No other like it.

[billy]

On the other hand, I'm told that if you punch a potent big block with exhaust loud enough that you can hear for 2 miles, half a block from the cop house, they will search you out.

when i first put the roadster headers on the 27 but before i had received the mufflers
it was embarrassing
it sounded like a stock car and i could hear it bouncing off of tall buildings 3 blocks away
the very next day i installed the mufflers

 

[8literbeater]

On the other hand, I'm told that if you punch a potent big block with exhaust loud enough that you can hear for 2 miles, half a block from the cop house, they will search you out.

Well, he got behind me at the end of the off-ramp, and pulled me over for not having mudflaps. If he'd seen me 90 seconds earlier, I might have been in serious trouble. There is a chance that he heard me coming. [ddd

 

[8literbeater]

I gave up on the turn signal switch. The piece that I bought that didn't fit, was $20. After I made it fit, the brake lights wouldn't both come on every time. So I bought the other piece that looked like it was a perfect fit, but it was less than perfect. It wouldn't stay in the neutral position, only left or right. So I modified it, and almost made it work. Then I unscrewed everything, cut everything, and pulled it all out and stuffed it in a trash can. $40 poorer, I grabbed my good old Signal Stat 900, and hooked it up, and everything works, and I can move on.

I sealed some oil leaks on the engine, attached the brake line along the frame, where it runs to the front, and mounted the rear shocks. I'm not planning on using shocks in the front.

I was pulling out of the driveway to go for a spin, and ran out of gas. So, it was time to overhaul the gas tank, and get the gauge working. The gauge worked, It's just that the lens was so crazed by the sun, that there was no way to see it. The main valve would leak unless it was completely off, or completely on. So I've ordered some things, and I'll have the gauge on the tank, and a normal one on the dash.
The fuel line was a little tight under the cab, and one of the fittings was leaking, so I went and had a new one made a few inches longer. That and a couple of brass fittings for my manifold pressure gauge, was only $14.

I took the tank to get it inspected and re-stamped, and the guy told me that only "cylinders" have to be certified, and that automotive and RV tanks don't have to be inspected. That's a new one by me.

Anyway, I have most of the gauges mostly in!

 

[earthman]

Yep those gauges and clamps are perfect there.

 

[CORPO]

That's a sweet steering wheel

 

[DJ3100]

Blacksmiths use a lot of propane, the general consensus is that the tank valves should be closed or all the way open. Acetylene tanks are the only tanks that you don't open all the way. I have never actually checked out to see if the valves actually seal all the way open, but I follow that procedure.

If you keep working on it this hard, you'll soon need another project.

 

[sgtpontiac]

Excellent.....

Nice nice nice.....[cl [P

 

[Skip]

Nice license plate installation. [cl

The gauges are outrageous.

And the tail lights will not be missed.

 

[earthman]

If you keep working on it this hard, you'll soon need another project.

If we all pile on maybe we can convince him to do a gasser

 

[DJ3100]

Nice license plate installation. [cl

The gauges are outrageous.

And the tail lights will not be missed.

I had to go back and look at the license plate - the tail lights blinded me and I couldn't see it. You really have an alternate fuel plate? Is that the real one?

 

[8literbeater]

Thanks guys.

Blacksmiths use a lot of propane, the general consensus is that the tank valves should be closed or all the way open. Acetylene tanks are the only tanks that you don't open all the way. I have never actually checked out to see if the valves actually seal all the way open, but I follow that procedure.

If you keep working on it this hard, you'll soon need another project.

When I was shopping for a new valve, they all say this on them:

To ensure proper functioning and maximum protection from integral excess flow valves, these service valves should be fully opened and backseated when in use.

My valve was so bad that you had to wear a heavy glove to turn it on or off, to keep from freezing your hand. Actually, I'm amazed that it sealed at all.
This is what I found when I disassembled the valve to look for o-rings to replace:

I had to go back and look at the license plate - the tail lights blinded me and I couldn't see it. You really have an alternate fuel plate? Is that the real one?

Yep, yessir!
It's hard to tell in the picture, but the plate is actually mounted at the front of the tanks, on the frame. The light makes a dramatic glow back there.

I have already been thinking about the next project. I've been thinking of things it's not going to be.

It's not going to have a big round frame. That is way too difficult to work with.
It's not going to be built with a stick welder. That takes about 10 times as long as MIG.
It's not going to have hard-to-find tires. Because, really...

 

[8literbeater]

Well! What do I have for an update? I got the tank all sealed up with a new valve, and a new o-ring on the gauge float-thing. I got it filled yesterday, so I could finally do some testing. With the gauges finally hooked up, I can use exhaust temperature, boost pressure, RPM and such, to try to make sure that my mixture and timing are close. Surprise! It was almost close enough. Oh, and my tach doesn't work.

I think the mixture was pretty close. The timing, not so much. I thought 10° was a good starting point, like a V8. Then I was surprised to see that the centrifugal advance was coming in at about 800 RPM +/-. (I idle it at 700.) However, it only advanced to 27.5° total. Anyway, it sounded good, had good vacuum, and seemed to be about right.

I took it out for a little drive, pushing a little to see how fast the turbo spools, EGT and things.
Then it backfired. At low RPMs, say maybe 1500, and slowly pushing to full throttle, it popped. So, it blew out the air filter, and this weak little cast aluminum adapter that holds the propane unit on the carb, got a crack. I patched it back together to test it, and it looks like everything will be fine.
Sooo, it looks like the timing on a 250 is supposed to start at 4°. Oops.
Of course, I can't have advance coming in at such low RPM either.

Aside from all that, I saw boost at around 10# again, but I don't know what RPM it was at to get there. The EGT was around 900°, so that's good. It's not a really fast acting gauge, so it could've been more like 12-1300°. My big-block ran 1900° on the dyno, but that's an altogether different animal.

 

[earthman]

I can't wait to follow it on the road. That and listen to the comments at the show.

 

[8literbeater]

The cracked piece, grooved out to weld:


Welded up, and some braces tacked in place:


I got it together enough to test again. I lost access to the AC TIG welder before I was done. I stuck everything back together to check it out again.

I turned the timing down to 0° initial, and ran my timing light into the passenger seat, to use for a tach. So I went out and drove around the block for a while. A carload of teenagers pulled up next to me. They had a lot of thumbs and smiles.

So after driving around for about 20 minutes I guess, I noticed problems again. It kind of misfired, like it wanted to be a backfire, same scenario as before, but kept going. I kept driving around, and I noticed it running a little rough at higher RPM, like over 2000. I kept thinkin and thinkin. Then, at about 2000 RPM, steady throttle, no boost, just cruisin, it backfired again, just like before. So unlike before, I kept it running, and drove home.

I was thinkin, and thinkin, then it hit me. It's gotta be that confounded HEI ignition module. I've seen them do that sort of thing many times. After driving around for a while, the module gets hot, and starts doing crazy things. Luckily, I had already bought a new one for this, a couple years ago. So I stuck that new one in. More on that later...
It's back to normal for now, pending another test drive.

 

[DJ3100]

Wait I thought normal was backfiring? Or is normal not backfiring?

 

[8literbeater]

Normal is sitting behind my gate, idling quietly.

 

[8literbeater]

I finished repairing the adapter.


Then I put in the new module. (on the right)


So here's the thing with this 5-pin module. They were only used for a few years, around 1978-80 or so. The fifth pin would be grounded while cranking, to retard the timing 10 degrees, to make it easier to start. So now you can get one of these, run a wire from it to a pressure switch, and when you hit the desired pressure, it retards the timing. Bam, a $30 boost ignition retarder.



So, I found out about this online, and the guy that used it, had it on a four cylinder. He only got 5 degrees out of it. So I thought with a six cylinder, maybe I'd get 7.5 degrees, maybe. It turns out that I get 16.5 degrees of retard with this one. I don't know what to make of it all, but I'm not too concerned. I just won't be using that part of it if I can't figure out what's wrong.

I also bought a Mr Gasket (Holley) advance kit with weights and springs. Everything I read online said to just throw the weights and center plate away, and use the springs on the old weights. Well, why wouldn't the new weights work better? They don't. The kit was awful, terrible even. First of all, it advanced my initial timing 22 degrees, on top of the 4 I already had. So I turned it down to 4 again, and started mapping the curve.
The weights interfere with each other, and it wouldn't advance at all, until about 1500 RPM, then it would jump about 4 degrees. I'll spare you all the rest, but I ground the tips off the weights, to make them swing free, and tried all the different springs. Oh, I almost forgot, I had to drill out the holes on the center plate, about .010" each, to even get the thing on, and it was still a press fit. Then, for the first couple hundred of RPM increase, it was actually retarding the spark about two degrees.

So the fancy weights would only advance 8 degrees, and it was in steps. Then it would hold a given advance for about 300 RPM lower, on the deceleration side.
Total junk.

The old weights advance 19 degrees. So, old weights and new springs it is.
I know this may not be thrilling reading, but after spending a long time looking for information online, and finding very little, I thought someone might like the info.

 

[studebaker59]

Good info on the 5 pin module. I had a problem with advance weight kit it work good for a while then it quit advancing. So when I took the cap off the weights were broken in half.

 

[8literbeater]

Good info on the 5 pin module. I had a problem with advance weight kit it work good for a while then it quit advancing. So when I took the cap off the weights were broken in half.

I almost forgot something else... With the new weights, and new springs, no matter which springs I put on, the spark got very erratic at 2000 RPM. I mean, it was hard to even keep track of the mark. It was showing up almost 90 degrees advanced part of the time, and of course the engine ran rough. I have no idea how the weights would do this, but I guarantee, that was the only difference. When I changed back to the old weights, with any different springs, the spark was dead stable again.

 

[8literbeater]

Here are those pieces of junk.