The Truck of Doom: An Occasional Build Thread

[Dorsai]

I just realized that I need to get cracking on the rest of my to-do list: not only is the truck show just six weeks away, but I also have to get our robot ready for Robot Battles at DragonCon in just three weeks! We had a pretty good run last time around, which was our first time competing - Dominic (with his quick teenage reflexes) is the driver, and I'm the head engineer and pit crew (I'm the guy in black behind Dominic):

[Gary Lewis]

Matthew - That was cool!  Dominic certainly did well.  (And you did a good job picking the robot up and placing it back on the platform.)  

[Dorsai]

Gary Lewis wrote

  (And you did a good job picking the robot up and placing it back on the platform.)  

Everybody is good at something, I’m good at picking things up.

I’m also apparently not half-bad at robot engineering; Dominic came in second place overall, only losing to the son of the guy he’s fighting in the video.  He had a really good wedge bot that we just couldn’t do anything with.  But Dominic did set one gal’s robot on fire, so it was a pretty good outing.

In truck news...I got the rear diff oil changed today.  Well, sorta changed...I was only able to get about a quart of the old stuff out, no matter how I worked the pump tube around in there.  But the old oil looked pretty good, so I added a quart of new and called it a day.  I also couldn’t take the mold, mildew, and general sludge on the underside of my hood any longer, so I broke out the pressure washer and blasted it clean.  

Finally, the new gasket arrived today for the transmission pan swap, so the rest of those parts (new pan with drain, new transmission filter) should arrive this week, hopefully to go on next weekend.

[Gary Lewis]

A wedge would seem to be a good profile for that competition.  But, setting one on fire?  Did he use a flame thrower or stall the motor long enough to burn something up?

Anyway, second is good, especially when I think you said it was his first time out.  

On the truck, you are making good progress!  You are way past "ready" for the trip, and should have an easy time of it.  Can't wait to meet you!

[Dorsai]

Gary Lewis wrote

A wedge would seem to be a good profile for that competition. But, setting one on fire? Did he use a flame thrower or stall the motor long enough to burn something up?

Well, I'm giving us a bit of extra credit in saying that he set her robot on fire...but she was fighting him when it happened, so it's only a little extra credit. As to what happened, I suspect it was a design or construction flaw; you can see in the video below that she was never stalled for more than a second or two, and she was free when the magic smoke came out. This was a huge surprise for us, given that she's one of the 'pro' builders (Team Valkyrie) competing on Battlebots.

Anyway, second is good, especially when I think you said it was his first time out.

We were thrilled with second. Besides Dominic having some fun, my only goal was for the robot to not disassemble into a pile of parts and shame at the first hit.

On the truck, you are making good progress! You are way past "ready" for the trip, and should have an easy time of it. Can't wait to meet you!

Same here...I'm looking forward to meeting you and as many of the other people as possible who have been so helpful over the years. The truck wouldn't be able to make it to OK without you.

[Dorsai]

Now that all the parts (oil pan w/drain plug, filter, fancy gasket) are here for the transmission fluid change, it's time to decide what fluid to go with.  I figured I'd use what's stamped on the dipstick as a starting point, and found this:



I sure hope Valvoline synthetic fluid meets spec ESP-M2C138-CJ, because I'd hate to void my warranty.

Incidentally, if the fluid I linked above is for some reason inappropriate for my 1980 C6 transmission, I'd like to hear about it.  Preferably before I go to Walmart at lunch to buy some.

[Dorsai]

This evening I started on the transmission work - I was able to get the torque converter drained.  It was nice for the drain plug to be waiting for me at exactly 6 o'clock when I popped the access cover off:



I got somewhere between 5 and 6 quarts out, which seems about right.  So now the torque converter is closed back up and the old fluid poured off into jugs for recycling/disposal, and tomorrow I'll try to get the pan off without taking an ATF shower.

[Gary Lewis]

You got lucky on the torque converter's drain.  Let's hope you get equally lucky on removing the pan w/o taking a shower.

[Dorsai]

Gary Lewis wrote

You got lucky on the torque converter's drain.  Let's hope you get equally lucky on removing the pan w/o taking a shower.

All things considered I suppose my luck held - I didn't get a shower, although I ended up with a lot more ATF on the floor than I had expected; I thought I was pretty smart laying down some disposable painting dropcloth beforehand, but that stuff gets holes really easy, and before I knew it my garage floor was swimming in fluid.  All in all this was probably the dirtiest job I've done on the truck, and that includes replacing the engine oil pan a few years ago.

But...the job is done, and successfully as far as I can tell.  The good news is that someone's been in the transmission before, so this isn't 40 year old fluid.  The bad news is that I could tell someone's been in there, because of this:



That's one of the bolts holding the transmission filter on, and it was hanging just like that once I dropped the pan.  I had initially thought it just backed itself out over the years, but when I went to put the new filter on I realized that the hole was stripped out - I guess Florida Man's Oklahoma cousin Cletus got a little too torque-happy last time he was in there.  The filter is held on with 11(!) bolts, so losing one is no big deal.

At any rate, the filter went on fine and the new pan and fancy Moroso gasket went up without a hitch.  I put about 11 quarts of new fluid in there, then gave the truck a good test run to the local Mexican joint for dinner and then up and down the highway for a bit.  Drives fine, shifts fine, dipstick level is good, and no apparent leaks.  I'm declaring this one...

[Gary Lewis]

Now you see why I won't put a transmission pan on w/o a drain plug in it - I might have to take it off again and I do NOT want that mess.

Anyway, you did a good job and the truck is going to do great on the trip - in 5 weeks?  Can you believe that?  

[Dorsai]

Gary Lewis wrote

Now you see why I won't put a transmission pan on w/o a drain plug in it - I might have to take it off again and I do NOT want that mess.

Seriously...there is no excuse for this.  What the heck was Ford thinking when they decided to skip the drain plug?

Anyway, you did a good job and the truck is going to do great on the trip - in 5 weeks?  Can you believe that?  

Thanks.  At this point I'm feeling really good about the truck...all my worry items are resolved, I've just got a couple of basic maintenance items (oil change, coolant change) to do and I'll be ready to hit the road.

Speaking of which....I got my class schedule for the upcoming semester, and everything lined up perfectly.  I'm a definite go for the show in September.

[Gary Lewis]

Yippee!  

When will you get in?

[Dorsai]

Gary Lewis wrote

Yippee!  

When will you get in?

I've got Friday afternoon/evening penciled in, but I have flexibility; if there's reason to be there earlier or later I can probably do so.  Current plan is to leave here early Thursday am and drive as far as I can, at least to West Memphis AR, maybe as far as Little Rock...I'll probably only sustain 65-70mph on the highway.  Then up early Friday and straight in to Tulsa.

[Rembrant]

I haven't touched an auto transmission pan in a long long time, but I do remember the mess of that fluid coming out...

Kinda like antifreeze...when you're working around that stuff it feels like it never stops coming out...as if there's 20 gallons in there...lol.

[Gary Lewis]

Dorsai wrote

I've got Friday afternoon/evening penciled in, but I have flexibility; if there's reason to be there earlier or later I can probably do so.  Current plan is to leave here early Thursday am and drive as far as I can, at least to West Memphis AR, maybe as far as Little Rock...I'll probably only sustain 65-70mph on the highway.  Then up early Friday and straight in to Tulsa.

Sounds like a good plan.  But my experience with West Memphis wasn't good.  The hotel was difficult to get to and it didn't feel safe.  Plus, there wasn't much around in the way of places to eat.

That's been almost 20 years, so it may well have changed.

[salans7]

I have never changed fluid in an automatic and ended up with a clean floor. It's nearly impossible. It's thin enough that it goes everywhere.

[Dorsai]

Gary Lewis wrote

But my experience with West Memphis wasn't good.  The hotel was difficult to get to and it didn't feel safe.  Plus, there wasn't much around in the way of places to eat.

That's been almost 20 years, so it may well have changed.

That’s been my experience as well, although I haven’t spent a night there in the last 20 years either.  But I did drive through while relocating my grandmother last year, and it looked a little better than I remembered.

Hopefully it won’t matter; if I can get out of here early enough to beat Atlanta morning traffic (and the truck gives me no problems), I should be able to get well past West Memphis.  Conway AR used to be our regular stopping point before I-22 was finished, if I can make it that far I’ll be satisfied.

[Gary Lewis]

Conway's a good stopping place.  Spent a night not long ago in a motel there and it was clean.

[Dorsai]

Now that all my must-do items for the road trip are taken care of, it's time to start on the like-to-do list.  At the top of that list?  Solving this problem:



I get that big cloud of smoke whenever I start the truck after it's been sitting for more than a day or so.  While I'm sure it helps keep the mosquitoes down it probably doesn't endear me to my neighbors, particularly the downwind ones.  So it's time for new valve stem seals, right?

What I'm looking for are tool recommendations.  I understand I need a valve spring compression tool, but I'm seeing two different types on Amazon, one significantly cheaper than the other.  I like cheap, but I don't mind spending the money if there's a compelling reason to buy the more expensive one.  So which style do I really want?

Cheap: ($17.59) Orion Motor Tech

Expensive: ($52.03) Proform 66784 Valve Spring Compressor

I also seem to need a tool to hold the valves in place while they're being worked on.  I see plenty of tools like this one (Lisle Valve Holder), but I would expect them to have quick disconnects to attach to my standard air hose.  Why don't they?  

[Gary Lewis]

Yes, I think it is probably valve guides and seals.  But replacing guides is something I'd hire done, while replacing seals can be done yourself.

And you are on the right track with valve holder, but they probably don't include a quick disconnect since there are several.  However, you can easily add that.

As for the spring compressor, I think you would be fine with something like the Lisle 16560, which works with the head still on the engine.  But let's see what others say as I've not done much of this.

Anyway, you want a tool that doesn't expect you to have the head off the truck, and the Orion Motor Tech one appears to require you to remove the head.