WHYDTYTT: What Have You Done To Your Truck Today?

[Nothing Special]

So you're going to make your rockers into nerf bars/sliders?

I suppose you'll be okay with that but there is something to be said for a sacrificial shield.

Easy to swap and less likely affect the door if it does get crushed.

That's one way of putting it I guess.

The problem with adding a sacrificial shield is that there's no where to mount it. Frames on early Broncos are very narrow and the bodies are pretty wide, so there's a long way to cantilever something off the frame. And on the driver's side there's a gas tank there, so you can't anyway without hanging it down pretty low.

The first option is to just attach some heavy steel directly to the sheetmetal. I actually bought one of those kits several years ago, but I found that while my rockers looked pretty good at the time, too much of that was bondo, so there wasn't enough structure to mount them.

This is the second option. I've seen a number of others do it. There's enough other rust on the body that, after this, the rockers probably won't be the thing that eventually drives me to a fiberglass body.

Progress is good!

You'll get over the cable routing and pedal placement soon enough.

What are you doing now?

Do you use a line lock or chock on a rope?

Or rely on leaving it in Lo against compression?

I'm not too worried about the pedal and cables. They just need to wait their turn.

I used to have a line lock on it. That was what I thought would be the solution when I decided to go with the rear disks. But it quit holding pressure several years ago.

So mostly I just shut the engine off and leave it in gear when I need it to sit still on its own. Or when I'm working on it and need it to be running I'll use a parking brick. I haven't had a great option for quite a while now, hence the rear drums. But I've been living without a good option for quite a while too, hence the lack of a rush.

(edit to add: I started a thread for my Bronco in the "Projects" page. See that thread for followups)

[scbill]

So you're going to make your rockers into nerf bars/sliders?

I suppose you'll be okay with that but there is something to be said for a sacrificial shield.

Easy to swap and less likely affect the door if it does get crushed.

That's one way of putting it I guess.

The problem with adding a sacrificial shield is that there's no where to mount it. Frames on early Broncos are very narrow and the bodies are pretty wide, so there's a long way to cantilever something off the frame. And on the driver's side there's a gas tank there, so you can't anyway without hanging it down pretty low.

The first option is to just attach some heavy steel directly to the sheetmetal. I actually bought one of those kits several years ago, but I found that while my rockers looked pretty good at the time, too much of that was bondo, so there wasn't enough structure to mount them.

This is the second option. I've seen a number of others do it. There's enough other rust on the body that, after this, the rockers probably won't be the thing that eventually drives me to a fiberglass body.

Progress is good!

You'll get over the cable routing and pedal placement soon enough.

What are you doing now?

Do you use a line lock or chock on a rope?

Or rely on leaving it in Lo against compression?

I'm not too worried about the pedal and cables. They just need to wait their turn.

I used to have a line lock on it. That was what I thought would be the solution when I decided to go with the rear disks. But it quit holding pressure several years ago.

So mostly I just shut the engine off and leave it in gear when I need it to sit still on its own. Or when I'm working on it and need it to be running I'll use a parking brick. I haven't had a great option for quite a while now, hence the rear drums. But I've been living without a good option for quite a while too, hence the lack of a rush.

(edit to add: I started a thread for my Bronco in the "Projects" page. See that thread for followups)

Got it down to smearing the glazing putty....9Y med walnut soon (I hope)still trying to decide on light desert tan on the top/side panels.

[Gary Lewis]

Got it down to smearing the glazing putty....9Y med walnut soon (I hope)still trying to decide on light desert tan on the top/side panels.

Cool! Gonna look good.

[salans7]

Got it down to smearing the glazing putty....9Y med walnut soon (I hope)still trying to decide on light desert tan on the top/side panels.

http://forum.garysgaragemahal.com/file/n64272/multicolor.jpg

Not the same colors, but same wheels and similar colors.

[grumpin]

Got it down to smearing the glazing putty....9Y med walnut soon (I hope)still trying to decide on light desert tan on the top/side panels.

Nice!

[Gary Lewis]

Nice!

Well, it wasn't to Big Blue, but I filled up Blue after 635 miles and he got 20.3 MPG. That's a new record.

But, I have a question for y'all. My daughter and wife came back from a short trip in the Subie yesterday and said the A/C wasn't working well and the coolant temp would go up and down, but never get to HOT.

My SiL and I looked when the engine was cold and the coolant recovery reservoir was full to the brim with about twice as much coolant as it was supposed to have. And the radiator was down that much and more. So we pulled the extra out of the recovery reservoir and put it in the radiator and then topped it off completely and started it up. With the A/C on both fans run and the A/C kicks out cold air. And with the A/C off neither fan runs until the engine gets warm and then one comes on for a bit.

So it looks to me like the fans and cooling system are working but that the radiator cap was bad. My theory is that it allowed coolant to go into the recovery reservoir but didn't suck it back when it cooled. And with several iterations of that the cooling system was too low to cool properly.

We replaced the radiator cap tonight, but I'm just looking for other thoughts about what might be going on.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Well, it wasn't to Big Blue, but I filled up Blue after 635 miles and he got 20.3 MPG. That's a new record.

But, I have a question for y'all. My daughter and wife came back from a short trip in the Subie yesterday and said the A/C wasn't working well and the coolant temp would go up and down, but never get to HOT.

My SiL and I looked when the engine was cold and the coolant recovery reservoir was full to the brim with about twice as much coolant as it was supposed to have. And the radiator was down that much and more. So we pulled the extra out of the recovery reservoir and put it in the radiator and then topped it off completely and started it up. With the A/C on both fans run and the A/C kicks out cold air. And with the A/C off neither fan runs until the engine gets warm and then one comes on for a bit.

So it looks to me like the fans and cooling system are working but that the radiator cap was bad. My theory is that it allowed coolant to go into the recovery reservoir but didn't suck it back when it cooled. And with several iterations of that the cooling system was too low to cool properly.

We replaced the radiator cap tonight, but I'm just looking for other thoughts about what might be going on.

Hopefully it isn't the infamous head gaskets.

I don't know the volume of that system, but I'm surprised that normal thermal expansion would be that much displacement.

What pressure is the cap you replaced?

If the coolant can get to boiling, it will easily purge like that.

[grumpin]

Well, it wasn't to Big Blue, but I filled up Blue after 635 miles and he got 20.3 MPG. That's a new record.

But, I have a question for y'all. My daughter and wife came back from a short trip in the Subie yesterday and said the A/C wasn't working well and the coolant temp would go up and down, but never get to HOT.

My SiL and I looked when the engine was cold and the coolant recovery reservoir was full to the brim with about twice as much coolant as it was supposed to have. And the radiator was down that much and more. So we pulled the extra out of the recovery reservoir and put it in the radiator and then topped it off completely and started it up. With the A/C on both fans run and the A/C kicks out cold air. And with the A/C off neither fan runs until the engine gets warm and then one comes on for a bit.

So it looks to me like the fans and cooling system are working but that the radiator cap was bad. My theory is that it allowed coolant to go into the recovery reservoir but didn't suck it back when it cooled. And with several iterations of that the cooling system was too low to cool properly.

We replaced the radiator cap tonight, but I'm just looking for other thoughts about what might be going on.

I would start with the radiator cap.

[ArdWrknTrk]

I would start with the radiator cap.

Dane, if Gary and his son in law have just changed the cap maybe the thing to do is test the old one?

I still think something has to be boiling because water/coolant expands, but I don't see it expanding that much unless bubbles are forming in the engine.

[Gary Lewis]

Dane, if Gary and his son in law have just changed the cap maybe the thing to do is test the old one?

I still think something has to be boiling because water/coolant expands, but I don't see it expanding that much unless bubbles are forming in the engine.

The old cap is marked 1.1, which I take to be atmospheres. So that would be roughly 16 psi, and that's what we went back with.

I'm thinking this was an iterative scenario, where the system pushed a bit out and didn't suck it back. Then it got warmer and it pushed more out and didn't suck it back. Until finally it was working with too little coolant and the temp gauge started seeing air, then coolant, then air.

As for the head gaskets, been there and had them replaced with the better gaskets. So, I sure hope that isn't it.

The issue is that our daughter is to drive it to/from Wichita on Sunday and then, in a couple of more weeks, the whole family is to drive it to Charleston where they are moving. So I need to get this sorted.