Thanks Ray, I will keep plugging along with it then.

I checked my new tires when I brought them home. They had 50-55 psi in them. Yeah, I won't need that. Especially since I don't have shocks on yet.

 

It was a big day today. I ran her for a total of about 2 hours today. One stretch of about 90 minutes. Everything seemed to work pretty good.

Here is her first trip to a gas station in 40+ years. Shoot, it was a farm truck, no telling if she had ever been to a gas station or just to the tank on the farm.



Here is my father in law checking things out. We got the trailer hooked up and were about to take her out for a spin with the trailer as a test for the parade.



Here is my through the windshield shot. Notice the speedometer is moving and there are miles on the odometer now.



A "selfie" driving down the road with me, my son, and FIL



After that long running, I took the valve covers off to check them out. They seem to look pretty good to me.


Drivers side



Passenger side

 

Yeah, yeah, oh yeah! I especially like the heavy-duty AC!

 

30 mph seems awful fast with no windshield, doors or shocks.
My son asked about the lever for the cowl vent. It doesn't do much for us at this point.

 

Lookin well on the way to being in the Parade.

 

That first drive feels good, doesn't it?

 

Well, I have run into a little snag. I got the truck out of the garage last night and then I tried to start it. The solenoid just clicked loudly. I'm thinking it's the battery, I ran the truck for a couple of hours last week with no charging since my generator isn't hooked up (and it 6v and I have a 12v battery at the moment, 12v solenoid and coil too.)

I put it on the charger for a little bit and that didn't help. I then hit the engine assist and was able to get it to turn over. My ground cable was a bit loose, I have tightned that, but maybe not enough. I now have it sitting on the charger and will let it charge for a couple of hours and see what we get then.

The float is all ready to go so hopefully I can get her going. I'm working from home today, so that helps. If the charging doesn't help, I will run and get a new cable and solenoid...shoot maybe I should have the battery tested too....

Any suggestions?

 

You might be able to test the battery yourself with a meter. After it's charged for a couple of hours, check to see if the voltage is dropping rapidly when disconnected.

Good luck!

 

Good news. It was just a bad ground on the battery. I charged the battery up, fixed the ground and it's now over at the in-laws waiting for duty tomorrow morning.

 

Hey Joe,
That's good news!!!! Good luck with your parade! We'll look for you on CNN but barring that please post videos/pics here for your buddies.


Ben in Austin
1950 F1

 

Joe,
Have a Great time tomorrow! Honored to be a little part of your project.

 

I call that Great news! Yes, I agree with Ben. Pics and videos or it didn't happen...

 

Yep, pictures and video will be coming. Since the whole family will be on the float, I'm not sure who will take video...Gotta figure that out tomorrow.

BJ, I appreciate your help more than you know. You helped give me the kick start to make all this recent progress. This forum has been my lifesaver.

Just got back from my son's football game. He is a sophomore and JV, but we were trouncing our opponent. So he got a considerable amount of playing time. He scored his first varsity touchdown, two of them in fact. Monday was his first ever touchdown. That was in the JV game.

Here is the schedule for tomorrow morning:
7:00 get to the in-laws to hook up the trailer
7:30 get my son up and to the festival to set up the FFA pet section at 8:00
8:30 line up for the parade (gonna leave the truck there for a bit.)
8:30 my oldest starts her race in Joplin, my wife is there watching.
9:00 or sooner pick up my youngest from her sleepover so she can be in the parade
9:30 parade
10:45 get my youngest to the courthouse to sing the national anthem in her school singing group.

Dang! I guess I had better get to bed then.

 

So, you have nothing planned for the afternoon, eh? Slacker...

Can't wait to see the parade stuff. Hope all your scheduling works out ok.

 

That's an awfully tight schedule Joe. I hope all goes well.
Just remember your there to have some fun. And only Fun.