New Truck (well to me, sort of)

I brought the new truck home today. It is a 97 F150 with 126k on the clock. It is an old truck from work that I purchased for auction book value. I figure I put on at least 20-30K of those miles so I know the truck well.

It got a few dents on the driver side door from where it was rubbed in the barn by a semi trailer and on the tailgate from use. It was a work truck so what can you expect. I will purchase a chrome tailgate cover just as soon as I see them go on sale at Farm and Fleet.

It is a short bed extended cab with passenger side third door. It's got the 4.6L 8, 3 speed auto with OD, AC, electric locks and mirrors. Tilt wheel and cruse control. This is a big upgrade from the old Mazda. Don't think I'll be sucking more gas, the big 4L V6 in the Mazda sucks as much or more than this thing does at highway speeds. Around town I'll have to see - I only know how it does on long trips. Both have 4 wheel ABS but this truck has two air bags that have never been deployed. It is hard to tell from the pictures but it has chromed steel wheels - nice looking but not alloy like the Mazda. With the receiver hitch I can still tow what I need to and the larger bed, just uncovered. However the larger area and easier access of the extended cab gives me plenty of "out-of-the-weather" cargo capacity.

Best of all the rear bench seat folds down to make a flat floor - so no dog on the front seat. It is a split seat - note the picture below - so it is possible to have one or three passengers in back. Having ridden back there before - it isn't too bad - I wouldn't want to sit there for 8 hours but it is comfortable for a few. I am going to cover the back of the folding bench with a gray fleece blanket to protect it from dog hair.

It still has some field dirt in it, especially under the hood, so I am going to see about getting it detailed. All in all a good $700 net cost investment.

Sold the Mazda

After nearly 10 years and 91,000 miles I have sold the Mazda truck. The old Ford Ranger clone has moved on to a good home, taking some of Grizzy with it.

Once I had the opportunity to purchase a newer truck, with less mileage, more features and cleaner, the Mazda's days were numbered. I will buying a 97 Ford F150, shortbed extended cab truck from work with 126,000 miles. As I cleaned it out I realized that it was not in a bad shape as I thought it was but in light of the F150 10 years was long enough.

The good news it went to someone who needs it for the same sorts of duty's I have kept it around for. I mentioned at a CCSCC club meeting that I had "Junk" for sale. Someone needed something with a hitch to pull a jetski and haul tires etc around.

I had to take the sawzall to the jump starter connection bracket - the bolts were rusted. It did a clean job of removing the bracket without damaging the bumper. If I had not already removed the cables from the battery I would have just left it mounted and made a new one for the new Ford.

First rain Oct 7, 200, garage done 10-6-08

Tuesday, October 07, 2008


The roofers finished the garage roof Monday evening just in time for today's rain. We got 0.40 inches and so far no leaks. It is hard to tell but look at earlier images of the garage fascia - I started with a 60 grit belt, then 50 then 36 grit on a belt sander to remove the dry and weathered wood (some moss/mold) down to solid fur suitable for priming with an oil based primer.

Naked Garage

See my main blog for information on the new roof

Fixed the power coater

After getting some parts cleaned up (steering coupler, generator brackets and vibration isolators) I was ready to powercoat them when I discovered it wouldn't work.

Things were rattling around so I opened it up and found that the coil or whatever charge generator had come lose and cracked into the circuit board - so soldered it back together and what do you know it worked.

Screen Door, (note to self do not square old doors unless the frame is square)

While it might not look like much I have installed a screen door on my garage so I can get some ventilation while working. Why do I need a screen door if the windows and overhead doors do not have screens - well for the simple fact of keeping the dog in the yard.

Now the job was not as simple as just attaching a screen door to the frame - you see it all started with a $12.99 screen door at Menards - now I had most of the hardware but the door came unpainted.

Once I found a can of exterior primer and stain trim paint to paint the unpainted door I decided that I might as well paint the passage door too - since it really needed it. After much scraping I decided to use some Minwax wood hardener - a good product and since the door was subject to much splashing from the concrete pad it was soft - not actively rotted - just soft from multiple soakings. So after 16 oz of wood hardener I figured I might as well get out the pipe clamps and urethane glue to square and tighten the door up a bit. I got the door square and nice the joints nice in tight - mortise and tenon construction - an old door.

Painting was straight forward except for rain on Sunday - I was getting set up for the paint after the doors had dried overnight from priming when the 500 went to rain delay - well it was clear and sunny in Homer so I decided to call my Dad and let him know that the race should restart. While on the phone the heavens opened and if I had started painting it would have been a real mess - 0.40 of rain in that downpour but my tarp keep the garage dry. I don't have images of the tarp but it attaches under the eves and is held up by 2by2's with nails sticking up to hold the grommets and tied to the fence and a stake in the yard. I put it up as much for shade as for keeping the freshly painted door and frame dry.

In any case I got everything painted Memorial day weekend but when I went to put the old now square passage door back on it's hinges it hung under the door knob edge. So the door frame sagged, I get a bottle jack and raise the door frame - the jack pushes through the sill - damn - the sill is rotten. A few moments of panic - but after checking with a 20 penny nail I conclude that the still was rotted from water splashing up from the concrete pad at the door - the rest of the garages sills seem alright - so add to my list gutters for the garage. Hot and tried I wanted ice cream with dinner - the grill is out of propane so I decide to goto McDonald's in Oakwood via the old state road to see a new bridge - big mistake be cause by then race traffic has reached Oakwood and their ice cream machine is out to boot.

Ok I can replace the sill - jack it up put as I try to jack the garage my board warps - not wanting to build an I beam out of 2by4's I try another approach - leaver the studs ups and brace the wall up then pound in the new still with a slight bevel cut so water can run off the transom. That seems to be working but one little problem - the wall is moving outward - now I need something to brace it to keep it from moving. I really didn't want to nail a support to the wall and use a post or something in the yard to brace - but my truck is heavy - it had 50 concrete landscape edgers in the back that I wanted to unload inside the fence anyways so why not park the truck against the garage to stop the wall from moving.

Using my capers' lock turned to the open position gives one a centerline reference and since the receiver hitch sticks out about a 1/2 inch from the rear bumper I backed up carfeully against the door frame/stud with a section 2by8 to protect the wood. So I put the truck in park and set the parking brake - of course with the truck centered on one side of the door frame I had to climb over the truck to get into the door - the overheads were closed - no screen door to block the door yet. With my 25lb barbell I drive the new pressure treated sill under the old studs and trust me it was much easier to type that sentence than it was to get the new sill installed. When I get back into the truck to move it I realized it was in PARK and I had been pounding against it - I put the key and push on the brake but I can't budge the shift leaver - once started it moved effortlessly.

The next morning I bolt the sill to the foundation then trim some wood of the bottom of the door (not the top) - measured twice and cut once - bingo the door fits and closes without snagging the top. I decide to wait until next weekend to mount the screen door.

As I unloaded my concrete edgers I notice the truck is running like crap again - then after an hour or so later I move to another area to unload and I notice it must be steam coming out of the tailpipe - if steam is coming out of the tailpipe - it is not smoke - smoke doesn't condense against your hand or disappear, I mean smoke might get thinned out by mixing with the air but it doesn't disappear like steam. This can only mean one thing - the truck has a bad head gasket or a cracked block/head.

Ok back to the screen door - next Saturday I get it mounted I need to get some different hinges - I had non-mortise type but I didn't want to cut the door to fit inside of the frame - it was an old door frame - 78 by 32 - the new screen door is 81 by 32. I get screen door hinges from Old Homer Hardware - the can be mounted flush or recessed or forward - perfect. All the door has is a spring and an handle - I put 1/8 rat wire across the bottom of the door to keep the dog from busting thought but I need to mount a board to put the spring catch/holder - to keep the door from bouncing when it slams shut and a better place to push from the inside.

So now I can work in the garage in the summer - now if it was only as clean as it was in 2004

Broken bolt in block

Once finished with the heater box I again started working on getting the engine ready to go back in. I started on the motor mount "ears" when I noticed a broken bolt in one of the bolt holes for the motor mounts.

I remembered that I knew about this broken bolt and I had asked the machine shop to remove it when they rebuilt the engine. Apparently I didn't tell them or they didn't do it. I soaked the bolt in PB Blaster before I headed off to town.

I had broken my last screw/bolt extractor a few years ago so I decided it was off to Sears for some of new fangled bolt extractor Bob was yacking about on TV. First at Lowes they had the new fangled style for nearly $30. Over to Sears, at least they sell things that can break by the piece.

At sears the set was $12 and I picked up a couple of the old reverse screw style.

So I try the old style - and to my amazement the bolt back out with very little effort. My best guess is the bolt was broken during tightening and not removal. At last a bit of good luck.



Now I just need to find an O-ring and the nut for the oil cooler.

*&#$ forgot the heater valve tube

Well I had the heater box installed but I for got to install the capillary tubing for the heater control valve.


So I take the box out, run the capillary tubing in along the core and install the valve in the firewall. See how nice it went in with a new gasket at the firewall.



Now I thought I was finished with the heater box. So I move onto getting some things bolted back on the engine when in a bag labeled as holding engine parts I find I discovered those little spring steel clips that hold the doors closed. So out again comes the heater box. I am beginning to get good at this.

Now I notice that when I assembled the box the capillary tube was crushed. *&%@, however it looks like the internal brass colored tube was intact - I hope that is the one that matters since new valves run about $150. So I splint the 1/8 copper tubing with some 1/4 copper tubing split and then crimped around the damaged capillary tubing. I hope this works or I'll have to remove the heater box for the 4th time now. (1st time to get the box powder coated, 2nd without the valve tubing, 3rd without the spring clips)

Note the nice new gasket for the fresh air intake & for the heater box to the firewall:



Hints for those trying to remove the heater box: Drop the heater control valve. Unbolt the heater box from the firewall, unscrew the freshair intake from the heater box. Slightly cock the upper edge of main heater box and then slide the fresh air plenum towards the battery box (remove battery).

Heater box installed!

After many weeks I finally got the heater box put back together and installed in the firewall.



It wasn't that easy to get the main box and the fresh air plenum installed so I hope I don't have to remove the heater core anytime soon. At least I had it boiled and flow tested while it was out of the car. The heater box was powder coated and I got some new rubber parts & gaskets.



So now I I'll have to have a look-see in the transmission for burnt bearing or worn gears. At least I found the gaskets.

Nuts & Bolts

I am nearly ready to bolt the heater into the car, I have the sheet metal screws, gaskets, rubber bumpers in place. I just want to check a few things before putting some sealer on the two halves and hopefully I will never need to open the heater box assembly ever again.


I also have gotten my blot bin mounted - about 50 or so bins and loaded so I won't have to goto the hardware store as often. Ok that's the theory anyways - I must have $30 in nuts & bolts so far. I made labels to help find the right size. Most are grade 5, with some standard grade 2 and some grade 8 washers (they don't seem to stock grade 5 washers, also Farm & Fleet doesn't stock grade 5 nuts only grade 2 & 8 so for but Rural King does). BTW they sell loose nuts & bolts by the pound so that is how I am able to stock up.

Heater doors

I used a thin coat of polyurethane glue to attach the foam gaskets into the channels of the heater doors.

To provide bushings for the door shafts to the heater casing I decided to use hollow wall anchors trimmed to about 1/4 inch in length.

Pictures may follow in a day or two.

Slow and steady progress on the heater core (i.e. they built the car around it)

Not much news on the 1800 project front, I have been getting some more parts coated and I ordered some gaskets and rubber parts for the heater assembly. Should be getting the heater core installed and the heater unit back in the car in the next week or so.

oil, wash & wax

It was time for an oil change, wash and wax for the Madza, the weather was great (high 70's & low humidity) a prefect day to get it done.



I had to remove the bug shield for now as just two screws were holding it on.

The sad news was I noticed some rust bleed through on the rear passenger side fender, still at 9 (& 135,000 miles) years old the truck is running fine.

Of Power and Powder

Now with the air compressor in good working order I can get to sandblast some parts for the engine compartment for powder coating. (I finally got a metal air line run to the automatic compressor drain it won't blow when running hard so I am ready to blast away.

Here are the results: 

 

I won't go into details but among the parts are:  the fan, brake booster bracket/choke cable block mount, battery hold down bracket, transmission mount, center carrier holder.  In the foreground is the exhaust/muffler bracket - the coating that reamins on it wasn't easy to get off - finally I gave up - if after 37 years the paint won't come off when sand blasting then it is good enough for another 30 years.   (It is just an exhaust hanger).

Now with clean parts and ready to powder coat, now I need to get the the oven wired in.  After much deliberation I had decided to place the oven in the basement rather than the garage due to space concerns in the garage.  I could always move it back to the garage at some later point.  The problem is I am out of space for new circuit in the main box so I needed to run another distribution box to make room for more circuits.  

The good news is that I wanted to add some outlets and a better overhead light in that room anyways and along the center wall.  So I had to remove the water heater breaker to the new box along with the oven.

So after that job was done I could finally get some parts painted (powder coated) - another week and $75+ in materials for the new distribution box I can now cook powder coat parts.

Maybe soon I'll start bolting things to inside the engine compartment...




 

Air compressor now 220V

I rewired the compressor motor to run on 220V rather than 110V since at 220V it will start easier and draw less amps when starting & running. Before at 110V it would almost stall when approaching the turn off pressure or when restarting.

Of course I forgot to rewire the pressure switch, so after "trying to fix the switch" I bought a new one and then I noticed when wiring the new pressure switch - dolt - I had forgot to rewire the switch.

Now the compressor works great - starts fast and easily even under full load (90 to 100 psi).

I connected the automatic compressor drain to the pressure unloader line. The automatic drain releases any accumulated water from the pressure tank each time the air signal is interrupted. The only problem is that the plastic tubing doesn't holdup under the high heat generated by the compressor continues to burst in use. So I'll have to replace the plastic tubing with copper tubing - a pain but not a major problem.



At least I have the hose reel mounted now so once I get the new copper line run it will be good to run.

I was almost able to get the fan & water pump pulley blasted before the plastic tubing burst again.

Next is going to be to wire in the oven/stove for curing powercoating - in the basement shop not the garage - I just don't have enough space in the garage for an oven.

Garage Fixups

Today I started off just wanting to clean my garage windows and ended up with an A/C installed in the garage.

Once I started to clean the glass I noticed that I better prime the sill to protect the wood from more water damage.



Once I had the sashes out I decided to prime & reglaze them too. I got to put the high speed drill & putty cutter/chaser to use - it does a much better job using a high speed drill.



So once the putty & glass was removed I scrape the sills and primed them too.



Then I got to thinking - first was I should really mount them on hinges so they could open and maybe put in a screen to keep the bugs down. Then I though, I have that 5000 btu A/C that is still sitting in the basement (I bought it used last year and Calvin hasn't shown any interest in helping me with running a new circuit to the front bedroom to power it) so I decide if it would fit, I would install it in the garage. It shrinks down to 19 inches and the opening on the garage windows are 20 - bingo.

While the paint is drying I head out for hardware - hinges for the garage windows & plumbing parts for the cistern pumps.

We get an inch and a half of rain but my cistern didn't fill up that much - damn now I am going to have to clean the gutters & drainage pipes. More on the cistern job tomorrow - if it isn't raining.

Now if I ever find out who shot BB's at the garage windows (plus several others around my house...) - 4 of the 8 panes had holes, and one was cracked. I only broke one removing the glass but it already had a BB hole in it so that doesn't count. I installed three good panes and one with a hole not cracked (I am saving the one with the BB hole along the edge to serve as the model for the 5 new panes I'll have cut soon to finish the other sash.

I popped the A/C in - cut some scrap 3/4 plywood - glued some white plastic to the exterior and mounted the other sash on hinges. So now I got A/C - well it's an uninsulated garage but it will likely be better than having the doors open where Daisy can escape and bugs can get in - it's not like I am planning on leaving it on 24/7.

Garage Cleanup

I have finally gotten the garage cleaned up enough to start working on the 1800 again:



With the wheel casters I can move it around to sweep the floor...

Now that I have the electric panel I installed some new lighting on cables - an idea I got from the back page readers suggestion page in successful farming for flexible area lighting.



Here is a 360 view of the cleaned garage -

Back, east wall

South


FYI 15 cuft fridge for sale, 7 years old, clean with factory ice maker - makes a great garage fridge:

Southwest - about 1/4 of the boxes of parts...

Northeast