The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Tons 'o Fun 1959 Chevy Viking 2 Ton. Restoration by novice with no experience.

[censored], one even filled his ear up with it. With silicone on my fingers, and oil in my clothes, a storm rolling in, no place to put the dogs, I drafted my 16 year old sister to go pick up my girlfriend. She was out of gas, and had to cross a creek anyway, so I gave her the keys to the Jeep. Terrifying. Scratched map in the dirt, and went back to working on the truck. Figured out which side was which, and which side was up on the cork side gaskets, and stuck those to the pan with a little silicone (gasket maker). Smeared a minuscule bit on top for good measure, and went to install the pan. It was like I had never touched a wrench or oil pan bolt in my life. Must have been the thickness of the new gaskets, or maybe just bad universe energy. I could not get the corner bolts to start in their holes to save my life. What should have taken 5 minutes, took maybe an hour. It is possible that the cork was supposed to go under the rubber gasket ends? No idea, but frustrating is a mild description of that morning, especially after moving to the front corners which are blocked by the motor mount cross member. As I am laying under there cramping my fingers trying to set bolts, I can hear the silicone drying, I am talking to peoples ankles about afternoon plans, freshly washed dogs are shaking water on me, and the lightning storm is getting ever closer.

Right as the rain hit, I got the last corner bolt to grab a thread. I pushed the gasket back in place down the side rails, and threaded all the smaller bolt heads in. The rain was not too bad, and the plywood kept me mostly out of the mud, but it was still way more uncomfortable than it needed to be. Still, I managed to tighten all the bolts down properly, going over them multiple times in a stunning crossing patterns. Hooked the springs back up to the one with the clip, seated the oil filter housing with it's new gasket, even remembered to put the plug back in the oil pan. Filled her up with oil, started and tested for pressure, and then did a quick drive up the road. It was hard to tell, but I think it is not leaking. I was late for a thing, so parked the truck, scrubbed my oily self with lava soap, and shelved the brake bleeders for another sunny day.

Got a hankerin' for an update from Patagonia Dave

Oh, Patagoniadave has no updates :-(

The monsoons and the heat got me out of the habit of working on the truck. I switched gears <sort of pun intended?>, and put my efforts into designing a shop, and getting the ball rolling on foundations and permits. That abruptly ended, and life took a bit of a right turn. So, I am regrouping, but need to get back into the habit of tinkering with the truck every day. The weather is good for it, and I have the time. In fact, not 10 minutes ago, Grandpa and I were leaning on the flatbed having this very conversation.

I have been driving the truck once a week at a minimum, and all seems well. In fact, one of the valves seems to have freed up, and it only sounds like it is missing on one, instead of two now. I had a hell of a time finding the right windshield wipers, and about the time I did, the monsoons dried up. I bought new bleeders for the front brakes, and a seal for the transmission where the driveshaft comes out. Those are going to be my go to projects when I get my mood back. That and rear lights, brakes, running, etc.

I bought a piece of property in Northern AZ, and it is in an area where hauling your domestic water is necessary and normal. If I relocate up there, the truck is going to get press ganged back into service. I'll re-deck it, throw a water tank back on it, and trailer her up the mountain. In that case, I'll put off all cosmetic work indefinitely, and stick to functional mechanical projects.

I am motivated to start up again, and to be honest the timing of JW51's post was borderline spooky.