Junkyard Dog

Some people choose their daily drivers by comfort or performance.

There's another factor in our equation.

The junkyard.

If your gonna have an Armageddon vehicle,

cheap plentiful parts is key!

The check engine light was glowing on the wife's car.

Thankfully she warned me early on,

the car had a shudder and the light would blink.

Holey Chit...

With some family troubleshooting help,

The first thing checked was the fuel filter.

 I could barely blow through it.

Easy fix!

Nope...

It did seem to drive better,

but there was another gremlin.

After reading the manual and researching online,

the problem was one of 24 things.

For $20,

a local shop ran a diagnostic.

First time at a mechanic in 20 years!

Supposedly there's an OBD2 code reader that plugs into an iPhone,

I may look into that.

A definite timesaver,

the code pinpointed the problem to a misfire on cylinder 4,

The Ford 4.6 uses a separate ignition coil for each cylinder,

a trick design,

however they do burn out.

It was time to make a judgement call.

The part isn't really expensive,

$45-75 depending on the brand,

but there was a principle to uphold.

Our Mercury Grand Marquis was picked for multiple  reasons,

lotsa space,

and mass produced for cheaper parts.

The Ford Crown Victoria is used as taxis and cop cars.

There are literally tons of them at the junkyards.

We had to go.

The perfect donor was found,

a beat up P71 police interceptor.

Definitely on my next car to own list,

these are built way beefier then our cruiser.

I hoped a government car would have had better servicing then an old taxi.

The remaining coils were tested and pirated,

a whopping $60 for 5,

including the rubber boots!

Motorcraft brand not aftermarket junk.

Here's the bummer.

I really wanted Jakob to check out the place,

but no minors were allowed inside.

He was a trooper though and napped for the 20 minutes.

We had a good cruise regardless.

I ended up swapping out a couple coils.

The car ran great for the test drive.

So far our $1800 car has given us about 20k miles,

and besides 2 smog checks and a couple oil changes,

this was the first issue.

Keeping my fingers crossed!

TP

the day obecians ruled the earth

Yesterday was one of those almost rainy days,
the type that makes us southern californians drive like crazy,
and use as an excuse to not do any work.
Most of us anyway,
I did put some time into this electrical project,
and stayed off the road.

Perich Brothers at the OB Xmas Parade - 2013

After the drizzle the boys and I finished up errands,

and made it to the tail end of the OB XMAS Parade.

Obecians were lucky the clouds had parted just in time.

The parade was a bit of a surprise for the kids,

they thought we were going to get some Mexican food.

We parked a bit high on the hill,

and joined the swath of looky-loos funneling down to Newport.

We hung out at the staging area,
but got caught up in this funky marching drum circle,
complete with dancing girls and a hippy truck.
We followed the beat down to the beach.

perich  brothers - what the...

The kids were probably a bit overwhelmed,
as OB does not host your normal christmas parade.
What other city has stripper poles on a dragon float?
That's what makes it fun.
Not many spectators are sitting in their lawn chairs,
young and old,
many are wearing some kind of xmas cheer,
and most are enjoying a red-nosed buzz.
Sure they might be overwhelmed now,
but let's see what happens in a year or too...
Holey Chit...


I told you we were following this drum beat!
There were enough change-ups so it never got old.
Heck I'm glad to have these videos for later!

f100 float

t







It was a good time although sadly without our girls.
Very concentrated and very brief.
In the old days this would have marked the time to start partying.
Now its the time to go home, warm up and flip on a movie!

Hay wey!

TP

ultimate armageddon vehicle - VW baja bug

The boys and I rallied up for the swap meet this morning,
and pics of this bitchin little baja bug was about all we took home.

bug-eye vw baja bug - 1967?

What a simple recipe for all around transportation,
and a great way to salvage a wrecked beetle.
These are the model T's of my generation.
They used to be common,
I've had at least 3 that I remember.
The perfect gearhead car.

VW Baja Bug

Many "back in the day" memories with these things.
You could swap an engine using skateboards or bricks.
The "how to keep your volkswagen alive" book was the bible.
If your ever in need of a good read go get it.
Good stuff even if you don't have a VW.

ultimate armageddon vehicle - VW baja bug

I've always liked the narrow or bug-eye kit.
Supposedly allows room for bigger front tires.
This one had super straight body and looked like an old build.
These are the cars that feel like they're flying after 60MPH,
those cut down fenders act like wings.

baja bug interior

Definitely high on the list of Ultimate Armageddon Vehicles.

TP

deja vu at the BIG 3 - 2013

This years BIG 3 swap meet was the typical curve ball.
Every year is the same but different.
Last year I was thrashing on the chocolate & cheese roadster,
the year before this area was flooded and closed down,
the year before that there was a good steady rain all weekend.

cousin brandon slinging at the BIG 3 swap meet san diego

Like I wrote a couple days ago,
this was the year of the conscious procrastinator.
I waited til the very end to get everything together,
and in a (not bad) way paid the price.
**************************************

#21 for possibly the last oldies month installment.
- four seasons - big girls don't cry
Yeah what a way to end the month but here it is!

**************************************
First off...
Remember when I told you that our RPU Chief had battery issues?
Well after starting it up a couple nights ago,
the poor thing also ran out of gas.
Basically Jakob and I would have been stuck about a block away,
which would have been way worse than the 15 minute jump-start frenzy.
We got off lucky!

krown rockers - big 3 - 2013

This year the layout was really sparse.
The swap spaces were sold out,
but many sellers didn't feel like braving the 70 degree so-cal winter.
The buyers weren't as thick either.
Tough with craigslist and ebay taking over the market.

big 3 swap meet 2013 - san diego

Not to say there weren't some good deals.
This is the place to go for the guys that aren't internet friendly.
Part of the fun is in the search and actually talking to someone.

1939 ford deluxe sedan

Another cool aspect is seeing where these parts should end up,
as a car or truck.
To many of the sellers,
the Big 3 is more of a car show than a parts swap.

1954 studebaker pickup truck

The rusty 40 has some patina competition with these two.

30's buick i think

This was a cool 80's Sportsmobile Ford van.
Not sure the differences between the quadravan.
I'd love a diesel version.
The perfect armageddon vehicle.

ford sportsmobile 4x4 van

Here's something my cousin-in-law Brandon was drooling over all weekend.
A sweet custom paint 1978 honda 110cc pull-start ATC.
If it had started he'd have brought it home.

1978 honda 110 ATC

These are so off my radar.
After a couple walk-by's,
I started seeing parts of these things all over the place.
Didn't realize they had such a cult status.

1978 honda ATC 110

I'm really glad we brought the old dock cart.
This year we really scoured the swap meet,
doing a thorough walk a couple times each day.
Basically I'd sell something and go for a stroll,
picking up something else that had caught my eye.
I haven't done that much walking in a long time.

aluminum dock cart

Our friend Mario had brought this beater Schwinn Stingray to sell.

We had made a handshake deal early on,

and man it was a lifesaver for the kid(s).

Instead of trudging behind me in sheer agony,

the bike made it much more fun.

They'd either pull one another on the skateboard,

or try to outsmart the security guards.

Now it's home.

Gotta work that thing off now on one of Mario's rides!

70's schwinn stingray

So let's see what else we scrounged up other than that bellhousing and multimeter.

skateboard parts score

A friend Victor was basically giving this skate stuff away.
I hadn't seen him in years so it was great to catch up.
That blank is really cool fiberglassed with the stringers.

saginaw 3-speed overdrive transmissions

This is where my scores took a bit of a wrong turn.
The guy I got the chromed bellhousing from had these saginaw transmissions.
He basically gave them away and I couldn't resist.
This was exactly what I didn't need - heavy and dirty.
The gear oil leaked all over the cart and the van.
Whatever I couldn't pass them up I love these OD transmissions.

ford wheels

The only thing I was really on the hunt for was that ford rim on the bottom.
A 15 inch 5x4.5 inch lug pattern.
Impossibly more difficult to find than they should be.
Years ago I scrapped these things.
One guy wanted $180 for a pair!
I found this one for cheap and never found the second.
The other wheels are 14 inch,
and really I should have passed on them even for the $10!

victor j-28 +  j-27 + 550-j torch set

My best score was this Victor torch set.
I've got too many of the big 315 versions,
and have always wanted the smaller style,
mainly for brazing or gas welding.
Someday I'll get a jeweler's  torch too.

VICTOR 315 vs j28 vs j27 vs 100 torch

Here is a good comparison of how little the j28 is next to the 315,
the two cutting torches on top.
The yellow capped one is the j27,
and the bottom is the medium duty 100 series.
For guys that weld/braze for hours these light torches must be a relief to use.
The bummer is the little torches also use a smaller hose fitting.
Another bummer is I don't do as much gas welding right now,
but these could change that!

big 3 swap meet

Wow got a little distracted there!
For next year I'm gonna try to get my own space,
instead of taking over Brandon's!
I've got some ideas to go a little bigger,
so we'll see how that works out as the year goes by.
Always a good time..

TP

diesel quadravan

At the local big box hardware store
we parked next to this cool ford quadravan.
This one had the diesel,
kinda hard to find in the van form.

2002 ford quadravan

The owner showed up as I was shooting the pictures,
and we found out he ordered it brand new.
Lucky guy!

ford vans

For cost per mile,
ours is still a deal,
since it was free!

TP

not in the weeds

With our dreams of outrunning a tsunami in the old van dashed,
we headed back from the mountaintop,
with just enough time to play with the 40's front suspension.

custom spring compressor

The spring was installed without too much fuss.

stool time

I was waiting for the axle to pretzel with the force of the spring.
Nope.
First test passed.

removing tie rod ends

A couple weeks ago I had disassembled all the front end parts,
ran out of time and jammed them under the car.
The wheels were still joined by the tie rod,
not the easiest way to store them.
Time to get them apart.

The first person to comment on the proper way to remove a tie rod,
with a hammer,
gets a special care package straight from PERICH B&S central!

the office

Everything was set and ready to go.
The spring was looking a little tall at this point,
but there were enough modifications with the axle,
I had to see if it was going to work.

scar

The second test -
putting the load on the worst possible part of the customized axle!

jacked

The 40 was finally suspended off the frame.
No snapping or twisting of the axle.

stool time

I rushed to put on the spindle...

gasser style!

Only to find out the front was now higher than when I had started!
Cool for a gasser but not what I was hoping.

holey chit

Okay let's take all this chit back out...

spring disassembly

This spring had been sitting in the middle walkway for two weeks.
Seriously not on the side or under the car,
but right in the center of the walkway.
I'd actually back Chief in until the rear wheel hit the spring.

Every time I stumbled on it I thought of lowering it.
I needed to make sure it wouldn't be too low first,
or was I just being lazy?

curve

No problem - reversing the main leaf spring eye is easy,
a great "how to"!
First make a chalk line of the original curve.

custom spring jig

This pipe bender is used more often in this direction
than in the tube bender position.
The spring isn't riding on the bare receiver cylinder,
there's a special form on it.

flat

The first pass straightened it out almost perfect.

reversed eye main leaf

The second pass was almost perfect.
Only a couple little wobbly parts that were easy to bump out.

grease monkey

The spring had the plastic sliders inbetween the leaves,
which I planned to reuse.
This was still the best and hopefully only chance I'd have to clean each leaf.
The ends were rounded out a bit and the rust wire-wheeled off.

reversed eye spring pack

This spring pack had 11 leaves,
and the 3rd one looked like it was not original,
almost the same size as the 4th one.
I removed it and a smaller one to give it a little more flex,
and hopefully lower it as well.

The second leaf was also trimmed about 1/4" on each side,
as it jammed into the corners of the eyes.

deja vu

All greased up the spring was reinstalled,
and it was time to test the axle again.

This picture shows why I replaced the flathead.
The underneath looks all rusty,
but it's actually all the rusty steam residue from the many boilovers!

street rod!

As the sun went down I rushed to get the wheels on.
This was almost exactly what I had hoped to see.
Not in the weeds or too slammed like the rusty 40,
but a simple hot rod stance.
Just enough space away from the lip,
and the tire almost in line with the fender curve.

As usual working to the 34 watt bulb!
On the ground,
the 40 had a way better stance than last month.
There's no tie rod so tricky to push out easily,
and it was getting too dark to get a good view or picture.
In the morning I can't wait to see how it really looks,
and I'll do a quick update!

TP