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The Shop Truck

1971 Chevy C20 with a custom flat bed.
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Today we worked on the exhaust. Every one of my v-bands was warped so I started by replacing all of those, then we worked on the H-pipe. The entire exhaust is done other than cutting the holes in the exhaust for the H-pipe and welding the h-pipe in.
IMG_20250413_175416468_HDR.jpg

I should be able to finish that up tomorrow, then my list is pretty short for what's left.
 
Babaganoosh said:
Are you feeling confident you can make the next track night?
Click to expand...
I had another long day in the shop yesterday, and no, I'm not confident, but I am going to try.
I finished up the H-pipe and got everything re-installed on the exhaust. Apparently I took a terrible picture.
IMG_20250414_155202440_HDR.jpg

We installed the throttle cable, got the truck started and let it get up to temperature per the break in instructions, then we took it for a short drive.
The tune is terrible, I need to do major work on it to make it driveable. It's so lean on startup, it won't re-start once it's warmed up. I think the pulse for the injector is so short it's not actually putting any fuel into the cylinder. If I start it on ether, it will idle, so the injectors are fine.
It also has an oil leak from the oil cooler block off plate. On the old engine I had an adapter bolted there that had my secondary oil pressure sender in it, but it was leaking so I put the one that came with the engine back on with a new gasket, still leaking...
Things left on the to-do list before next Friday:
  • mount new slicks and see if they fit (I ordered a set of Hoosier BDR 28/10.5R17 tires to get my driveshaft speed down, old tires are 25.6" diameter)
  • Speaking of the driveshaft, I need to do something about that. The plan was to drive it to the driveshaft shop to have them look at it and see what they can figure out, but it needs to be driveable first, this is one of the items that may make me miss next Friday.
  • Make a mounting bracket for the catch can, make and run hoses for the catch can
  • Fix the oil leak
  • Wire the flex fuel sensor to the ECU
  • Wire the N2O solid state relay to the ECU
  • Make the rest of the -6 Nitrous line and install it.
  • Fill the nitrous bottles
  • Charge the A/C (it's hot here already)
  • Engine break-in. I need to drive it 200 miles and change the oil.
  • Spark plugs. I need to figure out what plugs to run and get those installed. I'm currently just running the same plugs as before (1 step cooler) because I had them.
  • Tuning. I was hoping to get to a tuner, but I don't think that's going to happen so I have to figure the tune out. This is the other item that may make it so I miss next week. I can't even do the break in on the tune it has now, it's so lean it's popping and banging when I roll onto the throttle. I need to get that figured out ASAP, but I have to finish a few other things on the list before I can do that.
  • Re-install the hood.
Wes Harden said:
Thay have track in summer? If not this mifht be last till fall
Click to expand...
There is a drift and DRAG event on May 3rd that I may be able to do, I'm not sure how that works though. They don't have anything else posted for the track in the summer, but I'm not sure if they'll add something later.
 
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Today started out good, I built a mount for the catch can and made the hoses, this shot also shows the new and improved fuel return line.
IMG_20250415_152142261.jpg

Then I went to work on the oil leak, I partially stripped the threads in the oil pan at very low torque, not sure exactly what happened. I had some slightly longer bolts and got it bolted in and torqued properly again, but it still leaked (I tried a different block off plate). Tomorrow I'll have to remove the drivers side header and install some helicoils and try to find a better gasket? I don't know at this point.
While trying to figure out if it was still leaking, we couldn't get it to start, when we first start cranking it will sound like it's about to start, then lose RPM signal and die. I had built an entire new tune based off of the one Smeding sent me (before I modified my existing tune with their info). I had noticed the lack of RPM on cranking yesterday, but it would start and be fine anyways. Not so much today.

Now I need to find some M6x1 helicoils and new GM crank and cam sensors.
 
I had the same problem when I put my truck together with that oil block off plate, sadly I just globed it with right stuff for 9 years until I pulled the engine out in December and went with a holley pan. I couldn't remove my oil pan with the cross member in the way.

Sucks about the sensors, I assume you checked the pins when you went from gen 3 to 4 wiring? Don't pull a cleetus :D
 
Babaganoosh said:
I had the same problem when I put my truck together with that oil block off plate, sadly I just globed it with right stuff for 9 years until I pulled the engine out in December and went with a holley pan. I couldn't remove my oil pan with the cross member in the way.

Sucks about the sensors, I assume you checked the pins when you went from gen 3 to 4 wiring? Don't pull a cleetus :D
Click to expand...
I swapped the connector on the crank sensor and swapped the wires on the cam sensor when I went from the Gen III LQ4 to the Gen IV LS3. It was running and I had RPM, it was just flakey on startup. Now it won't register at all and it backfired a few times.

I was just trying to fire it yesterday to check the oil leak. I've got a power coil kit showing up today and I'm going to go pick up a new block off cover w/gasket, a new exhaust manifold gasket, and both sensors from Chevy, and some right stuff (pretty sure that's what smeding had on there). At this point I think I'm just going to pay to get the driveshaft retubed first thing next week. If we don't get the 200 mile break in done this weekend, I'm not sure we're going to make it next Friday.
 
I pulled the header off so I can helicoil the pan, now I understand why I haven't been able to stop the leak...
IMG_20250416_094234803.jpg

They machined the bolt hole too deep and it's in an oil passage, I poked a pick in there and you can stab right through a thin layer of aluminum at the back.
 
The pan came from Smeding, and yes I agree. On the bright side, when I had the drivers side header off I realized it was leaking because it was hitting a different one of the 1/2" studs... I now have 3 dents in #1 primary, 2 for stud clearance, one for spark plug clearance.
IMG_20250416_110155542.jpg

I pulled the plug from the front drivers side of the engine and blew air through it to clear out the bolt hole. I did this a few times as I drilled and tapped it for the helicoil, I put a magnet on a tool to break off the tang and it came out, no issues. Right stuff in the bolt holes, on the bolts, on the oil pan mating surface, on the cover and under the one bolt head. If it leaks now I'm using JB Weld.
 
Everything is back together. I have an appointment at 1 so I'm going to wait until then to try to start it to give the RTV time to set up. Finger's crossed that I have crank signal and no oil leaks so I can move on with the to do list.
 
Today was a much better day, the tires showed up and they fit! They are a tiny bit wider and look to be the same height as my street tires even though they are technically .91" shorter. They are closer to the "flares" but don't quite touch as I can slip a sticker in between the flare and the tire!
IMG_20250416_143849446.jpg

IMG_20250416_143903948_HDR.jpg


Updated list:
  • mount new slicks and see if they fit (I ordered a set of Hoosier BDR 28/10.5R17 tires to get my driveshaft speed down, old tires are 25.6" diameter)
  • Speaking of the driveshaft, I need to do something about that. The plan was to drive it to the driveshaft shop to have them look at it and see what they can figure out, but it needs to be driveable first, this is one of the items that may make me miss next Friday.
  • Make a mounting bracket for the catch can, make and run hoses for the catch can
  • Fix the oil leak
  • Wire the flex fuel sensor to the ECU
  • Wire the N2O solid state relay to the ECU
  • Make the rest of the -6 Nitrous line and install it.
  • Fill the nitrous bottles
  • Charge the A/C (it's hot here already)
  • Engine break-in. I need to drive it 200 miles and change the oil.
  • Spark plugs. I need to figure out what plugs to run and get those installed. I'm currently just running the same plugs as before (1 step cooler) because I had them.
  • Tuning. I was hoping to get to a tuner, but I don't think that's going to happen so I have to figure the tune out. This is the other item that may make it so I miss next week. I can't even do the break in on the tune it has now, it's so lean it's popping and banging when I roll onto the throttle. I need to get that figured out ASAP, but I have to finish a few other things on the list before I can do that.
  • Re-install the hood.
We'll be driving it around this weekend for the break in and we'll knock out the oil change as well as the A/C charging. I think the tune is in a lot better place now that I have a functioning tach signal, but we'll see how that goes. I think I'm just going to have the shop re-tube the existing driveshaft for now. If I still have issues I'll look into something else then. I'll drop it off on Monday after we're done driving around for the break in period.
 
Scratch all that, after a short test drive we realized it wouldn't rev past 4K, further driving and the new sensors pretty much gave out. We limped it home and left a trail of oil up the driveway, so nothing is fixed...
 
What the heck...

What about a small pipe plug in it and a shorter bolt? Or just get a new oil pan but that's a few hundred...
 
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