1972 F250 Camper Special - My Project for 2006

[phawgg]

Thought I'd take advantage of the projects forum and polish my writing skills.
This project has been quite a tale thus far.

My Mom decided she wanted to move back to Washington from Oregon, where she's been
for almost a year. She'd decided to move in with my sister and sell her house,
after about 35 years. My brother has an acre in what passes these days as rural, so
even though she'd nearly resigned herself to the fact of an assisted care location, her
desire for a less "busy" existance (without having to spend $75,000.00 a year for it)
had an option. She could buy a travel trailer and move in "next door".

That meant a whole lot of stuff that'd been ignored for five years needed moving.
The truck was one of the things technically described as "junk" in the way of site prep.

His wife is an assisted-care nurse, presently employed as an administrator at one of those places.
Her Mom lives in a double-wide there, and so the two elder ladies (who both lack their spouses
of over 50 years) can enjoy each other's company. In fact with their daughter planning on
setting up a business as a self-employed nurse (with two initial clients) life looks like
it's on the improvement curve.

So I enter the scene in a 1991 Astrovan with a U-haul "mini-hitch" attached and a towbar.

First the spare tire & rack up front needed to go to get the hitch on.
I noticed that the mount hardware and welded metal was nicely done & no "mismatches".
The bed was completely full of misc. stuff.
Tires were up, e-brake could be released.
My intention was to drive in past a truck wrecking yard, see what I could get out of it.

I also couldn't/didn't want to use the main highway.
Several turns at cul-de-sacs later and checking a 12 year-old county map later I was on track.
Up and around some truly deadly back roads, to the tune of "will this 4.3 & auto even make it?"

The yard I was headed for just so happened to be one that had moved in the past several years.
(ironically I found at a pay phone booth it's new location was a mile from where I started from),
in the opposite direction. Another place called "Pull-A-Part" lie between me and the ferry boat
I use to get to my home on the island. They said: "We will take it, but you get no money if it's
older than 1980"

The tires/wheels alone were worth something, so on I went.

Called a friend who knows people who do the scrap business.
Yes, someone was interested, but not this weekend.

Oh, well.

I paid the extra charge for vehicle & towed thing ($34.00) and arrived back home.
Next day paid $17.94 2X to dump the stuff from the bed at the recycle place.

Finally I could look 'er over without extraneous bs to contend with.

I liked what I saw, really.
I used to build houses and the company I worked for in the early seventies had four of
this model truck. They all were nice & solid. This one was sold as a deluxe model.
That extra trim etc. was still in good shape.

I took the seat cover off.
Several minor pulled apart seams on the driver side only.
Headliner still in place.
Door seals/moulding remarkably well preserved, the doors still worked excellantly.

That was in contrast to the 1977 3/4 ton that was parked on some property nearby.
The cab on it was casually spray painted blue. Someone had installed a skylight, it too was best described as "casual".
A 460 2V auto with an 8' flatbed, the flatbed alone was worth the few hundred.
I'd bought it for $300.00 a month ago. Engine ran, smoked at start then cleared up.
Valve guides probably, it had sat for a year.
Guy I know who does heads said "...about 300.00 to rebuild them, with exhaust manifolds
resurfacing included".
Rear brake cylinder leak. Carb base plate leaked gas. Not much to do to get it road-worthy, really.
But, definately a "work truck" no matter what I did.
My initial project vehicle was resold to one of the people
interested in it before I bought it, for $350.00 to cover my title transfer money/tax
a few days later.

So now I had a budget: $350.00 towards the 1972 F250 Camper Special "will it run again project".

[72hiboy4x4]

that is quite the story! I Love it!
best wishes and keep us posted!

[phawgg]

I found that the truck is big. It is truly a longwide bed. Plus.
Extended mirrors, extended bumper.
Whip antennae for the missing CB radio.
All conspired against me when trying to park it in a location
under some trees that I have a 12' x 16' roof suspended within.
I managed to do it with a floor jack and some chunks of 4" x 12" lumber.

That done I lifted the hood and decided that heres where I start.
I taped off all the wiring and cleaned/painted the inner fenders b-b-q black rustoleum.
The inner hood lining sheet metal represented some of few select areas that had fallen
to the rust problem. That lower edge is now black. The original paint still reflects
a small blackish circle from that fatef ul fire that stopped it from running in 2001. I wonder if that grandson wanted the air cleaner off for some reason?

Story I hear is this:
Teenage grandson gets truck to drive, it backfires and melted wiring harness is the result.
They try to deal with it, not sucessful.

Years go by.


I find this:
No gas caps either tank.
No action at carb except airhorn baffle.
No distributer cap, rotor, wires, plugs, battery, or air cleaner assembly.

Part of the heat-riser auto choke assembly lays on the inner fender.
Rear bumper was part of the bed load I kept.
No ignition key.
Maroon paint has copious quantities of green algae growing on it, among the telltale
orange patches, streaks and scraped areas. 10% (maximum) involvement, mostly around the particularly nice moulding they put on the Sport version.

No coolant visiable.
Oil up but black.
Lots of "extra" wiring for the camper/cb arrangement of the past, now missing or idle.

Typical view considering what was once a very well maintained and cherished RV that had given
many decades of reliable service to an outdoors-oriented fishing/hunting couple locally.

Glass is good.

Slipped a deep cell marine battery from the budget battery store for 20.00 into it.

Most lights work, but no ignition switch action yet so a lot left unknown.

Lungs & brain of the old Detroit iron are needed, and quite a bit of other tuneup items.

next post, the first shopping list.

[mytmatt]

That's a good story you're telling, keep it coming! I'll share my experience on my first shopping trip for my bumpside...wanted all new ignition parts and a few other goodies for when I put the motor back in. I got: points, rotor, condensor, cap, spark plugs and wires, both radiator hoses w/clamps, thermostsat and gasket, valve cover and oil pan gaskets, new alternator, AC and PS belts. Thought I'd be looking at about $150, but cost was $260!! I was very surprised. Maybe I got gouged...I bought the stuff from a local garage where the guy was nice enough to loan me his engine hoist, and I don't think he gouged me, but maybe he did. Maybe I am just thinking in terms of 80s prices, which is the last time I bought any of this stuff. I have been told that whatever you think it's going to cost, double or triple it.

[phawgg]

While towing this truck, after declining the not-so-generous offer at Pull-a-Part,
I decided to keep track of the cost of trying to make a buck on old iron.
Starting with the costs of transporting it and any associated with the effort.
After all, anything relative to vehicles should bring to mind the cost(s) of fossil fuel,
not to mention those tied to health & welfare.

Once convinced I'd done the right thing by bringing it home to meet my other projects,
my health improved by the addition of pleasant thoughts of what might come of it.
A new or used 3/4 ton truck would likely cost me thousands preceded by a number between
one and forty.

Too much.



So, the list begins with:

Travel to/from place I got it: (somewhere around) 75 miles roundtrip.
Astrovan isn't a miser. It too is older, and sorta fatigued.
I figure it averaged "under 15mpg" and took oil.
No matter how you cut it, thats over $20.00

Expense Number One: est. $25.00

At the ferry dock: Peak Season rate driver & vehicle is $34.00
A friend I picked up to assist me. another $4.40.

The List continues with what the morning after began with, an inspection revealed
that each of the following items would be required, more or less.

Finding out what the bed condition was, and what would be kept as belonging
in some way to the truck, meant 2 yards of garbage/scrap dropoff.
(2) @ $17.94 = $35.88

Pressure nozzle washing to blow off what wouldn't stay on.
Drip dried it fared fairly well, all things considered.

Under the hood represented the first attention, really.
Air compressor running both a nozzle & die grinder.
est. power & parts = $3.50
Masking tape: (1) @ 1.00
b-b-q black Rustoleum (2) @ $4.59 = $9.18
A Sunday and two daily newspapers.

That done I could lean into it and do stuff.
Identification of the after-market ham radio & camper addons incomplete,
but the missing parts and/or replacements follow:

Distributor cap. Niehoff FF74 $9.99
Rotor Niehoff FF44 $4.19
Condensor Niehoff FF25 $5.99
Points Borg-Warner BW A101V $11.99
Plugs Autolite 45 (8) @ 1.39 = $11.12
Ignition Wires Borg-Warner BW CH831SP $21.99

Gas caps (2) Stant 11623 $14.98

Battery (used) Exide Nautilus marine starting HD-M-24 manufactured dec 2005 $25.00

Oil filter Fram PH8A $4.99
Gas Filter Fram PA 6521991 $2.99
Oil Castrol GT 10-40W (5) @ 2.75 = $13.75

Ignition Lock cylinder LC 14020 $9.99

Carb cleaner (sale price) 2 @ 2.00 = $4.00

Ferry commuter car & driver ticket to bring this stuff home (1) @ $12.50
Minimum gasoline/oil expense to do it $10.00

So it's the middle of the week and the truck sits there with parts in the cab,
under the hood is clean and ready to work on and a battery is sitting there.

I'm at a sub-total of:

$276.43

Figuring those newspapers cost me something, (even if having read them only reinforced
the logic of occupying my time this way rather than others) and I did use WD-40,
rags, sandpaper & other miscellaneous costs did creep into the picture
(including the tax I paid, here it's a whoppin' 8.9% on purchases) lets round up at
this point and sip a beer in the shade of those trees:

$300.00

OK, and lets remember it hasn't had the title transfered, the registration tags for the year
purchased, nor does it remotely appear to be functional.
The door mouldings are in great shape, though.
Most of the lights work w/o the key on.
Oh, and after having aimed to fill the open holes in the heads with lubricant
the engine doesn't disappoint me when I use the fan & belts to manually turn it over.

That carb looks miserable ... only the air horn baffle offers no resistance to controls.

[Sharkdance]

WOW! Your a good writer!
Im enjoying your accounting of the project. Cant wait for pix and an update.

[phawgg]

Thanks, Sharkdance. I've been reading about your extensive work too.
Now thats the way to go about it!

In this position the intial work was done.

http://img137.imagevenue.com/img.php?im ... _473lo.jpg

Basic cleaning, the repaint of the aprons, radiator, underhood areas.
I bungled the ignition switch job, which had a high priority.
Redid it, but I'm still not happy with the way it can hangup on "start" & will
eventually do it again. Regardless of this (I should have just had a locksmith do it)
I got it to turn over, and all but number one cylinder had great compression.
Number one seemed to improve as I did the half dozen trials.
Distributor tested negative for "juice", but I found that the wire from the resistor block on the
firewall to the coil needed to be plugged back in. That did it, but the distributor plate
wasn't mounted tightly. Exploratory work at trying to lift it out to repair it failed due
to corrosion. I pulled the whole unit out.

This phase of the post-mortem brought to mind a possible reason for it's original problem.

Perhaps the clip that holds the base plate on wasn't reinstalled right at some tuneup/point
replacement. When it failed, the points couldn't hold the right gap since a wobble occured.
Timing of spark went erratic, backfire resulted. Unless you're familiar with the distributor
design, that flaw is not readily apparent, so it would have frustrated attempts
to restore functionality or may have hampered logical diagnostics based on facts back then.
The facts were basically it was a well maintained machine.

The replacement distributor was from a 1967 360 that had tremendous blowby problems.
It was filthy, but kinda of an oily sludge/deposit mess that sorta kept the insides clean & lubed.
I chose it in favor of one off a 1972 that wasn't a "chocolate mess down under" but had
serious corrosion issues around the plate and rotor shaft.

I placed it in my engine (which was on timing mark) w/o replacing the points.

The replacement carb yielded to the rebuild well.
New gaskets into place after using Simple Green, brushes & compressed air.
Set the bench adjustments, placed front needle valves both at 1 1/2 turns.
Chose to use the OEM base plate, even though the alternative was using a slightly different
one that came with the replacement. My engine has a heat tube from the right manifold
that pipes into the automatic choke assembly. This new unit is the electric design.
The consequence is that unit isn't working properly, but wouldn't prevent my trial starts.
I mounted it & the linkages all seemed to work within reason.
I adjusted the kickdown lever & rigged up a replacement clip (being the first thing
I disassembled, it naturally hit the dirt under the truck about 7 days back).

I changed the oil/filter after using WD40 down the cylinders, an entire can actually.
4 quarts seemed to read right on the dipstick, I added 1/2 more for the oil filter.
Gapped the plugs to .035 & installed them with the new wire set.
New cap & rotor in place. I sprayed ether starting fluid into the carb and it started,
ran 2 seconds & died, which was fair enough for a dry bowl. Did that a few more times.

Made it run longer by removing the top of the carb (4 screws) and filling the bowl,
doublechecking the float level while I was at it. It ran for maybe 20 seconds,
very strong, high idle (choke baffle nearly closed) and the temperature guage was showing
indications it worked. Oil pressure was also showing, higher than center.

At this point, fuel supply was the only hurdle remaining standing between me and a running engine.

Gas line interupted between carb and fuel pump revealled no flow,
I ran the battery charge down trying.

While it was recharging, my neighbor brought over a Mr. Gasket universal micro pump.
I made a mount bracket using some 1 x 4 that was cut to wedge into the frame, near
the existing fuel pump. I used a key-on hot lead near the resistor block after testing
the pump using wires to the battery itself. Ground to a hole in the frame, I used
a die grinder to get down to bare metal ... placed some moly grease on it.
Used the existing fuel lines.

It ran, but still no flow. Opened up the tanks by removing the caps,
pulled the inlet line and shot compressed air into it. At this stage the main tank had 2 gallons
fresh fuel, the aux had none. Both appeared dry, or very nearly so and both had
the caps off for an undetermined amount of time prior to my towing it.

Ran the electric pump again, while rotating the fuel supply valve. It spurted some
obnoxious yellow/orange fluid out. Doing the same routine a couple more times and I had
a steady flow of what now appeared to be the better, new fuel.

Hooked it back up and we had a engine that ran without fail.
I adjusted the rough idle screw at the rear, and it maintained a moderately high idle.

I moved tools and stuff outta the way, put the gearshift lever in reverse and ...
waited. Not long, but a definite hesition before it too demonstrated it still had
pretty much what it takes to work properly. Same held true of forward gears, once I'd
backed it out and with a devil-may-care attitude that develops over days of detailed
and focused work. All guages reading "no particular danger" and having experienced
relatively normal action in all areas thus far, I put the pedal down for it's first test drive.

Somebody up there likes me I think.
Despite the slippin' tranny, which was evident at lower torque ranges, and the lousy
views out the front & back windows due to my failure to finish that cleaning well, the acceleration
was smooth, pedal response very accurate, and IT RAN LIKE A CHAMP!

I parked it in a new position, out front like a regular running vehicle.
Work still remained, heres some examples

Cab roof is kinda rough
http://img138.imagevenue.com/img.php?im ... _347lo.jpg

Bed rust is more surface than deep, but needs more attention soon
http://img18.imagevenue.com/img.php?ima ... _459lo.jpg

Areas like this remained after that initial hosing down ... with air, too.
http://img136.imagevenue.com/img.php?im ... _463lo.jpg

Simple Green & SOS pads used on the first trial area seem to work well
http://img125.imagevenue.com/img.php?im ... _588lo.jpg

The old bumper is looking better at least
http://img106.imagevenue.com/img.php?im ... _489lo.jpg

[phawgg]

Walking back to get my camera, thinking a photo at that moment would be good,
I was disappointed when I smelled fuel. The long and short of it being I never
captured the overall "before" picture. Instead, I hustled to get the main tank out
before it ruined the up-to-now-in-great-shape floor mat. Dang!

See, I'd also reversed the flow of air by stuffing a rag around the air nozzle placed
in the fuel fill neck when I was blowing out the lines.
I figured air into the tank from both directions would loosen up any clogs.
I'm thinking that provoked the pin hole rustout spots,
that condensed water in the fuel caused over the long haul, to break through.
It took only minutes to produce a noticable puddle under the driverside mat that leaked
out onto the asphalt.

I moved it back off the street, thinking its not quite ready for duty yet.
Still needed more scouring anyway.
More shots of that:

Notice the white mud flats & typical rusty spots where the sheet metal joins
http://img146.imagevenue.com/img.php?im ... _514lo.jpg
http://img40.imagevenue.com/loc598/th_5 ... _598lo.jpg


I like the box.
http://img101.imagevenue.com/img.php?im ... _304lo.jpg

Took me quite a while to get the tank out, threshold metal up,
an Armorall Cleaner sprayed on and under the mat after using the water to dilute the petrol,
and air to dry out the whole area ... little sticks of wood propping the mat up overnight.

Notice the drip pan and wood sticks near it?
http://img129.imagevenue.com/img.php?im ... _488lo.jpg

Closeup of the driver fender.
http://img23.imagevenue.com/img.php?ima ... _399lo.jpg

Those wheels & hubcaps will need some work on 'em.
http://img102.imagevenue.com/img.php?im ... _445lo.jpg

Lower fender gets sand/dirt trapped inside and that retains moisture.
Rust develops both inside and out. Luckily for me that process was just beginning.
The dirt is no longer there, and the rust is stained paint over tiny spots of exposed metal.
http://img158.imagevenue.com/img.php?im ... _375lo.jpg

At least pulling up the mat made cleaning more thorough.
http://img120.imagevenue.com/img.php?im ... _392lo.jpg

The dashboard makes a nice place for the tools used.
1/2 socket for tank mount bolts & nuts.
Allen wrench to get the seatback to flip forward.
Flat screwdriver for clamps at filler neck (and to pry loose the rubber section), it also
doubled as a lever to pry the tank off the bolts at the top before you can get it out.
5/8 openend wrench for fuel line fitting at top of tank.
http://img107.imagevenue.com/img.php?im ... _408lo.jpg

[flyboy2610]

The main thing is: It runs!!!

[69F110]

phawgg,

I believe that your initial goal has been met...
"Thought I'd take advantage of the projects forum and polish my writing skills"
Seriously, great writing...you have captured the feelings, thoughts, and brought them to life through the written word.

Nice story and great deal on the truck Man! Awesome deal and I'm glad to hear it fired up and even ran "strong" if I recall correctly. Thanks for taking the time to write and photo the experience.

I am living vicariously through you guys right now when it comes to 67-72 FORD Trucks...as I am in Germany for another year and their isn't a 67-72 Ford truck in site.

Thanks again,

[phawgg]

Thanks, Steve, I think writing about whats goin' on is helpful in so many ways.
I'm glad I can take time to do it these days. The inspiration & motivation comes
from people on site here. Its not rocket science, but there are details involved
that without being able to read about what someone else has tried or another point
of view, well ... a good truck might just never run again.

I stood that tank up on end leaning against a tree, plenty of gas in it yet.
Thought I'd leave it overnight, to evaporate the wet area that was showing on the outside
lower left half, but I wasn't sure of the exact origins. In the morning when it was
dry, I rotated the tank and set it on the sides of a utility trailer to watch.
The remaining gas dutifully began to seep out once it was horizontal again.
I poured the gas out into a 5 gallon can and used air to hasten the evaporation.

The pinholes became apparent using a rubber disc on the end of that die grinder.
Ten pictures that show the entire lower edge, sweeping left to right:
http://img24.imagevenue.com/img.php?ima ... _336lo.jpg
http://img101.imagevenue.com/img.php?im ... _575lo.jpg
http://img151.imagevenue.com/img.php?im ... _586lo.jpg
http://img154.imagevenue.com/img.php?im ... _335lo.jpg
http://img18.imagevenue.com/img.php?ima ... _369lo.jpg
http://img131.imagevenue.com/img.php?im ... _411lo.jpg
http://img146.imagevenue.com/img.php?im ... _351lo.jpg
http://img150.imagevenue.com/img.php?im ... _345lo.jpg
http://img134.imagevenue.com/img.php?im ... _410lo.jpg
http://img15.imagevenue.com/img.php?ima ... _435lo.jpg


It seemed obvious to me a thick epoxy putty/paste would do the trick if the metal was
completely free of residual chemicals, dirt, whatever. Bare clean metal was
the result of the polishing I'd done, so I mixed up the glue and applied it after
carefully marking the spots and general locations with a felt pen.

(more low quality shots of this low quality issue)
http://img156.imagevenue.com/img.php?im ... _558lo.jpg
http://img150.imagevenue.com/img.php?im ... _514lo.jpg
http://img144.imagevenue.com/img.php?im ... _347lo.jpg
http://img15.imagevenue.com/img.php?ima ... _453lo.jpg

24 hours later the tank was installed again, using some carpet tiles to enhance
the effect of the factory-installed rubber strips.

After a longish drive around the island ... I was just about happy with my work,
when the fumes were once again assaulting my sense of smell. Repeating the
uninstallation I was now practiced at, I found I'd missed a couple spots. Dang!

This time I did the job, put some fuel in the tank and rested it horizontally
before I put it back in. Looked OK. Back into the cab.

Misery is smelling gas again. This time I sensed it was possibly from under the hood.
Sure enough, my replacement 5/8 fuel/emission line had found it's way into the proximity
of the fan belt between the power steering pump and harmonic balancer. Neat way
to slice through it just enough to open two tiny holes.

A little more artfully arranged this time, I'm confident that won't happen again.

Alas, the telltale liquid below the mat in front of the driver's seat had been
developing as I was doing the work under the front end though. This time I could see
the leak was in a spot that had the epoxy already. That did it. No more using the
"Super Mend". I walked out of the island store with 6.00 worth of JB Weld, sat down
with a cup of coffee to relax with some guys there and related my story of woe and
how I intended to remove what I'd done and replace it with steel reinforced epoxy.

Luckily, one of the guys told me he'd had problems with his Plymouth tank and simply
used fiberglass without even removing the tank. That led to his giving me a tour
of his handbuilt 3 story home and handing me the Bondo repair kit. Even though I
can always find a use for the JB Weld, I took it back the next day in exchange for
most of what it takes to buy a half rack of Red Dog.

I also bought another tank.

Still needed the fiberglass, though. In their infinite wisdom, legislators here in
Washington insist that all tanks on vehicles populating wrecking yards get holes
punched in 'em. Something about Big Oil & Politics continues to effect me everytime
I turn around. I dunno. My bicycle periodically stands out as the transportation
of choice.

Its been four days now that driving/working on the Ford has been pleasantly devoid
of gasoline odors. My appetite has improved, . Heck, I even saw water dripping
from the twin pipes as it idled today, and that engine does not cloud the environment
with blue nor black tinged smoke in the least bit that I can tell.

I had time to change the stained white mud flaps to flat black with another rattle can.
http://img138.imagevenue.com/img.php?im ... _406lo.jpg

Nice, polite truck parked in the driveway:
http://img17.imagevenue.com/img.php?ima ... _580lo.jpg

Things are lookin' up, ya might say:
http://img132.imagevenue.com/img.php?im ... _477lo.jpg

[shanmeg1]

That truck is in good shape. You are quite a writer too. John

[69F110]

phwagg...that truck does look good and solid. Thanks for the updayes...keep them coming.

[69F110]

Hey Phawgg...where you at? How's the truck coming? I need some good reading.

[phawgg]

I am here ... thanks for askin'

Typically busy or contemplating being so.
Awoke this morning to birdcalls & dippin' temperatures, wondering why
the Congress is such a pit and where the bill was for my annual dues
to the local homeowner's association was. It's due at the end of the month.

The truck remains a shining example of thrift.

It's been the fuel pump issue thats given me the only thing to worry about, really. The second one, a "micropump" like the first one that failed, started to give me curious, loud intermitant noises ... a clattering that made a mockery of the otherwise solid chassis & running gear. I'd pull into the grocery store parking lot and next thing I know it sounds like some distant reminder of the Ford Model T days with some addon feature a guy could buy to relive those halycon days dutifully ticking and bouncin' just below the deep throuty cadence of the exhausted regularly paced internal explosions. Ugh. It ran, but to my ear, with a compromise.

$40.00 is forty dollars, so I had decided to let it live out it's useful life, despite my chagrin.

All things have their purpose, the F250 had found it's way into my heart (and wallet) by offering to haul stuff. Me included. Nice of it, considering that my Chev van at 16 years old has developed a need for several replacement and/or fabricatied items that have conspired to render it's functionality "at risk".

So there it sits under the trees, all maroon & white & magnificent.
Pine needles & cones, pitch & airborn particulants at odds with the surface treatments I'd made early on in our relationship, but it appears rather disdainful of such small matters.

*new wiper blades* though!!

Naturally I'd pictured a better wipe.
The blades were, after all, half-hangin' off the arms and what the cracked & hardened remainders thereof offered was a consistant layer of fine powder, black and presenting a new angle in the micro-technology of squeegee-meets-wet glass. The wet part being a blend of rainwater and the above mentioned particulants. I did have the washer bottle hooked up and full of 20/10.

But they smeared my vision ...

I stopped at the closest auto parts store. (yeah, that one)
An amazing display of possibilities, taking up 18 feet of full case display space! My thought "where's the book" immediately found competition with my thought "Oh, a keyboard thing". So, I punched in numbers and scanned for a catalogue usually found dog-earred and hangin' on a thread. My eye darting technique for some kinda security in this endeavor proved to be useful though, as I found the second time through the selection of numbers to press. The weak LCD display, remincient of the available technology in the early eighties, responded well to reflecting the overhead lighting. So well that the option of "dazzling white bar across the screen" was the runaway favorite choice until I realized I need to **** my head a bit .... That was the ticket, I proceeded to learn (primarily by repetition) of the fact two company's product's, representing
a high-end model & the standard offering, plus as a real bonus ... just the blade(s) only. Guess it's no secret that I felt blades alone would suffice.
No such luck, Jack. That number ain't available.

Leaving me standing, have'n given up entirely on ever finding a printed document hanging on string, desiring to either come to an understanding of exactly what was available (including any and all claims made of their virtues), or an understanding with the management.


In the end I walked out with Bosch's "what ever they were called" German model and assurance I was doin' the best thing since opening the vent window.
I had a reciept that represented the return of braided fuel line and purchase of these warrented complete assemblies, the net return being one cent since both were priced at about twenty dollars, give or take tax.

I fondly recall the old days when blades meant you were out around $5.00

Armed with arms, rubber & plastic, packaged in a revolutionary new design aimed to please, instructions printed so small it would take magnifying glass or scanning into the computer/blowing the image up to read ... I decided to devote the whole 25 minutes of ferry ride to installation of the new improvement. I did get one on. The passenger side had to wait til I got home.

Precipitation, by the way, has been absent from our skies more this year than ever before since the Dust Bowl days. I was thinkin' about how well they'd do against a bone dry pitch covered windshield. The other option being clean glass and a ragged outline of semi-clean hood, cowl and leading edge doors. I do have a garden hose, though. It's a shame about all the miracle chemicals that a guy should be buying to optimize performance at maintaining a 35 year old vehicle. Tip-top shape being the goal of course, I began to see the shape of a lumber rack in my mind's eye.