Project: Over My Head

[iowaboynca]

And cool old tools that still do the job are even cooler!

[mrvette]

Originally Posted by iowaboynca

And cool old tools that still do the job are even cooler!

Tom's got all the old tools from his granddad on my side, and I think most of them from his mother's side, plus I have lightened up my stone overstuffed tool box and cart.....

[yossarian19]

...and now *I* have 50 lbs of tools in a 30 lb box. Actually, a collection of old Craftsman and Kennedy tool boxes. You know how long it takes me to find my wire crimpers?!
Speaking of which, I'm not done yet (stopped before it got to be "bad decision o'clock") but I am darned close to putting the battery back in it and seeing if I got it right. Still have to:
Run fuel pump / gauge + fusebox-to-battery lines
Run brake light wire to / from switch
Mount brake relay
Connect crank / ign+ / OBD2 data wires.
Oh, and mount the fenders...
Still, I think MrVette and I are on for making some noise around the neighborhood before too long.

[yossarian19]

Well, I'm going to hang it up for the night and here's another post with no pictures. Still, I managed to run more wire through a bulkhead grommet & now just 8 wires that I can think of. It really might actually run by Sunday if I get a little time for it.
Engine bay is vastly cleaner & the wires are well clear of moving parts, heat, etc. I'm happy with how it's turning out.

[yossarian19]

Originally Posted by yossarian19

Well, I'm going to hang it up for the night and here's another post with no pictures. Still, I managed to run more wire through a bulkhead grommet & now just 8 wires that I can think of. It really might actually run by Sunday if I get a little time for it.
Engine bay is vastly cleaner & the wires are well clear of moving parts, heat, etc. I'm happy with how it's turning out.

When he gets it running, we going for a cruise, come out sideways.....

OOPS!!! I signed on his computer handle here.....oh well.....

[yossarian19]

WOW.
Between one thing and another, today was the first day in ages that I've gotten into the garage.
I decided that while I was cutting things up and re routing them, I'd do the wiring for the lights as well.
Two steps forward, one step back.
All this work that hardly anyone is going to see -- but I'll know and I'm a lot less likely to start an electrical fire this way. That's got to be worth something, right?

[yossarian19]

I'm continuing to make slooow progress on wiring. Blah blah BORING.
Now for something completely different.

Here's the old steering wheel. It's 15" with about a 4 1/2" dish. I have no idea what it came out of but it was too small for manual steering, too ugly to be kept and the column's placement put the wheel a little too close & too high for comfort.


Aand here's the new one. Clay and I were at the Cars & Coffee meet-up last Saturday and a guy whose name I should remember by now had brought his truck full of old junk. This steering wheel had a lot of old glossy finish peeling off of it, had a few splits / cracks in it, the aluminum's annodizing had some flaws, it wouldn't mount to a GM column and he had no idea where it came from. So obviously I bought it for $20.
Add in a $45 adapter from Amazon (made by Forever Sharp) and my diameter is down to 13", dish down to 3". So it's an inch and a half further away from my face and I get an inch of leg room under it as well as (maybe) more steering feel due to decreased leverage. Plus, I managed to fix it up and sand it till it looks kinda nice.

I haven't decided if it's getting urethane, some sort of oil, stain, or what. I might just leave it alone from here, too. It lives indoors and the oil from my hands will eventually treat it.

So. Now for a few car videos and some sleep. Maybe some wiring this weekend.

[yossarian19]

PS.
I know the pics are kind of a junk-show in this thread. I'm working on figuring out Photobucket's editing stuff.

[Advanced Design]

Cool find on the steering wheel. Looks good.

[mrvette]

Tomcat, the oils from your hands carry all sorts of dirt, that wood wheel will get black/filthy super quick and give you a finishing headache, I would clean it up best as possible, and put on 2-3 coats of polyurethane like from a paint can, not a spray can....look for a quart can Minwax, Spar-Urethane Green can.....

Oh BTW, that wheel looks suspiciously like an aftermarket Corvette wheel....

[Kim57]

Nice score on the wheel.
Kim

[yossarian19]

I went to fire the engine and got a single hiccup followed by cranking but no fire. Oh, balls, not this again...
Probed around the fuel system connections with the voltmeter because I didn't hear the pump run when I keyed on.
Then it was time to cook dinner so I went inside, bemoaning my tightfistedness and wishing I'd bought a harness instead of modifying one.
But, wait...
The OBD2 didn't work, the pump didn't key on. I did have B+ and IGN+ power to the fusebox and ECM, though, and it did crank. Problem seems to be stemming from the computer.
Did I plug it in?!

Yeah, the engine management works a lot better when you plug it in. Fired first time.

So I'll wrap up the under-dash stuff, reconnect the brake lights, put the body back on and go back to being a neighborhood nuisance. Should be able to drive it to the car show next Saturday.

[Mjminino]

That's awesome!

[mrvette]

everything seems better when you are plugged in......

[yossarian19]

The wheel got two coats of urethane & stain onto it. Wiring, well, a couple things need some wire wrap put over them but it's all connected & working. Engine runs like it never stopped and wire wrap is on the way.
Here's are before, after & steering wheel shots.




The wiring isn't quite perfectly laid flat or hidden but I'm proud of it anyhow - I think it got a whole lot better with my recent effort. Doing it again, I'd buy or pay to have it done.
Aaand, I took the truck out to the hardware stores today. I'd broken my bench vice (eyelet that the main screw runs into partly stripped, partly broke - and the main screw bent. Still usable though) a while back and started working out how to fix it. Scored a stick of 1"-4 acme threaded rod for under $5 and spent a bit more of the afternoon making things work. Still have a little fab to do and I'll post pics of the repair.

Truck is officially back to work. I've got about another decade's worth of fixes & projects but I'll be driving it a while.

OH - and snugging up that wheel bearing & changing steering wheels made a big difference in how it drives. Much better.

[Kim57]

Glad to hear it's all coming together.
Kim

[Advanced Design]

Good deal, nice work on the truck. Really resourceful on the vise too!

[yossarian19]

Well, the PS box I've mentioned as having leaked right out of the packaging finally ticked me off. After a successful run to the dump (truck weighs 4120 lbs with me, gas, a queen size box spring & a whole lot of pine needles in it) I tore the box out to re seal it.
Oddly, this Saginaw steering gear had only one seal in it. Shaft & seal were in excellent visual condition but poured fluid anyway, so I start scratching my head. The seal kit had two seals and two washers. Neither washer fit over the pitman shaft... something was amiss and Lares Corp. wanted me to pay shipping both ways on any repair work they did under warranty so I said Screwit and went to NAPA. $140 later I reinstalled a new Napa box with two seals, the way god intended.

The other leak I had was a weep from the master cylinder.
$50 in AN-3 fittings later, I figure I'll just install the S-10 master cylinder I've got on the shelf. The AN-3 adapters and hoses were cheaper than a new Astro MC (which would have bolted in directly) so I figure, hey, why not play with AN stuff. See what the hype is about.
Well, long (long, painful) story short: I could not get one of the brand new Fragola -3 adapters to stop leaking at the master cylinder. Pissed badly and pissed me right off. Lots of remove, inspect, reinstall, test, etc until I gave up and put the old MC back on the truck. Not without a fight, though, as one of the flares going into the prop valve started leaking alone the way (apparently I ham-handed it at some point and it deformed) so I had to cut the damn fitting off, re-flare & reinstall again.
I don't know what to make of the AN fittings leaking on the master. I can't see anything wrong. It is a depressing waste of money and time but hey, what the hell, I've got one less leak and I only have to bleed the brakes before I'm back to driving the truck. I'll eff with it (much) later.

[yossarian19]

With a few birthday bucks from the old man I went ahead and ordered a steering stabilizer kit from Summit Racing, PN GAB-6858SE. It was only $30 something dollars and makes a world of difference. Mounting wise, I need to drill a few holes and raise the axle side of the shock so it's not in the weeds so bad. The rear-facing bolts should be closer to the axle, too, to make the mount a bit firmer. The steering feels much more predictable: the front wheels don't wander around nearly so much. Well worth the effort.
The new steering box is bound to be part of it, too. It's kind of wonderful to put an evening's work into replacing the box, bolting up the shock & have such an improvement in road manners.
Still no return-to-center in the steering, though. I'm looking into longer shackles or caster shims to get caster up to ~6*. I don't know why, exactly, but the '57's factory spec is under 2* caster. Anything designed with power steering & radial tires seems to be 5-8*.

Nothing terribly exciting / sexy but it's fun to drive it, tweak it & see the results.

[Kim57]

Real nice.
Kim

[Advanced Design]

Good use of the birthday bucks. It is fun to improve and evaluate.

[mrvette]

I dunno what to say about the return to center, as about the front leaf springs, vs A arms.....but in general, it's good to get more caster in there, if possible...

or sign into vettemod.com or get hold of a fellow on there who's handle is 69427 he is a retired GM engineer....and I met him years ago down south here.....he would know more than most anyone I can think of.....

but then again....vettemod is full of engineers.....getting into chassis engineering is WAY the hell over MY head.....too much with the ^&(*_(!@#^ sorta like your gear......

[mrvette]

"Machinist's Workshop" recently published information on various penetrating
oils. The magazine reports they tested these products for "break out "torque" on rusted nuts and bolts. A subjective test was made of popular penetrating oils, with the unit of merit being the torque required to remove the nut from a "scientifically rusted" bolt.

Average torque load to loosen nut:

No Oil used ....................516 foot pounds
WD-40 ..................... ......238 foot pounds
PB Blaster ......................214 foot pounds
Liquid Wrench ...............127 foot pounds
Kano Kroil ......................106 foot pounds
ATF/Acetone mix............ 53 foot pounds

The ATF/Acetone mix is a "home brew" mix of 50/50 automatic transmission fluid and acetone. Note this "home brew" released bolts better than any commercial product in this one particular test.
Our local machinist group mixed up a batch, and we all now use it with equally good results. Note also that Liquid Wrench is almost as good as Kroil for 20% of the price.
ATF/Acetone mix is best, but you can also use ATF and lacquer thinner in a 50/50 mix. ATF = Any type of Automatic Transmission Fluid

This version of the story was in one of the USA's Military Vehicle Club newsletters.
____

[DransportGarage]

Originally Posted by mrvette

"Machinist's Workshop" recently published information on various penetrating
oils. The magazine reports they tested these products for "break out "torque" on rusted nuts and bolts. A subjective test was made of popular penetrating oils, with the unit of merit being the torque required to remove the nut from a "scientifically rusted" bolt.

Average torque load to loosen nut:

No Oil used ....................516 foot pounds
WD-40 ..................... ......238 foot pounds
PB Blaster ......................214 foot pounds
Liquid Wrench ...............127 foot pounds
Kano Kroil ......................106 foot pounds
ATF/Acetone mix............ 53 foot pounds

The ATF/Acetone mix is a "home brew" mix of 50/50 automatic transmission fluid and acetone. Note this "home brew" released bolts better than any commercial product in this one particular test.
Our local machinist group mixed up a batch, and we all now use it with equally good results. Note also that Liquid Wrench is almost as good as Kroil for 20% of the price.
ATF/Acetone mix is best, but you can also use ATF and lacquer thinner in a 50/50 mix. ATF = Any type of Automatic Transmission Fluid

This version of the story was in one of the USA's Military Vehicle Club newsletters.
____

The WD-40 number doesn't surprise me since it's not intended to be either a lubricant or a penetrating oil. It is a Water Displacement ("WD") product, and a protectant.

Great tip on the ATF/acetone! Can't wait to brew some up.

[mrvette]

Originally Posted by DransportGarage

The WD-40 number doesn't surprise me since it's not intended to be either a lubricant or a penetrating oil. It is a Water Displacement ("WD") product, and a protectant.

Great tip on the ATF/acetone! Can't wait to brew some up.

Just leave it off the stove,......