Pat’s Truck, back to the Turbo, see post 497

[Pat Landymore]

Box back on (by myself...a bit of a challenge...) all wet sanded. As are the running boards and tailgate.

I’ll likely paint all of these on Monday as tomorrow is forecast to be our 3rd day of thunderstorms and rain...don’t want to park Ms 35 out in that yet. LOL

I’ve already primed and applied my final paint to the back of the cab masked by the box, so everything should match ok.

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[VIRGIN MIKE]

Looking good Pat, I'm inspired by your tenacity

FL DMV seems to have changed the rules and are not fully reopened yet; hope to get my tag soon, local office waiting on directives from headquarters; issue seems to be: replica or kit car with current year designation. Calling it a 2020 vehicle may be technically correct but it sure won't help anyone trying to identify it, like if a BOLO order was issued for some emergency

[Pat Landymore]

One of the first fully completed parts.

I know, the ‘sloppy’ decal tore during installing and may be a wee bit off the horizontal. On a completed truck I don’t think anyone is going to notice!

My main goal was to honour one of my internet mentors and hero’s, Mr. Matt Happel of the Sloppy Mechanics YouTube channel. I’ve been watching him since 2009 (?) and the man has taught me more about many things engine than four years of University ever did.



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[FLFrank35]

Looking good Pat, I'm inspired by your tenacity

FL DMV seems to have changed the rules and are not fully reopened yet; hope to get my tag soon, local office waiting on directives from headquarters; issue seems to be: replica or kit car with current year designation. Calling it a 2020 vehicle may be technically correct but it sure won't help anyone trying to identify it, like if a BOLO order was issued for some emergency


One of the other FL builders said it is better/easier to check-off replica than calling it a kit. Forgot why and can't find the post at the moment, sorry.

[Pat Landymore]

I primed all four fenders inside and outside today. Will let them cure for 48 hrs before wet sanding.

Also masked the running boards for an application of Wing Walk compound in the middle area where I’ll always be stepping or dragging my feet. I know the stuff is durable and easy to touch up. That will happen tomorrow.

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[Pat Landymore]

Here are the running boards with the Wing Walk Compound applied.

It will dry to a nice even grey colour.

130211

[Pat Landymore]

Returning to a different aspect of my build, the Holley Super Sniper.

I’ve been attempting to refine my tune via the handheld. That has severe limitations for someone like me who is running boost, but what I’ve learned may apply to anyone really digging into their tune.

Download the laptop software and tune your Sniper that way. Second thing is on a 31 x 31 fuel table there are actually only two rows dedicated to boost! From this mans video I learned how to re-scale the tables to give me 8 rows (my decision) to better control fuel and timing under boost. You could do a similar thing to increase the resolution of your fuel table for better fuel economy cruising on a N/A vehicle by expanding the resolution around the vacuum you typically cruise at.

I found the following user video and YouTube channel was even more helpful than Holley’s own videos.

The channel: 1967 Turbo Camaro

The re-scaling video: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ou_0ax39b1M

Leaving these here in the hope I help someone else!

[Pat Landymore]

Here will be a brutally honest post.

So, I spent 4 hours today masking the truck and box, then about 20 minutes spraying it.

Jury says:

I did well in some areas and messed up badly in others. This matte black seems tricky to get just right. I’m a lot rusty on the business end of a spray gun.

I’ll post up photos tomorrow when it’s dry. Hoping the runs are all where they appear to be...roughly where the fenders or the tail lights and reverse lights attach and no one (except me forever!) will notice.

Oh well, that’s life when I’m doing absolutely everything myself.

Thankfully this truck comes apart so fast that the sanding is a way bigger deal than the potential disassembly and repaint down the road.

I promise I won’t mess up spraying the fenders tomorrow!

Meantime....

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And...

130373

LOL :rolleyes:

[Pat Landymore]

Although I’m still not legally plated I took her out anyways for a brief tour of my neighborhood and some photos!
Woo hoo!! It feels awesome :D

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130442

[Pat Landymore]

I may just sneak 3/4 mile north to Starbucks for a coffee in the morning...I’ll see how brave I feel then...
LOL

[RuffShod]

Congratulations Pat!

Video a burnout for us!!!

[Pat Landymore]

Next time I have a buddy over I’ll get them to video one!

[bnelson]

Although I’m still not legally plated I took her out anyways for a brief tour of my neighborhood and some photos!
Woo hoo!! It feels awesome :D

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130442

Lookin good Pat!

[Pat Landymore]

A few photos of my big paint day today on the fenders. The rears are now in my home on the tile kitchen floor to cure while I paint the fronts. There are advantages to being separated for 3-1/2 years...LOL

‘35 patiently waiting outside, hoping I can get the fronts painted before the next T-storm rolls through...
I haven’t been this excited since I was a kid on Christmas Eve :D


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[Pat Landymore]

Here she is with all my newly painted stuff set on to cure overnight. Assembly begins tomorrow. Just in the nick of time...I parked my d-d beside her 15 minutes ago, it’s hailing pea size now with nickel size in the forecast.

My gosh ‘35 looks tiny...

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[Pat Landymore]

After I’d built my turbo Foxbody Mustang back in 2009-2013, I’d been kind of pining for a really hot, rat rod style truck to haul my triathlon bicycles around in to workouts and races. That’s why the bicycle is in the above photos.

Looking at ‘35 tonight I feel very happy when thinking about that old dream. It seems real now!

Particularly through this Covid lockdown ( no swimming, no gyms :( ) I’ve been super focused on getting Ms. 35 up and running to road legal. If some little things are left for another winter, whatever! We have lots of winter up here to do stuff in. :)

So I’m thinking about two weeks til I’ve got my inspection. :-)

[RuffShod]

Do you run the Iron Man?

[Pat Landymore]

I’ve done 10 of them up here in Canada at Penticton BC in years past (1996 to 2011). Have done mostly shorter events since then. The last couple years I’ve done very little and looking forward to getting fit once ‘35 is road legal. :D

[RuffShod]

My cousin was one of two killed in Houston while training for the Iron Man.

Some ******* drove into a group of cyclist with the intent to kill them.

Be careful!

[Pat Landymore]

I’m horrified and saddened to learn this!

My sincere condolences...

Yes, I’m a very careful rider and will drive half an hour or more to ride on quiet rural roads.

[Pat Landymore]

Ms. 35 is almost fully reassembled and looking quite nice. Just some bolts to go into the passenger side fender in the morning.

It’s going to rain for most of the weekend, an ideal opportunity for me to install the windshield wiper kit.

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[Pat Landymore]

Just had confirmation on my inspection day...July 11th.

Can...not...wait! :D

[Pat Landymore]

Ahead of my inspection I started installing the wiper kit used by others on the forum. I purchased from Speedway Motors as they seemed to understand the logistics of shipping to Canada.


The wiper transmission install was super easy. Where mine came completely undone is that I initially didn’t understand I needed to have the drive disc opposite the way shown some places in the printed manual to run the cable below the transmissions.

Once I ( for the 3rd time after greasing it) had the wiper motor apart, that portion worked well. Then a flare on the tubing sheared and I had to take the $&@! thing apart again. Fourth time lucky, right.

Nope!

Then I had to contend with my lovely billet-angled wiper arms. Who in the %}^* would design them so I need to take a chunk out of them with my aviation snips so I can access the set screw in order to sufficiently tighten them to the wiper shaft? Once again...the aftermarket takes as much or more than it gives.

I’m so happy this journey is almost over.

But, must say..from the front the billet wiper arms look awesome.

Wiper arm photo..,
131224

Completed photo at full travel.

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If they’re crooked I’m sorry...almost a 10 hour slog in the garage today

[Pat Landymore]

I guess the bottom line is I’m not a car perfectionist. If it works, and it looks ok or at least not too bad...cool, on to the next stage.

Except with engines. Then it really needs to be far out, precise and powerful. Honestly some days I think I should just buy a dyno and do that kind of stuff in my garage instead....

So, I’m about to bail out of this forum and get on to other things in my life that are now more important to me than this mostly loved and occasionally cursed truck.

Thank you to everyone who has helped me, taught me vicariously, shared with me and in general been great buddies on this journey through this forum!!
Thank you!!

Cheers,
Pat

[RuffShod]

Hate to see ta go, Pat!

Good job on the build!!!

[rponfick]

Sorry to see you go.
Would you elaborate more on leaving the forum. Are you selling the truck, letting it rest for awhile, or something else. I get frustrated all the time with mine, but then think to myself, what else do I have that I can curse at and not get in trouble.
Ralph

[VIRGIN MIKE]

Thanks for taking us along on your journey, hope you report back after a few miles for a road test revue - Mike

How do you like the one piece bed? I'm thinking of doing that (welding) the metal box components together.

[Pat Landymore]

Ralph: I’m for the most part leaving the forum because I’ve been working almost non stop on this truck since around May 1 last year. I did take 3 months off from 35 last summer to train for a long open water swimming event and then was back full time since late August.

Honestly I’m burned out with it. So many challenges that I eventually conquered, but there are days now where I feel like I have ‘hot rodders battle fatigue’.

I need a new challenge and that will be my fitness and health. I had a bad stroke in late 2016 and was paralyzed on my right side for almost 3 days before I could start moving. Although ‘fully’ recovered it feels like I’ve lost some mobility and a lot of my fitness through the journey of building my ( loving it today!!) 35 truck. The only way I know how to get fit is to completely immerse myself in it, and that feels like leaving the forum for a spell.
I will be keeping Ms 35 for a long...long time.

Mike: There are times I wish I didn’t do the one piece box. It was a pain in the posterior to paint!! If you’re not running the stake pockets...in retrospect I’d say I wouldn’t do it again. Way easier to handle smaller parts when you’re working by yourself. But I don’t regret it. The lift out bed floor is a must have for the kind of maintenance I’ll be doing and I would do again in a heartbeat.

Yes, once I have the legal sticker on my license plate I’ll have someone over to film at least one burnout, which of course I’ll post immediately!! And yes to driving impressions.

Once winter comes and I’m back to one or more daily workouts again, will occasionally post up the newest mods.

Cheers!
Pat

[RuffShod]

Stay healthy my friend!

We'll see you around.

[Pat Landymore]

Thanks Joey, I will! :D

[ztoolman44]

Congrats on your build and good luck with your health. If you make it to Penticton again I'll buy the first beer. I'm just up the road in Summerland. Cheers!

[Pat Landymore]

You bet!! It will be a while before I’m ready to drive her that far :)

[Pat Landymore]

GRADUATION DAY!!

So today I got my out of province ( = out of state ) inspection. The guy who did it is a co worker of the son of a very good friend. It was done at a car dealership so everything was on the up and up.

He was really impressed with the build quality and the engineering of the kit.

Motor Vehicles didn’t hassle me so I registered for two years to be sure it’s done.

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[Pat Landymore]

Driving impressions in the first 30 miles:

This thing is Uber-scary quick. Like...it’s going to be quite a while before I get Western with the gas pedal.

Turning radius isn’t great. I can see wheel spacers, narrower front tires and possibly a home made drift kit coming in the near future.

Ride? Well it rides better than my 2014 GMC RCSB pickup does! I ordered it with 3.42 gears and got almost solid rear suspension as part of the GM package. I digress...

Overall impression?
It’s definitely a hot rod and once I get it professionally aligned is going to be a lot of fun.

[Pat Landymore]

Idle video of her fully legal with my ‘loud pipe’ on. Think I’ll be going back to my much quieter one which is a ten minute job.

I’ll drive her around the hood tomorrow a few times on errands to decide. After all, this thing should be capable of being a nice-ish weather DD.

https://youtu.be/iKOPz320DlY

[RuffShod]

Sounds good Pat!

[Pat Landymore]

Thanks Joey. I decided my quiet pipe was more friendly in the really nice neighborhood I live in. It’s an old post 2nd war airbase refit back in 2000 to family-walkable housing. My neighbors are quite supportive so I don’t want to mess that up.

That said...if I was driving out of the city to a rural rod event, I would switch pipes.

More driving impressions after more miles:

Holy Crap!!

1/4 throttle tonight at 2500 rpm and Mr Turbo was already pushing about 3 psi. So 600++ lb/ft of torque with 355 gears and max 2600 lbs. Yikes!

[Pat Landymore]

And with all that torque I’m so happy I chose ( I know...I know...) an automatic transmission with only two speeds. It shifts into second at like 10 or 12 MPH and then Mr Big Block takes care of the rest. Gentle driving is so nice because it makes the mild converter I’m using even softer and more malleable when parking etc.

Multiple Gears?

Who needs them!?
LOL

[RuffShod]

Sounds like you are happy with it!

Drive the wheels off of it!!!

[Pat Landymore]

More driving impressions...

Handling still sketchy as I’ve ordered two different styles of wheel spacers to facilitate the alignment but haven’t got it done yet. One set is on back order and as of Monday, the others are m.i.a. in the mail system somewhere between the USA and Canada for over two weeks. Grrrr.

This thing is too small for me...not decided what I’m going to do. I’m almost 6’3”, 205 currently with size 13 feet. I’ve got the distance between the brake and the throttle resolved by ‘S’ bending the gas pedal arm and slicing off one side of the pedal with my sawzall.

But even with the seat raised approximately 2-1/2”, mounted as far back as I can get it and the tilt steering fully upwards...I’m not comfortable. My knees almost rub the steering wheel and my foot position isn’t comfortable. If I’d been born 6” shorter, I’d fit fine.

Not exactly thrilled with the thought of hacking floor panels etc like Hawaii Hoonatruck did...now the trucks built that’s one heck of a lot of surgery. Or doing like the fellow in Alaska and chopping out the back of the cab. Uggh!

Meantime I’ve added to my stable...a lovely 2005 C6. Total enjoyment while I figure things out.

Suggestions?

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[RuffShod]

Nice vet!!!

Seat will not go any further back?

[Pat Landymore]

Yes, unfortunately the seat is as far back as I can get it.

[RuffShod]

Bummer.

Have you tried the steering wheel that is flat on the bottom? I believe Momo makes them. Would that help?

[Pat Landymore]

I’m not certain it would...I’ll take a look though. Thanks for the suggestion!

[Pat Landymore]

More driving updates.

I completely rescaled my tuneup again for the Holley Sniper to even better represent the typical range I drive the truck in. No surprise, a big increase in smoothness and drivability plus lower engine temperature.

Still waiting for my wheel spacers. CJ Pony parts stepped up and are going to send a 2nd shipment by FedEx and if my original one ever arrives I’ve promised to advise them and return it. So still...no alignment yet.

But dang this thing is fun to drive despite me not fitting very well.

Not decided if I’m going to sell it or keep it. There’s a long winter coming quite soon for that decision...

Meanwhile for tomorrow morning she’ll be hauling two kayaks to the local reservoir for my wife and I to go paddling together. I’ll call that a big win :D

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[Pat Landymore]

Dual kayak transporter and generally fun hot rod.

:D

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[RuffShod]

Lookin good, Pat!!!

I need to knock the dust off my kayaks.

[Pat Landymore]

And yet again the aftermarket takes more of my time and energy than it saves...there are a few more issues with my little 35 pickup.

1) I finally received my wheel spacers today. Easy right? Just bolt em on. Nope!
The studs on the front hubs are too long and hit the back side of my (also aftermarket...go figure..) wheels. Because the particular brand of aftermarket wheels I purchased are flat on the backside, not relieved, at 1/2 bolt space offset from the actual bolt holes the studs hit and hold them away from the spacer. So I’m left with two choices:
a) cut the studs by 1/2” approx. Even times ten studs (just the front wheels) that seems like a lot of work.
b) drill out the back side of the front aluminum wheels to give enough clearance.

I’m voting option b) currently but will need to think a bit more.

2) My brand new ‘high torque’ starter didn’t work at all the other day after a longer drive in (for us) hot weather. Finally I let the truck cool for two hours and she started right up. Seems it’s most likely insufficient current to the solenoid, so now I need a relay between the key and the starter to give much more current. Amazon delivered two 40 amp relays with pigtails this morning...likely a tomorrow project now.

3) Minor oil leaks continue. Not looking forward to yet another under the truck removal of the oil pan... But if I have to I will...it’s just getting ever more tedious.

If anything it’s helping my decision to eventually sell her instead of keep her.

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[VIRGIN MIKE]

Hey Pat, I had to cut my wheel studs, to not poke past the spacer - used an edge grinder - easy, used a lug nut as a fence and thread straightener whole deal took an hour
Mike

[Pat Landymore]

Thanks Mike, that helps a lot. I have a disc already on my 4-1/2 inch grinder...will try it in the morning.
Cheers!

[RuffShod]

Cut the studs!!!

Don't counter drill your wheels.

[Pat Landymore]

Thanks both for your input!

I did cut the studs...not as bad as I was envisioning. My mental movie was cutting something as hard as the dreaded door hinges times ten !!

Must say the truck handles and drives quite a bit nicer now. Will book my alignment today for sometime next week as I’m taking the Vette around 500 miles west tomorrow morning to visit family and friends while it’s still summer.

:)

[Pat Landymore]

And I should mention...What a beast!

I got a little bit deeper into the power curve today due to improved feel of the vehicle and more bravery on my part.

I’ve still not been beyond ( my personal estimate) 25% of total available power at higher RPM.

Holy snap!!!

[RuffShod]

Need s smoke show!!!

[Pat Landymore]

Ok!!!

I promise (weather permitting) by Sunday nite... Snow is no where near in the forecast but it wouldn’t be the first time for us to have a good dump of it in late August or early September :confused:

Currently in a lake town (Penticton B.C.) where it will be summer for at least another month... about 500 miles from home.

[Pat Landymore]

As a side note, I’ve now had two different Mom and Pop type alignment shops refuse (!!) to align my ‘35.

They say they’re scared of it. Really!??!?

Sometimes it seems completely impossible to do business in my city....hence a ton of Summit orders from me!

Anyone from Canada or Alberta following with suggestions?

[DamnYankee]

Any performance shop that is familiar with tubular control arms should be able to do it fine.
Has to be a Mustang shop nearby :-)

[ztoolman44]

Ok!!!

I promise (weather permitting) by Sunday nite... Snow is no where near in the forecast but it wouldn’t be the first time for us to have a good dump of it in late August or early September :confused:

Currently in a lake town (Penticton B.C.) where it will be summer for at least another month... about 500 miles from home.

Right in my neighborhood (Summerland). Unfortunately I'm off at work up on the north coast or I'd offer you a beer. Lots of friends in the area though if you need anything.

[Pat Landymore]

Thanks for the offer Matt!
I’ll be back out there after Thanksgiving so perhaps then.

Burnouts...

Joey, I tried to do standing burnouts but my brake bias is way way too much to the rear. That’s likely why the brakes feel a bit weak too. But it will launch like crazy when I release them and I can do rolling burnouts. Rolling ones are difficult to video on my own 🤪🤪

I’ll readjust the bias sometime this week and do a real one for you’all in a few days.

[Pat Landymore]

No burnouts this weekend...sorry!

The weather forecast was super ugly and as of yesterday we had rain...and then today at times...snow!
Not completely unusual for us but still... September 7th! Yaaak!🤮

Photo evidence to follow.

So seeing as the garage was not a lot over 45 degrees F, I fired up the garage furnace, jacked the truck up and started attacking some oil leaks and etceterata.

Next week.....

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[RuffShod]

Wow!!!

100 degrees here. Sposed to cool off this week.

[Pat Landymore]

I’m taking a new approach to finding all my oil leaks...which shouldn’t be there ...

Thinking pressurizing the crankcase with my new shop vac should find them quickly 😁

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[Pat Landymore]

I never thought at this point in the equation I’d even somewhat consider building another FFR kit...but...

...Then I saw this photo of a ‘naked’ C6 Corvette drivertrain.

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My ever fertile brain went WOW 🤩, that would make the coolest FFR pickup ever! Just lengthen the torque tube, exhaust and a few dozen wires and poof 💨 , the nicest drivetrain ever conceived by humans!

I guess I’m just googling stuff in an attempt not to face taking much of my big block apart to fix the oil leaks...but the thought experiment was really fun 😁😁

[Pat Landymore]

I felt like taking 35 out to grab a Starbucks today...not going to let 15 degF temperatures and a little snow stop us...

Yes, it’s a street truck!

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[RuffShod]

Build the Vette Truck!!!

[Pat Landymore]

Of course I’d like to, but for me, as is the same with most all of us...available funds limit my wishes.

I agree tho Joey, a man can dream......

😁😁🚙

[Pat Landymore]

A view of Ms 35 with her oil pan off for the THIRD time on October 9th. Still weeping despite creative use of silicone, a stock type 4 pc gasket and a stock oil pan.

Next attempt will be again with the 6 qt pan and a Moroso one piece gasket. I’ve read the Fel Pro one piece doesn’t play well with some aftermarket pans. Nice that I found this out after trying it!

🙄🙄

136607

That’s ok, I need something to do...snow is about 2” deep now with lows on the weekend at or approaching
0 degrees F.

I need to move...LOL 😆

[Higgybulin]

Have to love 'fall' in Canada!!

[Pat Landymore]

Yes! You’re absolutely right!

Just so no one thinks I’m bs’ing about the temps...

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[FF33rod]

yeah but knowing Calgary, it could be magically 15 and sunny tomorrow.... :)

[RuffShod]

A view of Ms 35 with her oil pan off for the THIRD time on October 9th. Still weeping despite creative use of silicone, a stock type 4 pc gasket and a stock oil pan.

Next attempt will be again with the 6 qt pan and a Moroso one piece gasket. I’ve read the Fel Pro one piece doesn’t play well with some aftermarket pans. Nice that I found this out after trying it!

����

136607

That’s ok, I need something to do...snow is about 2” deep now with lows on the weekend at or approaching
0 degrees F.

I need to move...LOL ��

88 here in Texas on the 3rd Coast.

[Pat Landymore]

Ha ha, that’s nice weather! 🥵😀
I’ll gladly trade you at this time of year....

[Pat Landymore]

yeah but knowing Calgary, it could be magically 15 and sunny tomorrow.... :)

You’re absolutely correct. I drove it today. +13C (55F)
Next week, back in the deep freeze. LOL 😂
I got to test the two step today but really difficult to video that while trying to (somewhat responsibly) control the truck. 😁😜

[j33ptj]

Do you use winter tyres, AT or snow tyres on your truck?

[Pat Landymore]

I’ll bet you’re going to laugh...

I have Cooper CS5 Grand Touring all seasons on the front, and my trusty ‘Sticky Mickey’
ET Street slicks on the rear. I would never attempt driving on ice, but a skiff of snow on top of otherwise cold-dry pavement...no problem! 😁

[Pat Landymore]

As you can see in my avatar photo the pavement was essentially clear

[Pat Landymore]

The weather here has been absolutely amazing the past week or so. Had 35 out on the roads today, perhaps 10% throttle at 35-3700rpm. Fun! 😁👍🏼

https://youtu.be/YzafLDcRG_U

[Pat Landymore]

Here’s a video of me starting it up for that ride, complete with random flameout due to my still developing (version around 20 currently...) tune up.

https://youtu.be/hQhOjWS4Gec

Cheers,
Pat

[FF33rod]

Hi Pat, your latest video is private on youtube - just in case you didn't intend that :)

Steve

[Pat Landymore]

Thanks Steve!

I didn’t realize when I pushed the Public button it didn’t take.

https://youtu.be/hQhOjWS4Gec

[Pat Landymore]

There’s a Christmas themed cruise video (on icy streets no less, but whatever) coming in a few days.

She’s a truck, and she needs to do truck type stuff. ��

PS
I’m beginning to really enjoy driving it, so drive I will. Scanning local classifieds for winter/snow tires for S197 Mustangs at a price I’m willing to pay. Will make the occasional winter jaunt a lot more fun!

[Pat Landymore]

A case in point from roughly 3 years ago. My wife and I doing errands in March, in at least 6” of snow in my LS Turbocharged Foxbody Mustang.

I honestly don’t understand ‘hangar queens’...you built it, well then drive it...but that’s me.

Meanwhile, please enjoy a snowy drive...

https://youtu.be/gHSUVI4EBiA

[Pat Landymore]

MERRY CHRISTMAS Everone!

Cheers,
Pat

https://youtu.be/f8E6PtCmOAs

[FF33rod]

Brrrrr. Merry Christmas Pat from the Wet Coast!

Steve

[Pat Landymore]

🎄🎅🏼🍺

[Bob-STL]

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

The truck is great! :cool:

[Pat Landymore]

Thanks Bob!
Merry Christmas to you and your family 🎄

[rponfick]

All I can say is WOW.
Ralph

[Pat Landymore]

As long as it’s a ‘good’ Wow Ralph!!
LOL 😆

I saw in another post that you’ve acquired a C8. Congratulations! 👍🏼👍🏼

All the best!

[Pat Landymore]

I’m hoping to post some ‘35 Truck snow tire videos in the next few days..melt permitting.

I’d love to do some donuts etc! Ha !!

Hopefully I don’t get stuck. Right now it’s looking like I’ll be able to drive ok on the main streets but the grill might be too low for the back alley...I don’t need to become the community snow plow! Maybe two more days.

LOL :-)

[rponfick]

Looking forward to your Canada videos. Low grill will make a great snow plow, albeit a little narrow.
Yes, a C8 changes the ground rules a bit.
Ralph

[Pat Landymore]

Here are a couple photo of the snow tires I purchased for ‘35. The rims are ugly as can be but the tires are in great shape and work even better.

👍🏼👍🏼

The videos are loading up to YouTube now, will post all four in a few minutes.

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I’m not sure where the snow in top of the running board came from...guessing it was from when I was filming the skids...

[Pat Landymore]

Warming up...

https://youtu.be/RSxRCfRxUoY

She’s really cold blooded, going to need to fatten up the tune below 50F...it was right around 35F in the garage an a bit warmer outside

[Pat Landymore]

Alley conditions:

https://youtu.be/3N-0BVfVWWc


https://youtu.be/5mUWQYRQj10
Driving around.


https://youtu.be/lYIv69QkGvc
Attempting skids donuts and filming at the same time.

I guess the point I’m trying to make here is that these vehicles are way more drivable than most people expect and if one is willing to go for it with suitable tires, they work well!

Had zero difficulty stopping, steering or accelerating in conditions such as the alley shown above.

Cheers,
Pat

[Pat Landymore]

I promised you some winter driving Ralph, hoping that is delivered in full.

LOL 😂

[bnelson]

Alley conditions:

https://youtu.be/3N-0BVfVWWc


https://youtu.be/5mUWQYRQj10
Driving around.


https://youtu.be/lYIv69QkGvc
Attempting skids donuts and filming at the same time.

I guess the point I’m trying to make here is that these vehicles are way more drivable than most people expect and if one is willing to go for it with suitable tires, they work well!

Had zero difficulty stopping, steering or accelerating in conditions such as the alley shown above.

Cheers,
Pat

LOL Thats Great Pat! Thanks for the laugh :) And I second your statement about driveability. Ive had mine up to about 140MPH and stable as a rock. Did not even realize I was up there till I glanced at gauges to check RPM :)

[Pat Landymore]

I’d love to see a video of that Bruce, bet it was fun!

[Pat Landymore]

Here’s a video filmed accidentally. If you turn the volume way up, you’ll hear the turbo spooling down after the truck is shut down. I thought it was kind of cool....

https://youtu.be/mo7Gbm1FCIw

[Pat Landymore]

Canadian hot rodding at its borderline craziest... -24C...about -11F.

Know there are non-believers that turbocharged, high horsepower hot rods can be winter driven....

Enjoy!
Cheers,
Pat

https://youtu.be/WCwSzak4RqM

[chuck35truck]

I just want to add a warning to anyone doing a wood bed.

Based on my experience, do not use a water based varnish without additional preparations! It will pull the soft grain up and look awful unless you use a solvent based sanding sealer first. And then sand, and sand and...,

I tried the water based varnish straight up on the underside of my wood bed and it was terrible. Very rough. It was a ‘Professional Outdoor Semi Gloss’ finish. Horribly rough despite sanding per the recommendations on the can.

Thankfully being the underside I really don’t care very much.

For the top side I switched to a good ol Solvent based (very smelly) finish and...voila! Perfect even with less sanding than before.

Is this a bed kit? If not, what would are you using and where did you get the metal strips? Does the wood sit flat on the SS bed floor, or did you put some sort of spacers to allow for water to drain out if necessary.

[chuck35truck]

I have bench seat and put Mercedes Benz trunk hinges under it to allow me to raise the seat forward so I can get to speakers if necessary or the remote battery posts

[chuck35truck]

A busy day yesterday ‘editing’ the transmission tunnel. I need all the room I can get for my size 13 runners! Note cut out for shift linkage...it allows me to move the tunnel nearly 1-1/2” inboard. Will use some sheet aluminum and pop rivet it back into one piece today and then install some riv-nuts for easy removal later on.

I had to modify my tunnel to get the bench seat over it and allow me to raise it up. First time using fiberglass, but second side was better.

[Pat Landymore]

Is this a bed kit? If not, what would are you using and where did you get the metal strips? Does the wood sit flat on the SS bed floor, or did you put some sort of spacers to allow for water to drain out if necessary.

- - - - - -

Howdy Chuck:

Yes, I purchased the FFR wood bed kit. It came with the polished SS strips cut to length. You can find the strips at various suppliers if you’re using your own wood.

Didn’t use that giant sheet of stainless for the box floor. I put metal bars across the wood in three places to tie it all together ...the entire truck frame is directly underneath so drainage etc is fine. Can lift the bed out of the box in around 1 minute including opening the tailgate.

Cheers,
Pat

[Pat Landymore]

Here is a photo of sitting normally:

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And here’s one with it raised. You can see the crossbars I referred to in the post above:

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[RuffShod]

With our high humidity...that wood would curl up like a pretzel if I did mine like that.

Looks good tho!!!

[Pat Landymore]

Truck is now listed for sale in the FFR Classifieds.

Selling either as is now ( lower price), or with cab body and paint completed in approximately two months at a higher price.

Details as to what and why in the ad.

[RuffShod]

Wow!

Are you planning to build something else?

[Pat Landymore]

If someone decides to purchase it in the next month or so my intentions are a minor extension on the back of my home and breaking the seal of the engine on my C6 Corvette to install some goodies.

Fingers crossed!

[Pat Landymore]

Thanks to the generosity of a friend I have my C6 stored offsite for a month. Back on ‘35 as of this morning.

First item is a thorough wash all over and underneath, followed by getting her back up on my rolling wheel stands. She’s a bit dirty from all the winter driving I’ve been doing.

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From there I’ll check major suspension bolts before removing the passenger side door and trying the fit of the replacement from FFR.

[Pat Landymore]

A video of 35 with the alternate (read Louder) quick bolt up exhaust system installed. Remove two band clamps and connect one. Takes way longer to Jack one side of the truck up than it does to install...but it sounds great without being offensively loud.
👍🏼👍🏼

https://youtu.be/FH9xIPSQ2Aw

[Higgybulin]

Nice bike!!! Truck sounds great too!!!

[Pat Landymore]

Just posted my final price drop. Please see FFR Classifieds.

[Pat Landymore]

Although I’ve had a few inquiries from people about my truck ( and thanks to those who did) the work continues on ‘35.

Got thoroughly disgusted with trial fitting the new door, then started rushing and getting sloppy with my cuts. I stopped before permanently damaging something and dug into the cab seams instead.

Will sand, fill and prime everything reasonably accessible without removing the front fenders and running boards. If no one comes to bat by that time I’ll pull the for sale ad for a while, paint the cab and re list later.

Work stops this weekend as a buddy is bringing his 1979 (1980?) Malibu over for an engine swap. We’re removing the 355 engine he built 30+ years and two hot rods ago; now installing a fully rollerized 383. It should move well afterwards 😁!

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[Pat Landymore]

A quick video of 35 starting up all wrapped in plastic. My buddy wanted me to show his 22 year old son what a real hot Rod sounded like.

Ok...

How could I say no??!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FGbzZ48J2Jg

Apologies for the sideways video...that was my pal, not me. ��

[Pat Landymore]

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My buddy had to head home and do some stuff with his wife. Meanwhile I got busy for a couple of hours on his Malibu and got the front dress assy., ignition and carburetor removed form his engine. The morning’s work should go quickly...I hope. As we all know...it’s the unknown unknowns that bite us where it hurts!
LOL 😂

[Pat Landymore]

Well so far my words about ‘unknown unknowns’ have been entirely prophetic.

I learned through the process of swapping my buddies engine that a Vortec block and heads small block Chevy is NOT a one weekend bolt in to where a legacy small block used to live. I say so far as today is day 4...and his car still not finished and taking up my garage so I can’t work on ‘35.

Some of the major differences between legacy and Vortec small block Chevys:

-the water pump flow path is different. There is not a bypass hole on passenger side of block for t-stat bypass. We accomplished bypass by drilling the thermostat.

-an aftermarket roller cam requires a different distributor gear.

-as the intake manifold bolts up differently we now need to fabricate an adapter for the kick down linkage for his TH350 transmission

-dipstick tube is a different diameter

-the valve covers to clear the roller rockers are too tall on passenger side and interfere with the heater box. I will do surgery on that this morning.

-the Vortec block has a fuel pump boss for a mechanical pump, but when one looks closely it is neither machined for the pushrod nor the drain back hole. So, we had to convert the car to an electric pump.

-and on a happy note, in a similar state of dress his Vortec weighs 429lbs vs his legacy at 465.

Hopefully we’ll have it running by Saturday evening and I can get my garage back.

The whole purpose of this post is to outline that what looked like a two day SBC to SBC swap has turned into a week long ordeal. It’s not just building our beautiful FFR pickups where something that ‘should’ be simple completely skunks us and takes 3x as long as planned...

Happy hot rodding everyone! 😁👍🏼

[Pat Landymore]

...adding to the above list of differences between legacy and Vortec SBC’s

-a difference in exhaust port height/bolt hole location.

The headers that used to fit just fine in my friends car required a serious visit from Mr. Sawzall on both sides of the vehicle so they can fit again. Huh??? 🤨

Same engine mounts, bolts...everything. I did some internet research and found out that some casting #s have a slightly different port and/or bolt hole location.

The adventure continues today....hopefully to have it out of my garage by late tomorrow.

[Pat Landymore]

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[Pat Landymore]

Yesterday’s work included minor modifications to his power steering pump mounting as that no longer fit as it did before. Sigh.

My buddy will be driving down here today...so I’m quite confident that with two of us working the car will be running and out this afternoon so I can resume sanding and filling on the cab of ‘35 tomorrow.

This evening is a night off for me...I’ll be watching Cleetus McFarland and his Freedom 500 online pay per view. 20 nitrous equipped Crown Vic ex police cars all racing on a 5/8 mile track. It should be epic!!

Yahoo!
👍🏼😁

[Robodent]

That’s nice you have crown Vic race to look forward to tonight
Enjoy the race !!! Tomorrow’s a new day . Rob

[ztoolman44]

Yesterday’s work included minor modifications to his power steering pump mounting as that no longer fit as it did before. Sigh.

My buddy will be driving down here today...so I’m quite confident that with two of us working the car will be running and out this afternoon so I can resume sanding and filling on the cab of ‘35 tomorrow.

This evening is a night off for me...I’ll be watching Cleetus McFarland and his Freedom 500 online pay per view. 20 nitrous equipped Crown Vic ex police cars all racing on a 5/8 mile track. It should be epic!!

Yahoo!
������

small block swap- should be simple. LOL I didn't realize there were so many differences between the generations. Sounds like you are almost there. Enjoy your night off, I'll be watching the race on the various YouTube channels after the fact. Vice Grip Garage did a nice recap last year.

[Pat Landymore]

Thanks for the support guys!

Yes I’ll watch the VGG recap later as well...Derek’s dry humour is awesome!!

[Pat Landymore]

Well, as of 4:30 PM yesterday afternoon I have the garage back.

And my friends Malibu runs great too....fired right up first turn of the key.

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https://youtu.be/F6QlFygc2qI

https://youtu.be/u8QoQgCFVq4

So, back to work on 35 for me today. 👍🏼👍🏼

[Pat Landymore]

‘35 in full Bad Truck mode! 😂


https://youtu.be/a8wqZ6qASl0

https://youtu.be/9BBOnunC-Vo

[Pat Landymore]

For those of you who have been following my build thread, you know I’ve struggled greatly with the fit of the passenger side door. What some of you don’t know is that after some back and forth with Tony...he agreed something was messed up and sent me a new door. (I paid shipping and customs to Canada...so by no means was it free).

I’ve struggled off and in for weeks about cutting and fitting a new door that didn’t look all that much better than the one I already have and transferring all the guts from my previous door. Every time I thought about the process it made me angry...and today that boiled over.


I thought what the heck!?? If this was a steel bodied truck I was rat rodding or resto rodding ...it would very possible I might need to skin and then re-skin a door or two. See where I’m going? Ha 😁

So off came the door, some eyeball measurements were made and I took out my frustrations on the door with my body saw.

The first photo is an old ‘before’, actually it got worse over the months.

The rest of the photos are cutting and afterwards. It’s a simple matter to epoxy and glass the door back together and only those who have read this will ever even notice.

It looks to me like I may have won this round!

I’m certain many will disagree with my methods but to me that is what hot rodding is all about...try, win, or lose, learn and finally win the battle.

Thanks for reading a long post...
Cheers 🍻
Pat

[Pat Landymore]

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[Pat Landymore]

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[Robodent]

Nice job !! It’s all down hill from there.

[Pat Landymore]

Thanks!!

You have to know...I kinda love it when my out of the box/radical solutions actually work out!!

Haha 😂

[Pat Landymore]

So today I decided to pull the same stunt with my drivers side door.

Here’s how much I took out of it... Won’t be able to post up ‘after’ photos till tomorrow when the glue has set. Once verified I’ll double up inside the door with a layer of woven mat.
Drivers side cut in the left...passenger side on the right. I made a few more sawblade width cuts on the passenger side so what you see isn’t everything I took out...

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And here is the drivers door glued up and curing. The excess is easily removed.

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[Pat Landymore]

And being honest...I’m still considering if...and where to place a few cuts in the cab to improve access to the door adjustments. I seriously dislike the way they are now.

One possibility is to weld a nut on the opposite side of the door hinges that are currently tapped and then make an easy access point?

This will be decided soon. I mean really!!?? Who the heck is going to ‘call me out’ if I do it, over a small metal patch panel or body plug generally hidden inside the door jamb?

To reinforce my point, I believe it’s a 1957-1962 Ford pickup door...look towards the front of the door and you’ll see two small panels to access hinge adjustment. I know because we had a ‘59 on our farm they are held on with a Phillips screw from the front.

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My thinking...if it’s good enough for Henry it’s good enough for me.

[VIRGIN MIKE]

Hey Pat, in re-wrestling my door I discovered I can access (almost) all the hinge adjustments from outside, with door closed (clamped) in place - seem obvious now but it just didn't occur to me before (and I have very short arms) - I was able to get the bottom rear corner tucked-in by torquing door and loosening and retightening crash bar and latch bolts - had to go back and forth between the two a few times but each cycle gained a bit of ground. and I can't over stress how much the rod going through both hinges helped (keeping the hinges pivoting
on the same axis)

[Pat Landymore]

Thanks Mike.

I’d already posted the idea of all thread rod through the hinges back on 01-28-2020, so definitely I’ve tried it. Because my truck was driven last summer, I have a windshield in there, the dash etc. Perhaps would have been better off fitting the doors prior but I wanted to be driving the darned thing.

My right hand doesn’t work as accurately and finely as it used to since my stroke, so fiddly assed things really get me aggravated.

I will try adjusting again before I drill or cut the body, but I’m not going to waste much time at it.

You have to understand, I had quite a decent fit on the pass side except for the rear bottom corner. That stuck out between 3/4 and 1”. There is no way I could have tweaked myself out of that one.

The other thing is I don’t want my truck to have things with the door stretched like a banjo string about to bust. It seems almost certain that driving her in -20 or +90 F temperatures will make things go sideways with a solution like that.

I’ll take my body saw solution ten times out of ten. Just wish I’d thought of it in December last year...likely would have saved myself at least a hundred or more hours of grief....

Anyways the doors are temporarily back on the truck and hopefully my fibreglass resin will set. It’s only a year old...hoping the catalyst is still ok. It seems a little slow but it’s only around 36 Farenheit here today. Ha!
Cheers 🍻😊
Pat

[Pat Landymore]

Here are some ‘after’ photos.

No twisting of the beam in high tension, Wile E Coyote - Acme - fashion. And no messing around with 100 interactive adjustments...just nice and simple.....slice, glue, fibreglass and voila!

If I feel like it (which I don’t!) whatever adjustment is required to get the doors more perfect actually looks to me within the realm of “adjustment”...not surgery.


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Here’s how it looked in progress:

Wax paper so I didn’t accidentally ‘glass the doors to the cab...

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Here’s me trying to get the fibreglass to kick off using my $3.00 Salvation Army Thrift store hair dryer:

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Please, no one ask me my real opinion of these doors for a few days!! LOL 😂 😂 🍻

[Pat Landymore]

I overdid the filler a little bit on my first pass over the cab seams. Mid morning tomorrow that will be rectified and I’ll downshift to glazing putty for much of the rest...I think. My plan is to have a heavy coat of primer on before Saturday morning and take her outside for nice wet sanding...supposedly it will be great out...around 65F. 🌞

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[Pat Landymore]

And another little point I might have very well missed in manual revision 1B I believe...

I didn’t realize I had to center the steering column itself prior to centering it relative to the rack and truck.

What I mean by that is if you don’t, because I didn’t, you can have the steering wheel centered (spokes level) and the truck driving straight but your signal lights don’t cancel like they should.

Doh! 😖😜.....only 7 or 8 months later do I realize this.

My solution will be to pull the steering column up onto the drivers seat so it’s clear of the uppermost U joint, roll the rack a half turn to the right and bolt everything back up again. Currently that appears to be the ‘least pain in the @$$’ way of sorting this out.

I feel dumb about this one...... Sigh 😞

[Pat Landymore]

So folks, I have a confession to make. All along my intent was to build this truck ENTIRELY on my own. I don’t count services like the engine shop boring the block or the custom (much longer actually) driveshaft dictated by my choice of engine and trans.

Even the cab I dropped on solo...two toques to protect my head while I balanced it there...and then climbed up on the frame and walked it into place.

Everything except the windshield installation has been done by me. And that made me happy.

But the body seams and sanding of the cab has me flummoxed. I’m struggling...a lot...and today I decided to give in and called a local ‘mobile body man’ to come in to quote me for him finishing the cab/doors to the point of priming, also to quote on him priming/painting them.

All the rest of the truck ( really simple work though) I’ve already primed/painted myself.

Kind of feels like I’m letting my old self down on his former vision of the project...but at the same time to warp sped ahead and be ‘DONE’ feels like a blessing. Time will tell what the answer is....

Happy Friday everyone! 😊👍🏼

[Robodent]

Pat, don’t get down on yourself! Doing body work is a fine art for sure. Knowing how much material to put on and when to change sand paper grit is the key and how to use a block. It’s ok to call in some help your doing great on your build . Rob

[Pat Landymore]

Thank you!!
😊👍🏼

[FF33rod]

So folks, I have a confession to make. All along my intent was to build this truck ENTIRELY on my own. I don’t count services like the engine shop boring the block or the custom (much longer actually) driveshaft dictated by my choice of engine and trans.

Even the cab I dropped on solo...two toques to protect my head while I balanced it there...and then climbed up on the frame and walked it into place.

Everything except the windshield installation has been done by me. And that made me happy.

But the body seams and sanding of the cab has me flummoxed. I’m struggling...a lot...and today I decided to give in and called a local ‘mobile body man’ to come in to quote me for him finishing the cab/doors to the point of priming, also to quote on him priming/painting them.

All the rest of the truck ( really simple work though) I’ve already primed/painted myself.

Kind of feels like I’m letting my old self down on his former vision of the project...but at the same time to warp sped ahead and be ‘DONE’ feels like a blessing. Time will tell what the answer is....

Happy Friday everyone! ������

I know how you feel. Building a hot rod out here in Vancouver and I never intended to do the final body work and paint myself. However, I've had similar feeling as yourself during the last number of weeks as the shop has gone through blocking, priming and such. I can't explain it but thoughts of "I should have tried more" and "why wasn't my filling of the mould lines good enough" flood my head from time to time. :) oh Well. Eye on the the end game! it's going to look amazing....

[Pat Landymore]

FF33rod:
Thanks very much for your words of support.
I’m certain yours is going to look awesome too! 👍🏼👍🏼

[Pat Landymore]

Yesterday afternoon I engaged the services of a mobile body work guy. He will start tomorrow morning.

Will post up progress photos at the end of each day this week he is available to work on my ‘35.

Meanwhile...yesterday was brilliant sun, blue sky and around 70 F...today is a totally different matter...,


The day after tomorrow it will be somewhere in between.... Spring on the East side of the Rockies! Ha 😁

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[RuffShod]

Regardless of who paints it....its the truck that Pat built.

[Pat Landymore]

Regardless of who paints it....its the truck that Pat built.

Great point! That cheered me up quite a bit!
😊👍🏼

[Pat Landymore]

Yesterday ‘Eli’ the mobile body man got the cab seams I messed up cleaned up. He is hoping to at least have the cab primed today....potentially the doors also.

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[House Money]

Pat, how exactly did you "mess up the seams" and what did Eli do to correct the situation? I've taken my seams down too far (through the gel-coat) in a few places and I'm not really sure what the fix is.

Thanks, Gary

[Pat Landymore]

Hi Gary,

How I messed up on my seams is that I put WAY too much filler on top of the seams after grinding them below the height of the balance of the cab. I used a fibreglass filled bondo and it took Eli hours to (carefully...by hand...) sand off the excess without going through the gel coat unnecessarily. That glass filled stuff eats sandpaper like crazy.

When he arrives today I’ll ask him what he would do in your situation. Or you could post up a new thread as a question. ?? I’m certain there are lots of bodywork guys on the forum that would be happy to help you out.

[ztoolman44]

[QUOTE=Pat Landymore;452110]Here are some ‘after’ photos.

No twisting of the beam in high tension, Wile E Coyote - Acme - fashion. And no messing around with 100 interactive adjustments...just nice and simple.....slice, glue, fibreglass and voila!

If I feel like it (which I don’t!) whatever adjustment is required to get the doors more perfect actually looks to me within the realm of “adjustment”...not surgery.


If this was a steel car, that is exactly what you would do.. Align as much as possible then start cutting, welding, grinding, filing... Can't see why fiberglass would be any different.

[Pat Landymore]

Howdy Matt/ztoolman44:


Thanks for your support of my seemingly radical position in “correctly” (by my thinking)...fixing the doors.

Honestly speaking for the first time; if I had known prior to ordering my ‘35 kit what I know now, I would have never ordered the FFR body parts. We had (before my sister and I sold it) plenty of 30’s and 40’s steel Ford truck parts sitting in the nearby cow pasture at our family farm. Yes, they were ratty as heck, but I always wanted a rat rod...so.. big deal to me. I never ever gave it a thought...and kudos to you Matt for thinking of it, the idea of only ordering the FFR framework kit and putting a genuine old school steel body on top of it.

That is how I would go (if...) I were ever to do this again.

But....now I’ve got a reasonably priced pro assisting me, the fibreglass cab and doors are coming along great.

Lesson out of this for others?

If you’ve never worked with fibreglass bodywork before...build the vehicle, leave the bodywork the he77 alone...and hire a pro. I made more work for him rather than less by my attempts to do what I could....a lesson in and of itself! 🤔

At the end of the day I’m still satisfied with my FFR kit purchase...but I would significantly change how I do it if another opportunity came about.

Pat...out

[Pat Landymore]

Eli got the cab spot filled today in the voids left behind from my bondo work. He started late so didn’t get a lot done...but still it’s looking better overall. He says tomorrow is door day. 😁

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[Pat Landymore]

Was out for a while this afternoon...when I arrived home my doors are looking pretty great 👍🏼

I guess that means tomorrow back on the cab.


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[Pat Landymore]

The doors are happily curing in my living room while Eli is working on the cab in my garage. This is because it’s only around 30 degrees for our ‘high’ here today. He was planning to have me put them out in the back yard...but it is snowing out again.
Ha! 😄

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[Pat Landymore]

Still to cold for Eli to paint, a whopping high of 36F for an hour or so today and the rest was a fair bit colder. Should be quite a bit better on Monday with 55F..,which he is telling me we will go for paint! 👍🏼
Fingers crossed 🤞🏼

[Pat Landymore]

While I’m waiting for a ‘painting day’ to arrive....as opposed to third stage winter 🤬...I ordered the door art I’ve always envisioned for ‘35.

It’s my fathers last name, the farming town I grew up in, and birth year. The remaining bit is fairly obvious...

Here is an approximation done on the white board in the garage. The lettering will all be done in brushed gold.


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[Pat Landymore]

Well...the rest of my pickup is now painted. Not a completely perfect job, but as you’ve no doubt already noticed, my build is as much Rat (Pat...?) Rod as typical FFR build. So, overall that’s fine by me...at least she’s ‘done’!!

A few progress photos plus one with the man himself, the very charismatic Eli in front of 35 below. 😁👍🏼

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Tomorrow some reassembly and about a week and a half of random mechanical repairs/upgrades begins. 👌🏼

[Redmantice]

Looking great Pat. What did you have in mind for mechanical repairs / upgrades.

[Pat Landymore]

Howdy Jay!
In no particular order:
Finally install my larger battery, install a relay at the starter to improve the hot starting, much larger coolant reservoir tank better suited to a big block, install the wheel spacers I have laying around on the back...plus a few little tweaks along the way.

Will email you some photos later in the week. 👍🏼

[Pat Landymore]

Oh....and do a quick valve lash check...there are a couple of rockers on the drivers side making a little bit of noise until the coolant is up over 130 Degrees

https://youtu.be/TkSmGmxCU8c

[Pat Landymore]

Plopped the doors on with some longer 1/4 bolts last night, installed the mirrors and reinstalled my (too small for my application)
original FFR supplied coolant overflow tank this morning. Mine is only about 12” long...I’ve seen other builds where it appears to be 16” or longer...which would be just enough for my big block.

Anyhow, felt the need for a drive around my hood on a lovely April day...so rewarding! I wasn’t stopped for one minute and a random guy was taking pictures. 👍🏼

And a note to anyone following this considering running boards....hmmmm. I’m going to run her for a while as shown in the following photo. SO much easier for ingress/egress for a tall guy like me. It’s an immense difference in how I feel I fit. And I’m kind of digging the look! 😁

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[RuffShod]

Lookin good!!!

[ztoolman44]

Howdy Matt/ztoolman44:


Thanks for your support of my seemingly radical position in “correctly” (by my thinking)...fixing the doors.

Honestly speaking for the first time; if I had known prior to ordering my ‘35 kit what I know now, I would have never ordered the FFR body parts. We had (before my sister and I sold it) plenty of 30’s and 40’s steel Ford truck parts sitting in the nearby cow pasture at our family farm. Yes, they were ratty as heck, but I always wanted a rat rod...so.. big deal to me. I never ever gave it a thought...and kudos to you Matt for thinking of it, the idea of only ordering the FFR framework kit and putting a genuine old school steel body on top of it.


Do you know if those parts are still out in that field? I bring the trailer.

[Pat Landymore]

Do you know if those parts are still out in that field? I bring the trailer.

——-//////——-

I know the farms new owner sold the nicest cab last year. An interesting story...he sold it to the grandson of the trucks original owner whos name was still in faded paint on the drivers door. 👍🏼

The rest I’m not certain about. I’ll be driving up that way in the next few weeks for a mental health break. I’ll call the new owner and have a look around.....

[Pat Landymore]

Took 35 out to an ‘unofficial’ Hot Rod get together at a local A&W last night. She ran awesomely!! I had a lot of compliments on the FFR kit and on my particular build of it.

It was quite a large deal (~~100+ Cars?) so I didn’t stick around too long. We’re under an alert/restrictions for the 3rd wave of the virus so outdoor gatherings are supposed to be less than 10 people separated by 6ft…not several hundred generally not wearing masks and standing normally.

I was comfortable being normal type close but didn’t wait around to see if some self serving individual decided the police should know about this get together and call them….

For me it was great to be around a bunch of hot rods and people and see what others are doing 👍🏼😁

[Pat Landymore]

Here’s the way the passenger side door fits now…

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[Pat Landymore]

Here’s the way the door fit before…

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[Pat Landymore]

Over the past few days…aside driving the truck I’ve fabbed up a reasonably nice battery hold down for my much larger Odyssey battery, got my 3rd brake light working again (had to cut wires and remove for painting) and re-lashed all the valves. Of course one of the valve cover gaskets popped out of place during my test drive this evening…whatever…that’s tomorrow Pats problem!
LOL 😂


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[Pat Landymore]

As I clear the various remaining tasks from the white board in the garage, 35 gets closer to being back up for sale again.

Yesterday’s work involved repairing the leaky valve cover, removing the original overflow tank and then determining where to mount the new big block sized 2 qt one. Once done I fabbed up a mounting bracket and lit up the MIG welder. It looks ok. Have a small leak from where I tapped the side to the tank to 1/8 NPT…will repair that this morning and then continue down the list….

Interesting coincidence…after giving a buddy a white knuckle ride in 35 last night, we walked over to a local pub. While walking, there in the middle of the road was a square plastic plug. No kidding it fits the top of my mounting bracket perfectly. Was wondering what to do about that! Sometimes the hot rodding gods are smiling! 😁

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[VIRGIN MIKE]

Congradulations Pat. I have been, what I thought was, about two weeks away from paint for the last six months; and I need to find a fiberglass guy

[Pat Landymore]

Thanks Mike!

With all the watercraft and Corvettes I imagine being in Florida, would have thought finding ‘a guy’ would be no problemo. But of course there is quality and price…. Good luck in finding someone to help!

Remaining tasks on my whiteboard…too many it seems! 😆

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[Pat Landymore]

Installed my quieter exhaust system late yesterday…the stubby 3-1/2” system I had on there suits the truck and is a blast to drive around with…but…is a wee bit too loud for getting out of a nice quiet neighborhood. That said, if I’m heading to a Rod run I’ll be reinstalling it…3 Vee band clamps and it’s swapped.

So from this (loud all the time)… 😁

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…To this (relatively quiet till 3-4 psi boost)…in 15-20 minutes of easy work…

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Today’s chore….installing a jukebox. Just an amplifier, speakers and an MP3 connection…good enough!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CyKJyceos1A

Somehow after that it seemed flooded and didn’t want to start. Will pull the software and take a look at it in the morning. Think it was too much key on time combined with residual fuel pressure caused it to flood a bit.

Hopefully……

[Pat Landymore]

So after pulling the tune file to my laptop, using the monitor function to check on cranking signals and lastly pulling the coil wire and looking for spark…it appears the separate coil amplifier for the Super Sniper has left the party. Gee…only 180 miles on the truck and the darned things list for $114.00 USD. 🧐

Makes me wonder if I could use an old STOCK GM HEI module as a replacement…would likely be more stable and less prone to dying.

Sigh…
Will look around locally tomorrow to see if by chance anyone in my city stocks one.

Hopefully I’m right!

[Pat Landymore]

So I called the two biggest speed shops in my city of 1.6 Million yesterday…no surprise that neither stock the module. But then they tell me it will be up to 5 weeks!! Huh 🤔??

They both told me Holley has an earliest availability date of May 20th, then they need to place a special order so another 2-3 weeks after that for it to arrive. They also told me of huge back orders for all kinds of EFI hardware from all the major suppliers…MSD, Holley, FAST etc. Seems like it’s a plague of a new type beginning to hit the economy.

I go on Summits website, it’s in stock there, so ordered it.

And then these local businesses wonder why people don’t like dealing with them….

The module should arrive by Friday so will work on weatherstripping etc in the meantime.

[FF33rod]

Damn, sorry I didn't see this sooner Pat. If you're talking about the separate little module that comes with the Sniper, I have one I didn't use as I used the full Hyperspark setup. If you or anyone reading this needs one in the future give me a shout it's yours for postage...

Steve

[Pat Landymore]

Thanks Steve! I may need it as Summit hasn’t shipped yet…I’m wondering if they thought they have inventory they actually don’t…..

I’ll PM you in another day if it doesn’t ship today.

Cheers!
Pat

[Pat Landymore]

So 35 seems to be running again…started her up for a minute or two last night…she was rotten with unburned fuel throughout the engine and exhaust. 😵*

Had to take the dash out to replace the module…but now I no longer trust them have moved it to a readily accessible location on the firewall…complete with bullet style quick connects and Velcro mounting for a max two minute swap out.

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Did a ton of research on the HEI modules and was surprised to learn they had automatic RPM based dwell control. Dang GM had some brilliant engineers back then. 👍🏼👍🏼 (And more recently, of course the entire LSx design team…)

Have borrowed a pals dwell meter and will put that on 35 today to determine if Holley has ‘cloned’ (sic) the HEI module. Combined with using my oscilloscope at the same time should be some really fun learning.

Bottom line…I’ll bet an HEI module will make an awesome 2nd tier standby.

Why do I think it failed…??

There is zero heat sinking capacity with the all plastic Holley module. The primary coil resistance they specify (potentially) puts the coil current at around 15 ++ Amps. No wonder it fried!! I switched out to a Pertronix coil with similar HV output but a coil resistance that puts the maximum primary amperage at around 7.5 Amps max. Time will tell but I believe I’m correct.

[Pat Landymore]

Here’s a couple of quick videos showing me testing.

Explanations are in the explanation tab in the video unfortunately a bit mixed up between the two but I’m not going back into the app this evening to fix it. 😁

https://youtu.be/yx6SSK1aL4g

https://youtu.be/PBoJwvTK4fY

[Pat Landymore]

Just discovered I had the meter set on Hz not duty cycle in the first video. Oops 😬
Second one is fine.

Here is a corrected video to replace the first. Also corrected the info in the others.

https://youtu.be/cNTfeg20hZM

[Pat Landymore]

Thank you to FF33rod, Steve, for mailing me his extra coil driver module. You are a class act sir!

It arrived today and is already prepared for a spare…kinda anticipating that I’ll eventually need it.

I’ve had lots of both private and public messages from many folks on the FFR forum, plus a fair bit of correspondence with FFR staffers. Classy people all…I’m grateful to be included in this community! 😊

Here’s a photo of Steve’s module as my (likely) needed back up. 👍🏼

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[Pat Landymore]

A quick update….I’ve done pretty much S.F.A. on 35 I’m the past two weeks. I know I’m ignoring it but honestly it seems there are places in the puzzle of building one of these vehicles where that is likely the best medicine!

We have almost a week of cooler rainy weather ahead…by then I think I’ll be ready to get back working again.

[Redmantice]

I have been checking your thread almost every day wondering “what happened to Pat?”. I thought perhaps you became addicted to driving the Vette in this nice weather. Looking forward to some more updates.
Cheers,
Jay

[Pat Landymore]

Well Jay you’re quite correct…been driving Vettesky as my daily for over a month now, sun, rain or on a few days…snow.

What an awesome and capable car!

Cheers,
Pat

[Pat Landymore]

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Photo taken just before heading out for a coffee… 👍🏼😁

[Pat Landymore]

In some ways lately I’m already thinking past selling my 35 and into the next project….

A couple of contenders come to mind:

-any 1966-1970 Valiant (hopefully a 4 door) swapped to turbo LS power as a gift to (ok…all my work would be a gift) my Sister. She’s always wanted a hot rodded valiant or duster.
…or,

-yet another Foxbody Mustang (or an SN95)…but swapped to a twin turbo blow thru-carb LA Mopar driveline. How out of the box would that be? 😁

Yes, I know, I’m one of those counter culture guys, but that’s what makes me tick the best 😃

[ztoolman44]

4 door Valiant wagon with an LS would be my choice.

But I'm the guy putting a SBF in a classic Chevy so what do I know? LOL

[Pat Landymore]

Haha!
I agree on the Valiant. Biggest issue is my Sis lives in BC so I believe the best path forward would be to find a running, registered BC vehicle and drive it to Alberta to modify. But most Mopar guys seem to believe that anything related to the Pentastar is made out of pixie dust and worth more than gold. Ha!

The likelihood of finding a decent chassis at a price she’s willing to pay is fairly low I’m thinking…..
Much easier in AB to buy one but then there’s the out of province and ‘welcome to BC taxes’ once completed.

Ie. the mopar powered Mustang is way more likely happen first 😁
Cheers,
Pat

[ztoolman44]

Fox body mustangs are pretty spendy too and finding a solid one in BC is next to impossible. And as you said, building a Mopar engine won't be cheap either.

I imported my '36 and it wasn't that bad of a process. Just have to pay taxes on the vehicle value. I bought my donor mustang, pulled the drive train and slapped the motor, trans and rear into the truck with 2x4s and ratchet straps and brought it all across as one vehicle. The bed was full of spare parts.

I would consider buying something rust free from the south (Utah, Arizona, California, New Mexico, Nevada). The money saved in rust repair will offset the import fees by a significant margin. Pick up the LS and assorted parts while you are there and slip them in before you bring it across.

I have no problems spending other's money, just let me know if you need more ideas. lol

[Pat Landymore]

“
I have no problems spending other's money, just let me know if you need more ideas. lol”


I’m r.o.t.f.l.!!! 🤣🤣

[Pat Landymore]

That said I’ll keep your good advice about possibly importing a rust free example in mind. 👍🏼👍🏼

[Pat Landymore]

So, after almost two months of not posting…I’m still not ready to do much of anything on ‘35. Still super disgusted with a few things on this project…so when I’m finally ready to just hold my nose, do some “farmer fixes” and forget what I did to remedy them…it will happen. Never forgetting that the best farmer fixes are the ones no one can spot! LOL 😂

Have occasionally started her up to recharge the battery, listen to that beautiful turbocharged big block lope…and circulate fluids.

The good news is I still own it and will post more videos and info in (hopefully…) the not to distant future.

I think one more trip somewhere this summer in the Corvette and I’ll be ready to go back into mechanic mode.
Cheers all,
🍻
Pat 👍🏼😊

[Pat Landymore]

Oh…and referencing a rather earlier post…I’ve purchased a beautiful little V6 2003 Mustang with around 75,000 miles. Just a sweet little car as my ‘new to me’ daily driver…for now. Ha!
My mind reels at the engine swapping possibilities that await me in a year or two…
😁😁

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[Redmantice]

Oh…and referencing a rather earlier post…I’ve purchased a beautiful little V6 2003 Mustang with around 75,000 miles. Just a sweet little car as my ‘new to me’ daily driver…for now. Ha!
My mind reels at the engine swapping possibilities that await me in a year or two…
😁😁

151611

That may look sweet with your turbocharged big block from the 35?

[Pat Landymore]

Very unlikely Jay.

In order of preference my choices would be:

-Small block LA style Mopar
-351 Windsor
-LSx…most likely a 4.8

But when I look at $…the LS becomes almost a hands down winner

[Pat Landymore]

If an LS, my preference is an aluminum 5.3 block with 4.8 rotating assembly and 243 heads…wish list of sorts

[ztoolman44]

If an LS, my preference is an aluminum 5.3 block with 4.8 rotating assembly and 243 heads…wish list of sorts

Like a modern DZ302. Sounds like a fun combo

[Pat Landymore]

So, after a four month break from working on ‘35 I’ve…finally…felt like working on it again.

I believe the truck is actually a day or two from being ready for me to make a new for sale ad.

Today’s effort was a quickly fabbed up cloth headliner…it’s around 40% installed…looking ok so far. As per usual everything seems to take 3-4x longer than anticipated….what else is new! Ha 😂

For those interested, my (reasonably firm) asking price will be $36,000 Canadian (which translates today at $28,400 USD). You guys can do the math for a kit purchased with fenders, chrome tilt steering, wood bed, etc…plus the driveline.

As best I understand it I either cannot sell to a US customer, or it will be very difficult for a US customer to import a completed Canadian built kit vehicle, so the sale will only be open to Canadian residents.

[Redmantice]

It’s great to see that you are back at it. Send me some pics when you are done.
Cheers,
Jay

[Pat Landymore]

Howdy Jay:

Have emailed photos and a walk around video to your home address.

[Pat Landymore]

Here’s a YouTube version of the video for anyone else that is curious.


https://youtube.com/shorts/SbkxorTZA48?feature=share

[Pat Landymore]

FYI:

I haven’t listed my truck “officially” on the For Sale page yet as I’ve been called back out of retirement ( ~~4 years now) to test some customized QNX code plus an embedded CPU installation. The testing is eating up a lot of my time…but it’s kind of nice to be back in the breech and feeling useful again.

Sounds way fancier than it is…I’m an old guy so understand and know how to set up the 30-40 year old products the new CPU still needs to communicate with….it’s sort of the opposite to planned obsolescence….
Rather like all of us piston engine hot rodders might be in another 40 years.

Ha!

Likely about a 3 week gig with a few days off here and there while their awesome coding guy patches any holes I find.

Honestly…I sort of like being hired to ‘break’ stuff! 😂😁

In between I’ll finish a few extra little things I decided to do on Ms 35 and have her back up on the For Sale page soon.
👍🏼

[Pat Landymore]

The truck is now listed as for sale in the appropriate forum section.

[Pat Landymore]

Drove it to work today 😁

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[ztoolman44]

Drove it to work today ��

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Nice. I'll have to post some pics here this week. Finally got a bit more done on mine. Good luck with the sale.

[Pat Landymore]

Looking forward to seeing your progress!!

[Pat Landymore]

The title of today’s story is:

“Random Aftermarket Woes”


When I built the big block I bought an inexpensive set of chrome valve covers…figuring that not even offshore could make those bad enough to leak. WRONG!!

Take a look at the imprint from the 2nd set of valve cover gaskets I purchased…zero mark around the rear of the heads…both sides similar.

So purchased a much more expensive set of fabricated aluminum valve covers with a 1/4” thick rim around the outside.

A few things… first, there is ZERO retention for the gasket in the design…so I spent an hour with the old style brown gasket goop, gluing them to the new covers in perfect position so they (hopefully) won’t leak for a third time.

Next, the geniuses that designed my lovely aluminum cylinder heads actually made the gasket sealing area narrower than stock…thus increasing the chances of one thing not lining up with the other and again causing a leak.

Thirdly…and I was in no mind to figure out who at that point…either the cylinder head mfr or the valve cover mfr slightly moved one valve cover bolt hole…making it almost impossible to install the last bolt without cross threading. 2nd to front on drivers side, 3rd from front on passenger side…so absolutely the same bolt hole!

Good news is…after all that care + frustration…the leakage seems to have stopped.

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Cheers 🍻

[FF33rod]

Wow what a PIA. Sometimes the simplest things.....

Hope it stays dry Pat

Steve

[ztoolman44]

Bummer dude. BBC is like hotrod bread and butter next to SBC. This is precisely why I want to stay out of the aftermarket rabbit hole. Trying to use all OEM drive train parts on this just to get it on the road reliably and see how it drives before getting too carried away.

Now the body on the other hand...

[Pat Landymore]

You’ve got that right! Never again for me to mix-master (apologies if I’ve transgressed on copyright) so many different parts from so many different manufacturers.


My next ‘hot rod’ I’ve decided I already own…my gorgeous blue 2005 C6 vette. Only aftermarket stuff will be a set of headers with cat back, the tune (that I will write) , CNC ported stock 243 heads and a Callaway cold air intake kit…which is about as close as one can get to factory parts without being factory.

All that said if I had a three car garage my 35 would be with me for life…despite me feeling cramped. I would just choose shorter trips.

[Pat Landymore]

A short part throttle pass video’d in the Fall.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4vEufI03V90

No driving her now even with winter tires….it’s -31 here today. 🥶

Once it warms up a bit ( minus teens next week?) I’ll turn the furnace back on in the garage and get to work on my new snag/improvement list.

Cheers!

[Pat Landymore]

Happy New Year!!

Here is the current status of snag list:


-fab a new lower rad hose assy with better fit and flow. The previous one (corrugated stainless tubing as supplied with kit) worked but started leaking despite multiple clamps and re-tightening sessions. I suggest against anyone using these after my experience.

-take oil pan off (for a 4th time 🤬 ) in an attempt to…finally..stem the last oil leaks. Or at least all of them I’m willing to address….

-while pan is off install a factory style windage tray

-aligning the truck moved the front tires significantly inboard. Now have minor interference between RHF tire and turbos exhaust x-over pipe at full RH steering lock. Re-fabricate cross over as needed. That will teach me for fabricating a turbo system before the truck is aligned…maybe! 😁

-Verify desired alignment during 2nd fabrication of x-over.

-pressure bleed brakes…again.

-finish installing trim by the (not super nice…but nice enough…) cloth headliner surrounding the back window.

-crunch the heck out of wastegate spring to reduce low rpm boost. This task completed but outcome can’t be verified til later in the year.

(Note: 8.5 psi @ 4500 rpm was nearly causing me to change my shorts…partly due to acceleration and mainly concern for detonation in Mr Big Block. )

-From the possibly maybe file. Still thinking about it.
Change from 3.55 gears to 3.08’s. There is SO much torque available that performance won’t be hampered but cruise rpm will be reduced significantly. Will continue to ponder on this item…

[wallace18]

The first 33 I built had 3:08 rear gears and a relatively stock 5.0. It was a joy to drive. Great on the highway.:cool:

[Pat Landymore]

So after months of self punishment for my mistakes…today was the day I finally got the motivation to …finally…begin cutting apart my turbo system to rectify the issues with it.


It hurts me in some way to chop up what I originally worked so hard to (previously) make at least semi right.

Photos to follow

As some wise musician said…the first cut is always the deepest. Ha!

[Pat Landymore]

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[Pat Landymore]

The other end of the first cut…

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My tub of leftovers…or as I term it…my tub of inspiration!

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And my lovely Vettesky in the background, tucked away under plastic for protection from welding and cutting…

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I will make it happen now 😊

[Pat Landymore]

Despite my quote, not really a Rod Stewart fan… far more of a Deadmau5 guy…despite being far too close to a ‘senior citizen’

[Pat Landymore]

Thanks guys for the likes…it’s amazing sometimes how much that helps!
Cheers

[Pat Landymore]

The first image is taken from the Replicaparts website showing the fan shroud as supplied on a ‘33 hot rod radiator.

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Essentially I had to remove the tapered section at the bottom (left side in first photo), cut the excess and re-bend the original taper to 90 degrees. Here is my fan shroud post modification and drilled. I made it 17-5/8” high measured on the outside.

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Struggled for a while with how I was going to mount it. My solution was to cut off four pieces of M6x1.0 metric bolts (about an inch long) and thread them in a few threads into M6 nutserts as they have a longer internal thread length than a standard nut. They threaded between 2 and 3 threads onto the 35 radiator studs.

Would have preferred a deep ‘joiner style’ nut but a fair bit of Google work didn’t turn up any that I could have today.

Here are two images with the nutsert/bolt combo installed on the radiator…

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There isn’t a lot of clearance after installing one of these. Partly, it will be due to the ‘raked back’ instead of more vertical way I have the entire radiator assembly set. But I don’t want to change it as then my (already painted and drilled) front fenders won’t fit if the new owner of the truck wants to install them.

The good news is that as the suspension compresses, clearance will increase. The only time something might hit is when jacking the truck up with the front wheels hanging loose. Anyone should hear if something makes ‘bad’ contact…which is good enough for me! 👍🏼

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[Pat Landymore]

Brief overview video of yesterdays and todays efforts…

The electronic buzzer is an audible reminder that the master switch has been left on but the ignition has been turned off. Easy enough to forget and leave on…at least for me it is.

https://youtu.be/PYBX3Oj0XaA

[Pat Landymore]

This is at least part of the old issue with the inside of the RHF tire rubbing on turbo plumbing. The LHF clearance is almost the same at full LH lock.

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Think I’ll craft me up a ‘travel limiter’ similar to those sold on Foxbody Mustang parts websites to give me about this much room…

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I find it a bit odd the clearance is so close to fixed point suspension parts as my front tires are only 235/60 R15 and the wheels have (IIRC…) 5.5 back spacing plus 1” spacers.

I know many are running huge tires in comparison. Without issues?

Any thoughts gentlemen??? 🤔

[McGuyver]

Same issue here. I am running 17 x 9 fronts with 5.85 backspacing. I was considering a 1” spacer but after taking lots of measurements it looks like my scrub radius is about 3/4 inch. Instead of pushing that out more I will try the rack limiter spacers.

[ztoolman44]

Both fronts rub on mine. I plan on adding some rack limiters as well.

[Pat Landymore]

Thank you both for your input…makes me feel a whole lot better when I know I’m not the only one.
LOL 😆

[Pat Landymore]

And thanks again to McGuyver for sending me down the rabbit hole of Google research on ‘scrub radius’…something I’ve heard or read about…but before you mentioned never knew Jack Sq$$$ about. Always more to learn! 👍🏼

Cheers! 🍻🍻

[Pat Landymore]

In my post #468 I referred to travel limiters for the steering rack.

My first attempt didn’t work out…I used silicone hose and a hose clamp. The only issue with this approach is that the head of the screw clamp drags hard on the inside of the dust boot.

So here is my 2nd attempt at making one.

I used a male-male connecting nipple for 1-1/2” id water line. Cost? $1.29 I then cut it to length, keeping the flange in the middle of the nipple as a stop. After that I split the cut piece lengthways and took about a 1/2” wide chunk out. Lastly I heated it gently with a propane torch and formed it down to approx 1” ID which is the diameter of the main shaft inside the rack.

Photos…

Fitting:

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Chunk I cut out lengthways:

165765

Rack limiter installed with extra grease on right hand side:

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[Pat Landymore]

Unfortunately after the first drive of the new season on Monday afternoon, Ms 35 decided to surprise me with a gift…another oil leak. This after I just had the pan off for the 4th time, cleaned everything ridiculously and installed a $$$ Moroso one piece gasket.

165767


If I have to take the pan off for a 5th time…I don’t know. I’d be tempted to slap on a$150.00 Summit engine diaper and call her ready to sell.

Diving in for a 5th oil pan R & R would be a bit like watching too many Fast and Furious re runs…they don’t get better each time you see them! Ha 😂😂

[Pat Landymore]

Following an afternoon of up and down from underneath the truck I’ve concluded with good certainty that the oil leak is either coming from the top side of the oil seal, or from above it. Bottom line…quite certain Mr Big Block needs to come back out.

How I approached it was to pressurize the block with my shop vac and go underneath with a spray bottle full of home made ‘Snoop’ (R) and look for bubbles. There’s none from the bottom side but I can definitely hear air entering the bell housing of the trans.

😢

Not certain until he’s out whether I mis-installed the oil seal, the machinists didn’t get the crank cerntered correctly in the block, or the cam plug has moved. The only thing I can be certain of is this is the best way to find out and get it fixed once and for all time.

Tomorrow Pats problem. I’m heading to my local pub for a couple of sodas now.

[FF33rod]

We definitely need a "that sucks" emoji.... what a pain...
Steve

[Pat Landymore]

Thanks Steve! 👍🏼

[Pat Landymore]

I guess the moral of the story is, particularly for all of you using way more modern and/or brand new crate engines, that’s why you did it!

You avoid lots of problems.

But I love my big block anyways! 😁

[Pat Landymore]

Well, it’s out on the floor now. 2-1/2 hours for 6 transmission bolts today because I was too stubborn and didn’t want to remove the trans cover. Definitely can’t put it back together the same way…

I’ll decide over the next few days whether the cover gets removed (my 2nd choice) or perforated with 1” holes (definitely my first choice on some fronts) slide the bolts thru and install 1” flush fitting plugs.

Haven’t investigated the leak yet…pretty tired after two 3/4 length days working on my own to get it out.

165821

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[Pat Landymore]

Here are the mid operation photos…will see how long it takes the eagle eyed to spot my mistake.

Parts are being held the way they came out. At least I know why it was leaking.


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[McGuyver]

Hmmm. Was the lip on the seal in your hand facing the right direction?

[Pat Landymore]

…Aaand we have a winner!

Yes McGuyver, you are correct. The block (top) half was correctly installed and the cap (bottom) half was not.
What still has me a little bit concerned is it wasn’t leaking under pressure from the shop vac (2 psi) around the entire bottom of the seal…it was leaking where the two Mis-matched ends met up.

There is only one person to blame…and this is his build blog… 🙈🙈🙈

[Pat Landymore]

Very embarrassing to admit my mistake…I’ve rebuilt engines ranging from lawnmowers, motorcycles, normally aspirated and turbocharged aircraft engines, farm equipment…to a wide variety of V8 American engines from almost all makes.

Never…ever have I done something dumb like this.

Oh well, the longer one lives the more they get to learn! 😊👍🏼

[RuffShod]

You cant make a mistake if you don't do anything. Glad you found it.

[Pat Landymore]

Well, he’s back in. Was a somewhat ghastly job on my own…but my pals are always too busy today, this weekend, this week. I just want to get it back together so…

First photo is my brand new idea to support the trans…no thoughts as to why it didn’t occur previously! One hose clamp on each lower frame rail and a chunk of pipe plus appropriate wood to make up the distance.

166058

166059


And here’s the engine mostly back in place with the passenger side header installed:

166060


The drivers side exactly as before…minus the crossover for the turbo…

166061


Now taking the rest of the day off! 😁

[Pat Landymore]

A Summit racing order with all the goodies to craft up a muffled, Vee Band attached ‘weedburner’ dual exhaust system will arrive either Wednesday or Thursday. Hopefully I'm quick enough at fabrication to have it running by the end of next weekend.

That should give me plenty of time for 4x vicious to install transmission bolts and connect/test the rest. 👍🏼👍🏼

[Pat Landymore]

As always seems to be the case with any hot rod…mine is suffering from ‘scope creep’.

First off, I needed to remove the seat, shifter cover, some carpet and the trans cover to get all the engine->trans bolts back in. While all that was apart I started thinking…why am I leaving a $$ water meth system on a truck with 8.5:1 compression? So off that came.

Now working at moving two fuel lines on the drivers side for better clearance to the DS exhaust. Seems to me those two items don’t play well together… LOL 😂

All of the new exhaust is mocked up on jack stands but only about 1/3 welded until final-final fitment confirmed.

[Pat Landymore]

Well, she’s done…almost…I hope! 👍🏼

Have a brand new minor coolant leak that needs attention and possibly a small trans fluid leak…but much closer.

Will be putting it up on an internet auction website within the next two weeks with a reserve bid and see what happens.

Photo of the exhaust system under construction, just ahead of finish welding…

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A photo of how the truck looks now…

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She’s a fair bit louder than I anticipated. I’ve become accustomed to the ‘spinny muffler’ effect that a turbo has…kind of underestimated how much muffling is required! That said, the sound definitely suits the rat rod theme.


Auction website web link:

https://formulaauctions.com/auctions

[Pat Landymore]

The auction guy came over last evening and took lots of photos.

My auction runs June 3 to June 12.

Fingers crossed! 🤞🏼


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[RuffShod]

Good luck!

[Pat Landymore]

A start up and ride along video taken a few days ago…


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nsrcPM8B_88&feature=emb_logo

[Robodent]

Nice video Pat! Your engine sounds great . I can remove a dent from a vehicle without painting it but I wish I was more tech savvy to make videos and post them on the web . Nice job. Rob.

[Pat Landymore]

Here’s a fun photo!

Taken last evening by a buddy that I’ve known for over 40 years…of his son chaperoning me home in Ms 35 from a car meetup at a local burger joint.

The kid is only 20 years old…very respectful of my vehicle but at the same time anxious to lean on it when (honorary) Uncle Pat said…’dang it boy…just punch it!’

An awesome moment for me…he was blown away by big block torque. 😁

Afterwards we all walked over for beers and food at a local pub…and be hanged if my honorary nephew didn’t insist on paying for all of us for privilege of driving!

Major Kudos to my friend Michael and his wife for raising such an awesome son! He’s in 3rd year automotives so I think with that attitude he’ll be set for the rest of his life. 👍🏼👍🏼

[Pat Landymore]

So she’s sold, in my city.

Onwards to other things 😊😁👍🏼

[McGuyver]

Congrats and enjoy whatever comes next!

[VIRGIN MIKE]

great pic and congrats; look forward to seeing you back here with another project

[Pat Landymore]

So everyone following my posts knows how much trouble I had trying to sell 35 as a turbocharged big block hot rod.

So I whipped up a nice dual exhaust, put in an N/A tune, installed a conventional air cleaner and put her in the online auction.

The gentleman that purchased her paid me almost what I was initially asking when she was turbocharged…plenty of generous bidding all around.

When he came to pick it up last Thursday (??) we were discussing the history of my build…and when he found out she used to be turbo’d he was SO enthused!! He offered me extra $$ to re-install the turbo system, which I declined as he paid me fairly.

Long story short, I spent my weekend going ‘back to the future’ and turning 35 back into my original vision for her.

He’s picking it up tomorrow. Will discuss with him how and when it’s ok to get ‘western’ with the loud pedal…don’t want him to scare himself or wrap the old gal up.

I know I wouldn’t have had nearly as many bidders, or as high a bids if I advertised her as turbo’d….just goes to show that one never knows how these stories end until they do! 😁

So for my final posting, here she is ready for pickup….

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[FF33rod]

Interesting twist....

Steve

[Pat Landymore]

Hello everyone!

I see there are quite a few ‘hits’ per week on my old build thread.

Sincerely hope it’s helpful.

If anyone has any questions, please don’t worry about PM’ing me or simply posting your question here. Happy to read and reply.

Main reason I dropped back in…will be making a post tomorrow as to what I’m up to now in the “Off Topic” section. Still doing cars…plural…not FFR for the time being…more like where the kits were born from.

There’s your click bait!
Ha 😆