Or perhaps the title should be around the block in 366 days? Or possibly, "I just got to second, but was too nervous to try for third." Regardless, I just put the auto in mobile!
Yesterday was the one year anniversary of when I first performed any work at all on these rustbuckets. The work I did was just cleaning all of the debris out of the tub, too. Well, I thought it would be a fun to celebrate the anniversary of that date by actually going for a ride in the Rustbucket. Thus, September 8th was deemed D-Day.
I spent the first half of yesterday chasing down fuel pump issues. Amazingly, the pump had failed. I pulled it and rebuilt a different one (CJ2A model) that was sitting on the shelf. Its fun to have junk on the shelves that you end up using...the fuel pump and a fuel pump rebuild kit!
With the pump rebuilt AND confirmed that it works (I used a vacuum gauge and could see pressure on both the inlet and outlet holes), I installed it in the jeep and was ready for the big ride. Well, now something was amiss in the carbureator. The jeep would start, but not stay running at idle. After a few emails back and forth to David in Germany, he set me on a great path for fixing a stubborn needle valve in the carbureator bowl. However, I missed D-Day.
This morning I went back to work on the carbureator. This time I overcooked it and created a small version of Niagra Falls flowing out of the carbureator. Yikes! Luckily, when the jeep started, the fire extinguisher was not needed! Lets adjust the float level some more.
Also, with the flooded carb means that I most likely flooded the manifold. And, once again, David came through from 4400 miles away. "Pull the plugs, wipe them down, crank the engine to blow the excess gas out." That is all it took!
I wish I had taken some pictures of all of this, but I was too busy tracking down the gremlims to deal with a camera. Sorry. Looking back, it would have been fun to see.
The joy began with the unexpected starting of the jeep. Once I toyed with the throttle to keep it idling, I REALLY wanted to see if the transmission would work. Hindsight says that I should have adjusted the idle mixture screw before driving, but seriously, who had time to think?
Jack came running out from behind the house and was excited. I told him to run inside and find Sarah. She came out and took a few pictures. If it wasn't for her, none of this would have been documented.
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| Testing out reverse, first and the brakes. |
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| Jonesing to get it into second gear! |
Note the makeshift gas tank strapped to the side. No, that is not a tribute to Bubba, although he would appreciate it. I have cleaned out the actual gas tank and have run all of the gas lines. However, one of the little pessimistic voices in my head was warning me, "What if something isn't right? Hook it up, and you have THAT much more to undo when you need to take this all apart." Hence, the plastic tank on the side for test purposes.
I never got it fast enough or went far enough to get it to third gear. However, I was successfully maintaining second gear (no popping out!), so that satisfied me for today! Whle driving, I could also hear a "tink, tink, tink" noise. At first I thought it was Tinkerbell, but it turns out it was the speedometer cable bumping along the road...I haven't repaired the speedo, yet, and the cable is not connected at either end. Good, that mystery noise problem is solved!
So, D-Day + 1 (or 366 days later!), this jeep is driving! Oh, and the other miracle was that the front bumper stayed on throughout the entire drive. I think it was because I was secretly blessed by Father John when I turned around in his driveway near the top of the hill.
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