Tag Archive


302 1927 Rally 1969 automobile Automotive battery bolt California Mille camshaft classic car crankshaft cylinder disassembly emergency engine Fastback Father and Son Ford Garage historic car rally historic rally How to London Mille Miglia muscle car Mustang oil paint panel parts project pump rear rebuild removal Restoration steering Three Lions Garage tips TLG tools torque transmission weld workshop

Our other vehicles need love too

True Confession time: It’s not all vintage vehicle fun at the Three Lions Garage.  Our newer vehicles need care too.  While I’ll admit that I’ll rarely decide to sacrifice any of the few precious hours I can manage to dedicate to the garage each week on projects as routine as oil changes or tune ups […]

VOILA!

Fini! Terminado! Finito! DONE! (Drums, please!) The motor is finished! Didn’t think I’d be saying this a whole year into the project.  I mean, how long can engine reassembly take? Ah well, I’ll just have to pick up the pace. My goal is to finish the whole project by the time school starts next year […]

Our 302: all dressed up and nowhere to go

Alright! Reporting from Snowbird, Utah right now, tired from a long day skiing. My English teacher once told me that writing is like a miniskirt: it should be long enough to cover the subject, but short enough to keep it interesting. I plan to make this entry short and concise. Now that the valve train […]

Curse you, W. N. Woodruff!

Late in the nineteenth century, a Connecticut inventor named W.N. Woodruff invented the Woodruff Key, a way to mate parts to rotating shafts.  Mr. Woodruff came up with the ingenious idea of inserting a semi-circular key into a keyway cut longitudinally into a shaft so that a portion of the key protrudes as a tab […]

“Screw”-Ups and Equipment Failures

On Wednesday, Dad and I stopped by the house of our good friend and gearhead Rob to pick up his click torque wrench before heading to the garage. Years ago, Rob rebuilt a ’65 289 that he dopped into his ’84 Mustang.  Rob decided to join us at TLG with his two kids. Now that […]

Loss of Yardage

Knowing Dad was going to be gone this weekend, I made sure to get my homework done early on Tuesday and Wednesday so Dad and I could get as much work done at the garage as possible. We left the block, now with its newly balanced crankshaft in place, under a garbage bag to protect […]

Let the fun begin!

Finally! My homework is finished, I’ve gotten some sleep, and Dad isn’t busy. We all know this means I get to spend more time with my rapidly growing addiction to auto-restoration. My dad’s been nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs because our engine is going to start oxidizing if […]

Engine is in good hands…

Jack and I visited Wade and Jim at Hubbard Machine in Hayward to drop off Jack’s small block 302 engine for machining and balancing.  Hubbard’s was recommended to us by my friend and fellow car club member, Ed Archer, a vintage auto collector and racer who has been a Hubbard’s customer since it was run […]

Relapse

After a grueling 34 days of withdrawal, my dad and I relapsed from our sobriety and fell back into our dirty habit: working at the garage. Having been on the wagon so long, we’re putting the pedal to the metal to try and make up for lost time. On Friday, we stopped by to clean […]