Thursday, June 17, 2010
Saturday, May 15, 2010
what I have done lately
It has been over a month since my last post. The main reason for this is that I have spent significantly less time on this project recently, with much of my work being non-voluntary problem fixes. here is a short list of the things that have been done since the last post. I have obtained and installed updated seatbelts. I have finished the bucket seat conversion and installed carpet and shifter boots on the floor. I replaced the junk bed with a different used one with a decent tailgate. i installed new wheels and tires. I replaced the fuel pump. I have a new fender and nice trim to install when i really start on body work. I now have a good spare tire and have ideas on how to mount that tire to keep it secure. oh and a new dash pad too.
wow, now that I have written all of that down it doesn't seem like such a short list...
here are some details.
the bed- the bed i got was from a '78 f-250 and is in pretty good shape. it has some pitting and rust in the floor but it is pretty light and much better than my other one. the front panel is in perfect shape and the bed rails are in good shape. the tailgate is in working condition but needs some tweaking to get it to work smoothly. There is the normal light rust over the fender wells but nothing too bad. i spent a little bit of money on the bed but it is a vast improvement over the previous situation. the guy i bought it from helped me remove my old bed and install the new one which was really nice of him.
the interior- pretty self explanatory. i changed the seatbelts out for over the shoulder style, because i believe they are safer and they surely work a lot smoother than the old junk lap-belts that didn't even adjust tightly. I put in a fitted carpet with insulation that has really quieted down the road noise and with the new shifter boots the cab has become far less drafty. One thing I have noticed is that every time I fix the obvious culprit to any problem a secondary/smaller but still significant cause to the same problem shows its face. For example i noticed a cold draft while driving, I assumed maybe it was the holes in the floorboards at my feet, after patching them I find air pouring in through the junk shifter boots, after replacing them I notice a strong draft coming from the corner vents that don't seal correctly. the things that are left on the interior are to clean up wiring and sort out some minor issues. the dash pad needs installed and I plan to paint the instrument panel to hide scratches and dings and instal the new dashpad. At some point I will make a third, center seat that will could house some storage space, a small subwoofer, or at least some cupholders. I plan to eliminate the fuel tank behind the seats and go to dual tanks. oh yeah, i am going to replace the steering wheel and fix the horn eventually too.
the fuel pump- I had noticed a small drip coming from the fuel pump a week before it actually stopped working and expected to be replacing it soon, which just happened to be on the connecting ramp from 6th avenue to I-25 southbound on my way to work. the truck picked a bad place to quit on me. and the silliest time too, because i left extremely early for work this thursday night for no good reason and the same day i chose to take all my tools out of my truck. So when it quit on me the first thing I did was chew a piece of gum, to help me relax and think clearly, said a prayer, and then decided i had a plan that would probably get me to work at least. The previous owner had installed a secondary electric fuel pump on the frame rail to help pull fuel out of the aux tanks, i noticed it when cleanin up some wiring and seeing the shoddy way it was installed i just disconnected all of the wiring and left the pump in place and I am glad I did because i was able to quickly reconnect the wiring and begin pumping fuel again. I had to use the on/off switch to the pump to regulate the flow of fuel into the carb minimizing the excess that was coming out of the failed fuel pump. anyways, i made it to work, on time even. I spent the next morning when I got off at work with borrowed tools replacing my fuel pump. I didn't leave until after 1pm and was only able to get +/- 2hrs of sleep that day. ugh.
wow, now that I have written all of that down it doesn't seem like such a short list...
here are some details.
the bed- the bed i got was from a '78 f-250 and is in pretty good shape. it has some pitting and rust in the floor but it is pretty light and much better than my other one. the front panel is in perfect shape and the bed rails are in good shape. the tailgate is in working condition but needs some tweaking to get it to work smoothly. There is the normal light rust over the fender wells but nothing too bad. i spent a little bit of money on the bed but it is a vast improvement over the previous situation. the guy i bought it from helped me remove my old bed and install the new one which was really nice of him.
the interior- pretty self explanatory. i changed the seatbelts out for over the shoulder style, because i believe they are safer and they surely work a lot smoother than the old junk lap-belts that didn't even adjust tightly. I put in a fitted carpet with insulation that has really quieted down the road noise and with the new shifter boots the cab has become far less drafty. One thing I have noticed is that every time I fix the obvious culprit to any problem a secondary/smaller but still significant cause to the same problem shows its face. For example i noticed a cold draft while driving, I assumed maybe it was the holes in the floorboards at my feet, after patching them I find air pouring in through the junk shifter boots, after replacing them I notice a strong draft coming from the corner vents that don't seal correctly. the things that are left on the interior are to clean up wiring and sort out some minor issues. the dash pad needs installed and I plan to paint the instrument panel to hide scratches and dings and instal the new dashpad. At some point I will make a third, center seat that will could house some storage space, a small subwoofer, or at least some cupholders. I plan to eliminate the fuel tank behind the seats and go to dual tanks. oh yeah, i am going to replace the steering wheel and fix the horn eventually too.
the fuel pump- I had noticed a small drip coming from the fuel pump a week before it actually stopped working and expected to be replacing it soon, which just happened to be on the connecting ramp from 6th avenue to I-25 southbound on my way to work. the truck picked a bad place to quit on me. and the silliest time too, because i left extremely early for work this thursday night for no good reason and the same day i chose to take all my tools out of my truck. So when it quit on me the first thing I did was chew a piece of gum, to help me relax and think clearly, said a prayer, and then decided i had a plan that would probably get me to work at least. The previous owner had installed a secondary electric fuel pump on the frame rail to help pull fuel out of the aux tanks, i noticed it when cleanin up some wiring and seeing the shoddy way it was installed i just disconnected all of the wiring and left the pump in place and I am glad I did because i was able to quickly reconnect the wiring and begin pumping fuel again. I had to use the on/off switch to the pump to regulate the flow of fuel into the carb minimizing the excess that was coming out of the failed fuel pump. anyways, i made it to work, on time even. I spent the next morning when I got off at work with borrowed tools replacing my fuel pump. I didn't leave until after 1pm and was only able to get +/- 2hrs of sleep that day. ugh.
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.
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