71K5 - BP71K5's Just for fun build

[bp71k5]

Update 02/04/2018:

Cleaning and finishing some easy projects.

Sun visors are kinda nice driving near dusk. I simply got rid of the cardboard and vinyl portions of the stock ones and riveted a piece of plexiglass on instead. The shape of the stock one interfered with my cage bars so this one is designed to fold up and not interfere. I may paint them eventually, but they look ok even with exposed rivets.


And I needed more workbench space. Tons of YouTube videos of ideas and that's kinda where this came from. Just a shallow drawer for really long stuff that can't fit in normal size cabinets.



Used a piano hinge and a 3/4" piece of oak plywood for the top. Added a small overhang so I could clamp things to the edge when drilling or sanding.



When it's closed, it matches up with my other workbench so I have enough space to work on projects as big as 4x8 foot sheets


And cut another piece of plexiglass for these waterproof marine speakers. I like the way they sound, but the white color isn't working. Maybe by the time I care about it, they'll have some black ones available.


And got rid of the amps under the seats. The wiring was just too much of a hassle and I'm not sure I need 1000watts of music at my age anymore. The small 300w amp is right below the nonfunctional heater controls and is just a couple pieces of bent aluminum with the CB mount bolted across. I don't use the CB, except for Moab so I can mount it at plug it in later if needed



Can see the small amp up there.


Now I'm noticing the wiring isn't organized as well as I'd like. Will probably do something about that later if I ever decide to add an aftermarket ac/heater unit.

 

[bp71k5]

Am I the only one who somewhat enjoys doing that especially when the parking lot is full?

 

[bp71k5]

Small update as a prelude to a bigger one in the future. Radiator started leaking from the core to side tank joint. Sent it back under the lifetime warranty. Waiting to hear if it’s covered or not.

Not sure what happened, but I did find a loose bolt on my crossmemember up front. I’m way more than done changing radiators, so the plan is to build a secondary frame crossmember to keep the frame from being able to twist (even though it doesn’t seem to twist even with that bolt loose) and then maybe redesign how the radiator is mounted.


The internet has quite a few stories of aluminum radiators failing after just a few weeks or months for no apparent reason. I have a hard time thinking it’s 100% manufacturing defect. But I’m suspecting that the aluminum radiators may expand and contract differently than the old brass style and so mounting them in a way that allows the expansion may be part of the solution.

And I realize I gotta fix all the broken thread links from photo bucket.

 

[mrk5]

Looks like a broken weld there too.

Is your radiator not mounted like factory? I know you've had a lot of posts about it, but I don't remember how it's mounted.

 

[bp71k5]

Looks like a broken weld there too.

Is your radiator not mounted like factory? I know you've had a lot of posts about it, but I don't remember how it's mounted.

It’s mounted exactly like factory. I’m wondering if that’s the problem.

 

[mrk5]

I wonder if you have some more problem than others here because of the factory bumper. Most people that are doing a lot of frame twisting have big, sturdy front winch bumpers that are probably helping eliminate some of the frame twist in the front. Don't know, just thinking out loud.

 

[bp71k5]

I wonder if you have some more problem than others here because of the factory bumper. Most people that are doing a lot of frame twisting have big, sturdy front winch bumpers that are probably helping eliminate some of the frame twist in the front. Don't know, just thinking out loud.

That might be as well and is something I’m thinking about changing as a “just in case”.

 

[NorCalKid]

I'm having the same issue with my '71. Aluminum radiator, stock mounts, stock bumper and leaks over time. Curious to see what you come up with

 

[bp71k5]

Update 08/06/2018

Got my warrantied radiator back and the new version has a sacrificial anode in it. Looks like they think electrolysis may be causing the problems. I’m going to have to check all my ground connections and make extra sure they’re solid. Maybe add an extra engine ground.

Also started preparing a beefed up front crossmemember. My best guess is that there’s no way the core support is flexing up or down. If it is moving, it would be the left side frame shifting forward/back different than the right side. So the crossmember will be focused on preventing that. Here’s the before picture.


And 1 of 4 mounting plates for the crossmemember that will essentially be a cross brace to the other side. Also welded up the extra holes someone cut in the frame horns and also the holes for the tow hooks. I plan to move those forward a bit.

 

[Truckman4life]

All semi truck radiators I have worked on always have a ground wire from the radiator to the body to keep from having issues.

 

[kgblazerfive]

I would agree with that flexing part.

 

[Truckman4life]

The 6.4 powrstrokes crack radiators due to that same issue with body flex.

 

[brokenparts]

The 6.4 powrstrokes crack radiators due to that same issue with body flex.

I’ve gone through a couple... new ones aren’t cheap either. Also partially due to the plastic/aluminum construction in my opinion.

 

[Truckman4life]

I’ve gone through a couple... new ones aren’t cheap either. Also partially due to the plastic/aluminum construction in my opinion.

Mishimoto has a nice all aluminum one. I put one in a company truck a few years ago then it too started leaking. Then Mishimoto came out with a new upper core support to stiffen the front end.
https://www.mishimoto.com/ford-6-4l-powerstroke-upper-support-2008-2010.html

Sorry to hijack.

 

[brokenparts]

Yup, when this one cracks (and it will) I am stepping up to that one.

Also sorry for the hijack...

 

[bp71k5]

Got the new front crossmemember in, radiator installed, hosed out all the dust so it didn’t fly into my eyes on a test drive, and cracked my coolant overflow tank so I have another on order. I temporarily installed it in a way to keep some coolant in it so I could take it for a spin around the block. I almost forgot how fun it it to drive.

 

[AgDieseler]

Really nice design. Well executed.

David

 

[bp71k5]

For those following all the radiators I’ve gone through, I’d like to rule out both electrolysis and galvanic corrosion. I can add corrosion inhibitor and the zinc anode to help with that part, but I measure 0.2v between the radiator and the chassis ground with the battery disconnected. This tells me there is voltage in the coolant system so I’ve been looking all around the interwebz to know if grounding the radiator is actually a good idea or bad idea. The inter-web is split 50-50 on it.

Most interesting tid-bit is that manual transmissions (more specifically radiators without a transmission cooler) should be grounded to compensate for the lack of ground provided by trans cooler lines. Sound plausible?

 

[kgblazerfive]

A issue that I had with a 99 Suburban after going through three radiators. Grounding them out as much as I could, they kept being killed from electrolysis. While putting in the forth one I noticed that the oil cooler lines, it had an internal one. Were hitting the frame, bent those out of the way and no more radiator issues.

 

[bp71k5]

A issue that I had with a 99 Suburban after going through three radiators. Grounding them out as much as I could, they kept being killed from electrolysis. While putting in the forth one I noticed that the oil cooler lines, it had an internal one. Were hitting the frame, bent those out of the way and no more radiator issues.

Cooler lines were hitting the frame? Assuming the lines were grounded, hitting the frame would also ground the radiator? That would seem to be a point against grounding the radiator.

I do wonder if people that mount the radiator to a frame in a tube buggy isolate it with rubber pads or just leave it grounded.