What a difference a day makes. It's probably a bit premature to claim victory, but the PS pump is about to cry uncle. I've been fighting this POS for a week, trying to get the pulley to line up, messing with the brackets, and trying to get the hoses loose. Yay for Rock Auto, the new lines showed up and are correct for the truck. I keep working on the hose flare fittings on the steering box but they won't budge. Many applications of Kroil and PB Blaster later, and still............they won't budge. I can't seem to get a good grip on the fittings either, 11/16 is a hair tight, and 3/4 is a bit sloppy loose. I spend a while cleaning up the fitting thinking it's 11/16 and the 40 years of crud is keeping the wrench from seating right. And then, (drum roll please...) the light slowly goes on - if one standard size is a hair small and the other standard size is a hair too big, COULD IT POSSIBLY BE FUCKING METRIC?!? Yes indeed, my 1982 made in good old Detroit truck has a power steering pump that is all metric nuts and bolts. I dig into my metric stuff and the fittings are 18MM, all the rest are 14 and 15. I have to order a set of metric flare fitting wrenches as I don't have any. Amazon to the rescue, 25 bucks for the set and 30 seconds after arrival the fittings are loose and the pump is on the bench.



And just in case we needed a little help with this mystery while adding insult to injury, is this casting on the side of the pump.



I might point out that this metric info is on the side of the pump under the pulley, where nobody would ever see it to have a clue. Next up is getting the old pulley off the old pump, it's also rusted in place for the last 40 years. Once I get that off the pump can go back together and go back in the truck. Radiator, hoses, fan and shroud, and we should be able to fire this thing up for a trip to the muffler shop.

 

So how's it been going with the PS pump, Mr. Halfafish?

Let me describe it thusly...



My buddy (who is a pro mechanic) stops by for a beer and sees me starting to pull the pulley off the pump using a cheapo HF gear puller. He says he has the masterful tool for this if I can wait till tomorrow. Sounds good says I.

Tomorrow comes, and after setting up the tool he says the pulley will come off in less than 10 seconds using his Dewalt 20V 1/2" impact. Haha. Not to be. We hammered on that pulley for over 20 minutes before it came loose. His impact got too hot to touch. I fired up my Craftsman air impact and drained my 60 gallon tank twice. However, it did indeed come off. That's the good news. The bad news is, when we went to reverse the puller's center bolt it wouldn't budge. The threads are all chewed up (yellow arrow) and this is a Snap On puller. I think we welded the two pieces together or something.



So now the puller is captured in the pulley. You can't get it out, and there's no way in hell it will rotate ever again. Since the puller is now junk and there goes a Benjamin or so to replace it, I pull out the cutting wheel. Presto. Problem solved, sort of.



I go to install all the brackets on the pump, and find out it's not the same. Everything looks good except where one of the brackets seats. The old pump has a stud only (green arrow). The new pump has about a 5/16" collar on the stud, and there's no way the bracket will fit (red arrow). I order another one from NAPA and also one from Auto Zone, crossing my fingers one will be correct.



So today's progress was reduced to getting the brackets all cleaned and painted. I swear, there must be a voodoo doll of this truck somewhere with a fistful of pins sticking out of it.

 

I will help as much as I can. The cold air intake tube mounted on the fender came from an 86 D250 with some kind of a V8 in it. It was fairly well picked over when I found it. I knew what the tube was so I grabbed it. The air filter I have is from some kind of a Dakota, I think. It's nothing special and fits a standard 4-bbl carb. The matching tube that goes from the air cleaner to the cold air tube, I'm sorry, but I have no clue. I grabbed a bunch of these things when at the PNP and cobbled it together from what I had. I got lucky and it all fit. My PNP is pretty loose with random stuff so I probably have a whopping $20-30 into the cold air setup. FWIW, the tube from cleaner to cold air intake was cut off to fit. It was at least 18" longer but I whacked it where I needed it to fit on the air tube end.

 

More slow progress. I had to shell out $75 to get a custom pressure hose made for the PS pump. It fits fine, but now it appears the pump isn't pushing fluid? I cranked the engine over and no action getting the new fluid to purge the old stuff in the steering box. We will revisit this situation this afternoon.

The radiator is back in and hooked up. I had to get a spacer for the fan since I pushed the flange on the water pump back about a half inch to get the pulleys to line up.

I got the horns replaced (they were wimpy to say the least).



I tried to do a quick test fire to make sure the fuel pump was working OK with my gas tank, and while the pump is good, I found out I have no spark. The engine ran fine on the test stand, so it has to be something in my wiring. More investigation to be had after work today. I must be channeling @DentalDart. If I wasn't going backward on this project, I wouldn't be going any direction at all.

 

OK, score one for @j par. That was funny. I think I'm the third guy in the lineup...

 

Just in case there is someone still tuned into this first-class thread hijack, The story of the truck is over.


Hey, wait a sec - where is the truck? Oh, it is outside because I moved it under its own power. It is done, barring some unforeseen disaster. It runs, drives, is registered and insured, and has about 80 miles on it so far.



Here's the mangy mess, getting ready for its first bath in at least 3 years and probably quite a bit longer.



Four hours of hard labor later, it's about 27 shades whiter.



Three buddies came over for a bit to help wrestle the hood back into place.





Here's the superb job done on the new exhaust. This guy was a master craftsman of tubing. He didn't even use angle measures on anything, just eyeballed it, measured for length, and started bending tube. 90 minutes and $500 later I'm driving away with my snazzy new exhaust.



Seat cover is installed. I'll have to fiddle with a bunch of small things that you never know about until you drive the thing, but it's good enough to take out on the streets. New tires this weekend and I should be good to go.

 

So now what, with the truck done? Perhaps we should shove the poor red-headed stepchild Dart back into the shop and get to work? Why yes, that sounds like a splendid idea. I need the lift for a few quick projects but the Dart is back on center stage.

 

If I could get my butt in gear I'd help that situation, my 94 2500 TCD is going to be up for grabs in the near future.

 

Turbo Cummins Diesel...

 

About a week. The Valiant is getting a new fuel tank, both of the GF's cars need a quick trip on the lift as does my buddy's forklift.

 

Oh brother don't I know it. Two weekends turned into seven months on the truck. The good news is, having been down this road I feel a lot more at ease diving into the other cars.