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!

 

[yotadude520]

Finally got the old carbonator on the table and man she's gathered some dust sitting on my shelf for these past few months - she's been neglected as I've chased my own tail on my new 60 series.

It's a damn good thing it started puking when it did, otherwise we would've been rear ended when the secondary didn't work and couldn't get out of our own way. It was completely rusted shut.

I let it soak in some PB, hit it free with a hammer and cleaned it up as much as I could. I am happy to report it's 100% functional now.

Here's the final product - don't think I'll be putting Jim C out of business with this rebuild but its good enough for our ranchero roadkill we're resurrecting,

I'm going over manana to get her slapped on and this piggy should be picking up chicks by noon.

 

[yotadude520]

Went over first thing in the morning to get the refreshed carb on the pig - got it on quickly while Edgar got the ignition coil installed

The carb needed some adjustments made, and I did try to hook up the vacuum lines via a vacuum diagram I had found on here. This piggy isn't CA legal anymore after Manny's handiwork so I definitely think I hooked them up wrong. With vacuum applied to the diaphragm on the right side of the carb it would die immediately and wouldn't idle.

Either way we were anxious to get this swine on the road so a test drive was in order. After backing it up we immediately noticed that the steering was incredibly hard to turn - more so than just normal strong arm steering. Regardless we revved her up and drove her down the street where we got about 1/10 of a mile away. During that short drive the pig died twice and when I tried to steer it down an alley way towards home I almost hit a brick wall. Needless to say the test drive was a complete failure. At least the new master cylinder works well!

We had to walk back and get the battery from the 100 series, throw it in the back of my 60 and limp the pig home. It again had a hard time starting, but it wasn't until I fiddled the wires on the coil that it started. It did die once on Edgar on the way back, but after an hour ordeal we the first test drive was concluded. I'll be honest when I say we have more questions then we do answers regarding the mechanical status of the pig.

One matter that is extremely pressing is to fix whatever gypsy bull**** was done on the alternator harness. Just on our short test drive the wires got so hot that it burned the insulation right off. Any chance we could get an entirely new wiring harness? The PO had installed a HEI distributor and did some seriously sketchy stuff. It looks like he removed the voltage regulator as well as the OEM igniter harness.

I'm also thinking that our intermittent hard start issues are due to the fact we are not running a factory igniter, as well as having the vacuum hoses hooked up by a guy who knows diddly **** all about the vacuum system on these.

Anyone have a diagram or any recommendations on how to route these properly with a desmogged rig?

Lastly - the steering on this thing is facked. It feels notchy and unresponsive, and is extremely hard to turn. The u-joints in the steering shaft didn't seem to be binding, could it be an issue with the box itself?

To summarize our first test drive - it's hard to start, binds when you try to turn it, and almost caught on fire

 

[RUSH55]

So have you set the points and timing?
Do that first and then proceed to carb adjustments.
For vacuum advance distributors, you need port vacuum. If you don’t know which one that is, just plug everything off for now, it isn’t necessary.

 

[yotadude520]

So have you set the points and timing?
Do that first and then proceed to carb adjustments.
For vacuum advance distributors, you need port vacuum. If you don’t know which one that is, just plug everything off for now, it isn’t necessary.

Didn't set the points since they were swapped out with a Pertronix ignition assembly when the HEI dizzy was removed.

Haven't screwed with the timing at all but definitely will look at it.

I was able to find a wiring diagram for the piggy and looks like we're missing all sorts of safety s*** on the alternator/ignition wiring. To get it safe again it looks like we'll need a ballast resistor, voltage regulator and the factory igniter setup. If we're going to run the stock distributor it's the only way we can go.

 

[RUSH55]

I’m also wondering about the fuel delivery. He said when he got it there was a Jerry can with a hose attached to it going to the carburetor. What’s the deal with the lines, filter, and tank ATM?

 

[bobm]

Vaccumm here

See the small plastic cap on left of carb on manifold attach vac there

 

[yotadude520]

I’m also wondering about the fuel delivery. He said when he got it there was a Jerry can with a hose attached to it going to the carburetor. What’s the deal with the lines, filter, and tank ATM?

The tank was hot tanked and cleaned by a radiator shop so it's installed and was pulling gas from the tank just fine. Only reason we had it running on a gas can before was because we didn't have the fuel lines setup.

I do think it's possible we could have a bad fuel pump though, I could crack the line at the carb and see if it's consistently coming out as we crank it. On a cold engine of course lol

 

[bobm]

Fuel Blockage is more than you thank

 

[Garrissey]

Shoot man, My head is spinning and I don't know which way the world is turning anymore. I was fortunate enough for Yotadude to rebuild the carb, which we subsequently popped in while drinking road sodas. I really have nothing of value or substance to add to the detailed remarks already placed up above.

It appears my wallet will be getting lighter in the coming weeks while we figure out the issues with the pig. Crucial thanks to William and all the mudders who are providing insight and recommendations. That's it for now.

Ciao.

 

[RUSH55]

If your wallet isn’t empty, you’re not trying hard enough.

 

[scrapdaddy]

Ain't that the truth!