Working Man's Burbon

[HO455]

Originally Posted by LockDoc

-
Good job! That will be better than any aftermarket motor.
.

That's my hope.

[HO455]

I did some work on my backup lights yesterday in hopes of increasing the light output. It has become very apparent how poor the backup lights on the WMB are since I been driving my new S10 Blazer to work on the weekends. It's a night and day difference between the two trucks.

After removing the lens it's easy to see why the light output is so poor. (Photo #1). I had lined the taillight and front turn signal housings with butyl aluminum sealing tape as part of getting the Burban road ready years ago but obviously forgot to do anything with the backup light housings.

Since most new cars have a reflector built in around the bulb I decided to do the same for the WMB. I picked up a pair of used 6v lantern battery flashlights for $2 at the Rebuilding Center (I love that place!). I stripped the reflectors out of them and dove in.

Carefully holding the gasket I traced the inside edge of the gasket on to the reflector. Then I did a rough cut of the tracing followed by a test fitting. I repeated that process half a dozen more times before I got a nice close fit. Then I used a Dremel to open up the hole for the bulb and snapped the reflector in place. Between the bulb and the close fit there was no need to glue the reflector in place. I should have got a picture of the reflector installed without the light on. I will get that photo when I do the other side. I only did one side as I wasn't sure how well it would work. But now it's done it I'll be doing the other side for sure as the light output is much better than I expected it to be.

[HO455]

And here are the results! Even in broad daylight the difference is noticeable.
But in the dark wow! Notice how much light is reflected on to the pavement on the driver's side. Looking out the rear window I noticed more light from the driver's side when when I left for work this morning.

[3757chevy]

Nice.

[BAD1916]

That turned out great.

[CG]

Not sure how you came up with that, it sure came out great.

[kev2809]

that reverse light idea was genius...nice idea

[LockDoc]

-
Looks good.

Thinking outside of the box and good ol' American ingenuity is how he came up with that.....
.

[Beach-Burban]

I’m amazed at how well you keep refining the WMB…little things like this are usually overlooked! Thanks for documenting this upgrade for others to copy!

Woody

[HO455]

Thank you everybody for all the kind words but I'm not really all that smart. After seeing many broken taillights (Photo) at the wrecking yard it dawned on me that I could do that to the WMB. From there it was a bunch of walking through the wrecking yards looking for a donor set of lights (Which I never found) when the flashlight idea came to mind. Doing it for $2 was the only genius part of the job.

['68OrangeSunshine]

Originally Posted by HO455

Thank you everybody for all the kind words but I'm not really all that smart. After seeing many broken taillights (Photo) at the wrecking yard it dawned on me that I could do that to the WMB. From there it was a bunch of walking through the wrecking yards looking for a donor set of lights (Which I never found) when the flashlight idea came to mind. Doing it for $2 was the only genius part of the job.

That's a great mod. I have an old flashlight reflector on the drivers side courtesy lamp in my '71 Jimmy. With a totally-removable top, there's no dome light.
On the '71 GMC and '68 C/10 Stepside, I did a lower tech, but quite effective, move of cleaning the lenses and buckets and spraying the insides with aluminum spraypaint. Same for taillight buckets. Works with tungsten incandescent bulbs. LEDs have no ''backsplash'.

[Ol Blue K20]

Great idea and a nice job!

[HO455]

More information from the second light. This one took two tries. I used the first one as a template and traced it on the reflector. This however didn't work out as planned, due to the second reflector having a steeper angle to the cone and when I cut it on the lines it was too small in the housing. This caused the cost of this modification to go up by 50%.

The second thing I learned is it is much easier to enlarge the hole for the bulb with a step drill bit over using a Dremel like I did on the first one.

For the rough shape I used a band saw to do the initial cuts. I also learned that spraying the blade with WD40 will help prevent the plastic from sticking to the blade.

The final shaping was done with a sanding drum in a drill and a hand sanding block. I found that sanding was cleaner when I went from the inside to the outside or from the bulb side to the battery side.

I discovered the hard way is it is easy to push the reflector into the housing but, hard to get it out as the housing gets smaller towards the back. The reflector will bend as you push it in but it wants to dig in and grab when you try to remove it. I needed to leave a bit of a gap on one corner to allow a pick tool to pass behind the reflector so I could remove it as I sanded it to size.

Another thing is try not to touch the inside of the reflector as the surface scratches easily.

And thanks again for all the kind words and encouragement I do appreciate them.

[1970cstblazer]

The 1971-72 style B/U lenses are clearer, and fluted differently to give off more light. However, I've always preferred the 1967-70 bullseye B/U lenses aesthetically since they match pattern of the tail lenses.

[HO455]

Cool, I learned something today. Thanks!

[HO455]

The WMB suffered another failure of the electric fuel pump. This the third time in the 55k miles I've put on it. The pump the PO installed lasted 36k. The new replacement Mallory 110 lasted about 15k. The Mallory 140 I rebuilt just failed after about 4k. Every failure has been due to a seized lower bearing. The first rebuild kit I bought was around $43. I just priced one and they are now $145!

Apparently Mallory has decided rebuild kits must be worth 1/2 the price of a new pump. For that price the bearing quality had better have significantly improved. For me there is no guarantee that is in fact the case so I have converted the WMB back to a mechanical fuel pump.

The first step was to remove the pump and redo the plumbing. Photos one and two. Since I wasn't using the gearotor pump I also removed the filter I had in front of the pump.

I got a new pump and the pump push rod. I spent the extra coin to get the ARP version of the push rod after reading a fair amount of reviews saying the cheaper Delco push rods were rusty. The basic Carter pump and I was good to go, or so I thought...

I didn't realize that Chevies use a spacer plate between the pump and the block. It was too late to run to the parts store for one and I wasn't too excited about paying $14 bucks for one. So I took the chrome block off plate and and after some measuring I machined a slot in it and Presto a pump spacer!

The rest was a straightforward pump installation with a side of bending a bit of tubing to hook the output to the existing line to the fuel pressure regulator. Not that I need the regulator but it was convenient for the short term.

[LockDoc]

-
Well, at least your electric pump was easy to get to...

I made the same change on one of my vehicles. I also got tired of messing with the electric pump.
.

['68OrangeSunshine]

I had a Holley Red electric fuel pump on White Fang. That led to its downfall, when a backfire caught the oiled K&N air filter on fire, and I forgot to switch off the fuel pump switch. [I assumed, since I wasn't Racing, I didn't need the Oil Pressure Cut-Off Switch.]
Anyway, I salvaged the Red pump and used it for syphoning gas out of jerrycans and into my trucks' fuel tanks.
When the Red pump jammed, I took the top electric section apart and lost one of the commutator brush springs. Holley's repair kit only included a fresh bottom gasket, and brass mesh screens. When I asked Holley about parts for the top they wouldn't supply any, saying I'd voided the warranty -- taking it apart. My local Hot Rod Shop didn't have any top section parts either, but they sold me a Holley Blue pump [faster rate] so I could cannibalize the springs. It was an FD return that leaked. I didn't mess with the top section, but changed the bottom gasket, and it leaked less. Good enough for its Fuel Transfer role.
When I bought the '67 K/10 Sub, the PO had rigged a low cost electric fuel pump to the 454. That burned out late one dark night in the parking lot at the theater I worked at. I slid under the rig and discovered the stock mechanical fuel pump was still in place, just bypassed. So I rerouted the fuel lines to work thru the mechanical pump and got home, finally. But a year later, I had trouble starting, and not feeding the hungry BBC on the freeway. So I was talked into installing the Holley Red pump. And we know the rest.

[HO455]

Sounds like you've had more than your fair share of fuel pump problems. I'm now of the opinion that there are no good electric fuel pumps for daily driver carbureted vehicles.

['68OrangeSunshine]

Originally Posted by HO455

Sounds like you've had more than your fair share of fuel pump problems. I'm now of the opinion that there are no good electric fuel pumps for daily driver carbureted vehicles.

Hard to find good mechanical pumps, too.

[HO455]

I'm hoping thats not the case.

A couple years back the nut that secures the spare tire in the well. The nut was held in place with what appeared to be a pair of stamped tabs as shown by the arrows.

To reattach the nut I cleaned up the nut and the vertical sheetmetal so the nut fits tight in place. Then I drilled two holes to allow me to plug weld the nut on all four corners. Three of the four welds can out perfect and the fourth just okay but it should hold the tire as good or better than the factory did.

Tomorrow I'll clean it up some with a grinder and then apply some paint.

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by HO455

I'm hoping thats not the case.

A couple years back the nut that secures the spare tire in the well. The nut was held in place with what appeared to be a pair of stamped tabs as shown by the arrows.

To reattach the nut I cleaned up the nut and the vertical sheetmetal so the nut fits tight in place. Then I drilled two holes to allow me to plug weld the nut on all four corners. Three of the four welds can out perfect and the fourth just okay but it should hold the tire as good or better than the factory did.

Tomorrow I'll clean it up some with a grinder and then apply some paint.

Looks good to me. I have a hard time welding in an area like that.
.

[HO455]

Thanks Doc. I've been putting off fixing it for a while. I don't do enough welding anymore to maintain my proficiency. So I waited until I had another welding task to practice on before I started on this one. No sense blowing a hole in it if I can avoid it. More on that other welding task in a bit.

And I finally got all the lock sets I got from you installed. WHOO HOO!

I must complement you on your skill and foresight in picking a key pattern that allows the ignition/door key to also unlock my gas cap too! Hats off to you sir. One key for everything.

Thanks Leon.

[BAD1916]

That came out looking great. I need to do the same repair on mine as well.

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by HO455

Thanks Doc. I've been putting off fixing it for a while. I don't do enough welding anymore to maintain my proficiency. So I waited until I had another welding task to practice on before I started on this one. No sense blowing a hole in it if I can avoid it. More on that other welding task in a bit.

And I finally got all the lock sets I got from you installed. WHOO HOO!

I must complement you on your skill and foresight in picking a key pattern that allows the ignition/door key to also unlock my gas cap too! Hats off to you sir. One key for everything.

Thanks Leon.

No problem! Glad to hear you finally installed the locks. The gas cap thing must just be good Karma....
.