Finally found a replacement for my winter driver.

My baja has been out of commission for awhile because it needed a master cylinder, and exhaust. I didn't want to put any money into it so I quit driving it since summer is here. I kept going back and forth on whether to just scrap it out. That was my plan but I knew I wanted a driver for the winter. I was checking out KSL and came across this bug. It is in better shape than the baja and the heater channels are intact. Ellie and I loaded up the tow bar in the truck, we got a little cash and drove up to Kaysville where it was located. I was hoping I would find a rust free bug that had been garaged it's whole life and only driven on weekends. Well, that didn't happen. This is what I found. It is a decent bug especially for what I payed for it. The interior is in really good shape. There is some rust. It has the typical vent rust on the back quarters. The drivers side is really bad which made this bug not so sweet. It can be fixed and it's not affecting anything structural so I haggled a little and Ellie and I towed it home. The engine has a rod knock but I am not concerned with that because I have a good engine in the baja that will fit right in. Isaac liked it right away. Ellie wants to paint it pink, Steven says it's good and Dixie likes the fact that this one has carpet and the carpet is in good condition.

 This bug has been painted and it was probably back in the 90's. It has some signs of being turned into a cal look bug. The cal look back in the 90's shaved all the chrome off and blacked out the window seals like this one is. My bug back in high school had no chrome and I even shaved off the door handle for a smooth look. This one was done OK and I will leave it like it is except I am going to add the pop out windows from the baja.  This bug also has an adjustable beam in it. I promised Dixie that I wouldn't lower it though so I think I will just swap out the front beam with the baja's also.

 This would of been the perfect car if it wasn't for that darn rust spot on the drivers side rear panel. It bugs me and I plan on cutting some pieces off the baja to patch in to that area when I get some time and can't stand it any longer.

So the good is:
1. The car looks pretty good just as it sits.
2. The heater channels are in great shape.
3. The interior is in really good shape which is unusual for my cars.
4. I have all the parts I need to get it running.
5. I really dig the hub caps on it.
6. The bumpers are in perfect shape.
7. The wiring looks to be fairly unmolested.
8. The doors shut great.
9. The fuel doesn't smell like it's varnished yet.
10. There is a second heater added to this bug that is electric and is suppose to work really good.
11. I haven't found any signs that it has been wrecked.

The bad is:
1. The rust under the crescent.
2. It needs front tires.
3. The front drivers seat is wobbly and looks smooshed.
4. I have another car in my driveway and I am afraid the neighbors are gonna call the city on me.

Soooo, I have pulled the baja into the garage and I am going to start stripping it tomorrow. I will sell any usable parts and take the rest to the scrap yard. I am positive I can get enough money from it to pay for this one. I REALLY hate to scrap out old cars. There just isn't a whole lot of them around anymore but the baja is rusted so bad that the drivers door doesn't shut right. In fact when you close it you can see the whole dashboard move. I also hated having the engine exposed to all the weather outside. I thought a baja was cool but as I watched my engine turn to rust it bugged me. Hopefully I can get this one up and running quickly, the baja disposed of quickly and keep the peace in the family and neighborhood in the process. Summer is cruising by quickly so check back and see if this is going to be ready for some winter driving. If you need any parts off a 1969 bug, let me know. I probably have what you need.    

Failed first attempt at starting the binder after 20 years of sitting.

So the first attempt to start the old International has ended in failure.  I started out the day with high hopes of getting it running and having a video to prove it. I began by removing the hood so I would have good access to both sides of the engine.

 The 2nd thing I did was kill and remove the hornets and nest from under the front grill so I would not get stung like I did a couple days ago. I used hornet spray throughout the day to get rid of the stragglers trying to get back to their home.

 I pulled out all the plugs and checked out how they were burning. They looked like they have been in there for awhile but they weren't horrible. I cleaned them up really good and installed them. I will buy new ones and put them in after my first start up. I squirted oil in each cylinder as a precaution so I know it will blow some smoke out when it fires up. I will let these old plugs burn that oil out and then install some new ones.

 I spun the engine over a few times to by hand to get the cylinders lubed up and ready to go. I decided at this point to remove the valve cover and peek into the valve train. I was curious and wanted to get some oil on the rockers. I also figured I could make sure there wasn't a stuck valve at the same time.

I was amazed how clean the head is. There is no sludge buildup at all and all the valves worked properly. I also took the time to clean up the valve cover.

 This is quite a row of rockers. I also pulled off the fuel lines going into and coming out of the fuel pump. I turned the engine over and pumped all the old nasty fuel out of the pump and blew out the lines.

 Here I put some oil on all the cylinders.

 I was getting close now. I got the valve cover back on, the plugs installed, and a new fuel filter and fuel lines installed. Here is where I ran into some trouble. I put the battery in and checked the starter. The starter button did not work so I jumped the 2 wires and it started cranking, and cranking, and cranking. It wouldn't stop cranking until I removed the battery cable off the battery. I checked some more wires but it did the same thing. I figured I would remove the switch completely and use the remote starter switch I bought. It did the same thing. I am hoping it is just a wiring issue and not a bad solenoid. I love the way the valve cover looks. I think I will leave it like this and just clear coat it so it doesn't rust anymore.

 I also ran into 2 more problems along the way. I have no spark coming from my coil. I have voltage to my coil but nothing coming out of it. Maybe I have a bad coil. The other issue I have is that I have fuel leaking pretty good out of my carburetor. I figure that the float is stuck. That is a bad thing when I have to remove the battery cable to get the truck to stop cranking. The carburetor sits above the battery so when fuel is spilling onto it I get nervous when it sparks when I remove the cable. At this point I decided to pull the plug for now and get some things fixed. I am going to rebuild the carburetor so it will not leak. The kit is cheap. I am positive this engine will run so I will be doing this anyways. I also decided to get a new coil, plug wires, cap, rotor,  points, and condenser. I am not going to be chasing spark problems with old parts that I don't trust. I was busy the rest of the day with the family so this is where it sits as of now. I did remove the carb and found the numbers for the rebuild kit. I will get that coming in the mail and the rest of the parts are coming from Napa. Here is the old carb. It is in pretty rough shape.

  Hopefully this week I can get some things worked out so I can get it fired up next weekend. I think the service manual will be here soon and that will give me some insight in the starter problem. I think it has wiring diagrams in it which should help out. I am a little bummed that I didn't get it running but I am not defeated yet. In fact I am more excited because I know it will run. I just need to work out some little bugs. So until next post, Keep on truckin!

Ed visits Granite Flats

BYU TV has a show on it called Granite Flats. It is set in the early 60's and is a show about a small town called Granite Flats. I guess you would call it a drama/mystery mix. They have shown 1 season and I am hoping they continue with it. I really like it and there are not many shows these days that hold my interest for more then a couple episodes. This one is cool and I like being able to watch a show and not worry about the content of what will be shown. If you haven't seen it check it out. It's on BYU-TV and you can watch all 8 episodes of the first season on the Internet through BYU-TV.

They filmed a lot of the show in Magna on main street. I had to go to the library so I was on Magna's main street. I found out that some of the buildings were still painted up like the ones in the show. If you have seen the show, you will recognize a couple of the photo's. This one is from the Granite Flats police station. One of the main characters is the chief of police so you see this a lot in the show.

 This is the drug store they show in town when they do a street shot. The for sale sign kinda ruins the photo but the windows were painted up for the show.

 The Empress theater is in the show also. It's the local movie theater of granite flats and a piece of the "comet" breaks the front doors glass in the show. You will know what I am talking about if you watch it.

I don't think this is in the show but I found a really cool wall painting on my drive down main street. I couldn't resist taking a picture of it. I had to back Ed into an alley to get him in the shot. I have cruised this main street a lot and have never seen this painting. It's a little bit hidden.

 Here is the view looking out onto main street. If you have never driven down Magna main street, you should check it out sometime. There have been a few movies and TV shows filmed here because it has some old time charm. There are also a lot of bars and church's on main street but it's still fun to drive through now and then.

I passed this pickup just as he was pulling off the street and I was able to get a photo on my way back. It is nicely built. I have never seen it before but I did admire it.

 Here is another one I saw. The bars bring in some cool cars at times and lots of Harley's.

That was my adventure today in 102 degrees of sunny bliss. I really hope they do a season 2 of Granite Flats so I can see how it ends. They left you hanging in the last episode of season 1 so I would guess they are going to do a season 2. If they don't, well, that's just plain mean!

Investigating the International Pickup.

I installed the starter on the International tonight. I have high hopes of getting it running soon. I know there are things that need to be addressed but I want to make sure it will run before I get too involved in fixing the other problems. I wish this picture could do justice on how heavy duty this truck is. You can't really tell but the flywheel on this truck is HUGE. It's really thick and beefy. I am amazed that it looks so good because the Bendix gear on the starter was trashed. I figured the flywheel would be chewed up but as you can see it looks to be in great condition.

The 2 bolts holding it on are huge also. It takes a 3/4 inch socket to install them.

Here the starter is installed it's ready for the battery to be installed. This pickup is 6 volt with a positive ground so I need to think backwards to make sure everything is hooked up correctly. Ha Ha.

I did a little bit more investigating. The generator looks pretty rough. I will see if it will put out a charge when I get it running. I am going to replace the fuel filter and the run new fuel lines before I start it. I am planning on just starting it off a gas can to make sure it will run. I then will take the time to clean the fuel tank and replace and clean the other fu lines after that.

The oil actually looks amazing considering how long it has sat. I figured it would be sludge but it's not. I am going to squirt some oil in the cylinders before the first run just to make sure everything is lubed properly.

The engine is very greasy on the outside. I am hoping I can get it running and driveable then I will drive it to the car wash and degrease the engine. I am debating on whether to pull the carb and rebuild it or at least clean it up really good or try to run it the way it sits. Maybe I should see if I can even locate a rebuild kit for it. That might make the decision for me.

The radiator is in rough shape also but the antifreeze looks good in it. I am pretty sure I will have to take it down to a radiator shop and have them go through it. Again, I will worry about that after I know it will run.

This is the oil filter. It's different from what you see on cars today. I am going to have to figure out how to clean this because I really don't have a clue.

Here it is installed in the housing. I think I will change the plugs out also before the first start.

The distributor looks OK and the points are moving good. I may change them. I will at least check the gap on them.

The rotor looks bad so I am definitely going to change that out.

I am excited to start the engine up but I don't want to cause damage by not doing it properly so I am going to take my time and make sure everything is OK beforehand. My Dad bought me a service manual for this pickup. It is a nice one that the dealer mechanics used back in the day. It has over 600 pages and I am really happy. I already can see a ton of questions I have on this truck and that manual will be a great help. It should be a lot of fun getting this old girl to run. I am having doubts on keeping the drive train all stock when we have better technology that is available. I think that the 50's technology is what gives this truck a lot of it's charm. If I can get it running and driving safely and keep up with cars that are on the road today I will keep it the way it is. If not, well then I will convert it to disc brakes, power steering, and a small block V8. Time will tell.

Cache Valley Cruise and the quest for a new hat!

I had been debating on whether to go to the Cache Valley Cruise In in Logan this weekend. I wanted to go but there is always too much stuff going on at home and I had a good opportunity to get some of that stuff done. Anyways, I took a good long look at my hat and decided that I REALLY need a new hat. That was enough of a reason to go to Logan with the family, look at some cool cars and search for a new hat. I really like my Route 66 hat. I have actually owned 3 of them. I buy them from a little roadside store that is between Phoenix and Tucson Arizona. I haven't had the opportunity to get back there to get some more hats and I am in desperate need of a new one so we set off on Friday headed to Logan. Here is my grungy hat. It is actually embarrassing when I get sent on a road trip at work and get on a plane with this hat. It is borderline gross but I really, really like it. I am a creature of comfort and this hat is comfortable to me. Anyways, on to the car show.

 The weather was great up in Logan and the hot rods were all over the place. This little truck caught my eye. I would never of chosen these colors if I was thinking of colors to paint this truck but that is what caught my eye. They looked amazing on it. We saw this truck cruising in Logan later that night and it looked even better on the road.

 This old truck was cool. I liked the way it is chain driven. Isaac liked it also.

 Here is a front shot of the same truck. It was owned by Burton Lumber. It is a cool old Mack truck.

I thought Ellie would like this car. Pink is her favorite color and this car has A LOT of pink on it.

 Isaac is always acting like James Dean. Ellie just wanted to hug his legs. It is a cool rat rod also.

Another rat rod at the show. I always gravitate towards these. I like this one because it's different. Most rat rod tops are chopped a bunch and that makes them hard to drive and they are not comfortable to sit in. If I ever build one I want to be able to drive it everyday. This one looks like it would be a OK to do that in.

 The owner of this WWII jeep let Isaac and Ellie sit in it. He was really cool and explained all about the jeep. The kids had a blast sitting in it.

 Ellie thought these little chairs were put out just for her to sit in. This Coe was cool. If I ever win the lottery I will have one of these trucks in my collection.

 This was Steven's favorite car at the show. I like the color. My first car in High school was this color.

I had to get a picture of a Hemi in a cuda. This is something you don't see everyday.

 This was the coolest bug in the show. I watched it pull in and then checked it out later in the show. It's a little bit lower then mine but not much.

 This is a vendor selling ice cream. They make all their ice cream using a hit n miss John Deere. They also call these johnny poppers. I had a good time checking out the old engine. Steven liked it also and wanted some ice cream. We figured we would get some Aggie ice cream up on campus so we skipped the ice cream at the show.

 I caught Isaac checking out this girl. Ha Ha. He told me he was looking at the inside of the car. It cracked me up.

Ellie had to pet every dog at the show. There were quite a few so she was able to pet all of them. The owners were very cool and all the dogs were well behaved. She even got a kiss from one of them.

We went to Aggie ice cream and the line there was clear out the door. I didn't want to wait in line so we left. I remember my parents talking about a good ice cream place in Brigham city so we cruised there to check it out. Here is the sign on Brigham main street. I never knew Brigham city was the "Gateway to the worlds greatest wild bird refuge". This sign was lit up at night and it looked cool but the picture didn't turn out.

This is the ice cream shop we hit. It was built in the 40's and the food and ice cream was awesome.

 I got a chili dog and everyone else got hot dogs. We didn't know it but they were foot long hot dogs. Lots of food and everything was really good.

 Steven said he had 2 hot dogs in 1. He ate half of it before I took this picture. He liked sitting at the bar.

 We got fries for Ellie. She loved them. They were some of the best fries I have had. I only got a couple because Ellie ate most of them. This picture shows how tired Ellie was form the long day.

This was a good picture but my camera is slow and by the time it took the picture Ellie was headed somewhere else.

 I searched and searched and this was the only hat that I found at the car show. Luckily it is cool and it will replace my good ole route 66 hat. It is a little bit wild for my taste but I like the way it fits and that is whats most important!

All in all it was a fun day. It's always a good day when you can spend it with your family, outside enjoying the weather and at a car show to boot.