Thursday, June 21, 2012

As It Should Be....

Green Plates. As it should be....

One more step towards legality. Fifty-three percent of the way to passing inspection.

(Side Note: Death Wobble resolved with the balancing of the front tires. It appears that one of the previous owners - most likely the most recent - removed the wheel weights from the wheels when he painted the wheels. The balanced front wheels prevent the front end from wobbling all the way up to 55mph. They might be steady at higher speeds, but I can't get the thing any faster.  Not sure if the axle gearing is limiting top speed or if the engine is just tapped out at 3,000 RPM,  but when you say, "Warp Speed, Mr. Sulu", this old freighter hits the wall at 55. Takes it sweet-ass time to get there, too. I did a unofficial acceleration test the other day: I revved it up and dumped the clutch, short-shifted first gear and wound second all the way out, and when the engine was screaming at redline, I held the gas down and pitched it into third. Right about then, I heard an older gentleman's voice over my left shoulder say, "Good Morning" as he pedaled past me on his bicycle. This thing ain't the Thrust SSC - no land speed records are going to broken here...)


4 comments:

  1. Easy on the Previous Owner comments, Seabiscuit! I merely painted the wheels. The condition of the weights was up to the PO of the CJ they came off. Hmmmm, who might THAT have been?!
    The axle gearing and the transmission gearing are the combo that limits things. You ain't gonna get any faster!
    What is that green thing on the front?

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  2. And secondly, the PO told you the wobble was the wheel balance! of course, you did need to get into the front end and inspect everything, but that PO was right!

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  3. The green thing on the front is the ticket to avoiding troopers. They really slow down and look hard when there are out-of-state plates on a scrummy old truck. Green plates = old VT farm truck (these are not the droids you are looking for...)

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  4. Maybe you said something about the balance, but I couldn't hear you over the roar of the holey exhaust!

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