Scott's 1972 Chevy K-20. A place to start.

[gerfunken]

Ok... color me perplexed right now...

So, after diagnosing some issues, I realize that I had mis-wired my FSS. Wanting to do it properly this time, I went ahead and got a relay, setting it up as directed in the diagram below:


When set up, I don't have any issues with the relay pulling the FSS, and the regular power holding it up. However, I have found that when it is working through the relay that there isn't enough juice going through the relay to actually crank the starter. To be certain, I changed the 85/86 and ran both combinations. In both situations, when I start the engine, I can hear the FSS pull, and it'll hold until I shut the engine off. And in both cases, the starter won't crank.

When I go back through and bypass the relay for the starter, it kicks over with no issues. The relay is 12-14v & 30 Amps, so I'm thinking that it should be strong enough...

Any thoughts?

The only other idea I have is to go back and hard-tie the pull line directly to the starter.

(Oh, and for the stupid trick of the evening, the cause of me going back to this is that I found I had my pull and hold lines backwards.)

[1985-GMC]

On the relay I think you can get a 40 amp version at Napa that you can try out but if that doesn't help I would step up to 12ga wire with all soldered connections.

If you go to the junk yard you can find a fuel filler neck cover that bolts inside the bed out of 73-87 blazers, I think it would work out pretty good for you.

[Dewey72]

Looks like it should work if connected like the diagram. Do you have 86 going to ground. And were is 85 getting power. Your not running the starter solenoid and the fass in series by chance? The volt drop would be to much. Thanks for the tank specs. Ill do some measuring soon.

[Dieselwrencher]

I've had 30 amp fuses on FSS's and they just pop. 40 amp ones work just fine though. I'd try a heavier realy and see what it does. And like Dewey said, don't share the power source on this circuit as it likes it's voltage.

[gerfunken]

Originally Posted by 1985-GMC

On the relay I think you can get a 40 amp version at Napa that you can try out but if that doesn't help I would step up to 12ga wire with all soldered connections.

If you go to the junk yard you can find a fuel filler neck cover that bolts inside the bed out of 73-87 blazers, I think it would work out pretty good for you.

I did swing by Napa on the way to work today to go with the 40 amp version. Not sure that I'll be able to get to it tonight, as I'm stuck at work till about 10PM tonight. The lines are all 12 gauge as it is, so that should be good. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Originally Posted by Dewey72

Looks like it should work if connected like the diagram. Do you have 86 going to ground. And were is 85 getting power. Your not running the starter solenoid and the fass in series by chance? The volt drop would be to much. Thanks for the tank specs. Ill do some measuring soon.

The 85/86 connections are just from the starter wire. One end comes from the block in the firewall, the other is to the starter.

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

I've had 30 amp fuses on FSS's and they just pop. 40 amp ones work just fine though. I'd try a heavier realy and see what it does. And like Dewey said, don't share the power source on this circuit as it likes it's voltage.

Let's keep my fingers crossed that the new relay will work without any issues.

[Dewey72]

Not sure the 40 relay will help but good upgrade. If I understand right the wire coming from the firewall goes to the fass relay 85 or 86 and then to the starter. if that is right it wont work. The wire out of the firewall most likely comes from the key switch and goes to the relay. The volt drop across the relay is 12 leaving none to the starter. Hook the hot wire from the fass relay to the s terminal, small wire on the starter and you will have a parallel circuit and should work good. Good luck.

[gerfunken]

Originally Posted by Dewey72

Not sure the 40 relay will help but good upgrade. If I understand right the wire coming from the firewall goes to the fass relay 85 or 86 and then to the starter. if that is right it wont work. The wire out of the firewall most likely comes from the key switch and goes to the relay. The volt drop across the relay is 12 leaving none to the starter. Hook the hot wire from the fass relay to the s terminal, small wire on the starter and you will have a parallel circuit and should work good. Good luck.

I see where you're going with this... key-start = straight to starter. Running a second line from the starter back to 85, then from 86 to ground. shoot, that makes sense.

[gerfunken]

<sigh>

So, got the part, got the info, realizing that I'm off to Cali for work tomorrow and won't be back till Friday morning. Then, if things go according to plan, I'll be packing again to head out to Johnson Valley for KOH for the week, playing around with this:

[ryanroo]

Well that sucks... HAH. KOH should be a real blast. ive been trying to get away for that for the last few years. this year, i think i'll go for the Baja 1000 prerun instead. maybe next year ill do KOH.

Have fun in johnson valley

[gerfunken]

Well, now that I'm back, I figure that it's only fair if I share some of the fun with you guys.

Start with Alec's VW 2.0 TDI powered rig. Not only is it front & rear steer, but the hydraulics the Nebraska farm boy put in there allow him to lengthen the wheelbase by roughly 2 feet as well as lift the body 12 inches.


Next is George's square body Bronco, which has seen some modifications over the years. Unfortunately he rolled his rig on our second day there, smashing the right front up, over, and down on a boulder. No injuries other than the shattered alternator, the radiator, some of the tubing, and George's pride.


And Finally, Paul's buggy, which also started as a '69 Bronco.


Heading out to SOS/Turkey Claw


Heading out to SOS/Turkey Claw


Trucks in the rocks.



Now, how about some live action shots? I'll spare you the videos where we had the camera mounted on top of the winch. The electric fan was so loud that it doesn't make the movies enjoyable. Additionally, it's a bit tough since you don't have an idea of perspective or size since you can't see any of the vehicle to help with. Lesson learned...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxr7qXHjZmU&feature...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8d9mslYn2nk&feature...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpF3hkYxDgc&feature...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMPYlyAtpBs&feature...

(Yes, that's a Unimog behind me. In hindsight, I should have gotten a couple more pictures of that thing.)

[gerfunken]

Ok, now for the picture-less update:

The transmission is all buttoned up. The new Lokar dipstick is in, and I don't have any fluid leaking out of the fill hole. -DONE

The PS/HB was giving me lots of issues, and it wouldn't get all of the air out of the system. I re-routed the return lines and have bypassed the cooler at this point, but I was able to get the system cleared up and am no longer burping PS fluid out of the pump. -DONE (well, sort of, but it's not causing problems anymore.)

Have an appointment on Friday to get the exhaust done. Yes, I'm outsourcing this one in the name of saving some time since I need to get it through emissions in the next two weeks.

[ryanroo]

Johnson valley looks like a blast! i am envious. hopefully when i get the 72 finished, i will have some time to bring the jeep into the garage and give it a small rebuild. then maybe it will be able to handle some of that kind of fun.

outsourcing the exhaust sounds like a great way to reduce the level of anger in a persons life!

[gerfunken]

Quick update, since that's all that I seem to have time for anymore.

Since the truck was out getting the exhaust on, I had time to work on another project. Coming back from the Goodguys car show in November, my '29 Ford started making an awful racket every time I put the clutch in. It was also getting a death wobble when I hit the brakes. I was able to pull it into the vacant space in the garage and get some time with it, greasing out the throw-out bearing and going through the front suspension.



After that, I was able to get the truck, so I got some pictures while it was still up on the lift. They did a decent enough job, but there's a couple of things that I would have done differently, and still may do. The first is that the exhaust runs in a single line from the turbo to the end, without any breaks/flanges to remove it in sections. That's something that I really don't appreciate, but it's easy enough to put one in. The second is that I don't really like how they routed the final piece at the rear of the truck. Not sure if I'll do anything about it or not. It's all 3", so pretty near stock form.





After that, I packed up the bags on Wednesday of last week and headed out for a "Boys Adventure Weekend."



First stop was Flagstaff, AZ, where I got some quality time with my brother in his garage. While there, I found a new clock that I've got to re-create:



He's got a 1976 Chevy K-20, and that was the original hubcap that was on the truck.

Finally, we turned around on Thursday and went out into the wilderness, just south of Sedona.

[gerfunken]

Well, the truck is registered until 02/2015… that was a little bit of a fight, but contacting the regional director of our emissions testing stations provided me the process for getting the truck registered as a diesel.

[Dieselwrencher]

That's a good deal. We don't have to mess with that here. Yet.....

[gerfunken]

Ok, not truck related, but a little bit of boasting here. Last December my wife disappeared for a week, as she had been selected to participate on a new show that the Food Network was going to put on. Well, they've finally announced the show, and I figured that I'd put it out there since we all love to eat.

America's Best Home Cook

It airs on April 13. Hope you all can join and root on another "truck guy's" wife.

[Roadhouse]

Cool thread and alot of good info. Congrats on the wife being on TV.

[gerfunken]

It's amazing that the dirtier I get when doing work on the truck the fewer pictures I take. This last weekend was spent trying to address the leak in the shaft between the PS & Vacuum pumps. It would seem that I really wanted to challenge myself, as I didn't want to have to drain the PS pump. While it shouldn't have been, it ended up being close to a 5 hour job trying to get that assembly separated in the engine bay and just bring the vacuum pump and bracket out of there.

While it looks like I addressed that leak, I got home and parked it to find that I'm now leaking oil out of the oil pan itself. It would seem as if the gasket has failed. <sigh> Moving along here, although it seems like it's going slower than normal.

[ERASER5]

Az could be South or West. Cat is likely a womans name, but Tyler just might be too. Buy then, The compass designations may not have anything to do with acctual residence. Sooooooo, which one is she? Inquiring minds and all.

PS Do you ever refer to your self as Great Scott! ? I know I do! ~ another Scott

[gerfunken]

Originally Posted by ERASER5

Az could be South or West. Cat is likely a womans name, but Tyler just might be too. Buy then, The compass designations may not have anything to do with acctual residence. Sooooooo, which one is she? Inquiring minds and all.

PS Do you ever refer to your self as Great Scott! ? I know I do! ~ another Scott

AZ falls under the West. The irony being that she's Sheri West... Tyler Florence is their mentor chef.

There's a video clip here that they've put on the media promotion site.
Video Promotion
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MP3Lc6Dbomc&feature=youtu.be

The wife's lovely promo shot is here:


And another...



And, for the final comment, I don't go by Great Scott, but I have used Adequate Scott in the past.

[Dieselwrencher]

Scott, I wish her the best of luck on the show!

[gerfunken]

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

Scott, I wish her the best of luck on the show!

LOL, I guess it's a problem when you KNOW what the outcome actually is. All I can say is that she gets past the first episode... after that.. well....

[gerfunken]

Originally Posted by gerfunken

It's amazing that the dirtier I get when doing work on the truck the fewer pictures I take. This last weekend was spent trying to address the leak in the shaft between the PS & Vacuum pumps. It would seem that I really wanted to challenge myself, as I didn't want to have to drain the PS pump. While it shouldn't have been, it ended up being close to a 5 hour job trying to get that assembly separated in the engine bay and just bring the vacuum pump and bracket out of there.

While it looks like I addressed that leak, I got home and parked it to find that I'm now leaking oil out of the oil pan itself. It would seem as if the gasket has failed. <sigh> Moving along here, although it seems like it's going slower than normal.

Well, it's been a while since I've been able to do any work on the truck, but I got after it a little bit yesterday. The oil leak took a bit to track down, but I found that when I reattached the PS and Vacuum pump, I managed to break the oil pressure sending unit.



And the mess that it left under the truck. There's a little bit of AT fluid mixed in, but that issue was already addressed by tightening up a fitting.

[gerfunken]

So, I just got back from a little bit of an adventure. My dad was out teaching in Princeton for the last year, and it was time for him to return home to Arizona. Being in for an adventure, my brother and I flew out to New Jersey to do a boy's road trip all the way back. We ended up driving over 2600 miles, through 12 states, in about 5 days. My dad's got a Toyota FJ and had just purchased a little tear-drop trailer. While we didn't stay in the trailer on the way back, it made for lots of interesting conversation with the locals when we stopped and 3 guys, all 6' and > 250lbs would pull.

The route:


The boys getting ready to crawl inside the FJ.


And the ride.


For the first part of the trip, we decided to take the scenic route, though Amish country. Being from AZ, we don't see many of these signs.


And, not long after that, we found this poor guy broken down, getting loaded onto a trailer. Looks like a great restoration..


The first stop was going to be Gettysburg, PA. Both my dad and I served in the armed forces, and my brother is a little bit of a history buff, so we knew that we couldn't pass up the opportunity to stop and visit. It's amazing to think of those three days of battle, and is a little bit of a sobering experience. The fact that it was grey and drizzling helped to enhance those feelings. The pictures probably don't do the site justice, but here's a sampling of those that I took.

































We got back on the road, and made our way to Cumberland, MD to spend the first night there.

[superduty_59]

1) first off I really enjoyed reading your build thread. I've been to other states than Ohio but a long time ago and don't remember much of it so seeing pics of AZ is awesome. You chose the best engine in my opinion. It's hard to beat a p-pumped 12v.

2) The Dodge you cut up looked really nice (even though I don't care for the wrapper around the Cummins engine). I bet you paid a good amount of $. Around here a rusted to ****, beat to **** and back 4x4 would cost $5000.
What did you do with the rest of the Dodge? Craigslist? Scrapyard?
3) What did you do with the engine/trans/t-case/axles out of the 72?
4) I don't have emissions testing but just curious. Do you still have to test now that it's a diesel?
5) Most of you non farm type tend to throw a SBC or even a BBC in a truck like yours and call it good but you found out our secret.... Diesels makes more power, is more fuel efficient, less parts, more reliable and sounds better doing it!
6) You have a good looking/sounding truck to be proud of. Keep working away at your list! More pics and more videos!