BillyBob Work-in-Progress Log

WHAT'S NEW is a chronological listing of updates to the BillyBob site.

TRUCK LINKS including vendor sites for old parts, custom parts, and tools as well as sites for classic car and truck organizations

STORE Operating in association with Amazon.com, books, recordings and tools can be purchased.

PLANNING for the restoration including project schedule and cost estimates.

TRAVELS WITH BILLYBOB With apologies to Steinbeck, this area of BillyBob's Garage will be used to log the trips BillyBob and I make together.

WORK-IN-PROGRESS was the restoration of parts of BillyBob that I could accomplish without a garage up until the summer of 2010 when I finally got enough warehouse space to work in. Now, it also includes the continuing work on BillyBob in the shop.

PRE-RESTORATION includes log entries of minor repairs and adventures between time of purchase and the time when I started restoration, a piece at a time.

JR'S KORNER JR's Korner is the history of BillyBob before I got him authored by my brother, Wm. C. Kephart.

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

PARTS SHOP The Parts Shop is a repository of How-To articles. Things that I have done over and over enough times to have developed a procedure. This gives me a checklist and saves brain cells.

STEALTH SHOP Urban residence design with large integrated shop and separate living quarters for a relative or renter.

You will need the Adobe Acrobat browser plugin to view these wiring diagrams which are in the PDF file format. This format allows zooming and panning. If you don't have this plugin, it can be downloaded and installed (free) from the Adobe site. The button below will take you there.

BILLYBOB WIRING DIAGRAM Here's the wiring diagram updated with BillyBob's current state 'cepting the third-party strap-on turn-signal director.

STRAP-ON TURN-SIGNAL DIRECTOR/BRAKE LIGHT CIRCUIT This turn signal and brake light circuit diagram shows the current state of the third-party turn-signal director wiring, which will remain in place until I figure out the problems with the OEM turn-signal director. It also shows the OEM headlight switch.

62. Leadsled teardown

July 21^st 2010 I am bone-tired. I've been on the road for 2-1/2 days. Saints n Sinners Car Club members "Boneyard" and "Rob" were going north to Lodi, New Jersey (Near Staten Island) along with friend of the car club, Joel, to pick up Rob's "new" merc lead sled. This is Boneyard (Kevin), Joel and Rob at the end of the trip, leaving the BillyBob Shop.

We left sunday nite at midnite and arrived up there on monday nite. We were to pick up a car trailer for club member Craig "Krash" (not to be confused with my brother Craig or my nickname of Krash from another lifetime). First snag was that the seemingly shady character we were supposed to pick up the trailer from was nowhere to be found. He was not answering his phone or coming to his front door when we pounded on it. We ended up having to get a U-Haul trailer.

We picked up Rob's Chopped '49 Merc coupe in Lodi, New Jersey at the owner's house. The owner, Fred, had a virtual Merc lead sled museum here. Five Mercs and an uncounted number of parts were here. There was a '49 and a '50 ragtop under construction. Two more were running customs, both '51 four-door sedans. Rob's coupe was number five. We were in Merc heaven and this one was a rare find. It was radically chopped back in the sixties and has been in storage for over thirty years. The metal is in remarkable shape and we don't expect to find any surprises with the body when stripped.

The trip back started tuesday morning about eleven and ended up outside the BillyBob Shop twenty-four hours later. Rob, Kevin and Joel took turns driving Rob's "surburban" (I think it's a Tahoe) and I spent my time keeping the drivers awake. Rob's new Merc is now in the BillyBob shop where, at least, some of the work will be done by clubmembers and reported on here in the BillyBob logs.

I cleaned up and, after a couple of hours sleep, Went to the Krash Lab for my punishment. I had called the office from the road monday morning to let them know I wouldn't be back in until wednesday. When I got there, I found out the punishment will have to wait. Another one of our clients died yesterday. This time, it appears that it might be suicide by cop. A swat team took him down. This man used to be a client of my LAROKE Computer consultant side business too and his youngest son was a co-worker for many years and is still a friend.

July 27^th 2010 Last nite was the first tear-down session for Rob's Merc. Rob showed up with Boneyard, Jarle, Johan and Joel. Later on, Rod and Matt arrived. Rob, Joel and Jarle started off with the hood first. Then they stripped the engine compartment. Boneyard started working on getting the gas tank out.

The bumper bolts were the most stubborn. Most were broken off in the removal process. Everybody 'cept me had a go at it. Johan had worked at one bolt with wrench and hammer for a long time. When he turned the tools over to Rod, it easily came out the rest of the way. It was like walking away from a slot machine only to hear the next guy at the machine strike a jackpot on the first pull. Boneyard and Matt finally finished it.

Rob and Matt worked at the windshield until they got the two pieces out. Rob also started poking around to find the extent of any rust thru damage. There is some. By nine-thirty or so, the front clip was ready to come off. We cleaned up and called it a nite. Joel took the headlight buckets, bumper brackets and other items with him to media blast. I had most of the tools the guys needed 'cept for torch and grinder. They made do.

August 10^th 2010 Starting to get squared away and into a routine modus operandi at the BillyBob Shop. The SnS boys haven't been back to work on the Merc again yet. Everybody has job and family obligations to take care of first. I've started alternating between "work on the rides" days and "clean up the shop days". It's still very hot and I move slow. The BillyBob shop has a lot more noise than the old "Krash Pad". Scitterings and creakings and bumps in the night that I can't explain . . . I write them off to temperature differentials and small critters and then I turn up the CD player.

August 31^st 2010 When the boys last worked on the Merc, they got the doghouse bodywork off the frame before they quit for the nite. I've been watchin' the car the past month but haven't put any time in on it. Last nite the gang showed up for 'nother teardown session. With Rob this time were Big Brian (I call him Capt'n Ron) and Joel and friend of the club Yaril Quintana of Yaril's Customs in Miami.

Rob asked Yaril to take a look at the Merc so Rob could get a handle on some of the things he needed to do from a professional viewpoint. We unloaded Joel's big welder from Rob's Tahoe along with some parts Rob had acquired, including Buick stainless side trim and some wing vents for the Merc's doors. We unloaded parts that Joel had media blasted and more tools of Rob's. Joel started taking the wheels off and we got the leadsled up on jackstands.

Brian started pulling some stuff off the car while Joel went after the gas tank. Rob pulled one of the front drums and Brian got the other. I tried to get one of the back drums off but it was frozen. We ended up breaking my drum puller. After a bit Yaril grabbed some wrenches and went after the front end suspension components and kept at it until it was all dissembled. I got in a cycle of fetchin' tools then forgettin' where I had set down my beer. This happened repeatedly.

The stuff in the gas tank was nasty. We filled up a couple of buckets and set them outside. Brian went outside and lit a rag dipped in the stuff. It was still flamable. Cleaned up and called it quits around ten-thirty. This morning, I got a five gallon can at the Krash Lab and went back to the BillyBob shop to transfer the old gas into it for disposal.

September 7^th 2010 Didn't get much done over the Labor Day weekend due to sheer laziness. I did manage to drop off the bad gas at the Broward County Household Hazardous Waste Dump which is conveniently less than a half mile from the BillyBob Shop. I also noticed two salvage yards even closer that I will have to investigate. I'm in a good spot here. There is a NAPA and a Pep Boys within a half mile and an Advance Auto Parts about a mile away. There is a good greasy spoon restaurant within walking distance.

September 13^th 2010 On sunday, I revisited the Merc's rear drums that had defeated me the last time the fellas were here to work on the leadsled. I brushed the cobwebs away and discovered three bolt heads that had escaped my attention the nite we broke my drum puller. I checked my '59 Chiltons manual (covers the years 1950 to 1959) but there was no mention of these bolts so they must be so fundamental to the mechanics of the time to be not worth writing about. Studied them a little and found them to be in line with the lug bolt circle. After I convinced myself that they probably tapped into the axle flange, I hit them with the Kroil penetrating oil and C-clamped the drum to the backing plate to keep it from rotating while I tried to take the capscrews out. They came out pretty easily and I had the rear drums off in a few minutes. I live for little victories like this. This Merc must have had a brake job not long before it went into hibernation. All four drums are smooth and all eight shoes have a lot of meat on them.

On sunday evening Rob showed up with some friends from upstate to show them the car. This is the first time his honey, Jenna Beth, got to see the car. She is smilin' but the battle is not yet won. After pouring the rest of the gas out of the old Merc tank, Rob packed it up, along with the drums, to take with them. Afterwards, I went with them down to Fort Lauderdale Beach for a cookout at the friends' hotel.