In order to time the engine I pulled the 12V battery from my Subaru to power the timing light.
After finally getting the engine to start, I tried to find the timing mark on the flywheel with no success. After reading some more about it, I should be able to see a triangle and the letters UDC stamped into the flywheel and then as I advance the distributor, I should see a small ball embedded into the flywheel. I'm supposed to time the engine so the pointer on my bell housing lines up with the ball.
I searched a number of times, for about 1/2 hour each time trying to find anything that looked like a triangle, letters, or a small metal ball without success.
The good news is that the engine ran (poorly) the whole time I was searching.
It still will only run if it is almost completely choked. I will probably need to pull the spark plugs and clean them before I try again.
I plan to pull the inspection cover off of the flywheel so that I can clean it, and try to locate the timing marks to at least confirm that they actually exist.
I had high hopes for this weekend. Failing to even locate a timing mark is pretty frustrating.
Only working 4-5 hours per week on the truck is also frustrating, but I got to ski with my kids all day today, which I would not trade, even for a perfectly tuned engine :-)
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Sunday, January 24, 2010
More progress
So I pretty much made it through the list of things that I wanted to get through, with one major exception. This weekend I completed the following: I vacummed the accumulated dirt and rust that was hidden underneath and behind the gas tank
While the tank was out I also decided to take out the seat rails for the bench seat and clean them, with the intent of getting them moving easily again. When I pulled them out and tried to move them about a pound of sand fell out. It was like coming home from the beach after walking around with tennis shoes on
After blowing out the rails with the air compressor and some liberal use of WD-40, the rails were moving again.
I also cleaned out the gas tank, installed a new flexible gas line, installed the new sending unit, and put the entire fuel line back into the truck
I recharged the battery and after turning the engine over for a while, re-established fuel flow to the carburetor. Once we had fuel, Sharon helped me get the truck started and running. With the choke most of the way closed the engine idled consistently, if a little roughly. I let the truck warm up and was excited to try out my timing light and get the truck well-timed, but either my 6V battery won't run the light, or the timing light is broken (burned out bulb, etc).
I will have to wait until my next free moment to try the timing light on my car to see if it will run off of a 12V battery.
While the tank was out I also decided to take out the seat rails for the bench seat and clean them, with the intent of getting them moving easily again. When I pulled them out and tried to move them about a pound of sand fell out. It was like coming home from the beach after walking around with tennis shoes on
After blowing out the rails with the air compressor and some liberal use of WD-40, the rails were moving again.
I also cleaned out the gas tank, installed a new flexible gas line, installed the new sending unit, and put the entire fuel line back into the truck
I recharged the battery and after turning the engine over for a while, re-established fuel flow to the carburetor. Once we had fuel, Sharon helped me get the truck started and running. With the choke most of the way closed the engine idled consistently, if a little roughly. I let the truck warm up and was excited to try out my timing light and get the truck well-timed, but either my 6V battery won't run the light, or the timing light is broken (burned out bulb, etc).
I will have to wait until my next free moment to try the timing light on my car to see if it will run off of a 12V battery.
How old is that nut?!
While shop vac-ing the truck I found a number of interesting items, but the best was this walnut:
It was behind the gas tank on the passenger side. I have no idea how long that nut has been back there. Walnuts are pretty tough, so I'm going claim that it made it's way back there in the 60's or 70's and has been waiting all this time for me to find it.
It's probably not that old, but its fun to imagine.
It was behind the gas tank on the passenger side. I have no idea how long that nut has been back there. Walnuts are pretty tough, so I'm going claim that it made it's way back there in the 60's or 70's and has been waiting all this time for me to find it.
It's probably not that old, but its fun to imagine.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
1 Step Forward, 2 Steps Back
Ben Carter came over on Saturday to help me on the truck. It turns out that the distributor was so loose that the only reason that the truck would run at all was because the spark plug wires kept the distributor in roughly the right location.
Once we started messing with it, we kind of lost the recipe. We think we got the distributor back close enough to correct timing but by then the battery was drained from trying to start it.
Ben also noticed a small fuel leak from the carb. We pulled that off again and put some RTV on the gasket to try to cut down on the leaking.
He also thought that not enough fuel was getting to the filter. He was concerned that the pump was not working well enough.
We called it a day and I got ready for the FD banquet.
Today I decided to check the entire fuel delivery system. I pulled and cleaned the fuel pump:
Shiny! Again when I worked the lever manually it seemed to deliver a pretty powerful stream of fuel from the discharge.
I started to remove the gas tank, but it was too heavy with all the gas, so I started siphoning it out. Then I got under the truck because I was worried that there was a gas tank hold-down bolt and I should probably unscrew it. I found a bolt underneath just as I suspected and unscrewed it. It turns out that it was the gas tank drain. Gas poured out all over me, my work light, and the garage floor! It was a mess.
With the help of my newly discovered tank drain, I got the gas drained and the tank removed:
The space behind the gas tank really needs a shop vac:
I had to call it a day as we were hosting some business associates visiting Colorado from Switzerland. Turns out one of the guys has an old Jag so he was interested in seeing the truck :-)
So the next order of business for the fuel system is:
1) Clean the gas tank inside and out (I'll use carb cleaner in the tank to remove the gunk)
2) Replace the sending unit
3) Replace the flexible line that connects the tank to the main fuel line
4) Reassemble the fuel pump to the engine
5) Vacuum out the cab, especially behind the gas tank
6) Recharge the battery
7) Try to start it and back to square one with timing.
Hopefully I can get the timing close enough to allow the truck to run long enough to warm it up so I can see if my timing light will work.
Once we started messing with it, we kind of lost the recipe. We think we got the distributor back close enough to correct timing but by then the battery was drained from trying to start it.
Ben also noticed a small fuel leak from the carb. We pulled that off again and put some RTV on the gasket to try to cut down on the leaking.
He also thought that not enough fuel was getting to the filter. He was concerned that the pump was not working well enough.
We called it a day and I got ready for the FD banquet.
Today I decided to check the entire fuel delivery system. I pulled and cleaned the fuel pump:
Shiny! Again when I worked the lever manually it seemed to deliver a pretty powerful stream of fuel from the discharge.
I started to remove the gas tank, but it was too heavy with all the gas, so I started siphoning it out. Then I got under the truck because I was worried that there was a gas tank hold-down bolt and I should probably unscrew it. I found a bolt underneath just as I suspected and unscrewed it. It turns out that it was the gas tank drain. Gas poured out all over me, my work light, and the garage floor! It was a mess.
With the help of my newly discovered tank drain, I got the gas drained and the tank removed:
The space behind the gas tank really needs a shop vac:
I had to call it a day as we were hosting some business associates visiting Colorado from Switzerland. Turns out one of the guys has an old Jag so he was interested in seeing the truck :-)
So the next order of business for the fuel system is:
1) Clean the gas tank inside and out (I'll use carb cleaner in the tank to remove the gunk)
2) Replace the sending unit
3) Replace the flexible line that connects the tank to the main fuel line
4) Reassemble the fuel pump to the engine
5) Vacuum out the cab, especially behind the gas tank
6) Recharge the battery
7) Try to start it and back to square one with timing.
Hopefully I can get the timing close enough to allow the truck to run long enough to warm it up so I can see if my timing light will work.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
It moves
I rebuilt the carburetor today. I used a ton of carb cleaner so I have a squeaky clean carburetor. It is really amazing how that stuff cuts through grease and varnish. It is so powerful I am pretty sure that I have given myself some strange kind of cancer just being around it.
Only problem: the base gasket that I bought does not fit my carb so I have the old base gasket on the carb.
The truck started up again and will run at a nice idle with the choke 1/2 way closed. It still dies if we put the choke all the way in.
Just to see what would happen, we used reverse to back up the truck about 3 feet and then 1st to move it forward again. So the truck is capable of moving under its own power. At one point, my inability to engage the clutch and the slope of our garage seriously threatened Sharon's car parked in the drive way. She moved both cars and I was able to drive the truck forward, back into the garage. Disaster averted!
Now that we can get the truck idling fairly steadily, I will attempt to tune the timing and valves and see if that affects the truck not running with the choke open.
All that will have to wait until next weekend though as I am flying out on business tomorrow :-(
Only problem: the base gasket that I bought does not fit my carb so I have the old base gasket on the carb.
The truck started up again and will run at a nice idle with the choke 1/2 way closed. It still dies if we put the choke all the way in.
Just to see what would happen, we used reverse to back up the truck about 3 feet and then 1st to move it forward again. So the truck is capable of moving under its own power. At one point, my inability to engage the clutch and the slope of our garage seriously threatened Sharon's car parked in the drive way. She moved both cars and I was able to drive the truck forward, back into the garage. Disaster averted!
Now that we can get the truck idling fairly steadily, I will attempt to tune the timing and valves and see if that affects the truck not running with the choke open.
All that will have to wait until next weekend though as I am flying out on business tomorrow :-(
Monday, January 4, 2010
Work/Life/Truck Balance
Now that I've burned through my Christmas vacation I don't have endless time to spend on the truck. Sharon has been awesome about it so far, but I can see that if I run off to the truck every free minute I get, I am going to be pushing limits. I already spend too much time running off to the fire station.
I received parts that will allow me to work on a couple of fun and necessary tasks:
1) Carburetor rebuild kit - I definitely need to take a second shot at this, and I think the new gaskets may make a difference.
2) Filler hoses for the gas tank. Now I can safely remove the gas tank and give it a good cleaning. I also have a new sending unit on the way which may mean that I can get the gas gauge working again.
It has only taken 40 years, but I think I have started to grow up. Ok - that's probably wishful thinking, but I find myself learning from past experiences and actually making decisions based on my earlier mistakes. In line with that claim, I think I am going to relegate wrenching on the truck to the weekends and save what little time I am home during the week on Sharon and the kids.
It's going to be tough though ..
I received parts that will allow me to work on a couple of fun and necessary tasks:
1) Carburetor rebuild kit - I definitely need to take a second shot at this, and I think the new gaskets may make a difference.
2) Filler hoses for the gas tank. Now I can safely remove the gas tank and give it a good cleaning. I also have a new sending unit on the way which may mean that I can get the gas gauge working again.
It has only taken 40 years, but I think I have started to grow up. Ok - that's probably wishful thinking, but I find myself learning from past experiences and actually making decisions based on my earlier mistakes. In line with that claim, I think I am going to relegate wrenching on the truck to the weekends and save what little time I am home during the week on Sharon and the kids.
It's going to be tough though ..
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Gonna need some help
It looks like I might need some help understanding carburetors, idle, choke, throttle and all the things that help or hinder the truck from running steadily.
I have not received the carburetor rebuild kit yet (due tomorrow) but I thought I would break it down, and take a bunch of pictures to get ready for the rebuild. I found that the throttle cable (from the throttle knob inside the cab) was broken and was not attached to the carburetor. The choke cable (from the choke knob inside the cab) was still attached and working well.
When I got the carb off, there was a small puddle of gas in the bottom of the intake manifold. I'm not entirely sure what that means.
Carburetor off and disassembled:
I blew out all the passages and used a carb cleaner to get the bulk of the gunk cleaned out.
The carb was surprisingly clean. The gaskets also looked pretty good. The lower gasket had a tear and was pretty worn, but didn't look too bad.
So I reassembled the carb and put it back on to give starting it another try. Sharon helped me again. With the carb fully choked, we got the truck to start and after some rough running for about 3 minutes the engine warmed up and we were able to close the choke down to about 1/2. If we closed the choke down below 1/2 the engine would stop.
Even after running for 5 minutes, we could not get the truck to start or run without 1/2 choke. I tried adjusting the idle, without any success.
I'm wondering if the broken throttle cable has any effect. The gas pedal still works, but the throttle cable may work in conjunction with the gas pedal in some way I'm not seeing.
I think I am going to have to bribe some of my more knowledgeable friends to come over and help me understand how it all works.
I have not received the carburetor rebuild kit yet (due tomorrow) but I thought I would break it down, and take a bunch of pictures to get ready for the rebuild. I found that the throttle cable (from the throttle knob inside the cab) was broken and was not attached to the carburetor. The choke cable (from the choke knob inside the cab) was still attached and working well.
When I got the carb off, there was a small puddle of gas in the bottom of the intake manifold. I'm not entirely sure what that means.
Carburetor off and disassembled:
I blew out all the passages and used a carb cleaner to get the bulk of the gunk cleaned out.
The carb was surprisingly clean. The gaskets also looked pretty good. The lower gasket had a tear and was pretty worn, but didn't look too bad.
So I reassembled the carb and put it back on to give starting it another try. Sharon helped me again. With the carb fully choked, we got the truck to start and after some rough running for about 3 minutes the engine warmed up and we were able to close the choke down to about 1/2. If we closed the choke down below 1/2 the engine would stop.
Even after running for 5 minutes, we could not get the truck to start or run without 1/2 choke. I tried adjusting the idle, without any success.
I'm wondering if the broken throttle cable has any effect. The gas pedal still works, but the throttle cable may work in conjunction with the gas pedal in some way I'm not seeing.
I think I am going to have to bribe some of my more knowledgeable friends to come over and help me understand how it all works.
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