Builds Welcome home Matilda - faded like your favorite pair of jeans (5 Viewers)

[NMfjCruiser]

Look forward to following. I never get zapped doing spark checks.

Lisle 51600

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[CruiserTrash]

Hey, another question. Your photos of Matilda's frame mentioned something in passing about "surprising amount of the original frame coating". Speaking about getting less dumb, can you (or anyone) educate me on this original frame coating? I went back outside and looked again at our rig and I think (tentatively) that our original frame coating is in pretty good shape. We thought that thickening was just road crud which needed to be scraped off. Um, maybe not the best idea if it's a factory coating! And in the areas where it is flaking off, what can we do to deal with that? Some days I feel dumber than others, but hey better to ask and learn, than to stay dumb. Thanks all.

PS - loved the write up about the Tomato. Your relationship with that rig is about the same love/hate relationship that I have with my '83 Ford Ranger. Oh, the stories I could tell about that truck and the stuff I've learned (the hard way). But that's getting way off track.

I am not 100% sure about the frame coating. I've only seen it on a few trucks and I think that's what it is - a thin white/gray sheet material that is usually flaking off to some degree. When I saw it on a truck for the first time a few years ago I thought it was frame failure or something. But no, I'm almost positive it was an original coating. Maybe somebody with more knowledge can chime in.

@NeverGiveUpYota We're all f**king nuts aren't we? We all should have leased brand new Subaru Outbacks years ago. Instead we'd prefer to lay on the cold ground for three days taking an angle grinder an air chisel to our frame. We'll never know why, but that doesn't matter anymore because we're all here in the same boat, adrift at sea. We must be delirious from lack of potable water because we just keep muttering "Land Cruiser... Land Cruiser..."

 

[WSOPgold2012]

I have a "clean" front left or right qtr panel in Evergreen you're welcome to come grab if ya want. I also have 3-4 OEM carbs and smog stuff...other stuff that maybe we can work out a fair deal for.

 

[WSOPgold2012]

its blue too....lol

 

[CruiserTrash]

I have a "clean" front left or right qtr panel in Evergreen you're welcome to come grab if ya want. I also have 3-4 OEM carbs and smog stuff...other stuff that maybe we can work out a fair deal for.

Evergreen … Colorado? The red truck needs a front driver’s 1/4 but it’s also kind of a lost cause. I’m good on carbs and smog stuff - got multiples of all of those. I usually hear about 60s in the local junkyards within 1-2 days of them hitting the lots and I go pillaging. Lots of it I keep, and some I sell at VERY reasonable rates to fund this idiotic habit.

 

[CruiserTrash]

its blue too....lol

I mean I guess maybe the driver’s side front 1/4 might be cool if the paint is good. One less faded panel haha. The passenger side front 1/4 is one of the areas that looks like new paint.

 

[WSOPgold2012]

Evergreen … Colorado? The red truck needs a front driver’s 1/4 but it’s also kind of a lost cause. I’m good on carbs and smog stuff - got multiples of all of those. I usually hear about 60s in the local junkyards within 1-2 days of them hitting the lots and I go pillaging. Lots of it I keep, and some I sell at VERY reasonable rates to fund this idiotic habit.

I cant remember if its drivers side or passenger tbh...but you're more than welcome to go ck it out. Ya, I have a cabin in Evergreen Colorado...

 

[CruiserTrash]

I cant remember if its drivers side or passenger tbh...but you're more than welcome to go ck it out. Ya, I have a cabin in Evergreen Colorado...

Well…. We should probably talk about that then haha

 

[WSOPgold2012]

Well…. We should probably talk about that then haha

yore more than welcome to go ck it out...ill shoot you my Tenants # to make arrangements if interested.

 

[CruiserTrash]

I’m over here at the shop. Got some gas and a new fuel filter in Matilda and I’m jump starting her off the tomato truck. Float bowl is filling up no problem now. She’s really trying …. The motor keeps acting like it wants to run under it’s own power but can’t quite get there.

 

[CruiserTrash]

 

[CruiserTrash]

Cylinders 3-6 are a wet sludgy mess per my bore scope. Those cylinders’ spark plugs were also drenched in oil. Cylinders 1-2 are at least dry but have some kind of gold colored stuff …. Rust?

Cylinder 1

Cylinder 4

Infamous cylinder 6

 

[CruiserTrash]

Compression numbers are in

1: 138
2: 119
3: 110
4: 119
5: 120
6: 132

Pretty darn low for 124,000 miles. Plus the wet black sludge in the cylinders…. Head gasket failure? I’m going to try to get over here for a leak down test tomorrow.

 

[diesellibrarian]

I'm not an expert but I do recall reading in the FSM that a compression test should be done with the engine warm? I would bet that once you've run it a bit and the rings break free etc that those numbers will even out a bit.

 

[CruiserTrash]

I'm not an expert but I do recall reading in the FSM that a compression test should be done with the engine warm? I would bet that once you've run it a bit and the rings break free etc that those numbers will even out a bit.

I still can’t get the motor to fully catch and run on its own. It gets really close, but will only turn over 3-4 times before dying again. So a warm test will have to wait.

The wet sludge inside the cylinders is certainly … concerning. It’s not “clean” wet, like with gas. It looks nasty and black and chunky. Even with all this turning the motor over today there’s still no milkshake or visible coolant on the dipstick and nothing (like oil droplets or foam) floating to the top of the coolant filler neck. Neither of those are a tell-all, but I keep checking them just in case I can get some evidence.

The Pig I own wasn’t run for 15 years when I got it. That f**ker fired right up on starter fluid. But Matilda, who’s been sitting since 2017, won’t stay running.

 

[CruiserTrash]

Freeze plug near cylinder 6 has some rtv slathered on it. Could be an attempt to “patch” the cracked block? Or it could have dripped off when the manifold gasket was done - that has a ton of the same stuff squeezing out. No visible crack near that freeze plug though. If it’s a hairline thing I’ll have to get in there closer for a better look.

For orientation, the firewall is to the right. Note the coolant drain petcock.

Some lovely RTV work here:

 

[NeverGiveUpYota]

Freeze plug near cylinder 6 has some rtv slathered on it. Could be an attempt to “patch” the cracked block? Or it could have dripped off when the manifold gasket was done - that has a ton of the same stuff squeezing out. No visible crack near that freeze plug though. If it’s a hairline thing I’ll have to get in there closer for a better look.

For orientation, the firewall is to the right. Note the coolant drain petcock.


View attachment 2943338

Some lovely RTV work here:
View attachment 2943339

I don’t see evidence that that freeze plug is leaking. No trail. That rtv isn’t even close… just looks like leftover mess. I rebuilt and installed and quickly after first start that freeze plug was leaking. Maybe you saw on my thread. I pulled it and replaced in situ. But it left a pretty obvious trail of coolant down the block.

 

[CruiserTrash]

I don’t see evidence that that freeze plug is leaking. No trail. That rtv isn’t even close… just looks like leftover mess. I rebuilt and installed and quickly after first start that freeze plug was leaking. Maybe you saw on my thread. I pulled it and replaced in situ. But it left a pretty obvious trail of coolant down the block.

Your build thread is REALLY long and I haven’t explored every corner of it yet - I’m trying!

To clarify the old mechanic, who I’ve now gotten in touch with, said he remembers the block being cracked near a freeze plug around cylinder 6. So somewhere adjacent to it.

 

[NeverGiveUpYota]

Your build thread is REALLY long and I haven’t explored every corner of it yet - I’m trying!

To clarify the old mechanic, who I’ve now gotten in touch with, said he remembers the block being cracked near a freeze plug around cylinder 6. So somewhere adjacent to it.

Yeah my build thread is silly. Keep doing what your doing.

 

[77CruiserDog]

Hey there CruiserTrash, enjoying this thread!! I think you're so close!!

Based on your videos, I believe I see two things I'd remedy in this order.

1) I'd get a brand new group 34 battery in Matilda. The cables from the Tomato truck are causing a considerable loss in amperage needed to get Matilda to turn over quickly enough to properly fire.

2) The fuel situation in Matilda is unknown right, and I'm not certain it's mentioned but I'd start with a fresh small can of fuel hooked up to the hose going to the fuel filter. Fuel goes bad (separates) quickly and then won't allow an engine to fire or run in some cases. It's possible that the float bowl is also filled with this partially separated fuel.... it might be helpful to have an extra person squirting a small amount of fresh fuel down the carb as you try to start it. A small water bottle with a tiny hole drilled in the cap works.

I'm not all that worried about the compression numbers (yet) until it's been started and the rings and valves have broken loose. The valves possibly not closing due to carbon and the rings not sealing because they've been stuck in place could both be contributing to the low compression numbers.

Give those two things a try. I wish I was nearby, I'd be eager to help out. It's always fun getting a rig to run again. Keep at it, you're super close!!

Cheers,
Adam