Another rusty ugly budget drag truck

[spoolinawd]

*bdh*

 

[Jkidder85]

Where are you at in fl? I'm just outside of sanford.

 

[spoolinawd]

West palm beach, lake worth

 

[91shelbydaytona]

Got a way of measuring the protrusion on that o-ring? Either its not all the way in the groove on part of it or got hammered in and actually smashed the wire in spots. Usually they measure .011 protrusion from the deck surface iirc.

 

[BigHemi02]

the thicker gasket(like a marine 12ver), you want that .011. but yea, looks like it was hit. in theory, itll crush on the factory fire gasket and level out. it may be enough to even up when she goes on, cause i think the lay out afterall is said and done is around .004 iirc.

 

[spoolinawd]

I am using the marine gasket. They cut an .030 groove and used .041 wire, so .011 protrusion. I spent some more time examining the ring and have decided to throw it on and expect it to compress into groove.

Also this is a fla truck so no rust, just a but of surface rust where the paint failed. I'm just calling it rusty and junky.

 

[BigHemi02]

i gutted my entire wire harnes in and out front and back tonight, and started to rerun everything new in my 95. going to the trans shop tomorrow for a 'little upgrade' on the tcase and trans. ill get it back next week and have about two nights to fully wire it, fab a turbo set up, fab exhaust and intake, and go over the entire motor... i think mine will blow before i can even hit 13s next sat...

 

[spoolinawd]

Truth be told, I made a huge mistake and dropped a washer into the engine when I did the intake heater grid delete. I did this back in September when I got the truck and it ticked for a while but never realized what it was till the head was off. You can clearly see the washer smashed into the piston. The head was also nicked up a bit. Most of the pistons were damaged I guess the debris swapped cylinders. I replaced 4 of the pistons and reused the old rings and bearings. Cylinder 2 was the worst where the washer was found on the piston, this cylinder also had some scuffing but could not be felt with fingernail. I put the bottom end back together last night and upgraded to arp rod bolts.

 

[spoolinawd]

i gutted my entire wire harnes in and out front and back tonight, and started to rerun everything new in my 95. going to the trans shop tomorrow for a 'little upgrade' on the tcase and trans. ill get it back next week and have about two nights to fully wire it, fab a turbo set up, fab exhaust and intake, and go over the entire motor... i think mine will blow before i can even hit 13s next sat...

I will try to come by and visit the shop, maybe I can lend a hand. You are only about 10min away and I would like to meet some locals who enjoy working on and modifying these engines.

 

[Big Blue24]

Check for bent valves, bend pushrods, and/or damaged valve seats. Floating debris can do all kinds of damage!

 

[spoolinawd]

Everything checked out ok with my rough measurements. Getting the head back on gently without damaging and oring or gasket was a challenge. Especially since I did it alone by hand.:bang

Just need to finish up my coolant bypass, already installed the rear plug which was also a pain in the ass. I'm going to route into the heater return. Also install a few more hoses and fill with fluids. I'm going to see how it starts on one battery and hoping to ditch the second.

 

[spoolinawd]

I also ripped a couple springs out the pack. I want caltracs but way out of my budget. I may attempt some diy traction bars in the future with my harbor freight 90amp flux welder.
For now I picked up some spring clamps to help combat axle wrap.

 

[spoolinawd]

Feels good to be back! The ride with leafs removed is as good as everyone describes, like a Cadillac. Had a little scare with the radiator hose sucking flat after my first test drive. With my Dsm that was always a sign of a blown headgasket. I'm not sure if it's the case here or maybe something with the coolant recirc back into the heater return? Or maybe just an air lock? Hasn't done it since and I installed a new radiator cap for the hell of it. I took this opportunity to install a 16" electric fan in place of the mechanical. I don't know if it's worth a hp gain but this clutch was bad with the fan in high speed at all times so for the price of the clutch I just switched to electric.
Also had enough energy and daylight to rig up a stack. No welding required, 4" flex clamped to downpipe and the. Clamped at the back to a 4" 45degree coming up through the bed. I had a piece of 5" stainless laying around so I slipped it over and bolted to the bed. It looks a little goofy being so short but I like being able to see the smoke in the rear view and being able to adjust my right foot to prevent it from smoking. I think a afc spring stiffer from 0-10psi would help a lot with smoke.

 

[spoolinawd]

I'm trying to locate a set of used slicks in time for this Saturday, local track (pbir) has a truck event. Bringing a full bottle this time and hopefully getting the truck to fit on my trailer just in case something breaks, don't want to have to rely on aaa again.

 

[spoolinawd]

Went to the track last night with some 31x10.5 et drags. First launch I stalled it till 10psi and it hopped a bit out the hole. I think that broke the trans line at the auxillary cooler. When I locks the converter it started spinning so I let off and coasted and got back in it up top just to check things over and it hooked. Second pass blew the tires of so I coasted down. Third pass it hooked with another 10psi launch and I rolled into it slowly to prevent spin. About 200' out it spun hard and went right toward the wall I let off and counter steered. Then coasted down trying to gather my composure. Didn't realized I oiled down the track. When I stopped at the timeslip booth they guy told me I oiled it down and the rest of the fluid leaked out there while I was speaking with him. Wouldn't drive at all.
I think the first pass damaged the line or fitting at the aux cooler and it was spraying causing me to lose traction every pass. I monitored it for leaks and never found anything in the pits. Didn't know it was broken till that last pass. Hopefully I can repair the cooler lines and the transmission survived. May go ahead and drop the pan and change the filter and adjust bands also.

First pass of the night compared to best pass last trip on street tires.
.6 off 60' and .9 off 330'

 

[WUnderwood]

don't use Fram oil filters

 

[spoolinawd]

I saw mention of that elsewhere so when I did the headgasket I switched to k&n.

 

[Headcase98002]

Which is made by Mobil 1.

 

[97rada]

Watching

 

[edgaryz3]

what kind of flange did you weld to that hx52, like to do mine the same. u just using the factory 2nd gen 90 bend right?