MR HYDE IS COMING TO LIFE

[Dr Jkel]

Originally Posted by stieger

:( man, it's getting to a point where I'm scared to read your build thread.

I know the feeling......at this point I truly know that everything will have to be checked.....

I feel myself trying to rush to get it done but have to remind myself that errors of unchecked items can have devistating consequences.

I was hoping I could run it Thursday when the weather broke but it is looking more like Saturday.

I have a road near me that runs in front of the Talladega Superspeedway. It is 4 lanes wide and straight, hardly ever any traffic except race weekends....So we will trailer it over there and drive it up and down the road.....The road is about 8 miles long so I will be able to really see what it will do.

Everything from the firewall forward has been checked and either identified or fixed. Once the brakes are bled, header gaskets fixed and sensors installed I shoul dpretty much be able to drive it down the road to check other things.

I was really worried when we saw water in the oil originally but after running it a bit last night no water appeared in the oil. So the question is how did it get there in the first place? Was water intentionally put inside the motor as sabotage?

Matt seems to think that since it only has 6 miles on it that any condensation/water that remained will be burned off when it gets up to temperature. He says that the water/condensation will evaporate though the valve cover breather. I did notice when it was running that steam was coming out of that breather cover and of course water out the tail pipes.


Once we get the brakes bled and make sure everything is tightened up we will do a road and drivability test and we should no more......Matt seems to think these things are minor.....

My main worry now is on the electrical side but will be able to tell more when it gets hot and we check everything for function.............

Text dated Nov 15 " You will like what has been done...... you Damn sure got your moneys worth." Mark Crowe........

NOT.

[busabruce]

That is one sweet truck! I have always wanted to do the same thing to a Ford F100 step side but transplant a lightning drive train into it. One day! I have too many projects as it is.

[BigDan]

Have you though about putting it on a rolling road dyno before you risk crashing it on the streets.

[Dr Jkel]

Originally Posted by busabruce

That is one sweet truck! I have always wanted to do the same thing to a Ford F100 step side but transplant a lightning drive train into it. One day! I have too many projects as it is.

Thanks...hopefully one day soon it will be completed the way it is supposed to be.

Originally Posted by BigDan

Have you though about putting it on a rolling road dyno before you risk crashing it on the streets.

Dan, unfortunately we have no Dyno's around here. So I am gonna go to a pretty deserted road where there is space to kinda test drive it. Usually early on Saturday mornings there is ZERO traffic which will be good. This way I can see if there are any other issues with it.

Mechanically I do not think there will be anymore since we are going over it from front to rear, disassembling what we need to to check everything out.

I do know that the transmission will have to be built at some point in the very near future but hopefully it will hold up enough to do some drivability tests.

My plan is to put about 20 miles on it in short runs, stopping to check everything for tightness, leaks and adjusting the brakes plus to kind break the motor in. Once we feel relatively comfortable we will take it on a 30 mile trip non-stop, then come back home the back way through start and stop traffic. Checking everything from hot engine starts, cooling properties etc.....I will have a chase vehicle with a trailer if we notice anything.

Once we get all of the mechanical issues fixed and I get the estimates for repairs compilled then I will forward all that to the previous shop for payment and go from there.

We estimate we will have about 65 hours getting the mechanical stuff fixed. It is just time consuming doing it at night after work, on the weekends and trying to anage the holidays, ball games, kids programs etc.......

[CamaroKid300]

Well, if you still have work to do on it when I get back from Christmas break give me a shout I'd love to come help you work on it one weekend.

[Dr Jkel]

Wednesday December 7, 2011

Tonight we bled the brakes...................I did not realize how much of a PITA this was going to be. We re-installed the proportioning valve after Matt tapped the threads, hooked up the lines are started the process.

Originally DOT 5 ( Silicone) brake fluid was installed, so we had to go back with the same type, supposedly you can not mix fluid types in a system. DOT 5 is more thicker that regular brake fluid and when it is cold outside it makes it a little more difficult to bleed brakes especially in brand new lines.

I will say that I am glad we ran new one piece lines instaed of the multiple piece section that were there before.....Less chance for leaks, and looks cleaner. We finally put a vaccum pump brake bleeder machine thingy and it basically draws fluid from the Master Cylinder to the bleeder valve, then you have to go back and manually bleed the brakes just to make sure the air is out. It took us over 2 hours to complete bleeding the brakes but now it is complete. Matt says after we drive it for a little bit that we will need to bleed them again just to be sure.

While we waited forthe machine to pull fluid, we did a couple of other things. The new spark plug boot came in so we changed it, unfortunately it does not match the rest of the boots but it is hid by the headers....The only way you can get the same kind of boot is to buy new wires and for since the new boot was only 3.00 it was not worth spending another 65.00.

Ordered the new header gaskets- will be here ins a day or so but these things seem expensive. 55.00 for a set of gaskets but the are supposedly good gaskets taht will not leak once seated.......

We went back over the truck one last time and made a list of things to do before doing our test drive.

1. Tighten steering wheel
2. Fix steering box leak
3. Torque wheels
4. Add more fluid to radiator - Matt is bringing the glycol tester.
5. Add the appropriate hardware to the rear end.
6. Check Transmission fluid once running, really check all fluids
7. Mount seats
8. Check air pressure in tires

There are a couple of other things that have to be done but I can't remember right now, but the list is in the shop.

Hopefully on Saturday we will be able to take it for a spin.

[The Stig]

Hmm where did you hear that you can't mix brake fluid types? I always thought DOT 4 and DOT 5 could be mixed together without a problem.

[Dr Jkel]

Originally Posted by stieger

Hmm where did you hear that you can't mix brake fluid types? I always thought DOT 4 and DOT 5 could be mixed together without a problem.

Something about the rubber seals do not do well and usualy fail after a period of time.

It's all good now though since everything is full and bled.....may have to add a little when I bleed them after the drive but it shouldn't be much....it definitely does not take 4 pints like I was charged for though....

[Dr Jkel]

Thursday and Friday we did not do anything on Mr. Hyde...Between ballgames, kids plays and a retirement party we took a few days off.

[Dr Jkel]

Saturday Dec 10, 2011

Today the maiden voyage would be happening...I was so excited to actually hear it run and drive it.

We finished up a few little things added coolant, checked everything to ensure it was tight, dropped it off the jack stands and backed it out of the garage.

It was acting a little funny since it was cold and we figured that since the computer had to learn that it would clear up.

Backed out into the road and the truck died. Made it a whole 95 feet. Luckily it is a side road and there was no traffic. Backed my truck up to it and pulled it back up to the garage......Come to find out it was out of gas.....the gas gauge registered that it had a half of a tank. So I go get 5 gallons and try to put it in the truck.......

The filler neck leaked.....out of 5 gallons I probably got 3 into the truck.......The gas station is 2 miles away so we decided that it would be the first stop to fill it up so we would know it had gas until we could fix the gauge.

As I was looking at the truck....Remember this is the first time I had seen it outside in the daylight........It became quite evident that the truck was 2 different color and I mean easily you could tell. But in my mind I figured it was going to have to be painted because of all the issues I had already seen.

I had someone follow us just in case anything happened. So off we go.................

Firsdt thing is that the truck didn't want to run, it hesitated, bucked and ran really crappy......maybe it had too much fuel from the broke fuel pressure regulator on the O2 sensor and once we got it hot it would clear up........

So off we go and it finally catches and starts running decent once we get to about 20 miles an hour......I look at the speedometer and it registered 80 mph but we make it to teh gas station and I start to fill it up......Immediately gas shot back out of the filler neck...I guess the tanks vent tube is clogged up so it takes about 20 minutes to put 20 gallons in the truck.....again nothing major just something that has to be fixed.

Matt has the scanner hooked up and reading the vitals.....During the trip to the gas station we didn't get over 20 mph our best guess since the speedo didn't work...basically the chase vehicle told us that.

So off we go and the truck hesitates like it was doing before but it finally catches.....We get about a mile down the road and we stop at my friend house so that he can adjust the transmission cable since it does not really want to shift. We have to adjust the timing because it was way off, but after a few minutes it seemed to run a little better but we you stabbed the throttle it still hesitated for a second but would eventually catch up. ( Don't really know at this point if it is flooding, the computer acting up or what) The rest of the way back home ( 1 mile) it became quite evident that this transmission was not rebuilt. It had sloppy shifts, rpms would go sky high when it would shift gears and it changed gears too quickly. ( do not know if the tranny shift point were because the speedo is wrong but the tranny is not electronic)

We get back re-torqued the wheels, adjusted the timing, checked the fluid levels and a few other things and off we go again.

I really could not tell how fast I was going since the speedo registered 140 mph at 1500 rpms but I soon realized everyone was passing me ( Chase vehicle said we were doing 30) so then I decided it is time to go so I mashed it, it hesitated and then took off.

Transmission is slipping really bad, 3rd and 4th gears are pretty much shot. As I approach what I feel is 45 miles an hour the truck starts to shake and I mean shake......Not real sure at this point if it is tires, driveshaft, tranny, wrong pinion angle on the rear end or what....my frustration and downright anger is at the boiling point.

So we stop at a gas station and check the truck out again to see if anything has come loose, re-torqued the wheels and checked the major components and everything is tight. At this point we have been about 8 miles.......

So as I leave the gas station I have to see what this motor will do and I stomp it. The rear tires break traction and off we go. I try to keep up with the flow of traffic which appears to be 55 but the truck shakes so much you can not drive it. The truck pulls hard to the right ( remember I was charged 80.00 for an alignment) so we putt back home around 30 miles an hour.........

I am so frustrated at this point about the paint being 2 colors, not being able to go over 30 mph, the tranny not working.

At this point this truck is not safe to drive and I have to decide what to do. There is so much wrong with this truck at this point I really don't know what to do.

Could it be simple things causing these issues...I have no clue but as I look at things that do not work the numbers keep growing. The heater does not get hot........heater hose ran wrong, truck vibrates, tranny doesn't work and the lsit goes on and on...I think we have one thing fixed and 4 more arises.

He didn't do a drivability test, didn't fix the transmission, paint is jacked up....there simply isn't one thing that is right about the truck not one single thing.......

I texted idiot last night and told him to get a good lawyer, probably not a good idea but I had to vent........His response was bring it bacl and I'll fix it...Yeah right ...he had 9 yrs, 109 k, and this is what I get and he wants it back.

I am really considering going to the police tomorrow and filing charges on him..............Just so pissed off right now.

[The Stig]

I'd file charges at this point, just my .02

[Darth_Emma]

Shaking? Did he put Savini wheels on it?




(sorry... just trying to lighten things up... good luck to you)

[Dr Jkel]

Originally Posted by stieger

I'd file charges at this point, just my .02

I will get all of my paperwork together and go sit down and talk with them. The only thing I do not have at this point is an estimate to have it repainted. I was having to wait on that so I could get it to move far enough to put it on a trailer to take it places for an estimate. I am gonna go Friday to Atlanta and get a paint estimate plus I am gonna try to get a few places around here to give me an estiimate.


Pretty much the way it is right now I think the whole thing will have to come apart and start over. The not running right, plus the electrical problems, body issues...I do not feel real confident on putting this thing on the road. I am gonna go to a loval ture shop tomorrow afternoon and maybe it is just a balancing issue with the front end, but who knows at this point.

I do know I have several things in black and white that I was charged for that were not done......forget the appearance and mechanical issues......that right there shows his attempt to defraud me, not to mention the parts I bought that he did not put on the truck.

I really think if I can get this in front of a judge it will be a no brainer.....

[Dr Jkel]

Sunday December 11, 2011

Didn't really do too much on Mr Hyde.

Since it had cooled down I re-checked all the fluids and they seem to be fine which is a good thing.

I tried to crank it since it was cold and it did not start right up like it is supposed to but I am sure that is an easy fix.

Pretty much spent the afternoon cleaning up the garage, putting tools back in their place. Still get upset when I look at it right now.

The road test identified alot of wind noise inside the cab which will also have to be rectified.

I know it is an old truck and some noise is to be expected but in todays world there is alot of things that I thought were done but that can be done to reduce the noise...Most , I am thinking , is coming from the door rubber where the doors are not properly adjusted.

Looks like the body work was done without the door rubber installed and the reason the drivers side door does not shut correctly. The passenger side shuts too easy.....If you shine a light you can see the light on the outside so I know air is coming through there.

Best I can tell right now alot of things will have to come apart so that the mechanical issues can be resolved.