I like their word compromiso, more accurate description of the new arrangement.

Congratulations mi amigo!

 

Out on the road driving along in Vern's old W-250 yesterday, when a ruffled grouse flew into the road. I turned it into a grille emblem at 55...

Broke a good chunk of the chromed plastic Dodge grille off and busted up one of the 4 black grilles. If I didn't have 30 spares '91-'93 OEM grilles I would actually be sad.
Looks like I just added a small job to my winter to-do list.

 

How was the grouse?

 

I did not stop and grab it for dinner, as I would have if I bumped it at 25 MPH. It is grouse hunting season up here and they make a hell of a good dinner.
Last fall while driving around the back roads with NJT man and his wife, we hit one. I asked if it was alright if I grabbed it for lunch, as it was still flapping around in the road. His wife looked a little nervous, but didn't say no. It was tasty.

 

Sounds good! around here we have to eat the occasional racoon or armadillo. If lucky a deer might wander onto the road but more likely a brown squirrel.

 

I was driving home the other night through town with a load of fire wood when I heard a loud "pop" and my rear view mirror fell off. At first I was thinking "that's odd, never heard that loud a noise when they fail". As I was pondering the physics of the failing chemical bond I recalled that visually my eyes had been drawn to the mirror too. It was twilight and I got to wondering if the movement I had seen wasn't the reflection of the mirror falling but something hitting the windshield. I pulled over and there was a white dusting of something on the glass right at the mirror mount. The noise was loud so now I'm looking for a bullet hole or rock scar but see nothing. Common sense said maybe an owl but no carcass or even feathers but I was using a flashlight by then. Day light the next day shows nothing either. Today I'll unload the wood and see if there are any clues.

I can't imagine what whacked the windshield hard enough to knock the mirror off (it was loud!) but not crack it unless it was the soft body of an avian, which would help explain the white "dust" too but why no feathers??? It was right as I drove by Buffalo Trace Distillery so maybe a drunken owl. No grouse in town...

 

Maybe a bat, or a small bird.

 

After loosing a wiper blade on the highway, I went ahead and replaced both. Never realized new blades have provisions for mounting on the old post style arms. Here I thought I was gonna be in for a hunt to find the correct style.

 

After my Urban Assualt Unit (otherwise known as a Subaru) blew a head gasket, I shook the spiders out of my Cummins RamCharger and put it back on the road for daily driver use. It's showing its age as a Rust Belt Survivor, but it will be back in line until I have time to fix my Legacy

 

Slowly putting mine back together after swapping in the Hungry Diesel built IP. My friend was handling the front end of the motor. He tore it down. I am missing a couple of bolts for the timing cover. The longer ones I had were too short. I went to Lowes and got what they had. Being they are metric the selection was very limited. I got some that were too long and stacked washers under the heads. They may cause a problem with the serpentine belt. Heading to Tractor Supply to get some shorter ones later today.

Blunders, and averted disasters. My friend put the IP gear on 5* advanced. I thought maybe THD purposely advanced the pump.No THD placed the pump in the right place. I ignored the fact that it was not advanced due to the timing marks being lined up on the pump to original spec.

I had bought a gear in a Cummins package of Ebay. 5 holes instead of 3. Supposed to be an upgrade in strength. That gear came with surface rust that I complained about. (Got to keep the gear and got all my money back.) I cleaned it with Rustoleum rust remover.



Probably not for a 1st gen!

The one I ordered claimed it was for a 1st Gen. However the center is thinner. Looking how far the shaft stuck through VS the stock gear I broke out the calipers. I was right! It looked like the gear would mesh just fine. Take the chance of destroying the gears? Pass. No timing marks on the gear either



The Ebay gear thickness.

The factory gear thickness



Turned out my friend dropped the gear in 1 tooth advanced. You can't advance it without moving the input shaft. It won't drop over the key. Another observation I got was when I dropped the factory gear on properly lining up the timing marks the input shaft appeared to stick out further. I measured that to be sure. I was correct.

I loosened the set screw on the IP and rolled the shaft clockwise until it was 1 tooth advanced (?) Correct me if I am wrong.


I also installed the KDP kit. The hex head screw was 8mm as the 7/32(?) hex wrench started wallering out the head of the screw.

We started this project a long time ago. I can't find the crank sensor. No idea where it mounts, not sure what it looks like. The plug in up at the top by the head might have been unplugged before I bought the truck. I drove it for 4 years. My friend swears he doesn't remember removing a sensor. I am going to clear out a bunch of stuff inside the cab where I have been piling parts, and tools. The harmonic balancer is on time for the fan. If I don't find the sensor the fan goes on and we will deal with the more difficult install of the sensor if need be. The OD always worked, and it always charged. The AC? It's never worked.

Another mystery to deal with.

 

Being warm and almost not raining, I took out my new, brand name, fancy stereo (the simplest I could find) and replaced it with an OEM unit from Oliver Foster's inventory.

Not the high end model my LE came with (he didn't have one) but a real radio with a screen that I can see the time and radio stations without my readers. And genuine ***** and buttons I can feel and change - while driving with my eyes on the road even.

All is right with the world once again...

 

Glad that worked out good for you.

I have used up all the "high end" OEM units with the C/D players. I have gone through a few of those over the years and I much prefer the OEM stereo over the aftermarket ones.

Did you chuck a shop stocker on the back window too?

 

Got a "Mopars In The Mountains" sticker on the truck and going to put another on my diesel KJ, it's kind of a MOPAR, well sorta, maybe... And then another on my old metal Coleman cooler or my camp box or both!

I can't find that nice CD/cassette style on any of the old retro stereo websites. Some surface on ebay for hundreds of dollars occasionally, more $$ than the nice unit I bought as a "replacement" but is now a Boxing Day gift...

While I had my bezel off, I took out the instrument cluster to make sure the electrical connections to my speedo are not the source of my funky needle. We'll see when I button it all back up today. I also got distracted and ended up fixing my electric door locks too. Just unplugging and spraying electrical cleaner on the pins and sockets seems to have "fixed" the issue for now.

Not a lot of time to enjoy the warm weather wrenching as my oldest daughter is in from Texas for a couple days. Planning on grilling some home grown T-bones tonight!

 

what is causing this chatter? Vacuum pump, power steering, IP?
been doing this for approx. 6 months, but I only drive it every 2 months for approx. 20 miles, or start it monthly.

let me know if video clip not readable.

THANKS!

 

The video is not viewable with my player.