The Big Valley

Today was all about getting the oil leak fixed. Picked up valley pan and intake gaskets from Allan yesterday, so I was ready to go today. Of course, it took most of my time getting the dirt and grime away from the bolt heads so I could get the manifold off. Yowza, there was a lot of stuff in there.

Once the manifold was off, time to take off the valley pan. Some of the bolts were so loose, I probably could have turned them by hand. No wonder it was leaking. The gasket was dry and cracked too. Once off, I scraped off a few pounds of grime and then hit them both with the steam cleaner. Still more to do before I give them a coat of paint and reinstall, but progress.

I think that I'll change out all the vacuum and heater hoses while I have it halfway apart. Might not be a bad time to install the Pertronix, too.

If you look closely, you will notice that one of the valve covers has been painted not too long ago and the other not.

Its Alive!

Today was spent with Bro T getting his Scout back on the road. It's been, oh, about a year and a half since it last ran. It died on his way to work one day. We towed it home and haven't messed with it much since.

But today was the day. He got a fresh battery for it, so we primed the carb to see what would happen. It would pop off occasionally, but not much else. So, we pulled the cap and plugs and cleaned 'em up. We also ran the fuel pump to a gas can in case the lines were fouled or varnished with old gas. That seemed to work, we got it to fire and idle nicely. After a bit, the upper radiator hose collapsed, so we shut it down and went inside for lunch while it cooled down enough to open the radiator.

Happily sated with pizza, we went back out and sure enough, the radiator was darned near empty. So we filled her up with new juice and tried again. Doesn't want to start. Hmmm. Well, why don't we swap out the coil. Did that and it fired right up. No sign of a radiator leak while running, but there are signs it had one on the passenger side at one time. We'll have to keep an eye on it.

Got it rolling and pulled it out into the back yard for a photo shoot. Nice to see it moving again. Now we just need to clean it up and assess the bodywork needs (hood, windshield frame, drivers rockers, front body mounts, fenders, quarters...).

It

Third?

Hey, gotta love it. Third place at Nats in Street Modified. I guess there isn't a minimum score to get an award. :-)

Milestones

Nats was great, as always. Good people, great trucks, found a few parts, walked 'til my feet were sore. But I had to leave early, so I haven't heard who won what.














Left the party at 8:45 PM and drove straight through; got home at 5:20 AM. Made four stops to top of fuel and check the oil. Used two quarts on the way home. At one of the stops I noticed that oil was pooled up front by the distributor, too. Methinks that I'm going to have to pull the intake and replace the valley pan gasket. Oofdah. One more thing to do before Pinelands next month. I also noticed that the left front caliper started to sound like it is dragging a little bit. Will have to check that out too. It's always something. But, at least Hanky got me home without incident, as usual.

Hanky hit a major milestone on the way home - 100,000 miles. Did it while cruising at 65 mph at 2:30 in the morning. Congrats Hanky, I hope there is another 100k in ya.

Things that make you say "Hmmmmm"

Checked the oil level this morning wouldn't you know it, it's just the same as it was 120 miles ago. After the purge of the previous 300, I thought for sure I'd be down a quart or more. It definitely marked its territory on the pavement at the hotel, from several places so who knows where it's coming from. The top of the valley pan was pretty wet last night at the 300 mile mark, but less so this morning. Will have to check it again when I reach Springfield.

Hmmm.

Super Fund

I think the EPA is on my trail. Shouldn't be too hard to find me given how much oil I left on the highway on the way to Columbus this evening. Five quarts in the first 300 miles, to be exact. No, really.

The dang thing hasn't dropped hardly anything in the shop in the past year and now it decides it wants to be a crude Niagara! I didn't check the dipstick when I got to the hotel, so we'll see how much I dropped in the last 120 miles.

I knew I was leaking some by the spray on the rear window (sound familiar Alan?), but dang. Time to find a Wally World so I have enough to get me home.

Stay tuned for Nats reports starting tomorrow.

Ready for launch

Just about ready to head to Nats. Yesterday, I took the top off (using new top hanging system in the garage), installed the passenger seat and seatbelt, swapped alternators, got the steering wheel almost straight (almost), washed out the bed and wheels, put the steering column collar back on and screwed down the dash face, reinstalled the antenna in the fender, went for a drive.

Today I topped off the gas, put the top back on, put on the new seat covers, vacuumed out the interior and the speaker boxes, no-ox'ed the battery terminals, packed up tools and fluids, and even tried Alan's Wax-oyl rust proofing. I think I'll need to heat it a but cuz it was pretty thick and wouldn't spray. It more or less oozed. ;-)

Still need to drill the floor and install the console and fiddle with the license plate light socket that doesn't want too stay lit.

There is probably something else I need to do that I'm forgetting, but I need a break. Time to lay down and watch the US Open for a while.

There is always tomorrow

Didn't get much done on the Scout today, though last night I put some eye bolts in the ceiling of the garage to lift the top off. Tomorrow, I'll get back at it, to get it ready for Nats:
install passenger seat and seatbelt
re-align steering wheel
replace alternator
skim coat the quarter patch with Bondo
check and fill all the fluids.
I'm sure I'm forgetting something.

The distraction today was getting another parts Scout hauled down to Alan's shop with Alan and Brian. Mission accomplish. Sorting the all the extra parts inventory will come later.

Suburban Scout Rescue

Got a call from Carl B just as I was finishing up my work tasks before taking early leave today. Seems he still had some Pinelands swamp water in his transmission and it finally decided it wanted to make his tranny stop working. He picked a good spot, just a mile from my house. So, I piled a few tools, drain pan and whatnot in Heavy D and headed over. Sure enough, he had Yoohoo in his tranny. The Advance had a filter on the shelf, so a quick drain, filter and refill and he was on his merry way! (well, relatively quick, we didn't rush it).

Now to go spend some time with Hanky...