[vwgreg]

Just an update. Sorry for the length of it

As I said, I got one heck of a deal on a 1970 GMC C3500 Dump truck, when it was all said and done, the seller got $1020 out of me for it. He said it ran but hasn't been able to get it running. I had several delays in getting the truck home and yesterday I told the wife, that it is coming home today and it is home now. I had to flat tow it home with a tow bar and my little ranger thanks to having two people back out helping me get it home. It was one heck of a trip, three lefts and four rights, and the truck did not want to track with the ranger, it would push the ranger but alas, it was all on dirt back country roads at 5 pm Sunday.

So when I got it home, I could not move it off the road where I needed it to be, I was burning up my clutch in trying to get it to turn onto the property. So seeing I live at the end of a dead-end road, no one cared if it was on the road, even the cops who came here to make sure nothing was going on didn't even slow to look. I left it hooked up to the ranger, grabbed a battery off my tractor before going into the house for the night, and made sure it cranked. It had oil pressure built up so it turned over, and went to bed happy.

This afternoon I started to work on the truck. I started with a little starting fluid and nothing. So I checked the spark, and there was none. Pulled the cap off, and the points were closed on the top of the cam so I checked again for a spark by opening the points and there was a spark. Adjusted the points to 16 thousandths, but still when I turned it over, no spark.

Pulled the points, and went off to the parts store for a new set, thinking they would have them in stock but I shouldn't been surprised at what was about to happen. I got to an Advanced Auto, and not one person in the place knew what points were. I kid you not, I was shaking my head and thinking how can anyone working in a parts store not know what they are? So I went to my next store, Auto Zone, where not one person knew what points were but one of the counter persons thought I was making it up, the manager who is 47 years old said he may have heard of them once and when I showed him the one I took off the truck, he was holding it up to everyone to show them what it was. There were even some people there who said engines don't use them.

So needless to say I didn't get new points. Instead, I dug for 30 minutes while the eclipse was going on to pull out my ignition toolbox, and I realigned the points, burnished the contacts the reinstalled the points. I had my wife crank over the engine, and I have a spark now. I got gas into the carb (tomorrow's project is to drain the tank) and it came to life. After messing with it for 20 more minutes, I unhooked it from the ranger, pulled it back away from the ranger, and turned it around to back it up where I would be working on it. It needs some brake work (weird problem, the pedal is stuck), and a bunch of electrical work, I have to get it cleaned up, it is a mouse house for sure. And I have to get a new passenger side window.

I have pictures but I can't figure out how to post them, I will as soon as I can.