TruckinDaddy

A year? Really?

2012-01-29T18:18:00.000-08:00

Getting a game plan together and waiting to make sure that my new job doesn't end in a layoff this Spring like it did last Spring.

After getting all of those ducks in a row, I hope to see Marge out of the garage again by late Spring.

That's it. Stopping time for real

2010-11-14T08:30:00.000-08:00

Marge hasn't seen much action this year. Or last. Or any of the last 20 years.

But after she served admirably as the mobile bar for my birthday in July and again as the bar for our annual Halloween festivities, I realized that this pony needs to be put out of her misery.

Coming up (hopefully soon), an over haul of brakes all around and front suspension. Then we will have to deal with the myriad transmission and engine issues.

When I went to drive Marge back into the garage after Halloween, at least one of the brake drums is seized up. A neighbor and his buddy helped get Marge back in her garage stall and until parts are replaced, she will be staying there.

13 months? Really?

2010-05-17T14:02:00.000-07:00

Just so you know, I AM still alive and Marge is still in the garage. In fact, I needed to hide from the heat today, so Marge loaned me her tailgate for a nice shady seat. Still, I can't believe it has been more than a year since I updated this blog.

Not much has changed with the old girl. This year we have been a little tight on $, so Marge was the first project to get sent to the back burner. Hopefully, with a new job on the horizon, that will be changing in the fall. Of course, once I am working I won't have any time to hang out with Marge, but at least I hope to stockpile some parts.

I have always kept a mental punch list of small projects to get done, but Marge now has a dedicated marker board out in the garage where I can keep track of all the things I need to get done to get her back on the road.

The major items currently include:
BRAKES and a new front suspension.
Engine tear down/rebuild

No need to get too specific for now. The most important stuff that Marge needs is all big $, so until I can afford to get these things done first, there isn't much sense in spending the cash to get the little stuff done.

Clean sparkers

2009-04-13T17:30:00.000-07:00

Marge has been limping along this spring. She has been running rough, but I have not taken the time to figure out why. This afternoon I needed to use the truck for a while, and once I got home, I decided to tackle the problem.

First, I let the engine cool down for a few hours. Yes, in a 68 Chevy C-10 there is plenty of room to work under the hood, but I have learned, the hard way, that if I am not stuck on the side of the road, then it is best to work on this old engine after it cools down.

After I checked the timing and dwell (yep, Marge still has a points based ignition), then I pulled the spark plugs and gave them a good cleaning. I checked the gap before reinstalling and after I lowered the idle (that I had raised to try to smooth out the engine) to a decent level, we hit the road for a while.

First time in a while I have had a big grin on my face, just cruising the 68 through the neighborhood. Yes, the brakes still suck, so I stayed close to home. Otherwise, it was a great cruise in a smoooooooooth running ride.

Been a long time since I stopped here

2009-03-30T12:18:00.000-07:00

Marge is still alive and kicking. She just does not make many trips out of the garage over the winter.

A couple of weeks ago I went for a short cruise and to haul some yard work tools across the neighborhood. The brakes were crapped out.

I should have checked the obvious before that drive. Brake fluid was way low. As loon as I topped it off, the brakes are ok. Not great, but not death-trap scary, either. Of course, that means I have a leak in the system. And I have to get the fixed ASAP. But it is nice to know that the problem was not a lot larger for now.

Same old truck

2008-10-20T06:19:00.000-07:00

Nothing exciting to report. The truck only gets a workout now when I am driving it across the neighborhood to mow a few yards for customers. I mow 3 yards on the same block and I cut them all at the same time, about once a month at this time of year.

So Marge works out great for this gig. She gets run every few weeks but the mileage stays low.

I am in desperate need of a brake job/system rebuild. Until the time comes when I can plunk down $500 on Marge, she and I will only cruise to the mowing jobs and back home.

Hot truckin'

2008-08-05T19:42:00.000-07:00

The truck is running along just fine. So I have been using it to cruise across the neighborhood when I mow a friends yard.

Other than that, Marge sleeps in the nice dark (but not cool) garage.

He'll only have half a truck left

2008-06-23T10:13:00.000-07:00

OK, he has a whole truck, just it is sitting in several different parts of his house.

Still, Rick is selling his 1925 Chevy Truck that I covet very much. Buy it for me, OK?

Marge is Back!

2008-05-17T16:53:00.001-07:00

I spent all day under the truck. Started off by finishing up the install of the replacement steering column and the brand new rag joint/steering coupler I bought last week.

Then, when I realized that the shifting was all bunged up on the new column, I decided to rebuild my old one, with the steering shaft from the new one.

After 7 hours in the garage, Marge and I took a cruise for the first time since November 9.

By my count 209 days have lapsed since we hit mile 46011. Now the odometer is sitting at a staggering 46013.

I didn't really start off the day thinking I would make enough progress to take a drive, but good things come to those who ~~cuss like sailors~~ wait in the garage.

A pretty well spent $8

2008-05-15T12:24:00.000-07:00

I ordered some vinyl die-cut letters for the tailgate, since I highly doubt I'll ever get around to the bodywork and painting that re-finishing the tailgate would require. For$8 I think they look mighty fine. Bonus that they went on easy

She can't hide money!

2008-05-10T06:10:00.000-07:00

The Boss Lady just ordered a few parts for the truck. Someday I might even tell the woman what she actually bought.

I have been looking for a steering coupler for the truck for a while. I found one at GMCPaul's in Indiana for about $50. And since shipping costs were figured on purchase price I picked up a few odds and ends. The tailgate is getting a new set of CHEVROLET letters and the brake and clutch pedals will finally be getting a set of replacement covers. I bet these were never replaced once the original ones wore out.

Hopefully, once the steering coupler/rag joint is installed, I will be getting the truck back on the road for our neighborhood July 4th parade.

We are still up and running

2008-05-04T11:37:00.000-07:00

The 68 Chevy has recently taken a backseat to other more pressing $ matters. And time. There just isn't as much of it to go around as there used to be, right?

Anyways, I rolled the truck halfway out of the garage this morning, to let the engine run for a while. The engine hasn't been up to operating temperature since back in November, so I cranked her up and listened to that 307 tick along pretty nicely (for a 40 year old engine.)

I shot a quick video of the engine running, to prove that Marge is indeed still alive and running. Even without a good portion of the steering system in place.

Truck time!

2008-04-27T09:42:00.000-07:00

I missed the Pate Swap Meet this year. It is (one of) the biggest auto/parts swap meets in the southwest US. I go up every year, since the site is only a half hour from mom and dad's house, so my hotel stay is lousy but cheap! Which generally means more $ for truck parts.

The family calendar (and budget) wouldn't allow the trip this year. Which is OK, since I haven't actually done any work on Marge since New Years Day. And she hasn't seen the outside of the garage (or a street) since mid-November.

Back in December I bought a steering column in Dallas and I made a quick run to pick it up. When I got there the parts were in great shape, but the guy had promised to pull the steering wheel off for me and (no real surprise) it was stuck in place. He blamed is his cheapo puller tool. I decided to buy the part from him anyways and try to remove the wheel myself, later.

Evidently it is now later! I got the steering wheel removed today with a newly purchased $7 wheel/bolt puller set from Harbor Freight. If his tool was cheaper than that, I am not surprised it wouldn't work.

With this success, I am stopping for the day. Ending truck repairs on a high note. That is a good resolution for the new year, right?

The only other thing I managed to get done was also a success. I started Marge for the first time since mid-November. One crank of the key. One pull of the choke, that I forgot to pull before I cranked it, and one more turn of the key. Success! She starts like a champ, first (or second) time, every time!

More progress

2008-03-15T13:17:00.000-07:00

This morning I used the truck for the first time in a while. Yep. The tailgate made a nice, stationary workbench.

I did manage to get about a ton of gardening tools and kid's toys out of the bed of the truck. So that is something.

Progress?

2008-03-01T18:19:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I opened the garage and lowered the tailgate so that I would have a place to sit while the kids played in the front yard.

And some of you were worried that this project had stalled...

Column Swap, part 1

2007-12-26T09:30:00.002-08:00

On Christmas eve I spent several hours out in the garage. I was hoping to get the entire steering column removed, so that I could have a head start when I bring the new column home tomorrow. I probably won't get the new one put in right away, but at least I am ready when I get to it.

This is the turn signal switch that started all of my troubles.
I wanted to swap it out with a $25 part from Auto Zone. So much for this budget repair...

The bunged up threads at the tip of this steering rod are the source of all of my column problems. I can't mount the steering wheel with them like that. So the swap was in order.

Is that what your dash looks like after you rip the column out of your truck? There is a method to my madness, but it would take too long to explain...

Some where in that picture is my nice pretty steering wheel that I spent hours cleaning and now I won't be using. Can you say garage wall art?

There should be a steering shaft and transmission linkages in that picture,
but they are attached to the now missing column.

Where do you keep your column? I keep mine beside the driver's side front wheel.
Thanks for asking.

Parts ordered

2007-12-20T21:55:00.000-08:00

I found a complete steering column from a 1968 truck for sale online. I don't really need the whole thing, but it is complete and looks to be in great shape. Plus it is costing me $7 more to have this nice looking part shipped to my door than the only other one I found. That column was pretty junky looking and I would need to make a 4 hour round trip drive to pick it up.

$7 well spent, I think.

Turn signal success - Ultimate failure

2007-12-08T19:43:00.000-08:00

I wanted to pull the steering wheel off this morning, to get ready for a swap of the turn signal/hazard signal switch. I assumed that I would have to order the switch, but my local Auto Zone had one in stock.

I picked up the switch and got everything disassembled and cleaned up fairly quickly. It took a while to get the switch positioned properly and to get the wiring run properly through the steering column, but those were the biggest hassles. Up to that point.

When I was ready to reinstall the steering wheel, I noticed that the threads on the column were totally wrecked. I don't know if I trashed them with the wheel puller, or as I was removing the retaining nut. Either way, there is no repairing them, now.

So in the end, I replaced the turn signal switch. but now I can't install the steering wheel until I swap out the steering shaft.

Have I ever told you how much I love working on 40 year old metal?

The Rebirth of Marge, Post 1

2007-12-07T20:20:00.000-08:00

Since parking the truck and suspending the insurance coverage, I have not spent any real time out in the garage until tonight. Even that was more planning for the coming work than anything.

I am trying to decide if I should put Marge up on jack stands to get the tires off of the ground. I don't want the tires to get flat-spotted while she is just sitting in the garage, but I want to make things as safe as possible out there, too. As of tonight she still sits on her tires.

I started pulling the steering wheel off tonight. Then I remembered that I do not own a wheel pulling tool. Racecar Man has one and I have borrowed it several times. Guess once more won't hurt. The wheel has to come off so I can install a new turn signal/ hazard signal set-up. While I am in there I want to get everything cleaned up really well, too.

The first stoppage is the hardest

2007-11-20T05:25:00.001-08:00

I suspended Marge's insurance a few days back. Which means she can no longer venture out onto the streets. I know it is going to take me a few months to get everything fixed properly, (front and rear brakes, emergency brake system, front steering, windshield wiper motor, turn signals and hazard flashers, door windows - all need attention). Most of this stuff is original equipment and simply worn out. After all of this, she will still look like hell, but should be safer to drive around town.

Now we are not spending the money to keep her insured. But of course, the insurance company has figured out a way to keep a little of the $ for themselves. Instead of a couple of hundred bucks a year to keep liability insurance on the truck in case I hit someone, the company is making me keep a theft and fire policy on Marge, since she will be stored in our attached garage. $18 a year for worthless coverage with a 1K deductible. Of course, if the house burns down, Marge will be the last thing I am worrying about.

I could have canceled the insurance outright. But when I signed up the truck originally the company had a hard time getting all of the paperwork correct. Because I am sure you want to know, modern cars and trucks have a standardized format for ID numbers. Cars and trucks this old were not standardized, each manufacturer set up their own format. Our insurance company's computer REALLY wanted the truck's ID number to match up to the current standard.

Now that the truck is listed properly, I really don't want to hassle with that again. I guess it is worth $18 a year to skip that fun. Anyways, I am hoping that Marge is back up to speed by Spring Break, but $$$ may keep it from happening until summer. My rough estimate shows that I need about $1000 in parts to get all of this done.

The first stoppage is the hardest

2007-11-20T05:25:00.000-08:00

I suspended Marge's insurance a few days back. Which means she can no longer venture out onto the streets. I put it off for a few days, but I know it is going to take me a few months to get everything fixed properly, (front and rear brakes, emergency brake system, front steering, windshield wiper motor, turn signals and hazard flashers, door windows - all need attention). Most of this equipment is original equipment. So after all of this, she will still look like hell, but should be safer to drive around town.

Now we are not spending the money to keep her insured. But of course, the insurance company has figured out a way to keep a little of the $ for themselves. Instead of a couple of hundred bucks a year to keep liability insurance on the truck in case I hit someone, the company is making me keep a theft and fire policy on Marge, since she will be stored in the garage. $18 a year for worthless coverage with a 1K deductible.

Of course, if the house burns down, Marge will sadly be the last thing I am worrying about.

I could have canceled the insurance outright. But when I signed up the truck originally the company had a hard time getting all of the paperwork correct. Because I am sure you want to know, modern cars and trucks have a standardized format for ID numbers. Cars and trucks this old did not have a standard format or number of digits in the ID number, each manufacturer set up their own format. And our company's computer REALLY wanted the truck's ID number to match up to the current standard.

Now that the truck is listed properly, I really don't want to hassle with that again. I guess it is worth $18 a year to skip that fun. Anyways, I am hoping that Marge is back up to speed by Spring Break, but $$$ may keep it from happening until summer. My rough estimate shows that I need about $1000 in parts to get all of this done.

Her time has come

2007-11-09T14:06:00.000-08:00

Thursday I used Marge to haul a bunch of tools and my tiller to The Talker's school for a Gardening Committee re-do of the front flower beds. On the way over I realized that I can no longer put off the brake system.

Some jerk cut in front of me to pull into the post office. He almost ended up with Marge's 40 year old grill in his rear bumper. I did not stop in time, it just really lucky that he was carrying enough speed to get the heck outta the way before impact. Instead, Marge slid on through the impact zone.

So with 46011 miles on her, Marge is going off the road for a while. New brakes all around and front steering/suspension are all on the list for this round of repairs. No body work this time. Can't afford to make a pretty lady out of her yet.

The Princess rides again

2007-11-06T09:13:00.001-08:00

The Princess and I drove Marge out to the north side of town this morning to pick up some barrels to build our rainwater collection system. While we were on the road Marge hit 46,000 miles. Good job, old lady.

39 years and 1 month / 46005 miles = 98.1 miles a month or 1177.2 miles a year on average. But she manages to do a lot less than that now a days.

Cruisin'

2007-11-04T12:50:00.001-08:00

Yesterday I excavated my garage and found a 1968 Chevrolet truck underneath a pile of toys and camping gear.

It seems like I had almost forgotten about Marge. So she and I have been bonding for the past 2 days. After giving the once over and checking fluids, we cruised the neighborhood for a while on Saturday morning. Another few miles Saturday evening and a run to church this morning have topped off the weekend.

I am sure there are things I NEED to be doing, but none of them make me smile like riding around the 'hood in my beat up old Chevy.

The Origin of Marge

2007-10-28T17:32:00.001-07:00

This is the dealership where my grandfather bought Marge back on September 30, 1968. I stopped right across the street to gas up The VW last week.

I can just imagine her sitting right there out front, where that $16K white work truck sits now.

I should not have blogged that

2007-09-28T07:41:00.000-07:00

I guess the VW did not like being mentioned in the truck blog. She overheated yesterday. Right after we spent $180 to get the windows tinted. This morning I was able to drive the VW to the shop. I'll let them figure out if it is a thermostat problem, a water pump issue or something else.

The shop service writer ran us home after dropping off the VW. Then The Princess and I pulled out the truck to go for the all important Krispy Kreme run. Boo for broken cars, but Yeah! for a day off and a chance to cruise in the truck.

No truckin', but lots of repair time

2007-09-27T20:52:00.000-07:00

Lately I have been spending my tool-time on the wife's VW Beetle. Last week I installed rear shocks. Turned out to take me almost a week to get it done, since I had to wait for parts. But that just gave me more time to try to plan out the repair.

Thanks to the old truck, I was not intimidated by the repair at all. After all, I have replaced all of the shocks on it, and it still rolls down the street smooth enough.

Thanks to lots of info from the 'net and Racecar Man's tools, which I still have in my garage, the repair went easy enough. Tonight the VW started overheating. Once I read up on the internet, it looks to be a bad water pump. But I think I am leaving this repair to the pros.

That maybe the most useful part of working on the 68 Chevy. I have started learning when it is OK to be intimidated by a repair and to let someone else handle it.

Next up for the truck, new front steering/suspension components and brakes. I want to replace all of the ball joints and such ASAP to try to quiet the creaking and groaning coming from the front end with every left turn.

Just because

2007-09-06T17:28:00.001-07:00

Took the truck out for a ride tonight.

No place to go. No route planned. Nothing but a 3/4 tank of gas and me cruising my old truck.

We hit the hills around the neighborhood and had a nice cruise. Not too long, though. Marge does only get 10-12 mpg. Anyways, good times!

Putting the truck to use

2007-08-02T15:54:00.000-07:00

I have not posted here all month. I have not needed to do any work to the truck in that time, so nothing interesting hap been going on with Marge.

Except that she was worked harder in July than in any month during her last 15 years. I ran to Lowes a few times to pick up a clothes dryer. first trip it wasn't in stock, so I had to return later.

We also made a few trips to the vet. I love having a truck to haul the dog. He has really long hair that is impossible to get out of my car's carpet. So I set up his crate, strapped everything down tight and hauled him back and forth in the bed of the truck. No hair in my new car!

Somewhere around here is a picture of me hauling our treadmill off to the Salvation Army. The treadmill hadn't bee used in at least a year. Once again, nice to have a truck. I could never have hauled that thing in my car.

The truck made a couple of passes around the neighborhood for junkin' season, but I never picked anything up while I was out in it. With all the rain we have gotten lately, most of my junkin' was done in the Saturn.

Her first night out

2007-06-30T18:50:00.000-07:00

I have been wanting to drive the truck up to Car Night, an informal gathering of cars, but it just never seems to work out. This afternoon I cleaned her up a little and Marge finally made a trip to Car Night.

I had the only 67-72 Chevy or GMC Truck there, but I did not have the oldest truck in attendance, a couple had brought their 1920s Ford truck. Lots of cool rides tonight.

Marge sat at the end of Chevy row. A 1970 z28, a 70s 'Vette and a 69 Camaro were lucky enough to hang out with us.

This 1939 Chevy was the coolest car out tonight. The guy's son did all of the paint and most of the bodywork at home in his garage. Pretty good for his first car project. There is some hope for me, still.

Sitting next to the 39 was an '06 Viper. Somehow he snuck onto Chevy Row. Just jealous, I guess. And here are is a 32 Ford that was driven in from California last winter.

Now that the dry hot days of summer are here, hopefully Marge and I will be out there again next weekend.

Taking one for the team

2007-06-29T22:14:00.000-07:00

I hoped to get the yard mowed and edged tonight, so I had to hide the new Saturn from flying debris. Marge had to make a quick trip out of the garage and onto the street, so that the brand new ride could rest in the garage.

I was hoping to get the Saturn washed after I finished in the yard, but thanks to a pain in the butt weed-eater, I ran out of day light. Since it will likely rain tonight, I swapped the Saturn and the truck out once again before I finished up. No sense in getting dings in the new car, but since the windows still don't close on the truck, she gets to spend the rainy night in the garage.

Gimme a brake

2007-06-08T13:47:00.000-07:00

Back when I swapped out the brake drums, everything seemed to go fairly straight forward. But I kept hearing a nasty grind once in a while when I was braking and turning left at the same time. So I put the truck away for a while.

I opened up the front drums this afternoon and everything looks fine. I put the original drums back on, just in case one of the replacements is warped or something. I'll take them to get them turned eventually.

Now I have no squeal, at least not yet, and the truck seems to be driving and stopping fine. Next I need to tackle the emergency brake. I never have gotten it to work at all.

Truckin' the hood

2007-05-22T06:41:00.000-07:00

The kids and I had the truck out several days last week. We drove to the park during the week and to soccer and Sunday night church last weekend.

And the biggest trip of all, one that I cannot believe I had never made in the truck, Marge and ran over to Harbor Freight tool store. 10 mpg to go get rechargeable batteries and patio umbrellas!

Thus, we never left the garage

2007-05-15T09:45:00.000-07:00

The problem with having a truck in the garage that does not have to move on a daily basis, is that you can stack a bunch of crap in the bed of the truck between rides. This weekend I just did not want to hassle with all of the crap in the bed of the truck, so she and I stayed put.

Maybe next weekend.

For the record, there is an ice chest, a bunk bed foundation, several scooters, a wagon, a blow up trampoline, a load of fishing gear and a mess of other stuff in the truck bed right now.

Truckin' Afternoon

2007-05-11T13:05:00.000-07:00

The truck has not been out of the garage since I installed the new seat belt and glove box. The weather has just been too crappy to cruise without windows.

Anyways, this afternoon I am going for a little cruise. The weather is great and the truck is running well. No plans for a destination, we shall see where we end up.

Installation Day

2007-04-29T19:43:00.000-07:00

This afternoon I swapped out my treasures from this weekend's swap meet. The glove box and cab light went in easily enough. The seat belt was not much hassle either, once I got the seat out of the way.

The new belt is simply bolted to the floor of the cab. I wasn't sure about this design until I read over the entire installation process. I was worried that the bolt could pull back through the hole in the floor. But to prevent that the company included a 4 inch round washer. It spreads the load out to more of the floor panel. My only hassle was finding a spot under the truck that was flat enough and large enough for the washer to ride flush against the underside of the floor.

Once I got everything back in place I cruised the neighborhood for a while.

Good times.

Pate Swap Meet treasures

2007-04-28T19:08:00.000-07:00

I drove up to the Pate Swap Meet this weekend in Ft. Worth. I always enjoy roaming the miles and miles of old cars and car parts. I went several times with a cousin when I was in high school. And I have gone the last three years as a car-guy in training.

The deals were not as great as the last couple of years, but I saw tons of 67-72 Chevy trucks and oodles of parts. In years parts have been a little hard to scrounge up. Also, I think I am getting better at spotting parts or my truck from a distance, which saves some time. If you can check out what the guy across the aisle is selling you can move along quickly if he isn't selling what you need.

This year I found a replacement glove box brand new for $5. They usually sell for $10 but the $5 I saved almost paid for my lunch!

I also bought a center seat belt brand new. It is not an exact match, but it will be surely safer than having the kids share a belt. The truck only had two belts originally. The belts that are now in there are at least the third set that have been installed. Which is odd, because I can't imagine that my grandpa actually ever wore a seat belt. When I got the truck it had mismatched blue and brown belts. I found the complete blue set that are now installed, because I could not stand the mismatched belts. Marge deserves to be dressed up nice!

I also bought a light for the inside of the cab. The original one is broken and the lens is missing, so Marge got a brand new reproduction for $10.

I already installed the light and the glove box liner. Maybe Sunday I'll remove the seat and install the new seat belt. I'll have to drill a couple of holes in the floorboard first, though.

My 2006 recap

My 2005 recap

Now we both (don't) know

2007-04-17T05:31:00.000-07:00

To the person who emailed about getting brake fluid stains off vinyl seats...

I've got no idea. Do you know how to get the smell of 40 years of funk out of my truck, short of taking a match to Marge?

Car Night prep part 1

2007-04-15T17:47:00.000-07:00

This afternoon The Talker and I started getting Marge ready for her car night debut on next Saturday night. We finished up adjusting the front brakes and got the old brake fluid drained and new fluid put into the system.

While I was working on the brakes, The Talker would help me by holding down the brake pedal while I got the air out of the hydraulic system. It was a small thing but he was a big help. With the bleeders that are on the truck now, and the equipment I have, I usually have to get one of my friends to hold down the pedal while I bleed the brakes. It was awesome to get it done today with The Talker's help.

After we finished up I washed Marge and got her nice and shiny. Well, as nice and shiny as I can get her, anyways. Since she sleeps in the garage, I should not have to wash Marge again before Saturday night.

I need to get a few more things done before Marge's debut. And hopefully The Talker will help me out with those things, too. My plan right now is to take him with me to Car Night on Saturday evening.

Car Night hunt

2007-04-14T18:48:00.000-07:00

In the past there have been several different locations where old dudes hang out to show off their cool old cars and trucks. I used to go several times a month during the spring and summer, back when the old dudes met in a Home Depot Parking lot. But the crowds got too large so HD asked the guys to move on.

Of course, if you ask the old guys they will say it did not work because the teenagers showed up in their "ricer cars" and started showing off in the HD parking lot. There was some of that, for sure. But there were also lots of dudes with race ready Chevys and Mustangs that sat and gunned their 1000 horsepower engines for all the world to hear and smell. I imagine Home Depot got plenty of complaints about both of those groups.

The last I heard there were two places where the car guys were hanging out on Saturday nights. So I went searching for them tonight. The first place is an auto parts store that fancies itself as a speed shop/hot rod shop. But the parking lot was empty. Stop two was the parking lot of an abandoned grocery store. No dice there either.

On my was home I saw a couple of cars lined up the parking lot of another shuttered grocery store. Viola! I found the mysterious roaming car night. Of course, I was in the Saturn, so I parked well off to the side of the lot.

There were a couple of mini trucks, four or 5 corvettes, a 34 Ford Hot Rod and a handful of Subarus. (Would that be Subari?) The highlight of the night was one gorgeous 72 Chevy SWB. Solid red with the cleanest stock 350 I have ever seen. I have seen this truck once or twice around town at other car night events, but by the lack of scratches on the bed, I don't think anyone will ever see it hauling bags of cow manure home from Home Depot.

Anyways, the weather was too cool tonight for anyone to hang out very long. I was in out of there in less than 15 minutes. Next week, spring should actually be here. And I am already planning to take the truck to her first Car Night. I better hurry before they leave me behind again.

We might make a car guy out of him yet

2007-04-11T18:12:00.000-07:00

Tonight I pulled the truck out of the garage for the first time in a couple of weeks. While The talker was taking his bath, The Princess and I rode around the neighborhood. Then they switched.

While I was cruising with the The Talker, Marge let out a hellacious squeal When we were turning around on a cul-du-sac. When we got home The Talker told me "OK, now let's find out what that noise was all about."

He was really disappointed when I told him we did not have time to find out tonight. It was too close to bed time and too late to start a major overhaul of the brake system tonight.

Learn CPR. You might save your daughter's life.

2007-04-10T21:44:00.001-07:00

I am taking a quick break from the usual silliness and whining that inhabits my blog. Also, this is going up on all the blogs. Sorry for the repition, but it is the only important thing I've had to say in a long time.

Tonight we went to our first AAA minor league baseball game of the season. We were having a great time, hanging out on the left field berm. The kids were going crazy. And they cheered when an 8 or 10 year old girl near us caught a foul ball that the left fielder flipped up to the crowd.

Less than 5 minutes later that girl was unconscious and not breathing. We have no idea what happened. EMTs made it around pretty quickly. But not before the girl's dad had to start rescue breathing. She was out for several looooong minutes. Not just passed out from excitement, mind you. This was blue all over, motionless on the ground not breathing.

How scary is that? Your kid is having a great time and then a couple of minutes later she stops breathing.

When we left the park the girl was sitting upright with loads of attention coming at her from the Fire Fighters and Paramedics that had responded. Looks like she was lucky, She has a hero for a dad. Here's hoping I never have to be my daughter's breath.

So anyways, here is a quick online CPR reference. Please review it in case it has been a while since you took a class. Then please, please, PLEASE take a class to get more familiar with CPR procedures. Go here or go here to get help finding a class in your area. I'll be looking for a refresher course in the morning.

Brake check

2007-04-05T15:47:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I spent some time under the front end of the truck. I am starting to realize that the front suspension ans steering systems are in serious need of attention. The ball joints and tie rod ends all look to be shot, but I'll wait for a little more experienced advice before I start replacing anything.

Anyways, I way pretty sure that the front brakes had never been opened up. After I got the wheels off, I found some rivets that held everything in place during factory assembly. So it looked like they had never been serviced.

I ground off the rivet heads and pulled the drums off. No big surprises inside, except for a huge number of wasps nests that fell out of the passenger side brake drum. I tried to clean everything up and look for any obvious damage. Once I was satisfied that everything was still in place and the brake shoes looked OK, I installed a better set of drums that I had and closed everything up.

I still need to work on the adjustment a little bit. The brakes are pulling to the left a little bit now. But I'll save that for another weekend. Like this one.

Truck run

2007-03-25T15:34:00.000-07:00

This weekend turned out to be great for trucking. I cruised the neighborhood on Friday. Sort of a shakedown run, to see if there were any problems looming. Everything was fine on my short drive.

Saturday I drove the truck over to The Talker's first soccer game. marge is the perfect vehicle for a soccer coach. Especially if your team wears the same color of blue as Marge. The Talker and I rode home together after the game. We managed to take the long way home, so that our ride would take a little longer. More bonding time for the boy, his dad and their truck.

Saturday afternoon I drove out to Costco to pick up some potting soil for my container gardening. After that I hit the highway for a few miles. This is only the second time I have cruised on the highway in Marge. And the first time was only because I forgot there was no service road available.

After a stop at the garden center, marge and I headed home to finish up this year's veggie gardens. She headed back into the garage after a quick unload. Just in time, too. It started to rain a little while after I finished up.

Ride done

2007-03-08T15:58:00.000-08:00

No breakdown, no walking. Just me, driving a 39 year old truck.

Good times!

Get outta my way

2007-03-08T14:27:00.000-08:00

I am de-junking the bed and going for a truck ride. Be back later.

Sitting in the garage

2007-03-07T05:33:00.000-08:00

I had the truck out last week to deliver an onion to a neighbor. Since then, nothing.

We have been busy getting everything planned out for vacation, so Marge has been lonely. But she makes a nice staging area. As things are packed for good, we have been loading them into the bed of the truck. And when it comes time to actually pack the Saturn, we will be able to work right off of the truck.

Soccer season starts March 24th and I plan to drive Marge all the time to The Talker's games.

Ride!

2007-02-26T10:54:00.000-08:00

Took the truck out on Saturday, to go fishing. No worries on thedrive, but by the time the boy and I got to the water, the winds were so strong, we only rode in our boat for a few minutes.

I did notice that the truck cranked Saturday morning without me touching the choke. That is the first time I think it ever fired up without the choke at least being partially cklosed.

There once was a man with a truck

2007-02-22T06:01:00.000-08:00

who parked it in the garage.

And it was still there a week later.

Hood Letters

2007-02-16T13:23:00.000-08:00

Thanks to a member of 67-72Chevytrucks.com, I have finally replaced the letters on the nose of the hood. They are in rough shape, so they look right at home on my truck.

'Cause she wanted to trash it herself a few months later

2007-02-13T19:26:00.000-08:00

I found a file disk today that had a bunch of short videos from my first drive of the truck.

There are a few more over on my YouTube page.

8.4177376798025363860754106732488 mpg

2007-02-11T09:14:00.000-08:00

It's better than last time, but I think I'll just stick with "almost 15" when the wife asks.

Lube job

2007-02-09T06:11:00.000-08:00

I went over to Harbor Freight yesterday, looking for a couple of cheap tool boxes. I am really bad about finishing (or stopping work on...) a task and then letting the tools pile up on the workbench. Or the dryer. Or on top of the deep freeze, in the back of the truck and when things get really bad, in stacks right on the garage floor.

I thought if I divided up my tools, I would be able to get stuff put away easier. Plus, I wanted to divide I wanted to find something small enough to slide under the seat of the truck, so that I would have the necessary tools with me when I am out in it.

I had no luck finding what I wanted, but I picked up a few more tools, including the much delayed purchase of a grease gun. I borrowed Racecar Man's 6 months ago and it is still here. But it is loaded with grease for wheel bearings and I have no idea how to clean it our well enough to run some chassis grease through it.

HF had one on sale and they had chassis grease on sale, too. Once I got home I started hitting any grease fitting I could reach under the truck. Actually, I only got to the driver's side. The truck was in the garage and I did not feel like moving it into the driveway to work on it.

Saturday I hope to finish up the passenger's side. Then I'll report back if it makes a difference in all of the squeaks and groans on the old truck.

After I finished up with the truck, I picked up AND put away every tool I could find. I am sure there a few more. In fact I saw a pair of bull nosed pliers in the bathrooms drawer a couple of days ago. And I have no idea how or when they made it in there?

He thought we would be driving a Hot Wheel

2007-02-05T07:19:00.000-08:00

My college buddy reworked a picture of my truck. He took it from this:

to this:

When I showed the picture to my five year old son, he asked when we could take it for a ride. I think he was a little sad when he peeked into the garage and saw blue old Marge sitting there.

Thanks for the chop, Redneck Mother!

As close to a convertible as I'll ever get

2007-02-04T14:28:00.000-08:00

The passenger's window has been stuck in a fully closed position for a while. Recently the driver's side window hung up when I rolled it down. Now it is stuck fully open. This afternoon I decided to tackle the windows. My hope was to have two working windows in short order.

After messing around with the passenger's side window internal components for a while, I decided to see if I could at least get it to roll down. After some urging and encouragement with a pair of vise grips, I got the window to roll down. Now it matches the driver's side. Both are stuck fully open.

Since the truck lives in the garage, and I don't have to drive it in bad weather, I decided it was OK like this for a while. Heck, I already took off the windshield wipers, when the wiper motor quit working last year. So we don't go anywhere in the rain in this thing. Besides, summer is coming and it will be too hot to roll up the windows soon, anyways.

And here are a few pictures of our redneck convertible

8460N

2007-02-03T14:52:00.000-08:00

I hope I never forget that number. What's it mean? It is the AutoZone parts number for the rear pinion oil seal. I searched all over this morning for a replacement for my leaking one. After striking out at three parts stores, I gave up.

I had wanted to have the part on hand so that I could pull the old one and install the new one at the same time. Instead I came home, hammered the old one out and took it with me to match up.

Finally found one at an AutoZone about 15 miles from where I started.

Once I got home the install was pretty easy and straight forward. At least until I dropped one of the u-joint retainer nuts into oil drain pan I had in place to catch differential fluid drips. Then I got to spend a few minutes funneling oil into another pan, and hoping I would catch the nut when it oozed by.

I did indeed and I finished up the install in short order. The Talker and I have taken the truck out for a test drive and the rear differential does not seem to be leaking. Hopefully they are right when they say "third times a charm".

Edit: 2/4/07 5:00pm
After another test drive and another twenty four hours, still no leaks...

I guess it could be worse...

2007-01-28T18:13:00.000-08:00

I rolled down the driver's window a few days ago. When it was going down it felt odd. Plus, it made a clunk that it usually doesn't. Now it won't roll back up.

The passenger's side won't roll down. It is stuck in the closed position. Guess I have a matched set, now.

Oil Change

2007-01-24T18:52:00.000-08:00

Finished up an oil change this evening. For some reason I have a knack for overfilling the truck when I do oil changes. For the third time after a change, I had to drain some of the new oil off this evening.

Now it is sitting pretty, right at the full mark. I don't know why I can't keep from over filling the thing. Seems like 5 quarts would be easy enough to add, doesn't it?

The Odometer Update

2007-01-23T11:15:00.000-08:00

It has been a while since I updated The Odometer on the sidebar. We are closing in on 500 miles driven, at a cost of less than $4.50 per mile.

Now if I can get that per mile cost down around what a rental truck cost, I'll be really happy!

And you might notice the entry that shows the truck has been driven on the highway, now. It wasn't on purpose. I was going fishing and I went the wrong way. My choice was to go about 5 miles out of my way to stay off of the freeway or to drive on the highway for about a mile. I chose the freeway, but I still only got up to about 50 miles an hour. Luckily I only had to take the very next exit.

Rick's Pics

2007-01-20T19:16:00.000-08:00

Sorry they are blurry, but it is too cold to go back out in the garage. I also have the complete set of lenses on the truck, but it is raining and I don't want to get the camera wet...

These are the spares and take offs from the step side bed.

This is the bucket I keep them in. And the shelf that I keep the bucket on. Notice the original red heater hose on the top shelf. Still looks pretty good for 38 years old.

This is the lens that I broke when I knocked the bucket off of the shelf when I was taking that picture. So much for being a smart ass.

And a few more shots because I was still feeling like an ass...

Four in one shot

The rear passenger side reflector

The rear driver's side reflector

The front driver's side reflector

The front turn signal (original to the truck)

Passenger's front turn signal (original to the truck)

The front passenger's side reflector

Driver's side headlamp (upgraded to halogen)

Passenger's side headlamp (upgraded to halogen)

The only missing lens on the truck. But the whole assembly is going to have to be replaced, so I'll buy both pieces as a set.
For now, I'll just go with no interior cab light.

Lens collection grows

2007-01-17T20:34:00.000-08:00

A while back I bought a set of used lenses for the truck. When they arrived, I saw that I had two reverse lenses for the passenger side, none for the driver's side and three brake light lenses to cover the two lights.

Two weeks ago I bought another set of used reverse light lens covers. After several days without mail, Thanks to MLK Jr and about two inches of ice on the roads, they arrived today. Now I have three brake light lenses, eight side marker lenses (for the four side reflectors), and five reverse light lenses.

I think I finally have all the lights covered, now.

Fouling plugs

2007-01-13T08:38:00.000-08:00

I have been reading up on Seafoam Motor Treatment and decided to run some through the engine yesterday. But the plugs that I cleaned a couple of days ago were already too dirty to get my motor runnin'.

So I cleaned them once more, warmed up the engine and then I soaked it with Seafoam through the carb. The amount of smoke was much less than I imagined. So possibly the engine wasn't as dirty as I assumed. Or maybe I did not let the Seafoam soak in long enough.

After that, I installed ANOTHER set of new spark plugs, this time AC Delco R43S. We shall see soon if they work any better than the Bosch plugs I had installed.

One step backward, three steps forward

2007-01-11T19:48:00.000-08:00

I bribed the kids today. If they took naps, we would cruise to the park in the truck later in the day. They lived up to their end of the bargain. I almost did not make good on my end.

Marge ran great last night. I cruised her halfway to downtown and back with no problems (except the whole Ford Taurus thing...). A round trip of 20 miles or more.

This afternoon she started for crap and idled like hell. Luckily, Racecar Man's kids were playing outside, so we only had to drive a two block round trip.

Sure enough the spark plugs were dirty again. and #4 plug was wet and oily. I pulled the plugs, wire brushed them, checked the gaps and reinstalled. She fired right up. Don't know what makes her trash plugs so quickly.

The steering has always been loose. Today on 67-72chevytrucks.com one of the guys asked about tightening his manual steering box. I followed the process some of the guys recommended and it seems to drive a lot nicer.

The Talker went for a ride this evening with me. While we were out we ran the truck backwards up the street several times to see if the self-adjusters would help with the brakes. I can feel a definite difference now, so I guess my mom's advice all those years ago in her Bel-Aire wagon was right.

Marge KO's the bull

2007-01-10T16:53:00.000-08:00

I drove Marge, in her new blue dress, to a stay at home dad's group night out this evening. On the way a woman hit Marge on the rear corner of the driver's side quarter panel, right beside the tail light.

No damage, except a little scrape on the new paint. But you shoulda seen the other car.Marge is large and in charge. She knocked that Ford Taurus to the mat.

The lady drove away without stopping. So I took a lot of joy in the moment that she said, "Well it did not do any damage to your truck".

"Yeah, you are right, but you ought to see the passenger's side of your car. You have a nice blue racing stripe over there, now!"

Way to go Margie.

Spray Bomb Paint Job

2007-01-10T09:40:00.000-08:00

OK. She ain't pretty, but it is finished.

I think it looks better now than when I drug her home out of the pasture. More time and effort will go into the body and paint when I can afford it. Like when the kids are grown and I am dead...

So now a word to other morons contemplating a spray can job on an old truck.

DON'T DO IT!

It does look better than when I started, but I spent a lot more on it than I expected. I could have bought a simple spray rig for much less and probably gotten better results.

If I had it to do over, I would have left the paint alone and waited until I could afford real body and paint work.

Still, I'll drive it like this. Maybe I just have no pride, but I'm pretty dang proud when I drive Marge around town. She and I have come a long way from back when we started this project.

6.564919762091796656 miles per gallon

2007-01-07T14:02:00.000-08:00

But if I round up, it is 7 mpg. And that is close enough to 10 mpg to tell the wife that it gets almost 15, right?

Fired up

2007-01-04T19:06:00.000-08:00

I spent a couple of hours trying to get the truck started this evening. Since it would not turn over at all, I checked the carb to make sure it was getting fuel. Then I pulled the spark plugs to clean them and to check the gap on them all. They were wet but did not look too bad.

While the plugs were out, I hooked up the compression gauge. The results were probably not very accurate, since the engine was not warmed up first, but it will give me a set of numbers to compare, when I can do a compression test on a warm engine.

Cylinder 1, 130 PSI
Cylinder 3, 135 PSI
Cylinder 5, 125 PSI
Cylinder 7, 120 PSI

Cylinder 2, 120 PSI
Cylinder 4, 135 PSI
Cylinder 6, 130 PSI
Cylinder 8, 130 PSI

The last time I ran a compression test, the measurements were all over the board. I had a much higher percentage of variance from the lowest to the highest cylinder and from one side to the other. Now I am interested to see how it does once it is warmed up.

After I cleaned the plugs and reinstalled them, the truck started like a champ. I did not run it for long though, since I knew I was not going to run another comp test tonight. Dinner was calling.

Running like junk

2006-12-27T16:33:00.000-08:00

I drove the truck down the street a couple of times Christmas Day and the day after. It was running like crap, so I neverr ventured further than I could push it home.

I wanted to drive it to work on Thursday, but I think I'll wait until sometime when it is running better. I don't think I could push it home 15 miles.

Fishing Truck!

2006-12-18T05:35:00.000-08:00

One of my main goals for the 68 is to have a decent fishing truck when I am done. I want to have it set up so that I can have all of my fishing gear stowed away and ready to use for quick fishing trips at the quarry lake a couple of miles away.

Sunday afternoon we made our first voyage in the fishing rig. The Talker and I loaded up the row boat and a couple of fishing poles and we went out for a little while and we caught a nice smallmouth bass. Good times.

The truck ran like a champ and we got lots of attention cruising through the neighborhood with our boat hanging out the back of the bed. Just like I have imagined for a couple of years.

Pops Rules!

2006-12-15T15:54:00.000-08:00

The Father in law is in town today. So I put him to work for a little while this afternoon.

He helped me use the vacuum gauge to get the carburetor dialed in. Now the truck is running much better.

I did it by myself a couple of different times, but each time I left the vacuum advance connected. He had me disconnect it and then tune the carb. Made all the difference.

I am out for a drive!

Cruising

2006-12-06T08:47:00.000-08:00

Drove the truck up to the YMCA yesterday to work out. I can't tell what hurts worse, working out my lazy body or driving the truck home after that.

You get a pretty good workout just by not having power steering or power brakes...

Cruising the neighborhod, Part 144

2006-12-04T03:57:00.000-08:00

All morning Saturday and again on Sunday afternoon, I tried to find a useful reason to drive the truck. The only thing I came up with all weekend involved driving to the far end of the street to pick up the family from a neighbor's house.

Total trip miles, .5. Total number of problems on this trip, two kids, one wife.

Besides that, nothing useful ever came to mind so the truck and I sat at home all weekend.

I'll leave you with my favorite truck picture ever, taken the day Marge came home.

Longest trip yet.

2006-11-24T19:45:00.000-08:00

This evening I drove the truck downtown. It is about 15 minutes and 10 miles if you head down the freeway. I am not ready to try highway speeds in the truck yet, so we drove through neighborhoods and on surface streets. It took over an hour and I think it was almost a 15 mile trip. I chose the route based on it being not too busy and a lack of major hills to climb.

The truck never missed a beat. Ran like a charm the whole way. Maybe it was my expert navigation skills.

If you want way too much detail about the trip, go over to AtHomeDaddy.

More paint!

2006-11-19T10:48:00.000-08:00

Still lots to be done, but I am pretty happy with this look for now.

I was gonna

2006-11-06T20:46:00.000-08:00

pull the truck out of the garage this afternoon and cruise it around the neighborhood. Then I realized that I would have to move the junk that always accumulates in the bed of the truck when it is parked in the garage.

It looked to be too much junk to mess with, so I threw some junk out of The Boss Lady's car into the pile and called it an afternoon.

The junk laden truck will be sitting in the garage for at least the next week. I am leaving Wednesday on a week long solo road trip.

Big truckin day

2006-11-01T06:38:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday I backed the truck out of the driveway so that I could repair the retaining wall. While it was sitting in the street, I power washed the driveway. Then, I drove the truck into the garage.

Round trip distance, less than 300 feet.

No breakdowns, no new mechanical issues.

Wiring blues

2006-10-31T06:18:00.000-08:00

I have heard about a couple of times lately where people are getting pulled over for having a burned out license plate light. Seems to be a convenient way to stop a car to see if it is subject to other, more expensive moving violations.

The truck does not have a rear bumper, the license plate is just bolted on below the tail gate. And there is no license plate light at all. I don't want to give the police a free shot at seeing everything that is wrong with this truck, so last night I picked up a small lamp at the auto parts store. It should work fine for a license plate light.

I got the lamp installed, but I did not get it wired up. The wiring under the bed is really brittle, and I could not decide exactly where I want to splice the new wires in. But I did manage to break a wire leading to the driver's side tail lamp. So now the cops can pull me over for that, too.

Broken bolt blues

2006-10-30T04:29:00.000-08:00

Saturday afternoon The Princess wanted to help work on the truck. So we installed the fan shroud that I left off on Friday. I just had to remove the fan and slide the shroud in place. For some reason that seemed smart then, but no so much now, I loosened the alternator to remove the tension from the fan belt.

Everything bolted up just fine. Except the alternator adjustment bolt. I sheared it off with a box end wrench. Sometimes I don't know my own strength OR the weakness of my 40 year old bolts...

Luckily this bolt is designed to pass through the alternator housing so I was able to bring the broken stud on through the back side. I haven't tried a new bolt yet, to see if I trashed the threads on the alternator. If I did, I'll likely just replace the alternator. It is one of the few electrical parts that is evidently original to the truck.

I am such a good pack rat... I found a bolt that seems to match the broken one, thread pitch and all. So I was able to re-install everything this morning. Cool!

Also while in the driveway on Saturday, I noticed that the rear differential is leaking again. I'll have to look into that more this week. For now I just stuck an oil pan under it.

Cruise night

2006-10-27T20:18:00.000-07:00

The truck has been sitting in the garage, in pieces, for a week. This afternoon I picked up a water pump and a set of gaskets for the valve covers. In and out of the auto parts store for less than $36.

it only took about an hour to get all of this stuff bolted back on. It would have taken a lot longer, but I have gotten in the habit of taking lots of digital photos when I disassemble something on this truck. That way I can go back and see how it was installed before I touched it.

This afternoon I had to refer to my pictures several times, to make sure I installed the pump with the correct bolts and to figure out how to reinstall the alternator brackets. Luckily everything I had doubts about was in the photos. Except for one washer. I could not for the life of me figure out where one last flat washer should go.

When I was finishing up bolting the fan and pulley back on, I remembered that the fan shroud must be installed before the fan is installed. So for tonight, no fan shroud.

I also had the seat out of the truck so that I could replace the fuel sender. It works, but my fuel gauge was not reading properly. When I checked it, the connections were a little loose. Once tightened, problem solved.

After I put the seat back in I drove the truck to a carnival at our church tonight. It ran great.

Water pump plus

2006-10-23T07:28:00.000-07:00

After talking to Racecar Man on Saturday afternoon, I realized that the water pump is ready to die a horrible death. It started creaking and groaning a while back and may have been the source of the mystery noise back when I thought something was wrong with the drivetrain.

To get the water pump off, I had to pull the cooling fan and belt pulley off. To get the fan off, I had to remove the fan shroud. The alternator and it's mounting brackets had to come off so that the pump could be unbolted. Hopefully, all of this stuff will line up again in the near future.

I am always trying to learn something more about the truck, so after I got the water pump removed, I took it apart, to see how it works. It is really just an enclosed impeller that keeps the coolant moving through the block and back to the radiator. I think. It only took me 6 bolts to see that, so no real time or effort lost.

Since I was this far into the engine, I decided to pull the valve covers and clean them up and to get new gaskets installed to stop the slow oil leak coming from both sides. And on Racecar Man's advice, I researched how to tighten the valves, while the covers are off.

I needed to turn the engine by hand, so I pulled the spark plugs to make it a lot easier. The valve tightening was a pretty easy task, after all of that, thanks to a website I found. The site kind of dumbed down the process in my shop manuals, making it possible for me to follow.

Before I reinstall all of this stuff, I am cleaning up as much as I can. I scraped mud off of the frame that I had not been able to get to yet, and yesterday I blasted the fan shroud with the power washer and it cleaned up nicely. This afternoon I am going to run the spark plugs through the spark plug sand blaster. They are not oily, but they have a lot of carbon on them.

I am thinking about cleaning up and painting the fan, valve covers and pulley before I install them. If I do, I want to get them really clean first, so that they hopefully won't need another paint job in a year or two.

We love our truck

2006-10-18T14:29:00.000-07:00

The kids and I took the truck on a box run before nap. The kids love making club houses out of big boxes from appliances and furniture. On our way out of the neighborhood, we spotted a huge box that would have made an awesome club.

Before nap, we got the truck out and cruised past the big box. Today's treasure box was full of junk and the trash guys had already come by, so we left it on the curb. Maybe next week we will cruise over to the appliance store and check the box pile outback.

Too much rain for trucking

2006-10-16T06:11:00.001-07:00

It is raining again. And that is great, since we are in serious need of lots of steady rain. A drought that lasted all summer is still lingering.

But the truck has no working wipers and with the holes in the floorboard, it gets a little too messy to cruise in the rain. So Marge sat in the garage all weekend and likely most of this week.

In fact, if it means we get decent rain, I HOPE that she stays in the garage all week.

New headlamps

2006-10-15T06:27:00.000-07:00

A neighbor stopped me last week to tell me that one of my headlights was burned out. Saturday I went to a brand new auto parts store to pick a set up. I would not have been surprised if they told me that they didn't stock them, but when they tried to find something on the computer, nothing showed up for trucks older than 1970.

I joked that likely the only round sealed beam headlamps on the shelf would work. Turns out I was right. We checked on a 1970 Chevrolet and the number matched. Before I installed them I double checked on the internet.

Now the new lamps are installed but I am still a dim bulb.

Cruise Night

2006-10-11T14:57:00.000-07:00

Tonight I am cruising the truck over to a nearby bar to hang out with some of my SAHD buddies. Several of these guys have cool old cars that they usually bring to our once a month night away from the wife and kids. Especially the kids.
So we shall see how excited by the truck these guys are. Maybe I'll print out a couple of pictures of the truck from when I started with it, then it looks a little more impressive.

Like this one:

Or this one:

After all, I may be rolling with 5 colors of paint, but at least I got the bathroom sink and the 30 gallons of paint and cattle feed outta there, right?

Home Depot run

2006-10-08T12:19:00.000-07:00

This afternoon The Talker and I made our first drive in the truck over to Home Depot. On the way home with several hundred pounds of mulch in the bed, the truck rode REAL nice and smooth.

Soccer Run

2006-10-07T07:29:00.000-07:00

This morning The Talker and I are driving the truck to his soccer game. I promised several weeks ago, so the time has come. Last night I spent some time making sure everything was as good as could be for the drive.

I hooked up the vac gauge again, to check the carburetor. Last time I had not warmed up the engine for very long. But it looks good.

I hooked up the dwell meter and the points look fine. The timing light showed that the engine is right on time, at 2 degrees BTDC.

Tires. Check. Toolbox packed. Jack stuffed under the seat. Fire extinguisher. Double check.

Yep we are good to go on our soccer adventure. Should be a great 5 mile drive.

Oh, THAT fill plug...

2006-10-04T18:13:00.000-07:00

This evening I got the rear differential all closed up and refilled with gear oil. Last time I did this I added the oil through the vent hose at the top of the differential housing, since there isn't a fill plug on the differential or on the cover. But I could not really tell how much was fluid was in the housing, so I ended up over filling it.

Per instructions I found somewhere on the 'net, I looked all over the differential this afternoon and I FINALLY found it. Yep, there is a fill plug on the differential. Right where it is supposed to be, on the top corner of the passenger's side facing the engine in a forged, recessed area.

So I figured I might as well use it to fill the differential back up. And even though the bed is installed it is a lot easier this was than the last time I did it. Best of all, the gasket was the only part I needed to buy. Gotta love a $4 repair.

Once I got everything buttoned up, I went for a short cruise to the gas station to buy some fuel for the lawn mower. While I was driving I heard the nasty grating noise again. I still can't tell if it is engine, clutch or driveshaft noise, though.

We got there a lot quicker than planned.

2006-10-03T13:50:00.000-07:00

When we bought the Saturn Vue, I hoped we would put 10-12 thousand miles per year on it. Now that we have had it for just over 6 months, I realize that I seriously underestimated how much use this car would get. We used up my low end mileage estimate right after we pulled out of the State Fair parking lot.

Glad we are not leasing.

Maybe we will take our next trip to Dallas in the truck. That way we can save some mileage on the Vue.

And yes, I did take a picture while I was driving 29 miles an hour. What of it?

Prepping the rear differential

2006-09-28T19:49:00.000-07:00

I rolled the truck into the driveway this afternoon to clean up the differential a little bit. I want to get everything back in place some time next week.

I won't have time to work on the truck this weekend, but hopefully The Talker and I can cruise the truck to soccer a week from Saturday.

Disaster delayed

2006-09-25T19:34:00.000-07:00

It looks like there is a simple explanation for the gear oil all over my truck. I overfilled it when I replaced the oil seal. And evidently the excess backed up the vent hose. It dumps right above the driveshaft, which slung the oil everywhere.

Sounds plausible. So that is the story I am sticking with.

I opened the rear differential and everything looks fine inside so that leads me to believe the vent theory.

Thanks to Racecar Man for enlightening me.

Vac Gauge Check

2006-09-25T06:59:00.000-07:00

Before I cruised the truck yesterday, I hooked up my new vacuum gauge to the intake manifold. Pops has talked me through tuning the carburetor using the vac gauge a couple of times. I have been tweaking the carb a little at a time just based on the way the engine sounds at idle and the way the exhaust smells.

Anyways, I picked up a gauge at Harbor Freight and I got a pleasent surprise. The vacuum gauge shows that the carburetor is adjusted properly. Cool!

Too bad I only got to drive it about 10 miles.

That did not sound good

2006-09-24T17:44:00.000-07:00

The weather today was awesome so I took the truck out for a cruise this afternoon. Just a few miles near the house. No real destination.

I was headed back to the house and I noticed a grating sound when the truck was idling at a stop light.

When I got home I found part of the problem. The rear end fluid is no longer safely contained in the rear end. It is mostly sliming up the bottom side of the bed and frame. Gear oil is everywhere. I don't know what caused the leak. And I bet it isn't pretty inside there.

I'll save that for another day.

Edit: From taking a quick peek under the truck this morning, I am guessing the rear oil seal went out. The gear oil looks like it was slung everywhere under the truck, from the muffler back. The driveshaft looks OK and the carrier bearing looks OK.

It's all good and round here

2006-09-21T18:39:00.000-07:00

I walked out to the garage a few minutes ago to make sure Marge was still locked safely inside. She is.

While there I checked to see if all four tires are still holding air. They are.

Rick jinxed me again.

2006-09-18T17:18:00.000-07:00

Rick, keep your tire problems to yourself. Guess that is what I get for being a wise guy about his flat.

I headed out this afternoon to take Marge out for a drive. And what did I find in the garage? Marge had a flat.

Unless your short term memory is as bad as mine, or you are new here, you'll remember that I just put new tires on the old girl three days ago. The 15 year old tires were still holding air, but I figured a blowout was imminent.

The tire shop had a hard time getting one tire to seat properly on the rim. So I was not really surprised by the flat tire. Seems that the old tires had inner tubes in them and the tubes allow water to get trapped next to the inside wall of the wheel. The wheel rusted out next to the valve stem, so it would not hold air for long.

They swapped my new tire onto my spare rim and all is good with Marge again. Once I got the tire installed she and I went for our cruise around the neighborhood. Just because we could.

After all this, I am not really in love with the new tires. They ride nice and all, but they look too small for the truck. The guys at the shop assured me that if I went with wider tires I would have wear problems quickly. Now that I have no spare wheel, I may have to look for some wider wheels and tires when these need to be replaced.

I bet I would like this guy

2006-09-16T21:14:00.000-07:00

A guy who enters his primered Gremlin in a car show is my kind of guy. Especially when he is cruising that sweet ride on Antique Vehicle tags!

By the way, did you know that you could get a factory built V8 Gremlin?
Well, at least you could until mid- year 1976.

Babys gots new shoes

2006-09-16T16:25:00.000-07:00

I have only been putting it off for a year and a couple of months. This is the first mention I could find of my tire woes, from back in July of '05.

But I finally got some new rubber for the truck this afternoon. $40 a tire installed. Heck of a deal for a set of whitewall 215 35 R15's. Whitewalls out, of course. Surely not the best tires ever made, but now they make up almost 25% of the value of the truck.

Best of all, when I was asking the sales guy about sizes and such, he assured me that they would have no problems with the old truck because "we are all up to date on our tetanus shots."

Zoom-Zoom Live

2006-09-14T06:47:00.000-07:00

In a couple of weeks I am heading up to Zoom-Zoom Live. I registered several weeks ago, but I forgot to mention it here.

More about Zoom-Zoom Live over here.

Racecar Man went last year and had a blast. He and some of his other buddies are going up again and I am tagging along. I wonder how hard it is to roll-over a Miata?

Just FYI, Atlanta Z-ZL is on September 30 and October 1 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Family ride night

2006-09-13T18:18:00.000-07:00

The kids and I took the truck to the YMCA this evening. The furthest trip yet. I played it safe and The Boss Lady followed behind in her car. The boy rode over there with me and little sis got to ride back home.

Big fun and a good time. It was a pretty good payoff for the work we have done so far to our cool old ride.

Before taking the truck out this evening I checked everything over and got the carb working a little better. It has been running really rich for a long time. Today I think I got it pretty close to dialed in.

Pops wants me to put a vacuum gauge on the engine to really get the carb working properly. Before he comes back to town I'll pick up a gauge and have him help me out.

My first car show?

2006-09-11T07:55:00.000-07:00

I was planning to enter the truck in the Texas Classic Car Show this weekend, as a "Work in Progress". But with this week's schedule and the hassles of having the Mazda in the shop, I am going pass on taking the truck this year. I'll probably go for a few hours and check out the rides. I'll post some pictures if I remember the camera.

Truck Run

2006-09-07T07:01:00.000-07:00

I pulled the truck out of the garage Tuesday evening and went for a spin around the block. I was going to cruise a little more, but she was idling for crap and I don't know what is up with that. Haven't taken the time to look yet.

Yesterday the kids and I were driving to dinner in The Boss Lady's 626. While we were still in the neighborhood, the clutch pedal dropped to the floor and stayed there. I could not get the car back into gear.

I pulled over and was able to bring the clutch pedal back into position by hand. Seemed like it still had decent hydraulic pressure after that, but it has since done it several more times. The clutch shares fluid with the brake system and the reservoir is still full. So I don't think it is leaking fluid.

Assuming that the slave cylinder or the clutch master cylinder are going out. Either looks to be a reasonable repair. Hopefully it is just the slave cylinder. I ordered a replacement for $40. The master cylinder was $80, but I went ahead and ordered one in case.

Either way, I sure as heck hope that one or both of these solve the problem. I sure don't want to be dealing with transmission problems in this car for long.

A friend loaned us her car for a couple of days while she is out of town. Which is awesome, because we have several errands to run today and The Boss Lady would have taken the truck to work this morning. And no one really wanted that, especially the truck.