Dixie Flyer "Firefly" speedster photographs

8 minute(s) of a 91 minute read

G'day 

As we Aussies tend to say. First let me say a Wonderful (White) Christmas and a Happy Healthy and Prosperous New Year to all my AACA and oldcar friends. As a special Australian Christmas present to you all please go to Urban Birder to see just a little bit of our wonderful country and hear the sounds of some of our unique birds. Urban Birder is a web site run by my son Paul and his partner Nicole Spilane. Paul is becoming a well known "Bird song recorder" some of his recordings are just fabulous. These involve travelling all over our country and setting up his recording equipment at all sorts of ungodly hours 3.am is about the best time to start recording.

Anyway don't take my word have a look at the web site.

12-29-2009

:)Hello all you Frosties up there in the north of this funny old world. No we have not been snowed in or buried under snow drifts higher than the house! Here in delightful sunny Melbourne we have had a run of perfect days each around 25 degrees C. Christmas was good for us with most of the family including two of our three sons and our lovely daughter visiting on Boxing day bringing with them seven of our total of nine grand children. a great day had by all. Our other son together with his wife and two offspring had moved to Adelaide South Australia during early December.

In fact it has been almost too good to be wasted mooching around in the shed but I have a commitment to have the Dixie Flyer in Louisville Kentucky on June 30th so it is back to work if only for a day or two before disappearing to my sister's place on the coast to see in the New Year. How many of you realise that we get to see the New Year here in Australia almost a whole day before you. but more of that later. 

As I have to have the chassis ready to go to Sleeping Classics early next week so that the body can be fitted albeit on a temporary basis. This needs to be done so that the mudguards can be trial fitted. If fact everything has to be assembled then taken apart for painting, so things are as promised really moving ahead. 

One job that really needed to be finished was making and fitting brake rods but this could not be completed until after the gearbox was back in place.

As you will see while having brakes only on the rear wheels both the hand-brake and the foot-brake rely on the gearbox as a support for both the pedal shaft and the hand-brake lever. 

Finally having decided that I was simply never going to find a suitable fuel tank I have had one made and now I have been able to fit this too and in the process make a new spare wheel carrier to be installed at the same time. I am very proud of this as it has been for the most part constructed from material that came with the "farm" engines. Anyone who cares to do a carbon-dating test on this will discover it is all 1920s steel.

Now for the photos. The first couple show the brake rod idler arms with the new clevis rod ends. Sorry all you people who have never owned let alone worked on a 1920s car with mechanical brakes this is all probably something totally unknown to you. 

Next is a photo of the Grant Lees gearbox showing if you look carefully the unique system where the hand brake lever pivots in the same housing as the gear-lever. 

Finally whilst the Dixie Flyer owner with a car delivered in its native Kentucky sat on the left hand side of the car and was well away from the heat of the exhaust the cars exported to countries that were at that time part of the "British Empire" sat on the right and so had to contend with well heated feet. This photo shows how the exhaust has to be routed down between the clutch and foot-brake levers. To overcome some of this discomfort the pipe is lagged in a modern heat resistant tape. The really keen photo viewer will have no doubt picked up my little exercise in double fixing. I really hate exhausts that leak and tend to drop off without warning! So in addition to the manifold clamp bolt I have included a short check strap running from under the head of the clamp bolt to a "keeper" welded to the pipe directly under the outlet end of the manifold.

Finally there is just one shot of the new fuel tank hanging from the original supports together with the spare wheel mount, this is still waiting on the retaining cap and "dog-bone" retaining nut.

I could not resist the temptation! I have just walked to the door to take a shot of the evening sky with the sun about 30 minutes from setting. Not a cloud to be seem and another perfect if slightly warmer day forecast for new years eve. The experts tell us to expect temperatures in the low to mid 30s C. for the next few days.(high 70s to mid 80s F.) Sorry I just thought that you may like to know. Local Time right now 9.15 p.m.

Happy New Year

Hello Alan

In six months time it will be our turn to have winter although ours is much milder we only have snow on the near by hills about every five years and then it only last a day or two. Our big problem is that we have not had proper winter and spring rain for some years now and our reservoirs are just not filling. Our cereal farmers are having a hard time.

Re the Dixie Flyer body. If you are not a AACA Member you would have missed out on the series of articles that I am writing for the Antique Automobile. The body is based on an original Firefly Speedster but an Australian version I understand was built by W S Grice in New South Wales.

Below is a photo of a then new Firefly sent to me by a Alfred Messier taken in Boston in 1923. The Main difference will be that my car will have full length running boards not the little aluminium steps. I don't like the look of the mudguards being just cut off square.

Stationary engines can be good fun and they don't take up a lot of space. I have had several but like cars they don't seem to stay around too long.

Keep up the good work on the Alvis.

Hello Alan

In six months time it will be our turn to have winter although ours is much milder we only have snow on the near by hills about every five years and then it only last a day or two. Our big problem is that we have not had proper winter and spring rain for some years now and our reservoirs are just not filling. Our cereal farmers are having a hard time.

Re the Dixie Flyer body. If you are not a AACA Member you would have missed out on the series of articles that I am writing for the Antique Automobile. The body is based on an original Firefly Speedster but an Australian version I understand was built by W S Grice in New South Wales.

Below is a photo of a then new Firefly sent to me by a Alfred Messier taken in Boston in 1923. The Main difference will be that my car will have full length running boards not the little aluminium steps. I don't like the look of the mudguards being just cut off square.

Stationary engines can be good fun and they don't take up a lot of space. I have had several but like cars they don't seem to stay around too long.

Keep up the good work on the Alvis.