'61 Apache "BoomStick"

[Northwest Outlaw]

Pulled a grille from a junkyard donor and stole the “CHEVROLET” text insert. Pulled my grille off and painted all of it satin black, accent color 1 of choice for all exterior trim. Outlined the letters with One Shot Red, accent color 2. Next ill pain the bumper and hood inserts black with some red pin stripes.

[Northwest Outlaw]

Armed with a new headlight and dimmer switch I tackled my lack of headlights. Not only do I want to replace the broken switches but I also learned that a headlight relay mod in these old trucks is very helpful. So again I turned the forum and found about a dozen posts about doing the relay upgrade and it looked fairly simple. By using a relay to pull power straight from the battery you’re able to run brighter lamps and don’t need to worry about the headlight switch burning out.

With a quick test to confirm that the new switches fixed my problem I moved on to adding the relays. I mounted them next to my Horn Relay and pulled the constant 12v power from there and then ran the ground wires all the way to the frame. Cutting my brand new wiring harness was a little nerve wracking, but it had to be done. Leaving as much wire as possible before the stock plug into the radiator support I maintained the correct color coding for headlight wires.

A little snipping, stripping, soldering, crimping and heat shrinking and boom! I had working relays, for my low beams only… So I started checking all the leads and all my connections. Nothing was wrong. Why wasn’t I getting power to the high beams?! Finally I checked the main terminal in the fire wall and realized the high beam blade in the plug had be bent and wasn’t seating into it’s respectful location. Success!

A bonus of replacing the headlight switch was that I got my dash lights back too! Even the high beam indicator works, which is a tiny little Chevy bowtie that lights up red, super cool. Lastly I installed a new dome light and license plate light. All lights are now working, except the front passenger blinker which has a bad socket.

Since I have a pretty much complete working dash cluster now, I decided it needed to be pulled out and painted. The water temp gauge doesn’t have a disconnect on the sender wire, so I had to pull the sender unit from the head and thread the whole thing back through the cab to get the cluster out. I disassembled the cluster and the gauges. There is a clear plexiglass piece with all the lettering and speedo numbers painted on the back. I cleaned that really well and got rid of a bunch of fogginess. Next is a thin stamped aluminum sheet that was black on the front and light green on the back. This serves to reflect the light and make the original gauges glow, so I painted that and rest of the cluster housing white to reflect better. The front of the dash plate got sprayed red to match the exterior accents. Using pinstripe tape I masked off the speedometer face and needle and hit that with satin black to match the exterior trim. Honestly it turned out a lot better than I thought.

Other work done was replacing the valve cover gaskets to stop the oil leaks, drained the extra fluid from the transmission to stop it from leaking, and added 1/4” spacers to the front wheels to stop the rims from scraping the control arms when turned all the way.
Im having a blast driving her every couple days.

[realvc]

Some more great updates/repairs. Way to go!

[mud.man.rj]

And, your using it, good for you. Enjoy the truck.
Mudman.

[Northwest Outlaw]

Longest drive yet, 16 miles! Friday after work decided to take a longer drive than my typical neighborhood loop or run to the auto parts. I know 16 miles isn't a real test, but it was the longest, furthest and fastest i've driven the Boomstick yet. So i was excited to pull back into the garage with all the gauges where they should be, 170 degree temp, 30-40 psi oil pressure and constant 14+ volts. The best part was the stretch of road where i got her cruising at 50-55 mph, she handled it like a dream.

A few issues are still needing to be worked out. The biggest is my front wheels and there backspacing. Whenever there is a sudden jolt in the front suspension, pot hole or dip in the road, there is a teeth clenching sudden screech. I'm pretty sure its the lower control arm slamming into the inside of the rim. The wheels have about 6.5" of backspacing and are super close to the control arm. Gonna play with some spacers to see if i can push them out enough to clear.

Also hearing a noise from the front passenger brake when applying pressure. It sounds like something is rubbing a the speed of the wheel, but only when i'm on the brake, as soon as i let off it goes away. the rotor is clean and doesn't show a scrapes or grooving as if a rock was in there. I'll have to pull wheel and investigate further.

On saturday a neighbor was getting rid of some plywood, so i grabbed it and made a temporary bed. The weathered, used and aged look of the sheets fit perfectly with the look of the truck. And having a "solid" bed without all the metal straps and bolts clanking around make driving a much quieter experience. I use the extra bed fenders for the templates and some new carriage bolts. It's a good solution until i can do a proper wood bed.

I also rewired the ignition switch to the dash wire harness. the PO had, as with many other locations, done a shoddy job of crimping and extending the wires, so i got everything soldered and shrink wrapped and it looks a ton better under the dash.

[realvc]

Congrats. on the round trip with no problems. Also the bed mod. is cool and functional.
I'm looking forward to getting mine on the road some day.

[Northwest Outlaw]

In preparation for the Manson Rat Rod Show on May 19-20th I started trying to wrap up all the electrical bugs and get some highway tests in. The rear lights are turning out to be very temperamental and after blowing fuses, tearing apart and re-soldering plugs and replace half the wires I’ve decided it’s as good as it’s going to get; both taillights, both blinkers but only if the taillights aren’t on, and driver’s side brake light. I also replaced the thermostat with a 180 degree one and drilled the 1/16” hole that everyone says to do.


I haven’t had any overheating issues, but since the trip was going to be about 4 hours and the weather report was calling for sun and 80+ temps I decided to build a fan shroud. Using 14’ wide galvanized roof flashing I was able to bend, cut, fold and crimp a sturdy box with a giant hole in the middle. To ease installation I fabricated it in two pieces. The first attempt was a “top and bottom” design that failed because I could slide it under the radiator hose and over the fan. I wanted the ability to remove the shroud without any other disassembly, so I went back to the drawing board. The second design halved the shroud down the middle and allowed each side to be dropped into the engine bay from above and then slide together around the fan. Another advantage of doing the whole thing over was that I was able to make better cuts and folds in the sheet metal. There are no raw edges to cut yourself on. With the shroud on and motor running there is a fairly strong air flow felt in front of the grill. It evens sucks in piece of paper from 6” away!

Living in the great Pacific Northwest has a few unique requirements for all vehicles. One of those is windshield wipers. Mine didn’t do anything when I turned the switch, but I knew it was getting power. So I took out the motor and tore it apart. The copper bushing that the gear shaft spins in was completely rusted to the shaft. After hammering it apart, wire brushing the crap off and a good scotch pad cleaning everything was back to work order. Even picked up new wiper blades to replace the cracked and dusty old ones.

My travel partner, Hot Rod Erik, was bringing his boy Daniel along for the trip. That meant I needed a third seat belt. I figured while I had the bench seat out to install the third seatbelt it would be a good time for a more comfortable seat cover. Future plans include rebuilding the seat completely but there wasn’t time for that now. I convinced the wife to help in fashioning some Mexican blankets into temporary covers. She used tarp grommets and rope to get a really nice, snug fit that held the blankets in place while sliding in and out of the truck.


The evening before the trip I was finally able to get out on a little highway near our house. Getting up to 65-70 mph I was feeling pretty good about the build, until a giant white smoke cloud appeared behind me! I immediately pulled off at the next exit and found a safe place to park and take a look. The cause was transmission fluid puking all over the exhaust on the passenger side. With some more test drives it only seemed to be happening at higher RPMs, around 3000 if I was pushing to 70 mph. This led me to believe that I may have over filled the trans fluid and the excess was be forced out of the vent tube. The splattered pattern was consistent with the theory, so I sucked out some fluid and attached a drain hose from the vent tube to a catch bottle. I didn’t have time to test it out that night, but I planned on doing some more drive tests with Erik the next day. Having “solved” the trans problem and wrapped up a bunch of little tasks , I was getting excited for the trip to Manson.

[realvc]

Way to go on all counts. Your fan shroud design is functional and looks good too.
Good luck on your trip.

[mud.man.rj]

I agree, after all the hard work enjoy the truck.
Mudman.

[Northwest Outlaw]

Road trip day! *long post
Erik and his boy Daniel (5 yrs old) arrived bright and early on Friday morning at 8 am. After going over my recent work that he had not yet seen, we fired her up and took her for a test drive. We got 4 blocks from the house when white smoke started rising up from under the cab. The trans fluid was still leaking! It was now worse than before, somehow, and seemed to be coming from where the dipstick meets the pan. We drove a few more blocks to Roxbury Auto Parts to get a new gasket for the dipstick. Well, a Turbomatic 400 isn’t supposed to have a gasket, just an o-ring. Apparently yet another thing the PO did wrong was slap the WRONG DIPSTICK in the transmission and used a repair gasket to make it work. With a $20 part, a few more test runs and only a few hours late, we got on the road with a bunch of tools, spare parts and no more leaks.


Our path of travel was from West Seattle to I-5 North, then jump on I-90 East until Cle Elum. That first half of the trip is 100 miles and crosses one mountain pass. The second leg of the trip was another 100 miles along Highway 970 over Blewitt Pass, then 97 and 97a along the Columbia River to Lake Chelan. We had planned on making stops at 25 and 50 miles during the first half of the trip to check the truck. We made it 18 before troubles started.


After cruising along on I-90 for about 10 minutes the engine started to stumble and surge from lack of fuel. We had just topped off the tank 15 minutes prior, so I knew there was a delivery issue. Pulling off the freeway into the nearest gas station we popped the hood and started inspecting the fuel lines. No leaks, but the clear in-line filter wasn’t a full as it usually is. Pulling the fuel line from the carb we checked the little paper filter in the carb inlet, gunked. Of course it was one of the few small parts that I hadn’t grabbed a spare for. Luckily there was an O’Reillys a few blocks away, unluckily the kid behind the counter was about as bright as a bag of rocks.
“We need a carb filter for a 1971 Rochester Quadrajet”
“You mean the fuel filter?”
“No, the filter in the carburetor”
“There isn’t a filter in a carburetor”
…tap tap tap on phone...
“yes, this one” showing him the part on the O’Rielly’s website…

We, Erik and myself, were able to find the filter we needed on their website using our phones before the kid could find a part number on his computer. We threw the new filter in, started her up and right away the fuel filter went back to the right level, but we also had leaks. The fittings at the carb fuel inlet were leaking through a bad seal. So after another 45 min of dealing with brick-for-brains behind the counter we were able to get what we needed and get back on the road. “East bound and down…” maybe we shouldn’t have celebrated too soon.


5 miles later we were having the same symptoms as before and pulled off the freeway again. There was a kink in the fuel line right after the filter. That wasn’t the problem. Our only option left was the fuel pump, an item I had remembered to grab a replacement for. The old one was clearly in need of the replacement as the arm basically flopped up and down freely when we pulled it out. Had I known how simple these pumps are to swap out before this, I would have done it before I put the engine in. In less than 15 minutes the engine cranked back to life with all systems showing strong fuel pressure. Too strong apparently. Gas started seeping out of the carburetor from every possible opening, spilling down over the intake and engine. After a few more attempts at starting and stopping the engine with the same results we were stuck. Not having the skills or confidence to tear apart the carb in a parking lot we had two options; quit or get a new carb.

I know that there are experienced guys and girls that know exactly what’s wrong with my Quadrajet and could have fixed in right there, probably with a well placed hit from a hammer. I’m not that guy, yet. Another thing about me is that when I say I’m on a budget build, I mean that in the more restrictive of terms. Spending money on this truck has always been a calculated balancing act of what I need to buy new vs. what I can find on craigslist or what I can rebuild or make. The Quadrajet was complete and came with the engine in running condition, why would I waste money on a new part when I had a perfectly good one? I did go through the effort of rebuilding it and it had functioned well on the truck up until now. While I don’t have a ton of money, I do have an amazing woman. She had been following us in her car, a “reliable modern vehicle”, and was almost as disappointed as me when things turned for the worst. This was her response to the news that the carb wasn’t working: “well, just buy a new one and let’s get back on the road” Problem solved!


There was a Napa about a mile away that had an Edlebrock 1406 on the shelf, so we quickly ran and grabbed it. “Ten minutes” is how long it take to do anything according to Erik, and he wasn’t that far off. 30 minutes after popping the hood I was turning the key and true to the box’s slogan “Bolt on and Run Right Out of the Box!” the engine fired up on the second crank. Erik was manning the throttle linkage and was revving her up to make sure we were good to go.

The good news, the Edlebrock preformed great; the bad news, with proper fuel delivery we were able to hear a bigger problem.

Above 2000 rpm the 1971 350ci small block was backfiring through the carburetor so much that it would barely stay running. Flattened cam lobes were causing valves to be open when they shouldn’t be and it was no longer an “internal combustion” engine. A very bitter end to a long day. We found the nearest brew pub and conducted some liquid and bacon therapy while we waited for the tow truck to show up.



Cheesy TV Announcer Voice:
Next week on “First Time Car Builder” we get to see Outlaw pull the engine and swap in a new cam kit from Comp Cams! Stay tuned!!

[rvrfoot]

Wow so sad.

[realvc]

Man on man, what a great truck adventure story. So sorry it did not turn out better as in a completed round trip.

Good luck on the cam swap and getting your truck back on the road.

[Northwest Outlaw]

Originally Posted by realvc

Man on man, what a great truck adventure story. So sorry it did not turn out better as in a completed round trip.

Good luck on the cam swap and getting your truck back on the road.

Thanks Vince. Looking back at it now a few weeks later it is really a good story. It didn't turn out how i hoped but it made some really good memories and has made me more determined to complete the trip this summer still!

[mud.man.rj]

Hey 1st trip, had a hickup or 3 but was an adventure, bigger ones coming, just takes time, cool you had a bit of a run. Keep at it.
Mudman.

[Northwest Outlaw]

June Update

After the failed roadtrip attempt I ordered the COMPcams Camshaft Kit SK12-206-2 High Energy 260H Hydraulic Flat Tappet to replace the worn out cam, lifters and timing set in my engine. When I tore the engine apart it was absolutely apparent where the problem was...

Dished out lifters and not pictured are the three cam lobes that were completely rounded down

Loose timing chain. Also notice something odd? Three different bolts holding the cam sprocket...makes me wonder

Now the engine is back together with the new camshaft, lifters and timing set.

[rvrfoot]

From the cam,lifters,chain was the motor worn out?

[61_FL_Apache]

What did the heads and cylinders look like?

[namloc]

Sorry to see what happeneded.Just a hiccup.You may already know but if not you need to run 15/40 engine oil and or start adding zddp . The zinc additives are needed or your flat tappet cam will look that again quickly.

[Northwest Outlaw]

Originally Posted by rvrfoot

From the cam,lifters,chain was the motor worn out?

The combination of all three components led to valves opening and closing at the wrong time, or not opening at all. Resulted in almost as much flow back out of the carb as was going in through the carb

Originally Posted by 61_FL_Apache

What did the heads and cylinders look like?

You give me too much credit! I'm not ready to attack a full engine at this point, so i only tore her down far enough to replace what I knew i needed to. At some point i'm sure i'll have to address the heads and cylinders in a real way, but for now i'm ok with how they looked from what I could see from the crank galley.

Originally Posted by namloc

Sorry to see what happeneded.Just a hiccup.You may already know but if not you need to run 15/40 engine oil and or start adding zddp . The zinc additives are needed or your flat tappet cam will look that again quickly.

My guy, old school dude who owns and operates the auto parts store, has me running a high-zinc oil designed for engines of this age. He called it a "performance engine oil" which would be a stretch to use the word "performance" for anything on my truck!

[Northwest Outlaw]

SHE'S ALIVE!!! https://youtu.be/26ZDzVYPUbw
After realizing i put the dizzy in backwards again, did the same thing for the first engine start up, she fired right up. We ran her through the COMPCams break-in procedure with only one hiccup. I hadn't fully tightened the distributor after spinning it around and it walked the timing way back to where it was backfiring real bad. I tighten it back down in the right spot and ran her 25 min between 2000-3000rpm, varying ever few minutes.
Then i went and picked up my wifey as a surprise, and boy was she! Not often does she get to ride in a hood-off, recently revived, hot rod pick up!

[rvrfoot]

What did you use to seal the intake front and back.

[Northwest Outlaw]

Originally Posted by rvrfoot

What did you use to seal the intake front and back.

I got a FelPro Full Engine Gasket Kit and used the provided rubber strips plus black gasket maker.

Curious as to why you asked?

[rvrfoot]

I am putting a 283 motor together and the mechanic and my dad everybody I talk to said ditch the gasket put a quarter-inch RTV sealer on the back and the front let tack up maybe hour or so and then stall intake I was just wondering how you did yours

[Northwest Outlaw]

Originally Posted by rvrfoot

I am putting a 283 motor together and the mechanic and my dad everybody I talk to said ditch the gasket put a quarter-inch RTV sealer on the back and the front let tack up maybe hour or so and then stall intake I was just wondering how you did yours

I've been told that and read it every where on the web as well. I replaced the stock '71 cast iron intake with the aluminum Edelbrock Performer when i first put the engine in the truck and i used the rubber that came in the gasket kit cause i didn't get any advice. I do run a line of RTV under the rubber to hold it in place, same with the main intake gaskets, and then glob the corners where they meet the heads. Second time i've used the rubber and haven't had an issue, but i don't see any issue with using only the RTV.

I would suggest running a circle of RTV around the water passages on the heads and intake in addition to the gasket

[Grizz1963]

Loose timing chain. Also notice something odd? Three different bolts holding the cam sprocket...makes me wonder

When I rebuilt my motor last year mine was the same.

Ordered a new set.....

Now they all look the same.

Guess people just "fix" stuff like they can