Novak Conversions Jeep Wrangler TJ engine mounts

My 1973 K10 Chevy Cheyenne

ColoJeep said:
Sounds like it would have been easier to fix the valve and switch . Does the Sniper FI use a return to tank line? If so you could use a 1980 C6P K-20 valve and switch.
Click to expand...

The Sniper uses a return line, yes.

However, my plan is to use dual Holley 12-308 pumps which are in-tank pumps and have a built in sending unit and HydraMat. They’ve also got built in return lines.

I’m going to purchase new fuel tanks with baffles in them (since the factory tanks aren’t baffled) and I’m going to use the Pollock valve from an 87 square body.

I can wire all of this up to the factory switch. This will get everything working but also give me some upgrades at the same time, particularly the baffled tanks and the Holley fuel pumps which are spendy but nice.
 
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@Chris your new plate?
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I've been pacing myself with this steering job. That's one of the nice things about getting older, I no longer feel rushed to do things. I enjoy things more when I put around at my own pace.

I got everything bolted back up and installed the new Boregeson u-joint steering shaft:

tempImageu8ZM9T.png


tempImageKOYZPz.png


I am unable to torque the pitman arm and steering box bolts down at the moment. You can see the new steering box brace in the photo below. This brace goes from the back of the steering box (two of the bolts at least) and then ties in to the front crossmember. Unfortunately in order to mount it to the crossmember it is required that you drill a 5/8" hole. I do not have a drill that will fit in the limited space I have to do this with (about 12 inches at most) so I ordered a stubby 5/8" drill bit and I'm going to see if one of my neighbors has a right-angle drill or a hole-hog that I can borrow to fit in this tight space.

BTW, right angle drills aren't cheap, that's for damn sure! I was going to go buy one since it never hurts to have more tools. Little did I know that it's almost $400 for a corded model: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Makita-...-Side-Handle-and-Tool-Case-DA4000LR/100594823

Once that's done the 5/8" bolts that go through the crossmember are torqued to a whopping 125 ft/lbs! Needless to say my steering problems are over.

tempImageryAnbO.png


In preparation for my next project (fixing the dual saddle fuel tanks and the wiring fiasco the previous owner left me) I bought two new fuel tanks, Holley 12-308 fuel pumps, and I'm going to get started next on building the wiring harness for them to attach to the factory DPDT dashboard switch. I'll finally have two fuel tanks that work, each with their own sending unit. No idea what the previous owner was thinking but he sure sucked at wiring.

tempImagejtrufQ.png


tempImageLKiyyP.png


tempImageDHmdRJ.png
 
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Chris said:
I've been pacing myself with this steering job. That's one of the nice things about getting older, I no longer feel rushed to do things. I enjoy things more when I put around at my own pace.

I got everything bolted back up and installed the new Boregeson u-joint steering shaft:

View attachment 643463

View attachment 643465

I am unable to torque the pitman arm and steering box bolts down at the moment. You can see the new steering box brace in the photo below. This brace goes from the back of the steering box (two of the bolts at least) and then ties in to the front crossmember. Unfortunately in order to mount it to the crossmember it is required that you drill a 5/8" hole. I do not have a drill that will fit in the limited space I have to do this with (about 12 inches at most) so I ordered a stubby 5/8" drill bit and I'm going to see if one of my neighbors has a right-angle drill or a hole-hog that I can borrow to fit in this tight space.

BTW, right angle drills aren't cheap, that's for damn sure! I was going to go buy one since it never hurts to have more tools. Little did I know that it's almost $400 for a corded model: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Makita-...-Side-Handle-and-Tool-Case-DA4000LR/100594823

Once that's done the 5/8" bolts that go through the crossmember are torqued to a whopping 125 ft/lbs! Needless to say my steering problems are over.

View attachment 643464

In preparation for my next project (fixing the dual saddle fuel tanks and the wiring fiasco the previous owner left me) I bought two new fuel tanks, Holley 12-308 fuel pumps, and I'm going to get started next on building the wiring harness for them to attach to the factory DPDT dashboard switch. I'll finally have two fuel tanks that work, each with their own sending unit. No idea what the previous owner was thinking but he sure sucked at wiring.

View attachment 643460

View attachment 643461

View attachment 643462
Click to expand...

An Unibit is your friend in tight spots .

OIP-756610342.jpg
 
ColoJeep said:
An Unibit is your friend in tight spots .

View attachment 643485
Click to expand...

Agreed, I've got one of those too that I may end up using. I've used them before and they work great.

The real issue is the right angle drill. Gotta go ask my neighbors if someone has one. Otherwise it looks like my local Home Depot rents them for $20 a day which would be fine.
 
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I feel like an idiot. I borrowed my neighbors right angle drill, went down to the shop, attached the Unibit and started to drill the holes.

All went well until I noticed leaking fluid. My stupid self drilled through the crossmember and just on the other side of it I barely nicked the drivers side front brake hard line.

So now it looks like I got a new project. Replacing the brake proportioning valve with a new unit and replacing all the hard brake lines with new stainless brake lines.

Sure, I could just replace the front hard line that I nicked (which would be pretty easy), but since the stock lines and proportioning valve have a lot of surface rust on them, I may as well replace all of it with stainless hardware.

In addition, if I'm going to bleed the brakes, I may as well make it worth it.

I sure feel stupid!
 
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Chris said:
I feel like an idiot. I borrowed my neighbors right angle drill, went down to the shop, attached the Unibit and started to drill the holes.

All went well until I noticed leaking fluid. My stupid self drilled through the crossmember and just on the other side of it I barely nicked the drivers side front brake hard line.

So now it looks like I got a new project. Replacing the brake proportioning valve with a new unit and replacing all the hard brake lines with new stainless brake lines.

Sure, I could just replace the front hard line that I nicked (which would be pretty easy), but since the stock lines and proportioning valve have a lot of surface rust on them, I may as well replace all of it with stainless hardware.

In addition, if I'm going to bleed the brakes, I may as well make it worth it.

I sure feel stupid!
Click to expand...

Not the while-your-in-there-itis!!
 
Chris said:
I feel like an idiot. I borrowed my neighbors right angle drill, went down to the shop, attached the Unibit and started to drill the holes.

All went well until I noticed leaking fluid. My stupid self drilled through the crossmember and just on the other side of it I barely nicked the drivers side front brake hard line.

So now it looks like I got a new project. Replacing the brake proportioning valve with a new unit and replacing all the hard brake lines with new stainless brake lines.

Sure, I could just replace the front hard line that I nicked (which would be pretty easy), but since the stock lines and proportioning valve have a lot of surface rust on them, I may as well replace all of it with stainless hardware.

In addition, if I'm going to bleed the brakes, I may as well make it worth it.

I sure feel stupid!
Click to expand...

I'm sure everyone on this forum who has worked a vehicle has screwed up something sometime. But it's bummer when you realize what you've done.

Hopefully the new proportioning valve isn't a crap part like many new parts are , for what it's worth , I would reuse a 52 yr. old part , than a Chi-Com special .

May the wind be at your back as you finish up this project !
 
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ColoJeep said:
I'm sure everyone on this forum who has worked a vehicle has screwed up something sometime. But it's bummer when you realize what you've done.

Hopefully the new proportioning valve isn't a crap part like many new parts are , for what it's worth , I would reuse a 52 yr. old part , than a Chi-Com special .

May the wind be at your back as you finish up this project !
Click to expand...

That's what I get for not looking before I drilled. I knew that brake line was back there too, I had just forgotten since it's been a few days since I was in there.

Well, from my research everyone seems to say that all the Chinese proportioning valves are trash. I'm not surprised. It's just story-after-story online of people replacing there's and then having leaks a few months later.

Maybe I'll just keep what's in there and take the wire wheel to it to make it look new. Then I'd just have to replace the hard lines which isn't too bad. They're easily accessible.
 
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I accidentally caught my rear hard-line when cleaning up for my outboard... I feel your pain here.

My 1981 F150 isn't quite as nice as your Chevy, but I do love these old trucks. Yours looks excellent 👌
 
Today marks the second time my square body has run out of gas on me.

In fairness, it's my own fault. When I bought the truck the dual fuel tanks didn't work (only the main tank worked) and the fuel gauge was in no way whatsoever accurate. My next project is fixing the tanks (as anyone knows who has been following my threads on this forum). Still, I figured I've got 16 gallons in the main tank and that should be enough to get me to and from since I don't do much driving.

Oh boy was I wrong! Today my square body ran out of gas on me for the second time and left me stranded on the side of the road. I was shaking my head thinking I just filled the main tank a few weeks ago and I'll be damned if I've driven more than 50 miles (if that), unless I am forgetting something.

I had the thing towed home, put more gas in it, and it fired right up.

I know, stupid me. The fuel gauge doesn't work so how could I ever really know for sure? Still, my main driver which is a 2019 F150 3.5 Ecoboost gets much better (though not great) MPG. I figured that the K10 would get much worse MPG than the F150, but I had no idea it would be this much worse!

I suppose it doesn't help that I've got a 500HP Blueprint Engines 396 stroker in there with a Holley Sniper EFI setup. No idea what sort of MPG it's getting but after today I'm convinced I'm getting 8 MPG at best.

Anyways, I didn't buy this thing for the MPG (obviously) but I had no idea this thing would suck gas the way it does! Talk about a wakeup call :LOL:

The cold weather and snow is about to set in here in rural Wyoming so it's time to get started on the fuel tank project!
 
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Chris said:
Today marks the second time my square body has run out of gas on me.

In fairness, it's my own fault. When I bought the truck the dual fuel tanks didn't work (only the main tank worked) and the fuel gauge was in no way whatsoever accurate. My next project is fixing the tanks (as anyone knows who has been following my threads on this forum). Still, I figured I've got 16 gallons in the main tank and that should be enough to get me to and from since I don't do much driving.

Oh boy was I wrong! Today my square body ran out of gas on me for the second time and left me stranded on the side of the road. I was shaking my head thinking I just filled the main tank a few weeks ago and I'll be damned if I've driven more than 50 miles (if that), unless I am forgetting something.

I had the thing towed home, put more gas in it, and it fired right up.

I know, stupid me. The fuel gauge doesn't work so how could I ever really know for sure? Still, my main driver which is a 2019 F150 3.5 Ecoboost gets much better (though not great) MPG. I figured that the K10 would get much worse MPG than the F150, but I had no idea it would be this much worse!

I suppose it doesn't help that I've got a 500HP Blueprint Engines 396 stroker in there with a Holley Sniper EFI setup. No idea what sort of MPG it's getting but after today I'm convinced I'm getting 8 MPG at best.

Anyways, I didn't buy this thing for the MPG (obviously) but I had no idea this thing would suck gas the way it does! Talk about a wakeup call :LOL:

The cold weather and snow is about to set in here in rural Wyoming so it's time to get started on the fuel tank project!
Click to expand...

We had a 74 K-20 Suburban that would only get 7.5 to 8 m.p.g. $ 800.00 Suburban 327 with 350 smog heads / T-350 / 4.10 gears . Our 80 K-20 Suburban would get 13.5 to 15 with a 350 and a CH 465 truck 4 spd. and 3.73 gears . But they had 31 and 40 gallon tanks ! 16 is too small as you now know . It will be good once you get it sorted out !
 
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ColoJeep said:
We had a 74 K-20 Suburban that would only get 7.5 to 8 m.p.g. $ 800.00 Suburban 327 with 350 smog heads / T-350 / 4.10 gears . Our 80 K-20 Suburban would get 13.5 to 15 with a 350 and a CH 465 truck 4 spd. and 3.73 gears . But they had 31 and 40 gallon tanks ! 16 is too small as you now know . It will be good once you get it sorted out !
Click to expand...

All the guys on the square body forum say that 8 MPG is normal for my setup. I need both tanks working and the fuel gauge.

I’m shocked at how quickly it went through 16 gallons. Even my TJ on 35s got better MPGs!
 
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Rickyd said:
Chris could you do a an exhaust note video? I'm curious how that beast sounds!
Click to expand...

When I bought it from Streetside on consignment they had a video that was well done that showcases the sound:


That video starts right at the good part. He gets on it and drives it in the video as well.

It's got a very lumpy idle and it sounds absolutely killer with the long tube headers and full exhaust. The camshaft that is in it is quite aggressive.

The specs on the cam are as follows:

Camshaft: Hydraulic Roller Cam - .638 Intake / .622 Exhaust Lift and 251 Intake / 259 Exhaust Duration @ .050 - 114° LSA

Here's the link to the engine that's in it:

https://blueprintengines.com/collec...ower-base-dressed-carbureted-motorsports-copy
 
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