rattle_snake's random shop projects v0.1

[ntsqd]

Problem is that you have to maintain the coolant in liquid form for the thermal transfer to be efficient. As soon as it flashes to steam you're done. Worse, once it does flash that area under the steam bubble gets no cooling and a thermal run-away is standing right there ready to happen. If you don't have enough pressure in the block then the localized hot spots will flash. It is a balancing act.

 

[Jgaz]

one of the few times I have ever needed the entire vertical range of my drill press.

Yes sir! When you really need it, the extra range is priceless. Drilling a broken dowel pin here.

Sorry for the derail.
I liked how similar your pic was to mine.

 

[rattle_snake]

Nice.
Great minds think alike. Slick method to secure the bumpstick.

 

[rattle_snake]

The Holley 20-9 bracket didn't fit at all, so made a mount for idle stop on Holley 4150. One step closer to fuel injection, haha.

 

[rattle_snake]

New aluminum water pump arrived. Old pump is OK, but need lightness. I spent an extra $10 or so on a 'high volume' type. Rated at 3x the pressure. So what is the difference? In the case of these two the impeller has 8 blades instead of 6. The depth of the cavity is a bit more, and blades are 'taller'. So it should move more fluid per rotation.


The bypass inlets are cast on this particular pump. The passages have meat below the pump cavity and I could have cut one/both off and threaded to 3/8 NPT. But then I have made a semi custom water pump. This truck isn't going to be driven outside the city and side of road parts swap is unlikely. I measured the ID at 15/32, which is almost exact drill size for 1/2-20 bolt thread, so I did that instead. Plug with set screw, but can also put a hose on it.


Good thing about working on a pickup is the built-in part storage. I'm having delusions of keeping all the old parts to be able to build and sell a mostly complete motor. only missing oil pan and valve covers, so might buy some fancy stuff for the next round.

 

[rattle_snake]

This turd showed up. Going in my buddy's 70s Hallet jet boat. As much as I prefer Fords over the General, I recommended to him to go BBC just for used parts availability and pricing. He was able to source the rest of the **** needed in Havasu for really cheap. Forward mount, bell assembly, logs, snails, ect. The motor came with a box of other stuff to make it mostly complete.

Not sure about the green oil pan, but it's a chevy so those people don't make the best decisions.

 

[zmotorsports]

Not sure about the green oil pan, but it's a chevy so those people don't make the best decisions.

 

[rattle_snake]

Mike, even if you drove a Chrysler product I'd still have the utmost respect.

First pic didn't really show the oil pan. I pulled one valve cover off and things look ok inside.

 

[SMOKEYBEAR]

Jet boat project is on my list, I'll be following along.

 

[rattle_snake]

Ran a brush hone through the bores. Made a big mess.


Modified the motor mounts to move engine forward 1/2" to address some clearance issues.


This pic doesn't need any explanation

 

[senlow]

This pic doesn't need any explanation

Hmm. . . someone is planning on abusing laughing gas.

 

[rattle_snake]

Puttering on the nitrous plumbing while waiting on heads and rings.
Homebrew fuel log doesn't fit well with the solenoids.


So trying all kinds of arrangements. When I was 5 my dad was building our new house including plumbing and so on. I would play with the plumbing fittings and put them all together in all sorts of ways.


Leaning towards this. Bent up a new hard line. The soft line is temporary.


Need to add a WOT switch. The left side of the carb is already cluttered and there isn't a good place to put it. Instead use the choke side of the throttle shaft. I carefully filled out a slot to fit the shaft end.


slimmed out the arm, paint.


I was going to use one of the mounting studs to hold the switch, but the choke pedestals seemed like a cleaner solution. flipped the arm over and made a crude bracket.

 

[rattle_snake]

Made a v2.0 of the WOT switch actuator arm. V1.0 wasn't clocked ideally and was facing outward and made the whole assembly stick out. This time I just drilled the hole large enough to test fit/clock everything, then went back and added a booger welds to make the flats. The flat recess is 0.062 and so is the sheet metal. Any grind/sanding and no longer have a pinch from fastener. Any slop in flats is a fail. So I left the welds tall to make it tight.


Moved and cut down the switch bracket, mounted in tight to the carb body.


at WOT. Didn't want to block access to the carb flange studs/nuts


Continued puttering on fuel plumbing schemes. The fuel solenoid tab broke off the rail so broke it down and re-welded. It had clearance issue with fittings, so to resolve I wasted time on lathe making a nifty spacer.

 

[rattle_snake]

Found a way to use a simple single bend hard line to supply fuel solenoid.


Still need to secure the solenoid rail to the intake. Probably make yet another choke stove block-off, this time in steel and weld the rail to it.

 

[rattle_snake]

Reworked the solenoid rail for the SBF intake manifold.


Third version of primary fuel feed tube. Can't get the bends any closer to one another. The blue gauge fitting had to go.


Final version, hopefully.

 

[zmotorsports]

That looks really clean Justin.

 

[rattle_snake]

Thanks Mike. It has been very enjoyable project to work on. Minimal cleaning and more hot rodding. Taking my time on the details, little bit better each round.

 

[zmotorsports]

Thanks Mike. It has been very enjoyable project to work on. Minimal cleaning and more hot rodding. Taking my time on the details, little bit better each round.

That's what it's all about Justin, continuous improvement and learning. It's what we all should be shooting for.

I sometimes think that these high-end builds that are done solely to win AMBR, Ridler Award or high dollar SEMA builds actually deter many people from trying. They see these "perfect" builds and give up before they try. I remember back in High School hot rodding or just building what you wanted was much more raw. It was more of just building what you wanted and if it turned out great or poor, it was still something you could enjoy. Nowadays it seems like if something doesn't turn out perfect on the first attempt we're ashamed of it.

At times I think perfection has almost killed the hot rodding mentality.

 

[PugetDude]

At times I think perfection has almost killed the hot rodding mentality.

I'm doing my best to hold down the other end of the spectrum...

 

[rattle_snake]

I think posting pics on the web, social media, has had an impact. Want it took look perfect. But we learn from our mistakes, so don't post that, haha.
I think shows like road kill show the other side. Basics of hot rodding.

 

[rattle_snake]

Spent a fair amount of time this weekend on nitrous wiring. I decided to remove most all the wiring from the 72 F250 except the switch itself and the bottle heater relay. I had made the wiring modular, three separate harnesses; engine, relay block and interior. But I can't just use them as-is, have to over complicate and turd polish.

Side note: If starting over, I would use a smaller connector type other than the weatherpacks.

I made a few changes to the engine harness. A dedicated ground through the connector(s) (instead of the metal bracket to intake), inclusion of the coil- for RPM window switch, and grounding one side of the WOT switch instead of a loop to save a connector pin. This made for 5 pins, so I went to a two and three pin weatherpack connectors. Added some split loom and larger p clamps.


All three harnesses connected together, plus the window switch. Much easier to work on removable modular pieces on the bench than working inside the truck. The tach signal goes through the relay harness into the interior harness, then to the window switch. I changed how the window switch was wired. Instead of being powered all the time, I put it after the arm switch. It outputs a high (+12V) signal to the relay coil, and the WOT switch provides the ground.


The relay side was easy to swap, just de-pin the old and pop them into the new. Same relay box, same connectors. The nitrous has a dedicated fuse and needs two relays, second for the purge.


Box is fully populated now.

 

[rattle_snake]

Considered a few different schemes for the nitrous controls. Hidden, some type of OEM switch, removable. Ended up doing latching button type switches mounted where the radio was. Simple and kind of boring. The bluetooth receiver worked OK, but had to be turned on manually each time. Would rather use the space for something else, don't really need any of the buttons. So I decided to move the gauges from the ashtray and put them on a panel with the nitrous controls. Created some CAD drawing and burned out on plasma. I was able to use the old faceplate to located the new one and it's backing plate.


The cutout needs to be all of the existing structure, so I cut it off and welded on the new backing plate.




The plastic bezel needed trimming, so I hogged out the lower hole and left a small ridge around the edge. Also fixed some cracks and other issues.


CNC makes for nice round holes the right size.




Test fit, fits nicely. Miracle. Waiting on switches and new bluetooth receiver.

 

[rattle_snake]

Glovebox seemed like the right place for the window switch. Made a simple bracket to position it upright and readable.


Connector makes the whole thing easy to remove.

 

[zmotorsports]

Awesome work Justin.

Like you, for connectors I wanted something a bit smaller and actually more resilient than the Weatherpack connectors. Although Weatherpack has been used on many GM's for decades and seem to be an industry standard, last year I purchased a couple of Deutsch kits, a size 16 and a size 20 and absolutely love this system. The sizes are determined on current carrying capabilities needed. Size 16 are a bit larger and will carry upwards of around 13 or 14 amps if memory serves, whereas the size 20 pins carry approx. half of that.

 

[Bigblue&Goldie]

Deutsch with the closed barrel pins make life so much easier. Weatherpack are common, but in my opinion Deutsch are the all around better connectors.

 

[custombuild]

Spent a fair amount of time this weekend on nitrous wiring. I decided to remove most all the wiring from the 72 F250 except the switch itself and the bottle heater relay. I had made the wiring modular, three separate harnesses; engine, relay block and interior. But I can't just use them as-is, have to over complicate and turd polish.

Side note: If starting over, I would use a smaller connector type other than the weatherpacks.

<snip>

Deutsch with the closed barrel pins make life so much easier. Weatherpack are common, but in my opinion Deutsch are the all around better connectors.

Justin - looks very clean even with the weatherpacks.

What are yall thinking for a more compact connector? The DTM series? Looking for recommendations that are smaller than the weatherpacks but also robust.

Thanks

 

[Bigblue&Goldie]

Justin - looks very clean even with the weatherpacks.

What are yall thinking for a more compact connector? The DTM series? Looking for recommendations that are smaller than the weatherpacks but also robust.

Thanks

All the Deutsch connectors are fairly bulky (like Weatherpack), they are just easier to work with and generally more durable. All of our off road race cars use Deutsch connectors (DT series). We actually cut off the Weatherpack connectors from lights and other items and replace them with Deutsch.

Don't get me wrong, I still use Weatherpack for some stuff as they have more support on a local level. For example, I had a pigtail on my Jeep's crankshaft sensor get burned. I was unable to find the factory connector (odd Jeep deal), so I replaced it with a Weatherpack.

 

[ntsqd]

I'll park this here in spite of weatherpack dislike:
https://www.waytekwire.com/product/aptiv-12065158-weather-pack
When I saw those I bought several in my next order just to have them available. I think they're far tidier than the other 5 wire options.

I put a single Deutcsh connector from a scissor lift on this car so that the body could be easily removed for trans & drive-shaft service: Picture Link as that was the easiest way to do some of the work on it. Took longer to get it into the air than it did to pop the body off.
Late stuff seems to be Metripack, at least at the sensors. I've sort of resisted it, but I suspect that I'll end up with the crimp tool and a selection of all three before much longer.

 

[bugnut]

and this from the guy that spent Sunday adjusting the sprinkler heads........

At times I think perfection has almost killed the hot rodding mentality.

Mike, just hadda bust your chops cause everything has to be PERFECT!

 

[zmotorsports]

What are yall thinking for a more compact connector? The DTM series? Looking for recommendations that are smaller than the weatherpacks but also robust.

Thanks

I have both the DT and DTM kits on my shelf that I use based on current needs. As Ryan states, the connectors aren't a huge difference in size, but they are different. I also like that a say a 4-pin or 6- pin connector in a Deutsch is a square rather than a wider flat 4 or 6 so I think that is where I feel the size seems smaller and more compact to me.

 

[zmotorsports]

and this from the guy that spent Sunday adjusting the sprinkler heads........



Mike, just hadda bust your chops cause everything has to be PERFECT!

Touche Joel.

 

[rattle_snake]

I'll park this here in spite of weatherpack dislike:
https://www.waytekwire.com/product/aptiv-12065158-weather-pack
When I saw those I bought several in my next order just to have them available. I think they're far tidier than the other 5 wire options.

Thanks that round five is more compact.

 

[rattle_snake]

More boring wiring on 76 F100. Switches arrived so can complete the harness. To make the harness and panel not a PITA to work on, all the switches/indicators must unplug so they can be removed from the panel. The latching switches have this, but not the others. So I used some small two pin screw terminal wire connectors that fit though the hole in the panel. The MOM sw has it's own screw terminals, but the little green plugs require no tools so more betterest. I covered the metal screws with heatshrink.


Velcro wrap to strain relief the harness so it can be installed/removed more easily.


So we have nitrous ARM top left, purge top right, heater bottom right and an indicator light for 'solenoids on' bottom left. Because there are many things that need to happen to make the nitrous/fuel solenoids turn on, I like to have a feedback signal to know if they are actually activated or not.

 

[plain2car]

very nice work Justin two thumbs up! eerrr....

 

[PugetDude]

Because there are many things that need to happen to make the nitrous/fuel solenoids turn on, I like to have a feedback signal to know if they are actually activated or not.

Sudden, violent tactile feedback isn't doing it for you?

 

[rattle_snake]

Well if that happens everything is good. but when it doesn't, have to debug using process of elimination. Usually it is wiring related but could be low bottle pressure/empty bottle/vapor in line/valve closed type of thing.

 

[rattle_snake]

All this time I've had a Snap-On tool and didn't know it. At least it's paid for.
When I moved out to college my dad gave me a few hand-me-down tools from my great uncles, including this mini 1/2" breaker bar. It has been abused with big hammers and looong cheater pipes, handle is bent. I use it a lot as it isn't a ratchet, back and forth stuff. I now have a 3' HF breaker bar for uncooperative fasteners.

 

[rattle_snake]

Finally received the new properly sized rings. Step one was to check fitment gap and see if they need to be filed/opened up for nitrous. On the unworn lip at the deck the gap was 0.016 as expected. In the worn/swept bore the gap is 0.021. I also checked at the bottom of the swept range and it was 0.020 so good to go without any mods.

So my takeaway is that a use/worn engine actually needs a nitrous system, as it has self-clearance it's ring gap specifically for the purpose.

Because I cleaned the oil off pistons I made sure to lube the wrist pin, rod bearings, ring lands and the rings themselves in fresh oil before installing the rings. Trying to work on the slippery piston with oily hands *****, so I used a piece of drain pipe to hold the piston. Wow what a help it was, even for getting the ring compressor sinched down.


nocked them in and torqued the rod bolts.




Gooped up the cam with Driven assembly lube and installed it and the modified retainer plate for the roller thrust timing set.


I installed the cam 'straight up'. lubed the chain with some oil.


One piece oil pan gasket no goo.


Sourced some fancy SS flange head bolts from local HW store. The filthy OEM fasteners had captive splitlocks gooped in RTV, not cleaning those.

 

[PhantomEB]

Someday soon, my life will be settled down with no truck ‘must-do’ for them and able to just build up a little stroker 393 to have kicking around!

 

[rattle_snake]

New cylinder heads arrived.




Modern chamber design