Gary Lewis

Looks organized to me. But, you need a floor! Seriously, how would you put the wood blocks down?

Vacuum advance is currently disconnected and plugged, but it was on the passenger side of the metering block on the carb. There is a barb there that Holley says to use for vac advance. I'll play with that some more once I have everything else dialed in. I've checked it before, and it is zero vacuum at idle, but the moment you touch the throttle it jumps up to 20" pretty quickly. The O2 sensor gauge kit is an AEM 30-4110. I'll try the test with covering the choke horn. Thanks. At this point and time, I don't think it's working properly. Thanks for all the tips Rick. Appreciated. Truck is manual trans though, so I don't have Park. I pretty much tried all of your suggestions, but I can't get the idle below 750 RPM. The throttle closes and the idle speed screw will start to back out. Also, I can't get the vacuum to go below 17". Right now, I have the mixture screws out 1 turn, idle is set around 850 and vacuum was 17". If I put just a tiny bit of pressure on the throttle the vacuum shoots down to 20" almost instantly. That is confusing me a little bit because I thought it would be higher with the throttle 100% closed, but anyway. There are some notes in the Holley book about this situation (because of the bigger cam I believe) where they suggest drilling small holes in the throttle plates to increase the vacuum. Right now it's not running bad. I was out driving around for a while. The engine pulls hard, and it idles fine other than being a little high right now. Maybe the cam and the carb are too big. It feels to me like it should run a little better than it does at the lower RPM's, but it's possible I'm chasing a ghost here and there's nothing to improve...lol. I think you have a vacuum leak. Here's my theory: You are having to close the throttle completely to get the idle speed down, and even then can't get it below 750 RPM. If the throttle blades are completely closed and it is still running at 750 R's then air is getting in some other way. You said the brake booster is solid, but what about plugging everything off? Somewhere, something is leaking air into the intake. Have you tried shooting carb or brake cleaner around the base of the carb and where the intake hits the heads?

Folks - The admin's have been working on criteria and a process by which we will ban users - if, perish the thought, we have to. And we would like your input on the following. First, here's the criteria statement: And here's the draft process we've devised: Emails #1 and #2 have not yet been drafted. But your thoughts and suggestions about the criteria and process would be appreciated.

That's cool! But with EFI there's no reason that it has to get poor MPG. With the right MAP sensor it could be tuned to have 14.7 AFR when there's no boost and then start to enrichen things as the boost comes on.

Looking good, Scott! Can't wait to get to that point on Big Blue. I'll bet that you'll be pleased with the sound, or lack thereof, due to the treatment. But depending on how loud the exhaust system is you may not be able to tell. Speaking of the exhaust, which Borla muffs did you choose? I'd like to see some pics, please. On the wires, the grommet to the right of the of gas pedal is probably the one for the mechanical clutch linkage. It is pretty large and might be hard to seal due to its shape. Instead, I'd use the other one you mentioned as it is where you want it and it is round - easier to seal.

Haven't had a chance to have Big Blue in snow. Hasn't really snowed since I got him. But I doubt he'll be all that good in 2wd given the 460, dual batteries, and winch up front.

I wish I had that $30 #8 - 1/0 crimper instead of my hydraulic one. Not because it is less expensive, but because it has AWG die instead of metric. I've figured out how to use the hydraulic/metric one, but the other is more straighforward.

I've used the 3:1 stuff a lot and really like it. And I have pretty much the same kit, although mine didn't have the red in it. Good stuff.

No, they'll come out, but not until well after the spring goes..... Wait, this is a Holley and the screws are in the metering block. No springs, just the gasket. But they'll come out. However, before they do nothing will be happening as you've already gotten past the "wide open" point. I think.

The # of turns out are a starting point. I would for sure try turning them out farther to see what happens. Your goal is to get the best possible idle, regardless how many turns open the screws are. Having said that, if you have to turn the screws way open to get the best idle then something is wrong. Maybe not "bad wrong", but wrong. It might be that you have a small vacuum leak, like a cap off a fitting. Or it might be that something in the carb is plugged. But I wouldn't stick with the number of turns open just because that is what the book says it should be.

There's probably only about 5,000 miles on that box, and there was something "not right" about the steering. Plus it seemed to be getting worse. It was loose and there was a pop somewhere. Hopefully the loose Huck bolt, the loose driver's side perch, and other loose things I've found account for that.

All the secondaries will do is get you stuck faster or deeper, not get you out. Anyway, now you can drive it back here next year.

You won't need the secondaries in the snow.

Yep. As I bolted that box on I thought "Should I order a BlueTop?" It would have been so easy at that point since I didn't even have the 350 Pitman arm on yet and none of the hoses/tubes connected. Guess at this point I'll run it.

I am not one of the experts, but I will comment. I would have thought you'd open the idle screws up rather than close them down. (There are some carbs that have the screws adjusting the air instead of the fuel, but I think those are just the emissions carbs, not yours.) Pretty sure yours are controlling the fuel going in, and you need more of it. Badly. Having said that, I don't worry about AFR at idle. I get the best idle I can get, so I adjust the idle mix screws to max RPM, which is also max vacuum - which should be up around 20" with your mild cam.

Does your truck run properly now?

That IS funny! It might have been better than Big Blue's, which is a AGR Performance Remanufactured Steering Box. Note that it goes for $422 and has one review - a 1 out of 5 stars. (As you know, I didn't buy it.)

It's yours.

Thanks, Cory! Yes, it really is handy to have a "machine shop" when it comes to working on these trucks. I just told Janey that I really enjoy working in my shop. Today was one of those golden moments when I was able to use a wide range of tools to get things done.

Ok guys, I did a bunch of searching and perusing of catalogs today and couldn't come up with the right replacement seal like the one on the 10.25". So I finally sent a note to Timken/National asking them if they have a seal like that, and gave them the dimensions needed. Meanwhile, back at the house, the repair sleeves came. So I compared one of them to the spindle and did some measuring. The radius from the bearing/seal surface to the face of the spindle is 5/16", and the radius on the sleeve to the flange is 1/8". So it wasn't likely that the flange of the sleeve would go up against the face of the spindle. But it might come close. So I cleaned the spindle and put the sleeve on the way the instructions say it must go on - with the flange first. Then I grabbed the driver that came with it - which you can see in a previous picture is a shallow cup. Nope, that's not going over the spindle. But, an old bearing was a perfect fit and would ensure the sleeve was driven on squarely. However, I still needed a way to drive the bearing evenly. Turns out I have lots of tubing exactly the right size. I cut a piece off with the band saw and squared the ends on the lathe. And here's how it all went together: But the repair sleeve is a bit too wide, so here's a shot of trimming it with the lathe: And here's the completed spindle. You can see that the repair sleeve's flange isn't quite against the flange of the spindle, but that's as far as it was going on. And you can see the groove in the repair sleeve where the flange could be broken off in some applications, but it is well out of the way from where the new seal is going to ride. So I think this one's good to go and I'll get the other one on tomorrow. Oh yes, I picked up the nuts, bolts, and washers to put the perches on, so have the perches well and truly fastened in place. Hopefully that change as well as replacing the loose Huck fastener will fix the pop I was hearing on the truck when I went from reverse to forward or turned a tight corner.

Even when fully complete a project vehicle tends to bring about 1/2 of what it cost to create it. I've seen this time after time. But when incomplete, and especially when you can't drive it to ascertain what problems it has, you have to assume that it is fraught with problems. My guideline has become that a vehicle which isn't running is only worth the cost of a few of its parts that you need. And even then you must assume that those parts need rebuilt. The only exception to this is if you are buying something from someone that you know is reputable. Or if the vehicle has sentimental value to you.

Pretty! And not a bad price, either.

That's really good info. If I remember correctly, Jim recommended the Iwiss tools previously. But, this brings up lots of questions. On the 8 to 1/0 tool, does it work well with standard AWG terminals? I ask because my hydraulic crimper's die are metric, not AWG, and that means it won't properly crimp normal AWG terminals. (It will properly crimp the Magnalugs though as they are thicker than standard AWG's.) If it works well with standard AWG terminals, I'd go for this one over my hydraulic crimper and stick to nothing bigger than 1/0. On the ones you listed for "heat shrink butt splices and terminals", does that mean it works with all heat shrink covered terminals, or just butt splices? And is it fussy about whose terminals its fed? Anyway, thanks!

Bill - Thanks, but I'm confused. I'm looking for a similar seal for the D60 front axle. But are you thinking that if I go looking for that seal with the right dimensions I might then be able to find its brother with the dimensions I need for the front? (Sorry, but I'm a bit slow. Maybe 'cause I've only had one cup of Joe?)

Makes sense now.