Wool felt front wheel seal

Today Peter created new bearing seals for the 1934 Lagonda M45 Rapide. The seals of the day did much the same job as today’s plastic over steel equivalent. The main sealing surface is wool felt that, soaked in oil, does a good job holding most of the oil and grease in place. The tools of the trade are pretty simple ones: a spoon, a ball-peen hammer, scissors and a razor blade. The thick wool felt is traced and cut via razor blade.

To make the wool a bit “proud” – to stick out like the chin of a duke – paper gasket material can be cut and built up behind the wool. A spoon and a ball-peen hammer are all that is needed to make an imprint to cut out.

This twenties automotive seal technology was used in agricultural equipment for decades such as wheel seals on an Oliver or Cockshut tractor.

Using the ball-peen hammer to trace the inner lip on the gasket

A spoon has a nice radius for tracing the outer edge of the seal

Lagonda M45 Rapide front brake shoes and axle with hub removed

Oliver 2255

This is one of the last Oliver Tractors manufactured before the company was sold to White Motor Company. It has a Caterpillar 3208 V-8 engine and is  4 wheel drive. We had to get in and replace a bunch of rubber flex hoses that go from the steering valve body which is one of the hardest things to get to and required partially lifting the cab off to gain access.

55 Diesel Oliver

Here is a freshly painted Oliver grille for  a 1954 Oliver 55 Diesel in the correct green and yellow

Sometimes the shop can be a pretty nostalgic place, a pack of 60′s cars downstairs, tractors outside, and a Deusy upstairs – upon arrival, a visitor could feel like the result of a successful time-machine test.

This picture is more timeless than most and embodies the outside of the shop on a cold winter day. The wreaths have been put away now and the icicles have been replaced with rains’ drizzle. The tractor is, of course, an Oliver. A 1954 Super 55 diesel receiving a full overhaul, from the mains on up. At the time, the Super 55 was Oliver’s first compact tractor with enough muscle to do a good bit of work.

After going through every last little part, we finished the Oliver 77 Diesel. This tractor was purchased new by the current owners father and when Henry passed away, we were asked to fully restore it. As we got to the end of this project it felt similar to completing a car restoration where every little screw, clip, fastener needed to be correct which means multiple runs to the hardware store, industrial catalogs and lathe!

Row Crop Diesel Oliver

The Oliver 2050 with the forklift makes getting cars off jack stands or a rotisserie quite easy. Now this Ferrari 250 GT Lusso is outside and positioned high in the air for sand blasting and painting the engine bay.

The Lusso is being restored in a way that many would think is backward, but it is actually quite prudent. Most people would chose to restore a car from the outside-in making it look the part and then worrying about mechanicals later – but risking a basket case under thousands of dollars in paint.

Our client has chosen restoration from the inside-out, focusing on meticulous restoration of the running gear of the car. The engine was rebuilt with period performance modifications, cams, and porting. The suspension was nickel plated and all fasteners were black oxide treated. This is a very detail oriented work, but the car completed in the condition it was in when leaving the factory – save for the paint. Read about the suspension here and here.  And the drivetrain here. Watch the engine run here. To see all related Lusso posts click the “Lusso” link under the categories heading on the right.

The exterior of the car should have paint, but it’s an option left to the current owner, or an option for a future owner down the road.