This is only barely aviation related....
Also, I'd intended to make a short post and started writing an epic... hope you are entertained.
I have long term plans to move back to the area I grew up in, also have shorter term plans to visit a lot.
Also had long term plans to buy an International Scout and do a restoration on it but with the plans to move I don't want another vehicle to have to transport 8 hours or so via car.
As it turns out my buddy had one he's given up on doing anything with stashed at his parent's house down there along with 2 other "for parts" scouts. It occurred to me I still have farmland down there... and I need transportation down there so a scheme was hatched. I would buy his scouts and we'd tow the parts ones down to the farm. I got permission to park the running one at the airport parking lot long term(apparently several other regulars do this).
Just the one minor issue of it having been in that shed for over a decade... and buried under a pile of stuff.
Because I think things through I didn't bother to bring any tools, assuming we'd tow it to the house of our other friend/scout fanatic/pro mechanic who has everything one would ever need. Unfortunately, he was away for that whole week unexpectedly for work. So we borrowed tools and laid in the dirt in the summer heat getting this thing rolling.
Took an afternoon to dig it out of the shed. I was surprised by 2 things: the body and paint were in much better shape than I thought.. and the floor pans/rocker panels were in far worse shape than I thought. Fortunately my friend had procured materials for an epic redneck repair when he parked it...
As daylight started to end we borrowed a battery and poured some gas in the carb. It fired almost immediately but wouldn't run. Found an obstruction in the fuel inlet on the carb, tried a few more times and it was running. We decided to take it for a quick run up and down the road.... as I started to pull forward I noted it was taking all my might to turn the steering wheel. Then smoke, then signals from his dad to shut down. Power steering line has burst and sprayed fluid all over. We were done for the night.
The next day we started our quest for a power steering line. I'll keep this part short but no parts store could get it before I had to go back home so we started questing for a shop to make a new pressure hose. Spent more than half our day on this, returned with something 2x the cost of the parts store that we weren't sure to work. It was then my friend's dad pulled out the box with a new power steering hose he'd pulled out of the truck the night before for some reason and neglected to tell us. Apparently my friend already had known of this when he parked it and had a hose ready to install but forgot about this a decade later.
I will pause at this point to mention another issue. My friend had his family down with him... wife, kids, and dog. We were working at his parent's house. His wife and his parents don't always get along well and my friend had to repeatedly stop to play peacekeeper. His dad is getting older and forgetting where all his tools are stashed... as well as a little paranoid about thieves. So, we spent a lot of time hunting for tools. To top it off, each time we had to run into town for something, he needed to ask the entire family if they needed anything and usually load up his son and dog... I think to just give his wife a break. The result was we probably spent about a 1/2 of our time actually accomplishing things and the rest dealing with other stuff.
Power steering hose was in. While we'd been in town earlier we got a battery, supplies to complete the epic redneck repair of the floor, and cleaning supplies- specifically lots of disinfectant spray. Mouse nests, small rodent skulls, walnut hulls, and the mummy of a rat were all found in the truck.
The epic redneck repair was... well epic. I wish I'd taken a picture of the final result which actually doesn't look bad. It involved a large thick piece of plastic he said came off of a snowplow cut to size, bolts, expanding foam, and spray rubber. Works quite well, I just try not to think of what my seat belt is actually anchored to now.
The cleaning/disinfecting along with the epic repair took the better part of the day. Had to remove the vent cover in front of the windshield to remove the rat mummy which provided and opportunity to get the wiper motor working... I accomplished this by hitting it with a hammer(not kidding). Also got in an oil change and put in fresh coolant and brake fluid.
I acquired temp tags and got liability insurance put on the truck. We scavenged the front part of an exhaust system off of one of the parts vehicles and welded it up. No mufflers just enough pipe to just get past the door. Installed the front driveshaft that he'd removed for some reason years ago with a new U-joint and she was ready to roll.
Sadly... we were not quite done. She ran and drove but there was no power, took forever to get up to speed. Apon returning we discovered the fuel going into the see-through inline fuel filter was milky. Also discussed how it had a quadrajet carb(not OEM) that had been fitted and been dry for a decade. You could really smell how stale the gas was. Kind of surprising it ran at all. The fuel contamination fix was simple... I filled up a 5 gallon gas can with fresh fuel and drove it until it quit. Filled it up and hooray the fuel was clean and clear in the filter again. It ran better, but still not delivering the power it should. I drove to a gas station and filled her up. I then discovered there was a fuel leak above about 3/4 of a tank. Yay.
Stopped by a parts store and got a pair of (my words) the cheapest muffler they had and installed them. Tailpipes? Ain't nobody got time for that!
It was now possible to have a conversation with the person sitting next to you... and enough gas has left the tank that it wasn't leaking anymore.
That was pretty much as good as it was getting for this trip. Had some good times with friends and flew home. I should be going back this weekend and I'm bringing a new carburetor and tools. Agenda will be new carb, attempt to salvage a good gas tank off of one of the parts vehicles, find out why he had a box of new brake pads and a new brake line in the truck
and attempt to salvage lock hardware from the parts vehicle so I can actually lock the doors.
If the doors can lock, maybe we'll think about a sound system.
Mind you, if I had this here at home it would currently be in my garage getting prepped for new metal to be welded into the floor pans/rockers then torn down to the frame, cleaned, and painted piece by piece. For now though, it just has to be good enough to run around in where it is
Problems aside, she doesn't actually look half bad now.
Also, I'd intended to make a short post and started writing an epic... hope you are entertained.
I have long term plans to move back to the area I grew up in, also have shorter term plans to visit a lot.
Also had long term plans to buy an International Scout and do a restoration on it but with the plans to move I don't want another vehicle to have to transport 8 hours or so via car.
As it turns out my buddy had one he's given up on doing anything with stashed at his parent's house down there along with 2 other "for parts" scouts. It occurred to me I still have farmland down there... and I need transportation down there so a scheme was hatched. I would buy his scouts and we'd tow the parts ones down to the farm. I got permission to park the running one at the airport parking lot long term(apparently several other regulars do this).
Just the one minor issue of it having been in that shed for over a decade... and buried under a pile of stuff.
Because I think things through I didn't bother to bring any tools, assuming we'd tow it to the house of our other friend/scout fanatic/pro mechanic who has everything one would ever need. Unfortunately, he was away for that whole week unexpectedly for work. So we borrowed tools and laid in the dirt in the summer heat getting this thing rolling.
Took an afternoon to dig it out of the shed. I was surprised by 2 things: the body and paint were in much better shape than I thought.. and the floor pans/rocker panels were in far worse shape than I thought. Fortunately my friend had procured materials for an epic redneck repair when he parked it...
As daylight started to end we borrowed a battery and poured some gas in the carb. It fired almost immediately but wouldn't run. Found an obstruction in the fuel inlet on the carb, tried a few more times and it was running. We decided to take it for a quick run up and down the road.... as I started to pull forward I noted it was taking all my might to turn the steering wheel. Then smoke, then signals from his dad to shut down. Power steering line has burst and sprayed fluid all over. We were done for the night.
The next day we started our quest for a power steering line. I'll keep this part short but no parts store could get it before I had to go back home so we started questing for a shop to make a new pressure hose. Spent more than half our day on this, returned with something 2x the cost of the parts store that we weren't sure to work. It was then my friend's dad pulled out the box with a new power steering hose he'd pulled out of the truck the night before for some reason and neglected to tell us. Apparently my friend already had known of this when he parked it and had a hose ready to install but forgot about this a decade later.
I will pause at this point to mention another issue. My friend had his family down with him... wife, kids, and dog. We were working at his parent's house. His wife and his parents don't always get along well and my friend had to repeatedly stop to play peacekeeper. His dad is getting older and forgetting where all his tools are stashed... as well as a little paranoid about thieves. So, we spent a lot of time hunting for tools. To top it off, each time we had to run into town for something, he needed to ask the entire family if they needed anything and usually load up his son and dog... I think to just give his wife a break. The result was we probably spent about a 1/2 of our time actually accomplishing things and the rest dealing with other stuff.
Power steering hose was in. While we'd been in town earlier we got a battery, supplies to complete the epic redneck repair of the floor, and cleaning supplies- specifically lots of disinfectant spray. Mouse nests, small rodent skulls, walnut hulls, and the mummy of a rat were all found in the truck.
The epic redneck repair was... well epic. I wish I'd taken a picture of the final result which actually doesn't look bad. It involved a large thick piece of plastic he said came off of a snowplow cut to size, bolts, expanding foam, and spray rubber. Works quite well, I just try not to think of what my seat belt is actually anchored to now.
The cleaning/disinfecting along with the epic repair took the better part of the day. Had to remove the vent cover in front of the windshield to remove the rat mummy which provided and opportunity to get the wiper motor working... I accomplished this by hitting it with a hammer(not kidding). Also got in an oil change and put in fresh coolant and brake fluid.
I acquired temp tags and got liability insurance put on the truck. We scavenged the front part of an exhaust system off of one of the parts vehicles and welded it up. No mufflers just enough pipe to just get past the door. Installed the front driveshaft that he'd removed for some reason years ago with a new U-joint and she was ready to roll.
Sadly... we were not quite done. She ran and drove but there was no power, took forever to get up to speed. Apon returning we discovered the fuel going into the see-through inline fuel filter was milky. Also discussed how it had a quadrajet carb(not OEM) that had been fitted and been dry for a decade. You could really smell how stale the gas was. Kind of surprising it ran at all. The fuel contamination fix was simple... I filled up a 5 gallon gas can with fresh fuel and drove it until it quit. Filled it up and hooray the fuel was clean and clear in the filter again. It ran better, but still not delivering the power it should. I drove to a gas station and filled her up. I then discovered there was a fuel leak above about 3/4 of a tank. Yay.
Stopped by a parts store and got a pair of (my words) the cheapest muffler they had and installed them. Tailpipes? Ain't nobody got time for that!
It was now possible to have a conversation with the person sitting next to you... and enough gas has left the tank that it wasn't leaking anymore.
That was pretty much as good as it was getting for this trip. Had some good times with friends and flew home. I should be going back this weekend and I'm bringing a new carburetor and tools. Agenda will be new carb, attempt to salvage a good gas tank off of one of the parts vehicles, find out why he had a box of new brake pads and a new brake line in the truck
and attempt to salvage lock hardware from the parts vehicle so I can actually lock the doors.If the doors can lock, maybe we'll think about a sound system.
Mind you, if I had this here at home it would currently be in my garage getting prepped for new metal to be welded into the floor pans/rockers then torn down to the frame, cleaned, and painted piece by piece. For now though, it just has to be good enough to run around in where it is
Problems aside, she doesn't actually look half bad now.
Attachments
-
10527657_10101235423024455_6220350107663124227_n.jpg -
10553475_10101235423253995_6903238884814676594_n.jpg -
1780876_10101235423089325_5684451159423568411_n.jpg -
10463964_10101235423174155_7167877270772445056_n.jpg -
10559666_10101235422680145_6536874272229475656_n.jpg -
10526012_10101235422754995_8374578961025118475_n.jpg -
10552588_10101235422874755_495907392996172563_n.jpg
