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.

8. More Putzin' Around

February 3^rd 2010  Took BillyBob to the sunday nite cruise-in. We got our issues with the City of Coral Springs settled and were back in bidness again. It was threatening rain and it was Pro Bowl nite so there weren't many rides in attendance. The Classic Diamonds tuesday nite cruise-in was back at its old location in Delray Beach but, once again, rain limited attendance. We haven't had a nice tuesday nite since the new year started.

February 8^th 2010  'Nother weekend gone by without any wrenchin' on the rides. There was no crusin' on friday nite but Anthony, Lou and I convoyed up to the ABACOA Town Center show in Jupiter on saturday. We like this show but the venue has changed and we weren't sure of the effects. ABACOA no longer sponsors it due to belt-tightening. The car club running the thing has to charge the entrants now. It's a nominal five bucks but you get drink tickets that are more than enuf to cover the entry fee. Turned out to be a good show. I cruised on down to the Monterey Club afterwards for the first set of the band playing there. There weren't many car guys there as some of the Saints n Sinners were up at the Groundhog Gala traditional rod and custom show in Orlando. I was home just after midnite.

Sunday was cold and I got a late start so nothing got done. Anthony and Lou and I met up at a different sunday nite cruise-in that is closer to the Krash Pad than the one we usually attend. Our regular cruise-in was canceled for the Superbowl. This one wasn't much better. There were only seven cars including our three. we had a good time but packed it in early.

February 10^th 2010  The bad weather streak for the tuesday nite cruise-in's continues. Rained pretty hard last nite at show start and only five cars showed. We packed it in after a hour and cruised to a nearby sportsbar to eat.

February 13^th 2010  Last nite's cruise-in wuz canceled due to heavy rain and wind. Cold and windy today but it's not as bad as the blizzard of 2010 that the folks in the northeast are suffering. I predict that I won't get much done but I'll muddle along, starting with monthly maintenance.

February 15^th 2010  Great weather today. The sun is shinning, the birds are singing, moderate temp with no wind. Yup, it's monday and the weekend is over. Didn't get much done yesterday or saturday. The Boss and I went to a Brit car show a couple of blocks from the Krash Lab in the afternoon. Before he got here, I pulled the valve cover off and messed around with the valve lash for a bit. I found out that my two sets of feeler gauges don't have one for 0.005" so any adjustments will have to wait 'nother week 'til I get a new feeler gauge.

February 17^th 2010  I had 'bout an hour of daylight left on monday nite after work so I cleaned up Deerslayer a little. Vacuumed the cab, swept the bed and waxed the fenders. Last nite it was cold again and we had a shortened Classic Diamonds cruise-in with about ten cars.

February 19^th 2010  Went up to the warehouse this morning to exercise Renegade and pick up some roadtrip supplies and tools. I hadn't been to the warehouse in weeks and, as a result, Renegade's battery was too low on juice to start. After some cussin' I managed to hook up jumpers to Deerslayer and get the Jeep started. It's difficult to attach jumpers to Deerslayer as the battery access hole is too small. I eventually got the hot cable attached from underneath the truck and the ground cable thru the access hole.

Once the jeep was out of the way, I could get to the Deerslayer roadtrip trunk with the spare parts in it. Damnation! The cursed palmetto bugs have taken a liking to the fabric covering of the trunk and have eaten patches of it off the lid. They were also living inside. After I performed the La Cucaracha dance on every one of them that I could catch, I loaded the trunk and parts up for transport back to the Krash Lab. I'll have to spray the trunk down to keep them from eating any more after I come back from the Billetproof run next week and put it back in storage again.

February 20^th 2010  My friend, Lou, gave me a call yesterday afternoon and I grabbed some beer and headed down to the Tower Shops cruise-in to meet up with him and Anthony. When that was over, I cruised by the Monterey Club and listened to three rockin' bands. I got home to the Krash Pad after three but I only had three beers in the six hours I was at the club so today, I am just tired and not under the weather. It's a good thing too, because we finally have nice Florida weather to work in today.

I have my new feeler gauges so I tackled the valve lash first. I brought the Deerslayer up to operating temp and used Tony's method. Only three valves needed adjustment and I was finished before the engine cooled down.

Followed that up by getting out the grimeblaster and degreasing the engine. After the engine was dried off with compressed air, I went after the carby with spray on carb cleaner and a small paint brush and towel to get off the brown stains that were starting to accumulate in the crannies.

Continued by detailing the firewall and engine with Wash Wax All Degreaser and microfiber towels.

February 21^st 2010  Met Anthony and Lou down in Fort Lauderdale at the Champps Happy Days Reunion cruise last nite. This is a once a month getogether. There were about twenty-five cars at the show. We had burgers, beer and a good time.

Two days in a row we have damn fine working weather. I finished the first long drawn out tuneup by adjusting the Carter AFB carby, I think, using the idle mix procedure in the edelbrock manual that I downloaded from their site. It's darn hard to tell if the rpm is changing 20 or 30 rpm when the tach is marked at 100 rpm points which are less than 1/8" apart. I don't know if I improved things but at least I didn't screw 'em up (I think). That's a victory in my world.

February 24^th 2010  The good weather continued thru last nite. There were 81 rides at the sunday nite cruise-in and we had about twenty last nite in Delray. Today, it's rainin' and will probably get cold again tomorrow. I continue to get ready for the Billetproof run to Gainesville on friday.

March 1^st 2010  Well, it rained on wednesday nite and I didn't get the roadtrip trunk bolted down in Deerslayer's bed until thursday nite. I got lazy and went under the truck in my dress workshirt and managed to get more grease on it than a full day's work in a tee-shirt. Damnation!

Got off to the Billetproof show in good spirits on friday morning and that is covered in a separate Billetproof 2010 roadtrip log entry. Despite cold and wet weather, the group I wuz with had a great time and I am penciling it in again next year. Deerslayer ran like a champ.

Made it back on sunday to tidy up a bit and head for the sunday nite cruise-in where more than 65 cars and trucks showed up.

March 5^th 2010  Tuesday was another questionable weather day and, as a result, attendence was down at the Classic Diamonds cruise-in. On wednesday nite, I went to the Monterey Club for a few hours. It was PBR Kill the Cooler nite. Tomorrow, Lou and Anthony and I are going up to the monthly ABACOA Town Center show. It promises to be another chilly day but, at least no rain is forecast.

March 6^th 2010  Mid-forties when I left the Krash Pad this morning but sunny. Meeting the guys at 11:30 for the ABACOA run but I have to get some maintenance in before then. The six hundred mile Billetproof run put me behind schedule for monthly, quarterly and oil change maintenance. The Billetproof run gas mileage turned out to be 18.42 mpg which isn't as good as the previous year's 19.6 mpg. Either I didn't get the carby dialed in right or the numbnutted govmint mandated corn squezzin's gas or, maybe a little of both is the cause.

Got the oil change and monthly maintenance done and some detailin' for the show. Quarterly maintenance will have to wait until tomorrow. I gotta get gassed up and meet my buddies.

March 7^th 2010  Lou (foreground) and Anthony (background) and I made it up to ABACOA Town Center in good time to get our favorite spots between the two bars. If you can't read it, the sign sez "OPEN CONTAINERS OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES PERMITTED BEYOND THIS POINT 10 AM TO 10 PM ONLY". My kind of town.

Once again, brutal cold set in and we were ready to go by the time the show ended at 8:30. I followed Anthony and Lou home on the turnpike. Bill Carroll, who led the other group on the Billetproof run in his '50 custom chevy, was there and, by chance, he followed me when we left the show. He stayed on I-95 when we left it to get on the turnpike. I continued down to the Monterey Club as I'd promised, earlier in the week, to be there for a photo shoot of the club, performers, and hot rods. Only had one drink when I was there so when I left shortly before two, I wuz in good shape.

Chilly under the shadetree this morning. I didn't get to go up to the warehouse to get the greasegun so quarterly maintenance will have to wait another week. Think I'll putter around and tidy things up until it's time to head out for the sunday nite cruise-in.

March 11^th 2010  The cruise-in sunday nite was a nice one, weather-wise for a change and we had sixty-plus rides show up. Tuesday nite was nice too but I missed the Classic Diamonds cruise-in due to some low-grade bug everyone in my office seems to have picked up. Now, we have a few days of rain to contend with. BillyBob's bed cover is about at the end of its run and I couldn't get all the snaps fastened last weekend when I was rootin' around for oil change tools I keep in the bed. This is something I'm gonna have to address this weekend. Time has run out.

March 13^th 2010  Yesterday was an all day soaker so I didn't get to the Tower Shoppes cruise-in. The rain let up by late afternoon so Deerslayer and I put in an appearance at the Monterey club. The venue was a couple of headbanger bands so I spent my time out front talking with the gearheads gathered around Fernando's hot dog stand. Fernando makes some pretty tasty concoctions and hidden in the middle of each one, somewhere, is a hot dog. The hot dog wagon is owned by a local lady and Fernando only mans it on weekends for the club.

Today is cool and sunny. A good day under the shadetree 'cept it's windy. I started out detailing Deerslayer a bit for a all-day car show tomorrow up in Palm Beach with my buddies, Anthony and Lou.

March 15^th 2010  Yesterday turned out to be a good car show day. Weather conditions were perfect for a change. Lou had phoned me with the route he and Anthony were taking for the show and I tried to time my entry on the turnpike to meet with them. Didn't quite work out as I found out later that they had departed a few minutes earlier than planned. I did catch up with them at the show soon enuf to park with them. The Merc and Chevy that parked behind us were friends of Anthony too.

This show was a Hospice benefit show held at John Staluppi's private Cars of Dreams museum. Registration fees included tickets for the museum and a separate Model A collection in another building on the property. The model A museum had more trucks than cars including a Model A semi but it was too dark to get decent pics in there with my cheap camera.

After the show, Anthony, Lou and I convoyed back to Broward County for the sunday nite cruise-in in Coral Springs. Both events had record turnouts, 410 cars and 90 cars, respectively. I went home to the Krash Lab tired and slightly sunburned.

March 20^th 2010  Tuesday nite's Classic Diamonds cruise-in had good weather for a change but the restaurant isn't open under new management yet and attendence wasn't all that great. Wednesday nite, I headed down to the Monterey Club for "PBR drain the cooler nite" but they were doin' St. Patties Day instead. Had a good time and got home late. Last nite was the Tower Shoppes cruise-in with Anthony and Lou.

The weather is perfect for shadetree work today. First order of business is monthly and quarterly maintenance. I finally got the greasegun from the warehouse on the way in to the Krash Lab this morning and I started in on those two tasks straightaway.

I've been trying to think of a good method to check the tranny fluid level once I remove the fill plug. The battery obstructs the view and there isn't much wiggle room. I can't get my pinky in the hole to check the level. Today, I used a golf tee, inserting the ball end of the tee in the hole and angling it downward. It came out with tranny fluid all over it and I deemed the level high enuf for govmint work. This will continue to be my check method in the future unless I think of something better.

After the Deerslayer maintenance, fiddled around with BillyBob until it was time to head out for the saturday nite Champps Happy Days Reunion cruise in Ft. Lauderdale.

March 22^nd 2010  The saturday nite cruise-in was okay but not many cars showed up. It is not well promoted and it shows sometimes. Fess Parker died this week so I asked the DJ if he had "The Ballad of Davie Crocket". He did and he played it. Lou and I stood and took our hats off. Sunday was a free show at the Seminole Casino in Hollywood, Florida. I met Anthony there. Lou had to work and didn't make this one. It was windy and tried to rain a few times but didn't. Lotta nice rides there. I went to the sunday nite cruise-in in Coral Springs for a couple of hours afterwards.

March 29^th 2010  Not much has happened the last week on the tinkering with the trucks front in the shadetree garage. Weather has been better and Deerslayer and I have been attending events. Tuesday nite was a good nite for the Classic Diamonds. Attendence is not as good as before the new year but, it is gradually gaining again. Wednesday and Friday nites were spent at the Monterey Club. We had three trucks out in front of the place on Friday, including Deerslayer. A '56 Chebby half ton pickup and a '72 Chebby 3/4 ton pickup, both painted white. Sunday, I went to a Cancer charity show in Doral (Miami), Florida with Anthony. Our friend, Lou, is still working overtime and couldn't join us (He's a firearms instructor). Deerslayer got an award plaque. As I walked up to accept, one of the promoter staff whispered to me that it was for best paint. I couldn't help but wonder if the strategically positioned bird poop accents swayed their decision.

March 31^st 2010  Last nite's Classic Diamonds cruise-in was much like the week before with a fair sampling of rides. Both Morgan Brown and John Ray were there so we had three old Chevy trucks parked, side-by-side. I should be able to get some truck work done this weekend as the weather looks sunny for five days straight. The Boss and I may go to the Barrett-Jackson Auction in West Palm Beach on saturday.

I just got a call from the President of the Saints and Sinners Car Club. They voted on me monday nite and accepted me as a probie. In three months, if I pass probation, I might be voted into the club. Their meeting place is the Monterey Club which also houses Kreepy Tiki Tattoo's and Orange County Choppers. All I know for now is that I am not falling asleep in there. I don't want to wake up with "Property of the Saints and Sinners CC" tatooed on my butt. I'll report more on this development in future log entries.

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Issued Thursday April 1, 2010

Updated Tuesday May 8, 2018

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