NYC Journal

[Calzone]

A power steering ratio is typically 12.71:1, and my manual steering is 24:1 and pretty much nearly twice the steering input is required to provide the trade off of leverage required. On top of the higher ratio on the manual steering box my steering wheel has a 16 1/4 inch diameter rather than the 15 inch typically used with power steering.

Lock to lock is only 3 turns with power steering, and it is 6 turns with manual steering.

So why would be the hype to want manual steering? No parasitic loss of power because of no hydraulic pump. More road feel/transmission. Less hyper steering that favors high speed driving or cruising. Lastly historical or retro vibe/taste.

BTW I ran a power steering box with the 12.71 ratio without the hydraulic pump, because my manual steering box had sloppy lash from wear. Know that the modern replacement manual steering boxes are made with new tooling and are of higher more durable quality.

Pretty much power steering is wonderful for parking, or if you do a lot of city driving, but in open roads and mostly highway it is not really needed.

I kinda remember from 30 years ago the feel was more a less hyper steering was more relaxing. The only time I missed power steering was parking in tight spaces. Parking at times was a workout and required skill and experience.

So for me this takes me back about 40 years.

No power steering and no power brakes is likely an experience many drivers have not had. I also favor a manual “choke” with carbs.

I’m digging into deferring adding the Currie Ford 9-inch rear. Not required in phase one which involves keeping the inline-6 and three on the tree tranny. This saves almost $5K, and would involve keeping the retro 6 lugs and retaining drum brakes on the rear.

This might be an issue with a disc brake rotors… More research required…

Cal

 

[Calzone]

Power steering even at high speeds saves a lot of strength. Formula One cars use power steering. Tremendous forces at work at resisting G-forces. Lots of upper body strength and physical conditioning required.

Hmmm…

A possible rethink. Also $249.00 is not an unreasonable cost for a new/not rebuilt manual steering box. Pretty much a bridge if required. Upgrading to power steering would then happen with the ZZ6 engine upgrade. A turnkey motor comes with a power steering pump.

The manual steering box I have is leaky, but it is 58 years old. If there is no slop or lash then I still can run with the old OEM steering box.

The thing I’m trying to do here is plan out a feasible manner to phase in the Ford 9-inch rear with the engine swap. Rear dis brakes would come with the Ford 9-inch.

The first thing to do is the inline-6 valve head to see how useful the OEM engine is...

Cal

 

[Calzone]

Friday’s markets was a relatively bad sell-off.

My worry is that oil prices jumped already $8.00, and this could jump even higher. The choke point for energy shipments in the Red Sea could now be a bigger target.

Higher oil prices is highly inflationary and could trigger or lead to a recession.

Again, “four out of five recessions are caused by high energy prices.”

June is getting full with medical appointments for both me and “Maggie.” We still have to fill in the calendar with my daily radiation treatment. This is 5-days a week for 8 weeks, except for holidays.

I am told the fatigue will get slightly worse, which is not so bad. Makes sense that the fatigue could be accumulative.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

Thinking of arranging a NYC Meet-Up, but here is the twist: have it at The Hudson River Museum in Yonkers.

On June 21st my friend Joe has a big show there, and he also at 2:00 PM is giving an artist talk. Joe is an old geezer, and he is a member of the Hudson River School of Photography. Joe shoots both digital and analog also including large format.

Some pretty serious work.

If anyone is interested I’ll post links. For those coming from NYC the nearest Metro North stop is Glenwood Station and not Yonkers. On google they say it is a 7 minute walk from the Glenwood Metro North Station.

Cal

 

[Phil_F_NM]

At least one day this summer I want to make it to the Kissena Velodrome with at least one, if not two path racers.
Phil

 

[jszokoli]

I’d come up for a meet-up. You should start a separate tread for the meet-up.
Joe

 

[Calzone]

Joe,

That was my intent.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

I started the new thread for Joe’s event/artist’s talk.

Figure that Joe has been a photographer for over 50 years. Truly an old geezer. LOL.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

We have multiple generations of rabbits inhabiting our yard. Seems like even more than last year. There are hand sized bunnies and some I would say are teenagers kinda.

Looks like rain over the next few days. Seattle like weather before they started having droughts and forest fires. They say the air quality is bad here in New York due to Canadian wild fires.

Perhaps I should get gas before the price increases. Friday’s market point to political un stability and war escalations. What a mess…

Cal

 

[Phil_F_NM]

This week it's a wildfire in New Jersey that is choking us down here. Not sure if the smoke is making its way up there, but based upon the winds, I'd say probably.
Phil

 

[Calzone]

Phil,

Did not know there was a wildfire nearby. The Canadian wildfires are old news and continue to burn.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

Filled up with Mobil Premium today: $3.679 a gallon. Not bad considering the recent spike in oil prices. Know that it takes some time for the “input” costs to filter down to the consumer. I expect though in the future for gas prices to inflate. The Mid East is a mess.

The history lesson here is that the invasion of Iraq destabilized the Mid East. The balance of power was between Iraq and Iran, but now Iran dominates, and escalation of war increases. Not muy bueno.

Had a dental appointment for “Maggie.” Two new teeth on top of two implants. What was nice is that we remained in Westchester. Also it seems the new teeth somehow use 3-D printing for the positive. I think the mold is still performed in the traditional way. Also the filling is plug and play: EZ-PZ. In the past some trial and error fitting.

Last night I think around 4:00 AM we heard the sounds of a coyote or Coywolf. The sounds are like of a human baby crying. In New Mexico I heard a pack of coyotes and it was like a nursery of crying babies.

In my backyard I have seen scat with fur in it. Coyote feces…

Got back some test results from the drawn blood. Pretty much the same levels of out of range that are my normals. Still anemic…

I continue to dig into C-10 research. A Ride Tech Street Grip system looks more attractive for my application. Dual rate springs that quickly firm up is an attractive feature: less oriented for Autocross; less stiff; and lacks the adjustability which I don’t need. Will save enough money to kinda pay half the cost of that almost $5K Currie Ford 9-inch rear axel with 12 inch Wilwood disc brakes.

I’ll dig into this more. Know that this Street-Grip system includes 2-stage tunable shocks and new tube upper and lower control arms.

Also I figure that my low profile wheels and tires will be limited to only an 18 inch rim. I want a sidewall for some tire height and cushion. I figure 225/60R18’s in the front and 275/50R18’s in the rear. I remain pretty close to the diameter of the 215/75R15’s that came OEM with the truck when new. Pretty much no speedometer error, or so small that it does not count.

The truck though will sit 6 inches lower in the rear and 2 1/2 inches lower in the front. The 225 front width honors the retro OEM manual steering and allows no need for power steering.

There is a learning curve because of the interaction between tire and rim size along with suspension lowering to define the “stance” of a truck. My C-10 won’t hug the ground, but the profile of the wheels and tires is in an intermediate stage at 18 inch from 15, and not the exaggerated 22 inch.

The 4/6 front to rear lowering is a kinda standard. A 4/6 though is enough to require a C-notch in the frame to gain axel clearence.

I’m kinda satisfied with the Ride Tech 2-stage adjustable shocks: adjustable for both compression and rebound. These are highly rated.

Pretty much coil-overs are pretty and offer adjustability. Pretty much this additional tuning is not required or even needed and would go wasted in my application. I’m not going to race or do Autocross. If I do then I’ll build something else. Hmmm… The C-10 could be my tow vehicle for any race car…

Cal

 

[Calzone]

I watched a video on a suspension install on an early C-10.

I was impressed that two guys could flip a naked truck frame over to easily turn it upside down. Of course the body, engine, tranny, and other suspension parts were all removed.

The video involved a Ride Tech air bagged kit, but pretty much a coil over is the same length as an air bag.

The air bag has it’s advantages, but then again it is not as durable and has higher maintenance costs. I’d rather avoid the complexity.

Clear to me that it makes sense to disassemble the truck, install the kit on an empty frame, and then remove the kit to have the frame cleaned and powder coated. “One and done,” as they say.

Sounds like a lot of work, but once you have a bare frame the suspension can be assembled in less than a weekend.

Anyways this kinda reminds me of the work I did at Grumman, kinda project oriented, yet detailed. I was really good at this type of work, and I guess I had good organizational skills.

When I put the Corvette engine in the Jeep I swung the engine, tranny and engine into the Jeep by myself. There were a lot of in’s and outs because I had to drill engine and transmission mount holes into the frame. On the C-10 I’ll use the factory motor mount holes.

The engineering today is more advanced than when I did it in the late 80’s.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

Seems like the markets in the world shrugged off all the negativity in a kinda fatigue, numbness or dumbness.

What is being suggested that a conditioning has happened that defies history, knowledge and intelligence. Kinda crazy…

The markets are either at record highs or very near record highs.

Hmmm… Shock and awe has numbed and dumbed everyone it seems…

I spent some time pulling Knotweed on the slope. The marsh grass is kinda being invasive, moving up the slope, but I don’t mind. In fact I’m going to prune back some brush and these “Tree’s from Heaven” to encourage the marsh grass.

At the base of the slope it is a dense thicket. Kinda impassable now, and I only have limited access. Oh-well…

Cal

 

[Calzone]

Today we have the grandson, and tonight is the granddaughter’s graduation of sorts.

Been pricing die grinders. I think I will continue to accumulate Milwaukee M18 tools. It does seem like a plasma cutter is an expense that is hard to justify, unless I get into welding.

As you can see I let my mind wander.

Glad I did some gardening yesterday. The base of the slope is a thicket and like a jungle. In such quarters it gets hot and steamy fast.

Instead of powder coating there is also POR-15. This is a paint that has a chemical bond and also chemically pickles any rust, and then pots it. It is a DIY. If you get any on you it has to be worn off.

Our Baby-Victorian we nicknamed “The Rabbit Hutch.”

Cal

 

[Calzone]

From Flowmaster I can get a stainless steel exhaust system, this includes 2 1/2 dual exhaust and a crossover pipe.

The strong aftermarket means there is no shortage of parts. The price isn’t too crazy. On my Jeep I had a custom made dual 2 1/2 aluminized exhaust, no crossover, that exited by the rear bumper.

Also a 350 SBC engine with aluminum heads, aluminum intake manifold, along with headers is kinda thew same weight as the inline-6. Hmmm…

The three-on-a-tree tranny only weighs 65 pounds, but the T-56 manual 6-speed is 130 pounds.

I’m researching this because Phase One is doing the chassis work and keeping the OEM engine and tranny.

I want to spend my money once…

Cal

 

[Phil_F_NM]

I love POR-15. If I didn't have a bunch of bikes that I already loved their paint jobs, I would coat one frame in POR-15. Maybe I'll do that to my ultimate touring Univega.
I've decided that I'll be building the Puch Mistral soon and will begin my day with a 40 mile ride before heading to work.
Phil

 

[Calzone]

I had the Steel IBIS powder coated Fluorescent Orange. Didn’t want to get mistaken for a deer back in the day. We rode on mucho narrow deer trails in the pine barrens on the eastern end of Long Island.

Over time the powder coat blistered, and now it kinda looks cool like a retro spatter paint job that IBIS did as a kinda trademark.

Not so sure powder coating as being superior to POR-15. The look is similar though.

The key though is the cleaning and prep…

Cal

 

[Phil_F_NM]

I've done the paint jobs on my last two restorations, the first is the 1949 Rotrax, the second is the 1964 A.S. Gillott. I think both paint jobs came out well. I'm not only cheap, but also close to poor, so I'm aiming for least amount of cost with the highest amount of return. That's why I do my paint myself. As for durability, I'm pretty sure POR-15 is more durable than powder coat if the prep is done carefully for both. And it's cheap too. Heavy, but really cheap.
Phil

 

[Calzone]

Phil,

Since the OEM original finish has a great fade/patina (Forest Green) that displays a wonderful aged look now 59 years old, I intend on just applying a clear coat to seal the original finish and pot the limited amount of surface rust. This is all DIY, but the kit costs a few hundred dollars.

The only cosmetic thing I need to do is replace the original wooden bed that currently is half gone and rotted out. About $1.5K for an oak replacement. Oh-well.

The idea here is show off the OEM and that the truck is a “survivor.” I’m not building out any show truck here. Fact is though is that the body and original paint is in remarkable original shape. There is a vast amount of beauty on display here.

From the outside it will look old truck… Pretty much nothing fancy or “loud,” at least visually.

The suspension kit does not support the factory OEM drum brakes so I have to upgrade them to discs. The steel wheels are a bit of a jump in modern profile, but will honor the retro look with utilizing dog dish wheel caps.

Also know I’m not slamming the C-10 by any means, lowered for a more car like handling and for a smoother ride. Not built for Autocross or any track, but setup for long highway drives. Basically a long-haul cruiser.

The 8-foot bed will still be usable for hauling. The truck arm rear I learned was once used in NASCAR before 4-link. I’m leaning now towards the coil-over suspension front and rear. The factory auxiliary springs might be usable with the new truck arms.

You know me: I’m a lazy-slacker.

Cal