Today I had my weekly time with the LC. Now that I get the damn oil pan off I still had a bunch of the gasket to get off the block. So far I've been able to rewear my trusty green hoodie, but I'm not too sure how long it's going to hold out. I've got that thing so covered in oily dirt it can pretty much hold shape and stay vertical when off of me. It is a bit concerning though, that it took me until today to consider actually using my hoodie.
Fortunately, I'm bald, so with my head covered in grease last week I could just use some Fast Orange to persuade it off. There's a first for me, 'fortunately I'm bald'. Next I'll be talking about the benefits of having a hairy back. I think Fast Orange should market their scent to shampoos and deodorants for hairy chested, busted knuckles, Wrangler-wearing, man men.
Anyhoo, I learned today - use your hoodie. I'm usually a hat guy, but hats won't work when you're on your back with a face shield on, so how about you use your head and cover it with your hoodie so you don't get covered in grease. Genius. I don't know how I'm ever going to be able to finish this project if I'm so impressed with myself for remembering to wear my hoodie.
It was a nice day today, so I was able to open up the garage, which was good, because I have to use my hand held torch to heat up the gasket. You may wonder why it was so difficult to get the gasket off the block. Most of the block was easy to clean up with a scraper, but the block is also half-circled at both ends to allow for the crank on the back end of the block and the water pump (?) on the front. I had to heat up the gasket and by heat up I mean burn, to scrape it off. After 27 years of use and abuse a cork gasket is basically like concrete.
I pulled off the skid plate to allow for a bit more room for frame inspection. I'm glad the thing stayed on with half the bolts having been lost somewhere along the journey to my garage. Three of the five bolts that kept the skid plate from becoming road debris was all that was left. Two of the three snapped off on me, so that'll be some drilling/extracting for me to do when I get to the frame portion of the build.
The wife got out today and helped clean up the oil pan. Thankfully, I've got the kind of wife who is interested in my project and supports it, so I put her to work. By the end of cleaning, she was telling me that I needed to get some toothbrushes, can you believe that! Not only is she allowing me to spend our money on something that will not be nearly worth the amount of money I put in it, but she's wanting me to get her a toothbrush so she can better clean my oil pan. I love my wife!
Sunday, January 29, 2012
The Face Shield
I am a magician. I removed 22 bolts from the oil pan last week and my concentration was so great that the pan continued to hover above the ground until this afternoon.
My plan for today was to get that damn pan off the block. My plan of attack was a hand held torch, a piece of 18" 2x4, and a bfh. For those who have not had the, ahem, opportunity to work on the front suspension of anything that's seen 100k miles I'll explain the importance of a bfh. Often you need a bit more muscle than your average 20oz framing hammer. It doesn't matter how hard you whack that ratchet or wrench it ain't gonna move. You, my friend, need a bigger hammer. You need a bfh, figure it out. My 3lb sledge works fine.
I haven't really put in much time yet on my truck, but so far I've learned a few things and getting the right ppe, or personal protective equipment. I have worked on cars since high school, but never too regularly. I've crawled and shimmied under cars and it wasn't until today that I got myself a face shield. Geez, what a difference the right equipment makes. I always wear my safety glasses, but never have I had a face shield until today. I'd get dirt on my face and in my ears. I'd almost involuntarily lean my head to the side and shake. It hardly ever got the oily dirt out of my ear, it sucked. Today I spent a good 2hrs on my back under my truck, which mind you is far from clean and I am proud to report that my face was just as clean at the end as it was at the beginning.
I got the oil pan off, but the damn gasket stayed stuck to the block. I had to beat that thing like it stole something. I knew it would stick to one surface, but I was hoping that it'd be the pan. Too bad for me. Sometime in the summer I had ground an edge on my 1" scraper. I would not have been able to get that thing off without it and when I'm in the middle of doing something, the last thing I want to do is prep work, like putting an edge on a scraper. That thing saved my day and more importantly my good mood.
Monday, January 16, 2012
Valves and Oil Pan
A break from the history lesson. I actually did some work on the truck today. I had the LC in to the joint that, I'm hoping, will do the engine conversion work for me. He didn't tell me anything I didn't already know - it leaks oil like a sieve. Ya, I know.
My plan is to pull the engine, transmission, and transfer case and have him sell it for me. He would then apply the credit towards my bill (future bill). The compression numbers were alright, but the leak down test indicated that the valves could be out of adjustment which could have contributed to it failing emissions. Oh, it failed miserably. Actually, I was hoping it would fail that way I had my excuse to get it off the road and start the work.
Today I pulled the valve cover, geez what a mess. The air cleaner assembly did a good job of covering most of the valve cover and everything else. The air cleaner assembly is now on my work bench and what a mess. I really wish I had a parts washer now. An aerosol can of parts cleaner is alright, but even with a scraper and wire brush, it still couldn't finish the job.
Once the valve cover is off and I'm glove deep into cleaning up the inside of my 235k valve cover I realize my trusty green hoodie will likely not ever meet its washer-friend again. I'm going to miss that hoodie. You've been a trusted friend and cold weather ally for years. I will not forget your sacrifices. Our time isn't over yet, my green buddy, but when I look back at our time together the valve cover and oil pan (will get to that one later) will likely mark the beginning of the end.
On to the oil pan. I was worried that the rear main seal was blown. I was told that my rear main was blown after he checked it over. Initially, I considered replacing it before selling it, but now I think that most of the oil leakage was from the ... cue the dark ominous tones ... the oil pan gasket. 22 bolts. 22 oily, grimy, is-this-the-right-size-socket, bolts. I didn't need the ratchet for about 11 bolts. Whatever dirt that wasn't covering my, once trusty, hoodie, was either deposited on my face, beard, or ears (yup gotta love dirt in the ears). I had the pan drained and all but 2 bolts out, I position my knees to catch the soon to be removed oil pan.
The last bolt wasn't actually holding up the pan. All the bolts are now out of the block and the pan is still in place. I am a magician.
There's really not room under that thing to pound on it with a bfh. I'll try bottle jack against the frame, horizontally. For another time and another hoodie, perhaps.
My plan is to pull the engine, transmission, and transfer case and have him sell it for me. He would then apply the credit towards my bill (future bill). The compression numbers were alright, but the leak down test indicated that the valves could be out of adjustment which could have contributed to it failing emissions. Oh, it failed miserably. Actually, I was hoping it would fail that way I had my excuse to get it off the road and start the work.
 |
| Valve cover still on |
Once the valve cover is off and I'm glove deep into cleaning up the inside of my 235k valve cover I realize my trusty green hoodie will likely not ever meet its washer-friend again. I'm going to miss that hoodie. You've been a trusted friend and cold weather ally for years. I will not forget your sacrifices. Our time isn't over yet, my green buddy, but when I look back at our time together the valve cover and oil pan (will get to that one later) will likely mark the beginning of the end.
 |
| 22 Bolts between the 27yr old cork gasket and fresh air |
The last bolt wasn't actually holding up the pan. All the bolts are now out of the block and the pan is still in place. I am a magician.
There's really not room under that thing to pound on it with a bfh. I'll try bottle jack against the frame, horizontally. For another time and another hoodie, perhaps.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
The Beginnings
I'd like to say that it was an fj45 that my papa had in the barn under a tarp or an fj40 that my dad tooled around to work or an fj55 that my brother continuously got stuck. None of that is true. My papa didn't own an fj45, in fact he was a GMC fan. My dad once owned an old Blazer, it was an old postal truck, but no fj40. My brother was, actually a fan of the muscle car variety.
My introduction to LandCruisers came about when I wasn't really paying attention. I grew up wanting Mustangs. My older brother had a 73 and 65 before he was 16. Me, being 4yrs younger than my idle, I remember summers waking up to him sitting in his car and pissing off our neighbor. He would sit in the car, listening to the radio, and mashing the gas pedal. He wasn't 16 yet, remember. The car didn't leave the gravel driveway, more specifically it didn't leave the yard. I remember the dead grass beneath the car. I would walk barefoot over the gravel - couldn't do that now - and me and my buddy Will would pile in and listen to the radio with him. My eyes would squint as I walked out in the morning. Missouri in the summer, damn it was humid. We'd just sit in the car and roast.
We lived in a small town end to end it was a mile long, so we probably could've gotten away with taking it out, but a 302 with busted exhaust wasn't very quiet. It was dark and before we got home it was already known that we took it out. I think 5-6 of us piled in to the 73. He put it in gear, idled out of the driveway, and didn't turn on the lights until we were out of the driveway. I remember only 2 things: 1. the green dash lights were pretty much useless and 2. yea, we got in trouble or more accurately he got in trouble.
Fast forward to 10-12 years. I have never owned a Mustang. He's had more of them than I can care to recall now, but me, nope. I'm more of a Toyota guy. I'm still a Ford Fan, but I've got a soft spot for reliability and resale value. My obsession is more cars in general rather than one car. I check the blogs and magazine sites every day - multiple times daily, it's really a bit too much if I'm being honest. And let's get down to it, I can remember thinking about LandCruisers while in undergrad.
I spent so much time avoiding what I was supposed to do in college, which was actually read the chapters that were assigned and do the work in the first couple weeks rather than the last couple hours. It was the idea of something different. It was the idea of having something classy and something I could take cross country. And I love the fact that it holds its value when kept in good condition.
It only takes credit to get on a new expensive truck. I want to have something different. I want something that I can park next to a new Land Rover and not look out of place. I want something that I can take camping, skiing, haul the dogs in (and kids in the future), and drive 1000 miles back home. A Land Cruiser is the truck for me.
My introduction to LandCruisers came about when I wasn't really paying attention. I grew up wanting Mustangs. My older brother had a 73 and 65 before he was 16. Me, being 4yrs younger than my idle, I remember summers waking up to him sitting in his car and pissing off our neighbor. He would sit in the car, listening to the radio, and mashing the gas pedal. He wasn't 16 yet, remember. The car didn't leave the gravel driveway, more specifically it didn't leave the yard. I remember the dead grass beneath the car. I would walk barefoot over the gravel - couldn't do that now - and me and my buddy Will would pile in and listen to the radio with him. My eyes would squint as I walked out in the morning. Missouri in the summer, damn it was humid. We'd just sit in the car and roast.
We lived in a small town end to end it was a mile long, so we probably could've gotten away with taking it out, but a 302 with busted exhaust wasn't very quiet. It was dark and before we got home it was already known that we took it out. I think 5-6 of us piled in to the 73. He put it in gear, idled out of the driveway, and didn't turn on the lights until we were out of the driveway. I remember only 2 things: 1. the green dash lights were pretty much useless and 2. yea, we got in trouble or more accurately he got in trouble.
Fast forward to 10-12 years. I have never owned a Mustang. He's had more of them than I can care to recall now, but me, nope. I'm more of a Toyota guy. I'm still a Ford Fan, but I've got a soft spot for reliability and resale value. My obsession is more cars in general rather than one car. I check the blogs and magazine sites every day - multiple times daily, it's really a bit too much if I'm being honest. And let's get down to it, I can remember thinking about LandCruisers while in undergrad.
I spent so much time avoiding what I was supposed to do in college, which was actually read the chapters that were assigned and do the work in the first couple weeks rather than the last couple hours. It was the idea of something different. It was the idea of having something classy and something I could take cross country. And I love the fact that it holds its value when kept in good condition.
It only takes credit to get on a new expensive truck. I want to have something different. I want something that I can park next to a new Land Rover and not look out of place. I want something that I can take camping, skiing, haul the dogs in (and kids in the future), and drive 1000 miles back home. A Land Cruiser is the truck for me.
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