Category: Travelall

Back and Forward

When we last left off, I was rebuilding the original Carter glass fuel pump that came on Darth Haul. I did that two weekends ago but had to wait on re-installing it around work and the weather. At lunchtime last week I ran outside and put it in, filled the carb bowl with gas and started the engine, keeping an eye on the fuel pump. After three tries it wasn’t pulling any fuel.

I brought the spare from the green truck inside, tore it down, and cleaned that one up. I replaced two of the rubber valves and put it back together, and the valves worked when I tested them. On Saturday I swapped that unit in and repeated the process, but it wasn’t pulling fuel either. I brought the original back to the bench, preloaded the main valve properly, and swapped it back in the truck, but it still wasn’t pulling fuel. Frustrated, I gave up, ordered an adjustable pressure regulator on Prime, and turned to other things.

One of those included a dump run, so I loaded up the Scout and took her out for a test spin—the first long drive after replacing the rotors. This went flawlessly; the brakes feel great. They’re even and smooth, and the truck doesn’t jerk to the left anymore. And most importantly, they’re not cooking the wheel hubs like they were before. I’m going to jack up each side and tighten the bolts one more time, but I think that task is complete.

The regulator showed up Sunday morning so I pulled the hose off the mechanical pump and put the electric pump back on, followed by the regulator and a transparent filter. The engine turned right over and the idle settled down after I opened the choke up all the way. I did three test drives: one around the block, one around the neighborhood, and one to Ellicott City to get my hair cut. The truck ran perfectly, and most importantly the front brakes stayed cool and free, which means my second bleed of the system seems to have worked.

I’m not happy about having the electric system cobbled back in, but I’m tired of futzing with the mechanical system right now, so I’m going to stick with this until the spring and sort out the issues then.

Next up, I’ve got some small things to tackle and then some big ones:

  • It sounds stupid, but I’d like to have dome lights in the truck. The lead for the light exists and it does have power, but I’m unclear as to how the circuit is switched on and off. If it’s anything like the Scout, the light switch on the dash controls the dome circuit (there are no door switches) but it shouldn’t currently be live like it is. I’ve got four original IH dome lights ready to be wired in series—two for over the seats and two for over the cargo area; I just need to read up on the wiring diagram for these. Oh—and this will require…
  • Installing the headliner bows. I’ve got these etch primed and ready for paint, but don’t have a headliner solution in hand.
  • It would be nice to have a speaker wired into the dash for the radio; there’s a spot for a single 4″x10″, but I have to buy something to put in.
  • I ordered some stuff from SendCutSend last week: two pairs of lock latches for the seat box that are slightly longer than the ones that came with the locks, as well as a new improved version of the cupholder mount. The latches should be long enough to actually lock, and I can then store tools and parts in the truck securely. The cupholder is modified to have wider openings for the cups so that I can add rubber sound deadening around the openings, and narrower at the flat section so that it doesn’t collect so much dust. I also added holes for the mounting bolts. This will get welded up and prepped for install this week.
  • The rear floor is completely unbolted from the truck because I want to pull the rear springs out and have them rebuilt. Doing this with the floor out will make life much easier, but I’m going to wait until the roads get salty and I’m not driving her as much.
  • I also want to cut out the crappy floor repair on the driver’s side and replace it with new sheet metal. It’s going to take one flat sheet of 24″ x 32″ steel, with a slight bend at the front side and a gentle lip on the A-pillar. I’m going to have to pull the front bench up and drill out a couple of the spot welds on the vertical bench support to get underneath—the rot goes under the corner support I built this spring, so that’s going to take some careful surgery.

Meanwhile, there’s a good chance the stash of trucks up at Dan’s house includes a 16″ wheel with a 4.5×5 bolt pattern, which I would love to swap for the mismatched wheels on the driver’s front of the truck. There’s nothing wrong with the wheel itself other than it won’t accept a fancy IH dome hubcap like the other three, and I would like to be matchy-matchy before I paint them all white. We’re still waiting on the family to find titles for the two 800’s up there so that Brian and I can buy them and haul them off.

Build Season on YouTube has a great two-part series on reviving a D-series pickup, which is great to see:

Posted on   |   by bill   |   Leave a Comment on Back and Forward  |  Posted in Brakes, Purchasing, To-Do List, Travelall

On Time

I bribed Bennett with a T-shirt. Well, a T-shirt and an R-series doorhandle. Actually, a T-shirt, doorhandle, and donuts.

Realizing I’m way over my head trying to sort out the timing issue on Darth Haul, I figured it was time to bring in the big guns. Bennett has years of experience with all manner of different vehicles, and I figured that knowledge was what I needed to figure out what the hell is happening. I got all of my tools prepared, pulled the Scout forward and was finishing up installing a replacement hydraulic line to the clutch when Bennett walked down the driveway. I already had the engine monitor and my timing light hooked up, and over our first donut I explained all of the symptoms and what I’d done to date. We puzzled over things for a bit, and he wisely suggested starting with the basics: verifying the #8 cylinder was at TDC, then making sure the rotor was pointed in the right direction. We used my compression tester to bump the engine, and then went to the old-school method where I laid underneath and turned the crank bolt by hand until we hit the compression stroke.

When we found that, we looked at the timing mark on the flywheel and found that where it should have been pointing at 0, it was actually somewhere past 25˚ advanced, which was….very wrong. We verified we were at TDC again, made sure to mark where the rotor was pointing, verified the plug wires were all in the right order, and scratched our heads a bit. Then we tried cranking the truck over to see where the timing was. It was, of course, very bad, and running choppier than it had been before, blowing clouds of white smoke.

Shutting it down, we considered pulling the distributor and moving it back a tooth, figuring maybe the balancer had slipped or the distributor had been stabbed erroneously, but Bennett scratched his head a little more and started looking at the carburetor. We verified all the connections were correct, put a hose on the EGR valve (which was plugged off, as was the port on the back of the carburetor) and started the truck again. This made it happier, and while it was still choppy, it ran a little better. Bennett messed with the distributor while I read out the RPM, but we couldn’t get it to smooth out or calm down.

We then started fooling with the metering jets on the carb, and Bennett was puzzled at the fact that they were only open a half a turn while the engine was obviously running very rich. He then asked me if I knew how much pressure the electric pump was putting out, which I didn’t. He thought about that for a minute and suggested that maybe the electric pump was overfilling the bowl, which was why the engine was running rough. He’d had this very problem in a Mustang years ago, and knew that the Holley 2300 doesn’t like anything above 4 lbs. of pressure. So we rigged up a vacuum feed to the carb with a squeeze bottle full of gas and used that to fill the bowl. That seemed to make a difference, and then we carefully started dialing in the proper metering and the idle circuit. In a couple of minutes, we had the RPM down to about 800 and the engine running smoothly. He put the timing light on it and found that it was only 15° advanced, which was a huge improvement over where it had been before. Letting it idle off the gravity feed, I was amazed at how much better it sounded and smoother it ran.

Grinning, we both stood back and let it run for a bit until it ran out of gas. He had work to do at home, so he took off at about 2 o’clock, and I got Finn to help me bleed the brake system one more time. Then I went to the basement, set up my tools on the workbench, and started rebuilding the Carter fuel pump. This is the original pump off the truck, and should allow for the proper fuel pressure going to the carb. I followed the directions in a YouTube video posted by the company who made the kit, and found it very easy—almost meditative. With the football game on over my workbench and a cold beer next to the toolbox, it was a nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon. The whole pump is now ready to go, minus a fuel filter, which is at the local Napa to pick up. Hopefully tomorrow afternoon it’ll dry out and I can stick it in place during my lunch break.

Posted on   |   by bill   |   2 Comments on On Time  |  Posted in Carburetor, Friends, Travelall

Weekend Update

I got the driveshaft back for the Travelall on Thursday. They wound up completely rebuilding what I brought them: they put a new yoke on either side of a larger driveshaft and connected that to the original slip shaft from my truck. The old driveshaft was 2 1/2″ in diameter and this new one is 3″ so there’s some extra beef. I hit it with some self-etching primer and black paint on Friday afternoon and let it cure in the sunlight. Saturday morning, after running some errands, I crawled under the truck and put it back in. This was straightforward, and when it was done I took her for a run around the block. I wound her up as fast as I could close to the house and it looks and feels like the vibration is gone—which is excellent news. I felt so good about it, I took the truck out three times over the weekend to run errands.

Then I put the Scout up on jack stands and started tearing into the hub on the passenger side in order to swap the rotors. All of the videos that I have seen talk about taking the faceplate off, then pulling a snap ring out before removing the outer section of the housing. None of the videos show exactly where that snap ring is, and I don’t see it on my hub anywhere. I pulled the driver’s side off to see if I was missing something, but that looks exactly the same as the passenger side. My spare hub is a completely different design, so I can’t use that as a baseline. So I put the whole thing back together to cogitate on it a little longer.

Doing some organizing in the garage during the weekend, I went looking for some weatherstripping and stumbled on something I forgot I had: a used speedometer cable from the green truck. As soon as I saw it, I wanted to slap myself in the head, because it would only make sense that I would save something like this. Brand new, these cables are $60, so this was a great find. I cleaned the grease off it, filled it with silicon spray and put it in the truck. The needle hops around a bit, but it’s working, and the odometer spins, which is great news, because now I can track gas usage again.

Another quick thing I looked at were the locks on the lockbox under the rear seat in Darth. I’ve had these finger-tight since I put them in, and now that the truck is on the road I need some secure storage. Both sides have needed adjustment since I put them in. The driver’s side needs a new slot to be cut into the side of the box for proper alignment with the key, and the passenger side needs a longer catch made for the lock mechanism. I think I’m going to draw up a design and have SendCutSend cut me two new ones instead of trying to cut and fabricate one here. Along with that, I have two modifications to make to the C-series cupholder I designed—I want to increase the diameter of the cup cutouts by at least 1/2″ to allow for some rubber bumpers around the edge, add a little more height to the gusset at the bottom, and have them cut the two bolt holes for the seat hoop. So I’ll gang those two orders up and maybe save a little on shipping.

Posted on   |   by bill   |   Leave a Comment on Weekend Update  |  Posted in Brakes, Repairs, Travelall

Braked

Well, this weekend was a journey. Mostly a good one; a lot of good stuff got accomplished, and I spent a bunch of time with friends, but it wasn’t without its challenges.

We had a workday scheduled at Brian’s place in the country to work on Heavy D, Bennett’s long-sidelined pickup waiting for welding repairs, a windshield install, and re-assembly of the front clip. The last time I was out there I’d bent and formed a complicated section of metal to weld to the front of the firewall but Brian’s commercial welder was too strong to work the sheet metal without blowing through it. We were also going to help Brian move his pickup around and place the bed on the frame to free up space, and see what other stuff we could get up to.

My plan was to drive Darth Haul out there for her first short-distance trip, so I worked on the engine timing and fuel system on Thursday. I was having issues with the fuel pump pulling debris from the saddle tank up into the pickup and clogging it, so I rigged the boat tank up with a length of hose and put it on the passenger floor. After loading up my tools, welder, and welding bin, I hit the road at about 9 and took my time getting out there. Brian’s place is about 20 miles away, and I took back roads to avoid any high-speed sections. The truck did very well! Shifting is smooth, the engine is strong, and the brakes worked well. I noticed a vibration at 40mph and heard some rubbing in back, which foreshadowed later events.

At Brian’s house, I helped he and Bennett to clean out Mr. Hanky, because our friends Chad and Liz were coming down from Pittsburgh to possibly buy it. Bennett has had it up for sale since Nats in order to free up cash and space for a cleaner Scout, and they’ve been in the market for another project for a while. They arrived at 11 and he showed Chad the truck while we caught up with Liz. By 1PM the deal was done, and we helped them load the trucks up with a pile of extra parts. It was bittersweet to see Hanky drive away, but it’s great to see him going to a good home—it reminds me so much of selling Chewbacca to Carolyn to give to Brian—I know they’re going to do a great job reviving him.

After moving Brian’s pickup and freeing up a bunch of floor space, we had pizza delivered for a late lunch and then set to work on Heavy D. The first big task was to re-install the windshield, and luckily the rubber was designed exactly like what I put in Peer Pressure, so I knew how to align it in the channel. Between the four of us and with judicious use of glass cleaner, we got it in place and then used plastic putty spreaders to guide the edges into the channels, then fold the locking flap over.

With that done, I set my welder up and put the patch in place, ground it down, and got it ready for paint while Brian and Bennett started hanging fenders. Within about an hour we had the truck put mostly back together and ready for a test fire. The carb was mad at being ignored for a year, and didn’t want to run properly, so Bennett will have to go back and diagnose that. By 5PM we wound down and set course for home. I took Bennett back to his place, but noticed the truck working harder as we drove. Stopping for gas I found all four wheels hot to the touch, which told us the brakes were dragging. By the time we got to his house the passenger rear was smoking slightly. We pulled the wheels off and cooled them down with a hose, then banged the drums off with a hammer. The pads were all the way extended, which meant that the system wasn’t releasing pressure. It was getting dark, so he gave me the keys to his CR-V and I drove that home after parking Darth in his driveway.

The next morning I got there at 9 with all of my brake tools and fluids, and we started troubleshooting the system. After tearing apart and rebuilding the rear drums three times, we tested the master cylinder upstream and verified it wasn’t the lines above either axle. So we disconnected and bench bled the master until it looked clear, then connected everything back up to test. It looked like the brakes were grabbing and releasing, and a test drive verified this. While under the truck I also noticed a huge dent in the driveshaft, which explains the vibrations above 40MPH.

I packed up my tools, extended my sincere gratitude for Bennett’s knowledge and time, and set course for home. She ran well and didn’t feel like she was struggling the farther we went. The brakes and clutch felt good, and I got her home with no problems. The wheels were hot when I checked them after parking it, but not scalding as they had been before. It may take another bench bleed to really kick the issue, but for now, I’m happy she’s back in the driveway.

Posted on   |   by bill   |   Leave a Comment on Braked  |  Posted in Brakes, Friends, Purchasing, Travelall, Trip Logs

Pizza and Beer Run

I got Darth Haul running well enough to take her down the street for a pizza and beer run. I’m having a little issue pulling gas from the tank, and after a little roadside troubleshooting I believe there’s something in the tank clogging the pickup. I’m planning on driving her 12 miles out and back to Brian’s place on Saturday, so I’m going to take the boat tank and a length of fuel line with me for backup.

I did get some more of the tasks checked off the master list:

The temperature sender from the green truck did in fact work—I heated it with a heat gun and then hooked up the wire and grounded it, and it tested properly. So I pulled the sender from the Sniper kit out and swapped this one in. Good to have another working gauge!

The passenger door hinge got swapped out, the door adjusted, and now the door closes correctly for the first time since I bought this truck. I had to get a bolt to put in one hole because it was stripped, but it went successfully. While the doors were broken down, I did clean them out, swab them with Rust Converter, and spray on a layer of rattlecan IH Red. And at the same time, with some fresh H-F wire wheels, I cleaned off the drip rails, masked them off, and used that same rattlecan to cover them in red up to and on top of the edge.

Finally, I dragged all of the timing tools out, plugged the proper vacuum hoses, and attempted to dial the timing in again. It seemed like every adjustment I made retarded the timing even more than before: reducing the air/fuel mixture while adjusting the dwell, all the while keeping an eye on the timing and vacuum. It’s running OK now, although the idle is still high, but it’s not dieseling anymore at shutoff, which is nice. I’m hoping I can get the heads at Brian’s to help me work on it a little more.

Posted on   |   by bill   |   Leave a Comment on Pizza and Beer Run  |  Posted in Travelall

Sunday Afternoon Success

I crossed a couple of things off the list on the Travelall while I had good weather and a clear schedule:

  1. I wired the electric fuel pump into the switched power circuit, so that I stop forgetting to turn it off when I get out of the truck
  2. I moved the vacuum advance hose to the manifold port and plugged up the port on the carburetor where it had been. I had them mixed up. The port I was using is above the throttle blades, which means it only sees vacuum at throttle and doesn’t advance the timing at idle.
  3. I pulled the small metal bracket off the dash and hooked the speedometer/odometer cable back up
  4. With that done, I took her for a ride around the neighborhood, and she ran really well! There were some stumbles at first but when she’d warmed up it smoothed out.
  5. After I got back, I dug through my bins and reinstalled the choke cable. Firing the truck back up, I noticed that she ran worse with the choke open all the way, which makes sense; I’d set the timing with the choke open 1/3 of the way, and that had an effect on the air/fuel mixture.
  6. Then I moved her in the driveway and pulled the door cards off to expose the mounting bolts. After some fussing with the driver’s door, I got it to line up and close well for the first time ever.
  7. I messed with the passenger door for a while until I realized that the top hinge pin is broken—I think jacking the door up and wrenching it back and forth must have snapped the pin. I dug the spare hinge out from the green truck, and cleaned it up.

So next up on the list:

  1. Install the used temperature sender from the green truck’s manifold and see if that works
  2. Pull the passenger fender off, remove the broken hinge, and replace it with the green one (which is now wire-wheeled, etch primed, and painted red)
  3. Put the timing light on it and text/reset the timing again with a warmed up engine and vacuum advance unplugged.
  4. Clean up the insides of the two front doors (rust converter in the channel, vacuum the bottoms out, and spray in some Rust-Stop)
  5. There’s still one dash light missing, which I need to chase down
  6. Grind out any rust on the outer edge/underside of the drip rail, treat it, and paint it
  7. Continue putting bolts in the rear bed floor
  8. Put the metal surround back on the shift boot
  9. Figure out how to wire in a dome light

If I can keep ironing out the problems, my goal is to drive it 12 miles to Brian’s house this weekend for a workday. We’ll see.

Posted on   |   by bill   |   Leave a Comment on Sunday Afternoon Success  |  Posted in To-Do List, Travelall