It's all in the details....(Humor/hair loss story)

["Owen" <renarac@domain.elided>]

    After researching and amassing parts for a 3.4L Cummins turbo diesel
conversion, I ran across a "completed" conversion in California in May.
Well, I was feenin' for another Scout anyway, so you can guess what I did.
Bought a plane ticket with cash in hand and headed down. But, oh, there was
a problem. From time to time, the guy said that the thing would act like it
was out of fuel. he had put in a new "super beefy" carter fuel pump as a
transfer pump, drained and flushed the tank (33 gallon tank, no less!),
messed with making sure the return line was clear, made sure there was not
too much vaccum created in the tank, ect, ect. He thought he had solved the
problem with dropping the tank and flushing it. What the hell, it didn't cut
out on me in 80 miles of driving, so I went for it.
    Lo, and behold, on my way out of Sacramento, it cr*ps out. I think
calmly and wait 10 minutes to allow myself to blurt out my my monthly quota
of explatives in that time. I flip the switch, crank it over and she whirrs
back to life. I promise to give it a good home, rebuild everything, and take
it wheeling every weekend if I can just get home. 1200 miles latter, I'm
home without a single problem.
    So, I ignore my promise and start driving it every day. What happens?
DOA on the I-90 floating bridge. Same problem. Acting like its out of fuel.
I limp it home and try all the standard things. Check the lines, put on a
*new* pump, replace the lines, check the electrical system, double check the
fuel return lines. Nothing. Still did it.
    Did I mention it had a 33 gallon tank? Do you think it might help if you
take some time and use a stick to judge how deep the tank is and then check
that depth against how long the rubber extension hose is that sticks out
from the original pick up tube???? See, the 33 gal tank uses the same fuel
level sender and pickup tube assembly as the stock 19 gallon tank. It just
uses a bit of rubber hose clamped to the end of the steel pickup tube to
extend the depth.
All this time, the bottom of the tank had been flexing under bumps and
various temperatures and blocking off the fuel supply at the pickup tube!
DOH! It's all in the details......

I'm keeping to my promise this time. I'm laying out winch mounts for the
bumper tonight and will hook up my 10,000lb 2spd milemarker winch next
weekend. I've gotten ahold of a friend that has a roll-cage tubing bender
and am doing a fill cage within a Terra top. My 33" tires go on right after
the 4" triangle kit comes in. Finally, I've dusted off my Lock-rite (I
bought one 2 years ago and realized too late that I had a Crack-Lok and
couldn't use it) and will throw that in within the next few weeks.

Don't let anyone ever tell you Scout's don't have a personality. This is the
4th scout/traveler I've had as a running full time rig, and every one is
finicky. I'm, keeping the promise for the build up this time. I'll be damned
if I get stuck on the i-90 floating bridge again!