Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

wow, what a weekend! i feel pretty accomplished this morning. my shop is such an epic mess for painting, i can't wait till this is all done.

Friday i set out to get the LizardSkin on the floor and succeeded with the "first" coat. i found that if i lay down their prescribed 2 coats, twice, it does a WAY better job. soooo much taping, endless taping ... but it covered and came out pretty well. i'm excited how well it hid all the patches and smoothed over the seam sealer on all the joints of the tunnel.

https://i.imgur.com/sGVgcOM.jpg?1
https://i.imgur.com/LuhVu6D.jpg?1
https://i.imgur.com/u6IhSi7.jpg?1
https://i.imgur.com/KJsey4G.jpg?1
https://i.imgur.com/UzcTyCv.jpg?1

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

Saturday was all about the flat black bits and getting everything painted that wasn't the floor. dash trim, seat belt brackets, cowl cover, and finishing up my door panels. i love how the flat black laid on the dash and windshield frame repair. i painted all the way around just to make it even all the way around the rubber.

the door panels if you remember i ran out of white and needed that "one last pass". so while i was painting them again, might as well have fun with it. painted the orange last week, and just got the black trim around them. i actually really liked the fade painted on the tape and wish it wasn't tape! i also might have liked them a teeny-tiny bit better as just the orange/white without the black trim, but not worth going back now. the black trim makes the orange look darker and kind of pops less. i still love it thought, and the black i think gives it an older-era scheme feel too.

end of the day Saturday i also did my "second" coat of LizardSkin. i want to peal the dash and reveal the white/black so bad it's killing me! but no way i can un-mask anything before i hose the floor down with paint. that might be tonight, might be Tuesday, we'll see.

https://i.imgur.com/9vSz0fB.jpg?1
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https://i.imgur.com/fiVJxx1.jpg?1
https://i.imgur.com/Dtgw0ig.jpg?1
https://i.imgur.com/Tp75tB2.jpg?1
https://i.imgur.com/ojKGDPw.jpg?1

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

Sunday i spent doing inventory ... i've bought so much stuff for this truck over the years that i'm loosing track now. i pulled out and organized all my air/fuel/brake/clutch lines and fittings. then went thru the truck, re-planned routing and necessary bits, measured for all my lines, and started ordering what i needed. i "should" have everything i need this week to complete the fuel system, brakes, clutch, and air suspension including be run by it's own compressors. i actually even have the battery cable bits to make them, so i should have enough on hand now to make it start/move under it's own power.

trying to layout the air bag line bulkheads ... i guess i'm just going to take up all the space under my seat for lines/switches so i can probably put some other control bits down there later.

https://i.imgur.com/TcjVKVf.jpg?1

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

Wow sounds like a big struggle with the white paint. I like the idea of white under the dash so you can see better, might be an idea no matter what color the inside is. I noticed you improved your paint wall filters, them flat on the wall having issues? It really cool how the orange and black look on the white doors. Keeping inventory of parts bought is not easy.
Having it lift on it's own is a big accomplishment, let alone start and move all in a short time. You must be getting excited!

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

so i watched a furnace air filter comparison that had some great data in it. long story short, this was actually better! these are the cheapest filters i could find, so any advantage is good.

filter set-up #1:
2 stacked filters ... was thinking why not double filter it. one filter area, but had to pass thru 2x the thickness of material.

filter set-up #2:
2 filters in a triangle for double the surface area, single thickness.

the larger surface area means slower air speed over the filter, less pressure to pull junk thru. you can also see a more even distribution of the dust, so it's using a larger area of the filter more efficiently.

these 20x20 filters are $11 for a 3pack at Home Depot, and there's no dust worth worrying about on the stuff behind my fans. the box fans can't generate much pressure like a squirrel cage fan, so they don't flow a ton of air thru the filters to catch everything. any dust they don't catch however is generally dropped on the floor between me and the filters for easy sweeping later.

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

Ok cool good to know. I have a furnace fan filter setup in my shop to catch airborne particles, might have to try the 2 filter setup.

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

first the unfortunate, but taken care of news with a PSA.

*do not lay LizardSkin too thick on inside corners without letting it fully cure before the next coat*

i really wanted the lizardskin to help smooth and fillet the tunnel corners, so i might have laid it on really thick in those lines. those spots took considerably longer to dry than the rest by a lot, and as they dried, they cracked. everything was still stuck well, just opened up, so i took the same 3M seam sealer i had to them and filled em all before painting. should hold up well, move well, and help adhere it all together. i tried to press it hard into the cracks, and keep from filing in the lisardskin texture. i'm pretty happy with how it worked. no pictures, but i had to do both sides.

https://i.imgur.com/fv5jFM3.jpg?1
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https://i.imgur.com/NeTHzlO.jpg?1

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

the Matt taping the truck gave ZERO fakks about the Matt who had to peal it all ... :lol:

but i'm super excited with how it came out! super clean tuxedo interior is a great contrast to the rat rod. i'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

https://i.imgur.com/iqk8SQr.jpg?1
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https://i.imgur.com/9Zn0xlF.jpg?1
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https://i.imgur.com/MhF1JAN.jpg?1
https://i.imgur.com/pR7RsWG.jpg?1

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

Funny. I use that saying often. We had a owner of a company that I worked for that was a real tyrant. This right hand man said it once and it stuck.

Marc

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

I did a complete redo on a buddies 77 ford 1/2 ton 4x4 and when the cab was done he had the interior sprayed with box liner really thick so the floor came out smooth. No rug or mats required and be would wash the mud out with a hose. It also made the truck really quiet inside.

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

yeah, i have to do a floor patch on my 93 that i drive daily curr4ently and plan to spray the whole thing down at the same time. any bit quieter would be a plus.

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

Unfortunate about the cracking but I like how you fixed it should be good. Ya the black and white looks great.

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

I like the tuxedo look. All that lizard skin should make for a solid sounding ride.

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

perfect!

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

Lookin' great!!!

Good tip about the lizard skin in those corners where it can build up real thick.

The comments about using white paint UP UNDER the dash (where it can't be seen) are valid. I used black carpet, firewall pad and kick panels, and I left my dash underside alone (it was painted very dark from the factory). I now need a flashlight to see anything under that dash!

Your progress is just flying along!

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

so after buying a metric crap-ton of fittings and hoses ... i have realized i forgot to buy about a standard crap-ton. i feel this becoming a theme for the rest of the build, haha. also after finding fittings in a different pile that i had just re-purchased ... went thru and organized eeevveerryything.

got the doors on and aligned, seat in (for now, it needs recovered), pedals, brake booster/master, drilled for the air line bulkheads, laid out the air lines ... and made a list of bolts and fittings i'm missing.

https://i.imgur.com/O2I0m9m.jpg?1

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

are those firestone manual paddles? :clap::clap::clap::clap:

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

"yes" just not sold as firestone

edit: my thorbrosDOTcom url get edited to a broken link ... why are they on the profanity list?

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

i had firestone paddles on a toyota in the late 90s, I could throw a mean side-to-side in about 14 minutes :lol::lol::lol::lol: manual vales are the BEST, I have always used them, firestones, MIC toggles, little larry/airjax paddles. very very rarely electric


thorbros probably blacklisted because of their neverending backorders on parts. which is funny because when jason started it, their motto was "this aint no d*mn corporation" and he only sold stuff he had in stock. then everyone started ordering his s10 arms, and eventually the wait stretched out to a year. i guess he is a corporation ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

he doesn't care much about he website and updating it because he's not corp ... the number of times i've called him and everything was available, or available the next day is more than not. my assumption is he gets enough business still by phone it doesn't matter.

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

i think that was the problem in the first place, he said in stock which changed to built to order as soon as payment processed. you can check on s10forum, i think the waiting list for control arms is still 13 months, bolt on 4/6 links are over that.

I am not complaining, just explaining.

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

got a reasonable update from the weekend, and found a lot of other little bits i was missing or bought the wrong thing.

made a mechanical tuner for the mechanical injection. lets me have 2 "tunes", one full-on, and one limited for a cleaner, smoother drive. there is a bypass valve for full-on. then there is an adjustable orifice to slow down how quickly the pump see's the boost, a pressure regulator to limit the max boost the pump will see, and a gauge to visualize the "tune". there's a diesel shop that sells the same thing in a fancy AL box for $450, but this was only $100. still need to make a sexy mount.

- batteries grounded
- battery + tied together
- main power run to the starter as a distribution point (loop by fuel tank for future battery cut-off)
- starter installed
- clutch master installed ... need a longer hose
- replaced the tappet cover with one that hopefully won't leak
- new injection pump oil line ... fitting in the block, ordered different bits
- oil priming pump made from the old stock one and tested with new oil (dipstick depth worked out great)
- fwd section of driveshaft installed, axle is now tied to the motor.

and i 3D printed a template and centering hub to make timing marks on the balancer. this will let me adjust away from the stock "pined" timing.

https://i.imgur.com/XxW5cOu.jpg?1
https://i.imgur.com/CZQ6Yoe.jpg?1
https://i.imgur.com/m6vV3Ej.jpg?1
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https://i.imgur.com/PUPjkeX.jpg?1
https://i.imgur.com/TTMHhST.jpg?1

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

i would be lying if said i didnt do a truth table for your bypass setup :lol:

nice solution on the degree marks too

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

hit up a huge car cruise this past weekend and saw one of those fender bikes in person, i feel like i need one now!

got the injection pump timed 6deg before stock, should be about 20deg advanced now. got that locked down and buttoned up the whole front of the engine.

-ran the oil prime pump for a few minutes
-swapped in new oil pump
-new front crank seal
-new timing cover seal
-power steering pump is on
-injection lines are back on
-intake partially bolted (need to fab the pipe inlets)
-clutch master installed with full line (need to swap an AL coupler for steel)
-brake lines run (needs a line lock mounted, more mounting points, and a -3an coupler)
-coolant plugs where the auto trans cooler used to be

more to come tonight!

https://i.imgur.com/8b99P92.jpg?1
https://i.imgur.com/XdbinXz.jpg?1
https://i.imgur.com/w1XOlzZ.jpg?1

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

Ooo Baby I love this part where things get to go on for the should be last time lol.
I have had a 2 stage tune switch on my IDI for years. I used a 12V pneumatic switch with 2 flow controls, works great but I'm finding I have it flipped up more than down now ;).

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

me too! except now i don't remember what is torqued and what isn't making me go twitchy. i'm going to have to take a few hours and fuuuully nut-n-bolt the whole thing now/again.

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

You'll figure that out on the first test drive when you return home and your missing stuff..ha ha. I had a few bolts come loose on my first real long drive. New squeaks/sounds also present themselves. Good times.

Marc

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

power steering lines all built and tight! though, i still need return line clamps.

1/4" plate brake line bracket for the T fitting on the rear axle ... Check

and finally the crazy new fuel lift pump installed too. this truck really deserves the mechanical bits, so i wanted to keep the factory mechanical lift pump. too bad it's only good for about 500hp before it's really limiting you. this little guy is capable of well over 1000hp and is supposed to last over 400,000 miles. they have also shown that better fuel pressure in the injection pump helps with high RPM HP. if i'm going to run down my wife's car i need every advantage i can.

my only major issue is space. not only is this Fluidamr thicker, but the belt then sticks out in front of that. i'm 98% sure that belt might currently be rubbing my radiator as placed in mockup. so this is going to be some re-work. right now i think i'll have to modify the radiator mounting flanges and eliminate the bottom 2 of the 6 bolts. this will actually also let me move the body mount from under the frame to above and give me a much better bumper mounting solution too.

https://i.imgur.com/O2BYApG.jpg?1
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https://i.imgur.com/Invvu8U.jpg?1

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

Good luck with 1000hp and 400k miles. I was at 750 rwhp on the factory lift pump and could still block out the sun. Anyways my point is that head gasket swaps will be a regular thing. I averaged 10k miles each on a cummins gasket. I ran studs and an o ringed head and played around with retorques also. 75lbs of boost was just more than it wanted to take.

I don't know if you addressed this yet but the rear freeze plug near the head will blow out with repeated 4k RPM shifts. They make a bolt in plate for that or a bypass used for air brakes. The latter promotes coolant flow. One thing bad about these motors is that the coolant pressure builds towards the back of the block. Right foot controls the EGTs

I preferred keeping the AFC housing and grinding the foot for max travel. I also ditched the fuel plate. I let the AFC limit low fueling but was basically a switch. Have boost and its out of the way. I had a slight haze but nothing to bad unless I went WOT. Great drivability and towed well. You will just have to find your flavor on this one.

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

Any chance you can flip the hydroboost so your lines go down instead of up?

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

tried that actually, the hydraulic accumulator ends up pushing the clutch master way out to the side too far.

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

haha, right! just cuz the pump has that marketing claim doesn't mean the rest of the engine can!

so right now i've not really done anything for engine prep, it's basically bone-stock from the crank to the injectors. only current power mods are the MAC plug and 20deg timing. since i built the "AFC Live" thing, i still plan to pull the plate and finish the max travel mods here soon. i also need to get some opinions and find a T4 turbo that'll spool as fast as possible. that stuff should take me around town pretty well for a year or 2.

recently i bought a spare 96 12V and will be swapping the p7100 onto my 93 W250 (i freaking HATE the VE). the plan is to build out that long block with a cam, low compression pistons, CNC ported head with big valves, bunch of ARP nonsense, and leaning o-ring over fire ring currently. shoot for 750hp with compounds on that engine, and if i still can't beat my wife's C7 in a 1/4 mile ... spray it til i do, or i window the block. :lol:

my goal is to keep it real clean for most of the time, especially rolling into car shows. once playing stupid games though, all bets are off.

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

check out my automatic cordless lawn mower, and the new compact version!

https://i.imgur.com/mWwVd1T.jpg?1

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

really started to button things up this weekend, am feeling pretty good about my progress. started Friday night with a full nut-n-bolt. that was more satisfying than i thought it would be.

brake lock valve hidden up under the dash, one more obstacle for a would-be thief. these are the best parking brake too by holding full pedal PSI on the calipers. my rear axle brake hose routing bugs me a little bit, but i just can't come with with a great solution i like yet. it's at least totally functional now, they are fully bled and no leaks.

clutch is fully bled and no leaks. threw the trans in gear, had the wife push the pedal, and i was able to smoothly spin the drive shaft. that must mean it works right!?! :eek:

Throttle cable is in there, but needs work. i need to weld a new tab onto the bracket to move the cable up off the fuel line fittings to start. i also can't decide if i want to cut the cable down real short or leave the current loop in it. i feel like shorter should be smoother, but ya only get to cut it too short once!

the pedals in general actually feel ok, i really worried about the clutch ratio being correct. brakes i really need to feel with the boost though. placement at least is about as good as i can make it without cutting out the floor or extending the cab. The steering is also in there and tight for the first time ever. i'm worried that the angles are too steep on the shaft joints and i'm going to end up with a weird steering feel. again, should know pretty soon once the power steering fluid starts to flow.

started on what is really the last thing, the fuel lines. i have all the fittings figured out and should even have enough hose. wish me luck. only thing that i don't have that will need changed is the fuel filter itself. i either need a new nipple adapter from M20 to M16 to use the skinny fleetguard filter i had previously found ... or i need to find a taller, skinnier filter with the M20. would be nice to use the same filter on both trucks either way.

waiting on Amazon delivery:
-Ground strap for the starter
-16 lug nuts
-power steering return line clamps

https://i.imgur.com/1OKOD51.jpg?1
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https://i.imgur.com/0SjMB7t.jpg?1
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Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

Very cool!! I believe that if you need to buy hot rod motor parts buy ones that will handle more than you are planning then you have room to turn it up without buying everything again. Just curious why did you use braded brake lines everywhere and not hard lines?
What are your peddle pads from?

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

I settled in on 18 degrees of timing. A cam helps a little but not much over stock as far as spool up. Be warned that a decompressed motor is a slug until you build boost. You need all the air volume to get the compression back. Just a little from my experience. I forgot to mention they tend to haze also. If I was to build another 12v I would use a HE351 into a s475. Build the blow off valve to bypass back into the 475. My 62 was alright but it slowed the truck up daily driving.


The 180 pump is where it's at for stock pumps. Same cam as the 215 but doesn't retard timing up top. The mack plug works well as do delivery valves. Then you can have the pump barrels maxed when you get serious.

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

You did make some great progress...Well done!!

Marc

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

agreed on the over-built-ness theory. with the 12v is there is kind of a line in the sand around 750hp. after that you need to add rods and block girdle. i'm torn if i want to drop the cash to go that crazy. that level sort of dictates the $1100 head studs vs the $400 ones as well as fire rings over o-rings, etc etc, cha-ching, cha-ching.

i first ran all -3 braided lines in my crawler jeep. everyone always says "you can't run all flex cuz pedal feel! yar yar rabble rabble" ... it's 100% false. 3 rubber lines and all hard lines were softer than all -3an Earl's braided. it's a little more spendy, but WAY easier to run, join, and work on. just pull it around wherever you need! plus in the crawler i carry a -3 plug with me in case i do crush or blow out a line on the trail.

pedal pads came with the firewall pedal assemblies i modified together.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/HLI-324490

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

i threw a dart at the 20deg honestly. seams like everyone does/loves 18, but there are so many running 22, 24, etc, that i just picked 20. i plan on the PDD adjustable timing gear when i really build the motor so i can play with and dial it in then.

and i only just recently realized the blow-off was actually a thing for diesel! i've never seen anyone use them, but started talking more in depth about race prepping a 6spd manual truck and it keeps coming up. when i put my throttle linkage on there this weekend i re-used the stock bracket with the TPS just in case i go there. i had never heard about blowing back into the atmospheric though, that's an interesting thought. would limit the cool noises though :lol:

also interesting note on a lower compression hazing more, and taking longer to spool. i'm just so used to the idea of doing that for big PSI engines, i just never thought about it. i still need to put a lot of research into that build.

have you ever called Ferrell Diesel? Hamilton told me to call and talk options about what they can tweak and tune with pump cam and different timing. for not only the 55 on the strip, but the 93 as a built tow machine.

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

fine work!

is that gucci print on the seat or fendi? :lol::lol::lol: fancy!