BTW - good to see you're still around NJTman.

 

thanks !

Still kicking and screaming
(When the wife beats the chit out of me)

I,dont drive the brick because of a rear main gone bad, so its a bit of an,issue on my end.

Someday

 

The '78 Plymouth Trailduster with the fancy trim package, that I bought from the original owners a couple years ago donated some red door panels. It spent its life plowing a long private driveway, along with being their kids ride during high school. It was rusty, didn't run and was clapped out. They were going to scrap it the next day, before I bought it for parts for this project.
Yesterday, I cleaned up the passenger side panel and got it installed last night.
The driver's side one needs some work. The backer that seems to be made of a cardboard / fiberboard material has been water damaged and then dried out all lumpy and warped. I am got to try an soften it up with a spray bottle of water then let it cure on the radiant concrete in the shop with a piece of weighted plywood over it. I am hoping it will stay flattened out once it is dry.

If I do not like how they come out, I have some metal door panels off my old '72 Power Wagon woods / trail rig that I could paint red and use.

 

Pressing the wavy door panel flat using a couple pieces of plywood and letting the damp cardboard dry worked great. The door panel came out nice and straight. I got the drivers side installed last night. I only had one armrest in red, so the passenger side door panel got a tan one. Still looks pretty good to me. Charlotte and I can look for a good red armrest at Carlisle next summer.

Next up on my punch list is to check into why the well used Autometer tach with the pick up on the alternator style, is not working. Could be old parts, funny wiring, bad pick up, or maybe it just needs to be adjusted more. I have another used Autometer tach, if I need to swap around some parts.
I never got the Autometer transmission temp wires hooked up so while I have the dash opened up. I will do that too.
I only got the Autometer - Oil, Boost and Pyro hooked up for the couple test rides last summer.
The factory dash stuff all works, but I too not really trust them. I.E the OEM gauge will read lower middle of the range on the dash. While the mechanical Autometer one reads 80PSI.

Next, the speedo port on the 47RH leaks. I had to use a cable drive style unit out of a 727, in the 47RH to make it work with my '76 cable driven speedo guage.
It is a small but steady leak. I am hoping it is not properly seated in the 47RH or just needs the 30 year old o-ring replaced.

 

The fuel settings on the pump where off, so I did a little work on it today. I try not to change too many things at once if I can help it. It can make it hard to decide what is doing what, if you change a bunch of stuff all at once.

I had moved the fuel plate almost all the way forward [max fueling] when I was struggling with low full when I first go it running on the road last summer. After discovering this was because the AFC boost line broken....I now have too much fuel once boost is getting to the AFC through a good boost line.
So I moved the fuel plate back about 1/8 of an inch.

I may tighten up the AFC spring once I get a little test driving done if it needs some more fine tuning.

The other issue I was having was low power / slow to build boost when starting at no boost. So I adjusted the smoke screw in 1/2 a turn that will up my 0 boost fuel setting. Having the smoke screw just right makes a big difference in getting the turbo going from 0 PSI..
It will be months till I can test drive it see how it drives...

I fiddled a bit with the speedo cable port on the 47RH that was weeping ATF. Maybe I can stop parking it over a piece of cardboard now.

 

Oliver,
I'm learning that the P-pump is not as easily adjusted as the VE. I have plenty of fuel all the time, with the plate backed off the whole way. And it makes boost almost immediately. The shop definitely overshot my goals for my '85 Road Tractor build. I think twins may be in the near future to combat the amount of fuel I have. Don't get me wrong that truck is way much fun to drive. But not really where I wanted it to be.

 

BHD,
I feel like I have a better grasp on how to tune a '89-'93 12V than a P-pumped 12V still, as well.
They installed a #10 plate in your pump when refreshing it, right? That is the plate I used on this RC's motor.
If you want to try swapping in another plate or trying some different AFC springs let me know. I have at least an OEM 175HP and 215HP plate, plus a "Kustom" cut and #100 plate in my collection.

I am liking the OEM 175 HP pumps AFC spring I installed in my 215 pump on my '95 winter beater with a heater. It is a bit softer of a spring than the super stiff 215 spring. I also have a couple of TST's aftermarket, longer and softer AFC springs. Let me know if you want to try any of those options in the Road Tractor.
I am assuming you have tried cranking down the star wheel to add tension to your existing AFC spring on your set up already. If not, I would start there.

 

Got out for a quick drive this afternoon.
The front end steers and drives just as well if not better than before I chopped out 3/4s of a coil.
The leaking speedo gear seems sealed up. The new armrest and armrest combo was a nice comfort upgrade.

The truck responded well to my pump tuning. The truck cleaned up a lot. The 0 boost power was more responsive that it was before. The 1/2 turn in, on the smoke screw seemed to really help. I squealed the tire at a stop sign unexpectedly.as I rolled into the throttle.

The 315/75R16 tall tires just fit up in the rear wheel wells.

 

Glad you got out for and cruise and everything worked well. Can you tell a difference in ride quality with that little bit of coil removed?

 

I was very happy with the ride quality, other than some bouncing from the one missing drivers side front shock. I over collapsed one of the front shocks when putting everything back together after pulling the front coils. I lowered the front end down off the jack and the top of the shock was out of place. It got caught on the frame and the weight of the Cummins crushed it. By hand it is very hard to move in and out now. Looks like I killed it.
I have now found out that Pro Comp has stopped making the ES3000 shocks I used. I am sad about that as I have installed them on several projects.
Looks like I will need to order up a pair of front shocks from another company. I have not picked out a pair yet, and said the heck with it and took it out for a test drive.

Sometimes I just have to take a break from working on stuff an go out for a rip in my old classic.

 

Also discovered a smaller ATF leak under the transmission after a night in the shop. Looks like the speedo gear is still weeping a bit.
Fix speedo gear leak is getting rewritten down on my cardboard TO DO list in Sharpie this morning…

 

The Sharpie and cardboard always keeps me focused...

 

Well, I got myself side tracked on some things that make it look better to me.
I took the grille off to paint the intercooler which was peeling all the black paint off it and took my eyes away from the killer looking '76 grille. I used some self etching primer on the 2nd gen intercooler after I cleaned it up with a soft brush and soapy water. I then used compressed air to blast off all the loose paint I could. The finishing touch was some flat black in a Rustoleum can.
"While I was there" stuck and .... I attempted to buff out some of the 50 years of oxidation and haze from the aluminum grille. I also polished up the front bumper quickly.
Then I swapped out the stock halogen headlights for some Truck Lite LEDs I had bought for this project 8 years ago. They are quite a bit brighter and use a little less juice. I have run those brand headlights on Poncho for 10 years. The price of them is about 130% more expensive now, then when I bought the old sets.
If we take it on the long trip to Carlisle some brighter headlights might help pick out the deer.

The slow ATF leak you ask?....it is still there.

 

Sorry to hear you had to resort to using a spray can. But that's about the only way to paint an intercooler, radiator or anything with fins for heat transfer.

 

Took the RC out for a good, topless drive around the smokey VT backroads yesterday. Lots of haze from the Canadian wildfires.

Truck did great on the 100+ mile lap. The speedo bounces at times so I need to pull out the speedo cable. clean and lube it up.
I hit a decent sized frost heave at speed which tested the new suspension. I heard nothing bottoming out [other than the Calvert Racing traction parts] and no signs of tire rub.
The Cal Trac bars do make some extra rattling sounds and restrict suspension travel when the road gets rough.

Pretty fun day out on the road with it.