Cheap Parts (before factoring in the pain & suffering:)
Posted: June 4, 2016, 11:07 pm
Well, I made a run to a local pull your own parts yard out east of the city, they've had this '78 F150 with a 302 in the yard since last Sept, and I figured if I waited any longer, by the time I get around to it, it would have been squished:)
So, the part(s) I was after are the SBF engine mount pedestals, which I may need for my '66 Crew Cab (I say may, because I have not made a final decision on what front suspension I will end up running, but figured I best grab them while they were available)
Anyways, I loaded up a TON of tools, because the engine/trans are still in the truck, so I knew that even after I got the pedestals & the engine mounts detached from the front crossmember/engine block, I would need to take the weight of the drivetrain off of them to get them out, so I brought my Porta-Power along, as well as some 4x6 blocks.
In between the parking lot & the Front Counter, one of the wheels on the little cart I was hauling all my gear on broke, meaning I had to basically DRAG the cart all the way back into the Northwest corner of the yard where they keep the "vintage" stuff. I know it's more than a 1/4 mile, but a half mile is probably pushing it:)
Anyways, like a dumba$$, I didn't put my gloves on, and by the halfway point, I already had a water blister from the base of my saluting finger to the first knuckle:( (yah, my hands are not as tough as they were back when I was a trades guy
Anyways, I get all the way back there, and with all the rain we've had in the last week to ten days, it's a quagmire back there. Each Isle in that section has huge ruts from the loaders, and the ruts all have a good amount of water in them AND although the truck is still resting on it's front wheels.....both are flat
....and for good measure, despite everything (sheetmetal wise) from the doors forward (excluding the rad support) being raped & pillaged, the lump still has running boards on it, making it next to impossible to get under it.
Well, it gets better, because when I open up my toolbox, I discover that my rail of Imperial shallow sockets is NOT THERE, and when I go into the bottom of the box to dig out Imperial wrenches, all wrenches are accounted for EXCEPT the 9/16", which is what all the bolts on the pedestals are
So, fake it to make it....14mm will do in a pinch!
Problem is, because I cannot get UNDER the truck, I can't get at the nuts.....so working from above, I back them out until the nut starts to spin, then drive a flatblade screwdriver between the pedestal & the crossmember, get a turn or two more, rinse, repeat......once I got back off far enough, the screwdriver didn't work any more, so I switched to my picklefork, and at some point it slipped when I was hammering, and I ended up with my finger getting jambed between the fork & something else, so now I have one fingernail that is ~40 % purple
Problem is, even from the top, EVERYTHING seemed to be in my way, I ended up removing the fuel pump, Oil filter, steering box, just to improve access to the pedestal bolts. The motor mount bolts, after I used a breaker bar to crack them, came out OK using my Ridgid Impact Drill/Driver, but required a looong extension to reach up from below.
Even after getting the porta-power in there and lifting the engine up off the mounts, then cramming whatever I could find between the oil pan & crossmember to hold it up, I still ended up having to get the hacksaw in the gap & cut part way through the last two bolts (The lower rear pedestal bolt on each side), after which I was able to use the pickle fork & "pop" them.
So, not easy, and not without some pain & suffering, but I guess for a grand total of $21.00 CDN tax in, no one will listen if I complain:):)
This job would have been a whole bunch easier if the vehicle was up on stands, and was somewhere on flat & DRY ground.......
James
So, the part(s) I was after are the SBF engine mount pedestals, which I may need for my '66 Crew Cab (I say may, because I have not made a final decision on what front suspension I will end up running, but figured I best grab them while they were available)
Anyways, I loaded up a TON of tools, because the engine/trans are still in the truck, so I knew that even after I got the pedestals & the engine mounts detached from the front crossmember/engine block, I would need to take the weight of the drivetrain off of them to get them out, so I brought my Porta-Power along, as well as some 4x6 blocks.
In between the parking lot & the Front Counter, one of the wheels on the little cart I was hauling all my gear on broke, meaning I had to basically DRAG the cart all the way back into the Northwest corner of the yard where they keep the "vintage" stuff. I know it's more than a 1/4 mile, but a half mile is probably pushing it:)
Anyways, like a dumba$$, I didn't put my gloves on, and by the halfway point, I already had a water blister from the base of my saluting finger to the first knuckle:( (yah, my hands are not as tough as they were back when I was a trades guy
Anyways, I get all the way back there, and with all the rain we've had in the last week to ten days, it's a quagmire back there. Each Isle in that section has huge ruts from the loaders, and the ruts all have a good amount of water in them AND although the truck is still resting on it's front wheels.....both are flat
....and for good measure, despite everything (sheetmetal wise) from the doors forward (excluding the rad support) being raped & pillaged, the lump still has running boards on it, making it next to impossible to get under it.
Well, it gets better, because when I open up my toolbox, I discover that my rail of Imperial shallow sockets is NOT THERE, and when I go into the bottom of the box to dig out Imperial wrenches, all wrenches are accounted for EXCEPT the 9/16", which is what all the bolts on the pedestals are
So, fake it to make it....14mm will do in a pinch!
Problem is, because I cannot get UNDER the truck, I can't get at the nuts.....so working from above, I back them out until the nut starts to spin, then drive a flatblade screwdriver between the pedestal & the crossmember, get a turn or two more, rinse, repeat......once I got back off far enough, the screwdriver didn't work any more, so I switched to my picklefork, and at some point it slipped when I was hammering, and I ended up with my finger getting jambed between the fork & something else, so now I have one fingernail that is ~40 % purple
Problem is, even from the top, EVERYTHING seemed to be in my way, I ended up removing the fuel pump, Oil filter, steering box, just to improve access to the pedestal bolts. The motor mount bolts, after I used a breaker bar to crack them, came out OK using my Ridgid Impact Drill/Driver, but required a looong extension to reach up from below.
Even after getting the porta-power in there and lifting the engine up off the mounts, then cramming whatever I could find between the oil pan & crossmember to hold it up, I still ended up having to get the hacksaw in the gap & cut part way through the last two bolts (The lower rear pedestal bolt on each side), after which I was able to use the pickle fork & "pop" them.
So, not easy, and not without some pain & suffering, but I guess for a grand total of $21.00 CDN tax in, no one will listen if I complain:):)
This job would have been a whole bunch easier if the vehicle was up on stands, and was somewhere on flat & DRY ground.......
James
