M1009 from Wyoming to Colorado with a bit of a detour.

[Ridgeback]

I'll have a go at the rifle clamps (mine are mangled/missing parts) if you are willing to part with them! I like the idea of restoring those fixtures in mine...they hold a hunting rifle just as well as an old M-16A1! PM me and we'll work out fair price/shipping.

 

[cpf240]

Well... today was not so successful. The truck has been amazing to work on with every nut and bolt coming out without much trouble. Today I was dismantling the cooling system, and it finally started to fight me. A bolt sheared in the crossover at the thermostat.

I drilled it out and tried to use an extractor, but it broke. I knocked it out and tried from the other side. The second extractor also broke... 0 for 2... Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get the hole perfectly centered, so drilling it out and pulling out the threads like a spring isn't going to work for me. I either need some creative way to get that sucker out of there, or I need to locate another crossover... Any advice?

Heat and PB Blaster?

 

[spectre6000]

Ridgeback: You may have to wait a bit. I have some things to get done before I start cutting and drilling out spot welds. It's coming though!

I PB'd the crap out of it from start to finish. I didn't do heat, but even then, I'm out of extractors and really don't feel that will be a fruitful endeavor. Any suggestions on methods to add to the heat/PB strategy? This is the style I used:

I'm sure there's a time that they've worked, but I think I've only been successful with this particular style of extractor maybe once or twice, and I've broken a half dozen of them at least...

 

[Crash_AF]

I would recommend throwing in the towel and taking it to a shop and let them remove it. If you've removed the broken extractors, then they'll probably not bitch too much. LOL

It'd be certainly worth the lack of headache to just pay someone else. As an alternative, I think I still have the crossover on my blown parts engine. Sent you an email.

 

[spectre6000]

If you sent me an email, I didn't get it. I'm about. To head out there to try again at getting the heater core out (apparently there are bolts buried under some sort of coating that I missed), then I'm taking that and the rad to a proper old school radiator shop, and I'm taking the crossover with me to my favorite air cooled shop (lots of experience with lots heat plus lots of aluminum plus lots of my business should make for a speedy and economical solution) and I'll see if they can yank it out. Then off for another parts pickup a. My favorite FLAPS.

 

[spectre6000]

I just got off the phone with LMC trying to figure out if the oil cooler line they have listed for 85-91 Diesels is compatible with an 84 and HOLEE****NTNTTT!!!! I have never encountered such complete ignorance at any parts place ever! I would have been better off with a recorded computer thing where you press numbers to navigate some crappy system. What terrible service!!! She essentially just thumbed through the catalog and had no idea about anything that wasn't expressly written in the catalog and there is apparently no one on staff that could buy a clue if they had unlimited time and an unlimited budget... Wow. Seriously wow. Holy wow.

"What engine is it for?"
"6.2L Diesel"
"Is that a 305, 350, 454?"
"It's a 6.2 Liter. It's listed in your catalog as just 'DIESEL'."
"Is that a 305, 350, or 454?"
"None of the above, it's a 6.2."
"I need to know if it's a 305, 350, or 454."
"It's not any of those, your catalog will have it as either '6.2L Diesel' or just 'Diesel'. Is there anyone with any technical knowledge at all I can speak to?"
"No, we just have the catalogs here. I'll look again in the index."
And so on... Seriously. Has anyone actually had success ordering from these people?

Also, is anyone aware whether or not the oil cooler line for the '85s is the same as the one in my '84? That's all I need to know really... I can get that one from O'Reilly and it's cheaper to boot...

 

[SRB1976]

Beautiful M1009 you got there! I also have a pic of mine against the Tetons

 

[spectre6000]

SRB1976, I think I know exactly where that parking lot is. It's a pretty place.

Busy day today! I finally got the heater core out after researching it last night. Turns out there were some nuts hidden under some tar paper... Took the whole shebang to the radiator shop. If you're in the Denver area and you need a radiator done or a gas tank cleaned and lined Spike Radiator is the place. He's proper old school and has kept up with all the environmental certifications so he can still do his job. It's the only radiator shop I know of that still does gas tanks properly (he did my FJ40 tank a little over a year ago). I'm an air cooled guy mostly, and the few water cooled cars I've done didn't have any cooling system issues at all. This thing really did, and I didn't even know how bad it was... When I drained the coolant to change the hoses, I saw the inside of the rad was seriously gross. It looked like heavy mineral deposits from very very hard water. Turns out, if left for a long period of time, the coolant will react with the lead in the solder and leach stuff out. My rad was so bad, that the leaching had gone all the way through the solder joints pretty much everywhere resulting in white fuzzy joints and the deposits were all that was keeping the coolant in the radiator. Additionally, the deposits expand as the reaction continues, and it was pushing the tanks essentially off the rad... Seriously bad. Most rad shops will just bolt in a (crappy) aftermarket radiator that, in this case with the transmission and oil coolers, wouldn't be nearly as good and several times as expensive. A slightly more competent shop would call it a loss, and an old school shop with someone who didn't know what they were doing would have dipped it and then I would have had a sieve for a radiator. It's going to need a COMPLETE rebuild, but the end product will be the best thing out there. Essentially a brand new radiator. The heater core wasn't nearly as bad, and since he has a machinist on staff, he was able to take care of the sheared bolt in the crossover. I have no affiliation with the shop, I've just been a very happy customer and he performs services that pretty much don't exist these days.


Meanwhile, I got my dash back together. Time and desert heat weren't too kind to the plastic gauge panel thing (the part that holds the gauges, not the black thing). It's practically chalk at this point... I do have some really good ideas for the dash pad, and when I get to that phase I'll probably do a solid writeup. Photos have been lacking so far since I'm flying solo, getting too greasy to really be handling my phone, and I'm trying to get it at least to rolling project status asap. Speaking of photos though, here are some I took yesterday of some unknown circuit boards:

50 pts for whomever can tell me their function! They're on the same section of loom as the diagnostic port and have their own little boxes (I tried to photograph them in the context of their respective boxes) like the glow plug card.

Speaking of the glow plug card, I got one from (guy on the forum here that makes them) and pulled the old one out. The card holder is just dangling there by the pedals, but it has a tab on it that tells me it's supposed to mount somewhere. Where is that exactly?

My next door neighbor is a real life Leonard Hofstadter crossed with Howard Wolowitz AND recently Bernadette Rothstekowski (Big Bang Theory characters) who works in a university (CU-Boulder) physics lab with lasers and yeast (current experimental series) and makes all sorts of fun little devices to that end. He saw my glow plug card, pointed to one of the resistors and said in his German accent, "that little guy doesn't look too happy". He stared at the board (and compared it to the new board) while I was doing other stuff and was sitting there rattling off the functions based solely on seeing the circuit board... Pretty impressive by my standards. He was curious if there were any additional functions that would be nice to have. He has a mind to make one for fun and maybe sell a few. I'm still new to diesels, so all I could come up with was "overbuild the crap out of it so it never goes bad", maybe shielding might be something some people would like, and waterproofing. None of those are the sorts of functions he was talking about... Any thoughts?

 

[cpf240]

One of those boards is the tach buffer for the diagnostic port, can't recall what the other one is...

The GP card housing has a slot on the side that mates with a plastic tab that is on the side of the framework above the steering column and pedal assemblies, assuming it is still there...

 

[spectre6000]

I'm being inundated with parts requests (probably should have expected that...), and I want to set expectations. I'm not going to make or take offers on anything until I have it out of the truck and ready to box up (only the blackout lights, NATO plug, grille guard, and aftermarket audio system so far, tires have already been sold locally). I don't want to commit to sell someone something and then have it take me months to get around to it. There isn't much to go on by way of market research (not much available), so when I get something ready to go somewhere, I'll let it be known. When I get a little further down the line I'll put up a classified ad and make note of it here. Without knowing what things go for I could either price things high and put people off, or price them low and do myself a disservice; neither is good. I think the best thing for all involved given the format available on SS (I could go eBay, but it seems better to give back when possible) is going to be a silent auction sort of thing... We'll see. I'm open to input. I don't want to upset anyone.

Meanwhile, I've also received a few inquiries into how certain tasks went, challenges, details, etc. I've kind of been going on the assumption that all of this has been done and documented before, and the TMs are pretty thorough on the subject but searching shows me this may not always be the case, and sometimes TMs can be a bit convoluted and otherwise lacking. If there are any questions about certain tasks that I've noted so far (or have indicated will be happening in the near future), please post a request and I'll do a reverse photo documentation on the specific task. Most manuals state that "installation is the reverse of removal", or something to that effect, so in this case, removal will be the reverse of installation!

Current "To Do" list is as follows (taken directly from the sticky on my desktop):

To Do

adjust PS exhaust to match DS

clean sealing surfaces (cooling and intake)

loosen fuel tank
get remaining fuel hose specs
loosen/remove filler and vent hose clamps

remove vacuum lines
record and buy needed lines and adapters

buy hoses and lines

remove and replace vacuum pump
remove and replace vacuum lines

relieve hydraulic pressure at brake booster
drain hydraulic fluid
check for cleanliness
replace soft lines
add filter if possible
replace anything else necessary
return hydraulic components

remove timing cover/water pump
clean
replace

drop oil pan
pull rear main bearing carrier
replace rear main seal
replace rear main bearing carrier
clean oil pan
reinstall oil pan

starter relay
glow plug relay(?) and solenoid

remove fenders and adjust doors

(waiting on Central Motive)
reinstall injectors
reinstall IP
purchase/reinstall fuel filter

(waiting on injectors)
pull crank pulley
pull harmonic balancer
replace crank seal
reinstall
return tools

(waiting for hoses from LMC)
remove and replace all fuel lines
remove and replace sender

If anyone sees anything in the above list they're especially interested in, or anything mentioned in any previous posts, please let me know.

 

[spectre6000]

Here's another question:

What's the story on this hole (center in the first photo, then wider out in context):

There's one at each corner, and the one on the PSF has what looks to be the remnants of a wire stuck in it:

Just for grins, my hands were a little dirty from dirt and rust, but not greasy so I took an extra photo or two for forum happiness. Here's an in progress shot of cleaning the sealing surfaces. That white out of focus thing on the side is the gasket scraper my neighbor made on his 3D printer (cheaper than buying one, and quicker than going down the street to the O'Reilly). It's a little flimsier than some I've used, but it certainly gets the job done (and it's way cooler).

On a side note, I don't know if anyone else's browser is doing this, but the photos are all showing up upside down from how I took them. They are right side up on my phone, on my hard drive, and on my PB account, but when I click the PB-generated links, they're upside down... I'm curious if it's the same for others.

 

[spectre6000]

Didn't get as much done on my scratch list today as I would have liked, but I got a little further on a project that wasn't on the list in exchange. I had intended to just get the tank out far enough to see what sizes and lengths of fuel line I needed to buy, but the filler and filler vent hoses wouldn't cooperate at all, so by the time I got where I needed to be, the tank was practically all the way out. Since I was already there, I figured I'd just replace the sender and do all the lines so I wouldn't have to drop it again later.

The old sender worked reasonably well insofar as I could tell, but better to be safe than sorry. The inlet filter was very clean, and peering down in the tank showed surprisingly good looking metal (though that's kind of been the theme so far on this truck). I replaced the fuel line with some high pressure Gates hose because it's what my favorite FLAPS had that said it was biodiesel compatible (which is kind of the point of changing out the fuel lines everywhere). It was a little pricier than usual, but you have to pay for quality... I wasn't able to get the filler or vent hoses, but they're on order anyway, so that'll likely be the first thing I do when they arrive Wednesday or so.

 

[spectre6000]

Last night I hung out with my electronics guru friend, and we took a deep look into the CUCV wiring diagrams. I was specifically interested in whether or not I could remove the diagnostic port and/or what of it could be removed without affecting functionality, and he was interested in the old school military circuit boards. Long story short, I know exactly what I can pull as well as what other parts of the harness can be removed with it. We also started poking through other schematics, and I think I'm going to have a blast down the road making simplified harnesses for this thing... Essentially, I'll remove every single component and related wire that isn't involved in operation of the truck (plus the seat belt buzzer and whatever else I don't think I want to mess with), making it solidly and cleanly 12V, I'll add relays everywhere to protect the switches, I'm going to see if I can replace the fuses with breakers, and I'll be doing so with new top quality components (versus the desert chalkified stuff that's in there with however many coats of paint) and waterproofing the whole mess. I'll also likely make a second isolated auxiliary harness for things like winches, lights, in house power, etc. That's a bit further down the road than even the main harness though.

If there's any interest in something like this as a limited run product, let me know and I might be convinced to make a few at a go instead of just the one. I would essentially just charge enough to recoup my costs.

 

[spectre6000]

Also, today I replaced the vacuum pump, plumbed it (insofar as I could without the IP), and torqued it to 24 lb.-ft. The manual says 240 lb.-ft, which seems thoroughly unreasonable for any M10 bolt, but it also says 27 NM. Then I replaced all the remaining fuel lines (missing only the filler and vent lines, which will arrive tomorrow), and I started to replace the power steering lines, but one of the lines had apparently been purchased by someone before who forgot to also return one of the o-rings, so I didn't get to finish the job.

 

[spectre6000]

Air cooled cars are permitted to mark their territory. My M1009 is not. Ergo, I am replacing the rear main seal.

When I removed the IP (and everything else from the top of the engine), I verified that my marking problem was not coming from above the rear main seal. Here's the source:

When I pulled the torque converter cover, I discovered one bolt was shorter than the others. Comparing it to the hole I recall it coming from I see no reason for it to be any shorter, but I'll put it back where it came from all the same.

Further evidence of the culprit:

I did my best to get a photo of the source, but I couldn't really see up there even without trying to do it through a phone.

The torque converter itself seems fairly dry, which is good because I was concerned about the input shaft seals... The tranny is leaking like a sieve from somewhere... It's really bad.

Oil pan out. One pan bolt was missing and thoroughly gooped. It's been off before as evidenced by the mix of orange and black sealing compound.

Things looked fine and good underneath.

Until I found this...

The gift that keeps on giving... I posted around on a few forums, and the consensus is to change the bearings without dropping the crank (neat-o!). I'm still getting used to American trucks... I ordered a set of Clevite bearings, and they'll be here sometime next week or so. Until then, onto other projects.

 

[Ridgeback]

Oh man...surprise! Welcome to the wonderful world of 30+ year old GM diesel motors!

 

[spectre6000]

This truck is the newest vehicle in my stable by 26 years (a big part of the impetus for the purchase of this particular vehicle was as a tow rig/shop hauler for my more regular fare). I'm completely down with old car foibles. Nothing makes me happier than the click of a torque wrench sending some critical component home. I thought with this being such a low mileage example, I'd be able to avoid a lot of this stuff and it would be a quick and dirty runner while I get the tranny on my regular DD rebuilt, but I really underestimated the effects of long term storage. For sure part of it is my own anal tendencies (good enough never is). Most of the low mileage cars I've dealt with were Sunday driver types that had the mileage added very evenly over a long time, but this is a completely different story. Always learning!

I'm STILL waiting on the diesel shop to give me back my IP and injectors, but I'll have them Friday. Meanwhile, I've been tackling less critical tasks like CLEANING! I removed the firewall insulation as carefully as I could while I had a bunch of stuff down there out. It's not the sort that does much by way of any meaningful insulation, neither sound nor heat, and I've discovered my standards for "loud" seem to be very different from most... If I decide I'd rather have it in there later, I may make some new insulation with better more modern materials using it as a template, though I'll probably just use Lizard Skin (great stuff if you've never had the pleasure of using it). It was really just a dirt/dust repository/generation device more than anything (at least it's not asbestos). I also took the time to vacuum the whole mess to the hilt (stopping just short of hosing it out since my hose wont reach to where the truck is currently immobilized), reinstalled the sill plates with stainless screws and antiseize (to prevent bimetallic bonding and inhibit rust), chased the threads on the second mounting hole of the relay bracket (the nut was welded on slightly misaligned and would not permit a bolt to go through), replaced a broken ring terminal (DS alt ground at the block), chased all the intake manifold and crossover tube threads, and installed new o-rings on the oil cooler lines. Nothing really all that photogenic save maybe the clean interior, but by the time I wrapped up it had started to rain. It'll still be clean tomorrow.

My transmission, meanwhile, is leaking like a stuck pig. I can't tell if it's coming from the sump plate itself or a small plate above it to the rear on the passenger side (looks like it maybe houses a solenoid or maybe a filter element or something...). It's made quite a mess, and I'm pretty thoroughly annoyed by the situation. I would drain it, but there's no drain plug, and I'm going to take it to a transmission shop as soon as I have it running to have it adjusted, filled, and sealed (I don't have the time or the patience right now to learn about GM's 80's vintage automatic transmissions, and the shop is cheap). I also discovered yesterday at the salvage yard that what I thought was a braze hole where some jerk sealed the drain hole on the diff cover was actually just a dent and GM didn't see fit to allow for a $.30 nut to be welded there to allow for reasonable service. That's just bad engineering. At least now I know it's not a gift from the PO.

 

[spectre6000]

http://www.steelsoldiers.com/showthread.php?125778-Heater-Box-Reconditioning

Finished this today, among other things.

Also installed this:

and uninstalled what was here:

To include hammering out the dents, grinding it all nice and smooth, and priming it.

Got rid of the Silverado trim from the dash pad, and threw the whole mess back together.