Customs finishing off my 38 chevee project

the fitting arrived last week from speedflow with the swivel built in,happy with that one..rack is on the bench fitting the adapters to the rack..using Loctite 542 hydraulic sealant on the threads as well as the teflon seals.the larger seal compressed well but the smaller one started to drift out from under the fitting..im not too impressed with the teflon seals really.let the fitting overnight to cure .used activator as well to speed up the curing process and prime the aluminum rack and the plated fitting as recommended by the loctite rep .did a test on a nut and bolt using the same loctites to see how it works out .just treaded a nut on a bolt fine tread and let it set without tightening. inital checks look v good.

 

not happy with the high pressure fitting .removed it .discarded the teflon seal and replaced it with the best quality o-rings available local.went through the motions again using the o-ring 11.5x2.5 .gently tightened things up looking better this time .left it to cure overnight but activator will have it cure quickly.inspection in the morning

 

happy to say i aquired a pair of door latches for the truck..in very good condition.just need to fill them up with grease.seem to have little wear or slop ,lucky find really thanks to mike odom for all your help .slan mo chara

 

fixing the steering leak has been dragging on. a combination of some misinformation parts replaced with slightly different replacements and a unforseen event.ive learned the guys behing the counter arent allways interested,some are a little hard of hearing as well.wearing facemasks doesnt help things either .others behind the counter cant do enough for you..ive ordered ptfe o-rings from the uk ,arrived today.PTFE o-rings dont like to be stretched,dont return to size like i was told.the ford rack had a little dimple around the port to locate the PTFE o -ring the replacement didnt hence the o-rings migrating under compression.my solution is to use dowty washers and loctite 542 to seal the threads.542 is medium strength and should be up to the job.the plan is to mount the hoses to the rack orientated in the right direction before fitting the rack.played with different routing of the hoses,think ive it sorted space is tight .low pressure return line will be last to be connected up..theres no fitting on the end of the return line so i can play with the length..reinforced line is stiff i will place in hot water before final fit and taper the bore to ease fittment.return line held in place on the pump with a hose clip.need to wrap this up.hoping for a good outcome this time around.

 

went at the hoses again tonight.first job remove the AN 06 adapter from the pump.inverted flare at the pump.sprayed the threads with brake cleaner and after a thorough clean with cotton buds fitted the adapter with LOCKTITE 542.hydraulic sealer,left to cure overnight.removed the rack to fit the adapters.used a dowty washer under the 9/16 adapter after a thorough clean up ,used 542 on the threads and nipped it up using a stubby spanner.went to remove the 5/8 adapter but it didnt want to budge so i left it in situ.consulted last nights notes re routing the hoses.the high pressure 9/16 port hose went to the front looping over the rack to the pump and the 5/8 port low pressure hose went backwards looping to the fitting on the pump.barely nipped the AN fittings while everything cured.leaving it for 24 hours for 100% cure.have a litre of steering fluid on the shelf.will boost the battery tomorrow just in case .

 

have a dowty washer under one adapter and a ptfe o-ring under the other .shouldnt make a difference im relying on the 542 to seal the adapters.we will remove the rack tomorrow evening to tighten up the fittings.before reinstalling it.the high pressure port at the pump is accessable from below and above ,while the low pressure return will push on after heating in boiling water the hose clip is easily got to yipee.becaue the braided hose is very abrasive ill slide some 12mm fuel line over to stop it filing away anywhere its in contact with anything

 

small test drive revealed a leak where the braided hose went into the black fitting.adapters on the rack are oil tight.and the connections at the pump are good ..its hard to access that fitting hope its not a major stripdown.ill have to get that hose on the bench and inspect.damn it

 

ORDERING ANOTHER FITTING.truth is haste makes waste and working on , tired makes more waste.!

 

spent the last few nights at the hoses.main issue was there is only 1 swivel on the high pressure hose and that cant be accessed when the rack is mounted,really needed a swivel on both ends.after having it off a few times we eventually had it clocked right.bit of an expert now on taking the rack on/off.all the hoses are dry now so far.torqued the mounting bolts to 35 ft/lbs ,recommended 30-40 ft/lbs.when i connected up the universal joints i finished out the system by drilling dimples in the steering shafts to locate the grub screws.had a 3/8 bolt prepared on the lathe with a 4.5 mm hole through the centre..unscrewed the grub screw and replaced with the bolt and accuratly dimpled the shaft about 2.5mm deep.replaced the grub screws and locknuts ,held them there with medium loctite.happy now with things from a safety viewpoint.SAFETY FIRST ALLWAYS.
then it was time to index the spark plugs.it took over an hour to do.NO 1 spark plug is difficult to get to .couldnt get some of the plugs in the ideal position but all are now in much improved positions .truck fired up easy and settled when warm to a happier idle .definatly worth doing in my book.the set i bought had 3 different thickness shims,if i could get a more comprehendsive shim kit with say 5 thicknesses id definatly purchase it.trial run should happen tomorrow.thanx henny for all the help.ps i found another shim kit at summit,but ill give the shimming another go tomorrow and try stacking shims for a better result

 

made another move on the plug indexing today some only needed one shim ,others took 2.the end result is that all 8 plugs are pointing the centre of the combustion chamber ,some are pointing at the centre and a little at the inlet valve.i used a moroso kit circa $25 from summit.theres another kit at summit from allstar performance at summit circa $20.this seems to allow more accurare shimming by stacking shims.end result for me is a clean running motor ,starts easy and idles well.will set the timing tomorrow to optimise the set up.need to take it on a longer spin and colour check the plugs after all this.all in all im happy with the results and should have done this long ago.

 

moving on.purchased a pair of door latches (locks) from mike odom.they were in better condition than mine and had the helper springs allready fitted.washed them out with wd40 and cleaned as best i could.and packed them with fresh grease.was much quicker with the second lock i proped the window with a piece of 2x1 .allowing me to remove the lockrail and the lock as 1.greased every pivot and loctited (222) every screw.very happy with the result,closing like new.opening is good but i expect things will bed in a little with use.good result!.

 

tonight i started working on my tailgate.at one stage i nearly ordered a new one from jim carters,but i will do the best with what i have after all its what came with the truck.over the years ive improved on it giving it a few spot welds where needed and replacing the original hinge bushings with custom bushes in black nylon,a vast quiet improvment thanks mick.yesterday i marked out a series of 1 1/2 holes on the centre panel.the panel has seen a lot of use over the years ending up dented and a lot of stretched metal.my intention is to use a dimple die on the 1 1/2"holes to stiffen the panel and use up some of the stretched metal.with maybe 20 of the holes drilled with the holesaw and a few holes flared we are looking good.one things for sure its going to be a lot of work.perforating the tailgate should cut down on some of the drag from the closed tailgate.

 

3 rows of 14 holes and 2 rows of 13 =68 holes in total.thats a lot of drilling filing,sanding and flaring.pillar drill wont stretch to drill the centre row of holes so freehanded the centre last night.will drill the outer rows tonight with help from henny.

 

That’s a “hole” lot of work!

 

thats it more drilling tomorrow.17 left to do,started with a fresh quality hole saw bit hope it makes it.

 

Nice work!!

 

keep it lubed

 

well it made it , been lubing it with rocol.the freehand holes took a few teeth though,but it payed for itself on the tailgate

 

all the holes drilled.lots of dimples to do tomorrow.bonus is the blind spot behind the tailgate is gone when reversing. drag spec tailgate conversion .

 

finally got them all dimpled.cosmetics next

 

You’re a long way from Florida, does that thing have a floatation device on it? Tailgate looks great, bud!

 

there is plenty paint on the tailgate,but flaring the holes has it flaking off around the holes.im going to keep as much of the paint as i can ,feather it down and patch up where possible.there is loads more time left init yet.

 

took it for a test drive today.and the good news is it sure isnt any slower with the holes!!

 

I'm sure it's only the driver that's running slower - looking good Crwiss - like the personal touches
Take care and stay safe. Brother Flea


Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.

 

been having some electrical glitches of late.strange things happening .we wired up a beeper to the indicator circuit.sometimes the beeper was beeping when the headlights were on,sometimes the high beam warning light would come on with the indicator.the gauge lights were staying on after the ignition was off.one headlight was dimmer than the other.time to phone the expert basil reckoned it was just a bad earth on the left headlight.meter said very poor earth.,we ran an earth to the rad surround.hey presto everything was fixed.Basils a top guy at the wiring.thought it was something serious but there you go.

weather has changed here of late colder and damper.dont have a choke connected up.but located the choke assembly and intend re fitting it.maybe converting to manual choke,see how things go.

 

worst of the cold seems to be gone.made a start at fitting a return spring to the brake pedal.temporary job using a spring from a 71 corvette flip up lights.feels good but needs a little fine tuning.choke need to be fitted .priming the carb with a bottle of petrol to start her up .not ideal.ordered a kit from the us to rebuild the rear wheel bearings.rear end steering itself over bumpy bits .tracking says could be another week yet.purchased some early lotus elan park lights for the front.replaced the small bulbs with led upgrade.trial run with the battery charger says much,much brighter.reluctant to drill the fenders .,will have to wait until front bumper is finalised.could fit to the bumper..plenty to do.have a baffled grommet for the valve cover.cover need to be drilled to 31mm to accept the grommet.

 

lotus elan ,TR 2,3,4,lights are approx 1 1/4" across the lens

 

pulled the valve cover and removed the existing grommet.there is not enough metal in the cover for the 1 1/4 hole. casting is thin on top and the baffled grommet is suited to a thicker cover.the baffled gromet fits into the oil fill hole and my friend is making a blank plug for the existing grommet.rear bearing kit arrived comprehensive kit.ordered a pair of rear discs and pads. existing rotors are 50 years old and worn thin.fresh discs can only help things.loads to do trying to get back into it.waiting 4 weeks for delivery of parts ,slows things down big time.!

 

change is as good as a rest so i did a little painting .should have been a quick job but i got carried away inside the trim was never painted,so i rubbed it down with a scotchbrite pad filed any sharp edges off and tweeked it into better shape. .the trim that goes above the door is well pitted and the top of the door panel is too so i did something sympathic.i had to redden the screws on the trim to get them out and save them.that gave me the idea to save the discoloured paint around the screws.not 100 %there yet will have to add more black to it and do something similar to the other side and the top of the door cards either the windows were broken for a long time or they were left open.when i got the 38 there was no door glass.maybe they were donated to another project .

 

.bit more black.