Other Than Wagons

27!

 

Man, that's a lot. How do you keep a handle on them all?

Even if I were rich and could afford anything I wanted, I can't imagine owning more than say 5 vehicles or so.......

 

I have a hard enough time with just three.

 

Hoarders............ Just a bunch of automotive hoarders!

 

I have two and I can barely keep up with the damned things.

 

Here's my fleet:

2006 FORD Freestyle
(I consider it a wagon, but some folks don't)


1996 FORD F-350 4X4 Powerstroke


1969 FORD F-100

 

Jeremiah - Your '96 F-350 reminds me of my '86 F-350 C/C I owned back in the early 90's. It was the same red, had the same cab (just with the older front end), and I even bought wheels and tires very similar to what you are running. Had the 7.3 diesel and a 5-speed manual - a real bear to drive......only the 'XL' interior trim, too, so no power windows/locks.

How are you liking the Freestyle? Has the CVT been OK? Wouldn't mind at all having one of these or a Taurus X. The 'X' comes with a regular trans instead of the CVT.

 

Have to update, it's now 4, I just bought a 81 Mercedes W126 300SD. What is it about that 5 cylinder diesel that attracts me?
I'll have to get some pics when I bring it home Monday. Once it's appraised I'll start taking it apart so I can redo the whole car.

 

*shakes head mournfully* Power to ya, Brother.

 

Marshall, that 86 you had sounds like a sweet truck. I love that front end and sometimes daydream about finding one like it to add to the fleet. Mine is also a 5 speed. The syncros are worn out in 2nd and 3rd gear so I have to drive like an old timer to avoid grinding, but it keeps me out of trouble. It has 312,000 miles on it and still runs like a champ. I feel the 7.3 Powerstroke diesel is one of the best engines offered in a FORD truck in a long time. It pulls anything I hook onto with ease. When the "new" body style came out in 92 I always wanted a red 4X4 crew cab. It took me years, but I finally got what I always wanted.

The Freestyle is a great car. When we purchased it, the odometer was at 88,000. We are almost to 100,000 now and have had no problems with the CVT. I talked to our local FORD service rep and he said that as long as we maintain it (the CVT) we shouldn't have any issues. We have been very happy with it.

My boys think it's pretty cool that we have an "old" stationwagon and a "new" stationwagon.

 

I drained the gearbox oil and it smelled burn. Which is a clue to burnt clutch plates. They use these massive circlips, to hold the axles into their housing. I could remove the right side clip, using a set of needle-nosed pliers. But, the left side has the bulk of the drivetrain in the way. My circlips pliers remove only exterior clips. But, not internal ones, unless they're small enough as to require little pressure to work the pliers in the opposite direction to what they were made for. I went out and bought an over-priced one that'll open internal clips. But, that's okay. I didn't have to wait and I got the vehicle cheap enough, to write off the expense:

 

I ended up ordering a racing clutch using copper plates and the standard cork linings. It also has strengthened clutch springs. The clutch grip is a little stiffer. But, not to the point to where it's annoying.
Since none of my pullers fit Vespa clutches, I ended up getting a puller which extracts both the clutch cage and the flywheel. Since the reverse gearbox was in the way, I ended up having to shorten the tool, in order to get in between. Because of the image being blurry, it's impossible to see that the end facing back has external threads for the flywheel and the end facing forward has internal ones. This is what I ended up sawing off :



The final product, shown below:



The paper gasket was for an older model, without an oil pump:



I ended up having to modify the gasket accordingly, through first pinning the gasket down in place. I then enlarged the hole to fit the bushing between cover and block, using a ball bearing and ball peen hammer.
The white arrow points to the bushing set-up which was to be duplicated:



I then set the miniature hammer onto the gasket, to give it its final cut and then gave it a hit with a second hammer:



Here is the proper gasket, shown below:



It was too late for this tool which I made for removing the clutch, without having to remove the drivetrain from the vehicle. It consists of a bell-shaped mechanism from an old sewing machine. I tapped the 9 mm hole used for attaching it to a shaft. Then, screwed an appropriate lengthed 10 mm bolt into it which when turned backwards will apply pressure to the reverse box, compressing the clutch plates enough to remove the snap ring holding the entire unit together:





I replaced the original ugly bolts with these Allen types. I ran the cover through the dishwasher, to get that rough effect. If I ever end up taking the rest apart, which I hope I don't have to, the cover next to it will also do a dishwasher tour, to hide those pits :

 

Looks like you got a lot accomplished.