Month: June 2009

Fumes.

So, last week, I repaired the hose from the inlet tube to the gas tank, which had rotted out and was leaking. I figured, since I’d driven at least 75 miles since last putting gas in the tank, that I’d need some more. (The gauge reads empty). At the filling station down the street, the pump clicked off several times after only five gallons, and since my old Scout did this routinely on an empty tank, I thought nothing of it—until I heard the spatter of gas on the pavement below.

This time, it was a smaller hose the PO had used to plug off two of the evap tubes; I’d filled the tank to the top and now the little 3/8″ hose (which is at the high end of the tank) was leaking. Swell.

I returned home to see if there was anything I could do; I didn’t have any tape that would stand up to gasoline handy, so I decided to drive it to the dump (the entire bed was full of debris I’d loaded previously) and burn off some gas. After a brief stop at the Home Depot to pick up a fire extinguisher (the thought of cooking off while motoring down the highway was foremost in my mind), I waited in a mercifully short line at the dump and got rid of another load of crap.

On my way out, I quickly noticed something peculiar with the gas pedal; it was closer to the floor than it had been minutes before. I was still getting throttle enough to make it into 4th gear, but my speed topped out at 45mph or so with the pedal to the floor, far short of the 65 I’ve had it at before (I’ve never had the hammer all the way down before this).

Thermoquad

Checking the linkage, I don’t see anything loose with the connection at the firewall, on the pedal itself, or up to the first mount on the carb. I’m dealing with a Carter Thermoquad, something I have no experience with (my old Scout had a Holley 1920 on a 2-barrel 304; this is a 4-barrel 345). Bad linkage? Bent pedal?

My first thought is the linkage itself. The wires and connections are tight, but perhaps something came loose in the carb iself. The throttle cable is brand-new (still has the vendor sticker wrapped around the sleeve) so I know it can’t be that. This is going to take some sleuthing by mechanics smarter than I.

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Out On The Highway.

Garage

I drive into work yesterday to take advantage of the sunlight and warm weather, and the old girl did not let me down. She fired right up in the morning and I got out onto I-95 grinning from ear to ear. Larger bumps send her into a bit of a panic, because the shocks and springs are so tight any sudden movement gets transmitted and amplified by the short wheelbase and stiff suspension. I have to be very careful with the steering, as well—there’s a bit of play, and then when it starts turning, it’s turning.

In the parking garage I had a bit of a scare when I drive up to the height warning sign and could touch it with my entire palm from the driver’s seat, but we squeaked under it with inches to spare.

I had to drive out to Ellicott City after work to get some paperwork notarized, and enjoyed the scenic route by the river. There is still some question as to how much gas she needs to start; I’m averaging about 10 pumps of the pedal to coax her to life each time, which is concerning. The carburetor is a Carter Thermoquad, which will obviously need some attention in the near future. (I’d love to ditch it and go to a Holley 2300, but that may need to wait until money is not so tight).

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Fuel Filler Hose.

I had to replace the fuel filler hose this weekend, and made the mistake of stopping in an Advance auto parts store to get one. When I asked the two clerks behind the counter, both of them blinked and said they’d never heard of such a thing. I think I’d already turned to leave when one of them told me to look in the Home Depot, which was at least a helpful suggestion, if not ridiculous. Since it was Sunday and my time window was closing, I took a chance and found a NAPA hidden behind a car wash. Within a minute of entering the store, the clerk was fishing a length of tube off a wall rack.

nasty original fuel hose

Back at home, with the girl asleep, I commenced to removing the original hose, which may not ever have been rated to touch gasoline. The closer of the two hose clamps came right off, but the clamp closer to the tank was angled in a way which made it impossible to access. I wound up cutting the hose off, then using a screwdriver to push the clamped hose backwards so that there was some slack, then pulling the entire thing off the flange.

Repaired fuel hose

With that done, it took five minutes to replace with two new pipe clamps. One other thing I noticed for the first time while down under the chassis was the sticker on the spring pack: this rig has a brand-new Triangle spring lift.

Triangle springs

After ensuring everything was snug and tight, I took her down to the gas station for a test fill and a short ride.

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Leaky Gasket.

I took the Scout over to some friends’ last night to pick up a load of baby toys, and figured it would be a good idea to put some gas in the tank. There’s something wrong with either the gas gauge or the sender in the tank, because it’s never registered anything other than empty. As I started to pump, I noticed gas splashing down under the axles and immediately stopped. From what I can see, there’s a rubber hose connecting the steel fuel tube with the side of the tank which is splitting and pissing everything directly onto the ground.

Not to be discouraged, I continued on to my friends’ house (a few knocks on the tank verified there was sufficient gas available) and made it home alright. But now I’ve got to source a hose that won’t disintegrate with exposure to gasoline.

* * *

Last weekend I removed the entire soft top and folded it carefully for storage in my basement, along with the door frames, bed rails, and hoops. With soft tops being scarce and expensive, I’m going to try and keep this one in good shape for as long as I can. I replaced it with the bikini top, which went on easily, although I’ve got to add a tiedown on the driver’s side and redrill the holes at the edges of the windshield to secure the rail. This is the first time I’ve had a bikini top, and I have to say, it’s very nice.

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Further Identification.

So having pulled enough parts off my truck to know the original color was a gold metallic (the original spray is evident behind the door panels and under the dash pad), I took a little time to research when that particular only-in-the-70’s color was offered. Paging through IH paint codes this afternoon, I confirmed that particular shade of gold wasn’t offered in 1976, the year my VIN states; it’s actually from 1975. I’m pretty sure it’s the one called “Gold Poly”. And, the grille shell on the front is either a ’71 or a ’72. So I’ve got a ’79 frame, a ’75 body and a ’76 VIN, which makes a lineset ticket all but useless.

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Hi-Lift.

I stumbled across a used 48″ Hi-Lift jack on Craigslist yesterday for the low low price of $40, and couldn’t pass it up. The height of this Scout obviates any sort of bottle or floor jack, because they don’t allow enough height to get a 32″ wheel off the ground. I met the seller out in Highlandtown and the deal was quickly struck; this is an $80 jack new (not including shipping—it’s 30+ pounds).

It may be that I need to upgrade to a 60″ jack, depending on how hard it is to get my tires off the ground, but this is a good start (and I know a few guys who run/will run stock Scouts who might be interested in taking this off my hands in that case). Or, I could simply buy a 60″ steel bar and replace the 48″.

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Weekend Update, 5-30.

Saturday morning, with a mixture of anticipation and nervous fear, I pulled the beast out of the garage and filled the back with garbage from our basement, scrap lumber from the garage, and a year’s worth of dead branches shed from the yard, loaded in a toolbox, made sure I had a towing company number in my cellphone, and set out for the dump.

As it turned out, I had nothing to worry about. The Scout did fine. Even sitting in the line at the dump, the temp needle never went past the first line, the idle calmed down, and she behaved herself. I had to give her a lot of gas to get restarted, so there’s definitely a tune-up in the future, but overall I’m surprised and happy. And my fears for her road manners were unfounded; steering was straight and true at 65mph.

On the trip south, a guy in a Dodge dually honked and gave me a thumbs-up, which put a smile on my face for the next half-hour. After unloading everything (god it’s nice to have a true utility vehicle again) I put the top completely down and drive home in the sunshine.

Sunday morning I was finally able to meet up with the owner of a very dilapidated ’78 plow rig to begin parting out what’s left, after weeks of missed connections and unexpected rainshowers. He bought the truck in order to pull the axles for his ’59 Willys wagon and has no use for the rest of the carcass—although now he’s talking about using the frame and drivetrain for a T-bucket with a plow.

Aftermath of Day One

I was more interested in the hard-to-replace plastics and any sheetmetal that might be salvageable, so I brought the Jeep down with my tools and commenced to stripping. He’s a very nice guy, and within ten minutes offered me a cold beer and an air-powered impact wrench, which made life much easier. In fact, he helped me pull a lot of good parts off the truck while also taking out the brake and steering systems for his Jeep. At the end of a five-hour day, I drove home with:

  • A clean driver’s fender (with one small dimple at the front curve—nothing I can’t knock back out)
  • A clean fan shroud
  • One good door panel
  • a clean ’78 grille and headlight bezels
  • A clean valance panel
  • Both headlight buckets, retaining rings, and a spare set of lights
  • Marker lights, lenses and buckets
  • Taillight lenses (the buckets were shot)
  • Gauges (including speedo, the one thing I don’t have a spare of)
  • An extra set of wiper arms
  • Plastic defroster exhausts
  • Steering column plastic
  • Driver’s knee vent
  • Glove box door (with turn latch, which I don’t have)
  • A complete headlight switch
  • An extra set of dash plastics (mine are painted purple)
  • A complete wiper fluid container
  • A complete coolant reservoir
  • Two sets of door hinges
  • Hoses and clips for windshield fluid
  • Assorted other small parts and bolts

Salvage, part one

I tried getting the door glass out of the driver’s door, but we ran out of time–the upper channel is most likely rusted to the lower. However, the regulators both seem to work better than the ones I’ve got, and also appear to be easier to get out, so I’ll go back for those. We didn’t have time to pull/cut off the passenger fender, which made getting the heater box out impossible, so I’ll go back for that as well. The radiator came out, but I didn’t have space for it in the Jeep, so he’s hanging onto that for me as well.

Salvage, part two (partial)

Overall, it was a great day, and I had a fantastic time getting grease up to my elbows and talking cars (he’s got a ’69 Mach 1 sitting behind the Willys waiting for its turn). I’m stacked for the next couple of weeks, but I hope to head back down and pick up the rest of the parts (and possibly a set of spare wheels) very soon.

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