James do you have a plan for getting the header bolts out without much too drama? I have always run the engine til warm, hopefully not so hot as to burn my hands, but once it's been warmed the bolts seem to break free a little easier. I hope you don't break any because I know that's a huge pain.

Dave that fuel tank sounds like a pain also, I would be worried about the inside being filled with rust and then loosening up once it starts getting used. Plus I guess some backyard mechanic fixes on the body frame. I have some square tubing and some rectangle tubing and angle iron, if you need to fabricate anything.

I had wanted to go to Randy's today to install the relay for his ignition system, but his schedule this week has him available after 4pm and that is usually my time to wind down. I did a little on the parts truck wiring, just prep work. I labeled and disconnected several leads in the engine bay. Those connectors are such a pain, I think I had to break the tabs of just about every one to get them apart. Then Bailey called me, he was working on his grandfathers Tacoma. He passed away some years ago and now the truck is going to Bailey's dad, but he wanted to fix a sloppy ball joint or something. Anyway 4 bolts that hold the spindle assembly to the control arm, one of the threads in the housing stripped. So he brought the spindle assembly over to see if we could find a way to make it work. The bolts were 12mm and I didn't have a thread chaser tap to try and repair them, but it looked like the first 3/8 inch or so the threads were just gone gone gone anyway. I said next best thing, step a size to 1/2 inch SAE fine thread because I DO have a tap for that. Had to drill it out a little before getting the tap started, but we got it. I had a grade 8 bolt for him, but said the metric ones were grade 12.9. I don't know where he could something like that in SAE, never seen it at the hardware store, maybe special order. But I said I think grade 8 would work fine so he was happy to be able to put 4 bolts in again.

 

Good catch on the month change and starting a new one

I dont know what motor James has in his truck but if it has ALUM. heads that can be a problem.
I worry about that on the Crown Vic as it has ALUM. heads if I ever have to remove the exhaust manifolds as I hear they like to snap the bolts off in the head when guys are going with headers.

I think that 12.9 is the thread pitch not the grade as you see different markings on the heads of metric bolts like 8 or 10.
If you need a metric tap & die set I have one and a SAE too. I think I may have 2 SAE as I needed a larger tap or die and my set did not have the size so I bought a 2nd set IIRC.
I got some tools I bought to do a job and forget I got it till I go looking for something else

I may take you up on the metal when the time comes. I got up for the old man pee break at 2am and could not get back to sleep and got thinking how to fix the floor / body mounts on the DJ.
I follow someone on Youtube and he has used POR15 and fiberglass mat to do some repairs. The POR15 is like the rosin for fiberglass, you put a coat down add the mat and then coat it and let it dry.
When dry it is hard and he adds another coat over the top to make it stronger. Because you are using POR15 and it treats rust you dont have to get the rust down to really good metal and it bites in better if it is rusty.

I am thinking I will need to raise the body and support it off the frame. Drive the floor & mounts back down where they should be and then use the POR15 & may to "glass" the area to make it as one again.
But I know if I just bolt everything back it will fail over time so I am looking to get poly cutting boards that are 1/2" thick and use them as bushings, think there is only 2 rubber ones left, but because of the size it would spread the load out over a larger area to help support the weight of the body and the fiberglass. The cutting boards would be places in a way that they would hit the good part of the body what is left.
Like in the rear the wheel tubs are still strong so thinking I could run the boards out say a 1/2" to support the good part or the tub, the going over to the floor area and with the glass inside should be good out back.
I think I can do the same for the other mounts but need to get under and recheck but so far that is the plan

On the gas tank I am going to get a cheap hand pump from HF and remove the old gas.
I got the inspection cover off the rear floor and cleaned the top of the sending unit. I will pull the sender and see what shape it is in, check if it works or not, none of the gauges do, and I can look straight into the tank to see what it looks like.
That is if I dont pass out from the old gas smell
Dave ----

 

I guess the reason why the problem follows aluminum heads moreso is because the dissimilar metals like to sieze up over the course of years? I do remember with a Honda Accord I used to have which had aluminum heads, I was changing spark plugs and one was very hard to turn, and when I forced it the threads came out with it. I guess that is a lot better than it breaking off inside.

I have a 12v pump you can use to empty the gas tank, I have used it on the drag car a couple of times to empty out the tank. It has alligator clips to make it easy to connect the leads and I think 1/4 clear plastic line.

On metrics, the thread pitch will be something like 1.00 or 1.50. They have their own hardness scale, they don't use "grade 5" and "grade 8" like we do.


The POR-15 and fiberglass sounds intersting. I am having trouble following with the poly cutting board. If I understand, you would use this in place of the rubber body mount, except you would cut it larger, as large as you can make it fit well, in order to spread the load out more and to be able to reach good metal?

 

VW bugs were also known to have the plugs get stuck in the heads. A uncle told me to use anti seize on the threads when I was into VW's
I was lucky and never had a problem with the plugs getting stuck in the heads.

I dont want to mess up your pump as this gas is really stinky it is that old. For the $10 w/tax I will have ne and dont care if I use it 1 time and it turns to crap.

On the cutting boards you have it right. Keep it as large as I can and hope it will get to a strong metal.
I ordered 6 boards as I think the DJ has 6 mounts,12" x 18" by 1/2" thick.
I was lazy today and did not do anything to it other than order the cutting boards.
Dave ----

 

My pump is electric, I bought it to help me change the oil in my old green F100. The replacement oil pan has the drain plug in an unreachable location, so for the past 4 years or so I have to suck the oil through the dipstick tube. Takes a long time to change the oil!

I pulled the engine harness off the parts truck, before I removed it I verified the gauges for oil & coolant temp move when I ground those leads. I figured I could go ahead and put it in the blue truck. Along with the ignition module even though I don't plan on using the duraspark, it will just be better all around if everything is hooked up like factory. Well looky at what I found when I removed the ignition module from the parts truck! Now remember, this was a running engine!


I agree with your uncle about using anti-seize when metal is threaded into aluminum.

 

My truck also had the box leak it's potting all down the inner fender and onto the house garage floor
It still worked and I have it as a back up somewhere safe but dont ask me where

There is nothing wrong with the DSII system and is just as good as the HEI distributor.
I seen a factory DSII run in the 11's in the 1/4 mile and 10's on spray till the plugs melted because the gas solenoid failed
Dave ----

 

Oh forgot to show this picture. This was the distributor connector in the parts truck. This was a running working engine. One of the leads is skinned back and frayed for a good 3 inches.


Whatever work was done to this truck originally to put the red dash in here in the first place, they did a **** job on the insulation mat & all that stuff. And now that's it's sat this way for years, it doesn't want to easily go back into place. I tie wrapped the corner up to hold it closer to being in place and let it relax a little. After a few hours I was able to straighten some of the wrinkles. I got some of these automotive style interior panel thingies from the hardware store. They come in various sizes, I got the ones made for 1/4 inch hole with a 1 inch wide head. Drilled a few holes to hold the rubber in place and seems much better. At least now I can clean it.

 

They say you can get them plugs / pig tail from NAPA but I have not tried.to get any.
Also what shape is the ones we pulled out of the truck? Can you cut and splice it, solider and heat shrink, it to that harness?
Again I would try and keep the DSII IGN system as I have never had any issues with them that is not normal like when they start to fail you get no spark.
Had a 76 Gremlin and a 78 Ford car do that.

I cant remember what shape that pad was in for my truck. I think the new one I bought for the Javelin did not fit so I left it off.

I hit Home Depot for the fiber glass matt and HF for the hand pump and picked up a set of jumper cables as I only had 1 set and it was in the Durango when I could have used a set.
I did not stop at MoJo's but did drive by slowly. Looked like a lot of nice cars / trucks there. I did see Dale's "thing" there and he was talking to someone and did not see me drive by.
I also seen a lot of cars still going there on 50 on my way home and it was like 11am. If the truck was cleaner, has bug guts from going after the Jeep, and pollan or I would have maybe stopped.
I drove to MoJo's HD & HF after the weekly trash run
Dave ----

 

I got to MoJo's around 11:30, I wanted to wash my car, but not wanting to backtrack all the way to Four Oaks I just drove up 50 and paid attention along the way. Did not see a single self service car wash. So I thought I would just hit it with the California car duster when I got there, but it wasn't in the trunk! I know I had it last week at Bass Pro. Not sure what I did with it. I have 3 total so I probably have one on the shelf I can grab. I always carry a cloth rag to wipe the car, but I checked and was not in there. I do remember taking like three of them out last week intending to run them through the wash. So long story short, I had no way to clean my car and it was covered in pollen. Oh well maybe next time!

I'm most likely going to use a "ready to run" distributor, you know what they say "keep it simple". But looking at the wiring diagram I do not have to alter / cut / splice any of the original wiring in order to do that, all I need is to use the lead for the coil wire, and not hook anything else up. As far as the pigtail, I will look into that. The blue truck was all hacked up, I don't think it even had a connector on it. Just the box sitting there. After I got home today I pulled the cruise control module off and disconnected that, then labeled a few more wires. The parts truck with the good harness does have some hack-job stuff going on around the solenoid, I am going to look at that more closely tomorrow. He may have just been trying to jumper it off in order to have a hot lead for something, or maybe the connector was rotted and he spliced in his own wire, either way I'll make a note of it and try to correct that. Plus I'm sure it won't hurt to get a new solenoid, the one in the parts and the TWO that were in the blue truck all look like they've been through the war. Very corroded. Speaking of that I have been needing for an entire year to get a new one for my 66 Mustang, it works fine but there is a crack in the housing so I know it's getting moisture inside a little at a time, might as well replace it now before it leaves me stranded.

 

On the solenoids do not go with cheap ones they will not last.
Because of this I went top of the line NAPA, it was like $50 but I have not had any problems with it for years now.
The old one, dont know what truck it came from, would click a few times before the motor would turn over and start.
I was thinking bad battery connection so I cleaned them all up and it was worst so I replaced it.
I would replace the cracked one with a top of the line one and use either one for now on the truck.
They say old factory solenoids are better than the new cheap ones you can buy so keep that in mind.
I know there is a post on them in the 80 - 86 truck area maybe in the FAQ area?

I do have a duster in the pickup but with the bug guts and some mud from weeks ago it needed a water / soap wash and I will have to do that before next weekend as I got to pull the trailer to Zebulon meet as they need the sound system and it was easier to take trailer than eash part of the system.

Got out to the garage to work on the DJ more .........WHAT HAVE I GOTTEN MYSELF IN TO
1 tire kept going flat and I checked it a few days ago and found rim leaks so today I broke the bead, only 1 side was leaking, and sanded / cleaned it best I could and then sprayed gasket tack on the tire.
Did not want to use anything too messy as the tires will need to be replaced at so point. Few hours later it still had air so fingers crossed it is good for now.

Then I moved on to why turn / 4 ways / running lights and horn do not work. Checking the fuse box and it has no power????
Out at the solenoid, it uses a Ford type, looking to make sure it is sending power to a "power block" and it looked like it needed a cleaning so it came apart for that.
In doing so I found the power wire to the block was loose at the solenoid. How the motor was turning over / running I dont know. I had cleaned it as part of the new battery install so just tighten it up.
With all that I now had power to the fuse box, found 2 bad fuses glass type and I did not have any that easy to get to, used a jumper wire for a 9 amp but did not want to use it for the 20 amp fuse.
Still did not have more lights working or the horn but could could get 1 of 2 to blow when grounding the relay. At that point my head was not into electrical work so I moved on to something else.

That was removing the seats, the rubber mats, it had 2 layers up front, so I could see how bad the floors and body mounts were in.
The right side, drivers side, had a heavy gauge nicely made / fitted sheet over the floor that was also rotted and it was on top of the body bolts
The left side floor was bowed up so the body had dropped on that side. So I worked on removing all the body bolts so the body could be lifted and pound the floors / mounts back down and then figure out how to support / brace the floor / mounts to stay at factory height.
I was using my high lift jack on the left side with a 2x4 under the door / rocker area and when pounding the floor down the 2x4 broke and the rocker and floor bent worst than before
The 2" tubing I pulled out from that side I put under the 2x4 and jacked it back up and the floor back in place.
I could not get the right side off the frame It is either stuck from a bolt I missed or the body is that heavy? I also cant raise the rear and that was after I undid the 2 rear bolts I missed.
I had just enough time to put tools away, sweep the floor and clean me up as we where going out to dinner.

I think I will unbolt the fenders from the body as that might be holding the body from raising. I may also need to dig out my engine hoist to help lift the body.
Brake parts should be here Tuesday along with the cutting boards I will use for the body mount "rubber" but hope to spread the load because of the side but now seeing the floors I got to add to it.
Dave ----

ps this almost feels like the pickup all over again

 

I think I will take that advice about reusing the factory solenoid, I'll pull the working one off the parts truck, clean the contacts, and put fresh nuts on the leads and the worry about replacing it down the line if it goes bad.

Where is your engine hoist & how hard is it to get to? Mine is in the carport and I could have it on the trailer within just a few minutes & bring it to your house. Would be easier than if you had to move a lot of vehicles & things around in your work garage to access yours.

I bet you that tire is taken care of, I had one leaking around the rim and broke down the tire, cleaned it with a wire wheel, and never leaked again.

On the electrical, I've got several of the glass style fuses in my box out in the garage.

I removed the heater core from the 83, figuring it will never be as easy to replace as it is right now with the whole dash taken out. Well it's a tight fit, it was really wedged in there, but I got it out. When I looked at it, it looks great. I was expecting to see corrosion & discoloration but doesn't have any of that. Now I am second guessing myself. Is an old part that still works better than a brand new made in China part?

 

Dave, I had no idea some of these issues you are running into. I knew it had some rust but not to the extent you describe. All the lights even interior lights were working last time I drove it. We discussed all the known issues. And for sure all the fluids, belts, plugs need replacing. As well as belts, brakes and a few misc. parts we talked about. If anybody can get it back on track it would be you with John's help and your crew of motor heads in your area.

I didn't get to half of what I wanted to accomplish this weekend. Never left town. I did get a lot done, just not what I had planned to get done.

Looks like this week I'll be doing one strut an evening after work and maybe have them all done by Friday.

Waiting on just a couple more parts for the dirt bike. It's all back together and 95% there. Now I need to decide if I want to go all the way and break the cases open and do internal stuff. I may just ride it until something breaks before I'm forced to open it up.

 

John the hoist is not too hard to get to need to move a stack of wheels and some other stuff but not bad.
I got to re-group and look over what I got to see the best way to 'get r done".
I just knew the body had to be raised off the frame to knock the floor back down where it should be and I was pushing to get to a point I wanted to before going out for dinner.

Jame it's all good. For the money I was not getting a no work needed and driving Jeep.
Also a lot of this is my OCD of cant leave it alone being I know body work / rust repair. Thing is how far do I want to take this?
I know the floor / body mounts need to be fixed as there was not a lot holding the body to the frame

On the lights I wonder if no ground to the body, I have not seen one when working on it, is why some things dont work?
All the lights ground to the body and 1 front fender light is loose so it has no ground as does 1 rear roof light.
I was just at a point where my head was not into the electrical side to trace out more why things were not working.
Once the body / frame are together I will run a ground wire to the body and then look into the lights more.
Again its good
Dave ----

 

John on the heater core the new ones you get do not fit the housing.
I think they fit the 87> housings and they must have made a little change so the new cores dont fit our trucks.
Thing is they dont list a different part number for the core that fits and the one you can get everywhere.
I know there was 1 place I think on Ebay where you could get the right one but the wait was a week or more.

I stuffed the wrong one in my truck, had to as the old one leaked, and ordered the right one but have not installed it over a year or more
So if that one is not leaking and fits keep it. What shape is the other one in?
Dave ----

 

Ok, I won't mess with the hoist, and I'll keep this heater core as well. I have not gotten to the other one yet so who knows! But if it is in decent shape maybe I will save it & put it up on the shelf for later use.

I agree that it sounds like a ground issue. At least that is something to rule out.

This parking brake assembly was very rusty. I went over it with a wire scrub brush and then coated it with zero rust.



Back side is rusty too, but there's no way to get in there with a paint brush. I sprayed it with rust converter, let it sit for 24 hours per instruction, then sprayed rustoleum as best I could.



After letting it dry for several hours, I sprayed all the moving parts down with PB blaster. I didn't want to do it before trying to paint because I'd play hell trying to get paint to stick if I had sprayed any kind of lubricant down first. Now it goes up down easily and works as it should.