#328 Calvin Hagan stone wiring details and truck

I went back by Calvin's house before our trek South. I wanted to go by for a few days and wrap up any wiring details that I didn't get to and maybe get the truck to crank.

I finished the wiring details in a few days and then I wanted to spend some time on the truck. Trying to crank the truck takes several hours just to get everything going. I spent a fair amount of time getting power to the truck getting a battery that would work doing all the wiring that requires it to crank. I needed a fuel pump and fuel and finally, I tried to crank it but even with using an existing battery and trying with jumper cables it just wouldn't quite turn over very well.

Let me go back one step. I wanted to be sure that the engine block was in good shape so I took all the spark plugs out then sprayed all the cylinders heavily with WD-40. I sprayed a good amount down inside the carburetor. The thinking here was that if I turned over the engine repeatedly in this way with no resistance, I could bathe all of the moving parts and lubricant before I try to crank it. I finally felt pretty good about the whole thing and was ready to try. Whenever I first applied the power it was a little stubborn because it had been just sitting there but once I reminded the engine it was a mechanical device it started spinning pretty well.

I put the spark plugs back in the gas line hooked up and it was ready to go. Sadly I wasn't getting any real response. I tried for the longest time with very little success.

I took the distributor cap off and looked around for any issues made sure that was voltage where it needed to be. I wasn't getting anywhere quick but I kept on trying to crank it and it's some point and made up Varoom sound.

Naturally, this was music to my ears I guess once I decided that there was hope I got all giddy and just kind of messed around with a little bit more in it cranked up.

Don't get me wrong it was sounding pretty rough and it was blowing a lot of smoke. I wasn’t sure what was going on but I call it getting the cobwebs out.

The truck had been sitting up for 3 years and I hoped that there were no issues.

Although it was running a little bit rough, it gave me great pleasure. At some point and I don't mean a long time more like 10 minutes I noticed that the clear gas filter was gurgling with air. I stopped for a moment and noticed the 1-gallon gas can feeding it was almost empty.

This is not the most efficient vehicle in the world but it shouldn't use a gallon of gas and 10 minutes.

I went back to the station and got 5 gallons more gas and it went through that in about 20 minutes or so. I finally decided the carburetor was so bad it was just dumping fuel like a spigot down the carburetor and into the engine. Somehow running but it means that I need to get a new carburetor. I don't understand how it couldn't even run with this amount of fuel flowing into it. It seems to me like there was a stream of gas flowing like a water fountain just pouring down the carburetor into the engine and out the rear. Some of the vapors were allowing you to run. It seems like it should have caught on fire or blown up. I felt good to hear it run but all the fixing would have to wait a few years. I put it all back to bed got it all battened it down for the time I will be gone.

I knew something was wrong so I just said it was time to let it go. I disconnected everything putting all the gas and battery stuff away and put the hood back on and started completely sealing it off for my absence.

I spent some time straightening up the interior of the cab rearranging things a little and putting an existing tarp over the truck so that the new tarp would not get torn accidentally by any sharp edges.

I bought a brand-new tarp that was 20 by 30 and I just wrapped up tight giving the wheels and mobility to turn but that's it. Calvin said that it's some point he was going to put it in a garage but that could be 6 months or a year from now so I wanted it to be protected from the elements. I worked until about nine and I went back to the campground very tired