One year of maintenance on my Grumman LLV Mail Truck

Sorry this one took a while, I kept adding on new projects until the footage folder became an unwieldy dumpster fire.
Watch Part 2: Full Repaint - • Painting my old USPS m...
Watch Part 1: Intro and Deep Cleaning - • Restoring a Grumman LL...
Feel free to make fun of my poor techniques, this was all new to me. everything I know I learned from ChrisFix
Chapters:
0:00 Intro (don't skip this guys I worked hard)
1:20 Oil change
2:00 Differential
3:08 Battery
3:35 Getting to the fuel pump
4:44 Stabbing explosives
5:54 Removing the fuel tank
9:02 Rust
11:39 Fuel pump assembly
16:08 Installing the new tank

[@Kevin75668]

As much as I hate working on S10s, an LLV on a 4wd chassis, with A/C, has always been one of my dream vehicles.

[@MattWinkler1]

On one hand, I love the simplicity as is (a fan is so lightweight and reliable compared to AC) - on the other hand, those would be two of the very best improvements to add to the LLV

[@jamesh6229]

Thank you for the video, it's always fascinating to see someone keeping these llvs alive. I drove these for 25 years while delivering mail and I was still quite the fan when I retired. Please show more videos on the upkeep. Thank you

[@MattWinkler1]

Thank you for keeping the mail moving! There's something wonderful about such a simple, ubiquitous box on wheels that's easy to fix and just keeps on trucking for decades

[@MattiRedsky]

Good vid. Stop making me want one of these things, I have nowhere to put it. :P Also, the stink in differential fluid usually comes from sulfur additives for increased anti-wear capability.

[@MattWinkler1]

I appreciate them being long lasting, but at such a cost haha. The only thing that comes close is molybdenum grease - could be molybdenum sulfide or other sulfur additives that are the culprit there too!

[@pancudowny]

Tip: When starting a vehicle with an in-tank fuel pump, after it's been fully drained/run dry, cycle the key switch on & off (3-5x) to re-pressurize the fuel system before cranking the engine. This will allow immediate start-up of the engine without repeated/excessive cranking.

[@MattWinkler1]

Good to know! I had thought that just holding the key in the accessory position was continuing to pressurize it

[@Unknown_Ooh]

So jealous lol. I've been looking for one of these at auction for years and have had zero luck.

[@MattWinkler1]

I've heard secondhand that they occasionally come up on government auctions but never had any luck there myself either - I've only ever seen two for sale, both searching Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist for years in a several hundred mile radius (and anecdotally, both in rural Pennsylvania). Good luck man!

[@gogereaver349]

post office never sells them. but ometimes a 3rd party company has some and they get sold.

[@scottymoondogjakubin4766]

My mail truck that delivers my mail sounded like it was running on 3 cylinders for a week before it got fixed ! I drive a chevy 94 S10 2.2 with over 661,000 on her ! Original unrebuilt motor - trans and rear end !

[@MattWinkler1]

661,000! I know these engines have a reputation for reliability but damn!

[@Alphamutts]

I've always wondered why the post office didn't update these with the 2.2 Ecotech or a similar later model engine for more power and better fuel economy and a/c airboxes from the s10

[@PostalDog94]

I can't believe I missed this video's release for almost a whole week! I'm all too familiar with project creep and how that goes for putting out any videos regularly at all. The remote oil filter thing is neat but I can confirm at least that it's not stock. That kind of modification is common in larger fleet vehicles however. You've really got me reconsidering doing voiceovers for my videos now 😆 I'd not yet removed the pump cover, it's neat to see that they reenforced the lid. You've also helped me confirm a few quirks of the LLV's fuel setup I had suspected but hadn't yet confirmed 👏 I did laugh out at the postal service joke, thanks :)

[@MattWinkler1]

Was wondering if you'd seen it! Good to know, it's a handy improvement so I can see why they did it. I like doing voiceovers because I can fiddle with the audio... and because I usually don't know what I'm doing in the moment and have to make sense of it later haha

[@mannyman4103]

Awesome! Thank you for the video!

[@jaapo]

Cool video man!

[@danlscan]

Good vid!

[@SammyKurts-ku2ht]

Great video but I can’t help but notice even though you blurred your tags I can tell you have historic Maryland tags just like me !! I’m out of sparrows point-edgemere Maryland my self!

[@MattWinkler1]

It's a good looking plate! And if I were around there I'd be looking at getting a boat instead of a second car haha

[@RealTylerBell]

hold on, how did you get one ? i want one !

[@MattWinkler1]

A couple years of searching Facebook and Craigslist, followed by a public shaming by a DMV employee who thinks you're an idiot for how much you spent on what's technically a 30+ year old Chevy S10

[@gogereaver349]

@@MattWinkler1 litterly is a iron duke s10. i still have mine but its now paired to a 5 speed manual/

[@MattWinkler1]

​@@gogereaver349 The manual has to be an improvement, the Iron Duke is slow enough as is, but the three speed auto makes it that much worse!

[@gogereaver349]

@@MattWinkler1 oh 100% anything past 60 on that 3 speed was not going to happen. now i can go freeway speeds.

[@Dbdhjvnfndbdfb]

How much did u pay

[@darkgreen68]

LLVs will be gone soon. I may be able to help with part numbers if needed.

[@MattWinkler1]

Thanks! I found an original service manual to keep with it, but I'd have to pull it out and double check whether it has the parts catalog listed in the back

[@benraymond4435]

Funny that I stumble on this video. Tonight I took the tank out of my 89 s10 Blazer due to a fuel line failure. Someone had previously replaced the feed line with a carb/low pressure fuel line sometime like 15-20 years ago, and it finally gave out. I feel all your struggles with the fuel tank. My thought while I was down there was to replace the shocks. They are a PITA to do with the tank in the way, but too little too late for you it seems. Nice rig!

[@MattWinkler1]

Thanks! Well at least if I do have to take the tank out again at some point, it'll go a lot quicker and a lot less messily next time lol

[@coltonkruse2313]

I liked your ingenuity with the pipe pliers on the regular pliers. In the future you can expand your tool kit with some vice grips to do the same job.

[@MattWinkler1]

Thanks, that would probably have been a lot easier haha

[@coltonkruse2313]

@@MattWinkler1 Hey you still got it done! That's what matters. The more you wrench on stuff the more you will learn. You did a great job in this video!

[@EngineersHomestead]

Not sure how i got here but more LLV content please.

[@LandonHolmes]

This was very enjoyable to watch, even as someone only tangentially related to post office work. Great commentary! I haven't watched the whole thing yet so apologies if you mention it somewhere, but are you a mail carrier? Do you actually own the LLV? How did you manage to purchase this vehicle?

[@MattWinkler1]

Thanks! I'm not even a mail carrier, just passionate about odd and specialized vehicles and tools! I purchased mine (in fairly rough shape) after a long search on Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist. Most are crushed after being retired from USPS, but some went out to local governments, and a handful of those have made their way to private owners.

[@LandonHolmes]

@MattWinkler1 yeah I thought that the usps didn't allow them out so was curious. Very cool

[@johnnyrocket6588]

More videos!!

[@AdamBrownKC]

How were you able to get ahold of one of these mail trucks? I've been looking for a long time and they just never seem to be for sale.

[@user-cs4ju3cf7c]

Where can I find one of these?

[@JackFilmsThings]

Where did you find yours for sale? I want one so bad

[@princher]

No idea how it works in America, but over here companies of any size, especially ones that work with said company, tends to sell older or used equipment, which is where you could get such Mail Trucks.

[@portable_wall9222]

I've been keeping an eye on govdeals but I think they just scrap them when they retire the vehicle for the most part

[@zorua_i_guess]

pretty sure you have to get one of the very few Grumman sold to the public, from what ive heard the USPS wont sell you one at all

[@portable_wall9222]

@@zorua_i_guess There was one sold in november on govdeals in beaverton, it was used for reading water meters.

[@MattWinkler1]

​@@zorua_i_guess That's my understanding of the situation as well. The USPS scraps them when they're past their government life. The ones that are out in the wild were mostly sold by Grumman to local governments, who may or may not auction them off at the end of their life. I set up an alert on Facebook marketplace, took over two years for one to pop up in a 200 mile radius - but some are out there!

[@kato0507]

Where does one buy one of these? My friend wants one

[@MattWinkler1]

A couple years searching Facebook marketplace and Craigslist, in my case. May also be worth checking Govdeals, but most are crushed instead of sold

[@SparkleCity29302]

I’ve got some parts if needed

[@MattWinkler1]

Appreciate it! So far so good, enough parts are interchangeable with the S10 to make it mostly pretty affordable. Luckily the only thing that I've had any trouble finding so far was some of the taillights and their old rubber gaskets

[@theodricaethelfrith]

𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘨𝘳𝘳𝘳𝘳

[@MattWinkler1]

how rude!