Introducing Project "Scabra Tulitque"

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I applied some "fibrous" grease on the points where the brake shoes rub on the backing plates.

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I have been struggling with one front brake line (passenger side) all week--spraying PB Blaster several times a day and rounding off the head of the line little by little with flare nut wrench (3/8"). I tried squeezing the flare nut wrench closed with vice-grips but still slipped.

Finally, today I bit the bullet and went to last resort (after spraying with brake cleaner and trying to file the rounded nut flat again). With fingers crossed, I applied the vice-grips directly to the nut as tight as I could.

Right at the point where I put so much torque on the wrenches (used a 5/8" open end wrench on the rubber hose end) I was sure to round the nut off for good, something slipped while at the same time I heard a faint "crack/snap" sound. Much to my glee, it broke loose! It appears there is just enough "meat" left on the nut that I may be able to tighten it back during re-assembly.

Earlier, I had cut the rubber hose in order to try to fit a combination wrench onto the 5/8" end of the rubber hose, but sliding the wrench over the hose would only go so far and I could not get it up high enough to reach the six sided end. There was interference with the frame I guess. Oh, when I cut the hose, it appeared the hose was plugged up solid so bad it must have been out of service for awhile (see photo).

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Found the only remaining wheel with left-hand threaded lugs has two of them loose (left front). I am going to remove all five and replace them with right-hand threads to match the other three wheels.

Found one rear parking brake cable is froze up. Going to go with two new rear cables just to be safe.

Cleaned and prepared the last backing plate (left rear).

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Since the front brake backing plates were loosened to accommodate removal/replacement of the wheel cylinders, I decided to remove them and clean up the steering knuckles.

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Update to post #53: Replaced the left hand wheel lugs with right hand wheel lugs (referring to drivers side front wheel). We had to spot weld three of the new ones because they were not good and tight.

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Brakes back together now (including new rear parking brake cables). Fired the motor up, ran for two minutes until I spotted the fuel pump leaking (I believe it was seeping out of the pump body itself). New Carter fuel pump M6866 on order at local store.

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Put the driver's bucket seat in its place (noticed one of the seat frame mounting studs is broken off). The old carpet looks to be something not custom fit, floors have rotted through in places, and the flimsy floor "patches" are not welded.

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As someone else commented when giving a "review" for the Carter fuel pump (mentioned in post #56), I likewise needed to open up the two mounting holes and dress the bolts so the fasteners would freely fit into the fuel pump mounting holes.

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Washed the windows (except for the rear plastic window), attached a side view mirror, and pulled the vehicle out front in order to drive it around the block. As I closed the front entrance gate, the engine died before I could even open the door to sit inside (the fuel gauge and coolant temperature gauges not working). I added a couple of gallons of gas and it came back to life again. Drove it three blocks down the street and three blocks back home again.

She sports four new fourteen-inch tires (re-painted rims), new underhood wiring harness, new headlamp and ignition switches, new fusible link, new fuel pump, rebuilt alternator, and new brakes all the way around. The manual brakes may need another round of bleeding (or I'm just not used to the "feel" of manual brakes).

The factory oil pressure "idiot" light is working and the aftermarket mechanical oil pressure gauge is working also. Lights and horn work (horn missing the center piece so one needs to ground the wire manually).

With manual steering and brakes, not exactly a "nimble" driving experience.

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Unable to tighten side mirror screws. Placed a strand of insulted copper wire across the mirror gasket and into both screw holes and inserted the screws. Nice and tight again.

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Working on the dash. Tested the inoperative fuel and coolant temperature gauges (one at a time) by grounding both wires that connect to their respective sensors. Both needles rose quickly to maximum value. Took the defective odometer to a local shop. "Alejandro" found the reason the odometer only reads "tenths" of a mile and never turns over the mile digits is a crack in the white plastic (see where the ball point pen is pointing in the photo).

Being the fact the dash lights are not all working (bulbs are OK) I plan to replace the circuit board with a new reproduction version (see photo). The speedo is still operating satisfactorily, so going to replace the speedo/odometer back in the dash, as is, for now. Then going to look into what problems I can find on the sensor end of the gauges.

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Update: I was having trouble turning the ignition key. Local locksmith disassembled the tumblers and made two keys that work fine. I was surprised he made the first new key by hand using a file! Then he made a second key to match on the machine. Paid $250.00 Mexican pesos (about $15.00 USD).

Only "problem" now is the door keys (which were previously also the ignition keys) don't match the ignition any longer. No big deal.

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Update: One step forward, two steps back. After re-installing the dash with the new circuit board, the fuel gauge rose to 1/8th full, which should be about right. I got so excited I took a spin to the closest gas station (PEMEX) to fill her up (for the first time in years) in order to gloat on the success of another repair.

When I arrived at the station the gauge was reading 1/8 full as stated above. As the norm, when the tank filled and the pump shut off, a large squirt of gasoline shot out of the filler tube onto the ground. I had warned the attendant beforehand, so his shoes did not get wet. It took 53.68 liters (about 14 gallons).

Got back in the vehicle for the short drive home. Alas, now the fuel gauge needle is all the way to the left on empty! How did I make things worse?

On the drive back, I looked at the speedo for the first time this morning to find it's working, but has a bounce of about 5 MPH. Then as mentioned in previous posts, the odometer only reads 1/10ths of a mile and does not advance the corresponding miles digits. Of course, I already knew that was the case.

Well, the wire at the gas tank must have fallen off either inside or outside the tank. I'll look into that situation later when I'm in the mood.

Since the coolant temperature gauge only rises when the wire is grounded, I ordered a Standard Motor Products TS17 sensor which should arrive in a couple of weeks (Rock Auto specifies TS18 for vehicles with A/C--I wonder why?)

Update: The fuel gauge and temperature gauges are both working again as of 10/10/24.
 
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Update: Now the coolant temperature gauge is working but takes a long time to make it over up to the normal operating range (like half an hour of driving). The fuel gauge came back up from empty to showing a quarter tank full. Don't know if either gauge is measuring things accurately or not.
 
Update: Replaced the postive battery cable with what appears to be an exact reproduction from M&H Electric Fabrictors, Inc. (part #35225). As you can see in the photo, the original cable battery end terminal had been cut and replaced so many times in the past that it was a real stretch to make both ends meet. The two fasteners (nuts) wires on the starter did not have any corresponding washers/lock washers but I re-installed them the same way. It's amazong how close the exhaust comes to the starter terminals and cable/wiring.

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Update: While I was replacing the positive battery cable (mentioned above) I cleaned and photographed a partial casting number on the cylinder block in order to verify the installed engine was truly a 273 (not a 318). The number for 1964-66 is listed as 2465330 which would correspond to my 2465...

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Nice write up on getting it moving again.
 
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