Running With Rattles

Today was not all that exciting, NOT!  We got the truck back from Phoenix Transmissions yesterday and drove it down to the bar at the end of our street for a beer.  The squealing serpentine belt was so loud I could hardly hear the motor so I doused it with a half a can of belt conditioner and that wasn't working.  My guess was the bottom pulley.

So today I went to the local pick and pull for a lower pulley and an AOD female plug so that I can hook up reverse lights and a neutral lockout.  I put the pulley on and it still squeaked but not as bad.  Then I hit it with a little more belt dressing and it quieted down for the most part.

Being able to hear the truck move down the road only facilitated the ability to hear other issues going on.  One issue was the rattling noise that stopped when the brakes were applied.  After a long session of truck shaking and listening, we pulled the wheel off and discovered that the brake pads were making the noise.

Readers meet Mr. Anti Rattle Clip.  He mates with the Mrs. Inside Brake Pad on the lower side.  However Mr. Clip has no association with those on the outside.  Those pads must be tuned with a hammer and a slight wallop.  Now that noise is gone.

Alaina and I drove around the neighborhood and on an access road.  The more we drove it the quieter it got and my guess is that the belt is settling in to comfort zone.  I still have lots of things to do and correct.  The biggest issue being the pesky oil leak at the rear of the motor.  If this doesn't stop, I could be pulling the motor out to fix it.

Trailer Up

Where do I start?  Today was one of those days that just happen and you look back and say "that's just nuts".  It started out with me preparing for the worst, a bad motor that was locking up and ended with me driving the truck on a trailer to head to the transmission shop.  

I started the day trying to study for a financial exam and it was going no where cause all I could think about was a 351w that wouldn't turn over.  Then Doug shows up with some 1/4 inch steel that needs to be welded up for his carport.  There isn't much that will calm you down and give you a sense of accomplishment like good old stick welding (when it goes right).  I haven't used a stick in a while but it was prefect timing.  

Afterwards Doug and I attacked the truck.  First, we checked to see if the bowels of the motor were locking up.  No.  Then we checked all the starter connections.  No.  Then the starter solenoid.  No.  Finally, the brand spanking new starter that I have used about a dozen times.  Something didn't look right.  The shaft going in to the nose cone was out of center and the bushing had worked it's way out.  Remanufactured in CHINA.  

Went back to O'Reily's,  lifetime exchange, and WOW!  Completely different starter action.  I must have started it 10 times cause I couldn't believe it.

Afterwards we got the seat in, then the hood on.  Alaina and I got in and "accidentally" squeaked the tires just before loading it up on the trailer.  We are headed back to Phoenix for some AOD setup and tune in.

I think she spent 20 minutes sitting there with her seat belt on.

Note: you can still see where mom had junk stacked on the hood for 20 years.

Indefinite Hold Looming

After getting a trailer and installing a throttle cable for preparation for getting the truck back to Phoenix transmissions, an issue that has been an annoyance over the last several weeks has come into full consideration.

After chalking it up to a possible weak battery and replacing that battery with a new one, I am in the process of pin pointing why the truck won't crank over after it has been running.  It seems to have extra resistance due to expansion, somewhere.  I posted the below message to some of the forums and got some good responses for things to try to figure out what is going on.  

I am to the point of getting this rig on the road, but there is one issue I can't seem to figure out. After the motor gets warm and is running good, if you turn it off, it will not crank over like it did when it was cold. It is as if the battery is dead but it is not cause I got a new one today. It just won't spin fast enough to start and eventually stops.

So process of elimination:
Solinoid - NewBattery Cables - NewStarter - New

The motor is a 351w that the previous owner said was fresh and after seeing the carbon build up on the back of the intake valves, I knew it was about as fresh as a camels a$$. BUT my goal was to get a few months out of it and rebuild or replace it anyway. When it is cold and it gets started, after it warms up it runs pretty dog gone good. It is as though the heat is swelling up the motor and it is locking down.

If this turns out to be a lower end issue in the engine, I might have to put this project on hold to save up for a rebuilt engine*.

*See post "Trailer Up" post for what was causing this.

Weather or Not

The temp was in the mid 70's yesterday and was suppose to be (according to the scientist who think they can out smart mother nature) in the high 60's to day.  The best we saw was high 50's for half an hour.  After a failed attempt at painting the steering wheel, I bundled up and with help of Doug we worked on the front lights.

One of the things I first saw starting this project was a heavy duty harness and relays for the head lights in LMC Truck.  The decision was made a long time ago that this was going to happen because of my fond memory of weak head lights back in the day.  The made in China harness was simple to install but difficult to install properly.  We ran the wires from the battery through the radiator support thus causing a couple of attempts at fishing the wire through.  If you don't run the wire into the hole for the horn speed nut on the passenger side, it won't make it to the other side with slack enough to plug into the light.

Grounding the driver side light almost caused us to take the grill off but I was able to sneak in through the grill to get the parking light nut off.  I spent about 30 minutes trying to get this done.  The relays were tucked in front of the battery as was the power wire.  Unless you knew what you are looking for, you wouldn't know it was there.  And HECK YEA the lights are much brighter.

The parking lights got new gaskets, the head light doors got new plastic anchors, and the wires were wrapped.  I put some time in on the automatic choke and I am having a difficult time understanding why it doesn't seem to be working.

I put on the return spring on the carburetor and now realize that I am going to have to find some kind of linkage for the throttle because the one that was on there ain't going to work.

Lots Done

Below is my to do list to get things rolling down the road.  I intended to post this list last week, but do to a file conversion issue I didn't.  It's nice to have list on this type of project.   The side tracking that happens when you are working on something is overwhelming at times.  It eliminates the head scratching and keeps you moving forward.  

Lots of little things were done today that weren't worthy of photography.  So we got out of the habit of shooting pictures and didn't get a before picture of the seat belts.  They were so nasty that wifey said to trash them.  But with some simple water and a brush, they almost look new.

The Anes horn that my father in-law bought at an estate sale found its home.  Its goofy looking, and sounds ridiculous, so its a perfect match for the truck.

I got the sand blaster after the steering wheel and it worked well.  some of the original paint wouldn't come off but it will cover well with black paint.  I filled the cracks with JB Weld.  It will need a little more before paint

Leave it to the Cable Company

My goal for the day was to get the transmission linkage and the TV cable of the AOD set up.  But when it came time to cut the $150 cable, I just couldn't bring myself to pay that kind of stupid tax.  I haven't ever set one up an I have too much invested to get over confidant.  Let Phoenix set it up an lets make sure it is right.

I used the Lokar shift linkage and it is extremely adjustable and well made.  After struggling with fine tuning the linkage, I thought Phoenix could tweak that as well.

So back to fabrication!  Problem - Speedometer cable was laying on the exhaust.  Solution - a stainless steel (because I had a piece of scrap) bracket held on to the exhaust with a hose clamp.  Lay the cable on the tab and put a hose clamp around that.  Ta da!  No melting speedo cable.

F600 Mechanical Tachometer Replacement

I thought I would single out this topic for the pure joy of finding a tachometer that actually fits the F600 mechanical tachometer hole size.  Any of you how have tried to accomplish this knows that most tachs are 3 3/8" diameter and that doesn't fill the almost 4" hole the old tach left behind.  Then there is trying to finding something that looks close to original is almost impossible.

I pursued all angles:

1.  Rebuild the original.  I found two companies that would put new guts and a new face to match the original, but both were over $400.  I don't mind putting money into something but there is that part of me that considers the amount of return 400 plus dollars would give back and I wasn't seeing it.

2.   Try a smaller size diameter and spend less money.  I then went  to another option and used a $100 tach that was 3 3/4" and had a friend of mine laser cut some rings to fill the gap and it looked pretty good.  The problem was that the tach didn't like good ol' ford genuine parts and wouldn't work.

3.  Spend a little more money for the right size.  I started researching again and on my first search found the tach that would fit.  I don't recall finding this the first time I sought out a tach but maybe I did and just didn't like the $169 price tag.  That price seems insignificant now that I spent a total of 2 working days trying to get the $100 tach to work.

The Auto Meter Cobra Tach Is a 4" diameter and has a bezel that matches the rest of the gauges and takes 10 minutes to install

I didn't realize how grubby my panel was until I saw this pic.

Squeak, squeak, squeak'um

Today I continued on the list.  Most of it really wasn't picture worthy except my resolve for getting the emergency break cables off of the leaf springs.  This is a technique that I developed in college for connecting braided cable with out bolts.  First make a tight wrap with bailing wire, then carefully braze it flowing the brass throughout wire into the cable.  The nut acted as a stop in the existing frame bolt hole.  The cable provided a flexible/adjustable hanger for the emergency cables.

I tightened up the motor mount bolts, put in the front light lens's, tied up the wires and break lines under the cab and bed.  The idler pulley has been squeaking like crazy so I dismantled it and discovered it was a sealed bearing, so I greased what i thought might be squeaking and put it back together again.  Damn the luck.  It still squeaks.

Something has been causing the motor not to crank over after it has been running for a while.  The starter wire at the solenoid starts to smoke and it just wouldn't go.  Upon inspecting the starter wire, the ends had been drilled out reducing the contact and that doesn't work well for amperage.  So I replaced the wire and the solenoid and so far it seems to be working well.

The emergency break adjustment was a whipping.  Nothing hard but some times what is suppose to be easy isn't.  I dismantled the lever mechanism under the truck and chased the threads with a die and presto!  It works now.

Tightened up the motor mount bolts (the big ones on the rubber pad) which seemed to take an eternity.  I used a grade 8 nylon locking nut.

Self Serving Fuel

So last week I made the "list".  The list of stuff that needed to be completed to get this done.  Today I tackled the fuel tank and hooked it up to see if it would work.  The neck of the tank didn't have the best angle on it so I cut and bent it where it needed to be and fastened it down.  It actually sucked the fuel up hill with the greatest of ease and there was only 3 gallons put in the tank.  No more sticking a hose in a 2 gallon can.

With the help of Doug, the brake were bled and he installed new lug nuts all the way around.  I got the licence plate light working and brought the transmission fluid up to level.

Glow Shift Tachometer Revisited

The new filter came in for the Glow Shift Tach and now it is acting up a different way.  The RPM's appear to be reporting properly at idle and upon throttling up, jumps around a little then stops at 3,000 RPM.  The first single filter was suppose to be for distributor with points (which read 10,000 RPM at 1,500) and the second was for an HEI system. Given that this is 1969 ignition technology that Ford used for decades in almost every car they manufactured, I am disappointed that this still isn't working.  This issue is holding me up and hand it not been for the Tach, most of my interior dash would be put together by now.

Otherwise I got the following done today:

1. fuel sending unit is hooked up 
2. high beam switch is mounted,
3. break light switch is installed 
4. steering column is wired 
5. vacuum re-routed for dash vacuum gauge
6. speedometer cable and gear installed at the transmission
7. checked all signal lights (all are working)

Break, turn signals, emergency flashers and running lights all work for the rear of the truck.  Not bad for sitting for 21 years.  I haven't even opened up the rear signal lights to inspect them.  So out side of the horn and brake adjustment, I am ready for an inspection sticker.