Knomadd '71 SWB C-10

[knomadd]

I've had a patch in my bed floor where the PO had tried to mount an under-bed gas tank, but apparently changed his mind (seeing as he put a 10 gal fuel cell IN the bed). That filler location didn't work for the tank I have, but I didn't fix it then , so I'm fixing it now while my fuel tank is out.

The problem I have is the aftermarket bed floor patches are not the same as the factory floor. It's dimensions are off so much that I can't just tweak it a little, I have to cut it apart at practically every bend. The flat parts are too wide, the angles are too soft and flat, so I'm only able to salvage one bend that I have to bend tighter/sharper after welding the flat part.

Here's my third attempt at this same patch section. The first, I had cut too many places, and in the flat sections which was just too big of a pain to fix. The second, I wasn't patient enough and all the heat from welding and grinding put a big sag in that patch. That's not going to work for me, so on to this attempt. I went slower and managed to keep the sag/warping to a minimum.

[smbrouss70]

Do you need a section from an original floor? I can cut one out and send it to you, if it would save you some work.

***EDIT*** - I just realized that you are in Rosenburg, I drive through the construction on US-59 quite often, I might even be able to drop it off if you don't mind waiting a couple of weeks for me to go through there again.

[knomadd]

Originally Posted by smbrouss70

Do you need a section from an original floor? I can cut one out and send it to you, if it would save you some work.

***EDIT*** - I just realized that you are in Rosenburg, I drive through the construction on US-59 quite often, I might even be able to drop it off if you don't mind waiting a couple of weeks for me to go through there again.

Thanks for the offer, Steven. That's very nice of you, but I literally just completed it today. Thanks anyway!

[knomadd]

Here are the pictures of my patch work on the bed floor.

This was Friday evening, right after I got started. I didn't take many pictures during the process because I was too focused


I had it nearly complete Friday night, but stopped with one seam to weld, and a few to grind down. Saturday, I got up and was on a mission to get it finished. The one needing welds I hadn't cut to fit perfectly (the 45* piece that comes from the bottom rib to the top rib was too long), so I had to grind it down a bit until it fit. That's not as easy as it sounds when everything is attached to the truck. Well, long story short, I wound up grinding it down to fit and made the 45* angle so thin where it meets the top rib, it would just blow out every time I tried to tack the two pieces together. I ended up cutting that piece out.


That saved me some time and a LOT of grinding. I didn't want to rebuild that whole piece with welds. Here it is finished, with some extra bed liner removed around it.


And some rust converter sprayed over it all (after it was cleaned of course).


It's not perfect, but it is still the original floor, and there are dents and things in several places. When I go have the bed liner redone, it should hide most of the imperfections.

[Dieselwrencher]

When I put a steel floor in my Longhorn bed, I had exactly this same problem. I didn't cut mine and fit it like you did. I just lined the ribs up the best I could and welded it in. Shoot, I still need to finish that. Nice work on yours.

[Mikem_72]

Nice job man

[knomadd]

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

When I put a steel floor in my Longhorn bed, I had exactly this same problem. I didn't cut mine and fit it like you did. I just lined the ribs up the best I could and welded it in. Shoot, I still need to finish that. Nice work on yours.

Thanks Ryan. I really hated the fact it didn't fit, so I was determined to make it look close to factory. I'm happy with it. I wouldn't be happy with it if I was going to pain the floor body color though. It's a little wavy, but nothing some bed liner can't hide. The floor isn't perfect anyway.

Originally Posted by Mikem_72

Nice job man

Thanks Mike!

[knomadd]

Small update time... I finally got the driveshaft installed...


Ignore the air management bracket hanging above it. I hadn't finished mounting it when I took this picture. I was so excited the driveshaft fit, I had to take the pic. This was aired out completely (no bump stops in the back right now).

I have since finished mounting the air management bracket, and the computer to the bottom side of the bed. I have the fuel sender installed in the tank, after it was wired and tested, so that's good. Tonight, I hope to get the fuel pump wires terminated and plugged in, the tank and hidden hitch installed, and start on the fuel lines. It's a little ambitious for only about 2 hours of work time available a day, but we'll see how far I can get.

I really want to have this thing fired up for a minute or two within the next two weeks, and running within a month.

[aboesec10]

drive it on over here! I'm tired of waiting!lollol

[knomadd]

Originally Posted by aboesec10

drive it on over here! I'm tired of waiting!lollol

Sure, I'll be there Saturday! (which Saturday is TBD)

This weekend was productive. Well sort of... I started with wiring the fuel pump on Friday evening, but lost daylight too soon, so that was it. Saturday I started to install the fuel tank and hitch, only to find out the track bar was in the way. I had to pull it apart and move the track bar mount forward. There are 2 rivets that came out of the factory track bar mount that line up with either the front or back 2 holes in the Porter Built track bar mount bracket. There are 6 total bolts holding this thing on... 2 on the side of the frame rail, 4 on the bottom. Since PB doesn't supply instructions with their parts, I guessed that the 4 holes on the bottom of the bracket could be put either toward the front or back of the existing rivet holes, and settled for moving it toward the back of the truck for more rearend cover clearance. Apparently that was the wrong choice for an under-bed mounted fuel tank.

Since I had to paint the freshly drilled holes in the frame, I decided I'd respray the mount too, since it had been chipped and scratched in a few places. So instead of mounting the fuel tank, I worked on the trans cooler lines. I got them bent up and run nicely, after using my old fuel line as a test piece for each line. Here's some of both, what I could actually get a picture of... It's not as good as a professional would have done it, but I'm happy with how it turned out.

Now I just need to get the core support installed so I can mount this to the bottom...

It's a transmission cooler thermostat to help keep the trans at a good operating temp and let the cooler do its job like it should.

Oh yeah, Sunday was the day the tank was installed, and the hidden hitch. I also started cutting and assembling the stainless braided PTFE (teflon) fuel line from the tank to the filter, then switched to the steering column and shift lever rod (what a pain that was). I wanted to make sure I'm able to keep the transmission in park before I fire it.

[knomadd]

I made the final adjustments to the shifter rod last night. I think it's as close as I'm going to be able to get it. Before my final adjustments, when you push the shift lever from Neutral to Reverse to the lock, it would almost shift into reverse but just miss the detent in the transmission. Now, it feels like there's no partial shift. EDIT: It shifts GREAT now!

A couple pics of the shifter rod:

[brian1971]

Hi Duane,
Truck is coming along really nice !! I just installed my lokar shift rod a few weeks ago on a 4l85e not a six speed but pretty similar.I ended up using a spacer between rod end and lever at the transmission,it made a huge difference in the shifting it took some of the angle out.
Your pictures and info has helped me out a lot in doing my ls swap.
Thanks,
Brian

[knomadd]

Thanks for the pics and info Brian. Your truck looks like it's coming along nicely too. I like the spacer, but I'd need something on the column side since it seems to have the most clearance issues getting around the headers. Thankfully the bends I did worked out great. I guess nobody would know since I didn't say that in my last post.

[knomadd]

I've been busy, just not too many photo worthy things being done. I've tried to remember to take pics when I have something worth showing, but I get so involved in what I'm doing, I don't always pull out the phone to take a pic.

Here's what I do have though.

I got the exhaust through the crossmember finally. Still need to hang the mufflers and get them connected, but that'll be done soon.



Oh, and last night, I torqued all the bolts on the crossmember down, so no more loose bolts/nuts like you see in the pics above.

[knomadd]

And I also buttoned up the fuel line last night. Here's some pics of the stainless hard line with AN fittings, I also used stainless braided PTFE hose for the flex part so I don't have to worry about replacing them or smelling fuel from them. Hopefully no leaks when I test it this week.

From the fuel rail down to the trans is hard line:


I used a 90 to get over the exhaust and down to the frame rail:



I have a primary filter (10 micron) just after the pump near the tank:


And a secondary filter (4 micron) between the trailing arm and transmission crossmembers

[gringoloco]

Chugging along. It's the details that soak up all your time

[aboesec10]

looking killer my friend!

[knomadd]

Originally Posted by gringoloco

Chugging along. It's the details that soak up all your time

Originally Posted by aboesec10

looking killer my friend!

Thanks guys!

I bought some premium fuel today, put about 4 gallons in the tank and primed the pump to check for leaks. Found one, but it just needed a little more tightening. I didn't prime it long because I hadn't loaded the tune, so the VATS wouldn't allow it to prime more than once.

so... I went ahead and loaded the tune on the ECM and TCM. After that was done, I reprimed the pump by cycling the key on and off to check if my tightening did the trick. So far so good

Tomorrow should be productive too. I made a to-do list and a schedule to which I need to keep in order to have it done by the end of the month. Baring any delays in parts delivery, it looks like I'll have it fired by Memorial Day.

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by knomadd

... looks like I'll have it fired by Memorial Day.

Or maybe even Labor Day with any luck!

I was looking at your filter setup and wondering if you have a regulator in the system as well? Also was surprised there is still an active anti-theft feature in your tune, does it require a special key as well? Looking forward to the big day!

[knomadd]

Originally Posted by Vic1947

Or maybe even Labor Day with any luck!

Hahaha, that's what I meant. For some reason I can't keep those two holidays straight.

Originally Posted by Vic1947

I was looking at your filter setup and wondering if you have a regulator in the system as well? Also was surprised there is still an active anti-theft feature in your tune, does it require a special key as well? Looking forward to the big day!

I'm using the factory fuel pump, so it's regulated on it's own. It's also on a returnless system, so it might even be a pulse width modulated pump. If it doesn't work out that way, I have a corvette style filter/regulator that I can swap in. I'll have to look into that to be sure before I fire it up.

The anti-theft stuff was still active because I hadn't changed the tune. It was still factory until the other day. It's gone now. I'm hoping to be able to catch a video of the first fire! I'll be sure to post it up when I do.

[knomadd]

Originally Posted by Vic1947

I was looking at your filter setup and wondering if you have a regulator in the system as well?

Looking at HPTuners, there's a fuel pressure tab that tells me I have 43.5psi under normal and low flow conditions, and 58psi for high flow, cold engine, default & fail conditions, as well as starting. How do I know if the fuel pump controls this, or if I need a separate regulator?

I can only find a regulator for Diesel & CNG engines, not the gasoline engine. I only get a fuel pressure sensor located on the pump in the tank when looking at wiring diagrams, which is hooked up.

[gringoloco]

Woot!

[knomadd]

With Hurricane Harvey blowing through our area, I had a lot of time to kill in the garage. Couldn't go anywhere and wasn't going to be working outside for a while. Thankfully my garage was dry, my neighborhood wasn't under water, but my street was full...


That was the extent of it so far. We're still getting rain, so the rivers are going to be rising. Hopefully we'll stay "dry" in my neighborhood.

[knomadd]

With all that time to kill, I managed to get the front elevel ride height sensors installed. It took a long time to get the location figured out for the first one, but a little less than half for the second one.

No, this isn't a full on show truck, I plan on driving it a lot... hence the grease/grime and scratches still on the frame and suspension parts.

And once that was done, I started to reassemble the front end.

[gringoloco]

Coming right along...