Lahti35

From what I could find it's an industrial size sewer snake. This one appears to have maybe lost its's flexible snake that would have been spooled around the drum. There looks to be something dark wrapped around near the front of the spool but it's hard to see if it's there or not. Here is a pic from a trailer unit made by the same company that shows the "rooter" spooled on...

I've had this on my watch list for some time just to see what happens... Alas, no one has stepped forward to rehome this little stinker as of yet! Marketplace - 1955 Chevrolet 3800 | Facebook 1955 Chevy 3800 Runs and drives Extremely clean Seweroder on back.

He just "doesn't have the time" or has "too many projects"!

I've been following this car for some time, years in fact. It has been for sale numerous times by the seller and once through a broker. There's even a thread on it over on The HAMB detailing it's resurrection after a storage spell. Supposedly the engine was rebuilt but never sounds like it was dialed in or done right... hard to say. It would be fun to bum around in but space and time have always eluded me when it comes up for sale again...

My stainless hardware kit showed up so I set to work polishing and assembling the mirrors... I also got new rubber gaskets as the old ones were dried out and nasty. Here's an in process shot showing the polished assembles unit vs. the un polished parts pile. I found that scrubbing the stainless bits with steel wool and thinner removed the gunk and rust stains but did not leave scratch marks. Polishing with simichrome brightened them up. Took me a few hours but I got both sides polished and assembled. The lower mounting points on the door were kind of a mess. Some of the rivnuts had pulled out and others were missing or had stuck fasteners in them. Once all the old hardware was removed I made a tool with a ground down carriage bolt, washers and wingnut to flatten the old rivnut holes. I had to remove the inner door panel to get access but it worked well and flattened the holes back down. I used cross nuts for the new lower mirror mounting point as they have a wider footprint, new rivnuts would not have worked well in the messed up holes. They sell a tool to install them but for $3 I made my own and set them with no issues. Got them installed late in the day but it was nice to see them in place. I have some adjusting to do but they're on! Always feels good to get stuff that's been kicking around the workbench for a month off the workspace.

I would not use a cam bearing twice. You have to pull the cam anyway to drill a hole in the bearing so it would seem like a good time to look and see if the holes are lined up. So you're getting no oil out of the rearmost driver's side head hole where the special bolt goes? Do you have a bolt installed there?

I'm just hoping for a dryer year than last... Man it rained and rained and rained last year, the grass grew like it was hopped up on fertilizer. I was mowing every 4-5 days and by the time summer was ending I was sick of it! I moved up to a zero-turn a few years ago and cut the mow time down from 3 hours to 1 but it still eats up garage time at an alarming rate, lol!

Earlier this week I filled the power steering pump with ATF as per the manual. I tried rotating the pump by hand to move the fluid through to the steering box but it didn't really do anything. I was a little concerned that I had rebuilt the pump wrong but I ended up just letting it sit until Saturday due to other obligations. When I checked the level yesterday it had gone down without any help from me so I added more and prepped the engine for the first start in a few months. The carb had gone dry but with some cranking it refilled and two pumps on the gas it started up. I ran it for 20 seconds then shut it down to check on the power steering fluid level, which had dropped so the pump was working. I spent some time bleeding the power steering system... Running the engine, topping of the fluid in the pump, turning the wheels back and forth with the front end off the ground, etc... Other than a small leak at the pressure line on the steering box it's performing as it should, smooth operation and no weird noises. I ordered a crowfoot wrench to tighten the fitting on the pressure line, it's tight in there and a regular wrench doesn't work well. I'd like to go for a real drive but I want to get the side mirrors on first, the rearview is hazed from age and I need to see who's coming up behind me while I make some trial runs. The truck came with large side mirrors that stick out pretty far, too far to get into my garage in fact. Last fall I picked up a set of the smaller folding mirrors that hug the door more. I lucked out and found these locally, while they are complete the hardware is all rusted solid or broken. The brackets are stainless but the hardware is not. There is a guy who makes a stainless hardware kit for these and I've been waiting on delivery but it's taking a long while... I got tired of waiting tonight and decided to pull all the rusted hardware off and get the stainless parts ready for cleaning. This is some ugly stuff... I stuck a wrench in a vise and used it as a third hand to hold one side of the hardware, my hands were busy stabilizing the mirror and operating the other wrench doing the turning. The posts on each end of the mirrors were especially tenacious and had to be drilled out... My 1.5 hours of careful effort with a drill, dremel, and torque yielded a pile of sheared off studs 'n junk. All the stainless mirror bits are ready for cleaning.

Looks sharp!

I had a guy give me a set of straps like that once, 1/2 the width of BlueDevils, while lifting a 1600lb milling machine onto my trailer. Told me to keep them for unloading. I've since used them with my hoist to life engines, transmissions, etc, more often than I can remember. Handy they are!

Make sure you tow it out of there faster than the mice can follow... Judging by the cab floor it's a critter condo! Cool truck, be fun to put back to work around a hobby farm.

There may be a clogged drain on the rear main bearing or bearing clearances could be worn to excess resulting in oil flow overwhelming the oil return... That's if there is only an oil slinger and no seal. Have you had the oil pan off?

It it makes you feel any better my '68 F250 transmission pan i put on last fall is leaking... I did my due diligence and cleaned the mating surfaces, used the right gasket and didn't overtorque. Sometimes they just give you the one finger salute!

They bug me too, I'd wear them out though before I switched to authentic donuts with the price of rubber these days.

I got the Bendix box installed this afternoon after I took the wife out for a steak dinner and got fat. I think I burned off 1/20 of the meal working on the truck but it's the thought that counts. The install went pretty smooth although my idea to install on bolt at the bottom and pivot the box splined shaft into the column coupling was a flop. Not enough clearance so I had to pull the steering column backwards, install the Bendix, and then push the column back down into the splines while keeping the steering wheel level. It's worse than it sounds, i'm getting pretty good at it after doing it a few times now. I was real careful not to disturb the splined input shaft and knock it off center. The marks still lined up and the wheel is centered in the cab so hopefully it stays that way driving straight. The pitman arm can only go on one way so no worries there. I'm waiting on a new pitman arm nut and washer, took me a bit to find the right one but I found the Bendix box and Ford unit use the same fasteners (but different pitman arms). I can tell the difference already turning the wheel in the cab, it's smoooooooth... Before it was rebuilt it was kinda jerky. I picked up some gen-U-ine Motorcraft Type F fluid to fill it with as directed in the manual. I'll wait for a nice day to jack up the front and bleed the system, it's been cold here and will be for a few days yet.

Anything new on the Pontiac? I really enjoy this project and have read through it a few times now...

Looks pretty nice... They even put a new tire on the spare! Marketplace - 1948 Desoto Custom Sedan | Facebook 1948 Desoto Custom 4 Door Sedan. 56,754 miles. Rebuilt original 236ci flathead 6 engine. At-home restoration was completed in 2018. Everything listed is a general summary of what was done. Body work and paint. New wiring harness dash-forward. New exhaust system. New radial tires including spare. All of the stainless was polished when removed for paint, and some of the chrome was re-plated. Mechanically, the car was completely gone through - brakes, suspension, steering, electrical, and fuel system (including a new fuel tank). Everything was rebuilt/replaced as needed (starter, generator, distributor, etc.). The radio was mechanically restored and a 3.5mm aux jack was added so you can play music though any device. Nice original interior for its age with new carpet. The car runs and drives great. The car is a very nice driver. Please feel free to ask any questions. Asking $13,500 OBO.

Looks like a good one to get going and back on the road!

Ain't that the truth... like one of those movies where the hallway keep getting longer! He'll get her in the end!

But it's got that quaint "lived in" look!

It's back... cleaner than ever. They even centered the unit and didn't paint the top as I requested, good deal!

Agreed! So nice to NOT see a red interior or vinyl tuck and roll.

A change of plan! I ended up sending the steering box off to a rebuilder after talking with them some. They'll replace both bushings and bore the bottom of the housing out for a roller bearing as well as install all new seals and gaskets. The price would have come out similar to the machine shop with the added benefit that it will be ready to install and comes with a 12 month warranty. Turn around should be fairly quick, it was in the 50's here today so I decided to spruce up it's home. Grime and gunk... Degreased with all manner of scrapers, pointy tools, and thinner. I'm always amazed at how much junk accumulates on even a small chassis area over a period of decades...

These big, slow, mostly impractical trucks on any of today's main roads all seem to be wanting big paydays in the last few years... I've noticed asking prices seem to have taken a sharp jump in my neck of the woods, even for Ford AA's. Are we at the era when these vehicles are passing to new owners who are high on glue?

True dat! These auto's just scream out for a more flattering color combo.