Well, between the install of the electric start on March 22, 2024 and March 17, 2025, the Michigan was running fine and we were really enjoying it. We had one incident while driving the car south along Pacific Coast Highway (PCH)  where the power plant used to be.  The car had been shifting with difficulty. The clutch was sort of binding and then it didn’t want to disengage. Then there was a noticeable “Clunk” and the car started to shudder a bit and didn’t want to shift into neutral.  I had to jamb it there. Then it didn’t want to shift at all.  I fiddled with the clutch and the shifter and finally got the car into first gear. We decided to turn around and limped the car back home in first gear. I quickly slid under the car and had a look.

It turns out that one of the threaded pins that fasten the yoke to the throw-out bearing, had unscrewed itself. It apparently had no cotter pin or safety wire to stop it from unscrewing. And — as is so common with cars of this era, it did exactly that.

The pin was nowhere to be found and had probably dropped out onto the road. QUICK JANET — TO A MODERN CAR. We needed to locate this rogue part in the wild while there was still time to find it.  And off we went to retrace our path down PCH to the location where shifting got impossible. Slowly we cruised south from Tamarack to the volleyball courts on the beach. We stopped twice. Once for some random junk in the street and next for…… our escaped throw-out yoke pin. HOORAY!  An unobtainable part that I would not have to re-create on my lathe and someone else’s milling machine. Hours saved! And…. both pins are now safety wired in place.

Replacing the escaped throw-out bearing yoke pin.

Our next adventure of note was the Fallbrook Vintage Car show on May 26, 2024, where Janet & I joined other Horseless Carriage Club members in showing our brass era cars. We had a great time and the public enjoyed seeing cars that are generally only available in museums.

The Brass Car lineup – Fallbrook 2024

Craig & Janet at Fallbrook Vintage Car Show 2024

Our next adventure was the 70th Anniversary Tour of the La Jolla and San Diego Horseless Carriage Club Regional Groups. The tour was from Parkway Plaza in El Cajon up the mountains to Descanso Junction. The Michigan’s gearing (we only have 3) kept us in 2nd gear for long stretches and at about 12 to 18 mph.  It is clear to me why the 1913 Michigan had 4 speeds.  But the electric start was AWESOME.

On August 11, 2024, we did a short tour with the La Jolla Regional Group around and about Fallbrook. We had about 12 cars and we drove some of the more scenic roads around Fallbrook and vicinity.

Drivers (and riders) meeting before the Fallbrook Tour.

Resa Chase & Ralph McNeil rode with us around Fallbrook.

Our next outing was to the Tijuana River Valley by way of Brown Field. The tour was really interesting and we saw areas of San Diego County that we had never seen before.

Antiques parked at Brown Field.

An Osprey flew overhead.

We all took a breather near the Tijuana River mouth. It didn’t stink too bad, but the park was closed.

On January 12, 2025, we participated in the San Diego Excursion – commemorating  the 1915 Panama-California Exposition Road Race from Balboa Park through Point Loma. More than 100 cars showed up and hundreds of folks joined us at the start at the Automotive Museum in Balboa Park.  Hundreds more lined the race course through Point Loma.  It was a great time and we look forward to doing it again in 2026 and beyond.

Craig, Janet & Janet’s sister, Sally Davis wait for the start of the SD Excursion.

And then…….. the Michigan’s last journey before our fateful discovery.

Janet Correll & Sarah Hagerty prepare to depart to the Carlsbad Women’s Club 100th Anniversary Tea.

A couple of days later, on March 17, 2025, I was adding packing around the muffler to reduce noise when I looked across at the drive shaft torque tube. Was that a crack?  Oh dear. It is.  And it extends all the way around the torque tube.

The crack. Click to enlarge.

This is a very bad development. The fix will be complicated. As of the date of this post, I am still in the midst of both obtaining parts to do the fix and have only recently determined what sort of fix I am going to pursue. That will be in a future post.