First Weekend

On Friday April 12 it was difficult to concentrate.  I wanted to go home and play with the new truck.  On the way home from work, I bought new plugs and wires and a shift knob (the first thing my wife noticed was that there was no knob).

I installed the knob that night and was able to work on a few things:

• I got the glove compartment open.  It had been stuck, but a little WD40 did the trick. Upon opening it, I discovered that it needs a new liner inside.  The original ones were cardboard, but they make polyurethane replacements that are pretty cheap.
• I got the interior light and cargo light working via the switch above and left of the driver's head. I had never seen that switch before.  The interior dome light still needs a lens cover (cheap).

The next day we had people coming over so I was not able to focus on the truck too much. I spent most of the day getting the yard ready for the party.  I had promised the kids that I would take them around the block (no further because the truck doesn't have shoulder belts).  Unfortunately after several jaunts through the neighborhood, the truck broke down near the house. It was discouraging for sure, but with my neighbor's help (thanks Glenn!) I towed the truck home.  Not sure what the problem is, but it won't start at all.  I suspect the carburetor.

I also started my Punch List.

Sunday I installed the plugs and wires.  The number 4 plug was damaged, so it was likely that something was (bad) wrong in that cylinder.  My brother and his friend Will came over to help (thanks guys!).  I had an old, unreliable compression tester which showed around 70psi on number 4.  We decided to try to start it up anyway.  The plugs and wire helped tremendously.  The truck idles very smoothly.  Too smoothly to have something broken off in cylinder 4.

Damaged spark plug

The day ended on a positive note despite a few worrisome moments.