Friday, April 2, 2010
Driving
Just a quick note on how this truck is being used right now to clarify for anyone that I don't see daily. This is my daily driver so it gets used a lot. I live approximately 25 miles from my job and I drive there 4 times a week, not to mention all the other running around Denver I do. I would estimate close to 200 miles a week on average. This means that I cannot leave it torn apart in the garage for a week like many people. I sometimes feel like I am on those car shows where they have a deadline and a big project to complete before time runs out. Except in my case its just me doing the work and the clocks expires at 9pm on tuesday when I have to drive the truck in to work. Happy Easter everyone!
Rear Main seal replacement
I was finally tired of pouring 1 qt of oil through my engine and onto the street every week so I decided it was time to tackle the rear main seal that has been the major cause of my oil leak problems. I did not take pictures because as you can imagine this job is super messy, too messy to take pictures. I am not going to go into extreme boring detail as to how the process went but I will include some pointers for anyone who might attempt a similar project. The seal is actually in 6 pieces, 2 pieces that go around the crank and 2 straight pieces that are located on both sides of the mounting blocks and 2 "nails" that go behind the straight seals.
Here's the tips:
1. GET AN IMPACT WRENCH! If you don't have one buy one-borrow one-steal one! I used an 18" breaker bar but I am not kidding the bolts that hold on the crank are tough! I am a pretty big boy and it was all I could do with the cramped spaces and oil all over the place to get the bolts to break loose. An impact would have saved me sore muscles and tons of time
2. The half of the seal that goes above the crank can easily be removed without pulling the tranny if you loosen each bolt that holds the crank shaft in place -I said loosen not remove- you can rotate the old half of seal out and insert a oiled up new one in its place. To remove the old one I began by screwing a drywall screw into the seal and yanking on it with some pliers to get it out enough to get pliers on it.
3.Disposable gloves are amazing! the ability to shed off greasy nasty gloves when you need to grip something clean or grab the phone or whatever is awesome! It keeps you under the hood working instead of running to the sink to wash your hands.
4. Buy a complete gasket kit for older engines. I could have spent nearly 50 bucks on just the seals I needed but found the complete Fel-Pro gasket kit was only 65 bucks and it includes every seal for the engine. Which was handy when I replaced the thermostat and forgot that I needed a new seal to re-mount the thermostat housing. Good thing I had the complete kit!
5. Clean mating surfaces of gaskets well. Old cork seal chunks or globs of nasty silicone sealant can cause leaks. It also helps detect any imperfections in the mating surface, scratches, dents or cracks.
6. Plan well, gather tools and parts and enough time to complete the job before you start.
cheers, chuck
Here's the tips:
1. GET AN IMPACT WRENCH! If you don't have one buy one-borrow one-steal one! I used an 18" breaker bar but I am not kidding the bolts that hold on the crank are tough! I am a pretty big boy and it was all I could do with the cramped spaces and oil all over the place to get the bolts to break loose. An impact would have saved me sore muscles and tons of time
2. The half of the seal that goes above the crank can easily be removed without pulling the tranny if you loosen each bolt that holds the crank shaft in place -I said loosen not remove- you can rotate the old half of seal out and insert a oiled up new one in its place. To remove the old one I began by screwing a drywall screw into the seal and yanking on it with some pliers to get it out enough to get pliers on it.
3.Disposable gloves are amazing! the ability to shed off greasy nasty gloves when you need to grip something clean or grab the phone or whatever is awesome! It keeps you under the hood working instead of running to the sink to wash your hands.
4. Buy a complete gasket kit for older engines. I could have spent nearly 50 bucks on just the seals I needed but found the complete Fel-Pro gasket kit was only 65 bucks and it includes every seal for the engine. Which was handy when I replaced the thermostat and forgot that I needed a new seal to re-mount the thermostat housing. Good thing I had the complete kit!
5. Clean mating surfaces of gaskets well. Old cork seal chunks or globs of nasty silicone sealant can cause leaks. It also helps detect any imperfections in the mating surface, scratches, dents or cracks.
6. Plan well, gather tools and parts and enough time to complete the job before you start.
cheers, chuck
Friday, March 19, 2010
Cold Air Blowing
I spent the majority of the winter driving around in a truck with a worn out blower motor and luke warm air trickling in, I put up with it for too long. I had enough and decieded to replace the blower motor and while I was in there I cleaned out the ducting and did a once over on the linkages and things before re installing it in hopes that it would warm up the cab a little. Well it didn't. It silently blew barely warm air. I also had noticed that the temp gauge in the cab always reads at the coldest reading, there was only one time where it jumped a little bit after driving for a long time, I had assumed that the gauge was just broken but I was wrong again! I decided that the thermostat had to be either broken, and stuck open or there was nothing there at all. I was right, there was nothing in the thermostat spot, hence the "broken" temp gauge and cold air blowing. Now I have a temp gauge that reads in the norm and enough warm air blasting silently into the cab to make it uncomfortable! word!
Before I go 3 things:
1. My tenses in my blogging are all wrong and I know it but whatev, gimme a break! I'll work on it!
2. Thermostats have a right and a wrong way to install them. FYI the spring goes into the engine and the "point" points out at you.
3. I have noticed, and its not a suprise, that the heater core has devoloped a slight leak that I can smell with the heater on. It is not enough to make a mess yet but you can expect an update on the fix. Good news though! I happen to have an extra one of those that came in my box-O-junk I got from a guy on craigslist a while back. YESSS!
Before I go 3 things:
1. My tenses in my blogging are all wrong and I know it but whatev, gimme a break! I'll work on it!
2. Thermostats have a right and a wrong way to install them. FYI the spring goes into the engine and the "point" points out at you.
3. I have noticed, and its not a suprise, that the heater core has devoloped a slight leak that I can smell with the heater on. It is not enough to make a mess yet but you can expect an update on the fix. Good news though! I happen to have an extra one of those that came in my box-O-junk I got from a guy on craigslist a while back. YESSS!
Passenger Floor done
I cleaned all of the rust away from the area and sprayed it down with some rustoleum to prevent further deterioration.
Driver side patched
The black paint around the under side of the patch is some Rustoleum flat black paint to keep the rust away. I used steel rivets with backing plates. The metal I used was very thin so I may end up making new patch plates when I obtain more material.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
I lied to you!
Ok well just as I was preparing for a very expensive axle replacement or worse I discovered that by some miracle, literally have no other explanation, the 4 wheel drive decided to work. So I will still service the front end of this thing next but at least it will just be brakes bearings and seals... Maybe u-joints too but they seem pretty tight so far. I'll keep you updated! Word homies
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Rusty Floor Pans
Today I finished patching up the floor boards and sealed it all up. Below is a brief overview of the process. Pictures to follow.
1. I planned.
2. I revised my plan a lot after measuring and checking cost.
3. I remeasured and cut my patch material with a foot shear.
4. I used an air diegrinder with a cutoff wheel to cut a whole 1 inch on all sides smaller than my patch.
5. I used a wire wheel on a drill to remove all of the rust remaining on the floor and rough up the paint for a new coat.
6. With the surface clean I sprayed the exposed surface with rust oleum to stop any rust from reappearing
7. Then I applied a thick line of sealant around the 1" perimeter of the holes. I wanted to use a tar to seal it but I could only find a silicone sealant at the hardware store so I went with that.
8. Starting with one corner I drilled an 1/8" hole and riveted the plate down. I used steel rivets with backing washers.
9. Then I continued around the patch at 2" intervals drilling and then riveting to make sure everything lines up and the holes don't end up moving around as the patch is riveted down.
10. With the patches secure I sprayed the rest of the floor pan area with a heavy coat of rust oleum. I chose a semi-gloss black for the interior because the red looks terrible.
1. I planned.
2. I revised my plan a lot after measuring and checking cost.
3. I remeasured and cut my patch material with a foot shear.
4. I used an air diegrinder with a cutoff wheel to cut a whole 1 inch on all sides smaller than my patch.
5. I used a wire wheel on a drill to remove all of the rust remaining on the floor and rough up the paint for a new coat.
6. With the surface clean I sprayed the exposed surface with rust oleum to stop any rust from reappearing
7. Then I applied a thick line of sealant around the 1" perimeter of the holes. I wanted to use a tar to seal it but I could only find a silicone sealant at the hardware store so I went with that.
8. Starting with one corner I drilled an 1/8" hole and riveted the plate down. I used steel rivets with backing washers.
9. Then I continued around the patch at 2" intervals drilling and then riveting to make sure everything lines up and the holes don't end up moving around as the patch is riveted down.
10. With the patches secure I sprayed the rest of the floor pan area with a heavy coat of rust oleum. I chose a semi-gloss black for the interior because the red looks terrible.
The biggest 4x2 truck around!
Ok, so I received the new hubs a couple weeks ago and quickly slapped them on and was excited to finally be driving a 4x4 again! To my disappointment though I discovered another problem, the front driveshaft was spinning but the wheels were not!
This could mean two things, differential problems or axle problems. UGH! that sucks. I'm 90% sure it's the driver side inner axle shaft that is broken but won't be certain until tear into the front axle. Why haven't I done that? I haven't started the front axle because I know the project will be a big one and will include a full brake job replacing bearings and seals and I just haven't had the dough to start it. I have been doing a ton of research though about the axle and decoding the tags to decipher what is inside.
This is what I found regarding the rear axle because it actually has a tag on it with the bill of materials and other info. The tag has this stamped on it:
4.10 D5TA LEB
603583 12 LS
I went to www.spicerparts.com to decode the tag and this is what I found. This website BTW was super helpful! I downloaded a maintenance booklet for the Trac Lok and The parts list and complete info for the rear axle. FOR FREE!!! Thanks Spicer! Also, spicer=dana=spicer interchangeable names one makes the other I can't remember which.
4.10= gear ratio: ring gear teeth/pinion gear teeth = 4.10 gears
603583 12 LS = B.O.M. Bill Of Materials, tells ya what is inside, and where it came from. This axle came from a 1975.5 Ford 3/4 ton HD 4x2 Full Float with limited slip aka Trac-Lok.
This could mean two things, differential problems or axle problems. UGH! that sucks. I'm 90% sure it's the driver side inner axle shaft that is broken but won't be certain until tear into the front axle. Why haven't I done that? I haven't started the front axle because I know the project will be a big one and will include a full brake job replacing bearings and seals and I just haven't had the dough to start it. I have been doing a ton of research though about the axle and decoding the tags to decipher what is inside.
This is what I found regarding the rear axle because it actually has a tag on it with the bill of materials and other info. The tag has this stamped on it:
4.10 D5TA LEB
603583 12 LS
I went to www.spicerparts.com to decode the tag and this is what I found. This website BTW was super helpful! I downloaded a maintenance booklet for the Trac Lok and The parts list and complete info for the rear axle. FOR FREE!!! Thanks Spicer! Also, spicer=dana=spicer interchangeable names one makes the other I can't remember which.
4.10= gear ratio: ring gear teeth/pinion gear teeth = 4.10 gears
603583 12 LS = B.O.M. Bill Of Materials, tells ya what is inside, and where it came from. This axle came from a 1975.5 Ford 3/4 ton HD 4x2 Full Float with limited slip aka Trac-Lok.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
New Hub
Warn Premium Locking Hubs. These hubs are good for a lot of reasons, the biggest though is the metal center dial. They always work... 'nuf said.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Monday, February 1, 2010
Update: Someone's got a case of the Mondays
It has been a few days since I have written about the project so I figured I should keep yall updated as to what has been happening with the ole beast. Since there are many things happening at once I will use a list to talk about individual parts.
- The new hubs will be here on wednesday sometime so expect to see a post about that soon.
-I also purchased a marker light assembly from ebay for only 10$ including shipping to replace one I had broken while climbing under the hood a while back.
-I have been pretty disgusted by the interior of the truck and when you see the pictures you will understand what I'm talking about. I had considered buying a seat cover for $30 but decided that I might as well look around for other seating options. I began looking on craigslist for a new seat and found no suitable bench seats for under $300 but did find a sweet set of seats from a jeep grand cherokee that I purchased for 80 bones. They are bucket style tan, leather, power-adjust seats. They are taking quite a bit of fabrication and frustration to mount but I am certain that I will be able to get them in soon. The drivers seat needs reupholstered but thats cool I have ideas about how to deal with that problem. The final setup will be 3 seats across. both nice buckets and one of the rear seats between them. The center seat should fold for storage and will have a console on it most of the time. The biggest benefit to these seats is that they are high-back buckets with headrests that will prevent my head from going through the rear window when someone rear-ends me. I also plan on upgrading from the stupid lap-belts to the safer over the shoulder style. on Saturday I used my time to (instead of working out my blinker issue) play with the new seats, I started by ripping out the bench seat, easy, 4 bolts and its out. Then I ripped out the floor mat or what was left of it and proceeded to sweep 35 years of dirt and junk out from the interior. I had to use a wire brush to get the caked on dirt and tons of rust out from the floorboards. I was hoping to find some change under that seat but only found 5 pennies and some camel cash. Both floor pans are rusted through in places so expect to see a post about replacing rusty floor pans soon.
-Today before I got started on the bucket seat conversion I couldn't help but notice the entire house smelled like gasoline. The stench was coming from the garage and from a small pool of gasoline under the truck. The rubber hoses that connect the fuel pump to the hard lines had finally deteriorated to the point of failure. With the fuel tank sitting behind the seat, higher than most of the fuel delivery system, any leaks will continue to drip. I had the rubber hoses replaced in no time and was able to move on. I expect to replace every single piece of rubber on this truck. if it isn't cracked and dried it is soaked and dissolved.
- The new hubs will be here on wednesday sometime so expect to see a post about that soon.
-I also purchased a marker light assembly from ebay for only 10$ including shipping to replace one I had broken while climbing under the hood a while back.
-I have been pretty disgusted by the interior of the truck and when you see the pictures you will understand what I'm talking about. I had considered buying a seat cover for $30 but decided that I might as well look around for other seating options. I began looking on craigslist for a new seat and found no suitable bench seats for under $300 but did find a sweet set of seats from a jeep grand cherokee that I purchased for 80 bones. They are bucket style tan, leather, power-adjust seats. They are taking quite a bit of fabrication and frustration to mount but I am certain that I will be able to get them in soon. The drivers seat needs reupholstered but thats cool I have ideas about how to deal with that problem. The final setup will be 3 seats across. both nice buckets and one of the rear seats between them. The center seat should fold for storage and will have a console on it most of the time. The biggest benefit to these seats is that they are high-back buckets with headrests that will prevent my head from going through the rear window when someone rear-ends me. I also plan on upgrading from the stupid lap-belts to the safer over the shoulder style. on Saturday I used my time to (instead of working out my blinker issue) play with the new seats, I started by ripping out the bench seat, easy, 4 bolts and its out. Then I ripped out the floor mat or what was left of it and proceeded to sweep 35 years of dirt and junk out from the interior. I had to use a wire brush to get the caked on dirt and tons of rust out from the floorboards. I was hoping to find some change under that seat but only found 5 pennies and some camel cash. Both floor pans are rusted through in places so expect to see a post about replacing rusty floor pans soon.
-Today before I got started on the bucket seat conversion I couldn't help but notice the entire house smelled like gasoline. The stench was coming from the garage and from a small pool of gasoline under the truck. The rubber hoses that connect the fuel pump to the hard lines had finally deteriorated to the point of failure. With the fuel tank sitting behind the seat, higher than most of the fuel delivery system, any leaks will continue to drip. I had the rubber hoses replaced in no time and was able to move on. I expect to replace every single piece of rubber on this truck. if it isn't cracked and dried it is soaked and dissolved.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
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