WhitsEnd Transformation

[DuckRyder]

This ones in my top 5 too... looking good!

[WhitsEnd]

That just looks fantastic! This is such a great build for so many reasons.

Is there another source of headlight switch you would recommend? I'm now thinking of getting mine through NAPA.

I don't know of another source. Honestly, if I were to buy another, I would buy it directly from Dennis Carpenter and also purchase a new bolt that attaches it to the dash. I'm not sure if D.C. Makes the bolt or not, but Mac's lists one in their catalog (they call it a nut, not a bolt). Either way, I would buy both mating parts from one source to help mitigate issues. It's easier to make a case when both parts were purchased from one place.

I thought about exchanging the switch, but I envisioned questions about my original bolt causing the issue, accusations that I stripped it, etc. I just needed to get it done.

You can see how flat the threads are in the photo above. I think the problem is with the forming process of the bracket, leaving the hole too large. I could have fixed it by either tack welding a thick washer of the right size and tapping that or adding metal filled epoxy and tapping that, or probably 100 other ways. The bottom line is I had a quick way out and time is my enemy at the moment.

[WhitsEnd]

This ones in my top 5 too... looking good!

Thanks for the kind words. Let's hope it doesn't throw a rod!

[WhitsEnd]

Well, well, well...looky here
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Is it starting to get cold in here?

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So I got busy. Condenser mounted first, followed by the transmission cooler in front of it, followed by the engine radiator behind it.



In the photo above, you can see the aluminum tubes attached to the condenser. I ordered these because the kit from Classic Auto Air is designed for the stock setup with the compressor high on the driver's side. My compressor is low on the passenger's side. So, I'm flipping the condenser to put the fittings on the passenger side, which renders the tubes and hoses for the compressor and condenser in the kit useless.

I ordred all the hoses and fittings unassembled, in addition to the extra aluminum tubes with fittings installed.

Another shot through the hood latch, showing the trans cooler.

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From below you can see how tight it was to drop the tubes down below the radiator.



This next shot shows the tubes to the front that will get bent 90 degrees rearward, under the radiator. Here you can also see the brackets that will house the compressor below the alternator.

This keeps it real clean, as all of the hoses will remain on this side of the vehicle and relatively short and low.



Another perspective, from the front. Hoses will be routed along the frame on the left and be protected from the front by the bumper.

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The two black hoses are connected to the transmission cooler in the front and drop down between the radiator and lower core support. It's tight, but they're not pinched. The valence does contact them firmly, but not to the point that there is any restriction.

The NiCopp line with the bubbble flare coming from the rear is from the transmission. That feeds the rubber line to the cooler on the near side. The far side rubber line connects to the bubble flared tube attached to the cooler in the radiator.

Finally, after flowing through the radiator cooler, the fluid returns to the transmission in the line coming from the fitting on the near side of the tank.

That's the plan.

[WhitsEnd]

Quick update:

My daughter Ellen is continuing to gain driving experience on her learner's permit and doing very well. I'm very proud. Hasn't driven the truck yet, but we're working on that.

On that note, I got the A/C compressor installed and the evaporator/heater core unit installed under the dash with the heater hoses coming through the firewall. These are the two things I wanted to do while I had access before dropping the front end back on for the last time.

I dropped the front on and cinched up the core support bolts and two of the rear fender support bolts for now. With the fender supports in place, I mounted the battery, starter solenoid and mega fuse and routed the front light wires. Also mounted the voltage regulator.

This enabled the last functional hurdle to be attacked before starting the motor: Wiring the ignition.
I tapped into the back of the key switch to get a clean 12V source during cranking and run and will use this later to trigger a relay on a small power distribution for the ignition, EFI system, and possible additional needs such as stereo, etc. For now, it went directly to the ignition for firing purposes. Ignition is not mounted yet. I'll hold off until I'm satisfied with the motor and I have a plan for the whole electrical system. Wires are still at full length, draped over the fender and the ignition box (Pertronix Digital HP) is laying on the inner fender as well. I've bounced back and forth, but I think the ignition will go on the passenger side firewall, with all of the unused accessory wires feeding through a grommet into the cab to clean things up. I may choose to use some of those features in the future (tach, timing control, etc.)

[WhitsEnd]

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FIRE IN THE HOLE!!!

Well, momentarily, anyway.
- filled the carburetor primary bowl through the vent tube
- primed the oil system with a drill for a good 30 seconds
- dropped the distributor in and located the rotor and housing on marks I had made during assembly. With the #1 piston at TDC of the compression stroke, this put the timing around 15 degrees advanced.
- hooked up my remote starter button to the solenoid and put the key to "run"
- cranked it for a couple seconds and it lit.....and then flooded and died 15 seconds later

The carb is getting WAY too much fuel. I pulled the bowls and checked the float needles. They functioned fine, but I put new ones in anyway. Same results. The fuel is still overflowing the bowls. I should have known something was wrong when I had to really tighten the incoming line on the carb to get it to stop leaking. The (brand new) Carter mechanical fuel pump is putting out almost 10 psi, and it's not adjustable. The Holley needles can't hold that much back.

I picked up a cheap Mr. Gasket fuel regulator as a trial and hooked it up in line between the pump and the carb. Good news: It ran for much longer, maybe 90 seconds. Bad news: The inlet pressure is even too high for this cheap regulator. It won't regulate low enough and it leaks.

Since the plan is to just sort out the motor with the carb and then install the Holley Sniper EFI system, the near term action is to install an old mechanical pump that I know is low pressure. Unfortunately, I threw out the unit that came off this truck, but I do have the original from my Cyclone that will be going on tonight.

[WhitsEnd]

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Well, more headache.

The 50 year old fuel pump is working great, but the brand new CD ignition is fried. To be honest, I think it's my fault. After programming, I needed to set the "mode" selector back to the zero setting to run. Well, I set the cylinder number selector to zero (telling it it's a 10 cylinder) and left the mode selector at 9. After not starting, I looked things over and fixed it. However, the motor did has not run long enough to do anything other than identify the flooding issue. It ran for progressively shorter duration and then finally quit firing altogether. Pertronix may help me out, but it's my fault. The thing even smells smoked.

So, I installed my 50 year old distributor to go along with the fuel pump and it fired up and runs beautiful. Well, as good as a fat carb and old distributor will run. Got it up to temperature, made sure all the fluids and pressures were good. Ran the transmission through all the gears multiple times with the rear end up on jackstands. The only leak I noticed was a weep on the BRAND NEW TCI transmission!!!! Really, TCI? You allegedly ran the thing through some sort of checkout to give me a bunch of numbers...or did you?

The good news is my Holley Sniper EFI showed up today! I think I'm going to read the installation material tonight and prepare for a weekend of moving this truck into the 21st century.

[Bullitt74]

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I spoke to the folks at Pertronix and they issued an RMA and emailed a shipping label. Never requested a proof of purchase or anything. I told them it was clearly my fault and they said they were more concerned with making it right because it's a new product ( Digital HP ignition box). We'll see what happens, but impressed with customer service so far.

In the meantime, the Holley Sniper EFI unit showed up, so I have to get to work.

I'll be wiring it using the included "coil driver" until the new Pertronix CD box arrives. In both cases, I've chosen to have the Holley ECU control the timing, so first steps will include locking out the timing advance mechanisms and phasing the rotor on the Duraspark distributor.

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I have to rant a little here...since we're on the topic of distributors.

Don't believe the MSD hype. The magnetic pickup in an MSD is an exact copy of a Ford Duraspark pickup. An MSD is basically a GM distributor with a Ford heart. Of course, the problem with that is the GM stuff. In MSD's case, they chose to use crappy mild steel for the mechanical advance parts with very little protection. Do a Google search on rusty MSD distributors and you'll be shocked at what you see on units as little as 1 year old.

Rant over. Now, back to our regularly scheduled program.

[DuckRyder]

Dig into the Sniper EFI instructions. If it is like the Terminator there is a very narrow list of options that it will control the timing on.

Can’t wait to read about the Sniper install.

[WhitsEnd]

I tackled the EFI installation in 3 phases:

1. Fuel delivery and return
2. Distributor lockout and phasing
3. Wiring

For the fuel, I believe leaving the in-cab fuel tank made this very easy. First was the supply line. The kit comes with Earl's vapor guard line and injection clamps, so it's nice and simple. I removed the soft line attached to the hard line under the tank and quickly attached the new soft line that I had already clamped to stop flow. I got a little wet, not too bad.
I routed that line over the frame rail and installed the pump and filters, in sequence.




The opposite side of the frame was ground clean to metal for the bolt connected to the ground. I then installed the grounding bolt and primed and painted over it to protect the ground.