The DD Known As "Chunk"

[Michael Mayben]

For background information on how momma's new-to-her dd came about, review this thread:

http://www.forums.IHPartsAmerica.com/I-h-s-t-o/2938-ihcs-needs-your-help.html

We have sworn to have no street-legal motor vehicle owned by us ever again that was manufactured after January 1, 1980. We're through with throwaway, gasoline-powered computers masquerading as transport devices.

And just in time...the chunk came along.

Ken and Mike had been jackin' with kathy about this one for awhile, she saw it right after it was pulled off the bisio lot and expressed some interest, though I did not want to take on yet one more junkiron project. And at that time the pos dodge 'rango (with heated seats and the $10,000 dual ac system) had not taken it's first of many 100,000 mile dumps that are programmed into the os.

Then the boyz drove it to our last club meeting and my interest was renewed...mikee bein' a soopersales scum/dirt flipper, really knows how to market shit and he sukked me right in.

I reconditioned the carb several months ago, not thinking that this rig would ever live again, but what the hell, that carb can always go on sumthin' else.

But the roth boys have cleaned this one up a good bit since then and made it actually go down the highway (within reason), they even conjured up a title and tags for it.

So last Thursday, Mike and ken just "happened" to drive it to u-joisey where we planned to hook up for a few minutes while they were recovering that latest barn door t'all. So there was no way I was gonna let 'em attempt to drive it back home knowin' I'd have to end up makin' a rescue late at nite.

I rounded up Todd to help me make the shuttle and now the rest of the story is gonna emerge. First t'all Todd had ever driven so he thought it was real thrill though a definite handfull to herd upriver!

This rig was originally sold through the "factory branch" in portland, not bisio motors...so it was not an ernie original though he and ron had certainly made a livin' off it over the years!

Here's the lineset so's ya can see what we're dealin' with...

 

[RobertC]

Can you take a better picture, so old fartz can have half a chance at reading the LST?

 

[Michael Mayben]

can you take a better picture, so old fartz can have half a chance at reading the LST?

I have the good pics, file size limitations for posting create issues like this. A .pdf will be posted later.

Do a "save as" after rightclicking the image and then the pic can be manipulated using whatever software ya got on yore pooter.

 

[Michael Mayben]

Try this one.

 

[RobertC]

do a "save as" after rightclicking the image and then the pic can be manipulated using whatever software ya got on yore pooter.

Yeah, I tried that, but I am not any good at doing that (among many other pooter "skills").

Thanks.

 

[Michael Mayben]

So after chunk spent it's first nite under cover, the sumbitch marked it's territory. E10 kills anything in it's path.

 

[Michael Mayben]

The first "repair" involved r&r of the tank selector valve, we have these reconditioned valves on the shelf and ready to install.

This rig actually still had the steel protective shield in place for the fuel filler hose and the ees plumbing. And an item I've never actually seen in one piece before, the oem plastic cover over the tank selector valve.

However...way back in '87, the po had this ride completely undercoated with the oldskool asphalt shit. Does wonders for road noise, but makes working on anything underneath are major bitch! On top of that, ya don't undercoat a ride after the rot has already set in over the previous 15 years!!! That just encapsulates the rot and let's it do it's thang! Since the rot came from the factory though, I guess the dude thought he'd preserve it as part of history???

According to the stack of po receipts with the rig, the selector valve has been replaced at least twice in the past at bisio's. The rubber fuel line is the feed from the passenger tank and is a replacement for the oem.

These valves were plumbed in several ways over the years they were used. In the beginning, they used three 5/16" steel lines with flare fittings. When ees came into being, some of the plumbing was changed up to incorporate a nylon feed plumbing from the rear tank, while retaining the steel line to the fuel pump.

The problem with this one...the rubber fuel line was cut when the hose clamp was over-tightened and has finally rotted through, the e10 exposure over the last several months greatly accelerated that process.

Ever though the valve looked "new" on the outside, no doubt it was rotten on the inside so I was not gonna simply fix the leak, that valve got replaced.

 

[Michael Mayben]

Here's the guts of the valve I removed.

Surprisingly, the interior is pristine, so fuel deterioration over the last 20+ years of rest was not an issue.

However, the pintile seals were rotten and would allow fuel bypass from both tanks simultaneously, and in fact the rear tank can siphon into the front tank and create an overflow condition if both tanks are filled completely.

Also, it's easy to see how exposure to e10 has rotted the gasket and turned it to mush. This valve got tossed into the core pile for reconditioning at a later date.

 

[Michael Mayben]

Once the e10 puke was under control, I popped the hood for a closer looksee.

Basically a complete virgin underneath. Details regarding the engine will come later down the line, this is just a cursory exam to make this rig a driver right now.

That air cleaner had big bucks sunk into it's fab is a bad joke...it's pretty much a useless hack that does allow a much larger air filter element (k&n) to be used. The base of the oem air cleaner has been scab-welded into the donor base, then sealed with rtv and painted! This one is gonna git deep-sixed real soon!

All the regular emissions-related stuff is present and connected, even the a.I.r. Pump still rotates and makes it's normal noise. All the oem rubber vacuum lines are rotted with the subsequent many leak points exposed.

The a/c compressor engages and rotates with typical cci/york yammer goin' on, but no positive pressure on the system. No doubt an evac and charge will bring it to life so that's added to the list down the line. These compressors always drool lubricant out the back, this one has covered the alternator with refrigerant oil slime. This one will be replaced with a seltec/tama mounted to one of the bulletproof adapter mounts from ihon.

 

[Michael Mayben]

I rebuilt this carb a few months back. But it's not been tuned. The only way the motor would idle at all is to crank the stop screw to 1500rpm which is death for a tf 727 tranny!

So...I attempted to tune it...only there were vacuum leaks everywhere due to the rotten rubber. After replacing the essential hoses, I noticed two of the four carb mounting bolts were not fully seated. That's because two of the four mounting holes in the manifold were stripped and ya know what that does for vacuum leakage.

So off came the carb and proper studs were installed for the future. At the same time, the oem heat dam insulator gasket was confirmed as rotten and leaking, so it went on the burn pile and new Holley insulator went on in it's place with the studs.

Then the tuning began in earnest...to no avail. The carb idle circuits were badly scruud and non-func.

So the carb was popped off again and the bowls removed. Guess what, both of the new nitrophyl floats I'd installed a few months back were fuel-logged! In only a few months of exposure, the e10 has eaten their lunch! I knew not to install those bitches but at the time I was short new brass floats. That was the third time in a week this same thing was encountered, I did a carb for an ihon customer that also sunk a new nitrophyl float after only a few hours of exposure to e10.

Even with all the tweeks, once I re-installed the carb, it's still not right. It's far better, but not perfect and the idle circuits don't respond properly. Move on, we'll deal with that later.

 

[Michael Mayben]

So finally after along day of bandaidin' shit, the rig went out on the road for a test ride.

The michelin x tires were high-end meats 20 years ago, and probably had less than 4k miles on 'em. But they were kinda "flat spotted" as mikeee warned me.

So...in order to see if I could pop 'em back round, I blew each up to 80psi which is the spec for max load capacity out of a single tire. Ran it up the road and back about 10 miles, while the tires were basically solid rubber, the rig drove decently and overall engine/tranny performance is outstanding (except for idle quality). The tires did seem to have greatly reduced hammer.

Had to take momma to the aeropuerto so I decided to try the chunk as a dd for the first time and stop at the dmv and swap off the title. Momma of course was not in favor of doing that since if the rig broke, she'd miss her plane. But...mister right always knows best...right??...so off down the highway we went...about three miles and the violent headshake commenced.

Freekin' driver side front tire exploded (not a blowout). So mister right dida flipflop and went right back to the shop while momma did a tap dance on hiz haid. The beater saved the day and momma got launched back to lincolnland in time to earn sum more beans.

So now the rear tire/wheel set off the "old" beater is mounted on the front of chunk so it'll still roll around. New tires are now moved to the top of the money tree.

 

[Michael Mayben]

This rig while overall is in pristine condition, it does have some of the typical factory-engineered rot common to all.

No doubt the oem tailpipes contributed to the rear quarter panel erosion, the exhaust system was replaced in '88 and the rig obviously not actually driven significantly after that.

There are spots of rot all over the lower extremities, but easy fixes. The tailgate is really nice and does not have the typical cancer nor does the roof.

After pulling back the front carpet (this was custom-installed carpet years ago), floor rot is evident, but not near as bad as most. And yes, the dam cowl does leak like all others, which is how the water gets inside to start the process. Ihc could have easily prevented water leakage in that area with a simple change in their assembly process, but no...like many other design flaws, they simply kept building and not improving.

 

[Michael Mayben]

Strange mirrors to put onna t'all!

These are eurotrash vitaloni (plastic head) units from the '80's. The po paid a body shop big bucks to remove the oem mirrors, fill the holes properly, then paint the door skins (later the entire rig was painted though ya can't hardly tell it!).

And like typical eurotrash, uv rays have had their way with the plastic.

So the mirrors are off now and having mucho bodywork and prep performed. Surprisingly, the ball/socket clamping arrangements came right off for cleaning. The base coats of semi-gloss black have been blown on and but it's gonna take several sand and paint and sand cycles to make these rotted plastic housings look presentable. I like the looks of the mirrors though, they have been mounted upright on the bases instead of laid down as originally intended.

 

[RobertC]

no doubt the oem tailpipes contributed to the rear quarter panel erosion, the exhaust system was replaced in '88 and the rig obviously not actually driven significantly after that.

Don't think that rust is from the exhaust...

It is from the usual culprit -- water leaks

my rear windows leaked so much that (many years ago) I pulled the windows (out a little after removing the inside trim) and ran a bead of silicon on the rubber gasket facing outside.

Ps2

fyi there is a small rubber grommet in the (exact) bottom of the spare tire well and in the bottom of the fuel tank well on the driver's side. I assume they both should be there based on the condition of this t/a.

Both grommets have a "cross-hair" cut in them, but they do not drain water.

Irrc, I used to drain a lot of water out by inserting a thin screw driver to open the grommet. They never drained on their own -- except slowly through the "pinch welds".

Ps I thought after pulling trailers for so long that you would know better than run 20 year old tires very far -- amazed that the tires made it to your homeplace glad no one was hurt -- not even the fenders

 

[MarkO]

Shame on you mm for driving on 20+ year old tires that haven't been run in quite a while.

You of all people should know better!

You are lucky it didn't happen at speed and have it take out a fender or put you in a ditch.

Having said that, I probably would have done the same thing. And my wife would have been on the sidelines biting her tongue on the "I told you so's" as well.

There were several items on the LST that I didn't know. One really puzzled me. It was towards the bottom and referenced a frst town &country something. What was/is that?

I agree totally on the e10 fuel. Some greenie must have been having a wet dream when they dreamed up that cluster flop.

All in all, it looks like you have gotten a real keeper dd for mama.

Once you get it altogether and working the way in which you want it I have to wonder how much work the beater is going to be getting at that point.

By the way, when did ihc start painting the sv engines something besides red?

I will be interested in how well "chunk" does towing stuff. My t-all has 4.09 gears which imho is a little short legged. When you get into the hills and you have to shift down 3rd gear is comfortable for 40-45 mph. It isn't so comfortable when everyone behind you wants to be going 60-65 mph. I am thinking that going to 3.73 or 3.91 gears would make for a less noisy ride at highway speed when empty and give me a comfortable 50-55 mph in 3rd gear.

Mark o.
Winlock, wa

 

[Michael Mayben]

I had little hope those tires would work out...but dam I hate scrappin' high end meats that are new!

More details are forthcoming regarding the engine stuff, quite a story there as we know it right now. Short version, the motor was "built" by a pro speed shop in portland with all the common "chevrolet" internal mods back in '88. Dude blew well over $5k on this motor at the time. Including a homebrew 11 quart oil pan and the dual remote oil filter header. The motor was obviously painted blue in that build but some of the parts were not prepped very well so the paint is leaving the scene in chunks. Once I pressure wash it under hood I'm sure the motor's gonna look like hell.

The "town and country" reference is for the option tires that were line-install. Those would be the oldskool firestone "town and country" meats that were coming into vogue back then, something like a modern all-position "rv" tire, bit more aggressive tread than a passenger car tire. Keep in mind that radial tires were pretty exotic at that point and normally only found on eurotrash rides.

The beater ain't takin' no back set to the chunk, but I gotta get chunk reliable as a dd for when kathy finally starts spending some time at home again. And...chunk is gonna be my dd in the next few days since the front springs on the beater are gonna get the "lift" process done and that will take me a few days to work out, the parts for that are already on hand.

I hooked up the trailer to the beater for the first time yesterday to move it around. The 500lb. Tongue weight of the trailer did nothing to squat the azzend at all. The rear suspension/axle under the beater is rated at 10klbs. So at least two leaves are coming out of the spring pack in the future, after the underbed tool boxes and the skirt on the rear of the bed is completed. That's gonna add another 450lbs. Or so of bed weight.

The 4.10 gearing on the beater is now ideal in my opinion, and not just for trailer-tote. The tires on it are also just interim meats, a taller tire is going on all the way around once I have the d60 installed to use the dually front wheels as well. Fuel mileage has not been affected at all as compared to the 3.73 gears with a 32" tire. And acceleration with a load is vastly improved, I've only had a load of 3200lbs. Of concrete block on the bed so far which was nearly unnoticeable.

That said...I'd still rather have the 4.56 gearing that was in the dodge axle I was gonna use but have now sold. I think the 4.56 would be perfect for trailering with the really tall tires I'm gonna use.

Much more to come regarding both of the pair of 1110!

 

[MarkO]

With the taller tires, what will be the effective rear end ratio?

If you start out with 4.10 gears and use much taller than 32" tires you will end up with final rear end gearing similar to 3.73.

 

[RobertC]

20 years ago, and probably had less than 4k miles on 'em. But they were kinda "flat spotted" as mikeee warned me.

So...in order to see if I could pop 'em back round, I blew each up to 80psi which is the spec for max load capacity out of a single tire.

Not sure you would have got the flat spot out -- not the same as a bias-ply...

I cross-rotated the first (and maybe second) set of michelins that I put on the corvair (starting in 1969).

They would "take a set" and when moved to the other side of the car, the tire would "feel funny" until it "adjusted" to being on the other side of the car (camber difference) after a 100 - 200 miles.

If you cross-rotated "first" firestone / goodyear radials, it greatly incresed the chance of tread separation -- tire companies finally put out an "edict" not to cross-rotate radials.

You probably remember that...

 

[Scoutboy74]

Sweet hornee towdz! Iz thar a chonk missin' outta the shiny beer can wagun weull wut had the tar 'splode all tuh hail on it?

 

[Michael Mayben]

not sure you would have got the flat spot out -- not the same as a bias-ply...

I cross-rotated the first (and maybe second) set of michelins that I put on the corvair (starting in 1969).

They would "take a set" and when moved to the other side of the car, the tire would "feel funny" until it "adjusted" to being on the other side of the car (camber difference) after a 100 - 200 miles.

If you cross-rotated "first" firestone / goodyear radials, it greatly incresed the chance of tread separation -- tire companies finally put out an "edict" not to cross-rotate radials.

You probably remember that...

Ambient got up into the 70's here today, that means a road temp of 90+. So I blew the soot outta chunk up to vida for din-din and then cruuzed some. Them two rear tars dun rounded out real nice. But that don't mean they gonna stay, best use for 'em is stump fuel.

Went through the carb again, this time extracted some hard deposits out of the inside of the metering block. Idle quality is still not what it should be but better. I think the major issue here is the cam. Since tip-in performance and wot is superb (excellent drivability and the tranny bangs hard when pushed), I'll give up on the carb for now.

All the vacuum lines have rot and were routed totally incorrectly. I've repaired the leaks for now until I can make a parts run to restock some of the vacuum tube I don't keep on hand.

The rig has had a steering damper added on which kills the steering feel, and when ya combine that with a fookin' 17" steering wheel and a power steering system that is grossly over-powered, it's tuff to keep these turds pointed straight (and lack of any positive caster shore don't help either). So the damper will git the heave-ho and a replacement 14" tiller is gonna mount, I have several of the grant adapter hubs for the pickall steering columns so I might as well use 'em up, that size wheel worked wonders for steering feel on the beater.

After trimming the dead ends off most of the vacuum tubes for testing, the heater/ventilation system has now come to life also, the control head seems to be fully functional (vacuum-wise), air flow from the vents in all modes is excellent with no apparent typical duct work rot. So now I'll take the time to evacuate the a/c system and see how long it'll hold a pulldown. If it passes vacuum hold, then it'll git an r-12 recharge and a leakcheck with an oldskool halide leak detector.