Markeb01 Build Thread

[markeb01]

Thanks for the comments Don.

Last night I reinstalled and connected everything but the hose joining the regulator to the isolator.

This morning I was at House of House in Spokane first thing when they opened. For only $18 they made me up a custom braided steel line with A/N fitting on one end and 1/8” male pipe on the other. I love that place, they do fantastic work and are really inexpensive compared to Summit and Jegs. It took about 2 minutes to install the hose and another minute to bleed the fuel side of the system. I must admit it sure looks nicer with the matching braided line compared to the big ugly rubber version:





A lengthy test drive later confirmed the big hose was the problem. Special thanks to TR65 for saving all my hard work and investment. I was ready to move on, and your input was the exact solution to the problem. The fuel pressure needle now holds steady and there is minimum drop under WOT, with no interference to engine operation.

We hit the road to fully warm the engine and save a few bucks on gas further from the house. Then it dawned on me the old gas could be part of the stuttering problem at high rpm. My tank holds 33 gallons and takes weeks or months to use up in winter. Most of the time I add Stabil, but I don’t remember for sure if there was any currently in the tank. The engine liked the fresh gas and responded with no hesitation at 5,000 rpm.

Here are a couple of videos we took today. The first one is nothing more than showing how nice it starts with the electric boost pump:

02 Cold start - YouTube

Prior to the electric pump if the truck hadn’t been driven for a few days it could be like starting a radial aircraft engine. It could take several minutes or run the battery dead in the attempt. With the electric pump the engine fires essentially on the first rotation. It’s a remarkable improvement. Also note in the video – the good looking guy walking in front of the truck is actually me, but because I’m using a cheap camera with a wide angle lens it makes me look old, fat, and gimpy with grey hair!

I goofed up again on the second video by not paying attention to where it was in the 2 minute recording cycle. What I should have done is turned the camera off and on again when I was ready to start. The result being there isn’t really anything interesting until 1:38 into the segment:

80+ mph in 4th - YouTube

This being the first ever car video camera I’ve owned I’m still on the near end of the learning curve. There wasn’t much else to see anyway as I had just climbed to 80+ mph and needed to back off.

I also realized it’s time to pull the snow tires off. On some really rough roads the studs caused the chassis to shake enough to vibrate the camera and ruin the video(s). The front mags/tires will probably go on today, but I have a slow leak in the left rear tire that will need attention before the back pair can be mounted. I’ll also work on getting a couple of walk around videos added in the next few days.

Another unexpected priority popped up last night. I was working at the clean bench when the compressor kicked on behind me. Rather than starting up, it emitted a loud sound like a 220v electric motor straining against a load. Before the smell of smoke hit me I was already heading for the compressor with all haste. It probably took 2-3 seconds to snap off the switch and pull the power cord, and by then thick black smoke was pouring from the electric motor. The compressor is a Home Depot 60 gallon upright that has work flawlessly for 10 years. It’s the nicest compressor I’ve ever owned, and when I moved to this house I not only bought the compressor I piped copper hard lines all around the garage and into the basement.

There are 7 “drops” in the garage and 2 in the basement. For every drop there is a water trap/riser at the top and a ball valve drain at the bottom. It was designed to be my ultimate painting shop, something I wanted since I was old enough to drive. Ten years later I’ve painted my truck once along with various odds and ends and some furniture. Basically the whole system was overkill, as my enthusiasm for painting cars went south along with my youth. Bottom line being depending on the cost to repair the motor I may just go for an inexpensive 20 gallon model instead. I can still hook it up to the hard line system which is very convenient for filling tires and running air tools, but my days of painting cars is pretty much over.

[Jmorales3181]

That is a very nice truck you have there. I especially love the interior...reminds me of a 800 hp nova I worked on years back, very nice job you have done. nice videos as well sounds real healthy!makes me want to make my truck a standard.
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[likaroc13]

I agree, sounds really good! Glad you got everything sorted out. I look forward to the walk-around video. Years ago I did exhaust vids with my old '93 C-1500 & '88 S-10 Blazer, but I wish I had done walk-around vids of all my former rides (mainly as a personal keepsake). I'll definitely have to make one with my new (to me) Tahoe & "Black Betty" once she's up & running again.

[Chiva1971]

Great job, congratulations Mr. Mark!

[clemdaddy]

sounds great mark... that motor is golden.

[piratexpress1369a]

you can always keep the big tank and swap the motor ..great vid too

[McMurphy]

I had a similar mishap with my compressor lately.
It is a 33 gal Craftsman, and just over a year old, but the cooling fan had slipped it mounting bolt and my motor was overheating.
(no wonder it was starting to smell of hot metal and plastic eh?)

I was lucky enough to catch it before it destroyed my piece of equipment.
This is the first real compressor I have owned and I could not imagine living without one now.

Love your vids Mark!
Funny how the world looks black and white in winter time videos though !!

[Ta2Don]

Sorry to hear about the compressor, but the truck sounds GREAT and looks like a blast to drive...

[Bazooka]

Love the way that thing sounds running it thru the gears..

[Bomp]

Liked the vids. Felt like I was riding along.
Too bad about the compressor. When I set up my shop I bought a 80 gal.
Like following along on your build.

[markeb01]

Thanks for all the feedback and comments. The videos I’ve posted so far are full of flaws, but they do a pretty good job of conveying what it’s like being in the truck. There are no rattles or squeaks, its quiet enough for normal conversation. However when pushed, the power train makes so much mechanical music there’s no need for a radio.

The whole build concept centered around being easy to fix and having fun. I can’t afford to make it really fast or pay for breakage, and it isn’t geared for freeway speeds or long distance travel either. But it’s hard not to smile every time I climb in and pull out of the garage.

[McMurphy]

Originally Posted by markeb01

But it’s hard not to smile every time I climb in and pull out of the garage.

I think you nailed it right there brother !!

[markeb01]

Yesterday I had a puncture in my left rear tire repaired, and now have all the snow tires off and the 5 spokes and street tires reinstalled on the truck. And once again I learned something new.

I started manually breaking down and mounting tires and rims when I was about 13 years old and I’ve patched many punctures over the years. I’ve used glue patches and the kind that are set on fire to fuse them to the tire. I still own a bead breaker and several tire irons, but only use them now to mount new wheels on new tires as it is easy to do without marking the rims.

I don’t know when the tire plug was invented, but my first experience with them was back in the 70’s or 80’s when I had a nearly new tire ruined by a local shop that did a very poor repair from outside the tire with one. After that I never allowed a flat to be repaired with a plug.

So yesterday I dropped off the flat at a top notch repair shop I’m very familiar with and spoke directly with the owner about how I wanted it fixed. Imagine my surprise and delight (?!) when I got home and found a plug in the tire! It didn’t make any sense because the tire had obviously been dismounted and rebalanced. But to my self-serving credit, rather than getting mad I thought perhaps it was time to see if technology had changed or improved since I started repairing tires 50 something years ago.

Sure enough, current Tire Industry Association standards require a “system” to repair tires that mandates removing the tire from the rim, inspection of the tire, and installation of a “plug patch”, which includes resealing the inside of the tire after the patch is installed. Here’s a typical example. The colored part is a protective covering that is removed to make contact with the glue:



This is a very nice improvement over the old patch or plug choice, as the new techniques prevent water from intruding through the tread while the patch seals the inside of the tire. There are several YouTube videos explaining the process and merits of the new repair methods. This may be common knowledge to most guys, but it was new to me so I thought I’d share it.

And best of all, I wasn’t even charged for the repair!

[markeb01]

I’ve been thinking about adding courtesy lights to our truck ever since I added the MIP floor mat. The plan was to fab up a couple of simple brackets, snap in some left over bulb sockets, and wire them into the door switches. Scrounging through my electrical stuff I was surprised to discover I don’t have any surplus bulb sockets.

Looking through the sockets available at Napa I realized it was going to cost almost $10 just for a pair of generic sockets, plus the cost of the bulbs. For that much I thought it might be worth investing in a courtesy light kit.

When I bought my full kit over 20 years ago Ron Francis wiring systems were in a class all their own, with the printed fireproof wire, etc. Today most of the kits on the market offer most if not all the features that were at one time unique to RF. So I started with the RF website and discovered they want $45.95 for a kit which consists of a couple of sockets, some wire, and a few connectors. It doesn't include the jamb switches.



On the same page in their catalog, I also happened to notice their door jamb switches are priced at $13.95 each. A couple of years ago I bought the same switches at my local auto parts store for $1.95. And these variances seem typical of the Ron Francis pricing structure on other accessories.

Thinking $50+ with shipping was a ridiculous amount of money to spend for simply adding lights to my floor, I shopped around and found a similar Painless kit (30702). Through Amazon it sells for $32.01 and offers free shipping. I placed the order today and look forward to getting them installed:



One thing this has demonstrated to me is that if I were to do another complete rewire I would no longer consider or recommend a Ron Francis kit. This greatly disappoints me as I have always been a champion of the Ron Francis product line. I still prefer the front loading design of their fuse panel over any other brand, but I would feel the fool if I paid their prices when other quality and far more affordable solutions are now readily available.

[66-PMD-GMC]

I hit a wrecking yard and took the under-dash lighting (courtesy lighting) out of a Lincoln.
Wiring, sockets, lenses and various brackets etc. were $10.
Before I adapted the Lincoln stuff, the only way the dome light turned on was if I switched it on. No door switches came in my truck.
I can now see what is in the truck at night... kinda nice.

[piratexpress1369a]

that will be cool when you get them in ..i will be adding LED lights to the inside of my truck..i did this to my grand cherokee what a difference it makes..they are a square with 24 led diodes in them ..plug and play set up

[markeb01]

That is indeed an impressive amount of light.

I never really cared that much about how well the interior lit up at night, until I mentioned the LMC clear dome lens to my wife. She thought it would be a great improvement because with an all black interior it's very hard to find anything in it at night. I added the LMC dome light lens and was blown away at how much more light it put out with just the stock bulb.

The first car I ever saw as a kid with courtesy lights on the floor was my uncle's brand new 1962 Rambler. It also had clear vinyl floor mats which were a brand new item at the time and the car just glistened when the door was opened. It left a lasting impression.

Although his carpet was light and my mat is gloss black, I'm thinking it will still add that sparkling look at night. And in case I'm ever on a date and feel like hanging out in the truck on a warm summer night with the doors open, and still want some privacy, I previously installed a switch in the circuit so I can easily disable the dome circuit and leave the doors open.

[markeb01]

Originally Posted by 66-PMD-GMC

I hit a wrecking yard and took the under-dash lighting (courtesy lighting) out of a Lincoln.
Wiring, sockets, lenses and various brackets etc. were $10.
Before I adapted the Lincoln stuff, the only way the dome light turned on was if I switched it on. No door switches came in my truck.
I can now see what is in the truck at night... kinda nice.

I'm curious where you mounted your bulbs/sockets. Are they at the ends of the dashboard, or somewhere closer together?

[66-PMD-GMC]

Originally Posted by markeb01

I'm curious where you mounted your bulbs/sockets. Are they at the ends of the dashboard, or somewhere closer together?

I have 1 mounted at the each end of the dash and 2 under the center of the dash.
When I get my interior sorted out I will be putting the door panel lens and lights in the seat supports facing the door.
What I would like to figure out is how to make the interior lights stay on for a short time after I park the truck.
All of them are connected to the dome light.

[markeb01]

Originally Posted by 66-PMD-GMC

What I would like to figure out is how to make the interior lights stay on for a short time after I park the truck.

Here’s one outfit that offers a solution. There are probably others, this just happened to be the first one I found:



http://www.revolutionelectronics.com/Dome_Light.html

[Ta2Don]

Saw your post about cleaning out garage and next project... Hmmmm! Wondering what's next...

[markeb01]

I don’t have any big projects planned in the near future, but after unexpectedly needing to replace the shop compressor, the rubber hoses at the fuel pump swelled up and started leaking gas from all 4 fittings creating a nice gasoline pond in the garage! Everything in the system was new and I was furious at the thought of having to crawl under and deal with gasoline again, but the leakage created an urgent fire hazard.

My wife’s input chilled me out and I replaced the rubber hoses (and fittings that came with the pump) with 300 psi push lock hose and fittings. By the time I was done (with no more leaks) I was fed up and just left the garage in a shambles until I could deal with cleaning it up again.


Today was finally time to make a few more changes. Sadly I had to give up the Hurst shift handle (again). Arthritis in my hands has recently increased making it painful to shift into 2nd and 4th with the short stick and knob angle. So the medium length straight aluminum handle went back in after the best buffer polishing I’ve ever given it. The straight stick and extra leverage makes shifting easy because the motion is straight back and forth, rather than needing to pull on the knob.

Since standard 1 7/8 inch shifter balls look stupid on a stick that long, I pulled the metalflake ball out of the gauge panel and it went back on the stick. The LED lighting system for the metalflake ball (in the gauge panel) was eliminated and the black Hurst 4 speed knob was mounted in the gauge panel so my wife still has a pattern available to find reverse.

Next up I inverted the video camera mounting, lowering the camera to where it shows more of the dash, while making the camera itself nearly invisible from outside the truck. As soon as we have some clear weather I’m anxious to get some more video posted.



And lastly, this afternoon the Painless Wiring courtesy light kit arrived and was installed in about 2 hours. The easiest way to route the wiring was done by pulling the glove box along with the steering wheel and instrument panel. It was very straight forward. Here’s what the cab looks like with the courtesy lights illuminated. The photos make the lights look much brighter than they seem in real life, but I also have the LMC clear dome light lens mounted up top and it puts out a great deal more light than the stock version.

The left light is mounted to the right of the ignition switch, and the right one is mounted just left of the glove box door.





I thought about mounting them on the ends of the dash, but most of the stuff we look for in the dark is near the transmission tunnel more than the doors. Overall I’m very happy with the kit and I think the lights will prove to be a nice addition.

[Ta2Don]

Watching your build is keeping me motivated, can't wait to get back to work on mine, Soon!

[piratexpress1369a]

that worked out well ..so the left only works when the door opens?or both sides

[markeb01]

All three lights come on when either door is opened, or when the light switch knob is turned. All three are tied in to the same circuit. In the pictures above both under dash lights are on, they just show more light toward the center and less light near the doors. It looks more uniform and not as bright in real life, but these shots were the best I could capture.