I didn’t get to work on the Travelall much this week; I was in DC for work for three straight days and thus I had little spare time. However, I did finally secure a fourth 16″ 4.5 x 5″ bolt pattern tire from a guy in Idaho, who pulled it off a trailer made from the rear of an International pickup. If this mounts properly I will be astounded, as he communicates via Marketplace in single syllable words. Let us pray.
Saturday afternoon I popped the top off the Scout in response to 70˚ weather with the intention of driving it. In the afternoon we were meeting the extended family for some ice cream and spied the neighbor Scout passing us down the street, so I gave chase and caught up with the guy. He seems nice and we traded numbers to get together sometime in the future; he’s friends with the guy who runs the IH dealership in Ellicott City.
Sunday afternoon Jen and I walked down for coffee and through the Farmer’s Market. On Main Street we passed a pretty Early Bronco, and a peek in the window led me to believe it was a new purchase: the little sign on the dash is the order of operation: Neutral – Choke – Start Engine – Foot Brake: Release – Clutch & Gear. I laughed at the use of the Club on the wheel. Haven’t seen one of those in decades.
Returning home, I did a few honey-do’s before heading outside to get some work done. First up were the coolant hoses, which were both a foot too long and draped down almost to the frame rail. I shoved an old pot underneath and disconnected each of them from the heater box, then cut the excess from each and re-connected everything. The fuel line was next: I moved the filter next to the dipstick tube and ran about a foot around the passenger’s side of the engine to meet up with the metal line connected to the carb. Both of these routes now match what’s happening in the Scout.
With that done, I tried using the external fuel pump to suck gas out of the tank, but couldn’t get it to pull anything. A few spins of the drain plug and I had a nice steady trickle of gas emptying out into a catch pan. This gas doesn’t stink like varnish or look like gas—it’s clear, not golden, and it has a vaguely chemical smell but not nearly as bad as fresh gas. I have no idea how old it is, but I’ve got almost five gallons of it so far. The local landfill won’t accept it for recycling so I have to drive up north of the city to get rid of it.
While that was emptying I sanded the rear quarter and put some more bondo on to smooth things out. Then I put a line wrench on the fittings from the master cylinder and disconnected it in the engine compartment. It’s still connected to two threaded rods under the dash, so those will need to be disconnected before I can swap the whole unit out, and then I need to source some new hard lines for the clutch.
The other missing puzzle piece is finally on its way as of Friday: TCP Global is shipping a quart of primer and a quart of IH Red to the house this week, which means I can finally make preparations to shoot the roof. Which is great, as I can see rust peeking through areas in the drip rail already. Grrrr.