Tinkering with Deerslayer

DEERSLAYER LINKS including vendor sites for parts and tools as well as sites for old truck and hot rod organizations

TINKERING WITH DEERSLAYER chronicles the day-by-day maintenance and improvements episodes for Deerslayer, a '37 Chevy farm truck hot rod.

CRUISIN' WITH DEERSLAYER Roadtrips, cruise-in's and truck show stories and tall tales.

TONY'S DUNGEON Tony Pascarella's forum entries at OldGMCtrucks.com and H.A.M.B. regarding Deerslayer, particularly the 302 GMC engine build in his farmhouse basement.

DEERSLAYER MAINTENANCE Ever changing detailing, oil change, lube, etc. maintenance routines specifically developed for Deerslayer, including required tools, materials and procedures.

PROJECT NAILHEAD Chronicles the rebuild of a 1954 Buick Roadmaster 322 nailhead engine as a future replacement for Deerslayer's Jimmy 302.

3. Let there be spark to light the rainy night

April 22^nd 2009  It's earth day. Water an environut. Went to a FLAPS at lunchtime in BillyBob to get vacuum hose and bullet crimp connectors. Came back with the hose only. McMaster-Carr has the bullet connectors and a piggyback connector that will work but I'm gonna hold up on the order until after tonite's tinkering.

After posting the last log entry, Tony Pascarella gave me some troubleshooting leads to try to get the HEI working. When five PM rolled around, I headed out to the shadetree to try them. I tried the easiest one first which was switching the positive and negative wires between the dizzy and the coil. This was easy because Tony already had bullet connectors on these wires and it was a ten second job . . . Deerslayer started right up and I had oil pressure too. Let the truck warm up while I got out the timing light and dwell tach.

Got the timing where I thought it should be and tightened down the dizzy and installed the vacuum advance hose. The dwell tach topped out at 2500 rpm and since the Boss was out back smokin' a cig so he wouldn't disturb the earth boys inside, he offered to get behind the wheel and bring the engine up to 3,000 rpm so I could watch the timing marks on the damper with the light. 3k put the pointer on the full advance mark Tony had put on the damper. I'm outa ceegars but beer of the day is Grand Teton Brewing Co.'s Pale Golden Old Faithful Ale.

April 23^rd 2009  I didn't expect any tangible performance differences but I got 'em. Runnin' thru the gears with the points dizzy was a little rough like the engine couldn't quite handle all the gas it wuz gettin'. Now, the engine feels even stronger than before and it seems to be burnin' all the fuel it's getting. Of course, I've put over seven thou miles on the Deerslayer and haven't done a tuneup yet so some of the roughness is probably due to that neglect. The downside of the HEI is the perception that it isn't as manly as before. I don't want to balance a nickle on the valve cover of this beast.

I emailed Tony to find out the dizzy heredity so I could get parts for it. He responded that it is a 2.8 S-10 v6 distributor, early 80's with vacuum advance can. From the postings on OldGMCtrucks.com, I know he had to have it machined to fit and he had to add an O-ring to keep the oil in the crankcase where it belongs but the other parts are off the shelf.

When five PM rolled around, I got back to the bed refinishing job. Took out the spare tire, hand swept and vacuumed the bed. Then masked off the bed strips and perimeter. Gave it its first wipedown with the mineral spirits. Next step is sanding but that's too big a job to start tonite. Put the spare back in. Tomorrow is cruise-in nite at the Tower Shoppes in Davie, Florida so I won't get back to this until saturday morning.

April 25^th 2009  No rain forecast today but there are some clouds and it's a little bit windy. Last nite at the cruise-in was a good one. Deerslayer anchored one end of our little group and was parked next to a nice forty Ferd with a blown flathead that I hadn't seen before.

Got out the air compressor and blew the debris out of the bed after removing the spare tire again. Lightly sanded the bed boards and blew it clean again. While I was in the Krash Lab reading the instructions on the Old Masters Spar Varnish can, Donny, the lawn maintenance guy showed up. Damnation! Now I have to wait a couple of more hours. The only good thing is that my tendency to be as slow as Bill, the Comcast turtle, has saved me this time. Being a little faster would have me sitting here with a wet coat of varnish when Donny began to throw dust and clippings into the air. Started in on the beer of the day, Cape Ann Brewing Company's Fisherman's Kolsch-style Ale and waited for Donny to finish. After Donny left, the bed was cleaned and the first coat of varnish was applied.

April 27^th 2009  On sunday, the first coat of varnish was lightly sanded and the dust blown away with the compressor. A second coat was brushed on with a 1" throw away brush. At three-thirty, I headed out to the sunday nite cruise-in. Being early wasn't early enuf this time and it was already packed when I got there. The organizers placed me at the end of Mopar row. Not bad company. Beer of the day was Grand Teton Brewing Company's Amber Teton Ale.

Tonite, I sanded down the second coat and applied the third coat. I want to use all this stuff up so it looks like I have another five or six coats to go.

April 29^th 2009  Last nite was a good cruise-in in Delray at Lucille's Bad to the Bone Ribs and I had such a good time I forgot to take any pics. Tonite, the fourth coat of varnish went on after 'nother lite sanding. As the sun set on the drying varnish and I enjoyed the beer of the day, Cape Ann Brewing Company's Fisherman's India Pale Ale, I veered off course. The masking tape has been on for six days and the daily sun is baking the heck out of it. Anybody who lives in hurricane country and has left tape on their windows too long knows what I mean. Pretty soon, I won't be able to get it off at all. I started to take the masking tape off in the twilight. I'll get the rest manana.

May 1^st 2009  Last nite, I removed the rest of the masking tape and that's all I accomplished. I had left it on about two days too long. As they say on "The Unit" TV show, "Change of plans". I'm gonna put the remaining Old Masters varnish on the shelf for about six months and see how the four coats I've already got on weathers.

May 4^th 2009  This was a show weekend and by the time it wrapped up last nite, I wuz all outta steam. Started out on friday nite. I puttered around under the shadetree until seven. Then, headed down the road to the Orange County Choppers francise in Fort Lauderdale. I had been invited by one of the "Saints and Sinners Car Club" members to stop by for a cruise-in. They had about twenty traditional rods and customs and two bands playin' in the bar. Several gals were dressed to the nines in trad garb too. I hated it so much, I didn't get home to the Krash Pad until after three.

On saturday, I got up behind the eight-ball and headed to the Krash Lab about eight. First, came monthly maintenance, then I detailed Deerslayer lightly with a Wash Wax All session in prep for the day's car show in ABACOA, Jupiter, Florida. Met my friends, Anthony and Lou, at the Turnpike entrance just a few minutes before noon and we had an uneventful run up the road. We were early enough to get our favored spots on the side street between two bars. It was another good day and I dragged myself into the Krash Pad after dark again.

Got up to the Krash Lab shortly after dawn on sunday morning and puttered around until it was time to meet Anthony and Lou again at the Seminoles' Casino in Coconut Creek for another show. There was no shade and we took refuge in the Casino several times throughout the day to escape the sun. Gambling is one vice that doesn't appeal to me so I was safe. When the show broke up at four, I finished off the weekend at the sunday nite cruise. I think I'm more tired than if I'd worked on the trucks all weekend.

May 6^th 2009  Last nite was the Classic Diamonds cruise-in in Delray. We had a pretty good truck showing. Morgan Brown was there with his Forrester Green '51 Chevy 3100 and John Ray was back on the road with "Sherwood", his '54 Chevy 3100. The truck has been down with a starter solenoid replacement for three weeks and three solenoids before John got the correct one shipped to him. John brought two of his daughters with him as well as his neighbor, Joe, and his daughter. Joe was driving a nice '65 El Camino with a 283. Another regular, Chuck, was also there with his orange El Camino. Beer of the day was Kona Brewing Company's Fire Rock Pale Ale.

Tonite, all I did on Deerslayer before heading home to the Krash Pad was monthly maintenance and re-gap the spark plugs to 0.040". I also recorded the plug model number for later reference. When Tony installed the HEI dizzy, he installed NGK R5670-7 Racing Non-Resistor Spark Plugs, 14mm x 3/8" Reach, 13/16" Hex Gasket seat V-groove center electrode. They work well and I'm sticking with them.

May 13^th 2009  I found a local supplier of the "One Shot" sign paints in Fort Lauderdale and on tuesday I made the trek down there at lunch time to pick up a 1/4 pint of "193-L Metallic Silver" and some brushes. The silver That Tony accented the leading edges of the grille bars is degrading and I want to spruce that up. After the five o'clock whistle blew, I went over the grille bars with a 3M scuff pad, followed by Eastwood's PRE Paint Prep.

My hand wasn't steady enuf and I was doin' a barely passable job on the passenger side. I broke out the beer of the day in frustration. In my pub crawling days, I could steady a shaking hand with a few brews. The driver side was even worse due more from an awkward hand position than the beer. Afterwards, I tried to clean it up with lacquer thinner and Q-tips . . . then, I knocked over the beer. Damnation! We are going to be doing this over! Spilled beer of the day is Anderson Valley Brewing Company's Poleeko Gold Pale Ale.

May 20^th 2009  The monsoon rains have let up enuf to work under the shadetree for a few hours. Grabbed a chair, a brew, some lacquer thinner, paper towels and a toothbrush and proceeded to remove the silver sign paint I applied last week to the grille bars. Got about twenty percent of the job completed by the time darkness fell. Beer of the day is Shipyard Brewing Company's Fuggles India Pale Ale.

May 23^rd 2009  Wet under the BillyBob shadetree this morning. Smoked a ceegar and had my cuppa joe on the stoop while I waited for the rain to stop. When it did, I performed Monthly Maintainance chores. With thunder still rumblin' in the background, I continued cleaning the grille bars with lacquer thinner, toothbrush and shop towels. We're just a week away from hurricane season.

Only got three bars done when the rain started again. Cracked open the beer of the day, Smuttynose Brewing Company's Smuttynose India Pale Ale. Started watching Powerblock TV but the storm kept disrupting the satelite signal. Damnation!

May 24^th 2009  Miserable damn rain day in the shadetree garage. Good thing I had beer (Santa Fe Brewing Company's State Pen Porter Ale).

May 25^th 2009 Decoration Day  Only got to one cruise-in this weekend and, you guessed it, it rained. So here I am again, on the rear stoop at the Krash Lab, with coffee and cigar, waiting for the rain to go away. I'm also remembering my uncle "Dutch" and the other Americans who have paid the "last full measure" for our country. It's a happy/sad day.

May 27^th 2009  Last nite was the last cruise-in of the season for the Diamond Classics group up in Delray. About half the membership are snowbirds and they close down for the summer. It's still raining here like the proverbial Texas steer pissin' on a flat rock so, the event was held in a tented courtyard at Lucille's Bad to the Bone Ribs. We had a token group of five cars, including Deerslayer, parked out front. It was food & drink, a doo-wop disc jockey and two sets by a very good Elvis impersonator who is a regular draw at one of the fancy joints in downtown Delray Beach. Good times, indeed.

May 30^th 2009  The rains continue. Today was okay tho' and I got some tuneup work done on BillyBob. I also got some more of the grille bars cleaned up on Deerslayer. On the way home to the Krash Pad, I stopped at the Case & Keg store to replenish my beer supply and some guy followed me into the parking lot. His name was Gary Crawford and he is rebuilding a '37 Chevy (that has already been abused bigtime). He needs the side panels for the hood. I followed him over to his shop (Shawn's Body Shop) to take a look at it. He has his work cut out for him but the body is solid and has no dents.

June 10^th 2009  Ten days into june and I haven't been makin' any progress . . . it's still raining every day . . . a lot. Haven't been attending many of the shows and cruise-ins either. The Boss and I went to a show a week ago but we didn't enter our vehicles. By last weekend, I had enuf of the cabin fever bit and decided to go to some events, come hell or high water, most likely the latter. On saturday, Morgan Brown, a fellow Classic Diamonds Car Club member and I tag teamed for a run to the ABACOA cruise-in in Jupiter. We went up Military Trail, which is probably one of the best non-Interstate routes. Morgan was driving his '51 Chevy pickup truck which is stock and likes speeds above fifty not a bit.

We got there early to snag favored parking spaces on the side street between two bars. A half hour after our arrival the deluge started and we retreated under the covered patio of Rooneys, the one with the most cover. Soon, we were the only ones sitting out there 'cause the rain was coming in sideways at times. We didn't care much tho'. Morgan introduced me to Smithwicks (pronounced "smitics"), a truely fine brew that Rooneys had on tap and that the bar wench kept coming despite getting wet everytime she served us. We were on the verge of having too much fun by the time the storm let up. Damn few cars were there and they called off the show in mid-afternoon. The sign above Morgan's truck sez "No open alcoholic beverages beyond this point" or something to that effect. The sign on the other side sez "Alcoholic beverages allowed beyond this point between the hours of ten am and ten pm". Gotta luv it.

On sunday, I got up and headed down to Hollywood, Florida for their monthly downtown classic car show. They had a smaller showing than usual but at least it didn't rain during the day. When the show was over, Deerslayer and I headed for Coral Springs and the sunday nite cruise-in. There was small showing of cars and it drizzled most of the evening. A few of us stuck it out to the end and I finished up my beer of the day which turned out to be The Stone Brewing Company's Ruination IPA.

June 16^th 2009  I'm in a mood most foul. Walked out under the shadetree at the Krash Lab during a break this afternoon to find my Dad's CBI Veteran plate mangled by some bottomfeeder. I'm not sure I want to catch this lowlife in the act. I'm strongly tempted to visit violence on his worthless ass. Oddly enough, it pisses me off more than the unknown scum who walked on BettyLou's roof and left dents. I'll take the plate off for now to repair it.

June 22^nd 2009  The monsoon rains have let up a bit and now we are drenched in oppressive summer heat and high humidity. Yesterday, the heat index was 105. I sat in the shade at the Father's day car show with a beer in one hand and a water bottle in the other. It was the same at the saturday event Deerslayer and I attended.

June 27^th 2009  It's been a long week of rain or insufferably hot conditions at five PM and I haven't got anything done. Today, however, was workable and I got monthly and quarterly maintenance done on Deerslayer. Next week, Deerslayer and I head for a family reunion in Penfield, Pennslyvania and I'm getting the truck ready for the trek. Tomorrow, we'll finish up with an oil change. I was going to do a tune-up but the truck is running so good, I'm not gonna mess with it any more. You all will just have to wait to see if that was a good decision or not. Beer of the day is Penn Brewery's Penn Pilsner. Put a candle in the window fer me, JR, I'm coming home.

Dedication

This log entry is dedicated to my friend, Al Gleichmann, who made the sketch of me above on a bar napkin in the early eighties. We were at each others throats over politics the last few years but, that aside, he was a good friend that I will miss greatly. His partial Obit follows.

Gleichmann, Alan Guy, born April 28, 1934 died at age 75 on May 3, 2009. Parents Edward and Florence Ralston Hartmann raised their family in Sea Cliff, Long Island, New York. Alan attended Sea Cliff School, served in the Navy aboard the USS Intrepid and USS Vulcan. He attended Cooper Union Art School in Manhatan and worked for various Ad agencies. Alan married Emma Chin Shong, an artist, who pre-deceased him after fifty years of marriage and a lengthly battle with arthritis, December 2008. Alan was a Commercial artist, a genius in his own right, conceptualizing and rendering commercial designs for leading developers, his work often inspiring architects in performing the finished product. An avid sailor on the waters of Hempstead Harbor off the North Shore of Long Island and also off the coast of Fort Lauderdale, he could be a Captain Bligh but knew all there was to know about sailing.

There are a lot of stories I could tell about Al. A co-worker once called him the rebel with too many causes. He went to a bar once in a dingy. On the way home, the boat police stopped him and inquired about his erratic movements. Al replied that he was tacking. The police said "You got no sail, you're going to jail".

May the wind be at your back, Al. Godspeed.

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Issued Saturday June 27, 2009

Updated Thursday May 3, 2018

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