Hi everybody, well it's been over a month since I've posted on my build thread. I noticed when many finish their truck you don't hear much about how life with their finished truck is going.
Let's do an update, kinda the goods and the bads while working out the bugs with such a large project completed.
Needless to say, the truck is a blast to drive, the Camaro suspension along with the rear stabilizer bar has this thing handling corners with confidence.
It draws a crowd at every stop, thumbs up and waves are very common.
The exhaust cut outs are a great hit.
Here's a picture of a couple of weeks ago.
Nothing major, I just had an issue with the old oil pan, nothing a new Moroso oil pan didn't fix. The old one had a slow, slow drip out of the drain plug. I also didn't like the drain plug location, new pan, all problems solved.
I also had a valve tick, I absolutly hate valves ticking. It's a flat tappet hydraulic cam and lifter, as long as the cam doesn't have flat lobe, I expect NO TICKS. Yet, it ticked. tick tick tick tick tick.
After adjusting and adjusting I happened to have it idling and for some reason I rested my hand on the drivers side valve cover, hmmm, I can feel a pulse where the breather cap is located. I then put my hand on the passenger side cover where the PCV valve is, I feel a pulse.
This time instead of removing the valve cover and setting it aside I inspected the inside very closely and what did I see? I saw where an intake valve was making contact with the tin oil baffle and making the ticking sound. Just goes to show ya, you never know what pain is lurking around the corner.... or in this case, under the valve cover.
I did a little trimming and things are quieter now......
The Gear vendors overdrive does the job. I had to get used to using the optional manual switch. Now when I get on it I use first, then first over by engaging the overdrive, then hit second while disengaging the overdrive, then reengage overdrive for second over, then I usually go right to third overdrive. Cruising highway at 65 to 70 is no problem after that. May sound like work to engage and disengage, nope, just takes a tap at the right time on a dedicated dimmer switch on the floor.
One part I must warn about is the dual electric fan switch box from Derale. The concept is good, one box, one sensor, fans kick on at different times, no external relays. No matter how low I tried to set the first fan, it wouldn't kick one til 195 degrees, by then the one fan didn't have much effect to cool things down and the second fan didn't kick on til 210 degrees, by then 220 and 230 weren't too far off.
I got an adjustable unit from Painless, fantastic adjustability. For now I'm using the Painless one to turn on the first fan at 180 and letting the Derale kick on the second fan at 195. Works well for now, I'll probably do some re-doing this winter now that I know what works.
I'm up to 400 miles, I'd have a lot more but I live on a gravel road, very slow and pain in the butt 1 mile drive. Good news is, I went to the county commissioners meeting and either I move to get away from the gravel road or I cough up some money to help pay for the road to get sealed. I love my shop so I'm staying, it's not gonna be cheap but I will have no more gravel road next year.
I need to remember to bring my camera to get some location shots as I drive the truck. It is always a great morning getting up in the morning and knowing I'm either driving my truck to work or just having a plan to go somewhere in it that day.
For all you with finished trucks, you know what I mean. For those still working on your trucks, keep at it, it's worth it in the long run. Also, don't be cheap along the way, build it right, there's nothing worse than driving down the road being a slave to your guages. Jim