48 chevy truck

[chimp koose]

If it makes the truck better or easier to use its a win . The more comfortable you are the more likely you are to use it .

[kb426]

O&S has accomplished something. Last week, I purchased a late model Explorer donut spare. They can be bought for half the price of a Mustang. Still 18" with a slightly larger wheel. Sunday I tried it on the rear of the 48. It would clear the brake caliper with plenty of room but the center bore was too small to go on the center hub. I removed the tire which took effort and this morning, put it in the mill and removed almost .300" from the bore. Had the wheel been a larger diameter, it wouldn't have fit. I put the tire back on and test fit. All is good. One pic shows it in the bed with bunge cords. After I did that, I have ratcheting tie downs  that will work better. I have driven many miles without a spare but I feel better with one.

[kb426]

Comedy of Errors!
 For those of you who have followed my builds you have heard me say "what did I do" anytime something went wrong. Age related synopsis of life engagement. LOL. When I assemble engines, I set them at TDC with a valve cover off to be certain it's ready for distributor installation. On the 48, the valve covers won't come off without the upper intake being removed. When I 1st tried to start the engine, I had nothing. So what did I do? I thought I messed up in assembly and had the dist. 180 out. So i swap it. Having cranked the engine, when I brought the engine to tdc, I leaked the cylinder to see if it was firing or overlap. No leakage so I stab it in. In this case it is the cam sensor. It has a plastic tool that holds the shaft in place with the housing at tdc. Still won't start. Then I remember that you have to reset the inertia switch after applying power the 1st time. Then it starts but runs poorly. I found out that the new mass air meter was bad. I use a left over unit from the famous 96 mustang and it's better. In a period of time, I go through 2 mass air meters, ignition coils, double check all new sensors, swap o2 sensors from side to side, check resistance on every wire, swap ecu's all to no avail. The hiccup was still there. It was worse when the engine was under slight load. My brain is telling me that it is lean. Having been around these engines in efi form since 2007, I know what they should sound like and this one doesn't sound right but it runs down the road and makes fuel mileage, starts instantly all with the occasional hiccup. This morning I drove it to coffee. It hiccupped while cold. The cold enrichment should eliminate that as a possibility.
 Later in the morning I do some research. I find an obscure post on a forum run by the guy that put up the videos showing how to modify wiring harnesses for stand alone use. The bottom line is that the cam sensors only function is to time the injector firing with the engine firing sequence. It has nothing to do with ignition timing. Because it's the same as a distributor, it can be installed anywhere causing a myriad of problems. In checking what I had done, I found that the cylinder would leak the same at tdc as well as overlap. The came timing is that small. I changed the sensor 180 degrees and went for a drive. I think that was it. It still has a slight hesitation when you open the throttle that shouldn't be there but I didn't reset the ecu so that may get reset with heat cycles and improve. I am reasonably confident that the mystery is over. So my 2nd guessing myself has led to 9 months of brain strain trying to find a solution.

[enjenjo]

It's always the last thing you look for.

[kb426]

O&S decide the 48 needed fenders for bad weather driving. I have too many hours in fabbing 4 brackets and 8 fasteners. More to come.

[kb426]

O&S found many things that didn't work. More work to follow.

[kb426]

O&S redid much of yesterday's work. I needed more clearance on the lower brace and added 2 45's to the top instead of a square 90. Looks rounded now. I'm going to wait until tomorrow to cut the fenders. More thinking time.

[jaybee]

I don't know why, but I've always loved cycle fenders.

[kb426]

Fenders DE Fiasco. LOL. The 9.75" wide fenders are not going to work. I ordered 2 10.75" wide fenders today. Because the radius doesn't match the tire diameter, O&S was unsuccessful. I may not be able to make the wider fenders work well either but I'm going to try before building fenders from scratch. I disassembled the right side seat and half of the left side. I think recovering them will stretch my skills but I'm done procrastinating.

[chimp koose]

I once saw cycle fenders made from tire treads. At a quick glance you did not notice they were there.

[58 Yeoman]

Bill, I could be wrong, but won't your tires diameter get larger going down the road and hit your fender braces?

[kb426]

Phil, I couldn't find any info on radial tire growth. I see lots of fendered rods with very little clearance but I have no idea how they get driven. At this point, we'll see.

[58 Yeoman]

Grind a very sharp edge on the trailing edge of the brackets, so if your tires are out of round, you can true them up as you drive.

[chimp koose]

I really dont think tires grow much with speed. drag slicks do but they have almost no sidewall strength to speak of .

[idrivejunk]

I'd be more concerned that an object or varmint might get caught between tire and bracket or fender. A skunk got hung up in the duallys on the school bus once. But look at how close tire tread rides to McPherson struts on any modern vehicle.