SkinnyG's '61 Apache

[SkinnyG]

Oh dang.

Fuel pump or fuel pump related.

[SkinnyG]

Truck is at home in the house garage, up on jack stands in anticipation of dropping the fuel tank.

Not tomorrow though - I have physio after work, and while I usually have dreams of coming home and working on stuff, I'm usually lucky if I can even tie my shoes after the IMS and elecro-shock.

[caseyjones]

Looks like you were on a nice drive until it wasn’t. Hope the fix is simple!

[SkinnyG]

The fuel pump relay was clicking, and I tried bypassing the relay and powering the pump directly, but it wasn't working. I think it's the connection inside the tank. I remember building it going "this seems rinky-dink."



I re-did the internal connections , and it is now "robust."

[verdell]

Originally Posted by SkinnyG

The fuel pump relay was clicking, and I tried bypassing the relay and powering the pump directly, but it wasn't working. I think it's the connection inside the tank. I remember building it going "this seems rinky-dink."



I re-did the internal connections , and it is now "robust."

I went through a similar situation with the exact same fuel tank set up in my '60. After redoing (soldering) the sending unit connections and running a solid length of 10 gauge wire, it's running better than ever.

[SkinnyG]

Old and busted "hot" connection for the fuel pump (I'm using a Walbro 450):





I removed that gray connector, and crimped/soldered/heat-shrunk all the wires to their respective pins, with 12ga wire to the pump. There should be no problem now.

[SkinnyG]

Back up to 8psi boost now, and with all eight cylinders properly firing ... HOOO BOY!!!!

I have a smile.

[350TacoZilla]

Great news man

[SkinnyG]

The tank came out really easy - I designed it to be serviceable (and it worked!).

The straps (two nuts), the fill/vent hoses (hoseclamps), and the feed/return lines (two AN fittings).

Took maybe 30 minutes.

The bed on the other hand, that would take a LOT longer.

[SkinnyG]

Added a relay to turn on the cooling fan during AC. It's using the Trinary pressure switch off the accumulator. Not sure I'm totally happy with the result, but we will see.

You can just barely see the reorganized relays to the right of the rad.

[joesscamaro]

Glad you got it figured out and improved and back on the road.

[SkinnyG]

Latest video:

Replacing a Fuel Pump on the '61 Apache - YouTube

[SkinnyG]

The bottom of the front air bags are mounted to a plate, with about a 3/4" riser on it to keep the bag in a happy place whilst sitting in the spring pocket of the control arms.

Problem is, as the truck is raised off the ground on a jack or a lift, the control arm moves in an arc downward and the bag bottom wants to move outward to stay perpendicular to its upper mount.

So, I welded about a 1-1/4" section of 2" pipe to the bottom of the bag mount/riser, as far over as I could and still access the mounting bolt. Kind of like a cup within a cup. This 2" pipe fits inside the existing hole in the control arm, and restricts the movement of the bag mount when the truck is raised.

What I had been finding, is the bags were sitting more horizontal than vertical, requiring more air pressure and netting less ride height.

MUCH better now, and the bags stay in place when the truck raised on a lift.