Today is the big day. Hopefully, the engine will go in, get hooked up and be fired up. More pieces and parts are installed, including a new rear seal, then the clutch was installed and the transmission was mated to the engine. Soon, a milestone was reached - the engine/tranny was installed and the driveshaft inserted! The exhaust system was the next to go in. Unfortunately, we
kept running into problems finding parts and pieces, as well as proper fasteners and this slowed the progress significantly. By the end of the day, disappointingly, we were not at the stage to start the engine. There is not a lot more to do - install windshield, seats and doors, and then the front fenders, grill and radiator. But, these will have to wait until needed parts are ordered and another OSHIT event scheduled. In spite of our disappointment at not reaching out goal, it was great spending time and working with all the OSHITers!
 |
Interesting sign on Wyatt Earp Blvd. in Dodge City.
Part Two: This morning, when leaving the hotel to drive to Jim's, my brake pedal went to the floor! No brakes! Doing a quick inspection, there was a tale tell puddle under the right rear tire. It appears that the brake cylinder had failed. Someone picked me up and took me to Jim's and we would take a look at my car later, after working on Jim's. By sheer luck, we found a seal repair kit at Jim's, so after we were through with Jim's car, we borrowed his jack and picked up some parts at the auto parts store, then headed to the hotel to check mine. It was jacked up, wheel removed and the brake cylinder accessed and the new seals were installed. Everything was looking great until we went to bleed the brakes and that was when we found out the bleed nipple/cylinder was stripped. So, back to not one but two auto parts stores in an attempt to find the nipple, or a union and new nipple to just block off the right rear side for a temporary fix to get us home. None of the stores opened on Sunday had the correct parts, and it was getting late, so we all went out for our farewell dinner, planning on checking with NAPA first thing tomorrow.
 |
| Notice the tell tale puddle under the car. |
Monday morning, we didn't have much luck at NAPA either, so we went back to Jim's to compare a similar part on his car. That is when we found a new bleed nipple that would screw into the tee fitting on the differential! This would accomplish the same thing, so, back to the hotel. Because we were now working in yet another thunder storm, with high winds and low temperatures, we move the car under the hotel portico for a little protection, jacked it up, removed the wheel, then unscrewed the brake line going to the wheel and inserted the bleed nipple. It worked!! So, we bled the system and then buttoned everything back up and made a series of stop and goes in the hotel parking lot to see how it worked. It worked fine! So, we decided to try to get a little head start and go as far as Wichita, even though it would mean driving in rain most of the way. Was a little concerned shortly after we left Dodge - there was a strong odor that smelled like hot brakes. After a couple of miles, it disappeared. Turns out we were passing a large feedlot and it was the fragrance of a few tons of manure that was filling the air! It did rain all the way, but we made it to Wichita, got gas then went to eat at Braum's Ice Cream and Burger Restaurant. Had a very good and very inexpensive burger and ice cream. There were no pictures today because this is all we saw all day, and night:
 |
| View from our room |
No comments:
Post a Comment