posted @ Sunday, September 17, 2006

Finally!! The truck is finally running like it should. After a long, hard summer, it’s good to finally be able to get some relief. The new MSD distributor and ignition system as well as a new harmonic balancer have made a world of difference. After getting the new components installed, I took the truck out for a long test drive, all the while, waiting for “the other shoe to drop”. But fortunately, it never did. The only problem I experienced was that the engine temperature ended up much warmer than it should otherwise be. So that’s something I have to investigate since there is no obvious signs of problems. Other than that, it seems that the major issues are finally in the past. I'll know more as I take it out for further testing, as well as driving down to the Herculaneum Fire Truck Rally at the end of September.

Link: 460 motor running well

posted @ Saturday, September 9, 2006

Keith called several times over the next few days with reports of what was found and asking what I'd like to have done at those junctures. Because I trusted Keith implicitly, I left it up to him to do what he thought was best. The truck did need a new starter and I ended up splurging on a new high torque starter from Mean Green. I had to have it sent overnight so they could get the truck started and moved to the mechanics shop. We spent the next few days trying to figure out if the truck was going to be drivable and finally on that Thursday, I was told that the mechanic had found some issues with the distributor and tried to clean it up as best he could. We got a second opinion from a local racing engine builder as well and the consensus was that the most likely cause of the problems was that the distributor was sloppy, that the Jacobs Ignition coil may be failing and that the timing could not be set accurately because the harmonic balancer had shifted from it's true position.

But the good news was that Bob Carter, the mechanic, was able to get the truck running well, even with the poor condition of these components. The determination was made that I would fly back to Louisville on Friday and swap out the aforementioned components and then drive the truck home. So I packed a bag with a new MSD distributor, plug wires, a timing light and a change of clothes and boarded a plane Friday morning. Believe it or not, I was able to get through security, after a bag search, with those items in my carry on luggage.

Once I got to the shop, I found that Bob had done a bit more work and that the truck was running very well. I took it out for a long test drive up some steep hills and it performed very, very well. After giving it some thought, I decided not to replace anything and just drive it as is. The worse case scenario would be changing the components at a rest stop somewhere. So off I went. I left by 11am.

Link: Driving back from RKO

posted @ Sunday, September 3, 2006

After testing the truck on Friday, September 1, it seemed that everything was good to go but that I had gotten some bad gas at a local gas station. Saturday, September 2nd, I headed out to visit RKO Enterprises to pick up our new Skid Unit. The drive was fairly uneventful until I got into the hills of Indiana and Kentucky. The truck began to experience significant issues when traveling uphill. When the truck was under a load, it would ping and it begin to pop back through the carburetor and backfire through the exhaust. So this was not good. I tried to retard the timing slightly to eliminate the pinging and try to get it to settle down, but I had very little success. Because the truck was running so lean, it ended up running very, very hot, but not to the point of overheating. So on a few occasions, I pulled off the highway and let it cool down. While I was waiting, I went ahead and got gas and something to eat.

Finally, I was able to limp it along and make our exit onto 421 in Kentucky. But now I was on a two lane, winding road and the truck did not want to stay running. The hotter it got, the worse it ran. So I pulled over one more time to let it cool down. This time, a local mechanic happened by and took a look at it for us. His conclusion was that it was vapor locking because the fuel line was running too close to the engine block and header. It made sense so I made a mental note to re-route the fuel line once I reached RKO. I did finally reach our destination and immediately began the process of removing the old skid unit and installing the new skid unit.

Once the conversion was complete, I took some time to reroute the fuel line. Keith was able to scare up a timing light for us and Sunday morning, I re-set the timing. It seemed as if everything were going to be ok and I'd be able to limp the truck back to St. Louis. But a short test run told us otherwise. It just seemed as if things were getting worse. The starter had developed a dead spot because it could not turn the high compression engine over when it was hot. When I did get it started. it ran terribly. So after much wailing and gnashing of teeth, it was decided to leave the truck at RKO's shop and have a local mechanic try and resolve the issue or just have it brought back on a flatbed. I caught a flight back to St. Louis out of Louisville and left it in Keith's good hands.

Link: Trip to visit RKO in Indiana

posted @ Friday, September 1, 2006

I finally received the fuel pickup / sending unit and got it installed in the Transfer Flow fuel tank. Putting the tank back up on the frame was a bit more of a challenge than I anticipated. It took a little while to get it lined up and get the mounting straps re-installed. Once in place, I re-secured the filler tube and vent tube as well as the fuel line.

The new Holley high performance fuel pump was installed on at the rear of the truck, just in front of the tank, with the inlet below the bottom of the fuel tank to ensure the pump is gravity fed. I installed a fuel filter just before the pump to keep the fuel pump clean.

After filling the tank with fuel, I ran the truck and found the pressure holding steady at about 6.5psi, even when revving the engine. So now I’ve got the fuel pressure problem resolved and I'm on target to head out to Indiana to visit RKO Enterprises to pick up our new skid unit.

Link: New fuel pickup installed