Projects from THE COMPOUND!

[510freak]

The front of the motor,so non cluttered really like the look of this.
Induction,trying to wrap my head around how it works,without being restrictive,or forced induction.

[DRIVEN]

Haha. I wouldn't go as far as to say it's not restrictive, just not as much so as it might look. The plenum actually pretty much fills up the valley under the tubes so there's plenty of volume. The runners are long and skinny which is good for torque. Only one per cylinder is open until 3000rpm when the second runner butterfly is opened (like VTAC, yo) and the car starts pulling harder. It's not dramatic but is noticeable.
There is a company that makes adapter plates that allow you to run any 289/302 intake manifold. There also used to be a company that made a cam driven distributor that mounted to the front of the engine. That would open a world of possibilities. I'll probably leave mine stock. Lazy.

[510freak]

It looks like it lol, but isnt (over thinking that part of it,I am)
Dig how the intake runners look,reminds me of indys ka, I like that.
Sounds like a pretty good good swap motor,numbers wise and availability

[DRIVEN]

East for turkey dinner.

Quick snapshots of teardrop progress. He bought these Cessna wheelbpants on eBay. I think it has a way cooler shape than those ugly HF fenders. They were already painted so he just left them as-is.






He said he's going to tinker a little with it and maybe take 1 or 2 short trips next spring then sell it.

[DRIVEN]

Since the car market is a bit flat right now he decided to put his money to work somewhere else for a bit. He bought a little 5 acre farm about 1/2 mile from their house on the river. House was built in 1935 and is pretty typical of the era. Hardwood floors and arched doorways. Sparse kitchen, wood stove. He fixed some small things along with new appliances and countertops. Also added a water filtration system and lots of basement cleanup. The house has short term renters moving in today.




That leaves him with the rest of the farm to play with. I helped him a little (very little) with some wiring in the pump house yesterday. There is a corn crib right next to that with a concrete slab floor. He's planning to remove the end wall and build doors. Then put a new roof on it. It will be about the right size to store a large travel trailer in.
There's also a small hog pen (closest building in the pic below) that needs to be cleaned out and some work done to the roof.
Lastly is the barn. The ridge beam has failed and the weight is pushing the 2 side walls out. He's pretty enamored with the old structure and really hopes to save it. Of course, he's already had a couple offers to tear it down in exchange for hauling off the wood.
There is tons (literally) of scrap and junk strewn about the acreage. He's hoping to maybe get my nephew over for a week or two to earn some money. Otherwise he'll be busy for several days just cleaning up the grounds. Lots of work for the old tractor to do.


Gray skies and murder of crows look foreboding.

The end plan is to have it pretty well under control by next summer. Depending on what the housing market is doing he'll either sell it or rerent it as horse/cow property.

[DRIVEN]

Met with my builder today. Walked the lot and went over the plans so we could get more specific. He'll submit to the architect, talk with a couple excavation guys, then start the permitting process ball rolling.

[Taterhead]

Dad's place is pretty cool. Again, I love old stuff.

Getting it rolling. Boss find out yet?

[DRIVEN]

I haven't told him yet. If he knows he's playing dumb.
Tagged along with the guy I might be replacing in June. This job is flippin awesome.

[Taterhead]

Good luck with the new job. Hopefully it works out for the best.

[DRIVEN]

Thanks, man. It's promising.


Any of you guys want to call dibs on my waste oil furnace before I list it next weekend? It's just too big for my shop and needs a bigger space to really shine.

[DRIVEN]

Still fixated on a likely future project (this is exactly how the motorcycle thing started). Combination hauler/tow/offroad/expedition/WTF/FTW/'cuzican. The plan is to build something along the lines of a 150% scale Jeep FC170. I can do it one of 2 ways. Start with an NPR/Hino/Fuso/Volvo/Iveco/C600 and convert to non-dually 4X4 with a minimum of Dana 60s front & rear, add a flatbed and be ready to do anything. Other option is start with a domestic diesel 1-ton and convert to cabover. The 2nd option would probably be simpler from a licensing standpoint. Maybe not. Either way, an early diesel would be ideal as well as a non-CC automatic.
This certainly wouldn't be a daily driver so MPG and million mile capability aren't primary concern. Just something reliable, simple, and serviceable. Also, it wouldn't be an extreme crawler so ridiculous articulation is of little interest. More military tractor than redneck git-r-done.
Anyway, the wheels are turning and I'm reading like crazy. Input is always welcome.

A more subdued version of this

[Laecaon]

Quad cab Isuzu's are awesome! My friend's dad has 2 of the single cabs, one manual and one auto. Both average a tad under 20mpg. They are true industrial vehicles too. I vote, go that way.

[DRIVEN]

I love a quad cab but they're tough to find under $40k. For me that may as well be a million.
I worked a place a few years ago that had 3 old Volvo box trucks. There were crazy reliable and decent on fuel too. When they went out of business they sold for between $1000-$2500. The oldest one was just a tad bigger than an NPR.
I'm just not clear on licensing constraints. I guess maybe if the GVW is low enough it'd be okay. Jayden probably knows.

[flatcat19]

Japanese style unimog. Love that idea. Do it.

[DRIVEN]

^^^this guy gets it^^^

I messed with the El Camino's charging system and found a poor ground at the regulator. Once that was remedied it barely charged at idle and went high 14s at cruise. I decided to buck originality for now and just install one of my spare internally regulated alternators. Direct bolt in with a jumper wire at the alt plug (different shape) and another jumper at the regular plug so that the idiot light functions. It still works without the jumpers but no way to know if it quits. Now it's a steadier 14.0-14.2. And, 63A > 32A. It's all easily reversible should I decide to go back to bone stock.

[DRIVEN]

Took a deposit on the furnace last weekend and got it all removed. Got the oil pumped from the big tank into drums to make it more easily transportable. The guy said he'd probably need a week or two to get his moving crew together.

Took the paperwork for the 400EX to DMV last week. Looks like obtaining a title might be more of a hassle than I'd hoped so I'll probably just sell it as-is. I'd like to trade it for a trail/farm quad or a TW200. Maybe even an old Fat Cat or Big Wheel just to be different. Cash is easier to move though.

Still haven't gotten anything in the mail from DMV pertaining to the Shot Rod Sedan so I'm holding off on it for a bit.

My brother sold his house and is finally moving into his new place so I'm hoping he won't be quite so scattered. After the first of the year I'll be pressing him to get back to my pickup cab and maybe the bed.

I may drop insurance on the 510 for a while and put the old Neon back into rotation. It's been in storage for over a year and my daughter will be taking it to school in Texas next year. It needs to be 100% trustworthy. Even though it's been well cared for it still has close to 250K on it so I'll probably need to replace the original clutch to ease my own mind. Maybe collect a few spares for the trunk too. Antique Mopar stuff can be hard to find.

January - May are going to be a mad thrash to finish all the house projects I've been procrastinating on as well as get all the vehicles up to snuff and sell off anything I don't want to move across the state. So, I'm going to kick back and relax through December.

[Taterhead]

My situation hasn't been nearly as involved as yours but getting a house ready to sell is a pain in the ass. Sounds like you have a good plan in order.

[DRIVEN]

I just have too much shit. It's my own fault.

[DRIVEN]

Ever since I got the El Camino back on the road I would get the occasional hard start and a couple times it would idle shitty. Well, I think I found the problem. Was going to drive it to work on Monday and it didn't want to start. After a couple minutes of cranking I could really smell fuel. Popped the hood and gas was puddled in all the crevices on the intake and the throttle shafts were dribbling. Shitty needle and seat would explain all of the above problems. Now that my furnace has been removed I'm have the hardest time getting excited about going out to the shop to fix a leaky carb. Such a delicate buttercup.

[DRIVEN]

The dude finally came and picked up the furnace. It'll be nice to have the floor space back in the shop.

Follow up on the El Camino; Turns out the float was catching the sides of the bowl. I also had this odd thing develope with the Crane ignition module. It would discharge the coil when I turned off the ignition. Sometimes it would cause dieseling. I ended up going with a Pertronix and matching coil. Played with the advance springs too. Runs better than ever now.
The last thing I did was replace the 80/90 with GM Synchromesh fluid. It really shifts nicely now. Before, it would be fine once it was all warmed up but notchy when cold.