MY 61 ECONOLINE P/U IN PROGRESS

More.....

Hey everyone. Sorry for the lack of updates. Been slow going, this year, but I did fire up the engine on the day after Xmas. And when I say fire up, I do mean FIRE!
About 3 minutes and 24 seconds into the run, my transmission (that I rebuilt myself) got so hot that it melted and blew out the trans cooler hose. As if that wasn't bad enough, the scalding hot ATF just happened to spray directly onto the glowing Orange headers on its way to me, my wife, and my friend. But about a thousandth of a second before it reached is, it ignited into one huge fireball! Oh, did I mention that this was in my garage? Luckily nobody was hurt and the fire extinguisher was at my feet, (just in case). I got it all on video too! I will try to post it later. Good news is the motor sounded great , but what a mess! Here is some aftermath pics. Enjoy. [img][/img] [img][/img][img][/img][img][/img][img][/img]

NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! sounds lime my luck. Glad your alriight

Glad you are all okay ,, very scary for sure ! I had a F/E handy on my first start up too,, just in case.

LETS SEE IF THIS VIDEO WORKS. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXgulm2b6zU

YeeeHahhh!!!
Thanks for posting, hope it all cleans up well. That powder is caustic, get it all off ASAP!

glad to see no bone was hurt. im sure you will be back on the sadle soon. ( be safe)

Also glad no one was hurt, just a small set back. Keep those pic's coming

Got the bulk of the mess cleaned up last night. It's not bad at all. I'm pulling the trans 2nite and taking it to my transmission shop that I use for my customers cars. No more trans rebuilding for me! I also finally named the truck " El Cohetero" which means fire maker in Spanish. I knew a name would come eventually! Here's some after cleanup pics.[img][/img] [img][/img][img][/img][img][/img][img][/img]

Crazy!!

Wow that cleaned up nice ! Whats the story/source on your accessory drive?
I'm liking that.

Digz, I found it on egay a while back. I pain $137 with shipping from this guy - thundrchicknauto@wildblue.net - I have recently seen one set that has a v-belt groove at the back for possibly power steering. Google gilmer belt drive, and see if you can find anything. Mine worked for the whole 4 minutes! Ha ha!

Finished the exhaust last night. I can barely lift my arms this morn. Sucks working on the ground. Should be able to "re-fire" it this afternoon if it stops raining outside. No torque converter installed this time! Just want to get the engine running then hook up the trans.[/img] [/img][img][/img][img][/img][img][/img][img][/img][img][/img][img][/img][img][/img][img][/img]

We all have our fingers crossed for you too.

Well, fired up the engine again this afternoon, and............................It ran great! It's still loud as hell even with the mufflers on. Which is fine with me, I just like to be able to hear any engine noises if they occur. Only problem was it was running rich as hell. I'll have to put a liquid filled fuel pressure gauge on it to get accurate fuel pressure and then probably have to adjust the float level due to the angle of the engine.
All in all it was a success! I drained the oil and it looked great with no scary metal pieces in it. Whoo! My stomach was knotted up the whole time! Next step, check everything over real good, adjust the valves and look at the valve train while I'm in there, and try to tune it............

Yeehaaaa.. nothing to make ya sweat like a fresh engine started.!!

Well, got a speedo out of my old junk cutlass, and melted some lexan over the original dash bezel to make a mounting plate. I then cut a hole in the middle and epoxied the speedo in place. Then painted it, made a couple of support brackets and ta-da! One custom speedo. Also made an adapter plate to mount the cutlass steering wheel. Almost done wiring the whole thing. Man, wiring sucks! Also started on the fuel tank mounting. Hopefully I will finish it this weekend along with wiring. Here's a few pics of the progress. [img][/img][img][/img][img][/img][img][/img][img][/img]

As always very nice work!!!!

very cool indeed! can't wait to see this in person.

G-Man wrote:As always very nice work!!!!

Thanks, G-Man. I sure like your motor. Yur gonna have to hold on tight when you gas that thing!!! How close do ya think you are to driveable?

I don't think you're gonna' have enough speedometer for all that motor!
Hope to see it come April.

I'm hoping for spring on taking it for a spin , but still a long ways to go. You look like it will be ready for paint soon. What Color will it be again

G-Man wrote:I'm hoping for spring on taking it for a spin , but still a long ways to go. You look like it will be ready for paint soon. What Color will it be again

Well, now I really don't know anymore. Gonna be black for a while so I can soak in the whole truck when its driveable, so I can look at it from afar, and in different back drops. Ya know, see if it looks right to me or not.
I guess the answer is, I dont know now. Lol.

Finally got it together enough to make it to the Roundup! What an incredible time! Also got to meet some of you guys there. Lovin life! : [img][/img][img][/img][img][/img] [img][/img]

That is so cool hows it run and drive? Bill