GM Futurliner 2001 Progress Reports |
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The following are Don Mayton's progress reports from the work sessions held in his pole barn. To read it in chronological order, start from the bottom and read up the page. 2001
Progress/Work
Reports |
| Dec. 11 | VOLUNTEERS:
Jim Baker, Mike Ball, Del Carpenter, Fred Carpenter, Conrad DeJong, Ed
DeVries, Phil DeVries, Bud Dinger, Ron Elzinga, Lee Furman, Wayne Jackson,
Tom Kuhlman, Carol Mayton, Don Mayton, Jeff Miller, Dick Saddler, Jerry
Sigler, Audrey Snow, Wally Snow and Daena Vuyst. GUESTS: Larry Vander Schuur, Bob Smith and Wes Rose. Carol fixed lunch and served with Daena helping and Audrey provided the desert. BODY |
| Dec. 3-4 | Following
is the Futurliner Restoration Work Report for December 3 & 4, 2001.
December 3, 2001 (Monday) December 4, 2001 (Tuesday) |
| Nov. 27 | VOLUNTEERS:
Jim Baker, Mike Ball, Del Carpenter, Conrad DeJong, Ed DeVries, Phil
DeVries, Bud Dinger, Ron Elzinga, Wayne Jackson, Carol Mayton, Don Mayton,
Dick Saddler, Jerry Sigler, Wally Snow and Daena Vuyst. Carol made and
served lunch with her daughter Daena helping. GUESTS: Juan Gonzales (GM-PPO), Chris Daggy (GM-PPO), Clifford Ponton (GM-PPO) and Homer Teitsma. DONATIONS Ryan and Linda DeVries recently purchased a cow and contributed over 20 pounds of hamburger meat for our future lunches. Thank you, as the men are always ready to sit down for a big meal. BODY Jim continued to weld in sheet metal and do metal work at the rear of the Futurliner. Conrad, in addition for welding for a lot of others worked at completing the welds on the skin of the cab of the Futurliner . POWERED STEP Bud had taken the powered step stainless steel plate home to polish it. It came back looking like new. Both Bud and Jerry finished the assembly of the powered step including the polished stainless steel plate. They then installed it in its final location under the right door entrance at the front. Next they made a temporary air hook up and it worked. This is one job behind us except for the final air piping. CAB AND ENGINE COMPARTMENT Jerry then started the fabrication and installation of the sheet metal over the engine compartment that allows us to install insulation between the engine and the cab. Dick and Bud worked at making the frame for the engine access hatch. They completed the hatch fabrication with Connie doing the welding. Next they will put the steel cover on it. Dick also started the process of measuring all the interior for our upholstery requirements. As noted in prior communications we have a volunteer that will be doing the interior upholstery. TRIM Wally has gathered all the trim for the cab. He is in the process of straightening each piece, removing every old rusty fastener and then filing off any imperfections. LIGHTING FIN Ed, Ron and Phil managed to cut, burn and saw out the rusted bolts that were holding the large aluminum arms to the lighting fin. Once they removed them, then the process was started to clean up the lighting fin, grind and sand away all old paint, and start the repairs. The lighting fin is covered in aluminum and we are fortunate that very little corrosion has taken place. We will have to make repairs caused by external damage plus make and install new pins and bushings that allowed the fin to be raised. Phil, in addition to working today has started the process at home of machining the two AMCO bronze blocks that Dick Humphreys donated. The machining process will take time. ROOF Today three visitors from GM-PPO operations came. These will be the folks that will supervise and construct the roof for the Futurliner. There are a lot of people in the process that allowed this to take place starting with Marv. I will not try to mention everyone's name, as I will probably forget someone. Today Chris, Juan, and Clifford poured over their drawings, making field measure measurements, and making decisions as to the right process to build and install the roof. As everyone has found out on this project there are no two measurements that are the same when they should be. Their plan, to minimize us having to make further alterations after the roof arrives, is to build the roof in three sections. The first section will be the center (front to back). Once it arrives we can install all the hardware associated with the lighting fin (which is a lot). Once all this hardware is installed then we can actually operate the lighting fin on the floor prior to installing this mid section of the roof. Then this section can be installed. Next they will build the two outside right and left sections. Then these can be installed. Then the end roof supports will be built and installed. Prior to the roof sections arriving the following must be done:
It was obvious that the roof is in the hands of professionals, thanks. |
| Nov. 21 | VOLUNTEERS:
Jim Baker, Mike Ball, Del Carpenter, Conrad DeJong, Ed DeVries, Bud
Dinger, Ron Elzinga, Wayne Jackson, Carol Mayton, Don Mayton, Dick
Saddler, Audrey Snow and Wally Snow. GUESTS: Roger Wesseldyk, Casey Kertstra and Rich Saddler. Carol prepared and served lunch and Wally brought along desert that his wife Audrey made. BODY Jim continued to weld the fabricated sections at the rear of the Futurliner. He also spent time continuing checking measurements for the roof structure. Don worked at fabricating the running light fixtures for the upper cab. He also fabricated and welded in the left top drain system. Connie in addition of the welding he did for others worked at the left front of the cab doing final welding of the skin as well as body work to smooth out the skin that has been welded in place. Bud Dinger and Connie worked at the installation of the power step. At one time, the frame of this step has been hit and they spent time getting it straight. WINDSHIELD AND TRIM Wally worked at identifying and measuring all the outside aluminum trim associated with the top of the cab around where the windshield will be installed. In addition, he drilled holes for the installation of the trim where new sheet metal has been welded in place. Wally also experimented on one section to see how well it will polish up and the 3" section he did looks great. TOP DOOR Yesterday Don painted with primer the upper doorframe that Ed, Wes and Ron had been repairing. Today Ed and Ron finished the structural repairs on this door and fabricated and installed hangers so the door could be hung on the inside of the building we are working in. Next they went to our outside inventory and brought in the upper lighting fin. LIGHTING FIN The lighting fin sits in a pocket in the top center of the roof. It is mechanized and travels vertically up 7' above the roof of the Futurliner. It provides lighting for the Futurliner when the Parade of Progress is set up for a night performance. Housed in the lighting fin are six fixtures with four 4' fluoresce lights/ fixture; four 120 volt spotlights, and six singe 4' fluoresce light fixtures. This floods the Futurliner with light. In addition to the lights are two arms that pivot to allow the lighting fin to be raised from its lowered position to its lighting position. Ed and Ron took all the lighting fixtures out and then started the process of removing the large aluminum arms. So far the inside to the lighting fin looks to be in fair shape. The outer skin of the fin is covered with aluminum. CAB Dick worked inside the cab welding in braces in the floor where he had cut it out for the air vent system on the left side. He also worked at designing the top hatch opening mechanism as well as designing the hatch over the engine compartment that is also the floor for the cab. MECHANICAL - BRAKES Del and Wayne continued to install brake parts. Today they finished the installation of the second air tank. Next, one of the many valves was installed. PARADERS R. Goyette, a Parader, who has flown here to look at the Futurliner and the restoration progress as well as donating lots of material again, called yesterday. He plans to attend the 50th Parader reunion next September 2002 which will be held in this area. He also came across more material for our archives. He found a complete list of all the Paraders from 1953 through 1956 along with all the places the Parade of Progress visited starting in April of 1953 through July of 1956. We had a portion of this list but not a complete one. Thanks Rennie. Frank Faraone contacted us via e-mail: "I was the first lecture supervisor and advanceman for the Parade. I do have a complete set of the leather case playing cards (unopened) with the gin score pad and pencil....all in mint condition. I'll be glad to send them...just tell me where." Thanks Frank for this donation. The Paraders continue to contribute materials to add to the memorabilia of the Parade of Progress. Some of the photos are already at the museum (NATIONAL AUTOMOTIVE AND TRUCK MUSEUM OF THE UNITED STATES) in Auburn, Indiana. We will continue to add to this display. Our thoughts are also to have much of this material inside the Futurliner when it is done to serve as a rolling museum of the Parade of Progress. Your thoughts are appreciated. ARCHIVES Mike continues to catalog all our photos, dig out photos as our volunteers work on a different section and take photos as we work. We are looking into borrowing a video camera to record what is happening. WEB SITE Jim Crame has faithfully updated the web site as new material has arrived. Anyone that looks at the site has been impressed with its depth. Again as a contribution, the web has been renewed until 12-27-03. If you have not looked at it in awhile, take a look. COMMUNICATIONS Our daughter, Daena and her children (our grandchildren) Katie and Laura again have produced another hundred "Futurliner" badges that we pass out to visitors that visit the restoration site. Thanks. When we have a group visit Mike Ball frequently presents a slide show of the Parade of the slides that Parader R. Goyette gave us. OTHER FUTURLINERS As we get information about the other Futurliners we will update everyone. Today I talked to a man in Maine who claims he saw a Futurliner in the woods about 25 miles from his house. He is going back this weekend to take photos. We have located a Futurliner in New Hampshire and the person that owns it moved to Maine. I do not know if this is the same Futurliner. We have lots of photos so we will be able to tell if it is the same one. |
| Nov. 13 | VOLUNTEERS:
Jim Baker, Mike Ball, Del Carpenter, Conrad DeJong, Judy DeJong, Ed
DeVries, Phil DeVries, Bud Dinger, Ron Elzinga, Dick Humphreys, Wayne
Jackson, Carol Mayton, Don Mayton, Wes Myrick, Dick Saddler, Audrey Snow
and Wally Snow. Carol fixed and served lunch with Audrey providing the Jell-O salad and Judy providing the apple pie desert. MECHANICAL Phil continued to work at installing the components for the left side door opening drive mechanism. Until we get the roof in place he cannot install the front and vertical screw mechanisms. Also we are waiting the return of the gear motor that Jeff Dornbush is working on at home. Dick Humphreys from Saginaw, Michigan drove the 2-1/2 hours down to Zeeland to donate the AMCO bronze for the two nuts that must be machined for the top lighting fin drive system. We thank Dick for this expensive donation. There is an interesting story to this donation. He went to a scrap dealer to purchase the bronze. At the time neither he nor I had no idea as to what type of bronze to purchase. The dealer ask him if 330 would be ok, and Dick not knowing one type from another said ok. The dealer then discovered he did not have any 330 in the size we needed. Next the dealer asked him if 660 would be ok and again Dick said fine. Again the dealer did not have the right size. In the meantime I had found that we should be using AMCO bronze. The dealer did have AMCO bronze in the right size and sold it to Dick at the same price as the 330 material, a real bargain. Thanks Dick for the donation. Phil took the AMCO bronze home. He will be developing a computer program, designing and building a tool to cut this material on his CNC milling machine in order to make the right and left internal ACME threads on the two carriages that operate the top lighting fin. This will save us quite a bit of money. Already from Dick Humphreys' donation we have saved the cost of the material. Del and Wayne worked at the rear where Fred was working. (Fred, fell from working near the top of his motor home and landed on his back. He is in a lot of pain with bruised ribs and can hardly walk. We all need to praying for his recovery.) They removed the sheet metal at the shelf where the generator sits. Under the frame was broken in several places. After they got everything lined up, Connie got in and welded everything in place. In addition Del and Wayne constructed the straps for one of the air tanks for the braking system. They managed to get the tank in place and will finish the installation next week. Bud worked at the power step mechanism that is located under the entry door at the right front of the Futurliner. MECHANICAL - ENGINE As mentioned earlier we have always planned to restore a 2nd engine for both a display and as a backup. Once the Futurliner is restored you have great difficulty seeing the engine since it is buried in between two large frame rails deep inside the Futurliner. Bill Bicknell, of Bicknell Engine Co. (Dayton, Ohio: 937-864-5224) who restored the first engine that is now sitting waiting installation plans to restore the second engine. He has been accumulating parts and recently has been in contact with Andy Siechen from Iowa. Andy will be donating the Hydramatic flywheel and a few other parts that Bill needs. Thanks to both Bill and Andy. The parts that Bill is still working at acquiring include:
UPHOLSTERY |
| Nov. 6 | VOLUNTEERS:
Jim Baker, Mike Ball, Del Carpenter, Conrad DeJong, Ed DeVries, Phil
DeVries, Bud Dinger, Carol Mayton, Don Mayton, Wayne Jackson, Dick Saddler
and Wally Snow. GUESTS: Wayne Savage (Arnies Auto Glass Center; Holland, Michigan) Carol served and provided lunch. FINANCIAL NEEDS To date with the support of many people this project has not had to stop for lack of funds. I want to thank those that have contributed financially. However we have some major expenses facing us in the near future. The Museum (NATMUS) has $5600 in its Futurliner restoration account. Here are the known expenses that are facing us immediately since we have not been able to find someone to do them as a donation:
I know times are not the best to be asking for money
but if you are getting ready to consider a donation for the end of the
year consider our needs. Also if you know of a source that can do the work
as a donation that would be great. Lets not let down the working
volunteers that supply their time, talents, tools and in many cases
purchase the things they need for finishing their projects. |
| Oct. 30 | VOLUNTEERS:
Jim Baker, Mike Ball, Del Carpenter, Sue Carpenter, Fred Carpenter, Conrad
DeJong, Ed DeVries, Bud Dinger, Wayne Jackson, Carol Mayton, Don Mayton,
Wes Myrick, Dick Saddler, Audrey Snow and Wally Snow. GUESTS: Pete Zwdgorman, Bernie Vandenberg, Les Loortsema, Charles Hoezee, Kent Vanderlaan, Craig Kemp, Jim Kemp and Doug Vanderlaan. Carol provided and served lunch with Audrey sending the salad and Sue sending apple crisp for desert. Thanks ladies. BODY Bud, Don and Connie continued to install fabricated outer skin sections and weld them in place along the line that separates the painted portion from the aluminum ribbing in the cab area. Connie also started welding in solid the skin sections in the upper area of the cab. With the new skin going on the cab the Futurliner is starting to look a little like a vehicle. Dick fitted the hatch frame that he has built and then had Connie weld it in place. It fit like a glove. Next Dick will be working to fabricate the hinge and arms that hold the hatch in place once it is in the open position. Jim continued to weld in sections in the rear. He also spent time measuring the area where the new roof will be tied in to insure a good fit. Fred completed the installation of the covers that he has fabricated inside the rear. These covers allow easy access to service the PTO shaft grease fittings, the shaft itself, the pulley that drives the generator and other components in this area. He then started the removal of the sheet metal around the support for the large generator. In working in this area, he noted broken welds in the original frame that supports the large generator. DOORS After last weeks work session we took the upper door that Ed and Wes had skinned to our local sand blaster. I then picked up the doorframe after being blasted. After the blasting operation, the rust holes really showed up. There was nothing left of the lower frame member. We knew it was bad but there was very little remaining after blasting. Also, some cross ribs looked that they were shot gun practice targets. Fortunately, Ed and Wes had a plan. Just a comment, our sand blaster, Dave (Dave's Custom Blasting, Zeeland, Michigan) has been blasting parts for us for two years. Except for the day he did the entire upper half of the Futurliner, he has never billed us. We really appreciate this. Dave's business is a one-man business and that is asking a lot to sand blast all these parts. As I mentioned, Ed and Wes had a plan. Ed on the way to the work session today stopped and purchased (his money) rectangular steel tubing and flat bar stock 16' plus. They mounted this large doorframe on a set of horses, and then cut away the remains of the rusted bottom section. Next, they welded in vertical reinforcements at the two outside bottom corners. Following that they welded in all new steel in the bottom of the doorframe. TRIM Marge Carpenter has spent a lot of time buffing and polishing the disassembled mirrors. She has spent time at Ryan's business using his commercial buffing equipment and getting Ryan's professional instructions. Today Fred brought in the results and the work is great. The mirrors will be outstanding on the Futurliner. Next, we will assemble the mirrors to check for fit and then get new glass installed. Thanks Marge for all the home work that you did for us while getting as black as a coal miner. (Buffing is dirty work, as those know who have done it.) Fred also took our front grill to a place to try to remove some of the weld previously from the repairs that we had made earlier. I think Marge might take on the buffing and polishing of this large piece. MECHANICAL Fred brought a van full of nuts, washers, cotter keys, tools, oils, bolts, etc that he donated to the Futurliner project. Fred used to race vintage sports cars and no longer does it and figured as many times as we are running to the hardware store buying this stuff that he should donate it to the project and clean out his work shop at the same time. There was so much stuff that Del and Wayne spent the entire day sorting and putting the material away so we could find it when needed. Thanks Fred for this donation as it will save time and money. WINDSHIELD Wally has returned after his recovery from his eye operation and his cruise trip on an Ohio river boat. He is still recovering from the eye operation but doing well. He continued to work on fitting the template he made of the windshield to the opening of the cab. He also started checking the fit of the side cab 1/4 windows. ARCHIVES Mike will never catch up and we continue to get new material for the archives. He keeps it organized and continues to dig information out, as we need it. Got a note that in Lansing, Michigan at the local Cracker Barrel there is a picture of a Futurliner hanging on the wall. I would appreciate more details about the picture if anyone happens to stop in this Cracker Barrel. ROOF Marv Benedetti has put together the bill of material for the roof build. His boss, Kurt Johnson will be getting bids on the material from their suppliers so the Museum can purchase the steel. Marv and Kurt want to start the roof fabrication shortly. We really appreciate the PPO organization taking on this large assembly. |
| Oct. 23 | VOLUNTEERS: Mike Ball, Jim Baker, Del Carpenter, Fred Carpenter, Ed
DeVries, Philip DeVries, Bud Dinger, Jeff Dornbush, Lois Jackson, Wayne
Jackson, Carol Mayton, Don Mayton, Wes Myrick, Dick Saddler, Jerry Sigler,
Daena Vuyst, and John Wiltjer. GUESTS: Gerald Blouin (Graybar Electric), Ron Elzinga (Glidden Tour participant), Paul Thibodeau (Retired State Policeman), Five retirees from Steelcase Corp. (They have visited before.), Four people from a previous car tour visit. LUNCH |
| Oct. 16 | PARADERS Douglas Dean was a Parader up until the Parade of Progress closed in 1956. He has supplied the color photo that we have on the front of our web page. This photo is also used on our paper flier that we pass out when we have guests here visiting the work site. This photo was taken in 1956 and represents the Futurliners from 1953 through 1956. If you have never looked at our web pages take a look. Jim Crame has put a lot of time in trying to capture the entire history of the Parade of Progress, the Futurliners and the people involved. We have no color photos of the Futurliners when they were used in 1941. From color GM pamphlets of that era the Futurliners were all red except for the aluminum ribbing. Also we have no color photographs of the Streamliners used from 1936 through 1940. As we continue this project we are collecting all the memorabilia connected with the Parade of Progress, the Futurliners and the Paraders. Douglas Dean has hanging in his garage an original work jacket and a rain coat that he plans on donating. Some memorabilia that we know at one time existed and we are looking for includes: + Original trunk issued to the Paraders for all their belongings. + Set of Parade of Progress playing cards. We thank Douglas for his donations and all the others who continue to contribute to this project. Ed Harben just donated a Parade of Progress Card Case. This case holds two decks of cards, a mechanical pencil, and a note pad. The case is leather and it and its contents are in excellent condition. The only thing missing is a deck of Parade of Progress cards. We do have one card that has been found, a King of diamonds. All we need now is the rest of the deck. Thanks Ed for your donation. You Paraders don't forget the 50th reunion next September, 2002. OTHER DONATIONS We received via UPS another donation of history. Bruce Berghoff an automotive writer as well as a historian who has great interest in this project came with the Cadillac - LaSalle club this summer for a visit. He has donated financially as well as parts in the past. He again asked us our needs and later shipped to us an original windshield washer system. Included in the original box was: + NOS bracket and pump. + Glass washer fluid bottle and bail. + Dash mounted actuator switch. + Copies of original installation and service literature. Thanks Bruce for your interest and donations. WORK SESSION REPORT FOR TUESDAY OCTOBER 16, 2001 VOLUNTEERS: Jim
Baker, Mike
Ball, Del
Carpenter, Conrad
DeJong, Ed
DeVries, Bud
Dinger, Wayne
Jackson, Carol
Mayton, Don
Mayton, Wes
Myrick, Dick
Saddler, Jerry
Sigler. GUEST:
Dan Germeraad. As
usual Carol provided lunch for all the workers and our guest. |
| WORK
SESSION FOR OCTOBER 9TH There will be no work session for next Tuesday, October 9, 2001 due to the fact most of the volunteers will be in Hershey, Pennsylvania at the annual Antique Automobile Club of America fall meet. |
|
| Oct. 2 | VOLUNTEERS:
Jim Baker, Mike Ball, Del Carpenter, Conrad DeJong, Ed DeVries, Phil
DeVries, Jeff Dornbush, Tom Kuhlman, Carol Mayton, Don Mayton, Wes Myrick,
Dick Saddler, Jerry Sigler and John Wiltjer. Carol provided lunch for the workers. She is running out of room
to feed the crew. BODY WORK Bud and Connie cut and fabricated metal for the outer skin of the cab and then welded sections in on the left front corner just rear of the left front door. Don worked on the inner drains around the top of the cab where the grill (trim) is located that exhausts engine heat. Connie welded all the fabricated pieces in place. Dick worked at fabricating sheet metal for the top of the rear of the cab. Jim worked at fabricating a right rear inner body section for the Futurliner. MECHANICAL Phil had previously taken home the wood bracket that Del and Wayne had fabricated. Phil then cut, welded and machined a like bracket out of 1/2" plate steel. Then he painted it. Del then fitted the bracket in place and it fit perfectly. However, two holes per bracket must be opened up to 5/8". Phil then continued to work at installing the drive system for the right upper and lower doors. Once the gear motor, chain drive, shafts, and brackets were in place he made a temporary hook up to see if the system worked. He applied 110 volts and the right shaft powered the right front worm drive and it worked smoothly until the gear motor started smoking. He then removed that gear motor and installed the other gear motor and everything again worked smoothly without the gear motor smoking. Next time we meet, Jeff is going to take apart the gear motor that was smoking to determine what was wrong. Tom came at the end of the day and brought along all the parts that he restored at home. He had a trunk full. We helped him unload the PTO drive shaft that he restored and painted, the air conditioner unit that he cleaned and got the blower motors working (the unit still needs taken to an air conditioning expert to go over), the drive shaft assembly for the lighting fin and a few other parts. Thanks Tom. (Tom lives about a 1-1/2 hours away.) BRAKES Once Del and Jeff determined that the brackets that Phil made fit properly, they then started installing the front brake air reservoir tank that Bendix supplied. Next, they installed the rear brake reservoir tank. DOORS Jerry worked at fastening the outer skins on both the right and left lower cargo doors. Ed and Wes finished removing the outer and inner skins of the second lower 16' door. Once removed it was determined that this doorframe is NOT REPAIRABLE. There is such extensive rust that it is not worth saving except for a pattern. We then went back to examine the first door that they skinned it was worse than we realized. It was decided that new lower 16' doors will have to be constructed. However, this is a job bigger than we have facilities for. We do not have the equipment to fabricate 16' sections nor a layout table this large. We will be taking the better of the two doors to a local fabricator to get a quote. THIS IS WHERE WE COULD USE SOME HELP. Although there is some money at the MUSEUM in our account as a result of your donations, we have been trying to save it for the steel that has to be purchased for the roof that a fabricator has volunteered to make for us. Any donations at this time would be appreciated. I should know in a few weeks the cost estimated to have the two lower 4' X 16' door frames made. (We will install the skins on the doors.) With everyone's help we then retrieved one of the upper 5' X 16' doors that has been stored outside since we removed it about 24 months ago. Ed and Wes's first job was to eradicate the zillion wasps that had made the door home. Next after the pounding, chiseling, hammering and torching started out came a family of mice. Ed and Wes managed to get the inner skin off before the end of the day. Other than the lowest frame section being completely rusted away, the rest of this doorframe looks repairable. ARCHIVES John Wiltjer has again supplied and donated the project with $50 (+) of plastic display sections for displaying photos. Mike then takes these and has set up a portable display that we can move to various car and club functions. Mike has set up one at the National Automotive and Truck Museum of the United States in Auburn, Indiana. Today he put one together so we can take it to Hershey. |
| Sept. 18 | NOTE:
There will be no work session next week due to most of the volunteers
being away at the Glidden Tour in Mackinaw City, Michigan.
VOLUNTEERS: Jim Baker, Mike Ball, Del Carpenter, Fred Carpenter,
Conrad DeJong, Dorothy DeVries, Ed DeVries, Phil DeVries, Bud Dinger,
Wayne Jackson, Carol Mayton, Don Mayton, Jeff Miller, Wes Myrick, Dick
Saddler, Daena Vuyst and John Wiltjer. GUEST: Pat Shellenberger from the
Grand Rapids Press. |
| Sept. 11 | As
I write this I know that the Futurliner project is insufficient in what
has happen in our nation today. Our response must be to support our nation
in any way and the most important is to pray for those injured, those that
lost loved ones, the rescue workers, and our nation's leaders.
VOLUNTEERS: Mike Ball, Bruce Beimers, Del Carpenter, Conrad DeJong,
Ed DeVries, Bud Dinger, Wayne Jackson, Carol Mayton, Don Mayton, Dick
Modzeleski, Wes Myrick, Dick Saddler and Jerry Sigler. GUESTS: Pat
Austin and Betty (Elizabeth Brady) |
| Sept. 4 | VOLUNTEERS:
Jim Baker, Mike Ball, Del Carpenter, Fred Carpenter, Marge Carpenter*, Ed DeVries,
Bud Dinger, Wayne Jackson, Carol Mayton, Don Mayton, Jeff Miller, Jerry Sigler,
Wally Snow, Joshua Vuyst*, and John Wiltjer.
*Designates those not present on this workday but have been helping at
home or on another day. Carol provided lunch for the workers. As seen by the list we had a great turnout on our first day back from our summer break. However many things were in progress over the summer months. PAINTING Painting cannot take place on a regular work day and some priming and painting of the engine compartment needed to be done prior to our summer startup. Our 16-year-old grandson, Joshua, was looking for some work to do over the summer so granddad put him to work sandblasting, priming and painting. He managed to get the engine compartment done in final paint. It is now ready for the start of installation of parts. WYRICK PRODUCTS (Zeeland, Michigan), using MONTANA PAINT products again supplied all the paints. Thanks to them. TRIM As mentioned above some of the work that is being done on the Futurliner is being done at people's homes. Marge took on the job of polishing the large aluminum mirrors. Each mirror is composed of about five separate aluminum castings. These are the original mirrors and they have many years of oxidation. Marge took the time to go to Ryan DeVries' shop for his instruction as well as using his heavy duty buffing equipment. She has spent many hours removing the oxidation pits and nicks from many years. Fred (Marge's husband) said she has come home covered with the black oxide that comes when polishing aluminum. He has told her that she must use the back door. According to Fred she will be done with the polishing in about two weeks. Thanks Marge. WINDOW Wally agreed to take on the job of engineering the installation of the window. The front windshield is almost a 180-degree glass. Its installation will require a lot of care. Wally proceeded to take a lot of measurements prior to starting. We also had learned from the folks in Canada (FIDO Futurliner) that the glassmaker could not exactly duplicate the original windshield and they had to modify the frame that houses the windshield. Since our windshield came from the same source we will have to do the same. Wally then, with lots of help from others moved the windshield from its shipping crate (remember we paid $10,000 for this windshield) and set it upright on a piece of plywood. From this point he again did lots of measuring and then traced its upper and lower contours. Bruce was assisting in this process. Next they cut out wood templates of the upper and lower contours of the windshield. From there they started to compare the template with the contour of the Futurliner where the windshield sits. MECHANICAL Del and Wayne took on the job of installing the right gasoline tank. All the hangers had to be installed plus the cushion padding between the straps and the tank. With a lot of maneuvering, using a floor jack and lots of help from others they managed to squeeze it in place. For such a large vehicle GM did not leave a lot of space for the two 45 gallon fuel tanks. John Wiltjer stopped by to see if we needed anything from Weller Truck. BRAKES As in a previous communications, I mentioned that Jeff Miller worked with Bendix Brakes and Bendix donated and shipped all the brake components. Jeff showed up just after Wayne and Del installed the gasoline tank. For the balance of the day Jeff, Wayne and Del sorted out and identified all the brake components. In addition they position components to see how they will fit. Since Bendix supplied modern brake components to bring the brakes up to current safety standards, modifications will have to made to the mounting brackets. Jeff, Wayne and Del spent the rest of the day planning what next steps must be taken for mounting the new brake components. Just a side note but an important one. Jeff's wife just presented him last week with their fourth child, a baby girl; Nicole Rose, 5-1/2 pounds. Both wife and daughter are doing great. Congratulations! BODY Bud fabricated the sheet metal section on the upper cab that is located under the hot air exhaust for the engine. This section is covered by an 8"by 24" trim piece and the mounting holes must be exact. Once fabricated Don welded it in place. Next Bud fabricated a section in front of this piece to replace rusted metal and again Don welded this in place. Previously Bud had fabricated sections that go around the cab where trim is mounted about a foot below the windshield. Don spent much of the day welding these in place. Jim continued to fabricate sections at the outer rear for future welding. Fred fabricated and installed a brace for the PTO pulley guard. He continued to make the covers for the inside rear of the Futurliner. Wes, Ed and Jerry worked at the right lower cargo doors. They completed the installation of the gear boxes that work the door latch mechanisms. They then started the mounting of the outer door skins. Wes picked up at a antique fire engine and apparatus auction, outer wheel house skirts that almost fit perfectly on our Futurliner and look very close to the original which are so rusted we can only use them as patterns. He also donated an original Autronic Eye that he also purchased at a swap meet. COMMUNICATIONS Mike could only stay for a short period as he had a funeral to attend. He brought more items to catalog and started cataloging the material that has accumulated over the summer. Motor Trend's "TRUCK TREND" magazine just ran an article in their September/October issue (Vol.. 4, No. 5) about the GM Futurliners. It is in the section "Classic Trucks" and authored by Thomas Voehringer. Family Motor Coaching magazine (September 2001 issue) on page 146 has an article about the older motor coaches. Although the article does not cover the Futurliners there is a good photo of Bob Valdez's restored Futurliner. |
| Aug. 19 | Although
the volunteers have been off for the summer a lot has still been
progressing on the Futurliner. For example:
Again it is people making this project successful. Thanks to everyone. Following is the FALL 2001 Futurliner Work Sessions:
|
| July 10 |
FUTURLINER ROOF |
| May 22 |
Following
is the report for the Futurliner Restoration work session for Tuesday May
22, 2001. This will be our last
work session until September. Work will progress remote from
our work site here. We will not be giving weekly reports but as events
occur, we will update everyone. Follow this link
for general updates. Have a great summer. VOLUNTEERS: Mike Ball, Jim Baker, Del Carpenter, Fred Carpenter, Marge Carpenter*, Steve Cordes, Conrad DeJong, Ed DeVries, Bud Dinger, Jeff Dornbush, George Ferris, Wayne Jackson, Carol Mayton, Don Mayton, Wes Myrick, Wes Myrick (grandson), Jerry Sigler, Wally Snow, Dick Saddler and John Wiltjer. *Indicates work being done at home. DID YOU EVER SEE A DEAD CATERPILLAR WITH ANTS SWARMING OVER IT? Well that is what we had today. Carol again had grandbaby sitting duties but went out and got sub sandwiches for everyone and make apple pie for desert. BODY George and Don cut and fabricated steel sections for around the lower windshield area of the Futurliner while Connie and Jeff welded them in place. Jeff also ground smooth all the previous weeks welding on the cab. Ed delivered the hinge for the steps and gasoline tank strap padding that he had obtained. The stairs leading to the driver's cockpit are hinged at the top to provide access to the engine on the right side of the vehicle. Bud proceeded to fit and install this hinge. Once the hinge was installed he then took the mechanism that holds the stairs in the open position and he then installed this. Bud had previously taken this mechanism home, freed it from its years of rust, got it working, removed all rust and then painted it. Now the stairs can be raised and latched in place for access to the engine. Ed, Jerry, and Wes (grandson) lined up the right two lower cargo doors, and shimmed them to fit evenly with the body. They also repaired one of the latching mechanisms that holds the door shut. At the end of the session, they were fitting the outer skins to one of the doors. Fred continued to install and fabricate covers for the rear inside of the Futurliner. He is also repairing the guards that cover the "V" belts that drive the generator. Jim continues to fabricate and weld in sections at the rear of the body. Dick continues to sort out all the pieces for the cab. He could not get to his hatch with all the others working around the cab. He also helped Jim at the rear and worked at straightening out front trim pieces. Dick is also taking home with him one of the rear access doors. Previously he had a friend using a English wheel form the skin for this door. However, it needs more work to fit properly so Dick took this new skin, the old rusted skin, and the door inner assembly home. He feels with all the components, his friend can get the skin to fit properly. MECHANICAL Del and Wayne installed all the transmission cushion mounts for the rear transmission. Although they had the transmission in place and bolted in, the cushion mounts were not available. Wayne had a local company make the cushion mounts and contributed that to the project. Next, they installed the pads on the gasoline tank saddles. Then they installed the left gasoline tank. Following that they installed the left gasoline tank overflow line. Steve from the Tin Can Tourist came and true to his word, he picked up two of the mounted Futurliner wheels/tires to have them dismounted. He also stated he would investigate the possibility of getting them sandblasted and powder coated. Steve lives in Allendale, Michigan. Steve also worked on the Futurliner. TRIM Fred's wife, Marge has volunteered to start the polishing process of the aluminum trim. This trim is 60 plus years old and has 60 plus years of oxidation. To start with, Fred took her some sections of one of the side mirrors. These mirrors are large and are each make up of about five large aluminum castings. Since the balance of the mirrors were still assembled only those two pieces could we give her. Wally and Wes took on the assignment of disassembling the balance of these mirrors. Again, we have an aluminum assembly that has been put together with steel bolts and corroded together. Although it took all day with all sorts of brands of oils, heating with a torch, beating with hammers etc, etc by the end of the day they had the mirrors disassembled into all their individual components without breaking any of the aluminum castings. Fred took all the pieces to Marge. The upper cab right and side trim grilles were straightened and repaired by Dick, George, and Bud. These grills are at the rear of the cab and allow excess engine heat to be exhausted. ARCHIVES Mike set up our portable Futurliner display at a local car show this past Saturday. In addition, he continues to organize the material so that it is orderly. Mike is also contacting organizations that might have Futurliner and Parade of Progress information. He is following up on any leads to find more Paraders. PARADERS, do you know of any others we can contact. We are still looking for a PARADER'S traveling trunk. Even a good picture of one would give us a hint of what they looked like. John came to again check if we needed any help from Weller. In addition he picked up some plastic holders for Mike's display board and donated them to the cause. NEEDS - ROOF Although we are talking with two organizations about constructing the roof we have no firm commitment. Our goal is to have the roof available to start installation in September. NEEDS - GENERATOR The generator and its accompanying control box needs to be checked out, and all bad components restored. At present all efforts to find someone to take this on as a contribution to the project. It will take company that overhauls large industrial motors to take this project on. Anyone out there? NEEDS - LOST FUTURLINERS If you have been following this we have accounted for 10 of the 12 original Futurliners. We recently had a truck driver call us and tell us there is a Futurliner north of Houston, Texas on US 59. Anyone out there in Texas that can check this out? |
| May 16 | Following
is the report of the Futurliner Restoration Work session for Tuesday May
15, 2001. VOLUNTEERS: Make Ball, Del Carpenter, Fred Carpenter, Conrad DeJong, Ed DeVries, Lois Jackson, Wayne Jackson, Bud Dinger, Carol Mayton, Don Mayton, Wes Myrick, Wes Myrick (Grandson), Dick Saddler, Jerry Sigler, Wally Snow and John Wiltjer. Carol had grandmother baby sitting duties so she went out a got sub sandwiches for everyone. Lois had Wayne bring a potato salad and a fresh baked cake. Thanks you Lois. BODY Again Connie did a lot of the welding for the different crews working on the body. Bud and Wes (GS) worked at the cab where the trim goes around the midsection of the drivers cockpit. This area behind the trim was badly rusted and all the metal had to be cut out and new fabricated and welded in place. They got 1/2 of this area welded with new metal. Don, at the lower portion of the windshield mounting area, started replacing the rusted metal in this area. Wes, Ed, and Jerry worked at repairing the frames for the two right lower cargo doors. They also lined up and installed these frames. Ed and Wes did the necessary welding. Fred is fabricating the covers for the rear. In the process of getting out the old belt guard for the drive for the generator it was discovered that there was no access to a grease fitting. So, the cover that Fred previously made he is in the process of modifying. Dick spent time organizing the old cab material to understand how the interior of the cockpit goes together. MECHANICAL As I mentioned in the notes about the NATMUS visit, Bill Bicknell, this past Thursday, had the restored engine mounted on his test stand and ran it for over two hours. Del and Wayne disassembled one U-joint in order to install the bearing caps. They had to modify the bearing cap covers for installation. They then proceeded to overhaul the shaft assembly that goes from the PTO outlet to the generator. They discovered that one of the bearings was fractured and will have to be replaced. Del also brought with him the engine cross brace that he had taken home. He had sandblasted it, primed it and painted it. ARCHIVES Dan Brooks, from Sharon Hollow Publishing, sent us a set of photos from the easy 1950's showing one of the Futurliners in a shop having a display installed. The photos are excellent in that they show a lot of detail. In addition, one photo is of the instrument panel showing enough detail to figure out each instrument. Along with this Mike is organizing all our material so it is easily accessed. PARADERS I asked for information last week regarding the paint color of the engine. One of our Paraders came through with the paint color. |
| May 8 | VOLUNTEERS:
Jim Baker, Mike Ball, Del Carpenter, Fred Carpenter, Walter Davenport,
Conrad DeJong, Ed DeVries, Bud Dinger, Wayne Jackson, Carol Mayton, Don
Mayton, Wes Myrick, Dick Saddler, Jerry Sigler, Audrey Snow and Wally
Snow. Audrey sent a salad for lunch and Carol made and served lunch. BODY Wally and Walt installed the driver's seat to check for fit as well as the mounting position. Wally and Wayne installed the left door to check for fit. Ed, Jerry and Wes worked at rebuilding the frames on the two lower cargo doors on the right side of the Futurliner. In addition they mounted the doorframes on the piano hinges, rebuilt the latching systems and installed the latching system on the front lower cargo door. Don and Walt cut and fabricated metal for the left upper side of the cab of the Futurliner. Connie was kept busy welding these sections in place. Dick worked at the fabrication of the top hatch as well as the hatch frame. Connie did the necessary welding. Fred continued to fabricate covers for the rear of the inside of the Futurliner. Jim welded in sections at the outside right rear of the body. Bud is working on the stairs to the cab. He took home this past week the latching mechanism that holds them in the up position and freed it of 50 years rust and got the latch system working. MECHANICAL Del with assistance from Wayne worked at fitting the gasoline tank saddles. They will require later removal of the saddles to add the straps and padding before the final mounting of the gasoline tanks. Del and Wayne also worked at the rear transmission mounts. Additional material must be purchased to finish both of these jobs. Bill Bicknell, down is Ohio is coming along very well with the engine rebuild. He has the engine assembled and mounted on his engine stand. Currently he is waiting on two push rods and three manifold guide rings. (See following.) HELP NEEDED With all the information that we have, we cannot find the original color of the engine. Our Futurliner engine determined by the serial number was a replacement and was red. However, it appears from other information that the original color was a gray-green. There is a color called GMC medium green but we are not sure if that was the color. It could be that since the power train was military the engine could have been a military green. Is there anyone out there that knows for sure. Maybe some PARADER that worked on the engine remembers. Call or let us know via e-mail if you know the answer to this question. HUBCAPS We recently found a source to make our hubcaps. However, this will not be a donation so we will take it out of people’s previous financial donations. We appreciate any donation whether it is cash or services or work here in Zeeland. PARADE OF PROGRESS The local Antique Automobile Club of America held a car show recently in a local mall, Rogers Plaza. Many of our volunteers belong to this AACA. Mike, our archivist took our portable Futurliner display and set it up. Today, Art and Donna Takkinen visited our work site with a folder full of information about the 1936 - 1937 Parade of Progress. Art's uncle, Elmer J. Takkinen, worked in the Parade of Progress in 1936 -1937 driving one of the trucks. After Art passed away, this material was stored in a trunk. Later Art and Donna came across it and fortunately saved it. At the car show they came across Mike's display and immediately decided to donate the material. Although there are no pictures there is about 1" of type written pages describing the "Paraders" duties and instructions. In addition, there are over 20 letters, bulletins and separate instructions for the Paraders. There is also a list of the places visited in this time period which include Canada and Mexico. This is a significant contribution since we had very little type written information for the 1936 through 1940 Parade. It will take some time to sort through this material and present a summary of it. SAFETY LINER Walter Davenport who lives in Brighton, Michigan flew his Mooney airplane to Zeeland and Wayne picked him up. Walter is a retired Michigan State Trooper and at one time two of the Futurliners were given to the State of Michigan Police by GM (1959). One of the Futurliners was converted to a Michigan State Police Safety Liner and toured the state. The other was used primarily as a source for parts. Up to this point we only had one photo from a Michigan State Police Annual Report that showed the Safety Liner. Walter brought with him a package of photos. There are 15 original photos of the Safety Liner and the display that was presented to the people of Michigan. Again, we will put these on the web pages to further add to the history of how the Futurliners were used. ARCHIVES Mike has a full time job with all the material that we keep receiving. In addition, he is preparing information so that we can use it in researching the Futurliners, the Parade of Progress and making presentations. Thanks Mike for all the hard work. VISITORS The Kalamazoo Antique Auto Restorers Club visited our work site while Carol and I were on vacation. Del, Mike, and Dick did the hosting. They came in full strength with over 35 antique cars and close to 100 people. Having visits like this has helped in information gathering as well as sources for services to get work performed. Again, we want to thank all the volunteers for this project that has let us make all this progress. |
| April 24 | VOLUNTEERS:
Jim Baker, Mike Ball, Tony Becker, Bruce Beimers, Del Carpenter, Sue Carpenter,
Conrad DeJong, Bud Dinger, Jeff Dornbush, Wayne Jackson, Carol Mayton, Don Mayton,
Wes Myrick, Jerry Sigler, John Wiltjer
and Wally Snow. Tony provided goodies for our coffee
break. Sue provided an apple salad for lunch and Carol fixed and served
lunch. BODY Bud and Wally, with Connie welding, completed the sheet metal repairs on one of the rear people access doors. There is still a lot of work left to finish this door as well as all the rear trim that houses the turn signals, brake lights, tail lights and license plate housing is missing. Our Futurliner had been rear ended in its life so all this trim was destroyed. It was originally a 17" X 20" aluminum casting on each of these two rear doors. We believe we can fabricate these two housings. Wally also removed the front center housing that holds the aluminum grill for further metal work and completed that work. Jerry, fresh back from Florida started right in on rebuilding the right lower cargo doors with Wes working with him. As they fabricated sections, they had Connie weld them in place on the front right cargo door. Jim continued to fabricate and weld in metal at the right rear of the Futurliner. MECHANICAL Del and Jeff installed another one of the drive shafts. Now they must wait on the engine before they install any more drive shafts. Next, they started gathering up the gasoline tank saddles and all the nuts and bolts that hold these in place. Jeff left at lunch and after lunch Wayne worked with Del and they installed both the right and left gasoline tank saddles. John showed up after lunch again to see if Weller Truck could help. John ended up going back to Weller to locate two end caps that we needed for a universal. Bruce removed the glass windshield washer bottle that was broken and then made a sketch of it so we can find one at a car swap meet. He also removed the bottle holder and worked at freeing it from years of rust. He actually got the adjustment screw working. TRIM As we have mentioned previously, we are in need of a complete set of hubcaps. John Martin Smith, the President of NATMUS recently sent me a note of a person that makes hubcaps. I called him and he believes that he can make the Futurliner hubcaps. Bruce and Wayne assembled a box to hold each of the two types of hubcaps. We will get an estimate of their costs and proceed from there. We need a set of seven. Four for the Futurliner, two for the power train trailer that we plan to make to display the power train (engine, transmissions, etc.) and one for a spare. ARCHIVES Last week Mike took the cabinet home that he purchased and mounted it on a platform with casters. Mike also has been in communication with a firm that does plastic work for displays. They have offered their services free to help us. Mike is working with them to have the front "GM" letters reproduced in light weight plastic so he can mount them on his display board. Mike also loaded his truck to haul the Futurliner display for setup at a local shopping mall that will have car show this weekend. |
| April 21 | Following
is the work report for a special work session for the Futurliner
restoration project held on Thursday 4-19-01. VOLUNTEERS: Del Carpenter, Carol Mayton, Don Mayton and Joshua Vuyst. BODY SANDBLASTING Although the day started cool (34 F) the sun was shinning and just a light breeze, a perfect day for sandblasting. Del arrived at 9 AM and we went through the set up of all the sandblasting equipment. Next, we pulled the Futurliner out of the barn. Del donned his sandblasting suit and proceeded to sandblast. It is just a slow process when you are working on a vehicle that is almost 12 feet tall and 33 feet long. Don and Joshua (grandson) also did some sandblasting to give Del a break. By early afternoon we finished the cab and front roof and started on the back. At 6 PM we broke for supper. We finished at 8:30 PM including cleanup and gett |