BlackTruck Build 65

[JeffinMooresville]

Got a little bit more done today between football games. Installed tank bracket and gas tank after getting frame touched up and my bracket painted. My painter has some buddies on nascar teams nearby and he got them to extend the tank filler tube and tig it all up. So this is my custom nascar filler neck



Allowed me to put a custom bend and extend outside of the hole I put in the frame. I have a gas door that will be installed on outside of bed.





Ready to run fuel lines, I have in tank pump and a fuel return regulator, so will have to figure out where to mount all that stuff. Will probably wait until the inner fenders come back from sandblast so I can mock up.

[SteveCanup]

Nice! I wished that I had done the same with mine. I have the filler in the middle rear of the bed. I had a bed full of lumber a few years ago and was running low on gas.....(not good, lol.)

[JeffinMooresville]

Hi Steve, yea, I wanted to have side door… it was more of a pain, but I think I will be happy.

Pulled all the mock up installs off the firewall and ready for the final install. Had enough fat-mat left over from the blue truck to do the firewall and dash while I had best access. I can do rest of the cab when it is time for interior.





Now if I can figure out how to get the spring back on the clutch pedal?

[SteveCanup]

Big springs can be removed and installed with a piece of "swing-set" chain. Just take a length and hook the spring to one end and take a large screwdriver through the other end to pull the spring onto whatever place that you need it....

[JeffinMooresville]

Thanks Steve, that did it !

[My wife's nightmare]

That Rattle-trap is a great product. Really wish I'd put some in the 65

[JeffinMooresville]

Making some progress on truck assembly. It is slow and a lot of trial and error.

I got the steering linkage mocked up and ready for final install after column gets painted in next batch. I used original steering column, just chopped off the end.



Put inner fenders and radiator support on to check clearance for brake, fuel lines.





Then pulled those back off and with Doug’s help got the engine and trans installed (at least initial install)



Engine was really tight on drivers side firewall (1/4”)… going to see if I can shift forward a little.

[SteveCanup]

Nice! That looks great, Jeff!

[JeffinMooresville]

Progress has been slow, got a little sidetracked on some other projects, but determined to get back to work and get the truck ready for Gatlinburg show in May.

I got the bed back from painter, working on getting all of the brake lines, fuel lines, wiring in before putting on… so now just taking up space in the shop.



Put fuel door on the side.



Haven’t determined how to finish the tailgate hardware, hinges etc.



Still in mock up mode, put the inner fenders and rad support in and put in this cold case radiator, I have heard that 65 and 66 are unique, but this is same radiator I put in 63 and bolted right up. It will have shroud and electric fans, but looks like plenty of clearance.





Also getting everything ready to install on firewall under the dash, heater, windshield wipers etc.



Still planning the layout / routing of fuel regulator, wiring etc. and want to make sure everything works.

[SteveCanup]

That paint is gorgeous! That is a great color...

[grump]

Dang, that's looking good. The green looks really nice. Keep up the good work.

[JeffinMooresville]

Finally got fuel lines installed, still have to mount regulator on firewall and terminate the soft lines. My Fuel pump is in tank, so I ran 3/8” fuel and a return line to regulator. Jeez, I feel like I have $500 in friggin fuel line, flex line, AN fittings and such. I swear if it leaks one drop when I start it up, I am going to rip it out and run rubber hose , like old school.







Disregard my temporary trans cross member spacer block, I still have to pull motor and trans for final placement.

Some people make running these lines look like art…. Mine turns out to look like plumbing… oh well, stop stressing out over stuff that nobody is going to see. As long as it works as expected, I will be happy.

[My wife's nightmare]

Looks like artwork to me!
I'm ready to hear this one run

[shipwrecked]

Man this looks so good!

[JeffinMooresville]

Thanks all for encouragement, slow going and hard to get motivated when the weather is cold (shop heat is old woodstove that struggles to get it to 50 on a good day)… but , gotta keep working it , a little at a time.

Working on wrapping up fuel and brake plumbing… almost there, next wiring while engine is out and front clip is off.

[JeffinMooresville]

Made a little progress over last few days. I got fuel regulator installed and completed the braided flex lines, so except for the flex line run to the carb, fuel plumbing is complete. Still have to put bed on and run the filler hose and vents.



Also finished the brake lines to rear brakes. Decided to keep hardlines on the frame and use flex lines to the rear calipers.







Have to order correct caliper inlet fittings, of course Wilwood uses a Wilwood specific thread.

Do you guys use any type of thread sealant on the brake fittings? They are combination on 3/16” inverted flare and 3AN. The new brake tool is awesome and makes perfect flares every time, 100x better than the old manual one I used for the 63.

[aarons428]

There should be no need to put thread sealant on those fittings as they both seal on the taper NOT on the threads. Is there a leakage issue?

[JeffinMooresville]

OK, didn’t think so… just checking while I am finishing up plumbing. Have not put fluid in or bled master/brake lines yet.

[JeffinMooresville]

Ok, started on Wiring this weekend. I went with the Speedway 22 circuit kit. Started by just unrolling the wires, and selecting the wires that are going to be run outside of the cab. I mounted the fuse box on kick panel.



I am using the speedometer cable hole thru firewall, cuz I will be using electronic speedometer on Tremec trans. Got the all out and started to group together in 3 basic runs. engine wires (coil, temp, oil pressure), rear wires, brake lights, turn signals, gas gauge) and front wire runs ( front lights, turn signals, fan etc.) and started to think about where to route. I think I will follow bottom lip of firewall where paint ends and then along bottom of fender for engine and front runs. Rear run is basically straight down to frame rail and to back in rail.







This allowed me to get the basic runs from the firewall and then I was able to add some runs that were not included in the kit. Fuel Pump, Neutral Safety Switch (to transmission), reverse light (from transmission) and electric Choke.

I am using relays for a number of the circuits and decided to group them together up from for serviceability under the battery tray. I found this relay enclosure that will hold 6 relays and hopefully will hide a lot of the wiring for clean install.



I was able to go over and check Doug’s install for some tips and advice. Appreciate that !

I still have a LOT to do, as I have not bought gauges yet, nor touched any of the inside the cab wiring. I have loom material etc and clamps for the final cleanup. The largest loom I had was 1/2” and based on the main front run, I am going to need at least 3/4”. I also have not found the ideal crimpers for the relay 6.3mm pins and other connectors. The pair I had (Klein) has wrong die and does not “roll over” the crimp on connectors.

Just bought these from Amazon… looks like they have the little heart top crimp die… so hopefully they will be the trick. Thank goodness for 1-2 day delivery.

[JeffinMooresville]

Starting to wire up the relay panel above… I made a little map of all the wires and what pins they connect to in the panel. The new crimps came in ( see last post) and they are perfect. I am using 12 and 16 gauge wires and they create a nice crimp.



The panel has these rubber bushings to make it watertight… so you have to pay attention and make sure you get it in the right hole before the crimp…. Like getting perfect flare on brake line and realizing you forgot to put the fitting on.



Going to use these distribution blocks for 12v battery source and common ground.



The 3/4” split loom also came in and looks like this will be perfect size for the main wire bundles… I can’t imagine needing anything larger.

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I am focusing on engine compartment wiring while I have good access…. And then I can put engine back in and finalize the wiring. Would like to get everything that attaches to firewall finished.