[Project] GreyScale - Shaved, Bagged, and V8'd 4-door 1st Gen

[unclejames1]

oh okay I was thinking that oaktowntrucks was going to have a benefit car show up in Michigan. but I think I might head down to bowling green. sounds like a good show.

[greencactus3]

the oaktown show IS in michigan

[Mystic_Knight]

Yup. Love to have you guys come up. Our charity show for the American Cancer Society is May 31st in Lake Orion, MI. Great show for a great cause.

You can get all the latest details at www.OaktownTrucks.com
The details are also in the show thread here: http://www.s10forum.com/forum/f81/4t...2008-a-331836/

[unclejames1]

yeah, I had heard about that show i think last year. so i think that i will be deffinitly comeing up this year. and one good thing is that the show is early in the year. cant wait!

[Mystic_Knight]

Good to hear man. Look forward to meeting ya.

[Mystic_Knight]

I pretty much pulled the drivers seat out of my truck, then the carpet, then fought with those damn torx bolts for the seatbelts for damn near an hour. Finally said f*ck it and took a sawzall to the seatbelt brackets. Now I can figure out where I want the seats to sit and make a filler piece that goes between the seat mounts and the factory seatbelt tabs to weld in. Might be doing some modification to the floorpan to the left of the trans tunnel too. We'll see.

[TrYiN2LaYaDiMe]

http://www.s10forum.com/forum/f143/t...dydrop-337424/

thought u might like to see

[Mystic_Knight]

I threw a new oil pressure sensor in. Also got the new aluminum valve covers bolted down. I decided to skip the RTV. If it leaks I can always add it later.

After I got back from Dropt N Destroyed last year my e-fan died. I tested the fans last night and they're fine. When I pulled the temp sensor control unit one of the tabs in the control box fell right off the circuit board. Nice soldering Flex-a-Lite. I'm going to solder it back on and hopefully that'll fix it. If not, a new one is $72. If it's dead I'll just run a switch for a while.

The research continues on trying to get the Cadillac SRX console to work. A few people have told me it's impossible because of the Cadillac security features. We'll see about that. I got an e-mail from a guy in Florida that needs a new monitor for his SRX console so I sold him the one from mine for $75. I'll replace it with one of the Kenwood ones I have and glass it into the console. With his help and a little testing I have most of the wiring in it figured out now. If I can find my soldering gun I'll be wiring up some custom RCA connections for it this weekend. Hopefully I'll have some more interesting pics and updates soon...

[Mystic_Knight]

Spent some more time in the garage tonight. Bottom of the engine is totally clean now. As soon as I get the new braided lines on the radiator I'll be ready to top all the fluids off and start doing the leak test.

I finally took a little more time to play with the front seats too. Looks like I'll definitly be cutting the floorpan to make them fit. If I were to build brackets to mount them to the floor they'd sit 4 1/2" higher than stock. Hardly enough room to get my legs under the steering wheel even when it's tilted all the way up. It feels like I'm driving a bus when I'm sitting in them.

[draginlow]

Quote: Originally Posted by Mystic_Knight

It feels like I'm driving a bus when I'm sitting in them.

all i have to say man is air seat
i can get them at work

[Mystic_Knight]

Well I'm just adding my project topic to the list of others that are saying "New pics soon!". Nothing too exciting. Just some new goodies for the engine, and a little clean up. Once I get the leaks solved I'll get back on the seat project.

[Mystic_Knight]

I finally got a set of grommets that fit the aluminum valve covers. Thank you Yearwood.

The new aluminum valve covers are installed along with the matching breathers and air cleaner.

I reran my low pressure power steering line so it's not kinked any more.

I pulled the steering shaft, repainted it, then reinstalled it so the steering wheel is lined up correctly now.

I took a wire wheel to the frame in the engine compartment and removed all the bed liner that was flaking off. After that I shot it with a couple coats of self-etching primer and some new black paint. Not "Autorama grade" but it looks much cleaner now. I also polished a few lines and cleaned up a few brackets.

If I get some time tomorrow I'll install the new braided oil dipstick tube that matches the radiator hoses I got. Then I'll top off all the fluids and start leak testing everything to try to find the oil leak.

I'll try to get a few pics up tomorrow night.

[Mystic_Knight]

A few pics of the new engine goodies.

[Mystic_Knight]

Slowly getting the wiring wrapped up and the leaks fixed. One leak at the fitting for the oil pressure sensor is being a total b*tch. Won't seal at all using the loc-tite thread sealer. I'm going to get some tape tomorrow and try that.

On a side note, I got bored tonight and started doing some research on headlight upgrades. I bought a set of H4 conversion lamps off Ebay last year that totally sucked. Going a different route this time. Just ordered some Hella euro-spec H4 conversion lamps with 80/100 watt bulbs. Since I'm wrapping up the work under the hood I'll probably do the relay trick on the headlights and upgrade the wiring for the higher wattage bulbs.

[dawgnutz]

What are the specs on the Hella H4's? got apart number or a place to go research them ? I have a phantom and need to do something about the headlughts. My night vision isn't what it used to be and the phantom doesn't help.

[Mystic_Knight]

Quote: Originally Posted by dawgnutz

What are the specs on the Hella H4's? got apart number or a place to go research them ? I have a phantom and need to do something about the headlughts. My night vision isn't what it used to be and the phantom doesn't help.

These are the ones I ordered for the 6054 replacements. I think yours takes the smaller H4666 lights. I don't know how much of an improvement they'll be though since you'll still have about 50% of your light output stopped by the grille. If you're really stuck on that grille but really need a light upgrade you may want to consider upgrading the fog/driving lights if you have them.

http://www.rallylights.com/hella/200mm.asp

[dawgnutz]

Thanks man! I appreciate it!

[Mystic_Knight]

Well I've tried sealing the oil pressure fitting 4 times now. It still leaks as soon as the engine warms up. I'm almost wondering if it's the back of the intake manifold instead of the fitting I'm working on. It's impossible to see that area real well though. I did get the leak from the oil pan fixed which was a majority of the leaking. I'm going to drive the truck up to D&S Engine in a few weeks and see if they have any better ideas.

To find the leak I used a fluorecent dye kit. I love it. I first used one back in high school auto class. It makes it real easy to find the leaks. Here's a pic of the oil pan leak.


Since I have the whole front end apart I've been rewiring everything up there. New ground cables on everything, all new wiring for the e-fan, and last but not least I did the relay installation for the headlights tonight. I've also run a switch to the dash for the city lights that are in the new headlights I just ordered.

After driving home from ITB last year in the dark I noticed how crappy the sealed beam headlights are. I just ordered a set of Hella E-code H4 headlamps with some Hella 80/100 watt bulbs. The E-code headlights direct a lot more light on the road instead of off to the sides like DOT approved headlights. They also don't shine as high up so it's easier to use the brighter bulbs without pissing off oncoming traffic. The bulbs also have a "city light" in them that I'll be hooking up. It lets you drive around with a dimly lit headlamp when there's enough streetlight to see the road without full headlights. They look pretty damn cool I think.

Here's the relay setup


Not as fancy looking as the Ebay "diamond" headlights but these should work a lot better.


And finally, my leds that were supposed to be shipped out last Monday didn't go out till yesterday. I should have them back in the truck by the end of the week. As soon as that's done the front clip can go back together and I can start on either the air or the seats. I'm thinking seats.

[Forklift]

good lord I just checked all 10 pages of this, and WOW.
Mystic, do you have any more pics of the 4-link? Im wanting to get mine started soon. Plz if you do, email them to sspiehlerjr@comcast.net

[Forklift]

forgot to subscribe

[Mystic_Knight]

Haha. Thanks man. There's still a long way to go. You can check out the entire build gallery at www.OaktownTrucks.com. Go to the media section and you'll see my 4-door in the Projects section.

[Mystic_Knight]

Tonight was a good night for the 1st gen.

I got all the LED's back from Custom Classic and they all work like they're supposed to. FINALLY. I'll install them next week.

I have the entire engine reassembled.

Chris came over and helped get the timing set a little better. When we were doing that he noticed a vaccum line that wasn't installed right. Holy crap does it run better now. Smoooooth.

Dissasembling the top half of the engine paid off big time. Throttle cable and kick down cable are adjusted. Intake manifold doesn't leak any more. Oil pressure sensor doesn't leak any more. I have a tiny leak from the drivers side valve cover. If I can't get it to seal by tightening them a bit more I'll pull them and hit them with RTV.

While I was sitting there waiting for the engine to warm up... BAM the fuel gauge started working! It was pretty damn accurate too. But then... it stopped working. No idea why. It came on and off a few more times. I'm thinking the ground by the fuel tank might be bad so I'm going out to rewire that tomorrow night.

All in all a pretty good night for the truck. If I get my ass in gear this weekend have it back together and ready to start the next project by early next week. Now I just have to decide what that'll be...

[Forklift]

pics??

[Mystic_Knight]

These are the pics I took last week. Pretty much looks the same now. I'll be posting some more pics once the front end is back together and all the led's are wired up again.

[Mystic_Knight]

Finished the headlight relay install with the e-code headlights and Hella 85/100 watt bulbs tonight. HOLY DAYLIGHT! Awsome upgrade. I can't wait to get on the road at night with these.

[01cherryreds10]

One day I shall have a first gen 4 door laying frame...





...until then I shall stare at yours

[Mystic_Knight]

Thanks man. Looks like you have a pretty nice ride in your avy. You should come up to our show in a few weeks and check it out. There's some other guys coming from IL too. Link is in my sig.

[Mystic_Knight]

A few pics of the latest updates.
Engine went from this


To this in about an hour or two


The manifold leak was to the right of the oil pressure fitting


After getting the engine back together I decided to modify one of my breathers to accept a PCV valve to relieve some of the pressure and help with the leaking.
I started with a standard breather




Took a cutoff wheel, drill, and moto-tool to it


And made this




I made the fitting on an angle so the hose could clear the throttle cable and the milled lines stay square to the valve cover lines.


And here it is all back together. Not any big deal but at least it should run better and be a lot more dependable... and people driving behind me will stay clean too. :-D

[dawgnutz]

Smart! And Stealth! I dig man! Engine looks great! How much invested in the Billet?

[Mystic_Knight]

Thanks. I found the valve covers on Ebay for $60. A local speed shop that was closing so I picked up the air cleaner and breathers there. The air cleaner was $35 and th