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CAT INTERCEPTOR
Nov 9, 2004

Basically a male Margaret Thatcher

Rhyno posted:

Eventually RCR will review every car owned by AI posters.

I hope he makes an Aust trip, ooooooh boy have we got some wild cars to review

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Coredump
Dec 1, 2002


That's awesome!

Applebees Appetizer
Jan 23, 2006

This is my new favorite project thread. You're gonna love that motor dude, revs like crazy. You might want to hit up Calmini, they're a Suzuki aftermarket specialist and they used to sell stuff for the Swift GT, they might have some stuff left over or maybe some of the Samurai/Sidekick stuff can work for you. I bought a header from them back in the day for my Swift.

https://www.calmini.com/brand.php?b=2

FlapYoJacks
Feb 12, 2009
It's been five YEARS since the original thread? Good god has time flown by. So happy to see your little Opel back in the forums again. :allears:

MonkeyNutZ
Dec 26, 2008

"A cave isn't gonna cut it, we're going to have to use Beebo"

leica posted:

This is my new favorite project thread. You're gonna love that motor dude, revs like crazy. You might want to hit up Calmini, they're a Suzuki aftermarket specialist and they used to sell stuff for the Swift GT, they might have some stuff left over or maybe some of the Samurai/Sidekick stuff can work for you. I bought a header from them back in the day for my Swift.

https://www.calmini.com/brand.php?b=2
I'm in the weird middle ground where the Swift headers all point the wrong direction and the Samurai headers use a different exhaust flange than the GTI engine. For the moment I'm sticking with the stock manifold since it's fairly well designed and not very restrictive. I'd love to find a Calmini Samurai header to test fit into the engine bay, replacing the exhaust flange isn't hard but I can't find any measurements of their headers to see if they'd fit.

Thanks to all of the snowmelt and thunderstorms my normally already wet 1930s basement actually flooded with 3-4" of water. Most of the important parts were already off the floor and out of danger but I decided to put up some shelves and offload more car parts into my spare bedroom:

When things warm up my landlord and I are going to cut a trench into the basement slab, install interior french drains, a sump pit, and a sump pump to properly drain the basement once and for all.

With most of the serious work put on hold due to the flooding I made a set of hilariously awful looking mock pedals out of some scrap wood in floor mount, swing mount, and reverse swing mount configurations using the dimensions from Wilwood to get a feel for how each setup would fit into the car:

Floor mount would have been nice and simple but the floor slopes up at the rear of the footwell over a section of frame. Reverse swing mount? Great choice because I could leave the firewall alone, not great because the pedals would have only been 3" off of the floor. Regular swing mount was the only reasonable choice.

While waiting for the dehumidifier to catch up and dry out the basement I ordered and received a series of exciting boxes:

A swing mount pedal setup with a brake balance bar, two high volume master cylinders for the brakes, one smaller Girling style master cylinder for the clutch, a pull type clutch slave, a 10lb residual pressure valve for the rear brakes, and a small adjustable (splined shaft) throttle pedal. I might modify the throttle pedal with a different pad shape but the small spoon pad might be all that comfortably fits into the narrow footwell with my stupid wide feet.

Fast forward to today and the basement was only wet in the corners which meant it was time to work:


This kind of fabrication really makes me wish I would have picked up a drill press by now, a hand drill really gets old after a while:


Some 1" box tubing and more 1/8" steel as gussets for even more stiffness:


Lots of welding and grinding later and I have this:


The whole unit is going to be welded into the car and integrated into the steering column support brace. Since my nice new footwell matches the original it doesn't have a square corner where the top of the footwell meets the front panel, I'll be adding a recessed portion with a square top corner so the master cylinders can bolt flush to the pedal assembly.


With manual brakes I really don't want the firewall to flex. Originally the footwell was 20 gauge, I rebuilt it with 18 gauge panels plus 16 gauge reinforcements and now I'll be welding a pedal assembly made out of 1/8" plate and 1/8" wall box tubing to it.

I think it'll be fine.

MonkeyNutZ fucked around with this message at 03:53 on Feb 21, 2016

MonkeyNutZ
Dec 26, 2008

"A cave isn't gonna cut it, we're going to have to use Beebo"
Double weekend postin'

Using a cutoff wheel and grinder one handed while crouching and half sitting on a pinch weld is now my least favorite thing but I managed to cut up this garbage mess of lap jointed panels and little brackets:


and test fit the pedal assembly:


Temporarily tacked the pedal box into place and my measuring paid off, the clutch master is about 2mm away from the inner fender brace. It's super tight but I needed the pedals as far to the left as possible so there'd be room for the throttle pedal.


Speaking of which, tada! It's snug but manageable, that boss/bump on the right side is being removed which should add another 1" of clearance near the gas pedal. It's just the hole for the old speedometer cable and since I'm modernizing this car (at least up to 1989 tech) I don't need it any more. I'll also be welding the steering column brace into the pedal box since I cut the last few inches out of it. Should end up stronger than it was before and it'll add stiffness to both components.


Of course the top of the footwell isn't actually flat (goddamn coachbuilt cars) so there's some more fabrication to be done but man, feels good to have pedals. :yayclod:

IOwnCalculus
Apr 2, 2003





That is goddamn beautiful.

Coredump
Dec 1, 2002

Hell yeah keep up the work.

jhcain
Nov 8, 2005

EXCEEDING THE LIMIT? I'LL RUN YOUR ASS OFF THE ROAD 'CUZ I'M A PASSIVE-AGRESSIVE SPHINCTER-SUCKER. I FEEL INADEQUATE AS A MAN.
Looks awesome. Those wilwood pedals really bring that footwell together!

MonkeyNutZ
Dec 26, 2008

"A cave isn't gonna cut it, we're going to have to use Beebo"
As an unintentional break from the already irregular schedule of this project thread, I had a weird and busy month involving rally cars, a dead short in my garage wiring, and a really stupid vehicle purchase.

A few months ago a friend of mine at work bought a legitimate professionally raced Audi Coupe Quattro rally car with 29 events in its SCCA log book. He traded an old VW Golf and a few grand for it, turns out that was the deal of a lifetime.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLtExwBI-Jc

When the NASA Rally Sport Sandblast Rally in the sand hills of SC rolled around said coworker happened to be busy in Guatemala racing mountain bikes. Not wanting the closest race of the year to pass by, he let the friend I bought the Swift drivetrain from (also a coworker) race it instead. As I later found out, this car is well known in the rally scene in North America, several of the teams we talked to had been trying to buy this car for years and the other Coupe Quattro at the event had actually been built to match it. I tagged along as the crew chief with my P71 as a rally support vehicle, this turned out to be a cushy job since the Audi was so well built leaving plenty of time to hang out and spectate. From what we heard at the rally, the original owner spared no expense and the build ran into the six figures.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEF2Ve80LHA

Rally is alive and well in North America and I had no goddamn idea how professional this event was going to be. Among other things, Ryan Millen (Rod Millen's son) was there in a factory backed Toyota Rav4 and won the 2WD class. If there's a NASA Rally Sport event anywhere near you I can't recommend it enough. Our Audi, with a driver and codriver in their first ever rally, managed a solid finish in the top half of the field. With tires that aren't 14 years old and the actual owner driving, this thing is going to be seriously competitive.



The next weekend I did something stupid and rode my Suzuki DR200 nearly two hours in a full race tuck at wide open throttle over the Appalachian mountains into Tennessee and bought a terrible, horrible, lovely '87 Ford F250 for $1,100 from a family of hillbillies, loaded the bike into the bed without ramps, and drove all the way back home.


It's at this point that my phone decides to brick itself and I lose two weeks worth of photos. In that time I tore the entire interior out of the truck, discovered that the door seal area was packed with dirt, that the dirt was actually now home to a billion ants, and was also hiding rust in the classic 80s Ford truck areas. When the PO says "I have eight or nine kids, 23 grandkids, and they all live in these trailers here" and "Oh slow down, the sheriff lives right there. Don't worry though, he's my cousin." you know you're in for a treat:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V81fAXLAAh4

Part two coming soon including answers to such questions as: Wait, is the firewall cracked? Why is the coolant a solid? Oh jesus, did they try and patch all of these holes with exhaust sealant?! Also why the gently caress is my garage wiring not working?!!


E: I should mention that I'll return to the regularly irregular Opel posting next weekend

MonkeyNutZ fucked around with this message at 01:28 on Apr 11, 2016

Suburban Dad
Jan 10, 2007


Well what's attached to a leash that it made itself?
The punchline is the way that you've been fuckin' yourself





Holy poo poo this is amazing. That was very satisfying.

Slung Blade
Jul 11, 2002

IN STEEL WE TRUST

Larrymer posted:

Holy poo poo this is amazing. That was very satisfying.

I loved every last part of that. Good luck MonkeyNutZ :unsmith:

Fender Anarchist
May 20, 2009

Fender Anarchist

i see you demonstrated how to distinguish a ford steering pump from other brands by ear :v:

Coredump
Dec 1, 2002

Yeah I dunno if that Ford power steering pump is actually bad yet, that's just how they sound.*





*Not applicable to other makes.

Wrar
Sep 9, 2002


Soiled Meat
Sandblast is good fun. I'd like to run it sometime.

Seat Safety Switch
May 27, 2008

MY RELIGION IS THE SMALL BLOCK V8 AND COMMANDMENTS ONE THROUGH TEN ARE NEVER LIFT.

Pillbug
It may be because I was molested by a bricknose as a child but I am in love with your awful truck.

cursedshitbox
May 20, 2012

Your rear-end wont survive my hammering.



Fun Shoe
:hf: bricknose buddies. also lovin your 250. :D

Hey does your tilt column work? if so I'm so totally jealous.


(90' f350, 7.3 zf5)

Slung Blade
Jul 11, 2002

IN STEEL WE TRUST

cursedshitbox posted:

:hf: bricknose buddies. also lovin your 250. :D

Hey does your tilt column work? if so I'm so totally jealous.


Most people don't even know about the tilt column, freaks out long time owners who have never seen it.

randomidiot
May 12, 2006

by Fluffdaddy

(and can't post for 11 years!)

Coredump posted:

Yeah I dunno if that Ford power steering pump is actually bad yet, that's just how they sound.*

Serious talk, that's how they sound with 20k on them.

CommieGIR
Aug 22, 2006

The blue glow is a feature, not a bug


Pillbug
Is your buddies Audi Coupe Quattro still running the stock 7A NA?

Coredump
Dec 1, 2002

some texas redneck posted:

Serious talk, that's how they sound with 20k on them.

My dad's foxbody power steering pump makes the same whine. Is that a supercharger you got in that thing? Nah, just a power steering pump. :shame:

Applebees Appetizer
Jan 23, 2006

Wait a minute......The PO spent three figures building the race car and traded it for a lovely VW Golf and a couple grand?

boxen
Feb 20, 2011

leica posted:

Wait a minute......The PO spent three figures building the race car and traded it for a lovely VW Golf and a couple grand?

Six figures. A three-figure build is something I would do.

MonkeyNutZ
Dec 26, 2008

"A cave isn't gonna cut it, we're going to have to use Beebo"
Thanks for all of the truck love guys, it's easily the most Roadkill vehicle I've ever owned and it's really nice to work on something you know can always be fixed with zip ties and a hammer. Hopefully after this weekend it shouldn't take too much time away from getting the Opel on the road for this Fall.

cursedshitbox posted:

:hf: bricknose buddies. also lovin your 250. :D

Hey does your tilt column work? if so I'm so totally jealous.


(90' f350, 7.3 zf5)
Goddamn, if I ever paint my ugly POS that's the exact color I was shooting for. Also no tilt column, I had to run out and double check even though I've already removed the column before.

Coredump posted:

Yeah I dunno if that Ford power steering pump is actually bad yet, that's just how they sound.*
My P71 has a nearly silent power steering pump, this truck is the first Ford I've had that makes the infamous PS pump noises and it's glorious. Speaking of which, the clutch on my ~cop car~ 200A alternator started whining on hard shifts and making some awful "pfftchooo!" sounds for a solid three seconds as the alternator spun down when I would turn the car off. It also got a fair bit worse after this last autocross:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2itF_qTQGc

After a little research I found and installed a Litens OAD pulley and now it doesn't chirp the belt on WOT shifts, the idle is smoother, and it's completely silent:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lms-tzk2Vtc

CommieGIR posted:

Is your buddies Audi Coupe Quattro still running the stock 7A NA?
It's running a 2.6l 20V stroker and a close ratio trans from these guys http://eurospecsport.com/products/engines/5c-4v-new.htm along with an old KKK turbo with a custom made compressor stage, probably around 350hp with the current NASA spec inlet restriction. It's getting a BorgWarner EFR shortly which will drop the time to boost down to :magical: levels. I wish I had a better photo of the engine bay because the fabrication on the intercooler is completely insane, it's a crazy shape that I still can't quite wrap my head around.



leica posted:

Wait a minute......The PO spent three figures building the race car and traded it for a lovely VW Golf and a couple grand?
Well, a PPPPPO did. After running 29 events the car changed hands a ton of times but hadn't raced since 2002. Nothing's seriously wrong with it but it'll need some work to get up to current NASA spec. At the very least it'll need a completely new DOM tube cage (currently chromoly) and it was let through tech at Sandblast just because of the race history behind the car. It was a bit of a scramble to get a new inlet restrictor machined the day before the race and at idle it was causing some nasty oil leakage from the compressor side piston rings. Since it'll be properly sized for the current level of inlet restriction, the new EFR shouldn't have any problems.

MonkeyNutZ fucked around with this message at 01:34 on Apr 13, 2016

CommieGIR
Aug 22, 2006

The blue glow is a feature, not a bug


Pillbug

MonkeyNutZ posted:

It's running a 2.6l 20V stroker and a close ratio trans from these guys http://eurospecsport.com/products/engines/5c-4v-new.htm along with an old KKK turbo with a custom made compressor stage, probably around 350hp with the current NASA spec inlet restriction. It's getting a BorgWarner EFR shortly which will drop the time to boost down to :magical: levels. I wish I had a better photo of the engine bay because the fabrication on the intercooler is completely insane, it's a crazy shape that I still can't quite wrap my head around.



Well, a PPPPPO did. After running 29 events the car changed hands a ton of times but hadn't raced since 2002. Nothing's seriously wrong with it but it'll need some work to get up to current NASA spec. At the very least it'll need a completely new DOM tube cage (currently chromoly) and it was let through tech at Sandblast just because of the race history behind the car. It was a bit of a scramble to get a new inlet restrictor machined the day before the race and at idle it was causing some nasty oil leakage from the compressor side piston rings. Since it'll be properly sized for the current level of inlet restriction, the new EFR shouldn't have any problems.

I would like to know more.

Applebees Appetizer
Jan 23, 2006

boxen posted:

Six figures. A three-figure build is something I would do.

Ooops, yeah that's what I meant :3:

cursedshitbox
May 20, 2012

Your rear-end wont survive my hammering.



Fun Shoe

MonkeyNutZ posted:

Thanks for all of the truck love guys, it's easily the most Roadkill vehicle I've ever owned and it's really nice to work on something you know can always be fixed with zip ties and a hammer. Hopefully after this weekend it shouldn't take too much time away from getting the Opel on the road for this Fall.

Goddamn, if I ever paint my ugly POS that's the exact color I was shooting for. Also no tilt column, I had to run out and double check even though I've already removed the column before.







1. lucky you! want a tilt column?
(its a sand/beige. going to repaint it military desert sand this sumer)


2. more loving pictures of that car. jesus gently caress. :gizz:

8ender
Sep 24, 2003

clown is watching you sleep

I'm giggling at the convenience of an Audi race car having all it's fuses and relays easily accessible from the dash.

Rhyno
Mar 22, 2003
Probation
Can't post for 10 years!

MonkeyNutZ posted:

Well, a PPPPPO did. After running 29 events the car changed hands a ton of times but hadn't raced since 2002. Nothing's seriously wrong with it but it'll need some work to get up to current NASA spec. At the very least it'll need a completely new DOM tube cage (currently chromoly) and it was let through tech at Sandblast just because of the race history behind the car. It was a bit of a scramble to get a new inlet restrictor machined the day before the race and at idle it was causing some nasty oil leakage from the compressor side piston rings. Since it'll be properly sized for the current level of inlet restriction, the new EFR shouldn't have any problems.

So it runs on rocket fuel? :)

MonkeyNutZ
Dec 26, 2008

"A cave isn't gonna cut it, we're going to have to use Beebo"

Rhyno posted:

So it runs on rocket fuel? :)

Or was that :thejoke:?

As I alluded to in my last post, it turned out part of the reason the clutch engagement point in the truck was at the floor was because the firewall was cracked and flexing when the pedal was pushed. It was apparently so common a problem that Ford manufactured a plate that could be bolted in place to hold everything together. Since that original plate is no longer made by Ford, I ordered and installed a version made by Terrapin manufacturing:


Only after reinstalling the clutch master, brake master, pedal assembly, steering column, and dash did I discover that the bushings in the pedal box were totally shot, that'll all have to come back out at some point to replace them. Now that the firewall wasn't flexing the next weakest link reared its ugly head; the worn out clutch pushrod and clutch pedal stud. Normally a plastic bushing with fingers keeps the pushrod on the clutch pedal stud. In my truck and so many others out on the road, the pin and pushrod wore each other out and the bushing would let the pushrod pop off the pin. The temporary fix? Stick a new bushing in place and drill out the stud for a cotter pin:


The clutch still engages near the floor (need to replace the master/pushrod and pedal bushings) but at least the pushrod can't pop off :saddowns:

Next I started tackling the exhaust leaks and discovered a completely destroyed muffler, a broken off smog pipe, a crack at the O2 sensor H-pipe, and the fact that the PO clearly thought that exhaust sealant paste could fix anything. I cut off the exhaust after the cats in preparation for a new muffler and welded up the rest of the leaks:


Last of the exhaust leaks was under the hood and was the worst offender from a noise perspective. A little probing and I found that the rear downpipe to manifold connection had a broken off stud and a boatload of crusty exhaust sealant:


After dropping the exhaust and cleaning off the sealing faces I jerry rigged a "temporary" fix with a Harbor Freight C-clamp and took this before and after:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gv14up2K3t8

Immediately after taking that video I drained the power steering fluid and replaced it with ATF type F (now the power steering pump is barely audible) and masked off and sprayed the wheels with some rust encapsulator:


Now that the truck was slightly less of a murder mobile (both in safety and outward appearance/NVH) I got around to finishing the fabrication of the pedal box in the GT:


I may have gotten carried away and added a reinforcement plate that bolts through the pedal frame assembly and into the cowl:






No joke, I could lift the entire car up by that pedal box with an engine hoist and it wouldn't flex at all. It's massively stiffer than the paper thin 22 gauge sheet metal that was there before. Once I find a decent air compressor I'm going to beautify the welds with a carbide burr and that'll finally wrap up the last major piece of fabrication on the car.

Currently trying to find a reasonably local drivetrain shop to make my driveshaft and cut a stepped surface into the flywheel so it fits the Samurai clutch, resurface it, and balance it well enough to be safe up to 9,000 RPM. Most of the places I've found near Asheville typically deal with rock crawlers so I doubt they'd be well equipped to deal with Swift sized components that spin that fast. Any thoughts?

MonkeyNutZ fucked around with this message at 03:45 on May 1, 2016

Seat Safety Switch
May 27, 2008

MY RELIGION IS THE SMALL BLOCK V8 AND COMMANDMENTS ONE THROUGH TEN ARE NEVER LIFT.

Pillbug
Thanks for the tip on Bricknose master cylinder braces. One day I swear I'll have one.

Driveshafts are generally easy for hee haw shops unless you have a rear transaxle like an Alfa or Corvette and have to balance the shaft at a jillion rpm.

I can't imagine a flywheel balancer that can spin 6k can't spin 9k+. Maybe a rotary shop could help if not?

Seat Safety Switch fucked around with this message at 05:54 on May 1, 2016

Wrar
Sep 9, 2002


Soiled Meat
Ugh, I know it would be a drive but I'm sure there is some race shop near Charlotte that could do it.

MonkeyNutZ
Dec 26, 2008

"A cave isn't gonna cut it, we're going to have to use Beebo"

Wrar posted:

Ugh, I know it would be a drive but I'm sure there is some race shop near Charlotte that could do it.
Oh poo poo, I forgot about The Driveshaft Shop, they do the driveshafts for the dynos at work and they seem to know their stuff.

I forgot to mention I camped trackside at The Mitty at Road Atlanta two weeks ago, I can't overstate how awesome it is to be woken up by historic race cars at full tilt 25' from your tent.





I've been doing lots of truckstuff with the truck recently and stuck a gopro in the cab just to show how utterly amazing it is (ignore the lovely IAC):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOFvAPBFEZg
It pops on deceleration :perfect:

Back on the Opel front (pun intended), in preparation for a second pass at fitting the replacement front pan I filed the front lip of the nose smooth and hammered it back into shape where I had used the spotweld cutter to remove the crunched up original:


It took some tweaking but it fits better than ever. With the pan in a reasonably final position I drilled out the bumper mounting bolt holes so I can later use them for alignment when this goes on for the final assembly:


With everything lined up I made a template for the last pan related patch job and used some hillbilly professional bodywork techniques to replicate the template in steel




Since the Opel is getting close to the point where I can prep and paint the underbody, engine bay, and interior I finally bought an air compressor. I was originally looking at a cheap Harbor Freight compressor but changed my mind after seeing them in person. Ended up getting this instead :shepspends:



To run my higher flowing air tools it'll need to run pretty close to the 100% duty cycle, running it at full bore for just 30 minutes collected a fair amount of water and made a tiny ice dick when I drained the tank:


To solve this to the point where I can run my HVLP gun, I built a water trap out of 3/4" black iron pipe in addition to the four stage filter/regulator/water/oil separator that'll be showing up mid week. There's 31.5' of pipe which not only cools the air and traps condensed water, it also adds a little more compressed air volume. Each of the vertical sections has a drain at the bottom to remove built up condensate, after an hour of running the first two stages had a little water but the last two were seemingly dry. The four stage filter should take care of the rest and drop out the oil mist and other contaminants.




For some reason adding the compressor finally makes the garage feel like a proper shop.

MonkeyNutZ fucked around with this message at 22:31 on May 8, 2016

Coredump
Dec 1, 2002

Hey your truck has built in start-stop. Neat.

Seat Safety Switch
May 27, 2008

MY RELIGION IS THE SMALL BLOCK V8 AND COMMANDMENTS ONE THROUGH TEN ARE NEVER LIFT.

Pillbug
More like Found On Road Rad.

MonkeyNutZ
Dec 26, 2008

"A cave isn't gonna cut it, we're going to have to use Beebo"
The DHL guy was nice enough to leave these boxes in my truck since it was raining while I was at work


Oh sweet, it's the custom end table I ordered!


Wait just a goddamn second, this table sucks, the top is full of holes


The custom width/offset Team Dynamics Pro Race 1.2s I ordered in January finally showed up! Since they seriously missed the 10 week delivery window, they were nice enough to foot the bill for shipping and bumped it up to three day air all the way from the UK.

15x7, 4x100, ET15, ~13.5lbs for those wondering. I'm shooting for 205-225 section tires which is a huge increase from the 13x5.5 wheels with 165/80-13s that it had from the factory and gives me a ton of options for modern tires.

MonkeyNutZ fucked around with this message at 16:23 on May 21, 2016

DrakeriderCa
Feb 3, 2005

But I'm a real cowboy!
ughghghgh everything in this thread is so cool

I love your garage. it makes me feel like I'm in a text version of a Petrolicious video, about the plucky outsider who builds a classic car into a restomod backroads bomber

charliemonster42
Sep 14, 2005

Potenza re-71r. Problem solved. Hands down best street tires I've ever had.

MonkeyNutZ
Dec 26, 2008

"A cave isn't gonna cut it, we're going to have to use Beebo"

DrakeriderCa posted:

ughghghgh everything in this thread is so cool

I love your garage. it makes me feel like I'm in a text version of a Petrolicious video, about the plucky outsider who builds a classic car into a restomod backroads bomber
Thanks man, if the pieces I've planned for all these years fall into place I should roll out of my weird stone basement with a pretty unique little car that's perfect for the twisty narrow mountain roads in this area.

charliemonster42 posted:

Potenza re-71r. Problem solved. Hands down best street tires I've ever had.
Oh hot drat, I've only ever owned winter beaters with all-seasons so I had no idea what kinds of summer tires were out there. Those suckers are cheap in the sizes I need too!

I've been busy this weekend, I finished that patch on the core support of the Opel by welding it in and hand forming a rolled lip on the top edge with a hammer and dolly for more stiffness. (Excuse the garbage photo)


Also took a stab at fixing the seized hood hinge and broken hinge support area


The 90° mounting tabs are welded to the stepped OD plugs/bearings and a small dent in the tube keeps them in place for assembly. After grinding the old welds off and pounding the plugs out I used a wire brush stick to clean out the ID of the hood hinge tube, reinserted the plugs with a bunch of moly grease, and rewelded the tabs to them. Smooth as hell now.


Apparently back in the day the drivers side hinge seized. Not caring or noticing, someone jerked the hood open anyway and completely destroyed that size of the hinge attachment point on the car. I'll be rebuilding and gusseting this area with 1/8" plate, I just don't trust rebuilding it in 20 gauge as it was from the factory.


Also did some truckstuff like fixing the broken parking brake release (sheetmetal linkage bent outwards and wasn't hitting the catch) and I finally sorted all of the fuel system problems.


Step one of getting to the sending units easily is to remove the bed. None of the six bed bolts decided to play nice so I took the internet recommended approach and started grinding the head off of one of the bolts. Twenty goddamn minutes later and I had only finished that first one. "There must be a better way"


Oh right, I have cutoff wheels. Cutting the heads into squares and chiseling the remaining tabs off took less than 5 minutes per bolt and I can easily go back and weld where the wheel nicked the bed


It's a one man show over here


I have a huge list of things I want to get done with the better access removing the bed provides, it's so much nicer than lying on cardboard under the truck while caked on road garbage falls into your face with every movement.


With the bed off I removed the front fuel tank sending unit and immediately spotted three major failure modes, see if you can spot them


Fuel filter sock is gone, float is gone, and the wires corroded off from the plug at the top

A quick trip to the parts store (hooray for mass market vehicle parts availability) and I now have two new sending units, one for each tank



With the new front pump installed, turning the key to prime the system instantly revealed a new problem. I managed to snap this out of focus photo before running to the cab and switching to the rear tank. The EPA is going to hunt me down for this


The 30 year old plastic lines had apparently chooched their last.


Since this is all on the low pressure side I just went with 30' of standard rubber line from the tanks to the selector unit and doubled the hose clamps on either side of the pump line flares.


It all works now!

The unsupported stubby exhaust and dual cats were putting a fairly huge cantilever load on the head pipes, to fix that and get the exhaust out from under the cab I hacked up what was left of the exhaust and did something... Stupid?



Holy poo poo you guys, seafoam and an Italian tuneup made this thing run 100% better, it might actually be making north of 100 horsepower now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YHtqXFXL2s

MonkeyNutZ fucked around with this message at 00:29 on May 23, 2016

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cursedshitbox
May 20, 2012

Your rear-end wont survive my hammering.



Fun Shoe
haha your truck would pass for an idi with all that smoke :D

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