Builds Putting the rust demon at bay

[archie73]

It stopped snowing last week and the sun came out. Finally warm enough to drive the cruiser. Sure there’s a list of (good) reasons not to drive it:

1. No registration
2. Out of state title
3. No insurance
4. No windshield
5. No taillights

But the weather had finally blessed us with something other than snow. It was a beautiful day. I couldn’t resist. I wanted to take it home from work, where it had been hibernating. I asked a coworker to follow me home. Reminded him of my non working taillights and hit the road.
Cruises down the highway nice and smooth. Brakes felt great. Pulled through a town and passed a cop. He didn’t seem to notice- sweet. Start up the pass(10% grade). She’s charging along. 1/3 of the way up- chug, chug, nothing... it’s starved for fuel. Should of stopped for fuel.
Here comes that cop, s***e.

“Everything ok?” He says looking at the rear bumper with no plate.
“Yeah, it’s starved for fuel.”
“Got a plan to get it off the pass?” Eyeing the rest of the rig.
“Yeah, I’ll get a trailer.”
“Alright, good luck.”
And he drove away. I was certain I was in for a hefty ticket, but life is like that.
I figured that was two lucky moments and better not push it, so I called a tow truck. This is against my cheap ass nature, but sometimes you gotta listen to your gut.

It’s home now.
I titled, registered and insured it on Monday.
I have running and brake led lights now.
Turn signals and led flasher this week, I hope.
I’m legal, for Idaho anyway.
The weather is good( for Idaho anyway), so I drove it the last two days.
Picked the kid up in the snow. He loved it:

The wife drove it:

I took some vanity shots and stuffed the tires for no good reason:

It was a good weekend. Hopefully, I’ll be able to tie up some loose ends and take it to Moab in two weeks. Wish me luck.

 

[archie73]

Now for the questions:

1. I found out I’m hooked up to the return port on the gas tank, not the siphon port. Problem is I can’t get anything out of the siphon line. The tank sat for 15 years, so it has some varnish clogging the line. Tank is in otherwise good condition. Anybody have any luck clearing this line? I’m open to suggestions. I read lacquer thinner?
2. Led lights are 75% installed, still need to do the front turn signals. I’m not getting any flashing yet, will the led flasher solve this? Or is there another part I need.

Thanks again, I love this forum. You guys have the answers I need and the motivation to keep at it.

 

[White Stripe]

Nice progress. If your going wheeling try to install a front bumper first. The frame horns are pretty weak without the support of a front bumper and will bend without one. I don't have any answers to your 2 questions. Hopefully someone will chime in that does.

 

[archie73]

Nice progress. If your going wheeling try to install a front bumper first. The frame horns are pretty weak without the support of a front bumper and will bend without one. I don't have any answers to your 2 questions. Hopefully someone will chime in that does.

Yep, that’s on the list this weekend. I’ve got a chunk of C-channel to start cutting and welding. Also, the old ford donated an 8274, so I need a place to hang it.

 

[White Stripe]

Sweet. Nice score on the winch.

Yep, that’s on the list this weekend. I’ve got a chunk of C-channel to start cutting and welding. Also, the old ford donated an 8274, so I need a place to hang it.

 

[archie73]

So I did get some progress this last week. The winch is mounted to the bumper and it works!!!! Unfortunately, the bumper only has two bolts holding it to the frame!!! So I need to redo the mounting holes, weld in the towbar/ recovery points, taper the ends and have it powder coated. Not to be yet...

Also, Thursday I got my carburetor rebuild kit. Backstory- the engine was dying under load going up 10% grade. This was diagnosed to be dirty carb ...

And it was, also the power valve spring was broken. Unfortunately, that’s not my only issue on that issue. Its better, but I have more work on that front as well. I’ll replace the filter next. After I get the timing reset- somehow the distributor wasn’t tight.

Still working on the gas tank suction line. It’s clogged with what I assume is lacquer from old gas. I soaked it with lacquer thinner to no noticeable result.

So it didn’t make it to Moab and I’m bummed. The good news is my partner in crime and I took the bikes down anyway.

We’re having a good time, but the cruiser would have been the icing on the cake.

 

[archie73]

Progress has slowed.... engine has lost spark. Power goes to the distributor(hei), but no spark. Coil seems to test as working. Friend had an extra HEI-of unknown quality. Stabbed it in and I’ve gotten it to start twice, but it won’t stay running. When I get the time, I’ll start chasing wires. I’m tempted to get another distributor and try that out. I’m open to suggestions.

 

[archie73]

On the other front(or the back), I’m slowly learning how to fabricate what I want the back bumper to be

Armed with a tools, that are better than me, I cut out the shape of the new taillights. Using some 3” tube cut in half, I reinforced the hole. The diameter wasn’t quite big enough to accept the lights. So out came the BFH. A couple wacks spread the halved tubes to perfectly hugged the lights.

These were welded into the bumper and trimmed to match the bumper profile. After much grinding and frustration, I have something along the lines of my desires

It’s a long way from done. I have to grind the long seem flush. Once that’s done, I can stat on the receiver hitch and recovery points. Then it’s onto the swing out tire carrier and finally cap the ends.


Oh and I should find out why the engine stopped getting spark

 

[archie73]

So this is where I left off:

Progress has slowed.... engine has lost spark. Power goes to the distributor(hei), but no spark. Coil seems to test as working. Friend had an extra HEI-of unknown quality. Stabbed it in and I’ve gotten it to start twice, but it won’t stay running. When I get the time, I’ll start chasing wires. I’m tempted to get another distributor and try that out. I’m open to suggestions.

Now I’m in the shop and looking at the two distributors I’ve tried. The blue one is the origanal, that worked fine until recently. I didn’t run the truck much, but until recently, ran fine. The red one only allowed a couple cranks (and started twice).

So it looks like I’m frying coils. I’m using the stock coil wire(and fuse). I can rig up a dedicated battery wire, but like the idea of a keyed supply. Is this do to to small a supply wire?

 

[White Stripe]

Excessive coil problems can be caused by plugs with too large of a plug gap, wires with excessive resistance, and or worn cap and rotor.

 

[archie73]

Excessive coil problems can be caused by plugs with too large of a plug gap, wires with excessive resistance, and or worn cap and rotor.

Cap and rotor are low usage, no name pieces. They seem to be working well with the new coil. I haven’t invested in the bling name brands, mostly middle of the road in terms of price. Wires have less than 500 miles. I’ll have to check the gap. Any other thoughts??

 

[thebigredrocker]

I googled “frying hei coil”
Here are the first two discussions that popped up, there are many more:

HEI keeps burning through coils? [Archive] - Chevy Nova Forum

What keeps frying my coil? - Chevelle Tech

 

[archie73]

Yeah, I had browsed those sites as well. They open up all sorts of possibilities, but it seemed like they were all over the board.
At any rate, I added s ground strap today and took it to town. Seemed to work well. I’ll let you know.

I googled “frying hei coil”
Here are the first two discussions that popped up, there are many more:

HEI keeps burning through coils? [Archive] - Chevy Nova Forum

What keeps frying my coil? - Chevelle Tech

 

[archie73]

I got a little done, but nothing major. So running without any top or tunnel cover was good until the last week or so, the warm air was lovely on cold mornings and nights. With warming temps though, that hot air was getting uncomfortable. I am eventually going to put the stock transmission cover on, but it needs some time I don’t have for it right now. So I put the dog house from Aqualu on. With the seat cradle in the MT cage, this became a process. It took me a lot longer than I budgeted. It was worth tho, temps are good and noise level is lowered. Better hook up the heater soon.
I also changed out the antifreeze and the break in oil/filter. Tore the filter apart to check for metal. Looked good, so I guess I’ll keep the engine.
Timing is getting better, but still needs fine tuning. It starts right up cold, but after it’s hot it takes some cranking to get it to fire. After I turn the key off, it’ll run on for a second or two longer. So I need to retard the timing some more?

 

[archie73]

Fridays are my most likely cruiser days, so this week it was the rear bumper. Specifically, adding the receiver and recovery points. Recovery points I got from RuffStuff. I got the longer ones so I could weld in the backside for strength. Unfortunately, they were still a little short of reaching the backside of the bumper. After much better internal debate, I decided to flush mount them with the top of the bumper. This increased the weld area and improved the departure angle. Departure angle is critical when navigating the grocery store parking lot.
Next came the receiver hitch. This I did order one long enough to weld on both side of the bumper. Since I was moving the recovery points up to topside, I moved the hitch tube up as well. I already new I was going move the hitch pin hole to the backside of the bumper-3/4 ton style(?). This allowed me to flush mount the receiver to the face of the bumper. I also made the executive decision to get rid of the collar on the receiver for maximum cleanliness. This also helps with rolling over curbs in parking lots.
Now the main purpose for this thing is not towing anything- I have a horrible track record on this subject. No I now have a 3/4 ton receiver to put a bike rack on the rig. Bought a used rack for sale, but it has a 1 1/4” tongue. This is ok since I’ll need to space it out for the spare tire. Hopefully, both the spare tire carrier and the bike rack will happen soon.

I’m stoked on the results, much work to do though. My weld are getting more presentable. The bumper has been a lot of practice. I have been using the plasma torch at work, but I’m not sure I’m getting it right yet. I seem to have to do more clean up from that thing than anything else. It was super helpful on the round side of the tailights, though
Spindle for tire carrier is next...

 

[archie73]

So here’s the next step in the bumper build: the spindle for the tire carrier. I bought this from RuffStuff and so far I’m happy, it’s a nice machine nice piece from 1.5 round stock. Machined area is buttery smooth and tolerances seem nice and tight.
I was planning to weld the shaft top and bottom of bumper, with an intermediate plate halfway up the bumper. However, with the double tapered bumper body, it became clear I would not be carrying through with that plan. As luck would have it, I was cleaning out the scrap bin yesterday and found a couple pieces of scrap 1/2” strap that would work as the lower anchor for the spindle.

My use of the plasma is still pretty crude, I just can’t seem to get very clean cuts. I used a hole saw as a template for the bumper hole and free handed the 1/2” gusset- I think they’re comparable. On the plus side, it goes through 1/2” steel pretty well. It took two passes and some going back to get the basic shape right on the gusset.

This is the finished welding to the inner plate. I cranked the Miller all the way to “11” to get decent welds. It’s welded top and bottom. Next I flipped the bumper over and welded the plate into the bumper and then flipped it again to weld the top side. (Notice the long straight cut on the bumper body- that’s as good as I get with the plasma and a straight edge. I’ll be capping this eventually.)

Here’s the finished product after taking the wire wheel to it to clean it up a bit.
Overall, I am happy with this stage. The spindle is straight and strong. I wasn’t sure how I was going to do on the first part(straight), but with a lot of double checking and doing it again, it looks good. The strong part will have to prove itself in the real world. With 3/16” bumper, 1 1/2” spindle and 1/2” gusset inside I’m pretty hopeful.

 

[archie73]

For a birthday gift, wifey got me the deluxe SOR family bikini. I put it on this morning and it rained on the way home. Pretty straight forward, so I moved onto:
“This won’t take that long.” Famous last words. This took better part of the day today:

Spare tire carrier is started. 2x3x.25 tube welded to the RuffStuff spindle. Diagonal holds the latch and makes contact with the bumper. I still need to make the tire mounting plate. I wanted the tire not interfere with the departure angle, but decided it would be to high. I compromised with it an inch or so above the bumper. I’ll probably never wheel it that hard. Tire should be an inch or so inside of the body line.
The latch hook I’m not super stoked on the positioning, so I’ll have to redo that. I had settled on this design and when I got to mounting the hook I realized I couldn’t bolt it to bumper. It landed right on the receiver for the bike rack, so through bolting was out. It’s tacked in place for now...
Next problem was the De Sta Co latch is to wide for the 2” side I wanted to put it on. I thought about welding studs to the tube, but I wasn’t it sure it would be strong enough. So I decided it was safer to use a piece of angle to make up the needed surface area.
I did a lot of google image searches to look at different designs. Some were triangulated, some weren’t. I chose this to design to get the latch out of the way. Does the hive mind of mud think I need a diagonal down to the pivot? Any other thoughts?

 

[MOTOV8R]

For a birthday gift, wifey got me the deluxe SOR family bikini. I put it on this morning and it rained on the way home. Pretty straight forward, so I moved onto:
“This won’t take that long.” Famous last words. This took better part of the day today:View attachment 1733434
Spare tire carrier is started. 2x3x.25 tube welded to the RuffStuff spindle. Diagonal holds the latch and makes contact with the bumper. I still need to make the tire mounting plate. I wanted the tire not interfere with the departure angle, but decided it would be to high. I compromised with it an inch or so above the bumper. I’ll probably never wheel it that hard. Tire should be an inch or so inside of the body line.
The latch hook I’m not super stoked on the positioning, so I’ll have to redo that. I had settled on this design and when I got to mounting the hook I realized I couldn’t bolt it to bumper. It landed right on the receiver for the bike rack, so through bolting was out. It’s tacked in place for now...
Next problem was the De Sta Co latch is to wide for the 2” side I wanted to put it on. I thought about welding studs to the tube, but I wasn’t it sure it would be strong enough. So I decided it was safer to use a piece of angle to make up the needed surface area.
I did a lot of google image searches to look at different designs. Some were triangulated, some weren’t. I chose this to design to get the latch out of the way. Does the hive mind of mud think I need a diagonal down to the pivot? Any other thoughts?

View attachment 1733432

View attachment 1733433

View attachment 1733464

It will bend more at the pivot without the diagonal back to the pivot. I would also add a diagonal from your vertical post to the piece that the tires will bolt to. I didn't put that piece in on mine and it eventually fatigued and cracked. Had to look up 1T, you are almost in Montana.

 

[archie73]

It will bend more at the pivot without the diagonal back to the pivot. I would also add a diagonal from your vertical post to the piece that the tires will bolt to. I didn't put that piece in on mine and it eventually fatigued and cracked. Had to look up 1T, you are almost in Montana.[/

I’m kinda due east of Boise, in a general sense. It’s about six hours in the car, god knows how long in the cruiser.
Tire carrier- yeah I figured that I was going to need the diagonal, I was just checking the consensus. For the horizontal diagonal I was thinking of a gusset or something like that. It’s six inches from the vertical to where the tire plate will be. After cutting the diagonal I have a 4-5” long 2” channel piece I could weld under the arm. Would a this suffice? If so, should I orient it up or down

 

[MOTOV8R]

I didn't notice your diagonal also helps support that horizontal piece, you might be ok. A gusset is still probably good insurance though. For the channel, maybe downward, either is probably fine. Just got home driving back from Bozeman, really clear view of the Tetons today when we were on hwy 20.