Last Indian

Kiwi, the short nozzle is only available with the 2824-20 blower, which is more than $100 US more than the 2724-20! I use the long blower nozzle because that’s what it has & it works fine, but you can get a stubby nozzle for the Milwaukee blower from this web site https://www.detailedimage.com/Stubby-Nozzle-M128/Items-Only/ for about $31.

Kiwi, I’m using the M18 (2724-20) blower 450 CFM 120MPH, but they now have a new one that is a duel battery unit (2824-20) it has 600 CFM 145 MPH + it has two additional nozzles. The one is a stubby necked down piece that would be even more ideal for drying a car. One of the things I really like about it is, that I use to take the cars around the block to get most of the water off the car, plus it tended to dry the brakes enough to not rust, but especially in the spring & fall there is a lot of crap on the road so I would come back with crap n the car 😡! Now on crap on the car & I blow dry the wheel, brakes & tires. That works great! No rust ever on the brakes.

Hey guys I started drying my car about 3 years ago with my Milwaukee blower? Wow what a difference! So much quicker, so much cleaner & when I have to wash one of my dark colored cars in the sun I can get almost no water spots. When I do, it takes very little to get rid of it! To my surprise when I web search dry car with Milwaukee blower there are several videos showing it being done.

This is kind of the predecessor to what became reverb in the mid “60s”

Man you really have been up against it buddy! Your misfortunes well soon change to blessings I pray! I know you want to make the Dream Cruze, but it’s better to get the bird right than rush it.

Or White Buffalo the last Chieftain! The White Buffalo in Lakota (Sioux) is sacred & very rare in nature as well. I don’t think I’ve mentioned it before, but I’m part Blackfoot, which is part of the Sioux nation!

Way Cool Kiwi! That should keep you busy! I could give you some ideas on modding the steering wheel. How about the name Last Chieftain 😁 JustA crazy thought! I don’t know where it came from. 🤪

Recent events made me think maybe some questions folks might have could simply be answered here, and if not there are many others who are more than willing & capable to help! This piece is to give some perspective to what is really needed to change a brake system. Especially if you have made substantial modifications to the vehicle with respect to weight, height, CG, RC or major suspension mods! Not if you are just replacing parts. There are lots of articles & sites that push bigger brake systems & there is nothing wrong with going bigger, to a degree, but you are going to pay for the upgrade & is it really needed? Maybe just maybe what you have is really close to what you need with just some tweaking. So I will use the process of my build to show the process! After designing my suspension system I knew I needed to move to the braking system as it was just a subpar performing system & the OEMs due diligence is not the best! Sorry just a fact. Did you know the real reason anti-locks came to be? Do you realize that a properly engineered set of brakes will almost never activate that system? Ask yourself this. Why would a car that is of comparable weight, but has more weight in the front than the comparable one & as a result a greater transfer of weight upon braking have smaller rotors? Smaller pistons in all of the calipers? Harder pads & by comparison softer rotors? The answer! Money! What do you do to offset this? You would install a cheaper system to overcome that short fall, a antilock module that’s what! This accomplishes several things! You no longer have to do all the math for each car line, but more relevant you save money on components. The ABS modules are an easy CNC mass produced part & interchangeable from car to car, but are they better? Are they safer? No & yes respectively. So needing to gut the brake system, but only after I had acquired all the data I needed to determine where the car was at with all the physics, with respect to the change in characteristics of the car, since virtually everything about it had changed. Weight, weight distribution, CG, RC, tires & rims (we’re going to change), E.I. everything! That was going to require several hours of just math once all those measurements were made! This was not the worst system I had ever seen, but per usual the component selection was poor & fluid was typically marginal. I now needed to find or make better rotors that were the right metallurgy that would be compatible with the right pads & both of these number would be base on their coefficients of friction, with respect to each other, as well pad material. So first up was rim & tire selection! These needed selected first as this is one of the very first things that’s needed to be known. If the tires don’t have the tire-pavement coefficient that you’re looking for with regard to what you desire in performance everything else is wasted effort. So I wanted a wider stance as well as a larger diameter rim. Yet while still keeping the same outside diameter for the tires. So I settled on a set of American Racing two piece that were somewhat unique. These rims are built backwards, I.E. as the outer ring is flipped so that the outside edge is inside, but the center section still faces outwards. This actually gives the 5 spoke center a larger look than a standard 5 spoke rim of that size. I also went with Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3 after quite a bit of research I found these tire had a compound makeup that gave them a .68 tire-road coefficient, and yet a good ride, plus excellent cornering characteristics, so I now had my starting point. Having removed about 175 lbs from the front & where it was in relationship to CG & RC, plus adding around 235 lbs to the rear & it’s relationship to CG & RC, changed the dynamics of not just the handling, but the transfer of the weight’s dynamic energy on braking. This is important because this impacts the whole brake system & it’s mathematical calculations, I.E. rotor size, caliper piston size & location, master cylinder piston bore size & brake pedal configuration, etc… Stepping through the math, to see where the car had needs that might have changed. First up was master cylinder bore/piston size! Since what was needed in wall thickness for the master cylinder was there, the master cylinder was pulled & Bored it out to 1 1/8”. This is an increase of 27% increase in volume moved. That’s a lot! So this, under the same perimeters, I.E. same pedal pressure, same stroke, same components, would increase line pressure by 27%, but would also cause a harder pedal. Now with power brakes that’s not as big of an issue as it would be with manual brakes, but still harder. So I will help correct this with a change in pedal geometry, but I actually need to change that geometry because the stock system is quite inadequate! The original pedal ratio was 5 to 1. That means 150 lbs applied to the pedal for the original master cylinder & components, generated only 750 pounds of line pressure & at 200 lbs would net 1000. That is actually on the very low end of line pressure. My change of master cylinder piston bore size changed those figures to a respectable 953 & 1270 psi respectively, but now we are going to change the pedal ratio to 6.25 to 1. So with the bore size increase & pedal ratio changed, 150 lbs applied at the pedal now yields 1190 psi line pressure & 200 lbs yields 1587 lbs. that is into the realm of racing brake pressure. And no you are not going to blowout a line at that psi even in a panic stop. Now in of itself these two changes brings the W platform into a very respectable braking car, even without changing anything else, but I’m not done yet. Again, stepping through the math to make a judgment on just where I was for rotor & caliper needs was now the next order of business. It turned out that the major fault with the braking system was in three areas. Master cylinder piston size, pedal ratio & coefficient of friction matching of pads & rotor materials! Not a big surprise actually. When you calculate the needs for the front brake system it looked like this. (T=R x A x F x N x P) T is total system torque/clamping ability, R is the radius or the rotor minus the outside edge of the rotor to the caliper piston center line,(which can be more that half the piston radius), F is the coefficient of friction number of the pads, N is the number of sides, for disc it should be two, & P is line pressure. So for the stock system those numbers were not good! The front applying 150 lbs at the pedal yielded 9,797 lbs & the back was 4,314. Now with the new configuration of master cylinder modification & pedal geometry change I now could get 15,676 lbs at the front & 6,902 at the back when applying 150 lbs to the pedal. You can now see the multiplying factor that physics plays. I now have by far more than a 27% increase in stopping power. Yet this is still short of what I want for stopping power, but I’m very close. So now with all these measurements made I haven’t physically done anything yet. So now I’m going to backup to my pedal ratio & make it 6.5 to 1, because I have the room on the pedal arm & it will accommodate the angle that comes with the change. Now I redo the math & I now have what I want. There is still much more to this! For instance, how much braking do I really need? This can be determined, again through math. So this calculation goes like this. T=W x R x D / N. T is torque required in inch/pounds, W weight of vehicle, R is rolling radius of tires (centerline of wheel to ground), D is deceleration rate, (this can be from .2 to 1 or more, but most MFGs use 1) for safety purposes. N is number of braking wheels. So in the case of the Indian that final number was 11,375 inch/pounds! Still there was more to get to before the end of this whole process! Now I need to determine weight transfer. This is the action of stepping on the brakes & the energy of weight (inertia) transfers weight energy forward. This drastically changes the requirements for braking especially the higher the CG of the car is. As well as the weight distribution. So the calculation looks like this. Weight transfer Wf=U x W x H / L. This equation goes like this. U is coefficient of traction, W is vehicle loaded weight, H is center of gravity & L is vehicle wheelbase. Here’s how the Indian calculation went. 1 x 3500 x 19 = 66,500 / by 110.5 = 602. With the Indian having a 54/46 weight distribution, due to all the changes to the suspension, the weight transfer needed corrected like this, traction coefficient 1 x 3500 lbs x 19 CG / 110.5 = 602. Divide 3500 by 2 = 1750 + 4% (this 4% represent the 4% over the 50% margin of weight distribution) = 1820 + add 4% to 602 = 625 = 2445 lbs for the front weight transfer. The rear, divide 3500 = 1750 – 4% ( likewise subtract 4% because the back is 4% under the 50% ratio) = 1680 - 625 = 1055 rear transfer weight. Almost done! Now I need to see what the brake load per wheel is. Which looks like this Tf = Wf x R x D / N, Tf is torque force, Wf is weight transfer, R is wheel radius as before, D is deceleration as before. So the front, 2445 x 13 x 1 divide by 2 = 15,892 & the rear 1055 x 13 x 1 divide by 2 = 6,857. So with the new master cylinder piston size & pedal ratio change I have the following output available compared to my need. With 150 pounds applied at the pedal I will create 16,172 inch/pounds of force at each front rotor, but I only need 15,892 of torque & if I apply say 170 lbs at the pedal I will generate 18,327 inch/pounds of force at each wheel! The rear brake configuration is similar, with 150 lbs applied at the pedal I will create 7,121 inch/pounds of force, but I only need 6,857 inch/pounds of torque, yet if I apply 170 lbs of force at the pedal I will generate 8,070 inch/pounds of force at each rear rotor. When I finally made these modifications to the brake system, which include a specific type of cross drilled rotors & a pad material that had a .35 coefficient rating, the Indian became a completely different braking car! The very first time out, without doing anything different, the car stopped more than 75 feet short of were it had before. Than just two days later, I had a guy slam his brakes on in front of me as a rescue squad answering a call pulled out of a station in front of us. I was closer than I should have been & this was at 40 mph, I hit my brakes hard. The car just flat stopped really quick! No skid, no ABS, nothing! Just stopped. All of this accomplished by master cylinder piston size increase, pedal ratio reconfiguration, different rotor & different pads & oh yeah different fluid! A DOT 5. So I didn’t need to get into expensive calipers & rotors, wheel clearance issues, different mounting issues, etc.. Just a pretty straightforward non complicated modification.

Ron, I think you miss understood my reply. Wheels will only lock up if you can generate enough force at each wheel to over come the force that rotates them. That answer takes more than a seat of the pants answer, not being a smart ass it’s just a fact. I was not attacking you or indicating anything about you. Piston size of the master cylinder, pedal ratio, rotor size, caliper piston size, pad hardness, where the caliper piston placement in relationship to the rotor, etc… are all needed to answer your question! Especially since you indicated they don’t lockup. if you want to figure out your question we can help you through that and figure it out so you have a actual real answer. Your choice!

Great Build “31”! Every T crossed every I dotted! I know there are many things left to do, but a paint job will not make your work more spectacular! Quite the opposite! As a beautiful paint job can cover a multitude of sin, but nothing I mean nothing can out shine beautiful craftsmanship & that you have done! No doubt your paint job will be glorious as well!!

There is not a time I can remember that I didn’t love cars! Most of all, Hot Rods! My neighborhood consisted of 4 streets with 32 boys all within 4 years of age from each other, 1948-1951! Of that about 50% of us loved cars from as young as I can remember. We would build model cars constantly, modify them, put nice paint jobs on them. Then set up a plywood ramp & race them weekly. By the time I was 10, real Hot Rods were everywhere! Chopped “32” “55”-7” Chevys etc… Than in 1963 came the GTO! My first true love, had to have one. So in “67” I got a “64” GOAT. Heaven! But in “68” when the new “69” Z/28 came out it was all over for the GTO, sorry JustA! It took me till the end of “69” to be able to buy one, but that marriage lasted 35 plus years till sadly we departed! There will never be another one like that car for me. I imagine that’s true for most here. This was just 4 years before it was sold in 2004! The day I always call “A bad day at black rock!”

Nose diving & stopping well doesn’t really answer or indicate a lot. So a couple questions. All 4 wheels or just fronts? What did you do for a master cylinder? What change if any did you make to the tires? Did you do the math calculations that actually tell you what the stopping power is for what you installed? I’m not picking here, but brakes are in general a straightforward math equation. Which means if you get everything right they work well. On a car that has the right setup, & that includes a lot, the car on paved dry roads should stop in nearly all situations without lockup! There is a lot more that could be discussed here, but in general what your perception is of your car stopping may or may not be what it actually is! Only knowing what the physics, I.E. math, is will tell that.

Ok if he didn't erase them they should still be there! Is the check engine light still on when the car is started? Before you buy anything you need to determine what is what. Is it just the TCM or something more.

Be careful! Who replaced the TCM? You or the other guy? Why? What codes were set? Where did the new TCM come from? If it came from a GM dealer why didn’t, whoever bought it just have them flash it? A re-flash should only be about $100-$200.

You should be good to go with a pan gasket & a once over

Pickup tends to be more in the back part, so you should be good. That said, how many miles on the pump that’s in there? Is it a high volume pump? Are you doing the work or some one else? I ask because since the motor is out, you might refresh what you can without getting to intrusive.

JustA, center drills are cheap. Refresh my memory, what size is the stock bolt for the alternator pivot? 3/8-16? If so you would need a #5 center drill. The body of that #5 center drill is 7/16 or .4375! You would need to install a 73061 Keysert not a keensert, while they are the same functionally Keyserts are cheaper & will work well enough for what you need. A #73061 keysert has a outside thread of 1/2-13 & needs a 29/64, .4531 tap drill which is close enough to a #5 center drill body size of .4375. If you go to a machinery supply shop by you, one that sell end mills taps, lathe bits, etc, etc. they should sell both the center drill & keysert. You do not need the installation tool they use for the keysert, just a flat piece of metal will work. https://www.howmet.com/fastening_systems/industrial/catalog/brochures/Keysert_and_Keenserts_Catalog.pdf in the above picture, D is the portion of the center drill you need to remove, aka dried of, as you don’t need to drill any deeper into the cylinder head. P.S. the plate idea might work, but if you go that route you might consider this. Tap the plate for the bolt, but instead of a bolt make it a stud. Align everything as you need, than when done, if you can & since I can’t see the setup maybe you can, take it apart leaving that stud in place & weld it in place to the plate. So you would actually slide the alternator over the stud, install a washer & nut. JustA though!

Actually it appears, don’t know if someone might have rewired them, that they are wired to a flasher unit. They do not appear to be flickering, but flashing. In my opinion I would not go with LEDs in the round headlights! LEDs have some definite advantages in some cases, but in a true parabolic light, which those are, the only upgrade better than halogens would be HIDs! HIDs truly burn at a Kelvin temperature & at a true lumen number not a comparison number.

I think that’s a good choice. These are not your fathers transmissions anymore. If you’re not knowledgeable about them you could get in to big trouble. To change the fluid takes some special know how.

That is just a fill port, not a dipstick check port. These units work like a rear axle car. You need the car jacked up. Underneath there is a drain/level check plug. There is a procedure to go through, car needs to be at temperature. Run the tranny through the gears, put it back in park pull the plug. If the oil level is at the bottom of the plug hole you’re good, if not add oil slowly, a little at a time. When oil starts to drip out of the hole, stop. Reinstall the plug. p.s. When jacked up the car needs to be level.

You need to pull the whole assembly out. Strut, knuckle, Aarm, brakes all of it, which means you need to take the knuckle off the half shaft. without seeing it I would guess you bent or damaged something. That is a tremendous load to exerted instantly on that assembly! If you were running stock type struts, not good. Knuckles are aluminum, again that’s a big load & the Aarm bushings, especially the front one is an abortion.

Great news! There are a lot of different keensert, thin wall, heavy wall, metric, American std. etc. JustA, you know what a center drill is right? You might find a center drill that has a O.D. That won’t make the hole to big, but is big enough to straighten out the oblong hole. You will need to remove the small starter tip drill of the center drill though. Are you confused yet.

Keensert come in a lot of different sizes. Here’s a small example. https://www.mfsupply.com/keenserts-metric-keylocking-inserts-s/2050.htm

LOVE the FLAG! I know what a pain a well can be & I only have one to water my lawn. Ok, it’s the bottom pivot bolt that treads into the cylinder head, right? If so look at keensert. They will work better than a helicoil for your issue. Do you now have the broken bolt out of the head now. Let me know if this is right. If it is I’ll explain further.

Yup! I know! Part of that list belongs to the daughter & some is mine! Trying to get shit done before I’m to old & slow to do it. I been MIA, so I’m not up on everything, what’s up with the GTO? & what’s the issue with the well?