Willys Rescue, Road Trip, Thrash!
This episode of Roadkill powered by Dodge features a special guest cohost
Transcript
00:00 This Jeep has been sitting in my garage for 15 years.
00:04 And on this episode of "Roadkill," we are rescuing it and mud-womping!
00:09 Woo!
00:10 [ENGINE REVVING]
00:12 [TIRES SCREECHING]
00:14 [GLASS SHATTERING]
00:16 [TIRES SCREECHING]
00:18 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:21 [ENGINE REVVING]
00:24 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:27 [ENGINE REVVING]
00:30 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:33 Well, this is going to be kind of a special episode of "Roadkill"
00:36 because I have a different guest host.
00:38 I'm going to do this show with Rick Payway.
00:40 Now, don't worry.
00:41 Finnegan is back for the rest of the season.
00:43 Everything is still normal.
00:44 He's not off the show.
00:45 But this was an opportunity for me to capture on video something
00:49 that Rick and I have done together for so many years
00:52 and never actually gotten to show the story on video.
00:56 And that is ridiculous road trips in Jeeps.
00:59 Going way back to our magazine days,
01:01 we used to go find old flat fenders and crazy stuff
01:04 and make them run and drive and take them on trips to places
01:07 nobody should actually go in their right mind and clapped out old vehicles.
01:10 It was really "Roadkill" before "Roadkill" was "Roadkill."
01:13 And even right before "Roadkill" was "Roadkill,"
01:16 I remember that we did a video for Hot Rod Magazine
01:18 with myself and Finnegan and Payway,
01:21 and we took an old '66 Buick that had been Rick's mom's car
01:24 and it had been abandoned in a backyard in Arizona
01:26 for like 30 or 40 years or something like that.
01:29 And we made it run and drive, and Finnegan and I drove the thing home to L.A.,
01:33 and that right there was really where "Roadkill" all began.
01:37 And Payway was there for it.
01:38 And so we're bringing him back in this episode.
01:40 And that Buick is in that garage right there.
01:43 And Rick has not seen that thing ever since we did that show.
01:46 So we're going to make that car run and drive,
01:48 and then we're going to head out on an epic Jeep adventure.
01:51 [engine starting]
01:53 [engine revving]
01:59 He got that for free. Can you see why?
02:02 Hey.
02:05 That thing is awful.
02:06 Needs different tires and wheels.
02:08 Was that the key?
02:10 Ooh, crop duster. I thought it was the crusher that was in here with this.
02:12 Wow. It looks perfect.
02:13 Yeah.
02:14 Let's just pump up the tires and roll it out and make it run and drive.
02:17 With the cramp on.
02:18 And then we'll just unload this stuff right back into the garage.
02:20 Okay.
02:21 Yeah.
02:22 All right.
02:23 [engine revving]
02:27 Hook up your jumper.
02:28 All right.
02:29 Black to black, red to red?
02:31 Usually.
02:32 Yeah, usually.
02:33 I'm going to crank and backfire while he's still got the big cup of gas right there.
02:37 Yeah, let's try not to.
02:40 Okay. Let's see it explode.
02:42 [engine revving]
02:45 Man, this thing runs good.
02:46 Perfect. Absolutely perfect.
02:48 Wow.
02:49 Whoa, brakes work. Transmission works.
02:53 It's perfect.
02:54 [engine starting]
02:55 [engine revving]
02:56 [music]
02:58 [engine revving]
02:59 [music]
03:05 [engine revving]
03:10 [music]
03:12 [grunt]
03:13 There we go.
03:15 Wow.
03:17 Oh, dude.
03:18 [laughing]
03:19 That's a lot of stuff.
03:21 It's totally buried.
03:23 Yep.
03:24 Oh, look, there's the new crankshaft.
03:25 Cool.
03:26 You gave me that too.
03:27 This is a 1946 Willys CJ2A, a civilian version of the flat fender Jeep.
03:33 Back in 2001, Rick and I were working for 4 Wheel and Off-Road magazine,
03:37 and we bought this thing for 550 bucks,
03:39 and it had not run at that point in 15 years or something like that.
03:44 And it was all in a million pieces.
03:45 So we did a magazine story where we flew into Provo, Utah, where the thing was,
03:50 and put it all back together enough to make it run and drive to get back home to LA.
03:54 Problem is, the engine blew up like three miles out of town.
03:58 It started rod knocking so bad that not even we would drive it.
04:02 We ended up buying a Ford truck for 500 bucks and flat towing the Jeep home.
04:06 Our plan here is to rescue it from another 15 years of neglect, fix the engine,
04:12 flat tow it back to Utah to meet up the guy who we actually bought it from 15 years ago,
04:17 and then road trip it back home to LA in what is apparently going to be an epic winter storm.
04:22 I would say unbury, and then pump up tires and roll it out.
04:26 Okay.
04:27 Where are we going to put the stuff we unbury?
04:29 Hopefully in the trash.
04:31 [Music]
04:55 The engine here is like almost halfway out, radiator, grill, and all that other kind of junk.
04:59 I think we're going to take the fenders off just because it's so easy.
05:03 Then we're going to have to basically just take the bell housing bolts out.
05:07 I think the motor mount bolts are already even free.
05:09 Clip a couple things, disconnect some wires, and yeah.
05:13 Minor stuff.
05:14 [Music]
05:24 Ready?
05:26 Go!
05:27 [Laughter]
05:29 That's the oil filter.
05:30 And that's off the motor mounts.
05:33 Off, yep.
05:34 There we go.
05:35 Ta-da.
05:36 Wow.
05:37 Look at that go-devil.
05:38 There we go.
05:39 [Squeaking]
05:43 And parts falling out.
05:45 Two springs gone.
05:46 Look at that.
05:47 Broken springs, gacked bolts from the springs bouncing around in here,
05:52 and pilot bushing dangling freely in the end of the crankshaft.
05:55 It'll be fine.
05:56 It's fine.
05:57 [Music]
06:04 I would say that today is very successful.
06:07 We actually got the engine out, got it on the stand, found out some problems,
06:11 got some parts coming.
06:13 It was a good day.
06:14 Every Jeep day is a good day.
06:16 Every Jeep day is a good day.
06:18 [Music]
06:34 Well, it's morning and it's raining outside, so we've moved inside
06:37 and cleared out my garage more than it has been in like a decade.
06:40 And our job today is to tear apart the engine and fix it and put it back together.
06:44 What happened is 15 years ago when we were road tripping this thing home from Utah,
06:48 we only made it like three or five miles or something like that.
06:51 That's about right, right outside of town.
06:53 And it started doing that knock-a-knock-a-knock-a-knock-a-knock-a-knock-a-knock,
06:56 like real bad.
06:57 But we did limp it back.
06:58 I really wanted to blow the whole engine apart and fix it,
07:01 but all we're going to do is flip it over and pull the crank out, look at the bearings.
07:04 I have a new crank that maybe we can put in it if we have to
07:06 and slap it back together and road kill it back into the Jeep.
07:09 It'll need the new crank.
07:11 Oh, really?
07:12 Yeah.
07:13 And then I replaced it with a piece of belt leather.
07:15 Right.
07:16 Yeah.
07:17 It's garbage.
07:18 It's garbage, yeah.
07:19 I mean, that made a run.
07:20 That made it get here, but--
07:21 Oil drain pin.
07:22 It's not going anywhere.
07:23 [MUSIC PLAYING]
07:27 Doing good.
07:28 You're good?
07:29 Yep.
07:30 What's falling out?
07:31 Antifreeze!
07:32 Perfect.
07:33 [MUSIC PLAYING]
07:37 Oh!
07:40 That's nasty.
07:41 Yuck!
07:42 Look at all that sconge.
07:44 That's not bad.
07:45 Look.
07:46 It's fresh antifreeze.
07:48 Fresh sconge.
07:49 Oh!
07:51 That's pretty bad.
07:52 This is cool.
07:53 I've never seen this before.
07:54 Full floating oil pickup for when off-roading.
07:57 Floats with the oil.
07:59 Or water.
08:00 Or water.
08:02 Look at this.
08:03 Yeah?
08:04 That's belt leather.
08:05 Yeah, it could be.
08:06 Ooh, it is.
08:07 Yeah.
08:08 Well, it is.
08:09 OK.
08:10 That's why it's going to be really cool to find out.
08:11 Is that the one?
08:12 Yeah, I'm pretty sure.
08:13 OK, let's pull it.
08:14 I can't wait to see this.
08:15 All right.
08:16 This is the one?
08:17 Yep, that's it.
08:18 OK, take it apart.
08:21 Oh!
08:24 Is this the noise we heard?
08:25 That could be.
08:27 Wow.
08:29 I think the belt leather is gone.
08:31 It's gone, gone.
08:32 Which is why it's in here.
08:33 Yeah.
08:34 Which is why it's probably in all the other oil galleries, too.
08:37 Uh-huh.
08:38 So what happened is when we got home from Utah 15 years ago,
08:41 this thing went to Rick's house.
08:43 And he tried one of the oldest tricks in the book that you hear about all the time,
08:47 that people are like, oh, yeah, I drove it 100,000 miles that way,
08:50 which is take out the rod bearing completely and take a leather belt
08:54 and cut it to width and shave it to thickness and use it as a rod bearing.
09:00 And even making the 60 or less horsepower, just go ahead and put that anywhere.
09:06 That one's down there now, OK?
09:08 Even at no horsepower, apparently the leather belt trick does not work.
09:12 Yeah, it does work.
09:13 It does?
09:14 I ran around on the hill for a while.
09:15 I'm going to say that there's no belt leather left in there.
09:18 No, it's all in the pickup and probably in the oil pump.
09:24 Yes, I know I'm pushing the studs out of the rod.
09:26 We don't care.
09:27 Ooh!
09:28 Wow.
09:29 Not bad.
09:30 It's seen some hard use.
09:31 There is no ring tension.
09:33 It's good for horsepower.
09:35 Move them up, they'll come back to life.
09:37 It's like belt leather.
09:39 OK.
09:40 All right, new bearing will be fine in there.
09:41 That's not a problem.
09:42 So this is a new used crankshaft that's been sitting around forever
09:46 that I've never opened before.
09:48 There's no bearings with it.
09:52 This crank was sent to me 10 or 15 years ago from some friends of mine
09:55 with a four-wheel drive shop back in New Hampshire.
09:57 It's usable.
09:58 It's better than what's in here.
10:00 That's the key.
10:01 If it's got a crank that's turned under, odds are it's been overboard,
10:04 and I've only got standard rings.
10:06 So we use the rings that we have.
10:08 Yeah, we can dingle ball it and reuse the rings.
10:10 Yeah.
10:11 OK, well, that makes the decision.
10:12 This thing's coming apart.
10:13 Yep.
10:14 All right.
10:15 [MUSIC PLAYING]
10:17 Whoa.
10:28 Valves look good.
10:29 They look great.
10:30 I don't see anything wrong with that.
10:32 I'm gacking this piston with that stud.
10:34 Ah, you worry too much.
10:36 [MUSIC PLAYING]
10:38 OK, so we're taking apart the engine, and we're popped out number--
10:43 Two.
10:44 --two cylinder.
10:45 This piston here has all these nice rings.
10:47 You notice it's missing the top, the most important one,
10:50 because it's in pieces.
10:51 Not good.
10:52 Not good at all.
10:53 Because we found out this thing is 40,000ths overboard.
10:56 Yeah.
10:57 And I only have standard rings, because I assumed
10:59 this thing had never been touched.
11:00 That means we need to overnight piston rings.
11:02 Piston rings.
11:03 And today's our last opportunity to get stuff overnighted,
11:05 because today's Thursday.
11:07 Oh, yeah.
11:08 We'll be screwed.
11:09 Did you know they carry everything from Omic Zeta?
11:11 Really?
11:12 All those Jeep parts.
11:13 So we can get all the rings, the bearings, motor mounts, hoses.
11:16 Yep.
11:17 OK.
11:18 That wasn't very tight.
11:24 Whoa.
11:25 Leather.
11:26 That's all leather.
11:27 Wow.
11:28 Your field fix ruined this motor.
11:29 Yeah.
11:30 Saved it.
11:31 All right.
11:32 Oh, that is goopy.
11:38 Just think, that was a cow at one point.
11:40 Wow.
11:41 Tasted good.
11:42 Look at all the crud, even on the cam.
11:44 We need to pull the cam out, dude.
11:46 Well, if we need to do that, then we need to do the valve cover
11:48 and the intake exhaust.
11:50 Might as well come off, too, and hope we don't break anything.
11:52 Every time we touch a new part, we're finding new disasters
11:55 that mean we have to take more and more and more apart.
11:57 Basically, at this point, the whole thing is coming apart
11:59 because we've got to clean it all out.
12:01 It's beyond road killed.
12:02 OK, we've got this thing torn down as far as it's going to be
12:19 because the distributor is seized in the block.
12:21 Everything else is as apart as it's going to be.
12:24 Before we start cleaning, I'm going to hone the cylinders
12:27 because that's going to make a bit of a mess.
12:29 First, just take any kind of random oil, spread it around in here.
12:33 Really good.
12:35 And you might have heard me on Roadkill refer to the Dingle Ball hone,
12:39 which is the thing that you can do for cheapy engine rebuilds at home.
12:42 And bam, there it is.
12:46 Check that thing out.
12:48 I love the Dingle Ball hone.
12:50 This is not pro, but it works.
12:52 Ready to give it a couple of sweeps.
12:54 And that's about all you do.
13:03 Let's go wipe the oil off of that and have a look.
13:05 Well, I think all that we're going to be able to finish up today
13:16 is lots and lots and lots of oil gallery cleaning.
13:20 We're pulling chunks of that leather belt out of everywhere on this thing.
13:23 And our rings are going to be here tomorrow from Willie's works.
13:27 So unfortunately, even though I wanted to get this thing back in the Jeep today,
13:30 that's not happening. That'll be tomorrow.
13:32 And then the day after that, we'll get it in the Jeep, get it running,
13:35 and then find some catastrophic problem we didn't expect that prevents us from leaving.
13:38 And then we'll be behind schedule because Roadkill.
13:41 Pennington, you look terrible. What happened?
13:49 It's the sunlight in the morning. It was a rough night.
13:52 Still here.
13:55 Wow.
13:56 How come Grumlins didn't build it overnight?
13:58 Okay, so we spent what, two days already?
14:00 Yeah, we're behind.
14:01 Yeah.
14:02 I think number one priority, Crook, is to clop the crank.
14:05 And clean up pistons and assemble.
14:07 So we're kind of under a time schedule here because
14:11 a week from today is the Roadkill zip tie drags that I have to be at.
14:15 And between now and then, we have to get this entire engine assembled in the Jeep,
14:18 running, fix whatever else is wrong with the Jeep, haul the Jeep to Provo, Utah,
14:22 and then road trip it home while having a great time.
14:24 So why are you worried about it?
14:26 Yeah.
14:27 It'll happen.
14:28 This is the used crank shaft we got that was sitting in a box in my garage forever.
14:32 And here's going to be the technique.
14:33 This crocus cloth or emery cloth is literal sandpaper on fabric
14:39 so that you can do stuff like this
14:44 to polish crank journals the wrong way.
14:47 The right way.
14:48 And so once I get this thing cleaned up of all the grease and everything,
14:51 I'll probably get some lubricant in there with that crocus cloth
14:55 and then be polishing away for hours to try and make it good enough to put in that go-devil.
14:59 Alright, so this is the main oil pickup in the pan.
15:08 It's coming apart.
15:10 Oh.
15:11 Oh!
15:12 Oh!
15:13 Junk!
15:14 That is not supposed to be in there.
15:16 The screen is not visible.
15:20 Wow.
15:21 Note to self, the leather bearing trick, not a good idea.
15:23 Yeah.
15:24 There's the leather bearing.
15:25 I'm going to have to uncrimp it, pull the screen out,
15:29 take a piece of screen out of David's front door,
15:32 and make a new one.
15:33 This is bad.
15:34 Ooh, here we go.
15:36 Screen coming off.
15:38 Beautiful on the inside.
15:40 Whoa.
15:42 Really bad.
15:43 Oh, you've got to see this.
15:44 Whoa!
15:45 Yeah.
15:46 That is gnarly.
15:48 So you're happy we took the engine apart now?
15:50 Yeah.
15:51 Yeah.
15:52 So this wire was totally plugged.
15:56 Now look at it.
15:57 You can see through it.
15:58 We're not going to get the main bearings that I ordered.
16:01 Apparently there is like a freeze on all shipping in the country
16:05 because there's massive winter storms back east,
16:07 so we're not getting the main bearings.
16:09 Fortunately, the new crank is 20 under and so is the old crank,
16:12 so you got it.
16:13 I'm reusing my main bearings.
16:15 Not optimal, but it'll work.
16:17 All right, so we're finally getting to reassemble the engine.
16:20 Took us a day to take it apart, clean it up.
16:22 We're putting in a camshaft into the 134 four-cylinder.
16:26 You've got to make sure that you don't hit the bearing journals,
16:29 but this is it.
16:30 This is the start.
16:31 We'll be done in an hour.
16:32 [music]
16:41 The rest of the night we are just assembling the engine,
16:44 taking the caps on and off a whole bunch of times,
16:46 measuring all these clearances, which, by the way, are a disaster,
16:50 and then slamming pistons in with one of those ring compressors
16:53 that might as well be made of razor blades,
16:55 and then crossing your fingers, doing the simple grunt work,
16:59 hoping that you've got enough RTV to prevent this from leaking oil everywhere.
17:04 So now that we've got the long block wrapped up,
17:06 all we have to do is get the cylinder head on here
17:08 and slap the intake manifold and exhaust manifold on,
17:11 and pretty much it's ready to go in the Jeep tomorrow, a daily.
17:15 A daily.
17:16 [music]
17:27 Because it's raining outside, I think I better weld in here.
17:31 I don't want to stand in a puddle and weld.
17:33 I would be cleaning all the oil off of this
17:35 except for I only have chlorinated brake clean.
17:39 Oh, I don't.
17:40 Look, you don't want to use the chlorinated stuff
17:42 because what does it make?
17:43 Chlorine gas?
17:44 Chlorine gas.
17:45 You're going to die.
17:46 Yeah, it makes something that kills you
17:47 if you weld over the chlorinated brake clean.
17:50 That's a true story.
17:52 Okay.
17:53 That's cool.
17:54 That would be the flammable brake clean on a plastic table.
17:59 I look at it as like sort of cleaning the manifold.
18:03 I think it's fine.
18:05 Last night was pretty good.
18:06 We were here till midnight, got the whole engine assembled.
18:08 We're both really happy with it, but then the nightmare struck,
18:12 which was a broken stud in this exhaust manifold
18:14 so I couldn't hook up the exhaust pipe.
18:16 So this morning we've been fighting that for about an hour and a half.
18:20 We were having to weld it, heat it, spray nitrous at it,
18:24 trying to thermally shock it so that I could get that stud out,
18:27 but the stud just kept breaking off with the nut.
18:29 Every time I welded the nut on, boom, it would break right off,
18:32 just taking like another sixteenth off the bolt.
18:34 Finally, just now, I got it broken off flush,
18:37 drilled it out, tapped it, and we're ready for action.
18:40 Distributor doesn't want to turn.
18:45 We're going to give it a shot.
18:48 They often rust into the blocks on these
18:50 because there's about that much that's a very tight interference fit
18:54 that slides into the block.
18:56 Oh, wow. Yeah.
18:58 The fact that it moves at all is epic.
19:01 This is going bad at this point.
19:03 The schedule's falling apart.
19:05 We still have a little bit of work to do on the engine,
19:07 then we've got to slap it in, but then the problem is
19:10 I just discovered this wheel bearing is garb.
19:12 Look at that.
19:14 See the action on this thing?
19:16 Bonk.
19:18 We have to leave tomorrow.
19:20 Well, we set the timing, we advanced it with a pipe wrench.
19:44 Uh-huh. Okay.
19:46 I think that's it.
19:48 I don't get it. It wants to run.
20:02 We got the engine in the Jeep, everything's hooked up to it,
20:04 and it's not running right.
20:06 In fact, it's not running at all.
20:09 And so we started to troubleshoot it,
20:11 and man, there was some problems with the starter and some wiring
20:13 and the points and stuff like that,
20:15 but even after we had it all dialed, it was backfiring.
20:18 And finally, Rick figured it out.
20:20 I FUBAR-ed the firing order.
20:22 Number two and four were swapped.
20:24 Ready? Yep.
20:26 Give her some air. Air, air, air.
20:29 More air. More air. More air.
20:32 Yeah, baby.
20:36 Yes. Yes.
20:38 Yes.
20:40 40 pounds. Win!
20:42 Bam! Okay.
20:44 The rest of the night is just going to be bolting stuff together,
20:47 and Rick's got to repair a broken clutch cable
20:49 while I'm going to stare at this ruined wheel bearing
20:52 because I just don't feel like working on it.
20:54 We still have a lot to do before we can hit the road tomorrow.
20:59 [music]
21:01 Yep, this is exactly where you left me last night.
21:19 Because corona.
21:21 We gave up, but there was a good reason.
21:24 Check this out.
21:26 Old memory said that we had rebuilt all the brakes on this thing
21:29 when we went and rescued it the first time.
21:32 Clearly, either that's not true, or we are chumps
21:36 because I just pulled that out of the master cylinder.
21:40 That is our giant problem right now,
21:43 is that the brakes are not happening.
21:45 It's Sunday.
21:47 You're not going to get 46 Jeep brake parts.
21:49 And so Rick is off at his house going through his personal stash
21:52 trying to find some wheel cylinders and a master cylinder for this thing.
21:55 That is putting us one full day behind.
21:58 That is Titanic-level stuff right there.
22:01 Oh, super bad.
22:04 I haven't seen that in a long time.
22:06 The bearing completely came apart.
22:09 Look at that.
22:11 Oh.
22:13 Wheel bearing came apart in many pieces.
22:18 What are the odds that you have one?
22:20 I have something.
22:22 I'm going to take the number off.
22:24 It should be an 18520, 18590 race.
22:27 Check the race.
22:29 Got anything?
22:31 It is an 18590.
22:33 What?
22:35 18590, like you said.
22:37 Yeah. Is it?
22:39 Yes.
22:41 The braking situation is bleak.
22:43 Not only is the master cylinder completely clogged,
22:46 but we cannot find another one anywhere.
22:49 I'm going to have to hone this one out forever using used parts
22:52 and crossing my fingers that it doesn't leak.
22:55 That took about four hours,
22:57 and then I found out that the rubber hoses were totally clogged.
23:01 We went shopping in my backyard in the dark
23:04 trying to find new hoses off my other two Jeeps,
23:07 and naturally, those were clogged too.
23:09 You couldn't even blow through them.
23:11 This whole day has been wasted.
23:17 So the things we have left to do are brake hoses, bleed the brakes,
23:20 pack the wheel bearings, assemble the brakes, fix the fuel system,
23:23 figure out what electrical stuff is FUBAR,
23:25 put the front clip back on it, wheels and tires, seat pads,
23:28 overdrive, grease at minimum the wheel bearings and the drive shafts,
23:33 wash the window, duct tape holes.
23:36 That's it. It's not a big list.
23:38 We just don't have any time.
23:40 This brake system deal is just shafting me.
23:43 At this point, we've got to bail out on the brake hoses,
23:46 finish everything else on the Jeep that we can
23:48 so that tomorrow morning we can figure out how to get hoses somewhere.
23:51 Might have to have them custom made,
23:53 and then hopefully finally hit the road.
23:56 So one of the final things we're installing tonight is a Saturn overdrive.
24:00 What this unit does is give you a 25% better gear ratio
24:03 because it's a planetary inside.
24:05 Splits the gears if you want, so you have 12 forward gears.
24:08 It really helps the engine and makes it go a lot faster on the highway
24:11 if your engine can pull it.
24:12 And it's easy to install. That goes in the transfer case.
24:15 It's on the outside of the transfer case.
24:16 You don't have to cut drive shafts or anything.
24:18 So it'll be a time saver tonight, and it'll be a time saver on the trip.
24:22 We're working on the Jeep again,
24:28 when we should have left town day before yesterday.
24:30 And I think the problem now is that all hopes of making it back to Utah are dashed.
24:36 We're going to come up with a new goal, because never say die.
24:38 We're going to go off-roading in this thing either way, and we're going to have fun.
24:44 This is so nice. It's a workbench.
24:46 This is what's cool about flap fenders.
24:48 Holds your beer, holds your tools, holds your parts, holds your nuts.
24:52 What could be better than that?
24:54 Finally, the show-stopping brake hoses are handled.
24:57 We were able to buy these things at NAPA.
24:59 We're actually nearing the end. Kind of hard to believe.
25:02 Rick's got that overdrive handled now,
25:09 so I've got to get the shifter in,
25:11 and fortunately that requires a little trim of ancient sheet metal.
25:14 Just something I normally hate, but in this case it's totally worth it.
25:18 This has gas in it.
25:26 Sparks and gas don't mix.
25:28 You're no one till you've got the tractor implement-looking shift program going on.
25:35 So this is the transmission stick,
25:38 then this is overdrive,
25:41 and this is four-wheel drive in and out, and this is high-low.
25:44 This sets a record for a vehicle rescue on roadkill.
25:52 Six days straight.
25:54 I think the only time we did that before was on the Junkyard Cuda out in Texas.
25:57 But finally, I'm pretty confident we're going to be leaving tomorrow morning,
26:00 which gives us three days of four-wheeling fun and adventure.
26:04 But we're going to be working late again tonight on super boring stuff,
26:08 like tightening up the shifter, bleeding the brakes, and making the headlights work.
26:13 Didn't I say that, like, two days ago? I think so.
26:16 Okay, come push the Jeep over to the left. The jack just flopped over.
26:30 I don't think...
26:32 Go that way? Yep.
26:35 Thank you.
26:36 The wheels I got are US Mags. They're a U101.
26:39 They're Dish Mag, very retro. In fact, they're the same thing I have on my Roadrunner.
26:43 These would be really good on, like, an early Bronco or a '70s CJ5 or CJ7.
26:49 They're a little bit too new for this Jeep and too shiny for this Jeep,
26:54 but I thought I'd take a risk. I think they're pretty cool.
26:56 The tire is a Cooper Discoverer STT Pro, which is their aggressive mud tire.
27:02 Three-ply sidewall. It's a 31 by 10 50 15.
27:05 These wheels are 15 by 8 with 4-inch backspacing,
27:08 and they'd probably fit the Jeep better if they had about 3.5-inch backspacing.
27:12 Torque to spec.
27:14 Dude, this is going to get real. We're about to leave.
27:19 Finally!
27:20 We're not going to be able to do the Utah trip that we had originally planned
27:23 just because we're out of time.
27:24 Again, I've got to be at the Roadkill Zip Tie Drags in Tucson in two days.
27:29 Today's Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. I've got to be there Friday.
27:33 But we're going to do the next best thing.
27:34 We figured we were going to go to Salt Lake City or Provo and freeze to death in the snow.
27:39 So right now we're going to go seek some snow. That's our plan.
27:42 I'm ready. Let's go.
27:44 Let's go.
27:45 Jump in.
27:46 [Engine starting]
27:57 Move the fan.
27:58 [Engine starting]
28:03 Yep.
28:08 Yeah?
28:09 Yep.
28:10 Wow. This thing's like a sewing machine.
28:12 That is perfect.
28:13 This is the quietest go-devil we've ever had.
28:15 Wow. That's pretty nice.
28:17 This is greatness.
28:19 Wow.
28:22 This thing purrs.
28:23 This is perfect.
28:25 Seems like new.
28:31 Drives like new.
28:34 I've got this cap over my ear so I can't tell if it's knocking or not.
28:38 That's perfect.
28:44 Oh wait.
28:46 Overdrive.
28:48 Whoa.
28:49 Nice.
28:50 Ah, that's so nice.
28:52 Finally, my happy place.
28:55 In the passenger seat of a flat fender Jeep with Rick Bayway.
28:58 This is like old times and this Jeep is running perfectly.
29:02 It rides fantastic.
29:04 And that's when I heard the engine starting to fall apart again.
29:08 It's making a noise like it's got a connecting rod knocking again.
29:12 I hope it's just a vibration of something but it sounds really bad.
29:18 Oh, that's horrible.
29:23 I heard that one.
29:24 Yep.
29:25 How could that happen again?
29:27 That's definitely what it is. There's just no question.
29:33 So now it comes down to what do we do?
29:36 I don't know. We go find some dirt and have some fun.
29:39 We can go back home.
29:41 Either way, the engine is going to destroy itself again.
29:44 What kind of mileage did we get?
29:54 What fuel economy?
29:55 I thought that was a pretzel and I put it in my mouth.
29:58 Did you see that?
30:01 We would have been seeing the dentist.
30:03 These are the wing nuts for the air cleaner.
30:08 These were in his mouth.
30:10 And now I'm touching them.
30:12 Fire extinguisher, gas.
30:14 Kind of a thing.
30:16 So that when this explodes and is burning, you can get right near the fire to get at the extinguisher.
30:20 Yesterday was the depths of depression.
30:35 This morning, it's victory once again.
30:37 When I fired this thing up, it didn't make a sound.
30:41 And I realized the problem.
30:43 We used 1030 oil and when it got hot, it was too thin for the massive clearances in this engine.
30:48 And so what we're going to do is pour some 60 weight in it with some oil additive goop.
30:54 Because this is the goop episode of Roadkill.
30:56 And we're going to hope that that's all thick enough to take up the clearance and quiet down the disaster.
31:01 This is the moment of truth.
31:04 I still heard it a little right there.
31:07 I'm calling that fixed.
31:14 35 pounds.
31:15 Really? Check it while I'm holding RPF.
31:18 What was it?
31:23 38 pounds.
31:24 Fixed. Mint.
31:26 Mint is the word.
31:28 It does do a little light throttle right there.
31:30 I'll stay off the light throttle.
31:32 Hear it?
31:33 Yeah.
31:34 We won't do that either.
31:40 Man, yesterday was depths of depression.
31:43 I couldn't believe not only we weren't going to go four-wheeling,
31:46 but that we put all that work into something that was rod knocking.
31:49 Now, it's only rod knocking a little bit, which is good enough for Roadkill and good enough for an old Jeep.
31:54 It's going to be fine.
31:55 So we're going to hit the road and go four-wheeling somewhere.
31:58 Flat fendering.
32:00 The only way to go.
32:01 Life is good.
32:02 This is living.
32:04 We are perfect.
32:06 Don't hear it now. We've got good oil pressure. 30 pounds.
32:10 Yep.
32:11 Grab it.
32:12 Trash bag.
32:13 [Music]
32:39 Oh, man.
32:40 The flatty just grunts.
32:42 Look at that.
32:43 Tractor.
32:46 Pull on it.
32:48 In the ditch.
32:49 Nice.
32:50 We intentionally took the ditch and it still worked.
32:53 [Music]
33:09 Oh, that's the one.
33:11 Jeep is good.
33:17 Ready?
33:28 Yep.
33:29 That was epic.
33:39 [Laughter]
33:44 This is living the dream.
33:46 This is flat fender Jeep dreaming.
33:48 No two ways about it.
33:49 We could do this all day long.
33:51 All our lives.
33:52 Where are we going next?
33:54 We're 15 years old.
33:55 The Jeep is running great, though.
33:57 I can't believe that it survived that.
33:58 It's good.
33:59 Here's the deal, though.
34:00 Remember this whole show I've been talking about how I have to be at the Roadkill zip-tie drags on Friday and today's Wednesday?
34:07 The problem is I'm driving the muscle truck to the event in Arizona and the muscle truck is up at Steve Dulcich's place north of Bakersfield.
34:15 And so we have to go pick that up so I can drive it home tomorrow.
34:18 So it's getting dark.
34:19 We're going to put in some miles on the highway and then wake up tomorrow morning and hopefully find some adventurous way to get up to Dulcich's place.
34:36 You shouldn't have touched the gas.
34:40 You're right.
34:41 It's freezing outside and our 60 weight oil is like tar.
34:47 Here, check this out.
34:48 We should probably warm it up before we drive it.
34:50 I was going to do that right now.
34:51 Listen, let's see if we hear anything.
34:54 This being the goop episode, I was able to stick my finger under the tank of the radiator and come up with that.
35:00 Let's just hope that's leftover from the last engine.
35:03 Yeah.
35:06 That's it. It'll clear out. It'll clear out.
35:12 There we go.
35:15 I'm the king of the world!
35:29 [Laughter]
35:32 Half a mile!
35:42 Almost there!
35:46 [Music]
35:49 We made it to our final destination and I realized we basically put a pile of destinations in a fishbowl, shook them up, and pulled them out every single day on this trip as the mechanical program got worse and worse and worse as we went.
36:10 But finally, we're here at Steve Dulcich's place.
36:12 If you don't know, he's the guy who I do the Roadkill Garage show with on Motor Trend On Demand.
36:17 He's got a cool farm here where he's going to hang on to the Jeep and I'm picking up the muscle truck that he's been working on for a while because I got to get to that event.
36:25 So, we may not have had the adventure we set out to do going to Utah, but we had a huge mechanical adventure nonetheless and the result is another flat fender living and breathing and running and driving after 15 years off the road.
36:39 There's only one more thing we got to do and that's hit the road in proper style with a muscle truck.
36:44 [Engine Revving]
36:47 Support companies that support Roadkill. Buy your speed parts at JEGS.com.
37:05 Whew, and it's not done. I figured you'd stay up all night. You just walked right in front of the slider shot. I did. Ready to go again?
37:14 [Laughter]
37:16 Come on baby, one more time. Wait, that's a Britney Spears sign, huh?
37:22 I wouldn't know.
37:23 Come on baby, one more time.
37:25 Why don't you list the progress you've made today?
37:28 [Laughter]
37:39 Twelve hours. I removed a master cylinder, rebuilt it, and put it back in and it leaked.
37:44 [Laughter]
37:46 [MUSIC PLAYING]
37:49 (car engine revving)