DirtyComanche

When? And what? Does he still ship it with gr5 bolts?

It just shuts off the flow of vapourized propane to the mixer. Otherwise there is the potential that the entire tank of propane will slowly bleed into the intake manifold. The vacuum ones open when the engine is pulling a vacuum. And the electric ones can just be put on a toggle switch. Typically the electric ones are used for dual fuel and the vacuum ones for straight propane. Personally I see nothing wrong with having one more toggle switch that needs to be thrown to start the engine.

There's not much avaliable as far as parts selection. Typically for a mixer the Impco 425 is the best bet for a used dealio. The OHG 450s have an issue as they age, unless you want to do a bunch of work on them. There's the Impco 300A for dual fuel use, and it's kinda weird. And 225s and smaller versions, which aren't much good but for very small enignes. All the mixers have the make/model stamped on them in large obvious lettering. Most guys run impco model E regulators. They're pretty much the best bet. Almost all the other models are ment for light duty use or small engine applications. And for the lock-off valve, there's pretty much the choice between a vacuum or electric one. Either works.

For a little inspiration, check these pictures. They are what my buddy is building for his girlfriend's Chevy Tracker, and it will be her DD.HERE! It's overkill, for sure, but I doubt her tracker will go snap anytime soon. That's Kraqa's girl's rig. Kelsey, IIRC. I think she's a crazier driver than he is.

If you never plan to move it, a bench top model is great. I actually have a bench top one, on the floor... The more tools the better.

Yeah, timing for propane is more advanced. They sell 'propane curve' internals for many distributors. But really it's just advanced a couple degrees more at base, and the curve is a bit steeper. There's no set rule for it, you pretty much have to play with it until it works well. If you actually bring the compression ratio up to ideal, it's pretty much the same as if you were running gas. The heating system is simple. It runs liquid from the tank to the regulator. The regulator is actually a vapourizer too, and has an element in it to pipe coolant through it. It works fine as long as the coolant is warm enough at startup, or it might ice up. If it is really cold you have to start it and get it to idle, and leave it there until the coolant is hot enough. And somewhere around -45 you're flat out @#$%ed. Unless you know a few tricks. Anyways, I'm just going to have to tee into a couple hoses. I'll get you somne pics of the components if I remember.

I hadn't realized just how WIDE Derek's truck is.

Something like that... Plastics have all these horrible acrynoms instead of names.

I had that kit. So I feel I can bash it. For a few bucks it can be made way better. Pull their joints and thread in some Evos and put jam nuts on them. I've seen threads pull from wear when being used like that. Sure, they'll last a long time. But when it happens it's majorly bad.

Is there any tips on pulling the heater/heater core/vent system without destroying all of it? I got a lot of it off already, but I need to pull the main housing. There's some studs going through the firewall, do they hold it all in? Here's the stuff I pulled out... Image Not Found HVAC that I don't want to destroy. Image Not Found Intake off, some of the EFI junk still there. I gotta take a bunch of time and pull it all. Image Not Found Yeah, she's really clean. Okay, I need to pick up a case of brakeclean. Image Not Found Box of stuff... Image Not Found

No idea on the CFM. But with the both of them on high, small animals and young children get sucked into my grille.

I tried to get one of those but never found an intrepid in the junkyard. So I used taurus fans.

The rusty's kit has its flaws. The arms mount dead centre in the crossmember if it is located in the rearmost position. I think the arms are 32"~ long, don't quote me. If you copy it, use real joints instead of that BS they do (twisting threads), and mount the arms higher at the frame side. While you're at it, flat belly the thing.

6013 works for sheetmetal. There is other rod that works well (better probably), but it's harder to come by. 6013 can be had anywhere. The trick is to use small rod and low heat. If you're trying to do a bunch of spot welds, pilot the hole in the top peice first with a small (1/16~) drill bit. Then make sure it is clamped damn tight. If there's any gap at all you'll be screwed. Then it's just a matter of striking an arc and holding it to the hole for a couple seconds. YMMV.

This stuff appears to be worth it. Weight wise it isn't very heavy, but it's mad slippery and quite tough. You put it on the bottom of skid plates and it allows you to slide over things you'd never think possible. I want it because my skids mount with bolts thah have the heads sticking down. The heads are rock fodder.

I didn't know they used those, or that you can get adjustable ones... But yeah, those are used on D44s. At least, the ball joint ones.

1/4 elliptical itself really only indicates the spring characterisitics. It's like saying "air shocks" or "coil-overs" and asking how they worked. The reality is that most of how well they work is dependant on other factors. Basically, how you design and build your 4-link is going to matter more than it being 1/4 elliptical suspension. A LOT more. Do your homework and spend the money on the material and joints. 1/4 elliptical does offer advantages in that the springs have both a positive and negative rate. IE, they will fight drooping once they reach a certain point. This helps with stability to a degree. It is also cheap (comparitivly) in that a guy can cut down some F-250 front leaves to make it work. Anyways, I've never run them. But I've seen them.

If you still have a problem after you replace them, just buy the offset joints... Because basically there's nothing else you can do. In that case the housing or the inner Cs are bent. You can get another housing, but D30s bend just with the weight of the truck on them so it's unlikely you'd do better.

Radius arms (uppers connected to lowers) aren't great. I can't preach too much because I have seen them work. They flex really well (a bit too well, IMHO) but have some bad tendencies. And with them most of the stress is focused on the two attachment pionts at the frame. Make them beefy or you will be in for a bad day. The only really decent thing about them is they're very easy to make (geometry doesn't really matter, it'll suck no matter what) and you only need 2 decent joints. A 3-link works better. Aka a missing link. Two long lowers and a shorter upper that is conencted to the frame. Well, it works better if you design it right - you actually have to do the math on it. You need either 3 or 6 decent joints going this route - depending. But hey, I have leaf springs, so I have no right to comment.

I keep meaning to pick up some of that stuff.

I hope the propane works. There's no going back now. The intake manifold is off, and I found a few 'bad' thigs, but I do still have 6 intake valves so I'm not too worried. All the EFI crap that plugged into it is in a box too. My header is screwed. I dunno if I'm going to fix it or not... Most of the wiring harness is off. Well, about half of it. I'm having trouble with that big mother of a bulkhead connector that plugs the harness into the fuse panel. I'll get it figured out. I'm trying not to destroy it too badly so I can re-use the little of it that I'll need. The interior is about half out now. The dash is being annoying. It's all rivetted from here, so I'll get the air drill out tomorrow. And I've got to decided what to do with the heater core. Or whatever that thing is. I still need a heater, but I only need it to be simple... I'll rip it all apart and see what happens I guess. I've got to drop the gas tank tomorrow. Then figure out where to fit all the crap that's in my garage from taking this thing apart. Then I can throw my tank on the bed and see how it'll fit with the radiator and all. I might have to cut up the decking and try to get it to sit lower so my radiator doesn't block the back window. Can't have that. Then I get to decided if the hood is narrow enough, or if I should lop a bit more off. Probably cut more... Then I have to cut down my spare header panel (it'll fit now). And I've got to remember to fit up my chebby distributor.... I hope I have enough parts to have a working one. And I need to get a timing light... The only real debates I'm having in my head right now is over the cage. I was going to go strictly exo. But now I'm not so sure. I'd really like 5-point harnesses. What do I need for those? New seats I suppose, and a cage structure directly behind them to tie into... Plus a floor tie-in (no biggy, the floor is structeral). Everytime I touch something I make more work.

I got all my answer for the intake but for the P/S pump. So I ordered it. Hopefully I can deal with that.

The crossmembers gop in different places. And they use different mounts.

My front axle is about 4" forewards. The tires don't clear the inner fenders. I fixed that... Image Not Found

HF welders :roll: Whatever you do, buy something DECENT. I have a cheap MIG, but have you ever heard me mention actually using it? Well, I don't. It sits downstairs in our second kitchen (yeah, I've never heard the end of that). The reason? It's freaking useless. It can't weld anything in a single pass, except maybe 30 gauge. The duty cycle at full amperage is 20% (and you need full amperage), and it has a constant hot tip (hate that), and it's PITA to spool. With the money spent on it, I could have saved for a better MIG, or bought the first stick welder I had (Lincoln AC-225-GLM, I think). The first stick I had was lighter duty and AC only, but it still had a 20% duty cycle at 225A. Which is plenty of amperage - enough to blow holes in 3/8". The one I use now (lincoln tombstone, as they're known) has both AC/DC and a higher duty cycle, along with a couple capacitors to make striking an arc easier. I will admit that stick welding can be a PITA. If your rod has absorbed moister it'll make life horrible - but you aren't supposed to use it then anyways. It is MUCH harder to make a good looking weld with stick, vs MIG. But, you CAN'T cheat with it. Ever watch how they MIG weld on extreme 4x4/OCC/west coast choppers/etc? It's totally wrong. They haven't a bloody clue what they're doing, but it LOOKS good - and that's because it's a MIG and you can do that. Anyways, if you've only got a small job and can take it to a machine shop, I suggest going that route. If everything is prepped they can zap it all together in very short order and will charge you very little. Or find a friend with a welder to borrow for a while. Oh, and one thing about stick... Its easy enoguh to get rods to do different things. I've got 6011, 6013, 7014, 7018, CastARC, and something for stainless. Plus you can get brazing rods and wear-surfacing rods.