In case you missed the first part of this little drama, you can find it here.

So after I finished fuming about them changing the opposite side U Joint from the one I asked them to do, I calmed down a bit and figured I would stop and talk to them after work the next day.

They had already admitted that they had screwed up and had offered to do the one I asked for in the first place for free. They charged me $594 for the first one.

The one they did change was COMPLETELY SHOT.

Zero grease left, caps full of powdered rust and no needle bearings left in two of them.

I figured it would be bad but I was hoping to have them change the one that was clunking at slow speed and maybe I could baby the thing until the weather got nicer and I could pick a nice sunny weekend and do that one at my leisure.

I guess they took care of that for me.

So after I thought about this whole deal and weighed in a few factors I came to a decision.

I stopped after work and had a chat.

I have been a mechanic of some sort or another for over forty years myself and I have quite a few ROYAL FUCK UP’S with my name all over them too.

Shit Happens sometimes.

Since the left one was completely shot, they had changed it already and I know the right one is shot too, I decided to step up to the plate myself.

I went in and asked them if they would be OK with me splitting the difference instead of them eating it all.

I am not expecting to get something for nothing here, they are a small family owned business that obviously stands behind their work and they are good people.

They were VERY HAPPY to hear my offer.

I told them that the side that was clunking was getting worse so they offered to come in two hours early, work my truck into their crammed schedule and get it done two days earlier than the appointment we had made already.

Ya can’t beat that kind of service.

So I dropped it off this morning at 6 A.M, handed them the keys and thanked them for going out of their way.

I got a ride back to the shop after work from my buddy and it was done.

Unbeknownst to me, I was in for a surprise.

When they got it up on the hoist they didn’t find any slop in that U Joint.

I would have bet serious money that U Joint was bad because I kept getting a double clunk out of that side, especially at slow speeds.

They decided to replace it anyway and when they took the grease cap off the end of the hub to start tearing into it, a Snap Ring fell out on the ground.

It has automatic hubs, that snap ring holds the end of the axle in the inner hub and keeps it from walking back and forth.

That is exactly what it was doing. He took a video with his camera and showed me that he could push and pull on the axle stub and it would move 3/8’s of an inch back and forth.

What I was feeling was the splines on the axle binding up as it slid in and out of the hub.

It would have basically been a Free Fix to just reinstall the snap ring and pop the grease cap back on.

But as I said, he decided to change the U Joint anyway, especially since this had turned into a bit of a shit show.

In reality, it was due anyway. It was basically dry with no grease left in it at all and it would have been just a short while before it shit the bed too anyway.

It’s a 40 year old truck, Chuck got his money’s worth out of them.

We took it out for a test drive together and no more clunk so I am happy.

He is happy that I can go away and he can get back to fixing cars and making money and his wife is happy that they didn’t have to eat the whole repair.

Win, Win, Win.

Nice people, they stand behind their work and I now have a close by mechanic outfit that I can trust.

More Win.

Now I wait until the 18th and send the Wifely Unit’s Hoopty in for a timing belt and water pump, to start with. I’m figuring she will be lucky to get out of there for under a Grand.

Twin Cam engines are a wee bit pricier to do that on than just a straight up 4 Banger and I have a feeling they are going to find some hoses that need replacing at the very least.

At least I don’t have to dig in my ass pocket for that one.

She pays for her own repairs which is good, she has more money than I do anyway.

It runs on Wood Gas.

With video goodness below the article.

This guy is Wayyyy ahead of the curve.

Called the “El Kamina,” it is a wood-powered 1987 Chevrolet El Camino, the last year Chevy made the sedan/pickups. It’s the brainchild of Finnish politician Juha Sipila. Kamiina in Finnish means “stove.” Get it?

Power comes from a wood gas generator. While it sounds high-tech, these were actually used in Great Britain during WWII. Today’s wood gas generators, such as the one in Silila’s El Camino, can utilize 75% of wood’s energy when burned. They’re one of the most environmental energy technologies using renewable energy methods. 

He throws a heap of wood pellets into the tank and achieves around 125 miles of range. A full tank of pellets weighs about 175 lbs. But with the generous bed incorporated into all El Caminos, he can actually carry enough wood pellets for 800 miles of range. And the small block Chevy engine it still retains can be used with a combination of wood gas and gasoline.

We should point out that this is a clean alternative to gasoline combustion engines. It’s not like that burning wood in your fireplace. The burning of wood burned this way, called “gasification,” is one of the cleanest forms of combustion. Gasification turns the wood into a gaseous fuel source. A gasifier like that in the El Kamina is 90% cleaner than burning wood in a stove. 

Inside the gasifier, all of the wood, and almost all of the resultant smoke and gasses are recirculated for additional power. So the combustion aftermath burns up rather than expelled into the atmosphere. And there are other advantages. 

First, wood is a renewable resource. And because wood is almost everywhere, it comes in quite handy when there is a fuel shortage. And for some living in open areas, it is also easy to get, at no cost other than cutting the trees down and making the wood pellets. 

Because several byproducts of burning the gas could end up in the atmosphere, filters help to clean things up. Dust, biomass ash, fly ash, and gas emissions are just some of the things that need to be contained. 

The top speed for the wood-powered El Kamina is around 87 miles ( Edit, an hour I am assuming), so it’s no race car. But most daily drivers aren’t. According to diseno-art, there are a few downside

One is that it takes 20 minutes to get everything hot enough to create the gas. That’s similar to steam-powered cars. They take time to heat the water into steam. Another problem is they tend to need regular maintenance in the form of cleaning them. It’s a dirty job.

Though the boilers inside the wood gas generators have self-cleaning features, heat exchangers must be cleaned on a regular basis. If not, the efficiency of the generator goes down quickly. There are also ash bins to empty regularly. 

So there you go. What looked like a goof, that of burning wood to run a car turns out to be very environmental-friendly.

I’m impressed.

It’s kind of huge but it works. I suppose if you needed to actually haul something, you just drag a trailer behind it.

Along with a bunch of kindling.

A friend,, BW Bandy over at his blog “The View From Here”  http://everybodyhastobesomewhere.blogspot.com/ Posted a picture of a Canadian Ford medium duty truck that looks like a late 1940s F-5 or F-6 but has a small plate that says F-135. I reached out to Leigh and Phil, Leigh found some fleeting mention of outside the US market and found references in Canada and New Zealand.

Update already from Leigh…

It is a Mercury Truck after all.

Nomenclature[edit]

In 1948, following the introduction of the Ford F-Series, Mercury adopted the use of the “M” prefix, for Mercury. From 1948 to 1950, nominal tonnage ratings were replaced by a series designation in which the numbers indicate the GVWR when equipped with tires of appropriate capacity. Each code number is arrived at by dividing the GVWR of the series by 100. Thus an F-47 (M-47) indicates a GVWR of 4700 lbs., F-135 (M-135) indicates 13500 lbs., etc.

In 1951–52, Ford of Canada got back in step with Ford USA with F-1 (M-1), F-2 (M-2) etc.

Found HERE,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_M-Series

I find this hard to digest.

I made an appointment two weeks ago to have the RIGHT FRONT, drive axle U joint replaced in this Dodge 4 wheel drive. It was the quickest appointment I could get.

I can feel it clunking at parking lot speeds, especially while turning.

Definitely the passenger side, which is the Right Side.

For those who aren’t Mechanically Declined, there is an INDUSTRY WIDE UNDERSTANDING, that when someone speaks of the left or right side of a vehicle, IT IS FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF SITTING IN THE DRIVER’S SEAT.

MMkay?

So I am literally talking to the owner of this repair shop explaining that I need this U joint replaced and that it it is on the right side, the side with the stub axle.

In case you weren’t aware of this also, the front differentials always sit off center compared to the rear differential.

The short side is the stub axle for obvious reasons.

I even went so far as to go down and buy the U joint and the seals, which turned out to be wrong because Dodge put two different front and rear differentials in these things.

A Dana 44 and a Dana 60. The 60 being preferred.

So they call me and tell me it’s done. I dropped it off this morning and got a ride into and back from work with a buddy that I work with that doesn’t live too far from me.

The total was $594 and change, $50 more than the estimate.

I’m not squealing, apparently the original style U Joint had a beveled edge around the top of the cap and are very hard to locate so they had to add bevels.

Great.

I am just tickled it’s done. So I pay, leave, head just down the street to return the wrong parts .

As I back out of the parking spot while turning the wheel, I swear I feel a clunking again in the right front.

I kept going and pulled into a Quickie Mart just down a block or so to snag something to drink. When I come back out, I bend over and start looking at the lug nuts and the threads on the studs.

I am not seeing any evidence of the ones on the passenger side having been taken off and put back on but when I go to get in, the drivers side have some shine on the threads.

You gotta be fucking kidding me.

Of course it’s raining so I get in the fucker and drive the mile or so back to the house, pull up in front and then drive the right front tire up onto the curb. I turned the wheel all the way to the right, get out and walk around the front and crawl under the bumper to take a look. The U Joint is right there and bigger than shit, it hasn’t been changed. Skinny over to the drivers side and bigger than shit there is a brand new U joint.

FUCK!

So I calls these people and tell them they changed the wrong one.

I SPECIFICALLY told you to do the RIGHT SIDE, the Work Order says the RIGHT SIDE and so does the bill, except it is split down the middle with a dotted line and right at the upper left they charged me for a LEFT SIDE. Run your finger directly across the page past the middle and it plainly states, change the RIGHT SIDE.

First thing I hear is that, well, that one was really bad too.

No matter, it’s not the one I specifically asked to be replaced and by the way, you have my phone number, you should have called me.

So they are going to eat this one.

I have to drop it off Friday, if the clunky one lasts that long.

Pissed off?

What do you think?!

In the mean time, The Wifely Unit’s Hoopty shit the bed, the water pump pulley is wobbling around like a drunk stripper, so she’s driving my old Chevy and we have an appointment for THAT at the same outfit on the 18th to do the Timing Belt and the water pump at the same time.

It’s got a Twin Cam engine, I did that water pump in the driveway four years ago IN JANUARY and I ain’t doing it again.

FULL STOP, DEAD SERIOUS, OH HELL NO.

I have to say that this little Fuck Up has not filled me with confidence but at least they are standing behind their work and fixing their Fuck Up at their own expence.

The real kicker is that if they had caught their screw up before they put it all back together and called me, I would have told them to just do them both and be done with it.

As it is, now I can cross this off my list of SHIT I GOTTA DO WHEN THE WEATHER FINALLY CLEARS UP.

Like late June, early July.