Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

casters, sorry.
you get it anyway. lol.

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

Very nice work. We tried running water to air intercoolers like those on street trucks a long while ago and one wasn't enough. We ended up having to do one in between the 2 turbos and one after. It seemed to work alright after that but I don't think it worked as well as an air to air during long trips. It is hard to fit a good sized intercooler in trucks like yours so I get why you're doing it that way. The right stuff definitely is good. I always put a small amount on both sides of the gaskets on the lower end. (Other than the oil cooler and HG) Cummins brand sealer is way good too but it is pretty expensive. That sucks to have to rip it all apart to fix oil leaks but I had to dot he same thing on my orange truck. Do you have a 160hp injection pump? Hopefully not. :lol: I've found those are the most finicky to get set up nice after a governor spring install.

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

Keep it coming. Glad you got it sealed up and on the ground.

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

Front clip FINALLY got cleaned up. chassis saver drying, paint and the first final install pending tonight! I'm pretty sure the hood cross bars won't clear the intercooler, but we'll see.

rad tank, check. now, it's gota breath and the tank had an o-ring seal. i actually removed the oring, slotted the top of the neck in 2 places and notched the threads in 2 places to make a labyrinth vent. blowing in the tube it worked really well.

same tank, just 2x taller for the intercooler res tank. i couldn't find anything that would let me tie (4) -12an lines on nicely, so here's my attempt to make one. I've never welded aluminum before, but got everything to convert the welder. wish me luck!

the tanks, weld bungs, and these AN hose ends are all 'Evil Energy' a cheap brand from amazon. not the cheapest, but still super reasonable. so far i keep getting more parts from them and they are really pretty nice parts!

https://i.imgur.com/3fHNUbFl.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/jCqTiDOl.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/myKsXasl.jpg

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

https://i.imgur.com/EzuMl6Cl.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/n27NwfJl.jpg

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

That looks great! You're going to need a roadkill deflector. :lol:

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

Great progress. Looks like you’re on track to be cruising come spring!

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

ride height is about 8", should clear some stuff ok!

the goal is road trip ready by July ... plans to drive from Pittsburgh to Wisconsin with a buddy to meet up with other guys for the IOLA car show.

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

Looks great.

Marc

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

Man that is Awesome. So cool!

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

slowly picking away at things. i ended up sandblasting the headlight buckets to repaint, they are super solid, so that's nice. started a fuel crossover hose, getting a relay and fuse panel together, shifter boot doesn't fit and have to find something new ... moving along

had to remove the hood x-bar to clear the charge cooler ... any reason that would cause issues?

https://i.imgur.com/aN9u5mr.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/b2l5FLK.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/HYyPk92.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/dkSk5LX.jpg

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

the X bar under the hood gives stability to the hood so it doesn't flex so much and so it will fit between the fenders properly. maybe you can make a modified version. on my 57 it is in there but the brackets it attaches to are not actually attached to the hood. the hood can easily be twisted up on one of the front corners so closing the hood isn't just a "drop it and it latches" motion, it is more like a "close it slowly and adjust it to not smack one of the front fenders on the way down" motions. is your hood latch installed and does the hood close on it properly every time?
open the hood slightly so it's just above the fenders, grab each front corner and apply some torque, you'll see pretty quickly what i mean if the X brace is removed.

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

curious, I always wonder on trucks like yours with big tires tucked under the front, what is your turning radius like?

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

hood shuts amazing, fits nicely between the fenders. i'm also not worried about the paint :lol:

when dropped, the turning radius is absolute junk. at the 8" ride height when the tire pokes out from under the fender lip, she'll steer all day.

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

nice your hood fits well. maybe check the cross braces where they attach as no X bar may put extra stresson them.
you have any pics at the ride height where turning is easy? are you measuring at the front of the rocker or the fender somewhere?

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

post #699 shows the rocker slammed vs ride ... i'll get you a full truck picture here this weekend

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

yeah, I seen that set of pics but I was wondering what it looks like with fenders on from a little way back, so a full side shot, just to see the whole thing in perspective. if you don't have one thats ok, sooner or later there will be one as you move along in your build.

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

ok ... so i was not able to get the full height pic this weekend ... i couldn't bring myself to fake it i want it to be real and achieved, but my air system wasn't up to it. excuses: 1) air compressors aren't hooked up so i can only get 170psi from the shop air vs the 200psi i should get. 2) i had installed a psi regulator to set max height with, but it turned out to be 250psi capable and only a 125spi max output. only enough air to get me to 7". 3) the new air switches came and i was missing plumbing bits to ditch the reg and get it aired up. but they should be here today!

i finally broke down and bought myself the Aire Jax switches. the look and feel amazing, plus simplify the air lines in the truck 10x. they are mounted and ready, i just need the 3/8" npt to 3/8" tube straight fittings. no clue why i never thought about this orientation before either, but these are super easy to reach from outside the truck, or while driving.

https://i.imgur.com/BNiqTWzl.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/WxXFNJjl.jpg

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

was toying with an idea while looking things over. pretty much "all the guys" were hating on it, but lets hear what you guys all think.

there's already an interesting dichotomy in this truck of new vs old, so why not with mechanical and electronic as well? i intend to push this engine, so for my own engineering entertainment and to really get it right, i really want/need full datalogging with a huge array of sensors. even just the basics are already too many gauge pods for this truck. the best way i think I've found is the Holley Pro dash. no way it'll fit behind the factory v-bezel, even if i wanted to be missing some screen. so what if i put the big screen for all the gauges and controls mid-dash? then i could do a phone mount in the factory cluster bezel for tunes/navigation.

thoughts?

https://i.imgur.com/GbVbhjtl.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/DIA1lg4l.jpg

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

my friday did NOT go as planned either, my annual truck inspection found both front axle ujoints were TOAST. of the 8 total caps only 2 had what resembled grease left. only 2 others had what resembled needles left :dohh:

the most awesome thing though was being able to DRIVE the '55 out of the shop! just fire it up, move it inside somewhere else, and free up the shop for emergency repairs.

https://i.imgur.com/Fc1wPtEl.jpg

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

how much air does the system need to lift the unit to ride height? just curious because as a heavy duty mechanic i have worked on lots of highway haulers with air bags and their systems work fine on 120 psi. all the regular sized trucks I have worked on with air bag suspension also work on 125 psi. do you recall what size bags you're using?

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

about your cluster/monitor. the nice thing is that smooth dash panel thats available could be welded in if you cut the hole and do mods for the monitor and then you decide it is too out of place and want to put it back to a more stock look. just first ensure the shifter isn't gonna be too close so you can't see the cluster or maybe it bumps when the driveline flexes etc. possibly the monitor could be recessed with a sliding cover so the sunlight doesn't make the screen hard to read. also, screens being the way they are, it may get pretty bright inside the cab on a dark night and become distracting. as a firefighter we had laptops mounted between the seats for the driver or rider to check notes and updates for calls and also for maps to show routing to calls. they were quite bright and could be distracting at night. a sliding cover, like a roll top desk, might be a cool cover that would be out of the way when open.

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

Dominator D2600 bag, rated for 600psi max. it's the IFS that really messes with the load though, the leverage from being on the LCA greatly increases what it sees ... i forget what my exact load ratio ended up at. would be nice to have a larger dia bag in there, but i wasn't going to re-engineer it that much to start with. entirely possible future project though!

i'd cut the screen into the dash, so the "eyebrow" styling of the dash should make a nice sun reflection shade. i get the screen brightness at night thing, everything has crazy screens now and i am always turning down the backlight.

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

Turning is very overrated Ha ha. There is always a comprise between being really low with a large diameter wheel/tire. I can't turn lock to lock either but I'd rather have the right look proportions wise even if I lose some turning radius in the process.

My 2 cents (not that anyone asked).

Marc

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

is there a blackbackground mode on the screen maybe? that might help at night.