[Vwdiesel] What a day!

[LBaird119 at aol.com]

Big changes for me lately.  We dropped my license as a carpet  installer 
recently.  
Things have gotten so slow and other installers  have assisted in rolling 
the rates 
back about 20 to 25 years!  My uncle died this Summer (Dad owns/runs  about 
50 acres of apples and pears with formerly he, and a remaining  uncle.)  
The 
other uncle's memory is getting really bad, other issues, so now I'm  
working 
into farming.
 
  Today:  I finally got a chance to work on an '81 diesel pickup  that's 
had a TD 
put in it.  Same as the one I drive.  :-)  He has a list,  stuff like oil 
filter to horn 
bracket interference, hood release cable, clutch cable, leaking oil sender, 
 etc.

I pulled the grille.  It's broken, one park/turn light -  the mounting stud 
pulled out.  
The other had loose studs.  All 3 will probably get replaced.   Put in the 
cable.  
Next, the clutch cable.  The old cable was fine  (well, really stiff but 
not broken) 
but the holder, on the pedal bracket was broken off.  Lower steering  
column 
bearing was slid out of the tube too, so off came the steering column, out  
came 
the pedals and bracket and the brake booster and m/c.  In two hours  all 
that was 
out and the bracket welded and sprayed over the bare metal.
  Couldn't put the booster back in since the steering "floppy" shaft  has 
slop between 
one of the U-joint yokes and crosses.  Easier to replace while the  booster 
is out.  So, 
I checked motor mounts due to the vibration inside.  Looks like  engine, 
tranny and bump 
stop mounts are all bad ('splains the oil filter problem!)  So off  comes 
the IP so I can 
pull the mount bracket.  I just kept calling the parts guys and adding  to 
a list so I didn't 
have to remember it all!
  Oh yeah, the alt's through-hole was wobbled out and the pulley  offset is 
about an inch 
too much.  Half of this done while explaining to my daughter how to  
diagnose a mis-wired 
electrical circuit in the shack at the beach.
 
  I felt I did pretty good on time, maybe 3 hours so far.  There  are just 
so many bad 
parts to be found though!
    Loren