Build 1965 Seminole Red FJ45 SWB
- Thread starter jomelo
- Start date
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This truck is incredible, I would not change a thing!
@wngrog takes great photos, but he can’t video for s***
I think he does pretty well considering a Sammy in one hand and Cigar in the other.
- Thread starter
- #386
Yes. He was taking photos and videos while posting to Instagram and Facebook while checking the news and texting.
Literally sounds like my old uncle. He was a custom harvester his whole life. Would drive semi, drink coffee, shift, talk on the CB oh and he had a tracheotomy so holding on to that laryngectomy buzzer.
Yikes...
So here’s the skinny…
We make an appointment with the dyno shop with the intention of spending a little extra time to do some tuning to the Sniper.
Nolen brings us the truck the day before, says to go through it. Has zero runtime other than the cam break in. We need some break in miles for the motor and the Sniper, so as soon as he rolls it off the truck and we take a few pictures, we are peeling out.
We make an appointment with the dyno shop with the intention of spending a little extra time to do some tuning to the Sniper.
Nolen brings us the truck the day before, says to go through it. Has zero runtime other than the cam break in. We need some break in miles for the motor and the Sniper, so as soon as he rolls it off the truck and we take a few pictures, we are peeling out.
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We spend the afternoon adjusting timing and doing hot laps while simultaneously trying to load a virtual box on my MacBook to install and run the Holley software, which only speaks PC
A few hours later, we had the truck as dialed in as we could, and had abandoned the MacBook, which wouldn’t run the software very well, for an old laptop that barely worked. This involves wiping all of my kid’s games and homework off and starting the computer over from scratch.
I drove Red home to show it off and put some miles on it.
It was immediately a chick magnet. They are drawn to it and immediately start climbing all over it.
We hop in three deep on the bench seat and peel out.
We end the ride at the shop to use the secret bat phone and tuck the truck in for the night.
A few hours later, we had the truck as dialed in as we could, and had abandoned the MacBook, which wouldn’t run the software very well, for an old laptop that barely worked. This involves wiping all of my kid’s games and homework off and starting the computer over from scratch.
I drove Red home to show it off and put some miles on it.
It was immediately a chick magnet. They are drawn to it and immediately start climbing all over it.
We hop in three deep on the bench seat and peel out.
We end the ride at the shop to use the secret bat phone and tuck the truck in for the night.
We’re at the dyno shop bright & early the next morning and are met with large horsepower and an even larger pit bull.
Our intentions are pure, so we’re allowed into the back.
Everywhere we look, there’s tons of horsepower and every vehicle has drag slicks.
One of the last things I was supposed to do was bring a laptop with the Holley software. I did that, but spent so much time I never got Seminole to connect to it tho.
This Sniper is the same one that came off the truck, so it wasn’t from a recent batch. When I tried to connect, I had an error message to update the ECM firmware.
I’ve done that before but don’t have the process memorized. It involves watching a YouTube video on your phone and pausing and rewinding every few minutes to make sure you follow the steps correctly.
I figured these guys do it all the time, so I saved that for this day. Turns out, they don’t actually fucc with Snipers, since they are the Hot Rod equivalent of training wheels, and don’t have this process memorized either.
In the process of updating the firmware, we ended up not being able to load a configuration file onto the Sniper and could not get it to connect to the handheld or the laptop. I’m not exactly sure what happened, it’s as though the operating system was missing and we needed the startup disk to fire it up.
This meant we were dead in the water. They were convinced they could revive it, but in the end, Holley told us to send it back in for repair. We towed the truck back to the shop and overnighted a new Sniper from Summit. Nolen left it with us for a day or two, but needed it back so we couldn’t wait on Holley.
We got it back to HQ and started prepping for the new Sniper.
This Sniper is the same one that came off the truck, so it wasn’t from a recent batch. When I tried to connect, I had an error message to update the ECM firmware.
I’ve done that before but don’t have the process memorized. It involves watching a YouTube video on your phone and pausing and rewinding every few minutes to make sure you follow the steps correctly.
I figured these guys do it all the time, so I saved that for this day. Turns out, they don’t actually fucc with Snipers, since they are the Hot Rod equivalent of training wheels, and don’t have this process memorized either.
In the process of updating the firmware, we ended up not being able to load a configuration file onto the Sniper and could not get it to connect to the handheld or the laptop. I’m not exactly sure what happened, it’s as though the operating system was missing and we needed the startup disk to fire it up.
This meant we were dead in the water. They were convinced they could revive it, but in the end, Holley told us to send it back in for repair. We towed the truck back to the shop and overnighted a new Sniper from Summit. Nolen left it with us for a day or two, but needed it back so we couldn’t wait on Holley.
We got it back to HQ and started prepping for the new Sniper.
- Thread starter
- #394
This one is getting really close to coming home.
I spent the weekend away in the mountains and got back and cleaned up the OddBall80 and decided to put some miles on Seminole
First place I always test one is the RR tracks.
When I first brought Seminole here I jumped it with the OME setup and it was so rough I literally almost rolled the truck.
That’s when I asked John if he minded if I tossed a perfectly good suspension….. of course after his experience with Mustard 78 he approved.
So to be fair I hit it the same speed. Same direction as before with the Dobinsons IMS setup
Butter
First place I always test one is the RR tracks.
When I first brought Seminole here I jumped it with the OME setup and it was so rough I literally almost rolled the truck.
That’s when I asked John if he minded if I tossed a perfectly good suspension….. of course after his experience with Mustard 78 he approved.
So to be fair I hit it the same speed. Same direction as before with the Dobinsons IMS setup
Butter
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So then after getting it good and hot I came back and looked at inside temps.
This is what the difference is between a bare firewall, a lizard skin trans hump and a floor with a heat shield.
Still hot in this tin can but I stopped a lot. May but some heat reflector on the firewall
This is what the difference is between a bare firewall, a lizard skin trans hump and a floor with a heat shield.
Still hot in this tin can but I stopped a lot. May but some heat reflector on the firewall
So tomorrow I ride. Lots of testing and adjusting to do in a couple days before I head back out of town for a week.
I don’t know the accuracy of the fuel gauge with the Dakota but I want to run as much of this 87 out and fill it with 93 for the final timing adjustments. I went ahead and put a can in the back in case I take it too far
I don’t know the accuracy of the fuel gauge with the Dakota but I want to run as much of this 87 out and fill it with 93 for the final timing adjustments. I went ahead and put a can in the back in case I take it too far
I did not run out of gas bit I got it down to 4 gallons in there. Topped it off with 93 test
Got about 80 miles on it.
It has a flat spot at WOT that I need to work on that (if Cam would ever finish his story) played a role in the inconclusive dyno Results.
Had a headwind on my interstate top speed spot. 86 was all it had but it held it there for a few miles.
Got about 80 miles on it.
It has a flat spot at WOT that I need to work on that (if Cam would ever finish his story) played a role in the inconclusive dyno Results.
Had a headwind on my interstate top speed spot. 86 was all it had but it held it there for a few miles.
So I called the Wizard and asked him to do the honors of driving Seminole in a drag race versus the Goat.
They’re a close match. The Goat runs great. Anyone that follows that ongoing build thread often sees me driving it 80 mph with no effort.
But it’s a stock 2F. Completely dies at 3100 RPM providing power.
It also has a 4 speed which I thought would help a bit off the line and it did not.
Feast your eyes on the destruction.
They’re a close match. The Goat runs great. Anyone that follows that ongoing build thread often sees me driving it 80 mph with no effort.
But it’s a stock 2F. Completely dies at 3100 RPM providing power.
It also has a 4 speed which I thought would help a bit off the line and it did not.
Feast your eyes on the destruction.