One good thing to come about with raining everyday is all the shop time I'm getting. I really need to put some corn out tho.....
Due to the radiators lower gooseneck having a 90 degree bend and pointing straight up I was unable to use the flex hose without a severe collapsing bend in one of the bends so I made up a template of the needed hose with a coat hanger and headed to the closest FLAPS and went through all their hoses. Not finding anything that would work I got the closest match, a lower hose to fit a Jeep Cherokee w/a 4.7 and tried it. It had the required ends, 1-3/4" and 1-1/2" but still crinked at the bend. So I cut it in half, ran to a plumbing supply and got a 1-1/2" 90 copper elbow and 6" of 2-1/2" copper pipe. Using 2 inches at each end I layed the solder to it and spliced in the 2 rubber pieces and had me a workable lower radiator hose.
PicPicI used a 18" flex hose for the upper and will probably replace it with a smoothie one of these days. Also made up a 6' loop of heater hose and hooked it up. Presently there's no heater to connect to but the hoses are there.
In studying up for the 16" 2700 CFM (as advertised) electric fan, I was about to purchase a shroud for it(man they're proud of them) then decided to use some sheet metal from my stash to make one up. The GMC radiator sits back a minimum of 1/2" at the top and 1-1/2 at the bottom from it's frame so I cut up the sheet metal, mounted the fan to the shroud then bolted it to the radiator frame.
PicPicPicSo with everything hooked up I started filling the radiator and wouldn't you know it, the waterpump started leaking from the weep hole. So off to the FLAPS for a new waterpump back to install it.
PicI put the fan sender in the manifold water jacket port and wouldn't you know it, it leaked too... Since it has to provide a ground to turn the fan on which means no teflon tape or pipe dope so I backed it out then ran it back down and that stopped the leak.
So, with everything put back together, no coolant leaks, no trans fluid leaks and no oil leaks I fired that puppy up.
VideoGood news is I avg'ed 45 psi oil pressure above idle rpm, never got over 190 degrees when idled & ran for over 1/2 hr
and it charged and showed a steady drop in charging volts once the battery got recharged. The tranny engaged in all gears and spun the rear wheels. Power brakes stopped 'em from spinning.
The tapping sound is actually an exhaust leak at my poor weld joint, the engine is pretty quiet otherwise.
Played around a little with the idle settings and timing using the vacuum gauge. Both idle screws were out maybe 1 full turn and the electric choke worked, Using the vacuum method I'm at 12 degrees advanced at idle. I'm going to try the max advance setting (35 degrees with no vacuum) @ 3k rpm and see if it changes. Book calls for 4 degrees BTDC which isn't enough IMHO...
Put the grill back on and buttoned the clip up.
PicIf theres no spots under it tomorrow it's coming off the jack stands and advance on to the next stage, road test.
Dave
