78 percent theory or My Grandfathers ax


Just keep it clean please....

Golden Jubilee
Golden Jubilee

Posts: 5170

Joined: Thu Nov 29, 2012 9:28 pm

Location: Lyman, IA

Post Mon Oct 17, 2022 11:29 am

78 percent theory or My Grandfathers ax

The old saw goes, "I'll still have my grandfathers ax, I replaced the handle a number of times and the head twice, but it is still my grandfathers ax'!
When it comes to vehicles, My brother calls it the 78% theory. I am close enough to being done that I can taste it but when ever I try to complete the last 22% I find more wrong that pushes me back to that 78%.
With the bigger K's the brake cyl can be a problem, and there is White Post restorations that claim to repair them.
Anything made by man can be re made by man, but at some point you have to question the wisdom of doing so.
With old vehicles it isn't that we are doing it for profit, in most every case it is a labor of love that is a money pit
I think Nikki know what I am getting at, he has been close to done with his Ford for some time now, but not quite there.
Even the hard to find stuff can bring reward when the problem is solved, but that can be dashed when you find something you thought was trivial and isn't.
I have a car, not exactly and antique but not a daily driver either. It had a weak transmission due to some bad work done before I bought it. I have been living and driving a car that most could not because of its problems. This year I spent a lot of time trying to find a replacement transmission (I did) after looking for years for the parts I needed to repair mine unsuccessfully. It is a three season car for me, the body is in excellent shape, but not flawless. I hope to keep it that way.
Before I looked for the transmission, I put a turbo center section in, engine runs great and I have new bearings and timing chain to put in when the engine is out for the trans. The thought is/was that once the trans was replaced and the engine freshened, it would be a s close to 100% as you can get.
I should add that parts for this car are not easy to find and the mfg is out of business, but the same problems confront us with older IHC's even though they are still around.
Anyway, I thought while I was at it, I would fix a weak parking brake. It works but not as strong or as well as it should. Being a 4 wheel disk car, the parking brake is more complex than a drum brake vehicle. Long and short of it is it needs new calipers and they are NLA anywhere and because they are only used on these cars and one military vehicle made decades ago, NOS parts are not to be found (at least so far). Someone did find some 12 years ago but that supply seams to be exhausted. Used parts seam to be no better than what I have.
Anything made by man can be re made by man. I am now looking at the feasibility of getting some hard chrome bar stock and having new parts made. I don't have the machining ability to machine hard chrome stock, and finding someone who can and will may be hard esp if they know it is going to be used in a braking system.
So right now I am more like 30%! I can replace the trans, freshen the engine, but unless I can solve the brake problem, I have yard art!
My dilemma is: If I solve the brake issue and have the car drivable by anyone, should I sell and move on or enjoy the fruits of my labors knowing full well the next imposable repair is looming unseen?
If you have faced this, or something like it in a restore, how have you worked though it? Did you keep the vehicle or sell when it operable?
I think every one who has restored something must face this dilemma sooner or later. How did it end up for you, and do you wish you would have chosen a different path?

Golden Jubilee
Golden Jubilee

Posts: 8937

Joined: Thu Dec 27, 2012 12:45 pm

Location: Canada's left Coast

Post Mon Oct 17, 2022 4:16 pm

Re: 78 percent theory or My Grandfathers ax

Thanks, CB89. I can identify with your post.
The last 20% is the most difficult time of a project. This is only made more difficult when an unlucky year consumes 12 months of my shop time. There have been more than a few times that I have had builder's remorse over the Ford project. I am able to put a large part of the expense into the enjoyment and learning time slots. I am out of pocket a little over $120,000 and I am still alive. More than a few of the guys I worked with held onto their bad habits of drinking and smoking and have died. A few of the guys have gambled their savings, homes and pensions away.
Here is the "bind". I would rather be busy with and old stationary engine restoration or building another Old IHC pickup. I lost my focus and I have to deal with the Ford. The Ford looks fantastic. I get lots of positive compliments on what I have done. Because of this I have not sold the '40. There has been some interest in "taking the Ford off my hands". This usually means I am going to try and rip you off.
As difficult as it might be, I am going to go outside in a few minutes. I may make it to the garage, this time. I have not been in the shop for 12 months and 4 days.
I have not wasted all of my down time. I have an idea of what I need to do to get the old Flathead to run. More later on this, maybe.
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LB aircleaner.jpg
CAB WITH TWIN WINDOWS.jpg
I would rather have tools I do not need than to need tools I do not have
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Yard Art
Yard Art

Posts: 92

Joined: Wed Nov 28, 2018 4:10 pm

Location: Bay Area, California

Post Fri Oct 21, 2022 2:29 pm

Re: 78 percent theory or My Grandfathers ax

Yup, I think I have one of those "my grandfathers axes". It very easily could have had the head and handle replaced at some point (maybe multiple times), but if my grandfather did it it still makes it my grandfathers axe. On a similar note, the USS Constitution sailing ship is estimated to have only 10-15% of it's original wood. The rest has been replaced during various repairs or restorations since then.

And yup, the 78% on any old vehicle that gets driven is probably a pretty good guess. For every repair completed a new problem comes along to keep the number from advancing by much. If we had the time and money for a full restoration along the lines of what Jay Leno can do or have done, we'd probably stay up over 90% complete.
1936 International C40
1962 Triumph TR4
2002 Chevy Avalanche

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