Project daily drivable 62 C20

[72cs20]

While doing searches I've seen quite a few questions about radiator hoses so here are some shots -

[72cs20]

Well she's running and running good. Turned the key on and off 5 or 6 times to prime the fuel system and she fired right up. Gotta love fuel injection. Temperature comes up to 190 degrees and stays there. Idles at right around 700 rpm with about 35 psi oil pressure at operating temperature. No fuel, coolant or engine oil leaks (yet, fingers crossed).

However, there are two immediate issues to deal with. The main one is that I'm getting a metal to metal contact noise inside the bell housing that starts with the clutch pedal depressed about half way down. It gets louder the further I push the pedal towards the floor. Maybe the clutch disc is stuck to the flywheel, as it has been a very damp winter here. Another possibility is that the clutch/pressure plate is too big for the bell housing. I did use a clutch kit for the donor truck, which is a 12 inch clutch. When looking up into the clutch area from beneath, there seems to be plenty of room for everything.

The second issue it a leak at the fittings on the steering box. The return line fitting is leaking the worst. It is hard to tell if the pressure line fitting is also leaking. I really don't want to tighten them anymore than they are now and cause damage. These are inverted flare fittings but do they need any kind of sealing washer? I seem to remember some plastic or rubber washers that were beneath the shipping plugs when the box arrived to me. Do they need to go back on? The steering box is the CPP 500 quick ratio version.


If anyone has any input about these issues, please chime in. Thanks.

[62stepside longbox]

The clutch problem sounds like it might be the throwout bearing, could it possibly be installed incorrectly?

[jdl71]

subd

[72cs20]

Ok, I think I might have the clutch issue figured out. I put the rear of the truck up on jack stands so I could get the drive line spinning and try to shift through the gears. I found that I could smoothly shift the transmission with the clutch pedal depressed only half way to the floor. Just past this point is where the noise starts. As soon as the exhaust cools down I'll re-adjust the clutch and see what happens.

I think I have the clutch dis-engaging too far and the pressure plate is contacting the top rear of the bell housing, although I'm not seeing any marks on the pressure plate itself. Hopefully it will adjust out to a happy useful medium.

[Captainfab]

Inverted flare line fittings do not use any sort or sealant or sealing washer. Just a metal to metal compressed fit.

A 12" clutch should not have any issues in your original bellhousing. Are you certain that you installed the clutch disc the correct way?

[jdl71]

Originally Posted by 72cs20

Ok, I think I might have the clutch issue figured out. I put the rear of the truck up on jack stands so I could get the drive line spinning and try to shift through the gears. I found that I could smoothly shift the transmission with the clutch pedal depressed only half way to the floor. Just past this point is where the noise starts. As soon as the exhaust cools down I'll re-adjust the clutch and see what happens.

I think I have the clutch dis-engaging too far and the pressure plate is contacting the top rear of the bell housing, although I'm not seeing any marks on the pressure plate itself. Hopefully it will adjust out to a happy useful medium.

I've had this exact same problem right after installing a new clutch. Hard to shift and odd noise when pedal on the floor. Backed off the clutch linkage a bit and everything is fine now.

[72cs20]

Thanks for the inputs gentlemen.

Spent some time last night re-adjusting the clutch and got the noise to go away. Clutch engagement is smooth and the transmission slips into all gears easily. It still needs a little more fine tuning, but it should be fine.

I don't have a gas pedal setup yet but I'm able to move the truck around with first and reverse gear. This let me test the brakes out a little bit. So far so good there.

Captain, you are right of course. The inverted flare needs no additional sealing. Just not looking forward to calling CPP to get the box and return line swapped out, if that's what it takes. I guess I should be thankful this was really the only big problem on first startup.

[72cs20]

More detail work accomplished this week. Bolted up the grill support and grill to get the headlights all squared away. Put in the front light portion of the AAW wiring harness, installed new headlights and found a fix for the broken headlight adjusters.

AAW front light harness firewall to core support -



At the business end -

[72cs20]

The only problem I had with replacing the headlights was that all four of the adjusters were broken. Not the adjusting screw, but the plastic body that keeps the adjuster from pulling through the headlight bucket.

I found that these license plate screw keepers are a perfect fit for the square hole in the headlight bucket and the original adjuster screw threads into it just fine.




And job complete -

[72cs20]

Finished wiring the power and grounds for the Vintage Air unit. Also installed the VA control panel and tested the fan controls. Working good. Only two things left to do on the VA system - Make up the ac compressor lines and have the system charged. I bought an ac line crimper and will do these myself. The tool should be here this week and I'll update later on that part.

Got the glove box door painted and installed. So now the only hole in the dash is the radio location. Haven't decided on what to do with that yet. With the VA system and the engine computer, there is no room for a glove box. Not even the useless one that VA includes with the kit.



And got an accelerator pedal in. It is out of a early 80's C20. It works fairly well for now, but to be permanent, will need some more work.

[72cs20]

Got a few more things crossed off the to-do-list this week. My AC line crimper came in a few days ago so I was able to finish off the Vintage Air plumbing.

Comes with multiple dies for different size hoses -


This is the 13/32 hose compressor to condenser -




And both hoses complete -

[72cs20]

And I was finally able to fix my leaky steering box. CPP sent me new taller flare fitting inserts for the steering box.


The new ones are aluminum vs brass and are supposed to seal better, according to CPP. So I popped the shorter brass ones out and dropped the new taller aluminum ones in and no more leaking.

With the leaks stopped, it was time for a short test drive. It has been a very challenging almost year long project but all the modifications seem to be working well worth the effort.
The brakes are what I'd hoped they would be with a positive modern feel and stopping the truck straight and true.
Clutch operation is perfectly smooth.
Gave the engine a slight timing adjust to factory spec's. That got rid of a minor miss at idle. Running smooth and staying at proper temperature with good oil pressure.
Steering system is working pretty well but definitely needs an major alignment job.

Will work out the kinks in the next few weeks. But here she is out of the garage and mobile again.



Thanks for reading!

[jdl71]

Looks good!

[Blue666(2)]

Originally Posted by 72cs20

Thanks again. Gary, I really am a big fan of the 87-95 GM tbi engines. They're reliable and ruggedly simple and lend themselves well to vintage vehicles. Personally, I don't mess with carbureted fuel systems anymore. My last couple of CJ-7's with 258 sixes were tbi converted. My current 1990 Jeep Wrangler has a 95 350 tbi installed and has worked out very well.

Well my rosy outlook for starting the engine has already fallen by the wayside. With the uncooperative weather, me being under the weather and the need to order more parts, it just ain't gonna happen.

My engine harness and fuel pump did arrive and I got the pump and filter installed. So at least the fuel plumbing is finished.
Attachment 1617781

I was ready to do the engine harness but realized I didn't know where to make the hole on the firewall for the ECM connectors to enter the cab. The plan from the beginning was to have a Vintage Air(VA) unit installed. In order to avoid any real estate conflicts between the VA unit and the harness entry location, I figured I should install the VA unit first and then find a suitable location for the engine harness entry point. The Vintage Air kit should be here in a few days and then I can get going. I'll post back soon with that part.

I love this project. A cool daily driver is also my goal, don't meed crazy HP or custom paint. Did your engine harness also come from American AutoWire? I'm still torn between doing the stock GM TBI and just going the FiTech route. I have a tank with a TBI fuel pump already mounted.

I mounted a hand operated brake on my A833 using an extra shifter mount & two pieces of 1/4" steel welded together. The handle pulls dual cables to the rear wheels. Doing the same on a 700R4 along with a trans mounted shifter would require some thinking.

[ChrisV]

Looks great!

[72cs20]

jdl71 and Blue666(2), thanks for your input to this thread.

My engine harness came from Howell Fuel Injection. I really like their stuff. I've used them for TBI systems for three Jeeps and this truck. Their Jeep harnesses are pretty much made to fit and easy to install. For the C20, I had to either lengthen or shorten about 2/3's of the sensor leads to make it fit right. No big deal.

I also looked at the FITech systems and had a conversation with them. I asked them about their Fuel Command Center system so that I could avoid running a fuel return line. They told me that their Fuel Command Center systems don't support the factory GM two barrel TBI units. Again, no big deal. Ran a return line to a new fuel tank that came with a return line fitting. With a vented fuel tank cap, no gas smell in the cab.

So lately I've been taking care of the more mundane detail work to get the truck fully functional and testing the various and new-to-the-truck accessories.

I've finished my end of the Vintage Air install with the installation of the vent registers and ducting. The next step is the ac shop for system charging.



The dash-to-firewall cavity has gotten somewhat crowded with all the new wiring and ac stuff.

I re-installed the wiper linkage. The Newport wiper motor w/delay works great.


Installed these new LED tail lights. Got them from Brothers and I really like them. This step tests the light fixtures as well as the wiring harness and the Ididit steering column. Running lights, turn signals and stop lights all good.


And finally, I re-installed the original ( I think ) horn and it tested good. Again, this tested the Wiring harness, steering column AND the steering wheel kit.


I have been very fortunate in that, so far, all functions have been coming up without re-work. Reading instructions two or three times, asking the selling vendor to clarify certain instructions, and taking ones time definitely pays off.

[72cs20]

Lastly for today, I tried my hand at a little body filler work. The only rust repair I had to do was at the rear bottom of the front fenders. The young man who did the repair did a fine job so only a small amount of filler was needed to smooth the weld seams.




A little more sanding and then paint and final installation this week. Yay!

[72cs20]

It has been 6 or 7 weeks since the last update, so here we go.

First an important note - A member on this forum, RSK0069, generously donated the transmission and all the parking brake parts I needed to re-assemble mine with the correct parts. Thanks again Ryan!

I've been trying make a big push to finish this phase of the project and get the truck road worthy. Got quite a few things crossed off the list.

The biggest of these was the parking brake. My truck has the brake mounted on the back of the stock 4 speed. My original brake assembly had a couple of key parts missing which allowed the brake band to go badly out of adjustment. This caused the band to contact the drum at the two O'clock position and wear through the friction material and into the metal of the band.
Pic of damage -


The important item missing from my brake assembly was the " anchor bolt ". Aside from " anchoring " the left side of the band to the transmission, the anchor bolt provides side to side adjustment for the band. The right side of the brake assembly has a bolt to adjust the top half of the band up or down. Another larger J-bolt adjusts the lower half up or down.
Pic of the anchor bolt. Located to the left of the word " Top ". A safety wire is installed through the bolt head after final adjustment.


Here is a pic of right side -


Added to the list of endless snowballs was the AC vent housing interfered with the full movement of the brake lever and tranny shifter. Three inches had to be removed from the middle of the lever and the release rod.


And the newly bent shifter. This shifter is from Ryan's transmission. Mine had some odd rubber coating on it and wouldn't have taken well to the torch.

[72cs20]

Here are more pics of things crossed off the to-do list.

Got shocks put on the front. These should do the trick.



Preparing to put the hood back on. Cleaned and painted the hinges and springs.


New Precision door seals. Re-adjusting the doors was challenging.


And both pedal pads finally on -

[72cs20]

So with the parking brake back together, the flooring can be put in. First the trans hump is installed



Then I lined most of the floor and foot wells with Noico sound deadening material


And then the carpet. I got this carpet from Brothers and it fits very well.

[rusty76]

Looks good.

[72cs20]

Thanks Rusty for the complimentary input.

Here are a couple more pics of work done today. The refurbished stock seat is back in and looks nice. This seat is temporary so it didn't get a full resto. I have other plans for the long term.


Here is my new " Monster Core " radiator from Champion. Nice quality construction. Seems the stock rad has sprung a leak at the lower tank, so it has to go. Good job for the weekend.

[RKS0069]

Looking really really good!! Such a nice truck! I'm lucky I had the chance to see it in person, keep up the awesome work. Helps get me motivated to get back on mine. I've been working odd jobs and studying in order to pass the Oregon Electrician, General Journeyman License test, Twenty years in the trade and they don't accept California licenses in Oregon. Hopefully I'll have a good job soon and can spend some time and money on my old girl.

[72cs20]

Hey there Ryan, thanks for stopping in.

A good day in the garage today. I got the new radiator in and finally got the fan shroud issue worked out. And it only took me three months.

It seems that my old radiator going out last weekend turned out to be a good thing. The new radiator is much accepting to my old plan of using the 63-66 radiator shroud. So the new radiator is in as well as the well fitting adapted 63-66 shroud.

New rad installed -




To get decent clearance to the water pump pulley and also to be able install or remove the fan, I had to trim one and a half inches from the fan opening -


Then set it in on the radiator and side baffles to mock up and get a final location. The fan in the pic came off of the 258 straight 6 that was in my 1990 Jeep Wrangler. It is the fan I settled on. It is 17 1/4 inches across and fits in the opening with an inch gap to the shroud opening -