Nothing Special's '71 Bronco

[Nothing Special]

.... the exhaust with both clearance and welds that don’t appear to leak....

Thanks! I was originally planning on just tacking the exhaust together well enough to bring it to an exhaust shop to build a new exhaust. But I haven't been thrilled with what they've come up with in the past, and I have the idea that I could do better (if I had the time). So I decided to try to weld it back together well enough to use it until I get around to redoing the exhaust myself. Of course realistically that will never happen and I'll just keep what I have until something happens that forces me to take it back to the exhaust shop again! But for now that's fine. I don't have the sound of any exhaust leaks, so I'm happy with it for now.

My Bronco now has a name: Pluto

In my pickup's thread I explained why it needed a name and how that name came to be "Oswald." In that post I mentioned that my Bronco had come to have the name "Pluto". That wasn't official until today, but here I'll give the LONG backstory on the name. Please feel free to skip this!

In one of my trip threads I teased that I have a couple of trail rigs that I'm "building" in my head. I'm still not going to tell you anything about them unless/until they ever see the light of day. But in my head they both got names so I could keep track of them. Both names happened to be names of dogs from cartoons and children's books, so it seemed like my one real trail rig should also have a name in that genre.

OK, more back story. About 9 years ago Lesley and I booked our first cruise. It was on Disney Cruise Line, and Lesley, as she typically does, dove into researching Disney cruises. She found out that there's an informal gift exchange program that happens on Disney cruises, so she signed up. When she signed up she need to give a bunch of information about us to help others decide what gifts we might like. Favorite Disney character was one of the things they wanted to know. I didn't have a favorite Disney character, but I had to give one, so I picked Pluto, not really having any good reason in my head for it.

But the funny thing is, when you pick a favorite Disney character and start getting inundated with him, he actually starts being your favorite Disney character! If the other two trail rigs I'm thinking about ever come to be, it will not mean I'll get rid of the Bronco. In fact, it will be my favorite of the three. So if I needed a name for my favorite trail rig, and the name had to be of a cartoon dog, it couldn't be anything but "Pluto."

I still didn't formally give him the name until today. Just calling him "the Bronco" always worked. But now that "Oswald" officially has a name it seemed like the Bronco should too. So now he's Pluto!

[Gary Lewis]

My Bronco now has a name: Pluto

In my pickup's thread I explained why it needed a name and how that name came to be "Oswald." In that post I mentioned that my Bronco had come to have the name "Pluto". That wasn't official until today, but here I'll give the LONG backstory on the name. Please feel free to skip this!

In one of my trip threads I teased that I have a couple of trail rigs that I'm "building" in my head. I'm still not going to tell you anything about them unless/until they ever see the light of day. But in my head they both got names so I could keep track of them. Both names happened to be names of dogs from cartoons and children's books, so it seemed like my one real trail rig should also have a name in that genre.

OK, more back story. About 9 years ago Lesley and I booked our first cruise. It was on Disney Cruise Line, and Lesley, as she typically does, dove into researching Disney cruises. She found out that there's an informal gift exchange program that happens on Disney cruises, so she signed up. When she signed up she need to give a bunch of information about us to help others decide what gifts we might like. Favorite Disney character was one of the things they wanted to know. I didn't have a favorite Disney character, but I had to give one, so I picked Pluto, not really having any good reason in my head for it.

But the funny thing is, when you pick a favorite Disney character and start getting inundated with him, he actually starts being your favorite Disney character! If the other two trail rigs I'm thinking about ever come to be, it will not mean I'll get rid of the Bronco. In fact, it will be my favorite of the three. So if I needed a name for my favorite trail rig, and the name had to be of a cartoon dog, it couldn't be anything but "Pluto."

I still didn't formally give him the name until today. Just calling him "the Bronco" always worked. But now that "Oswald" officially has a name it seemed like the Bronco should too. So now he's Pluto!

You did good. As Dane and I said, Oswald probably has his feelings hurt sitting there in the woods all by himself. But he has a name, so the Bronco would have been upset if he'd not gotten one.

As for what name, it all makes sense. So, are you going to slap a decal on him?

[Nothing Special]

You did good. As Dane and I said, Oswald probably has his feelings hurt sitting there in the woods all by himself. But he has a name, so the Bronco would have been upset if he'd not gotten one.

As for what name, it all makes sense. So, are you going to slap a decal on him?

Pluto already has his namesake hanging from the rear view mirror and a magnet with his picture on the ash tray in the dash. I may or may not add more "dog tags" in the future, but this is good for now!

https://forum.garysgaragemahal.com/file/n67185/DSC_0543.jpg

 

[Gary Lewis]

Pluto already has his namesake hanging from the rear view mirror and a magnet with his picture on the ash tray in the dash. I may or may not add more "dog tags" in the future, but this is good for now!

https://forum.garysgaragemahal.com/file/n67185/DSC_0543.jpg

[Nothing Special]

.... It gave me a bit of a scare with the oil pressure taking longer than I thought it should to build. But I guess the oil pump lost its prime. After giving up and shutting it down once I decided to try it once more. The oil pressure gauge wiggled immediately on the restart, and slowly built up pressure. Now it's running right where it normally ran, so I think I'm OK there....

I haven't kept you up to date on this, so I'll catch up now. The short story is that I wasn't OK there, but I am now.

Yes the gauge wiggled immediately on that restart, but if the engine was shut off for more than a few minutes it would always take 15 - 20 seconds to start building pressure when restarted. It would always get up to full pressure, but the engine sounded different on those starts, what I would imagine metal sliding on metal would sound like. The noise would go away when the pressure came up, so clearly I had a problem.

A lot of head scratching and asking some others for opinions and it all ended up confirming my thought that I had to have a leak on the suction side of the pump. I didn't see how that could've happened as I had nice, clean surfaces on the pump and pickup tube and tightened it down well on a new gasket.

But today I pulled the pan back off (which meant cutting out the exhaust again ) and took the pickup tube off. Then I could see how it happened. I know it's sort of subtle, but does anyone see anything wrong here?

It would appear that whoever put the pickup tube on the pump didn't get the gasket installed quite right

So a new gasket (installed correctly this time!) and about 3 hours of work for the R&R and now the pressure comes up in less than a second on start-up. Problem found, problem solved! (I'll choose to look at it that way, it's a lot more satisfying than thinking about the extra work I made for myself or wondering how many thousand miles I took off the engine)

[ArdWrknTrk]

.... It gave me a bit of a scare with the oil pressure taking longer than I thought it should to build. But I guess the oil pump lost its prime. After giving up and shutting it down once I decided to try it once more. The oil pressure gauge wiggled immediately on the restart, and slowly built up pressure. Now it's running right where it normally ran, so I think I'm OK there....

I haven't kept you up to date on this, so I'll catch up now. The short story is that I wasn't OK there, but I am now.

Yes the gauge wiggled immediately on that restart, but if the engine was shut off for more than a few minutes it would always take 15 - 20 seconds to start building pressure when restarted. It would always get up to full pressure, but the engine sounded different on those starts, what I would imagine metal sliding on metal would sound like. The noise would go away when the pressure came up, so clearly I had a problem.

A lot of head scratching and asking some others for opinions and it all ended up confirming my thought that I had to have a leak on the suction side of the pump. I didn't see how that could've happened as I had nice, clean surfaces on the pump and pickup tube and tightened it down well on a new gasket.

But today I pulled the pan back off (which meant cutting out the exhaust again ) and took the pickup tube off. Then I could see how it happened. I know it's sort of subtle, but does anyone see anything wrong here?

It would appear that whoever put the pickup tube on the pump didn't get the gasket installed quite right

So a new gasket (installed correctly this time!) and about 3 hours of work for the R&R and now the pressure comes up in less than a second on start-up. Problem found, problem solved! (I'll choose to look at it that way, it's a lot more satisfying than thinking about the extra work I made for myself or wondering how many thousand miles I took off the engine)

Good save Bob!

That pickup flange looks a lot bigger than it needs to be.

I'm sure Pluto is very grateful.

[Nothing Special]

.... That pickup flange looks a lot bigger than it needs to be.

I'm sure Pluto is very grateful.

Good point! This clearly wasn't my fault! Whoever designed a flange that would hide a gasket that was installed wrong is t blame! I ought to sue!

OK, anyone who knows me knows that's not the direction I'm really going here. But yes, if the flange was roughly the same size as the gasket my mistake would've been obvious.

And yes, Pluto is very glad that I quit hurting him.

[ArdWrknTrk]

.... That pickup flange looks a lot bigger than it needs to be.

I'm sure Pluto is very grateful.

Good point! This clearly wasn't my fault! Whoever designed a flange that would hide a gasket that was installed wrong is t blame! I ought to sue!

OK, anyone who knows me knows that's not the direction I'm really going here. But yes, if the flange was roughly the same size as the gasket my mistake would've been obvious.

And yes, Pluto is very glad that I quit hurting him.

When did you stop kicking your dog, sir? 🙄

I'm just noting how different it seems to the lozenge shaped flange on my 460 pickup.

I also understand that it is awkward holding the pickup with one hand and trying to get the screws in (prolly on your back and overhead)

Did you consider a spot of gasket shellac or high tack to hold it in place?

Because this is what bites me in the butt sometimes.

A split second thought like 'I really shouldn't set my cell phone on the back bumper' right before I hop in and drive off.

My brother stopped by unexpectedly one afternoon as I was changing my oil.

I got about 4 quarts in before I realized the sump bolt was sitting in the drain tray.

[Gary Lewis]

When did you stop kicking your dog, sir? 🙄

I'm just noting how different it seems to the lozenge shaped flange on my 460 pickup.

I also understand that it is awkward holding the pickup with one hand and trying to get the screws in (prolly on your back and overhead)

Did you consider a spot of gasket shellac or high tack to hold it in place?

Because this is what bites me in the butt sometimes.

A split second thought like 'I really shouldn't set my cell phone on the back bumper' right before I hop in and drive off.

My brother stopped by unexpectedly one afternoon as I was changing my oil.

I got about 4 quarts in before I realized the sump bolt was sitting in the drain tray.

Glad you found it! That’s certainly a significant problem, and needed to be fixed ASAP.

As for distractions, yesterday I was following my SiL, and at a stop sign I expected him to go left, so when Brandon/Bruno2 called I went left. WRONG! No SiL in sight, but I didn’t realize it very quickly. Cell phones are bad, as they distract, but good as they re-orient.

[Nothing Special]

When did you stop kicking your dog, sir? 🙄

Well, yesterday:nabble_smiley_blush:

I'm just noting how different it seems to the lozenge shaped flange on my 460 pickup.

It's a lot different from the "original" oil pickup I had too. Here's a picture of it. Notice how well the shape matches the gasket?

And I put "original" in quotes because I don't know exactly where it came from. This is the third 302 that's been in Pluto, but that was his original oil pan that I just replaced. I don't recall if the oil pickup moved from engine to engine with the pan or if it came from the shop I bought this rebuild from. Anyway, original was a 6 qt pan, this aftermarket pan is 5 qt and the pickup tube came with it. I don't know why they didn't match the original flange, but they didn't.

I also understand that it is awkward holding the pickup with one hand and trying to get the screws in (prolly on your back and overhead)

Did you consider a spot of gasket shellac or high tack to hold it in place?

Because this is what bites me in the butt sometimes.

A split second thought like 'I really shouldn't set my cell phone on the back bumper' right before I hop in and drive off.

My brother stopped by unexpectedly one afternoon as I was changing my oil.

I got about 4 quarts in before I realized the sump bolt was sitting in the drain tray.

I didn't think about doing anything to hold the gasket in place the first time because, well, I clearly didn't think it was enough of a risk to think about it enough to do it right. And I didn't think about it the second time because it's really not that hard to do it right if you're paying enough attention. Anyway, it's done correctly now.