MR HYDE IS COMING TO LIFE

[garcmol]

Originally Posted by PeeBee

What, you still haven't got that old thing running????

It's turned into a Vendor nightmare! Not vendors here, but the folks that his shop recommended years ago. They're turning out as shady as the builder was. It's in good hands now.

[PeeBee]

Originally Posted by garcmol

It's turned into a Vendor nightmare! Not vendors here, but the folks that his shop recommended years ago. They're turning out as shady as the builder was. It's in good hands now.

I know, I've been following this thread for quite some time...

And my comments may sound a bit "cheeky" but I'm in the same situation with my Tuscan (although I've "ONLY" been waiting about 5 years now to get the engine done to the 600hp I asked for...)

[garcmol]

Originally Posted by PeeBee

I know, I've been following this thread for quite some time...

And my comments may sound a bit "cheeky" but I'm in the same situation with my Tuscan (although I've "ONLY" been waiting about 5 years now to get the engine done to the 600hp I asked for...)

Nah, I remember when you said before you were in sort of the same boat. I'll see John this weekend so I'll hear about this first hand...... probably with some foul language as well.

[PeeBee]

Well, sincerely hoping he gets to drive it after his fishing trip

[Dr Jkel]

OK folks a little update here on ole Mr. Hyde........

Street and Performance returned the junk fuel injection unit since I would not take the 1500.00 store credit...........Just kinda makes me upset.

Then I remembered why I did all this and it was for enjoyment so after a nice long relaxing weekend with good friends at the Fbodygathering I decided a few things about Mr. Hyde.

Although I like nice things this truck will never be a 1000 point show truck.....I saw several of those vehicles last weekend and while they are very very very nice they are no good to me since those kinda cars are not driven except off the trailer.

I also decided I would start enjoying this and not be pissed off at the world over it....takes all the joy out of it.

I talked with Matt last night and we came up with a plan........to FINISH this beast the most cost effective way possible and later if I want to update things then we can go in that direction.

SO the intake came back from the Nitroplate dealer...it looks good and is functional but not show quality....you can still see the cast marks....later on I can get a polished intake and have it coated. It can easily be swapped out in about 3 hours....besides depending on the breather cover I choose hardly any of it may not be seen.


Since Street and Performance sent everything back we decided to check and see if the fuel rails fit.......and YES they did, mounting holes line right up.....This saved me about 180.00 which is a good thing......

I am leaving next week to go on a fishing trip to Texas and while I am gone Matt is going to get everything running and hopefully have the thing tuned and ready to drive so we can actually drive it at speed to see if any issues arise...He said that he wants to be able to drive it to Birmingham by Fathers day..........We are currently waiting on the throttle body to arrive...since they are custom built it takes a few weeks to get here.

Once we are able to do that then we will work on the other mechanical and cosmetic things I want fixed and anything that arises from the drive. Once we have everything fixed and operational I am going to drive it for a month or so just to make sure everything is working properly.

Then in the fall of the year when most places slow down and the weather is bad I am going to have it repainted......I am giving myself until Dec 31,2012 to be completely 100% finished and ready to roll. It should have enough miles on it, been tested enough and ready to go wherever I want to go Starting Jan 1 , 2013 which will be the 50th anniversary of Mr. Hyde.

I have given myself till then so that I do not rush and to be able to drive it awhile before painting.

No more negative vibes for Mr. Hyde..................Oh how I can't wait to smoke the tires........and hear the exhaust sing a sweet song...hopefully it is the same one I heard when I was 6..........

So just a little while longer.....I have already promised to bring it to Fbodygathering next year...FINISHED.

I will do what I have always wanted to do after that and that is to go to some nice cars shows, some cruise events and maybe even the Hot Rod Power Tour.

I have it on good authority that Mr. Hyde is getting some special things from some very special people...Can't say now but time will show it's special accessories........

[The Stig]

Congrats! Glad to see everything is finally working out with Mr. Hyde

[garcmol]

John, when you get a chance, can you measure the height front the ground to the top of the hood? Just curious how tall the truck is at that point. The front fenders don't flare out do they?

[Dr Jkel]

Originally Posted by garcmol

John, when you get a chance, can you measure the height front the ground to the top of the hood? Just curious how tall the truck is at that point. The front fenders don't flare out do they?

I will but right now it is on jack stands. The original drop was a 2 front and 4 rear drop.......but it has 20's on the back and 18's on the front and there seems to be too much room in the fender well so I am thinking about outting 20's on the front to make it look more even. .........So the height of the front should change a little.

The front fenders do not flare out...they do have a little roll in them but not alot.

[garcmol]

Would you venture to say 40"s, roughly? Can't wait until this thing is running!

[Dr Jkel]

Norm do you see the first picture in where the rear tire seems to be sitting farther to the rear?

It is not an angle thing...it does it to the rear.......This was caused when the truck was lowered and now the only way to fix it is to remove the center support that holds the trailing arms and move it forward to center the wheels in the wheel well. Not alot for the part just takes time....but this is something that should have been fixed when it was built.....The only other thing in I will have to have the driveshaft shortened/ Just one more thing to do....LOL

The throttle body got screwed up by the supplier and it should be here this Friday.

[Dr Jkel]

Originally Posted by garcmol

Would you venture to say 40"s, roughly? Can't wait until this thing is running!

Yeah somewhere around there...it is not slammed but lower than stock and has a rake to it. To me it looks funny with the 18's on the front......but that is an easy fix.

My hope is that real soon it will run....just waiting on the throttle body......aint that always the case waiting on something..

The biggest issue I will have is trying to secure the rear bumper to the truck....come to find out they didn't put any lateral support on the bumper just the straight out braces so if I get tapped from the side it will crush the bed and the bumper will be no support....since the gas tank has been moved to the rear frame rails I figure I better fix that.

[garcmol]

Originally Posted by Dr Jkel

Norm do you see the first picture in where the rear tire seems to be sitting farther to the rear?

It is not an angle thing...it does it to the rear.......This was caused when the truck was lowered and now the only way to fix it is to remove the center support that holds the trailing arms and move it forward to center the wheels in the wheel well. Not alot for the part just takes time....but this is something that should have been fixed when it was built.....The only other thing in I will have to have the driveshaft shortened/ Just one more thing to do....LOL

The throttle body got screwed up by the supplier and it should be here this Friday.

I see it, and I thought it was the angle of the picture. How was it lowered? Was it a simple reverse leaf spring deal? I don't see how the rear end moved backward just by lowering it.

Or is it caused by the angle of the original driveshaft? That would make sense, not right, but makes sense.

The bumper I don't get either. Weren't these bolted right on the frame through the sheet metal?

[Dr Jkel]

Originally Posted by garcmol

I see it, and I thought it was the angle of the picture. How was it lowered? Was it a simple reverse leaf spring deal? I don't see how the rear end moved backward just by lowering it.

Or is it caused by the angle of the original driveshaft? That would make sense, not right, but makes sense.

The bumper I don't get either. Weren't these bolted right on the frame through the sheet metal?

The front was lowered with drop spindles and lowering springs....the rear was lowered bu use of coil overs......unfortunately they do not make a set for the front. My truck did not come with leaf springs just coil springs.

From what Matt explained to me it is simple geometry..The original truck sat higher up thus raising the rear...since the trailing arms are mounted to fixed points...the front crossmember and rear end it acts like a pivot point....the higher the truck is in the rear the more forward the wheels move....the lower the truck goes the farther away the wheels go towards the rear.

The original bumper bracket kinda formed a "Y" and attached to the center and outer edge of the bumper and came back and bolted to the frame......BUT when idgit mounted the gas tank in teh frame rails he mounted it to the bottom of the frame and it looked fugly from the back...so to try and cover it up he installed the rear roll pan.....still it looked bad from the rear so then he decided to put a rear bumper on it as well...remember he had to cut and make the bumper fit........well since he had already cut the bumper braces to suck the bumper up to the body, plus the addition of the roll pan the outer braces kinda got left off since it willbe a PITA to make them work right......The rear roll pan will have to be cut again to allow the brace to pass through to the bumper.

[Dr Jkel]

We did get the new transmission cross member mounted......A LOT cleaner looking.

Talked with Matt earlier today and we found out the screw up on the throttle body. Evidentially it has been discontinued and no one called and let us know...imagine that....But the good news is that they found a suitable replacement that they had in stock...luckily it is only 20.00 more.