Battery Blowup

Pictures are worth a thousand words.  On Saturday I went to take the truck out for a spin.  I disconnected the charger and turned on the key and stomped on the starter.  The battery was clearly not charged as the starter was barely engaging the engine.  Suddenly a loud explosion and a "ping" off the hood was heard.  My first thought was, "I hope that wasn't an engine breaking apart "  I opened the hood to reveal a strong odor and smoke.  Everything looked intact, no fluids, or fire was present.  Glancing at the battery I could see that one of the plastic cell covers was missing and smoke was drifting out of those holes.  I found the missing cover laying on the distributor.

The battery was from 2008.  NAPA Power 65.  My father-in-law threw it into the truck before he gave it to me.  Although it worked, we had to keep it on the charger all the time.  I could start the truck up several times without concern, but if I left the charger off for a day or more the juice would be very limited if available at all. I knew that I was on borrowed time.

Well Saturday seemed to be the day.  As you can see the blast did not produce any acid.  The battery is clean.  The plastic cover blew off, and a section of plastic on top ripped open as well as a crack in the top of the case edge.

Purchased a new/used battery from Interstate for $35 with a 90 day warranty.  Hopefully this new battery will last longer.

Days to Remember

Saturday I tinkered around on a few items that need to be completed.  Later that day it was time to go for a 9 minute drive.  Dad and I jumped in the truck and let her stretch her legs.  We went down an old dirt road when my 9 minutes were up.  I refueled and noticed that the sun was just right and the skies were busy.  This photo was one of several that I thought I'd share.  Sitting in the truck is my Dad age 74.  This road and the land around it use to be farm land.  Several years ago a developer bought it and began to build homes, parks and a retirement facility.  This old road is on the part of land that is still waiting for the infrastructure to be built.  The road is really just an access road, no name or other purpose except to get from one part of the land to another. I love the patina on the truck and the matching trees to the right.  The sky has a hint of things to come similar to the front of Maverick.  And the clouds seem to dovetail into the paint that remains.

This is a day to remember.

Turn Signal Fix

This is a writeup on a problem I was having with my turn signals.  

I noticed that when I moved the turn signal to the right it would work intermittently.  So starting with the removal of the horn cap and loosening of the turn signal housing I was then able to borrow a steering wheel puller and remove the wheel.  I pulled off the housing from the steering column and then began to inspect the turn signal mechanism.


The assembly is actually fairly simple but does require some thought when you first inspect its workings.  Looking at the photo to the left you can see the mechanism.   At the top is a pin that holds together two arms which are in turn kept under pressure with a wire spring hooked on the pin.  These arms "rock" back and forth and make contact with the "L" shaped contacts on the right and left side.  The actual signal is from the pin underneath that sits in the electric switch.  This mechanism is simply to activate the direction and cancel it when you turn the wheel back. In other words those "L" shaped contacts are not electric contacts.  At the bottom is a large screw that holds the mechanism inside the housing and the part at the bottom of the photo is where the turn signal shaft screws into.  

Now that we have a basic idea we can fix it.  I noticed that when this mechanism is in the housing, the left arm was not held in place like the right arm.  
 
If you notice in the picture to the right, there is a stud with a washer on top.  That washer is held in place because the stud is mushroomed.  Below that washer is a small collar so that the arm on the mechanism can glide back and forth without resistance as well as "lock" it into position on the arm.  The mushroom on the left side was gone and the washer was laying inside the housing.  This caused the left arm to "pop" up and not lock into place when I turned the turn signal.  Notice the deep gouge to the left of the modified stud where the arm was hitting.  I tried to unscrew or pull out the stud but instead managed to break it.  


I then drilled out the stud and found a screw that fit the small collar and a washer perfectly.  Simply screwing in the new homemade part solved the problem, or so I thought.

Turns out that the arms have a small semicircle notch on each side which help "lock" the turn signal into its position.  When you turn the steering wheel back to the center position it releases this arm.  Over the years the left arm was rounded and would not "lock" into position.  Thanks to my dad's collection of flat and rounded metal files I was able to create a new semicircle notch that would catch the stud with the collar.

It now works like a charm.   Again I am reminded that today's vehicles do not have such mechanical charms but rely on electrical components.  You can argue that they last longer and are trouble free, but in 50 years if you are trying to fix your "2013 classic truck" turn signal, the reproduction suppliers will be your answer not a drill and an old screw and some metal files.

Creaky Bones (Fixing Odds and Ends)

Did not get much done this weekend as I frankly was not into crawling around and getting dirty.  Besides I still hadn't raked the leaves and cleaned up the yard since I got the truck.

Brake Light Switch

When we got the truck one of the problems was the rear brake light stayed on and drained the battery.  So we were always disconnecting and reconnecting.  I finally just pulled a wire from the brake light switch.  On Sunday I decided to reattach the wire on a whim and was prepared to take the whole switch off and clean it up and or add it to my shopping list of parts to replace. Well wouldn't you know it the thing works again.  I think after 25 plus years it was simply stuck in the on mode since the pedal was frozen in the stop position.





Speedometer
I have already mentioned this before but slowly the speedometer is getting better.  At first the speedometer did not work at all and was stuck at about 10 MPH.  Then it would register only over 10 MPH.  Again I intended to take the cable off and clean and or replace.  On my Sunday drive it suddenly dawned on me that the gauge was below 10 MPH and was tracking fairly close to what I think we were driving.  Remember that driving this old truck you must be fully engage.  No time to text, or make calls. Stopping, starting and turning all require 100% of your time.  Trying to look at a speedometer is not high on the list of things to do.

Brakes
The brakes are feeling better and better as I test drive and get a feel for them.  I even tested a hard stop and found them to hold straight and true.  After so many years things are getting better.

Windshield Wipers
Another small issue was the wiper blades and nothing I should have spent money on but still wanted them to work should I want to drive in the rain.  On a side note, those who think Oregon is always raining might be surprised.  Southern Oregon, where I live has about the same rainfall per year as does Southern California.  SO gets it in mist and a softer rain, while SC gets more downpours.  I actually used my umbrella more in SC than SO.  Anyways, the local auto parts store has a "classic" series of wiper blades.  They are a great fit although I had to peel back some metal on the original blades to get the wiper off the arm.  Once I figured that out the new wipers fit perfect.


Turn Signal
As part of my lighting fixes I wanted to test the blinkers.  I found that the left blinker is good but the right is a hit and miss.  So I decided to take the turn signal mechanism apart and take a look.  Several screws, metal springs, and washers later I discovered the problem.  It seems as though there is a small diameter stud in the housing that has a bearing collar that sits over that stud.  So far so good.  The issue is that on top of that bearing is a flat washer that is about 1/8 a inch larger in diameter than the bearing designed to hold the turn signal mechanism down.  The washer is held by a simple "mushrooming" of the stud to hold it tight.  No "mushroom" no washer.  So I need to take the housing off and figure out some type of a fix. I can't fix the housing until I remove the steering wheel.  Can't remove the steering wheel until I have a steering wheel puller. Can't get a wheel puller until Jerre borrows one from his neighbor.  And so it goes.

Parking  Lens
These are in the front of the truck and are part of the assembly that serve as turn signals.  The light bulb assembly and its plastic dome housing are brand new from the inventory in the back of the truck.  The assembly is held in place within the grill from a flat plastic bezel.  This is no longer made.  Fortunately I have two brand new parking lenses, via truck inventory!  There is an outfit that sells reproductions for about $350!  I decided that before I install mine I'll make a rubber mold and pour a casting so I have an extra set.  

Rear Tail Lights and Back Up Lights
Well this was a mess!!  And it was all because of my lack of patience.  So the truck has what's called a Barden Bumper.  The stop lights and back up lights are tucked in the bumper to protect them from - frankly anything.  This bumper if removed I would think could give me an extra 3-4 miles per gallon. The right side lights do not work at all.  

So I thought I'll start with a simple bulb change.  There are no screws anywhere on the light assemblies.  So I figured I will have to release the lights from the back side.  So I take off the protective cover from under the bumper. That was easy.  Then I proceed to remove the nut that is around the single stud with electrical wires coming out.  Squirt some WD-40 and wait a bit.  Now keep in mind I was not planning on getting dirty, just checking on something when I started to check out the lights. One thing leads to another.

So I have one knee on a clean board and hunched over to peer under the bumper for this simple procedure!  My knee hurts on the wood and I'm at a strange angle and the sun is not helping but actually makes the area I'm working in darker.  I start turning the nut and it is moving.  Several turns later I realize that the wire inside is spinning and starting to coil up on its self and the nut is not turning but actually spinning the stud!  I figure all is lost so I cut the wires to prevent the harness form getting pulled.  Now I have better access to the nuts.

About this time my dad comes over and starts asking questions, which I kinda answer.  Then he manages to simply pull the red stop light lens off.  There in the sunshine is the lens cover off and the bulb ready for me to inspect.  You think I would stop and reassess the situation but no I am cranky and figure I still need to remove the housing and so I grab the socket with a set of pliers because when I turn the nut the socket turns as well.  Well the socket is now destroyed and the nut still turns the stud!!  Frustrated is not even the word I would use.  Shame is probably better.  I then inspect the backup lights and discover that what I thought was a gasket gone bad was actually a metal spring and curved handle to remove.  Simply pull the handle and out comes the glass dome exposing the bulb.  Remember that I cut the wires?

I have resigned myself to the fact that I screwed up and have a plan but still need to remove the old housings.  Grinding wheel, metal saw blade, cold chisel.....

As I got off my knee I realized that I am getting older and my old bones are creaky.  The truck was born in 59 I was born in 69, and Maverick was able to sit around or 25 years. 

9 Minutes of Driving Bliss (First Drive in 25+ Years)

This Saturday was the big day!

All my blog posts lead to this one.  After 25+ years of sitting and moving from one spot to another on my father-in-law's property Maverick drove on the streets again.  I spent Friday night working on the brakes some more and getting things taken off and cleaned as well as installing my parking brake cable on the right side.  It was fairly late when I decided to stop for the night.

Saturday morning was raining but by the time I was done with breakfast it has stopped.  In between the occasional mist or shower I was either under the the truck or  in the garage cleaning parts, so it did not impact me to much.  I ended up buying some brake lines because I destroyed a few trying to remove them from the rear left side wheel cylinder.  I borrowed the tube bender but found that the material is so soft that a gentle bend in my hands was more accurate.  When I had a 90 degree bend the tool was used.  

By 4:00 or so the brakes and lines were all attached.  Adjustments made to each wheel and parking brake.  I grabbed my dad and we filled the master with fluid and started bleeding the brakes.  The process was fairly simple and it took about 45 minutes to complete.  The hard part was after each wheel and some times twice we would have to refill the master.  The master does not hold much fluid.  The good news is that I do not see any leaks and the pedal was solid and firm.  

I put the wheels back on, took down the safety jacks and Maverick had her paws back on the ground.  Filling the temp gas tank to the brim I jumped inside the cab and started her up.  Pulled my phone out of my pocket and started the timer.

Pulling out of the driveway I tested the brakes, not knowing what to expect.  This I can tell you, she is not a modern truck.  I realize that the shoes have not been seated yet but pedal effort is required without modern technology like power boost.  She stopped in a predictable manner.  I was hardly moving but the result was a controlled stop.

I moved onto the road and tested again, and again.  The result was the same.  I was pleased that the truck held a straight line without a pull to the left or right.  Grabbing my phone I called my wife.  I realize that driving and talking on the phone without a hands free device is illegal but consider the situation.  No registration, no brake lights, no seat belt, no turn signals, and a modified gas tank hanging off the battery inside the engine compartment!  

As I swung onto our street I noticed that the speedometer was not working, add that to my punch list.  Pulling into the front of our street my three boys were as excited as I was.  They jumped in and we closed the door, kinda.  Another thing to add to my punch list is the passenger door which does not close completely, just mostly.  We honked our way down the street and back again.  After dropping the boys off I took off.

Around the block and came to a stop sign where she promptly sputtered to a stop.  Nine minutes of bliss as Maverick was finally a real truck!  I set the parking brake and grabbed the gas can and opened the hood to refill the tank.

The battery held and she started back up once the fuel filter was filled with fuel, timer set and off I went back to my dad's to back her back into her stable and shut her down for the night.

On Sunday, my oldest came out to help me clean the cab and pull the gas tank behind the seat.  We had to broom, blow and wipe to get the oils, rust and dust out from her insides.  Three bolts broken in the process and a door latch that has been improved with a few adjustments, from www.stovebolt.com.  

We filled the tank back up and me, my dad and my oldest, Gavin went for a drive.  This time I wanted to see how she did at speed.  We got going to about 35.  How did I know? Well apparently the speedometer kinda works now.  I took it to 40 and outside of a slight wandering, nothing to worry about just get comfortable with she ran well in 4th gear.  The transmission is not real smooth and it takes a bit of muscle to downshift as well as being in the right rpm.  Up shifting was nice and clean.  The slowing down part was also predictable as I mentioned before even at 45mph.  Turning around we went over a rough road and found that the old seat was a bit bouncy.  Back on the road we raced back up to 45 and turned down another road.  10 seconds later she sputtered and died.  I coasted to a pull off area and refilled the tank.  That run was about 7-8 minutes.

Since our gas can was empty we decided we had better get back to her stable, before we were in real trouble.  

So whats next?  Well it is fairly important to get a real tank installed as well as turn signals and brake lights.  Then it can be registered and driven.  

Tank and its components will be about $250.  Brake lights and turn signals are not known yet.  I pulled a wire on the brake light switch because it would stay on and drain the battery.  The rear tail lights need to be removed to see what the matter is, while the front turn lights are rusted out and I'm installing new bulbs and electrical that was already in the back of the camper.

Sun Visor Restore

As you can see the visors are a bit destroyed.  Clearly a cosmetic issue except for the few days I might need a visor that works.  But I decided that in between the other projects I could work on the visors.  Option 1 was to buy reproductions at a cost of $50, yikes!  Option 2 was to do it myself.  I'm not an auto upholstery expert but I figure how hard could it be.

I started with as much YouTube video and other "how-to" websites as possible.  The good news is that this is a fairly simple job and I was not going to need special tools.  A visit to the local fabric store resulted in a dark blue vinyl material that was a remnant.  That means that it was half off so I was able to get more than I need for less than $8.   I also decided to buy some batting material to give the visor a padded look.  Using my coupon I purchased a can of high strength adhesive spray for $6 and some upholstery thread in black for $2.  So far I have $20 in materials because of the batting.  Turns out my wife already had some batting.  

The first step was to remove the visor from the truck.  Three small screws came out, with one snapping half way.  The second step was to remove the current cardboard visor material to make a template.  This thing was dry as a leaf and just as fragile.  Now the chipboard material is attached to the rod with metal sleeves.  It took some strength and patience to slowly move it off the rod.  Once off I took some steel wool to clean the rod and test fit the visor back on....seems to be better.

I took the cardboard visor material and sprayed it with water to soften the material and was able to unfold the cardboard without falling apart.  Laying it on a piece of drawing paper I was able to make a fairly good pattern.  Mostly the rounded edges were copied then I used a straight edge to connect each corner instead of trying to trace the edges of the cardboard visor.

Next I test fit my paper template over the visor insert. It seemed to be fairly good and allowed about a 1/4 inch reveal so as to attach a trim piece which I will sew to keep it all together.

Tracing the paper template onto the vinyl was pretty easy.  I then cut and trimmed and again test fit onto the visor insert.  

Following that success I did the same with the 1/2 batting, but trimmed that closer so there would be no overhang from the chipboard.  I assembled all the parts and created a visor sandwich.  The batting was too thick so I split it apart and reassembled the sandwich, reducing the batting from a total of 1 inch to only 1/4 layers for a 1/2 total.

Using the adhesive spray I started with the chipboard then the batting and finally the vinyl and put them all together.  Once it was all together my wife and I decided that the puffy visor look was not appealing.  So I opened the sandwich and cleaned off the batting and decided to go with a thin functional look.  This looks more like the original visor.

After the sandwich was made I trimmed a 3/4 inch wide strip 28 inches long so I could trim the edge and fold it over each side.  The intent is to clean up the edge of then sew it for a finished look.  I will also use the original metal dog ear clips where the trim piece ends.  Spraying the trim piece with adhesive I started at one edge and slowly folded it over the edge of the visor and every so often I would use binder clips or clothes pins to keep it tight.

A day later I removed the binders and found the result to be fairly good.  Next, I needed to sew the edge to make it permanent as well as "professional"  The question was do I do this by hand or with a sewing machine.  My mom was not so sure that the machine would work on the four layers of vinyl and adhesive, so I did it by hand.   The secret to a good stitch was to practice first on some scraps and take your time on each stitch.  I discovered that the angle of my needle was very important as to the pattern of stitching I ended up with.

As you can see its all finished and I have extra material just in case the long-term abuse of sun and temperature requires me to go back and make it more robust. 

The most difficult part of this project was the slow going with needle and thread.  I also made sure my thread was long enough to go through the entire edge without running out.  Since you double the thread to start that meant it was about 60 inches long.  I then doubled that for a total of 120 inches of thread.  In the end I had about 18 inches left over. 

If I was to do it again, I might try a dense foam about 1/8 thick instead of batting.  I Might also consider a lighter thread for a contrasting color, I selected black to hide my mistakes.

Wood Bleach/Oxalic Acid

I mentioned in my post "Rust the New Black" that I was going to try using wood bleach to remove some rust.  What follows is my result.

The first item I decided to test wood bleach on was one of my hubcaps.  It had a combination of surface, built up and eating through rust.  My ultimate intention is to strip all the rust and paint then cover with Dover White paint. The interesting part of the hubcap is that in many ways it should be simple to remove the rust with a blaster or wire brush, however the backside has some challenges in that the lip is not easy to get to with those methods.  Yes I know that nobody will see that side but I will know its there and I want a clean part.  Also since I'm not worried about ruining the paint on the hubcap I figured this would be a great test of the wood bleach.


I called a good friend of mine who owns an awesome hardware store in Rogue River, Oregon (www.mainbuilding.com)  and he brought over a small tub of wood bleach.  Now the instructions on the container are for wood not metal.  I decided to start with a gallon of water and 2 tablespoon of wood bleach powder.  This was just enough water to cover the hubcap in the 5 gallon bucket.  I mixed the water and powder for about 30 seconds then plopped the hubcap into the bucket upside down.

So far the hardest part of this has been getting the lid off the wood bleach without scattering powder everywhere.  I went back to making dinner and then returned an hour later to check on the part.  I could see that the surface rust had diminished but the built up sections were still intact only wet.  

This was not looking well.  

I decided to increase the wood bleach, so I added 4 more tablespoons to the gallon of water.  I also decided to see if perhaps the rust was just sitting on the part and all it needed was some gentle steel wool to remove the rust.  I was pleased to see that the scrubbing was improving the rust on the surface but still required more effort on the backside. Removing my gloves I left to go watch a movie.

It was now about 4.5 hours of soaking and it looked a little better than before but honestly nothing that I could recommend at this time.  Perhaps a combination of wood bleach and wire brush is the answer but what I was really hoping for was a complete removal of rust and very little elbow grease involved.

In the morning as I was leaving for work I checked in on the hubcap and to my surprise the rust was GONE!  I was already running late so I could not take the part out of the solution and inspect or take pictures but when I lifted the cap up and out of the water it was clear that the surface of the hubcap was metal not rust.  When I got home it was about 24 hours in the bucket before I could remove it and clean it with fresh water. A bit of final scrubbing with steel wool and the result is fairly good.  I dropped another hubcap into the solution last night and again in the morning it looked remarkably clean.

Now that I know this works, I'm excited to try placing my fuel filler in and seeing what happens.  That part is about $60 and it looks real bad inside.  Even if I have to increase the ratio and or leave it over a few days anything will be better than trying to scrape and brush the part.  Stay Tuned!

UPDATE:  I have noticed that parts left in the solution will have the paint soften and start to come off.  Not a big deal since I will be repainting them, but if you have paint and want it to remain think twice about using this process.  I also increased my concentration to 10 tablespoons per gallon vs the original 6, to see what would happen.  Not a noticeable difference, except perhaps a bit quicker on the rust removal.  Will probably stay at 6 tablespoons per gallon for future parts as 24 hours seems to be my standard waiting time.  I drop parts in at the end of my day and let it work while I sleep. 

UPDATE: Fuel Filler.  The fuel filler was a mess.  I let it soak for a few days and then also used sand paper, steel wool, small wire brush and a screw driver to clean it up.  The photos are only before I used other tools to clean it up.  After all of this work, a member of the Old GMC website (Thanks Jerre) gave me a nice clean fuel filler.  I'll use his instead since it is much cleaner and has no issues.