El Cochiloco (2 Viewers)

[Garrissey]

Assessment phase

The pig has been posted for 2 years without moving an inch, so we went down to Vato Zone to pick up the materials needed: steering wheel puller and extra fluid for the brake job. Will and I share a mutual appreciation for road soda indulgence, which is of particular importance when trying to figure out the mental gymnastics of where I left off on this project some time ago. Now I cannot stress enough how novice I am when it comes to working on rigs. Don’t get me wrong, i am down to put in the work, but it has become apparent that my writing skills far exceed my capacity to make determinations on vehicle repair. This is where Will comes in and crushes the game on the Ranchero Build.

We started with the steering wheel, small victories for the momentum. It was easy peasy, and a quick road soda victory celebration was in order.

 

[Garrissey]

Brake bleeding is not a glamorous job, so therefore, there is no documentation of this process. Long story short, the job was a success and the pedal is nice and firm. Rookie Mistake on my part to fill up the radiator with Tucson's finest aquafina, which according to Will is a close second to the water up in Flint. Who am I to argue when the t-stat looked like this when we took off the cap:

Did I mention I know ****all about mechanics? Our saving grace was that the calcium was isolated to the housing and did not (fingers crossed) travel throughout the rest of the power plant. A trip down to O Really's to get some proper radiator Gatorade, as well as Circle K for the Dino Juice, and our spirits were flying...

 

[Garrissey]

.... But Edgar's Wonderful Horrible Life is never cut and dry, so when we were buttoning everything up, Will checked the clutch, weak sauce. We bled it and got a little firm, so we weren't going to test our luck with driving the rig, particularly since we were burning the midlight oil and the Arizona Sun was no longer offering us her warmth.

We were Suited and Booted, and everything was a go, No Thermostat? No problem. We just wanted to hear this little piggy hum. Fuel, Spark, Air.

 

[Garrissey]

I just ordered a new clutch MC, and Tstat, should make more progress this weekend when i get back from Phoenix.

Thank you all to the Pigpen for shaming me into getting this pig running.

Obligatory Rancher Build engine bay money shot.

 

[yotadude520]

Had a blast getting this piggy back to squealing and shouting!

I'd say 12 more Mexican brown waters would get this thing going, but knowing how we work we're going to need a 24 rack. We'll be cruising down to the Shelter in this thing come Saturday evening!

 

[Garrissey]

This weekend we were back at it. @yotadude520 came through with momentum to get the pig all fired up, and due to a porch-pirate stealing my clutch MC, he kindly ordered a new one and got it same-day delivered via Ama-son. 7:30 start time, s***, I wish I was as spry as I once was, but I still mustered up the courage to get under the rig to replace the slave/clutch mc, Tstat and Tstat gasket.

After some fiddling and diddling under the 55 trying to remove the slave, Will had the genius idea to remove the side cover in the wheel well for better access:

We were riding high on the momentum of the replacement, but lo and behold, the gosh darn Tstat gasket did not fit, this is something that you should all be mindful of when ordering the part, specifically for this year (76), we were 0/2 on this gasket, and so we strolled on down to Earl's for a gasket. Hell, while we're here, let's get some hose clamps for the fuel lines too! (apologies to the Great Grogan for not buying OEM clamps, I live in shame.

 

[Garrissey]

Earl's did not have the gasket either for the Tstat, so we bought some gasket maker and some road sodas for inspiration so I could professionally to fab one up.

I and really thinking about potentially starting a small business where I make replacement Tstat gaskets because this thing looks, and probably is, better than OEM.

Here I am reviewing the fitment with laser precision. I used an Eggs Acto Blade for accuracy, she fit like a slipper.

After some really good feelings, we looked in the back seat of the pig, maybe to find a bottle opener or something and came across these gems:

I forgot that I had an assortment of gaskets and had these "real" gaskets in. Too bad, we already burned in the EG Special and the T Stat was in.

 

[Garrissey]

At this point we were flying higher than Rick James at a Mike Tyson fight, and we were super eager to get El Cochiloco on the road. We went and got some Dino juice in some buckets, and we returned, I realized that I was missing the keys. Actually, I knew that I was missing the keys all along. My Dotter really likes to **** with my things, and she misplaced my keys somewhere and I just assume that they will never be recovered. When I was a boy and I would annoy my mom, she would sing this little jingle to me in Spanish that was something like this: If I didn't love you so much I would have already abandoned you.

But I don't really fret about the existence of keys and the need to have everything pretty and perfect. So we pulled out the drill and made the gas lock universal with any 60 series key.

Yes, I know I have to do more work on my shoulders, they are lacking proper definition and could use more lateral and rear dent work. That is another subject for another blog tho....

We were all ready to go, but god damn these things are never kind to me. We fired up the rig, and the carb started puking more fuel than a cheerleader at a high school homecoming game. A carb rebuild kit is on the way, but boy do Will and I have so much momentum going into the final stages of a prime Rib Sandwich.

Stay tuned, foos.

Ciao

 

[yotadude520]

One step forward and three steps back, that's just how it is with these old cruisers.

Carb rebuild kit should be here sometime this week and hopefully I'll have it wrapped up by the weekend!