Freightrain

Out for a spin today at lunch. Running good. Still checking things over for next weeks trip. Gets a bath tomorrow and loading up race car and prepping trailer. Took a jaunt on the highway, it will pull near 15# of boost. Runs along really well. I did grease the front end and changed oil in air filter along with grease u joints.

I put dynamat on my floor, inside doors(sound solid when close them-- no ringing). I then put a piece on the firewall before I put motor back in. I removed the muffler now but the cab noise is very noticeably quieter. I'm impressed. Hardly any turbo whine also. Taking a trip next week so I am curious how it will be on the big road. Buy the Summit Racing brand and it is Dynamat(in a dynamat box)....only cheaper. Summit racing does that on many items.

I rebuilt the floor in my truck 15 years ago just using some 16 gauge cut it to fit and welded it in. I made my own crossmember to mount the front of the seats to for added rigidity. Looks near factory only it doesn't have any ribs in it.

When I did mine some 15 yrs ago, I just packed the bearings well, then put a glob in the middle just for good measure(I do the same for my pickups/cars). 50K miles later, I've had them apart a few times through the years they are still good shape. I run the truck 65-70 mph without worry.

Wore out? Hell it's only 50 yrs old...........LOL!! It's just got the rings broke in.........

Ya, need to get a video sometime soon. Did notice a fuel smell occasionally. Seems the #3 injector is dripping somewhere around the fuel line? I felt around and the lines seem dry, but was a small puddle on pocket of the intake around the injector. I dried it up, will run it again this weekend and see if it comes back. Never noticed any leak just running in the driveway. I did have the lines off, but didn't replace the copper washers. Might need to do that? All the rest is dry. I purchased an Isspro pyro/boots gauge. I pulled the ashtray as that is a nice place to mount it(and don't need the ashtray). Just need to make up a bezel to mount it, though I did run the wires and have it functioning to see how the motor responds on my trip yesterday. My stutterstat is sticking suddenly also. Need to take it apart and see if it got a piece of crud stuck in it. It closes fine, but won't reopen. Just leaks air out the top of it. Found out the hard way on my trip yesterday. Got it up to 20)* before I realized it. I unbolted the cylinder and just let the springs hold the shutters open. No problem then. Ran about 160* the rest of the trip.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOh, that hurts. Sorry to hear it Mike. Wanna a nice old 673. Likely last longer? Might not get to destination quite as fast.......but will get there.

It is kevlar. Put the bobcat on the back and now it is fine. 10# of boost and it pulls it fine. I'm pretty excited with driving it. Can't wait to get my trailer on the big road and roll with it. Even straight piped it is even more quiet in the cab then before. Sounds good out the window, would like to hear coming done the road!

Road test last night everything ran fine put about 5 miles on it. Only issue so far is the clutch does not seem to hold power under heavy boost. I hope it just needs to seat in. I didn't go crazy with it, just rolled into power in hi gear about 1600 rpm. Didn't sound right so I lifted and I assume it was slipping as I didn't get a look at the tach quick enough. I am going to haul the bobcat back to buddies place and see how it handles some weight. If it goes well I can say it should make PA next week with my trailer.

Yup. Found the video:

Yup, couldn't say his name, but it was on the tip of my tongue. I haven't watched those videos in a few years, I have the full set.

Get practiced up...I'll send you my cab next winter LOL!!! I tired of working on my junk for awhile. I think I'll be driving it this weekend........finally.

I know of the fellow in Jerome that has the old mine and the trucks. He is a member of the ATHS and a fellow made a video of him and his trucks about 15 yrs ago. I'm trying to find it, I have the VHS version and there are a few that are put on Youtube.

Well, I got to pull it out of the garage last night. Got the passenger fender stuck on. Still got need shell and hood, but it looks more like a truck now. Cleaned up the mess that was growing under the truck all winter(ugh). Bet there was 20# of crud/oil/dirt I scraped off the front framerails. I actually found a few places where there was shiny black paint on the frame under all the mess. Hmmm. I'll get more pics.

Another box will take some frame length. What is the wheelbase now? What model 10 spd? TRDxxx? Is it overdrive? What is your current ratio out back? 5.xx? Need to get it into the 4's. An OD trans with 4.62 rear will get you 65 mph on the floor.

Sounds like you have a direct transmission. My triplex(single over) with 4.62 gears would go just about 65 mph flat out. You will have to change rear end housing to get a better ratio. I think 4.00 was the fastest you could get in a B model double reduction. I would find an overdrive transmission, that will get you near 70 mph with your present ratio. Right now I have same triplex, 4.10 gears and it will go about 72 mph in OD. 65 mph is about 1800 rpm in OD. You will have plenty enough power to pull a single car trailer. My trailer is 14K lbs and it will go 65+ easily. Get it on hills and it starts to suffer, but in all not a problem running with traffic. (I've had it 80+ mph on level ground-my aux box gives me 85 mph).

Good looking truck. I like the old 5 hole wheels! I know Mack is suppose to have wobble wheels, but I like the 5 holes better. Nice work. Like the colors also. I like those shift tags. I'd like to make something up for my truck with the 3rd stick. Might have to just have it printed(vinyl). Right now I just drew a picture on the dash for my back box just for those "oh shit, where is it suppose to go" moments. Not that I shift it much, but that is why I had to make a diagram.

Looks like an expansion tank from a Galaxie! Only the outlet is on the drivers side. The top picture looks more boat oriented? Is that an outlaw car in the upper picture? Some good motor porn for sure! Ya, the wagon runs pretty good for what it is. That is just the car, throw another 180# worth of driver to that number. I leave A LOT on the table with this motor. When I put the 4.25 crank in it a couple years ago the shop kept bugging me to CNC the heads and put a big roller stick in it. Nope, no money for that crap! Still running the same flat tappet since 2000! The edelbrock heads are just rolled and gasket matched, nothing special. They only flow 280 Intake/220 exhaust. They go north of 300 on the intake now pretty easily. Glad I was never big on going fast. I just enjoy the driving part.

Congrats. It will be second nature before you know it. Just take your time, pay attention. Like the old story goes.........you can go off the pass(hill) slow lots of times, but you can only go off the pass too fast once.

Good looking car. Already got those installed. I bought the 60" kit and found out they still just barely make the back bumper LOL!! I'm still at a stealthy 3850#. Down from the original 4600#. I had a chance at an all alum 482 FE, made just under 800hp for PENNIES on the dollar. I knew what it cost to build and it came on the market a year later, never installed, only dyno time. Ugh, just didn't have the cash to piddle away on it. My motor makes 625hp, for a plain, flat tappet, no CNC work motor it isn't bad.

I'm thinking the old brownie box will fall out long before the front wheels get in the air................LOL!

My ol boat. Running a 428 block, 4.25 crank(462ci), Edelbrock heads, flat tappet cam, 2x4 intake, doug nash 5spd. Best 10.83.

Ya boy!

I'm thinking of going alum or silver colored. It might look a bit more like it should instead of gold. The radius deal isn't a deal breaker. It looks okay and will work fine. I could look farther for something else, but getting the right radius is still a shot in the dark. Like I usually say.."good enough for who it's for". Powder coat is possible, need to check with my buddy and see if he is running anything silver in the future. With just moving the truck back/forth the new clutch is smooth as glass. At this point...........I just wanna DRIVE IT!! I'm getting tired of just starting it and filling the garage with smoke(along with half the neighborhood). This thing is a smoke monger. Will be putting the fender on and getting the bunk off next weekend. Then I can road test it. YA!

Working on air intake. I think it is turning out well. Looks like it should JUST clear the hood. Tape measure is approx. hood line. Getting tight enough radius wasn't possible so I had to cut them. Not what I wanted but will work fine for this. Finish welding and some gold paint so it looks like it is suppose to be there. Would love to done alum but that was not in the cards. Had to step from 4" at air cleaner to 3 1/2" at turbo.