A long year…

Life has a way of messing up even the best laid plans… The last year has been proof of that, but like always we persevere…

Our weather here has been good, well it’s winter so good is relative and since I like snow, yeah, it’s been good… 9″ last weekend, more this weekend, even with rain turning into ice, it was beautiful waking to the shine of ice and 3-4″ of fresh snow.

But all that means that I was able to get out in the garage today with some free time. I started cleaning, clearing the shop area up, and moving things to make room. Then I got to the truck.

I’ve felt guilty all summer, I tried to get to the truck. It has been on my mind that I needed to figure out getting the engine block out and I wasn’t sure of the next steps except that I found a short description online of dropping the driveshaft, then rolling the wheels back. To be honest, the though of doing that, both by myself and not being sure what I was doing, was making me hesitate, so that was one more factor for the delay, my head is my own worst enemy sometimes.

But, this weekend it was time to get rolling again…. so I got things cleared and got myself organized. Here is where I started…

The floor after I removed the remnants of the padding and mat.
The floor after I removed the remnants of the padding and mat.

The floor is made of a sheet metal piece, formed around the shifter, another sheet metal piece in front (the angled up portion in the above picture) and a wooden floorboard. I started by removing the screw head bolts from the sheet metal sections, then removed the screw head bolts from the wood section. I was fortunate, most of these bolts were rusted, but only one was damaged so badly I could not remove it, it was in the wood and it appears the screw head had broken off. The wooden section near the bolt holes had weakened, so I was able to basically just pull it off the sheared bolt, then lift the piece off the frame and lift it over the shifter.

The floor board is gone.
The floor board is gone.

So the transmission has been exposed, and the master cylinder as a bonus. Next step will be either unbolting the engine block from the transmission, or disconnecting the driveshaft and pulling the whole thing.

Transmission and master cylinder
Transmission and master cylinder

Springtime has returned, at least temporarily

The last few weeks the temperatures have been coming back to where working in the garage is possible in comfortable clothes, ie – not wearing a parka and thick gloves.  That means I have been able to get out there and clean up the projects and “stuff” that has stacked up over the winter.  My garage seems to be a convenient dumping ground, even for the kids that no longer live at home.

I did some rearranging again this last weekend, trying to get the most in usable space and making a space for the engine stand.  It still amazes me, both that I can get as much into the garage, and as big as it is still not have enough room for everything I need to do… LOL

I did spray the block down a few times with oil to keep anything from rusting over the winter.  I sprayed the transmission mounting bolts as well as the stabilizing rod attach points with penetrating oil and the engine hoist is over the block with the spreader mounted still.  So as soon as we get another day or three of nice weather that I am off work and don’t have honey do’s, I hope to try to at least start getting the block out of the truck.

New Year, hopefully more progress

The last few months have been kind of overloaded, so I have not had much time to work on the truck.

But I have gotten to the point I am ready to pull the block, I think.

Getting ready to pull

Getting ready to pull

Hopefully I can get back to making progress and we can get into the block rebuild.

Getting back to making some progress

I haven’t been able to work on Dad’s truck in a while, life, injury, the pursuit of getting through every day stuff just got in the way of getting time to work in the garage.

When we left the truck last, I had removed the horn finally, but the starter was fighting me and the fender was next on the list of things to do.

I managed to get the starter out today, unfortunately it did come apart, something I had been warned to try to avoid.  Not the end of the world, but I think it will mean a minor rebuild job on it.  Like I said, not a real problem, it will benefit from getting cleaned up as even part of the rotor was rusted.

The starter is free at last

The starter is free at last

That was one more thing on the list.  Turns out the problem was a simple one, and should have been really obvious, like bang my head on a brick wall obvious.  There was a small angle bracket through the top bolt that was attached to the block.  Once I got it wiggling some, it became apparent there was a pivot point that was holding it.  A quick look around and there it was.  I removed the top bolt, which is probably why the starter came apart, then loosened the bracket bolt attached to the block and the starter literally fell out into my hands.

The bell housing

The bell housing

Next on my list was the fender.  Dad and I had talked and decided that taking the fender off was going to make it way easier to get the engine out since the amount of room in front of the truck was limited and getting the hoist in from the front would have been difficult.

Some obstacles are bigger than others

Some obstacles are bigger than others

I wasn’t quite sure how that was going to go, there is an inside fender (engine side) and then the outer fender, and not all of the bolts were easily accessible.  The steering gear blocks some of the access to the inside of the frame channel, so I wasn’t sure if it would be easier to take the outer fender off  of the inner fender and running board, then tackle the inner fender or just to take it off as a single unit.

Examining the fender

Examining the fender

First I had to get the headlight wiring separated, then I decided to just take it one bolt at a time.  I got each one to work loose until I hit the last one holding the fender to the frame and then I got stuck.  The head of that last bolt was inside the frame channel inside a cross member and behind the steering gear.

So I decided to see if the bolts holding the outer fender to the inner fender would come along easily, nope, that wasn’t happening without some destruction, so I crawled under the truck again and figured out that if I put a wrench on the bolt from the rear through the frame I was able to get that last stubborn bolt free.

Houston, we have separation

Houston, we have separation

So another obstacle is out of the way.

Making progress

Making progress

And now we have access to continue.  I think the next step will be deciding if I am going to pull the engine with the transmission still attached, or try to separate them and only pull the engine block first.  I suspect it will be both combined after looking at it from underneath again, separating them may be difficult, there is not much clearance.

So another round of research is in order, but we have made another step on the journey.

Making progress

Another step on the journey

Beep Beep…

Today I did battle with the knee offending horn…

The bolts holding the horn on the frame are carriage bolts with square inserts keeping the bolt from turning, unfortunately the one on the left had rounded out and was free spinning.  because of being smooth on top and so rusty, I couldn’t get hold of it in any way to continue spinning the nut off…

Horn Bolt "Heads"

Horn Bolt “Heads”

I ended up going for an all out assault.

The remains after the assault

The remains after the assault

I drilled out the head of the bolt from above to break it free, then the rest of the bolt dropped free, and so did the horn.

Drilled out

Drilled out

Catching up

Things around here are busy as ever, after looking at the new toys (see my previous post about Dad and my trip to Harbor Freight), I decided I definitely needed to do some rearranging and make some progress.

We have a two car garage, and I have a small woodworking shop in one half, which I had compressed to make some room for the tools and knowing that I would be working on the truck.  Unfortunately, my compressing the woodworking section, was not quite enough on it’s own.  So I decided I would have to do some more rearranging.

I have to keep a somewhat functioning woodworking shop, so just packing it all up was not an option, but with some tactical rearranging, and turning the table I had set aside for the truck parts, I have made enough floor space for what comes next I think, well I hope…

Making floor space

Making floor space

I also put the engine stand and hoist together today.  I had hoped to do that last weekend, but time just got away from me.

The hoist and engine stand

The hoist and engine stand

And fortunately, the engine stand fit under the parts table, so I can work around it and the hoist folds up so I can tuck it into a corner, so neither it really intrusive in the work space.  Once the stand has the block on it, it will certainly stick out, but that’s ok because I will be working on the block then.

The Hoist folded up

The Hoist folded up

The world keeps moving on, next steps

I’ve been tied up, had some issues with my shoulder that made working on the truck difficult at best, so I didn’t.  I did keep doing some reading, so we are still prepping for the next steps.

Along those lines, Dad and I went out last week and got some more tools, some big tools… 🙂  We got another floor jack and some jack stands, an engine stand and a shop crane/engine hoist to get the block out and onto the stand.  Of course that also meant I had to clear some additional space.  I was already planning on making the space for the engine stand, just meant it was time to make it happen.

Toys

Toys

I also decided to remove the horn, note it is in the perfect position to catch every knee that happens to come by…  I know, because I keep clipping it and I don’t want to either hurt myself or break it off.  LOL

Dangerous horn

Dangerous horn

I have also started loosening the bolts holding the driver’s side fender on.  Removing the fender before removing the block makes sense, it would be so much harder to take out the block with it in place.

The fender is coming off

The fender is coming off

Hopefully this week/weekend I can get back into making some progress, I’m hoping to get the block out maybe as soon as this coming weekend, Labor Day, although realistically it probably won’t be for a couple more weekends as I still have a bunch of things to do.

Removing the fender requires removing the headlight or at least the wiring, hopefully in a nondestructive fashion…  I’m not worried about breaking the headlight, but I may end up cutting the wiring harness and I’m not sure, that may mean committing to an all new wiring harness.

But we will see…

Where do we go from here…

Today for lunch I decided I needed some me time, well me and the truck 🙂

I did some light reading on the starter on the truck after struggling with it last weekend.

The starter

The starter

So it turns out that the bendix gear on this starter model is behind the flywheel and the starter is in front of flywheel, and the bendix is pulled forward towards the starter motor to engage the flywheel.  Also that the bolts that hold the starter to the bell housing also hold the starter together.  So removing the starter, while keeping it in one piece is just one of the challenges.  But being forewarned with that knowledge will certainly make removing it easier, so that is on my list for this weekend.

We are coming down to removing the block, so now I’m making lists in my head of what next.  I decided taking the fender off the driver’s side at least will make removing the engine much easier, and safer, so that will almost certainly be the next item for the weekend.

That fender has got to go

That fender has got to go

I also did some cleaning and discovered that the brake line running across the front cross member was corroded through.  Replacing that is not a major issue, I have the tools to bend brake lines, but I’m glad I found it now, I would have found it sooner or later, but sooner is always better than later.  So planning for it will fall into the grand scheme of things.

Bad brake line

Bad brake line

But, where do we go from here…  I think the next step is going to be blocking up the transmission and removing it from the block, then it will be time to pull the block…

Getting close to coming out

Getting close to coming out

Back to work

Life has been hectic, that isn’t abnormal around here, but I haven’t been able to get out and play in the garage for a couple weeks, and that sucks…  But I was able to get out there today and get some things done.

Dad was over the other day and we talked about the brakes.  We both agree that even though I could rebuild the existing brake cylinders and the master cylinder, buying a new set makes sense.  They have them on several of the parts sites I use, and they aren’t expensive, and when it comes to brakes, well being able to stop when you put your foot down is one of those critical safety items…

I’ll probably still rebuild the existing brake and master cylinders and have them on a shelf in case we need to replace one in the future, but going with new makes sense to both of us.

When we last left the truck, I had sheared off the studs that hold the exhaust pipe to the exhaust manifold on the passenger side, not something I was totally happy about, but it happens.

Today I got my wife to give me a hand, you try lining up a socket on 16 inches of extension on a driver from the underside by yourself when you can’t see the nut you are trying to break free…

And as amazing as it was, both of the nuts came free on the drivers side exhaust manifold.  I credit the guy who had the brains to soak them in oil, several times over the last couple weeks, but I’m not tooting my own horn you understand. 😛

The exhaust crossover is free on the driver's side

The exhaust crossover is free on the driver’s side

I also decided to remove the tin can patch on the exhaust on the passenger side to see how the pipe actually looked.  If you have been following along here, that is the one that shows I have proof my Dad taught me the tin can exhaust repair trick long before the Internet became the number one source for how-to…  It was quite the leak.

Now that's an exhaust leak...

Now that’s an exhaust leak…

Once I had the exhaust clear of the manifolds, I decided to unbolt the clamps holding it together both at the cross piece and the tail pipe going back.  Fortunately, or unfortunately, the pipe was so far gone at the patch that it came out in a couple pieces, but it did come out.  I found another hole in the exhaust underneath the passenger side manifold so it looks like there were break through’s both where the y-pipe comes together and where the exhaust out of the manifold both hit.

Exhaust out

Exhaust out

We’ll have to see how the fix for that goes, new piping for sure, but depending on the manifold or if we need to go to headers we may have it done at a local shop.  I’m sure the muffler is rusted through, although I haven’t pulled it yet.

I also wanted to pull the starter, well I started to pull the starter.  I found the bolts holding it on.  On this model they are long bolts that run the length of the starter, they actually hold the starter together in addition to bolting it to the bell housing.  When the bolts were free, but still holding the starter I started wrestling with the starter itself to get it free, but it really wanted to fight me.  So I decided to call it a day and do some further research to make sure I didn’t pull something off and have things go sproing… and parts go flying…

I did some digging and it turns out the starter motor gear actually sits behind the flywheel, the bendix pulls the gearing forward to mesh with the flywheel and engage the starter.  So sometimes a little finagling may be required to clear the flywheel when pulling the starter out.  So I will work on that next as time permits…

Starter

Starter

So once again, we are getting there, one step at a time.

Braking into the brakes, and other breaks…

We had a mixed day today.

I spent a couple hours finishing moving my woodworking tools to the front of the garage to clear space for the engine when it comes out.  I still have a ways to go, I need to replace the garage door on that side so I can roll things in and out.

I started the day by trying to remove the exhaust manifold since we are going to pull the block in the not too distant future.  Unfortunately, the first bolt on the passenger side sheared off, and I am not able to get the breaker bar on the second bolt so I am working on it with heat and a wrench, and soaking it in oil overnight.

Broken exhaust manifold stud

Broken exhaust manifold stud

Once I decided it was time for the oil to have a chance to work, as a backup I moved on to the exhaust manifold bolts themselves.  While turning the first one, I heard a small “crack”, I thought it was the bolt breaking free, but after a quick examination, it turns out there must have been an existing crack, or at least weak spot in the manifold…

Cracked Manifold

Cracked Manifold

I broke a few more of the bolts free, then I decided I should brake, I mean switch to, something else…  SO I decided it was time to pull the drums for the front brakes.

The drivers side wheel hub spun easily, the cotter pin and castle nut came off nice and easy, and the grease was still fluid and not dried/caked.  The outer bearings pulled out easily and still had grease packed in them and look like they are moving freely, the drum slid right off the spindle, it could not have come off any smoother.

Bearing coming out

Bearing coming out

The inside of the drum looked pretty good, minimal corrosion and there wasn’t grease everywhere around the housing.

Inside the drivers side front brake

Inside the drivers side front brake

Then I moved to the passenger side.  On this side the drum didn’t turn by hand, it spun when we got it on the trailer and off and into the garage, but it was pretty tight.  I removed the cotter pin and the castle nut spun off easily and was still well greased, some of the grease had broken down and liquefied it looked like, but the outer bearings looked to be in good shape still.

The drum on the other hand, was held pretty tightly by the brake shoes I suspected.  With some persuasion, the drum came off and things looked fairly good inside.  The was some sign the cylinder may have leaked, there was some corrosion around the cylinder, but all in all things were in fairly good shape structurally.

Into the passenger front brake

Into the passenger front brake

The best part about getting into the brakes today was finding the shoes look to be in good shape.  Each side has at least a quarter inch of pad and looks to be in good shape.

As for the rest, we’ll get it, it just may take some more persuasion…