I broke down and called my good friend (actually he has now moved from 'good' to 'excellent' status), Pat Tate. He came over and taught me a few tricks about bleeding hydraulic lines, but alas the clutch would still not disengage the transmission from the engine. Now I am really getting depressed, because let me tell you something, if Pat Tate can't fix it, brother, you are screwed!
So... I let it sit for a few weeks and I schemed.
I eventually got the idea to winch (literally, because it takes a lot of leverage to move it) the clutch fork back to see how far the clutch slave had to throw before it would work. Well, I pulled it farther than it should have gone and still nothing. This indicated that the clutch was stuck to the flywheel which meant that the clutch slave was likely working the entire time and that the solution to my problem was dropping the transmission, replacing the clutch and trying again.
During this time I talked Pat into selling me his 4-speed transmission which was the exact transmission that my engine needed. He even helped me put it in. What a guy. Where do you go once you reach 'excellent' status. Wherever it is, you will find Pat.
So after some nifty fabrication work customizing the gear shifter, trimming the radiator fan for its new attitude and re-working the floor board to accommodate the larger transmission I decided it was time to take her out and run her through her paces; all 4 gears. William and
Marina were as excited as I was. So we piled into the squishy seats, fired her up and eased into the night not knowing what to expect. It was quite a feeling to combine the throaty rumble of the V-8 Falcon Sprint engine with the rush of the wind on an unseasonably warm (perfect really) night. It is hard to describe the feeling of running it down the road after it sat quiet and dormant for 20 years; patiently waiting for a familiar and loving hand to bring it back to life. Harder still to describe is the satisfaction of doing this myself (this was not done without much help and support,mind you. In fact, I will go far as to say that this would have been impossible if I had acted alone). There is a lot of work left to do; wrapping up at least 100 loose ends, body work still looms large, blinkers, new glass, etc. We'll get there.But for tonight, I am happy. I sit here, almost 1 year after bringing the old truck over to our house to start working on it. And, well, she runs. And she runs damn well I might add. So fittingly enough, tonight, December 9, 2009, on what would have been my dearly departed father's 72nd birthday, I say 'Happy Birthday Dad. We're all well, but we miss you. The truck is running good, almost as good as you had it running... I just need to fix a few more things. Some things never change, eh?'
Until the next time,
Bill
