Yeah, the possibilities are pretty open with it, and the hard miles it's seen are probably no worse than what I do to my rigs

I could see it becoming an ideal work rig if I were to put the work into it and choose the right body to put on it

 

A possible replacement for the van? More room for tools and machines... Better work surface.. Interesting.

 

And still diesel so you can run fry oil if you want.

Sean

 

well, i started getting into that datsun today, pulled the radiator and other front stuff, pulled the valve cover so i could see if i could turn the camshaft the little bit that the chain tensioner would allow, and i could, so then i got the bright idea that i should loosen the crank pulley bolt that i wrenched the heck out of a couple days ago. while doing so, the engine freed up. so now i'm wondering if the starter somehow jammed up against the flywheel or something.

so i put a battery back into it and tried cranking it over, it seemed pretty weak so i gave it some jumper cables off my van, but it still seemed weak. i could only crank it with the starter about 1/4 turn at a time before compression stopped it, though it was easy enough by hand.
well i started probing around with a voltmeter, and found a voltage drop of 2.3v between battery ground and engine while trying to crank. it has a ford-style ground cable that has the infamous frame connector, known for corroding out and causing ground problems. testing at that point i was losing 0.35v. then the body ground from the top of the engine lost its magic smoke, i pulled the battery cable off, watched for fire for a minute, and then stumbled up to the house, dizzy and shaking, where i still am. that little wire burning sure screwed me up!

 

So wait, the ground wire caught on fire? Iiinteresting...

I guess it's possible for the starter to bind up and keep it from moving. I don't know if that would explain the clanking sound unless the starter kept spinning and was jumping off the flywheel and back onto it...

 

Yeah, the ground wire from engine to firewall burned up. It has the lovely Ford style battery ground wire that has the frame connection between the battery and engine, and it seems that frame connection was OK but the engine end didn't work so well, so the firewall ground was trying to carry starter load. I think the smoke from that wire really screwed with me.

So I haven't been able to get back to work and see how it would work with good connections... We'll see

 

Damn man I hope you're ok. Must have been some nasty fumes.

For future reference for everyone reading. Fumes suck, be careful, I've had some scares to and I'm sure I'm damaged cause of them and from solvents in contact with skin. Also you can never have too many or too big of ground wires.

 

Fumes do suck. I've had plenty of history with solvents and cleaners. The Volkswagen has a bad sending unit that doesn't seal so there is quite a lot of fumes inside and out. It's pretty bad as well when your in the back of a car spray painting the bondo work done to the spare tire carrier... The fumes done have anywhere to go even if the hatch is open. In high school the teacher for auto shop told us to use gloves when using the brake cleaning machine on parts... Half the class didn't listen and I was among them, my hands get really dry once in a while.

 

Has the Rain, Thunder and Lighting made it up that way yet?
It seems to be headed north. We are getting a bath right now.

Sean

 

yeah, i think i'll survive, i haven't fallen over dead yet

i've learned to be very picky about oils and solvents on my hands, as well as breathing fumes, grinding dust, etc. it doesn't take much to mess with me anymore, but hell, i didn't even get to smell the wire smoke, i just saw it, pulled the battery cable, and looked at where it came from - but i guess its bad stuff, and it was enough to screw with me

as for weather at the moment, i'm up in bothell and its sunny here. at my place before i left, it was cloudy with occasional showers.

 

well I tink it rained a tiny mit, or at least it smelled lime rain earlier but it's dry out right now.

 

is anyone coming by this weekend to say hi in monroe?

 

Doubt it, I have a car show to do on Saturday, hoping the bronco wins something. Then after that is the truck meet at Round Table. That one will be interesting considering I'm out of money

 

I won a trophy today with the Bronco.


It was a pretty nice show besides my damn sunburns. But, it was fun.

 

Dylan,
I found the part.
I also had to catch a bat that got into the house and was freaking out
the cats. bella was going BANANAS. Ended up catching it with coat
on, gloves and a paper bag. It's hanging out in a box in the garage
in the bag in a large plastic tub. I be going to the vet in the AM.

Sean

The Bat