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[Trucker Cap]

Hi, I'm Jack the Scrapper (Trucker Cap).

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I figured id write a little thread about how ! came to own an IDI, and what im doing with it. I live in beautiful Melbourne florida, work as a metal scrapper. Id been working my 98 Dodge 1500 to death, pulling old boats, hauling engines and everything else to make a buck. Tin only pays 9.5 cents a pound around here, and somehow id manage to load up my dodge with a thousand pounds of scrap a few times a week to make ends meet.

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to make a long story short, i killed the old dodge after about a year, scrapped it for $500 and bought a 1999 f150 for a thousand bucks and started running scrap with it.

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a couple of weeks after getting the f150, i failed miserably at pulling an old heavy tractor claw out of the woods with a chain, and decided that i needed a bigger truck. I sold the F150 for two thousand on craigslist and started searching for a cheap dually with a diesel motor. a nearby car dealership had an 89 f350 dually, but had it listed for $4995. I went to take a look for ***** and giggles (because a dumpster diver like me doesnt have that kind of money laying around, but the truck looked really cool with a chequered flag on the side. truck wouldnt start at all, had an engine bay full of dead leaves, and had been sitting in the back of the dealership with the other rejects for over a year! i went home wishing it ran, and i knew that i had to have it! It looked so bada** sitting there...

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i came back to the dealership to fight for the truck, and ended up picking the truck up for $2000 cash without even hearing it run. needless to say, the old lady wanted to chop my **** off. "you just sold a 1999 truck to buy a 1989". A wrecker (1990 f350 IDI flatbed) carried it home for me for $60 and the next day i was lurking oulburners.net to figure it all out.

Truck wouldnt run AT ALL. I had my doubts, and the ol lady had her hands on her hips... both fuel gauges were broken, Not sure if the tank switcher even worked, two shot batteries, dead out of gas in both tanks, an empty wallet, and i hadnt hauled in a load of scrap for a week. with my bills around the corner, i had to get this dang truck sorted out or haul it away to recoup my losses...

Ended up throwing a few gallons of diesel in her, and letting her sit on my battery charger, and walking out to crank it dead every half hour. thats when oilburners saved my ass. i found the thread about purging the lines and it worked like a charm! (kinda) i filled the fuel filter up with diesel (siphoned from the tank haha) cracked the injectors, and let her have it for about two hours. about to lose hope, i went inside to listen to the old lady nag me about the truck again and ate dinner. went back out after dark, and she fired right up! Thats when i learned that these diesels need a s***load of cranking amps to get going. Lesson #2 (lesson #1 was to never ever run this beast out of gas ever again haha) ran like hell for about 5 minutes, and eventually evened out. Thank god.


more to come

 

[icanfixall]

Nice looking dually single cab rig. Not many of those around.

 

[ToughOldFord]

Congrats on the truck Jack, it does look good!

You're figuring it out, be patient with yourself and the truck. Once it's all dialed in and you're used to each other she'll do everything you need and for many many years to come!

 

[Sycostang67]

You will get a lot more scrap in the back of that IDI than a 1/2 ton truck for sure. I do some scrapping on the side and you wont even feel 1k pounds in the back.

 

[OLDBULL8]

Hey;Welcome to the OB. Nice clean looking truck. Before ya go and buy any needed parts, read the Hall of Shame forum. Lots of info on here on just about anything about these trucks.

 

[theguruat12]

You will get a lot more scrap in the back of that IDI than a 1/2 ton truck for sure. I do some scrapping on the side and you wont even feel 1k pounds in the back.

Agreed. I've done a few loads with mine (usually about 1k), and one with our '71 F250 360. There's no comparison. Same thing taking the truckbed trailer to the dump with each one. No contest whatsoever. You'll be glad you bought an IDI.

 

[rhkcommander]

Neat story, seeing as how ur hard for cash i thought id mention that these engines can run off damn near anything - waste veg. Oil, waste motor oil, other oils, some thin it out with gas. Theres some precautions to take beforehand but now you can research it.

 

[Rot Box]

Good looking truck. That checker stripe is cool.

I went to Florida for the first time last year (Ft. Myers). Coming from Utah it was like being on another planet haha. The seafood and fishing was unreal. Man you guy's have it good! Anyway enough about me. That truck won't break a sweat and should serve you well for years to come

 

[Michael Fowler]

Welcome to the site.
Of course all the good things we say about your great purchase won't mean a thing to your wife. Over time she will see the economic benefit, just give the time she needs.
Glad you found Oilburners.
READ, everything in the tech sections as you have time. Get some coolant test strips and check the SCA levels in your coolant--that is important. But get it running and earning money first.
Please read here before you do anything to your truck. Some things seem perfectly obvious, but they are wrong. Get the straight info here, and save yourself some major headaches.

Again Welcome to the site.

 

[TWeatherford]

$4995 for a non running 89 truck. Stealer...

 

[Trucker Cap]

So when i got the truck running, i drove that sucker for a week with absolutely no breaking power. i was engine braking and pressing the brake pedal so hard that my a** was coming off the seat haha! pulled the vaccum hose off of the brake booster and no suction at all. ended up calling my redneck scrapper buddies, and a friend of a friend let me pull a vaccum pump off of an old IDI ambulance rotting away in his backyard. after i installed it, my a** was still coming off the seat! enter the $50 used brake booster from Classic Auto Salvage in Melbourne florida. Pedal still sinks to this day, and theres some kind of black greese showing up on the inside wells of the rear tires. looks too dark to be brake fluid, and my master cyl reservoir is still full. i chucked the old booster, along with every component of the air conditioning i could claw out into a scrap pile on the side of my house

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after ripping the a/c out and scooping all of the dead leaves and rubish from under the hood, i could finally see the motor haha. the soundproofing was tattered along the fenderwell, so i ripped it all out and hit the plastic finderwells with some tire shine i had laying around.

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removed the plate with soundproofing under it, holding some kind of vaccum thing with two wires, along with the voltage regulator and mounted them to the sidewall to open everything up. the truck was putting out 17 volts at the regulator, so i replaced it with a new unit from the local parts store for $24 and replaced a few of the quick connectors underneath. new unit puts out around 13.5 with her running. i sanded the metal under the units with sandpaper and a wire brush, and ran a ring terminal ground to each one under the bolt to be extra sure they were grounded. used pre existing holes to mount them. i planned to zip tie the wiring to make it secure, but never got around to it. maybe ill do it today.

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now theres a big gaping hole where the a/c condenser was. i was gonna pull out the grinder and drill to make a cover plate to keep the cab from getting hot, but havent yet. i was thinking it could be a fun place to pull air from if i go with a homebrew cold air system later. thoughts?

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my valve cover gaskets leak oil around a few of the bolts. god only knows how long its been since she had a fresh oil change. a gallon bucket of rotella is $65 and im short on cash at the moment! heres a pic of the kind of oil leaks ive been getting. oil stick shows two quarts low.

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feel free to chime in with advice and criticism!

More to come -Jack

 

[Michael Fowler]

I think you meant 5 gallon bucket of Rotella is $65. At least that's what I see. 10 quarts for $33.

You don't need A/C where you live?

 

[riotwarrior]

Welcome to OB, looks like a great score, Take the time to get into the NEWBIES start here, and FAQ as well as the Tech and HALL OF SHAME...don't spend money foolishly I say read the shame thread.

Make sure your return lines are free of fuel and not leaking and the lines are not all cracked.

Sounds like a wheel seal on the rear axle but hard to say, smell it does it smell like brake fluid, because it could be mixed with brake dust to be dark, or gear lube smell will tell. So will taste if you got the guts for it...

I'd just get your firewall all back together without AC and be happy to have a HVAC system 50 percent working

Good luck scrapping and have fun here

Again Welcome to OB

Al

 

[Trucker Cap]

I think you meant 5 gallon bucket of Rotella is $65. At least that's what I see. 10 quarts for $33.

You don't need A/C where you live?

its hot, but the ac never works in any of my trucks anyway. and yes, i meant the 5 gallon bucket haha!

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[Trucker Cap]

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just picked up a pretty heavy diesel boat motor from a marina. nothing like being covered in dirt and grease, and watching the pelicans fly!

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