Projects My GN Cycle Car tribute build

Got it aligned as best as I could. Forgot the thermostats were not installed, so installed them. Trying to get the coolant system buttoned up best I can.
Kiddo sent me this. Wasn’t expecting it for a while.

 

Well, the coolant piping circuit off the heads to the rad inlet is done.
Cut this “spacer” to create a larger diameter of hose so I could use the same clamps. Used a small drum sander with my pneumatic die grinder to increase its ID so it could slip over the other hose. Could not find a similar style clamp with a smaller diameter to fit the hose connected to the rad inlet. Of course, I cut that piece off of the piece needed for the hose section by the trans. This made it too short, but luckily I had some left over. lol!

 

Completed the joints from the rad outlet to just over the trans crossmember. Just another 10 joints to go. Will need to trim the elbow at the rad outlet. I had not put a hose bead on the 45 degree fitting that goes into the elbow. Found a 1/2 NPT x 3/8” pneumatic quick connect that fits on those test plugs. Not sure how an NPT thread fit onto it. Don’t have any fittings that would fit into the 3/8” male quick connect though.

 

Damn! Don’t see this kinda stuff everyday.

 

Decided to give the test plugs a try. Had a harder time tightening up one of them. Set the regulator to 30 psi, and used my air gun with a rubber tip to fill the pipe up. Within a second or two, I hear a loud bang. The plug at the other end shot out and hit my tool chest. Damn! Luckily it wasn’t the end/plug I was using to fill it. Tightened both plugs back up a little more and no issues, but do not want my hand in the way of the plug if it decides to let go. Will keep the test pressure 30 psi or less.

 

Confused with what the actual thread is on the plug. Doesn’t seem to correspond to any metric or UNC/UNF threads. Maj dia is about 0.800” or 20.4 mm. Threads/inch for sure is 14 and as mentioned it fits nicely on
the 1/2” NPT air quick connect I have, but there is no way it can be a NPT as the wing nut travels freely on the threads. Looked at a fine pitch M20 which has a pitch of either 2.0 mm or 1.5 mm. Pitch for sure is 2.0 mm, but works out to 12.7 threads/inch. Very strange!
Imagine paying CAN$0.91! lol! Must have bought it 20 yrs ago. Was still in the package.

 

Went to the fastener store in town. Not a 1/2” NPT or M20 x 1.5. That’s all they had. Said the threads I have are good, meaning the fit between the coupler and the plug, so guessing the female thread on the plug is not NPT which kinda makes sense. Got some male 3/8” quick disconnects with 1/4” NPT make which I can use.
Also, found this neat cast alum gas cap and fitting. There were CAN$11.85 and $5.78 respectively. Can’t beat that.

 

Turns out the “gas cap” is really a dust cover from the “cam lock” series of heavy duty connectors. Never heard of them before. Can even get them in brass, SS, and plastic. Will still use as a gas cap. Just ordered the 2” NPT male boss that will get welded to the tank. That is still way down the road, but figured may as well get it now. Haha!

https://www.pvcfittingsonline.com/resource-center/common-uses-for-camlock-couplings/

https://www.camlock-fittings.com/stainless-steel-camlock-couplings.html

 

Ziggster,I think your thread is 1/2-14 NPS. national pipe straight.

 

Thanks @Lepus!
Being a mech Eng, I have to say I don’t recall ever hearing of NPS before, or even NPTF (National Pipe Taper Fuel). lol!
So, it sends me down yet another rabbit hole. Only found one adapter (Amazon.com) of all places. McMaster Carr has some (only two configurations), but neither are what I need. One site says the threads are not compatible for sealing (even though specs are same except for the taper), and yet folks posting on the Practical Machinist site say they have used the two together and have successfully sealed the threads. Seems you could possibly re-thread the NPS to NPT successfully.
So, for my purposes, it will be lots of Teflon tape. Haha!







https://www.practicalmachinist.com/forum/threads/straight-pipe-to-npt-is-it-possible.316335/

 

The McGuyver set-up seems to be working.

 

The McGuyver attachment seems to be working. Only dropped 0.5 psi after about 15-20 mins. Should be good enough for testing. Had to sacrifice an only tire inflator valve. Haha!
Will see if I can finish off the rest of the soldering tomorrow. Then will start on the exhaust.

 

The SS adapter for the filler neck arrived today, but kiddo says she hasn’t seen it. D’oh! She’s off to Montreal tonight for a concert. Will see tomorrow I guess. lol! Crazy quick! Amazon closed all their warehouses in Quebec recently, which has had impact across Eastern Canada as well. We’re only 35 mins to Ottawa, ON where there are two huge Amazon warehouses. No time to work on the piping today…

 

Well, down to the last joint. Had to cut a longer piece running under the starter. Was about 3/4” too short. Been a bigger to solder this section. Lots of fit up after each joint to make sure everything still lines up. Not sure I’ll be able to remove this section unless lifting the motor. Hoping I can thread it through after removing it for the final joint. Been thinking of adding a couple of 1/4” NPT bosses to install a drain petcock since the bottom of the rad is not the lowest point in the system.

 

All done. All lined up perfectly. I would pressure the whole coolant circuit if it wasn’t for the hole in the radiator. Don’t feel like swapping it now. Going to start where I left off in the exhaust mounting. Got to first find all those bits. My other OT project is dead in the garage. So welding in the garage will be problematic especially with a snow drift in front of the garage door. Really warm temps the last few days, and a lot of snow has already melted. Was 16C today. Both batteries are dead, and I’ve been trying to see if I could save them. Tried charging one with an old school charger for a couple of months, and don’t think I can save it. Haven’t tried the other one. Both are Odyssey batteries, so replacing them will be $$$.

 

DS exhaust collector back installed. I just love the look of that thing. lol!
Had to cut a new piece of flex pipe for the second exh port from the front as the old piece was about 3/4” too short. Don’t think I’ve ever had all the clamps fully tightened down before. Wonder if those joints will be leak free. I got to check my layout drawing to make sure the large pipe is correctly located. Found all the bits and the tube for the crossmember supports, so just more fab work ahead this week which will be a nice change from all the soldering.
Even though Amazon had said the 2” NPT fitting had arrived yesterday, when I started a “chat”, “they” say they prematurely said it was delivered and should be here tomorrow before 8:00 pm. Kiddo says it never arrived. I guess we’ll see.

 

The SS adapter arrived today. Very nice quality.

 

Checked the layout, and bottom of frame should be about 6.3” above the ground. As it was, the bottom of the collector would have been only about 4.25” above the ground, so decided to raise it up about 1” to have above 5.25” clearance between the ground and the bottom of the collector which will match the clearance under the oil pan.
Will double up on the U-bolts where the crossmember supports are attached to the frame. So, will be heading into town on Wed to get the extra U-bolts and bronze bushings. Will need to fab up mounting plates that will be welded to the bottom of the frame rails. Will try to start on fabbing up all the plates etc. tomorrow.

 

Noticed a drop of oil on the oil pan near the large solder joint around the rear of the pan near the clean out. Wasn’t sure what it was at first, so just wiped off with my finger, then knew right away it was oil. Not a good sign. No sign of leaking around the drain plug which has a cork gasket or the clean out plate which has gasket maker IIRC. Will have to keep an eye on it.

 

Ended up going into town today. Will still head back there tomorrow. Got this coolant tester from Princess Auto (Harbor Freight like for Canadians) and rad cap from NAPA. Counter guy found one that should fit that is 9 psi to open. Went to a local rad shop prior to ask if they could modify the stk one, and they said no, and told me they thought there should be one with a lower setting than the stk 16-17 psi. Also got more bronze bushings and U-bolts as well. Will pick up some coolant tomorrow at Crappy Tire. Will use up the stack of their coupon “money”. Been sitting on this wad for years and years. Heard some states were taking it at par value. lol!

 

Yep. Hod rodding in the great white north. lol! Might not have enough scrap steel for the plates that go to the frame. D’oh! Freezing out now, but supposed to go up to 16C (61F) later.

 

Found this scrap of a failed project. Will have to order some steel plate in a month or so for the structures/brackets to support the front and rear suspensions/axles.

 

Came across this today on FB. Looked for something similar at Hershey last time I was there and never saw even one. Might get it this weekend if someone else doesn’t grab it first.

 

Got all the pieces cut to support the exhaust collectors. Still need to cut the 1” dia. tubes, on a 45 degree angle, but the tube coping calculator I used on metalgeek.com is no longer there. Found another potential site (below), but not sure if it’s a scam. Luckily, I only had two pieces left to cut before it started to rain. Miserable outside. Damp and cool outside/in the open garage. Will start drilling out all the holes later today hopefully. Will be going to Montreal on Saturday to pick up that e-brake handle.

https://www.blocklayer.com/fab/round-tube/notcheng

 

Decided to look at the F100 steering box location now that the exh is located. Too damp in the garage. Actually started a fire to warm up the house. I think I could squeeze (barest) the steering box under the engine and between the exhaust tubes. The shaft might just clear the engine. The issue if I can clear everything is that the pitman arm will be below the bottom of the frame rail. The centreline of the axle will be way above the top of the frame rail. Means the drag link would need to be angled like Richard had to do on his GN JAP. Not sure if that matters. Cowl steering would bring the pitman arm and drag link above the exhaust and much closer to the axle centreline. Would be a lot more fab work. Will have to some layout work looking at both possibilities.

 

Got the e-brake handle. Was off of a 1930 Chevy. Was a car guy with a couple projects. Had a 56/57 Cadillac and Lincoln. Boxes of parts in his living room and kitchen. lol!
Just finishing a 30’ x 30’ garage he had built himself for CAN$20K. That’s crazy! Only had the foundation done by someone else. Even built the roof trusses himself.

 

A week late, and just in passing. I’ve saved a couple Odyssey and Optima batteries by using a lead acid. Hook the charger to the lead acid and bring it up, then jump it to the Odessey. Keep the charger hooked up. It lets the older chargers see the load, and for some reason the Odyssey responds better. Even saved one where the “fancy” modern charger didn’t bring it up. Could take over a week, and the cold temperatures are not in your favor. But it’s worth a shot. I had an Optima that took 2 weeks to come back, but then worked for years.

Great project, really enjoying your work.

 

Thanks and thanks’ I’ll have to give that a try. Got fed up and put the one battery on a 6A charge. Didn’t like it. Got quite warm, and still only 11V. Put the one I had been charging for a couple months back on a 2A charge, and it too was only at 11V. Saw a vid where a guy said to run a large resistor in series with the battery. Tried with my small ballast resistor, but don’t think it really made a difference. Got to get the OT project vehicle out of my garage ASAP so I can start welding.

 

Got the coping calculator program to work on my iMac. Got some weird message from the site to donate to a charity on my iPhone. Weird. Huge temp drop from the last week. Highs only around freezing all week. Will get started on the collector supports tomorrow. Was a 12 hr day yesterday door to door.

 

Finally got around to working on the brkts. Had to cut some trees down while my nosey neighbour was away. Haha!
Glad I spent time getting all the plates the same size on the disc sander. Made using one piece as a template much faster for marking/drilling. Also, cut the tube on the 45 degree angle. Template worked perfectly. Want to continue, but now snowing out again. Crappy weather this week.