Builds Putting the rust demon at bay (1 Viewer)

[archie73]

I dug into the engine this weekend. Cruiser is happier for it.

1. The signal wire pin out for Coil #5 was misaligned at the ecu, so it wasn’t firing. In process of pulling the wire out to check on it, I broke the pin connector. Not having a spare I soldered it back together and got it in the proper orientation. All 8 cylinders are firing now. (I wonder how long it’s been not firing??)
2. O2 sensors are sorted out- I hope!!! Some how I had the banks switched side to side on the wiring. I double checked the wiring color coding and it seems I’m still fallible. Reading are getting better, engine pulls better.
3. Still blowing the oem coil fuse. Put a 15 amp back in- still not reliable. Gotta be a short somewhere,,,
4. Starter is tested and it’s good. I think it’s the signal wire from the ecu isn’t providing enough juice. New plan is to set up a relay for the solenoid. Oh boy, more wiring fun!!!
5. Bogging seems to be fixed. Took the fuel filter off and made a hell of a mess. Not having a new filter, I blew it out with the compressor. She runs like a scalded hound again. Very happy.

I didn’t take any pics, but one of the guys sent some more from Vernal so I’ll leave you with some vanity pics.

 

[archie73]

So with the success of the new relays I got cocky and installed a fuse/relay block I had ordered for the engine swap. Electronics were working fine, just untidy with the new relays having no home. Out comes the old fuse block and while I’m at it the battery tray needs some additional bracing. In that frame of mind, I decide to make a mount for the new fuse block off the battery tray. I stopped there before I fell into the rabbit hole and tore out the engine again…
Started pulling things apart; I didn’t label anything, cause I’m a stud…
Battery bracket is out and I’ve got some scrap that’ll do what I want. Welder actually worked without issue! This took more time than I’d like to admit, but that’s the way it goes for me. Get that done and it’s time to play with wiring. Anybody remember how the wires go into the new box? Ah never mind, how hard can it be. Hours later, I have it assembled with ends soldered, heat shrinked and ready to fire up. It fires, whew! Volt meter no longer reads tho... It is sort of flashing 000 now, not sure what that means but I’m guessing it has to do with my wiring… Time to get out of the garage- wife’s not gonna be happy I spent the day in the garage again.

 

[archie73]

So more fun with wring, my favorite PCM doesn’t like getting power through a relay. Currently I have a jumper wire bypassing the relay altogether. Runs well like that though. Is it a faulty relay? Is there a good brand for relays?

Engine is using a ton of fuel when I reach higher rpm. It was doing better before I did the O2 sensors. Which is funny because that was supposed to help. Internet a was says to burn a couple tanks to let it settle in- only problem with that is soon they’ll start applying the magchloride and the cruiser goes into hibernation. If I burn a while tank over the winter I’d be surprised.

 

[White Stripe]

Not sure which circuit your talking about that you're running through a relay. How do you know it's using a lot of fuel at high Rpm?

 

[archie73]

Not sure which circuit your talking about that you're running through a relay. How do you know it's using a lot of fuel at high Rpm?

Mostly by the gas gauge after I take it over the pass. When I got home I revved it up in the garage and got a black cloud. I can smell it as well.

 

[archie73]

One other note from the weekend- I seem to have the transfer case pushing oil into the transmission issue. I was topping the transfer case off (rear out put still leaks)after a new leak popped up from the adapter. Well when I pulled the fill plug, oil started spewing out. Fortunately, I had a catch plan there to catch it.

Funny thing is I assumed since I had a plate adapter behind my sm465, I was immune to this issue. I was planning to pull the Orion this winter to look into the popping out of gear issue any way. More stuff to figure out I guess. Maybe I’ll rig up one of those hoses I hear about.

 

[archie73]

So maybe I’m delusional, but I picked up a distraction. 1959 F100 2wd long bed, no engine, transmission or rear axle.

It’s gonna be a patina build for the time being. I’m really digging the look, we’ll see if I do by the time it’s running.

Believe it or not, the rust isn’t that bad. I mean the bed floor is complete toast. This was pulled out of a field. The bed has had 2-3” of dirt sitting in it since it was taken off the road in 71. All that dirt was a hell of a sponge, this was in the high dessert of Idaho.
I’m thinking of bracing the sides and ripping the floor out and welding in a different floor. Or maybe a wood bed or…

This(& the price) is why I bought it. The cab corners are good. The floor only needs the area above the cab mounts replaced.By that I mean, there’s are other areas that need work, but the cab is really pretty good all this considered.

So that brings me to the reason for the purchase. I was looking for a means of getting the kid in the garage with me. He wants a long bed truck to haul bikes up the pass and I love old iron trucks. So we found one we could agree on. Wife wants it to not be another bottomless pit(cruiser) & she has her wants for the house.


Not sure where this one will go yet. Definitely, a patina build. I already have a built offroad rig. I’m not really a speed freak. Lowered trucks are cute, but…I’m thinking of an awd canyon cruiser, maybe a 5.4, exploder drivetrain with fully independent suspension. Just a thought. One thing is for sure- there is t enough left to go back to stock.
So we’ll be mothballing this for the winter while we come up with a plan. After all, the original money pit isn’t finished yet and I might come to my senses.

 

[1969FJ]

This Ford is one nice looking truck. I see the beauty in it as well. Nice classic.

 

[archie73]

Well we’re back on track, if slightly distracted by the Ford. The area of concern is transfer case not staying in gear- there’s a lovely discussion in the O R I O N sticky. Couple of the potential candidates for the problem are the hi-lo range check ball/spring, shift rail and fork- the AA replacement parts may be slightly out of spec. In addition, my 47yo shift linkage is pretty sloppy and I’m not positive its not contributing to the issue. So after I access the other potential bad players, I’m going to fab up a twinstick shifter that isn’t loaded with slop.
A tangential project is I’m getting rid of the AA propeller xmember. @Mopdog has inspired me to follow his lead on his style SM465 crossmember. I have some ideas that’ll put my own spin on his prototype. Drained the transmission and pulled the pto plates off today, I’ll use them as templates this weekend at work. Here’s what the gears look like:

So without further delay, I dug into the transfercase. I was breaking the driveshaft loose when I got my first surprise. This will be a familiar sight to some:

I guess Ill be doing either a dual seal mod or a speedy sleeve- I’m open to suggestions.

 

[White Stripe]

Thats not leaking because of the seal. That's leaking because of no fipg on the splines before installing the drum.

 

[archie73]

Thats not leaking because of the seal. That's leaking because of no fipg on the splines before installing the drum.

Is that the reason for drip at the bottom drum as well? That’s been happening for a while…

 

[White Stripe]

Oh if it's the bottom of the drum that's the seal then probably. My drum leaked at the seal because of a groove the seal made on the sealing surface. I used a speedisleeve on that. Have to make sure it's installed in the right spot.

 

[archie73]

****Warning this is a repost from the Orion sticky*****

So winter is upon us and the magchloride is on the roads, so time to do long over due repairs. I got the Orion out today and onto the bench. The offending bits:

As a refresher, I have the same problem as others of not holding lo range when coasting. In addition, mine is popping out of high range at highway speed when I take my foot off the gas, but leave it in gear. This can be very exciting at times. My case and gears are a year or two old and I (for better or worse) built it up using AA’s instructions. From this thread, I’ve learned the common theme in fixing the issue is related to the shift fork or rail.
To my untrained eye the AA&OEM shift forks and rails look similar with minor differences, but nothing I would consider detrimental. The AA fork is clearances for the 4:1 gear and the oem isn’t, so I stuck with the AA unit. The AA shift rail has a detent for the set screw (case), but otherwise looked like the OEM piece. The indents looked exactly the same in size and orientation. I had thought maybe the indents were maybe slightly out of orientation, but I couldn’t find a difference. Since others had pointed to the oem shift rail as superior, I put it back in. In my case I think either would have worked.
The real difference I could find was in the spring, ball and set bolt for the spring. (I’m pretty sure I didn’t mix the parts up, but I can’t be sure). The springs- the AA(silver) one seemed a mm or two longer the the OEM(black). Balls- one was slightly bigger(AA) ~1/2mm. The set bolt- here it’s easy to see the difference: AA uses a brass bolt and OEM uses a set screw. So the brass screw only goes in so far and might not go deep enough to hold the gear. While the set screw can apply more like pressure.
To my eye, this seems like the solution the problem: the taller spring, bigger ball and the Toyota set screw pushing further into shift fork. Cycling the shifter shaft on the bench seemed to produce nice firm shifts. I’m not positive it’ll fix the issue, but seemed reassuring.
Does this sound like a winning solution? The Tcase is still on the bench and likely will through the holidays, so I can still easily change out the parts.

This is how far the set screw is in the shaft:

Is ~1/4” to much insertion? It’s below the cotter pin, but the CP still acts as a fail safe. I was doing the insertion by what felt firm. If this is ok, I’ll need to loctite the set screw.

This picture just illustrates the difference in set screws/bolts.

 

[waiting for time]

Bigger is not always better, a bigger ball will be passing the notch easier than a smaller one.
Ergo, the smaller ball will be better in keeping the shaft in position.

 

[archie73]

Bigger is not always better, a bigger ball will be passing the notch easier than a smaller one.
Ergo, the smaller ball will be better in keeping the shaft in position.

I’m hoping I’ll have some time to play with it this weekend. I’ll check the figment against what you said. Thanks for the tip

 

[archie73]

****This is another cross post from the O R I ON sticky****

Can you show a pic of the shift rails from the side, curious as to the height of the peaks between detents, the bottom rail looks to have a bit more material there and also if see thru the detent so we can see if they have the same "U" shape. FWIW the pic with the slotted screw for spring tension should have a cotter pin to retain it. Try running it down just til it won't shift, then up a bit. You get a good idea in what the travel and effect of that adjustment is. With the stock ball and spring IIRC when set just off lock up the screw slot is below the cotter pin holes so you can't get the pin thru the slot but above the screw so it doesnt back out.
Click to expand...

I apologize I forgot to take a picture ofvthe rails side by side, but they mic’d out as identical .36” indent with a .36 width at the top of the machining. Since we’re measuring things here’s some other stats
Spring height .91” & .89”
Ball diam.39” & .37”
( I don’t use a caliper for living, so take these measurements at your own risk)

Now eye balling the ball in the rail and looking for the light to pass through the gap- the large ball in the AA unit had the least amount of light passing through. I know it’s not the best way to measure, but that’s how I did it.
Next up I tried different rail and ball combinations in the transfer case. To get an idea of the force needed to switch gears, I used a digital torque wrench on the shifter lever.

With set screw threaded in .2” the needed torque is as follows:
AA rail w/ lg ball- 11ft/#
AA rail w/ sm ball- 8ft/#
Toy rail w/ lg ball- 5.5ft/#
Toy rail w/ sm ball- 5ft/#

So it seems I’ll get the most holding power from the AA/lg ball combo. Full insertion of the set screw is around .30 and the shifter doesn’t want to move at that point. Currently, I have the depth at .28 and the shifter needs 12.5ft/# to move between modes.
So is there another area of the Tcase I need to look into? My gear sets look good and the shift forks didn’t look any different that I could determine.

 

[waiting for time]

looks very good, you can compare the setup you had in there and test the force needed, or was that what you did before?

 

[archie73]

looks very good, you can compare the setup you had in there and test the force needed, or was that what you did before?

Yeah, that would of been great if I had tested the force needed when I initially pulled the Tcase. Unfortunately, I didn’t think of that method at the time. I think it’s needing more force to shift now. I guess I’ll put it back in and see how it goes. Real bummer there: the truck won’t be on the road til spring due to the road salt, so we won’t know the results for a bit.

Oh well I need to make the new transmission crossmember next.

 

[peesalot]

You could run it thru a number of shifts then pull the rail and see if the peaks are deteriorating due to the ball size and force.

Sounds wierd when you read it fast.

 

[archie73]

You could run it thru a number of shifts then pull the rail and see if the peaks are deteriorating due to the ball size and force.

Sounds wierd when you read it fast.

I’m hoping to get into the garage this weekend, I’ll try your suggestion out then in addition I need to figure out the new crossmember layout. I have a basic plan, but the devil will be in the details. Hopefully I’ll get it tacked together and then finish weld it at work with the 220 mig.