I took the Scout out for a ride last evening. The smog air pump was ON but no belt to power it. I put it in the shop area and went to work today. I could have finished it easily BUT . . . There are two long belts that power the alternator. They run on pulleys between the crankshaft, water pump and the alternator. I had noticed before I started that those belts were not at the same tension. Hum! Back then I drove all over to get two belts of the same manufacturer and the exact same part number. One had worn about a 64 of an inch more than the other and therefore the tension was slightly different. OK so it’s not really too big a deal. The engine doesn’t run at high RPM’s rarely above 4000 rpm’s and then just for a short period. It wasn’t designed to ! BUT I would like to maintain it (mechanically) to the best of my ability & budget. So I probably wasted a bunch more time a few $$$ and again have belts of the same length running the alternator and water pump. Well I HAVE them I didn’t say it was set to go yet. By the time I got home it was getting dark. Oh I HAVE LIGHTS I can light up a large area BUT not exactly where I needed it for this situation. Ain’t that always the way. . . Frankly I won’t be too surprised if in 6 months or so the two belts aren’t EXACTLY the same size AGAIN. Hey! we’re talking a truck that’s almost 40 years old. It just didn’t seem right to NOT replace them while it was all apart and it didn’t require a large investment of $$$ but it did eat up some time. Added to the simple fact I’m not as fast/skilled as I remember being. That COULD be a memory issue to some degree too. Anyway it went OK – I still have to adjust all the belts, reinstall the radiator, fan shroud and add coolant. THEN I have a mess to clean up in the shop AGAIN, STILL.
That was my day minus eating, taking breaks and minor stuff like that. I’m still vertical, mobile and able to sit up a sip a cold one and maybe read a few pages AFTER a long hot shower.
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