Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step

[swamp rat]

That's one big access hole!

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by Oldironracing

Will the tank not drop out from bottom of truck?

In order to mount the hidden trailer hitch, I ended up mounting the tank on top of the lower frame rail lip. Now, to remove the tank, you need to unbolt both the hitch and the tank and then slide the tank out the back. It's clumsy, but it allowed me to hide the hitch behind the license plate, plus it raised the tank a little bit so you see less of it from the back view of the truck. Once again, vanity overwhelms common sense.

Originally Posted by swamp rat

That's one big access hole!

Yep, if ever I need to get at the pump and regulator again, I'll have a hole big enough to do so. I'll pick up a bed mat from Chux Trux this week and it will cover the inevitable ugliness.

The fuel problem ended up being stupid simple. The hose I used to connect the pump and the output line was not rated for the high pressure. It blew out after being immersed in the fuel and that was that. The weather pack connector they sent with the pump was obviously not meant for exposure to fuel either. There's a minuscule amount of tiny shavings and debris at the bottom of the tank which I'll clean up before reassembly. Some of it ended up on the fine mesh filter, but not enough to create a problem.

I obviously need to rethink my homemade in tank pump setup. More later.

[1971_c10]

Glad you found what looks to be the problem! They do make some plastic hose you can pick up relatively cheap and is intended to be put in the tank. I have something similar to this (Holley has a couple different sizes):

https://www.holley.com/products/fuel...t/parts/12-728

Mine has a loop in it from the pump up to the tank outlet.

Also, on the electrical, I avoid connectors in the tank and use adhesive lined polyolefin heat shrink on all the connections. I normally buy that stuff from Waytek wire but I found some in a pinch at a local Napa.

This is the stuff I normally use, comes in various initial sizes and shrinks up to 3:1.

https://www.waytekwire.com/item/2220...CK-Polyolefin/

Good luck! Again, glad it looks like something simple and not complicated.

[Vic1947]

Thanks, Chris. I ordered an assortment of the polyolefin adhesive heat shrink tubing today. Also some PTFE wire to connect to the pump leads. Will shrink wrap the connections and position them toward the bottom of the tank where they'll always be covered with fuel... just in case.

I plan to use nylon covered steel braided hose with an additional layer of heat shrink over it to connect the pump to the outlet tube. That should withstand the pressure and resist the degradation from any ethanol. I've been running premium with no ethanol when I can find it, but sometimes ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

On our trip, we logged fuel usage for around 1250 miles before the hose burst and put us on the trailer. Overall we averaged 16.33 mpg. Not as good as I hoped for a computer controlled FI engine. With the 3.73 gear, in overdrive with the converter locked, the RPM was hovering around 2200 at 70. On my silver truck with the 2004R trans, a 3.23 gear and slightly taller tires, the same cruise RPM was around 1750. We've come to the conclusion that CRLS may be an "in town" truck from here on out.

[cornerstone]

Hey there Vic, First off, it was a pleasure meeting you and your better half at the C10 Nationals. You're wife is a very kind person. Its a real bummer that a 2 dollar part failure can cause such a disruption to an otherwise great trip. I think it's safe to say that everyone who has read your thread and has seen the high level of craftsmanship you display, feels terrible that this is what happened to y'all. But I guess such is life and it happens to the best of them.

I will be assembling my fuel system very shortly and probably would have done it the exact same way that you did the first go-round. I am currently working on buttoning up my axle after installing a tru-track and gear change to a 4:11. (from an open diff/3.07 gear) I say these things only to let you know that I'm grateful that you have shown your difficulties to us, and how you overcome them. Now I know how to do it the right way and will hopefully avoid some of the issues that you went through. You also have me rethinking my gear choice, I was told by several others that 2200 rpm at 70 was just right, and I was quite concerned since my DD is 1800 rpm at 70. I hope to make my 72 my next DD, so may I ask, what is your transmissions overdrive gear ratio?

Thanks a bunch man... Brian

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by cornerstone

Hey there Vic, First off, it was a pleasure meeting you and your better half at the C10 Nationals. You're wife is a very kind person. Its a real bummer that a 2 dollar part failure can cause such a disruption to an otherwise great trip. I think it's safe to say that everyone who has read your thread and has seen the high level of craftsmanship you display, feels terrible that this is what happened to y'all. But I guess such is life and it happens to the best of them.

I will be assembling my fuel system very shortly and probably would have done it the exact same way that you did the first go-round. I am currently working on buttoning up my axle after installing a tru-track and gear change to a 4:11. (from an open diff/3.07 gear) I say these things only to let you know that I'm grateful that you have shown your difficulties to us, and how you overcome them. Now I know how to do it the right way and will hopefully avoid some of the issues that you went through. You also have me rethinking my gear choice, I was told by several others that 2200 rpm at 70 was just right, and I was quite concerned since my DD is 1800 rpm at 70. I hope to make my 72 my next DD, so may I ask, what is your transmissions overdrive gear ratio?

Thanks a bunch man... Brian

Hey Brian, it was great talking with you also. I enjoy that part as much as looking at all the hardware. I'm slowly working thru the bugs we found on the trip and will post photos of fixes as they develop.

I've listed the gear ratios you asked about below. As you can see, the 4L65E trans is very much like the 700-R4. I was running the 200-4R in my '68 which has a bit better OD ratio for the highway.

[Vic1947]

Progress has been very slow... other things keep getting in the way as is often the case. The QA1 rear shocks arrived and I installed them today. Also hooked up the OBDII reader to have another look at the DTC codes that were set. There were two permanent codes (P0131 and P0151) which are both O2 sensor codes. Most likely they were set when the fuel pressure cratered and the A/F ratio went nuts. Apparently, from what the Google says, you have to do a "Universal Trip Drive Pattern" to clear permanent codes. Keeps the great unwashed from using software to bypass emissions codes without fixing the root problem. So when I get everything reassembled, I'll follow the protocol and hopefully be back to normal.