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Old 04-20-2013, 08:28 AM   #1
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Re: The Official John Lee Jr Thread

Awesome Sharps! Love this thread, awesome to see the 6 haulin a$$
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Old 04-19-2013, 09:00 PM   #2
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Re: The Official John Lee Jr Thread

Congrats!

What's up next?
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Old 04-20-2013, 08:12 PM   #3
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Re: The Official John Lee Jr Thread

Well, today was tough....Lots of work tough. But good.

Lets see, installed new pcv grommet and hose...works fine.

Installed under dash tach in predrilled factory holes....works fine. Same routeing as before, thru the dash (factory hole above the tail light harness) and wrapped it in with the HEI/Sender power wires on the PS of the valve cover.

I installed Tail Gate derattlers (extra PCV grommets that I bought...) on the tale gate ears...now when ya close it its got a rubber bushing to stop all the noise and snug enough the chains don't jump out of the ears.




I installed PS vent window rubber, divider run, door frame run and window felts...greased all the mechanisms and just have to add the rubber to the passenger door frame edges. What a job. Lots of pics to post up for this one. Surely much more difficult than I expected and I even put stuff on in the wrong order but it worked out. Waxed all the runs and the vent window rubber. The new LMC rubber is so thick it may need a bevel trimmed in the leading edge to get the vent window to close more easily. For now I'll leave the window closed for about two weeks to let the rubber conform a bit more. One door was about all my arthritic fingers could tolerate. Thats some booger of a job fittin in all the compression fit rubber strips. And, naturally, I dropped at least 5 parts down in the door and had to fish em out...now both arms are pretty well scuffed up!

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Old 04-21-2013, 10:08 AM   #4
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Re: The Official John Lee Jr Thread

I had new door rubber that came with Ol John Lee. Never used it cause his factory door rubber was stapled in ...didn't want to yank all them stables. So, pullin the door rubber of of John Lee Jr, its glued in from the factory. About as much work to remove, maybe more since ya gotta pull and scrape the rubber/glue w/o damagin the paint! But an array of scrapers including a small wood workers gouge to get into the corners and the old rubber is off. I left the factory glue line in place, its on the faces. I'll attach the new rubber to the clean lip of the door frame and if needed (but I doubt it) add a dollop here and there in faces of the corners later.

The clean up of the Passenger side.



Down in the lower groove, lots of years of trash....vacuum and a brush to get it all out. This area was not glued at the factory and I won't glue here...the door sill holds it in place and the lower corners too. It'll let me come back and weld a patch into the rocker later...you'll see it at the front corner of the door, just below the hinge piller...



For now, a bit of primer and paint to slow the rusting, at least on this side.



Test fitting the new rubber and no glue and No Cutting yet! Did that on an old 37 Dodge and had to buy new rubber, too short after glueing!



Test fit is good, a whole foot left over for the final trim. Prepping the battlefield. Some good sticking freezer tape to hold the rubber in place while the trim adhesive kicks over.


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Old 04-23-2013, 08:25 AM   #5
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Re: The Official John Lee Jr Thread

The ride in this morning with the new timeing setting of 18 BTDC was about the same as running yesterday at 14 to 15 BTDC.

I have a bit of vibration under the dash and the speedo head/cable is noisey at specific speeds (both on accel and decell) but a close listen to the engine continues to provide no evidence of spark knock/detonation. I'm supprized as 18 BTDC is 4.5 times the factory recommendation with points dizzy, but that is the recommended advance from the expert. I'm in the middle of the suggested range for enrichment with this carb so I think I'll lean it down a bit more and see what happens. I am anxous though fill up the tank and make a few runs in a week or so and get the first confirmations on fuel mileage. At this point, and given the inaccuracy of the dash gage, it seems to be pretty good....better than what I was seeing with the worn Rochester B.

I think this evening I'll get under the dash to find the rattle and as time allows make a run with the speedo disconnected at the trans. Give the engine a good lugging and hot run on Rt 1 and listen for knock without old truck rattle distractions. With a tach on the dash now, I can run a bit w/o the speedo since 60 on the dash is about 2800 on the tach when in 3rd gear.

Still pulling fine. I'm starting to form some impressions of the entire conversion....

1. Delco 12SI alternator...a must have. No external regulator, seems very reliable and an easy swap and an easy repair as needed out on the roads....it'll be recognizeable to 20 year old mechs at the gas station emergency stop.

2. GM HEI, nice, nice, nice. I think this is a no brainer. It should be as bullet proof as the V8 HEIs, also easily recognized for emergency repairs out in East BF, over the counter parts is nice when yer far from home. I don't know what the mechanical advance or vacuum advance is pulling on mine but it looks very tuneable just like the V8s with a set of springs and options on the vacuum cans. Given the ignition on this rig is now 4.5 times more than the factory points recommendations plus the hotter spark, instant start, smoother powere, etc....I have no complaints. I'd rate this as the best money spent on any of my old vehicles over the past 20 years.

3. The Weber 32/36, especially on the 2 to 1 adapter has some compromises. It appears (and confirmed with some research) that this combo on adapter will loose a bit of bottom end power. I believe the smaller primary barrel is also a reason for some inital loss on the bottom end. However, the entire range is very responsive and smooth and I think I've gained the majority of the bottom bac. But I believe it'd be a slightly better bottom end performer on a more open manifold, even if its not possible to get the hole in the manifodl as large as the base of the carb, some increase in throat size will make a difference. A trip to the junk yard is likely in the near future. As for the mid range (where most driving is done) and the top end, no comparison to the old rochester model B. Powere is there in abundance and comes on smoothly with out a blip. I have definatly gained power on the top end. Its no longer a struggle to maintain 60. I'm cruseing at 60/65 and have to watch my input as it continues to creep up. If the fuel mielage is better than the old set up, and I'm already seeing indications that it is up, then I will be very pleased. Much like loading small high intensity pistol cartridges, small changes in fuel mixture make for rather significant changes in performance. The DGEV is no harder to adjust than any Rochester/Carter but where a full turn on them makes difficult to observe differences, a quarter turn on the Weber can be seen/heard and felt. Plan to spend some time and fuel getting to know the Weber. I believe I'm going to like it a lot. Finally, sitting up on the tall adapter, the carb is a bit cold natured...it warms up fine but a bit slow. I have choke adjustments to make so I'm not gonna worry about it at this point at all.

4.I don't like the carb hat from a performance perstpective, it adds a 180 turn for the air into the carb on an already somewhat restricted set up. I do like its looks. So, what to do? I'm waiting till its all tuned in to my satisfaction and tested for about 500 to 1000 miles. But, I think the future holds a bit taller K&N element to uncover a portion of the filter near the neck and perhaps some functional holes (or better, louvers if I can find someone to punch it!) around the perimter to straighten out the first dogleg into the throat. I did this on a highly restricted Kaw Drifter and it made for positive improvements in power and fuel mileage.

5. I suspect the overall reliability of the total package will both pay for itself in trouble free cruising and surely is providing hours of enjoyment tinkering! But, more to follow as its not done yet.
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Old 04-25-2013, 07:13 PM   #6
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Re: The Official John Lee Jr Thread

Mostly tweaks tonight. Started with a spanky new fanbelt to replace the whiney old one. Still a bit of whine so laying a straight edge across the alternator pully, not perfectly in line with the water pump pully...so, a quick shift of the extra washer on the alternator bracket from outside to the inside (After loosening the lower alternator bolt) and pulled it forward a smige more. Tighten the top, snug the bottom....vroooom,,,,,,much less noise from the belt while working on the carb and choke adjustments later.



Prior review of the electric choke houseing indicated no reference marks for adjustment anywhere. So, a couple marks with silver and black sharpies before loosening up the three retention bolts.



Engine completly cold...Throttle open one third to clear the linkage, butterflys close weakly. I loosened the retention screws on the choke and rotated it just shy of 3/16" counter clockwise, locked down the screws. Still holding the throttle open one third, poked around at the choke butterflys and....they slam shut good and proper. Cycleing the throttle fully and the choke butterflys pop open slightly as they are supposed too....allowing the choke mechanism to clock the fast idle cam thru its range from partly closed to fully open.



This is the start point, not real clear but engine cold. Choke now clocked 3/16" counterclockwise. Butterflys fully closed and the fast idle screw sits up on the top (fat part) of the choke cam. Turn the key and without touching the pedal, the engine roars to life and immediatly settles into a fast idle of 1400 RPM. Shut er down affore it gets hot.



Cycle the pedal with the engine off and now finally, I have contact between the fast idle screw and the smaller portion of the choke cam. I start the engine w/o touching the pedal again and it fires up and immediatly settles into a moderatly fast idle hovering around 800 rpm on the tail (skinny part) of the choke cam....Now as I drive the truck before its fully warmed up/butterflys partly closed, the choke cam will prevent the idle from dropping immediatly to its much slower fully warm setting of 600 RPM. If its right, backing out of the garage and driving the first few hundred yards should always see an idle above 600 untill its fully warmed up. That'd be what I want, no goosin the gas and bumblefutzin around at stop signs to keep a cold motor runnin...I can dream of havin a radio in there to play with instead.



I smoke a cheep cigar for about 4 minutes or so to let the running engine fully warm up, it sits there comfortably at 800 RPM the entire time...I blip the gas and the choke cam drops clear of the fast idle screw and low and behold, a lovely smooth 600 RPM warm idle.


Last edited by Sharps40; 06-28-2014 at 06:43 PM.
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Old 04-28-2013, 08:42 AM   #7
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Re: The Official John Lee Jr Thread

Finished up rerubbering the drivers window and vent wing yesterday. Some things I learned as this side only took 2 hours vice all day....I learned on the Passenger door, a lot!

Remove the vent window first with the door glass all the way down...very easy to remove the door glass then. Subsequantly, install the door glass first and the rebuilt vent window last, very easy to get the door glass in that way. The door glass goes on and off the riser rollers quite nicely about the midpoint of the door if you have the vent window out of the way, simply slide the door glass on and off the front roller raising and lowering the rollers as needed to slip the rear roller in to the riser chanel...quick easy, 12 second job once ya figure it out.

The LMC vent window rubber is plenty thick. I'll have to bevel some edges for the wings to close without haveing to go outside the truck, press the rubber in/down and lever the wing shut.

The LMC divider chanel, felts and window channe seem to be very nice quality too. Not too thick, easy to install.

The tight corner of the vent window is tight, really make sure the new vent rubber is bottomed all the way to max your room for the vent window to open and close.

Yep, install the vent window arc rubber first and the vertical bar rubber last...much easier. Installing this way means its even harder to set the rivits....A home made rivit staker with a long U-shaped handle to clear the vent window arc would be nifty....setting these rivets is a 4 handed job. Other option would be setting these rubbers with fine head screws and nuts if fine enough, gun screws come to mind. If I was doin a bunch of these I'd find a way to use aluminum pop rivets putting the crush side on the division bar side and finishing up by smushing the crush side fully into the division bar countersinks.

I used johnsons paste floor wax to lube up the vertical divider and window channel and the edges of the door glass that fit these channels. Makes it a bunch easyer to seat the window in the runners and get it going up/down, etc.

I think I'll be getting some kind of silicon lube for the vent window rubbers to ease the open/close till the rubbers break in a bit/form to the vent wings.

The door glass goes in like slick snot if you don't put the felt channels on the door edges till the very last. Roll the glass all the way down, roll the clips into their slots one at a time useing the flat face of a screwdriver or stiff putty knife to "press them snaps gently" into the holes in the edges. Use care not to rock the blade and chip yer glass, just get yer fingers on back side of yer thin/stiff presser and press the clips home.

You can do the entire job w/o removing the window riser or door latch mechanism. I took my risers out for a good lubeing of the gears and wheels.

Off to the drivers door rubber seal today.

See ya.
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Old 04-28-2013, 04:27 PM   #8
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Re: The Official John Lee Jr Thread

Messin around while the door rubber dries in place on the DS door.

One spring replaced. Ol John Lee keeps riden on.



On the other side, heres how I did it...first step was several weeks of soaking with PB blaster and rocking the nuts/bolts back and forth untill they started to free up w/o squeeking. Jack up the axle, block up the frame, we're gonna dangle the contol arm to release all tension on the springs.



Remove the shock at the lower mount and start dropping the rear axle to a dangle and loosen up top and bottom bolts.



Dont remove em, just get em loose.



Shake the spring, if its completly loose/not compressed, pull the bolts and nuts.



Note the position of the spring clamps, flat side to open end of springs, knock em loose and reuse if they are still good.


Last edited by Sharps40; 10-10-2013 at 12:05 PM.
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Old 04-29-2013, 07:10 PM   #9
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Re: The Official John Lee Jr Thread

A copy of tonights email to Mr. Langdon at Stovebolt Engine Co. Stand by and I'll post pics of the job.

--------break--------

Mr. Langdon.
Unbelieveable what that 155 jet did for the truck. After our chat Sunday I had to try it. Now had I looked in advance and seen that choke eclip was of a size to attach an ad banner to a mosquitoe's butt, I might not have promised. So with visions of lost eclip's, torn gaskets and stripped threads I broke out the armorers kit for tweezers and parallel screw driver bits and...
1 Checked fuel mileage on the settings of 2.75 rich, 1.75 idle, 18 BTDC HEI and 140 main and 140 secondary jets...(almost imperceptable ping pulling hard up hill from 55 mph with dual 140 mains) registered 15.63 mpg combined city highway.
2. Swapped the 140 secondary jet for the 155 you provided. (No other changes to carb or HEI) Buttoned it up warmed it up and went for a ride.
A. Marked increase in performance from 25 mph and up in 2nd and 3rd gears.
B. Hill pulls in second from 20 mph are amazingly smooth and strong, much more so than with the dual 140 jets.
C. Acceleration on flats and up hill from 25 mph 2nd gear and from 40 mph in 3rd gears are smooth and considerably more powerful.
D. Top speed (defined as still haveing a feeling of available power) moved from 60/65mph to 70/75
E. The engine does not show signs its beginning to run out of breath until just over 80 mph.
Overall, I need to run another tank thru next week upon return from duty.
From tonights hard pulls, I'd assess as follows:
1. I am darn tootin happy!
2. The change in performance is as noticeable from 25 mph and up to WOT as the simple addition of the HEI with the old Rochester B carb.
3. The carb, in fact, the entire package is more than I'd hoped for.
4. The truck has now acheived a level of performance that demands a dual resevour master cylinder and a complete suspension overhaul.
Thanks for the Majic Smoke! More to follow as I settle into some fine tuneing in May.
V.R.
Rich
Sanford, NC
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Old 04-30-2013, 08:37 AM   #10
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Re: The Official John Lee Jr Thread

This morings email report to Mr. Langdon at Stovebolt Engine Company....


----Break--------

Mr. Langdon,

A fine 38 miler to work this morning. The choke is adjusted well, easy cold starts on the current timing/carb idle & mixture settings with an initial 1400 RPM fast idle. Kick the pedal and it drops to 800 RPM and stays there until warm and the choke cam clears the fast idle screw...perfect. Hot starts are fine too.

Today's trip was 38 miles, about 50% city, 50% highway. Maximum average speed of 60 mph.

Bottom Line Up Front: I think we are at or have exceeded the 90% solution with this power pack.

While last night's first run on the new 155 secondary main jet was very much and attempt to force failure in the secondary system (and it passed with flying colors) today's ride to work was well aligned with my typical driving style....right lane, not more than 5 mph over limit and consisting of city and country highway operations.

1st gear: Feel is slightly improved...this could be imagination or it could be as we discussed, the secondary is not fully closed and I'm getting a bit of fuel from the larger barrel at all times and it's become noticeable with the 155 secondary main jet. In any event, the first gear acceleration and power is more closely aligned with what I remember of the Rochester B with HEI. Overall it is still somewhat slower to accelerate in first from a dead stop but I believe there is more power available and noticed it pulling uphill from stop.

2nd gear: Very much improved. Probably slightly better overall performance than the Rochester B with HEI. 1st gear will easily wind past 3000 RPM now and the power and rate of build in that power in 2nd gear is noticeably improved. In addition, several rolling stops in second verified the improvements with speedier 2nd gear acceleration from as low as 15 mph. 2nd gear also winds easily winds past 3000 rpm.

3rd gear: Further improvement from my state of relative satisfaction with a 140 jet in the secondary. With the 155 secondary main jet, any speed/RPM to WOT is smooth with faster power build. I note no spark knock/pinging below a hard pull up hill from 65 mph. (On the 140 secondary main jet I had an almost imperceptible spark knock/ping on a similar hard 3rd gear hill pull beginning at 50ish mph.)

- Transition in and out of the secondary very smooth and quick when the accelerator pedal is operated in any manner other than harshly. A hard mash of the pedal at 55 or so MPH elicits an almost imperceptible hesitation and then nothing but smooth power quickly building speed to 70 mph. I think the best analogy is aggressive opening of the secondary from 55 mph feels like the application of a passing gear on an auto trans....i.e. a tiny wait to get into the passing gear and then very adequate acceleration and power to pass.

- I am quite satisfied at this point in the testing that John Lee is fully capable of operating for long periods on the interstates at speeds appropriate for right lane travel and with more than sufficient capability in reserve for passing and maneuvering.

- Less accelerator input is required to maintain steady state over rolling hills. Less push on the pedal equals easier to hold steady at the desired speed. In fact, on several occasions I noted John Lee creeping to and past 65 MPH. The engine is not as loud/feels less labored with the larger secondary main jet.

Three items I'm thinking on...

1. A few tanks of fuel at the current carb and ignition settings are indicated....both to vet mileage, verify plug condition and listen for spark knock/pinging on my preferred 87 Octane fuel.

2. Given I am slightly outside the recommended setting of 2.5 turns rich maximum on the 140 primary main jet, I am considering bumping up to a 145 or so primary main jet and then retuning the mixture and idle speed screws (i.e. to bring the settings within Weber recommended tolerances of 1.5 to 2.5 mixture and 1.5 to 2 turns idle speed) However, I won't attempt this until I acquire a spare gasket and a couple extra of them lil tiny choke e-clips!

3. I wonder how this power pack would perform with the following additional modifications:

- Milling the intake manifold flat, opening the manifold throat as close to the size of the carb throat as possible and turning the carb 90 degrees (bowl to drivers side fender) on an appropriate aluminum spacer (tapered inside to port match the carb throat to the new opening in the manifold).

- Cast iron headers with 2 into 1 exhaust

I'll be working with limited communications for a bit, but monitoring my email at all times.

V.R.

Rich
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Old 04-19-2013, 10:13 PM   #11
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Re: The Official John Lee Jr Thread

I think next is drivin it and GoodWife out to dinner Sat evening.

Thanks all. I figure it ain't quite done. Next is road tests and starting to make really small tweaks in the timeing and carb and driving it to check mileage and power. It might still need a larger secondary main jet. This could take a few days or weeks before I determine the carb/tune is right.

I got a hankerin to straignten out the air flow a bit by eliminatin part of a u-turn...still thinkin that one over. Maybe a K&N.

I prolly oughta start layin in lines for the dual master conversion...I hit 75 mph today and thats pretty darn fast in a big truck. I may check to see if some screws/nuts are ready to come off and slip Ol John Lees springs in place pending a suspension overhaul this winter.

But, I do have a lovely set of door rubber, chanels and felts to install.

Anybody wanna wash and wax the truck for me? It really needs it and I'm lazy about washin and waxin.
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Old 04-20-2013, 08:41 AM   #12
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Re: The Official John Lee Jr Thread

My number one is absolute and total reliability. Once thats assured I'll enjoy any added power/touque and fuel mileage!

Hopefully building a teardrop camper trailer this winter to tour some in the USA/go hunting from!

I'm gonna run it today and start alternating beween carb tweeks and ignition tweeks till I have it. A couple weeks work drivin and monitorin performance and mileage.

But today, I also start the Door weatherstrip rebuild!!!
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Old 04-21-2013, 07:49 AM   #13
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Re: The Official John Lee Jr Thread

Okay, the passenger side window seal debacle. Well, actually, it went well and I didn't break anything. But, I learned a lot, specially about the proper order of assembly cause had to do a couple do overs to get one part under another and a work around or too for the same reason. But its all in there like factory and snug, no rattles at all! Vent window rubber is sitting in place with the window closed for a week till it conformes some and then I may have to trim a slight bevel on the extra thick vertical bar rubber to allow the window to close easily. More on that another day.

Here we go...roll the window down and pull the 5 screws holding the vent window assembly in place, remove the vent window assembly.



Wiggle the door glass up/down and around to slip the rollers and take it out the top.



Remove the top and bottom screws to pull the window chanel support bar and the window chanel.



I had to warm the screws to ouch temp and quench with soapy water a couple times to back them out w/o chewing up the heads and destroying the screws. What you see on the ground is the crumbled up rotted horizontal felts and the window chanel and its support bar.



Here is the horizontal edges where the felts snap in and out of to wipe the glass as it goes up and down.



Here I'm carefully drilling out the upper rivet on the vent window, this is the upper hinge point...a new rivet comes in a parts kit from LMC.



Lots of PB Blaster and I removed the hardware/spring for the lower wing pivot....I kept the hardware in order and noted the direction the limiting washer (flat edge forward) faces for reassembly later.



The old rotted rubber on the arch just pulls out.


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Old 04-21-2013, 08:02 AM   #14
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Re: The Official John Lee Jr Thread

After pulling the rubber and metal chanel out of the vent window division bar (it wasn't glued) there is some old rotted junk to clean out with a wire brush.



Scrub it out good and clean.



Drilling out the rivets from the old vent window vertical rubber bar is hard...a longer bit would be nice but best bet would be a dental burr on a dremil tool for access at the top and bottom rivets.



I clean out the rubber from the premarked holes in the new vertical vent window rubber with a 1/8" drill bit....slow and easy.



A thin line of rubber trim adhesive on the backside of the vertical vent window rubber and start to position it with rivits thru the backside....the crush side of the rivet goes to the glass side of the rubber.



Tape holds it together for smushing the rivets.



Once the rivets were set (a 1/4" drive extension for a socket wrench fits the head of the rivit and makes a good anvil to set the rivet against) I realized the arc rubber should have went in first as it needs to fit under and behind the vertical rubber bar. Oh well, some soapy water and a bit of careful work and both ends of the arch rubber slipped neatly into place under the now riveted vertical rubber bar.




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Old 04-21-2013, 08:14 AM   #15
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Re: The Official John Lee Jr Thread

I cut a section of new channel for installation in the vertical division bar of the vent window assembly. After test fit, I used the rubber to metal trim adhesive to hold it into place.



I temporarily installed the vent window assembly to allow me to measure and trim the window channel and the horizontal window felts. Then I removed the vent window again to make enough room to reinstall the door glass assembly. While I was at it I pulled the riser mechanism, cleaned and lubed it and the rollers and the lower window riser bar. This way, I hope not to break the door down again for maintenace for a long time.



When installing the window channel, don't press too hard in the upper and lower rear corners of the window. There is no support in the corners and you can drive the channel in far enough that the edges of the channel fall behind the inside edges of the door and its hard to get it back out again to reposition it...ask me how I know? Keep the edges of the channel even/flush with the painted edges of the window opening all around. This is a fold up section of rubber channel. It fits plenty snug so I used no adhesive to place it. Its a long one and curved, if I'd have glued it, there'd been a real hellofa mess when I had to remove and reposition for the corners I drove in too deep.



Carefully snap in the inner and outer window felts.

From there I removed the vent window, did the cuss and wiggle dance for 20 minutes with the door glass to put it back on the riser mechanism, rolled it down all the way, reinstalled the vent window assembly and waxed the heck outta the felts and channels and rubber with Johnsons paste wax. Then a function check...all is well. Snug fit. Sealed nicely. No rattles. Might have to adjust the fit of the vent window rubber vertical bar since the new rubber is very thick and so tight that it is difficult to close the vent. But thats another day. Perhaps a week in the sun will warm and form the rubber around the glass a bit better.

I think when doing the DS, I'm gonna install the door glass before installing the horizontal felts. It'll fit with the felts in place but there is high risk of tearing the new felts when pushing it down in. With the window all the way down I should have plenty of room to thumb the felts into their holes and no risk of tearing it up.

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Old 04-21-2013, 08:14 AM   #16
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Re: The Official John Lee Jr Thread

Time to go and try to install the PS side door frame rubber seal. Wish me luck.
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Old 04-21-2013, 08:26 AM   #17
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Re: The Official John Lee Jr Thread

Nice detailed explanation! Thanks for the "What not to do's"... I will have to resto mine sometime soon.
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Old 04-21-2013, 08:29 AM   #18
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Re: The Official John Lee Jr Thread

I'm gonna gut it out and try the door frame rubber here in a few minutes. Just gotta brush teeth with clorox causea all the cussin yesterday, mouth got really filthy. So, I thought of some new less offensive words to keep handy for today like . But somehow I don't think they're gonna be anywhere near as satisfying to yell.

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Old 04-21-2013, 10:18 AM   #19
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Re: The Official John Lee Jr Thread

Working from the top corner down, adhesive in the groove of the rubber to grap the lip of the frame...not stretching it too much (pulls away from the frame) nor crunching it too much (wrinkles in the rubber on the inside of the cab) I press gently and tape in place every few inches.



Once the forward piller is done all the way down to the joint between the piller and the rocker, I go back to the top and work the back half all the way down to the joint where the striker plate piller joints up with the rocker....at this point, the entire door frame has tape every few inches...I've tweeked the fit as needes while the glue is wet and checked for no wrinkles inside or huge gaps on the outer face between the rubber and the steel. At the bottom, I've trimmed the new rubber about 1" too long.



Carefully, watching the lower corners to make sure they are both snug to the frame, I nibble back to create a butt joint that I will glue together.



A line of good 3M adhesive on the butt joint, stick it together and tape it till it starts to kick over....meantime clean up the kick plate with a bit of 0000 steel wool and comet. It won't take off the rust but it'll remove the stains and make it look good. I don't want a spanky new one....this ain't no Riddler.



The kick plate installed to hold the rubber and lower corners in place. Looks much nicer with all the lil boot stains gone. Just a whisker of shine and some rust in the corners so ya know its original 1965 not China repo.



Now, back it out into the sun, door open, let it all kick over a few hours while I clean up the garage and tools. Then, Drivers Side Door gets done but I gotta mow lawns and wash dogs today, so.....till next time.

Last edited by Sharps40; 10-07-2013 at 08:06 PM.
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Old 04-21-2013, 10:25 AM   #20
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Re: The Official John Lee Jr Thread

Amazing write ups!! Your whole thread is going to become a sticky here soon!!

I have read somewhere in the past though that you are supposed to leave a small gap in the rubber so the air can get out of the seal when the door is closed. I don't know the validity of that for sure though.
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Old 04-21-2013, 11:25 AM   #21
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Re: The Official John Lee Jr Thread

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Originally Posted by chevy_man5 View Post

I have read somewhere in the past though that you are supposed to leave a small gap in the rubber so the air can get out of the seal when the door is closed. I don't know the validity of that for sure though.
x2, I've read that as well....great job on the install though & descriptions!
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Old 04-21-2013, 07:12 PM   #22
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Re: The Official John Lee Jr Thread

That's some pretty porus foam. I think it'll be okay. I siliconed the rubber and door then shut it. Shut it harder and it latched. Nothin wrinkled or torn and the shut eased up a bit but is still solid.

Test ride tomorrow to gauge a new leaner fuel mix and then maybe throw on more advance. Maybe this weekend I can do the drivers door and wash it good.
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Old 04-22-2013, 07:07 AM   #23
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Re: The Official John Lee Jr Thread

Nice job and great descriptions.. I am about 3-4 months away from needing to redo my channels and rubber. Sure hope I can remember to come back here for instructions. Good candidate for an FAQ Section 2 update.
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Old 04-22-2013, 08:11 AM   #24
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Re: The Official John Lee Jr Thread

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Originally Posted by da_bears_da1 View Post
Nice job and great descriptions.. I am about 3-4 months away from needing to redo my channels and rubber. Sure hope I can remember to come back here for instructions. Good candidate for an FAQ Section 2 update.
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Well, let me get thru the drivers door and see if I can figure a way to free up the super tight fit of the vent windows with their new rubber first! But, thanks!

Also, GoodWife should have your accelerator linkage in the mail today. Look for a stiff brown envelope from USPS.
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Old 04-22-2013, 08:10 AM   #25
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Re: The Official John Lee Jr Thread

I made four fine adjustments of the fuel mixture and idle speed (hot and with test drives) this weekend after my Friday evening correction of initial advance from 10 BTDC to 15 BTDC.

The truck performed a bit better each time. This morning's 40 mile ride to work was confirmation that I may be moving in the right direction.

Today's set up was further leaned out. The Weber DGEV is now exactly 2 turns rich from Zero and just a bit less than 2 turns in from first contact for idle speed (now 600 RPM), retaining 15 BTDC.

Over the weekend, the leaning out adjustments provided a considerable reduction in 1st and 2nd gear deceleration popping. In addition, the transition and use of the secondary at highway speeds remains smooth and free of flat spots and hesitation. There is smooth power on the top end and the pulling ability on the bottom end is improving. Pushing 70 mph today and the engine felt like it had more to give...a feeling that wasn't there on points and a leaky Model B.

I'm going to leave the carb settings alone tonight and try adding a bit more ignition advance. I'm at 15 BTDC and note in Mr. Langdons HEI instructions a recommendation for 18 BTDC. I'm hoping this will slightly smooth and increase the idle speed allowing me to leave the idle screw alone. With luck the additional advance will bring in a bit more power on the bottom end, coming closer to what I remember the Rochester B set up having before - but in any event I believe we are homing in on the right settings!

I need to find good instructions for setting the choke/cold idle on this Weber. I have the cold idle at 1400 RPM based on the relevant screw. However, as soon as I touch the pedal, it falls to hot idle speed (600 RPM) and is rough or stalls if not fully warm. Should I be rotating the black choke housing at this point? (my thoughts were until fully warm, a touch of the pedal would reduce the RPM below 1400 but not all the way down to hot idle speed of 600 RPM.)

In any event, it seems I'm gettin closer and closer to very satisified with this carb and ignition system. It may well be that Mr. Langdon at Stovebolt does in fact have all the "Magic Smoke" for this application!
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