norms 55 chevy pu build

[washington blue]

Been a while, usually I don't work on stuff during the summer and this summer I didn't do much, but I did a few little things. Fixed a couple holes behind the seat and altered my gas pedal to fit my floor.

[dsraven]

Looks good.
The drive by wire is so much easier to modify without worrying about how the mods may affect the throttle cable like the older setups.

[washington blue]

I decided to drop a rock on my leg this August so with a busted tibia I took a couple months off. I do not recommend doing that, lol. Now I'm 99% better so I'm playing again. I thought some hoses would be good to do so here's some pics. Got some adapters for the different sizes between rad and engine and 1 adapter had a fitting for the steam hose, very handy

[washington blue]

I did some heat and AC hoses, I got the AC hoses laid out then I cut them and took them to a local shop to get them crimped. They seem to fit nicely. I made a H thing in my heater hoses, I was told the water pump should have water flow all the time and the H guarantees it will. Not a real clean look but the hood will be closed 99% of the time, lol. The heat actuator is after the H so I am going to hope that water will go through the heater and not take the shortcut back to the pump when it is open.

[washington blue]

I put a trans cooler on the outside of the frame on the pass side. It is 20 inches long and I spaced it out from the frame 1 inch. It is a double pass thing so the oil goes to the back end and returns to the front for 40 inches of travel inside the thing. I used a pair of 4L60E adaptors.

[washington blue]

Finally, yesterday I spent some time moving the pass side exhaust sensor. There was a plug in the pipe when I built the exhaust, but when I put the sensor in there was only a 1/4 inch between the sensor and the frame. I took the exhaust apart and cut and rotated the sensor a few degrees and re-welded it and re-assembled the exhaust. Now I have a couple inches between sensor and frame, that's better. I did not think to take a before pic.

[Jason 56]

You do good work! You’re making great progress.

[washington blue]

Thanks, set a overflow tank in place to see how it would fit. It's one I have from another project I did years ago. I think it will work. It's not bolted in yet but the main thing is it fits in that space.

[dsraven]

Nice tank. Is it just a catch can or does it have a dip tube so rad can draw fluid back in when needed? If dip tube style check your rad cap to ensure it has a gasket under the top as well as the seal on the end, otherwise it doesnt seal against the top of the rad neck so it will puke fluid out but not be able to draw back in

[washington blue]

Originally Posted by dsraven

Nice tank. Is it just a catch can or does it have a dip tube so rad can draw fluid back in when needed? If dip tube style check your rad cap to ensure it has a gasket under the top as well as the seal on the end, otherwise it doesnt seal against the top of the rad neck so it will puke fluid out but not be able to draw back in

Thanks, It does not show in the picture but there is a 90 degree fitting in the bottom that a hose attaches to, which then goes to the radiator fitting under the radiator cap.I will be sure to install a new cap so all the seals and valves are new, just to be safe.

[washington blue]

I bought a wire harness from PSI and I started putting it in place to see how everything fits. I have to replace the O2 sensors on the exhaust I guess since they have to be compatible. I found I have a 6 pin plug for the throttle on the harness and it is an 8 pin on the engine. A local tuning shop said that is an easy fix and they will make me an adaptor.

[washington blue]

I am getting ready to make mounts for all the boxes that will be under the dash. I thought it would be a good idea to plug in the red and blue plugs into the ECM to see where everything would comfortably fit. The wires take up space and I have to allow for that. I found the blue long plug goes right in, but but but the red long plug does not. The ridges on the plug do not align with the slots in the ECM, dang. Guess I will have to send PSI an e-mail and ask what to do. This engine is from a 2005 pickup and the harness papers say it fits a05-07 LS2 24x engine with drive by wire, so I'm stumped.

[washington blue]

Kinda roughed in my Dakota Digital stuff today just to get an idea how it goes.

[washington blue]

Sent an e-mail to PSI and they said that the harness I have fits 05 to 07 car engines like the corvette and will not work with my 05 pickup ecm. I am doing research to see if I can just change out the ecm since all the plugs fit the engine.

[washington blue]

Ended up getting a new ( to me )ECM for 65 bucks instead of a new harness for 675 bucks, seemed like the thing to do. Made a mount for it above the steering and brake pedal. the mount is not the most beautiful thing in the world but it fits beautifully and only I and you guys will ever see it, lol.

[washington blue]

Mounted the switch for the Dakota Digital gauges. I'm told I can change what the gauges show with the switch. To the right of the switch is the gas pedal plug in and it plugs in nicely to the PSI wiring harness, cool.

[washington blue]

Got the new O2 sensors PSI recomended to use and put them on. Also got a 70 amp relay for my Lincoln Mark 8 fan.

[washington blue]

Made a mount for the PSI fuse block. Also made a mount for the Painless harness I have for all the non engine stuff. I made these mounts so the blocks will slide on and off if I need to get behind them with a wire. I welded them on so no bolts show on the firewall side. The blue plastic is where the Dakota Digital boxes will mount.

[washington blue]

Here's a couple pics of the finished product. I also got a 4 wire brake switch so the torque converter lock up knows to unlock when I tap the brake pedal. Wiring is not my strong point by far, other than fixing a mouse chewed wire on a farm machine, or re-doing an older car with no computers. Lots to learn I guess.

[washington blue]

I Found the perfect spot for the drive by wire gas pedal black box. The PSI harness plugs in one side and the pedal cable plugs into the other side. The little mounts allow me to remove this box just like the fuse blocks, by sliding it towards me.

[washington blue]

I got the knobs and switches installed. A little filing here and there did the trick. Sincd I have no choke or throttle knobs the 2 knobs on either side of the lighter are extra wiper switches so the holes are filled and look stock. Never know maybe some time I'll want a switch for something and I've got 2 installed, lol. about all that's left for mounting electrical, is the dimmer switch on the floor, I filled the hole in the floor so I have to figure out something different. I got an ashtray from E bay too.

[washington blue]

Added a disconnect switch and a distribution block

[washington blue]

Decided to get the bear claw latches put in. Everything went pretty well, just small adjustments here and there. The driver door is original 55 and the passenger door is newer so the interior panel on the driver door has 3/16 screws and the passenger door is 1/4 screws. Took me a while to figure out what the driver door had since I had no screws that size on hand.

[washington blue]

I have the wrong bolts in the inside panel as you can see, but they will do the job for now on the pass. side. I had trouble getting the interior handle to work, it kept binding and I was just not happy with what the instructions said to do so I welded a "tab" onto the inside handle pull rod. Now it works very smoothly. I also had to file all the splines on the rod the handle slides on to, they were just too course. They are new aftermarket.

[washington blue]

Ran some battery cables. It should be a cleaner thing when it is all done. I like the safety of the shut off switch since my garage is attached to my house.