Noise and smoke day at the Studebaker ranch.

Lots of noise, not so much smoke. Lots of unburned hydrocarbons.

I decided today was the day to start and move all the vehicles in the row along the road frontage, so as to mow the grass growing beneath them.

First volunteer was a '74 Ford Clubwagon (camper van). Put in a battery, cranked and cranked, wouldn't start. Put a couple of gallons of gas in the tank. That got 'er going. Took a while for the tranny to decide it was OK to actually engage Reverse, but it eventually did. Took a spin through the lower half of the yard, mainly to limber things up a bit. Tried the brakes; big mistake. They locked up going forward; the rear drums I guess. Backed around in a big circle, and the brakes freed enough to allow it to move forward, so I parked it in its newly-mown spot. This one had better get put back on the road this year, or it's toast. IMHO.

Next vehicle to get awakened was the '62 Champ 3/4 ton. Swapped the battery out of the van into the Champ, primed the carb with a spray bottle of gas, and it fired right up. This one wins the noise and smoke award, as it has no muffler, and is missing on 2 or

3 cylinders out of 8. But it moved under its own power well enough.

Next patient was my '85 Diesel Suburban. Batteries were too low to crank it, so I hooked up a battery charger, and went on to the US6 Studebaker truck. Its big 6-volt battery was low, too, so I lifted it out, and put it on the charger. Incidentally, here's a tip for handling batteries. I made lifting straps from loops of duct tape, 2 layers stuck gum to gum. Two loops on this big 6-volt do the job, and they've been on for several years, and are still holding up.

Went to town for lunch, and to check my mail.

On my return, I pulled the '88 Suburban up to the nose of the '85, and hooked up booster cables. That, combined with the charged-up batteries, started it right away. Still runs like a pup. Tranny and brakes all work OK on this one. I drove it over by the shop, and hooked up a vacuum cleaner, and vacuumed it out. Got one mummified mouse, too. After mowing its spot, I again parked it.

Then I put the battery back in the US6. Ground cable clamp needed cleaning. With that done, a shot of prime, and it fired right up, and idled well. I backed it into the middle of the yard, mowed its parking space, about a 5 minute job, and came back to find it still idling, but blowing coolant out the overflow. May just have a blown head gasket, I think. There IS good antifreeze in there, too. Anyway, it's parked once more.

Then I fired up my little International tractor, and used the loader to trundle a 2R truck frame with box, which I use for a scrap metal repository, over to the shop so I could air up the tires. I had a shot at freeing the stuck 170 engine, but no luck so far. It's got PB Blaster soaking in the cylinders; I'll give it a few days, and try again. I drilled a pair of 3/8" holes at 6:00 and 12:00 in the harmonic balancer, and bolted a length of angle iron to it, so I have a good handle for cranking.

The last event of the day saw me drop another 6-volt battery into a '48 M16 grain truck. It cranked right away, but it wil not idle. It will idle if I prime it, or it will run at high RPM. Sounds like the fuel pump is weak or clogged. Anyway, I did get it moved, and I guess a little work on the fuel system is in order. This was a noise and smoke show, too, as it has no muffler.

Still have a couple more to do, but they'll have to wait for another day.

Gord Richmond

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Gordon Richmond
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