Rufus: Some motor work

(06/12/06) I finally decided that we needed to see what kind of shape the motor was in.

With some help from my family (my wife, sons and daughters-in-law) we got the sparks plugs pulled so that we could see if the motor would turn over.

Then we got a chance to use the new crank I'd ordered a while back. The crank worked great and the motor turned over very easily. We also found out that there was compression in all cylinders.

Here's the carburetor we took off. I sent it in to be rebuilt, but it wasn't rebuildable. So a new one is on order.

I'd been told that if I was going to convert to 12 volts, I should use a stronger Bendix gear. The prevailing opinion is that the starter motor turns faster and the old Bendix can't take the stress.

Here are the old and new Bendix units. It wasn't hard to remove the old one and install the new piece, although the Woodruff key gave us a bit of a fight.

Then we painted the starter with Zero-Rust and Rustoleum.

I ordered an electronic, mechanical advance distributor and coil from FS Ignitions. We also found that we needed an oil pump drive shaft since the shaft from the original distributor couldn't be used. It was too long and worn, to boot. A new coil strap is on its way from Floyd's.

(06/17/06) As we were putting the starter back in, we found that it wouldn't quite fit because the new Bendix was a bit larger. So we had to remove the lower water neck. (opening in center of block.) When I did, we found that the water jackets inside the block were full of debris and acorn shells. I guess a mouse or squirrel used that area for a nest while Rufus was "resting."

We talked it over and decided that it'd be a real good idea to have the radiator checked out just in case trash had made its way in there. I haven't heard back from them yet, but that explains the lack of a radiator in this pic. Those headlights are gonna get converted to 12v quartz units with the stock lenses and turn signals inside the housing. But that'll come later.

Here's a pic of the water pump impeller. It's right out there under the water neck. Something tells me I'm going to have to get a new water pump and fan.

(06/19/06) We got some help and rolled ol' Rufus outta the garage to the driveway. It's so light that my sons could have done it by themselves, but we wanted to be safe rather than sorry.

Then the boys flushed the cooling system backwards and forward. By the time they were done, I couldn't feel or see any more stuff in the block at all. I think it'll work fine.

Rufus got to spend the night camping out in the driveway, but the Ugly Truck came up to keep him company.

Here's the new carburetor that came From Floyd's in Washington state. They're gonna make some money from this project.

(06/22/06) Some new and old but newly painted parts got bolted on, including a real oil filler cap to replace the paint can top that'd been on there since Rufus came to Utah. And there's a 12 volt, negative ground alternator. Rufus is gonna be wired up like a Chevy rather than the 6 volt, positive ground method that was used at the factory.

In case it hasn't been obvious, my oldest son Colin has taken over the maintenence of this site, ghost writing in first person to maintain continuity. Bless his little webmaster heart. (I made him put that in there.) I can't thank him and Anthony (youngest son) enough for helping with things that I can't do and keeping this site alive.

Next: Bed time.

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