Nice job Chris, I burnt my bacon watching your vidio
Nice job Chris. Don’t forget the pliers under the hood before you go down the road!
Thanks guys. Good eye Don, I missed those! Herb, the barrels were black plastic but I painted them anyways, gained some gloss and hopefully UV protection.
Terry, here’s your flare.
That is a beautiful tuck Chris. I admit I have a heafty dose of truck envy right about now! Thanks for the great video and again well done on the modifications you have made. They truly look first class. I’m definitely gonna miss not being at Argos!
Very well thought out, and presented. Driving will be even MORE fun.
Chris, what paint did you use on the plastic barrel, water or oil based?
Don, it’s Rustoleum Gloss Black enamel in a rattle can.
OK, further developments since I posted here last. The tennis ball inline didn’t work out well. Post mortem revealed a stretched spring, not sealing. With the ball in the gas flow, there was a significantly reduced suction from the blowers. At Argos this year, I remarked several times that you couldn’t tell the difference open or closed (!)
So, I’m switching to a ball valve - a “real” one! This was $10 from Lowes. http://www.lowes.com/pd_209668-34146-P200SUE+2_4294702316__?productId=3351052
Idea with this is I can loosen the packing a bit, and obtain a free swinging valve. It’s not perfect but very close. Much better than the standard sealed PVC valves that barely turn.
In order to rotate the valve remotely, I need a way to apply steady smooth rotation to the valve handle. Anyone who’s played with linkage will tell you how that can be difficult, especially with cables (pull only). Looking to avoid springs this time, saves stress on everything.
After some pondering here’s what I came up with. A dual pull-cable arrangement, headed down under the cab into the drivers seat area. They are attached at two points 90 degrees apart. The extra bolts keep the cable on a constant radius, so it always has the same leverage. Most throttle cables work this way. Using the same studs, I can run a second dual-cable upwards, where it can be easily operated from the bed.
The PVC wheel is from a 6" section of 2" pipe, slit down the length, heated and flattened. Cut out the circle then trued on a makeshift drill-lathe. Glued and bolted to the original valve handle.
I like the constant radius idea. If the two cables were on a similar apparatus at the other end, a simple 1/4 turn would open or close.
Got this installed today. Works so much better than the old one! I can now use my blowers as intended, they work great. Truck runs better than ever (no air leaks).
Not satisfied with the cable routing I used. Pretty stiff and hard to open/close. I may have to spring for real choke cables. It does work though, and seems to be getting better over time. (I hope?)
Just a thought Chris, what do you think of a vacuum line? The 1966 Tornado is mostly controlled with vacuum lines. If your valve moves freely, can this be an option? A spring to offset the vacuum?
Vacuum means diaphragms, reservoirs, and depends on engine running. Vacuum based systems are awful for diagnosis too. Ever see vacuum powered wipers? Don’t try to go uphill in the rain…
Rather keep it a simple solution to a simple problem. Cables do a fine job, I just need better routing to avoid pinching and sharp corners.
http://www.lowes.com/pd_443061-104-LSPEB25_1z10xw4+1z139ly__?productId=50015892&Ns=p_product_price|0&pl=1¤tURL=%3FNs%3Dp_product_price|0%26page%3D1&facetInfo=Polyethylene
I thought about trying this for sheaths for the cables.
I expected to see a servo motor , or an actuator 
Yes Sir, Are you running vertical blowers currently? If so have you found any pros or cons to the replacement of the blowers forward of the original WK design plus is there anything you would do different with your design. Thank you.
Hi John,
Yes I am still running the vertical blowers. They work quite well. I still haven’t fixed the aforementioned valve cable problem , but I’ve been doing it by hand right in the bed of the truck and it works just fine. They are easier to service, and I expect them to last much longer since they never stand in water. I don’t know that I would put them in front of the hay filter again, it does make access rather difficult. Also, if you want to flare from the blower stack, make sure that it is 100% sealed up. Any air leaking in, and you’ll have a back puff into the blowers, and you could toast a motor easily.
Back to my old ways … No more blowers in line except for starting then they get removed and put in a safe dry spot … Truck will always start on engine suction and a squirt of go juice once it’s been 10 or 20 miles and allowed to have an active char bed … I’m busy making some charcoal right now to get the new one rolling again … The furnace cement has set up and now I need to glaze it with fire :o) :o) … M
Ya know you really don’t need circuit boards and relay and all that complicated stuff to do this. Just use a pair of spdt switches. Just like they do in houses with a switch at top and bottom of the stairs for the same light.
Andrew,
I wanted to get away from full current flowing through the switches. I can use small telephone wire to the buttons, and control any size load - adding blowers is no problem. Adding button locations is also easy, if I want buttons under the hood (or wherever else) it’ll be trivial. Can’t say that for SPDT.
Agreed that it’s too complicated though. I wish there was a cheaper electronics bit that did what I wanted (latching single toggle). As it is, I enjoyed the learning experience. The circuits seem to be very reliable as well.
Hi Chris, May I suggest that you make a schematic of all you build so that when you get older and gray that you can figure out what you built 20 years ago. I made a controller for my photovoltaic system and I have a hell of a time figuring things out now… I have dump loads wired in and all kinds of things. If one battery connection opens up it runs backwards etc etc etc etc … A nearby strike of lightning will blow the single transistor on the wood board but I have a written diagram under the board now and can grab the right transistor or zenner diode … SPDT switches are easy to deal with and a short coil of nichrome wire will take the surge out … We have around a foot of frost in the ground here now … Best Regards, Mike