Story and photos by Mark Wing

Larry held a Work Day at his garage in Corrales, NM on Saturday, Feb. 22nd. There were seven projects in progress simultaneously. Frank Lewark was nearing final assembly of his 1924 speedster engine. At this work party, he and Larry focused on rebabbitting and turning down the ID of a 4th main bearing.

John Hayne brought a rusty water pump to disassemble and repair. Unfortunately, the shaft and screws were frozen so John used AeroKroil penetrating oil and set it aside to let the oil do its work.

Paul Duncan brought a demountable rim and wheel for his 1918 pickup truck project. This 1918 pickup was one of the cars acquired from Marilyn Duncan’s family barn in Kansas. It has been in her family for many decades. This car is a touring to pickup conversion with a period installed wood bed. Now that the Duncan’s 1920 touring car and 1927 pickup truck are running well, they can concentrate their attention on the 1918 project.

Mark Wing brought two 1915 Coupelet door skins for cleanup. They had been media blasted and wire brushed previously, but some areas were especially hard to reach. These door skins were among the parts salvaged after a fire so were rusty and a bit distorted. They were straightened with a hammer and dolly prior to additional media blasting at Larry’s. Shrinking discs (Wolfe’s Metal Fabrication) have been ordered to smooth out the panels even further prior to final body work and priming.

Larry’s rare 1938 V12 Packard Touring Cabriolet has been making great progress lately. Vern Willan and Dave Ferro have been going to Larry’s Garage on Tuesdays to assist on this project. Larry’s father, George, had acquired and started restoration on decades ago and Larry brought it to Corrales from Northern California last year. On Tuesday, Feb. 25th, they got the engine running and it was very smooth! Al Schwanke, a former body shop business owner and expert painter, has been touching up and polishing the original body paint and has also been restoring the wood finishes on the interior. Al has been doing a beautiful job on the Packard!

It was time for Kirk Peterson to remove the engine from his 1925 Model T coupe “Buster”, and replace it with the 1926/27 engine that he and Larry just completed for the upcoming Montana 500 race. The engine was rebuilt before Kirk acquired it, but he wanted to replace the stock camshaft with a Stipe 280 cam. This upgrade required that new valves be seated and cut to length. At this work day, Kirk and fellow club members removed the engine from Buster.

Jim Glover recently acquired a Model T with a mixture of different year parts. At this work day, he brought a starter for restoration that he plans to install in his 1923 runnabout. Jim and Larry focused on disassembling the starter and cleaning up the parts.

It was a busy work day with a wide range of projects. Thanks Larry!