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Messages - Dfarm01
1
« on: July 26, 2020, 01:59:56 AM »
More adventures in old Mopar land !
I recently started having a semi intermittent ignition problem. It would start fine when it was cold but after it got hot it was hit or miss if it'd start again. I started by getting it warm so it'd fail and then following the troubleshooting in my Haynes manual. This led me to believe that the ECM was bad. I replaced it and all was well. Until I drove it to the store the first time. It didn't want to start when I got back in to go home, but it eventually fired up and got me home. Repeat this story a couple of times and I started getting frustrated and that got me to do some deeper looking without following the manual. I was able to get the ignition coil to spark if I bypassed the pickup coil in the distributor, so I plugged the harness into(kind of) the "start" pickup coil on the distributor and I now had spark, just 180° out. I put the distributor that was in the 318 that came in the truck and it's running pretty well again. I think I need to take some timing out though as I'm getting some pinging.(I'm at about 38° total).
In the middle of the ignition headache I went to drive to the store and the right rear brake decided to lock up. I pulled the brakes apart and found the hub seals had been leaking pretty good along with the wheel cylinders and the p/o had installed the brake shoes backwards, with the long shoe on the front. That was relatively painless, and brakes are cheap for the old stuff. I was just at $100 for everything.
Today, with some motivation from my neighbor mentioning how loud the truck is, I put a flowmaster 50 series on it after the thrush muffler that I had originally put on. I was also able to get the exhaust leak that I had at the right collector fixed while I was under there. It's much more pleasant to drive now. I also found and fixed a bunch of nuts and bolts that had rattled loose (or I forgot to actually tighten when I put the sheet metal together on the front).
I still need to get tires, get a heater core, reseal enough of the cab that I can get the floor covered, and get a new center support for the rear drive shaft.
I'm also starting to think that I found another "gotcha" from the taller frame vs the donor truck. The thing steers like a boat. Really sluggish response and the turning radius is huge. I had a similar result on my old xj when I accidentally adjusted the upper control arms too short when I installed the lift. I think that there's too much positive caster, caused by the rear of the front springs effectively being mounted about an inch lower than the axle was designed for. I'm not sure what the fix for this is going to be yet. Cutting the front spring mounts loose and sticking a 1" spacer in between the frame and the mount seems like a reasonable solution. I'd like to see if I could find some measurements on the front mounts from a factory 4x4 crew cab to see if they're taller to deal with the taller frame.
2
« on: May 23, 2020, 09:48:17 AM »
The throttle in the truck had become quite sticky, which lead to it being parked until I got it figured out.
Turns out that the cable was trying to saw its way through the sheath. I used the opportunity to finally swap the floor mounted pedal to the hanging pedal from the donor truck as well.
For the new cable, I ordered one from Amazon that said that it would fit the truck, and maybe it did at o e point, but not anymore. I found a kit for building cables for motorcycles that ended up working out great. (after building one bracket and a plug for the big hole in the firewall that the old cable used.
All is better now. As an added bonus, the secondaries on the carburetor actually open now. Lol
3
« on: May 10, 2020, 04:47:22 PM »
The belt in the pic about is full of their gear too. There's a dump pouch on there that was modified by the owner before he passed away.
Having the store nearby was pretty cool. They'd have sales on stuff and I'd end up buying stuff that I'd never use. Lol
Things definitely changed after the owner passed.
I believe that they own grey ghost precision as well.
4
« on: May 10, 2020, 10:33:53 AM »
Here's a picture before I got them adjusted last night. They were pointed pretty high in this pic. Definitely a huge improvement over the sealed beams. They might even be better than the factory headlights in my suburban, which has the best factory headlights that any of my vehicles has had.
5
« on: May 10, 2020, 10:30:40 AM »
I didn't keep after it but did use it on 2 deer. Worked pretty good.
Even if it's not something that you do often, knowing that you can make a good working tool is a great feeling. Sure is some fine looking cutlery
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Thanks! Is anyone else working on knives?(or other edged tools?
6
« on: May 09, 2020, 11:10:54 PM »
Thanks.
Did you keep after it?
Did you get to use your knife on a deer?
7
« on: May 09, 2020, 11:07:39 PM »
Thanks. I can post a link, if you want it.
I'm actually going to take it for a spin tonight just to try them out. Lol
8
« on: May 09, 2020, 05:48:43 PM »
Just thought I'd drop in and share a couple of recent pics and see what everyone else is working on these days.
9
« on: May 09, 2020, 05:41:23 PM »
I've been away from here for a bit but the ol Dodge is still putting in work.
I upgraded the headlights today. LED technology finally got cheap enough that it didn't make sense to not use them anymore. These were ~$70 on Amazon. I'm excited to take a drive at night now. The sealed beams that were in there were pretty anemic. These are DOT approved and rated at 3200lm low beam and 4500lm high beam.
I'm considering some auxiliary lighting as well. I've even found some ir LED lights for "blackout" driving under nvgs. Lol
Next up is replacing the heater core and installing a rubber floor/carpet kit. I'm hoping that covering the floor quiets it down a lot.
10
« on: September 04, 2019, 12:57:56 AM »
I'll have to look into it. That looks way better than the factory stuff. Especially after 40 years of who knows who doing who knows what with the wiring. Lol
11
« on: September 03, 2019, 11:02:35 PM »
Maybe I missed it but, where is your fuse panel? Mine is not in good shape and will need to be replaced sooner than later.
12
« on: August 01, 2019, 07:13:40 PM »
Looks like I missed a bunch of progress. Lol
I'm actually getting ready to dig into my burb a bit. After shopping for newer rigs, I've decided that my money will go farther fixing mine up. My next big project is going to be a rebuilt transmission and transfer case. I'm leaning towards a "heavy duty" 4l80E from monster transmission. And I'll take care of the rebuild on the t case. I actually found a company that makes a slip yoke eliminator for the front output on the 246. I'm hoping that getting rid of the sloppy slip yoke that's on there will get rid of the vibration that is coming from the front shaft.
Speaking of the front shaft, I noticed that yours doesn't have a cv joint at the top. Do you have any vibration from it? Mine has a dual cardan joint at the top. I figured that was pretty standard for lifting these things.
How much lift do you think you got from the shackle flip ? I have blocks on the back of mine, which are ok, but a shackle flip might be better?
Sorry to hear that you aren't going on the long trip that you were hoping for.
I only drove it a couple times before I realized I had fan problems so really can't say about any added vibration. But since I do not recall anything along those lines, it was probably fine. BDS suspensions do not call for the need of any change to the front driveshaft and the angular change is miminal anyway, so given the choice, I would not have elected to change the driveshaft.
As for the lift from flipping the shackle, I'd say 5"-6".
It seems that you get the length of the shackle in added lift. If you had a 4.5" shackle in the factory configuration and simply flipped it then expect a 4.5" lift over what it was stock. That may not be a hard and fast rule, but it is what I experienced.
Flipping the shackle is much better than lift blocks. For safety reasons and for added flex in the suspension it is a great modification.
And ya, I really want that truck back!
So, Troy tells me he has the issue solved and the AC will flat freeze you out of the thing. He is now tracing all the wiring on the PCM bundles to make sure they are all in the correct orientation. I sure hope this doesn't go on much longer...
That's interesting about the front shaft. Thanks for the info on the shackle flip. I'll definitely look I to that some more. Glad to hear that it's getting sorted out!
13
« on: July 31, 2019, 09:21:54 PM »
Looks like I missed a bunch of progress. Lol
I'm actually getting ready to dig into my burb a bit. After shopping for newer rigs, I've decided that my money will go farther fixing mine up. My next big project is going to be a rebuilt transmission and transfer case. I'm leaning towards a "heavy duty" 4l80E from monster transmission. And I'll take care of the rebuild on the t case. I actually found a company that makes a slip yoke eliminator for the front output on the 246. I'm hoping that getting rid of the sloppy slip yoke that's on there will get rid of the vibration that is coming from the front shaft.
Speaking of the front shaft, I noticed that yours doesn't have a cv joint at the top. Do you have any vibration from it? Mine has a dual cardan joint at the top. I figured that was pretty standard for lifting these things.
How much lift do you think you got from the shackle flip ? I have blocks on the back of mine, which are ok, but a shackle flip might be better?
Sorry to hear that you aren't going on the long trip that you were hoping for.
14
« on: June 07, 2019, 10:55:16 PM »
Very cool.
I have always wanted to take a ride in a helicopter.
My house is on a .mil flight path where they fly to get hours. I see black Hawks, Chinooks and Apaches pretty regularly.
15
« on: June 05, 2019, 08:48:34 PM »
That's awesome.
At night, would you see all of that stuff on both eyes, or was it just in front of one? And aviators always wore binocular nvgs, right?
16
« on: June 01, 2019, 01:56:08 AM »
It has taken some getting used to. I find that I end up pretty much ignoring my unaided eye in really dark places. I thought that id be able to use the night sites on my pistol with my right eye and look through the nvg with my left. Boy was I wrong. Lol. I think that the nformation from each eye is too different for the brain to deal with and it didn't work out for me at all. Lol
17
« on: May 22, 2019, 12:38:26 AM »
Awesome. Thank you. I'll have to look into this. Hopefully the holes for the shifters line up. I'd be mad if I end up cutting the tunnel out again. Lol
18
« on: May 22, 2019, 12:36:53 AM »
I have a set of weather tech mats in my burb. They are all warped and fit like crap now.
I wish someone would make a set of floor trays like the factory accessory floor trays from Volvo. They are a thick, heavy soft rubber. They were awesome.
19
« on: May 22, 2019, 12:30:03 AM »
It's a 360.
20
« on: May 22, 2019, 12:29:22 AM »
Thanks. That makes sense. I'll have to take the visor off and look around the gutters. Judging by the rest of the truck, they'll be mostly rust held together with clear silicone. Lol
I'll probably look into the cowl area too. I remember cleaning it out and it not being rusty, but I'll give it a better look from the inside.
Thanks again for the info.
21
« on: May 21, 2019, 10:51:47 PM »
I went and got "a yard" of dirt for the garden. I used quotes around a yard because they used a huge loader and just dumped until the bed was pretty much full. Lol
The only bad is that I noticed rain water on the passenger floor when I got in it in the morning. I need to figure out where it's getting in before I get the insulation and rubber mat installed.
I'm still not happy with the gearing. Does anyone know if there's a 5 or 6 speed transmission that will pretty much bolt in place of the 4 speed?
22
« on: May 21, 2019, 10:38:27 PM »
A problem with older dodge bodies like this and why the floors are rusted into nothing, is that the seam sealer at the factory was hit or miss on the quality. Most of the time it was a miss, and it simply allowed water in through the A pillar and it would sit on the floor board.
Over the years people address it, but I’m guessing the solution it just add more, instead of clean, repair, seal. Thus just encapsulating the problem rather than fixing it.
So I thought I’d try to fix it. First I removed all of the old dried out stuff, the caulking that was on top of that, any paint, rust down to bare steel.
Then rejoined the several spots where the roof had become detached by putting some simple spot welds down.
After it was all together again, I laid down a couple tubes of self leveling seam sealer, with some heavy bodied seam sealer on the verticals.
Under side of the gutter also got cleaned and re sealed. This is pre clean.
Driver side under the gutter nastiness.
Again driver side, but this is the gutter. You can see the roof panel is not fully connected.
This is one of the spots I had to add some weld to.
This is the front gutter after I filled it with self leveling.
This is the 2k stuff I used. The mix tubes work great, just simply squeeze it like a caulking gun and it comes out properly mixed!!!
I wonder if this could be my issue too. I parked mine outside andcwe got some rain. I went to get some dirt for the garden and noticed a small puddle on the passenger floor. I'm glad I haven't put the floor insulation and rubber mat in yet. I'll have to give this a look. Is it the whole gutter, or just above the windshield that will leak on to the floor? Someone installed a visor on my truck and I haven't removed it yet  Thanks a bunch for posting this! Your truck is going to be awesome!
23
« on: May 21, 2019, 10:27:08 PM »
This is a bit (well, lots) more extensive than what I was envisioning.
Impressive so far
In some ways I think it was less of a headache than I dealt with and turned out much better.
24
« on: May 11, 2019, 08:13:48 PM »
Month back I finished up replacing my 74 crew cab floor.... PM sent
Cool! Can you post pics in here or make a thread about the project? I'm sure I'm not the only one who would find it interesting. I'm thinking I should have done the whole floor, and I might still do that. Lol Here's a pic of the truck in it's natural habitat from earlier today.
25
« on: May 07, 2019, 02:14:21 AM »
Thanks. It took patience and discipline to hold off until the right deal came along.
26
« on: May 06, 2019, 11:39:59 PM »
In my case the specs were dust for the most part, they'd be different every time you looked through it until I cleaned it up. Lol The pic is what it looked like when I first got it plenty of opportunity to get dust in there lol. There's two tiny blem spots in the tube that you only notice if you are looking for them.
In a previous life I had access to the stuff to n2 purge optics. I don't anymore unfortunately. I'm sure that there are places to send them for service, but I'm not sure where to send it or the cost. It seems like most civilian folks who have them don't usually worry about purging them regularly. If it was inexpensive and fast, I'd probably do it.
I'd love to play with some dual tube units, but unfortunately cost is an issue for me. Lol.
27
« on: May 05, 2019, 05:09:23 PM »
Congrats. Tell me about “parts”. Are they serviceable?
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
I shopped around for a while looking for a deal. You can buy a whole "parts kit" from various places that includes everything but the intensifier tube. You normally see these for around $750, then for tubes, you can get deals on used stuff if you shop around. I went for a slightly riskier option and bought what was basically a whole pvs14 that was completely disassembled from a user on another forum. I watched a couple of YouTube videos and put it together. I ended up having to disassemble/reassemble a couple of times, once due to an error on my part and the second time to install a lock ring that was missing from the stuff I bought. By the time I got the lock ring I had a pretty good handle on disassembly/reassembly. There just isn't that much going on in there parts wise. Did you gas it? Looks good, gen? I have a PVS14 but went phosphor.
Not sure about the pics, its seems to be a phone thing. I take all my pics in landscape, no issues.
When I assembled it the last time I made sure to clean everything inside really well because I saw some dust specs when I was playing with it while waiting for the lock ring to show up. I used canned air/duster stuff and lense wipes. The last part that you install is the ocular lense so I sprayed the duster inside for a bit with the ocular lense just out from where the orings starts to seal in the hopes that the duster would blow any ambient air out. I then threaded the lense in and stopped spraying the duster then quickly put the plug for the purge port in. It's far from perfect, but it hasn't fogged up yet. If it gets to be an issue, I'll send it in for service. The tube is gen 3, Omni 8 specs. It's pretty cool stuff to me. Before I got mine, the only NV stuff I had any experience with was vehicle mounted thermal stuff., So it wouldn't have taken much to impress me. The picture above doesn't do it justice. I was trying to hold the IR light and line up my phone and the nvg all at the same time. Lol I'd like to get a look through some other units, white phosphor, dual tubes, ect, but I'm scared that it'd ruin what I have. Comparison is the thief of joy and all. Lol. Already I can see a benefit from duals, but they are significantly more expensive. I'm still under $2k including my helmet and mounts and I haven't seen any flavor of duals for less than $5k. The biggest downside to having this one is that I'm the only person I know with any kind of nvg, so anytime I want to go play in the dark the only company I can bring is my dog. Lol. I'm probably going to see how cheaply I can put together another unit as a loaner or for the wife or kids. I'm thinking I'll do a pvs7 for the next one because they can be had for a bit less money, and I'm not convinced at this point that having a free eye is that critical, because it doesn't really see anything in the dark anyways. Good point on the pic. I was holding the phone vertical so I had enough hands for everything. Maybe I should mount my IR light to my helmet.
28
« on: May 05, 2019, 02:20:46 AM »
I don't see anyone talking about wizard eyes here. I'm sure that some folks have them. What do you guys use to play in the dark?
After lusting after a pvs14 for many years, the funds finally became available about a month ago so I found a deal on parts and built one. Tonight was only the second time I've been out for more than putting the chickens away. I took my dog out to a park and walked around a bit. I think I'm going to bring a ball for the dog next time and try to play fetch with her. Lol
ETA: is there anything I can do to rotate the picture? It is right when you click on it, and it's right on my phone. Lol
29
« on: April 28, 2019, 02:17:59 AM »
You're fine.
Nice work on the blade.
Thanks. This is the first knife I've ground on my new grinder. I used to use a harbor freight 4x36" belt sander. It worked, but to say that it's underpowered is being nice. I think it's like 1/2hp. My new grinder is a 2x48" with a 2hp motor. It's almost scary to use compared to the old one. Lol
30
« on: April 27, 2019, 09:40:52 PM »
You should be good to upload pics now without an issue
They're showing up fine for me. Did I do something wrong?
31
« on: April 27, 2019, 09:24:31 PM »
Here's a friction folder that I'm working on when I have time.
It's 1/8" 1095 and jade green g10. This is my second friction folder. I've done a couple of fixed blades, but I don't have any pictures handy.
32
« on: April 27, 2019, 08:05:55 PM »
I just finished getting the patch welded in today. I also welded up all of the holes from the avex rivets that the PO used to hold the galvanized sheet metal on.
I found a lot of rust damage that I hadn't noticed before, so it was fun chasing the rust holes around with the welder. To be done right this thing needs a new floor. I just don't have the means to do it any time soon, so the goal is to keep me from falling through the floor and stopping the rust. I think I'm going to have to pull the engine and transmission back out to clean up and seal the bottom of the seam around the patch panel, but I think I'm going to wait until the firewood cutting is done for the year.
33
« on: February 02, 2019, 11:48:49 PM »
I'm pretty much done with the rough fitting.
I didn't want to spend the money on cleko fasteners and plates, so I used scraps and self tapping screws to hold the panel in place.
There's definitely some spots where I was wondering who cut it out. Lol. Some spots need some love with a hammer, and some will need filler pieces made.
Next step is sanding the metal clean for a couple of inches on either side of the seam so I can start welding it in. This would have been much easier if the transmission and transfer case weren't installed.
I'm not sure if I'm going to get to start welding this weekend or not. More ac Delco parts to be replaced (again) in the burb. The radiator decided to start leaking. It's only about 3 years old. I noticed the leak when i had it in the garage last week replacing the 3 year old hydroboost (also an AC Delco part). (Side note, I also found the windshield that i had installed over the summer leaking while i was under the dash. That got taken care of by the glass place pretty painlessly) I bought duralast parts this time. Might as well get the lifetime warranty if I'm going to be replacing them again. Lol. I'm beginning to get frustrated with that rig.
34
« on: January 21, 2019, 11:35:54 PM »
Mine was weird being that the floor was from a much newer truck and manual &4x4 vs the auto/2wd one that my truck had. It probably wouldn't have been so bad if I'd have taken the side cuts all the way up to the pinch weld on the firewall.
I think the flange tool would give you a bit more wiggle room when you fit the new piece.
35
« on: January 21, 2019, 07:59:53 PM »
I've made it so much worse. Lol
I am already thinking that "saving" money by butt welding the tunnel in vs buying a flanging tool was a mistake. It turns out that laying the patch panel over the existing floor and tracing it can cause some inconsistencies when it's sitting in the floor vs on the floor.
As my friend said, it's a good thing it's going to be covered by sound deadening and carpet. Lol. I'm going to have to make several smallish pie shaped pieces along the seam.
36
« on: January 15, 2019, 01:54:35 AM »
Jeep xj guys sometimes wire in a switch to manually lock up the torque converter in the aw transmissions. That could be an option on here? That'd let you run whatever stall speed you want, and lock up the TC when you want.
37
« on: January 13, 2019, 09:31:47 PM »
I'm curious to see how you fare economy wise. I think the best I've seen in mine was on a road trip to Idaho where I did a whole tanks worth on the highway and got 12mpg. Lol. That's on a 34" tire with stock gears and no tune though.
That's encouraging! The timing is not there in a stock tune, although there is a goodly amount of torque there in a stocker at 2,000 RPM.
Compression is way good to increase efficiency and the cam timing is everything. 114 centerline 4 degrees advanced is all about bringing in power early and keeping it at a lower RPM.
Now, I'm interested in your choice of a 34" tire...
I am just not settled with going to only a 33" or 32.5" 285R75-16 size. I'd much rather go up to a 295 or a 305 (34"-35") tire to bet the axle a bit more up and away from rocks without going crazy and getting a TTT (too-tall truck)...
They're actually 315/70/17's, so 34.4" tall. I picked them specifically to stop the rubbing that I was having with 35x12.5s.
38
« on: January 12, 2019, 11:30:04 PM »
I'm curious to see how you fare economy wise. I think the best I've seen in mine was on a road trip to Idaho where I did a whole tanks worth on the highway and got 12mpg. Lol. That's on a 34" tire with stock gears and no tune though.
39
« on: January 08, 2019, 09:31:36 PM »
If your original trans tunnel isn't destroyed just replace from the tunnel towards the doors with replacement floor pieces. Stick shift 2x4 and 4x4 are the same....Auto 2x4 are diff floors than 4x4. Then there is the mid 80's floor change as well....it gets complicated lol
Are the pictures not showing up? My tunnel has a hole the size of the top of my transmission + rust damage. My truck started life as a 2x4 with a 727, now it's a 4x4 with a 4 speed. My truck is a 74, the donor truck for the running gear and the chunk of floor/tunnel that I have is an 86. Some of the ribs in the floor pans line up, so I'm thinking I'll use those to locate the repair panel. Is it better to butt weld the floor pans together, or make a flange and lap them together?
40
« on: January 05, 2019, 10:03:51 PM »
I got started on figuring out the floor today. I'm not sure what the best course of action is at this point, as I've never replaced floors before. There's also a bit of an issue with the shape of the transmission tunnel on the donor part vs the one in my truck. The donor is from a standard cab that's also about 12 years newer.
I took the truck on a trip that was about 150 miles, round trip. It's got a bit of a vibration at around 55-60 MPH, but other than that and the brakes being a bit touchy, it's working well. I guess that's not entirely true, the heater control valve and the heater core decided to start leaking. I took the whole climate box out of the 86. I'm hoping that I can adapt it to work with the older dash that my truck has.
I'm also thinking that a 5 or 6 speed transmission would be much nicer than the 4 speed that I put in there. I haven't done any research about what transmission would be a good swap yet though.
41
« on: January 05, 2019, 09:36:51 PM »
As someone who is wrapping up a manual transmission swap, I'm in the "sort out the automatic" group. The pedal isn't that big of a deal, all the holes should be marked. My issue now is trying to get the tunnel in the floor sorted out. I have a floor pan from my donor truck, but it's an 86 standard cab and my truck is a 74 crew cab, so they're a bit different.
42
« on: January 05, 2019, 09:25:21 PM »
I just saw this thread and want to say that I have a much higher mileage twin to this rig. Mine is a 2001 with 280 something thousand miles on it. I like the truck a lot, except for fuel economy. Lol
A couple of pointers;
the stuff I read when I had my valley plate and knock sensors out said to remove the rear foam block that you saw under the intake in addition to the rtv dams in front of the sensors.
The nasty buildup that you saw in the intake was probably from the crappy pcv system, not poor fuel. Some people like to run catch cans, even on stock engines to keep that stuff out of the intake. I heard that there's a valley plate from a Corvette that has the pcv built in that will work on the lq4 that's supposed to be better than the stock set up. I wonder if just drilling and tapping a hole for a fitting in the stock one will accomplish the same thing, or maybe two fittings, one to attach the hose from the stock pcv location and one to go to the intake? Just something I've been brainstorming. There is also an updated pcv valve that doesn't have a check ball in it.
On tires, (I have only skimmed through the first and last pages, so you might have figured something out, I'll catch up later) my suburban came with the 6" lift and 35"x12.5" tires on 17" wheels. The tires rubbed quite a bit so I folded the pinch welds on the front of the cab to stop this, but it'd still rub when I turned sometimes. I went with 315/70/17's when I got new wheels and tires and they don't ever rub.
I had a very hard time finding the gaskets for the little coolant bypass pipe that bolts to the corners of the heads. If you need some, the only ones that I was able to find were doorman part number 56390. The issue was nobody's catalog showed them, so it took a ton of looking.
Hopefully you have better luck with all the power options inside than I do. I don't think the seats have worked right since I got it, and I've had a couple of blend door motors go bad too. I've also been through a few window regulators.
Probably the coolest thing I've figured out though was how to turn off the "service suspension" light that comes on when you get rid of the auto ride struts. Some people have luck wiring resistors in place of the struts, but in my case, I was able to just unplug the control module (it's in the right rear corner between the rear climate control and the taillight) and unplug the battery for a bit. The light hasn't come back on in a couple of years now.
43
« on: November 03, 2018, 06:45:14 PM »
Well, the trip to the dump is done. The truck made it ok, but there are a few things that came up that need to be addressed.
I think I'm going to order a 12 circuit fuse panel that uses blade fuses. The panel thats in there is an awesome combination of melted and rusted that's causing all kinds of intermittent electrical problems. I was kind of hoping to find a whole new harness with an updated fuse panel, but I haven't had luck finding one.(admittedly, I haven't expended a ton of energy on looking). I also need to get the floor done. It was raining, so I got splashed by a few puddles. Lol. I'm also hoping that getting the floor closed up will quiet the cab down a bit, as it's pretty loud. I also need to get some of the hoses for the heating ducts, because mine are pretty torn up.
Overall, the trip went well for a shake down run.
Has anyone tried one of the distributors that use a GM hei cap and coil? I saw one on Amazon for under $100 and I'm thinking about giving it a try to simply the ignition system.
44
« on: November 02, 2018, 10:48:48 PM »
I actually used the truck today. I had a bin full of glass to take up to the recycle collection point.(no curbside pickup for glass here). About 3 miles round-trip.
I'm planning on a dump run tomorrow. That'll be about 30 miles round-trip. I'm a little scared to take it that far. Lol
45
« on: October 31, 2018, 03:32:54 AM »
Taller tires would help, but I don't want to make the truck any taller. When it was a 2wd I could step on to the tailgate with a round of firewood in my arms and stack it in the back, and the tailgate was the right height to roll the rounds onto my splitter. I just got sick of dragging the hitch all the time, and there was the one time I got stuck in the back yard. Lol
46
« on: October 30, 2018, 07:26:40 PM »
I was successful in taking the truck up to get fuel on Saturday. I had it up to 55mph. There weren't any vibrations or pulling or anything, I was surprised by that to be honest. I do think I'm going to be wishing for more gears, or different axle gears before too long. The first gear in the 4 speed is basically useless, and second gear is about how a first gear should be.
I'm pretty happy with how it's going so far though.
47
« on: October 27, 2018, 12:51:55 PM »
It seemed like it was so close. Admittedly, I didn't read every recent post about it though.
I'm a little saddened by that, as square d was what brought me here. If you made that truck a crew cab, it'd pretty much be my dream truck. Lol
48
« on: October 27, 2018, 12:16:18 PM »
Is this thing on the road yet?
49
« on: October 27, 2018, 12:10:20 PM »
I didn't forget about this!
Shortly after figuring out my wiring harness for the steering column I had to go to Poland for work for a couple of months. That gave the project much needed break and financial injection.
After I got back in July I hit it pretty hard. I didn't really have any hickups in getting stuff back together. I've been finding stuff that needs to be repaired or replaced along the way, but overall I think I'm doing well. I just got it licensed and insured yesterday, so today I'm going to take it on it's first trip out of the neighborhood in 4 years. Lol.
I need to get a new distributor before I take it too far, because tge vacuum diaphragm is bad in both of the ones I have. I also found the heater core and the control valve are leaking, so I'll have to get those fixed sooner rather than later as well. It also still has a rather large hole in the floor from cutting it to clear the manual transmission, but I want to take it to a friend's house who is mych more familiar with that kind of thing than I am. Conveniently, the donor truck is at his house as well. I was also disappointed to find that in the set of tires I planned on using one has a plug in the inside sidewall, so I'll have to get tires soon as well.
I also still have to service the axles, t-case and transmission. This works out, because both axles decided to start leaking from the covers since I've been moving it around a bit.
50
« on: March 24, 2018, 10:57:20 AM »
I got my column wiring figured out. I was going to swap the harnesses, but after I had the old one out I found the turn signal switch was broken.
Since I ended up with both harnesses out, it was easy to figure out what wire needed to go where. I just soldered the old plug onto the new harness.
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