- Thread starter
- #41
I can compare in a week when I get home from a work trip. I want to say the color is close but cannot confirm off top of my head.
Builds 1984 Root Beer in Vermont - Build
- Thread starter Seth S
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I can compare in a week when I get home from a work trip. I want to say the color is close but cannot confirm off top of my head.
- Thread starter
- #43
Go away on work for 10 days and come home to find my backup lights have stopped working. I replaced the switch 2 months ago and they were working fine. Not sure which fuse it is....will also check continuity at connector. Could just be a bad switch. Still annoying to chase things like this that you thought you fixed already.
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- #44
Searched mud and came across a note that that wipers and reverse lamps are on the same 20amp fuse. Checked the fuse and it was fine. Then remembered I have been having some issues with the wipers turning on and I have to reach under the dash and wiggle the harness near the relay. So I turned my wipers on and sure enough they didn’t run. Did the wire wiggle and the wipers fired up and the backup lights worked.
I pulled the wiper relay out a couple weeks ago and lubed the gears. The electrical terminals were clean and in good condition. So I’m not sure why there are harness wiggle issues.
I pulled the wiper relay out a couple weeks ago and lubed the gears. The electrical terminals were clean and in good condition. So I’m not sure why there are harness wiggle issues.
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- #45
Truck has been parked out of the weather all winter and started and run to warm every weekend just to keep the engine moving and charge the battery a bit. I have lots to do to it still but I'm being patient and will get it out in another couple weeks when the weather is a bit more solid and the risk of road salt has fully abated.
The good news is that Last fall I bought a new 31" General Grabber AT/X tire to replace my spare. And now I have a pile of amazon Gift cards through work that will just about cover the cost of 4 more 31" ers to match. Never bought tires off amazon before but the seller is listed as Amazon and seems like the right price.
The good news is that Last fall I bought a new 31" General Grabber AT/X tire to replace my spare. And now I have a pile of amazon Gift cards through work that will just about cover the cost of 4 more 31" ers to match. Never bought tires off amazon before but the seller is listed as Amazon and seems like the right price.
- Thread starter
- #46
2019 Summer goals:
1.New tires Ordered 4/12/19
2. Rebuild knuckles
3. refresh rear brakes
4. Desmog engine
4a. fix manifold exhaust leak.
5. Reseal gutters - Paint
These are all doable and in budget range right now
These will be pick and choose as time/money allows (not necessarily in order)
6. possibly swap to 3FE head and either run 3FE manifolds and go megasquirt route....or go the Holley Sniper route
7. headers and exhaust
8. Suspension lift
9. 5 speed
1.
2. Rebuild knuckles
3. refresh rear brakes
4. Desmog engine
4a. fix manifold exhaust leak.
5. Reseal gutters - Paint
These are all doable and in budget range right now
These will be pick and choose as time/money allows (not necessarily in order)
6. possibly swap to 3FE head and either run 3FE manifolds and go megasquirt route....or go the Holley Sniper route
7. headers and exhaust
8. Suspension lift
9. 5 speed
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- Thread starter
- #47
ended up pulling the truck out of its shelter and the hill was so muddy and greasy I had pretty much no choice but to come down to the house. Ended up driving it on some errands tonight and have to amend my to do list. Need a new brake master cylinder....the brakes work but at the end of the pedal and I remember this was on the list last year. Steering is super sloppy and I likely need a power steering pump. Seats. I can’t stand the seats.
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- #48
Amazon GC's for the win. 4 new General Grabber 31x10.5x15" tires at $149/each and free shipping. I did the mount and balance work so I saved there as well. Let me say that to date this is the single biggest improvement I have done to the truck. It's eye opening how much better the truck is with these tires on there. The tires I took off were Kumho Mohave AT's and some internet searching brings up a recall from 08-09 concerning characteristics round instability when cornering....while I doubt mine were from the recall window those characteristics exactly describe the tire.
So what is so much better:
1. Engine revs. The first thing I noticed in the first 500' of rolling on the new shoes was that I could actually spend some time accelerating in first gear. On the old tires first gear ran out almost as soon as the truck started to roll. Now I can actually get some speed before grabbing second. All gears are more usable and 4th gear is absolutely pleasant on the 50 mph roads. I did figure out that the speedometer is pretty close to stock except up around 50 - 55 and above when it seems to reveal its true deviation.
2. Bumps: Ride down road is smoother.. ..guessing a combination of rolling diameter and better tire construction. Mind you I still need shocks and bushings and maybe springs...so this wasn't a miracle cure.
3. turning: The old tires were really scary on corners....50 mph on a 50 mph road going into a corner.....turning the wheel turning the wheel turning the wheel...no steering response. New tires....turn the wheel truck changes direction.
4. Noise: The old tires were quiet and the new tires are quiet. Maybe I've heard a little more noise on the tarmac but so far its marginal. I'll see how they are when they are up around 65 mph.
5. Smoothness: The driveline pulsing is just about gone. With the smaller tires the I suffered from a lot of on/off/on/off throttle pulsing that feels like a combination of worn engine/trans mounts, slop in the gearbox, and carb tuning issues. With the bigger tires those pulses are either gone or greatly diminished. I still hope to go to EFI and get away from the carb.
Summary.....This change and this tire are great....guessing I'll get 40k miles out of a set which for me could be 10 years of driving. Even at the full price of ~$600 it is well worth it and For about 1/4 to 1/5 of the cost you get to reap the benefits of 5 speed like performance.
The one draw back so far is that I'm down a gear on hills because of the torque effects of driving a larger diameter tire.
So what is so much better:
1. Engine revs. The first thing I noticed in the first 500' of rolling on the new shoes was that I could actually spend some time accelerating in first gear. On the old tires first gear ran out almost as soon as the truck started to roll. Now I can actually get some speed before grabbing second. All gears are more usable and 4th gear is absolutely pleasant on the 50 mph roads. I did figure out that the speedometer is pretty close to stock except up around 50 - 55 and above when it seems to reveal its true deviation.
2. Bumps: Ride down road is smoother.. ..guessing a combination of rolling diameter and better tire construction. Mind you I still need shocks and bushings and maybe springs...so this wasn't a miracle cure.
3. turning: The old tires were really scary on corners....50 mph on a 50 mph road going into a corner.....turning the wheel turning the wheel turning the wheel...no steering response. New tires....turn the wheel truck changes direction.
4. Noise: The old tires were quiet and the new tires are quiet. Maybe I've heard a little more noise on the tarmac but so far its marginal. I'll see how they are when they are up around 65 mph.
5. Smoothness: The driveline pulsing is just about gone. With the smaller tires the I suffered from a lot of on/off/on/off throttle pulsing that feels like a combination of worn engine/trans mounts, slop in the gearbox, and carb tuning issues. With the bigger tires those pulses are either gone or greatly diminished. I still hope to go to EFI and get away from the carb.
Summary.....This change and this tire are great....guessing I'll get 40k miles out of a set which for me could be 10 years of driving. Even at the full price of ~$600 it is well worth it and For about 1/4 to 1/5 of the cost you get to reap the benefits of 5 speed like performance.
The one draw back so far is that I'm down a gear on hills because of the torque effects of driving a larger diameter tire.
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- Thread starter
- #49
while I had the truck up on the lift at my friends shop yesterday I took the time to look things over. I found that all the steering components from the pitman arm to the wheels were tight. So I now have to check the Universal joints between the steering wheel and the steering box....I suspect the box needs a rebuild though.
I also checked my front wheel bearings and the Passenger side which I adjusted and greased last fall is still nicely set with almost now wiggle while the Driver's side is still loose....so that is on top of the list of small things to fix.
I ordered a rebuilt brake master made by "Advics" from Rockauto and I'll get that in soon as well. My brakes work but only in the last small amount of travel...so time for a brake master cylinder and fluid change.
I inspected the parking brake and found that the drivers side mechanism moves freely and easily but the passenger side wont disengage. I spent some time lubing the outside components and trying to get it to free enough to disengage on its own but its not there yet....next step is to read up on how to get the drum off so i can clean and inspect everything.
Throttle sticking: new for this year is a throttle that often sticks and requires a few jabs of the pedal to release. I have to look things over but it feels like maybe the pedal linkage is part of the issue....not sure if its also a cable issue or a butterfly issue. I am sure there is at least one Mud thread discussing this....and will research.
I also checked my front wheel bearings and the Passenger side which I adjusted and greased last fall is still nicely set with almost now wiggle while the Driver's side is still loose....so that is on top of the list of small things to fix.
I ordered a rebuilt brake master made by "Advics" from Rockauto and I'll get that in soon as well. My brakes work but only in the last small amount of travel...so time for a brake master cylinder and fluid change.
I inspected the parking brake and found that the drivers side mechanism moves freely and easily but the passenger side wont disengage. I spent some time lubing the outside components and trying to get it to free enough to disengage on its own but its not there yet....next step is to read up on how to get the drum off so i can clean and inspect everything.
Throttle sticking: new for this year is a throttle that often sticks and requires a few jabs of the pedal to release. I have to look things over but it feels like maybe the pedal linkage is part of the issue....not sure if its also a cable issue or a butterfly issue. I am sure there is at least one Mud thread discussing this....and will research.
- Thread starter
- #51
So I had a small exhaust leak from the engine bay all winter but figured it was probably from the manifold as it’s a common issue. Today as I was driving and had just about convinced myself that a lift made sense to do this summer I happened to stop and check under the hood. I found that the egr pipe at the front of the engine bay had snapped off at the hose. While I’m sure I can replace it I think this may be a sign that I should pull the trigger on the sniper setup, so the desmog, and refresh the head.
I’m thinking about resealing gutters soon, too. I had to take off roof rack to fit her into barn over the winter and noticed a lot of gunk up there under the gutter inserts.
It cleaned up ok and there isn’t any pressing rust issues, but had me thinking it would be a nice project in fall of early next spring. I was also thinking about using fluid film up there before remounting the rack for the summer... thoughts?
It cleaned up ok and there isn’t any pressing rust issues, but had me thinking it would be a nice project in fall of early next spring. I was also thinking about using fluid film up there before remounting the rack for the summer... thoughts?
- Thread starter
- #53
There is a good write up from another mud member. I think someone else followed his advice recently but found the product he used was no longer available.
I might strip my old stuff out and use a simple silicon caulk just to seal the area until I can do it properly later. But the downside of that approach is said caulk can be a real pain to clean out later.
This is the thread: Rain Gutter seam and drip rail reseal
I looked at that one and “watched” it last night, lol!
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- #55
Spent afternoon reading about carbs and desmog procedure and kits and kits out of stock more carbs and more stuff. So plan is to remove egr and air pump system. Keep stock carb and stock dizzy for now. Will see if I can find an idler replacement for the air pump so I can possibly move that to a new home. I’m very tempted to pull the head, have it cleaned and checked over for cracks. Do a refresher and do the oil galley plug fix and air injector block off. Basically put the top end back in all clean and ready for efi.
- Thread starter
- #56
Today I learned about desmogging, desmog kits, the air injection system, and the EGR system. All started this morning when I noticed that the engine bay sounded a little louder than normal. To be fair I noticed it last night but it wasn’t quite as obvious.
Upon opening the hood I saw a broken pipe under the intake hose and assumed it was related to the egr system. This afternoon I pulled the air cleaner assembly and realized it was the end of the air pipe broken off.
So when I got the air cleaner off I was greeted with a nice protective layer of dirt and oil on everything.
So I see two sets of flats on the end of the air injection manifold and I wonder if it comes sort there. In my heart I know that the odds of anything moving are slim.....so at least I wasn’t let down when this proved to be true. Then soaked the top of the engine in penetrating oil and carefully tried to turn the nut on the air injector. Also not a good sign as I watched the pipe start turning with it.
So now I have to get creative. I can plug the exhaust pipe side easily enough. To plug the air rail I may be able to cut the old end off and possibly solder a cap on or find some other cap. At least until I have all the parts to get the desmog underway. It’s not my daily driver so just leaving it drivable for now.
My real fear is that the injectors will be stuck in the head and truly necessitate head removal...which is ok too.
After a little cleaning
Upon opening the hood I saw a broken pipe under the intake hose and assumed it was related to the egr system. This afternoon I pulled the air cleaner assembly and realized it was the end of the air pipe broken off.
So when I got the air cleaner off I was greeted with a nice protective layer of dirt and oil on everything.
So I see two sets of flats on the end of the air injection manifold and I wonder if it comes sort there. In my heart I know that the odds of anything moving are slim.....so at least I wasn’t let down when this proved to be true. Then soaked the top of the engine in penetrating oil and carefully tried to turn the nut on the air injector. Also not a good sign as I watched the pipe start turning with it.
So now I have to get creative. I can plug the exhaust pipe side easily enough. To plug the air rail I may be able to cut the old end off and possibly solder a cap on or find some other cap. At least until I have all the parts to get the desmog underway. It’s not my daily driver so just leaving it drivable for now.
My real fear is that the injectors will be stuck in the head and truly necessitate head removal...which is ok too.
After a little cleaning
That check valve can be replaced. That same issue lead me to do an air pump/air rail delete on mine.
If I could do it again I would have replaced the check valve and kept the full system intact.
If I could do it again I would have replaced the check valve and kept the full system intact.
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- #58
For the sake of simplicity that would be a great option right now. Keep dollars in my wallet a little longer. Not sure that I can get it apart though. I’ll keep dousing it with penetrant and then maybe put some heat to it. Also figure out what the wrench sizes are.
I used a propane torch and had it almost glowing to get it off. I used a large adjustable to keep the air rail from twisting.
