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Extreme Truck Class. D-50 build out. Chevy. 4.3L V6
After going through the VORRA Rule Book my build falls under the Extreme Truck Class.
LIVE FIRE??? You missed it. but there is a video on the last posts of the page.
Lets start out with the live build cam. Here you can look in and see whats going on. I'm usually in the shop after 3:00 Pm Pacific Time.
Links to parts and things used in the build can be found here.
http://www.mightyram50.net/vbulletin...-used-in-build
Nice looking build thread. You still got time to work on your truck with the board?seems like you did a lot in the past week for the board that's why.
thanks for taking your time for the board. But you can work on your truck too..
:p we wont get mad at ya.
Nothing new to the truck lately? either way keep up the great, excellent work
and keep us updated.Quote:
Originally Posted by l.k.
Ok everybody I found an engine and trans for the build out. It's a 97 Chevy 4.3 V6 Vortec, and the trany is a Tremec T56 6 speed. I found a guy on Craigslist that had the engine. Went to there place up in the foot hills. He had a tweeky friend with the trany. The first thing he asked me, "are you a cop" I guess they herd the scanner in my truck. They wanted $1500.00 for the set but, with some negation and them thinking I was a cop. I told them I would give them $450.00 and I would forget what they were cooking in the shed out back. You should have seen the look on there face when I said that. They thought they were going to get busted right there on the spot. But I told them I wasn't a cop until tomorrow morning. They were happy to get me a receipt load the stuff in the back of my truck and get me out of there real fast. Little did they know that I just look like a cop. Or if they would have read the side of the truck they would have see it said On Site Concrete Inc. with a phone number. Here is a pict of the parts. You just got to love a tweeker.
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Fri Feb 26, 2010 6:27 pm
Over came a large hurtle today. I went to the California DMV. Now in California there is a law called AB100 It lets 500 cars per year be registered by either the year of the engine or the body type. They normally are gone on the first day of the year by around 11Am. These things are like gold. I Once I found out that there was 150 left I new I had to have one to build the truck the way I wanted to. So I went to the DMV in Carmichael, what a joke that is. One hour in line just to get a bingo ticket. Then 2.5 hours to get to the person at the counter. Then they wanted to see the truck. I told them how can you see a truck if you drive it here to show them. Now I know that in talking to the department that gives this “paper of gold” out I can get it with out the truck. But they were stuck on stupid. I herd that the Folsom office knows how this works. So off I went. With an engine receipt and a junk slip for one of the trucks I have. After 4.5 hours there I had what I came for. Now the rules are simple. Have all the receipts you used to build the truck, OR build a car from a junked car but it can’t look like the car you junked. But when they ask you is the truck complete tell them YES, but it is at home. As for a price I gave them a round about cost of $13000.00. After a fee of $260.00 I’m now the proud owner of a constructed truck. Now to build the truck. Then there is the CHP,
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Well I just scored a frame from the neighbor behind me, Phil. He is a hot rod guy and has a 1932 Ford, real nice car he has put many hours in to it. I’ll get a pict up of it when I can. Well anyway he just gave me a 1996 Chevy Caprice frame it has 4 wheel disk brakes that came stock for the California Highway Patrol. So it looks like I have a new used front spindles and rear end. The rear end on the D-50 is 48 inch wide when measured from backing plate to backing plate. The Chevy is 56 inch so I will need to find some offset rims or do something to keep the truck some what stock looking. Well here is a pict what the ride height that I'm shooting for. Give or take 3 inch. If I can get a 6 inch suspension drop and a 10 up travel fo a total of 16 inch travel I will be satisfied. NOTE the two 4 X 12 blocks under the cab. This puts the bottom of the cab at the height of the stock bed. Now it's time to start building the roll cage frame
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Well the cab is now cleaned up and ready to start on the fabrication. I found a nice sharp air hammer bit trimmed the cab real easy. I just took my time and worked on the inside of a bend next to the line of spot welds or with a steel backer and she cut like butter. I cut out the inside of the doors in order to give my self 4 more inches of elbowroom in the cab. Once the roll cage gets started things get tight quick. I will start with the doors by using some square and round tubing to re-enforce the door skin. The whole cab can be picked up one person now. I would guess it’s around 185Lbs. I’ll try to get a weight on it before to long. Building the front suspension is going to be a little harder then I thought, due to the narrow with of the truck. I might be forced to widen and lengthen the wheelbase in order to accommodate the new suspensions. The doors are made stable again. I used 1 inch round tubing across the top of the door panels. Tacked it to the tubing across the top, then used ¾ inch square across the bottom of the door just under the door latch to the lower hinge mount. Added in ½ inch square tube between the two. I found that the ½ inch square fits nicely in the stock window channel. It makes it easy to weld to the back of the door just above the door latch. Just gives enough room to remove the latch. Once the roll cage is installed I will be able to put the inside door handle back in.
Well I just picked up an early block 4.3L V6 it’s a 1992 out of a GMC Jimmy.
She is one ugly suv. It came from my neighbor who owns Collage Oak towing here in Sacramento.
It was over heated pretty badly. It melted the guts right out of the temperature sensor. Other than that it looks to be a good engine to rebuild. I now can see the real differences between the 1997 Vortec engine and the 1992 non-vortec. One difference is the balance shaft in the vortec.
other differences are the hold down and guides on the roller lifters. Then there is the timing chain cover and bolt pattern. The oil pans are stamped steel non-vortec cast aluminum vortec.
Attachment 231 http://www.onsiteconcrete.net/d-50/4.3_oil_pans.jpg
The vortec came out of a Chevy S-10 the pan is about 1.5 inch taller. Looking at the back of the block the 97 vortec does not have freeze plugs in the bell housing area. The 92 block has a hole in the side for where a fuel pump would be mounted if it were carbureted. They just did not knock out the inner wall of the block casting. And of course there are the heads and the intake mounting bolts. Now I can use the Nascar manifold that is built for these engines. Oh and the Vortec engine had spun a rod. So it will make parts for the 92 if needed. Well I got the new older model 4.3 torn down and ready to go the machine shop. Every thing looks good inside this one. I should have pictures of the machine process when they get started on it. It will be a couple of weeks tell they get started on it.
Well I picked up the crank from the machine shop today. It was tanked and checked for cranks. It looks to be stock. I brought it home and DE-burred it tonight. It took about 2 hours. It’s not a 32 Lbs crank but it is cleaner then just a cast. The machine shop has another 4.3L V6 there right now. It came out of a bush grand national car. The guy that owns it paid $18000.00 for the engine used. I’ll snap some pictures of it. It’s an odd fire unit. The estimate of the rebuild that they are doing sits at $14000.00. It will make 500 Hp when they are done with it. Here are some before and after pictures of my crank, along with a side by side of a stock crank.
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Well I took the vortec heads over to Rex Hutchison Machine. There are 2 major changes between the Vortec and non-vortec heads. One is the intake mounting. The other is in the intake it’s self. The pictures below show the two set of heads I have. The NON-vortec head the intake airflow is directed in from the side of the valve. The air then swirls in to the piston in a counter clockwise direction. To add performance to this head you would grind out the ramp that is pointed out in the picture. Then you would open up the pockets in the bottom. This would take about 6 hours of labor on each head. That would cost $750 per head. The vortec head has very little that needs to be done. There is only a little pocket in the casting that needs to be cleaned up. I'll get some better picts these are from my phone.
I have also included picts of the Bush engine they have.
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Update. Well the machine shop, Rex Hutchison Racing Engines should start the block work next week. The block is good but there was one little crack in one of the Vortek heads. I’ll try to get some pictures of the work. But in the mean time I decided to go ahead and buy a front-end kit instead of building one from scratch. It should save me around 4 weeks of design and 4 weeks of build time. I’m going with a kit from Total Chaos. So I went out and picked up front spindles from a 2000 Nissan Frontier 4X2 V6. The kit is right at $3000.00. On a stock Nissan the kit will give 13 inch of travel. This is limited by the stock bump stops on the lower part of the frame. So after talking with Total Chaos I should be able to get the 18 inches of travel I’m looking for. Now I just need to go get stock frame bushing mounts and elliptical cam adjusters from Nissan. It will take around four weeks to send out the spindles and have the fabrication done. Here is a picture of their kit and some pictures of the first VORRA race of the season here in Sacramento. The trucks in the pictures is using the kit I have on order. Except for the one that did an endo...
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Just picked up the new front end. It is off of a 2000 Nissan Xterra. The suspension kit is ordered and should have it by May. I was able to order it direct from the builder. They are meeting a group of Vorra Racers and handing it off to them then it will find it's way to me. No shipping charge http://www.mightyram50.net/phpbb3/im...icon/smile.gif As for the cost so far here is what I have. Complete front spindles $400, frame $175, power steering box $200 long travel kit $3121. Total $3896
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OK here is a rundown on the secret world of the machine shop. I just spent an hour or so here cleaning up some of my parts. Here are some things to keep in mind when talking to, and to looking for one to use. I’m using Rex Hutchison Race Engines.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/rexm...ate_engine.jpg
Rex Hutchison has been building engines since the flat head was king.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/rexmachine/Rex.jpg
One of the problems with a shop is the lack of time spent on an engine. When you take an engine to a shop take a look around
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/rexmachine/Rex_shop.JPG
and see just what kind of money is sitting there.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/rexm...e_building.jpg http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/rexm..._big_block.jpg http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/rexm...wer_engine.jpg http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/rexm...illet_rods.jpg
I mean the type of engines and equipment. Is it just stock blocks or are there a 4 or 5 big money engines there under construction.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/rexm...e_dry_sump.jpg
With Rex there are engines that range from stock to 11000 Horse Power costing around $80,000 bucks or more.
What are the steps your engine will go through. First thing that needs to happen after washing
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/rexm...parts_wash.jpg
is to magnaflux every thing. For most places this is a standard practice. The two main types of testing is Dye and Powder.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/rexm...esting_rod.jpg http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/rexm...ting-_head.jpg
Now one big thing the shop must use is an ultra sound thickness gauge. They will need to take at least 2 readings. two measure the bore. Top and bottom.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/rexm...linderwall.jpg
One problem with a block is there is no way to easily measure the wall thickness of a block. Before you bore a block you need to find out how thick the cylinder wall is. If you bore it over .030 you might have too thin of a wall and the engine can crack a cylinder or get hot spots when running. Once you use an ultra sound on the cylinder you can find the thinnest cylinder wall and rough size the bore accordingly. Making sure to have plenty of cylinder wall left.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/rexm...rough_bore.jpg
Just because a block has never been rebuilt doesn’t ensure that it is a good block.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/rexm..._block_web.jpg
Next comes the line bore for the main bearings.
Now comes the wet hone
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/rexm...Rough_hone.jpg
Normally they should be done in four steps. (NOTE the next picture has an adapter bolted on to keep the fine hone in line with the bore so you can get the top edge honed correctly.)
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/rexm.../fine_hone.jpg
This will put the cool little lines in the cylinder. These lines are very important. With out them the piston rings will never seat and will leak compression gas and oil. These lines must intersect at a 60-degree angle. During this hole process the cylinders must be repeatedly checked for taper and proper bore size. Bore size is determined by the new pistons that are going in and the ultra sound test. Here is one of my new pistons for my V6.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/rexm...TRW_piston.jpg
You must hone out to the final size. This takes quite some time to get it right. Every time you go to a finer stone you must take out less and less material and sneak up on the final bore diameter.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/rexm...king_taper.jpg
Onto the heads. Heads will always be checked for cracks. But if you are going for some power you will need the shop to port the heads. First they CC the combustion chamber then cut the deck or just check for twist depending on what compression ratio you want to get. Then we replace the valves and seats.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/rexm...eGrindSeat.jpg
Then we perform a vacuum test to check our work.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/rexm.../vac_bench.jpg
Now they will work on porting and run them on a flow bench.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/rexm...flow_bench.jpg
So now it’s time to work on the crank. They will polish it if possible,
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/rexm...ank-polish.jpg
if you had spun a bearing or lost oil pressure they must grind down the bad journal.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/rexm...k_grinding.jpg
Now it can be rechecked for journal run out.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/rexm...nk_run_out.jpg
Last but not least of the fun stuff is the spin balance. In this step we must know a couple of things. First is the weight of connecting rod. This is combined with the weight of the piston and the rings. To simulate the pistons and connecting rods you clamp on these adjustable weights.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/rexm...all_static.jpg
Now we can spin it up to speed.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/rexm..._ball-spin.jpg
During this test we can find out where the heavy spots are. There is a meter on the balancer that shows witch end of the crank is heavy and how high from center is the heavy spot. There is a strobe light that flashes on the crank so you can reference the crank to find the heavy spot to drill.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/rexm..._vs_forged.jpg
We must not forget about the flywheel and pressure plate. If this is out of balance then all the work done on the crank was a waste of time and money. So give them all of your parts.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/rexm...rag_clutch.jpg http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/rexm...h_ballance.jpg
One thing that they will do before starting to balance the flywheel and clutch is they should resurface the flywheel. Here is an 11-pound flywheel being ground. The small shiny circle about 1 inch wide is the surface for the clutch.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/rexm...heel_grind.jpg
Well it’s time to put in the cam and start to work on the valve train. One of the biggest things a shade tree mechanic will do is go out and buy the biggest roller rockers they can find then wonder why the engine runs like crap. When setting up the valves you need to get the correct rockers. The rockers must match the cam profile you are using. I just saw a guy bring his car to Rex and asked them to look at it. First thing wrong was the engine had no breather. It was running under a vacuum. Next they has 36 degrees of advance. They put in a cam and rockers on stock compression and heads. I hope this helps to clear up what a machine shop does or does not do.
Well my block has been honed to the piston size.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil...after_hone.jpg
The new pistons are .030 over sized flat top. This should give me a final compression ratio of 9.50 to 1.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Build/My-TRW_piston.jpg
Here is my new ceramic, 6 puck clutck disk. It took 2 weeks to build and ship in. It's a 10.5 inch 3.10 LBS
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil...lutch_disk.jpg
I started burning wire tonight. The 2 X 4 box tubing is squared and tacked to the Extera front end. The roll cage will go fast.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Build/frame1.jpg
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Build/frame2.jpg
My crank was balanced today. Or I should say they started on it today. I just happened to show up there when Mike, the crank and head guy was working on it. He was having a problem with the balance. He was trying to figure out why the balance was so far off. Apparently the 4.3 V6 even fire engines have a built in unbalance to them. The odd fire is not as bad. The crank is a total of 180 Grams under weight. 180 Grams under is nearly un heard of. But then again this is a Chevy V6. There known as the little shaker. They did not have the right weights to finish the balance. They need to order them in. 5 days. One weight is in LA and the other they need is in Minnesota. I can’t figure out for the life of me why GM or any other manufacture would have an engine so out of balance that they need to have a counter shaft. If they would just balance the engine to begin with they would not need the horsepower robbing balance shaft. But I can only guess that it must be cheaper for the manufacture to just drop in the shaft and keep production rates high VS spending the extra time to do the job right the first time.
If you look at the picture you can see the added weight simulators on the left and right of the crank. It’s a bolt with a copper weight on it locked between big counter weights.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil...ballancing.jpg
It’s parts day. I picked up my rear trailing arms. They will go over to the strippers then get a new coat of paint some new bushings and new uniballs.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Build/trailing_arm.jpg
Here is the front end. I should be able to get about 14 inch of travel. It has uniballs with high misalignment spacers instead of ball joints.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Build/a_arm_lower.jpg
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Build/a_arm_upper.jpg
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Build/uniball.jpg
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Build/spindle.jpg
My new Quick Time bell housing from D & D transmission was the wrong one. It’s was for a Ford. So they are going to send me another one. Hope it will be right this time. I will replace the pictures with better ones soon.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil...me_housing.jpg
I now have a rear end. It’s out of 1995 Isuzu Rodeo. It has disk brakes. The gear ratio is 4.10 Dana 44. I put in a Limited Slip carrier in the unit. It’s an Auburn Gear unit. Part # 542083. Apparently the Rodeo came with an option for several types of gear ratios. One was a limited slip. These are quite rare to find. The brakes use a disk / drum design. The parking brake is a small drum brake inside the disk rotor. This is now pretty much a standard design for most cars now. Some other cars rear disk brakes had a mechanical lever on the caliper for parking. This type takes a special tool to “un wind” the caliper cup. Those suck to work on.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil...nd_dana-60.jpg
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil...end_brakes.jpg
I found a good local place to supply nearly all of the custom parts I need. They are called http://www.ruffstuffspecialties.com I went to there shop and picked up a couple of tabs that I needed to start to put the rear end together. I also changed the pictures of the front end page so you can get a better idea of how that works. And my bell housing arrived today. The correct one. Now I can put together my mock up block and build mounts. If you get a chance check out ruff stuff web site. They have adaptors that can be used to put disk brakes on a rear end. To make it fit a MM or D-50 there might be some additional work. But I would bet there is a smart guy on this board that can make the parts work. For all you “Air Bag” lovers out there, they have a large selection of trick tabs and weld on things for 3-link suspension. Including Heim joints of all size. They even have the parts to build tie rods with Heim joints.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil...ng_corect1.jpg
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Build/ruff_stuff1.jpg
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Build/ruff_stuff2.jpg
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Build/ruff_stuff3.jpg
I put on the bell housing today. In the process of starting the job I took the bolts out of the package and found out that they are to short. Yes they are cool allen head bolts but they are ½ inch short. They only came out of the trany by 3 threads. I also discovered that the steel housing was tapped with worn taps. So when I check the bolt holes with the bolts that came in the package it was like putting a pipe plug in the hole. Sloppy until the bolt reached the last thread but to short to bottom out. So to over come this problem I used longer bolts. And to insure that they wont pull the threads I used blue LocTite and backed it up with a jam nut. Problem solved. Sorry about the fuzzy pictures it's a cell phone.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Build/trany_bolt1.jpg
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Build/trany_bolt2.jpg
Rear trailing arm up date. I was able to finish up the trailing arms today. I installed the new 1-inch Uniballs. Then I worked on the bushings. The new ones were to long by about 1/8 inch. So I needed to cut them down. After marking them with a black pen, I used a bolt and a nut as a clamp, then placed it in the drill press and spun it up and held a hack saw up to the bushing. This worked great. I was able to cut them down with in a whisker of what I need them to be. After cutting them I touched them up with a grinder and was ready to make the bushing center shaft. The shaft is made of .095 tubing cut to 3 inch. I used a square to true the ends up. Now it was time for the axel Uniball mounts. The Uniballs go down on the rear end. The brackets came from a local builder, Rough Stuff. So far all I had to do was make the hole into a ¾ inch. I will need to cut down the long one to get the correct angel for the 3-link suspension.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil...arms_ready.jpg
Ok here is the new rear end. It’s a 1997 Isuzu Rodeo with a Dana 44. The first thing I did was to send it over to the stripers and put in limited slip. Then I cut off the spring perches.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Build/rearend_ready.jpg
Next it was tine to build the truss for the 3-link suspension. When building a 3-link suspension you must keep in mind what the pumpkin is made of. If it was forged steel you could weld right on to it. But if it’s cast you had better stay away form trying to weld on it. Cast iron is pours. This means that there is little tiny air pockets throughout the casting, and you can’t weld anything structural to it. Because it will crack along the weld. So in order to build a rear end that will hold up to the riggers of off road, you can go out and spend $800 to $1000 bucks on a housing or just bridge over a stock rear end. Here is the 2X6 tube truss being fitted. I used a peace of cardboard, and cut a pattern that I used as a template to clear the pumpkin. Keep in mind that the under side of the tubing needs to be boxed back together, so leave some clearance around the dif.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil...s-building.jpg
After getting it to where you like it be careful not to weld too much at one time or you will bend the housing. First tack it together above the dif. Wile it's clamped down to the housing. Then fully weld it off the rear end on the bench.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil...ng_rearend.jpg
Box in the underside of the truss over the differential. Once cool you can place it on the rear end. Now you will need to have a bucket of water and a rag. Put on some heavy tack welds to connect it to the housing. You only want to weld 1.5 inches at a time working around the housing in a diagonal pattern to keep twisting to a minimum. After welding each area, cool the weld with water until you can grab it and hang on. You want to keep things as cool as possible.
Here is a picture of the new fabricated differential cover next to the stock one and a picture of the finished rear end.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil..._dif_cover.jpg
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Build/rearend_done.jpg
It’s been a busy week. It seems like every time I take one step forward missing or wrong parts take me back one step. Only one E brake cable came in. Then Nissan ordered the wrong bushings. They orderd front lower “A” arm not the rear. That’s even after I pointed to the correct one on his computer screen. Even after the problems I was able to get some things finished. The engine and trany is place and the body is centered on the frame.
Here is the trany mount and the 2 X 4 square box tubing I made it out of.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil...unt_build1.jpg
Now it was time to place the engine and center the body on the frame. But how do you figure where to place the body in relation to the “A” arm mounts, or even the engine and trany? Where or how do you start? Well here is what I did. First I would need to find the centerline of the front spindles. To do this I placed the upper “A” arms in the frame then ran a string between the two. I then marked the frame with a pen then used a peace of tape and used silver paint to make a permanent mark. You can see it in the picture below.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil...centerline.jpg
Now I can measure back from that line, the distance from the spindle to the cab on my other truck and apply this to the new build. From there I dropped in the engine and trany. Once I found the sweet spot for the shifter I raised it up to its final height in relation to the cab. Keep in mind that the cab must be raised off the frame rails. After securing the engine and trans with a jack stand and floor jack we lifted the cab back off. Now I centered the engine and trans to the frame. It came out with in 1/16 of an inch after building.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Build/enging_mount.jpg
Finely it’s time to bend some tubing for the trany mount. It’s been 12 years since I last ran my tubing bender, I hope I don’t make to much scrap metal.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Build/tubing_bender.jpg
Now that the trany mount was welded it was time to put my helper to work. This is Nate. He is 20 years old. He is my neighbor’s son. He has been doing manual labor things off and on around my house since he was 17. I finally have him trained enough to turn off the phone, listen to what I want done, and show him once. He can normally get it done with out too much guidance. Today was his first day of fabrication and mechanic training. Righty tighty, lefty loosy is a new concept for the boy. He will get it in a couple more days.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Build/nate_help.jpg
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Build/nate_help1.jpg
Once Nate got the parts cleaned up with the Tiger Paw it was time to do the final fittings. The trany mount worked out just fine. It didn’t change shape, or didn’t need to be forced into place. She matched right up to the trany and mounts. Now the engine and trany are sitting in the frame.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil...ounts_done.jpg
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil...mount_done.jpg
As some of you know there is now a live video feed from my house on the build, where you can see and here what is going on. If you haven’t seen it yet go and take a look. I have worked out most of the bugs but there is still some fine-tuning left to do. I want to create a code that can load onto the board, so that when you click the link it will open an other browser or just a pop up with the player in it. You need to use Internet Explorer to see the video feed. I’ll work on that soon. You can find a link under the photos and media section. Or here. CLICK HERE FOR FULL SCREEN LIVE FEED This will open up your Windows player. This ends the problem that others were having.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Build/live_feed.jpg
Well the last couple of days have been real busy so I guess it’s time for an update before I get to far behind. During this time I was able to get the cab mounts done, find and set the wheelbase, square the rear end, and get the rear trailing arm mounts built. First up was the cab mount. I was thinking of reusing the stock ones but that turned out to be a waste of cutting gas and time. So I built the new ones out of 2 X 4 box tubing with a ¼ inch thick plate steel washer on top of it. I currently have the cab configured to use some ¼ inch rubber as a sandwich below and above the cab. This may change during the build to a taller designee for clearance reasons so I saved my old rubber mounts. Well part of them.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil...ount_front.jpg
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil...mount_rear.jpg
First I need the washers from the stock mounts. They will be used on the inside of the cab. If you go out and look at the stock mounting bolts, you will see that the cab is held down by some very small bolts. Lucky for us that the whole cab is only about 150 pounds. Including the front. My cab is somewhere around 120 pounds. With two guys you can lift it above your head.
Here is an easy way to remove steel parts from rubber. Just use the Propane torch.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil...ng_bushing.jpg
Now I found a neat trick to drilling a hole in rubber. Everyone out there at some point has tried to drill a clean hole in some rubber with a drill bit. Just to discover that it is a pain in the ass. There are some special tools just for drilling in rubber but there hard to find and pricey. So first I used a standard whole saw to cut the large diameter. This has worked great for years. But I need to make a clean 5/8 hole in the center. My salutation was a flat wing bit for wood. The ones I used have a small tang on the outside edge. This made a nice round circle before the flat cutter removed the center mass. WOW this worked better then a Government oil well plug. And made a clean hole to boot.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil...ing_rubber.jpg
Here is the rear trailing arm mounts. Now it’s time to work on the pinion and “U” Joint angles between the trany and the dif. The mounts are 2 X 6 box tubing that has been internally gusseted and top gusseted.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil...arm_mount1.jpg
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil...arm_mount2.jpg
The rear end is now finished. Here are just some of the things to keep in mind when doing a 3 or 4-link suspension. Here is a good reference to help you decide how to set up the rear end of your truck. It’s a long read but the information is put together well. Please reed some of it befor going on to the lower part of this section. Some parts from the other site will help you with the fallowing pictures.http://www.sporttruck.com/techarticl...ign/index.html
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Build/Rear_end_done.jpg
Now for my truck I need to keep a long travel and be able to make it drive like a raped ape on the street. So the first thing I did was square up the rear end. Then build the 3rd link. Now I need to find the Instant Center.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil...nt_center1.jpg
This is what will determine how much the truck will rise in the rear, under heavy acceleration. At first the wishbone was set to high over the frame. This put my instant point too far out in front of the truck. This meant that the back of the truck would lift during heavy throttle. So I lowered the front of the front of the wishbone by 4 inch. This moved it to the front of the engine and put it right around the camshaft at ride height. At this point it should give me a roll center right around my seat bottom. One thing to keep in mind is that you always want to put torque to the same point. I ran my upper arms to the cross member then added square box tubing to the lower trailing arm mounts.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil..._arm-mount.jpg
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil...nt_center2.jpg
The way to find the Instant center is to put a line through the lower trailing arm and upper link arm. Extend the line until they meet at some point. This point is the instant center.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil...nt_center3.jpg
NOTE The string lines show how torque is transferd through the frame to the instant center.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil...nt_center4.jpg
Now here I lifted the truck up to the ride height. It sits at 24 inches.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Build/ride_higth.jpg
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil...-supension.jpg
From this point I started to work on the shock angles and shock length I will need an 8-inch shock for the front. The front end gets 12 inch of wheel travel. While the rear end gets 18 inches of wheel travel while needing only a 12-inch shock.
This is the front suspension from full droop to full bump stop.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Build/droop_stop.jpg
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Build/bump_stop.jpg
Keep in mind that when the Beer starts the work stops. So don’t let a one eye guy into your shop. You are just asking for trouble.
Ron and my dog J.D. AKA: Jane Doe
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Build/ron.jpg
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Build/jd.jpg
I guess it’s time for an update. The temperature is a warm 98 today. So I will just get caught up on the build until it cools off. The main part of the cabin is near complete. I have the seat mounting bars set in place, and the seat belt bars are in. For the guys that want to use a 5-point harness in your truck there are basic things to keep in mind about belts. First use a 3-inch belt. Avoid the 2-inch belt at all cost. They can do more damage to you in an accident then the stock belt. It comes down to simple weight distributions. The more surface the better. A 2-inch belt will bend into taco shape and now you have a ¼ inch rope for a belt. Not a good feeling. This is why they have banned them in nearly all forms of racing. Second DO NOT mount the shoulder belts above the Scapula of your back, Or shoulder blades. If it is to high then you can crack your spinal cord or sever your head during a crash. This would make for a good story on the 5 PM news. Head flies off during roll. Witness says, it looked like he said “holey shit” as it flue over. During a crash you can experience up to 165Gs of force. So keep in mind a seatbelt must not be pinched or have anything that can cut it with in 2 inches of it at all times. You should also think about the direction of forces applied to it. Keep bends and curves flowing not sharp.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil...t_mounting.jpg
Now here is the main cab structure with some gussets installed. The cross bracing has yet to be installed. So far I have used 60 feet of 1 ½ inch .095-wall tubing and 20 feet of .120 wall tubing just to get this far.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil...e_animated.gif
I have had a couple of people ask what it takes to build a good roll cage. Well here I go.
If you want to build a cage for your truck there is some tools you will need. First is the welder. Go out and find a good 220 Volt mig welder. You can use Argon Co2 mix or just Co2. Don’t use flux core. Straight Argon is for Aluminum I have used Co2 for many years and have just become accustom to how it works. A large tank can last me up to 10 years or more at home. I just replaced one of my tanks after 15 years of use. It went through 5 of the big rolls of .030 wires. Co2 burns hotter than Argon mix and you can burn through thin wall steel. It just takes time to get good. I will get into welding later on.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Build/6-25/welder.JPG
Now you need to find a mandrel bender. DO NOT get a pipe bender. There are some ratcheting low cost ones that work OK and make nice bends. You can find them here.
http://www.tubing-benders.com/?gclid...FQ4iawod4Gxx3A
But if you really want to do the job right then you can expect to spend around 1200 bucks for a good quality tool. Here is a good source for tools and lots of other things you will need to do the job. Keep in mind if you buy something good you only need to buy it once. They still make and sell the tools I picked up back in 1997. You can get a low buck tubing notcher.
http://www.irvansmith.com/scart/index.php
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil...be_notcher.JPG
Now when it comes to tools you get what you pay for. I have spent the last 20 years filling up my box. Yard sales, auctions things like that. I set a goal and then collect parts until I have enough to get going on it. Here is my garage and some supplies that people have tossed out that I have found over the years. My nut and bolt collection was a major score.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Build/6-25/tool_box.JPG
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil...nuts_bolts.JPG
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Build/6-25/shop1.JPG
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Build/6-25/shop2.JPG
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Build/6-25/visegrip.JPG
Now lets talk a little about welding.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Build/6-25/sign.JPG
"When welding tubing you need to keep an eye on the fit of the tubing." If you have a large gap then you will “burn through” You can fill the gap but it takes time and every time you start and stop the fusion of the metal you take a chance of O2 getting into the weld and producing a pimple or “zit hole”. If you have the gas flow up to high wile using Co2 you can over heat the steel. I run around 12 Cubic Inch Hour. At this rate I can get a good Spray of metal. There are times when it can be an advantage to use a Globular transfer method, manley when filling a large gap between to parts. If the gap is large or the parts are thin there is the option to noodle weld.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Build/6-25/spray.gif
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Build/6-25/glob.gif
Make the fit on your tubing as tight as you can. Spend the extra time and do it right, there is no shortcut in frame building. Remember the forces that will be applied to the cage.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil...tube_prep1.JPG
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil...tube_prep2.JPG
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil.../tube_weld.JPG
Let’s talk about getting heads ported. My heads have been ported and are ready to be assembled. You will have many people tell you about valve seats and angles. 1,2, or 3 angle grinds. But when you look to improve performance you only need to look as far as the first 2 inch down the ports. Most improvement to air flow is right below and next to the valve. The head on my engine is within .020 of the intake gasket hole and the intake manifold porthole. When it comes to porting a head you need to open up the area right below the valve seat. The exhaust valve seat and valve has a radius seat. Not an angle cut. This allows for better flow of gas out of the combustion chamber. The intake has a 3-angle grind. This allows for a better seal so combustion gases can’t escape into the intake and cause a backfire.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil...alve_port1.jpg
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil...alve_port2.jpg
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil...alve_port3.jpg
One thing I have seen people do is put larger valves in to a head. This can create larger problems and is more costly to do. The only time you need larger valves is if you are building a blown engine or top fuel car. But if you are dead set on larger valves then just go out and pick up heads that are built with them. It will save you in the end. One thing you should do is look to see how close the valve is to the wall of the combustion chamber. On some heads the valve is very close. So by just clearance that area you can greatly improve the flow. Here is a head that has been clearanced to allow for greater flow. It was opened up by .050 that may not seem like a lot but when you deal with 1000s of an inch it is a lot.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil...alve_port4.jpg
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil...alve_port5.jpg
Rear frame is now DONE..........
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/temp/rear_cage_done.gif
The machine shop started on my engine today BUT then they called me to confirm some information. The final decisions are are now made for the engine. 500 cfm carb. 6000 RPM redline. 6800 RPM free spin. Revlimiter set to 5700 RPm. Power band from 1500 RPM to 5000 RPM. Now with that change the cam profile changed from the first idea of using fuel injection. Larger selection of cams. So now with the new cam comes diferant roler lifters. Diferant valve springs. And gear drive. ARP head studs and rod bolts. 7 QT oil pan. Millings high volume oil pump. I don't want to spend another $4200 to dry sump it. But that would give me another 50 HP and push it to 400 HP. 27 LB lightend fly wheel. Flat top pistons 9.7 to 1 compression. Port and polish job, Raidous exhuast valve grind, 3 angle intake grind. Mainfold port and angle matching. Roler rockers. Custom leingth chrome alloy push rods. I will put together a full speck sheet when the engine is done along with a price sheet.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/temp/inside.jpg
Time for the engine update now that’s it’s built.
Here is my engine builder Glenn Hutchison. He has been working for his dad and building race engines for nearly 30 years.
The business is located in Sacramento Ca. If you want to have them build you an engine don’t be in a hurry. The big race engines come first unless that’s what you want and can spend. They can be reached at 916-483-9563.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil...-hutcheson.jpg
They have engines shipped to them from all around the globe to be built up. They curently have 4 big blocks in from Australia. They run around $80,000 to rebuild. Since I didn’t have that kind of cash to burn I just let them do there thing at there owne speed. It shows in the work they do. My block was clean enough you could eat off of it.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil...ne_rolling.gif
Here is the long awaited engine specifications for the Chevy 4.3 L V6.
I used a 1992 GMC Jimmy 4.3L V6 early model block. No counter shaft on the early model blocks. The heads are 1997 Vorteh heads.
We will start off by telling you that the exhaust valves have a radius cut. This improves the flow. The pockets have been ported and polished out. The intake and heads have been port matched. The intake flange angles have been matched to the heads. The intake valves now have a 3 angle grind.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil...eat_cuting.jpg
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil...alve_port2.jpg
Specifications:
Comp Cam
Part Number: 09-430-8 Grind Number: C43 280H-R10
Lifter Type: HYD. Roller
Engine Family: Chevrolet 4.3 liter 262 c.i. 90° 6 CYL. 1980-1997
Description: Hydraulic Roller-Limited high performance street use. Needs intake, headers & stall, 3.73 to 4.10 gears. Mild rough idle.
Cam Family: Magnum™ 1987-Present Originally Equipped With Hydraulic Roller Camshafts, NON-BALANCE SHAFT
Specifications
RPM Range: 2000 to 5500
Valve Timing: 0.006
Lobe-Center Angle: 110
Intake Center-line: 106
Intake Exhaust
Valve Lash: HYD. HYD.
Duration: 280 280
Duration @ .050" Lift: 224 224
Valve Lift: 525 525
Lobe Lift: 352 352
Valve Timing @ 0.006 Lift:
Exhaust Closes 26 ATDC Opens 74 BBDC
106 Center-line
Intake 34 Opens BTDC 66 Closes ABDC
PRW Race Roller lifters.
PRW 350 Stainless Steel Roller Rockers.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil...rocker_set.jpg
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Build/9-2-10/rocker.jpg
Block Bore Dia. 4.030.
Cam Gear Drive.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil...ming_gears.jpg
Crank Saddle Bore Dia. 2.641.
Federal Mogul TWR Forged Piston.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil...10/pistons.jpg
Chamber VOL. 62cc.
Comp Ratio 10.1:1.
Rings Perfect Circle 40564 CP .030.
Rods are stock.
Duel Head Springs MFG.Ed Iskenderian #6005.
135 LBS. Press.
ARP Rod Bolts and Head Studs.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Build/9-2-10/studed.jpg
Edelbrock Intake #2111.
Edelbrock Carb 650 CFM 4 barrel EDL-1806.
Edelbrock Carb Spacer # 9266.
MSD #6430 Ignition MSD 6TN/6ALN NASCAR CD Ignitions.
MSD #8597 Ignition – MSD Pro-Billete Distributors.
MSD #8680 – MSD Adjustable Timing Control.
MSD #8252 Ignition Coil, Blaster HVC, E-Core, Square, Epoxy, Blue, 42,000 V,
Champ Oil pan.
Millings High Volume Oil Pump.
HP 350.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil...er_rockers.jpg
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil...gine_built.jpg
Now on to the rims, brakes and stud problems. I would like to thank every one that voted on the rims. Well you said to get the ones with the larger holes and that is what I did. The first problem was the studs. With the new aluminum rims the stock studs were too short. So off I went to the parts store with a vernier caliper and 1 stud from the front and rear hubs. After several hours I found some that would work. The front ones were a direct replacement with no modification. But the rear was another story. The rear is now a 1997 Isuzu Rodeo Dana 44. The new studs were the correct length I needed but the shoulders were to long. So I had to grind them down to allow the brake rotor to lay flat on the hub. The best way to grind them down evenly was to put them in them in the drill press chuck and spin them while I hit them with the grinder.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil...d_grinding.JPG
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil...ud_seating.JPG
Now to make sure that the rotor was seating all the way down flat on the hub I used my paint pen. I made some marks on the hubs and then placed the rotor on the hub. If it seats the paint will transfer to the rotor. I had 1 or 2 studs that did not allow the rotor to lay flat. So I then used a counter sink bit to take off just a little bit from the inside of the rotor around the stud holes. Keep in mind that rotors are made of some soft material so its easy to remove to much real quick. Installing new studs is easy with a lug nut and some washers. Just use the impact gun and they go on real fast with no banging of the hammer or chance of shocking bearings.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil...t_matching.JPG
Parking Brakes.
This was a challenge in it’s self to figure out how to connect a 1980 D-50 parking system to a 1997 Isuzu Rodeo. I was able to use the stock parts for some of the transfer. Parking lever, cable and mechanical leverage with saddle that is located under your truck. I did need to flip the mounting bracket upside down to accommodate the new trany mount and location. Next was the process of attaching the Isuzu cables to the intermediate cable. I had to have a cable made up that you'd give me lots of adjustment in three places. Then I had to figure out how to connect the adjusting ends to the Isuzu cable ends. Isuzu uses some hammer head style cable ends. So how do you go from this to a threaded rod end? Well the best thing I could come up with is what you see here.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil...cable_end1.JPG
This is not the finished product. You want to pull a cable in a straight line when ever you can The finished part has a 90 degree off set to alien the cables. I used a peace of solid rod that I threaded to receive the new cable ends. The Hammer Head ends worked them self out with the use of two frame gussets. This made for a nice clean clamp that could not let go of the ends when torqued down. More pictures on the brake system to come. Please look back later for an up date.
Exhaust System is built..
Attachment 22720
The truck went to the Header and exhaust shop over the last two weeks. I took it to a guy called “Dom”
His web site is http://www.dgheaders.com
Dom and his dad have a shop in Auburn Ca. called M & M Mufflers.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil..._m_muffler.JPG
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Build/11-15-10/dom.JPG
Him and his father have been building header for drag boats and Salt Flat cars for years. Here is there car they drive in Utah. The last time they went they broke the rear end at 165 MPH and spun the car around but it did stay up right,,,, this time.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil...0/salt_car.JPG
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Build/11-15-10/dom2.JPG
The headers had to be split into single tubes to allow for removal from the truck. Each header tube 34.25 inches long, then run down to the 3 into 1 collectors. Here is the left header under construction.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil...10/header1.JPG
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil.../colector1.JPG
It was a two week fight to get the system to fit the truck. He was hopping to run a single pipe system but that had to be changed to a duel system. Due to the lack of space and all the moving parts of the 3 link rear end. There was just no way to get it over the rear end, and keep it out of the way. Here is the finished system. Next it goes out for the ceramic coating guy. This should make for some interesting pictures. I have no idea how what the process is.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil...ght_header.JPG
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil...eft_header.JPG
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil...10/exhuast.JPG
http://www.http://mightyram50.net//d...ast_wraped.gif
Time for a quick update.
Here is the KRC Pully system and power steering pump. The water pump is a Stewart stage 4 water pump. It pumps 120 GPM @ 48 PSi. I need the high volume and pressure to pump the water to the radiator located above the engine and in the rear of the truck. The High PSI is to break through any stem pockets that may rear there ugly head when running it hard.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil...lly_system.jpg
Here is the installed 4 inch Air Bump stops on the front end. The Fox Bump Stops will be pressurized some where around 250 PSI with Argon. Why Argon? Argon has a larger atom then Nitrogen and is a true inert gas unlike Nitrogen that is really close. Nitrogen causes the oils in a shock to foam. But it is less expensive. But since I have Argon I'll use it. Other wise I would need to get a tank of Nitrogen.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil.../bump_stop.jpg
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil.../full_lift.jpg
This is the front end at full bump. I limited the front to 13 Inches of wheel travel on the front end.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil.../full_bump.jpg
Here is where the spare tire will be located on the back of the truck. I only took about 6 hours to come up with the final location. I had to work it around the battery's that are located directly under it. The Radiator is a CBR 3 core duel pass 16" X 32" It is rated up to 1100HP for BTU displacement. It also has duel electric fans.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil...spair_tire.jpg
Time for a quick update. I got the dash finished up and have started on the electrical.
The dash turned out OK for not having a break. I used 2 chunks of angle iron in a vice. Then pushed very carefully. I used my Di-grinder with a surface prep disk on it to make it shiny, then gave is a clear coat and called it done. Now the gauges will cost around $1800.00 to fill all the holes. The gauges to be used are. Oil Pressure, Oil Temp, Water Temp, Water Pressure, Volt, Fuel Level, Fuel Pressure, Wide Band Air Fuel Ratio, Tach. and hour meter. Blow is a video of the gauges in action from Auto Meter.
Lay Out
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil...ashslayout.jpg
The Brake Bias allows me to adjust front to rear bias control on the fly.
Turn the knob to the right = more front braking. To the left = more rear brake.
The Timing control allows for change in fuel Octane and altitude with out having to adjust the Dist. Turn it to the right = More Advance.
The line lock allows for front brake lock up.
Raw Dash
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Build/2-4-11/dash.jpg
Finished Dash
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil...1/dash_001.jpg
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil...1/dash_002.jpg
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil...1/dash_003.jpg
After receiving the gauges I discovered that the drawing I received from Autometer was incorrect. The mounting thumb screws hit the dash top. So I had to use a block and dolly to make a step in the top. So now it's black.
Attachment 1085
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil.../fusepanle.jpg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScpD86Dy5es
Yo marty, theres a few pictures I havent seen before on this thread. Interesting that I missed em cause I like pictures. Lets me overlook the words. Lol.
Would still really love to see some pics of how the old dash came out, and how you boxed in the new aluminum. It's just sexy as all hell, frees up space a s**t-ton, and...did I mention sexy?
More than capable in the metal fab department, and my uncle does it for a living if I need access to anything special (press brake, punch, etc).
Been thinking more and more of a black anodized dash!
Hard to believe that thing started life as a D50, awesome job on it.
To remove the dash here is the manual. It starts on page 23.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Fact...HEET_METAL.pdf
Here is how it mounts. Not pretty but it holds solid. I built the hold dash with out a brake or shear. If I had that it would have saved me time. But it turned out OK for using the vise and 2 peaces of angle iron. I need to order my intercom. It will go on the far right of the dash and hook up to the CB and phone.
http://www.mightyram50.net/vbulletin...ntid=278&stc=1 http://www.mightyram50.net/vbulletin...ntid=279&stc=1 I have 2 of the 6 shocks on order, I have the
2.5 inch rear coil overs coming. Should be about 4 weeks. http://offroadwarehouse.com/ecom/ima...BLK-200-02.jpg
The bypass shocks I want to use are Piggy back as well. But if I need to I will use the remote reservoir units.
http://offroadwarehouse.com/ecom/ima..._Reservoir.jpg http://offroadwarehouse.com/ecom/ima...x200.111-a.jpg
Wow. Still more suspension work? Are you on schedule for the summer first engine startup?
Now here is a question for you. How should I make my hood open up. Keep in mind that it will be a one peace fiberglass hood. I'm sending it out to the body guys ASAP.
It will not look the same as what you see here. It will be totally different when finished. This will give me an idea on how accessible it will be. I love the look of the front tilt but then it's a pain to get to the front of the engine to change a belt. So I'm leaning toward the rear tilt. The rear tilt will have 1/8 fenders only attaching to the cab area.
man that is some really nice work. i dont even know what to say.
glad to see it come this far. have the fornt tilt back....its alot easier to access... a few buddy's have dont this on there bronce 2 and few boggers they have.
I say make it pop up like the jeeps but more stable connections. Also detatchable hinges. So it can come off completely. Tilt for easy access and removable for convinience.
yeah that is very common on some boggers i have seen....looks awesome too...Quote:
Originally Posted by 4doorciv
I keep having to take off the hood to work on my truck. It's so much easier to work on it without the hood or the hood prop in the way.
are they gonna be bulged fiberglass fenders? if so how much of a bulge is there gonna be?
If it's fiberglass? Carriage pins and fast complete removal. Ditch the tilt. OR, do the carriage pins thing with hinges to the rear. That gives you a choice - tip it or pull it. Fast either way and easy to fab.
I like this idea. ^^^^^ You watch a lot of dakar rcing?
I might change the build name to: The Greenhouse Monster.
(just in case you need a "TIP" for them in the contest located in the paint booth).
I even found one strange rap song. That could help you or confuse you.
All I can say is Wow.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XK5BY2ISAx8
Oh and the other truck is going to be converted into a street rally style D-50. Full cage time again.
Alright. So you are going to keep the camo d50 then?
Quote:
Originally Posted by 4doorciv
The body style yes.
Today we are going to cover Ceramic coatings on an exhaust system.
As the majority of you mechanics know that the exhaust is one of the worst things to work on. It is rusted and will not come apart no matter what you use. It’s just something we all hate. But there is a way to make it last for years. Ceramic Coating can do just that.
I used a place called AIC.
And yes that is me in the video on the front page. You can read more about Ceramic Coating and Powder Coating on their site. http://www.amerikotecoatings.com I had them Ceramic Coat my exhaust system. Since I was going to wrap the exhaust, I wanted to protect the headers and pipes as best as I could. AIC coats everything, from the fence to sprint car frames.
The first step is to sand blast your parts.
Attachment 383
Next they will bake all the moisture out of the part. After the first bake they coat the part. Ceramic is a liquid that is sprayed on using a HVLP gun.
Then the parts are baked one more time. They can even make the finish have a gloss look to it. Powder Coating is a dry coat that is electro static and uses a special gun to charge the powder. It is also a thicker coating then Ceramic.
If you get something coated do your self a favor, look at the colors they have available. The guys that work with your parts are board of the color Black. They see it all the time and will tell you the same thing. There is more then one color in the world, and we are sick of black.
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I finally installed the secondary suspension, or Bump stops, as they are known. They are Fox 2.5 X 4 inch Air Bump stops. They can be charged to 500 PSI.
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At the same time I built the removable cross beam that stops the upper shock towers from moving. I used a ¾” bolt. I welded the nut inside of the cross bar. Then used a peace of 1” X ¼” wall DOM tubing. This gives me a tight fit for the bolt and a way to keep from crushing the shock tower tubing.
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I started working on the electrical system. I’m doing things the old fashion way. With no solder less connectors. All splices and ends are solder are heat shrink sealed.
The only connectors used are the water tight and fully sealed GM style. They are a 3-peace type connector.
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The fuse panel is out of a Freightliner truck. It has circuit breakers not fuses. This way if there is a problem then the power can be restored automatically with out the use of a fuse.
Awesome idea on the breakers...something I should consider. Pain in the ass to hit up a large sagebrush or jack rabbit for a spare fuse...Freight Shaker is a local company, mebbe I should give em a call.
Need a real fuse BOX anyway, just have a couple of bare panels stuck in my foot well at the moment.
Go to a big rig wreaking yard. If I was to get them new then it would cost some where around $200 just for the breakers.Quote:
Originally Posted by Acuta73
Wow. I need some kind of fabrication skills. That rat rod looks awesome. I wonder how it'll look and drive with a 4g63 powering it....... Did you make that bar replaceable as you use the truck for jumps? I know with a few high jumps itll tweak like crazy.
If I bend it the truck is pretty much a total loss. It's 0.120 wall. The only way to bend it is to crash it, HARD...Quote:
Originally Posted by 4doorciv
The bodywork is under way.The first step was to set the body on the truck and look at what was going to look the best for the overall project.
First I marked up the fenders with my ideas of how things should fit and look.
Then I dropped off the body to the masters of bodywork.
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Ben is the man that is working as my sculptor. He normally does high detail, dental work for bodywork. He is also an off road guy at hart.
Attachment 492 http://www.mightyram50.net/camoit/picts/DSCN3803.JPG
He has wanted to build a truck like mine for years, so he was extremely excited to get the chance to sculpt out the body and pound out some fenders.
He was going to build everything out of sheet metal, but that turned into a problem.
The extreme angles needed to make the body look right made the use of all metal nearly impossible.
So he is going to be using a mix of sheet metal and expanding hard foam to build the fiberglass mold.
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The first thing I had them do was shorten the bedsides by 1 foot off the rear, no need for long bedsides.
From there they have a free license to make the front end look correct.
The front end will be widened by 20 inches with tire bumps and flairs. There will be a cowl induction hood designee built into it for clearance of the air intake system. The hood and fenders are going to be a 1-peace designee, with some small fenders, or splash grads. I will update things as we go.
Attachment 475 http://www.mightyram50.net/camoit/picts/DSCN3814.JPG
Now that Ben has an idea on how the front end will look he has decided to use foam in place of metal. Granted, they do extreme metal fabrication on the hot rods they build but there are just some things that would take way to long and too much money, like this car frame.
Attachment 493
So foam is a Farley inexpensive way to build a fiberglass mold. The first step was to build a dam out of cardboard all around the hood and fenders. Next comes the foam.
Measure part A & B to 50/50 then mix for 10 seconds. After that, pour on the foam. This is hard foam. It is very, sticky so don’t stick your finger in it just to feel how soft it is. (Ben found out the hard way) NOTHING, and I mean NOTHING, will remove it, next to sand blasting.
Once you have a nice thick even coating you must let it stand for about 30 minutes to harden up. After that you can remove the cardboard dam. Next comes the sculpting of the fenders. The hood has taken 2, two-gallon kits to obtain a thick enough coating to make the 2” cowl induction style hood and fender bumps.
Please remember during an emergency the hood can be used as a flotation device in the event of a water landing.
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LOL, love that stuff. Little foam mushrooms will sprout EVERYWHERE when you use it. Makes a God-awful mess, but damn it's fun. Interesting way to make the mold, very doable as well. Would have been cheaper (and likely safer) to use some kind of mother-mold and less foam. 1/4" plywood or scrap sheet would have done it well enough. Instead of being 2 feet thick, the cast woulda been half that or less.
Time for lots of release agent and resin/fabric! If yer feeling insanely rich, ask about carbon fiber. LOL
Yeah, the more I look at that, the more I see a huge waste of 2-part foam...these guys need to talk to Bill Owen or some of the other computer case modders out there. Even that thick that stuff is gonna be easy to crack and stupidly heavy. Bad tooling/engineering is bad. /shrug
Edit: The English Wheel in post #30 is about enough to make me soil myself...../drool
The total weight of the foam is 35 pounds, across the substructures. That is the original hood and fenders. Inside of that is a complete structure that mimics the stock inner steel of the truck that the fenders mount to. As far as the hood and fenders are concerned they think they are still attached to the truck. Once it takes shape you will see. I can’t describe it. It’s a hybrid between the stock hood and this type of hood. But when it’s done there should only be about 10 pounds of foam left.
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Now if you need an Indy car body I met a guy that has the molds of some of the older models. I would love to have him make the parts for me but he is way, way out of my price range. But there is a guy here in Sacramento that builds Drag Racing boats that is willing to show me the ropes on vacuum bagging fiberglass.
Today I test fit the new body mold. Now you can see the shape of the hole truck. The front end will be cut from the cowling at a 45 degree angle to the fender. Soon it will be time to start the fiberglass. Once the foam is ready it will be covered with a fiberglass twill and resin. Then it will get bondo shaped then a full paint job. The better the finish of the plug the better the finish of the final part, but I'll get into that when the molds are started.
Here are some pictures for you to look at. I want to keep the square look of the 80s, styling of the truck.
The rear bed sides have been shortened by 12 inches, flared and cut to match the front end wheel clearance. You can also see the rear protection panel.
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This is the Point Of View from the driver seat.
Attachment 654
that thing looks bad ass!:thumbup:
I found a fiberglass guy that was willing to work with me. This guy has a crap load of body molds. Corvette, GT, Formula 1, Pro Stock, you name it. He has Formula 1 McClaren molds from McClaren them selves, from there first car, to the car of tomorrow (Shhhh). They are sending him the plywood shapes. Once I get a picture of it then you will see how to do a mold the right way. All I could say was Holey crap. It's nothing like you think..
A Formula 1 wing,,, just the wing, not the mounting or anything will run you around $12000.00 just for 1 part. The process will be detailed later on in the build. It involves a Auto Clave type thing, and some large press type equipment.
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Lets dive into the world of composite bodies. The man I found to build the body has been building composite bodies for years.
Jeff currently has all but 3 F1 McClaren molds from the McClaren factory. He is expecting a prototype mold to arrive soon. I’ll get some pictures when it comes in. His main focus is in racing from the F1 to the GT car bodies.
The first thing was to shorten the rear bedsides by 12 inches off the back end and build an under structure. Next was to cut the wheel opening to match the front.
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The front fenders and hood was welded together and a full under structure was built to hold the form of the stock shape. Next was to cover the whole thing with 10Lb foam. Then rough cut and sand to shape.
Attachment 1079
When building the plug, it is important to avoid sharp edges. If the plug has sharp edges then you may have problems with the first covering of fiberglass when making the hard shell. If the edges are to sharp then the glass can bunch up and not lay flat where you want it.
Next is to fill the large air pockets on the foam with some bondo. This will reduce the possibility of the mold generating air pockets from heat.
Attachment 1081
I plan on having louvers in the hood. They will be cut into the part after it is built. It’s easier to cut them in later because they take so much time. When working with the resin and fabric you need to keep things moving and not stop.
The louver plugs are from a Chevy Camaro.
Attachment 1077
Next up will be the building of the mold and the final body work.
Nice.
Are you planning on selling any kits? To bad its not for a 2nd gen.
I don't think there is much difference between the first gen and second gen body's. I guess I can take a peace of cardboard and draw out the curves and see how close it would be. The stock lines fade out fairly quickly on the bed sides. They have a built out flair of 7 inches on them. The front flairs are 10 inch. I will have the tooling to build more as needed. Once I have that the bed sides are going to be around $450 each to have produced with the gel coating. I would be more than happy to let you contact my fiberglass guy and you guys can work out the pricing. It should be a couple more weeks and the molds will be done. The tooling and first run of parts will be somewhere around $7000 to build. A one off body is big bucks to produce. But in the end I think it will be worth it because it's just that. One of a kind.Quote:
Originally Posted by turbomax
One thing is there is no fuel door anymore and the wheel wells are opened up, big time.
Looking at More of a RE-build Thread the body's look fairly close.
Willie has finished the bodywork on the rear bedsides.
After the hard shell was placed on the foam it was covered with a black 2-part feather fill primer.
This makes it possible to see all the imperfections of the hard shell.
Next comes a skim coat of Bondo.
Attachment 1129
The Bondo was applied and worked in sections. This is done so the lines of the body are not lost.
Now the Bondo is rough sanded down so the hard shell and black just shows through the Bondo.
Attachment 1128
Now the lines can be squared up using masking tape.
The tape makes a nice straight line. You sand the curves out until you just hit the tape.
After the body is fully sanded another coat of gray primer is placed on the plug, blocked and wet sanded to get the final body lines. Then one more coat of the black 2-part feather fill primer is applied. Once cured the primer is buffed smooth to a glass finish. The smother the finish the better the part will come out.
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This is referred to as a class A plug and mold. Next the plug is prepped for the mold. The first thing is to put on a good coat of Partall Paste #2 Release wax on the plug. Do Not Use a carnuba wax, you are asking for trouble. It can’t take the heat that is generated by the resin. It can reach temperatures of 130 degrees. Next you can tape on card stock paper flanges to the plug. The flanges will make it possible to remove the mold from the part and give the mold a back flange that gives the part it’s strength. The last step before the fiberglass is a thick coating of tooling gel. Tooling gel is a harder gel coat then what is used for the part. Once the fiberglass is applied to the plug it will bond to the gel coat. After removed from the plug it will be absolutely smooth just like the plug was. Next comes the building of the part itself.
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This thing is a work of beauty, I'll be in touch with you about ideas/info for my own off-road 1st Gen D50 too.
Just thought I would toss up 2 Pict's of the hood plug and the ever so important hood line being put back in. It was lost under 2 inches of foam and 2 layers of fiberglass. It should be ready for a buffing this weekend. Then it's mold time.
I just finished up the wiring. After 6 months it is finally finished and tested. I would work on it here and there when I received the parts. The final part that was holding me up was the intercom system.
Before and after pictures. Main board before the clean up.
Attachment 1394 Attachment 1395
Wiring harness before the final clean up, and after. Now it looks like a real harness.
How to build the mold.
The very first and most important thing is to wax everything. And I mean everything including the paper you will use for the flang of the mold. Use the correct wax Partall Paste #2 Release Wax is the recommended wax. Then over the top of that you apply a coating Partall #10 Release PVA Film.
Next is to mark and cut the flange paper. It’s a good quality smooth card stock. You can get it for free if you hit up the local print shops around town. They normally just toss out the scraps, so it’s in your favor to ask them about getting the leftovers. Mark the paper with a marker and cut to fit. Make the fit as tight as you can.
Attachment 1483
Things to look for when determining how and where to put a flange. The first thing is to look for is what is called a “Lock Up” This is a place the where the plug turns back on it’s self. Take a look at the front fender of your truck. The lock up area starts near the bottom. If you were to just cover the hole thing with glass and resin the plug would never come out of the mold, so you make a flange near that area out of the card stock. Keep in mind you want the plug to come out of the mold as easy as it can.
Once you have the plug flanged completely it is now ready for the tooling gel coat. You can spray or brush it on; it’s up to you. Cover only the plug and flanges within the first area you plan to work. This is the area before the lock up. Allow the tooling gel coat to dry over night.
Attachment 1475
NOTE; Pre fit everything.
Now you can start the fiberglass lay out.
Attachment 1493
Look out for tight areas where material can bunch up. Make as many relief cuts as necessary to allow the fiberglass to lie down on the plug and go over sharp bends and around corners.
Use as large of a peace of glass as necessary to cover an area. Don’t try to cover the whole thing in one try. This would cause the material to pull away from the areas you have already covered earlier. The stranded fiberglass mat is not as flexible as the glass cloth you will use later on. The mold will get a total of 4 layers of fiberglass, 2 of the multi directional mat and 2 layers of cloth.
Now you can apply the first the resin coat over the gel coat. Work in small areas so you can keep the areas wet. If you take too long on one area then you run the risk of the resin drying on you. Work fast you have about 45 minutes if the air tempters under 65 deg. Now you can stick on the first layer of mating.
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Then cover it with more resin pushing the mating down around the corners and edges. It’s best to have 2 people if working large parts. One person applying the resin and matting while the other works the roller removing air bubbles and working the matting into the corners.
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Overlap the matting about 1 inch. It should overlap like shuffling a deck of cards. Once you have worked back to the peace you started with you can start the application of the second layer of matting. Then more resin, and more rolling. Once you have covered and rolled the whole area including the flanges with the 2 layers of matting you can now apply 2 layers of cloth. It will be the same process but you should not need as much resin. Remember be careful when rolling not to pull the material. The cloth should not need as many relief cuts if any. It is more flexible and now the sharp corners are covered the whole thing is thicker and flatter. Work fast keeping things moving forward. The 2 layers of cloth go right down just as soon as you have covered the area with the matting. No stopping, no breaks, just go, go, go.
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Now you can have a beer because you are done for a couple of days. Let it out gas for at least 48 hours before removing the paper flanging you made. In the mean time you can start to make the last set of flanges for the “Lock Up” areas. After removing the paper be sure to wax the new fiberglass flange areas. Otherwise the mold will never come apart. This will be covered in step 3 and 4 later on.
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Now that you have the first section of the mold done and some wood backing to help keep the mold rigid you can move on to the “Lock Up” areas as explained in step 2. So now you can flip the plug and mold over to get to the lock up areas.
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The process is the same. More wax; build out the flanges, and glass over with 4 layers.
Once the glass has dried you can trim off the fringe with a cut off wheel or air hacksaw, and remove the paper flanges you made earlier.
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The next step is to make the return flanges.
This will give you an area to place the glass for the part. The return flange is one key part of the mold. It will give the final part the strength to keep flexing down to an acceptable level. With out a return flange the part will flap in the wind or sag. One misconception is a thick part is a strong part. Not so. But I’ll get into that later. Right now lets go forward on the mold flanges. Where you placed the flanges on the out side of the mold you need to carry that over to the return flange as well. Just keep thinking lock up. When the mold for the hood is done it will consist of 17 separate parts that will bolt together.
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Once you have the return flange separation points you can gel coat the plug, and mold flanges. Then glass on the 2-inch return flanges. One problem that people encounter is the mold sticking to the plug. You can reduce this by using the right amount of hardener. Not enough and the resin gets more time to work it’s way through the glass, gel coat and wax. Then the resin works it’s way into the plug or your flanges.
Once you have all the flanges done you can get out the drill and ¼ inch bolts. You are going to need a bunch of them.
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Ok so now your mold is finished and ready to remove from the plug. Well this is where you take all the time and money you spent on building the plug and toss it in the trash. Some times you get lucky and things just come apart and you get to reuse the plug. But some time you don’t. The bedsides came out of the mold with just a small amount of damage. But the hood well lets just say we won’t be reusing the plug any time soon. It started out OK but went down hill fast.
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10 hours later the mold was fine. But the plug was done. First you will need to fix any damage the mold may have received when you removed it from the plug. Normally that is along the flange areas. Grind down the damaged areas and build back up with Bondo and sand smooth.
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Now we can start to build the parts. First you will trim and fit the fiberglass, just like building the molds. Next you need to cut and fit the “core mat” The core mat is what will give the fiberglass its strength.
Core mat does not like to bend around sharp corners so it is used on the flat areas. The parts we are building are for use on the street so it will be 4 layers of glass with core mat used thought. If we were building pure race parts then we would use about half the amount of the glass cloth. After you have fitted the glass and core mat you can move on to prepping the mold. Now you mix hardener into your gel coat and spray the mold and allow drying over night. Only work in small areas just like before.
First brush on some resin and apply your layers cloth fallowed up with lots of rolling.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil...-11/fiber1.gif
Next goes on your core mat and a final layer of cloth, fallowed up with just enough resin and brushing to lay everything down nice and flat.
When applying your final layers and brushing on the resin, be careful not to put on too much. If too much is used then it will look wet and thick. Too much resin is just a waste of product and adds weight to the parts.
http://www.mightyram50.net/d-50/Buil...-11/fiber2.gif
On the rear bedsides I had to work around the nurf bars that are in front of the rear tires. (This is to keep the Honda cars away from the rear tires) I used a fiberglass splash to make the necessary cuts. Then used the splash as a pattern and transferred it to the bedside for the final cuts.
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Next comes the hard point mounting. I’m going to use an aircraft cam-lock to hold on the body parts.
Here are some pictures of the body after some of the hard mounts are built.
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Over the Christmas slow down I finally got around to building the jack mount and hold down. The mount is removable and is held in place with hose clamps and saddles onto the rear cage. The jack is held in place with a ratchet strap in 4 channels made from small box tubing with one side cut off.
The tubing fit the jack rail nice and tight. It is kept from moving side to side with some little stops on each end of the jack. The handles are mounted with some through bolts and wing nuts. To keep them from rattling around I used a peace of hose between the tubing and handle on the mount bolt.
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After lots of time looking at the rear end I did decide to make a major upgrade and take a couple of steps backward. I decided to swap out the old trusty race proven trailing arms with new Camburg Engineering trailing arms. The are are bigger and more beefy so I don't think I will bend them any time soon. This just meant a complete re-work of the rear suspension system. I wans not looking forward to it but it's time to retire the old ones to a street car. I'll try to keep track of how many hours I put in to the re-work.
Hours to day. 6
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Add in another 25 hours. So thats around 31 now and I'm half way done. I need to buy a time clock..
Time to get buzzy and swap out the old trailing arms with a new set from Camburg Engineering. These are just so much larger and now the shock sits deeper into the arm then the ones before. The one draw back is I had to swap out brand new Fox Shock rod ends with new longer ones, since the new arms are deeper. Now I will probably need to come up with a torsion bar type sway bar set up since the old bushing style arms have been removed. Bushing type are more stable then the Uni-Ball and hyme type.
Here are the new arms. Arnt they pretty?
Full Bump to full droop. 28” of travel is possible but I’m limiting it to 16” on the main suspension and 4” on the secondary for a total of 20”
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The location of the lower shock mounts are in a different place so that meant removing the upper mounts and relocating them.
I'm up to about 90 hours of work now on the change over.
After another week or 2 of work, the rear suspension is ready to install the shocks and run through the wheel travel one last time. Well the shocks don't fit into the trailing arms. There two narrow for the shock spacers. Time to call Camburg and see what they are going to do to fix the problem. (NOTHING)
Well I had to send them out and have the spacer area milled to 1.50" just so the shocks would fit. They don't have any paint and the rod end bosses needed to be re-tapped. Customer service was useless. I'll never by anything from them again. WHAT A JOKE.
In the mean time I finished up the final fitting of the stainless steel hard piping for the cooling system. Now they go out to get a bead roll put onto the end of the tubes so the hose does not slip off. Now I can finish off the carbon fiber air ducting for the radiator to draw air from where the rear window was.
I finished up the suspension with the steering stabilizer. It’s a Fox 2” emulation shock absorber that has had the valving changed to a 50/50 valve, and only charged with 100PSI of Nitrogen.
Here is the truck with about 90% of all the parts set in place. I’m getting ready to weigh it and figure out the spring rates for the coil over shocks. I should have all the parts on it and have the 4 wheel scales in about 2 weeks. After that it’s time to tear it down for the last time and send it out for powder coating and paint.
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Cooling system air duct system is now fitted. The air is drawn in through the opening where the rear window was. This will keep airflow through the cab even when stopped.
It has taken about 8 months of design and 4 different ideas to come up with something I can live with. One of the main reasons to draw air from the cab is to keep exhaust gases out of the cab. I started with building a mold from foam and Bondo. Then building a mold from that. Then pulling the carbon fiber parts from the molds. Once I had the parts it was just a matter of trimming and mounting them.
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The main area of concern is where the hoses go into the radiator. It needed to cover the whole area so if a line was to come off under pressure it will keep the hot coolant from entering the cab area.
Now it's on to the springs. I found a place that will build me the springs I need for the truck. I have been surprised on the customer service they have given me so far. http://www.purplespring.com Rob Fuller is the man I have been talking with. He is a Nascar owner and driver. They will be building the first trial set for me this week. They are sending me a set so we can start to get a base line for what is needed. If you need springs these are the new go to guys for me..
.
Bada$$ camo!
Today I start the full tear down to send this girl out to get her nails and hair done. Class A Powder Coating will do the work. They have the facility large enough to do the job. The first set of springs will be here next week sometime. Time to get this project finished up so I can start on version 2.
Well the truck is now over at Class A Powder Coating.
They have a nice place, plenty large enough to handle what ever you toss at them.
They have 3 large drive through blast cabinets, 2 drive through down flow wet paint booths, 1 drive through indoor wet wash / degrees stall, 2 ovens and 2 powder coat stations.
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I don’t think there is much they can’t handle. When I took these pictures they were in the process of getting ready to powder coat twelve 60-foot aluminum palm trees. There big enough you could crawl inside them.
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Machine Shop Time.
I need to have some new plates made for the coil over shocks. Fox and all their wisdom figured it’s not necessary to have a spring plate large enough to cover the entire spring seat areas. So I went to Try C Machine in West Sacramento.
I'm going to have some spring parches and washers made up to fit the springs. This place has been around for years. If you want something made for a good price and get it done fairly quickly then this place is for you.
Here they’re building some hydraulic cylinder heads. Now this is a drill press........
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OK she is all powdered up and heading to primer. Should be ready to pick up after X mas.
Here is the shop foreman getting the job done by putting fear into his people, Not....
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So first it goes to blast and gets the profile set and turned white.
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Next it gets the base coat and baked @ 385 for 40 minutes. Here she is hot out of the oven.
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Next comes the top coat of clear and metallic flake. Then back in the oven at a lower temp for another 40 minutes.
Next she goes to the wet side to receive the cab primer and epoxy seal. From there it goes to the paint guy for the final top coating and body work.
Here she is getting papered for primer.
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looks great so far. hopefully they hurry up and finish it already so u'll have it back at home where it belongs. gotta put that beast together! lol
Gm wa9792 blue
toyota silver 1d2
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i have a 1980 d50 and i want to make it a prerunner, yours is so sick man, how did you get the nissan front to work, seems like a good idea.
also i wanna see some videos of this beast when its running
I built the frame and just set the body on it. The problem is it's 1.5 foot wider then stock so nothing fits. I started with 4 empty jack stands and some string. Thats how it all started.Quote:
Originally Posted by 1980 d50
Attachment 4435
dang.. i work on the 2nd. but i'll be logged in to watch tho.
Working on heading South for the 2nd/3rd. My son is up for the run, will see if finances allow it. Cashing out 2 weeks vacation, but I have some outstanding (ex wife) bills to pay off first.
When are you going to work on my truck
join the action in the chat room and via live cam from area 51. lol thats where the cool kids hang out :lmao:Quote:
Originally Posted by 92bluemax
I'll start on it when you get here. But it may take some time to get it all fixed up for you. If you get it here.Quote:
Originally Posted by 92bluemax
one project at a time.. dont overwork urself. lolQuote:
Originally Posted by camoit
On-line LIVE FIRE of the Fear Monger. The date is, 2-2-13 3:00 Pm Pacific times. THE PARTY STARTS AT NOON. LIVE INSIDE the shop. Bandwidth may be limited to 15 connections. Members are invited so if you need directions to Area 51, please send me a PM and we can grant you access. Beer, soda, music, and TRUCKS...
Weather on 2-2-13 @ 12:00 Pm for the party, will be mostly sunny with a High around 62 at the time of the start up 3PM.
Here is a nice model for you to take a look at.
Well the first of the videos have started to leek out of Area 51 and find there way on to the net. The sound on here isn't the best. I'm sure there will be more to come.
Over all the start up went well. But there are some minor things that need to be worked out. Like the E Brake cable was too close to the exhaust and melted. In the video you see my expression change when I try to move it forward. So that needs to be replaces as it is locked in the tube. Oh well it was short as it was. Then the floor got so hot you could not touch it, where the headers weren't wrapped. Then the carb needs a major tuning. Falls on it's face at half throttle when hit hard.
http://vimeo.com/58808755
Awsome! Sounds good too! Cant wait to see it in action!
brake cable can be fixed.. part of da problem w/ ur carb i think its cuz its a Edelbrock. lol jk :grin:Quote:
Originally Posted by camoit
btw, still tryin 2 figure out a way to get da vids. uploaded from this BB to my laptop...damn, i miss my Android.
in da meantime, a quick shot I took of da beast right before the first spin around da block...and we had nice weather too!
So cool. Congratulations.
How many hours do you estimate you put into it?
WHoa!, very nice job. Just located this page and I must of been under a rock for a month. I can see that gleem in your eyes as that beast is running in the video. It looks like a big RC dirt track truck, lol. The body was a great decision and looks perfect. Be sure on your maiden voyage, you call a priest up and have him bless it for you. Excellent Job!
Quote:
Originally Posted by BradMph
Thanks. It's all one of a kind body. It was built just for the D50's. The hole thing is a 1 of a kind build. My insurance company is having a hard time finding someone that will insure it. But I have faith in them. Pl & PD is no problem but collision and compressive is a hole other problem.
Quote:
Originally Posted by noahwins
There is no telling how many hours. I will get a time clock before I start the next one so I can keep track of the time. It took 3 years to get it to this point, and now it's POO again. (Parts On Order) The new MSD distributer is picking up too much noise and cross firing. Mallory keeps sending me a vacuum advance unit. This makes 2 so far. So I hope the third time is the charm. But on a good note I did get my custom length parking brake cable. Now it's 3.5 inch longer so it is clear of the headers and coolant pipes. The header made the floor so hot you could not touch it. So it got a layer of insulation over the merge of the headers. Once this thing gets done and I can drive it. It will go back up to DGHeaders so he can finish the hearers. Nothing like a 2 year delay in a job. But he new it was going to happen when I took it to him way back then. i need to go pick up some red paint for the striping that will go on it.
try PC .. Paint City on Watt Ave still in business? I've gotten paint from them a few years ago and it was good quality..Quote:
Originally Posted by camoit
One Shot or Ronan sign paint for the striping.
Camo, what's up with the "blue tag" or constructor plate on your truck? How is it titled and what VIN did you get for the purposes of smog? Is it street legal or off road only?
I'm asking because I want to swap my '89 cab and bed onto an '85 4D55 frame and driveline. I wonder what I would do about the VIN plates. I'd obviously want to keep it titled as an '85 the diesel is smog exempt. I've heard the VIN follows the frame, not the body. Do you know anything about this? Did you have to talk to the Chippies or VIN verification service after your saga at the DMV?
You have 4 ways of going.Quote:
Originally Posted by noahwins
#1 is to just swap out the engine. Then all you would need to do is go to the SMOG referee and they will change the info on the registration. But thats going from a newer truck to an older engine, unless it was an engine that was used in that production year. I'm not sure. You would need to contact the SMOG people and ask them.
#2 is to swap out the cab like you are talking about. Then you will need to have a VIN assignment by the CHP. They will want all the paper work from both trucks. The truck has a VIN on the cab, dash, and on the frame in the left rear wheel well.
#3 Do the swap and go to the referee and they might not look at the frame. Then it is done, but always keep the paperwork on the frame, just in case.
#4 swap it over including the plates and hope the referee doesn't look to hard at things. But keep all the paperwork. But this could get messy if they figure it out.
On my truck it fall under the SPCNS, or at least thats what I'm working at. I was able to convince the DMV thats what it was. Just because it's made of so many different things. Nissan Extera. (front frame, 2 foot of it) Isuzu Rodeo rear end, D50 cab and doors, Chevy V6, Camaro 6 speed trany, So they look at it as if it is a new car with out a VIN except there is a mile long paper trail of where the parts come from. Tow yard on the engine and trans, even though the trans came from "other sources" the paper work said engine and trans. The frame and rear end from a recyclers. Cab, doors, parking brake lever and fuel pedal from the truck I junked out for the build. The main body is one of a kind hand made fiberglass. When it's all done it will be street legal, but just enough to look that way when they see me. I expect them to stop me every time I take it out. Thats a given.. I'm sure they will.
best believe. LOL especially if u roll down Madison. and even Auburn has a lot of heat lately, idk whats up with that area. oh plz DO have ur GoPro set up and catch it on tape when it does happen :grin:Quote:
Originally Posted by camoit
After much debate I finally decided on just a 2 tone paint job. I was thinking about doing a red stripe between the two of them, along with a multitude of other things.
Well any way here are some of the Pict's of the paint going on.
Attachment 5868 Attachment 5869
Attachment 5870
Since it was painted with out any body parts on it the lines were pretty close even for not having any parts on the truck. Now that the body is done we can finish out the paint. So he started by straighting out the lines and then squaring up the rear of the bed sides. Then we added a little blue fancy point to the hood just to break up the silver and add one more line. As if there was not enough lines and other things going on with it already.
Attachment 5873
Now everything lines up nicely. I want to get this thing done so bad I can taste it. But I'm still finishing up getting the right spring set up for the truck.
Time for some cam talk. After starting the engine it sounded like it was stock and took 30 degrees of initial timing to start it. That was way to much, should only be 18 or so with 210 LB of cranking pressure thats a lot,,. Well I sent the cam back to Comp Cams they checked it and it was what they said it was what they said it was just like it was quoted on the cam card. So I sent it to the cam doctor for a second look. They came back with the same thing. Something is not adding up.
CLICK HERE for Cam Card
110 lobe seperation.
350 lobe lift.
106 intake center line.
valve timing
intake @ 0.006 lift
Opening 34 BTDC
Closes 66 ABDC
Exhaust @ 0.006 lift
opening 74 BBDC
closing 26 ATDC
-------------------------------------------
Now here is the problem.
With a 4 and 6 degree retard button on the cam I get the fallowing specs.
4 deg retarded button = 4 deg of advance
intake center line.
66
147------------ 106.5
intake
opening
@ .006----------29 BTDC diferance 5 deg
@ .050---------- 3 BTDC
closing
@ 0.006------- 69 ABDC diferance 3 deg
@ 0.050-------38 ABDC
Exaust
opening
@ .006---------- 72 diferance 4 deg
@ .050---------- 45
closing
@ 0.006------- 31 ATDC diferance 5 deg
@ 0.050------- 0 TDC
-----------------------------------------------------
6 deg button retarded = 0 deg of advance
intake center line.
71
150 ------------110.5
intake
opening
@ .006----------29 BTDC diferance 5 deg
@ .050----------1 BTDC
closing
@ 0.006-------73 ABDC diferance 7 deg
@ 0.050-------42 ABDC
Exaust
opening
@ .006----------69 BBDC diferance 5
@ .050----------42 BBDC
closing
@ 0.006-------34 ATDC diferance 8
@ 0.050-------3 ATDC
Not sure if these can help.
http://www.wallaceracing.com/camcalc.php Camshaft Calculator
http://www.wallaceracing.com/cam-deg-calc.php Cam Degree Calculator
http://www.wallaceracing.com/overlap-calc.php Camshaft Overlap Calculator
http://www.wallaceracing.com/calc-cam.phpCalculate Over Lap and Lobe Separation Angle
OK so here is what has been going on since the day of the start up. Day 1 Did the break in that everyone has seen the video by now. Day 2 it would not start. Added in some advance to make it run. 1 week later now it's up to needing 28 degree of initial advance to start and run. Called MSD they sent pick up coils, caps rotors crap like that. Replaced the hole distributor with a Mallory Unilite optical unit, and said screw MSD. That took 4 weeks to get it all together. Then the new Mallory failed so they sent out a new pick up unit for it. It would get hot and stop working. New wires. Had many people come over check the cam timing and everything else you could think of. We could not get it to run under the 40 degrees. Pulled the cam and sent it back to Comp Cams it came back fine. Sent it to a 3rd party to recheck there numbers. They matched with in a degree or so. Replaced the gear drive with a double roller chain. Reset the cam degree, and today I started it. And you guessed it, 40 degree of advance just to make it run. WTF,F,F,F,F,F,F,F,F,F,F, For those of you that were peeked in using the live cam feed on the first page, you saw me cussing and flinging tools all around. That's not a normal thing here on this truck.
So back to square 1. Cam is good, timing is at 107 intake center line. That's 3 degrees of advance to the cam. That's spot on. WHAT THE HELL.... So for shits and giggles I asked my neighbor behind me if he had a old coil laying around. So he gave me this old coil from his Studebaker or 1934 Ford. IDK but it's old. Hooked it up and fired it up. There was a new loud squeak noise like something starting to seize up. NOW WHAT.. It made the noise 2 times. So I figured I would back off the timing to see where it would stall. $0, 35, 30, 25, now down to 18 where it started from all because the brand new MSD $125.95 coil shorted internally. So the moral of the story, DO NOT allow a high energy coil to accidentally spark with out having a wire on it going to ground or you will be in for a trouble shooting night mare.
Now I think the trany is got a problem. There is a rattling noise from down there. IDK if it is a problem yet but I will find out soon enough when it takes a dump.
See even puppy's die new too.
What the important part is, your finding the problems and doing well at it. Eventually your going to run out of problems and you and your truck can finally enjoy.
Damn it Camoit your luck is almost as bad if not worse then mine. Blew up my Holley Blue fuel pump on Tuesday (110gph), replaced it with a Mr.Gasket 35gph and thing runs better then with the Holley. Friday night I thought I blew a fuse to my air pump, checked it out when I got home and saw the relay was melted.Replaced the relay and turned the truck on........ SMOKE!!!!!!!! Fried the new relay and melted the + wire into the compressor. Saterday took it apart and found the stater burnt and the wires melted. Took my original compressor and put the piston and head from the "new" compressor on the old motor. Did some checking and found out that the Viair compressor I ordered was a cheap 50% duty cycle clone, so ordered a true Viair 380C (200psi 100% duty) from Summit and should be here in a week or 2. Got to get a hold of the credit card company and tell them I was sold a ripoff copy of the compressor and the company advertized it as a "True" Viair not a clone.
"See even puppy's die new too." only when they use GM products. Sorry *****, Could not resist you know I been biting my tongue for awhile. Great job, Glad to finally see it move too bad about the bad coil. Just like a whore with a bloody nose if aint one thing its another. You will get it all figured out.
But it was an MSD part. The only GM left on this thing is the block, crank, rods and heads. And that was pushing it. I almost went with other heads. Once I get in my new carb riser I can start to tune it. I could only find 1 builder of spread bore aluminum spacers. But like everything else I have used it will need machine work before it's ready.
That's why they call it "Blue Printing" right! Everything custom one off, but just don't ask me to repeat the results!! LOL
So I figured since there was a car show not to far from the house this weekend I would put the Fear Monger in it, just to see how the car show circuit people would react to it. Every car show says our trucks are not "classic" cars. There not "Muscle" cars. As far as I can find there consisted "New Production" or "Mid Year" cars. What ever that is. So we start out behind the 8 ball during a standard show. The show I was in today I was put in the same class as any car that was not "stock" That covered nearly 75% of them.
There were 2 clubs there and I figured there was no chance for my truck. But low and behold I came in second after the best of show for the modified class. (seen below)
Some how I beat the odds and pulled out a "Best In Class" win. It was not that big of a show for there 1st annual, but it was cool. I was the only car where I had people jump on the bumpers to run it through the suspension travel. It was funny to here people reaction when 3 guys would pump it up and down. Everything from OMG to is that going to hurt it. lol..
So here are some of the cars I was up against
Best in show left, and seccond in class.
Attachment 6407 Attachment 6408
It's all about the purple springs.........
HAHA, nice man.
Is hard to put a truck, particularly a race-type or utility-type truck, in a show. Just no good category for them, if it's not a "classic" or a "resto-mod"...then it gets lost. Hell, in my own opinion, that beast looks out of its element!! (still bitchin lookin, though)
Got a nice shiny to put on the wall for the thousands you spent now. Congrats!
Have to agree with Fordubishi...musta been those purple springs.
Edit: Million dollar question- Drive it or trailer it? ;)
I guess now it's a real Trophy Truck. lol