rattle_snake's random shop projects v0.1

[ntsqd]

I suspect that just the Rupture tire swap would put them on nearly equal footing. They made that big of a difference on mine anyway.

 

[rattle_snake]

Modified the Hayden 2747 fan clutch to come on at a lower temp by adding preload to the bi-metallic spring. Once aftermarket temp gauge is installed can see how it operates.

 

[rattle_snake]

Started on a dual gauge pod that will go in place of the ash tray. Kept design simple and cut out on plasma table. Welded the seams.




Some more work is needed to fit better, but basic concept is there.

 

[zmotorsports]

I like the ash tray idea Justin. Should provide a nice clean appearance.

 

[Dodgepu360]

I'm guessing the tail of the spring was originally in the notch?

I might gave that trick a try.

 

[rattle_snake]

I like the ash tray idea Justin. Should provide a nice clean appearance.

Thanks Mike. Probably temporary and didn't have to hack up the ashtray slide mechanism to mount it.

I'm guessing the tail of the spring was originally in the notch?

I might gave that trick a try.

Yes that is correct. The spring tip can be bent to get something in between.

 

[rattle_snake]

Working on gauge install on 76 F100. I won't use the 1/8 compression line as it fails quickly, so instead AN3 hose.
I made an 5/16-24 to 1/8 FPT adapter but would do it differently 2nd time. Sealing face for 5/16-24 side and right to AN3 male on other.

Uh, no.

 

[ntsqd]

Those oil pressure sender extensions have long given me the willys. I can just see them vibrating until they fatigue fail leaving the pipe thread section stuck in the block. Clearly they work fine with the OEM sender or switch in place and I've never heard of one failing unless a ham-fisted jughead was involved, but that doesn't mean that I like them.
When I add a sender or a switch (typically it's an oil pressure switch for an electric fuel pump) I remote mount all of it and use 1/8" tubing & compression fittings to go between. Never had a problem with the tubing or the compression fittings. I am very careful to have enough length in the tubing for vibration relief. I merely duplicate what has worked in my '73 Square Body since it was born as GM used that tubing and fittings for their oil pressure gauges.

 

[rattle_snake]

I had to cobble up the electric oil pressure sender to make it work with what fitting I had on hand. Space is extremely tight, and was considering a remote block. I would go to AN3 male out of engine block, to 3/16 steel hardline, to an AN3 tee at the back of the intake (like a BBF). Then to hose and single adapter to 1/4 FPT for elec sender. I like that AN stuff is clockable independently of torque. But that costs money, more fittings are more potential leaks, and clutter. So I'll probably re-drill the extension again 30* CCW on the flat for minimal and free solution. Good waste of time playing with tools.

I used to carry a bag of 1/8 ferrules for roadside repair in my '87 5.0 because the oil line failed repeatedly. Luckily that car had a low oil level light. Nylon goes brittle fairly quick from heat cycling. Copper doesn't like vibration and work hardens at ferrule and fails. Maybe launching on slicks and nitrous had something to do with it.

 

[zmotorsports]

Never had a problem with the tubing or the compression fittings. I am very careful to have enough length in the tubing for vibration relief. I merely duplicate what has worked in my '73 Square Body since it was born as GM used that tubing and fittings for their oil pressure gauges.

I felt the same way about GM's rigid lines and fittings until I had one fail on me on our first motorhome, a 1984 30' Class A on the GM P30 chassis. It was a transmission cooler fitting at the transmission, but similar scenario to so many other forms of fittings used on vehicles. The double flair failed right at the fitting as it threaded into the transmission on the I-5 interstate just outside Seattle, WA during rush hour traffic. I was able to cobble together a compression style of repair long enough to get me through the rest of the trip and home but then replaced the lines with rigid in the middle to rubber at each end for vibration and strain relief. The failure was right under the threaded fitting and behind the double flair. My assumption at the time was after 60k miles the rigid line had just vibrated enough that it cracked directly under the fitting creating the crack. I too am a little skeptical when it comes to fittings and lines these days ever since.

 

[plain2car]

justin, that is what drew me to the 1/10 scale hobby to begin with, i LOVE the realistic nature of the "scalers"! I too like to keep them looking like a real truck, that said, I never really "got into" the 1.5 versions (weird?), but I did/do like the "comp crawlers" as well... enough of the 1/10 scale let's get back on the 1:1! ... albeit a ford! ..... LOL!!! I swear one of these days I am going to get all us east siders for a GTG!! !!!

 

[ntsqd]

No doubt that AN is the better overall solution. For this use -2 would work fine, but who has any of that?

I have a suspicion that compression fittings get over-tightened and that's why they eventually fail. Once the ferrule is imprinted on the tubing it doesn't need to be any tighter. The ham-fisted meatheads of the world think they need to be striped + 1/4 turn or they'll leak. When that happens the tubing has been cold worked beyond necessary and becomes a fatigue failure waiting to happen.

How I routed the 1/8" on the Bronc-up over to the engine mount where it crosses onto the frame and where I put the 'T' for the sender & switch (switch just above the coil bucket):


That steering is how I bought it. It is no longer on the truck.

 

[Bigblue&Goldie]

justin, that is what drew me to the 1/10 scale hobby to begin with, i LOVE the realistic nature of the "scalers"! I too like to keep them looking like a real truck, that said, I never really "got into" the 1.5 versions (weird?), but I did/do like the "comp crawlers" as well... enough of the 1/10 scale let's get back on the 1:1! ... albeit a ford! ..... LOL!!! I swear one of these days I am going to get all us east siders for a GTG!! !!!

I've resisted getting back into R/C, but I think it's really cool how the industry has gone towards more realistic drivetrains and details.

 

[rattle_snake]

My friend who is really into R/C crawlers has a dozen of them or so. From full competition to realistic. I've played with many of them and although the wild ones are much more capable, they are not necessarily more fun to me.
I could just remove the body, bumper, and boat sides from mine and that alone makes it more capable. But squeezing/scraping a full width body rig through obstacles brings more smiles.

 

[rattle_snake]

Although the oil pressure adapter worked OK and didn't' leak, it could be better. I embraced the challenge, so we have v2.0. Crude, but I enjoyed the side project.

Somewhere a machinist cringes looking at this


Easy way to make threads on a lathe without actually knowing how to do so.




Vice doesn't work well like this


Instead of thread sealer, I made a pocket with taper for a ferrule to do the sealing.


Shorter overall length allow the assembly to fit in the dash better. I had to cut the structure to make it work with the v1.0

 

[ntsqd]

Of all the things that I can do with a lathe, single-pointing threads is by far my least favorite. I will do almost anything I can to avoid it. So, I'm not cringing. I do that too. I've known machinist's who have made special die holders just so that they can do that too. Those holders do a better job of holding and starting the die square on the work.
So, no, no cringing here. Just the opposite. Feels a bit like an AA meeting.....

 

[zmotorsports]

Of all the things that I can do with a lathe, single-pointing threads is by far my least favorite. I will do almost anything I can to avoid it. So, I'm not cringing. I do that too. I've known machinist's who have made special die holders just so that they can do that too. Those holders do a better job of holding and starting the die square on the work.
So, no, no cringing here. Just the opposite. Feels a bit like an AA meeting.....

I'm far from a "machinist" but when I had my old Smithy 3 in 1 machine, I avoided it at all costs due to the cumbersome process of switching gears around and then wondering if it was still correct. In the 17 years I owned that machine I think I single point threaded less than a half a dozen times and those were situations where I really had no other option.

When I purchased my 13x40 lathe with the Norton style gearbox back in 2014, I was so excited to finally be able to single point thread on a whim. I dove in head first to develop and fine tune the process. I even single point threaded some 1/4"-20 aluminum screws for my wife's motorcycle helmet, just to test myself and to verify I could do it. Nowadays, for most things under about 5/16" diameter I do exactly what Justin did and merely use a die, with a shop made die holder of course. For most everything 3/8" and up I still prefer to single point thread as it is just so rewarding. Not the quickest at times, but very rewarding.

 

[rattle_snake]

So I need a bigger lathe?

 

[rattle_snake]

Re-worked the oil pressure port extension to make things all work together. The extension must be clocked just right for the large electric sensor to not hit the PS pump, PS line, oil filter and engine block. I plugged the 1/8 NPT, and drilled another half a flat (30* or pi/6 radians) CCW. The AN fitting and hose just fit. No other fitting needed. PITA to work in that space, pulled the PS pump 2nd go around much quicker.

 

[rattle_snake]

Made another trip to the upholstery supply in search of a better vinyl match and the other, lighter seat color. There wasn't, and the closest of the lighter color isn't that close. Picked up some contact cement, as the 3M super 77 spray adhesive failed in first good heat cycle. Also bought a $25 can of interior spray paint, that is a very close match to the darker vinyl. The flat camo paint I had used shows grease and was fragile, so I clear coated one door, but that brought out the green more which I didn't like. So started over again, with yet another color, and did the armrest area in black. Made new panels out of 3/16 foam instead of the corrugated plastic.


Added some black fabric over the speaker grill.


Still not happy with the results, but time to move on...


to some new carpet. The pass side floor pan was replaced, but not the driver side, which is rusty with some pin holes. Hit that with some rust converter, cleaned the floor, and duct taped some more holes. The rug is sewn on 3 side so only had to fit the firewall, and make holes for the seat & belt bolts.




The glue let go on the speaker box also, so decided to go with a more grown-up color over the out of place red.

 

[rattle_snake]

Audio system back in and looking better. Going to paint the brackets tan color to blend in. I want to finish out the side area, not sure carpet or vinyl. I made an attempt at a seat back cover out of a remnant. I can't stitch straight for 15 feet let alone 15". I temporarily secured with zip ties which don't look good.

 

[rattle_snake]

The cheap chambered mufflers sound OK but it seems I'm always searching for something better. Instead a straight through type, turbo, glasspack. I wasted lots of time shopping for mufflers trying to decide on oval vs round and length. Instead I decided to hack up a set of Blue streak 36" that I had for sale, too quiet. One had paint, the other not. Originally I was going to cut one in half, for a pair of 18s. But the flutes would be opposite one another. I ended up cutting both at 20/16 so I have more than one option. Going to start with the 20".
Muffler shrinker.


The packing was 95% gone and the perforated tube was broken near the middle. Cut out some 16 ga doughnuts on plasma to cap the end. Welded some 2.25 for an outlet onto doughnut, the perf stub to that, then on to the case.


The mufflers started life as 2.5. Someone used them with 2.25 tubing and attempted to fill the gap with booger welds. It wasn't worth the effort to undo this mess to get the stub of 2.25 out, so I cut it off flush. I'm using 2.25 tube. I made the inlet a slip fit by cutting a slice out of a piece of 2.5 for a tight fit. V-bands would be nice, but those cost money, and I can't find only one reasonably priced flange to make the system adaptable to multiple mufflers. So slip fit it is.


Muffler #2 was in quite different shape that the first. The paint was intact indicating that it did not get as hot as the other. It had all the original packing and a ton of rust inside. The perforated tube broke on the long half during cut process. Welded it up in the same way.


For some reason I was compelled to paint them before moving on to the rest of the job. The paint must heat cycle to cure and will get all beat up before that happens. Need to make some hangers, test fit and decide what to do on the turndowns.


Why make something you can buy? Why not. I spent less time modifying the mufflers than I did shopping for new ones.

 

[Bigblue&Goldie]

I really like how your door panels turned out!

 

[ntsqd]

I make these:

I use a small bead of ultra copper around where the near flange meets the tube, but I'm not convinced that I really need to do that.

I prefer them to V-Bands because they are always clocked how I welded them together, and the bolts give me a place where I can bolt on a hanger. Upstream (near) flange is pulled up from the end of the tube 1/2"-3/4" Sealing weld is on the side not seen. Downstream flange has it's ID opened up to be a slip-fit over the expanded ID tube section. Sealing weld is on the visible corner with structural tacks on the backside between the bolts.
It used to be a process to make these, but since SendCutSend and purchasing a muffler tube expander it's not the huge time sink that it used to be. With your own cnc plasma it would be even faster.

 

[rattle_snake]

I really like how your door panels turned out!

Thanks! The 2nd one came out better so I went back and turd polished the left side. Removed my attempt at a long shallow angle on the lower insert. I have some more 'experiments' to do...

I make these:

I use a small bead of ultra copper around where the near flange meets the tube, but I'm not convinced that I really need to do that.

I prefer them to V-Bands because they are always clocked how I welded them together, and the bolts give me a place where I can bolt on a hanger. Upstream (near) flange is pulled up from the end of the tube 1/2"-3/4" Sealing weld is on the side not seen. Downstream flange has it's ID opened up to be a slip-fit over the expanded ID tube section. Sealing weld is on the visible corner with structural tacks on the backside between the bolts.
It used to be a process to make these, but since SendCutSend and purchasing a muffler tube expander it's not the huge time sink that it used to be. With you own cnc plasma it would be even faster.

Do you machine the whole thing from one piece? Or cut flanges and weld pieces of telescopic pipe.

I considered flanges. They are not cheap to buy anymore, about the same as a V-band interestingly. I could cut flanges myself but in this case I think a simple slip is sufficient, as there is minimal back pressure at the muffler joint. Couple tack welds and done, easy to remove. Unknown how short of time these stay attached to the intermediate piping.

 

[rattle_snake]

For now I'll leave the 16" halves as is. If it's too loud and sloppy they may work as a resonator tip either open ended or closed.

Interesting that one side of the exhaust was so much hotter. I wonder if that bank was lean somehow, or some type of misfire that put a lot of fuel into exhaust.

 

[ntsqd]

The flanges are plate welded to muffler tube. The slip-fit is formed from muffler tube with a hyd. tool that I can connect to a HF porta-power. I weld the downstream flange to a short section of expanded tubing, which is then slipped over the downstream tube and welded on at the opposite end of the short slip-fit section from the flange.
If the plate that the flanges are cut from is decently flat then they will seal. The old way, using purchased stamped flanges, used to cause me more work to get them flat, but since I've moved to having them laser or plasma cut from plate I haven't had to do any of that.

I use these connections to make it easy to remove the exhaust so I can get access to work on other things, to make it easy to replace mufflers & cats, and to make it easy to modify if I decide that I want to change it. Mufflers and cats get two each, headers get another one (I weld short section of tube into the collector).

 

[Mr.zippy]

Can't wait to see the body work and new paint!

Love the interior! Very nice......

 

[rattle_snake]

Thanks! Paint is a ways out. Starting to think about the customizations to be done.

 

[rattle_snake]

Cut out the old and test fit the new mufflers. Cut down the outlet and welded on the elbow/turn down. Found a hanger that would work as-is so went with it.


Likely temporary so minimal weld and grind. No need for fancy paint. Cut a slit to clamp the inlet like a motorcycle slip exhaust.


Simple and basic for now




But how does it sound?
It's not overly loud but a little sloppy. Needs some refinement.

 

[rattle_snake]

Added some green bulb covers for the aftermarket gauges to match the cluster.

 

[PugetDude]

Added some green bulb covers for the aftermarket gauges to match the cluster.

I'm green with envy.
Nice work Justin.!

 

[rattle_snake]

Thanks Scott. Otherwise known as little green condoms.

I drove the truck yesterday in the heat, the A/C did OK. It doesn't blow as much air as the 1972 system. Oil pressure doesn't go below 15 psi @ 600 RPM. Coolant temp didn't go over 190 which is middle of 'Normal' so it appears the fan clutch tweak did what I wanted. I made a few stops and the truck doesn't like to restart. I assume that the fuel boils out of the bowls. Takes a long crank to fire. Long enough to pop the main 150 A fuse so have to make some changes there. Probably just bypass the fuse for that branch and leave the fuse for the audio system.

 

[rattle_snake]

Exhaust v3.0 didn't last more than one day. Sound wasn't deep or refined, just kind of open exhaust, not better than the cheap chambered muffs. Instead of modifying the chopped down mufflers further, a more modular approach. Version four adds 'custom resonator tips' otherwise known as more hacked up junk. Down side is more weight.

30* slash cut on the Evo chop to the short half and added a short piece of bend to inlet.


Cut the turn downs off, and shortened the piping 5" to move the main mufflers forward to make room for tips. Moved the hangers back the same


Jet-hot ceramic coating.

Rinse and repeat on the other side.


Abandoned the idea of dumping exhaust into tire patch to blow tire smoke out the back, and went back to a down facing outlet. If the pipe end is visible you can hear more of the individual pulses, where as pointing them down reflects off ground and disperses/smooths out the tone.


Haven't done a full drive cycle to evaluate the latest setup. At idle is seems better. I can cap the ends of resonator tips if needed.

 

[OutlawDrifter]

Thanks Scott. Otherwise known as little green condoms.

I drove the truck yesterday in the heat, the A/C did OK. It doesn't blow as much air as the 1972 system. Oil pressure doesn't go below 15 psi @ 600 RPM. Coolant temp didn't go over 190 which is middle of 'Normal' so it appears the fan clutch tweak did what I wanted. I made a few stops and the truck doesn't like to restart. I assume that the fuel boils out of the bowls. Takes a long crank to fire. Long enough to pop the main 150 A fuse so have to make some changes there. Probably just bypass the fuse for that branch and leave the fuse for the audio system.

Can you add a carb spacer in and see if it helps?

 

[ntsqd]

I fought that fuel boiled out of the carb on a hot shut-down with the Ranchero. Winter fuel was worse for it, and the AFB was worse about it than the Holleys were. What worked the best for me was a thin isolator topped with an 1/8" aluminum plate. I made the plate a little wider than the width of the 302's intake and nearly the full length of it, too. Had to shorten the front edge a little because of the D-S II large cap on the dist.

Were I building that car now I'd do away with the mech. fuel pump and use an in-tank electric pump with a FPR to keep the supply line under pressure and a return system to keep the fuel circulating. In your part of the world I'd seriously consider routing the return fuel thru a small liquid to air cooler placed somewhere under the truck. The 5.0 Explorer's PS cooler is just about the right size (plan to use one of those that way on the Wagon). I'd make the plumbing between the FPR and the carb as short as I reasonably could. This wouldn't help with the hot re-start boiled fuel problem directly, but it would make getting fuel into the fuel bowls a lot faster as well as head-off any possible vapor lock issues in the future.

 

[rattle_snake]

Can you add a carb spacer in and see if it helps?

There is a phenolic spacer under the carb already. They don't really do any good, just slow things down a bit, but same end result.

...Were I building that car now I'd do away with the mech. fuel pump and use an in-tank electric pump with a FPR to keep the supply line under pressure and a return system to keep the fuel circulating. In your part of the world I'd seriously consider routing the return fuel thru a small liquid to air cooler placed somewhere under the truck. The 5.0 Explorer's PS cooler is just about the right size (plan to use one of those that way on the Wagon). I'd make the plumbing between the FPR and the carb as short as I reasonably could. This wouldn't help with the hot re-start boiled fuel problem directly, but it would make getting fuel into the fuel bowls a lot faster as well as head-off any possible vapor lock issues in the future.

Have similar thoughts. E-pump and reg. but $$. Return system heats the fuel until the whole tank is starting to boil. Hard to dump heat into 125+ ambient. Fuel boils at about that temp. Same issue on my 1972 with EFI.

 

[ntsqd]

The plate worked far better for me than an isolator did. It keep the radiant heat coming up off the intake from getting directly to the fuel bowls. The thin isolator slowed down the conductance into the carb base, and then the plate pulled what heat did get thru out into the engine bay instead of going directly into the carb base.

Fuel boils around that temp at ambient pressure. Granted, the return won't be under much pressure, but it can stand a little. Raising the fuel pressure does great things for the boiling point.

Small Delta T is a problem. I don't know that dead-heading it is the solution. With a cooler in place wind-chill is, go faster!

Hard to get past the $$ unless parts laying around that can be put to use.

 

[Dodgepu360]

crazy idea: could you route the suction side of refrigerant through a heat exchanger to cool the fuel? I don't know if the refrigerant would absorb any more heat after coming out of the evaporator on +100° day, probably not worth the effort

 

[ntsqd]

Only good as long as your ice holds: https://www.moroso.com/super-cool-can-8an-female-fittings-65127/