Another OLD BLUE Build Thread - 71 Chevy

[OldBlue71Chevy]

Nothin much going on lately. I replaced the o-ring on my vacuum modulator on the TH400 and it leaks just as much as it did before... Installed a trailer light harness, some LED rock lights, cleaned up a bunch of wiring with grommets and proper loom.



More on the lights HERE

Of course we had to go test them out. Met up with a couple of guys from ZR2USA.com > RPOZR2: 10 years of production. A lifetime obsession



Gertrude approves


The lights stayed relatively clean


It's official now. I didn't really pay for custom plates this time though. This is the old front plate off the CrAzYbLaZe.


I am still thoroughly impressed at how well this thing cruises down the highway. I partially fixed my vapor locking issue by bailing wire a stacked set of license plates to the frame between where the exhaust and the metal fuel line get within ~3", it only shut off on me twice while off-road this time. On road is still not a problem because it gets enough airflow.

[mcbassin]

Very cool project. I'm glad I found your build. Love all the custom fabrication work.

[OldBlue71Chevy]

Originally Posted by mcbassin

Very cool project. I'm glad I found your build. Love all the custom fabrication work.

Thanks for stopping by. Hopefully it provides some good ideas.



I am really glad that I took the time to install a drain plug last time I had the transmission pan off. On Saturday I was rolling around under the truck and realized that both the pressure modulator and the kickdown pass through connector were leaking. So I drained the transmission again and bought a new pressure modulator. The pressure modulator came with a new o-ring and I believe I found the right size o-ring for the pass through connector (might use a little RTV on it and let it sit overnight to make sure I won't have to take it apart again... )

Got rained out on Sunday and it is freezing cold today, so it might be a couple days before I get'er all back together.

[Aussie Ol' Blue]

Is that a blue heeler lookin after your pride n joy?

[OldBlue71Chevy]

Originally Posted by Aussie Ol' Blue

Is that a blue heeler lookin after your pride n joy?

Yep, that's Gertrude. She is actually part Border Collie, part Blue Healer, part Crazy


Rain and Hail yesterday, Big snowflakes this morning, then I was out in nothing but a hoodie by this afternoon??


Threw the new pressure modulator and passthrough connector with new o-ring in, but coated them with some RTV before I put them in. I am going to let them set overnight so it can seal up and never leak again (hopefully).

[Aussie Ol' Blue]

Yeah the crazy is the Blue Heeler part I'm sure! I had one when I was Jackaroo-ing in the outback. Grouse dogs.

The weather you describe almost sounds like Melbourne's! Ours has a reputation of having four seasons in a day!

[OldBlue71Chevy]

Got'er all back together and filled up. Hasn't leaked a drop for 5 days now


Next step is to spend an hour or so powerwashing the driveway so I don't get kilt by the wife

[OldBlue71Chevy]

The princess is back in her spot in the garage



Turned the burban, made some money, life goes on. That is why I usually don't post the short term side projects.




Well I shoulda known... sure enough the trans is leaking again, though not even close to what it was. Just a couple of drips this time, not full exxon style. There are still 1 or two paper gaskets that I haven't touched yet, I didn't spend enough time looking at it today to figure out where it is coming from now.

[OldBlue71Chevy]

So I've been talking about a go-pro or something to get you guys some video. I'm to cheap to go drop coin on one, so I'm improvising.

Idea #1



While I was messing around with the magnet, I started thinking I needed it closer to the door so I could hit the record button easier. Then I remembered the twenty mirror holes in each of my doors, luckily some of them were threaded.





And just because I thought it was a cool picture...


Started messing around with the front wheel wells. They are a lil' rusty and will definitely need some trimming but I am going to put them back in. It is a PITA to clean out the engine bay...

[OldBlue71Chevy]

Got to try out the camera mount on Sunday which worked surprisingly well. I accidentally left the camera on and taped over 30 minutes in one segment. Unfortunately most of it was us rigging my battery back in after it fell out and broke off both my battery terminals. A better battery mount is on my "to do" list now.

[mcbassin]

Love the video! Dang that looks like fun!

[OldBlue71Chevy]

Originally Posted by mcbassin

Love the video! Dang that looks like fun!

Thanks! It has turned out to be a pretty fun truck so far.

So, I'm going to do some open ended thinking here. Looking for some of your opinions.

I stated from the beginning that I want this to be a "do it all" truck. As it gets more reliable, I want to start doing more fun stuff with it. Living in Kansas, they have a lot of local state fair type mud bogs/races. I checked into one the other day and the class I would fall into is 37" super stock (if I remember correctly) and I would need a 6 point roll cage and driveshaft loops to pass inspection.

I always think about projects long before I start them, so here is the first step.

I don't want to destroy the somewhat classic look of the truck, but interior cages are a PITA sometimes. It always seemed to get in the way when I had the blazer. I want to try to get the best of both worlds on this build.

So here is my rough draft. Basically it will look like a headache rack but structural. The front blue tubes will go from the headache rack into the cab and through the floor where they will attach to the rock sliders. Of course there will be a dash bar, roof bar, and more triangulation but my paint skills are limited.

Orange = exposed/visible
Blue = inside truck/not visible




So it would end up looking kind of like this:


If I did it like this, I could even do it in stages adding the inner cab cage later. But I wouldn't get my melon smashed if I took it to the dunes this summer since I would have some protection.


To play devil's advocate against myself though, if I did the external headache rack idea then I wouldn't have anything to mount my seats or harnesses to and I would end up running tube through the inside of the truck anyways.

So it would end up looking like this: (thanks 70ShortWide for the ideas, I stole your pics)




So after this big argument with myself, I think I'm just going to have to build an inner cage with two exterior down tubes and an X brace...

Thoughts?

[OldBlue71Chevy]

I haven't done much with the truck lately. I did manage to knock 40lbs of mud out of the undercarriage and reattach my battery with new terminals and an extra safety strap to make sure it doesn't come out again.

Made some progress on the smoker though. Since some of you expressed interest, I will just post one pic and a link to the build post.

[OldBlue71Chevy]

So I have been almost non-existant for the last month. I have had 0 time to myself. A holiday, wedding, bachelor party, and numerous other events have kept me out of the garage.

We took Ol' Blue out to to watch some fireworks. Had driven it well over an hour. No issues, no overheating, no oil pressure problems worked great until about 1 mile away from home. She then started making some weird noises. I wouldn't call it a "knock" but it doesn't sound good. Once it started the noise I watched the oil pressure and temp like a hawk the remainder of my neighborhood into the garage and didn't notice anything out of order.

At this point, I have pulled the valve covers, all 8 spark plugs and the TC cover. Nothing looked irregular or broken. Don't see any metal flakes or bad smells on both transmission and engine oil. I haven't checked valve lash because I haven't had time yet but just looking and feeling, I didn't notice anything way out of whack.

Now I am down to a couple of ideas. Like I said it doesn't sound like a knock. I am still hopeful that it is something simple. My suspicion right now is that something with the cam chain/gear drive is loose and rattling around.

I need your guys' opinion on what I should do next.

1. Pull the engine. Take it to a pro engine shop have it fixed and officially dynoed then sell engine/trans/t-case. Use the profits to re-power with a LSx takeout with a chain drive (read: quiet) t-case, fuel injection, and transmission with overdrive.

2. Fix engine (maybe still have shop go through and dyno) then reinstall and still have a carb, poor fuel mileage, and no overdrive.

I have secretly told myself that if I have to pull this engine again it is not getting put back in. It runs great and has gobs of power but thus far has not proven to be worthy of a daily driver. I really would like to drive it to wheeling meets/work/around town more often without spending ridiculous amounts on fuel even if it costs me 200hp and a downgrade.

What say you guys? Anybody in the market for a big block?

[OldBlue71Chevy]

OK, so I took a deep breath...and fired up the smoker.


Jalapeno poppers and a chuck roast


Gertrude helping


Found some big truck mud flaps at the farm store. I'll be cutting these up and using them as gap guards in the rear wheel wells.


Spent Saturday and half of Sunday cleaning the garage. Over the last couple of months it had gotten pretty bad and I didn't want a bunch of dirt / metal dust flying around while I have the engine taken apart. Also helped a buddy put new wheel bearings in the front of his pickup.

Installed some new T8 flourescents in the front of the shop. They make a HUGE difference and come on instantly.


OCD called...


So all in all, I didn't really get much done, but I made some good BBQ and have a really clean shop. It saves so much time when I know where all of my tools are.

I will have to tackle Ol' Blue's engine another day, but I'll be ready. I'll quit whining now. I'm going to man up and figure out what the problem is next time I get a chance to be out in the shop.

[gdavis]

it don't hurt to take a break every now and then. I do it all the time I guess that is why I have been working on the truck for two years,

[OldBlue71Chevy]

Been crazy busy lately. Haven't had time to do much of anything in the garage.

I have gotten back into biking (the pedal kind) and did a 100mile century last weekend, and have been dabbling in mountain biking/trails.

Took Ol' Blue to Executive Performance in Merriam KS to adjust the valves. I must have gotten off track on a couple of them. He said 1 and 8 were misadjusted. Runs better now.

I'll be @ Midwest Truck Nats in Riverside tomorrow. I think my Dad is also bringing his deuce and a half military truck.

Hope to see some of you there!

[OldBlue71Chevy]

So after some drama, I made it to Midwest Truck Nats.

Got most of the way there and stopped on the offramp so I could adjust my timing ever so slightly. Get out of the truck and have one of those "wth is all over the side of my truck???". Go around to the front and realize that my water pump had pushed a piece of it's gasket out. Luckily I had stopped to fuss with my timing and caught it before it lost much coolant.



So after some scrounging around in my toolbox I found the correct size allen wrench and a gallon of coolant. After I tightened the bolts to a slow drip, I was able to make the 20 minute drive to the auto parts store on the way back home. Registration didn't end until ~1pm so I figured I had time. Went home and got the water pump gasket changed out in just under an hour and headed back out.



No more leak and it ended up being a good show. Here are some pics:



Burnout contest was fun to watch


Met a couple of you guys, but couldn't stay long because we had a busy weekend.


On the way home is where the problem started up again. Like I said in the previous post, I just had an actual shop set the valve lash which I believe they did correctly (though it still burns me because I take pride in doing almost everything myself). The valvetrain tick just won't go away. It is pretty loud this time. Could be a bad roller lifter, could be a lot of things. The thing is...I don't care anymore. So the motor went on Craigslist.

[OldBlue71Chevy]

So after a week or so on Craigslist I got some lookers.

I listed it for way less than what the parts total up to but made sure it was enough to cover my next project :evil:

Got a cash deposit yesterday and promptly started the teardown:

~7pm


~8pm


~10:45pm


~11:30pm (this took a while because my cherry picker was hitting the sheetrock around the ducting above my truck. Total PITA when working by yourself)


~1:43am after cleaning up the garage so I could put the Wife's car away


So the BBC is out and ready for her new home with somebody that will love her for who she is.

I have a line on a 5.3 w/stripped harness and reprogrammed computer that I am putting an order in for as soon as I get the rest of the payment for my engine this weekend. From a local guy that does it on the side and it comes with a 6 mo warranty. Not too shabby. I am excited to potentially triple or quadruple my gas mileage (not to mention I won't have to run premium anymore). I think I will get a lot more enjoyment in the long run with a quiet(er) fuel injected engine.

[Low Elco]

Nice! Who's the local guy? Glad you're getting a fresh bullet.

[OldBlue71Chevy]

Some guy I found on Craigslist that does it on the side. I believe he is out of Lawrence.

We have been texting back and forth for a couple of weeks, but I honestly don't think I even know his name yet.

[mcbassin]

Bummer about the old engine but heck yeah about the plans for the new power plant !

[OldBlue71Chevy]

Originally Posted by mcbassin

Bummer about the old engine but heck yeah about the plans for the new power plant !

Yessir!

Should be selling my engine tomorrow! I am rather excited.

Now I get to go order a bunch of new parts including an engine, yet not "actually" spend any money.

Ordered an Ultra-Gauge today. I figured it would be a quick/cheap/easy way to read ALL of my gauges without fussing with individual sending units/guages. No it isn't perfect, but it will get me going. Not bad for <$100 including windshield mount and shipping. Plugs right into the OBDII port and reads pretty much all available parameters.

It also has customize-able alarms that you can set individually for oil pressure, rpm, temp, etc. So you don't actually have to be watching your gauges that hard, it will beep at you if something gets out of range.

NOT my picture, just a quick Google image search example:


I also have a line on a Flowmaster 70 series (used of course) on Craigslist. We'll see if he still has it on Sunday when we agreed for me to pick it up. I used to have a 50 series on my 360 ram and I loved the way it sounded; the 70 supposedly sounds similar but is in a longer more rectangular package (which I don't really care about).

[OldBlue71Chevy]

It's gone!



Gertrude checking out my new muffler score. Flowmaster 70 series $40



Put a big downpayment on my engine today. Should be ready next week

[OldBlue71Chevy]

My new toys are arriving

OOBER Ultra-Gauge writeup

Ultra-Gauge- It's like a RacePak for poor people.


(I hadn't removed the protective cover off the screen in this pic yet)