Robertson Screws

Miz B was manufactured in Canada.  Model A's manufactured in Canada in 1931 had Robertson screws.  In 1908, P. L. Robertson began to manufacture a square recess impression in the head of a screw in Milton, Ontario, Canada. At that time, it was a revolutionary change in the fastener industry. The first patent was issued in 1909 and the last patent expired 55 years later in 1964. For his invention, P.L. Robertson screws and screwdrivers carry his name to this day.  When Henry Ford tried out the Robertson screws he found they saved considerable time in car production, but when Robertson refused to license the screws to Ford, he realized that the supply of screws would not be guaranteed and stopped using them.  Robertson’s refusal to license his screws prevented their widespread adoption in the United States, where the more widely licensed Phillips head has gained acceptance. However, an alternative explanation for this preference (that has even been aired on a History Television) is that Americans simply preferred their own invention as opposed to the “foreign” Robertson screw.  Just another way my car is different.

We ordered a set of Robertson screws to replace the slotted and Phillips screws that had been put in the car over the years.  Not only did we discover the slotted and Phillips screws, but we also discovered Hex screws!  I suppose, eventually, we will have the car back to the way it was manufactured.  The Robertson screws most noticeable are the ones in the dash rail and in the instrument panel.  I have to find an unusual Hex driver to remove the screws in the exterior door handles.  They are supposed to be Robertson, as well.  

Another uniquely Canadian part we ordered was a Canadian Data Plate.  This will be riveted to the fire wall.  The original must have been removed when the car was repainted, years ago.  Presently, there is no data plate.

Little by little, she will be correct!  Until that day, I am really enjoying driving the little car.  I go everywhere in her!  It takes me a little longer to get there, sometimes, but I always enjoy the journey!

Aiken

Last Sunday was a great day to take the Model A on a trip.  So, we checked the oil, tires, and radiator to make certain all was in good shape before leaving the garage.  Yep, all was good!  Nice to have a newly rebuilt engine that isn't sucking down oil like they might stop making it!  

We were off to Aiken, SC.  In the late 19th century, Aiken gained fame as a wintering spot for wealthy people from the Northeast. The Aiken Winter Colony was establish by Thomas Hitchcock, Sr. and William C. Whitney. Over the years Aiken became a winter home for many famous and notable people including George H. Bostwick, James B. Eustis, Madeleine Astor, William Kissam Vanderbilt, Eugene Grace president of Bethlehem Steel, Allan Pinkerton, W. Averell Harriman and many others.

In the spring of 1931, all attention was riveted on Aiken when Nicholas Longworth, Republican Speaker of the House, came down unexpectedly with pneumonia and died there on April 9, 1931. He had been visiting family friends – all long-time Republicans and fellow poker players – who had a winter home in town. Longworth was married to US President Theodore Roosevelt's daughter, Alice Roosevelt Longworth, who rushed to his side from Cincinnati, Ohio, arriving prior to his death.

Knowing South Carolina, as we do, we knew not much was going to be open for lunch on a Sunday.  So, we did our homework on the computer before leaving.  We had decided we would go to Davro's for Sunday brunch.  They had an interesting menu posted on line.

We left about 11 and meandered our way through the rural areas along US 1.  We went through the towns of Lexington, Leesville-Batesburg, Ridge Springs, Monetta and on into Aiken.  Before the interstate system came to South Carolina, US 1 was a very busy highway across the midsection of South Carolina.  Today, it sees very little traffic and is a perfect Model A road.

We arrived in the beautiful downtown area of Aiken about 1 in search for our little restaurant.  It is a quaint little place with plenty of seating on their patio.  The temperature was about 78 degrees without a cloud in the sky.  Very warm, unusually so, for early January!  The service was a bit slow, but the food made up for that.  Delicious!

Soon, we were back in the little car for our trip home.  We made our way across US 1 to Lexington, where we picked up SC 6, crossing the Lake Murray Dam.  We arrived home about 4.  Of course, as always when traveling in the Model A, John got in his after meal nap.  I'll never understand how he can sleep in a Model A - much less a completely open car!

Next weekend, we are off to Sandy Run, SC for a Model A meeting at club members, Vent and Frances Mack's home.

Tour to Greenwood, SC

Yesterday dawned very cold with frost on the grass and rooftops.  I left the house at 6:50, before the sun was up!  I drove by myself, as John had plans to take Daddy to the USC Men's Basketball game.   I needed to gas up before heading to Greenwood, 70 miles to the northwest.  It was good that I had the side curtains in place.  The temperature inside the car was a very cool 42 degrees.  Outside, it was only 27 degrees.  I guess the side curtains really do help to keep the passenger compartment warm!  I was thankful that I had my lap blankets to put across my lap, too.  I stayed pretty warm, with the exception of my finger tips.  Although I had on gloves, the small gap at the top of the curtain, beneath the canvass top, had a very cold, steady wind directed at the steering wheel and my lap.  It would be nice if I could figure out some way to install heat in Miz B.  Her steering wheel is directly beneath the exhaust manifold, the source most folks use to pump heat in during the winter, so that won't work.

The little car performed beautifully!  Not a hiccough the entire trip.  Once the sun came up, about 7:45, the temps inside the car gradually warmed up to about 48 degrees.  Much more tolerable for the fingers!  Over the hilly countryside I rolled at 45 mph.  There weren't very many cars out on the road, being it was early Saturday morning, not many folks headed for work.

I arrived at the Shoney's in Greenwood at 8:50.  Great timing.  When I pulled into the parking lot, there were 4 other Model A's already there.  Three more would join the lineup, most folks had come in their modern cars.  I guess it was too cold to crank the A's or to bear the drive over.  There were about 24 members present for the first meeting of 2013 of the Old 96 District Model A Ford Club.  We enjoyed a hearty breakfast from the buffet, then settled in for a quick, 30 minute meeting.  

I left Greenwood about 10:30, after saying my goodbyes to my upstate friends.  I enjoyed the ride home to the sounds of my iPod.  I chose to listen to folk music going home.  I sure is nice to have the little wireless speaker on the shelf behind me.  I didn't drive quite as fast coming home, keeping the little car at about 40 mph.  I certainly wasn't in any kind of hurry and I wanted to enjoy the beautiful sunny morning as I drove the rural back roads home.

I discovered that I need to make some modifications to the side curtains.  I've already gotten the regular curtain posts for the doors and will use them.  I would like to be able to swing the doors open, having the curtain swing out at the same time.  I just need to figure out how to keep the small drafts from making their way into the passenger compartment.

I now have about 700 miles on the new engine and it is performing beautifully.  John changed the oil after we had put a little over 550 miles on it, so she is ready to roll for another 2,000 miles, or so, before we change it again.

Next trip, outside of Columbia, will be to go to the Mack's place in Sandy Run on the 17th of January.  I'm looking forward to it and seeing all my friends at the Palmetto A's Club meeting and lunch.

2012 MAFCA National Awards Banquet

Last week's event, the 2012 MAFCA National Awards Banquet, was a great success!  It was unfortunate that Mike and Stephanie Petty couldn't join us, but it is understandable - Somebody's got to go to work!  We had one couple in the club drive their A - Orville & Sharon Booth.  There were a few others to be seen around town, as well.  One fellow drove his up from Florida and several locals were out and about in their A's.

Here are a few photos of the event:

This is a photo of one of the A's outside our host hotel, the Francis Marion.

Registration Desk
Fay Prince, Twila Cockerill, Wes & Ann Porterfield

Checking folks in for the Dinner Cruise

John and I with the Richters of San Antonio, TX

View of Marion Sq. at Welcome Reception

With John Cockerill & Garth Shreading
Breakfast with the Board

Carriage Ride through Old Charleston

Dinner Cruise on Charleston Harbor

Middleton Place Plantation & Gardens

Awards Banquet with Jim Spawn, Editor of The Restorer & Alex Janke, 2013 MAFCA President

This was a lot of hard work for our committee and it was a definite success!  Now it is time to get Miz B out for a drive!

Tour to Beaufort and the Lowcountry of SC

We left the house on Saturday morning, December 29 and headed across town to the Reid's Grocery Store in Cayce.  The rain had subsided to a drizzle, but the temperature was cold.  The morning was made colder by the stiff breeze blowing from the west.  We met up with 5 other A's and headed to Walterboro and lunch at Duke's Barbecue.  We left about 8:35 and arrived just as 4 A's from the Lowcountry Club arrived, at 11:45.  We had a good car show in the parking lot!  But, we weren't there for a car show.  We were there for some great barbecue and fellowship.  I think there were 26 of us enjoying lunch in a private room.  Nice way to start the weekend!

After lunch, we headed for the old downtown area of Walterboro and antique shopping.  We shopped in 5 antique stores where a few of the ladies were able to find some vintage era appropriate accessories.  Below is a photo of those on the shopping expedition.  Miz B is the last in line.

Downtown Walterboro, SC

At 3:00, we said our goodbyes to Hugh Hiott and Henry Coleman, from Charleston, and we drove further south to Beaufort.  After arriving at our hotel, we all piled into Calvin's '57 Chevy and Vent's newer minivan for a brief ride to downtown Beaufort.  Arriving at 5:20, we were just in time to tour a few of the antique stores before supper.  It was decided that another trip just for the ladies was needed in the spring.  Lots of nice shops to peruse!  Soon, we were treated with a beautiful sunset from Beaufort Waterfront Park.

Christmas Tree @ Sunset in Beaufort Waterfront Park

Eventually, we ended up having supper at Luther's.  Great spot for our group of nine.  We enjoyed a leisurely meal, then hit another antique shop on the way back to the cars.  

The next morning, we met downstairs over a quick breakfast to discuss the plans for the day.  First, we drove through the old home area just north of town, seeing the Meechum Home, where The Great Santini was filmed.  Then, we were headed for Port Royal, crossing many bridges over the waterways around Beaufort.  Upon leaving Port Royal, we were on our way toward Yemassee, SC.  Our destination was the old ruins of the Sheldon Church.  Of the four Baronies originally granted to Capt. Edmund Bellinger, of whom I am descended, one of 13,000 acres in St. Helena's Parish, Granville County (later in Prince William's Parish, Beaufort District), known as Tomotely Barony, included the 50 acres on which Sheldon Church was built.  This church is located between the towns of Yemassee and Beaufort on the Old Sheldon Church Road.  Prince Williams Parish Church (Sheldon) was built between 1745 and 1755 on land (Poco Sabo Plantation) donated by Edmund Bellinger. The name Sheldon was used to honor the Bull Family who had a plantation nearby and their ancestral home in Warwickshire, England; both were called Sheldon Hall.

Old Sheldon Church Ruisn

Such a beautiful setting!  The ruins are carefully cared for and open to the public.  There are headstones scattered all around the grounds.  

William Bull's Grave
Buried March 21, 1755

1780 Headstone

After visiting the Old Sheldon Church ruins, we were off to have lunch near Beaufort.  It was a very cold morning with temperatures near freezing.  The roaring fire inside the Cracker Barrel was most welcoming to warm us.  We enjoyed a wonderful comforting lunch before our drive back to the Columbia area.  We arrived home around 5:30, just as the sun was setting over Lake Murray.

Miz B had a great day touring the Lowcountry.  She arrived home, having had no issues, with about 575 miles on her newly rebuilt engine; about 300 from this trip.  Now all she needs is an oil change and she is good to go on many more tours!

Home, At Last!

Miz B got back home on Tuesday evening about 5:30.  Her engine is in fabulous shape and she is being treated to a 500 mile break in period.  This means I won't be driving her over the recommended 35 miles per hour.  Not an easy task, as she seems ready to get up and go much faster!  It is amazing just how quiet she is running.  I guess the old gal had been trying to tell me that her age was really catching up and was making itself quite loudly known!

There wasn't an inch of her that wasn't covered in dirt, grease, and grime!  John spent the better part of the afternoon cleaning and polishing her.  I still need to pay some extra attention to the convertible top.  But all in all, she looks pretty good.

One small problem with the clutch has been discovered.  It appears that when the clutch is depressed, it is rubbing on something metal and will clank because of the normal engine vibrations.  There needs to be an adjustment.  We, also, have noticed that the steering is grinding a bit when the wheels are cranked hard either right or left. I'm sure it is a simple adjustment.  She has to go back to the mechanic after the first 100 miles to have her head bolts tightened and we will have him do the steering adjustment and look into the clutch issue, then.  We will probably take her over the week after we get back from Charleston.  Miz B isn't making the trip.  45 mph is pretty slow when you have to go 100 miles, but at 35 mph it would take just too long.  So, she will stay in her cozy garage while we are gone.

It was wonderful to be out and driving her yesterday afternoon.  Everything seems to be nice and tight. There aren't any noticeable rattles.  We had gotten most of them out before the engine rebuild.

I am looking forward to many years of confidently traveling the rural roads of the US in Miz B, without the worry of a worn out engine!

Update

Today, on my way home from Charleston, I stopped in at the Temples shop to check up on Miz B.  She isn't looking quite so sad!  Everything beneath the hood - springs, frame, shocks, brake rods - the works looks like new!  The dirt and grime of 82 years has been cleaned away and the parts have been given a new coating of satin black paint.  The steering mechanisms are all in place and look wonderful. Soon she will have a new chrome gear shift stick.   The car is going to have had a body off restoration, less the new paint on the body.  Well, it will seem so!  It is amazing the amount of dirt, grease and grime that has been removed from the undercarriage of the little car.

Here is some of the photographs of when the body was lifted to see about finding a frame number.

Here are some photos of parts and pieces . . . . 

 Here is the block, if you look closely at the second photo, you will notice the babbitt bearing is cracked and flaking; signs that the babbitt was poured too cold and under the wrong atmospheric conditions.

The engine is not back from the rebuilder, yet.  The conditions haven't been right to pour the babbitt bearings.  The weather is changing, so we are hopeful that will happen very soon.

Waiting

Today, we are hopeful that the new camshaft will arrive.  Although with the arrival of Superstorm Sandy, or as some have named Frankenstorm Sandy, it may be delayed in coming.  But, as soon as it arrives at our parts distributor, we will drive it the 35 miles to the engine rebuilder, Mr. Paul Peacock, near Monetta/Ridge Springs.  We haven't heard any news from Mr. Peacock, so we are guessing that the magna fluxing went well and there were no cracks in the block.

Yesterday, John went back to the Temples shop to take care of cleaning the front end - with the wheels and tires attached.  The purpose was to get a fresh coat of black satin paint on it.  That engine had been throwing grease and oil all over everything under the hood!  I think that John came home with more grease and oil on his sneakers than I've ever seen.  Today, I think that the front end will be reinstalled.  I'm not sure about the fenders being put back on yet.  Then the plan is to roll it out of the shop, put it under a shelter, cover her up and wait for the engine to come back from Mr. Peacock.  I am hopeful that it won't take too long.

While waiting for the engine to come back, the steering box is being rebuilt.  But of course, because it is a right hand drive, we are waiting on a specially made part for that!  We have discovered lots of good and not too much bad with this engine removal.  The undercarriage of the car is very solid and sound, but some engine compartment parts are in need of a rebuild.  All in all, not too bad for an 81 year old car!

Stay tuned for more updates . . . . .

All the problems!

Well, Miz B is in pieces all over the Temple's shop!  They decided to lift the body, while the fenders were off, to see if they could find a frame number.  Many Canadian manufactured cars were not stamped on the frames, but there was hope that it had been.  No such luck!  No number on either side of the frame, but definitely a Canadian frame.

The engine was delivered to Mr. Peacock's shop on Tuesday afternoon.  After a thorough inspection and measurements were taken, it was concluded that the engine was also definitely Canadian and the cylinders had been sleeved.

At this point, we are waiting on the magnafluxing to make certain there are no cracks in the cast iron.  If all is fine, then  we are going to need an oversized camshaft.  It has been ordered - positive thinking at work here!  The journals and the block show signs of wear and this is the best way to fix the problem, eliminating lower engine noise from the camshaft.

Today, John has gone to the shop to put in the welting that was discovered missing between the body and the frame.  That should eliminate a few squeaks as we ride down the road in the future.  The Temples are installing the new front cross member, adding greater stability to the frame.  The rest of frame was found to be in wonderful shape with no signs of rust or deterioration!  Once this is installed and painted, then the front wheel assembly can be reinstalled, along with the fenders.

At this point, it will be a waiting game until Mr. Peacock finishes the engine.  In the mean time, the steering gear will be rebuilt, cleaned and reinstalled in the engine bay.  Keeping in mind that Miz B is a right hand drive car, the absolute opposite of most of the other cars on the road in the US!

I wonder how long it will be before she is back home and ready to ride down the road?

Tour to Newberry - In the Sedan

Saturday morning dawned crisp and very cool!  Of course, Miz B is still in the repair shop.  It is good that we have another A in the barn.  So, Miz Olive came out for an early morning run!  You've not met Miz Olive.  We have had her for about 6 years.  She is a beautiful olive green Town Sedan, has a very comfortable dark olive mohair interior, four doors, and roll up windows!  Her back seat is most comfortable with its center and side arm rests and roll down window shades.  She has no rumble seat or trunk, so all of our necessities go into her back seat area.  All of which are easily accessible as we ride down the road.  The other great thing about Miz Olive is that I get to be the passenger on our trips in her.

We had a brief meeting to attend with the Palmetto A's, then it was going to be off to Newberry.  Newberry is about 50 miles from Columbia and a very nice drive.  We left the meeting place and headed for the gas pumps to fuel up the cars.  While there, it was a great opportunity to add a little fuel to the humans, as well.  Great coffee and biscuit breakfasts!  

It was quickly discovered that one in our group had lost an electronic device in the parking lot of the meeting place and went back to retrieve it.  Just a short delay, but gave us time to chat and enjoy each others company.

Soon, we were off to Newberry and traveling the rolling hills of central South Carolina.  The leaves were just beautiful.

It looks like the colors are just starting to pop!

We drove on into the town of Newberry to meet our friends from the Old 96 District and the Queen City Model A Clubs.  We had a great showing of cars on the town square and in front of the Newberry Opera House.

We enjoyed a leisurely lunch at the Flying Pie and shopped the quaint shops and antique stores; but soon it was time to pack up and head for home.  We had a wonderful day with friends, traveling the back roads of rural South Carolina and enjoying the fall colors which nature had to offer!

Life without Miz B

Miz B remains in the repair shop.  From the firewall forward, it is quite empty.  It feels as if she is undergoing open heart surgery.  The fenders have been removed, also her radiator, her lights and horn, her starter, and of course, her engine!  She looks pretty sad right now.  But, I am beginning to see some very good progress.  

She needed to have her front cross member replaced.  It had long cracks on both sides, where the horseshoe shaped front motor mount is attached to the frame.  We had known about one, but were surprised to find the other!  We found an NOS (new old stock) replacement and it is being installed.  Not too bad to have lasted 81 years.  Who knows what kind of conditions the roads in South Africa were in, the first 60 years of her life.  She has only been driving on the roads of the US since 1993, when she was imported and arrived in the state of Virginia.  

We also discovered that her engine had been rebuilt once and repaired one other time.  The engine is completely apart and definitely shows signs of wear.  The camshaft has a lot of play.  This explains the low thump we would hear when the car was running.  The center journal is the most worn, but both end journals also show a good bit of wear, as well.  Looks like it will be one fix - a new camshaft, or another fix - to bush and bore the block, to take out the slack between the journals and the block.  The gears show signs of wear and will be replaced, as will the flywheel.  The condition of the flywheel explains the reason that the starter would lock up periodically.  The valves are worn and will be replaced with stainless steel ones, along with new springs.  The pistons showed signs of wear, and the rings were not sealing the oil out of the head.  There were very large gaps, therefore another indication of a great deal of wear in the cylinders.  Another source of noise in the block.  The pistons were not gliding smoothly, they had enough side to side movement to make a clatter as the engine was running.

When all is said and done, this is going to be a very quiet running engine!  She aught to run and sound just like she did the day she rolled off the assembly line in Port Elizabeth, South Africa in April, 1931!

Back to the shop!

Today Miz B was driven to the shop by John.  She barely made the trip.  Had to drive her all the way with the spark almost completely retarded, but still she sputtered and popped all the way!

John, JP, and Mark took off all the head bolts, then lifted the head.  Expecting to find water from the radiator through a blown head gasket was not the case.  Instead, three of the pistons were covered with engine oil!  Bad news - meaning that the engine really needed to be rebuilt.  

JP and Mark don't do any of the machining, so we got the name of the man that does the machining and off we went to Monetta, SC in the modern truck.  We spent about an hour with Mr. Peacock and were very impressed with his knowledge and familiarity with the Model A engine.

We ended our day with a trip back to Mark's to finalize the deal for having the engine rebuilt.  At the same time, the front cross member of the frame is going to be replaced.  It was discovered to have a stress crack and needs attention.  So, we are on the hunt for a cross member.

Miz B will be off the road until about the middle of November.  By then, so much of her will have been attended to, that she will be in great shape for the tours we have planned in 2013!

More to come . . . .

Tour to Flat Rock, NC

The alarm went off at 4:15!  We had to leave the house by 5:30 to pick up Liz and Jacob and travel to Lexington to meet up with the group touring from the Columbia area to Greenwood.  In Greenwood, we met up with 5 more A's from the Old 96 District Model A Club.  We were headed for Sky Top Orchard in Zirconia, NC, then over to Flat Rock for lunch at Hubba Hubba BBQ.

The drive began with the little car skipping a bit until she warmed up, then ran beautifully all the way to Greenwood.  Then it seemed that every time we stopped, the skipping on start up lasted a bit longer each time.  I was also experiencing difficulty starting the car.  But, we carried on and arrived at the orchard about noon.  The place was packed with folks!  Amazingly, we ran into John's two sisters, nephew and their girlfriends in the orchard!  It was a beautiful day on the mountain top.  Jacob even got Poppy to go way off into the orchard to find some apples to pick.  I, on the other hand, went into the market to buy apples - already picked and cider.  Liz stood in a very long line to purchase donuts.  Unfortunately, the donuts weren't worth the price, but we were so excited to find cider cake donuts, we had to try them.

We all met back up at 1:30 to travel about 2 miles to get to the barbecue place.  The trip down the mountain was a bit hairy for most.  I decided going up, that I was going to go down in 1st gear.  I'm sure the folks behind me weren't too happy to creep down at 5 mph, but I was determined not to burn out my new brakes!  John Cockerill thought his car was overheating, but realized his brakes were billowing smoking!  John, my husband, found that by the time he got to the bottom of the mountain, had no brakes left!  Another fellow had to use his emergency brake to stop his car!  Tough grade!  No accidents and we were off to Flat Rock and a great lunch.

We were just sitting down to lunch, when my cousin, Jeannette and her family arrived to say hello.  It was wonderful to be able to see them.  The girls are growing up so fast!

After letting Miz B sit for about 2 hours, she was very difficult to start and she didn't want to climb out of the parking lot.  It was straight up and she was skipping terribly!  We left Flat Rock about 4 pm for the drive back home.  We made a couple of stops for fuel and to say good bye to our friends and we arrived home at 8:30.  It had been a very long day in the Model A's.  We traveled about 300 miles, total, and were gone 15 hours. 

This morning, John decided to change out the condenser to see if the skipping issue is in the distributor.  He reset the points and I took her for a test drive.  Nothing different.  Tomorrow, we call the mechanic for an appointment on Tuesday, to take off the head.  We are thinking it's a blown head gasket.  This is a very big job and requires two people to get the head off. 

More to come later . . . . .

Getting ready to tour to Flat Rock, NC

Friday, October 12, started out like every Friday before a tour.  We checked the tires, oil, and water in the radiator.  The oil was good, the tires needed a couple of pounds each to get them up to 35 psi each, but the radiator was really in need of water.  This wasn't the first time I've added water to it lately.  It seems that about every couple of weeks I was adding water, maybe a cup or two.  But, this time was quite different.  I added about 3/4 of a gallon!  Well, we continued on with our check list, opening the hood to make sure the fan belt was tight, when I noticed that there was water dripping from the top of the radiator!  Well, it was about 12:30, so we decided to make a couple of phone calls to see if we might be able to get it fixed at the radiator shop and put back on the car to be ready to tour on Saturday.

After about an hour of work -  we drained the radiator, removed the hood, lights and unhooked the wiring, radiator cap, radiator guard, radiator shell, upper and lower radiator hoses, along with loosening the alternator and radiator support arms and unhooking the horn, we were able to remove the cotter pins, castle nuts, springs and bolts holding the radiator in and lifted the radiator off the frame!

Miz B was a sight, indeed!

Well, we took the radiator to the repair shop, and discovered not one leak, but three!  Two were at the top on either side and one was at the lower inlet pipe!  Amazing the radiator held any water at all!  No wonder we overheated in the mountains!

The radiator fix was pretty cheap - only $35 for two hours of work!  So, we headed home with a fixed radiator to begin reassembling the little car.

We finally got her back together and leakless at 8:30 pm!  That was a loooong day!  We are getting pretty good with putting on and taking off radiators on this car.  I hope we don't have to do this job again, ever!  But, we were ready to roll bright and early on Saturday morning!