The Official John Lee Jr Thread

[Sharps40]

Now is not the right time for drillin the floor to install the Lokar 70-CLB shifter boot. Gotta pull the old mat, clean up, position and drill the trim ring and then reinstall the new floor mat and boot on a more permanent basis.

But I'll trim some mat and set the new boot in place for the nonce and it looks pretty fine for under $40 from Jegs. Free delivery too.

That said, the mat is trimmed and tucked in around the base of the original S10 shifter dust boot. I slid on the Lokar foam doughnut but wound up takein it off....my adapter is tall enough to hold up the boot without the doughnut. Who knows, permanent install, maybe it'll go back on.

And, gotta sand and paint that nice shifter shaft but I'm actually thinkin of doin it in slow rust black (a gun finish) and topcoating with a matt clear. Nicer than paint...the black don't peal and if the clear does, hit it again to touch up.

Nice also to note, the mounting screws are pretty much dead ringers for the trim and visor screws on our trucks...so at least from that perspective, (a lil detail) it'll look factory when done.



Just droppin John Lee's new glove into place. The Lokar boot has a center ring that is just a bit larger than that fancy homemade 5/8" diameter shifter lever. No worries then...it might even fit a 3/4" diameter shaft...I'll have ta remeasure if ya have ta know.



A view from the seat in 1st gear...not shabby at all.



And from the drivers side....very nice, Sharp Dressed Man I believe....

[Old Bleu]

I've already noticed a little bit of oil in the drain hole in the bottom of my flywheel cover since the tranny swap. I guess after 49 years mine is leaking too, and no warranty! Sure hope it doesn't get on the new clutch.

It looks like the new bullet has stopped the tranny leak though, not a drop in sight since Monday.

[Sharps40]

Blu Goo on my bullet here.....holding tite, no cherry juice outta that particular hole.

But, got the water leaks stopped....new hose time next week. And, the rear main is still just a weepin, no flood so we keep driving. If the clutch is wet, Warranty, seal shouldn't leak! But, glad these lil issues crop up inbetween install and tune....once done should be good for years.

[Old Bleu]

Hey, the boot looks good. That shot of the stick from above sure shows off those wild bends! Looks like it falls right to hand though.

Mine is still at the hole in the floor stage though. I want to paint the floor and get a new mat or carpet, but I really need to replace the rockers first. I'm trying to work up the courage to tackle them myself. The spot welds along the top surface are not visible at all. I think that when the truck was painted they must have been smoother over. Guess I need to grind the paint off to see them.

[Sharps40]

Fill the rockers with Blu Goo. Shave off where it pokes out...fiberglass over....paint....done! It won't rust again once its fulla Blu Goo. And, it dampens noise.

[Old Bleu]

Come on, that would be too easy! I was giving you a hint that I wanted you to do yours, with the ususal excellent documentation, so I could follow along.

I have some rust through on the bottom side at the front, but the main problem is that the flange on top that the door seal goes over is rusted and breaking off on the driver side.

Maybe I'll talk myself out of it for now and focus on getting the HEI installed; you've already got that well documented!

[Sharps40]

I'm gonna try Als heat and noise reducer and a bit of rubber sound barrier from lowes and a new floor mat with the jute backing. That oughta quiet it down a bit. For now, I think I'm gonna shave the brake and clutch pedals to 1962 car size so I can run the smaller pedal rubbers.

[Sharps40]

Ol Bleu said...

I have some rust through on the bottom side at the front, but the main problem is that the flange on top that the door seal goes over is rusted and breaking off on the driver side.



Ouch. That sounds like a tuff repair...overhead, upsidedown, kinda blind and all hand fabrication. Believe that's one I'd let my kid do while me and Beer Titty Woman tip a Cold Glass-O-Suds!!!

[Sharps40]

Speaking of documentation, I gotta sit down with word and bang out a good and simple Astro T5 install instruction manual and get back to documenting it proper. The other thread got a bit busy, was thinkin I'd do one separate or just go into the existing thread, insert a blow by blow install with photos. That way if they want to archive it, either grab the clean thread or just the revised tail of the existing thread.

But first, I gotta go in the garage and align a anternator so the belt don't sound like I got a fancy straight cut set of gears runnin my camshaft!

[Sharps40]

Well, shimmed er back, shimmed er front shimmed er half back and the alignment on all three pullys looks perfect...even put a rod in the groove of each pully and rotated it to see if the rod dropped into the center of the next pully....the belt even looks straight at every place it lays on and off the pullies....specially under a light and engine running but still a noisy belt. So, new belt time.

[TJ's Chevy]

So.....what does the new motor look like??? hint hint....LOL!

[Sharps40]

Well, heck....didn't think of that. GM Blue.....I6. Purty!

I'll shoot a pic later. Up at 0400 to hunt tomorrow. 20 degrees in the morning...should make for a good day. Cold enough them deer oughta be up lookin for yumms to keep em warm. With luck, John Lee will be haulin out two bucks afore noon.

[Sharps40]

My beard is growing pretty long....snow white too.



And my sister was concerned that on public game lands I might be mistaken for the south end of a north bound deer.

So she made me a Hunter Orange Beard Cozy....



If I actually wear this in the woods will I get shot just for spite?

[TJ's Chevy]

Don't know....cause I have a mustache not a beard lol! Though I'm to young for those to!! HAHAHAHA!!! I think she should make it camo...then no one will see it. But at least it will keep icicles from forming on your beard on cold mornings!! LOL!

[shok]

Could have just put a strap on a traffic cone

[Sharps40]

It'd havta be onna thel wee lil cones like for motorcycle trainin

[Sharps40]

In the never ending quest to locate and/or create places to put stuff in our trucks...and given the recent Astro Van T5 install has relieved me of a prime location for my double cup holder (just in front of the bench seat an instantly at hand....)...I give you....

Passenger Cup Holder. (Ala WalMart Sporting Goods Section, few bucks only)

The glove box....ever unassuming and quite thin walled but it can be made better than before.....



Open the door, three divots to place cups when sitting still at the drive in.....not so much for actually driving....



A bracket of 1/8" aluminum flat stock. Riveted into the center section at the base where the double wall is far enough apart to rivet with out drilling clean thru to the face.....



Center drill and screw on to the bracket and inexpensive porcelain coated steel coffee mug from the sporting goods section of Wal-Mart. Get it? Cup Holder?



Works great for them big soda and water bottles....



A 32oz gut buster don't go all the way to the bottom....a wider cup would work but it sits in there good and short of driving thru cones at 65 mph, it oughta sit just fine....



And when yer done, haul out yer trash and close the glove box door.

Now I gotta find a suitable spot and solution for a drivers side cup holder.

[TJ's Chevy]

NICE GOING! LOL!

[Sharps40]

Test drove it to work this morning. Door open, 12 oz R-O-C Co Cola open in the cup holder. No worries. Truck rolls smooth, door action is a bit stiff with no flop at all, not a spill or care in the world. A slight stretch but dooable if it were the only cup holder in the truck but I believe there is room for another blue "Cup Holder" left of the dash face and out of the way of the switches and the e brake handle.....we shall see!

[TJ's Chevy]

Cool! Like the idea!

[Sharps40]

Updating on the new engine....about 1200 miles down the road since the install of the new I6 and the Astro Van T5.

Running pretty good. Hot starts started kicking back against the starter.

I checked.....Light showed 20 degrees total advance at hot idle. (I have two timing marks on the balancer, factory and a smaller one I had previously added, 12 degrees advance from the factory mark.) The home added mark was on 8 BTDC on the factory tab...so including the 12 additional degrees that second mark indicates = 20 total BTDC.

Backed it down to 8 degrees advance on the factory mark...lots of lean deceleration pop. Tweaked the main on the carb for lean best idle (this jet is on the verge of being too small, its a 65 and I could go to a 70 for greater adjustability/responsiveness), reset the speed screw for 500 RPM hot and bumped the timing from 8 to 12 to 14 BTDC, hot idle.

No more lean pop on deceleration and truck is running 100% on primary and 99% on the secondary.

I think I'll try richening the secondary circuit just a bit with one step up on the transition and main jets.

At some point soon, I just gotta put in a wide band O2 sensor and do the fine tuning.

After blowing 4 pistons on 16 degrees and cheep gas I'm nervous about large advance numbers. For now, slightly retarded and slightly richer seems to have brought on a bit more responsiveness and w/o sensors, a bit safer direction to tune into.

But at 17.5 mpg I ain't complainin and can't wait to see that come up a bit more with continued break in.

Merry Christmas!

[TJ's Chevy]

Merry Christmas back to ya! And a happy hopes you are able to get you motor fine tuned to performance!

[Low Elco]

Glad to hear JLJ's runnin good!

[Sharps40]

Thanks. Went by and talked to the shop this morning.......

2 schools of thought on timing....set it static - go drive.

Set it all in at your max driving rpm, don't worry about what it says for static long as it runs good/don't ping, etc...go drive.

So, bumped it to 17 static, about 3 degrees BTDC from where it was and the secondary came back on. This actually jives better with the settings they had on the second tune and matches with Mr. Langdons recommendation of 20 or so degrees advance with his dizzy.


Ran it hard up the highway and it even pulls from 2000 rpm in OD. Pretty happy with it now. Still needs some fine tuning I think but just gotta finish the break in and I'll put on a wide band O2 for that fine work.

But, ran the wipers for an hour and they wouldn't park or cut off...started to get stinky in the cab. Thought it was the switch but on getting home that wiper motor was hot as a fryin pan. Guess that's the next job, swap in Ol John Lees wiper motor and prolly replace the switch at the same time. Oh well, maybe it'll park/shut off when the motor cools a bit!!!

Meantime, the old boy is runnin pretty strong and has a clean windshield.

[TJ's Chevy]

Originally Posted by Sharps40

Thanks. Went by and talked to the shop this morning.......

2 schools of thought on timing....set it static - go drive.

Set it all in at your max driving rpm, don't worry about what it says for static long as it runs good/don't ping, etc...go drive.

So, bumped it to 17 static, about 3 degrees BTDC from where it was and the secondary came back on. This actually jives better with the settings they had on the second tune and matches with Mr. Langdons recommendation of 20 or so degrees advance with his dizzy.


Ran it hard up the highway and it even pulls from 2000 rpm in OD. Pretty happy with it now. Still needs some fine tuning I think but just gotta finish the break in and I'll put on a wide band O2 for that fine work.

But, ran the wipers for an hour and they wouldn't park or cut off...started to get stinky in the cab. Thought it was the switch but on getting home that wiper motor was hot as a fryin pan. Guess that's the next job, swap in Ol John Lees wiper motor and prolly replace the switch at the same time. Oh well, maybe it'll park/shut off when the motor cools a bit!!!

Meantime, the old boy is runnin pretty strong and has a clean windshield.

My wiper motor is tryin to quit on me! lol! Glad you are back on the road!