Project "Popeye"

[99 to Life]

hahaha you hit the nail on the head with "embarassing". On a hot day I crinch shutting the truck off. I'v killed my crappy battery many times trying to start it. oh the troubles of a carb. I still like them though. My last truck didn't hot start at all. I hear you on the trans, that should suit you well.

[northern 85]

A drive by vid checking throttle response Very cool truck and build! Great work!

[LEEVON]

There won't be any drive by vids quite yet, truck is dead again . We were cruising the neighborhood last night, doing a little trick-or-treating with the kids and the normally silent fuel pump started high-pitched whining and the AFR spiked and she died and would not re-start. When the original pump died I found a major obstruction in the line and I replaced the pump, installed a pre-filter and cleared the tank and lines.

Now I am thinking I have a tank venting problem and that I ran the pump with high enough vacuum and killed it. I have been monitoring the tank by removing the cap and it's building vacuum quickly and not releasing, have tried a couple of different caps. From what I understand it's important that the Walbro pumps (and any inline electric for that matter) are properly broken in. I am guessing causing vacuum and pump cavitation is a quick way to kill one. By the time I heard the whining it was probably already too late. I am going to either find the right vented cap or tap and run a proper vent line. Hopefully this resolves both my fuel pump death issue, which is getting expensive and my drive-ability problems.

Another pump is on the way...

[99 to Life]

ah man sux, to hear. what psi does it require? I found a carter pump I'v yet to try out, I think it was $50 or something. Pushes up to 9psi I think. Hard to say buy cheaper pumps and see if they aren't the issue or if its something else.

[LEEVON]

It's got to have 58psi which is regulated at the filter/regulator. I had a cheap Airtex 9psi pump on there supplying the carburetor, worked like a champ. This has been a different story all together though.

[reaper71]

Hey Leevon sorry to hear the bad luck again...
In my experience with the Walbro pumps (3 installs now) They like to have a separate vent line, I would hate to see you just get a vented cap and have another failure! All the installs I have done have had NO issues as I ran a separate vent and they work like a charm.


Mark...

[LEEVON]

Thanks for the vote, that helps. I think that's probably what I'm going to do. I have a design in my head, from the filler neck looped up high in the cab down into the floor and out to the frame rail with a filter on the end. I agree, don't want to leave reliability or the cost of another pump to function of a gas cap.

[Homebuilt Hotrods]

Just caught this build. What a cool truck! I just found a 72 rear trailing arm set up and planned to do the same set up. How do you like it so far? Did i see with some clearances you were able to use a one piece drive line? Thanks and again very cool truck!
Homebuilt Hotrods.

[joedoh]

another EFI conversion, I love it!

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by joedoh

another EFI conversion, I love it!

Too add to this..... Any updates on how well the system is operating? Problems resolved?

[LEEVON]

Originally Posted by Homebuilt Hotrods

Just caught this build. What a cool truck! I just found a 72 rear trailing arm set up and planned to do the same set up. How do you like it so far? Did i see with some clearances you were able to use a one piece drive line? Thanks and again very cool truck!
Homebuilt Hotrods.

Thanks! Love the trailing arm set-up, no downside other than exhaust routing. Rides great. I basically cut the middle of the crossmember out and welded in a plate flat on the top to get enough clearance. Does not touch at full drop.

Originally Posted by joedoh

another EFI conversion, I love it!

Thanks!

Originally Posted by SCOTI

Too add to this..... Any updates on how well the system is operating? Problems resolved?

Well I finally got all my fuel system gremlins out. I was having vacuum lock, added a vent system from the filler neck to a filter mounted in the frame. When I thought the pump was going out again, it turns out my rubber return line was pinched behind the seat, so I made a nice hard line from the top of the tank to under the cab. I also bought another gas tank, bung, 8an fittings and hose so I can improve the feed line next. It's fine now at 5/16 but I don't want any more fuel problems, ever!

Now I still have three issues: 1) takes two cranks with key-on delay to start. 2) goes lean on decelleration and 3) falls on it's face from a stop on hard acelleration. From what I understand all of these should be able to be addressed through hand-held settings. Just haven't had time.

In other news, a 700R4 will be built in the next month or two.

[LEEVON]

700R4 is done! So much better driveability. It's quicker, smoother and highway cruising is no problem. Fries tires with ease. 70-75 is a sweeet spot. 80+ is no problem, but wind noise starts to take the fun away. I can't remember all the specs on the trans, but it's got standard upgrades like beast sunshell, boost valve, servo, pump mod, shift kit and I think upgraded steels and clutches. I managed to calculate the speedo gears dead-on also, that's a first. 4th gear lockup is accomplished by a single solenoid with switched 12v power running through the brake/cruise switch. Pretty seamless operation. I used the standard S10 4.3 torque converter. I think that alone makes the driving more enjoyable. They stall around 1800-2200. What I had behind the TH350 was approx 3200. The hardest part of the whole swap was adapting the FiTech linkage for a 700R4 kickdown cable. They are not made to accept them, I had to modify the linkage and create a custom bracket with the correct angle and pull length.

Can't wait to move on to some other small things for the cruising season. I keep a detailed list with "problems", "needs finished" and "wish list".

[LEEVON]

And the best part:

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by LEEVON

700R4 is done! So much better driveability. It's quicker, smoother and highway cruising is no problem. Fries tires with ease. 70-75 is a sweeet spot. 80+ is no problem, but wind noise starts to take the fun away. I can't remember all the specs on the trans, but it's got standard upgrades like beast sunshell, boost valve, servo, pump mod, shift kit and I think upgraded steels and clutches. I managed to calculate the speedo gears dead-on also, that's a first. 4th gear lockup is accomplished by a single solenoid with switched 12v power running through the brake/cruise switch. Pretty seamless operation. I used the standard S10 4.3 torque converter. I think that alone makes the driving more enjoyable. They stall around 1800-2200. What I had behind the TH350 was approx 3200. The hardest part of the whole swap was adapting the FiTech linkage for a 700R4 kickdown cable. They are not made to accept them, I had to modify the linkage and create a custom bracket with the correct angle and pull length.
Can't wait to move on to some other small things for the cruising season. I keep a detailed list with "problems", "needs finished" and "wish list".

This doesn't make sense.....
Let's make a product that updates 'old-school' carb set-up's easily but not worry about compatibility w/one of the most popular hot-rod/muscle car conversion OD transmissions used.

[iowaboynca]

very nice.

[LEEVON]

Originally Posted by SCOTI

This doesn't make sense.....
Let's make a product that updates 'old-school' carb set-up's easily but not worry about compatibility w/one of the most popular hot-rod/muscle car conversion OD transmissions used.

I know right? The linkage is very close to a Holley, but not close enough to use one of the commonly available TV corrector brackets. I had to do some grinding and move the secondary lever to the backside. Luckily I found that part I used (no idea what it came off of) and was able to adapt it. But now I have a modified FiTech...no warranty.

Originally Posted by iowaboynca

very nice.

Thanks!

[99 to Life]

congrats, glad to see you're back on the road with it. nice work on making the kickdown adapt. they should def make an adapter of their own so you don't void the warranty.

[oldman3]

Lee, nice job on the linkage, glad you can get out and run down the road easily...Jim

[CHIZZLER]

Awesome

[reaper71]

Glad to hear it's back on the road!
Are you planning on going to the Street rod Nats. in May in Springfield?
if so let me and Dad know (Oldman3) so maybe we could meetup at the show.

Mark..

[69CST-V]

Nice work.....

[LEEVON]

Originally Posted by reaper71

Glad to hear it's back on the road!
Are you planning on going to the Street rod Nats. in May in Springfield?
if so let me and Dad know (Oldman3) so maybe we could meetup at the show.

Mark..

I usually wind up at least checking out the cars. Probably won't enter anything, we're into tournament baseball pretty heavy in May so I have to pick and choose. I'll holler at ya though!

[LEEVON]

So I have about 1,000 miles on Popeye. One major project I have been wanting to tackle is the seat. I had an 88-92 chevrolet seat, which sits great but is just too wide. The seat back interferes with the seat belts and the sides touch the doors. It's ok, but not really the quality I'm wanting. So back to the drawing board. The original seat frame design is really simple and works great. But the springs are too bulky and don't sit well IMO. So I set out to re-create the original seat. Unfortunately I had to start from scratch, since I threw away the original bottom and back that I had. So after a long search and $200 I found a decent original seat to scavenge parts from.

My plan is to have this seat covered in a nice material, possibly with bolsters and some contrast, maybe black or brown distressed leather, or maybe a metal flake tuck-and roll...not sure on that yet. So I began replacing the seat springs by ordering large blocks of foam. 6" in the bottom and 4" in the back. I don't recall the specs, but I called the foam shop and told them what I was doing and they spec'd the correct stuff. It sits very nicely and should hold up over time.

I used the original spring frames as guides for new backs in 3/4" red oak plywood. Then I borrowed the hardware from the springs which mounts the cushions into the frames and attached it to the wood. I didn't have much trouble with this, but some of them were spot welded and had to be undercut with a thin cut-off wheel to remove. Then I used 3M spray adhesive to glue the foam blocks to the wood. At that point, I was able to use an electric carving knife to rough-shape the foam. That's where I stopped for now. The next step will be 80 grit sanding discs to shape the foam. It will need to be thinner across both the back and bottom. Then it will be ready for the upholstery shop. In the meantime I will be cleaning up the seat frame and getting it painted.

[LEEVON]

The bottom was easy, now on to the back. A little more work here since all of the mounts are spot-welded onto the frame and need to be perfectly aligned on the new seat. Foam rough cutting was rewarding and simple...I'm a little more anxious about the fine shaping, not much room for error.

[oldman3]

Leevon, seat is looking good. I would suggest that use an old sanding disc. New ones want to bite to deep into the foam. Cut your are pressure down, and work slowly to shape. Good luck...Jim