Taking full advantage of another day off, I returned to the garage and plugged in the space heater, for as much as that’s going to heat an uninsulated shack put up in the 1920s. Regardless, three layers of winter clothes helped cut the chill back and I found that when I kept moving, I stayed plenty warm. The first order of business was to move a bunch of large body panels and other spare parts into the greenhouse. I desperately need more room in the garage, especially in the winter months, and so moving a bunch of big bulky body panels out there really freed up a bunch of space. And, having the other panels that were stacked behind the garage now under cover helps me sleep a little better. All of the shelves and bins got reorganized, and I finally unboxed my new TIG welder, which is smaller than I thought it would be. I can’t wait to get a bottle of argon and start noodling with that.
With that done I warmed up Peer Pressure in the driveway and pulled the battery out of the Travelall to do some more electrical testing in the 800. I wanted to trace the wiring back into the dash to find the fuse panel, so I started at the bulkhead connector in the engine bay, isolating the two 14ga. blue wires that carry the main power to and from the ammeter on the dash. The connector was covered in grime and dirt, but a shot of electrical cleaner got rid of most of it. I unscrewed the two leads, wirebrushed everything, and connected it back up.
Inside the cab I pulled the glove box out after cutting the rusted screws off to allow better access to the wiring, and hosed more of the bolts down with penetrant. After I got a constant 12V there with the key on, I pulled the dash panel back off and looked for power there. I got nothing at the ammeter, the next link in the chain, so I pulled a replacement from my spares and put that in. The original unit in this truck was an aftermarket Stewart-Warner so something had happened with the original one at some point.
It took a while to get the new one on (25˚ with no gloves on cold metal makes for fumbly fingers) but after I cleaned all the other connectors, I connected the battery back up, waited for any visible smoke, and turned the key to ACC. I still got nothing on the panel, but I turned it off and back on and accidentally went past ACC and felt the starter bump! Elated, I tried it one more time, heard the starter catch, and saw the ammeter move, which means the broken link is now fixed. I’m still not getting any other electrics—the light switch isn’t working, for example—but if the starter is working, that’s a huge win.
Under the truck, I could only move the crank bolt a little bit, so I got under the transmission and pulled the flywheel cover off. It’s much easier to access than on Peer Pressure which is a good thing—I can get a flywheel wrench on it with no problem.
Saturday morning I drove the rear leaf springs from the Travelall down to a very sketchy industrial section of Baltimore to be worked on. The guys there told me the best thing to do is add two helper leaves instead of trying to re-arch them, so they’ll go from 7 leaves to 9 if I’m understanding them right. They’re going to replace all of the bushings and provide me with four new U-bolts to mount the springs back up to the axles. I have to go and source four bushing bolts for the body, even though the ones I pulled off look to be in good shape.
