- Project Responder Blog
- Trip to visit RKO in Indiana
- New fuel pickup installed
- Getting back up and running
- The engine is finally 100%
- Replacing the valves in the 460
- Engine to be torn down
- Quincy Home Show
- New fan clutch installed
- Keeping it simple
- Trip to Chicago, part 3
Driving back from RKO
posted @ Saturday, September 9, 2006
Keith called several times over the next few days with reports of what was found and asking what I'd like to have done at those junctures. Because I trusted Keith implicitly, I left it up to him to do what he thought was best. The truck did need a new starter and I ended up splurging on a new high torque starter from Mean Green. I had to have it sent overnight so they could get the truck started and moved to the mechanics shop. We spent the next few days trying to figure out if the truck was going to be drivable and finally on that Thursday, I was told that the mechanic had found some issues with the distributor and tried to clean it up as best he could. We got a second opinion from a local racing engine builder as well and the consensus was that the most likely cause of the problems was that the distributor was sloppy, that the Jacobs Ignition coil may be failing and that the timing could not be set accurately because the harmonic balancer had shifted from it's true position.
But the good news was that Bob Carter, the mechanic, was able to get the truck running well, even with the poor condition of these components. The determination was made that I would fly back to Louisville on Friday and swap out the aforementioned components and then drive the truck home. So I packed a bag with a new MSD distributor, plug wires, a timing light and a change of clothes and boarded a plane Friday morning. Believe it or not, I was able to get through security, after a bag search, with those items in my carry on luggage.
Once I got to the shop, I found that Bob had done a bit more work and that the truck was running very well. I took it out for a long test drive up some steep hills and it performed very, very well. After giving it some thought, I decided not to replace anything and just drive it as is. The worse case scenario would be changing the components at a rest stop somewhere. So off I went. I left by 11am.
Link: Driving back from RKO