Throwing In the Towel.

My family was in town this past weekend, and I took the opportunity to have my dear sister help me with some exploratory surgery on the Scout. As you may have read, there’s a recurring leak coming from somewhere in the vicinity of the water pump that I haven’t been able to chase down. I decided I’d give it one last go and see if I could replace the current pump with a spare I’d gotten from KB last year.

As with most things, I plunged into it without really thinking the procedure through completely. My sister and I got the leaky pump off, and after much cursing, were able to lift it completely out with the fan shroud (The top filler neck was in the way, of course). Once I’d gotten it off completely, I noticed that it was three-pulley while the backup fan was a dual-pulley. Now, I could have run the engine without the AC compressor (which is what I believe the pump in the foreground of the picture below is), but I thought it would be better to leave everything the way I found it.

So, with some trepidation, I RTV’d the new gasket I had on the original pump and we settled it back into place. My plan for tonight is to tighten up the pump bolts, replace the upper hose clamps, tighten down the compressor and alternator brackets, make sure the distributor cap is tight, fill the radiator back up, and get it started. Tomorrow morning at dawn, I’m going to throw my bike in the back and haul ass down the street to Ridgeway Automotive in the hopes that the fine folks there can diagnose the problem once and for all.

In happier news, I think I’ve got the bolts I need for the Tuffy console–and they’re all stainless steel.

In Progress, Repairs on 13 April 2010 with no comments

Close, But No Cigar.

Mr. Scout and I took some time last Friday to pull the radiator out of Peer Pressure and flush it, then reinstalled it and tightened up all the fittings. It ran very well for 20 minutes without leaking, although the battery was dead, so I swapped the battery in from the Jeep and took it for a spin around the block. Everything looked great for the next twenty minutes, at idle and under load, and so I brought it back and put it in the garage, thinking the problem was finally solved.

This evening, I found a damp puddle under the water pump, where there’s a visible leak coming from the bottom under the flywheel. So we’re back to square one with the stupid coolant system again. I’m going to have to buy a new water pump and gasket and swap the old one out and see if that solves the problem.

In happier news, I drilled three holes for the Tuffy console Friday afternoon, but each of the three hex bolts they shipped with it are the wrong size. The replacements I bought at the Lowe’s last weekend are all too long to work correctly, so I have to go back out and find shorter sizes in stainless steel.

In Purchasing, Repairs on 6 April 2010 with 1 comment

Repairing a Windshield Screen

Here’s some good info on repairing a windshield screen from a full-size Chevy message board: essentially, it involves stripping and cleaning the afflicted areas, and welding in new metal to the worst areas. Which will require the purchase of a welder. Priorities, priorities…

Meanwhile, I’m waiting until we have our taxes done to make any major moves on the Scout. I’m leaning towards hustling it down the street to Ridgeway Automotive to have some professionals diagnose the problem and be done with it once and for all; I don’t have a lot of time to fool with it, and now that it’s getting warmer I’d like to be driving it.

In Future Plans on 18 March 2010 with no comments

Same Old Song And Dance.

Taking advantage of the 50° weather this afternoon, I jockeyed the cars in the driveway around so that the Slattern is at the top—now that the snow has melted, it’s back to the commuting vehicle. While I had everything out, I pulled the Scout across the street, let her warm up a bit, and then took a lap around the block. As I got about halfway home, the temp needle suddenly woke up and pinged to the middle of the gauge, climbing steadily. I hightailed it home and got parked before it had any chance of going further. Inspecting the engine after shutting it down, I noted coolant spitting out of the radiator side of the top hose, meaning I hadn’t tightened that off enough. The top of the radiator was cool to the touch, as was the cap, which leads me to believe the radiator itself is blocked with gunk. Which means I’ll have to buy some flush solution, drain the whole thing, and see if I can’t clean it out myself.

In Repairs on 6 March 2010 tagged radiator coolant overheat with 1 comment

Road Tires.

Peer Pressure came with a set of 32×11.5R15 BF Goodrich Mud Terrains, and they are very, very nice tires. However, they’re also noisy as hell and I’d like to have something better suited for everyday driving mounted in their place, so I thought I’d do some preliminary pricing. The first step was to convert the US size to metric, and I found this calculator which translates to 292/74R15, something I haven’t been able to find in mixed-use tires—rounding up to 295/75R15.

FYI, the Mud Terrains I’ve got on now list for about $179 each.

In Future Plans, Part Numbers, Purchasing on 5 March 2010 with 3 comments

Electronic Ignition.

Add this to the list of future plans: adding electronic ignition. I like the idea that it’s a simple install and that you can go back to points if the module fails.

In Future Plans, Purchasing on 26 February 2010 tagged Future Plans, ignition, parts with no comments

Spare Nose.

The other part I got from the Great Gwynn Oak Sell-Off is a spare 1972 nose for Peer Pressure, essentially an unmolested version of the same nose I’ve got, with undented chrome and badge intact. Sweet!

In Uncategorized on 15 February 2010 with no comments

Operation Fan Shroud: Installed.

I had a little time this afternoon to work on the Scout, so I ran outside with some tools, adjusted the shroud downwards about 1/2″, cut a new piece of strap for the lower mount to fit, tightened up all the bolts, and stood back.

Hoses tight: check. Coolant level: check. Gas in the carb: check. Fire extinguisher: check. Of course, I left the window up, so if there had been a fire, the balky linkage would have ensured a few moments of panic as I tried to get the window down to reach the outer door handle (the inner latch is off the door right now) but that’s all just details. Three tries and she fired right up, idling smoothly for having sat dormant since October.

I backed her out of the garage and almost took the driver's rearview off the door (the doors weren't open wide enough, because they're backed in with 3' of snow) after shifting into 4hi—the rear wheels just spun on the cold ground. After idling for about 5 minutes the temp gauge didn't rise off the left peg, so I think she needs a good ten minutes of running time before I know if anything is fixed or not. But just to have her out of the garage again is a huge relief.

While I was out there, I swapped out the green dashpad for the new black one I bought from Karl, which sure does look better with purple.

In Progress, Repairs on 14 February 2010 tagged fan shroud, parts, Progress, Repairs with 1 comment

Heat Reflective Matting.

I stumbled upon some good advice while perusing the Binder Planet this afternoon: an inexpensive alternative to Dynamat, called Peel & Seal. The commenter claims it’s only about $20 at the Home Depot. I’ll have to pick some of this up next time I’m there.

Update 2.20.10: Struck out at Lowe’s. Doing some reading on the product, I don’t know if I’d want to use this stuff after all. I’m also not sure if the idea is to put this stuff on the inside of the cab or out.

In Future Plans, Purchasing on 7 February 2010 tagged parts purchasing links with no comments

Operation: New Fan Shroud.

I got a little window of time this afternoon between the blizzard and Finn’s nap to pick up a pair of metal shears. While she was down, I hurried to the basement and trimmed one side of the steel I’d bought, then laid it flat on the edge of my workbench. I bought a length of predrilled strap in order to make a hard edge to bend on. The object was adding a bend at the top 1/2″.

Once I’d bent the top to my satisfaction (I don’t have a metal brake, but a block of wood and a hammer work pretty well) I measured and drilled a pair of holes for the top mounting bolts. I’ve got a spare radiator that I dragged into the basement for test fitting:

Next, I drilled a series of holes to make a long adjustable vertical channel for the shroud and set that in place to test out the height. It turns out there’s a total of 3″ of lift on this truck based on the shroud mounting.

Then I assembled the whole thing to see how it all fit together. I used hex bolts with two flat washers on each side, as well as a lock washer to hold the entire thing in place. Outside on the Scout, it turned out that I was about a quarter-inch two low, so the top of the fanblades were hitting the fiberglas. I brought it back inside, extended the channels upwards, filed everything down, and did another test fit: perfect.

The steel extended down below the open area of the shroud, so I measured an area and cut out a section to allow for maximum airflow.

And once I’d tested it out on the Scout, I pulled everything back off so that I can prime and paint the steel this evening. Tomorrow, hopefully, I can get the bottom mounts made quickly and have the entire thing put back together. Then I’ve got to see if she’ll start. It sure would be nice to have her back on the road.

In Progress on 30 January 2010 tagged repair parts engine cooling with 1 comment