New fan clutch installed
posted @ Thursday, August 11, 2005
It took a little longer than anticipated, but the pos flex-a-lite fan unit is no longer anywhere near our truck and we have a new severe duty fan clutch installed with the eight blade steel fan we had on the truck originally. It turns out that the heavy vibrations in the electric fan were because two blades had broken off. Go figure. All we know is that we would never recommend an electric fan for such a heavy duty application. Fortunately, the folks over at BeCool are building us a custom all aluminum radiator which should end our cooling problems once and for all.
We also took apart the fuel line as well and it seems that the Summit fuel pressure regulator is causing us some grief. We're going to remove the regulator entirely since the pump only puts out 6psi and that's exactly what the Holley carburetor is designed for. So all we have to find is a fitting to go from regular fuel hose to a 6an fitting which comes off the carburetor. Then we should be good to go for the car show in Rolla this weekend. One thing is for sure, we'll be very glad when all these little wrinkles are ironed out.
Link: New fan clutch installed
Keeping it simple
posted @ Wednesday, August 10, 2005
Well I purchased a new Hayden (also known by the name Imperial) severe duty fan clutch from a local parts store and it will be installed today. The POS flex-a-lite fans will come off and we're gonna Keep It Simple Stupid (KISS). It was an expensive lesson to learn, but we know now that electric fans just can't keep up with the big block ford engines. With another show coming up this weekend in Rolla, we need to get a few things taken care of including the fan issue. The other issue is the fuel pressure. We're about ready to scrap the electric fuel pump and go with a mechanical pump instead. Stay tuned for more as the Rolla car show comes up this Saturday.
Link: Keeping it simple
Trip to Chicago, part 3
posted @ Monday, August 8, 2005
Continued from page 2...
After the show was over, it was time to head back to Union, MO. The
trophy barely fit in the cab of the truck. After everything was packed up
and put away, I pointed the truck south and headed out. The truck was low
on fuel, but the cost of fuel was much higher around Aurora than it was a bit
further away. After about an hour, the overheating problem was back.
The engine boiled over again and off came the hose line, again (just repeat the
events from the trip up here). So for the rest of the trip, now that fans
were out of balance and badly vibrating, I was able to drive the truck back as
long as I kept the speed around 56 with the windows down and the heater
on. Thankfully, it had cooled off enough that it was not unbearable.
But it was not fun and once again, instead of just sitting back and enjoying the
drive, it was a trip, constantly on the edge, ever vigilant of the instruments,
keeping the rpms, speed and heat in check. This made for a very, very long
and tedious drive back to St. Louis and finally, at one am, the road trip from
hell had ended. One thing is for sure, that piece of junk electric fan
unit is coming off and we're going back to a fan clutch and steel bladed
fan. I've learned my lesson with the electric units and it's a lesson was
unpleasant to learn.
All's well that ends well. Even with the harrowing adventure to and from Chicago, the ends justify the means and having brought home not just one, but two trophies was the biggest thrill. I want to thank Dave Weaver again for his hard work and for putting on such a great show. I'd like to thank everyone that voted for Project Responder and lastly, I'd like to thank everyone I met with whom I became friends. I'm looking forward to seeing you again next year.
Link: Trip to Chicago, part 3
Trip to Chicago, part 2
posted @
Continued from page one...
It was 10pm when I checked into the hotel (which was extremely difficult to
find) and it was after 1am when I finally called it a night. Knowing that
the WGN live shoot was at 6am, the last thing I wanted was to have to get the
truck washed in the morning and then drive the 40 miles to the studios.
When the wake up call rang at 4:40 in the morning, getting out of bed was not
what I really wanted to do. But the live shoot at WGN was such a great
opportunity, that with a little caffeine, I was on my way. Once again, the
Itronix computer and the GPS saved the day. It's hard to believe we used
to have to use paper maps. I got the truck to the studio and there were
several other vehicles from the show there. Project Responder was shown at the
beginning of the broadcast and again at the end and it was a lot of
fun.
From there, I headed into downtown Chicago to get a few from Lake Shore Drive. I can see why people fall in love with Chicago. It was a very beautiful city and the waterfront was definitely intoxicating. After a brief stay, I headed back to finish getting the truck readied for the lights and siren parade that evening as well as get a few minutes of shut eye. In the mean time, I found one of the local fire houses and got some photos there as well as photos of the dam and waterfall in North Aurora which was quite impressive.
That afternoon, after grabbing a bite to eat, I took the truck over the staging area for the annual Lights and Sirens parade from the Tinseltown Theaters to the North Aurora Days Festival that evening. The staging officially started at six. I was second in at five and the once empty lot started getting busier, fuller and louder as more and more emergency vehicles of all ilk's began pouring in. Everything from huge snorkel trucks down to the small model A ford clown car. It was quite a site to see, but not nearly the spectacle the parade turned out to be. Imagine over 100 emergency vehicles running code for several miles. It was one of the most amazing sites I've ever seen. Once we arrived at the fairgrounds, we parked the trucks and just had a great time listening to the band and watching the fireworks. The fair was a lot of fun.
I called it a night around ten and headed back to the hotel. Early the next morning, it was time to head out and get ready for the show. Dave Weaver was just awesome and he put Project Responder at the front of Fire truck row and all of the show attendees had a full, unobstructed view of the truck. I could not have asked for anything better. I spent the day getting baked in the sun, answering a lot of questions and turning on the lights and sirens for kids. I met and made friends with several of the other show exhibitors and just had a great, great time. The demonstrations were a lot of fun and the show was just super fantastic. Project Responder was entered in the ""Best Fire Demonstrator Vehicle"" class and so the truck was competing with the likes of E-One and Pierce which I thought was odd but Project Responder ended up winning first place in this division. I was extremely happy to be heading home with a trophy from the show. After all of the divisions (about 26) were announced, they had one last trophy to hand out. It was for Best in Show. I really didn't think anything of it since there were so many beautiful new and restored vehicles in attendance. When the announced the winner was Project Responder, I was completely floored. The trophy is over five feet tall and the honor was very overwhelming. For a minute, I thought that maybe Dave had rigged the voting since he likes Project Responder so much. But it was the other exhibitors that voted for the truck and that made it all the more special.
Continued...
Link: Trip to Chicago, part 2
Trip to Chicago (fans fail), part 1
posted @
I would have gotten something out here sooner, but I couldn't get a decent
wireless connection to the net at the Baymont hotel. Anyway, the trip to
Chicago is behind us and we had a great time. We had some more overheating
issues getting there and getting home again, so that was not fun. But we
made it and the show was more fantastic than I ever dreamed. Dave Weaver,
the show's organizer, did a great job pulling it off and everyone had a
blast.
So, we thought we had the engine overheating issues licked with the installation of the new Flex-a-lite dual fan unit on the radiator. We had only tested it around town and had not tried it on the highway (my first mistake). While driving around locally, the Flex-a-lite fans seemed to work very well. However, the interstate was a completely different situation. We had not gotten more than twenty miles from home when the truck overheated and boiled over. It seems that when the fans get too warm, they cause the 30amp fuse to blow. Needless to say, that when the fuse blows, the fans stop altogether and that is very, very bad. The temperature gauge skyrocketed and we barely had enough time to get off the highway and get the truck cooled down. I ended up starting the skid unit and pulling the hose line around to the front of the truck to cool down the radiator quickly as well as hose down the coolant that had boiled over.
To get the truck down the road, I ended up bypassing the fuse since the style used by Flex-a-lite is larger than normal and I did not have any spares (my second mistake). I headed into the city to get some spare fuses but I was able to find a parts house that had heavy duty circuit breakers, so I swapped out the inline fuse and put a 40amp breaker in it's place. At least now, I didn't have to worry about the fans stopping from lack of current. Now, finally, I was able to get the truck on the road and head for Chicago, although it was guarantee that there would not be any air conditioning on this trip. Even with the fans on at 100%, the truck still ran hotter than it did with a broken fan clutch and a regular steel fan. So instead of a fun and relaxing trip north, the entire venture was spent with one eye on the temperature gauge and one on the road.
I stopped in Litchfield, IL to get something to eat. I found the local Dairy Queen and had a nice lunch. Afterwards, I found the Litchfield fire department and got a couple of shots of the truck on the apron. Unfortunately, no one was home, so it was just a shoot and run. Back on the highway, Project Responder made about 40 miles before experiencing more overheating issues. This time was not as bad as the experience earlier in St. Louis, but it did require having to stop to let the engine cool down. On a side note, it was very impressive to see the traffic all move the left lane as they approached with only the Tomar arrow bar energized. Trucks and cars more than a mile back would move over just because of the sheer power of the arrow bar. It's the best arrow device I've ever seen.
After driving for a couple more hours, I pulled into Lincoln, IL for fuel. It appears the town had the highway bypass it for some reason and it was nearly six miles just to get to a filling station after exiting the interstate. We passed the Lincoln Rural Fire Protection District firehouse on the way looking for gas so I stopped in after filling up, to inquire about getting some photos of the truck in front of the fire house. Everyone there was more than accommodating and I pulled the truck up along side unit 35 to snap a few stills. The guys loved the truck and the Assistant Chief invited me to the County Fair since they had a spot already set up for emergency vehicles. I was not in any hurry so I accepted the offer and spent a few hours at the fair. Finally, a little after six, I headed out and finished the trip to North Aurora. Had it not been for the Itronix GoBook laptop with the built in GPS, I would have never found my way there. I did have one small slip up on the toll road. I did not know it was a toll way and when I exited onto rt 31, I was not prepared to stop for a toll booth. So I'm sure the toll agency in Chicago somewhere has a nice picture of the back of the truck somewhere.
Continued...
Preparing for Chicagoland Emergency Vehicle Show
posted @ Wednesday, August 3, 2005
It's been a lot of work over the last week, getting the truck ready for it's television debut in Chicago on Friday. Even the small details seem to take forever. Monday, we finished up the Flex-a-lite fan installation by completing the wiring to get the fan operational as well as having to replace a plug in the driver's side head to stop a really annoying exhaust leak. It seems that person that rebuilt the 460 big block motor for us did not have new plugs installed in the heads where the exhaust gas crossover ports are located. So this one burned through, probably after the carbon build up in the port was cleaned out from the hot tank, and we had a really bad exhaust leak right behind the power steering bracket. It was time consuming job, disassembling the brackets and moving the air conditioning compressor and the power steering pump so we could remove the brackets from the engine and get to the exhaust port.
After several hours of effort, the old plug was finally extricated and the new plug installed and painted (so it won't rust). Then we still had to put everything back and make sure everything was tight and operational. It sure would be nice if we had air conditioning in the shop. Next we had to service the pump motor on the skid unit. It seems that the gas had been left in there too long and the fuel line had gotten gummed up, constricting the fuel flow. After several hours, and a piece of new fuel line, the pump is working flawlessly. There were also several smaller issues such as tightening the bolts that mount the Havis Shields Consolidator console to the floor of the truck. Apparently, we had not gotten them tight enough the first time around and they were all extremely loose.
It's not like we had any major issues, other than replacing the fan last week, that we had to deal with, but all of the little issues do add up. At any rate, we'll be 100% operational for the trip to Chicago and our 15 minutes of fame on WGN. Now all we have left is to install a cut-off valve on the heater hose that runs to the heater core on the firewall so the A/C doesn't have to work so hard to keep the air cool.
See you in Chicago.
Fan clutch fails - electric fan solution
posted @ Monday, August 1, 2005
The trip to Indianapolis two weeks ago for the fire truck muster was a warm one. The ambient temperature outside was over 90 and it as incredibly humid. The air conditioning system had just been reconnected and charged and we thought all would be well. Such was not the case. The truck started overheating less than thirty miles into Illinois, we even had a minor boil over issue at one fuel stop. It turned out that the premium fan clutch from Perma Cool just could not hold up. We knew something was amiss when we saw the oily film all over the fan, fan shroud and underside of the hood. Without the a/c on, the truck ran at it's normal operating temperature. With the a/c on, the truck ran extremely hot, but not quite hot enough to force the a/c to be turned off. That was until we would get off the highway and then the temperature gauge would skyrocket. We quickly learned to turn off the a/c about a mile or so before we exited the highway so the engine would have time to return to normal before heading down the off ramp.
We knew we had to do something drastic because another fan clutch would end
up failing as well. So we contacted a couple of engine cooling specialists,
including