I got out early this morning to get the gas tank installed. Here are all the bit laid out. Just looking at it I can see that there are going to be some hose size issues here. Hopefully nothing I can’t work with.
Category: Before Engine Start
Last details before starting this thing
I woke up early this morning and set out to get ready to start the Jeep. First order of business was to install the new ballast resistor. No problems there.
I took the front license plate off to register it with the BMV. Since it was still too early to wake up the neighborhood I took the front plate bracket off to clean and paint it.
More rusty hardware to clean.
Cleaned, painted, and reinstalled.
Still waiting for the help to arrive so I decided to start taking out the fuel tank hardware. I already know I will have to replace the tank but the condition of the rest of the hoses are questionable too. First step is to separate the rubber hose from the plastic tube under the back of the car.
Next I crawled into the back of the car to a place I affectionately call “Tetanus Junction”. There are 8 machine screws with nuts holding the pipe to the fuel filler on the side of the car. There are also some very corroded sheet metal screws holding what is left of a gasket around where the hose goes through the floor. The upper screws and nuts were no problem but several of the sheet metal screws in the floor were too rusty to get a bite on with the screwdriver.
So I got creative and put Vice-Grip pliers on the ends of the screws sticking through the floor. That worked.
Most of this stuff can be saved. The floor gasket needs replaced as does the rubber hose between the fill pipe and the tank. The fill pipe is some sort of plastic (probably polyethylene) and seems like new. I also need to pull and test the fuel gauge sender to see if that can be reused.
While the car was in the driveway anyway Rachael started wire-brushing the frame and body back where the gas tank goes. While the tank does not exist is the ideal time to do this. But she got really, really dirty….
More electrical issues
So after finally getting the Jeep back on all fours and the engine buttoned up the stupid thing refused to crank. So last night I started troubleshooting. My general plan was to turn the ignition on and see if I had voltage at the coil. If not I would work back from there.
I found no voltage at the coil and was just starting to work my way back when I saw smoke curling out of the ballast resistor. That was a big shortcut for my troubleshooting.
It took some careful work with Vice-Grips and a wrench to get the rusted terminal nuts off. I neglected to take pictures but here is me holding the resistor near where it mounts to the firewall. The green wires attach to the resistor.
And here is the problem. There is a break in the resistor inside the red circle. Sometimes the two halves touch each other and life is good. Other times the innards touch the metal bracket and short the ignition system to ground. I am trying to find a replacement. I hate to buy one because this thing is going to be bypassed when I get an electronic ignition installed. On the other hand it is a $5 part…
The Jeepster runs!
I had most of the day today to work on the Jeepster and made very good progress. The first task was to figure out why the carburetor was flooding.
Getting ready to start the engine
I got home from work and decided to try and get the engine started. First thing I need is a gas tank. Here is mine!
Parts book!
Wiring problem resolved…
I decided to make it easier to get under the dash by removing the driver’s seat. Continue reading “Wiring problem resolved…”
A wiring problem, dammit.
So when I crawled under the dash the first thing I realized is that the wiring is a hot mess. Splices, odd connections, and in-line fuses everywhere. In fact this car does not have a fuse block at all. Everything is in-line or maybe not fused at all (cue sinister music here). This is going to be a serious task on the TODO list. Continue reading “A wiring problem, dammit.”