The Official John Lee Jr Thread

[Sharps40]

I think it just needed a tweak to seat the shifter ball end in the cup....me, I'da given it a smashwack or two. These fellas are a bit more refined than me.

[Sharps40]

Okay. Gotta jet the secondary a bit more...final tweaking....but thoughts after test rides.

Fantastic smooth idle. Superb performance on the main. Working the secondary tomorrow.

Clutch: 11" Astro, it'll build leg muscles, should pull stumps/rocks/dragsters/houses and locomotives, etc, all w/o slipping.. Stroke is shorter, bout 2/3s of that with the ol peanut.

Trans: Shift, smooth as butter. Neatest bend I ever seen in the shifter...its perfect...lays by my leg w/o touching, and its right dead under my hand all the time. (Pic comein!)

As to why it didn't have 1, 3 and OD today? Seems ya can install a S10 shifter two ways and only one way gives ya all 6 gears.

Clutch linkage: Heim joints are an awesome feel, no rattles, no slop.

Drive shaft: Steel, 3" and awesome.

Speedometer: Gotta check it, looks 20 mph high or so.

Ebrake x member: Dropped about 1/2" under the frame, some grinding of the flange and plenty of clearance ... so, retention of the 1965 ebrake assembly with a simple mod.

No fancy bolts needed for upper trans ears, factory bolts fit and clear fine for sockets.

And most important Dual Cup Holder will fit with room to spare back in its spot between the shifter and the seat and right at my fingertips!!!!!

[Sharps40]

Shifter...it was straight....but we bent it to a C like discussed....after getting the shifter lid on the right way so we had all 6 gears...but, damn neat if ya ask me.....lays right in there next to me w/o hittin my leg in 2nd and plenty high above the seat and right under my hand at all times....I love it!!!!





And a shot of the ebrake crossmember. A slight mod on the left to remove some flange....drop it below the frame, install some spacers and washers and Oingo Boingo, all back together and working just spiffy fine like new.

[Sharps40]

Best part of this whole deal, after notein that I got a totally new driveline, front suspension, brakes, etc.....??

NO DAMN GREASE ON THE UNDERSIDE!!!! Even the ebrake levers and cables and xmember is clean!!!!!!

[Lugnutz65]

Originally Posted by Sharps40

Trans: Shift, smooth as butter. Neatest bend I ever seen in the shifter...its perfect...lays by my leg w/o touching, and its right dead under my hand all the time. (Pic comein!)

That's nice to hear! Since I found that shifter in a 67-72 Chevy Truck, I thought it would probably work well with the bench seat.

Originally Posted by Sharps40

Clutch linkage: Heim joints are an awesome feel, no rattles, no slop.

I will definitely upgrade mine to HEIM too!

Originally Posted by Sharps40

Ebrake x member: Dropped about 1/2" under the frame, some grinding of the flange and plenty of clearance ... so, retention of the 1965 ebrake assembly with a simple mod.

It's good to know that the 65 style will work. Now I don't need to try to figure out the 66 version I have.

Originally Posted by Sharps40

No fancy bolts needed for upper trans ears, factory bolts fit and clear fine for sockets.

The OEM bolts may work well on yours but perhaps not all versions of the T5 case. I'll have to try mine out and see.

We need Pics! PLEEEEEEEZE!!

[Sharps40]

I know. I gotta get it home and do the detail photo shoot. If we can get a richer small body secondary jet from the Hi Po builders/motorcycle shop (they build large V twin and V8 bike motors usin the webers) then I May have it home before the weekend. Its comein....I'll flesh out the Astro T5 swap thread too and try to make the last post a sort of step by step guide linked back to each posts pics/longer discussion.

[Low Elco]

Stoked for ya! Does it feel different bein' relaxed at 70 on the hiway?

[Sharps40]

We'll know soon. Running fantasic on the main but the engine signals the carb differently and we are working on throttle position and jetting of the transition on the secondaries today. Soon....Soon!!!!!!!

[TJ's Chevy]

Cool! Nice to know it is almost back on the road! PICTURES!!!!!!!!LOL!!

[Sharps40]

As for the status of my truck. Right now I'm more excited than her boyfriend.

[Sharps40]

I'm drivin John Lee!!!!!!

[TJ's Chevy]

WHAT!!!!!! NO IN CAB PICTURES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Sharps40]

Thoughts.....Driving it this weekend and next week for break in. Wanna put 500 to 700 on it and then the shop wants it back for oil/filter change, complete checkup and for final tuneing (carb is a whisker flat on the secondary, could be jets/could be timeing) and the clutch noses over just a tad so some tweaking of the linkage is indicated.

The clutch is stiff but ya get used to it....shift with the short kit in it is great, very lil bit of reach to first and the rest are right in there. I think the cup holder will fit back in between the seat just fine.

3.50 first is not too much but I wouldn't want any more...with that 11" clutch kit (new fork, ball, everything inside the bell is totally new) we should have enough friction to pull a 40ft semi trailer. The engagement is silky smooth. Revs up and off to second. Engine and trans combo loves to shift at 2100 to 2700 range.

Motor loafs along at 1900 rpm at 60 mph in fifth. And, pulls fantastic in all the gears from about 1200ish on up. We loaf around town in third and fourth at 1500 to 1700 rpm and no bogging.

Its dark but the truck is a bright star! It'll be good to finish the run in and get the final tweaks made at the end of the month.

Complete parts list and photos comeing....prolly sunday. Gotta Hunt Fri and Sat! Hopefully haulin deer home in John Lee.

As for the feel? WOW. If you don't have a T5 in yer truck yer missin out on a totally very absolutely better than Beer Titty Woman driving experience!

[Lugnutz65]

Originally Posted by Sharps40

Motor loafs along at 1900 rpm at 60 mph in fifth. And, pulls fantastic in all the gears from about 1200ish on up. We loaf around town in third and fourth at 1500 to 1700 rpm and no bogging.

Those RPM numbers make me smile. It keeps me hopeful that my 250 will not bog at 1900 RPMs. I've been warned that my engine might bog on hills, but I'll never know until I give it a try. If yours does fine, then my 250 should too.

[Sharps40]

Hell, my secondary ain't even comin in right just yet and we went out and pulled just fine on the flats and light grades all the way thru 5 gears to 65 mph all on the primary barrel which is half the size of the Rochester B.

I got 3.73 out back and I'm lookin forward to findin some hills to yank in 4th and 5th once the final tuning is done. 4th is the same 1 to 1 as third in the ol peanut trans and the same speeds apply, 40 mph and up. John Lee just walked and trotted up hills to the house in second and third tonight from damn near rolling stops at the bottom of the hills. Truck seems durn happy 1700 and up and seems to like the shift around 2300 or a bit more which is just fine.

Less yer runnin a 308 or something silly (cause its such a heavy truck for a car rear gear) like that out back, that 6 oughta pull ya anywhere ya wanna go.

[Sharps40]

Oh yeah....shop talked me into power breaks for Christmas! I gotta get hold of CaptainFab and round up a bracket! We might even do power steering in the spring.

[Sharps40]

Woops! Fat Fingers. Messed up that photo.

[C@rnut001]

Man, it is all looking good, keep the pictures coming our way. It is great to hear that John Lee is back on the road!

[Low Elco]

Glad it's workin' good for ya!

[Sharps40]

We're gonna make the first run to work this morning. 72 miles round trip. Gonna try to keep the driving all pretty sane as it is the break in week.

One thing I noticed, no fuel smell on shut down last night. I didn't go back out to check for perking but will tonight.

We have a 1/4" gasket on the manifold this time and I wonder if the difference could be that or if the high advance I was running was the culprit in the boil overs and perking on shut down.

[Sharps40]

First good ride with the new engine and transmission. 36 miles on 87 S to Ft Bragg.

Lets see....

1. 3.5 first gear ratio is just fine. Not too low for use every time. And, should provide a better take off capability with heavy loads/towing. 2nd is about 2.46, slightly less than the first on the old peanut....ya can loaf around and up steep hills at silly low RPM and still jump up and get outta yer own way with no problem. The overall feel of this combination is much like driving my wife's 6 cyl 6 speed 4 door wrangler. Naturally, the truck feels heavier, a bit slower but shift points up and down are about the same.

2. 11" Astro Van clutch pack builds left side muscles at a furious pace...but not objectionable - might be a bit tireing in heavy traffic though. However, should never slip. Better by golly have a new pivot ball and fork, its a strong set of springs in the pressure plate.

3. Heim Linkage, there is no slop at all in the clutch assembly, we also rebuilt the z bar with all new balls and retainers. I highly recommend trashing the factory linkage and installing a heim jointed system.

4. Its absolutly a joy to down shift into first w/o clashing the gears. The 11" Astro clutch is probably at the limit of the NWC T5 Syncros. Don't be in a hurry to punch it into first.

5. A floor shifter thats 20" long is not a speed shifter....but the short throw kit on top of the trans keeps the lever right there. A slight reach to first but not objectionable and all 5 other gears are instantly at hand without any missed grabs. Without pushing the engine I can accelerate thru the gears and not really worry about slowing down the folks behind me.

6. The funky bend the shop put in the shifter is the BOMB!

7. With the new engine/weber DGEV and the Astro T5 gear ratios, 900 to 1000 rpm is about bottom of each gear from 2 thru 4. Below that shift down for strength and to prevent lugging.

8. The gear ratios and engine and the primary on the carb provide torquey response in 3 and 4th gears. I can do most of my in town flat land driving in 4th from 25ish to 50ish+ if I like. 3rd gear is lovely around town in those 20 to 35 mph zones.

9. Engine and gear combos seems to like to shift up in the 2100 to 2700 rpm range. About perfect for a 6 cylinder engine, right where torque and HP are comin together at the peaks. (3.73 differential and 27.4" tires)

10. Cab is a bit quieter at highway speeds in OD. We are taching about 2400 RPM at 65mph in OD. When I do the shifter boot, I plan to install sound barrier and a new floor mat...Christmas project I think.

11. Transmission is butter smooth.

12. Driveshaft Specialist shaft looks bad ass under there. It appears to be made for brute strength and long life with the spicer joints in the yokes. (Ford in the shop twisted off the rear pinion yoke on a 9" last week, no damage to the shaft assembly at all! Hows that for an Iron Man product? Mine oughta long outlast the I6.)

13. Gotta yank the tree shifter this evening...I keep reachin for it instead of the floor shifter.

14. Its easire to drive faster.....I am convinced power brakes are in the offing before Christmas....perhaps just after Turkey Day when the Truck go's back to the shop for final tuning of the secondary, timeing and tweaking the shifter set up to make sure the new clutch pack is not noseing over.

15. Astro/T5 clutch pedal throw is about 1/3 less than the factory clutch with peanut. Engagement is quick and at the floor board. The clutch slides into the new S10/1500 flywheel like its greased and locks up like the drive shaft is bolted solid to the motor.

16. Easing thru the gears, I was still driving on the Main barrel of the carb at 65 in OD. Never got on the secondary at all. Once we get that tuned in, either by jets or timing, I think this combo is really gonna wake up!

Looks like Beer Titty Woman is takin a back seat for now!

[Sharps40]

My speedometer reads high....here is the theory for correction....

I'll let ya know how it works out!

Actual speed/indicated speed -1 = X

X times 100 = percent high.

With my rear gearing (3.73 in the diff), each added speedo driven gear tooth should be about 5% reduction in speedometer read out...so....

Percent High/5 = Number of additional teeth needed on the driven gear to correct your speedo.

For example, this morning my speedo indicated 70 mph, Garman says actual is 55 Mph.

55/70 = .7857

.7857 - 1 = -.2142

.2142 X 100 = 21.42% error

21.42/5 = Need to install a speedo driven gear with 4.28 additional teeth to slow the reading down to correct speed.

At least, thats the theory. I'm gonna count teeth on my existing driven gear, measure the length and gear diameter and purchase either a T5/T10 driven gear or TH350 driven gear and driven gear houseing with 4 additional teeth on it.


Or ya can divide difference by actual and get a different figure with less math....in this case..

15/55 = 27.2% error....so given the internet myths and the possibilty the the common 26.7% ratio reducer is for sale, which do ya think is right? We'll see.....

[TJ's Chevy]

Heck! I shift my 292 at 4,500 rpm from 2nd to 3rd and 3rd to 4th!!! LOL!!! You gotta lota more rmps left!

[Sharps40]

Well, we run 70 mph today all the way home, tachin barely 2600 rpm and for the first time, not only could I keep up with traffic, I could hear myself think and the engine hum in the cab at that speed. The seconday so wants to come in, its slow and low and a light rattle at 70 uphill at WOT so we backed off and relyed on the premium gas I put in today. For the nonce, breakin time....tweaks after turkey day.

Off to gather my hunting gear. Cold front tomorrow night and I'll be in the game lands all day waitin for hungry or horny bucks to walk into an ambush.

By the way, Lugnutz....The truck pulls the flat lands and light hills in fith gear just fine all the way down to 45 mph....about 40 it grunts a bit but picks back up not lickety split but pretty darn well. Yer set up oughta be just fine.

[Sharps40]

OkeyDoke. I can continue to fiddle with figures and guestimates of what gears its going to take to reduce my speedo 21 to 27% (depending on which innernet myth formula ya use...). So I'll just identify whats in there, get my tire size and call the shop. They will either have a driven gear I can use or I'll get the right ratio reducer.

Here we go........The driven gear....maybe a light green but its 20 teeth...darn that's bad because I need 4 to 5 more teeth and them gears just ain't no longer available....but we need to double check the drive gear first....If its a 7 (blue) I'm good, if its a 9 (Red) I need a driven gear that ain't no longer available.

So.....measurements of the driven gear....

.8" ish gear dia, .310" ish shank diameter, shank length 1.75", over all length 2.25" and 20 teeth on this gear.



Sittin flat on the floor, I only lost a few drops of ATF when pulling the driven gear assembly...hard part is cleaning out the blu goo which is a mandatory sealant for these old T5s or ya have a speedo leak all the time.....oh well, I'll clean it out now...but first...

What color is the internal drive gear....Its RED. Dayum....9 teeth, so I need the rare and impossible to find 25 tooth driven gear or a $60ish ratio reducer.....



And by the way...you can't count the grooves and call it a 6 tooth drive gear, ya gotta look at the ends where the main shaft goes thru to count teeth....if this one was off and sittin on the table like a doughnut, ya'd see 9 teeth around the perimeter of the gear. (Or you go to the speedo page and it tells ya on the T5, the red drive gear is 9 teeth!)

So, on the speedo shop page, I plug in 9 teeth drive gear, 3.73 rear gear. 27.4" tires and it confirms I need a 25 tooth driven gear for correction of my speedo. Ah well, I'll call em Monday and see if they have the gear and if not, ratio corrector will be ordered instead. But I'd rather have the $11 gear.