Digger's '69 Build Thread

[Digger]

Wiper upgrade was straight forward, but it sucks trying to find small pin style 14" blades.
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I had to straighten out one of the bends to make it match the other arm and fit the windshield
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And 4 quick and dirty spring retainers.
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[phyler]

That tire carrier is awesome. Again, you do some sick work.

Sent from my Venue 8 7840 using Tapatalk

[Jesus_man]

You have all the cool toys!

[Justin]

Nice! I have tool envy. Wait, that sounds bad...

[Digger]

Getting back at it after Super Celebration. During the road trip to TN and back, I really learned how much I disliked the original cam that came with the engine. It was just too hot for a street-driven truck. After some research and discussion with Viperwolf, I ordered this:
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Saying Good-bye to a few components under the hood.
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I tore the engine down and replace valve stem seals while it was apart.
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New Cam:
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Going back together
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She's alive!

[Digger]

While everything was apart, it was time to a brake upgrade:
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Wish me luck. This is going to be a tight fit and I'm trying not to permanently modify the hydroboost unit.
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[Kinder]

Good luck!

[Digger]

Got to work making brackets for the hydroboost
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Made a new master cylinder pushrod since the hydroboost doesn't include one.
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Fittings and hose showed up from Speedway.
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All assembled
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Installation
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Breather / Fill vent was going to be in the way and was redundant anyhow, so I turned out a quick fill plug.
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[Kinder]

Looks great, how thick is the sheet steel used in the firewall bracket?

[akaFrankCastle]

Amazing work.

[Digger]

Looks great, how thick is the sheet steel used in the firewall bracket?

The bracket on the firewall and booster are both 0.25", which is a bit overkill. I used thicker steel because I needed to space the mount face of the booster 1.5" from the center of the firewall hole and angle it slightly to clear the valve cover and throttle linkage.

The factory hydroboost bracket looked to be about .150" thick (9 ga).

[cravenbronco]

Very nice and clean looking

[Digger]

Yee Haw! We have brakes!! And whoa buddy, hydroboost is AWESOME! Nothing like being able to lockup 37s on command.

The last bit of work was plumbing the power steering lines and brake lines, then bleeding out both systems.


GM power steering O-ring to -6AN adapters. Both the hydroboost unit and Saginaw steering gear use a M18x1.5 on the input and M16x1.5 output. The Saginaw pump uses a M16x1.5 on the output.
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Pedal feel is very good. Not too heavy, not too light.

[Jesus_man]

You are just a computer, a high pressure fuel pump, and some injectors away from having modern performance in a classic body!

[mickphatmac]

T h a t ' s Awesome!!!

"Breather / Fill vent was going to be in the way and was redundant anyhow, so I turned out a quick fill plug."

SHOW-OFF!!!!!

BTW, That Hydroboost looks Soooo much better than that Big, Fat, Ugly Brake Booster!

[Justin]

Looks great! I may need to "borrow" your idea for the mounting bracket to get mine to clear the intake when I go EFI.

[D&D72]

So, whats the status on your TBI? Been quite a while since we have seen an update on that. Everything else is amazing!

[Digger]

Looks great! I may need to "borrow" your idea for the mounting bracket to get mine to clear the intake when I go EFI.

Sure thing. I can make you a few .pdf prints with dimensions when the time comes.

[Digger]

So, whats the status on your TBI? Been quite a while since we have seen an update on that. Everything else is amazing!

I drove the truck for one day yesterday. Tonight it goes back under the knife to begin installing the TBI setup. I spent 3 hrs last night reading through the Microsquirt install manuals, and another 1 hours staring under the dash and hood figuring out where to mount the computer. It's not big, but it does not tolerant engine bay heat, so it's going under the dash.

[D&D72]

Cool. looking forward to it almost as much as you!

[Digger]

Goodbye carburetor.
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TBI unit vs Holley
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Pulled out the fittings for the carb install
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Dropped on TBI unit and plumbed fuel lines to the regulator block
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Punching holes for the computer
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The computer needed to be mounted to its front face with the AMP connector sticking through the firewall. This required some spacers be made.
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Installed
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Not fancy, but this was my quick and dirty way of routing the large wideband O2 connectors through the body and mounting the wideband controller. I'll go back and make a proper mount later, but this works for now.
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Pulled the exhaust and welded in the O2 bung
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[Digger]

A whole lot of wiring.
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I got some cage-mounted mirrors for my birthday. If I get this thing running, I'll be running doorless this summer.
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I pulled the MSD distributor out and locked out the mechanical advance
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Uploading the latest firmware to the Microsquirt
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After verifying all the sensors worked, I test fired the engine. It's wasn't smooth, but everything was working, so I loom-tube'd the wiring and locked everything down
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Now I'm in the tuning phase, but I appear to be fighting a bad idle air valve. Even with power removed, it still won't suck the valve shut and the engine is idling at 1100 rpm. I messed around with an adjuster screw on the IAC, but is doesn't help much. The engine at least is running smooth at one point on the map, but until I get this idle valve resolved, I'm stuck.

[mickphatmac]

Damn you do good work!

So seriously, is there anything you can't weld, engineer, make, fabricate, wire, etc!!!???

So jealous!

[Jesus_man]

More info on the mirrors please!!

the TBI set up looks good so far. Some tuning to smooth it out or??

[Digger]

Damn you do good work!

So seriously, is there anything you can't weld, engineer, make, fabricate, wire, etc!!!???

So jealous!

Thanks for the compliment. I enjoy it, but this project is really starting to drag on me. I just want to drive the thing now and take the kids out exploring.

More info on the mirrors please!!

the TBI set up looks good so far. Some tuning to smooth it out or??

Here's a link for the mirrors.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00T6JOS4K/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
They are a little expensive, but they are cast aluminum and appear to be good quality. They were intended for UTVs, but have a 1.75" tubular mount, so they work well with my roll cage. The mirrors can also flip out of the way if impacted by a tree branch or if needed to be folded in.

Tuning went a little better last night. I scrubbed the pre-packaged / original VE, AFR, and timing tables the other night and used online table generators to get a new starting point based on my engine specs. (Thanks again Viperwolf for the dyno chart, that thing has been very useful) I'm still fighting the Ford IAC. I finally got it to shut using its own adjustment screw, but now it either sucks completely shut or pops wide open, it can't seem to find a happy medium. I have now honed in on stable idle values on all three tables. I think the AFR table is in good shape, but the VE needs some tweaking. I will say the engine is capable of idling at 350rpm when the IAC sucks shut.

[Digger]

Ugh, bumpers. I'm low on ideas

I'm trying to make something cool, something different, something functional. There is not a lot of innovation with bumpers, plus there are too many directions to go.

Here is where it sits tonight. It's rough, but hopefully getting somewhere.

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[Jesus_man]

What is your main structure going to be? Are you breaking plate or welding pieces together? Your design looks great, but I'm worried about strength between the frame rails.

[Kinder]

I'm happy to see a 8274 rendered! I've always wanted to see a modern design incorporating it, the '70s stuff is ugly.

[Digger]

What is your main structure going to be? Are you breaking plate or welding pieces together? Your design looks great, but I'm worried about strength between the frame rails.

Not 100% sure what the structure between the rails is going to be. I started by creating and FEA'ing bulletproof frame horn mounts, then hung some 2" receiver tubes from that. Now I'm working on the shape and style I want, then I'll go back and FEA the structure supporting the winch. I know already the winch will sit lower so it's not torquing the frame.

I will be breaking plates, but I need to design some tooling that is a cross between a bead roller and press brake to build the compound curves on the corners.

I'm happy to see a 8274 rendered! I've always wanted to see a modern design incorporating it, the '70s stuff is ugly.

I'm with you on that and there aren't any good options for a 8274 on a modern bumper.

[Rox Crusher]

I like the looks of it so far

I was thinking those front corner pieces were going to be made out of machined aluminum, like a fairlead kind of look