Category Archives: Cars & Trucks

Jeep: First check-up

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Most people who buy or restore an old vehicle don’t plan on making it their “daily driver,” for a lot of practical reasons. Reliability, comfort, financial… just to name a few. But for the last few years I’ve driven the Land Rover or the pickup every day. Leaving a cherished vintage vehicle in the garage would be like having a good dog you never played with. So when I added the Jeep to my little fleet, I knew I wanted to drive it regularly so a trip to the mechanic was high on my list. Just to make it safe-ish to drive. After an agonizing six weeks I got the Jeep back this week.

  • Lube, Oil and Filter change
  • Replace front and rear differential oil
  • Replace steering bell crank
  • Replace drag link repair kit
  • Replace headlight switch
  • Replace brake light switch
  • Replace brake master cylinder
  • Adjust radiator fan
  • Reseal right rear wheel (losing air due to rust on bead)

The parking brake doesn’t work and the oil pan is leaking bit so we’re not quite finished but it’s about as good as we can make it for now.

Chevrolet 3600 (Advanced Design)

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“The Advance-Design is a light and medium duty truck series by Chevrolet, their first major redesign after WWII. Its GMC counterpart was the GMC New Design. It was billed as a larger, stronger, and sleeker design in comparison to the earlier AK Series. First available on Saturday, June 28, 1947, these trucks were sold with various minor changes over the years until March 25, 1955.” (Wikipedia)

“Do you smell gasoline?”

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Gasoline has always been a bit of an issue with Minty Fresh (my 1977 Ford F-150). When I bought it (4 1/2 years ago) Paul warned me it drank a lot of gas but no more than you’d expect for a 40-year-old truck.

The gasoline smell reached a peak last summer when I noticed a stream pouring from the rear tank (the truck has two). Less smell after I had a new tank installed.

But it’s gotten stronger in recent weeks/months and I chalked it up to “old truck.” Oh yeah… and my gas consumption was worse than ever.

I mentioned this to Paul yesterday and he popped the hood to take a look. What we saw was a stream of gasoline coming from a carburetor hose down onto the manifold. Which gets very hot. Why I never had a fire is a nice mystery.
Paul replaced the ancient leaking hose in about five minutes (and adjusted the idle for good measure.)

“Your gas mileage will probably double,” Paul speculated.

High tech car theft: Relay attack

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A friend of mine had had his truck stolen recently while on a business trip to Dallas. He parked his truck in the parking area of the motel where he was staying. When he came out the next morning, his truck was gone. Obviously stolen. Here’s what the police told him probably happened.

One of the thieves stays close to the vehicle to be stolen with an electronic device that connects to the electronic ignition system. The other thief –armed with a different electronic gizmo– walks up and down the hallways of the hotel, sending out a signal that connects to the electronic key fob of the truck. A signal is then sent to the device in the parking lot, unlocking the truck and starting the ignition. It’s called a “relay attack” and here’s some video of a car being stolen from the owner’s driveway.

The key was probably on a table near the front door so the thief didn’t have to get any closer than the front porch.

My friend asked the investigating officer what could be done to prevent this kind of theft and was told his best bet was a Faraday pouch. Amazon has hundreds of them.

Jeep has crack in engine block

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Took the Jeep to my mechanic for four routine service and maintenance. Oil change, lubrication, etc. Probably been a while. Alas, he found a crack in the engine block. The plan is patch with StopLeak, J-B Weld, etc. I won’t be driving it fast or far and if/when it stops running we’ll look at replacing the block. As far as I can tell, almost all old Jeep blocks have a crack (or soon will). On the bright side, replacing an engine on a CJ-2a is as simple as it gets. And the Jeep won’t be my daily driver, just for fun in the sun. And we just need to keep the Jeep running as long as I am. A lowering bar.

1971 International Travelall

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This beauty was taking up a lot space in Paul’s shop when I stopped by. With the seats down, the interior is huge. I really think you could put a queen-size mattress in this thing. I’m especially fond of the paint job.
“The International Harvester Travelall is a model line of vehicles that were manufactured by International Harvester; four generations were produced from 1953 to 1975. Derived from the International light truck line, the Travelall was a truck-based station wagon. One of the first competitors to the Chevrolet Suburban, the Travelall was a forerunner of modern people carriers and full-size sport utility vehicles. As International withdrew from light-truck sales, the Travelall and pickup truck lines were discontinued after the 1975 model year, followed by the Scout in 1980.” (Wikipedia)