51 B3B build thread - after all these years

[9 foot box]

   I would use a fel-pro 60146 gasket. It works for my applications. They require that the header pipe inserts the manifold a bit, for a seal. It’s important that the header pipe inserts the exhaust manifold 1/4” or a little less. I had to have a shop mill my rear outlet for fitment of a 2” pipe.

 

[bkahler]

16 hours ago, JBNeal said:

I think those beveled donuts work if there is a beveled seat for them to mate to...the guy who did my exhaust put some sort of slight expansion on the downpipes for a floating flange so that the gasket contacted the flanges and tip of downpipe, pipe extension went slightly into the exhaust manifold.  The flanges could line up and seal with the gasket, and the floating flange wedged the downpipe into place, sealing it off.  This is similar to how the downpipe is attached on the QuadCab, works well and is self-aligning with bolt torque.

 

I think therein lies the problem.  It looks like the new down turn was built to handle up to 2-1/2" pipe so the opening is straight (parallel?) to the tube and not tapered.  So the donut likely won't do the job either.  Yours's sounds like an interesting arrangement.  Finding a gasket for the original rear dump was easy, finding something appropriate for the front is a different story.  

 

The gasket I'm using at the moment is 2.16" ID which leaves 1/16" gap between the tube and the gasket.  The biggest problem I see is the thin width of the flanges themselves.  I think they are about 1/4" which is not a lot of material when  you're dealing with hot exhaust gasses.  I guess the good news is the pipe does stub up into the down turn which should help the situation.  I guess we'll know once I start the engine.

 

 

[bkahler]

6 hours ago, 9 foot box said:

   I would use a fel-pro 60146 gasket. It works for my applications. They require that the header pipe inserts the manifold a bit, for a seal. It’s important that the header pipe inserts the exhaust manifold 1/4” or a little less. I had to have a shop mill my rear outlet for fitment of a 2” pipe.

 

 

Yes, the pipe does stick up into the manifold, by about 1/4" to 5/16" or so.

 

I'll check the local parts houses to see if they have in stock. If it's a better fit around the pipe itself it might worth trying.

 

Thanks for the part number.

 

[bkahler]

I think other than hangers the exhaust system is basically done.  I do still need to weld one joint but I'll do that this weekend.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm sure it could have been done better but overall I think I'm satisfied with how it came out.  The only thing I'm debating is whether to use a soft mount at the end of the tail pipe or to hard mount it with a mount like Mark used.  Also the bottom of the muffler is a little lower than I would have preferred but it will do

 

Brad

Edited February 16, 2022 by bkahler

[bkahler]

Also a little more progress on the passenger side bed wall.  Once I finished removing the spot welds some of the bow came out.  However it appears there area two low spots on each side of the center area so I'm not real sure just yet how I can straight them.  

 

I'm open to suggestions

 

 

[JBNeal]

This may sound like a cop out, but considering the quality control back when these trucks were being cranked out, I reckon they accepted some variation on the bed dimensions.  I noticed on several truck beds by the house that they are not perfectly straight at the top of the bed sides, especially the 9 footer that has a bow in it that ya cannot see unless ya look right up the bead.  My opinion is that as long as the slicked up bed is squared up with all the boards in place, and the tailgate opens and closes without binding, then you've got yourself a winner ?

[ggdad1951]

No reason to not do the original mounts IMO unless you are doing a drastic change to the power plant.  With these small flatties engine twist is very minimal.  Your truck though, do what you want!  ?

[bkahler]

13 hours ago, JBNeal said:

This may sound like a cop out, but considering the quality control back when these trucks were being cranked out, I reckon they accepted some variation on the bed dimensions.  I noticed on several truck beds by the house that they are not perfectly straight at the top of the bed sides, especially the 9 footer that has a bow in it that ya cannot see unless ya look right up the bead.  My opinion is that as long as the slicked up bed is squared up with all the boards in place, and the tailgate opens and closes without binding, then you've got yourself a winner ?

 

I tend to agree with your assessment.  The only real concern I have is getting the side flat enough to be able to weld the angle strip in place.  There are two dips or low points on each side of the fender opening that will cause issues.  I'll try and get better pictures this evening to show what I'm talking about.  I'm sure it's fixable, just need to make sure it gets done right the first time!

 

[bkahler]

7 hours ago, ggdad1951 said:

No reason to not do the original mounts IMO unless you are doing a drastic change to the power plant.  With these small flatties engine twist is very minimal.  Your truck though, do what you want!  ?

 

I went ahead and ordered a solid style of mount this morning.  I'm guessing originally all mounts were of the solid type.

 

I will be using a flexible mount right above the rear of the muffler.  That should provide enough flex, or that's the hope anyway!

 

 

[bkahler]

Maybe the best way to describe the issue is the side wall is wavy.  This area really does need to be straight so the angle fits properly. 

 

 

 

[JBNeal]

that bowing very much looks like the effect of spot welding too fast sequentially.  I dealt with this once on a job, and remedied the bowing by spot welding the center then working outwards, skipping every other spot weld, then going back to the center and spot welding the remainder.

 

One of the tricks I picked up years ago was that sheet metal can be bowed by putting a weld bead on the opposite side of the bow desired.  When done, the bead can be carefully ground off.  In this case, ya might be able to put slightly taller blocking under the center of the panel with blocking under either end with some weights on the ends to flex the panel enough for that angle install.

[ggdad1951]

Yes, you can use welds to heat deflect metal parts.  I did this on the tip front for TODD to bring the pivot bits back in line after welding all the other bits on, then grinding the welds off.

[bkahler]

Not much progress in the last week or so.  Weather, job and a massive tree removal project has slowed me down.

 

I think I did finally manage to find the correct exhaust gasket for the front down pipe.  Hopefully I can fit it this weekend.  It's amazing how many manufacturers don't know what 2 inches really means

 

The large gasket is for the factory rear dump and the small one is for the new front dump.

 

 

 

 

I also received the aluminum tie straps that I ordered a few weeks ago.  These came from England.  

 

 

 

And I received the fixed exhaust clamp a couple of days ago.  I will need to put a 90 degree bend so that it matches up to the underside of the frame.  So for the exhaust I just need to install the new front down pipe gasket, bend and install this hanger, install a hanger just aft of the muffler and weld the splice joint in the tail pipe.

 

 

 

Painting is currently at a standstill because the painter is having issues with fisheye and hasn't been able to figure out why.  We are now going to wait for some warm and sunny weather to see if that helps.

 

And last but not least sometime today I should be receiving the bed wood   Assuming it shows up I'll post some pictures tonight.

 

Brad

 

 

 

[bkahler]

The wood planks arrived as expected.  I've opted to use Cyprus mainly due to availability and it is supposed to be have good resistance to the elements.  The boards are 4/4 12" x 96" and surfaced one side so I have plenty of area to get the boards I need out of them.  Also I got seven of them, just in case

 

One of the decisions I have to make is do I want the surfaced side up or the sawn side up.  I will be painting the wood and metal strips black.

 

 

 

[billrigsby]

On 2/25/2022 at 8:11 AM, bkahler said:

I also received the aluminum tie straps that I ordered a few weeks ago.  These came from England.  

 

Do you have a link/supplier?

 

[bkahler]

2 hours ago, billrigsby said:

 

Do you have a link/supplier?

 

 

Here is the ebay listing for the aluminum ties that I purchased.

 

Edited February 26, 2022 by bkahler

[billrigsby]

52 minutes ago, bkahler said:

 

Here is the ebay listing for the aluminum ties that I purchased.

 

Thanks, but Dang....0 available

Found the same from India 9.00

 

Edited February 26, 2022 by billrigsby

[bkahler]

The seller is probably having supply chain issues like everyone else

 

[JBNeal]

I recall hearing about rubbing a solid brick across the rough sawn lumber surface to keep the rough look but to break off all of the "toothpicks"

[Los_Control]

On 2/25/2022 at 9:11 AM, bkahler said:

Painting is currently at a standstill because the painter is having issues with fisheye and hasn't been able to figure out why.  We are now going to wait for some warm and sunny weather to see if that helps.

Just a thought, I was reading a thread recently about paint. A couple of the guys own their own paint & body shops.

One spoke about fish eye, he claimed whenever his air compressor was due for a oil change, would cause fish eye.

 

I imagine it could be plausible, Just enough miles on the old but good air compressor, oil starts to break down ????

I figure to change the oil in my compressor,  as I plan on spraying some paint soon. And it is probably past due anyways.

[bkahler]

On 2/26/2022 at 10:48 PM, JBNeal said:

I recall hearing about rubbing a solid brick across the rough sawn lumber surface to keep the rough look but to break off all of the "toothpicks"

 

Actually I don't think the sawn surface is quite that rough!  I'll be posting more about the wood in the near future.  I have lots of questions on bed building and assembly

 

[bkahler]

On 2/28/2022 at 9:40 AM, Los_Control said:

Just a thought, I was reading a thread recently about paint. A couple of the guys own their own paint & body shops.

One spoke about fish eye, he claimed whenever his air compressor was due for a oil change, would cause fish eye.

 

I imagine it could be plausible, Just enough miles on the old but good air compressor, oil starts to break down ????

I figure to change the oil in my compressor,  as I plan on spraying some paint soon. And it is probably past due anyways.

 

I mentioned that to him and he said he changed the oil very recently, possibly he heard the same thing you did about old oil being a problem.  I think he mentioned something about looking into what type of filters he has and whether or not they need changing.  

 

Thanks!

 

[JBNeal]

I had a fisheye problem when I tried to paint in the lower end of the paint manufacturer's acceptable temperature range...I changed filters but I read somewhere years ago that it could be possible that condensation was forming at the spray tip during longer sprayer passes on larger parts, and those little droplets of moisture would condense on the paint itself as the paint velocity through the tip affected the ambient air dew point at that transition from spray gun to atmosphere.  The only thing that seemed to work was to keep the paint and the sprayer at room temperature, but definitely tried to paint in ambient air temps above 65°F.

[bkahler]

Exhaust system is done.  All gaskets are in place along with all clamps and hangers.  The weather is finally turning nice enough that I will soon be able to push the truck outside for it's first start

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[bkahler]

12 hours ago, JBNeal said:

I had a fisheye problem when I tried to paint in the lower end of the paint manufacturer's acceptable temperature range...I changed filters but I read somewhere years ago that it could be possible that condensation was forming at the spray tip during longer sprayer passes on larger parts, and those little droplets of moisture would condense on the paint itself as the paint velocity through the tip affected the ambient air dew point at that transition from spray gun to atmosphere.  The only thing that seemed to work was to keep the paint and the sprayer at room temperature, but definitely tried to paint in ambient air temps above 65°F.

 

Interesting idea and it actually makes a whole lot of sense.  The humidity here has been atrocious and I know he had been trying to paint at the definite low end of the temperature range.  I'll pass the info on to him, fortunately the weather is finally starting to warm up some.

 

Thanks!