my short ownership of a deuce

[turbovr6jetta]

So as a new member I would get every one caught up on what the last few weeks of my life have been like. After my 5 mile drive hime I decided to turn it around in the field. This was a mistake. It s#!+ stew out there. So after a few hours of screwing around and making a large mess and very little help from an excavator got it out. It was such a swamp the kubota had to pull itself out with the bucket before I even got close to it. The next day the brakes went soft. After adding the wrong fluid I built a power bleeder (thanks SS) and cleared ger out. Yay brakes again. A few mornings later the batterys were dead. Bad alternator, or regulator I didn't care enough to test. It wasn't charging. I went and got a 24v delco style alternator built a braket after some trial ane error and I was back up and running. Well the girlfriend isn't too happy with the comfort of the truck. So I threw on a muffler a friend had laying around. It is a 4" AERO turbine. It is pretty quit. After I put on the foam insulated hard top with the windows up I get about 86 db of mosty engine noise and still alot of whistle. This is with a phone app so who knows but its suprisingly quiet with the top. Good to go right? Nope I broke an injector line. Sheared off clean right on top of the compression nut coming out of the pump. Three hours later in the middle of nowhere and few tools I got most of the old ferrule off of the broken piece of tube and got it back together. Back on the road. Threw in a pyro. Forgot to check the brake fluid. No brakes. Time to fix this for good. Now I'm in the midfle of a brake overhaul. But I've discovered some broken rivets on a shoe so now Im waiting for a new shoe. It is going to be a very long hobby if it keeps going like this. But I'm still having fun so far

Here comes some pics and maybe a video if it works

 

[turbovr6jetta]

more pics

 

[turbovr6jetta]

And more

 

[turbovr6jetta]

Missed this one

 

[RedbeardTheZombieHunter]

Forrest Gump's momma said "Life is like a box of chocolates", but I say buying any old used vehicle is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get untill you bite into it. Don't get discouraged! Sooner or later, stuff will stop breaking and you'll get to enjoy a good drive without something going south on you! Just study the tech manuals and have fun! That's what it's all about.

 

[turbovr6jetta]

Well thank you redbeard. Its still all fun to me. I will try a bit harder to study those TM's. But they do bore me to death. By the way how is the zombie hunting going? Ive been Z hunting for many years and as close as I've ever been is hippies. Meh one in the same

 

[SMOKEWAGON66]

It wont always be like this turbo...what Redbeard said...Sometimes you get one that needs a s***-ton of work, and sometimes you get one that just needs a new fuel filter...toss of the dice dude. But it sure is fun though lol.

 

[turbovr6jetta]

Yep! But next time I will buy a 70000 mile 3000 hour rig.... Instead of a 7000 mile 300 hour truck. Ones that sit clearly ruin themselves horribly

 

[jets1959]

Have the brake shoes relined, any brake repair shop should be able to do it. Southsound brake and clutch here in Tacoma is where I would go locally, but there should be one close to you. When your done with all the repairs you will know what you have, how to fix just about everything on your truck, and have great confidence in it. Hang in there!!!!!!!

 

[AceHigh]

Also take a little time to install a remote brake reservoir kit. A guy is selling then in the classifieds or you can make it yourself easy enough. Checking that little hole in the floor is not much fun!

 

[srodocker]

welcome aboard! check this thread out!

http://www.steelsoldiers.com/upcomi...chehalis-river-valley-m-v-convoy-campout.html

 

[gimpyrobb]

They are kinda like having a girlfriend, you think you did something right and they decide to bring something else up on you!

 

[crazywelder72]

I couldnt agree more about the remote reservoir. That mod will save someones life.

 

[F18hornetM]

Which Delco Alt did you use. Looks like a 21si ???

 

[Chuck76]

Sounds like my luck. After towing mine home from VA beach to Salisbury NC....Drove mine about the same distance to put fuel in her....clogged the primary filter, burned up the fuel pump, and now I'm chasing down fuel leaks. Brakes are next in line. But, I'm still enjoying the fact that shes sitting in my yard!

 

[crazywelder72]

Sounds like my luck. After towing mine home from VA beach to Salisbury NC....Drove mine about the same distance to put fuel in her....clogged the primary filter, burned up the fuel pump, and now I'm chasing down fuel leaks. Brakes are next in line. But, I'm still enjoying the fact that shes sitting in my yard!

Chuck has the right idea... After waiting 5 years for me to get a very specific one, I had it delivered 330 miles. I unloaded it less than 100 yards from my house and it konked out in my driveway. I knew nothing about diesels, and nothing about MV's, I was scared out of my mind that i made a bad decision. But i was happy as **** it was in my driveway!

 

[lawdog1623]

sounds about right....you win some you lose some but to me these types of things are the most of the fun. if it was an everyday driver that gave you nothing to look forward to would you enjoy it? This is all part of having a deuce. congratulations on your new mv

 

[turbovr6jetta]

Thank you all. I am planning on a remote reservoir I just haven't decided on buying a kit or making one. I'm pretty sure the alternator was a 21si. I found a few threads talking about 21s, 22s, and 27s, and some lester brands so I called around to equipment shops and places like napa and no one had a clue. I went into a alternator rebuilding shop and talked to a guy and he pulled one off the shelf and said it should be close to what I was looking for and even went out to my still running truck and measured for a new pully. The mount I used was just a piece of 1/2 schedule 80 I weled to the stock bracket. I could do one in 20 minutes flat from the time a parked it till it was running again if I wanted to! I will get the actual delco part number I used just in case anyone has the same problem I had when trying to find one. I guess people in wa aren't to familiar with group numbers

 

[RedbeardTheZombieHunter]

When I built my VW-powered trike, I used a spun aluminum Sobe bottle with the screw top and a tiny hole poked in the cap for a vent. You can make a brake fluid reservior out of just about anything. Just stop at the local motorcycle shop and get a bad dirt bike innertube out of thier trash bin. Make sure you get the kind with the threaded brass valve stem and remove the vale core. Then cut the tube around the valve stem. The trick is to take a piece of bare wire (welding or braising rod or wire hanger), drill a hole the OD size of the valve stem in the bottom of your reservior bottle, and clean out the drill cuttings. insert the wire through the top of the bottle and out the hole you just drilled and slide the valve stem over the wire and drop it inside the bottle. the wire will guide the stem through the hole in the bottom of the bottle. Then install the washer and nut on the stem and tighten. the rubber at the base of the stem will seal it against the bottle and give you a place to put the hose to the master cylinder. The bottle can be just about anything you want from a spun aluminum bottle to a sturdy plastic bottle. you're only limited by your imagination. A DOT 5 brake fluid bottle is a good choice for obvious reasons. Depending on where you plan to mount it, a couple of sheet metal screws through a pair of large hose clamps with some small pieces of rubber hose on the clamps as cushions to prevent chafing the bottle makes a reliable mounting method.
Did I ever mention my friends used to call me "MacGyver"? lol

 

[bsorcs]

Hats off to you. You jumped in with both feet and have been a busy and highly productive camper. Welcome to the occasionally wacky Deuce world. It's one of the more interesting spots around.