What OT crap are you working on

Briggs exhaust lobes have a compression release that works exactly as you described.

 

Excellent. Thank you for clarification.

 

Finally getting around to fixing my bike now that summer is here. I miss riding it.

 

Gear driving it ? The last one I swapped the owned complained to me daily ,” something is really whining now ! “

 

No, saving my money for rebuilding my 312 for the 56. I just figure I’ll have to do this again in about 25k more miles…

 

They are so much different over the old junk , I work on .

 

And, I’m trying to get rid of the whining…lol That’s how I knew the tensioner was bad. But, I know what you mean since my Chevelle has a Pete Jackson “noisy” gear drive in it.

 

Grudgingly being drug into attempting to de-ugly the dash on my truck's dash. When I built my 49, I installed the instrument cluster from the donor truck. Simple, easy, quick, and without much cost. That instrument cluster was not the prettiest thing going, but it had full gauges and with it only having 44,500 miles on the cluster, I figured it was going to outlast me. I was wrong. Parts of the cluster started to fail in about 10,000 miles, but most of it still worked. Then as time and miles added on, more and more things failed. By the time it read 69600 miles, fewer and fewer thing actually worked.
Faced with the prospect of having that ugly sucker refurbished, at who knows how much money, or just change things up and put a set of real gauges in the truck, the decision was pretty easy, but the actual project was going to be more involved. This mess had to go away.

This was going to be the replacement gauges.


I figured that if I was going to make the new Speedhut gauges work, I might just as well work on a couple of "inconveniences" the current dash had.
The "old' dash was curved outward at the center because the heater control (out of the donor) had to be moved a bit towards the left side (because the 49 is 6"-8" narrower then the donor was) and the new position of the heat control put it right in line with the defroster duct work. Since the truck is used year around, that unmolested defroster duct was kind of important, and there was no place else the control unit would fit. I had the desire to make the new dash more flat, because the passenger side glove box door was very close (about an inch between the crank knob and the glove box door, as shown in this crappy picture) to the passenger side window crank (my wife didn't like that very much).
So here is the challenge.
The donor instrument cluster is on the left edge. The glove box door is on the right side. The top rectangle is the back up camera, the wires for it are not long enough to reach above the windshield, it doesn't have to sit right there, but it will need to be close. The heat control can not shift towards the left at all, and about 2 inches to the right of the heat control is the cowl vent lever, its pretty hard to see, but its between the heat unit and the glove box. The USB & lighter plug below the heat control can be moved anyplace.
Lets pull all that "pretty" covering off and see what is behind it...

Here is that mess. The white defrosted duct work is pretty clear. The black screen, towards the seat from the white duct work is the back up camera, it is laying where the heat control has to be. The cardboard on the right side will be the new location for the much smaller glove box. The cardboard above the steering column will be the new gauge location. The problem child heat control unit is the black thing with the pretty colored vacuum hoses that is sitting on the console on the lower left side corner. The control unit is sitting as it sits in the dash, except that there is a cable and the fan wiring that would plug into the back left side. The wire plug is tight against the duct work.
This picture provides a better view of the trouble spot, in all its glory. This will be the finished location for the control unit. The lever on the right side of the control unit is the revised cowl vent lever. The bracket to the right of the cowl vent lever

The lever to the right of the control unit is the revised cowl vent lever. The bracket to the right of the cowl vent lever is the center brace of the dash, and will be at the left side of the glove box. The top of the dash has the correct curve in it and is nearly in a straight line from one side of the cab to the other.
There will be a 3" wide (on the right edge) shelf on top of the control unit that will extend from the glove box to the gauge panel. The shelf tapers down to an inch and a half at the gauge panel. On the gauge side of the shelf is where the back up screen will be, and there will be a "basket" on the right side to hold a phone.

 

The project started the week after the WI Hot Rod 100. Then it was interrupted with family stuff on Memorial Day weekend. Then it was interrupted again on the last weekend of May for my daughter's wedding.
Reforming the dash, especially around the gauge panel took a bit of time. Then I had to make a glove box (out of sheet metal). Then there were filler panels that needed to be made. Then, may favorite part of the entire project (NOT) was smooth out (read that body work) the rehashed dash pieces.

This angle iron framework is where the "new" glove box will reside. that "thing" behind the glove box angle is the windshield wiper motor. The glove box has a notch in it to clear the wiper motor.

The gauge panel. The gauges are slightly off set to the steering wheel. I believe the Speedometer will be in the right large hole, and the quad gauge will be in the left side large hole. The 5/8" hole is there the headlight switch is mounted behind. The small holes are for the mounting screws. The body work on this is not finished.

The dash filler work is under way. Its not as thick as it appears, most of it was sanded off, this was round one I believe. the slots and holes in the top surface are mounting holes, or defroster duct openings. The odd shaped hole in the center of the lower part is where the review screen will be. The larger notch towards the right is the glove box. The notch on the left side is for the gauge panel. There are filler panels on the left side, the right side, and below the flange on the center is where the heat control unit is.

This is the left side filler panel. I'm holding this at 90 degrees from how it sits on the dash. the slotted hole is actually suppose to the on the left side, lower corner. then the gauge panel would fit into the notch on the top right side. There will be a 1" diameter hole in the top left corner for the side glass defroster tube.

This is the right side filler panel. I'm holding this on e as it would sit on the dash. The glove box door will cover the two mounting screws on the left side. The 6 smaller holes are for the mounting screws. The 1" hole in the top corner is for a side window defrosted tube.

Getting closer. Everything needs one more coat of flat black, I believe. Maybe tomorrow...
Today I wired the gauges, wish I could say it went great, but for some reason I'm getting a feed back through the turn signal lights on the truck, when the motor is off. Everything on the dash is just sort of hanging right now, so there could be a wire laying where it shouldn't be, but I was not ready to deal with that at the end of the day, today. I have the battery cable disconnected for tonight.

 

Well, a week ago, the hot rod tractor I play with at work acted like it jumped time. After some inspection, turned out it wore out the distributor gear…and the cam gear. So, swapping cams today and making sure we are running a melonized gear this time. I likely made a bad assumption that the previous gear was that on the MSD distributor. We run a hydraulic roller cam in this thing and seems we ran the wrong distributor gear…

 

^I'm not gonna ''like'' that pic.

 

No kidding. Thankfully, everything else looks great like it should considering no more time than this thing has on it. I just put it in a couple years ago. Washing the oilpan out now and fixing to button it all up and paint it. Was in a big hurry last time we put the engine in the tractor so never got it painted. It’s a 502 that I picked up at Speedway after I grenaded the last one when a valve spring broke and made a big mess. Have to swap cams in the crate motor to have something that works with the blower. Everyone I work with thinks this is all fun and games. All they see is playing with it like the picture below. But, they aren’t working on it when it breaks…

 

Number 5 cylinder in the 502 that I’ll likely never forget…. After that fiasco, I tell everyone to stay away from the Comp Cams beehive springs.

 

Back together and a fresh coat of paint.

 

That sucks......

 

I did the final sanding and paint on the dash panels, then made the "basket" that will hold the cell phone and painted it, and then painted the piece that the back up screen attaches to, and put several mounting screws through a piece of cardboard and painted the tops of them, all on Thursday. Since I knew they would all require a bit of handling, I let everything that got painted sit until late Friday morning, to assure it was fully dry, before the final assembly.
The lever under the basket is for the cowl vent. It will be shortened and painted later.
The rest of the interior metal will be painted flat black over the course of the next few months (when the weather cools down a bit).
I'll let the pictures tell the story.




After a clean up, I filled the gas tank, then programed the fuel gauge. One of the options for programing it is to fill the tank and save the setting. That way you don't have to guess what ohm rating the fuel sender operates on.
Then we (my wife and I) were off to a back road to program the speedometer. After a few attempts to follow the directions for programming the speedometer, I discovered I needed to find a more level road.

The process is to get the speedo into the programing mode (requires having the motor off, then holding the button, then turning on the motor, then step down the menu until you get to the program mode. Once there, you push the button, and drive the vehicle up to the designated speed (25 mph on this speedo) that is verified by a GPS or a phone speed app, then you push the button again to indicate you have reached the set speed, then you push the button again to save the setting.
The first road we attempted to calibrate the speedo on was a bit hilly, and the saved speed on the speedo was always 5 -6 mph off, according to the phone app. When I finally went to a more level road, we got the speed within 1 mph off. After we put some miles on it, I may try to get it 100% correct, but I can live with it reading 1 mph fast.
We had our first opportunity to put some miles on the truck today. The speedometer shows 70 miles on this tank of gas, the gauge has just started to drop off the full mark, so I think it will be OK (the original factory gauge often showed 70-80 miles before it moved off the full tank mark as well).
We also had the first chance to drive the truck with the new gauges when it was dark outside, tonight. We only drove it about a mile, I'm going to have to play with dimming the dash lights, they are pretty bright. But at this early stage, I'm pretty happy.

 

Made an aluminum plate to go behind the door handle on the 1966 KW . Years of reaching fingers grabbing the handle was wearing through the vinyl.

 

Made a tool to fit the hydraulic coupler on the combine. Used a pair of pliers and a #40 master link for the pins

 

Converted the pickup attachment to be driven by a hydraulic motor .

 

It works

 

Okie , I’d be there to help , we think alike

 

i was thinking the same thing about the "stone veneer"

 

Okie , be careful with farm machinery . Early this spring , I ran into a local guy I see around town and at parts house . This spring I notice , he was on crutches and one pant leg folded up . I’m like “ OMG ! What happened , my friend “? He replies “ I was runnin the combine , bunch of crap got hung up in it . I climbed out on top and slipped with muddy feet and into the blades I went . All I could do to hold myself away from it while it chewed my leg off “. I offered to help in anyway I could , ride to Dr.s office , farm work , farm repairs . He says “ thank you , but I got myself into this I have to learn to survive with what I have remaining .” I exited went outside sat in my truck a few minutes thinkin , this is one tough SOB x10 .

 

Yes things can go south quickly. Thank You Had a neighbor that is my Dads age . 15 years ago he was angering grain out of a bin . The shear bolt on the PTO sheared . The only one he found in his bolt bin was much longer . So he put it in and kept on moving grain . His jacket got caught by the bolt . He was pulled into the PTO shaft made a couple spins and wound up naked on the ground with just his boots on . Had he not been a large person it would have killed him . He converted all the his augers to hydraulic motor driven . The stories are many . The worst part is that most of us work alone all day long .

 

Been chasing down vacuum leaks in this 96 Dodge. four so far. Finally got the four-wheel drive to engage. But the dash AC ducting and the cruise control still need more troubleshooting. There must be at least 40 ft of vacuum lines on this thing.

blew out the sidewall on the left front tire so I put on the spare that is dated like September 1996. At least it matches in height to the other three tires. Been fine around town. and the air conditioning blows cold.

But I really been enjoying driving it around because it's got a five speed stick. 318 5.2 is a little tired but it's okay at 170,000 mi. the 2100 purchace price is okay.

 

Engine Turning at its best , my friend

 

Keep the old Dodges running , they are tough trucks .

 

My current distraction.
It is a 1958 Murray I have no idea why I bought it but when I saw it I immediately had a vision for it...
The completed picture will come as soon as the seat and hand grips get here, The very first thing in my lifetime I have kept the patina on it. I want to make it look a little older than it is so it will match the back of the little truck I'm building.
What's funny is I don't ride my other vintage bike near as much as I should, I don't know why I need it another one. On the other post 'what are you working on" that is on topic I have shown the little picture of my hot mess Model A Chassis Hupmobile roadster pickup and my last post a week or so ago I said my goal is to get it finished by Labor Day weekend unless I get distracted by shiny objects well I guess this is a shiny object lol

 

I bought this fan at a late friends estate sale a few years ago. It just sat on the floor of his shop and he drug it to wherever he needed it . I added some braces and the rear tires to move it around when I got it . It is very heavy. So today I added the front wheels using an old bicycle I had pulled out of a dumpster. The wheels are take offs from our grain drill that have cracked rubber . I cut the rubber back using a bandsaw .