Yeah, I know it's late. I feel like Ziggy. He's always posting so late and sometimes Evan is too. It's terrible when you can't sleep and the truck in the garage is making whining sounds because you haven't paid it enough attention. Tonight I started working on the truck late about 10:00. Got the exhaust hung front to back. Ken, I gotta tell you the Kepich Exhaust place in Florida really had it together. The entire system fit like a glove. He even sent one pipe a little long so it could be trimmed to fit. The only beef about the system from them is that the stock muffler hanger doesn't fit exactly in the center of the muffler (big deal!!!). Other than that a nice easy job. Did the farmer fix and replumbed the oil filter cannister as per Nate (Yankee Thrifty and all). Cost was about two feet of oil resistant hose and four clamps. Also replumbed the fuel pump to carb as old line was all kinked and would restrict fuel flow. Getting ready to start the engine up. Pulled the rocker box cover the other day with the kids and was amazed at the pristine condition of the top of the motor. Should have seen the boys yanking on that torque wrench when we re-torqued the head. Too funny. Absolutely no signs of wear or sludge. Damn!!! It looked brandy new. Happy for that. Hoping it runs as good as it looks when the kids and I fire it up. Andy
Andy, glad to hear the exhaust system worked out for you! Sounds like you and your kids are having a ball. Keep us posted.
Posting late?? That's about the only time I have that is "my" time. It's hard to focus with 41/2 year energy in the house, ya know what I mean? How do you say "no" to, "C'mon daddy, let's play!" Anyway, sounds like great progress, Andy! You will have to get a neighbor or someone to film "The First Drive"! Speaking of torqued, that's what they'll be as they watch their street passing by as you cruse along. But out the split window and down over the hood, off over the tip of the fender??? They will be SOOO hooked! Speaking of progress~ Was it a figbar of my immigration, or was there actually something on here or a link to a site that gave axles with widths that fit these trucks and the ratio of the axle? With that cool calculation page, it turns out I need a 3.07. (or in that neighborhood) *That is... if keeping an engine that has a max recommended RPM of 3,400 going down the highway at 70 MPH at 2,400 RPM is okay. (?) If the tach is correct in my Jeep, It's V8 in overdrive runs nicely at 70, right at 2,000 RPM. The problem is, I don't have a clue as to what these 6s like (PRM- wise) so they can run for an hour or two at highway speeds on a daily basis. (65~70mph) Could anyone let me know what they think would be best to allow my 228 to do this, yet live a good _long_ life? P.S. I already know that proper maintenance is a big key to this worthy quest!
Kids & Cruising RPM's Well ; The Long Motor can take more RPM's than a Babbit Pounder can but in general , if you keep it at or below 3,000 for long road trips you'll be fine . As far as the kiddies coming by and asking to play , my son is 28 and when he came by Joey's shop last night as I was rotating the tires on my old Mercedes and asked to go out , naturally all my plans went in the tank and we had a nice evening ..... This is what makes for good trouble free children ~ spending time with them - even the nasty time of messy diapers and spilt milk , broken off teeth from that 1st. bicycle ride , al of it is " Quality Time " and will pay you back in rewards.....
So close I can taste it. The goal is to fire up the long dormant 235. Been working on it every chance I can get. Up at 6:00 am and out to the truck with my coffee. Pulled the good core support off the donor truck and mounted it, the radiator, fan and upper and lower hoses before the demands of the day made me stop. Just got back from Home Depot where I picked up some misc. nuts and bolts to tie down the tranny cover. Going out to the truck now to get that done and fill it up with synthetic gear lube. Finally got the magnetic drain plug for the tranny. gotta tell you, it wasn't an easy part to find. Found it in Jeg's online, but didn't want to part with the $10.00 with shipping. Just didn't seem right for a 50 cent part. Got a brain storm and called the local speed shop I used to frequent when I was a kid. Haven't been there in 25 years. Thank God there are enough motor heads around here to keep them in business. They have a peformance tranny shop. Talked to the guy and saw him today. Gave me the plug no charge but said I had better bring the truck by with the kids once I had it on the road. Turns out he has several old chevy trucks that he can never find the time to finish either. His shop will be one of many stops after it gets on the road. Ex-wife pulled a fast one on me. Not getting the kids this weekend, so I'm hoping that the big day will be on Tuesday when I see them next. Court next week as well, so I don't know how much I will be doing on the truck, however. One question about that monstrously heavy SM420 4-speed (you know, the on ethat smashed my finger). Maybe someone can help me out. Just in front of the ball seal at the back end of the tranny is a zerk fitting up near the top of the tranny. Anybody got any idea how much lube that takes? Why is it even there? Isn't the tranny and even the trunion lubricated internally by the gear oil? Help me out on this please. Andy
Torque Tube U-Joint Lubrication You noticed ! . This is for the factory fill of 90W gear oil when the truck was built ~ it should be replaced when routine service is done as many folks mistakenly put a grease gun on there and pump it full of chassis grease , depriving the U-joint of proper lubrication . When you fill the tranny via the fill plug on the side , the gear oil slowly dribbles through the rear bearing and fills that U-joint cavity ~ that's why I always make such a big fuss about having the truck level when you fill the tranny *and* to let it sit for 5 ~ 10 minutes after it burps back out the filler hole as often it'll flow into the U-joint housing and need a few more strokes of the pump to top it up . So , gear oil and only gear oil , goes in the tranny , U-joint and rear end too . Did this help ? . Sorry 'bout your Ex , my folks used us kids in personal battles too and now wonder why none of thier kids visit often
Here's from better late than never, go to http://www.teufert.net and click onto rear end dimensions. It also gives front end info. A rule of thumb is that most rears up until recently were in the low to mid threes if from behind an auto and mid threes to low fours if behind a standard. If you find one the right width hold one axle, turn the other axle two complete turns and count how many times the pinion turns--that's the ratio. If still on the car jack up one wheel, turn tire two revolutions, and count how many turns driveshaft makes. If a locking type you have to raise both wheels and turn the driveshaft for one wheel turn.
Thanks Evan! THIS was the site I remember looking at! http://www.teufert.net/other/rear end dimensions.htm It actually says if it is 6 lug and what the ratio is. How can you beat that? WELL... by adding this site as well! http://www.richmondgear.com/101032.html I already had a blast checking the 6 lug ratios against RPM to figure out what I'd like to get. If anyone else is thinking about a rear end swap, these are two great sites to have! Thanks guys! Kevin is also checking on the specs of a Silverado. Six lug, disk brakes... More to come.
So Andy~ It's Saturday morning by the time you read this. (I know you wouldn't be reading it late at night or EARLY Saturday morning because, well, I'm the only one up that late!) By this evening I (we) want a progress report! (not what's on the grill...) We want to know that baby burped back to life and your a proud papa again!
Well Zig, it ain't gonna happen today. I am NOT firing it up without the kids being present and I don't have them today. I have them for a few hours tomorrow and may get it running then IF I can get everything done that needs to be done. It's a short list, but I am an exeedingly SLOW mechanic. I take my time and do things just so. Definately could not make a living out of doing this. Sometimes I will look at a task (just LOOK at it) for days before the entire procedure is in place in my mind before I do it. This lesson was reinforced when the tranny fell off the jack onto my hand. I was rushing that job and should have used the engine hoist FIRST instead of the floor jack. We all learn lessons the hard way sometimes. Part of that finger is still a little numb. Rest assured, I will update the board when we get it running. I am soooo pumped to hear the sweet sound of that 235!!! Andy
Atta Boy Andy ! That's the way to do it ~ slow & steady wins the race every time Plus , a valuable lesson for your kids , seing how proper work makes for a good job , plus dad knows best
Andy, What will mean more to your kids than anything else...Daddy waited on us. Your a good man. Gater
Ditto Nate and Tailgater! Nothing could ever be sweeter than to see those kids jumping up and down, high fiving each other when that 235 bulches life again! I just wish i could be there to see the look on their faces, especially my favorite little female mechanic!!
Greasy hands on the keyboard Still working on it. Stopped in to take a look at some posts for reference and the shop manual. Transmission cleaned out, filled with gear oil and new gasket installed on top loader and buttoned up. Nate, I took out that zerk fitting in front of the ball seal and squeezed a little tiny funnel into the hole to fill with some gear oil. worked great. Replaced the zerk with an NPT plug so no other Bozo's try to grease that fitting ever again. Rocker cover cleaned and ready (as well as my Bar-B-Qued breather). Clutch free play adjusted. Clutch, brake and starter return springs installed. Positive and negative battery cables installed. Have to hook up the oil pressure and temp. gauges, install new plugs and ignition wires, coil and ballast resistor, add coolant and it's a go. Gonna do as much as I can tonight. I plan on at least spinning the engine with the plugs out to see if oil weeps out of the holes in the rockers. Don't worry, the engine is really free, but I am going to get oil onto the shafts of the valves before I engage the starter (I always pay attention to my teachers). Only problem is I can't find my digital camera. Damn thing is so small. Put it down somewhere and can't remember where the heck it is. I'll have to use film when I fire it up. My guess is you guys can handle some "old school" . Andy
Another farmer fix needed Okay Zig, here's a late night post for you. Got everything done that I needed to to spin the engine. After several lengthy spins of the starter whilst eyeballing the valve train I have come to the conclusion that as of right now, there is no oil getting to the top of the engine. The weep holes are not weeping, but I am. I know the oil pump is good because of several factors. One, I now have oil in the filter canister. Two, the oil level on the dipstick dropped after spinning the engine. Three, I went in to the cab at one point and hit the starter pedal with my foot while looking VERY carefully at the pressure gauge. Yes, it did move while the engine was cranking. I pulled the pipe plug from the center of the head on the dizzy side of the engine and NOTHING dribbled out. There was a little bit of gunk in there, but I truthfully expected more out of the engine. If this engine truly was getting no oil to the top of the valve train, wouldn't there be signs of wear on the rockers where they meet the valve stems??? Well, there isn't ANY sign of wear due to lack of oil. In fact, the top of the engine looks pristine. I posted earlier that when I knocked off the rocker cover I was very pleasantly surprised at the lack of wear, sludge, etc. and was very pumped to fire that baby up. Now, I am faced with plumbing a line from the outlet where the oil pressure gauge line goes in to the block around the back of the engine and up to the gallery in the center of the head on the other side. Anybody have any other suggestions, like cranking it until the starter burns out or the battery is completely dead? I was certain that I was going to have oil literally flying out the rockers when I cranked it. BTW, I am using 10W-40 full synthetic AMSOIL as if that makes a difference. Andy
Okay, I think I've come up with something that may either prime up the galleries in the top of the head or clean them out. My very first project was a 1940 Olds' with an inline eight. I was 14 years old. At 16 I spun a bunch of bearings because I couldn't afford the oil to put in it as it was burning so much of it. Had the machine work done by a great old timer in my hometown whose shop was widely known. Used to turn cranks for tug boats in NYC. His shop was huge and he worked on LOTS of old cars. After I re-assembled the engine, it came up with no oil pressure when started at all. Owner of the shop lent me an oil pressure tank to prime the galleries. Filled it with oil and pressurized it to like 60 Lbs. or so. Screwed the attahced line into the gallery at the oil pressure gauge line and turned pet-cock. Could actually hear the oil going into the galleries...a great big squishing sound. Pressure on the gauge in the dash went right up to 60 Lbs. and never had a problem with it again. I figure the engine I have has been sitting soooo long (I'm guessing at least 3-5 years) and it's been drained of oil for at least a year. COULD be that the head needs to be re-primed. Now, I COULD pull the dizzy and do it that way but these engines never had lots of pressure from what I've been told to begin with. So's I'm gonna find someone who has a tank or get one myself and plug it into the gallery opening in the center of the head on the dizzy side of the engine, let it fly and see what happens. If oil comes out of the weep hole on the rockers, I'll spin the engine with the starter and see if it still weeps when I do that. How's that sound? Or...I may just fire it up anyway after pouring copius amounts of oil onto the valve train and see what happens after it's been running for about 30 seconds or so. May be that the low RPM's of the starter cranking just isn't enough to bring the oil to the top of the motor. Perhaps after running at operating speed the engine will prime up and I'll see something coming out of the rocker weep holes. If not, I'll shut it down and do the pressure tank thing. Andy
Yet another development. Had the kids for a short period of time today. Figured I'd show them the engine turning over before we hit the movie theater. While I was holding down the starter arm and the engine was spinning, my oldest said, "Dad, why is the water pump doing that?" I looked up to see the pump badly out of round and wobbling in and out. Damn!!! Makes me mad. I went to the local NAPA to get a new pump because it's listed in their parts book, but they were either too lazy or didn't want to be bothered to hunt it down, so they suggested I bring in my old pump to have it rebuilt. So, my newly rebuilt pump is an anchor. Hopefully, they will make good on it because I paid cash and got no receipt. Remember these guys? Price of a voltage regulator and rebuild charge on the pump came to $140.00. Needless to say I haven't been back to them. Hopefully they will remember me and make good on the pump. Situations like this do serve a purpose though. Makes me take my time now and get the oil passages in the head working right before we start it up. Andy
Andy, crank up the grill and put your waterpump on the rotissourie (sp). Slowly increase the heat and speed of the rotissourie and you'll be able to get that out of round shaft back where it needs to be! Now that you've either said "blank you, Ken" (fill in the blank) or at least grinned a little, take a step back and try to figure out why you're not getting oil up there. That's a full pressure 235 and should have some decent flow. Then drink an adult beverage of your choice, and wait for the next installment of "Nate Knows Best"
Well said, Big Brother~ And Andy, this just means I'm lagging only a mile or so of where you are. My only dues paid today were skinned knuckles, getting the inner and outer fender off the passenger side! I love it! Remember this: No matter what your truck throws at you, it's not in anger- like humans tend to do... Chevy~GMC~ they like to let you know BEFORE you charge off into the sunset that there is a problem. I'm sure, with the exception of NAPA (?), you're happy it did this now, and not after you had the boys buckle up for that maiden voyage.
Pre-Oiling GM Inline 6 Bangers O.K. , this one is dead simple and your kids can have fun doing it : You'll need : old timey hand drill and old coat hanger or long welding rod . Set engine to TDC (triangle on flywheel & pointer) & remove dizzy, lean it on the frame for no need to undo points wire . look in dizzy hole with flashlight and observe slotted oil pump drive _below_ the spiral camshaft gear . Bend up the coathanger so the bottom is in a nice 1" triangle or ' L ' shape and the rest sticks straight up , chuck straight end into hand drill , insert lower end into slot on oil pump and have at it ~ you'll feel it when the oil pump begains pumping , keep at it untill you're getting fresh oil out the rocker arm weep holes ~ if you have wobbly rockers like most of us , you may only get weeping out of the middle few , that's O.K. too . !! DO NOT !! get cute and try to use en electric drill ! when the pump loads down , the coat hanger will fold up inside the engine block and you'll learn new Navy words getting it back out . Oil (thin , like 10W-30 , right) burbling out the rockers ? good . Remove the priming device and re-install the Dizzy , cursing it every time it moves out of time due to the spiral drive , you'll get it eventually . have fun , I hope this helped .
