Weekend Update

What the...

Yes!

We're still here!!

Got some stories to tell...

More soon!

TP

Bye sweet Mazda...

It drives my wife crazy,

cause I live my life without a plan,

however there is a framework or outline,

the details get filled in as time goes by.

One of the bullet points during this PDX adventure,

was to find a cheap truck,

something that would lessen the wear and tear

on our 1 ton van,

and could be passed down to Jaxon or Jakob.

I wrote earlier how this was the screamin $300 deal,

and even with used tires and various parts,

the price didn't break the $500 mark.

We had some good times,

at least 800 miles of them!

The van woulda been ran down 

learning the streets of Portland,

not to mention the Mazda was a gas sipper.

We got through the snow weeks,

much more fun than driving the van,

which could get unruly with the extra weight.

The little truck drove great with chains.

Most of those miles were due to craigslist scrounging,

one of the best ways to learn a city.

There are some great places hidden in town.

It'll be more fun when the family is up!

Behind the scenes,

we were heading to a deadline.

While it was a bulletproof rig,

there were some annoying issues.

It loved to dribble oil,

leaving its mark like it was an old Harley or hot rod.

I changed the crank pulley seal,

and even changed the oil pan gasket.

Even then there was a random leak.

Besides that,

it wasn't the cleanest running engine.

The original 2000cc was swapped for a 2200cc,

and had clues of a tweaker or beginner mechanic.

Gobs of RTV, 

half the exhaust was missing,

a bad driveshaft carrier bearing,

and a mystery scraping sound.

The registration was up in April,

and the goal was to either pass smog/deq,

or send it down the road.

Well I didn't mean that literally.

Every trip to SD,

I'd leave it in this spot,

across from the Max/trolley stop.

After the 4th time,

I musta got too comfortable.

The truck was gone!!

Well what did I expect.

The spot is across from a bar and mechanic shop,

on the main drag that goes through town.

Holey... Chit.

Fortunately I had the hot rod!

Good ole reliable got me to work that week...

More later!

TP

Chief goes to the snow

You may have heard of the cold front

that hit the northwest area...

Perfect time to get Chief off the trailer!

Miles in rain, fog, heat and bitter cold,

but this was the first time in snow.

I finally found out what was eating the travel food.

Looks like a rabbit unless it's a squirrel?

The snow pack was low,

and much of the roads were icy.

There were city-wide shutdowns.

Earlier in the month we'd taken this driving class from "Pro-Drive"

using skid cars that simulate slippery conditions.

Just like driving in the sand...

No problem!

The big van was more sketchy in the ice,

as once it slides there's some good momentum.

The hot rod had the skinny bias plies,

very little traction!!

Still a lot of fun.

People were like wtf...

The belly pan keeps the cab toasty.

Dry snow is way better than wet rain!

The biggest issue was the 6-volt system,

the batteries didn't like to start the old flathead at first,

especially since it had sat for so long.

Once it was running daily there was no problem.

If you've heard,

Oregoners don't pump their own gas.

When I pulled up in the hot rod,

the guy just handed me the nozzle.

It was a rare comfort,

just like being back home.

TP

How to blow $500

There are 2 ways to blow $500...

The first way is the easiest,

rent a car hauler from u-haul.

A 5-day one way was $472 pretax and insurance.

Yea right...

The second path takes a little more work.

First search craigslist and look for car haulers.

Not much in the sub-$500 category,

however this gem was the perfect start for $300...

Time was fleeting,

so a family gathering doubled as project day.

Which also spread child labor to anyone under 16.

Hey they teach everything you need to know 

in nursery school!

Jaxon was my right hand man,

a two day job took 6 hours.

While I knocked out the metal frame,

he cut and treated the cheap lumber.

I used my dad's welder back in 1991,

making a rear shock mount on my '53 chevy,

and also filling holes in the engine bay.

Probably the first welding project.

If I'd only known...

I ended up running out of wire as the light faded,

leaving about 1" of unfinished weld.

No single bulb for this project,

but we did have two iphone lights!

In a way that worked out for the better,

as this winch would have been welded on,

an unnecessary extravagance.

Sure looks purty with the red stain huh!?

That lasted about a day!

The best christening is a 2750 lb scrap load.

That's how it works,

build something to pay for itself!

The baby 13" tires were screaming for mercy,

hundreds of pounds past their weight capacity.

After overloading the trailer,

I realized there was no way 

this could haul Chief 1000 miles.

Back at the shop,

I torched off the fenders and found some 15" rims.

Used trailer tires were $50 at the local llantería.

That decision led to this pic...

I'd also fabbed up some ramps,

but ran out of daylight to make proper hooks.

I had time to paint the wood red though!

Doh...

Fortunately the kids were there to help,

and fortunately Chief is made damn strong.

The trailer made it up no problem.

The LA 5 was a brutal potholed mess,

there were times I bumped down to 40mph!

The rest of the way the van 

forgot the trailer was back there.

The first 2 weeks the investment paid off.

I'd have dumped the load if using uhaul.

Yea,

the bike was there the whole way too!

Later on the package was stashed 

among other trailers.

The car cover repeatedly blew off,

but a local guy kept covering it up.

I didn't realize til weeks later,

just figured it was a dang good design!

Finally a real windstorm hit,

and the cover was blown a 100 yards away.

I was lucky it snagged on a tree,

as it woulda flown into the river.

It took about 3 minutes to tie it down,

using scrap line from the van.

All buttoned up for the once a year snow...

It was time to finally finish this project.

Two hours and ramp hooks were welded up,

using scrap angle iron.

The keys to the castle...

The grand total was about $485 -

trailer/tires/wood/jack/metal/paint...

less $240 from the scrap aluminum and steel,

and absorbing the dozen work hours,

this was a way better deal.

Now to get chief off that trailer!

TP

Chief gets brakes...

About a month ago 

I got invited to this roadster run.

Not me really the old hot rod...

I'll admit it's not up to mechanical par,

the brakes were a bit suspect,

especially for a mountainous trek.

So the night before I get to fixing it...

Break out the little bulb!

I'd actually started fixing it in the daytime,

and spent way too long 

searching for my special hub puller.

A fruitless search,

plan B was to scrap up a custom job.

I've never used this puller as it was,

and now that it's customized,

I'm sure I'll soon need it in it's original configuration.

The puller worked perfectly,

on the drivers side...POP!

The slave cylinder was definitely crusty,

probably hadn't worked properly in a couple years...

The passenger side was a no go,

and that was the actual problem area...

I tried mapp gas heat, 

hammering,

driving around with a loose axle nut...

Well I ended up missing the reliability run...

The sticky rear brake was a carry over problem

even before the great teardown of 2012.

I'll blame it on a salty drive at Pismo Beach,

waaay back in 2007 actually.

Salt tears up a car...TROGers will see!

So this weekend was a car show up in LA.

Figured I'd not procrastinate this time.

Took it to the shop,

and POP! all it needed was some real heat,

even if only for 15 seconds.

Wow...

All this time I thought '40 juice brakes

were a little weak,

when it was running basically on fronts only!

:/

I ended up missing the LA show,

but now ole Chief is a solid runner,

and every day is a car show in a daily driver.

Finally found the old puller too...

An example of 20 year old fab skills.

Sheesh!

TP