Smallfoot's AA

[smallfoot]

vibes of all kinds...

Got a thumbs up from the first cop I passed. Up about 60, the front feels like it's just trying to get into a wobble. Never did but felt like it was going to start. Been a while since I set everything up in front so my next step will be to check toe and check caster and adjust as needed. Another problem I think I'm having is hitting third gear. I can't seem to feel it shift and rpms are a little high at cruise speed I need to hook up a tach to check closer. It shifts nice and positive from low to 2nd and will "kick down" but high gear I don't think is happening. The tranny is a rebuild th350 and they're pretty bullet proof but other tests are needed. Tires, all steering, all suspension, up front is new so I don't suspect anything there but adjustments. Was interesting to watch all the thumbs up the old gal got in a 10 mile trip to the store and back. Made 3 stops in town and everytime I'd come back out of the store I'd find Buddy explaining all the ins and outs of his hotrod.

 

[Torchie]

Good for you smallfoot.
You are going to get a lot of "Smiles per Mile" with that ride.
You should keep a Pic of what you started with in the cab just for S**** and giggles.
Torchie

 

[Skip]

Yea!
[cl

 

[YBeNormal]

Glad to see you got her up and ready to ride! Looks great man!

 

[smallfoot]

Hey thanks ya'll! It's a blast. Need to short out the little issues and we'll be good for the go...

 

[Old Iron]

1:30 a.m. post adrenaline got ya staying up [ddd

 

[supersmitty]

Congrats! Can't wait to I can finally drive mine.

 

[smallfoot]

1:30 a.m. post adrenaline got ya staying up [ddd

Iron, you'll notice lots of my posts are spread out all over the clock. It's was actually 2:30 am here in a different zone. This old body doesn't do well at rest. There's plenty of time for rest after I die. But yeah, stoked about the ride. Got in it just before I posted and took it for an early morning spin around the place here. I'm considering going to Tobby for my next tranny and just swap this one out for one I can trust if I can't correct my issues with this one. I picked this one up on the cheap by an unknown builder on CL. All the visible signs of a rebuild were there. New seals everywhere, cherry red fluid, no burnt smells, new filter and absolutely clean all over. Got an unknown torque converter in it that I'm sure could be better for this truck as it seems to pull too much at idle speed. I think I'll be calling him shortly to discuss logistics and details. I'll try to correct anything I can before giving up but sure would like some piece of mind. Tranny swapping in this one will require the motor to come out too so the whole think may get upgraded shortly. Thanks for checking in on me man!

 

[forbigpicture]

Hey, Smalls......congrat's on getting the legal stuff taken
care of.....now the real fun begins....I enjoyed watching
the progress of your build.[cl[cl[cl

 

[smallfoot]

This morning I started in early. Had my passenger side front wheel off to check a tire that keeps leaking down and found the rim bent. De-beaded the tire, wirebrushed and sanded the inside lip smooth after some hammer and dolly work on the lip. Set the tire on the floor with the de-beaded side up, sprayed a small shot of ether and tossed a paper towel flame ball at it. Poof, instant tire set. Aired it up, checked for leaks and it was good to go. Then on to alignment. Used the string method and it was a little off....everywhere! Set my steering wheel straight, squared both sides, then set the toe. 1/16" in from both sides. Then I leaned on the long curtis bars for a while and reset my caster. What I had originally set at 7 degrees, now tested out at about 8. Ok, reset that again and have it sitting at 6 degrees. On this last ride, looks like I have solved everything except the vibration that was only apparent after I got rid of the other issues. That may be my driveshaft that I welded up. I never replaced the weight that was on it although I still have it. I don't think it's much off but I can feel some vibration. Got accosted by a pretty young thing at the store and just had to chat with her a while. On the way home, I'm up at cruise speed about 55 and nailed it on a straightaway. Holy moly,spun the rears and jumped right up to 80....seemed to run smoother at 80 than any other speed so far. Might not be what most would call fast but it was surely peppy enough for my use. The pool shoot is at one of my buddies houses tomorrow evening. I think I'll drive it over there and test it some more. There are no curves or turns for 4 miles over there on his road....heheh!

 

[smallfoot]

Hey, Smalls......congrat's on getting the legal stuff taken
care of.....now the real fun begins....I enjoyed watching
the progress of your build.[cl[cl[cl

Thanks man! It a pretty exciting ride and I thought I got alot of comments on my old chevy stepside. I haven't stopped anywhere yet where I haven't had to answer questions about the 31. It gets alot of attention.

 

[Torchie]

Watch out for the "Pretty young thing" there smallfoot.[ddd
Have fun and enjoy the ride. You deserve it......[cl
Torchie

 

[smallfoot]

Watch out for the "Pretty young thing" there smallfoot.[ddd
Have fun and enjoy the ride. You deserve it......[cl
Torchie

Heheh! I probably only have 40+ years on her...

 

[Torchie]

Some gals dig that stuff smallfoot.[S And with your beard if you found one that had a Santa thing........... [cl
I got enough things trying to kill me with out adding a younger women to the list.
Torchie

 

[forbigpicture]

Some gals dig that stuff smallfoot.[S And with your beard if you found one that had a Santa thing........... [cl
I got enough things trying to kill me with out adding a younger women to the list.
Torchie

Yea, but what a way to go Torchie.......[ddd[ddd[ddd

 

[Old Iron]

Some gals dig that stuff smallfoot.[S And with your beard if you found one that had a Santa thing........... [cl
I got enough things trying to kill me with out adding a younger women to the list.
Torchie

[ddd [dr [ddd

 

[soltz]

That's great, but the problem i have is i'm having so much fun driving it i'm getting all those little things done i said i would take care as soon as i can drive it [S

Enjoy your labors and don't pickup any strangers

 

[earthman]

This is the perfect referral thread for newbies that come on the board wanting to know how to build a rat. It's got it all, from starting with scraps and overcoming problems with originality to dealing with the gov't and then the joy of driving and enjoying all the attention. Rat Rodding 101 with Prof Smallfoot

 

[smallfoot]

You guys are too much! Thanks a bunch for the kudos everybody.
I'm still sorting out little issues. I believe the tire I repaired the rim on yesterday might also be slightly bent in the body of the wheel. Still have a little wiggle at speed up front. When I got home from the pool shoot last night, I jacked up the front and did a spin on the right front. I see the tread shift as the tire rotates and am leaning that way. I have a set of 14" rims with brand new tires mounted that I'll swap out this am. I want the 15s on there in the end, but this will let me know if I need a new rim on the passenger side front. I'm also having a transmission problem too. Besides that leaking filler tube o-ring, which I just haven't got swapped out yet, seems I have a gear selector problem too. I'm running a B&M Z-gate shifter that I stripped the funky T stop out of the ratchet and fabbed my own lever. It's cable operated and my shift handle still has detents that position the lever, but I'm not real sure those detents are lining up at times with the gear selector on the tranny. Does that make sense to anybody? Seems like the lever gets into different positions to engage drive gears at times. More checking on that this am too. I'll sort them out. Hopefully the tranny problem will be fixed if it's just an adjustment I can make. Outside of those issues, I'm real happy with it. The motor runs like a top. Temps never have reached over 190 on my guage and it really zips along nicely when it shifts up thru all gears.
I had one of the guys that lives out this way ready to help me out with verifying my speedo accuracy last night. He was supposed to take off in front and maintain posted speed so I could check my speed against his. When I pulled out behind him, I had already lost enough fluid on the trip over to let the tranny slip and I had to pull off the road. I had a quart of fluid with me and was topping it off again when he turned around and headed my way again. He called back to the party and had others headed my way with fluid because he didn't know I was a boy scout and came "prepared". About the time he got back to me, I was fixing to pull away again. I told him to call off the troops and if it pulled off from my stop, I'd just be heading home. The truck took off ok and shifted all the way up thru the gears so I kept right on trucking to the house. I think my buddy was right behind me on the way but I couldn't talk to him on the cell to find out if he marked my speed, so I'll contact him today. He turned off to go home about 5 miles short of my house.
Those are the only known issues as of yet and when I get them figured out I'll be real happy with it. Thanks for hanging in there with me. I'm loving the truck, even with some drawbacks, I'm sure it will come around. Got some of the kids...nephews and grandkids and friends kids coming out today for rides in the hotrod. I'll try to have it working right by then.

 

[Old Iron]

The cable mounts have to be very secure or it will do what you're saying.
Also check the lever on the tranny to make sure it is tight (same issue)
If the tranny lever is not the correct length compared to the shifter arm (same issue too)
To verify this you put the shifter and tranny in park (with the cable unhooked) see if the end of the cable matches the hole in the tranny arm. Then move the shifter and tranny to reverse, check the cable end and hole in tranny arm again. Continue through all the detentes and see if they line up each time. If they don't then simply drill another hole farther away from the tranny pivot or closer depending on what's needed to make them line up.
You probably already know this so, it's just my 2 cents worth from the peanut gallery