1965 Stepside, The LST Challenge

[aggie91]

I haven't even touched the truck in the last 10 days. I hope to get out tonight and pull the injectors to get them soaking to clean them up...

[aggie91]

I got an unexpected 30 minutes in the shop last night. I decided to pull the injectors and see what's up with them. Pulled the Driver side first and all four would not cycle using an 18v Ryobi battery. So pulled the other 4 and have them soaking in cleaner overnight, then if I have time tonight, I will get them to cycle. If time permits, I will attempt to fire it up again...

Because I know you guys like pictures...

[aggie91]

Finally!

Last nights shop time was productive, but not 100% a success. I was still having issues with getting 2 of the injectors to free up and cycle. So, I started searching thru Korbin's old parts stash from when he turbo'd his truck and switched to Deka 80's. I got lucky, found his old set of truck injectors. I was going to just use 2 of them, but noticed that the PN on them was different than the ones I was cleaning. Instead of mixing in a different PN, I tested each of his, they all cycled. I did a quick cleaning and installed them in my engine. Got it all buttoned up, put the battery back in and tried to start up this pig. It did not like it a first, but did get it to start and run for a second or two a few times.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NaCvt_ZXa8g

Anyway, I need to figure out why it won't stay running, but at least I know it does now. I need to work on a few small issues and address the truck's wiring problems but it is progress in the right direction!

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by aggie91

Finally!

Last nights shop time was productive, but not 100% a success. I was still having issues with getting 2 of the injectors to free up and cycle. So, I started searching thru Korbin's old parts stash from when he turbo'd his truck and switched to Deka 80's. I got lucky, found his old set of truck injectors. I was going to just use 2 of them, but noticed that the PN on them was different than the ones I was cleaning. Instead of mixing in a different PN, I tested each of his, they all cycled. I did a quick cleaning and installed them in my engine. Got it all buttoned up, put the battery back in and tried to start up this pig. It did not like it a first, but did get it to start and run for a second or two a few times.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NaCvt_ZXa8g

Anyway, I need to figure out why it won't stay running, but at least I know it does now. I need to work on a few small issues and address the truck's wiring problems but it is progress in the right direction!

Big or small, progress is progress.

[aggie91]

Got a response from Brendon at lt1swap.com, he runs a verification test to make sure the changes took to the PCM before sending it out. He reviewed the file for my PCM and it all took. OK, so its not the VATS.

I got out into the shop and looked over the engine and checked a few things he mentioned. All those looked good. I changed the wiring I was using to start it by adding a momentary switch so that I did not have to hold wires together. I fixed some obvious vacuum leaks. Tested the fuel system to make sure it was coming on briefly before starting. I noticed that it filled the rails, like it had leaked down while it has been sitting overnight. I did not have my fuel pressure gauge, so I could not measure pressure.

Cycle the fuel pump a few times to make sure I did not hear fuel rushing into the rails anymore and assumed that I had pressure now at the rail. I hit the switch and the engine fired up and ran. It settled in to a nice idle. I did not run it long since I don't have the belt (belt I got was about 2" too long) to run the water pump to keep it cool. Check out the short video...

Success!

That accomplishment made my whole day. I was starting to just say the hell with it and push it back outside and cover it up. Glad I gave it one more try.

I'll get a different belt on the way home today and see it I can get it to fit correctly. If I can, I will let it warm up and since it is still on stands, run the trans thru the gears to make sure that it turns the tires... If it all checks out, I will fix the truck wiring so that I can start it with the key and get this front boot on Old Blue this weekend.

I just might get to drive this thing again for the first time in 17 years...

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by aggie91

Got a response from Brendon at lt1swap.com, he runs a verification test to make sure the changes took to the PCM before sending it out. He reviewed the file for my PCM and it all took. OK, so its not the VATS.

I got out into the shop and looked over the engine and checked a few things he mentioned. All those looked good. I changed the wiring I was using to start it by adding a momentary switch so that I did not have to hold wires together. I fixed some obvious vacuum leaks. Tested the fuel system to make sure it was coming on briefly before starting. I noticed that it filled the rails, like it had leaked down while it has been sitting overnight. I did not have my fuel pressure gauge, so I could not measure pressure.

Cycle the fuel pump a few times to make sure I did not hear fuel rushing into the rails anymore and assumed that I had pressure now at the rail. I hit the switch and the engine fired up and ran. It settled in to a nice idle. I did not run it long since I don't have the belt (belt I got was about 2" too long) to run the water pump to keep it cool. Check out the short video...

Success!

That accomplishment made my whole day. I was starting to just say the hell with it and push it back outside and cover it up. Glad I gave it one more try.

I'll get a different belt on the way home today and see it I can get it to fit correctly. If I can, I will let it warm up and since it is still on stands, run the trans thru the gears to make sure that it turns the tires... If it all checks out, I will fix the truck wiring so that I can start it with the key and get this front boot on Old Blue this weekend.

I just might get to drive this thing again for the first time in 17 years...

Buddy, this is No Bueno.... This truck is not to be pushed outside & covered again. It has waited patiently. Take that proverbial step back if necessary & it will be there waiting for you next time you're in the shop. I'm glad you gave it another try!

[scoot_mcgrute]

Happy for ya bud, nice work!

[Low Elco]

Congrats, and hope you enjoy the drive.

[aggie91]

Originally Posted by SCOTI

Buddy, this is No Bueno.... This truck is not to be pushed outside & covered again. It has waited patiently. Take that proverbial step back if necessary & it will be there waiting for you next time you're in the shop. I'm glad you gave it another try!

You're so right. I did not go back out to the shop until yesterday.

We headed to Houston (Spring, TX actually) on Friday for my daughter's Level 7 State Gymnastics Championship meet. So proud of her, she competed with a sore back and placed 4th in the All Around which qualified her for the Regionals in Albuquerque, NM next month.

[aggie91]

Originally Posted by scoot_mcgrute

Happy for ya bud, nice work!

Originally Posted by Low Elco

Congrats, and hope you enjoy the drive.

Thanks guys! No drive yet, but getting closer....

[aggie91]

Got out to the shop on Sunday. Made two trips to the parts store for a stupid belt...

Final I got a belt that fits to drive the alternator only set up. Ran the engine for a good bit yesterday and get the cooling system purged of air (I hope...). Dropped it in reverse (I thought) to see if the trans would turn the wheels. Wheels did turn for a bit, but in the forward direction then stopped. I figured the trans did not have enough fluid. Checked out the linkage too, the column is in park, but the trans is in neutral, I will fix that later. Got the trans filled to the proper level and it works in the forward gears. Really pleased with that since this trans was pulled out of the truck we used to build Korbin's Sunburn, that was not running and had been sitting for lord knows how many years before I got it. I pulled it out 7 years ago. I put a shift kit and new filter in it in 2010, but never did the front and rear seals and it sat untouched till just a few months ago. I put in new front/rear seals, pan and gasket and filled it with fluid. So, next test it to see if it will move the truck once I get the linkage fixed.

I need to work on the idle speed, seems really high, but I don't have a tach so I am not sure what it is at.

I am happy with the progress, but no pictures since it still looks the same...

[aggie91]

I still get out to the shop when I can. Baseball and Gymnastics keeps us hopping this time of the year.

I got the shift linkage adjusted, but needs some fine tuning as it is off on the column indicator. It does go into each gear now. I will let this go for now.

My ignition switch was bad, internal short in the run and start positions. Replaced switch and now the start function works correctly. Still not getting go voltage at the fuse panel on a couple of circuits, two of which are the ignition non-fused taps. I need one of those to provide my keep on power to the PCM.

Used my voltmeter and I have power going to the right places, but there is a huge voltage drop at the ignition on circuits on the fuse panel. So I pulled off the panel from the firewall. I think I see at least one of the problems:



That red wire is the battery feed to the fuse block, it is about 12" long back to the factory splice where the battery power enters under the dash and splits off to go to the fuse block, the ignition switch and the headlight switch. I will replace the 14ga section that goes feeds the fuse box.

The large pink wire in that picture goes to the flasher. It is a key on power wire. Its hidden behind the green and purple wires, but it is tapped into a female spade terminal that is attached to a buss bar that feeds 3 fuses. I believe the buss bar connection is corroded to a point that the fuses and male spade terminals on the front side only get about 4-5 volts. The flasher gets its full 12 volts. This picture is a bit clearer since I removed the red power wire...



Besides pulling the entire under dash harness and replacing the fuse box, does anyone have a method of cleaning these connections to get power restored?

I could go with this Dash Harness, but I am currently limited on the amount of money I have to spend on this project. I know this would be right thing to do and keep it looking factory under the dash.

[aggie91]

Well last night was baseball with Owen, double header that was schedule to start at 5pm. We got home after 10pm. Owen had a great set of games and came in as the relief pitcher in the second game when the starter got in trouble in the bottom of the last inning. Faced 6 batters, gave up a hit and a run, but finished with 3 swinging strikeouts to finish the game. They won both games.

Anyway, while trying to decide what to do and not spend a chunk of money, I remembered that when Sunburn got totaled, I pulled the entire wiring harness out of it. It was a universal 21 circuit mini wiring harness by EZ Wiring that I got off ebay. It worked good in Sunburn, but is really overkill for what I have in mind for this truck.

Here is what I found in the box when I pulled it out:


It's free, so that solves the big chunk of money problem. I will go thru it and pair it down to what I need and can use and just terminate the un-used wires at a terminal strip so it I need to use them later I can. At this point the plan is to replace the under dash harness only with this one. I will need to buy a few connectors and terminals to do what I am thinking, but that is far more affordable than a complete new factory fit harness or even another smaller universal harness.

I guess my next step is to pull the complete factory under dash harness out of Old Blue and see what its going to take to make this work.

Stay tuned...

[aggie91]

Got a little shop time this weekend. Its been nice weather the last couple of weekends, so we have been doing yard maintenance. I have hauled one FULL trailer (7'x18' x 4') load of brush and vines to the local compost site and have another load on the trailer again, and that's not all of what we cut down...

Anyway, I sat the rear end down on jack stands to simulate it at ride height. Installed the PHB and marked it to cut the tube to length. I will get that cut and weld the tube adapter in this week before heading to Katie's Gym Meet.

I pulled out the main harness from under the dash and mounted it to a board to work out the routing of the new harness. I used some long construction screw to mark the spots where the wires branch off in different places. I used some rubber coated line clamps to hold the harness in place on the board and labeled the connectors so I don't get to confused.


From there, since this is a universal harness and not a single block for all the fuses, flashers and horn relay, I made a mounting plate that will use the two stock fuse panel mounting holes and one other where the cover plate for the column mounts to the firewall.


I used this plate to mount the main fuse block. I got it mounted and started separating wires into groups. I have about 10 wires that I will not use right away (or maybe not at all), so I will mark each and install a ring terminal on the wires and land them on a terminal strip along the bottom or right edge of the plate I made. I did pull one wire completely out of the fuse block that will not every be used. I then started routing wires to each of their respectful connections. I still have quite a few to do, but this was a good stopping point. I was able to get some of the connectors new for the harness, but I will have to pull a few off the OE harness and reuse. I will put new terminals on the wires and only use the plastic connectors from the OE harness. There are a few wires I will need to lengthen to the ignition switch since this "new" harness was used in a previous build and those wires where cut to length for that application.


Not sure if I will get shop time this week, but if I do, it will be to continue on this harness till its done and ready to install in the cab.

[stexag]

Doing some searches on LS installs and look what it led me to - another Aggie. Glad to be subscribed here now and catch some updates.

Drop in some time with some other like-minded Aggie brethren... https://texags.com/forums/46

Gig 'Em,
Cody '90

[aggie91]

Cool, thanks for checking in here. I will have to take a look at that forum.

Looks like we were both down in Aggieland at the same time. I was supposed to be class of '90, but ended up changing majors and knew more people in class of '91.

[aggie91]

Got my PHB measured, cut and welded together.






Headed out of town today for Katie's regional gym meet. See you guys next week...

[aggie91]

Got to spend a hour out in the shop last night. Got the wires for the ignition switch extended, colors don't match on all the wires, but they will be hidden in loom at some point. Started to figure out where I wanted to land the 3 terminal strips that I will be using to land the unused wires at this point. You can see one option for them in the picture, Not sure yet, but I think they will be lined up along the bottom of the attachment panel I made for the fuse panel or two vertically on the left side and one on the right side.

[greg65]

Originally Posted by aggie91

Got to spend a hour out in the shop last night. Got the wires for the ignition switch extended, colors don't match on all the wires, but they will be hidden in loom at some point. Started to figure out where I wanted to land the 3 terminal strips that I will be using to land the unused wires at this point. You can see one option for them in the picture, Not sure yet, but I think they will be lined up along the bottom of the attachment panel I made for the fuse panel or two vertically on the left side and one on the right side.

Looking good Karl. Keep the updates coming.

[aggie91]

I have been sneaking in some shop time when I can, I am still plugging away on the under dash harness.

I have some of the runs completed and the connectors installed. The ignition connector is fubar, so I just used the spade connectors on the switches terminals till I find another connector. I will put some heat shrink on them for now. The Engine Harness Connector, the Wiper Motor Connector, the Rear Light Harness Connector, the Light Switch Connector, the Dome Light Connector, and the Dimmer Switch Connector are all complete and covered with flex-braid covering.




I have the Column Connector and the Dash Harness Connector to do next.


After that I will do the Front Harness Connectors and then finish with the terminal strips for the unused circuits.


The Pate Swap Meet is this weekend at TMS, so I am headed up there tomorrow after work. I plan to be there with my boys the whole weekend. If you are there look for me, I'll be the one with a gray beard chilling under a white canopy along the fence in Zone 0, Block 200, Spaces 2066-2072.

[aggie91]

A week or so ago, I messaged another Forum member after reading his thread that we was replacing the complete wiring harness in his '65 to find out what he planned to do with the old stuff he pulled out. He responded that we was going to use some of the connectors and then the rest was going in the trash. I offered to pay the shipping if he would send it to me once he was done with his.

Monday I received a package from Member dsterley, it was the harness he was tossing out. Opened up the package and right on top was two of the connectors I had been looking for online with no luck. They both where in better shape than mine, so that alone was worth the effort and shipping. Thanks again to Dominick for working with me on this and sending it to me!



Got some shop time last night so I worked on the harness trying to get that part completed. I need to be able to move the truck in and out of the shop now for some other projects that need attention before summer gets here...

I removed the ignition switch connector I needed from the harness that was sent to me and got that one finished up.


Here is what my connector looked like. Notice the melted spot at the red wire...There is damage on the other side too...


Next I finished up the main forward harness connector that is on the driver side of the firewall. I used a new plug and grommet from American Autowire.


Continuing on, I did the column connector that is for the turn signals, the horn and the brake light switch. There are 3 terminals of this harness that are done differently than the OE wiring since that have 3 wires in each terminal. My crimps are OK, but not the best on those, so I am going to solder them tonight (hopefully) before pushing them into the connector.


Lastly, I wanted to do the dash harness connector but ended up breaking the one on the harness sent to me, I now know why Dominick did not pull off the one plug and just cut the wires on that one...so I need to remove the OE one and re-use it. I got all the wires cut to length and decided to call it a night. Hopefully I can get it done tonight.


I am getting closer to getting this pig running and driving on its own power...

[The1960APE]

It pains me just to look at the wiring.....LOL, We had 65 hours in wiring mine!

[dsterley]

Glad you were able to use some of the harness.

[aggie91]

This past weekend I was able to get some good time in and got the under dash harness finished to my liking. I still need to get some split flexible braided loom for some of it, but I'm OK with it for now.

Here is the completed harness on the floor before I installed it into the truck. The lone tan wire is the power for the cigarette lighter which I don't have yet.


Close up of the fuse panel mounted with the terminal blocks for things not used yet in this truck. I do plan for some of them at some point...I still need to make the labels for each of those 11 circuits.


Here it is under the dash mounted to the firewall...


I connected most of it, at least enough to see if my power to the PCM and starter where correct. Those checked out, so I used the key to fire up the truck for the first time since putting in the LS.

I tried a the lights, but those did not work, but they are not all hooked up either. Looks like I have a bit of trouble shooting to do...

At least I can drop the truck on the ground and move it in and out of the shop on it's own now. I still have a bit to do on the rear pan hard mounts and the rear shocks need to be mounted before that part of the suspension is road worthy. Items left to get done include the couple above, mount the front clip and hood, wire up the headlights with relays, wire up the front turn signals and get the rest of the electrical issues sorted out. Not sure when that will all happen, but MY plan is to take this heap to C01's in the Park this September.

For now, this truck gets put on the back burner for a month or so. Momma wants her boat ready for the lake by memorial day weekend, so you know what they say about Momma, "If Momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy". After the boat, I got to get Owen's truck in the shop to get it finished up to be ready for his 16th B-day in July. It is getting lowered, new wheels and tires, and a seat cover and headliner along with a general clean up of the interior before July. We plan to take it and Korbin's truck to the event in September too.

[aggie91]

quick update...

No real work has been done on the truck. I had to get it out to clean the mess I call a shop and to move the boat in, so I finished up a few items underneath and put it on the ground. The throttle cable/linkage is not right, so I only get a little above idle with the pedal. I did manage it get it out and moved in the yard under its own power. I set the fenders on and took this pic.



I had to move it again later to another spot in the yard so Owen could finish mowing. Later that evening we put the hood on so the engine bay can stay dry if it rains again...