SkinnyG's '61 Apache

[SkinnyG]

This weekend I re-routed the RCA cables away from the PCM in hopes to reduce some interferrence.

Not much else to report.

[350TacoZilla]

Hey no news is good news in the case of truck malfunctions lol. Glad its not giving you much trouble and your getting use out of it.

[SkinnyG]

Latest Video:

Modern Seats & Belts For the 61 Chevy Apache...

[SkinnyG]

Way back, I added more slots in the dash so I could fit two 5.25 coaxials in the dash.

Not much in the way of mid/low bass there, so....

[SkinnyG]

Added some 6x9 boxes for some rear fill. Primed and ready for paint.

[joesscamaro]

Nice Skinny! That should definitely fill that void in your current sound system.

[SkinnyG]

[SkinnyG]

Waiting on speaker connections off Amazon. Should be here by Wednesday. Looking forward to more sound.

Got plates on the truck to haul the rest of Dad's junk that the thrift stores wouldn't take.

FUN driving the truck around. Holy carp this thing scoots!

[SCOTI]

I bet it does.....

[SkinnyG]

Subs are in and hooked up. Older Alpine 4x feeding Rockford 5.25" fronts and Soundstage 6x9's in the cab corners, older Kenwood Mono feeding two older JL Audio 10" in parallel. Sounds wonderful.

Did another dump run, and the truck wouldn't re-start. There's a click, but no cranking.

Jumping will start it and then it's fine many times in a row. This is the second time it's done this. Inconsistent. I think it's a bum solenoid.

The alternator is pushing 13.7V at idle, the battery is seeing all of it. Battery sits at 12.6 after shut off. 12.6 at the starter. I'm running 2ga from the battery to the starter and 2ga for grounds. It's been fine almost all the time, but twice now it's clicked.

Grrr.

[SkinnyG]

Drove up north with my son to buy a '68 Pontiac Catalina. California car, zero rust, always parked indoors, never seen winter; it's in really good shape.

Unfortunately, winter is still happening there (not where we are, but up there), so we'll be heading up again mid april to bring it back when there is no snow. I did the front brakes in the owner's garage (thanks, man!), and we have some other little things to attend to when we get there. Tires are over 25 years old, for one....

Pics from the ad:









And my beaming (but cold) son:

[joesscamaro]

That's a cool looking car...I love Pontiac.

[SCOTI]

Looks very nice/clean. Good score on a crew-cab.

[Braunschweiger]

A beautiful cruiser

[SkinnyG]

Starter solenoids usually wear out at the contacts inside. Sometimes you can smack it with a hammer to get them to crank once more, and if it works, you're really on borrowed time.

My '61 Apache pickup left me stranded every 1 in 100 times. The starter would click, but no cranking. If I got a jump off someone else, their running/charging voltage of 14.6V plus their extra amperage was enough make the connection inside the solenoid. The solenoid is not serviceable, but here is what the contacts looked like inside after I cut it open to show you:



A brand new starter was only $98 CDN.

[SkinnyG]

Trip to Home Depot for some garden boxes, and picked up a set of used tires to bring my son's '68 Catalina home.

New starter hasn't failed me yet.

7psi boost. It's silly.

[SkinnyG]

Changed out the wastegate spring today. Was running a 4lb spring and adjusted the boost tee up to 7psi. I'm feeling the backpressure is lifting the wastegate?

At any rate, I changed out the spring and zeroed the boost tee so I should be back at 7psi. Testing.....

[SkinnyG]

Took some rotting lumber to the dump.

Hit 9psi on the way back. Holy giggity goo.

And... the linelock is leaking onto the exhaust manifold, so I'm just going to delete it.

[SkinnyG]

[SkinnyG]

Picked up a ratty utility trailer today. The going price for these turds up here is about $600. I'll be doing some modifications to it, new wood, and paint. Apparently it tilts.

[350TacoZilla]

They all tilt if you load them wrong then forget to latch the ball

As long as you picked it up for a decent deal then have at it man. If all else down the rd maybe you could put some 60-66 bedsides on it.

[SkinnyG]

My last trailer was a square fleet long trailer that matched my square fleet short pickup. It weight SO MUCH it was almost impossible move around by myself.

While I'd love a "matching" trailer (and there WAS one for sale locally), they are way too heavy for my wee piddly arms. Yeah, I know there are 'glass fenders I could even get, but that's a lot of money for a once-a-year dump run.

[SkinnyG]

I bought a trailer, since I sold my last one with the matching truck. It needs some love, but more importantly I need the right length ball hitch. In this case, that's 14" to clear the sexy bumper.

Mocked up for welding:



And now that I'm making one, I see that they are actually available online....

I also bought the cheapest catch can on Amazon, because I'm pushing oil out of the engine under boost.

Turns out, it's also the smallest catch can. Not really a problem, and it actually works out good, because I altered it to act as a zero-maintenance oil-separator and drain the oil back into the crankcase.



I plugged the "in" port (right) and drilled out the threaded drain on the bottom and welded a -10AN bung so the can is filled from the bottom. I also welded a -10AN bung on the "out" port (left) which I also ported internally. This is mounted using one of the heater box screws, a bracket, and a hose clamp. Then I made up new AN breather lines.



Operationally:

"Blow By" gets sucked into the intake manifold at the back of the driver's valve cover.

In order for that air to move, fresh filtered air comes from pre-turbo, through the catch can, and into the oil fill cap on the driver's side.

Under BOOST, a one-way check valve at the intake manifold stops the crankcase from being pressurized.

Crankcase pressure escapes through the -10AN line out the oil cap to the catch can, oil is collected, and theoretically just "blow by" is fed to the turbo and back into the motor.

Off-boost, collected oil drains back into the engine.

In theory, at least.

[bigmoe]

[/QUOTE]
Back in the seventies my buddy had the same car that was a hand me down form his Dad. When his licence was suspended for too many infractions I was the driver. We were 16 and him and our buddies spend a lot of time in that car that summer. We would flip the air breather lid upside down and when you floored it and the four barrel cut in.....mwAAAAAA. Sounded like a race car, lol.

[SkinnyG]