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9/27/03
Roy Ransom came by yesterday and today, and yesterday we got the entire
front off the truck: gille, bumper, AC condenser and compressor (had
to drain off the freon, damn), and the core support. Today we got
the engine and trans bolted up, and hoisted it up and inside the frame
rails!! I had to torch off the top of the “C” frame rails
on both sides to permit the oil filter on the left and the exhaust
on the right to clear. The trans mount crossmember is out, and can
be reinstalled, although about 8 inches rearward of its original position.
We’re going to air-nibble the floor pan open tomorrow or Monday,
and we’re going to see if raising the trans 3-4 inches levels
the motor out sufficiently. If not, then we’ll have to do some
major surgery on the front crossmember, and come up with a dropped
drag link for the steering, as that hits the pan as does the major
crossmember carrying the front end steering and suspension. The very
good news is that the AC box on the firewall clears, and the master
cylinder will clear as well. There’s still a lot of clearancing
to do, but I’m WAY pleased at how far we’ve gotten in
only two days. We don’t have any clue as to how the mounts will
work, but we’re certainly doing great so far. Once we’ve
got the rough install covered, we’ll go for the extensive parts
list, pull out the assembly, start prettyfying the install, and put
the major hunt on for the parts. Roy was the chief mechanic for LA
City heavy trucks and formerly did the same in the Marines.
He is quietly VERY sharp. As noted before, it appears we’ll
need to get the whole cooling package from a newer truck: radiator,
intercooler, AC condenser. The existing Harrison AC compressor appears
too big to fit on the motor right now. The alternator, as noted previously,
looks good so far. If this were Monster Garage, this would be running
already!!! Once we get the motor situated, we can see how to move
some things around, like the fuel filter that is VERY close to the
AC air box on the firewall. Fortunately, the fuel filter is on a bracket,
and can be easily relocated. No conclusion on the power steering pump
as yet. Don’t know how hood clearance is as yet. I am taking
pix galore, so documentation will be available for others, such as
readers of the Diesel Page.
9/29/03
Some more frame cutting (lots), and the motor is down and level in
both directions. Hood clearance appears not to be an issue now. Roy
had to cut a little more out of the trans tunnel, I had to do some
more frame notching, and the monster is at least in position. We looked
at the old motor mounts and there is NO WAY they are going to be of
any use. It appears we’ll need to fab up two plates, one on
the engine and one on the crossmember and fit some urethane doughnut
between with a LARGE bolt. The driveshaft appears only to need to
be shortened an inch or two, and a different yoke and u-joint fitted
to match the rear of the Allison trans. I have forward some pix to
Rob Anderson to give him a sense of what I’ve done so far, and
to get his thinking going on what I might need to do to beef up the
frame and make some motor mounts. I also talked with Peter Chinn today
who suggested I order a Helm’s manual for the Duramax. He is
not familiar with this motor, so I will have to do most of the research
on the parts. Roy has proven extremely helpful here, as he has spent
decades working on heavy trucks. I should get a wiring manual for
the original 86 truck as well to see just what the old wiring was,
as we need to interface both together. Roy says my diesel motor is
a 12-volt unit (and 12-volt starter) but should have two batteries
for the starting amperage (and I presume to help maintain the voltage
for the computers). So we’re at the parts list stage. Thankfully,
with Roy’s immense help, we are moving quickly after only three
or 4 days of work on it. It continues to amaze me how much more I
can get done with one other person here. I just leap into decision/action,
rather than just aching over “should I do this, should I do
that….”. While not quite Monster Garage, this thing has
moved well, and a major hurdle appears to have been cleared to date.
There will be a LOT of issues to conquer: fuel system, wiring, exhaust,
shifting, throttle, etc. Getting the engine mounted will answer a
lot for now.
9/30/03
Peter Chinn called this morning and sent me some FAXes on parts drawings.
I will be getting a manual for the engine soon, and meanwhile I will
have him start ordering parts we clearly need: rear mount, intake
manifold neck, turbo waste gate controller vacuum diaphragm, and idler
pulley, and like that. I need to get some brackets welded, and learn
a LOT more about how this motor communicates. Rob Anderson has not
responded, but I hope he does soon. Roy has been beyond wonderful:
he just can’t wait to keep gong on this. I need to turn him
to the Condor while we wait for parts on the Duramax.
10/1/03
The GN just pulled up, and all is not well. Some road debris hit the
car about 3 miles from here (of course), broke the headlight nacelle
(a large hole, thank you), scratched the entire hood and a portion
of the top. The body is not in the “show” condition it
was purported to be. Has a little rust on the left side, the upholstery
is torn on both front seats (I saw that earlier, though), the paint
is far from great. Bill got the WAY great end of the deal. My car
was true show quality compared to this. Still OK, but NOT what was
portrayed. Oh well, I just live up to my word and do the right thing
and sleep just fine. Taking the car to Nick right now, as soon as
the tires hit the pavement, and having the driver sign a statement
of damage, as well as giving him digital photos to take with him,
I’ll file a claim a little later tonight with the broken and
shipper.
10/2/03
Well, it is VERY quick, shockingly so. These are amazing cars. Bill,
well, he did not do his part. The AC doesn’t work, not even
the fan (maybe a fuse?), the seat mechanism needs work, the window
on the passenger side is VERY slow, the paint is quite rough, the
tach and boost gauges don’t work. I did so much more for him
on the Gremlin. Very disappointing. Just time and money for me to
bring it up to my standards. Nick was right, it is a nice riding piece.
10/3/03
Took the GN to Lucas AC, and a MERE $1100 to fix it. The AC is ALL
bad. Well, the condenser and evaporator are OK, but the fan motor
is bad, it leaks from 4 places, the freon is empty, and there is some
uncertainty as to the electrical feed to the system. A pure, unadulterated
screwing by Bill. He told me it just needed recharging. I had asked
that he do that. Of course, he did NOTHING, and did not mention the
AC was junk. Further, the paint is absolute crap. It is a repaint,
and a bad one at that. If this guy thinks his car was tits, he is
delusional. No, I think he just got away with some real unethical
stuff here. I did SO much on the Gremlin to keep my part of the bargain,
to maintain my word and honesty about the product. He just shafted
me. The car was NOT polished, to the contrary the paint was horrible.
The right door window switch is falling out, the right window is quite
slow to rise (but it does work), the computer in the right kick panel
was hanging loose, the stereo wiring is loose and the front speakers
will function but do not work at the moment, all the exterior rubber
trim has been painted black, and the window tinting is all not in
great shape (and is coming out shortly). So I just took another large
hit for over a thousand. Perhaps the two shippers who seem to be fighting
over the car will step up and stop me before I fiscally hemorrhage
again. I talked with Nick a moment ago, and he loudly told me NOT
to do anything yet on the air, and promised to call me back in a few
minutes. I will get some money from the shipper’s insurance,
but will have to spend another thousand beyond the insurance to repaint
the whole car, plus some interior repairs, and some other details
which I just can not live with. Oh well, my usual anal approach. Gotta
say, though, I REALLY LIKE the car, just not the condition in which
Bill handed it over. It was suggested he should send me about $2K
to help even things up, which is about the minimum I’ll spend
just making it nearly OK, as it should have been. It handles like
it’s on rails, and rides nicely. It appears to need some fluid
in the rear end, as the clutches sound a little grabby in the posi
from time to time. The engine fan runs on for about a half hour after
shutoff, and finally hung me up today (battery drained) when I was
at Economy Glass having the windows checked. I’ll have the battery
checked tomorrow and investigate another relay/timer/sensor for the
fan.
On the Duramax front, I met another fellow today, John Santiago, who
owns one and is a gearhead, too. He will come by in a few days to
chat about cars. I also spoke with a service tech for Dodge who knows
diesels, Ruben, and he MIGHT come by next week to take a peek. He
knows ignitions, too.
I have not ordered any diesel parts yet, so we are at a bit of a standstill.
I spoke with Joe at Lucas AC about the dually air, and he will attempt
to be of help soon in determining what can be used or not.
Roy is coming over Sunday to look over the condor and perhaps get
us close to starting it. Perhaps Ruben, the Dodge boy, will take a
look at the Condor
ignition as well.
In ebay news, of ten items, about 4 sold. Yuk! This included a complete
BBC intake including manifold, smog pump, carburetor, and air cleaner.
Amazing, and only a $40 minimum. I’m SERIOUSLY moving stuff
outa here. Well, Randy just dumpsterizes stuff like this, so I guess
I can, too. I’ll give the Recycler a week, then chuckola.
10/5/03
Half the items on ebay did not sell. So tomorrow it’s Recycler
time. Did sell the boat headers, FC headers, flex plates, the pallet
jack, and Randy’s old Roberts tape recorder. The BBC intake
and smog stuff, two phancient phone answering machines, and other
items did not sell. Roy Ransom came today and we got a LOT done on
the Condor. We took a HUGE amount of wiring out of the fan system,
mounted the two useful relays, trashed a lot of unnecessary stuff
, and corrected the manual grounding fan switch, Turned out it had
been grounded to a firewall stud holding the power brake system, which
ET3 had removed, and left hanging up inside the dash. So that now
works, and well, as does the grounding wire off the manifold sensor
switch. So we have achieved fans working, a big step. And, we have
traced the wiring for the distributor and feel we have it right. Roy
will bring some wiring diagrams for it to be doubly sure on his next
visit. We need to verify the firing order, get the front spark plug
back in the motor, fill it with fluids, and give it a go. I do have
to get some proper battery cable connectors for the rear battery,
which is wired in and otherwise works fine. So REAL close. I am SO
interested to see how the Bird compares to the GN. I hope favorably
after all this. Duramax owner John Santiago offered to tow the FC
to Palmdale or Famoso at my leisure. I’ll take him up on it
in two weeks, as next week is full with my mom’s 90th birthday
celebrations. It is now cool enough to make going out there worthwhile.
I also need to get out to have the Cool Suit examined and tested.
I also need to get some Duramax parts ordered. I rode in Santiago’s
truck and it is AWESOME!!! I am extremely excited that my dually will
run like that. Wow!!
10/21/03
Some unexciting news: the Grand National has no overdrive. It’s
there, but it won’t engage. Cost to repair: $1200. I SHALL find
a cheaper way! Going to try Baida’s buddy in lower LA. Randy
suggests calling Mike Stewart at MikeJeff Price did correct some wiring
in the GN, replaced some dufus stuff, and cured some ills. Good old
Bill slipped me the big one here. There is no CD cassette in the CD
changer, so that doesn’t work too well. Still hunting for a
shifter assembly, on LONG backorder. I did score some seat material
from Price, but it’s the wrong color, darker than what’s
in there. I can convert it all, the bucket inserts on all four seats
and the door panels, if need be. Going to take it to Jose tomorrow
and get another view. Jeff’s material is factory, but apparently
there were a couple of shades of gray in these cars. So the Wagner
Luck (or the lack thereof) continues. Took advice from Grand National
expert, and got bitten. The one thing that is constant is that whoever
buys my cars gets a thoroughly redone piece. The jury is still out
on the Mercedes, and it goes back to Aran tomorrow for some closer
inspection on the noisy rocker arm(s) and the dicey heating situation.
Granted, it is over a hundred today, but I just don’t feel solid
about the cooling situation yet.
Obviously have gone NOWHERE with the FC. John Santiago is perfectly
willing to tow me to Palmdale or Famoso. I just have to wait for some
cool weather and make the time.
10/22/03
Meanwhile, Santiago is out at Randy’s starting the framing on
the Garage Mahal West. John is quite sharp, innovative, and loves
technical challenges, like raising a 28” beam weighing many
hundreds of pounds using just two men and a 12-volt winch. The GN
is running quite well, and the bolt of upholstery Jeff had was darker
than my color. No matter, I am going with Miranda’s stock, even
darker, and redoing all the gray door and seat panels. The car seems
perkier now that Jeff has corrected some anomalies. I am hoping to
complete smog certification tomorrow, now that he unplugged the EGR
port, blocked by the aftermarket phenolic spacer under the injector
air intake body. Good old Bill. Incidentally, it appears the car was
from California originally, as it has a replacement VIN tag mounted
on the door jamb, indicating it was probably a theft recovery at one
point. Aran, the Mercedes mechanic, owned a GNX, and is familiar with
these cars. He thinks it might even have been a friend’s car!!
Boy, is this getting to be a small world!!
10/27/03
Roy came by yesterday and we actually got the Condor motor to run
a bit!! I mean a bit in that the fuel pump is apparently not working,
so any sustained running was not possible, nor was it possible to
determine if everything is OK with the ignition, carb, etc. It should
just start at the bump of the key, but without a fuel supply, a proper
automatic choke, and given that for some reason the key/ignition switch
does not actuate the starter, we have a problem or two to solve. The
starter drive hangs in the flywheel, so I believe I need to remove
a shim or two. The fuel pump and key don’t come on, although
the rest of the car apparently functions: lights, turn indicators,
windows, alarm, door locks, etc. We MIGHT have to drop the tank down,
OR cut a hole in the floor and see if the sensor/pump is plugged in.
It may be the key/starter thing is a neutral safety switch issue.
The fuel pump is another matter.
The Buick has nuked another fuse on the AC, so there is something
awry there. It is getting its new upholstery right now, and should
be able to be retrieved tomorrow.
No progress on the Duramax install. Just so busy with work that I
haven’t made connections to continue on. As soon as the Condor
can fly, we’ll turn our attentions back to the diesel.
11/3/03
The Mercedes did it again: lunched a radiator. There is something
awry with the front end sheet metal or brackets or engine mounts.
The fan keeps hitting the lower portion of the radiator. Apparently
it did this to Brockman several times as well.
11/8/03
Well, fixed the long-term radiator problem: I had the lower core support
pulled back to its proper position (forward) about 2”. Larry
or whomever had driven his car at some time had apparently hit a parking
bumper (perhaps repeatedly), and pushed the bottom of the radiator
support back towards the fan. Whenever the engine or front end would
flex, whammo! So I now have the proper 2” clearance around it
top to bottom, so that problem should be over. It took two radiators
and several repairs. The car now drives nicely again. I went comparison
shopping on two 500’s today, one worse, one better. The better
one is asking $18,500, and will take $12K. His car does not present
incredibly better, but is sharper in some areas, and the motor sounds
sweeter. It also has only 59,000 miles on it. It clarified for me
just what mine should be worth, and has freed me to get it marketed
on ebay with the proper reserve.
The Buick has had a starter replaced (intermittent, not good), the
heat shield housing around the turbo tightened up (I heard a faint
rumbling/rattle), and the cracked left side exhaust header welded
up. It was a small leak, but now that, too, has been corrected.
The car just plain hauls ass, not two ways about it. It handles incredibly,
and I’ve corrected some stuff, as is my irrepressible way. Whoever
buys a car from me usually gets a great car. I have ordered a windshield
washer motor (not working), and will have Jeff Price make some other
small corrections in the coming week. I will also take it to Mike’s
Transmissions to have the overdrive malfunction looked at. I will
also re-contact the shipper, ask again why the insurance payment on
the reported and documented and inspected shipping damage has not
been forthcoming, and see if I can get him to buy the car.
Nothing has transpired on the dually or Condor. I will have Dick Dreher
come over Monday (MAJOR Ford expert), and see if he can solve the
mis-timing thing (if in fact that is what’s wrong).
11/10/03
Dick Dreher came over this morning and solved the problem in under
two minutes. Well, it was the wrong firing order, notwithstanding
Roy Ransom’s book, and the Ford website to the contrary! Started
right up, but the starter is still hanging. So I switched to the old
starter, and it, too, hangs a bit. I’ll tighten it up later
and try again. He also finally explained to me how the index system
works in NHRA Super Stock. So I finally have clarity on that segment
of drag racing scoring.
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