The only disability in life is a bad attitude. ~Scott Hamilton

So I need to do a little up to dating on Iroh. Iroh currently is hibernating. He is in a storage shed as I have no money or space to work on him over the winter. My dad's Chevelle got to move back home for the winter. However, before parking Iroh we got the brakes plumed  the frame pulled, fuel cell hung and even started the engine again. Starting the engine again did require removing the intake and having it machined. That took care of the vacuum leak and she ran beautifully. I'll get the new video embedded or a link to it. I'll also put up some photos of the recent up dates to it.
I did have a scary moment when I was taking Iroh to school to put on the frame rack. She tried to jump off the trailer. I'll put up a pic of her hanging off the back of the trailer. So lucky she didn't fall she held on by a thread and lucky she is light enough my friend Connor, my brother and I were able to lift her back on.

Fuel Cell mounted with custom made straps (cheaper then buying them)

 Iroh at school after frame pull

 Iroh hanging off the trailer on the way to school.

Wheresoever you go, go with all your heart. ~Kongzi

Iroh is getting brakes once again. Brake lines have now been run and all that's left is to fill the reservoir and bleed them out. The rear end was pulled completely out and painted, and pan hard welded in. I've modified the front inner fenders to fit the new front suspension, even got a new air filter that better accents the beauty that is that big orange rat between the frame rails. I don't want to chat too much so I'll post some pictures and let them do the talking.

Rear end painted (Keystones from my brother, fit better than the steel wheels)

6 inch tall air filter, still have hood clearance

Brake lines so to have stopping power

 Got to make some custom brackets to mount the brake lines on the rear axle

 

When your work speaks for its self, don't interrupt. -Henry J. Kaiser

It's so hard when I have to, and so easy when I want to. ~Annie Gottlier

I always enjoy ordering new parts for my project. When ever they arrive it feels like Christmas. I'm still waiting for the coil overs for the rear suspension, but I ordered and received new Hooker headers and Comp Cams aluminum roller rockers. I love the look of the roller rockers compared to stock, and the extra horsepower is nice too.
I've recently contacted the former owner of my truck and he is planning to come see my progress. I have been working on it for over 2 years now. I have set the deadline of the 26th, which is when he will come see it, I plan to have the firewall in primer and the engine and transmission back in. I also plan to have all the fenders put on. I'm excited because I haven't seen the rear fenders with the Cadillac tail lights on. When I do get it together you can count on pictures being posted.
I don't know how much work I will be able to accomplish over the winter, simply because of funds. I have another year of school to pay for. I will still see how much I can accomplish up until the money runs out for the year.

Circumstances may cause interruptions and delays, but never lose sight of your goal. -Mario Andretti

I finally got to do what I have wanted to for a long time now. I heard the big block fire up. The engine hadn't been started in a couple years. We mocked it up on the engine stand, with some old headers. The headers were not the best. They left no room for spark plug wires, so we used an old set so we wouldn't melt the new ones. We are hoping the wires are to blame for the miss fire. Otherwise the engine seemed to run well with little timing adjustments.
We tore the engine back down and checked compression, which was alright, and loosened the rockers to close the valves. We pressurized the cylinders and had a little bit of valve leak. I'm hoping it is just carbon or oil gunk that can be easily loosened up and blown out. But if I have to I guess the heads will be coming off.

After timing it still had a miss fire but got it to idle

If I had all the money I'd spent on cars ... I'd spend it all on cars. - Scott Fisher

Just wanted to do a quick post and give you some pictures of Iroh backed into the driveway. It doesn't have the coil overs on the back or the pan hard, but the four link is welded in and there are some wood blocks holding the frame up where I expect it to sit. It is worthy to note these pictures were taken two years and 3 days after I bought the truck.

Don't say anything and we'll get along just fine.

I'm excited to say I have received the four link rear suspension I ordered through summitracing.com. It is the Heidts bolt on four link kit for the 55-59 Chevy pickup. I've been getting it mocked up but I am waiting for the coil overs before I do any welding. I don't want to have to notch the frame for suspension travel. For now or as shown in the pictures the axle is jacked up all the way to the frame just to simplify measuring.

I'm waiting to weld the brackets to the frame because they have a slight angle to them. I want to make sure the shock will still fit. All 4 bars have been set to the same length, but if the coil overs won't fit I will have to adjust the length of the bars to try and square them up. The upper shock mount with the kit needed slight modification to fit. As the truck is old enough I figured the frame wouldn't be the same for all trucks... after 57 years. So we drilled the holes out ever so slightly bigger but still extra motivation was needed to maneuver it into place.
I hope with my next post to include a picture of the truck in the driveway on all four wheels. I can't wait to see it.