Re: Scott's 1972 Chevy K-20. A place to start.
 

Looks like you have a nice hole to plug in the DP elbow. Otherwise, she's coming along really well.

Re: Scott's 1972 Chevy K-20. A place to start.
 

Scott, it's looking really nice. A couple things that may help you. You might be able to loosen your cab and radiator support mounts and try to slide it all back as far as you can to gain some firewall clearance. That is pretty close and it will get hot. Probabaly not firey hot, but make the cab a sauna. hen move the bed back as well. Next, keep an eye on that 90* hose you used on the intake. They like to blow off. Doesn't seem to matter how tight you get the clamps. It's looking really good though!

Re: Scott's 1972 Chevy K-20. A place to start.
 

That hole is where the PO had the pyrometer. I just haven't put it back in. At this point it is one of the lower items on the priority list, and I'm not too worried since I've got all the parts I need to close it up.

Re: Scott's 1972 Chevy K-20. A place to start.
 

I'll give that a try. The cab mounts are fairly new so I'm not sure how much play I can get out of them, but I'll see if I can get a little bit of extra room out of it. The other option I was looking at was to use the old header wrap to cover that down pipe, or even just that short section right against the firewall.

Re: Scott's 1972 Chevy K-20. A place to start.
 

Wrapping it won't hurt, abd for your exhaust manifold, get a blanket and that'll help too.

And I'd weld that hole in the elbow shut. Drill and tap your exhaust manifold for a pyro. It's a more accurate idea of what is truely the temps in the cylinder as the exhaust comes out. You can lose 250-300* at the outlet and get a false idea.

Re: Scott's 1972 Chevy K-20. A place to start.
 

Something we have learned from experience, the 90s tend to be a PITA to keep on and we try to only use straight rubber hoses as it causes less swell and is less likely to blow off.

Re: Scott's 1972 Chevy K-20. A place to start.
 

Love to see a young lady out in the garage working on stuff! Please have her wear long sleeves if she does welding, and white t shirts are a big no no. arc burn is nasty and way worse for you than a sun burn. white just doesn't block the UV. i learned this the hard way....

Re: Scott's 1972 Chevy K-20. A place to start.
 

Thanks for the info, I wasn't aware that there could be that much heat lost between the manifold and behind the turbo. I'll fill that hole and tap another when I pull the exhaust back off to put the header wrap on the down pipe.

Do you find this to be the issue at only 20psi boost, or are you seeing it when you guys push more through the system? I haven't done any real performance upgrades other than a #5 fuel plate at this point. I guess my other option would be to redo the intake itself. Ryan (CO) sent me a flange that I've still got sitting around the garage as it wasn't used.

Ya, I know. She wanted to know what welding was all about. She completed about 6 spot welds total (only two of which held) before she got bored and moved on to other things. It's nice that she and my wife are the ones that does come out and check on me, and always help out when I need a third hand. The boys have never been interested in anything I'm doing in the garage or yard. Even at 19, 20 & 23, are more interested in video games than anything that may give them skills and some sense of accomplishment in the future.

Re: Scott's 1972 Chevy K-20. A place to start.
 

I'm going to be the dick dad and throw out the video games or never let them get them. Haha It's crazy how a lot of people are consumed by gaming in general. (I guess it isn't any different than being caught up in old cars and trucks. But I won't tell them that.) :lol:

On the intake, yes, I've had those dumb hoses blow at 20psi as well. If you use hair spray or a light film of silicone on the intake when you put the hose on it can help.

Re: Scott's 1972 Chevy K-20. A place to start.
 

Dad's Ford does it the worst as he has a 90* elbow off the turbo and I have had it blow at 19 psi before and its a PITA to put back on on the side of the interstate when everything is hot and you have a pulling truck behind it.

Re: Scott's 1972 Chevy K-20. A place to start.
 

Well, two weeks of nothing at all done on the truck... I'm fine with that. So, instead of a build thread, I'll post a quick "vacation" update.


View from our hotel room.
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-T...25281%2529.jpg

My wife and I, getting a break from our kids and our commitments for a little breather.
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-M...o/DSC_6142.jpg

Various sea life as we were snorkeling.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-V...o/DSC08096.jpg
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/--...o/DSC07829.jpg
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-T...o/DSC07887.jpg
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-j...o/DSC07919.jpg

And a couple of adventures along the way.
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-M...o/DSC_6266.jpg
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-B...o/DSC_6164.jpg
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-b...o/DSC_6354.jpg
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-z...o/DSC_6491.jpg
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-v...o/DSC_6498.jpg

Re: Scott's 1972 Chevy K-20. A place to start.
 

I like the vacation pics....my wife and I also like to get away from the kids and home life and pretend we are still dating...keep the relationship fresh.

Great work on the build and I am enjoying learning from your progress.

Re: Scott's 1972 Chevy K-20. A place to start.
 

Nice vaca pics Scott! That Stingray pic is sweet! Was that Hawaii?

Re: Scott's 1972 Chevy K-20. A place to start.
 

Ya, we had a nice break from the kids... it was nice, especially when I realized that it's been since 2007 that the wife and I really had a nice long vacation together.

And, thanks for the feedback... I too am learning from my progress.. :lol:

Ya, we spent a week on Maui. I spent about 5 of the days snorkeling (a first for me.) My wife spent a lot of time scuba diving before we met, so this was the first time that she's gotten me in the water.

It also gave me my $1,000,000 idea... There's books that tell you what fish you see. There's books that tell you how to cook. The world's missing a book that tells you how to cook the fish you see.

Re: Scott's 1972 Chevy K-20. A place to start.
 

Started back on the truck this weekend. The problem was that I wasn't quite where to start, so I bounced back and forth, from bending some tubing, to looking over the hydraulic lines, to futzing around with the rear brakes, etc. Didn't get a single thing done, and some things I didn't even start. The end result was that I came up with a punch list of things that I need to do to get it running again.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-1...o/IMG_0677.jpg

After that, I decided to focus on the transmission shifter. I had originally ordered the 23" double-bend Lokar shifter for the 727 (since they don't make one specifically for the 46RH). Not only was that too tall, but it also didn't work. After a bit more research, I found that the 46RH is based off of the 518, so I sent one back, and got the replacement for the floor mount and 16". I spent a little bit of time placing it in different locations on the transmission hump in the truck. To far forward and it hit the dash, too far back and I didn't like the look of it and it hit the front edge of the seat.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-M...o/IMG_0669.jpg

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-9...o/IMG_0674.jpg

I ended up liking it the most where the original stick shift came out. The only problem I ran into was that the linkage was basically a straight drop down to the Lokar provided pivot bracket on top of the front left of the transmission pan. Basically, where I ended up placing it wouldn't have worked to as it wouldn't have any leverage in moving the selector, but rather force it directly down.

So, a little bit of free time and some ingenuity, I came up with a second lever that attaches to the back of the hump.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-z...o/IMG_0671.JPG

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-d...o/IMG_0672.JPG

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-x...o/IMG_0673.JPG

ACE hardware something like the small 1/4" heim joints that I was able to leverage, but nobody around me has the 1/4" x 28 all-thread for me to finish putting this together.

Re: Scott's 1972 Chevy K-20. A place to start.
 

Looking good Scott! That's a great idea on the cooking book. :lol: Although, the diving joint may not like hooks and line in their tour/swim. :lol:

On your trans, yours is a 47rh. 46's were put behind small gas engines. 47's were behind the V10's and diesels. A lot of parts do interchange from 6's to 7's but some don't. Just something you might need to know down the road. Have you decided how you want to control it yet?

Re: Scott's 1972 Chevy K-20. A place to start.
 

Nice vaca, truck is coming together nice too.

Re: Scott's 1972 Chevy K-20. A place to start.
 

Ya, my fat fingers at work, hitting the wrong keys... It's usually the RE/RH that I mess up, not the 46/47... oh well. I'm still thinking this one through, but also remembered a post where you'd stated that you were going to try the pressure switches on the Excursion... I've was going to follow-up on that thread to see if you'd gotten to that point yet.

I've kind of shifted the priority to getting the thing running, and have really put that decision on the back-burner at this time. It feels like I've got two choices, either run with the pressure switches or run a couple of items through the control module that I've still got.

Re: Scott's 1972 Chevy K-20. A place to start.
 

Slowly but surely... it was good to see the video of yours under its own power. I'm hoping that I'll be there before too much longer.

Re: Scott's 1972 Chevy K-20. A place to start.
 

Yeah, I still plan on running the pressure switches on it. The dodge PCM works well but it kind of defeats the purpose of using a 47rh IMO. :lol: I like the fact knowing I can control OD and lock up through switches rather than depending on a computer to do it. Plus it's nice being able to lock third without OD some times. Hopefully soon I'll get to that point on the Excursion. I haven't had much time to spend on it though.

Re: Scott's 1972 Chevy K-20. A place to start.
 

Well, I got a little bit of time in the garage yesterday. I finished getting the Lokar shifter installed.

As you'll recall, I needed to fabricate a secondary pivot point in order for the actual articulation to happen. With the Lokar installed in the factory shifter location, it was directly above the pivot point on the transmission pan, and wouldn't move it.

So, a little bit of left over angle iron, some 3/8" bar, and a couple of 1/2" nuts, I was able to come up with this:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Y...o/IMG_0681.JPG

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Y...o/IMG_0683.jpg

Then I put the transmission hump back in place.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-T...o/IMG_0684.jpg

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-r...o/IMG_0685.jpg

And finally, got under the truck to hook up all of the linkages.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-E...o/IMG_0688.JPG

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-P...o/IMG_0687.jpg

Re: Scott's 1972 Chevy K-20. A place to start.
 

The other thing I did was to strip out all of the old P/S and H/B lines. Knowing that, and fighting with the pre-made lines, I knew that it would never work. I've decided to go with the AN Power Steering lines for the set up. I've seen simple drawings on how to set everything up, but decided to duplicate it so I could figure out all of the parts that I've needed. Hope that this can be a future reference to other's, so I'm also including the parts list from anplumbing.com. The total cost was under $200. It's a little bit pricey, but I figure that this will save me quite a bit of frustration.

I've kept the Dodge's power steering pump, and am also leveraging the old transmission cooler for the power steering system. That has some challenges since the low pressure lines on the P/S & H/B are 3/8", and the cooler is 1/2", but I've figured that out as well. The H/B and steering box are ordered from an '86 Chevy C/20. The other nice thing i sthat the AN Plumbing site also has the adaptors to go from the metric fittings to the AN specific sizes.

Hope that other's will be able to use this.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-c...oost+Setup.jpg

Re: Scott's 1972 Chevy K-20. A place to start.
 

A couple things I see that I would do differently are all of the hose barb to an fittings. Why?? You are effectively doubling the number of possible points of leakage by using barbed an fittings to go to hose. Get some barbed hose unions and clamp the hose directly to them reducing the number of potential leak points and save a whole bunch of money too.

The fittings pictured look like regular an fittings. You need to use Teflon lined braided hose and the corresponding fittings (more expensive) for the pressures that the power steering system runs at. Regular an line will work for a very short period of time, then you will be re-doing everything in Teflon after the hose failure (makes a horrendous mess and is a potential fire hazard too).

Mail order is nice for some things, but I would highly recommend using a local source for fittings and hose. Talking with someone who knows what they are selling you and can answer questions (especially if you are not real familiar with the workings of the hose and fittings) or suggest this instead of that is very valuable. Returns are easier too. Rarely will the project work out as planned. I have a bin full of fittings that were bought with a specific purpose in mind that ended up not working in real time. I kept them because I do a lot of an line work. Through attrition, I have converted almost everything to Teflon lined hose because the regular an line doesn't last long enough in any application for my liking.

I also recommend steel fittings and adapters. It is not absolutely necessary, but I have never had a steel fitting gall during disassembly and the steel is more durable in a high vibration environment (washboard roads, etc).

I get my fittings and line from the Parker Store at 36th and Broadway (they will have everything you need), but they also have some satellite locations around town and there are other hose suppliers around the valley depending on your location/travels.

Re: Scott's 1972 Chevy K-20. A place to start.
 

I appreciate the feedback. A point of clarification is that the hose barbs will be running all of the low-pressure components. I am going with the specific power steering fittings and the high-pressure hose for the main runs from the PS pump to the HB, and back down to the Steering Box. Also, I've gone with steel fittings for all of the high side components. I did go with aluminum on the AN-6 to 18x1.5 or 16x1.5 adaptors, only because they didn't have any steel adaptors. All of the components on the high-pressure side are specifically for high-pressure hydraulic systems, so barring any error on my assembly, they should be sufficient.

Since the low pressure side doesn't run AN sized components, I'm running the barbs for the 1/2" (cooler) and 3/8" coming off the HB. I'm also going to come off the low side of the steering box with a 3/8" line. I've also got to tee the HB and SB lines together to get into the cooler, as well as adapt from 3/8 to 1/2, and thought that this would be a rather simple (albeit somewhat expensive) solution to that problem.

Yes, I am concerned about leakage, but I think that I have done a bit of homework on this solution. If it goes to he!!, I'll PM you and buy you a beer, and let you say, "I told you Scott..."

Re: Scott's 1972 Chevy K-20. A place to start.
 

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/aer-fbm2608/overview/

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/aer-fbm2609/overview/

go with steel man. much better.