Markeb01 Build Thread

[Ta2Don]

I agree! Well Played by the Missus...

[dwcardfan]

Very nice!!

[clemdaddy]

really like the hood ornament and the underdash air and the new business card. you are truly the energizer bunny of truck builds. enjoy good guys and looking forward to the pics.

[piratexpress1369a]

i like that

[markeb01]

Thanks for the feedback and checking in guys.

Completed another minor sub-project today. The heater hoses and heater valve were presenting a collision fit with the lower line of the V belt between the crank and compressor pulleys. The problem can be seen in this photo taken earlier this morning (simulated with the yellow line):



I had originally routed it in this fashion mainly for cosmetics to keep the hoses off the valve cover. The 90 degree fitting on the intake manifold was replaced with a straight version, and about 6” of the hose ahead of the vacuum operated heater valve was removed to relocate the valve closer to the firewall. The hoses were then rerouted under and inside the compressor bracket.

The hoses are now above or ahead of the valve cover (allowing easy removal) and well clear of the fuel line keeping heat off the fuel system:





I think this is about all I can accomplish until the A/C kit shows up.

[markeb01]

Was I ever thankful and surprised when the phone rang this afternoon and it was the chrome guy advising my hood ornament base was ready – and a week earlier than promised! Down and back in a flash, a nice coat of wax, and here’s what the finished product looks like:







Again, this is what I started with for a base. It was originally designed to sit on top of a 46 Ford hood ornament:



And more good news – the label for the exhaust cutout switch will be here Friday. The new A/C compressor will arrive Monday, and the full A/C kit will show up on Tuesday. So if luck holds out, I’ll at least have the evaporator mounted in the cab, and the compressor installed on the engine by the time we head out to Goodguys Spokane next week!

[likaroc13]

Hood ornament looks beautiful! Hope your other parts show up as planned. I've never been to a Goodguys show, but in the past I heard some guys talking about the one in Charlotte. If all works out, I hope to be able to drive up & attend this October.

[piratexpress1369a]

that turned out better than you thought

[1963c-10]

Very cool id about the business card. Emblem came out great. I need to have my hood ornament rechromed too......and looking forward to the AC install.

[markeb01]

Thanks for the comments and continued interest guys.

Again to my surprise, the new legend/switch ID plate for the exhaust cutouts arrived today, a day early. It was quickly installed and one of the red bat handles cut down to fit. This makes it much easier to find in the dark should I need to close them quickly:



So rather than sitting around waiting for parts, I thought I’d go ahead and get started on the heater/defroster connection. The problem being the defrost diverter must go away as it takes up the space the right side of the evaporator will occupy:



It is being relocated above the evaporator, between the wiper motor and the ash tray rack. The entrance to the diverter is being blocked with a metal plate, and will mount a hose nipple for connection to the front of the heater. The heater outlet sits about 2” away from the side of the evaporator, so that is also being blocked, and heated air will exit out the front for heater and connect to the defrost diverter with flexible heater hose:





I’ll have to go pick up some ABS parts to hook all this together once I get the metal plates formed and fitted.

The saga continues!

I almost forgot, I also moved the driver side courtesy light to the left end of the dash above the emergency brake. This is the new light pattern. The dome light lights up the center of the floor, and the floor lights highlight the kick panels and corners:

[Ta2Don]

Diggin' your Saga!!! …and the Hood Ornament...

[Bigru]

X2 on that!

[Bigru]

X2 on that!! Looks good Bruh!

[markeb01]

Thanks guys! I think it’s going to look pretty cool once the evaporator shows up and gets mounted.

Finished fabricating the end plates for the heater and defrost diverter housings:



I went ahead and painted the one for the heater, but the diverter plate still needs to be cut out for the inlet hose from the heater so it will have to wait until tomorrow.

[markeb01]

More work on the diverter today, and nearly completed the entire heater revision. I picked up a couple of ABS fittings yesterday and modified them to work for hose ports. Threads on the back side were sawed off, and the thickness of the threaded portion was removed with a Dremel drum so the inside diameter of the fitting would be a full 1.75”. The adapter plate was cut with a new hole saw and the adapter was epoxied in place from the inside with JB Kwik. The plate was attached with pop rivets:



The shop vac nozzle was inserted in the open end of the heater, and the new outlet was cut. The 2nd ABS nozzle was also attached with JB Kwik from the inside, after which the new end cap was attached through the factory screw holes.


I tried positioning the diverter in a variety of locations, and quickly realized two things. The upper factory bracket was problematic no matter where the item was placed, so it was sliced off. The other problem being the passenger side defroster outlet. Regardless of orientation, the outlet was an interference fit with everything, the dash, firewall, or the defroster outlet itself. So a quick analysis showed it could be relocated to the next panel down on the diverter body, which freed up a number of new options. The old tube was carefully removed, and came out so nice it almost look like it was removed with a laser. It looked so great I wanted to take a picture before I fabricated and installed a cover plate for the defunct outlet, but I was covered with grinding powder and didn’t want to go in the house for the camera.



The new outlet was cut, and I considered reinstalling the factory tube, but the plastic versions are much easier to work with and are much stronger. So tomorrow I’ll pick up one more, pull the end plate and epoxy it in place. After that I’m going to see if I can get the darn thing mounted and connected to the heater so when the A/C shows up I’ll have this portion behind me.

I also tested the air flow out of the new heater outlet and the Fiero heater motor really puts out a ton of wind, so I’m reasonably confident it will be adequate for my limited winter needs.

[Grizz1963]

Never stops does it??

You amaze me with your constant fettling and attention to detail.

[markeb01]

It hasn't yet anyway! I get bored pretty easy so I'm always looking for things to improve!

[markeb01]

Here’s something you don’t see every day – a 1961 Corvette following a boat down the street. This thing was really hauling too, at least 50 miles an hour! Don’t know if it’s seaworthy, but it was sure fun to witness:



Once we got home I quickly finished the diverter by adding the final defroster connection port:



It’s still in the 90’s here (and the rest of the week), so I think I’ll wait until tomorrow morning when it's a bit cooler before I tackle installing the diverter.

[piratexpress1369a]

looking good

[markeb01]

Wrapped up the heater project this morning. I checked a to see where the diverter would best fit, including the driver’s side where the factory fuse panel once resided, but there wasn’t enough room to get 3 hoses over the steering column comfortably.

The area behind the clock turned out to work best, so the hoses and operating cable were connected and a sturdy bracket installed for support. Velcro was also attached in two places for anti-rattle purposes.

Here’s a knee’s eye view. The hose will tucked up a bit more once the shrunken glove box liner is reinstalled:



And this is looking through the glove box opening:



I’m glad to have this finished before the air conditioner shows up, so I don’t have to deal with all this stuff at the same time. The compressor will be attached to the engine on Monday (assuming it arrives as scheduled) and the evaporator will be hung under the dash on Tuesday. I think I’ll leave it in that state until after the Goodguys show next weekend before finalizing the installation.

[markeb01]

The A/C compressor showed up today, and being completely sealed I went ahead and mounted it on the Alan Grove engine bracket. It fits perfectly as before, and measures out needing a 60” V belt which coincides with the Alan Grove recommended length:



The inboard hose leaving the compressor heading for the evaporator (firewall) will go almost straight back and go through the round bump out between the air filter and the heater panel. This is almost directly in alignment with the connection on the evaporator:



After a bunch of study I also decided to remove the X brace on the front of the radiator support:



Quite a few other members have removed them with no reported side effects, so I felt safe to get it out of the way. With the condenser installation coming up maybe tomorrow, I’m tired of trying to work around that thing. I drilled out the upper rivet heads and popped the struts off the rivet stubs. Trying to drill and cut the lower rivets requires too much disassembly, so the lower rods were cut off about 2” from each end and bonked down parallel to the lower radiator channel. It is certainly going to make mounting the condenser much easier, to say nothing of installing/removing or adjusting the grille.

I also stumbled on a new camera setting that takes a short flash, and leaves the lens open a bit longer to gain more natural light. It makes for much cleaner photos so I’m glad to have found it.

Also had a bit of adventure when the doorbell rang, and 3 medium sized kids from next door reported an open door, unusual noises and a potential intruder in the house. The uncle in charge just went to the store but they were scared to go inside. My wife and I told them they did the right thing by coming to us for help. I grabbed a 9mm and went to sweep the house. She went to the back yard and stood by with the cell phone. One last time I asked if anyone was supposed to be in the house and all three responded “no just us”. So I cleared every room one by one and finally headed downstairs.

I told them to stay upstairs while I headed down the staircase. As I cautiously peaked around the corner, I was met by a 75 pound dog with a 400 pound bark! He wasn’t very pleased with me in his private space! Thankfully the kids calmed the dog and I finished checking every room and closet. Results were thankfully negative. If someone had broken in, he left before I got there.

The kids were very grateful and I was thankful no bad guys were encountered. I never discount scared kids, in my experience they generally see and remember more details than adults. The uncle returned just as I was leaving, so we exchanged information and all was right with the world!

[piratexpress1369a]

mark to the rescue..good on you ..ac looks clean install

[likaroc13]

I agree, that's great of you looking out for the kids. Glad everything turned out okay.

[Ta2Don]

Glad you were there, and able to carry out your 2cd amendment rights...

[markeb01]

I’m sure every veteran knows the feeling. Vietnam may have been 45 years ago but when danger appears I slow down and go into auto-focus mode and do whatever is instinctive. One of the benefits my wife really loves about me.

The Vintage Air kit showed up today. Everything was opened and inspected, finding both a bad surprise and a good surprise. The bad news was the vents on the face of the evaporator appeared to be broken and resting inside the unit. It turned out whoever assembled the unit left out one of the screws holding the center pivot pins to the faceplate, allowing it to fall apart. Nothing was broken and no permanent damage, so I just came up with a closely matching screw and finished assembling it.

The good surprising news was I received the upgraded custom installation kit for a 60-66 Chevy truck which includes custom brackets and formed tubes for the condenser and receiver-drier. Those pieces are really going to simplify the next phase. I was expecting generic parts with no special attaching parts.

It took about an hour to hang the evaporator. Like everything else on these projects, it’s not particularly difficult, just tedious. It’s a pita trying to hold the thing up with one hand while trying to attach screws, etc. The dash brackets bolted into existing holes, so I didn’t even have to drill anything. And the rear support was easily accessible through the glove box opening. The unit will have to be dropped again to attach the hoses when I get to that phase. At that time I’m going to pull and paint the dash brackets and the attaching hardware black. They look kind of cheesy at the moment.

Here’s the first photo of the evaporator permanently mounted in the cab:



I like the looks and fit of it, the louvers have a wide range of adjustability from over my head to well below my knees. The shifter doesn’t come within 3-4 inches of the faceplate and neither the driver or passenger have any movement restrictions because of it. I’m thinking it looks more 1960’s “cool” that the 3 gauge under dash panel!