What did you do with your truck today, Part 3

[mr48chev]

Won't work, guys like that always see things they don't like about someone else's place as a dent in their "property values"

When I lived in Texas in the 70's there were a group of old biddies who road around town in the early evenings in the new Cadillac that one of them owned (she traded every year) and would write down things they didn't think were appropriate about folks yards or cars, boats or motorhomes parked in said yards and give the notes to the city manager. Needless to say he paid me a visit or two due to their rides around town.

[mr48chev]

Won't work, guys like that always see things they don't like about someone else's place as a dent in their "property values"

When I lived in Texas in the 70's there were a group of old biddies who road around town in the early evenings in the new Cadillac that one of them owned (she traded every year) and would write down things they didn't think were appropriate about folks yards or cars, boats or motorhomes parked in said yards and give the notes to the city manager. Needless to say he paid me a visit or two due to their rides around town.

[mick53]

I live on a chain of 7 lakes. Since I have lived here I bought all my adjoining properties, tore down the old houses and built a new one for me 10 years ago. He is the eye sore now. The county loves me. I have tried to get along with him to no avail. I even gave him a free AKC Basset hound puppy a few years ago. All my vehicles and boats whether they run or not are registered. I need to do some welding but I'm out of argon. I don't know if the welding supply is open tomorrow. I think I will buy another tank so I have a spare if they aren't too expensive.

[Hank141]

She is my Daily Driver (1971 GMC) so plugged in the heater for the oil pan, then discovered the Napa fuel pump I installed was leaking like crazy. Next I shut her down and ran in the house to get a fuel pump overnighted here. Looks like I might be walking to work tomorrow.

[mick53]

I finished my alternator bracket. I ordered a tensioner bar that I might be able to make work. I also ordered a water pump pulley that probably wont work for $250 but it's made in the good old USA, San Diego where I did my Navy. Go America. If I can't make it work at least they speak English. They were the only people that could give me all the dimensions I needed. I may have to cut it down or move the water pump up and use a spacer but it's a good start.

[56 3100]

hydro boost brake lines plumbing

[MiraclePieCo]

Performed a re-torque on my valve covers, intake manifold, and exhaust manifolds today. They were really loose from gasket compression. Then cleaned the paint from under my oil pressure gauge ground wire bolt; this actually increased the reading by about 10 lbs.

[BAM55]

It was a good day the buddies helped me get the bed on my truck and we kicked it and ate barbecue.

[Black_Sheep]

I polished my valve covers, installed new VC gaskets and fired the truck up for the first time since late October.

[mick53]

I made my tensioner rod for my alternator. I bought the parts from McMaster-Carr. I still need to trim the alternator to square it up to the engine.

[Johns327]

BAM55, that truck of yours is kick butt. Get some glass in it and get it on the road!

For those of you who are not in So Cal, look away, we have had some beautiful weather and I’ve been busy hitting the Cars and Coffee meets around here since the shows are closed. Lots of folks jonesing to drive around their rides. That Ford pickup has a 427 in it. Very healthy and very nice.

[BAM55]

Originally Posted by Johns327

BAM55, that truck of yours is kick butt. Get some glass in it and get it on the road!

Thanks man. Getting that bed on and having the truck complete for the last time is a milestone for me. Now it is just the little things which also take time. Glass will be the last thing I do, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

[Trucker79]

Go Bam55! Looks good! I haven't seen it since I gave up insta. You are a true inspiration!

[BAM55]

Originally Posted by Trucker79

Go Bam55! Looks good! I haven't seen it since I gave up insta. You are a true inspiration!

Thank you

[jweb]

I picked my truck up from the detail shop. Paint correction, Ceramic coating and clear bra on the running boards.

I’m hoping to drive it a lot more this summer and now it’s ready to go.

[BAM55]

Originally Posted by jweb

I picked my truck up from the detail shop. Paint correction, Ceramic coating and clear bra on the running boards.

I’m hoping to drive it a lot more this summer and now it’s ready to go.

Jweb, she a beauty.

[vintovka]

OT: Reading about all this neat work makes me want to work on and drive the 54 so bad it hurts. Can't bring it up to our new place until we have a place to store it out of the weather, Sitting here in new place waiting for new 26x24 garage slab to harden up. I put in order for metal building but wish me luck as they are announcing 35 to 40 percent increase in steel prices across the board. Think I'm locked in with down payment but who knows. 54 is safely parked down at other house in the garage we built 2 years ago. Cost of that building was less than half of current prices!!!!!!!. Get your steel parts while you can!!

[mick53]

Originally Posted by vintovka

OT: Reading about all this neat work makes me want to work on and drive the 54 so bad it hurts. Can't bring it up to our new place until we have a place to store it out of the weather, Sitting here in new place waiting for new 26x24 garage slab to harden up. I put in order for metal building but wish me luck as they are announcing 35 to 40 percent increase in steel prices across the board. Think I'm locked in with down payment but who knows. 54 is safely parked down at other house in the garage we built 2 years ago. Cost of that building was less than half of current prices!!!!!!!. Get your steel parts while you can!!

I'm a general contractor. All this stimulus money is driving demand way up. My wholesale lumber prices are up 114% over this time last year. You did good buying when you did. I can only absorb so much then I have to pass it on. Wait for the $15 minimum wage and see what happens when I have to pay someone $15 an hour to carry lumber.

[vintovka]

Originally Posted by mick53

I'm a general contractor. All this stimulus money is driving demand way up. My wholesale lumber prices are up 114% over this time last year. You did good buying when you did. I can only absorb so much then I have to pass it on. Wait for the $15 minimum wage and see what happens when I have to pay someone $15 an hour to carry lumber.

Well aware of all of this. I expect this part of the forum will go dead when prices make it near impossible to continue to custom build anything or buy anything they need, period. I have no doubt many will ask "what happened" when SHTF.

[mick53]

I have been trying to figure out my water pump pulley. Seldom does anyone make what I need or want. My plan "A" is usually to find out what is close that I can alter to make work. I do my best to avoid plan "B". This is a 8 rib pulley so that doesn't help the choices. I got these from ID Designs in So-cal. They make them there. They provided me with all the mechanical drawings. Nobody else I contacted could even give me the offset. They just wanted the application. When I said blown Chevy 292 1973 they were oddly stumped. Sorry this might get a little long. When BHJ made my custom damper it required a 7.5" pulley to accommodate the design. My high flow water pump likes to live between 500 and 5000 RPM's. So I needed my water pump pulley to be as large as possible with about 6.125" to play with. The first one I bought was 6.375". I thought I could shave it down a little and maybe move the water pump up a little. That was a dumb idea. Moving the water pump up would be a major hassle. So I went through to drawings and called David back. We chose the second one that is 5.90". The second one has the groove delete option so I will have to scratch those in. Both pulleys have the same thickness on the outer ring so strength should not be a problem when I cut the grooves in. I also bought an .800" spacer that might just work as is by pure luck. The folks at ID Designs sent me the second pulley at no charge with a return shipping label for the first one. The second one was about $30 more than the first but no charge even though they gave me a nice discount to start with. These are top quality parts. Thank you for your time I like to give credit where credit is due. Just like Johnny Cash it's one piece at a time.

[mick53]

I still can't decide if I should try to cut the grooves in my $280 pulley myself of take to a machine shop. She's an eight ribber. So I played with doing it today on a piece of scrap. I have the specs. It's 40 degrees with a .015 radius and spaced at .140. I have a bunch of cobalt tools that I bought off ebay and found one close that I ground at 40 degrees and then fit it to the other pulleys. If I take it in they are going to want $100-$200 and take a week or two to do it. I think I can pull this off with a little more practice. I got some chatter but haven't set the speed right yet and probably should come in at 39 degrees or something instead of straight. I'm going to order a Gates belt for comparison while I make it. I'm just using a piece of tape to measure it. I hope that works. It looks like I have about 120 degrees contact on all the pulleys. Is that enough for the alternator? I was hoping by going 8 rib to avoid a tensioner. Thank you for your time.

[DransportGarage]

Personally, I would do it myself if I had the lathe. You will get much less chatter from the real part if you can use an inside chuck on the pulley.

[mick53]

Originally Posted by DransportGarage

Personally, I would do it myself if I had the lathe. You will get much less chatter from the real part if you can use an inside chuck on the pulley.

Good point. I have way too much stick out but I didn't want to cut it and waste it. Is it necessary to come in at an angle like cutting threads? I will put the 4 jaw on for the real part from the inside. I think on a 60 degree thread you come in at 29 degrees so maybe 19 degrees? Another big question is if I pull this off, should it be polished or black like the other 2 pulleys. The head and valve cover will be polished and the 6-71 and carbs are polished. I will have to call them to find out what finish is on there now.

[DransportGarage]

Originally Posted by mick53

Good point. I have way too much stick out but I didn't want to cut it and waste it. Is it necessary to come in at an angle like cutting threads? I will put the 4 jaw on for the real part from the inside. I think on a 60 degree thread you come in at 29 degrees so maybe 19 degrees? Another big question is if I pull this off, should it be polished or black like the other 2 pulleys. The head and valve cover will be polished and the 6-71 and carbs are polished. I will have to call them to find out what finish is on there now.

I think I would come straight in, but I'm not an expert here. You're not really cutting a thread. It's a necking cut, so I'd plunge in straight and pull out straight.

With all the bling you've got going on, it has to shine! I'd call too, to be sure what the part finish is, but I'm 90% sure it's powder coated. Maybe someone here could chime in on the best way to remove powder coat, or YouTube it.

I'm sure you know this, but don't over-clamp the part and distort it. Be sure also that the pulley will be beefy enough after the machining.

[mick53]

Originally Posted by DransportGarage

I think I would come straight in, but I'm not an expert here. You're not really cutting a thread. It's a necking cut, so I'd plunge in straight and pull out straight.

With all the bling you've got going on, it has to shine! I'd call too, to be sure what the part finish is, but I'm 90% sure it's powder coated. Maybe someone here could chime in on the best way to remove powder coat, or YouTube it.

I'm sure you know this, but don't over-clamp the part and distort it. Be sure also that the pulley will be beefy enough after the machining.

First of all thank you. Secondly don't be sure I know anything. I had originally bought a 6.375" 8 rib pulley that I haven't returned yet that was just a little too big to fit. I then bought this one that is 5.90". I believe it's for a reverse rotation Ford. The uncut ring is the same thickness (.250") as the ring on the cut one. I also ask them about it. They said "go for it" It's ID Designs in SoCal and they make their own stuff. Go American!