I did a dumb thing the other day. I ordered a box of plastic vacuum plugs from Amazon before going downstairs and doing a little more investigating on my gas tank. I got fixated on covering the preinstalled brass fittings without considering the obvious: remove them (they’re all threaded, of course) and find threaded brass plugs to replace them. $10 at the Home Depot and I’ve got five 1/4″ square-head plugs that will cap off all the unneeded ports with no fear of disintegration.
It appears, though, that I’ll most likely have to buy a new set of J-hooks for the tank straps I’ve got; the advice I’m reading on the Binder Planet says the OEM nuts will most likely snap off the ends of the bolts.
Now, I just need a warm, free weekend day to pull her out of the garage and drop the tank.
Update: Here’s one of the plugs installed.
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Last week, when the weather was getting warm and sunny, I was itching to get the old girl on the road. I was foiled, however, by an intermittent starting problem. Specifically, I could get her to start easily, and an hour later I’d get lights and radio but nothing from the engine—no click, no grind, nothing. Putting the battery on an overnight trickle charge gave me enough juice to get her started Friday morning, but I was wary when I got in her to drive home.
A little research points me to the battery cables, which have been problematic since the day I bought this truck. On Thursday evening I stripped about two inches of insulation from the terminal side of the cable and found green corrosion inside, so I’m going to need to find a new cable and a way to seal it up tight. SSS sells a positive cable for $80, which is pricey. Rock Auto sells one for $12 but I don’t know what gauge or length it is. I think i need to see if Evil Mr. Clean can hook me up with some of the cables like he’s got.
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I’ve been thinking about replacing my gas tank ever since I got the poly tank last summer, and I’m making plans to gather the tools I’ll need to swap it out this spring:
The tank
A new sending unit
A pair of new J-hooks
A pair of new tank straps (although, for $24/ea, mine may still be usable)
Caps of some kind to cap off the evap outlets on my tank
Jackstands to hold the tank up as I’m pulling the old/installing the new
A professional siphon for emptying the remaining gas
A quick look on the Binder Planet returned a few good threads with pictures and advice:
Gas tank strap install – with a few nice pictures and advice on which side of the straps to start with (the fronts)
My quest for the correct o-ring to fix my leaking gas tank at the fuel sender – info on O-rings
Gas tank belch, possible fix!! , which talks about poly tanks and using the extra emissions fittings to avoid burps at fillup time.
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This guy did some seat base repairs that are exactly what I need to do with mine.
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There is a huge amount of play in my steering, so I read this post with interest. Among the advice:
…have someone turn the steering wheel back and forth while you watch the rag joint and the input and output shafts on the steering box for slop.
There is an adjustment on the steering box. Look for a 5/8 or 11/16 nut usually on the side of the box. It is on a shaft that usually has as screwdriver slot in it. Raise your front end off the ground. Center the wheels. Hold the center shaft while you break loose the nut. Turn the screw in to some resistance. Temporarily tighten the lock nut. Check for play again. If the adjustment is too tight, steering will be stiff at center. If so, back off a little.
…in addition, the correct way is to disconnect the drag link as well. As long as I have dealt with the lash in any Saginaw box, the correct way was just the same as any adjustment. All adjustments are made off-vehicle, so you must, as the books say, remove all preload. Which means pulling the drag link. Make it seem like it is off vehicle. While true final adjustment is made with the steering wheel connected and the gearbox mounted, note that the drag link is not! Also note that a dial indicator and lb-in torque wrench are also used. Inch pound that is, which means there is little room for mistake/carelessness.
This morning I pulled the tarp off of Peer Pressure and made ready to driver her to work; the weather is perfect, clear and 60° so I was excited to get behind the wheel. I popped the hood, connected the battery, got one reluctant crank out of the battery, and… nothing. It looks like the $70 Pep Boys Special is dead—this after only seven months. I’ve stored it with the hot lead disconnected since parking it, so I know it’s not a short; it’s got to be either the battery or the alternator. So I’m going to try to replace the battery this evening and we’ll see if this one lasts any longer.
Update: The battery tests fine on the machine at the parts store; after some futzing with the terminals she fired right up. I left the cables connected to the battery over the weekend and she started immediately on Monday morning, which leads me to believe it’s the cables themselves.
This afternoon, I decided I was going to see what my garage is actually built out of. I’ve had dreams ever since we got in this house of backing the Scout into the garage, pulling the top off, and starting the long process of tearing the body down to the frame for a retub. Pipe dreams, perhaps, but the backing the Scout into the garage part has been sounding particularly good given the amount of snow we’ve received in December. There are two reasons I haven’t done this already: a makeshift front wall where the garage doors used to be, and a 6″ raised wooden subfloor inside the structure. So it was with great curiosity and a mild fear that I jacketed up, crowbar in hand, and walked outside to face the unknown. The Scout started on the second try with a squirt of starter fluid and I ran her until the idle smoothed out (God, I love that truck), and while she warmed up I went inside and moved the assorted car parts and lumber out of the way to areas that didn’t look like they were wet.
The first floorboard came up pretty easily, and to my dismay I found no concrete underneath—the original footprint of the garage is an uneven dirt floor. At some point in the last ten or twenty years (based on the age and color of the concrete) a 2′ footer was poured down the middle of the foundation and 2×6’s were laid every 18 inches from edge to edge, then covered with plywood. Given the grade and condition of the wood, I’m going to have to find some other way of protecting the Scout for a few years until I can dig the dirt out and have someone pour me a new floor. In which case I may just have somebody bulldoze the whole structure and start from scratch. Sigh.
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