Beverly Hillbillies, Part Deux
Moderators: rickf, raymond, Mr. Recovery
Re: Beverly Hillbillies, Part Deux
I'm afraid this one is going into retirement, Rick.
Re: Beverly Hillbillies, Part Deux
Unless you get another winter like your last one?
1964 M151A1
1984 M1008
1967 M416
04/1952 M100
12/1952 M100- Departed
AN/TSQ-114A Trailblazer- Gone
1984 M1008
1967 M416
04/1952 M100
12/1952 M100- Departed
AN/TSQ-114A Trailblazer- Gone
Re: Beverly Hillbillies, Part Deux
I'm from Ohio... Remember? Days, or weeks, or a month of cold really doesn't bother me. Just means putting on another layer of clothing.
Now wait for me to whine about it, later..
Cause you KNOW I will!
Of course, not much is being said right now, about the problems some folks will have affording heating fuels this winter.
Judging by the small forest you have cut and piled up, I reckon you're planning on avoiding all that nonsense.
Now wait for me to whine about it, later..
Cause you KNOW I will!Of course, not much is being said right now, about the problems some folks will have affording heating fuels this winter.
Judging by the small forest you have cut and piled up, I reckon you're planning on avoiding all that nonsense.
Re: Beverly Hillbillies, Part Deux
I do not plan on freezing this winter. And I did not cut it, not this year anyway. That was all the wood that was at the shop that we closed up when the owner passed. He heated that with wood also. He had two stove in there at one time but the fire marshal and the insurance company made him take out the one in the shop calling it a fire hazard. That wood is really dry so it will burn a bit hotter and faster than I like.
1964 M151A1
1984 M1008
1967 M416
04/1952 M100
12/1952 M100- Departed
AN/TSQ-114A Trailblazer- Gone
1984 M1008
1967 M416
04/1952 M100
12/1952 M100- Departed
AN/TSQ-114A Trailblazer- Gone
Re: Beverly Hillbillies, Part Deux
Halloween is just days away.
Decorations up?
CHECK!
Music playlist and bluetooth speakers to set the mood?
CHECK!
Big bowl of candy for the kiddies?
CHECK!
Contemplate the realization that you're the ONLY house on the block and that parents usually drop their kids off to Trick-or-Treat in high density neighborhoods so, likely as not, you'll be enjoying all that candy, yourself?
CHECK!
Happy Halloween!
Cheers,
TJ
There's always something goin' on at the Beverly Hillbillies'..
Decorations up?
CHECK!
Music playlist and bluetooth speakers to set the mood?
CHECK!
Big bowl of candy for the kiddies?
CHECK!
Contemplate the realization that you're the ONLY house on the block and that parents usually drop their kids off to Trick-or-Treat in high density neighborhoods so, likely as not, you'll be enjoying all that candy, yourself?
CHECK!
Happy Halloween!
Cheers,
TJ
There's always something goin' on at the Beverly Hillbillies'..
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de officiis
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- Joined: September 12th, 2020, 12:58 pm
Re: Beverly Hillbillies, Part Deux
It's really a shame that you get only a few trick-or-treaters with a yard like that!
Re: Beverly Hillbillies, Part Deux
Well, thank you for the sentiment. Still, it's really only just Halloween and not the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.
So, while waiting for my fuel regulator to arrive, I've busied myself with the odds and ends needing to be done on the half track. One of the biggies was re-installing the idler arm stop screws.
Now, if you aren't familiar with the half track's suspension, on each side there are two big wheels and lots of little wheels in between them. The forward-most wheel is the drive wheel (with a sprocket in the center) and the rear-most wheel is the idler. It doesn't drive anything. Its main job is to keep the track tensioned properly and also have some 'give' to allow for the various forces that act upon the track while the vehicle is in motion, while at the same time guiding the track as it comes up off the ground and begins its journey forward while the vehicle rolls forward over the portion of the track that is upon the ground.
Most of us take the business of having tracks at face value but there are a lot of forces that act upon all the bits and pieces that motivate track-laying vehicles and the idler plays an equally important part to that of the drive wheel. However, with pieces as mobile as the idler wheel on the idler arm, it becomes necessary to place some limitations upon movement so as not to damage the other components.
Enter, the Idler Arm Stop Screw. As you might have already surmised, it's a screw AND it's a darned big one. Like everything else on the half track, it's also bloody heavy and worth its weight in gold bullion. It may surprise you to find that it is not only a Gazinta, but it also (occasionally) falls into the classification of Gozunda. But before we get too deeply into that, let's go alllll the way back to when the Doom Buggy was in my life. Heck, that's even pre-Gama Goat!
Well, for some reason I had it in my mind that even though my half track wasn't running at the time, it soon would be (Yeah, yeah....I know. Don't say it.) So, while I was waiting for the fairies to come and magically UN-stick my engine's valves (which, as we all know, is something that did NOT happen) I began doing a very few small jobs on the half track; one of which was meant to be removing the stop screws, cleaning them up, inspecting them and then reinstalling them. At that time they were immobilized by dirt, rust, paint, old tape, old age....all of the above.
I think I also felt, deep down, that I felt guilty. I had ignored my half track for far too long and a certain amount of scourging would be good penance for that sort of stupidity and what could be a better way to scourge one's self than to R&R an idler arm stop screw? Well, the answer to that question is - R&R-ing TWO idler arm stop screws.
Yeah! Just tie me to the whipping post...and build a little fire under me while you're at it!
It doesn't take much to immobilize an idler arm stop screw. First, they're a very large diameter, fine-thread screw, which means when they DO become immobilized, there is about 3.625 acres of surface area that will be all hung up inside the 2" deep, threaded bracket that they screw into. And, you can be assured that the portion of the screw that is not 'IN THERE' is also just so screwed up beyond all recognition that it couldn't go 'IN THERE' if it wanted to....and that ends up being about 96.375 more acres that would require attention before anything would move ANY WHICH WAY.
In addition, the stop screws just happen to live in the very best place for them to catch every little bit of road debris, mud, doggy doo-doo, chewed bubble gum and what-have-you; whatever the tracks might pick up and fling onto the bottom of the half track as they roll over the idler wheel. That's where the stop screws are and that's what they get fed a steady diet of... Sh....
You might recall that earlier, I mentioned tape. Yeah, TAPE. Tape was the U.S. Army's genius solution to keep idler arm stop screws from being irretrievably soiled. Well, let me tell ya, like old, blue, painter's tape which becomes 'something else' after 10 years, old, black, cloth, electrical tape REALLY becomes 'something else' after 75 years!
At that point, it's no longer part of a solution...it's part of the problem!
So, the job of cleaning out all those millions of miles threads became a long, protracted job that involved laying on my back under the southern end of a northbound half track, on cardboard that was too thin, over gravel that was too big, with my arms extended awkwardly upward to run a drill fitted with a wire brush, on, and over everything while all the debris of the ages dribbled down on me. Despite employing a full face shield, safety glasses (and finally, goggles) and with pursed lips and the occasional pffft to clear the bits of 'Only-God-Knows-What' that always seemed to gather on my mouth....well, friends, the only thing missing was a masked kidnapper standing over me, shoveling dirt onto my body with one hand while talking to the cops on a cel phone with the other hand and telling them they would never find me in time before my air ran out..
Take it from me. Scourging does NOT build character.
Neither does picking the tiny bits of paint debris out of fine threads with a tiny pick... because 2" of finely threaded idler arm stop screw bracket is NOT the place where you want to get jammed up. Nope! After a very long time I concluded that I had done everything possible to get those screws about as good as they were going to get.
So, I got out the bloody big socket and the bloody big ratchet and the bloody big wrench and I painted those screws with PB Blaster (all of these things are condiments for eating an elephant) and I commenced to eating that elephant in small bites; working each big screw IN a half turn and OUT a half turn and wiping away whatever might come out either end. This went on for, oh...just about forever and everything was absolutely horrid because the last fellow who ran those screws in must have had muscles like Popeye the Sailor Man. I was pulling on a ratchet that was at least 2 feet long and STRUGGLING!
Things got a lot better once I got the areas of the threads I had already cleaned into the bracket. There was still a ton of interference because you cannot clean something OUT that you can't get INTO...but, it was better. That wasn't much consolation because, by then, I was nearly spent. I recall that my shoulders felt ruined for about a week after the job was finally over. But I got them out....which is the opposite of 'gazinta'. Gazinta would come later.. which brings us to the past few days of twiddling my thumbs while waiting for parts.
I know many of you are not terribly familiar with half tracks but I will pose the following question to you anyway. Do you know what you must have before you can 'gazinta' your idler arm stop screws back into a half track?
That's right! You've got to have the idler arm stop screws!
Where the HELL did I put the idler arm stop screws? Thus began a long, protracted search for those two plus-sized screws. They didn't just get up and WALK AWAY! So, I did what any intelligent person would do. I went about my business and all the while, pretended I wasn't actually looking. I tidied things up here and there and actually found some pretty neat stuff I had squirreled away and had long since forgotten.
You always find the thing you're looking for in the last place you look. You would think, at some point, I would finally become intelligent enough to look in the last place FIRST and find the object of my desire immediately but then, think of all the neat stuff I might NOT find along the way. Of course, I could avoid the whole issue altogether and simply look in one more place AFTER I find whatever it is I'm looking for.
But, I digress.
Three days later, I found my idler arm stop screws.. THREE DAYS!
Right
Where
I
Had
Left
Them.
Why did I not find them sooner? Well, Dear Reader, because idler arm stop screws are ALSO a Gozunda.
I found them under many layers of stuff that I had placed on top of them and I will say, most emphatically, that not one of those things that the idler arm stop screws gozunda were nearly as important as the screws themselves. There's a lesson to be learned in that.... somewhere. Naturally, that lesson will continue to elude me.
In the Plus Column was the fact that the screws were not only reasonably clean, but also packed in a ZipLoc bag with one of my handy-dandy little desiccant packets. So they were nearly ready to go back in.
I still wonder why DESICCANT is spelled with one S and two C's instead of the other way around. It just looks odd.
I got my Dremel tool out, fitted it with a tiny wire brush and scrubbed the bracket's interior until the threads gleamed. I also gave the screws a ride on the wire wheel after a bath in PB Blaster and then I carefully trued up a few threads with a very fine file. With that all done and another final wipe down with PB I put the jam nuts back on and installed the stop screws. They went in by hand! Well, that's news worth writing about! Ten thousand turns later, everything was in.
Five minutes after that, with a fresh cup of coffee in front of me, I determined that the jam nuts should have gone on the screw AFTER it passed through the bracket.
I'm gonna need therapy.
I snuck back out to the half track after dark and I removed the screws and the jam nuts and put everything back the way it was supposed to be and....they look pretty good if I must say so myself. They're so nice and clean. It's going to be a real shame to cover them up....with tape. Well, that'll be the next guy's problem.
Cheers,
TJ
So, while waiting for my fuel regulator to arrive, I've busied myself with the odds and ends needing to be done on the half track. One of the biggies was re-installing the idler arm stop screws.
Now, if you aren't familiar with the half track's suspension, on each side there are two big wheels and lots of little wheels in between them. The forward-most wheel is the drive wheel (with a sprocket in the center) and the rear-most wheel is the idler. It doesn't drive anything. Its main job is to keep the track tensioned properly and also have some 'give' to allow for the various forces that act upon the track while the vehicle is in motion, while at the same time guiding the track as it comes up off the ground and begins its journey forward while the vehicle rolls forward over the portion of the track that is upon the ground.
Most of us take the business of having tracks at face value but there are a lot of forces that act upon all the bits and pieces that motivate track-laying vehicles and the idler plays an equally important part to that of the drive wheel. However, with pieces as mobile as the idler wheel on the idler arm, it becomes necessary to place some limitations upon movement so as not to damage the other components.
Enter, the Idler Arm Stop Screw. As you might have already surmised, it's a screw AND it's a darned big one. Like everything else on the half track, it's also bloody heavy and worth its weight in gold bullion. It may surprise you to find that it is not only a Gazinta, but it also (occasionally) falls into the classification of Gozunda. But before we get too deeply into that, let's go alllll the way back to when the Doom Buggy was in my life. Heck, that's even pre-Gama Goat!
Well, for some reason I had it in my mind that even though my half track wasn't running at the time, it soon would be (Yeah, yeah....I know. Don't say it.) So, while I was waiting for the fairies to come and magically UN-stick my engine's valves (which, as we all know, is something that did NOT happen) I began doing a very few small jobs on the half track; one of which was meant to be removing the stop screws, cleaning them up, inspecting them and then reinstalling them. At that time they were immobilized by dirt, rust, paint, old tape, old age....all of the above.
I think I also felt, deep down, that I felt guilty. I had ignored my half track for far too long and a certain amount of scourging would be good penance for that sort of stupidity and what could be a better way to scourge one's self than to R&R an idler arm stop screw? Well, the answer to that question is - R&R-ing TWO idler arm stop screws.
Yeah! Just tie me to the whipping post...and build a little fire under me while you're at it!
It doesn't take much to immobilize an idler arm stop screw. First, they're a very large diameter, fine-thread screw, which means when they DO become immobilized, there is about 3.625 acres of surface area that will be all hung up inside the 2" deep, threaded bracket that they screw into. And, you can be assured that the portion of the screw that is not 'IN THERE' is also just so screwed up beyond all recognition that it couldn't go 'IN THERE' if it wanted to....and that ends up being about 96.375 more acres that would require attention before anything would move ANY WHICH WAY.
In addition, the stop screws just happen to live in the very best place for them to catch every little bit of road debris, mud, doggy doo-doo, chewed bubble gum and what-have-you; whatever the tracks might pick up and fling onto the bottom of the half track as they roll over the idler wheel. That's where the stop screws are and that's what they get fed a steady diet of... Sh....
You might recall that earlier, I mentioned tape. Yeah, TAPE. Tape was the U.S. Army's genius solution to keep idler arm stop screws from being irretrievably soiled. Well, let me tell ya, like old, blue, painter's tape which becomes 'something else' after 10 years, old, black, cloth, electrical tape REALLY becomes 'something else' after 75 years!
At that point, it's no longer part of a solution...it's part of the problem!
So, the job of cleaning out all those millions of miles threads became a long, protracted job that involved laying on my back under the southern end of a northbound half track, on cardboard that was too thin, over gravel that was too big, with my arms extended awkwardly upward to run a drill fitted with a wire brush, on, and over everything while all the debris of the ages dribbled down on me. Despite employing a full face shield, safety glasses (and finally, goggles) and with pursed lips and the occasional pffft to clear the bits of 'Only-God-Knows-What' that always seemed to gather on my mouth....well, friends, the only thing missing was a masked kidnapper standing over me, shoveling dirt onto my body with one hand while talking to the cops on a cel phone with the other hand and telling them they would never find me in time before my air ran out..
Take it from me. Scourging does NOT build character.
Neither does picking the tiny bits of paint debris out of fine threads with a tiny pick... because 2" of finely threaded idler arm stop screw bracket is NOT the place where you want to get jammed up. Nope! After a very long time I concluded that I had done everything possible to get those screws about as good as they were going to get.
So, I got out the bloody big socket and the bloody big ratchet and the bloody big wrench and I painted those screws with PB Blaster (all of these things are condiments for eating an elephant) and I commenced to eating that elephant in small bites; working each big screw IN a half turn and OUT a half turn and wiping away whatever might come out either end. This went on for, oh...just about forever and everything was absolutely horrid because the last fellow who ran those screws in must have had muscles like Popeye the Sailor Man. I was pulling on a ratchet that was at least 2 feet long and STRUGGLING!
Things got a lot better once I got the areas of the threads I had already cleaned into the bracket. There was still a ton of interference because you cannot clean something OUT that you can't get INTO...but, it was better. That wasn't much consolation because, by then, I was nearly spent. I recall that my shoulders felt ruined for about a week after the job was finally over. But I got them out....which is the opposite of 'gazinta'. Gazinta would come later.. which brings us to the past few days of twiddling my thumbs while waiting for parts.
I know many of you are not terribly familiar with half tracks but I will pose the following question to you anyway. Do you know what you must have before you can 'gazinta' your idler arm stop screws back into a half track?
That's right! You've got to have the idler arm stop screws!
Where the HELL did I put the idler arm stop screws? Thus began a long, protracted search for those two plus-sized screws. They didn't just get up and WALK AWAY! So, I did what any intelligent person would do. I went about my business and all the while, pretended I wasn't actually looking. I tidied things up here and there and actually found some pretty neat stuff I had squirreled away and had long since forgotten.
You always find the thing you're looking for in the last place you look. You would think, at some point, I would finally become intelligent enough to look in the last place FIRST and find the object of my desire immediately but then, think of all the neat stuff I might NOT find along the way. Of course, I could avoid the whole issue altogether and simply look in one more place AFTER I find whatever it is I'm looking for.
But, I digress.
Three days later, I found my idler arm stop screws.. THREE DAYS!
Right
Where
I
Had
Left
Them.
Why did I not find them sooner? Well, Dear Reader, because idler arm stop screws are ALSO a Gozunda.
I found them under many layers of stuff that I had placed on top of them and I will say, most emphatically, that not one of those things that the idler arm stop screws gozunda were nearly as important as the screws themselves. There's a lesson to be learned in that.... somewhere. Naturally, that lesson will continue to elude me.
In the Plus Column was the fact that the screws were not only reasonably clean, but also packed in a ZipLoc bag with one of my handy-dandy little desiccant packets. So they were nearly ready to go back in.
I still wonder why DESICCANT is spelled with one S and two C's instead of the other way around. It just looks odd.
I got my Dremel tool out, fitted it with a tiny wire brush and scrubbed the bracket's interior until the threads gleamed. I also gave the screws a ride on the wire wheel after a bath in PB Blaster and then I carefully trued up a few threads with a very fine file. With that all done and another final wipe down with PB I put the jam nuts back on and installed the stop screws. They went in by hand! Well, that's news worth writing about! Ten thousand turns later, everything was in.
Five minutes after that, with a fresh cup of coffee in front of me, I determined that the jam nuts should have gone on the screw AFTER it passed through the bracket.
I'm gonna need therapy.
I snuck back out to the half track after dark and I removed the screws and the jam nuts and put everything back the way it was supposed to be and....they look pretty good if I must say so myself. They're so nice and clean. It's going to be a real shame to cover them up....with tape. Well, that'll be the next guy's problem.
Cheers,
TJ
Re: Beverly Hillbillies, Part Deux
Halloween got picked up and put away (hooray!) and it was time to do something about the tree growing up out of Nails' front bumper.
The fact is, you can get away with a lot of weirdness around Halloween but come Christmas-time, folks naturally expect others to tighten things up. The tree was going to have to be removed so that the 47 Ford looked like a bit less than what it actually is; a boneyard refugee parked on the street in front of my house which, of course, is a no-no. But, we have Christmas decoration plans for it so, it will remain there a bit longer.
We'll see how long I can keep the Code Compliance folks bamboozled.
Things began with a straight horizontal cut with a circular saw. That cut's depth was completed by a reciprocating saw on the same line and off came the bird house. The metal plate was used to shield the nose of the car from being peppered by the reciprocating saw blade just in case I went too deep.
The trunk becomes thicker at the bottom so I followed up on the first cuts with a series of bore holes with a yard sale bit which were connected by use of the reciprocating saw.
I wanted to cut this down further because the valance behind the bumper was encapsulated by the tree and we needed to free that up. The driver's side bumperette was removed and I was able to make another horizontal cut with the circular saw moving directly across the top of the bumper's top edge. I might have skipped all of the steps above but I felt that I needed to be able to see things a bit better. After all...
Caution is the better part of valor.
The valance had been punched in, due to some previous accident and so the shape of its leading edge was unpredictable. I had some luck in removing the wood with careful use of the circular saw because, despite the edge's irregularity, I never dinged it. After that it was a matter of using a wood chisel and a mallet to sneak up on it and finally, I was able to lever it up and out of the wood.
After that, it was only necessary to remove the bumper mounts from the chassis and the whole thing came off very nicely. Afterwards, I ground off the face of the single bumper bolt that was fully encapsulated by the tree and unreachable from the back side and finally, the bumper was free of the tree! And this is what I was left with...
I'm toying with the idea that just tossing this in a fire might be the best bet but I'm not sure I want those bumper mounts superheated so perhaps some judicious cutting with a reciprocating saw might be the most efficient way to go (the blade almost certainly won't survive the work to be done). In the meantime, I'll just stare at it for a while. A better method will come to me.
However I manage to do it, it's going to be really weird. After all, this is not the kind of job one gets to do every day so, a little creativity goes a long way.
Cheers,
TJ
The fact is, you can get away with a lot of weirdness around Halloween but come Christmas-time, folks naturally expect others to tighten things up. The tree was going to have to be removed so that the 47 Ford looked like a bit less than what it actually is; a boneyard refugee parked on the street in front of my house which, of course, is a no-no. But, we have Christmas decoration plans for it so, it will remain there a bit longer.
We'll see how long I can keep the Code Compliance folks bamboozled.
Things began with a straight horizontal cut with a circular saw. That cut's depth was completed by a reciprocating saw on the same line and off came the bird house. The metal plate was used to shield the nose of the car from being peppered by the reciprocating saw blade just in case I went too deep.
The trunk becomes thicker at the bottom so I followed up on the first cuts with a series of bore holes with a yard sale bit which were connected by use of the reciprocating saw.
I wanted to cut this down further because the valance behind the bumper was encapsulated by the tree and we needed to free that up. The driver's side bumperette was removed and I was able to make another horizontal cut with the circular saw moving directly across the top of the bumper's top edge. I might have skipped all of the steps above but I felt that I needed to be able to see things a bit better. After all...
Caution is the better part of valor.
The valance had been punched in, due to some previous accident and so the shape of its leading edge was unpredictable. I had some luck in removing the wood with careful use of the circular saw because, despite the edge's irregularity, I never dinged it. After that it was a matter of using a wood chisel and a mallet to sneak up on it and finally, I was able to lever it up and out of the wood.
After that, it was only necessary to remove the bumper mounts from the chassis and the whole thing came off very nicely. Afterwards, I ground off the face of the single bumper bolt that was fully encapsulated by the tree and unreachable from the back side and finally, the bumper was free of the tree! And this is what I was left with...
I'm toying with the idea that just tossing this in a fire might be the best bet but I'm not sure I want those bumper mounts superheated so perhaps some judicious cutting with a reciprocating saw might be the most efficient way to go (the blade almost certainly won't survive the work to be done). In the meantime, I'll just stare at it for a while. A better method will come to me.
However I manage to do it, it's going to be really weird. After all, this is not the kind of job one gets to do every day so, a little creativity goes a long way.
Cheers,
TJ
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Re: Beverly Hillbillies, Part Deux
Spent most of the day fooling around with setting up a fuel pressure regulator for the half track. This began with fabbing up a non-permanent/semi-permanent mount (because there is nothing quite so permanent as a semi-permanent fix) consisting of a base and something of a riser, to which the pressure regulator bracket bolts. This sits on the left frame rail, alongside the engine.
The frame rail is barren there, with plenty of room for the rig which has lots of those lovely little brass bits sticking out and plumbing going every which way and one, very 'uptown', fluid-filled gauge. JEGS supplied the goodies at a reasonable price and did it quickly. The whole thing attaches to the frame rail with two large, flat magnetic discs which the manufacturer claims to hold....well, a LOT. One never knows when the Chinese are making claims about things, but the magnets are surprisingly strong. Since the half track is a rather sedate vehicle when it's moving there is absolutely zero chance of this assembly moving around.
Spent a little time dialing in the fuel pressure which is supposed to be very low (like, between 1.5 - 4 PSI) and I am not entirely sure how accurate the gauge is at the low end but the new setting seems to make the float in the bowl far happier than it was.
This darned half track still turns over rather sluggishly and I've a feeling I am going to have to have the starter motor checked out. Oh sure, it goes 'great guns' with the plugs removed, but isn't quite so willing with the cylinders buttoned up so, I'm thinking after 80 years, it's probably time to have it looked at. One good thing to report, though... cylinder pressure in number is already noticeably better. I checked it with the very scientific Thumb-o-Meter. So there is that...
I am also dealing with a very weak spark which begins weak and then suddenly disappears altogether. Sooooo...somewhere around here I have another coil and I will have to dig it out of one of the many Great Big Boxes Of Everything related to half tracks. *sigh* Yeah, I have some of those too. Then, go through all the rigmarole of fitting it into the coil box which promises to be a not-very-fun job because it is deep, dark, stuffed with mysterious stuff and as with most things on a half track, requires a contortionist to get the job done.
Wish me luck.
Cheers,
TJ
P.S. Exciting news! A brand new side-view mirror has arrived for the Gama Goat. Now I will actually be able to see where I've been (which is always helpful). WooHOO!
The frame rail is barren there, with plenty of room for the rig which has lots of those lovely little brass bits sticking out and plumbing going every which way and one, very 'uptown', fluid-filled gauge. JEGS supplied the goodies at a reasonable price and did it quickly. The whole thing attaches to the frame rail with two large, flat magnetic discs which the manufacturer claims to hold....well, a LOT. One never knows when the Chinese are making claims about things, but the magnets are surprisingly strong. Since the half track is a rather sedate vehicle when it's moving there is absolutely zero chance of this assembly moving around.
Spent a little time dialing in the fuel pressure which is supposed to be very low (like, between 1.5 - 4 PSI) and I am not entirely sure how accurate the gauge is at the low end but the new setting seems to make the float in the bowl far happier than it was.
This darned half track still turns over rather sluggishly and I've a feeling I am going to have to have the starter motor checked out. Oh sure, it goes 'great guns' with the plugs removed, but isn't quite so willing with the cylinders buttoned up so, I'm thinking after 80 years, it's probably time to have it looked at. One good thing to report, though... cylinder pressure in number is already noticeably better. I checked it with the very scientific Thumb-o-Meter. So there is that...
I am also dealing with a very weak spark which begins weak and then suddenly disappears altogether. Sooooo...somewhere around here I have another coil and I will have to dig it out of one of the many Great Big Boxes Of Everything related to half tracks. *sigh* Yeah, I have some of those too. Then, go through all the rigmarole of fitting it into the coil box which promises to be a not-very-fun job because it is deep, dark, stuffed with mysterious stuff and as with most things on a half track, requires a contortionist to get the job done.
Wish me luck.
Cheers,
TJ
P.S. Exciting news! A brand new side-view mirror has arrived for the Gama Goat. Now I will actually be able to see where I've been (which is always helpful). WooHOO!
Re: Beverly Hillbillies, Part Deux
Exciting news! A brand new side-view mirror has arrived for the Gama Goat. Now I will actually be able to see where I've been (which is always helpful). WooHOO!
Plus you will be able to look back and see if that speed bump you just went over was actually a speed bump or a Prius. 
Plus you will be able to look back and see if that speed bump you just went over was actually a speed bump or a Prius.
1964 M151A1
1984 M1008
1967 M416
04/1952 M100
12/1952 M100- Departed
AN/TSQ-114A Trailblazer- Gone
1984 M1008
1967 M416
04/1952 M100
12/1952 M100- Departed
AN/TSQ-114A Trailblazer- Gone
Re: Beverly Hillbillies, Part Deux
Shhhhh. We've all agreed not to talk about that, anymore. Remember?
Re: Beverly Hillbillies, Part Deux
This morning's weather was per-fec-to and so, with a fresh cuppa joe I set upon the half track, hammer and tongs. Since I had decided to do a tidy up on the coil box, out came the old coil (which was not necessarily bad) and in went the new coil. I rerouted the coil wire through one of the portals meant for that very purpose. The shielded wire that would have screwed onto that opening had long since departed this half track and things would have been no better if I had it because its terminus is a shielded can around that distributor cap (also, long gone and purty near impossible to acquire). THAT particular piece is the holy grail for half track owners.
If you come across a complete shielded can for a half track distributor, grab it, SELL IT and you'll be able to put your kids through college.
With the coil wire rerouted, that meant I could finally install a take-off coil box cover which I acquired many moons ago. This is something this half track has been without since before I owned it. I must say, it was extremely satisfying to watch it go on.
Alas, things had not improved one iota in the 'Spark Department' so I popped the cap off and looked at the points which looked to be in excellent condition. Rotor - excellent. Cap - excellent. Strange. Time for another cuppa and time to rake a few leaves and shovel up bushels of acorns and think on things. It never ceases to amaze me how much better the mind works when it's not actually working on things.
AH HAH!
I didn't check the points gap which, on a White 160AX is 0.017 - 0.018. Got out my feeler gauges and couldn't get anything to go in there! Which, in finest fashion, illustrates a point (no pun intended) that if you are working on again-and-off again on a vehicle over a long period of time, it is wise to leave notes for yourself as a sort of trail of bread crumbs to get your hind end back out of the forest. Clearly, the points being closed constantly, or very nearly so, would be a problem. Forgetting they were left so fully out of adjustment would be a BIGGER problem, compounding the first, especially considering the contents of that distributor looked so absolutely stellar that, at a glance, one would naturally assume all was completely A-OK.
I have met the enemy and he is..... ME.
So, I made the necessary adjustment, and put the cap on and we gave her another whirl and got a whole lot of NUTHIN. DANG IT! Now, I will admit, I was coming to a point where I was running out of ideas and then it hit me. Cap won't work without a rotor. DUH.
I have met the enemy and he is me..... AGAIN!
This is what I like about tinkering with this stuff. Not the moments of absolute stupidity, idiocy and self-loathing. Nope. This is just one of those occupations where one lives and dies by one's own sword and I will say, as humbling as it sometimes is, I like the paradigm.
Well, I'm sure you'll be glad to hear that sparks have been restored to this engine, on all cylinders. But that starter. OH! That STARTER! It was sluggish and it was gobbling up power from the battery in prodigious amounts despite my charger being set in BEAST MODE and lending a hand. To me, that sounded like a starter that needed a thorough going-over. After all it's only 80-ish years old. So, I took it off.
Which is to say, my back and I are presently enjoying the benefits of some rather effective pain meds. I can still feel the pain but it just doesn't register as pain....which is nice.
Tech Tip #834 - Three bolts hold the gear-reduction starter to the bell housing of the White AX160 engine. Also, one 5/8 nut secures the power lead to the starter solenoid and a small nut (that should be 3/8 but isn't) secures the power wire to the ignition switch terminal.
The three retaining bolts are oriented in an L-shaped pattern; two across the top and the third directly below the upper and outer bolt. Impeding access to these bolts is the cantilever throttle mechanism, the RPM gauge cable, the driver side vent cable, an air vent hose (if I had one) the firewall foot well, the radiator surge tank, the radiator surge tank line, several brackets and a plethora of wires going who-knows-where.
The top two bolt heads are accessible by a 9/16" offset wrench, which must be brought to the bolt heads straight down from above, while reaching around and under the foot well and through a small forest of impediments to ensure that the end of the wrench doesn't slip off or otherwise have an opportunity to round off the bolt head. The single, lower bolt can be accessed by means of a ratchet with long extension and socket coming in from directly in front of the bolt head and alongside the starter. Save the lower bolt for last and congratulate yourself for having achieved the impossible with arms that have only ONE elbow, rather than TWO. I won't go into what it takes to navigate a 45 lb starter through all that crap in order to remove it.
It's easier to just say... I took it off.
AND, I immediately drove it down to Big Mo's in San Antonio because it was right around 2PM at this point. Big Mo's is one of those ancient businesses that still prides itself in doing the improbable extremely well and impossible, equally as well (it just takes a little longer). Unfortunately they moved their operation to about twice as far as it once had been from me. Not convenient. Nope.
Once there, I laid the awful, injured thing on the counter, explained my concerns to the boss and he asked how far I wanted to go with it. Then he produced a gizmo that looked like it belonged on the Lunar Lander and told me he could mate this tiny little newfangled starter (which was far more powerful than mine) to my present gear reduction without difficulty. Having it would not only provide me with whiter, brighter teeth, fresher breath, restore color to my hair, give me endless miles of fahrvergnügen but it would also cost far less than the cost of rebuilding my old starter.
DEVIL! GET THEE BEHIND ME!
It sounded pretty crazy but if Big Mo's says it's so.... It's so. The times we live in! But, that sort of thing seems like cheating to me.
I said, "Until now, my starter has always done its work very well. I'm sure you can restore it to its former glory."
The boss said, "Okay. I'll let you know tomorrow. Will you want it cleaned and painted?"
I said, "I'll let you know tomorrow."
I then pointed out to him the four tiny oil cups located on the starter. Judging by their appearance, it was highly likely that not one of them had received any lubrication since, uh, somewhere around 1947. He raised one eyebrow and nodded knowingly.
Mea Culpa? Well, YEAH! I'm at least as guilty as the rest.. Probably more so when you consider I have had the time to do it...and haven't. But, out of all the guilty parties, the music has stopped and I'm the fella who is to be left without a chair.
Granted, this starter may not necessarily be the culprit for the sluggish turn-over but, having it gone through will help me sleep well at night and being able to check this off the To-Do List may lead to some other things that REALLY need my attention. And, I owe it to the project to exorcise any demons that I might find as I claw my way through it.
Yes, I am going to get some new power cables made while I'm fooling around with this (something also worth doing).
Cheers,
TJ
If you come across a complete shielded can for a half track distributor, grab it, SELL IT and you'll be able to put your kids through college.
With the coil wire rerouted, that meant I could finally install a take-off coil box cover which I acquired many moons ago. This is something this half track has been without since before I owned it. I must say, it was extremely satisfying to watch it go on.
Alas, things had not improved one iota in the 'Spark Department' so I popped the cap off and looked at the points which looked to be in excellent condition. Rotor - excellent. Cap - excellent. Strange. Time for another cuppa and time to rake a few leaves and shovel up bushels of acorns and think on things. It never ceases to amaze me how much better the mind works when it's not actually working on things.
AH HAH!
I didn't check the points gap which, on a White 160AX is 0.017 - 0.018. Got out my feeler gauges and couldn't get anything to go in there! Which, in finest fashion, illustrates a point (no pun intended) that if you are working on again-and-off again on a vehicle over a long period of time, it is wise to leave notes for yourself as a sort of trail of bread crumbs to get your hind end back out of the forest. Clearly, the points being closed constantly, or very nearly so, would be a problem. Forgetting they were left so fully out of adjustment would be a BIGGER problem, compounding the first, especially considering the contents of that distributor looked so absolutely stellar that, at a glance, one would naturally assume all was completely A-OK.
I have met the enemy and he is..... ME.
So, I made the necessary adjustment, and put the cap on and we gave her another whirl and got a whole lot of NUTHIN. DANG IT! Now, I will admit, I was coming to a point where I was running out of ideas and then it hit me. Cap won't work without a rotor.
DUH.I have met the enemy and he is me..... AGAIN!
This is what I like about tinkering with this stuff. Not the moments of absolute stupidity, idiocy and self-loathing. Nope. This is just one of those occupations where one lives and dies by one's own sword and I will say, as humbling as it sometimes is, I like the paradigm.
Well, I'm sure you'll be glad to hear that sparks have been restored to this engine, on all cylinders. But that starter. OH! That STARTER! It was sluggish and it was gobbling up power from the battery in prodigious amounts despite my charger being set in BEAST MODE and lending a hand. To me, that sounded like a starter that needed a thorough going-over. After all it's only 80-ish years old. So, I took it off.
Which is to say, my back and I are presently enjoying the benefits of some rather effective pain meds. I can still feel the pain but it just doesn't register as pain....which is nice.
Tech Tip #834 - Three bolts hold the gear-reduction starter to the bell housing of the White AX160 engine. Also, one 5/8 nut secures the power lead to the starter solenoid and a small nut (that should be 3/8 but isn't) secures the power wire to the ignition switch terminal.
The three retaining bolts are oriented in an L-shaped pattern; two across the top and the third directly below the upper and outer bolt. Impeding access to these bolts is the cantilever throttle mechanism, the RPM gauge cable, the driver side vent cable, an air vent hose (if I had one) the firewall foot well, the radiator surge tank, the radiator surge tank line, several brackets and a plethora of wires going who-knows-where.
The top two bolt heads are accessible by a 9/16" offset wrench, which must be brought to the bolt heads straight down from above, while reaching around and under the foot well and through a small forest of impediments to ensure that the end of the wrench doesn't slip off or otherwise have an opportunity to round off the bolt head. The single, lower bolt can be accessed by means of a ratchet with long extension and socket coming in from directly in front of the bolt head and alongside the starter. Save the lower bolt for last and congratulate yourself for having achieved the impossible with arms that have only ONE elbow, rather than TWO. I won't go into what it takes to navigate a 45 lb starter through all that crap in order to remove it.
It's easier to just say... I took it off.
AND, I immediately drove it down to Big Mo's in San Antonio because it was right around 2PM at this point. Big Mo's is one of those ancient businesses that still prides itself in doing the improbable extremely well and impossible, equally as well (it just takes a little longer). Unfortunately they moved their operation to about twice as far as it once had been from me. Not convenient. Nope.
Once there, I laid the awful, injured thing on the counter, explained my concerns to the boss and he asked how far I wanted to go with it. Then he produced a gizmo that looked like it belonged on the Lunar Lander and told me he could mate this tiny little newfangled starter (which was far more powerful than mine) to my present gear reduction without difficulty. Having it would not only provide me with whiter, brighter teeth, fresher breath, restore color to my hair, give me endless miles of fahrvergnügen but it would also cost far less than the cost of rebuilding my old starter.
DEVIL! GET THEE BEHIND ME!
It sounded pretty crazy but if Big Mo's says it's so.... It's so. The times we live in! But, that sort of thing seems like cheating to me.
I said, "Until now, my starter has always done its work very well. I'm sure you can restore it to its former glory."
The boss said, "Okay. I'll let you know tomorrow. Will you want it cleaned and painted?"
I said, "I'll let you know tomorrow."
I then pointed out to him the four tiny oil cups located on the starter. Judging by their appearance, it was highly likely that not one of them had received any lubrication since, uh, somewhere around 1947. He raised one eyebrow and nodded knowingly.
Mea Culpa? Well, YEAH! I'm at least as guilty as the rest.. Probably more so when you consider I have had the time to do it...and haven't. But, out of all the guilty parties, the music has stopped and I'm the fella who is to be left without a chair.
Granted, this starter may not necessarily be the culprit for the sluggish turn-over but, having it gone through will help me sleep well at night and being able to check this off the To-Do List may lead to some other things that REALLY need my attention. And, I owe it to the project to exorcise any demons that I might find as I claw my way through it.
Yes, I am going to get some new power cables made while I'm fooling around with this (something also worth doing).
Cheers,
TJ
Last edited by m3a1 on November 10th, 2021, 12:51 pm, edited 6 times in total.
Re: Beverly Hillbillies, Part Deux
You are the guy saying that you don't care if it is not totally original, especially if it is a part nobody can see. So who is going to see the starter? Just keep in mind what those tiny induction motors have done for the Chevy engines of old! They are used on everything now. I would say if the price to rebuild is about the same as replace with that little powerhouse then go for the powerhouse and never look back. Your battery will thank you.
1964 M151A1
1984 M1008
1967 M416
04/1952 M100
12/1952 M100- Departed
AN/TSQ-114A Trailblazer- Gone
1984 M1008
1967 M416
04/1952 M100
12/1952 M100- Departed
AN/TSQ-114A Trailblazer- Gone
Re: Beverly Hillbillies, Part Deux
Well, since the original starter did (and soon will do again) exactly what it's supposed to do, why 'upgrade'?
But, more to my point, this vehicle is 80 years old this year and yes, you might argue that it is far from complete but why make it any less complete at this point by ditching original parts for new stuff? Why not just skip to the end and stuff a modern diesel in it? Nope. That's not happening.
The exception to that is something like choosing between an electric fuel pump or an original, which are just not going to be something I'm going to invest in TWO of (one on the machine and one for a backup unit) simply because of the cost. However, my half track does have an original fuel pump on it (probably dead as a doornail and if not dead, then wholly unreliable) but the hole is filled.
But, I DO have a backup electric fuel pump in the half track's Oh Sh-t Kit.
But it is nice to know that if push comes to shove, a guy with no hope of having an original starter can simply march down to a place like Big Mo's and have his problem solved post-haste.
I believe the value in these vehicles is chiefly that they are a time capsule of sorts; they representative of what was, and being intimately familiar and in close proximity with such a thing puts us nose to nose with history. Quite frankly, that is more important to me than actually having a running, driving vehicle, which is always a bonus but not absolutely necessary.
One of my One-That-Got-Away stories would be a M7 Priest. As you might imagine, it was far from complete but it was a roller. I had a real chance at it but I was younger and far more ignorant than I am today (if you can believe that). At that time, I believed I would be far happier driving around in something far less grand and I turned up my nose at it. Of course, it's size had something to do with my decision to pass on it but, I SHOULD have snapped it up and brought it home. It was even a giveaway price.
Going forward is easy.
Going backward requires grit.
Having conservatorship for these vehicles comes at a cost and if you are reading this, you might assume that I am a purist (which I am not). We are among the very few privileged people who actually have our hands on the history of this nation. That history belongs to ALL of us and I think that means we should be responsible curators. That doesn't mean we should foolishly winnow away our valuable time trying to preserve EVERYTHING. But, we should save what is worth saving and that includes keeping all the various bits together and where they belong.
It's important that we preserve and protect what we've got, in the short time that we have it. 80 MORE years from now, and with a little luck, someone else is going to have this half track (if it actually survives the ministrations of our governments) and the decisions I make today are going to effect that new owner in a big way.
That's some pretty tall talkin' but that's how I feel about it.
In parting, I will add this. Following the lube chart and tracking down and dealing with all the little lube points is about as much fun as stacking staples but, it's necessary. REALLY necessary.
Cheers,
TJ
But, more to my point, this vehicle is 80 years old this year and yes, you might argue that it is far from complete but why make it any less complete at this point by ditching original parts for new stuff? Why not just skip to the end and stuff a modern diesel in it? Nope. That's not happening.
The exception to that is something like choosing between an electric fuel pump or an original, which are just not going to be something I'm going to invest in TWO of (one on the machine and one for a backup unit) simply because of the cost. However, my half track does have an original fuel pump on it (probably dead as a doornail and if not dead, then wholly unreliable) but the hole is filled.
But, I DO have a backup electric fuel pump in the half track's Oh Sh-t Kit.
But it is nice to know that if push comes to shove, a guy with no hope of having an original starter can simply march down to a place like Big Mo's and have his problem solved post-haste.
I believe the value in these vehicles is chiefly that they are a time capsule of sorts; they representative of what was, and being intimately familiar and in close proximity with such a thing puts us nose to nose with history. Quite frankly, that is more important to me than actually having a running, driving vehicle, which is always a bonus but not absolutely necessary.
One of my One-That-Got-Away stories would be a M7 Priest. As you might imagine, it was far from complete but it was a roller. I had a real chance at it but I was younger and far more ignorant than I am today (if you can believe that). At that time, I believed I would be far happier driving around in something far less grand and I turned up my nose at it. Of course, it's size had something to do with my decision to pass on it but, I SHOULD have snapped it up and brought it home. It was even a giveaway price.
Going forward is easy.
Going backward requires grit.
Having conservatorship for these vehicles comes at a cost and if you are reading this, you might assume that I am a purist (which I am not). We are among the very few privileged people who actually have our hands on the history of this nation. That history belongs to ALL of us and I think that means we should be responsible curators. That doesn't mean we should foolishly winnow away our valuable time trying to preserve EVERYTHING. But, we should save what is worth saving and that includes keeping all the various bits together and where they belong.
It's important that we preserve and protect what we've got, in the short time that we have it. 80 MORE years from now, and with a little luck, someone else is going to have this half track (if it actually survives the ministrations of our governments) and the decisions I make today are going to effect that new owner in a big way.
That's some pretty tall talkin' but that's how I feel about it.
In parting, I will add this. Following the lube chart and tracking down and dealing with all the little lube points is about as much fun as stacking staples but, it's necessary. REALLY necessary.
Cheers,
TJ
Re: Beverly Hillbillies, Part Deux
The latter half of the year is always busy for me. This is the time (beginning with Halloween) when I am trying to do too much. Throw in a dash of troublesome trucks and things get really interesting. Several cautionary tales come out of this.
My F350 has been giving me trouble for a very long time. It is notorious for having the batteries discharge if left parked for a while. Previous owner had the same trouble and the two suspects are the alarm system and/or the stereo. Both of those items, the previous owner had installed. And, he put two brand new batteries in just before he sold it to me. So the problem isn't with the batteries.
Naturally, my response had been to ignore the problem and just run the truck more often but last week the batteries were down once again so I set about checking things, starting with the basics. I quickly discovered one of the battery terminal clamps (the one cleverly hidden beneath the air intake) was barely loose....which is to say, the clamping bolt was tight but the clamp was actually loose....and I DO mean BARELY.
This surprised me because my usual method is to tighten the clamping bolt and then give the clamp a tug and a twist. I think the guy who installed those new batteries didn't do that. With the clamp removed I noted that the mating surfaces of clamp and post were black. I presume that is what happens to lead when a current runs and jumps all over it, willy-nilly. That black stuff looks like anodizing and that's probably exactly what it is. But, the raison de ce problème was that the clamping bolt was corroded and the nut would feel tight long before it actually put the correct pressure on the clamp itself.
I set about pulling all the clamps off of each of the batteries (two batteries - diesel truck) and carefully extracting the bolts from each. By the way, can ANYONE tell me why these darned things have METRIC nuts on a normally U.S.-threaded bolt? I mean, REALLY! It's not like we don't already have enough troubles when we're dealing with our batteries. It just seems like a really dirty trick to do something like that.
Well fellas, I rounded up all the metric nuts and binned 'em. After I cleaned and detailed all the posts and clamps and bolts I went to the hardware section of my garage (aisle 3) and got some brand new nuts for them. I doped up the bolts and the mating surfaces with dielectric grease to protect them (and a very, VERY thin application on the mating surfaces to protect them) and put everything back together and things were now officially, nice and tight, conductive and ready for use. Then, I followed that up with the red sticky stuff in a spray can. It's meant to protect the clamps and posts from exposure to the nasty gasses that come out of a battery when it charges.
I became a believer in the red stuff after I got an electric golf cart and saw the horrible results of NOT using it. Six very expensive batteries and jumpers...all completely ruined.
Flushed with success I started the truck and it started VERY well. Appears I had been essentially running off of one battery. Oopsie. So there's your first cautionary tale.
The moral of the story is - Show your terminals some love with preventative maintenance and take extra care to ensure the clamps are actually tight when installing them. Don't rely solely upon how tight the clamping bolt feels and don't trust someone else to do it for ya...
I thought now would be a good time to maybe try to eliminate one of the possible culprits for battery drain (if there ever actually was one). The radio in my rig is IMHO, an exceptionally high end, aftermarket setup and its bluetooth links to my phone if I even get close to the truck...whether the truck is running, or not. As a result, I can only assume it's kind of alive all the time even when it looks like it's off. So, I went back out to the truck and started it up in order to turn the radio's power switch OFF.
Except NOW, it wouldn't start. Heck, it wouldn't even click-click-click. Well, I thought, there's certainly NOTHING wrong with the batteries! Dead silence is usually an indication that the alarm system's kill-function is engaged...but I had tapped the secret little Enable Button, as normal. Okay. Okay. Stick a fork in me. I'm done. Screw this B.S. Time for coffee.
I sat on my porch, stared daggers at the truck and sipped. Had I some how fried my alarm system with all that battery nonsense? Doubtful. Had I CONFUSED my alarm system? Possible. Had I confused MYSELF? VERY possible...in the extreme. You see, the alarm system resets itself, but only after a short period of time. So, if one gets the truck started by the usual process, one can restart it again and again without tapping the button but, after a minute or so of inaction the alarm system resets and one has to go through the whole process all over again. So, with my coffee cup finally empty, I went back out to the truck.
Key on, Wait-to-Start light goes off, tap the button...BINGO! It started. So, the alarm system was confused, which confused me in turn and eventually, all was well. I turned the radio off and, satisfied I had that accomplished, I shut things down. Now I'm going to be letting her sit for a week or so and come back to see if things are better. That's your second cautionary tale.
The moral of the story is - Don't throw the baby out with the wash water. Take some time away from your automotive troubles before tearing your hair out. There's plenty of time for that later.
BTW - the half track is still laid up...right on the cusp of getting her started. Grrrrr! More about THAT.....later.
Cheers,
TJ
My F350 has been giving me trouble for a very long time. It is notorious for having the batteries discharge if left parked for a while. Previous owner had the same trouble and the two suspects are the alarm system and/or the stereo. Both of those items, the previous owner had installed. And, he put two brand new batteries in just before he sold it to me. So the problem isn't with the batteries.
Naturally, my response had been to ignore the problem and just run the truck more often but last week the batteries were down once again so I set about checking things, starting with the basics. I quickly discovered one of the battery terminal clamps (the one cleverly hidden beneath the air intake) was barely loose....which is to say, the clamping bolt was tight but the clamp was actually loose....and I DO mean BARELY.
This surprised me because my usual method is to tighten the clamping bolt and then give the clamp a tug and a twist. I think the guy who installed those new batteries didn't do that. With the clamp removed I noted that the mating surfaces of clamp and post were black. I presume that is what happens to lead when a current runs and jumps all over it, willy-nilly. That black stuff looks like anodizing and that's probably exactly what it is. But, the raison de ce problème was that the clamping bolt was corroded and the nut would feel tight long before it actually put the correct pressure on the clamp itself.
I set about pulling all the clamps off of each of the batteries (two batteries - diesel truck) and carefully extracting the bolts from each. By the way, can ANYONE tell me why these darned things have METRIC nuts on a normally U.S.-threaded bolt? I mean, REALLY! It's not like we don't already have enough troubles when we're dealing with our batteries. It just seems like a really dirty trick to do something like that.
Well fellas, I rounded up all the metric nuts and binned 'em. After I cleaned and detailed all the posts and clamps and bolts I went to the hardware section of my garage (aisle 3) and got some brand new nuts for them. I doped up the bolts and the mating surfaces with dielectric grease to protect them (and a very, VERY thin application on the mating surfaces to protect them) and put everything back together and things were now officially, nice and tight, conductive and ready for use. Then, I followed that up with the red sticky stuff in a spray can. It's meant to protect the clamps and posts from exposure to the nasty gasses that come out of a battery when it charges.
I became a believer in the red stuff after I got an electric golf cart and saw the horrible results of NOT using it. Six very expensive batteries and jumpers...all completely ruined.
Flushed with success I started the truck and it started VERY well. Appears I had been essentially running off of one battery. Oopsie. So there's your first cautionary tale.
The moral of the story is - Show your terminals some love with preventative maintenance and take extra care to ensure the clamps are actually tight when installing them. Don't rely solely upon how tight the clamping bolt feels and don't trust someone else to do it for ya...
I thought now would be a good time to maybe try to eliminate one of the possible culprits for battery drain (if there ever actually was one). The radio in my rig is IMHO, an exceptionally high end, aftermarket setup and its bluetooth links to my phone if I even get close to the truck...whether the truck is running, or not. As a result, I can only assume it's kind of alive all the time even when it looks like it's off. So, I went back out to the truck and started it up in order to turn the radio's power switch OFF.
Except NOW, it wouldn't start. Heck, it wouldn't even click-click-click. Well, I thought, there's certainly NOTHING wrong with the batteries! Dead silence is usually an indication that the alarm system's kill-function is engaged...but I had tapped the secret little Enable Button, as normal. Okay. Okay. Stick a fork in me. I'm done. Screw this B.S. Time for coffee.
I sat on my porch, stared daggers at the truck and sipped. Had I some how fried my alarm system with all that battery nonsense? Doubtful. Had I CONFUSED my alarm system? Possible. Had I confused MYSELF? VERY possible...in the extreme. You see, the alarm system resets itself, but only after a short period of time. So, if one gets the truck started by the usual process, one can restart it again and again without tapping the button but, after a minute or so of inaction the alarm system resets and one has to go through the whole process all over again. So, with my coffee cup finally empty, I went back out to the truck.
Key on, Wait-to-Start light goes off, tap the button...BINGO! It started. So, the alarm system was confused, which confused me in turn and eventually, all was well. I turned the radio off and, satisfied I had that accomplished, I shut things down. Now I'm going to be letting her sit for a week or so and come back to see if things are better. That's your second cautionary tale.
The moral of the story is - Don't throw the baby out with the wash water. Take some time away from your automotive troubles before tearing your hair out. There's plenty of time for that later.
BTW - the half track is still laid up...right on the cusp of getting her started. Grrrrr! More about THAT.....later.
Cheers,
TJ