First Jedediah Smith Trail 1822 — 1824

Day 7: August 22nd, 2009 Pittsburgh (Car Work)

Today I really wake up just before seven in the morning! And yesterday I even got my laptop in my room to be able to write my diary in the morning. I get up and have breakfast. While having breakfast I take a look at my trip planning on how I can rearrange my daily legs to still stay within my schedule. Maybe I will leave on Sunday late afternoon and only drive up to Columbus. Then going the next day to Kansas City. We will see. Next I write my diary and quickly check my emails. Then it’s time to go shopping.

First I drive over to Home Depot. There I buy the missing adapters for my transmission line. Hopefully I have now everything I need. Then I continue to the screws because there are some not holding up or are missing at my front grill. While being at it I also take some Teflon tape with me. And black rust protection for my mounts. When everything is finished I can paint them.

Then I continue to Walmart. There I buy some engine oil. First I thought about buying quart bottles. But then I decide to get the big 5qt canister. This one costs as much as 3qt in single bottles. Then I also discover a FRAM oil filter for extra long lifetime. This one I also take with me. Finally I buy a set of bolts for my battery connection. Fitted with all this stuff I should have now everything and drive over to David.

First I check if my oil drain plug is sealed. Perfect, everything was holding up! Now no one else beside me should ever make an oil change on this truck!

Then I remove my old transmission oil cooler and think about how to install everything. While looking at my stuff I realize that my new thermostat will not be hooked up somewhere directly but with hoses. So I am missing again 4 adapters!

And the old connections to the transmission don’t really look trustworthy. Finally, I am also missing cable ties. Okay, maybe David is able to drive me over to Cranberry. So I continue with the installation of my transmission oil cooler.

There I build the same mount as yesterday for the engine oil cooler. Then I think about on how to mount the thermostat. Finally I decide to use one of the vacuum reservoir mounts. So I bent another mount in shape and mark the thermostat mount hole positions. Then I search for a drill and start this job. But I am barely making progress here.

Then David arrives and I ask him if he would be able to take me over to Cranberry. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have enough time. So I have no other choice than to assemble everything back again and to hook up the old transmission line back on the radiator. It’s a bit tricky, but I make it.

After this I drive again to Home Depot for the adapters. But they don’t have them. So I only take the hose connectors and a set of drills with me. The next try is at Pep Boys. But also there I am not able to find the correct adapters. The ones I thought which might fit on the radiator also don’t work. I have no clue what I bought back then and where. I only know that these are 5/16" and my system behind is 1/8".

Then I drive back to David. In the meantime it is already 6pm and time is totally slipping away. Additionally, the truck is now so hot that I can do nothing at the radiator. But I must build the mount for this thermostat first anyways. With the new drill things are going way better. But the material is really hard!

Then I change the bolts to the battery and take care of how to run the hoses through. Best is to lay them exactly how I have laid the old ones. Only the connections for the pressure and temperature sensors will be done more professional. But for this I must move my battery a little bit — and what do I see?

One of the screws of the battery mount is almost completely turned out! It probably wouldn’t have taken long until I would have lost it. Then the front support would have been missing! That was really luck for me that I have seen this!

After I have fixed this I take care of the hoses. I buffer the outlet again with cut hoses and spray silicone on everything to get them through more easily. Finally I am ready to install the radiator. With my new drill the hole at the car is drilled very easily. Then I must tighten everything.

There I figured out a good option to have a better support of the radiator in the downside direction. This I also build for the other side. Slowly it starts to look pretty well! Now it’s time to mount everything together and seal everything with Teflon tape. Then I made it, all lines are hooked up again.

The first time firing up the engine looks good. There is only half of a quart of transmission oil missing. Then I am ready to assemble the front back together. There I must remove a bit on the grill inside to have room for the radiators. When also this is done I start the assembly. Then a last view on the lines, but just the line with the temperature sensor at the thermostat which I cannot really pull, must be redone. This is something to do tomorrow.

Now it is already past ten and I don’t want to work any longer. I only collect the essentials. Then I drive back home. There Sam greets me again with heavy barking. I jump under the shower and around 11pm I am ready. But if I leave for dinner now, Sam will bark Helen out of her sleep. So I only have a sandwich as dinner tonight. Now it’s almost midnight and I fall into my bed dog–tired…