69 LWB Power Tour Rig

[69SCSS]

Originally Posted by Hardesty454

Wasting no time. Pulling for your completion.. Can't wait to hear the motor going for you!

Thanks man! Getting there, finally.

So this is the last update for a couple weeks, but I got a lot done. I got really lucky as far as timing, because my plan for today was to just clean up the garage, paint the booster and the prop valve, and that's about it. Well, I had ordered a TSS pigtail and a TV cable for the 4L60 from Rock Auto on tuesday, and expected to get them next week. Well, they showed up today! So I slapped those on there, which meant I was done with the stuff under the truck. So I wound up finishing that all up, slapping the cab back on the frame, hooking everything up, and tying up a whole lot of loose ends I was waiting to work on. So now, the plan is to paint the doors, fenders, and the top of the cab (white), then hook up the wiring harness, get the exhaust done, and hook up a battery. Yea there's a few odds and ends, but really I'm fuel, fluids, and power away from being able to start this thing up. I might actually be able to get it running by the end of May.

Progress!!

[69SCSS]

Got the exhaust done!!! Casey at Punk's in Vancouver did a killer job. I wish I had gotten there earlier so I could take pics while it was on the lift, but I work swing and 8am is a little early...
He tucked it up as far as he could, cut the hole thru the crossmember nice and clean, and dropped the exhaust just below the bumper.... looks KILLER and you can't see the exhaust at ALL from the side. Now I can't wait to start this up!!!


I'm now oil, fuel, coolant, and spark from starting this thing up.

[69SCSS]

Couple more pics.

[69SCSS]

Got a few things painted yesterday. Can't wait to paint the doors and put this all together. The parts really look good.

[69SCSS]

Wow, look! It all fits now! It always helps to have the correct parts....

[Hardesty454]

Looking good buddy!

[69SCSS]

Got some stuff done this week. preparing to start the 402 up on Memorial Day. I rebuilt the Edelbrock carb, and finished the fuel line to the carb. Wound up getting one of those fuel line adapters that go straight down and on the side of the carb, out of the way of the linkage. Worked out great and only required me to cut and bend my fuel line I made a little to fit.

Today I cleaned up my doors I had blasted. The passenger door looks pretty good, won't take much work to get them nice. The drivers door... is junk. I'll make do with it for now, but there might be more bondo than steel. Not sure. Lumpy as hell and I'm crap at bodywork, so I'll flatten it out some and run it until I get the truck painted properly. Hopefully the lumps aren't too obvious in the meantime. Ugh. Guess I'll be popping for a repro door here eventually....

In the meantime here's some more pics.

[69SCSS]

Pics of my junk.

[69SCSS]

Well tomorrow I'm going to start the 402 up and get it tuned, but the last couple of days I've been busy doing other stuff. I made myself a paint booth so I could paint parts without worrying about dust and crap getting into the paint (it's usually windy this time of the year all day long), so I made myself a booth out of a bunch of 2x4's I had left over from some other work I had done a few months ago, grabbed a few rolls of plastic sheet, and used a filter and box fan. Took me about 2 hours to build, and I tested it on the tops of the inner fenders.... it's amazing how much easier it is to paint a panel when you don't have to worry about losing 3/4 of the paint to the wind!!! The inner fenders look great, really happy with them. Real test is the doors, I'll be spraying those while I'm working on getting the 402 started. Lots more pics coming in the next few days.

Oh, excuse the mess, I just shoved all my daughter's toys and out garden stuff out of the way

[69SCSS]

Well, the last couple of weeks have kindabeen rough with the truck. Tried to start the truck twice, and both times no dice. First time it was because the fuel pump overloaded the carb and it flooded. Second time, yesterday, after fixing the fuel issue got it cranked over to find a very weak spark. Looks like the coil is probably no good. After testing the module, wiring, and coil, everything seems to be working right. I've read a whole bunch of articles and posts saying that testing the coil isn't always telling the whole story. While it was supposed to be in the good range, there seemed to be too weak of a spark.

In the meantime I've been painting panels and assembling stuff. Made a temporary gauge panel from parts, and installed the bench. I'll be picking up the fenders from the sandblast place, and dropping off the hood tomorrow. Hopefully I'll have the whole front clip painted and installed by the end of the month. I'll be assembling the door parts in the meantime, and trying to get the 402 running.

Also picked up a killer set of wheels and tires from one of the board members msgsdrf today, can't wait to get those mounted! Here's some pics, and some of the exhaust I finally got.

[69SCSS]

and a couple more pics. Wound up turning the gas tank back around the other way, works better for the filler. Just drilled new holes and it's good. Shouldn't have to mess with that again.

[Hardesty454]

Hey al, like I said before; all the control module, cap, rotor, and coil is new. Even the wires were new if I remember right. The plugs were brand new as well bit overloaded because the carb. Let me know what you figure out.

[69SCSS]

Originally Posted by Hardesty454

Hey al, like I said before; all the control module, cap, rotor, and coil is new. Even the wires were new if I remember right. The plugs were brand new as well bit overloaded because the carb. Let me know what you figure out.

Oh yea I know, but I think it sat too long. The cap had a terminal that was broken so I had to replace that, but the coil looks like it got some moisture under the cap and it started to rust the outside. I resistance tested it so it SHOULD work, but for some reason I'm not getting a good spark. I dunno, gonna try a known good coil and work from there.

[69SCSS]

It LIVES! Got the 402 running today with the help of my friend Mark. The coil was bad, swapped in a spare Mark had, checked for spark, and it fired up!!! It's running pretty rich so some tuning is definitely needed, but it runs.

Got a ton of other stuff done, fenders are painted and drying and will install this week. I assembled both doors, just have to put the door panels and arm rests on and they're done. Redid some of the wiring, put the glove box in, and installed the new wheels. Just gotta get the driveshaft shortened and bleed the brakes and I might actually get to drive it around the block once I get it tuned! Definite progress today!!!

Now I just gotta re-jet the carb... gonna be fun.

yes I took video, have to upload it still...

[mcbassin]

Lots of good progress since I last checked in on your build. Glad to hear you got her running. ready for that video....

[69SCSS]

Got a bit done this weekend. No... I forgot to post the video of starting the truck, but here's a link to the video on my Google drive, complete with a close up of my friend Mark's glove when he ran over to the truck when it started
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-m...it?usp=sharing

So the last few days I've gotten the front clip all together. I have a few things left to do but it's all together, and it's weird to see it all together and painted. I also put the new coil in, put the new air cleaner on it, put the TV cable corrector kit on the carb, and a few misc things. Had to modify the AC Delete box I got because it didn't fit like they said, and they were not helpful at all about their product. Classic Industries was, but they could only complain to the manufacturer, but that did no good. I'll write that up later, got quite a few pics of what I had to do to that to make it fit right!!!

Anyway, here's what the truck looks like now, with everything but the hood on it (that's getting paint this week).

[Hardesty454]

I can't get the link to work!

[69SCSS]

Originally Posted by Hardesty454

I can't get the link to work!

Might be the format, it's a MOV file. I'll try and remember to slap it on Youtube, been laggin' on that

[69SCSS]

http://youtu.be/QKq4KbjefNA

It's on Youtube!!

[69SCSS]

Quick update because I'm practically living at my desk at work lately... ugh....

Got it tuned where it'll idle around 900rpm. It's missing on one cylinder and tracking that down, but it's probably something simple. No leaks, not overheating at all, good oil pressure, and charging the battery well. Blowing a little smoke at idle, but with it missing on one cylinder that's expected. I would have probably been able to find it but my timing light is fried (literally) so i couldn't check the timing or see which cylinder wasn't firing. It starts up now when I turn the key, no more sputtering, good progress.

The doors are together and door panels, armrests, and handles all on. Looks great, I'll post pics this weekend. All I have left to install as far as sheetmetal is the hood, and I'm leaving that off until I get it running better for easier access.

got the TV cable / throttle cable setup done. Had to modify what I had to work, but it'll work for now. I want to get a different setup eventually but I'm pretty much broke now LOL!!

Got the driveshaft done, what a chore that one was.... you'd think cutting down a driveshaft would be simple... guess not for this guy. I'll be picking it up for the second time tomorrow morning....

At this point, just have to bleed the brakes, install the driveshaft and set up the gas filler and it will move on it's own. Hopefully this weekend I'll take it around the block for it's maiden voyage!

And..... .back to work. LOL!

[oilyrag80]

Just looked at the whole thread your truck is lookin good!

[Hardesty454]

Al, just for fun toss a spark plug tester on each plug wire. If they are all firing the light run a dc meter on each. This will tell you which isn't hitting the requires voltage. Just an idea.

[69SCSS]

Originally Posted by oilyrag80

Just looked at the whole thread your truck is lookin good!

Thanks man!

Originally Posted by Hardesty454

Al, just for fun toss a spark plug tester on each plug wire. If they are all firing the light run a dc meter on each. This will tell you which isn't hitting the requires voltage. Just an idea.

yep, exactly what I was going to do. Just ran out of time to chase it down, only had about an hour to screw with it. Thankfully it ran pretty quick once I got fuel in the bowl, so I got some tuning to the point it would idle decent.
And who knows... the timing could be at 2º BTDC and I wouldn't know it right now because of the timing light! Got a new one so I'll be able to remedy that fast. it starts good and stops without hiccups, and it revs clean, so I am sure it's just something small at this point.

Hell it runs! progress is progress!!!

[69SCSS]

Alright... 2 steps closer to being able to drive it.

Bled the brakes today with the help of my wife. I got the self-bleed kit set that is supposed to make it a one person job. I'm glad I got her help. I'm not sure if GM can't make a bleeder that doesn't leak, or the manufacturer of the part went cheap on the length on the threads, but every one of them leaked from the threads while it came out the end also. I've never seen them do this before, but we got it bled. Tested the brakes and they work well from what I could tell. We'll see when the truck is actually moving faster than I can push it!!!

Got the right u-joint on the driveshaft now (1330) and it fits great. Just gotta slap the straps on there and it's ready to roll.

All that's left to make this thing move it on it's own is topping up the trans fluid and installing the gas filler. So close.

[69SCSS]

Drove it around the block today! I seriously needs an alignment LOL!!! next trip will be to the alignment shop, definitely.

So today my friend Mark and I got the gas filler setup mostly done, got the hood on, and basically took the bed off and put back on about 3-4 times to test fit. All I have left is the hole for the filler in the outer bedside. I need a 3" holesaw, and then make the bracket. Closer and closer.

Here's some pics of the setup.