Big Blue's Transformation

[Gary Lewis]

Ok, Steve.  Thanks.

Jim asked for a better picture of the carnage on Big Blue's cross member, so here's a shot of it as well as the one on the '95, the latter rotated to approximate the other's angle and marked up to represent where it looks like the cuts are:

[ArdWrknTrk]

It's just on the one side?

[Gary Lewis]

That's what it looks like, but I'm still looking....

[ArdWrknTrk]

Ok

When Bill said it looked like they had cut the cross member away to get at the motor mount adapters I was definitely thinking both sides.

Well... that makes the job a LOT simpler.

[Gary Lewis]

Yes, it does!  

I'm filthy, but I just put bolts into the empty holes and tightened up the other bolts.  Two of the three existing bolts tightened up 1/4 to 1/2 turn, although that big one back in the corner w/the piece of tubing as a filler was already tight.  Plus, the two new ones got finger-tight and then turned another couple of turns with a wrench, so they were sucking the two pieces together.  And, note the chiseled-off riven in the foreground, right side.  

Anyway, I wonder if this will reduce the amount of popping and clunking in the front end.  We shall see in the morn.

[Gary Lewis]

Another thing that has been bugging me is the fuel line.  There's a spot on it that is only 1" from the header - and that's after I bent it a few years ago because it was almost touching.  The other day when I was towing another Chevy on the trailer I felt the engine cut out a bit, and I've been wondering if it is due to heating of the fuel.

So today I added a shield at the closest spot, as shown below.  No, it isn't as good as it could be, but the whole thing's coming apart soon and the fuel lines will be all together different, so this problem will go away then.  But, for tomorrow.....

[salans7]

I like how they painted the top of the engine perches but not the underside. That's how I can tell it's from Florida.

[Gary Lewis]

So, not only are there no mechanics in Florida, there's no one who pays attention to detail?  

Well, we took Big Blue on a shake-down run to make sure nothing I did created a problem.  But, we didn't make it out of the driveway before the clunk appeared.  So, I didn't fix that, but apparently didn't create any problems either.

And, I filled up both 5 gallon gas cans to serve as spares.  So, I call it ready.  

[salans7]

Gary Lewis wrote

So, not only are there no mechanics in Florida, there's no one who pays attention to detail?  

For what it's worth, when I painted my dash and every other interior panel in the truck, I painted both the inner and outer sections. Same with the frame, and the wheels. I was born and raised here, and proudly belong to the maybe 5% of people here who do things the right way.

[Gary Lewis]

I'm sure there are plenty of you that will do things correctly.  It is just so disappointing as I get farther and farther into Big Blue and keep finding the shyster tricks that were done to him.  

[salans7]

I can definitely understand those frustrations, you purchased what looks to be a very solid truck. However looks can be very deceiving, as we all know.

[Gary Lewis]

My only room to complain is what the shysters did to Vernon.  He was planning on using this truck to pull an RV all over the US when he retired.  But the work he paid handsomely to have done was so poorly done most things had to be re-done.  The engine that took four years to build didn't have valve cover gaskets and the shop he took it to to repair things said it was obvious the "builder" didn't own a torque wrench.  In fact, things were going so poorly that he and his wife came to the conclusion that they couldn't keep pouring good money after bad.

But the last straw was when the engine wouldn't crank.  At all.  As it turned out, they'd bypassed the fuel pump safety wiring and put full battery voltage to the fuel pump any time the key was on.  Not knowing that, and not realizing what that might portend, Vernon left the key on.  With full battery voltage instead of going through the resistance wire, the fuel pump pushed the fuel past the needles, flooded the carb and then flooded the crankcase.  So much so that I got 7 quarts of fuel and 6 quarts of oil out of the sump.  

So pardon me if I don't think there's an honest mechanic in Florida.  I realize that Vernon's experience doesn't speak for everyone, but he sure couldn't find one to save his truck.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Wow, those headers are tight.
By the looks of the bolt it seems BB has seen quite a few miles with them???

I'd make a comment here about what's happened to Vernon and what you are having to do, but this is a family friendly forum.

[salans7]

I hadn't seen the full story of what happened after Vernon sold BB, and honestly I can't recall who Vernon was on Eff Tee Wee, if he was even a member. Now I understand the story of BB, and that's a real shame to hear how he and Vernon were treated.

[Gary Lewis]

Jim - The headers are tight.  And, w/in .030" of the frame.  I had plans to stuff a 1/4" plate between the engine and mount or the perch, which would get the needed clearance and level the engine.  But since those headers won't work with EFI heads.....

And thanks for not making the comment.

Shaun - That's only part of the story.  Vernon was an FTE member, but has faded into the sunset.  Gave up on Bullnose trucks completely.  The only response I've gotten from my several emails and calls was to the one where I asked if he was ok after the hurricane hit Panama City where they live.  They were fine.  But otherwise he's done.

[ArdWrknTrk]

That's like 3/4 of a mm, or 2/3 of my spark plug gap!

I can't imagine that they don't rattle like crazy against that perch.

Soon enough, it will be done.

[Gary Lewis]

Yes, that header makes noise.  It is difficult to shift gears w/o a clang that I think is due to that.  And, there's a mechanical vibration at 55 - 60 MPH that I believe is due to that pipe touching.  But what I can't figure out is why I only feel it at those speeds.

As least Edward Sawzallhands didn't cut on the frame to fix that problem.  

Anyway, the trip over and back to Anderson, about 230 miles, was uneventful.  The truck ran well, albeit loudly, and got 11.3 MPG.

Plus, it crept down a wet, grassy hillside to pull out a truck on a trailer, and didn't spin a tire.  The front hitch let me place the trailer with ease and precision.  And the A/C was certainly welcome coming home after a warm day.

But, I literally had to inspect the road ahead of me to determine when I could take a sip of coffee w/o wearing it.  And by the end of the day the ride was becoming very annoying.  So I think it is time for -

TRANSFORMATION!

[grumpin]

You know my truck rides rougher now that I’ve read how rough yours rides!

Suggestive reading or thinking I guess!

[ArdWrknTrk]

I know the suspension mods are more than you were expecting to bite off at this time but I think they will make for a much more enjoyable ride awa a more capable off roader.

A toast to TRANSFORMATION!  

[Dorsai]

Gary Lewis wrote

TRANSFORMATION!

All I can think of here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYOWdUiflTg