Topic: Project first gen waaaaaay overdue!

[kneedownnate]

Finally got the starter in, the engine and tranny completely bolted together and got a little bit of the wiring figured out.  I can't find anybody in town who carries goodyear radiator hoses anymore    so I gave in and stopped by napa on the way home.  I don't have near the same conficence in gates hoses, but they know me down there so if I have any issues with them I know they'll take care of me.  I'm going to snag a couple backups when the truck gets going and chuck them behind the seat with my backup belts just incase.

I may have found a decent set of 33s to get me by for a little while.  At least that way I don't have to worry about lifting it or modifying my front driveline right away.  I just want to buy enough time to get me through deer season and let me get any of the bugs worked out first.

[Duffil]

have to tell ya, gates are way better than goodyear belts and hoses.

this is not just because of where I work. i've seen goodyear stuff come in with a brand new sticker blown to hell.

[kneedownnate [OP]]

Interesting.  I've just personally seen gates rubber degrade far too quickly, beit fuel hose, heater hose or radiator hoses.  I've had goodyear hoses and belts retain their integrity much longer on my own rigs than any recent gates hoses or belts I've seen.  We went rounds with our napa rep when we'd only get a couple months out of our fuel hoses before they started to crack up bad, and not much longer before they hardened and got brittle.  He kept telling us we just got a bad batch, but I doubt we got a bad batch for a few years!

I don't know who makes the ones which come on our generators, but I frequently will overlook a light cracking in an old original belt on a gen rather than stick a gates on there that won't last a season. 

That said, I've noticed something about newer rubber, as have some people I work with.  It just doesn't seem to have the same rubber content as the older stuff and doesn't seem to retain it's integrity nearly as long as older rubber did.  I don't know what happened, I don't know if the US won't let them use certain chemicals in US bound rubber produts, but it just doesn't seem the same anymore.

I think we'll just have to agree to disagree rex   

[Duffil]

I'm OK with it. the cheap fuel hose, you are 100% correct though.  I've noticed the rubber quality issue, form belts/hoses down to wiper blades.

[kneedownnate [OP]]

Got a little more done this afternoon after I got back from hunting.

Got the radiator painted and in, modded the fan shroud to fit and hopefully be able to be removed (I've never been able to run it on the 3 row radiator), bottom hose cut and on, some wires spliced - others cleaned, cleaned and primer sealed the battery tray, pulled the battery to charge - will probably just use one of my other optimas so they get rotated through.  Seems like there's something I'm forgetting.

I fawked up my back in the last hour of my last day before going on vacation, so I wasn't able to do anything yesterday at all, and wanted to do a quick hunt this morning.  Unfortunately my spot was taken so I had to figure out somewhere else to go, which left me going somewhere I've never been and wasn't familiar with, but it was fun and I did see a buck. 

I'll need to get new spark plugs tomorrow, then I can install my new plug wires.  There were a couple other things I needed to snag while there, but I couldn't write them down when I was outside working on the truck and now forgot what they were 

[Duffil]

how close to actually firing it are you?

[kneedownnate [OP]]

Probably two or three hours for most people, which means 2 days for me 

[kneedownnate [OP]]

I remember what else I needed to get - flexy exhaust piece   

[Duffil]

[Cheesemaker]

Don't worry Nate, I spendt forever on my truck!  It took me the whole summer and then some.  Now that I look back, I could have had it done in less than a month!

[kneedownnate [OP]]

Same here probably    My problem is lack of motivation and preparation!  When I do this next time I'm going to sit down and figure out everything I need to do, then prioritize it and get all my ducks in a row so I have everything I need for the project.  All this running around town in a hurry to find , then realizing nobody has it really puts a bind on me when I'm trying to work on it!  If I'd only chased down the parts AHEAD of time...

Anyway, I got a few little things for it today and found some stuff at pnp that I didn't have time to grab today, so I'll be back there in the morning to snag what I need and will hopefully be back home putting the finishing touches on it before noon    I was gonna go to harbor freight and snag an el cheapo heat gun since I'm using heat shrink butt splices, but I stopped at a discount store on my way there and found a black and decker (I think) heat gun for $12    so I didn't even have to set foot in that place!  I also got my temporary 2.5" flexy exhaust tubing and will be buying a stainless 2.5" piece off ebay soon. 

I'll also be picking up a 2-2.25" magnaflow muffler tomorrow that I'll make somebody a good deal on 

[79coyotefrg]

it took me almost a year

[kneedownnate [OP]]

Yea, but you had a good excuse - I don't!!

[BLACKDOG]

That said, I've noticed something about newer rubber, as have some people I work with.  It just doesn't seem to have the same rubber content as the older stuff and doesn't seem to retain it's integrity nearly as long as older rubber did.  I don't know what happened, I don't know if the US won't let them use certain chemicals in US bound rubber produts, but it just doesn't seem the same anymore.

I think we'll just have to agree to disagree rex   

  My grandfather still has the original radiator hoses on his '66 mustang, and they are in decent shape (car spends a lot of time inside, and doesn't get run a lot)  My truck has been through 2-3 top hoses and 2 lowers since I've owned it.

have to tell ya, gates are way better than goodyear belts and hoses.

this is not just because of where I work. i've seen goodyear stuff come in with a brand new sticker blown to hell.

  Rex, we know you care more about quality parts, than where they are purchased

[Duffil]

so whadja get done today?

[kneedownnate [OP]]

Parts acquisitions    I'll be heading to pnp early in the morning with a friend cause I found him some lift coils for his bronco 2, which will work cause I'll likely have more exhaust pieces than I can carry myself!  I'm probably going to throw a temporary fix on one of my wires to get me by for a little while, but I do have a couple more places to check that may sell the stuff fairly cheap if they have it, otherwise I'm hoping glen has the wires I need 

I really hope I have it running by tomorrow evening... oh yea, I need to get some distilled water tomorrow, which reminds me that I was going to pull the heater core out tomorrow and clean it up before I topped off the system... damn, I forgot to grab a new thermostat too 

[kneedownnate [OP]]

Still making a little progress, though it's going a lot slower than I expected.  I spent more time at pnp today than I wanted to and spent way more than I expected on my parts, but I should now have all or most the exhaust I need, plus I now have a rear u-bolt flip kit for when I do my rear springs.

I finished up my temporary power steering bracket but will still need to make a one piece unit in the near future to get the right angle on the belt.

I just pulled off the valve cover so I can re-seal the half moons, then I'll fill the oil before sticking the valve cover back on.

New spark plugs and wires are now installed, alternator wiring is hooked up as is the igniter.

I still need to pull the heater core and clean it, but if I look at it and it looks to be too big a job for now I'll shine it until I change my coolant next time.  The heater has always worked fine and usually cooks me out on the freeway without the fan running, so I think I can let it slide for now.  I still need to run to town and get some distilled water for the cooling system, probably should check and see how much antifreeze I have before I go too.

Battery should be just about charged up, so I can hook up the battery cables and wires and I'll be really close.

[79coyotefrg]

you DO have the 3 holes on the side of the head for the pwr steering bracket right??  just not the one on the front??

does your truck have a/c??

[kneedownnate [OP]]

Negative cap'n, I have 2 of the bosses, one of which I'm using and the other that has an extracter stuck in it.  It doesn't have a/c yet but I do have the bracket on there now. 

Well, I thought my battery was charging but it must have a bad cell or something cause it reads full charge at 8.5 volts.  I guess it could be the charger, but I hooked up another optima that had 11.5 volts and it's still charging it so we'll see in the morning 

I'm pretty sure that's the last thing left before I test fire it.  It's full of oil and coolant and doesn't appear to be leaking either yet!  When I had the valve cover off I also noticed some of the rockers were making contact with the little oil tray on the top of the inside of the cover so I went ahead and clearanced them a little.  Luckily it's pretty thin sheet metal so nothing would really get damaged by the minimal contact, but a hammer and extension made quick work of it.

Got the exhaust kinda on, enough to run it anyway, but after buying all the bent crap from pnp what I now need most is a 2-3 foot section    A few new pics to come, but they really don't show much.

[86bobbedtoy]

what mm wires u runnin?

[79coyotefrg]

ok, theres a stock bracket that runs from the a/c mount over to the tensioner pully bracket, it shares the hole on the front of the head ,SO if you install them on each side then  weld them together at the front of the head, it will work ALOT better than that sad little bracket you have here---->


also,  try and find a valve cover from a 22RE they are taller   but theres a little  thing at the front of the re cover that you'll have to remove but its much better than clearancing the stock valve cover

[kneedownnate [OP]]

what mm wires u runnin?

8mm, I snagged a new set of accel wires off ebay for $12-15 once and kept them just for this.

Thanks glen, I knew I shoulda looked when I was at pnp yesterday but I didn't even think of it cause they have no first gen toys right now.

[kneedownnate [OP]]

It runs    It cracked off on almost the first revolution, which isn't too bad considering it has 2 year old gas with 2 stroke oil in it    Sounds like it needs to be tuned a little better to run with the current filter I have on now, but I'm hoping that's only a quick air adjustment and not a re-jet    Just need to get rid of the hesitation right off idle.

I let it warm up a few minutes on high idle before backing it down, then almost had myself thinking it had a miss before I remembered about the cam   

I also should have fixed my lspv before I got to this point and am contemplating whether I eliminate it or install the one I have off an 87 2wd if it'll fit.  I kinda need it since the truck sees a lot of mutli purpose use instead of trail only, so I'm thinking I may install the new one, cut it short and rig up a bracket with a few different holes I could attach it to depending on my load.  I'm probably over engineering it though.

The exhaust still needs quite a bit of attention too.  I need to go buy a piece of pipe to attach to the header, then I can attach my flexy piece to that, then the magnaflow and probably just finish it off with a turn down for now and take it out the back of the truck later.  It'd help greatly if my welder were working too!

[kneedownnate [OP]]

Looking at this page it seems my mikuni cam has 268 lift and 10.5 duration, assuming this is the only model they sold a long time ago 

http://www.toysport.com/catalog/parts%20by%20engine/20R_22R_22RTE.htm

[79coyotefrg]

Looking at this page it seems my mikuni cam has 268 lift and 10.5 duration, assuming this is the only model they sold a long time ago 

http://www.toysport.com/catalog/parts%20by%20engine/20R_22R_22RTE.htm

that would be 10.5 mm aka .420 lift and 268 duration,  not bad but i still gotcha beat

[79coyotefrg]

BBL 

[kneedownnate [OP]]

that would be 10.5 mm aka .420 lift and 268 duration,  not bad but i still gotcha beat

Yea, but I'm not bitchin for a $65 ebay cam!  Might have even been less, it's been too long and my memory is shorter than my thingy    I'm off to get the exhaust piece I need 

[unclejpl4x4]

oooo it runs    man u got a lot of purrdy colors in that moter hole of yours.

[Duffil]

oooo it runs    man u got a lot of purrdy colors in that moter hole of yours.

reminds me of that technicolor yawn that WT owns.

[kneedownnate [OP]]

Awwww come on, mine's not THAT bad