Markeb01 Build Thread

[Ta2Don]

Too Funny!!! Sounds like some of our antics in the Azores...

[markeb01]

After days of analysis, I finally decided on an inexpensive dash camera for the truck. What convinced me was the following excellent YouTube video comparison:

Comparison of 5 Chinese Dash Cameras | HD and SD...

Earlier I had almost decided on the GoPro3, even thought the cost is between $200 & $500 depending on options. And even though it’s widely recognized as the standard in motorsports video, there are almost as many technical problems/complaints as praises with the current model. Many experts are recommending the earlier GoPro2 model until the bugs are sorted out. Then I started looking at how often I’d really use it versus the investment, and decided a cheap one will do just fine for now. Should be here in a couple of weeks so we’ll see what happens then. Hopefully the weather will warm up and improve enough to take the truck out and give it a good workout.

On another note, I got my birthday present a few months ahead of schedule. Ever since I decided to switch to an aircraft clock back in 2007 I’ve been looking for an A13 mechanical aircraft clock in excellent condition for a price I could afford. One of my lifelong passions has been mechanical clocks. Wall clocks, mantel clocks, grandfather clocks, etc, I like them all. Then I discovered aircraft clocks which turn out to be very popular collector items, making them sought after and expensive. After years of looking at beat up worn out examples, or pristine examples way beyond my price range - I stumbled onto the perfect specimen at a reasonable price and bought it immediately. Not only has it been recently serviced by an expert with 25 years experience in aircraft clock repair, it’s also NOS and has never been installed and appears as brand new. I’m looking forward to it arriving (perhaps by this weekend) and getting it mounted. My enthusiasm for new toys hasn’t really diminished all that much with age.

The new/old mechanical model is replacing a modern electric clock which keeps perfect time all year long. Unfortunately the face is rather small and set almost ¾” deep into the case and it isn’t the model I ordered, something I didn’t realize until I had installed it and marked it up cosmetically so I couldn’t return it. The major difference being the clock I ordered had the setting knob at the 5:00 position leaving the face in full view. The one they supplied has the knob right in the middle. Combined with the deep set face, the knob blocks the numbers on the right side from the driver seat making it useless at certain times of day.

Here’s the electric model that’s already been turned in to a computer desk clock:



And here’s what is replacing it:



The mechanical clock also has a stopwatch (chronometer) function which may prove to be fun on day trips. Combined with the trip odometer we can track both distance and time at the push of two buttons. I found a tech drawing on the internet which I reduced to exact size and printed out to use as a template for trimming the face plate to fit the contours on the back of the new clock.



When it arrives installation will take about 30 seconds for instant gratification!

[Vernski]

Way cool clock Mark I like the full numeration w/5 second spacing for the second hand. That is the ultimate clock for sure....Vernski

[markeb01]

The clock arrived today on schedule. Another few minutes of trimming was required on the mounting plate before the clock slipped in. I love the way this thing looks and works. The winding mechanism has the solid feel of a safe lock. This is one birthday present I’ll certainly remember!



And here is how easy it is to read from the driver seat:



About the only thing left I have to finish now is the chrome rear window bead lock when the weather warms up.

[Ta2Don]

Very Nice!!!

[markeb01]

This has turned out to be a pretty productive week so far.

Ever since I upgraded the fuel system I’ve been having fits trying to relearn how to start the truck. For 20+ years, if the truck had been driven within a day or two I simply pumped the pedal once or twice and it fired up nearly on the first rotation. After a few days without being used it became a bit more challenging. But usually enough pumping on the pedal would get it done eventually. I have an electric fast idle solenoid to keep it running, but I basically never used the choke except in the coldest of weather because it simply wasn’t needed.

That all changed with the fuel regulator. It appears after much analysis that the mechanical pump had been putting too much pressure into the carburetor all those years and overwhelmed the floats causing a constant rich condition. With that situation removed, the truck just didn’t want to start at all. I’d wait a few days between attempts, but almost every combination of choke and throttle wouldn’t result in starting.

Then I tried something I’d never done before. I pressed the gas pedal far enough to clear the fast idle linkage and pulled the choke all the way out. Voila! It fired right up. I tried it a few more times over several days and it fires immediately. It’s too rich and runs rough, but once started the choke can be shoved in about ½ way and the engine runs great. After all these years I’m happy to have a reliable and repeatable method to fire it up in a hurry.

2nd thing I’ve almost worked out is the timing of my new mechanical aircraft clock. It was running 1 minute fast every day, so I removed the cover to adjust the timing. To my amazement, there were no markings indicating which direction was fast or slow. I’ve never seen this in a mechanical watch or clock before. So I started experimenting and finally discovered which direction was which. The other problem being there is no scale marked on the mechanism to indicate the adjustment travel. I’ve never seen this before either. Making tiny adjustments with no reference to how much it has moved makes it very difficult to be accurate. Anyway after two weeks of daily adjustments I’m down to being only off a few seconds daily. I guess we’ll see whether I can get it any closer or not.

And finally, my inexpensive dash cams from China showed up today. They look like this:



I unpackaged one and set to figuring it out. Once I knew what I needed I ran to the store and picked up a class 10, 32GB SD card for each. One is going in my truck and the other is going in our daily driver. The one in the Honda is going behind the mirror, but I think I might install the one in the truck on the back window for a wider field of view. I can conceal most of the camera on the outside by applying a decal over the mount, which will be at the bottom of the window.

The instructions are useless, written in converted English, Russian, and Chinese, but I had the menus figured out within a few minutes. I adjusted all the features on the camera and even managed to upload a couple of test video files to the computer.

The only bummer is that we have another storm coming in tonight on top of the ice and snow already on the ground. So I probably won’t be racing around any time soon showing off how cool it works. It’s supposed to be sunny by the weekend, so perhaps I can get some start up and driving around the block footage if the roads get plowed. I’m looking forward to having some fun with the camera in the truck.

[1Bad62Pro/Street]

We will be waiting for the videos!

1963 chevy in cab drag race - YouTube

[markeb01]

Well I spent yesterday afternoon installing the dash cam in the truck. I decided to mount it on the back window to provide a wider viewing angle. This should also keep direct sun glare off the lens:



I slapped on a left over front fender Moon Equipped decal to minimize visibility from the outside. A smaller version may have looked better but this was what I had available:



A power outlet was added behind the driver seat and the wiring was plugged in and easily concealed behind the rear upholstery panel.

I’m looking forward to the sunshine we’re supposed to get this weekend. Hopefully I can get some decent video. Now all I have to do is figure out how to upload video files to YouTube!

[markeb01]

Okay try not to give me too much grief, but here’s my first YouTube video clip. It just shows the truck driving down the street and accelerating. I also discovered this is the first time I’ve actually driven it since the new fuel system, and the fuel pressure crapped out in 3rd gear so I had to back off. I’ll have that all sorted out shortly and give it another try.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLNQc...ature=youtu.be

[LostMy65]

Thanks for letting me ride passenger.
Posted via Mobile Device

[1Bad62Pro/Street]

Tearing up the streets & marking territory in his bad mamma jamma 1960 GMC.
Markeb01's Ride

1960 GMC 350 4 SPEED - YouTube

Grab a hold of something @ 1:20 time frame!

[markeb01]

Thanks for embedding the link. I didn't have any luck finding anything but the text link I was provided by YouTube.

[1Bad62Pro/Street]

Originally Posted by markeb01

Thanks for embedding the link. I didn't have any luck finding anything but the text link I was provided by YouTube.

No problem bud.
When you copy and paste just use:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLNQcAWEnDg&feature=youtu.be
and that will work. Just leave off the &feature=youtu.be.
I'm going to see your truck one day when I see my family in Vancouver, WA.
Maybe at a car show around Spokane or Vancouver, WA.
Anyhoot.... She sounds good bud!!!!!
Especially when you got on her a little @ 1:20!
My favorite part!

[Ta2Don]

Very Nice Mark, can't wait to see it once you get the fuel pressure sorted...

[likaroc13]

Originally Posted by LostMy65

Thanks for letting me ride passenger.
Posted via Mobile Device

x2, it was fun riding shotgun! sounds like a healthy ole truck as well...looking forward to more videos

[66-PMD-GMC]

Originally Posted by markeb01

Okay try not to give me too much grief, but here’s my first YouTube video clip. It just shows the truck driving down the street and accelerating. I also discovered this is the first time I’ve actually driven it since the new fuel system, and the fuel pressure crapped out in 3rd gear so I had to back off. I’ll have that all sorted out shortly and give it another try.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLNQc...ature=youtu.be

OK, this old desert rat want's to know what that white stuff is I see all over the sides of the road and else where in your video...??????

[piratexpress1369a]

great vid !!that look like you were close to the airbase ?

[markeb01]

Originally Posted by 66-PMD-GMC

OK, this old desert rat want's to know what that white stuff is I see all over the sides of the road and else where in your video...??????

Unfortunately in some parts of the country it’s still winter!

Originally Posted by piratexpress1369a

great vid !!that look like you were close to the airbase ?

Actually it’s out in the valley about 25 miles away. I’m hoping to get some new/better stuff in the next couple of days.

[66-PMD-GMC]

Originally Posted by markeb01

Unfortunately in some parts of the country it’s still winter!

It's winter here too my friend... was 49 when I got up at 5 am and will reach 72 again today... sweater weather for those of us who have over 4 decades of blood thinning experience in the 115-120 heat we get in the summer..
I do vaguely remember that snow stuff from my teen years in upper michigan...
Glad it is a memory..
Love the video ride in your truck... very nice!
I think 2 microphones mounted near the exhaust tips would really sound cool..

[markeb01]

I’ve spent most of the last few days out in the garage working to sort out the fuel starvation problem. It started right after I installed a mechanical fuel pressure gauge in the cab with an isolator on the firewall. This is what the engine looked like before the interior gauge was added:



I wasn’t really happy with the regulator because it cluttered up the intake manifold, but it was necessary since the new mechanical fuel pump was over-pressurizing the carb.

As part of the whole fuel system upgrade I also installed an electric fuel pump at the tank to use as a “booster” pump to fill the carb after sitting for long periods (which works great by the way). I thought it would be nice to have a fuel pressure gauge in the cab so I could see when the carb was full. Unfortunately installation of the mechanical interior gauge caused the engine to run erratically and completely flatten out at speed.

When I started debugging, this is what the intake looked like. It was a pretty straight forward layout (but messy and ugly). All I had done to the earlier arrangement was to add a T to the line for connection to the isolator on the firewall:



I thought perhaps the carb was running lean due to the reduced pressure, so I swapped the jets and metering rods to a richer combination. This resulted in no improvement and I’ll probably go back to the previous arrangement once I get everything else dialed in.

Seeming like a stupid idea since it was completely illogical, I disconnected the fuel pressure isolator from the regulator to see if that could possibly have any effect. I removed the T block fitting and reinstalled a hard line connecting the regulator directly to the carb. Out for another run it performed perfectly at wide open throttle up to 65 mph in 3rd gear (traffic didn’t allow any higher speed) It made no sense how an isolator/gauge could cause so much trouble, but I set to studying the problem.

After a couple of hours staring at the installation, it occurred to me perhaps the problem was in my layout. Compared to contemporary installations I had done mine differently. The main line from the pump enters the regulator from the bottom and there are two outlets provided. Most installations route one output to the gauge and the other to the carb, and in fact before I started fooling around with the interior gauge this is how mine was set up.

But when I added the interior pressure gauge, I simply inserted a T fitting on the carb side of the regulator. I got to thinking perhaps this arrangement was causing movement of the diaphragm to somehow disrupt the smooth flow of fuel to the carb inlet.

So yesterday I bent up all new lines and mounted the regulator at the back of the carb with one outlet going directly to the carb inlet with the other outlet dedicated to the isolator/gauge. I also vacuum filled the antifreeze side, and pressure bled the fuel side of the isolator. When I called it a night it looked like this, and I assumed I had solved the starvation problem.



A test run this morning saw it fall flat on its face again at 50 mph in third gear. Reintroducing the isolator/interior pressure gauge recreated the same exact failure.

At this point I can only deduce either the gauge or isolator (or both) are defective and are going to be returned. I’m also completely disenchanted with any accessory device that can make the vehicle unreliable so I just won’t have an inside fuel pressure gauge (at least for now). I would have picked up an electric version, but it is not offered in the Traditional Chrome series of gauges to match all the others. And it really isn’t needed anyway, it was just going to be a nice-to-have.

So as of this afternoon, the engine now looks like this:



The isolator, tubing, and interior gauge have been removed and the direct mount mechanical gauge reinstalled on the backside of the regulator. A test run on this setup produced full power up to 72 mph in third gear when some minor popping occurred. I don’t think this is related to fuel starvation, it felt more like ignition breakdown since my plugs, distributor cap, etc are old and I don’t generally push the engine this hard. But now that I’m working on the problem I’ll keep going until I figure this issue out as well.

I’m glad I moved the regulator to the rear of the carb for no other reason than it looks better with far less clutter. I also prefer that I moved the fuel level and vacuum gauges back up in the dash cluster, making them easier to read. I’m not sure how I’ll reconfigure the lower 3 hole accessory gauge panel. I guess that leaves me with something else to play with. No wonder hot rods are never finished!

[TR65]

Hey Mark,

Was the interior fuel gauge fluttering when the engine ran erratically?

I am thinking that maybe a resonance is set up between the fuel pump pulsing, the regulator and the isolator diaphragm. Like happens with AC systems. If that was the case a very small line (like for the oil pressure) to the isolator might fix it.

Just a thought. Beautiful work as usual.

TR

[198plus]

Mark I really enjoyed the ride around the block in you truck, it really rides nice and is very smooth. By the way I took two more rides around the block, since I enjoyed the first one so much !!!!!!

[markeb01]

Originally Posted by TR65

Hey Mark,

Was the interior fuel gauge fluttering when the engine ran erratically?

I am thinking that maybe a resonance is set up between the fuel pump pulsing, the regulator and the isolator diaphragm. Like happens with AC systems. If that was the case a very small line (like for the oil pressure) to the isolator might fix it.

Just a thought. Beautiful work as usual.

TR

Yes indeed the needle bounced around from 5-7 psi with the engine idling, and when I went to wide open throttle the pressure reading always dropped to zero. It would then take 30 seconds or more to recover to a normal pressure reading.

Thanks very much for the tip, that never occurred to me. Fortunately it won't take more than a few minutes to put it all back together to test the theory. I realiy appreciate the input. Regards, Mark.

[markeb01]

Originally Posted by 198plus

Mark I really enjoyed the ride around the block in you truck, it really rides nice and is very smooth. By the way I took two more rides around the block, since I enjoyed the first one so much !!!!!!

Thanks for the feedback! I'm hoping to have some better footage within the next day or two. I'm intending to include a walk around showing the outside and engine compartment, a segment on the interior, another one showing how easy it is to start cold with the electric pump, and a full throttle charge where I don't get passed by some errant Honda!

[Ta2Don]

Keep up the great work, love the detail in which you explain what you are experiencing. Looking forward to the upcoming videos. Stay warm.��
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