The Official John Lee Jr Thread

[aggie91]

Personally I like the way Sharps40 hooked up his 12si. I did it the same exact way in 1986 when I swapped my altenator and put in a HEI for my six. It worked flawlessly till 1993 when I quit using it for a driver. It sat till 1998, and still worked fine when I fired it back up after sitting for so long. For the HEI, I took out the orginal resistance wire from the firewall plug above the motor and replaced it with a 12 ga regular wire and hooked it straight to the HEI terminal. Worked great.

[Sharps40]

Originally Posted by aggie91

Personally I like the way Sharps40 hooked up his 12si. I did it the same exact way in 1986 when I swapped my altenator and put in a HEI for my six. It worked flawlessly till 1993 when I quit using it for a driver. It sat till 1998, and still worked fine when I fired it back up after sitting for so long. For the HEI, I took out the orginal resistance wire from the firewall plug above the motor and replaced it with a 12 ga regular wire and hooked it straight to the HEI terminal. Worked great.

HEI is on the way and thats how I plan to plumb the coil, a new wire directly thru the bulkhead connector. I have a couple spare connectors case I damage the one on the resister wire now.

[Sharps40]

Got to talk with Mr. Langdon again today. Complete HEI kit is on the way as I type this. Came home tonight and pulled the trigger on Progressive Weber 32/36 carb with adapters and brushed aluminum air cleaner assembly.

[dracko]

You won't regret it! I got that same carb from Tom for my 230 and it is a huge improvement over the Rochester. Smooth acceleration and you really notice when that secondary opens up. HEI is good move too.

[Sharps40]

When you installed yer weber, was the linkage a booger? I'm looking at poor photos, and thinkin it may be simply rotate the carb around and hook the linkage up so it pulls the butterflys open. i.e. eliminat the 90 degree turn the Rochester B linkage makes and just hook directly to the weber.

[Sharps40]

An interestin evening. Picked up the smoothies with tires mounted. Tape balanced inside, nice. Blackwalls out, they look great on the truck. Pics comeing. Got home, installed the front wheels...brakes already fully rebuilt so no reason to open em up.

Figured I'd transfer the brand new shoes from Ol John Lee to the rear of John Lee Jr. His rear brakes were not rebuilt and had been sitting 18 years. Good I checked, DS rear cylinder had sprung a leak and the old shoes were wet. To be expected, a leak after such a long sit. But, naturally I couldn't get Ol John Lees new rear wheel cylinders transfered with out breaking the old brittle rear line to the DS rear cylinder. So, thats on tap for tomorrow evening, replace the line and blead the rear. In any event, I got the new rear wheel cylinders and shoes on with a rough shoe adjustment. I was able to break loose the old old old rear rubber brake hose and transfer Ol John Lee's new one over with no issues. So, I'll still have to open the system back up to transfer over the 2 pot 67 C10 master and split the front from the rear but thats another weekend with all new lines but this time I'm gonna get a pump and push the air out from the cylinders thru the master. I think it'll go much easier.

If all the parts come in friday and sat, this weekend is lookin like much of the final road worthyness upgrades will get completed....I can then get back to drivin and some gun work. On the menu for this weekend and the remainder of April is...

New exhaust with thrush from manifold back.

Dual pot brake conversion with front/rear split.

Langdon/GM HEI ignition and tune.

Langdon/Weber 2 BBL progressive and fancy dancy air cleaner.

Swap in Ol John Lee's brand new V8 Radiator, replace all hoses, replace temp sender, replace fan belt, replace thermostat and I really should upgrade that lil heater core to the delux core for lotsa heat this winter.

I think I can have it all done by the end of April then get busy in may with drivin John Lee Jr and with finishin up a couple custom rifles and trim out my gun cabinet and pick up some stuff to restore for a buddy and go make some visits in my new old truck.

Anybody use the LMC Class II hitch? What I wanna know is if I install it, does it allow me to retain the under bed spare tire?

[Sharps40]

Somewhere in there I plan to install door seals and all new window chanels and vent rubber.

[CRGRS 66]

This is my new favorite thread, what a great find, really like what you are doing with junior!! Cant wait to see the new wheels and rubber

[Sharps40]

Man, John Lee Jr in his new sneakers...Wow! He looks hotter than an Giddy Blonde Debutante (French for Female Beginner & having reached the age of maturity) in a Ragtop Mercury with 6 Hot Girlfriends headin for a Comeing Out Party!

My Langdon HEI conversion is only 15 miles away at 0420 this morning. Its 9 lbs. We'll see if UPS man brings it to the house today in the Lil Brown Truck or dumps it at the post office for another 3 day delay in makeing the last mile of the journey from In town to Here!

And if the Truck Gods really smile, I'll have an exhaust head pipe waitin for me at Orellies this afternoon!

[chevy_man5]

Good luck on your parts all arriving today!!

[1963c-10]

Hey sharps.....the deluxe heater wont give you any more heat than the standard. I have had both in my 63. It originally came w/the deluxe setup and I converted to the standard heater to make room for the big block. In my opinion, the standard heater actually works better be recirculating. The fresh air (deluxe has to heat the ambient air which is normally cooler). The standard heater is recirculating. Now, this is just my opinion, but I didnt see the advantage of the deluxe heater for my application. If your standard heater isn't getting where you want on heat, Id replace the blower motor, clean out the core and maybe jump up the thermostat in the winter months. Chevy shows a winter/summer thermostat that are different temps.

[Sharps40]

I was plannin on runnin a 180 stat w/the large core in a modified sstd size firewall box.
Posted via Mobile Device

[1963c-10]

I run a 180 also and have no issues year round and thats with a 4 core on the 6cyl. Needed a radiator and have been planning the swap, so just upgraded early. The 6cyl doesn't mind though. Have had no issues at all with the cooling system.

[1963c-10]

The deluxe core is around 2" longer than the standard heater core....is that what your refering to?

[Sharps40]

Yep. Open up the box, install the larger core, restore the box, seal it up good, 180 thermostat year round and maybe, no cardboard for better heat.

[tincan1966]

The size of the core does not dictate how much heat you get. Heater output temp is controlled by engine coolant temp. Example- a 1988-1998 Chev/GMC pickup heater core is less than 1" thick and about 6" X 8" aluminum. Average heater duct temp is somewhere between 120-140 degrees, in vehicles with a 195 thermostat. On older vehicles, generally you'll see vent temps around 105-115 due to poorly sealed and insulated ducts. The deluxe model heaters are usually a little less efficient because they have to heat the cold air coming in from the cowl,as mentioned earlier.

Having a well sealed cab is about the best thing you can do to help with good heat. As Sharps is doing, new door seals, window felts, etc will really help, as well as new seals on the kick panel vents.

[Sharps40]

Originally Posted by tincan1966

The size of the core does not dictate how much heat you get. Heater output temp is controlled by engine coolant temp. Example- a 1988-1998 Chev/GMC pickup heater core is less than 1" thick and about 6" X 8" aluminum. Average heater duct temp is somewhere between 120-140 degrees, in vehicles with a 195 thermostat. On older vehicles, generally you'll see vent temps around 105-115 due to poorly sealed and insulated ducts. The deluxe model heaters are usually a little less efficient because they have to heat the cold air coming in from the cowl,as mentioned earlier.

Having a well sealed cab is about the best thing you can do to help with good heat. As Sharps is doing, new door seals, window felts, etc will really help, as well as new seals on the kick panel vents.

I'm hopein the larger core allows a greater volum of air to be moved into the cab since the hole for the larger core gets enlarged. The best news is I have no/zero holes in the floor of this truck. So, felts/runners and vent seals oughta have a real impact on the positive side of the equasion.

[Sharps40]

I hope seals help. Sure gets cold here during hunting season in NC. Almost as low as 45 F and now I've been down south a few years my blood turned to vinegar and I wear a jacket all summer for use in airconditioned buildings. Man below 65 is pretty darn chilly!!!! Hard to beleive I used to hunt dark to dark in 15F weather with ice and snow...Spoiled now, I ain't goin north again!

[Sharps40]

Wheels and tires are on...looks nice I think. Changes the whole attitude of John Lee Jr. He's feelin spunky in them new sneekers.





Rear brake line is replaced, cylinders blead and shoes adjusted. We did a short test ride and all seems well, no leaks. So, good till I go thru and replace every inch of tubeing for the dual pot/front rear split.

The Langdon HEI kit came today. Nice coil in cap HEI with wires and Champion plugs. I gotta get a distributer base gasket tomorrow when I go in for the exhaust pipe and muffler.

[Reyals Bemus]

Love me some good ol chrome smoothies wrapped in blackwalls! Truck is looking sharp, Sharps!

[Sharps40]

I got plenty of work to do this weekend. But really waitin for the carb to get here before I go far or hard. That ol Rochester B is a leaky stinker! I think it'll be ready for a ride to the Low Country of SC in July for a week of Sporting Clays, target shootin, bonfires and beer and burgers.

[Sharps40]

That did it. I talked about it and ordered a full set of door frame rubber, felts/runners and vent seals.

One of them slidin back winders it talkin to me too.

Well, least my winders won't rattle.

[Sharps40]

Exhaust is in and its wicked mellow...put in a 25" thrush, Walker Head and tail pipe and a Roli straight thru coupler. About 2.5 hrs work and no leaks!!

The new and the old layin out on the floor. New looks a lot nicer.



The new Walker 48111 headpipe has a tulip fitting. Counter man says toss the exhaust doughnut, no sealer...just cinch it up snug with the factory ring and go drive.



Here is the 2" ID straight through coupler...why? Cause the Walker 48111 is for the long bed. No short bed pipes made these days. I'll section it and put it back together with the Roli coupler. I marked the mid point of the coupler and the total depth so I can drive it on and leave half for the rear of the headpipe after I shorten it up a bit more.



Coupler is on the front half of the newly cut headpipe, I cut it just a few inches behind the first pipe hanger. Just gettin all the slip on stuff slipped on so I don't have to chase dropped nuts and washers under the truck.



A bit of tape to hold the flange up so it won't slide down the pipe when I put the head pipe in from below.



A couple bungies keep things still while I line up the tulip in the manifold and get the nuts on finger tight.



Loosely positioning the first hanger...I'll shorten it up and tighten it up after bringing the rear of the head pipe into position.



I went ahead and fished that 25" thrush on to the Walker tail pipe, clamped it snug and fished it up over the rear axle from the front side of the axle.

[Sharps40]

This is how much I removed from the center of the head pipe to shorten it up from long bed for short bed use...just shy of 11".



Muffler hanger for rear of the muffler in place and a bit too long, I shortened it by half to bring the exhaust up above the LR truck arm.



Everything tightened up. Exhaust hangers total four (forward of union, front of muff, rear of muff, tail pipe), clamps total four (two for union, two for muffler front and rear) Head pipe is in place - hope it seals with no gasket and no goo. I drew it up snug +...what ever that torque spec is...snug plus, thats funny. Ammo QA would kick my butt for that one.



Looking from the headpipe back to the union where I cut the head pipe to remove that almost 11" of unneeded pipe.



Ohh, thats pretty. Wonder if it'll sound as mellow as I remember?



Finally, the taip pipe in the right place, at the DS rear corner. A neat chrome turn down to finish it out.



That looks just right.



In Memory of ...

[Sharps40]

Off to mow the lawn...maybe HEI or Radiator tonight! Nah, Bourbon and bon fire I think!