Putting Up a Wall

Finally got some tie in the garage the other day. Welded in the patches for the firewall. Hopefully today I'll get in the patch for the kick panel then can turn my attention to the inners and we'll be in business.

My welds are still pretty crummy, but I'm starting to lay down decent beads once in a while. Nothing a little grinding and seam sealer won't pretty up. At least it's strong.

Once I get this welding done, I'll turn my attention back to the engine and see if I can't get the bugger started (finally!). Keep your finger crossed that Hanky will be making fire this weekend.

Mr. Stinky Pants

...oh and I forgot to mention that the truck has a very noticeable stench of gear oil. Looks like the rear diff is leaking.

Add that to the list too.

Incontinent

Well, so it seems that I wasn't so lucky with the recent fan belt incident as I thought. Went over to bro's house last weekend to help him get his Scout started, which we did - although his starter acted up a bit and his steering box is a little wonky, but that's another story.

Topped off Heavy D with antifreeze and ran it a bit, then moved it to the front of bro's house and it didn't drip nary a drop. So, I figure it's good. Wrong-o Batman.

Drove it home and upon parking it out front, I notice that it's puking antifreeze all over the street. This ain't good. Hopefully it's just the hose, right? Nah. Finally took a look at it this weekend and it seems that it's leaking from the seam in the driver's side tank.

So, here is a little recap of the events that took place under the hood, near as I can figure. While my bro was driving it two weeks ago, one of the fan belts grenaded (confirmed by the several pieces of belt found strewn around the engine bay). That belt coming apart knocked off the other fan belt, which was found hanging from the alternator. It also got pieces in the PS belt pulley, because that one was rotated around in the pulley, but still on.

Anyway, so without the fan belt, no water pump and it boiled over. The higher pressure in the tank caused it to bloat just a bit and split the seam. Sound plausible? Sounds like a headache to me. Now I have to get a new radiator or replace this one.

What's the deal with me and truck radiators? I had rad trouble with the gold Travelette too.

Add it to the list.

Four Wheeling in Miniature

I saw a little micro r/c car at the store today and thought to myself "hmmm, that looks about the right size for one of the JL bodies." After just a little work, voila. Now I just need some AAA batteries...

Location : Address not available

Location : Address not available

See What Happens?

So, my bro needed to haul a load of firewood on Sunday. Seems I have this bid red truck sitting out front perfectly suited for such things. So, I says "yeah, go ahead, just don't break it."

A couple hours later he calls and says it's leaking antifreeze all over the place - and he can't get the hood open to check it out. oofdah!

So, I go over after work on Monday to have a look-see. Mind you, it's about 32 degrees with a 20 mph wind. Maybe I'll take some gloves. Anyway, have a look around. It doesn't look like it was leaking from the lower hose, which was my first guess. Pop the hood and voila, there's the problem. Seems one of the fan belts is gone and the other is dangling off the alternator. The ps pump belt is spun around 180 degrees, but still on the pump. Hmmm. Near as I can figure, one of the fan belts broke and in doing so, knocked off the other one and a shard of it got in the pulley just enough to spin the ps belt. With no belt on the water pump, it quickly boiled over. My bro said the temp never got to the redline and just let loose when he pulled up to the house, so that's good anyway.

So, I loosened up the alternator and got that one belt back on and then loosened up the ps pump and spun that belt back around. Tightened 'em back up and we should be good to go.

Fired it up and let it idle a while. No leaks, but I don't know how much antifreeze is left in there anyway. Need to fill it up and see, but I don't think there will be an issue. He'll pick me up on his way home from work one of these nights and I'll top it off and drive it home.

Funny how things just seem to happen when you lend out your vehicles - even if they are not fault of the driver.

new Johnny Lightnings

I went looking for the new R10 JL Scout - the turquoise one and found that there is already an R11 version out - silver with no top and black wheels. Didn't find any while out and about at the stores, but I scored 4 of the former and two of the latter from online dealers - at retail price not the eBay collector price. Now if I find 'em at the stores, I'll just pick 'em up to share with the crew.

Speaking of the crew, if anyone is looking for the four pack with the yellow rallye, I have 4 extras and the local Toys-R-Us is stocked with plenty more.

A Little Ether, A Little Air

So, haven't done much of anything with Hanky since Pinelands. I did, however get the two mud tires mounted on the steel spokes that Jon brought me. Figured I'd try my hand at it. I mean, after watching a few YouTube videos, I'm like an expert, right?

Took a little effort, but I got 'em on. Decided to try the redneck ether trick to set the bead. Determined that you can't go too light on the ether or it won't pop. Though when I did get it to work, it blew the core right out of the valve stems on both wheels. Dang. Off to the car store to get two more and try it again. This time it worked like a charm.

Also had to break the bead on Heavy D's tire that started leaking at Pinelands. Boy, there was a lot of sand way down deep in that bead. Had to reseat it twice before I go it all out. My mistake was trying to only unseat and clean part of it where it was leaking, which just made it leak somewhere else. Had to do the whole thing. Worked fine though. Glad to have that tire back on the truck and the spare off.