The Restoration log from '98

Topics Covered:
Wiper Motors
Pertronix Ignitor
Soft top maintenance
Ammeter woes
Clutch repair
Engine swap
Engine top end rebuild/cleanup

Events below are in reverse chronological order, FYI.

12/26/98:Pump cam works. After letting the epoxy harden, then I wrapped the arm with some 'glass cloth soaked in resin, then worked out all the air (I'm glad I learned to fix fiberglass when I started surfing!) After curing, the repair seems bulletproof. I'm still going to fab a spare to keep with me just in case.

12/22/98:Accel pump cam. I went out to start the engine to keep the battery charged and oil circulated, and I had a devil of a time trying to keep it running. Mashing the gas caused it to die instantly. After a few minutes, I remembered that's just what it did when I put the engine in and found the cam lever had broken. The local carb shop couldn't get one (discontinued part), and Holley said it was obsolete. I used 2-part epoxy to set the arm in its original position. After a few days of hardening, I cut some fiberglass cloth and resined it around the shaft, making sure I had plenty of contact with the cam itself. A couple more days of setting up/hardening (cold temps around here), and it seems pretty solid. I'm going to use the old broken cam that was on the 196 to make a backup I can throw in the glove box. I've got some 1/16th fiberglass plate from the R/C car days and I'll make a sandwich of two pieces for the arm so I can slide them along the same axis to increase or decrease the throw of the arm to give more or less cam action at a given point.

11/22/98:Gas leak fixed? I've noticed that when I was doing the wiper swap, there was a strong smell of gas after shutting off the motor. I looked at the base of the carb, and it appears that gas is seeping through the gaskets I have between the carb and intake. I took out the paper-core version and have yet to road test it. SO far, it doesn't do the same thing yet. Of course, it leaked when I didn't have the vacuum hose to the wiper motor plugged. Another interesting tidbit is that the motor ran smoother with the line unplugged as opposed to me putting my finger on the end to block it off.

11/11/98:Wiper motor. The driver's side wiper has steadily been wiping slower and slower, so I rebuilt the last ramaining motor I had and put it in in place of the original. I now have two wipers that work great! They're very easy to rebuild, too!

11/16/98:Another problem solved. The brake light went out when I jiggled the connection at the brake block and the firewall connector, so there was no need to dig any deeper (although the fluid in the master cylinder was full). I also found why the oil seemed to be seeping all over the place. I put a PCV valve inline fromt he vent on the valve cover to the air cleaner, and that coupled with the flame arrestor caused too much restriction for some reason. A few days of driving will tell me if I've nailed that problem, too. The Pertronix ignition seems to give the engine a wider power band, but I still get a little backfire through the carb when it's cold and I stomp on it. :( I should have the Accell coil in the next day to see if that helps.

11/13/98:I go out to warm up the truck for the drive into work and I notice that the Brake light is now lit! It wasn't lit yesterday when I gave it a test start, either. I shut it down until I can take a look at it this afternoon. :-(

11/9/98:New goodies. With all the talk on the IHC Digest about the Pertronix Ignitor system #1481 for the 196 engine from Northern Auto Parts . It took me a while to figure out how to get the magnets out of the small ring that slips over the distributor cam. It turns out that you can use a knife blade at the seam just above the raised outside ring to remove the top cover from the unit. The magnets inside are highly willing to relocate to join their neighbors, too. After bumping the starter over until the rotor was pointing at the #1 ternimal of the cap, I slipped the ring onto the distributor cam and lined up where to put the first magnet in. Then, just skip every other hole and put a magnet for the other cylinders. When I first carnked it, I was only getting a spark from the 2 and 3 plugs. Lots of playing with the air gap and switching the 70's coil for the original from the '68 152 didn't help. On a whim, I rotated the magnet ring 90 degress clockwise, and now the other cylinders fired, while the 2 and 3 didn't. I took the top off the magnet ring several more times to re-orient the magnets on the problem cylinders so that a different side was facing out. I finally hit on a winning combination and all four fired normally. I timed it at 4 BTDC as a starting point and after a short drive, it feels stronger and is less prone to lugging through a corner in the wrong gear. (yeah, yeah, a highly scientific test, I know). I've got a friend getting me an Accel SuperStock coil to complete the transformation. Hopefully, my mileage will improve greatly, as I was averaging around 15 on the way to Hatteras if I kept my foot out of it.

10/19/98:Spare tire rack. Well, the Previous Owner must have backed into something along the way, and tweaked the spare tire carrier a bit. It's been one of those things that's bugged me for a long time, so I finally took it off so I could straighten it and repaint it to a non-rust color. I just need to find something to ease the main hoop back to the way it must have been. The hardware for the latch was very worn and I can now see why it rattled so much. A little hollow rod and some new bolts should help it.

09/19/98:Little stuff. I took the truck to Hatteras for a few days and had only minor problems. One, My Ammeter showed a regular charge, but the inside glass of the guage showed condensation like it did when I was having the over-charge condition a while back. I wiggled the sense wire on the alternator and all is well again. Also, when making a turn, sometimes I'd hear a clunk. I thought it might be a loose wheel bearing or a leaf spring as had been discussed on the IHC Digest. Further investigation revealed that it was due to the broken tailpipe hangar letting the free-swinging muffler knock into the frame. A $4 hangar at NAPA fixed it like it had been before.

08/31/98:Oil drops. On the back of the Scout, I notice where oil flew onto the tailgate, etc from the suction effect while going down the road. I guess I overfilled it just a tad, and I also noticed that oil was bubbling out the dipstick cap that I had re-welded back onto the stick. The engine compartment was cleaned up from the little splatters. I then found that the rattle is due to the clutch linkage having some less-than-tight tolerances between the clevis and pin in a couple of places. I put a spring on the lever that goes through the bellhousing and that seems to have taken care of it. I piled some solder around the hold in the dipstick cap, but I don't think I got it clean enough for a good repair.

08/29/98:No news was good news. Being the glutton for stress that I seem to be, I decided to take the Scout down to the Outer Banks for a trial run on the sands. On the way down all seemed fine (except for an intermittent rattling from the clutch area) until I hit Rodanthe and heard a dragging metal sound after a bump. Pulled over and the muffler wasn't attached to the header pipe any more. I got it connected again after a short coold down and found the real cause was that a nut came off the bolt that joins the header and the pipe, allowing for play at the first muffler clamp. Once on the sands, all was well. On the way home, the rattle came and went with more regularity. By the time I got home, I noticed that it went away with clutch pedal pressure and that when the engine caused the truck to vibrate, the sound came around. I parked it until I could get light on it.

08/19/98:Top seams. It must be 'that' time of life for the threads on the truck. The soft top had threads pull out when I removed the support that suns from the windshield to the middle support bow. On each side! More needle/thread and they'll hold until I can get a place to run a real seam back into it with heavy duty thread.

08/18/98:Visor repair. Old age has attacked the sun visors and the threads have begun to rip out. A needle, some thread, and an hour later, I've got visors that are sealed once again.

08/17/98:It happened again, so I took the original Voltage regulator out and put in the one from the '70. WOW! It actually shows a steady decrease in charge after I start instead of the jittery action it used to have. Also, when running at speed, the needle stays right at the middle mark and doesn't bounce around. On deceleration, it acts just as smooth as I'd thought it was supposed to act. It looks like I may have figured this one out finally!

08/15/98:No such luck. Well, on the way home from showing the truck to my auto parts source, Kevin, the ammeter pegged out once again. After more adjustment of the belt, it showed no change, so I tapped on the regulator with the handle of the screwdriver and the charge went normal again. Hmmmmm....

08/13/98:Alternator again. Before, I'd mentioned that the alternator would sometimes sit on full charge if there were any revs on the motor. Leaving a v-ball match yesterday, the belt started squealing, and the guage pegged. I tightened the belt and the guage acted normally. Same thing happened today without the squeal. Tightened the belt again and all is normal. That could have been the problem all along before when I had this happen. I also note that the crank pulley on the 196 is a larger diameter, and is spinning the alternator faster, and maybe that's why my guage doesn't look like it's as jittery as it had been before (at normal operating speeds).

08/11/98:Legal! I took it to an inspection station that actually had time to see me, and after a quick trip home to tighten the muffler clamps and to get the reciepts for all the brake parts, I got the state sticker applied! Time to start road testing it to work this week.

08/08/98:Window stuff. I'd had trouble getting the screw out of the passenger vent window so that I could put a new piece of plastic slider material on the front of the window. I'd gotten it loose, but it was still stubborn and getting chewed up buy the channel locks. I got smart and finally put a pipe wrench on the screw head and it came out perfectly (albeit chewed mightily). I replaced the plastic with a piece I'd gotten from Scot Satterlund and the window now rolls up and down easily like the driver's side. I did find out why the front of the window sits lower than the rear: the regulator inside the door has rotated on its mount and isn't locating the front window guide high enough. I may take a look at the 70 to see if it's got a regulator in a little better shape.

08/07/98:The clutch seems to be working fine, so I bolted the flywheel cover back into place. There's a smear of oil that looks like it's weeping from the back end of the oil pan gasket, but it's not enough to worry about.

08/06/98:Wiper done. I cleaned up the motor from the '70 and am using it in place of the '68's. before, the passenger wiper was faster than the drivers, now this one is even faster than before. I think I need to clean and relube the driver's side motor to bring up the sweep speed a little, but that can be saved for another day entirely.

08/04/98:Tidbits. I pulled the passenger wiper motor from the '70 yesterday, and took it apart today. What a simple but effective unit. I pulled the non-working one from the '68 today and after taking the top off of it, I saw a bunch of white sludge caked all around. I have no idea what turned the grease into this, but it pulled a bit of the cork off the side of the internal flap, so I'll piece together the '70's motor with the '68's to get a working unit. I also fabricated a little 'U' to help cover most of the hole in the firewall, and I'll Marine Tex the gaps tomorrow.

08/01/98:It Moves!! I finally found a combination that allows the clutch to work 'properly' while not having the throwout bearing constantly riding on the clutch fingers. The large linkage that runs parallel to the firewall had a hole already drilled in it about two inches lower than the top hole, so I sawed down on the bulkhead that the master-cylinder attaches to (where the threaded rod from the clutch pedal passes through). Once I had two lines cut on either side of there the clevis attaches to that rod, I bent the metal don and back into the cab area. Reconnected all the clevis pins and after a little more adjusting, had everything in a working order. I had to keep the .080" washers between the pressure plate and the flywheel to give me the clearance, and after a few more visual checks, I took it around the block for its 'maiden' voyage. I noticed that the oil pressure ran more normal at idle after this test run, which also made me a little more comfortable. As I was giving it its pre-inspection inspection, the passenger wiper didn't want to work. As soon as I can fix this and put some fiberglass on the hole in the firewall, I'll be ready for the real state inspection. It's so close, it almost hurts...

07/29/98:More Clutch woes. I've done a bit of cutting and grinding and filing to get the firewall clearance for the clutch linkage, but now I can't seem to get the throwout bearing to fully engage the clutch fingers (without having it ride on the fingers the whole time). I may need to drill a hole (in the link that the threaded rod from the pedal) a little lower than the present one so that the pdeal produces more 'throw' than it is right now. I'm going to try what someone on the digest mentioned regarding putting some .080" washers between the pressure plate mounts and the flywheel first.

07/28/98:Clutch woes. Of course, I'm beside myself trying to get the thing rolling under its own power, but the clutch linkage is taking forever to get right. I'll need to buy another piece of grade 8 threaded rod to make the pedal attachment reach far enough. *sigh*

07/27/98:IT LIVES (part II)! More connections on the electrical and a bit more re-routing of the heater hose and the valve exiting the water neck. The throttle linkage was run and oil was put in. Another once over to make sure I'd not forgotten anything and I poured some gas into the carb throat. A few cranks, and it was fired (for a moment). I had forgotten to seal the vacuum that runs the wipers from the fuel pump, and the vacuum advance on the carb. attached the proper hoses and all was purring smoothly. I had an oil pressure reading of 20 psi at idle and 50 at higher RPMs (I just wish my guage would reflect the change in pressure on the dash). All that needs to be done now (I'm jinxing myself with that line) is to cut the firewall for the clutch linkage and I can get it inspected!

07/26/98:Back from vacation. I put the carb on and hooked up the fuel lines. I also ran the vacuum lines so that the routing was out of the way and looked more neat in the engine bay. The '68's radiator and the shroud from the '70 went into place and the assorted water hoses were reattached. The alternator went on, but the 196 belt was a tad longer than the one I'd purchased for the 152. New belt, no problem. I hooked up most of the wiring before the darkness set in and the mosquitoes came out in force.

07/18/98:The engine is in! It took a lot longer than I'd anticipated, though. The 196 was ready except for mounting the pressure plate and clutch disk on the flywheel, and also putting the 152's motor mounts on it (the '70 used a mount that sat flat against a thick rubber oval mount, the '68 uses a mount that is angled at about 60 degrees and has a rectangular urethane mount. Pulling the old engine out meant having to brace the tranny/xfer case with a jack, and disconnecting the front driveshaft. We rolled the tranny back enough to clear the bellhousing and started using the equalizer bar to lift the nose of the engine. Once it was out, I went to work on the clutch and my friend Chuck worked on the motor mounts. All was ready shortly thereafter, and we began dropping in the 196. This is where we spent a lot of time. We tried to shorten the chains going through the equalizer bar before we started and this was causing the bar to catch on the cowling at the back of the engine compartment. We propped up the engine one end at a time and removed the equalizer bar altogether since we didn't need to do any more angling of the engine itself. Once we got it seated on the mounts, then the task of putting the tranny to the bellhousing presented itself. We really could have used a true tranny jack, because we had another incident of Chuck's head almost getting in the way of an unstable tranny/x-fer case. After that drama had been solved, the tranny mated to the bellhousing and the crossmember and tranny mount bolts were tightened to spec. By this time, nearly 5 hours had passed and I needed to get the hoist back to its owner so I could get Chuck on his way home. I kept putting on parts like the starter, exhaust manifold, water pump, and the clutch linkage. Of course, the 196 linkage is different, so it hits the firewall before it engages at all, so I've got to make a few incisions to clearance it, and then make the hold look like it was designed to be there. It's definitely not going to make to to the beach for my vacation. :-(

07/16/98:Just about there. More connections were made, including the crankcase vents and fuel pump to intake connection. I tapped the rear main seal into place and bolted on the clutch mount/coil mount onto the intake manifold. I couldn't remember how the rod went so I had to consult a pic. I think all the vent tubing will clear the clutch stuff with no problems. Once that's done, it's ready for tomorrow morning.

07/15/98: Bolting on more parts. The fuel pump was attached and I discovered that the carb from the 152 had a different bolt pattern that would not go onto the 196 intake. I cleaned the old carb and put it on. The new valve I got that sticks out of the water neck now interfered with the throttle linkage, so I had to clearance the valve body by using the Dremel tool a tad. I think I've got it so that I can get both full throttle and not have it stick wide open. I got a couple of 90 degree elbows for routing the crankcase venting tubes from the intake, so that it will look a little cleaner than original. I got the rear mail seal out using a flat-blade screwdriver. Just stick it in and slap it down. The seal will deform, so move the driver to another spot and repeat. DOn't worry about destroying the seal, only worry about scoring the crank itself as you insert the blade under the seal. I'll put the seal in tomorrow and put the flywheel on.

07/14/98: I did a little more work getting the truck ready to accept the engine. I unbolted the exhaust manifold and got a few of the rust spots off before spraying it again with the BBQ paint. I put the battery tray in from the '70, so I'll have a secure mount unstead of the plank of wood being used before. I used a punch to pin-punch around the shaft that the clutch fork attaches to. There was a little play at the ends, and that cinched the tolerances up perfectly. I think that was the cause for the rattle I noticed at speed on the 152, and I'm hoping that this will keep the rattle from returning on this one.

07/12/98:The valley pan came off and I put the lifters in the easy way. I then used some of the Right Stuff gasket maker. It looks like this stuff will do the job of keeping the oil in much better than the permatex did on the 152. Once that was buttoned back into place, I used a 3/8" drive universal joint equipped 9/16" socket to tighten the intake bolts to the head. The rocker arm shaft went on next (I couldn't find one that didn't have wear under the exhaust rocker for cylinder #3). The valve cover went into place and I called it a day.

07/11/98:Much more success. Okay, the trick is to take a 3/8" (I believe) drill bit and twist it into the oil seal finger about half an inch or so and then just pull it out. I knew I'd remember how I did it eventually. I used LocTite red on the old rod bolts since my IH dealer wanted $20/bolt and $6/nut for the parts numbers I gave him. They were very unhelpful this time (my contact there has left the company :-{). I buttoned the oil pan on and had some friends help me set the engine back to horizontal. I put on the head and the valley cover, but then realized that I'd forgotten to put the lifters back in. Oh, well, I've always wanted one of the lifter installer tools. :-) Once I get them in and find a 1/2" drive 9/16" universal socket, I'll put the intake manifold back on and it'll be ready for the re-install. It's got to be ready by next week since I'm heading to the Outer Banks for vacation! Keep your fingers crossed for me.

07/7/98:Rear oil seal. This is being much more stubborn than the one I did on the 152. The little seal fingers that go on each side of the bearing cap are reluctant to come out like the other ones did. It looks like I'll have to get a bit creative now. I tried taking the cap off, but it requires a puller due to the tight tolerances. The saga continues...

06/23/98:Cylinder head is back. Got it back from the speed shop that was going through it. All systems are go and it had hardened seats in it already (saving me a bit of cash). It's gotten it's first coats of red paint.

06/04/98:Oil pan finished. After another hour of wire wheeling the oil pan, it's stripped and has it's first coat of red paint applied. I also scavenged the battery tray out of the '70 since the '68's was a piece of wood. It's been stripped (although heavily pitted with rust) and had it's first coat of primer applied. I'm hoping to get some spray on Plastidip to coat it with to prevent corrosion. I also decided to paint the timing gear cover red instead of leaving it in its aluminum color. Same goes for the oil filter mount.

05/28/98:I've been lazy. Well, not actually with regard to getting stuff accomplished on the engine, but with jotting the progress down here. In the last month, I've managed to get the oil pan off, but couldn't get a wrench to pull the rod caps off due to still not being mounted on the engine stand (it's resting on 2x4's). I stood the block on the flywheel end and now have full access to all the spots I need to get to. I pulled the #4 rod bearing cap and the bearing is in pristine shape. I also got all the gunk stripped from the outside of the block and have coated it in red paint as it was originally. I'm still debating on whether to paint the timing gear cover or leave it in its natural aluminum color. I've gotten the head into a machine shop and am having them go through it and also put in hardened seats to make it lead-free-friendly. I cleaned the old fuel pump up, and pulled the old one from the dead engine. The one originally from my truck is in a little better shape, so I'll use that when the time comes. I also started removing more stuff from the dead engine to ease dropping the 196 in when the time comes for the swap. Items like the radiator, water pump, electrical connections/alt, carb, and anything else besides the motor mounts have been loosened or removed.

04/29/98:More rust removal, and I'd just gotten all the rust dust removed from the garage a couple of months ago. At least this time the film of dust won't be as thick. I got the intake cleaned and the first coat of paint applied to it. I figured I might as well just keep as much of the original parts together as possible. I also removed the starter and flywheel so I could start cleaning them as well.

04/27/98:I still haven't gotten any arms made for the stand I borrowed from my friend, so I propped the block in the back and on the pulley at front so I could get the oil pan off so I could start to check the bearings and whatnot. Of course, the block is sitting pretty close to the ground, so I'm not sure if I'll be able to tell much as it sits.

04/26/98:I bought another wire-wheel assortment to do a better job on the intake. There's still much caked on gunk to remove before I can paint it. They did work well on the valley cover that had been repainted baby blue (like the oil pan, too).

04/24/98:More wire wheel on the intake manifold. The part numbers between the 152 and the 196 are different (of course). I'm going to pull the 152's manifold and compare it, but I may just take some rough measurements and compare it to the 196's.

04/20/98:The next item for the stripper is the intake manifold. There are a bunch more nooks and crannies to it compared to the last three items, but it's progressing, at least. I'm going to check the part numbers to see if my current intake on the 152 will interchange (I think it will), since it's already cleaned and has new freeze plugs installed.

04/19/98:The valve cover has its first coat of red paint applied and looking good. I rebuilt the last two lifters and out of the bunch, only one was stuck in the compressed state. I took the wire wheel to the water neck and thermostat housing and applied the first coats of paint to them as well.

04/18/98:I started stripping the rust and crud from the valve cover. Other than that, I scraped the part of the block under the valley cover and rebuilt all but two of the lifters (ran out of time).

04/14/98:Gunk-o-plenty. I started cleaning the rocker arm shaft and it fought me the whole way. The grime had built up very well inside the stands that attach to the head. After some soaking in mineral spirits and some banging with a wood block, the stubborn ones came off. Under the fifth, sixth, and a little of the seventh rocker arms, the shaft had worn and scored from the motion of the rockers. I'll need to find another shaft before I put it back together. The bushing in the rocker arm looks fine, though. Hopefully, someone will have a shaft they don't need that they can send to me.

04/12/98:More teardown. I took a wire brush to the side and front of the block now that the oily gunk is mostly gone. I'll rinse it with alcohol before I paint it just to make sure I've gotten all the gunk off. I got the head removed (and forgot about the coolant that was left in it until it gushed out). I had planned on re-ringing the pistons, and there is no ridge at the tops of the cylinders so it should be a very easy job. I'm toying with the idea of having new valves and hardened exhaust seats put in while it's apart. Thus, the machine shop could dip it to clean it instead of me having to do it. Can you say 'Sludge build-up? Sure, I knew you could.'

04/11/98: Teardown time. More parts got cleaned. I've found that carb cleaner does wonders when used with an old toothbrush to get into the nooks and crannies. The timing gear cover is actually shining again. I got the last stuck bolt off the exhaust manifold finally.

04/6/98:The cleanup begins. Instead of having to clean just a bunch of rust as on the '68's motor, This one is caked with oily mud. I've let two soakings of degreaser do it's thing and it's helpd a bit. I forgot to get compression readings from it before I took the engine out, but I think I'm gonna replace the rings anyway since I've got it apart like this. Once I mount it to the stand, I'll drain the oil and check the bearings to see if there are any gotchas before I start investing any cash into it. It's amazing how much lighter the intake manifold seems when you don't have to hunch over a fender to take it off!

04/4/98:Heave HO! Well, the engine is finally out of the '70. Of course, the engine stand I borrowed from a friend didn't quite work as well as I'd planned. The bottom two support brackets that attach to the block weren't long enough to reach across the the bolt holes. I've got a friend that may be able to fab soem longer versions so I can at least mount it instead of letting it rest of a couple of 2x4's laying across the stand.

03/14/98:Yes, I'm alive. After waiting months for the weather to give me a non-freezing Saturday, I was able to start pulling pieces off the '68 in preparation for the engine swap. All the electrical connections are out of the way, alternator's off, and the radiator and hoses are drained and removed. All that remains is unbolting the tranny from the bellhousing, and unbolting the motor mounts. I plan on taking as many pieces off the bad engine (water pump, alternator, etc) as possible since most are still new. Now, if I can just find a friend to let me borrow an engine hoist, I can get this one out of the way (preferable to renting one since I can use the extra $$ for new gaskets and the like on the 196 before it goes in).

01/10/98:Oil out. Drained the oil, and there is no hint of water in the system, but the radiator is low on fluid for some reason. Anyway, after draining the oil, I dropped the pan and found some tinfoil-thickness pieces of metal about the size of a quarter, and a bunch of shavings in the bottom of the pan, and the big pieces have that bluish, high-temp coloring to them. I pulled the main bearing caps, and the center cap looked a little copperish in the middle. I pulled the second and fourth bearing caps next, and the bearings in each were galled, and the journal under the fourth had some smooth grooves worn into it. Looks like I'll have to pull the engine anyway, now.