.

Since the entire wiring harness was out of the car, I decided to upgrade the stranded ground (positive from battery) wires to a large terminal lug end that would fit the 3/8″ mounting bolts for the magneto bracket. Otherwise, I changed nothing.  I reinstalled the magneto, timed it to the magneto points (not the battery points) and attempted a start.

Pop pop vroom. We have ignition. Yea. Finally. Jeez what a hassle.

I reported my success to Bob Smith who was pleased to hear that our Michigan was alive. That was on August 28, 2022.  It is time to go test the car some more and see what else will unscrew itself or fall off.

About mid-June of 2022, I contacted Robert Gagnon, a highly recommended pin striper.  I’d first heard of Robert, and met him at the Fallbrook Vintage Car Show back in 2019, before the Covid pandemic. We traded information and I sent Robert photos of  Michigan cars taken in the 1910’s.  Each photo (go to:https://wp.me/P45zSY-8M) shows a bit of striping on the cars. Our job was to reproduce as close to original as possible the location and color of the stripes for the 1912 Michigan Model K.  This meant, the hood and body were pinstriped – but the fenders and wheels were not. The advertising literature from the Michigan Motor Car Company indicates that the color of the pin striping was WHITE for the deep olive green cars. (go to: https://wp.me/P45zSY-7A The striping would generally follow this pattern:

The yellow line shows the approximate location of pin striping for the 1912 Michigan Model K.

Robert arrived at 8:30 am on June 22, 2022, with his car full of striping materials. The first order of business was to confirm the color of the stripes.  While the advertising says the stripes were WHITE. There are lots of whites and some look better than others.  Our decision was to have the stripes match the light grey of the wheels. A couple of test stripes on the deep olive green car confirmed that matching the light grey wheels was the preferred color – and it still stood out as “white”.   Striping took about 6 hours and Robert completed it all in one day – with tired knees and wrists. First he carefully taped the curves to help guide his steady hand, but the tape was merely a guide for the paint brush. And the result was really stunning. The curves and beads in the body panels really popped after getting the accent added by pinstriping. Thank you Robert Gagnon. It looks great!

Taping before striping.

Robert adds striping to the engine hood.

Tape was a guide – not an edge for the striping.

The finished product. A beautifully striped and shiny car. Click on photo to enlarge and appreciate how far we have come. Woo Hoo!

On April 30, 2022, we packed up the Michigan in the “big white trailer” and headed South to drop it off at Ernie Romero’s shop. The car was to get a new top. Ernie had done a fabulous job on the upholstery and it only made sense to have him do the top as well. We had seen several others Ernie had done and they all look beautiful. The plan was to restore the top, side curtains and boot exactly as the original. And we had all the tattered, rotted, vermin pooped top parts to serve as patterns — including original side curtains, which very few cars of this age ever have. See top photos and a further explanation at: https://michiganmotorcar.com/nuts-bolts-2/folding-top-side-curtains/

Tori & Chris help unload the car in El Cajon near Ernie’s place.

We left the car, the new Haartz custom fabric and various fasteners with Ernie and headed home.

Ernie and I discuss the process of getting the top, side curtains and boot put together.

We got several progress reports from Ernie that showed the stages in putting a top on a horseless carriage. Just like a buggy, our car has top bows that need to be in just the right position if it is to go up smoothly and lay down nice and compact.

Top bows need to be in the correct positions if the top is going to work correctly and look smooth.

It is just the back, but that fabric looks amazing.

We needed to drop off some straps and fasteners, so Janet & I did an inspection tour on June 2, 2022. The car was looking great.

Janet & Ernie examine the side curtains – both new and old.

A few days later, Ernie sent us some photos of the car with the side curtains installed. We had never seen the side curtains on the car before. If we ever need them, I think it will be very claustrophobic.

Side curtains installed.

On June 18th, Ernie called and said the top was finished. We made arrangements to pick it up on June 18, 2022.  IT LOOKED FANTASTIC.

Ernie shows us how the boot works to cover the folded top.

Slow backing uphill without power steering. Craig looks a bit concerned. But the boot looks GREAT!

Winched in, tied down and ready for the trip home.

The top is up.

Our car looks much taller now.

Ready to tour.

Only one thing left to do – pinstriping.

From early on, we’ve had both warnings and suspicions about our Briggs Magneto.

Only just now am I understanding that the sage advice from several magneto mavens should probably have been heeded.

But hey – “It worked on the original car. Why shouldn’t it work now?” Um… there are a host of reasons why not……. but I didn’t want to hear them. And as the car gets more complete and we deal with the OBVIOUS problems, the less glaring flaws assert themselves.  This happens in small bursts with little revelations as we try our car out on the road. Mind you – we are talking about little drives to test stuff.  One mile, three miles, 5 miles was the longest. In these short drives the car has been running on BATTERY – deriving all electrical power from the battery through a 21st Century standard automobile coil

Modern coil in the firewall mounted BRIGGS switch box

(replacing the resin block of wires in the original firewall mounted wooden box)

Original coil encased in some sort of pink resin and lined with mica insulation material.

and then on to an interruptor set of points in the main magneto housing and from there through the distributor section of the magneto to the spark plugs. If you switch it to MAG. (magneto) from BAT. (battery), the engine coughs, sputters and then dies. It ran rough on magneto for a while, but I wouldn’t call it anything approaching nice and smooth. This is after two visits to the magneto guy in Orange, CA. and spending a fairly significant chunk of change with him as well.  Hmmmmm. That is not how things are supposed to go. Perhaps I should have listened to the early warnings regarding our Briggs mag.

So, when I start the car (or TRY to start the car) we’ve seen the front cover of the distributor portion of the mag try to unscrew itself from the rest of the mag. And on a different occasion, the entire distributor cap portion, including the cover, tried to unscrew itself from its mounting position. This is not a good thing.  Not at all.  This sort of unreliability of the component parts of the ignition system necessitates a ritualistic step by step approach to every attempt to start the car. It’s a fairly long list of ways it wants to misbehave electrically. You must:  check the battery, check the switch, check the wires, check the mag cover, check the mag mounting screws, check this, check that, check the other thing. Check everything but the Czech Republic. Um…… as a fancier of horseless carriages, we enjoy the simplicity of these early cars………. up to a point (or a set of points – which, of course, should also be checked.) Oh, and the unscrewing itself trick — this happens while the machine is running.  Performance deteriorates quickly into non-operational stasis.   Bricked. Kaput. Tow it home. BAD MAGNETO — BAD!

So– I’m going to do what I understand most owners of Michigan cars have done over the years. Retire the Briggs and install a Bosch. Yes, that Bosch – makers of home appliances, power tools, modern car electrics, medical devices and probably a host of things I can’t think of right now. Anyway, Bosch has been making automobile ignition systems since about 1897…..and Bosch ignitions have been keeping autos going ever since.  RELIABLY. In the early horseless carriage days, many ignition brands came and went. Eisemann, K-W, Splitdorf, National, Mea, Simms, Heinze, Pittsfield, Kingston, Remy, Herz, Duplex, Connecticut, No-Lag, U & H, and the list goes on. About the only brands that have survived are Bosch and Remy (Delco-Remy).

So I acquired a Bosch magneto setup. For this car, which needs to be able to be started on battery if I am ever to attempt to get the acetylene starter to function, the choice was a period correct Bosch DU-4 DUAL Ignition. “Dual” in the case of this particular version of the Bosch DU-4,  means both a self sufficient magneto (not requiring a battery) AND a separate battery based ignition. Two separate switching positions and two separate sets of interrupter points. The BRIGGS magneto that came with our car was intended to be used this way – but appears to have only one set of points. Generally speaking, you start on battery (requiring MUCH less hand cranking effort) and once the car is running, you flip the switch to magneto – which does not draw down the battery.

My “new” Bosch Dual Ignition magneto and switch. Both somewhat encrusted with 110 year old loveliness.

With the two Bosch components in hand, (magneto and its separate dash mounted switch-coil)  the cleanup began to get them working together as they were intended. The original documentation helped – but proved to be lacking in troubleshooting suggestions. At least ones that I could recognize and deal with.

The full manual is attached below. Click on the description.

Bosch DUAL Coil Manual DU4 & ZR4, click on blue wording to open – it is a BIG file.

Two separate sets of points.

As of the date of this writing, May 18, 2022, my bench testing shows the MAG. side of the ignition works as it should. The BAT. (battery) side does not. So – I may need some expert assistance to get this all working.  With the BRIGGS, only BAT. works. With the BOSCH only the MAG. works.  To know how this feels, play the recording, below.

BUT WAIT!  Good news. For the next several days I went through the entire wiring setup AGAIN. I consulted the fellow that I bought the magneto from. I queried other horseless carriage owners. During such consultations, I was advised to change the wire leads on terminals 3 & 4 from 12 gauge wire to spark plug wire (high voltage insulated).  That was nice and stopped some arcing at the back of the switch – but still no sparks at the plugs when switched to “battery”.  Hmmmmmm.

Testing the Bosch magneto and switch

Better check all the connections again and clean the contacts everywhere. Including both sets of points (interrupters). Lets just check the gap on the interrupter for the battery setup.  It looks like it’s opening and closing but maybe not.  Let’s adjust it open a bit more.  ZAP!  We’ve got SPARK!

PROBLEM SOLVED!  The Bosch DU-4 Dual Ignition works as advertised. This is very good news, indeed.

With our mostly sealed transmission and thoughts of getting the car truly road-worthy, we started taking little jaunts around town.  On December 2, 2021, we took Janet’s high school buddy, Gina Ensalaco, on a ride that was revealing of a weakness in the drive-train.

Gina and Craig at Tamarack and Pacific Coast Highway. Note the Carlsbad Encina power plant with no smoke stack thru the windshield.

What became very clear as we got closer to home was that it was becoming more and more difficult to shift the car in ANY gear. I thought we were not going to make it, so I left it in first gear for the last mile or so and rolled a couple of stop signs where there was no traffic. This was a problem I’d experienced earlier.  The hex head bolts I had replaced with socket head bolts & lock washers for the throw out bearing pressure plate were UNSCREWING themselves again – damnit. (See original problem explained at: https://michiganmotorcar.com/so-many-things-to-adjust/ )  So here we go again.

I’ve had the throw-out bearing and front universal joint out so many times that I welded up a jig or cradle to hold the piece in place on my hydraulic floor jack. Let me tell you how unpleasant it is to stand on your head to while trying to get 12 bolts removed or installed while holding 18-20 pounds of universal joint in one hand and a wrench in the other. Try aligning twelve little holes with a greasy floppy U-joint trying to slip out of your grasp. The new tool support changed it from a hateful exercise to a merely tiresome one.

U-joint support tool helps make alignment less onerous.

With the addition of Locktite® red thread locker goop, we will see if the fix is at least MOSTLY permanent.  ( Cue the bright uplifting happy soundtrack – Zippity Do Dah or similar.)

On December 1, 2021, we received a shipment we had long been awaiting. Christmas came early – and from Acton, Massachusetts.

Janet displays the custom top fabric, just arrived from Haartz Corp. It’s pinstriped and a near perfect match with our original fabric.

I had first contacted Eric Haartz in December of 2014.  Eric, grandson of the company’s founder, was intrigued by our Michigan’s family story and our original pinstriped fabric. And, Eric has been a very long time active member of the Horseless Carriage Club, which probably goes a long way towards explaining his interest in our project.

First, a bit about the Haartz Corporation which grew out of a top fabric company started in 1897.  It is now a world wide company with operations in Massachusetts, Michigan, Germany, China, Japan, India, and Mexico. They supply both interior and exterior (convertible tops) fabrics for the most exclusive brands of automobiles as well as other specialized applications.  Eric was both enthusiastic and super detail oriented in all our communications which required sending him swatches of our original (faded and aged) top fabric. As I write this, we are anxiously awaiting our trip to Ernie Romero’s shop to start the transformation of this beautiful fabric into a one of a kind Michigan top.  For the un-initiated. Most tops for cars of the Michigan’s vintage no longer have original tops. One hundred year old fabrics seldom survive. If they do, typically they remain folded up and mostly unseen for fear of shredding into brittle bits if the top is opened up. Additionally, most tops were either BLACK or some flavor of beige. And almost NONE were pinstriped or otherwise decorative.  Eric told me that his recollection was that his grandfather sometimes got inspired by men’s suits and adapted some of these patterns into automobile and other fabrics.  Very few of these patterns for automobiles survive on antique cars. They have typically been replaced with BLACK.  We believe our car’s top will be simply outstanding.

Pinstripping is best seen in the folded section. CLICK TO ENLARGE

On November 27, 2021 we started the car up. This has been no real problem so far. It is starting remarkably easily -usually 1/4 turn of the crank, once the engine is primed. And drove to the nearest gas station for a fill up. Reverse gear out of the garage was a bit noisy with a distinct whirring, but there were no horrid crunching munching grinding noises. That’s good. However when stopped to fill up and on looking at the ground wherever the car was briefly stopped. There was a little puddle of oil – specifically – transmission oil.

Look for the line of little shiny drips under the car. That’s our transmission fluid.

So, back to the garage where I would investigate why we were losing so much fluid so quickly. On our way, Janet & I delighted in the smoothness of the gear changes – with or without a transmission full of oil.

Inspection showed that the transmission output seal was not doing its job – at all. There was wear on one of the surfaces that simply didn’t want to seal with a felt washer.

Output shaft seal plate was scoured and rough. The single felt seal was not adequate.

So I made a large brass washer on the lathe and put that in.  It seems to have slowed the drips.

Brass washer installed with thicker felt washer and an O-ring on the U-joint side.

On November 5, 2021, I wrestled out the transmission and took it down to my workshop. While it is only held in place with 4 long bolts, the combination shifter and hand brake shaft  requires some finesse to wiggle it free, even after the front and rear universal joints are detached.

Shifter and cross shaft removed.

Transmission ready for transport.

Once I opened up the transmission, I inspected the gears. Although some were rounded on the leading edges of the teeth which meshed, they weren’t badly worn. Nor were any teeth missing. The Hyatt bearings on either end of the drive train were in very nice shape. This was all observed by fellow HCCA member Bill Ottemann who brought by some bushing material and drill rod for building a new shaft and bushing for the Reverse idler gear.  The photos below show why this might be important.

Reverse idler gear & shaft. This is what was jumping up & down.

So – what do you think? Does the shaft look smooth? Is the bushing tight? Is 1/8″ clearance considered a fit?

Ugly – no matter what the angle of the photo.

Good grief!  No wonder reverse gear made a noise. I drove out the bushing and put a new 1″ chunk of drill steel in the lathe to turn to the appropriate diameter for a new bushing for the gear.

Exploded view of the transmission. Reverse idler in lower right. Click to enlarge photo.

On November 13, 2021, we drove up to Fresno to visit family and pick up my Dad for a trip to Carlsbad and work on the Michigan. The shaft was turned, drilled for tapered pins and the new bushing was put in the gear.

Reverse idler gear & shaft — old and new.

Dad & I inspect shafts and fit.

During the process of getting ready to re-install the transmission gears, shafts and bearings, we discovered that 1) the main drive pinion, and 2) the bushing inside it and 3) the front portion of the main drive shaft that the main drive pinion turns on had heavy wear.  This needed to be addressed and ended our hope that we would be able to get the Michigan back on the road while Dad was visiting.  The most straight-forward way was to turn the front 3.5 inches of the main shaft slightly and replace the bushing  with one that was slightly oversized to match the turned shaft.

Annotated exploded transmission, showing main drive shaft & main drive pinion

Turning a few thousandths off the Main Drive Shaft was fairly simple. Getting the bushing turned both inside and outside to the correct size was a bit more effort. But the greatest effort was trying to get the old thrashed bushing out.  I tried heating, a hammer puller and finally resorted to a hack saw and screw drivers to bend and crush the bushing to the center. What a hassle.

After all else fails — hacksaw the bushing

Pry the bushing out in chunks.

New bushing ready to press into Main Drive Pinion.

Pressing the bushing in.

With the main problem components of the transmission refurbished, it was time to re-assemble.  The troublesome reverse idler shaft and gear were taper pinned into the newly painted transmission housing (interior was coated with red insulating varnish).

Reverse idler gear with new shaft installed in lower transmission housing.

And then – I re-assembled the transmission. It will be noted that none of the meshing gears are pristine.  They all have leading (meshing) edges on their teeth that are a bit munched, rounded and tapered. My colleagues in the Horseless Carriage Club that have viewed the gears commented that “they really don’t look too bad”. So back in they go – munched and nibbled teeth notwithstanding. I’ve attached a partially annotated photo of the transmission below.

Annotated Michigan transmission photo. CLICK TO ENLARGE

By November 26, 2021, I had the transmission back in the car. It was time to test my handywork. (Cue the ominous background music.)

The La Brea Tar Pits is one of my favorite places, having first visited in a 3rd Grade field trip  before there was a Page Museum on the site. If saber tooth tigers, dire wolves, mastodons and mammoths interest you, then there is no better place in the world than the La Brea Tar Pits. https://tarpits.org And if you are on this site because you like automobiles, the Peterson Museum is across the street and down 2 blocks. https://www.petersen.org

After visiting the tar pits, we got back to Michigan business by putting on a new set of tires and investigating the cause for the terrible noises in reverse.

Four new NON SKID shoes for the Michigan – $2160 and you can install them yourself.

Clarence’s assistance made tire mounting so much easier than trying to do it solo. Thank you, Clarence. To fully understand the way new tires are mounted on our Michigan, you should probably visit my web page that talks about our Detroit Demountable Rims, which although NOT unique to Michigan cars, are fairly unusual. https://michiganmotorcar.com/nuts-bolts-2/shortsville-whee…demountable-rims/

Then we tried to figure out what might be this issue with the REVERSE noise. We jacked up the rear of the car with the REVERSE gear engaged so we could manually turn over the transmission by rotating the rear wheels. During this, we left the observation hatch open – Yes, there is an observation hatch for adding heavy oil and looking at the gears.  (But you better not have it open while operating the car, because you will get drenched.)

Transmission with observation hatch open.

With me peering into the transmission with the shifter in REVERSE and Clarence rotating the rear wheels slowly forward and back, I could just make out a gear jumping up and down. This gear was the reverse idler gear. It is the one at the very bottom of the transmission on a shaft by itself. Of the many things a gear might do (mostly going round and round or sliding along a shaft when the shifter is moved, this particular gear was jumping up and down on the shaft each time the rear wheels changed direction. The jump was not along the axis of the shaft, but up and down ON the horizontal shaft – like it was terribly loose. It wobbled a bit too. Yeeks! That is not a thing a transmission gear should be doing. So…… I was destined to pull the transmission and figure out why this gear was so jumpy.

Before Clarence & Sally left to return to Indiana, we manually backed the car into the driveway for a photo op.

L to R = Tori, Craig, Sally, Janet and Clarence