rsicard

Don't be stingy with shielding gas. Keep torch close to work with small wire stick-out. Use proper amperage for material thickness. The you will hear bacon frying when welding. For better welds, lean heel of hand holding torch to near area of welding on work, to keep steady distance of torch to work. Use glove to shield hand holding torch from heat and sparks. A steady torch hand will yield better welds and just rotate the wrist to control torch. Swing torch in small circles, making cursive "e"s to spread out the weld pattern.

Suggest replacing rear brake drums, shoes and wheel cylinders. Then adjust rear shoes. Bleed plenty of fluid through the hard lines. Replace all flexible lines with your Russell braided lines both front and rear. Replace booster and master cylinder. Replace front calipers also with GOOD pads. Then bleed RR, LR, RF and LF brakes and you should be all done with good pedal. Inspect steel hard line running from MC to rear "T" and rear hard lines for any deterioration. Replace as necessary and re-bleed the system.

The SAFEST way is to pre-lube the engine with an external pressurized oil tank. That way you are sure there is adequate lubrication.

Looks like it may be a high or low spot on the bearing. Other than that, look OK.

Depends on what your budget and goals are. Would not trust the cheaper engine builds. They will get by with cast pistons and cast crankshaft. Cheap. Use a GM 350 block. Depends on which engine block came in the car when you purchased it. Take that block or one of same vintage, bore .030 over and clearance for 3.75" stoke crankshaft. Install forged pistons, forged 6" connecting rods and can get by with cast steel 3.75" stroked crankshaft for a 383 cu in displacement. The cylinder head, camshaft and intake system will be the real key to power. The more attention to details, the higher the quality and performance.

When purchasing a used engine, the running oil pressure should be checked. The other items to check would be a compression test and leakdown test. Once the cylinder heads are removed, best to have them cleaned, reseat the valves and leak test the cylinder head assemblies. As a minimum, the oil pump should be replaced to ensure good long lasting oil pressure. Then reassemble the engine and use a good synthetic oil and new quality oil filter.

Steve: Not all that familiar with responding to Email on this forum. Two things to try. First disconnect the fuel line at the output of the pump and connect flexible 3/8" long line directly to the fuel rail on the outside the car as a temporary trial basis. That should eliminate any fuel line restriction issues. If the fuel pressure still drops, likely it may be a voltage drop from the fuel pump relay to the pump itself. This can be verified by attaching another wire at the fuel pump for test purposes and extend the test wire to the drivers seat or wherever. Then get a voltmeter on that test wire and the other meter lead to a good frame ground. Then try the test over again to measure the voltage at the pump when the pressure dips. The voltage should stay within reasonable limits and not significant drop. If there is a drop in voltage, go over the pump source voltage wire connections to make certain they are good. Also make certain there is a good frame ground on the electrical negative side of the pump. Could be just a faulty ground. If so, bypass with heavy gauge wire to better frame ground. Give it a try and lets us know how you made out. Rolly

Try to find a 60 or 80 gallon 2 stage unit that delivers considerable volume. As long as you are just finishing the shop, FIRST arrange for shelving along the walls. The more the better. Made this mistake and not again. Make places to store parts and label what parts are contained within.

HybridHydra: Recommend further research concerning a roll cage. Looked at the Jegs roll cage. Once installed cannot be removed easily. It is the minimal type roll cage. I fabricated my own for a 240Z and made it removable. Same for the racing seats.

Additionally, grounds should be on circuit(s) 450 Black with White tracer, 4 wires, and circuit 413 Tan, 1 wire.

sstallings: Found some wiring diagrams for 7730 ECU. There should be two Orange (Circuit 340 Battery Feed B+) wires that have +12 volts hot from the battery. There should be a pink/black (Circuit 439 Ignition Feed) wire from the ignition switch +12 volts when the ignition switch is ON. Look for these color wires as they should go to fuses and to the battery and Ignition switch.

sstallings: Go back to the wiring diagram for the 730 ECU and check that there is +12 volts on the proper power inputs of the ECU. The fuel pump should be powered through a relay. The relay should have +12 volts on one side of the relay coil. The other side of the coil should be tied to the ECU output that turns on the fuel pump relay. The high current normally open contacts should have one side wired to the fuse panel and the other (load side) should be wired to the fuel pump +12 volt input. The other pump connection should go to ground (12 volt return i.e. negative side of battery). Make sure GOOD grounds (returns) are being used or tie back to battery negative. To you have a wiring diagram or hookup for the ECU? I will see if I can find one for the 730 ECU so that I know the hookups.

sstallings: What year is the TPI V8? This will have to be known before someone is advising you. Is there 12 volts at the distributor? Does the fuel pump run for approximately 2 second when trying to start the engine? Is there a 9th fuel injector for starting the engine? Both fuel and spark are needed to start the engine. The VATS can be disabled. What part number is the engine computer? All of these things need to be known.

Consider going to an aftermarket throttle body self tuning fuel injection system that will use a dual plane intake manifold. Typically, a single plane is taller than a dual plane intake. Single plane is fine for port fuel injection, not so good for carb. An engine that uses a carb typically, with proper maintenance, does not last much beyond 100K miles because the carb washed down oil in cylinders promoting accelerated cylinder wear. The same is not true for fuel injection as it is more carefully metered than the carb. Something to consider.

Not to worry. AEM electronics and Innovate Motorsports both make data logging systems that incorporate lateral and longitudinal "G" sensors and analog to digital sensor converter/recorders. Personally, the AEM electronics appears to be the better of the two systems. It will record the data for playback on your computer. The next better step up is to have video and data recorded at the same time so that you get a visual picture along with the data and there are systems for that also. Just more money. As for your truck, something is wrong about how the mechanic is putting the engine together. With very close attention to bearing quality and clearances (writing them down), there should be little if no problem. Close attention also needs to be paid to oiling galleys and oil pumps. After replacing engine bearings, the oil pump needs to be primed and the engine rotated while priming the oil pump such that it has proper lubrication upon first startup. Usually, a new Melling Oil Pump is installed as it is cheaper and of better quality. Cannot over-emphasize close attention to details. All crank and bearing saddles must be in alignment. Stunned to know that engine shops do not have straight alignment bars to put in place of the crankshaft to test for main bearing resistance to rotation versus torque to turn the tool. Crankshafts should undergo measurement with an computer automated Coordinate Measuring Machine (CMM) to make certain the main and rod journals are in their proper place. Biggest aspect is TEST don't GUESS.