Going to get trans in the morning along with a nitrous bottle filled up.

Should be back home by 11:00 AM and will try to get the ford put back together.

If it starts and runs I will be getting some work done on the S-10 as far as fuel system stuff installed, maybe the nitrous line to the front as well. Still not sure on which side I am mounting the battery on. Whichever side it is going to be, I am going to have to mount the master cutoff switch and figure out where the hole will be going through the tailgate. I figure to also get the tailgate welded shut on each side with a small weld. Something I can just grind off in a couple minutes if need be.

I am hoping to get the fuel cell mounted along with the nitrous bottle brackets and the primary fuel lines run to the front.

Sorry Stu, not gonna start it yet. Gonna get the trans installed and the driveshaft connected up, THEN it should be getting started up and see how this carb you sold me works out. I plan to try to get one of the 2 slicks I purchased mounted up tomorrow.

Bought some bolt in valve stems today, were priced at 6.59 on the hanger, and rang up as 2.24!!!! I dropped the cash and did my Banana impression and SPLIT!

 

Did u ever get a stall converter

 

Not yet. I still have the stock stall converter from the turbo 400 but not sure if I want to use that. I might get to order one Tuesday but I will have to wait and see what's left of taxes after buying the trans this morning. I'm looking for a 3000-3500 nitrous converter.

 

I am thinking of something like what is below, but I am going to double check with a friend of mine who has been running a TCI converter with his engine and nitrous combo for a while and has never had a problem with his to get a part number on his converter.

Honestly, I would be happy to just get it back up and running and everything installed.

Less hassles for me to have it finished up cause I can finally start enjoying the fruits of my labors and $$'s spent on this project. It is now at the point where the light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter because of warmer weather. But with that also comes old age slowing me down another year. And hopefully not breaking this rear end to set me back again.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/TCI-GM-CHEVY-TH350-TH400-3000-STALL-10-STREET-FIGHTER-NITROUS-TORQUE-CONVERTER-/360493197628?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item53ef11a93c&vxp=mtr

 

OK, so today has resulted in 3 (edit) things getting done for the S-10 and NONE for the FORD!! YAY!

Went to neighboring town here in Arkansas and picked up a turbo 350 that is stock.
I mean it is so stock it still has the kickdown cable in it!!! Also got my nitrous bottle
filled up!!! (I forgot about that when I wrote this earlier)

Got that back to it's new home of MINE this morning. Took the 04 Silverado Mom
and I bought Thursday afternoon for the trip over and back. Runs good, nice and
strong and plenty of OOMPH to get my butt a ticket if I am not careful...

And about 30 or 40 minutes ago I got a bit of a bug of energy and went out front
and got the slick that came in, then went out back and got one of the new
unmolested wheels for the S-10 and brought that all in the house and sat with
nothing but a flathead screwdriver and my fat *** and got the slick on the wheel
with little effort at all. Then took it outside and got it aired up to 35 pounds to get
it to bead out, then dropped it back to 25 pounds to sit and stretch to regain its shape.
When the other slick gets in I now know I wont have to spend money to get it mounted to the wheel.

Now the trailer tires are a whole different story!! I am not even gonna think of messing with them.
I will let a local shop handle that task. I should be able to take the trailer and all 3 tires and wheels
and get the old ones off and the new ones on in about an hour and a half if the tire guys are slow pokes.

I was wanting to get some of the stuff mounted and setup on the S-10 today but I'll be damned if a cold front didn't make it through here early this morning and just fubar my whole day!! It is now sprinkling outside and tomorrow it is supposed to be even worse.

 

Tomorrow I have to a small bit of diagnostics on the Ford, then figure out if I can order the parts to fix it if its just a slight malfunction.

After that, I am going to try to get the fuel cell mounted in my S-10, and get the nitrous plate and those lines routed under the hood.

I have a couple things left to order for it, but it should be ready to run in about 3 weeks or so providing I get some good weather during my next couple home times.
Biggest thing holding up progress is weather, trans yoke, and accelerator cable, along with installing the transmission.

 

Well I have figured out the problem with the ford and parts wont be in until tomorrow, and by then I will be gone on the road again.

So this afternoon I got the other slick in from FEDEX finally!!

Got it on the wheel, and went out and got them put on the truck, also got the fuel cell mounted in the bed, kinda. I have 4 small screws holding it down for right now. I will be getting larger and longer nut and bolt assemblies for getting it mounted to the bed a lot better. I am contemplating using a large flat piece of plate steel across the mounting holes at the front and back of the tank. That way it should bolt down flat and not compress the ribs in the bed when tightening the mounts down.

Got the factory gas tank off the truck finally. Still have a couple things to get cut off and wire in the gas gauge feed from the new fuel cell. I will probably also use the fuel pump power wire that is already there to save me some wiring hassles.

More to come in about a week to 10 days when I finally get back in again.

Pictures of what got done today.

 

In case anyone is wondering, YES that is one of the old slicks on the front.
I had it handy and tossed it on there when a rough storm was about to come through while it was on a jack stand.

I ordered one of the trailer wheels yesterday evening, and may be ordering the others today. I found a manual valve body I am wanting to get for the turbo 350 BEFORE installing it into the truck. I will also have to haul it over to a local welding shop to have them build a trans crossmember for it.
Hopefully they can get it done in somewhat short order once measurements are taken after I get the transmission in the truck. I just have to figure out how to hold the trans up while loading it up on the trailer. I thought of loading it up like I did during the build, with the nose up on ramps and securing it down for the short ride over. That way the guy doing the measuring can just climb right under it and
take his measurements.

Since it wont be terribly complex, my concern is they wont be able to build it quickly,
or it will cost me an arm and a leg to get it done. Knowing my luck it will be the second one.

 

Well the planner apparently MISSED the part where I was supposed to be out for 10 days before coming home again.

So I got home yesterday evening. Went out this morning around 8 AM to a decent 48 degrees and installed the rocker arm and rocker to the ford and it is now running pretty good. Got the valve covers put back on and buttoned it all up. Will have to give it an oil change and a full tank of premium to get it cleaned out some and running better.

As for the S-10, I am definitely going to have to learn to OVER GUESS when it comes to things like main fuel feeds and battery cables. 6AN line coming from the pump forward is about 2 feet too short for where I wanted to put it. Battery cable from cutoff switch to the starter is going to be about a foot short once I get it routed and secured.

I have decided to just get 25 feet of 8 gauge to go from the alternator to the battery, that way I KNOW I have enough wire to get it there.

Got the nitrous plate put on, carb bolted down, nitrous feed line ran, main feed from fuel cell tot he pump is on, and pump is mounted down but not wired up. Have to get bolts for the bottle, fuel cell, and some of those rubber insulated clips for securing lines between the back and the front for the nitrous and fuel lines. As it sits right now, since I wont be going to Memphis or any large track that does tech inspections, I can run the regulator on the firewall. Once I get more money coming in, I can order more fuel line and replace the main line from the pump to the regulator. I have to double check, but I think I have a 90 degree fitting for feeding the regulator, and where it sits right now it needs to be a straight. I could probably get away with just a fuel barb and clamp since I might have to redo the line.

I also got the front wheels and tires swapped back onto the truck, as it sits right now, its is pretty big of a gap in the front end. I might either get some drop springs or drop spindles to bring the altitude back in check a bit. Gonna see whats what after I get the trans back in and a mount made for it. Maybe that weight will bring it down a hair.

I ordered an accelerator cable that is supposed to work for this setup. Hopefully they are right and I can start getting some of the wiring done to make some of this **** work. I got the connectors for the 6LS connected and the plug ran into the cab area through a firewall plug on the passenger side low. It doesn't look like anything will interfere with the transmission getting installed.

 

I had to drive my truck around a bit for the front end to settle down, but in the end, you may want to either run 4cyl springs or drop springs. It really depends on what all you want to do with the truck, but it sounds like a pretty much track truck. Looks good! Keep up the good work.

 

I am considering drop springs or drop spindles. the 2 inch spindles would bring it down some and I wont have to get a new alignment like the springs would do. I also think I have a tie rod end or idler arm that needs replacing.

 

I was only about 1-2 feet off on the length guess. The cable I had sitting in a tool tray was perfect in length. I just have to get something to insulate it where it passes through the bed. I am thinking some 3/8 fuel line since its plenty thick enough. I can zip tie it in place above and below the bed to keep it from moving around on the cable.

On another note, went to the hardware store and got the rest of the intake bolts to finish bolting down the intake manifold, and also got some larger diameter washers than the ones that were included when I got it. Less chance of those tiny things pulling through.

I also chatted with TX Silverado about the MAP sensor and he says not needed for drag racing so it'll stay unhooked. I just have to remember to zero out the MAP sensor table so it doesn't think its at full throttle when I go to start it up.

 

They might not like that regulator mounted to the firewall.

 

The little track I run at doesn't care. Places that do an actual tech inspection and are NHRA certified do care.
I don't plan to have it mounted there long, but at $4 a foot for 6AN line, getting another run that is 14 feet long is kinda expensive.
Especially being off work for several days due to bad weather also..

 

Well, not only does the truck have new tires and wheels, the trailer now does as well, just have to get the tires mounted to the wheels!!! LOL

5 new white steel wheels and 5 new trailer tires are waiting on me to get home and pay a visit to the tire shop to get them changed over and swapped onto the trailer.

Also bought a wiring harness for Mom's Silverado since the ford has apparently taken a fat stinky **** on me, to the tune of possibly one of three items, cracked head, cracked block, or blown head gasket. if anything is cracked, I am yanking motor and trans and putting in a 4.8/4L60e unless someone buys it to fix it.

 

If u put drop spindles on it u still have to get it realigned
I would cut half a coil or go get some 4 cylinder or 2.8v6 springs

The softer 4 banger springs would probably help out at track with weight transfer so u can hookup IMO

 

Well today was a productive day. I managed to ruin a holley fuel regulator(one fitting stripped out the regulator inlet), install the manual valve body into my turbo 350, get the rest of my fuel system together for now and figure out where all the leaks were coming from and get them resolved.

I also got the nitrous system tested out and a video of that. Couldn't test the fuel because of the leaking regulator. The WOT switch is installed and setup. carb is all setup now and full of fuel. I will have to get about 15 feet of 6AN line, 25 feet of red 4 gauge battery wire, 25 feet of 8 gauge alternator wire, and some 12 gauge wire in a couple colors for stuff like the starter trigger wire, and a few other things.

It is getting closer. The converter freak show performance sent me was the wrong one. he sent me one for the turbo 350 bolt pattern. So now he gets to send me one with the turbo 400 bolt pattern (which is what my flywheel is already reamed out for) and that should be headed my way monday. He is also including a call tag for the converter he sent me so that return shipping is on him.

I have a few pictures to upload in a bit, but here is the youtube video of my testing the spray pattern.

 

The fun begins tomorrow.
I get to go after another driveshaft.
This one should have the turbo 350 trans yoke on it.
I am seriously thinking of taking the transmission with me to make sure.
Once home, I get to try to wrestle in the transmission and converter, most likely by myself.
Afterwards, I will then get the trans cooler lines connected.


I have one of the 2 fittings to replace the tank to regulator line, the new regulator is already here and is ready to go in the truck tomorrow.
But I probably wont mess with changing that until the other fitting comes in. It might be here tomorrow afternoon.

Depending if the fuel fitting arrives, I plan to install the starter and the passenger side header and down pipe back in.
When that is done I will connect the ignition box and try starting the truck for a few seconds to see if it will fire up.
I got a couple gallons of gas earlier to put in.

I still have quite a mess of wiring to get connected up and set up.
Which will probably take me half a day by itself.
Between nitrous kit, fuel pump, fuel gauge, ignition box, purge solenoid, electric fan,
and neutral safety switch, I am gonna be busy for a few hours.

I still haven't tested the fuel side of the nitrous kit because of the leaking regulator.
Hopefully that will get resolved tomorrow.
I will try to post up some pics of the progress, and hopefully I wont have any bad news tomorrow.

 

News for today.

Had the transmission in and bolted down. Went to turn the converter to line up the bolt holes and it would NOT BUDGE!!! Loosened it up where I could shift the trans, still stuck!!

************!!!!

Got all the bolts back out, had a jack and boards under the trans, got a prybar and wiggled the converter free of the adapter, CRASH BANG BAM SCREAM YELL CUSS BITCH COMPLAIN!!!! Now I am bleeding from my head from the prybar, the transmission has attacked my hand on the way down, and I still have to drag my 480 pound *** out from under this ******* truck to figure out the damage to me....

Got a nice knot on the upper right side of my head with a cut there, hand has a good scratch, and I am now having a major headache. ******* TRUCK!!!!

Figured out the problem that caused the majority of this. The original turbo 400 converter's snout plate broke off and wedged inside the adapter piece. Because of that bouncing around inside the adapter, the inner edge was boogered up and had a couple high spots, coupled with some amazingly thick green paint. I had to wire brush the converter snout on the new converter to get rid of the paint, had to flat file the snout's edge that slides inside the adapter because of the messed up adapter, had to round file the inner edge of the adapter that bolts to the crank because of the messed up inner surface, and try it several times for good fitment, with a tad of looseness so I can adjust the converter to bolt it down.

Holy run-on-sentence, BATMAN!!

But now, the trans and converter are under the truck and covered up for the next time I am in. I have new fuel fittings, regulator, and 6AN line to install next time as well. Providing I don't have any serious issues during this coming week, I expect to be in Friday afternoon to try to get some of this **** together again. Maybe this time they will actually let me stay home like I should be, ******* slave drivers!!!

I got a couple pictures, but they are on my phone and not on my computer yet. I will get them posted up in just a little bit.

 

FYI the converter pilot should be a rather tight fit to keep from trashing the pump bushing. Hope you didn't file out too much.