Thanks Jim!!

 

Bad news & bad news .... Heard from the owner of the warehouse whose panel truck I attempted to pull the fire truck .... the clutch is shot!! Damage $450-500. Honestly, I thought it would cost more. He did say he appreciated my honesty and that why he allows my truck in his warehouse! I have the pertronix system for the truck. It doesn't look too bad to install. Will try and get to that next week.

I finally took the Buick to the mechanic. He is telling me that when they did the head work they didn't measure and grind the valves to the correct height so that is part of the problem why its not idling good. The car has no vacuum. Does this sound right to you guys!!

Got some goods leads on my Thompson. Hope to get a nice example.

 

Sorry about the clutch.
The only small trouble I had when I installed my pertronix was trying to get the two wires to pass thru the hole in the distributor. With the grommet and the placement of the wires, there was not a clear shot to get a tool to help the wires enter the hole from inside the distributor.


Also, as mentioned before, do not leave the ignition on without the truck running. It will fry the unit. Good luck

 

Keith , send a pm with the serial #'s off the Thompson .Will have Brother Don check them out to see if it a real one or a knock off .You may need a second mortgage if it a real one lol !

 

Thanks Jim. I''l let you know how the install goes next week.

Thanks Denny. I'm looking at 2 right now. I only have the # on one of them. I will send you a PM.

 

Keith I think its time to collect some funds for your book.
Get it in print and let us help you sell it to all our local
libraries. Hopefully not only pay for the printing but pay
for the clutch and the Thompson as well. I have an almost
complete WWII USA military fire arms collection. The Tommy
is still one I am looking for. But if I had two Than one would be
for sale. I will ask my gun broker about one. He has found some
awesome exotic WWII fire arms for me already. I have not asked
him to look for a Tommy in over a year as I haven't had the funds.
But he is tied into a world wide market so he will know whats out there.
I do think the electronic ign is the best way to go for you. Points work
damn well on a daily driver, But not so much on one that sits for a time.
I am the father of old school, but even I see the advantage of an electronic
ignition in your fire wagon. And damn I don't want to ever hear you talk about
selling Her again. You scared me my friend.

 

Keith
That's a bummer on the clutch. The repair price seems pretty reasonable though, so at least he's not trying to gouge you.


Good luck on the Thompson


Bobby

 

Keith there was a Thompson in River Forest Il for years. If you drove by a certain house owned by a very famous Chicago mob guy (Tony A---- something but I'll never tell) at night and the drapes were open you could see it hanging on a wall. When he was arrested one time a cop actually check it out thinking it was just a model. It was the real thing and was loaded with a full magazine. He got charged for possession of an illegal fire arm. Maybe that one is still around. Think of the history on the item. Have fun

 

Rich, once I get the mechanical issues with all my vehicles and get the Thompson, I will seriously work to get the book printed.

 

[QUOTE=bobbytnm;15354809]Keith
That's a bummer on the clutch. The repair price seems pretty reasonable though, so at least he's not trying to gouge you.


Good luck on the Thompson


Bobby[/QUOT

Thanks Bobby. I met with the Buick Mechanic and he showed me how the valve lengths are not correct. I went to the machine shop this morning and spoke with the owner who siad he didn't do anything wrong. He knows my mechanic and the mechanic is going to stop it and explain what wrong with the heads tomorrow. So the top of the motor has to come off again. Who pays for that? I'm going to try and get the machine shop to pay for it. its going to cost around $600 for removal & replace. I'm having the worse mechanical luck lately

 

Cool story Dave. Get caught with a machine gun and its automatically a 10K fine and 10 years in prison.

 

Big brother ( US Gov.) knows where every Thompson is & the owners names .

 

Keith
Hopefully the machine shop will step up to the plate and fix their error. I hope your mechanic is tactful and persuasive and can get them to understand the issue without putting them on the defensive. Either way, you're still out the labor and time to get it handled.


Keep after it, it will all come together eventually
Bobby

 

I hope everyone is having a good Memorial Day Weekend! I got the heads back from the machine shop and they will go back on this upcoming week. It took a lot of prying and the owner admitted some of the valve were high but according to him within specs. Once they go back on and the car is running good I plan on going back to talk to him about paying for the labor $600 or at least refunding the cost of the valve job $300. I'll let everyone know how it goes. I also had the mechanic pull off the brake booster. It hasn't been rebuilt in 17 years and is not working properly. I'm also getting it replated too.

As far as the truck goes, My buddy will help me figure out the issue this week and install the breakerless ignition system. Hopefully she will be back on the road soon. Its been a month now and I don't want her to sit much longer.

Been looking hard for a Thompson. I spoke to a few dealers and have some good leads. I went and shot a 1928 Tommy (takes a drum mag) last week and it was a lot of fun of course!!

 

Happy things are working out on the truck. Enjoy hearing of your progress.


I had my brake booster rebuilt when I did all the break lines, cylinders, and lines. At the time I did not have the knowledge to go after it myself. I still do not think I would rebuild it my self today