Gary Lewis

It takes 5 "bulbs" to do the illumination of the gauges, if that's what you meant. All y'all - I have a question for you, down at the bottom. As I think about this, perhaps I should have done the test differently. Instead of starting with the cool white LED's as the baseline, perhaps I should have started with incandescent bulbs and polished blue filters. (Bill from HiPo says you can polish the oxidation off the filters.) Set the camera to give a good rendering of that and use it as a baseline. Then we'd have what it really is supposed to look like and can use that as a guide to making changes. The downside of that is that when you get a lot more light coming out it will, at some point, be too much for the camera. In other words, if the incandescent bulb and filters give the camera enough light for a good pic, then these cool whites may overpower the camera and you won't get a true "picture" of how bright it is. I'm not looking for more work, but it would be nice to have THE definitive study on this topic and not have to revisit it. Thoughts?

It takes 5 "bulbs" to do the illumination of the gauges, if that's what you meant.

I started a new thread for Sound Control and moved several of the comments from this thread on sound deadening material there. And, I started another new thread on Instrument Lighting & Paint Testing, and showed the results of my testing of Big Blue's instrument cluster lighting there. However, here's a shot of that cluster and the HiPo Cool White LED's. I like it! And I swapped the Rocketman voltmeter into that cluster today. But as I was about to install the cluster I saw the ICVR and decided I'd better replace it with one of the adjustable kinds. Fortunately I found a fairly good writeup on that here (Documentation/Electrical/ICVR). So I pulled out my extra regulator and was just about to follow the overly-complex instructions and then realized that this regulator is the one I took apart and it doesn't have the heat sink on it. Given that, I ordered one of the DE-SWADJ3 regulators and will install it when it comes in next week. And, speaking of ordering things, as described in this thread I just ordered a pair of kick panels and vents in the correct blue. So, while not a whole lot got ticked off on the list, lots of things are happening.

LOL! Yes, I hope so.

EDIT: Bill of HiPo Parts has gotten back to me and advised that my testing about the paint and its ability to fluoresce is flawed. I will be editing this post to reflect on what I learn, soon. In the interim, I've modified what I posted about the paint....... I mentioned yesterday that I tried the HiPo Parts LED's for the instrument panel/gauges. But today I thought I'd do a thorough test of them and post the results. Also, should this be turned into a page in the documentation section? If so, how does it fit with the page at Documentation/Interior/Painting Gauge Needles? First, these are their 245 lumen 20x Plasma SMD Bulb 194 T-10 Wedge - 360 Wide Angle LED's, and I have a set in Cool White and another in Warm White. Heretofore I've had some blue LED's in, which are these from Yitamotor, but I haven't liked them as I don't like the blue and the gauges aren't very bright. But, I really like the Cool White HiPo LED's, for two reasons: first, because they are bright; second because they aren't polarized, meaning that they work no matter which way you put them in - which is NOT true of most LED's, and you don't know which ones won't work until you put the cluster back in. Here's what they look like, with the Cool Whites on the left, the Warm Whites in the center, and the blue ones on the right: Now for what they look like in an instrument cluster. But first, I need to 'splain how I took these pics - on Manual on my camera, a Nikon Coolpix S9700. The shutter speed was 1/60th of a second, the f-stop was 4.5, the zoom was set at 90 mm, and the ISO at 1600. Why is that important? Because if you put your camera on an automatic mode it will adjust those settings to get the same brightness in the picture - no matter how bright the LED's really are. So I took one pic on automagic and then dialed the settings it chose into the Manual mode. That kept everything the same from pic to pic. And, all pic's were taken in my storm shelter with the lights off, so it was DARK! Ok, now for what they looked like: Here's Big Blue's cluster, which has Testor's Orange Fluorescent paint, with the HiPo Cool White LED's: And here's the Warm White and Big Blue's cluster: Then here's the blue LED's. Yep, they are much dimmer, but were a big improvement over the incandescent bulbs and blue filters that were in there. Last was a test of HiPo's HP-FLORP Fluorescent Speedo/Gauge Needle Restoration Paint vs Testors' Orange Fluorescent paint. HiPo's is acrylic and Testors' is enamel. Here's a comparison, with Big Blue's cluster on the top and a spare that I just painted with HiPo's paint on the bottom. And if you are wondering what the difference is, the answer is "Not much." I can't really see any difference in color, although the Testors' is smoother as it seems to flow out a bit better. UPDATE from Bill of HiPo Parts: "Our paint does have a texture, by design. That texture is the fluorescent pigment. Fluorescent pigment is a solid, so it does make the paint have a slight texture. The other thing I did not see mentioned is that our paint is semi-translucent by design. That allows the light to partially penetrate the surface and reach pigment below the surface to increase the illumination effect." Having said all that, Bill @ HiPo assured me that his paint really fluoresces and the Testors' won't. So, here's a direct comparison, with the cluster on top using Testors' paint and the one on the bottom with HiPo's paint, and both using the same HiPo Cool White LED's. I can't see it, but maybe you can? UPDATE from Bill of HiPo Parts: "Fluorescent paint requires a portion of the blue light spectrum to excite the pigment (make it glow). If you are using white light, then the other portions of the spectrum (specifically the red) negate the effects of the blue spectrum. This is why the dashes of vehicles that use fluorescent paints are normally illuminated in some shade of blue or green light. Both of those colors are capable of exciting the pigment. Trying to make a fluorescent paint glow with white light is not going to have much of an effect, if any."

The seller and I've been emailing and finally agreed on a price and shipping. They are the '86 blue kick panels and vents, and all-up they'll cost ~$75. Should be here in about a week.

82/83 F100 E2TZ 6038-A INSULATOR ASSY. (FRONT SUPPORT)-R.H for 230ci/3.8L six

81/82 E-F-U100/250 5.0L E1TZ 9A589-A *CM-3571 Used for EGR valve spacer-aluminum-use 1/4" cap C9AZ 9C492-C to cover 1/4" inlet tube when req'd

13B041-42 SHIELD (HEAD LAMP DOOR)-Also refer to 15C412 80/85 F-U100/350 (RH) r/b E0TZ 13B041-A r/b E0TZ 13B041-B (LH) E0TZ 13B042-A r/b E0TZ 13B042-B

E4TZ 14B690-A 86/on B,R — w/lumbar seats 86/on A

The 435 measures 4.837".

Janey is a saint! Yes, she is in every sense of the word.

Don't think so. I believe all the Bullnose chokes were automatic.

That's a nice truck, but $26K????

The melting point of ABS is 221F. Typically 130 degress is thought to be too hot to touch for any length of time. So ABS might hold up.

Not bad at all for $1k, and he'll take less. But, apparently the brakes are bad 'cause he said "she starts up when you ask her To and she hasn't stopped yet."

Shaun - The Free Wheeling brochure finally worked for me, but it took quite a while. Can you try it again and let me know? All - On the Truck Of The Month, I'm happy to set it up. I just need some ideas on how to do it. Please?

I went with the 80 mil. I have it on the roof, the entire floor, the back wall, inside and outside of all four doors, and some spots were doubled up like the area around my sub box. I wouldn't use as much if I were to do it again, my only reasoning for doing as much as I did was because I ordered more than I needed and since the Ranger was my only vehicle at the time, I just used up what I had on the Ranger. When I put some on my F350, I'll probably put some on the firewall, a few large sections on the floor, the backwall, two or three large sections for the roof, some large sections inside the outer door skin, and a few sections on the inner door skin (where the handles mount). That should be enough to handle most vibrations. Scott - Thanks. I hadn't found that chart. It helps. Shaun - Ok, got it. In other words, you won't put as much on the F350 as you did on the Ranger? Why is that? You don't think full coverage is needed?

As some of you know, I'm getting ready to use various sound control methodologies in Big Blue. In fact, I've asked a few questions and gotten some answers on his transformation thread and will move those here for continuity. And now, for what little I know about "sound control". I found this on the internet here, so it must be correct: Stop entry: Make every possible effort to stop sound from entering via cracks, holes, etc. Toward this end I'll have new door gaskets, window felts, etc. And, all body plugs will be installed with sealer. Reduce vibration: Mass loading a panel, such as with Dynamat, both reduces its vibration as well as lowers the frequency thereof. However, fully covering everything with Dynamat, or similar, isn't necessary as the vast majority of the effect is achieved by covering 25% of the panel - in the middle, as the edges where it meets another panel are not going to vibrate. Decouple: If a layer of soft material is used between the panel and another panel the vibration is not coupled to the second panel. That can be accomplished via some closed-cell foam, with a full-coverage rubber floor mat like is used in the trucks w/o carpet serving as the 2nd panel. Or, if you are like me and want carpet, use one with a heavy rubber backing, like ACC offers - Mass Backing. Absorption: But, whatever you do there will be some sound that either gets through or is created in the cab, so absorption material is needed. Basically, anything soft helps, but things like deep pile carpet, seat upholstery, headliners, etc are good. I'm exploring what the options are, and I'm blown away with the number and cost variability thereof. So, in my typical fashion, I've started a spreadsheet to capture what I'm learning. This is early days and all I have are mass loading materials, which are used to reduce the vibrations of panels. But I plan to add other materials as I get farther into this. Last, I welcome your input. (And I'm moving the related discussion from Big Blue's Transformation here straightaway.)

Yes, Espy has come a LOOOOOONG way! All of that for only $5k? Well done!!!!

Ok, that makes a lot more sense than the Frost King stuff. Thanks.

Interesting. I didn't know anyone made something like that. And I don't know anything about Go Industries, but did find this 2017 brochure, and it doesn't have spoilers. So that appears to be something from the 80's. And back then similar spoilers were popular on the E-Series vans. I can't say that's what it is for, but I suspect it may be.

I don't know how well a pollen filter would work on a free flow system...it would probably block most of the flow?...Then again I'm thinking of a vehicle cabin filter...is that the same thing? I'm sure you could fit a filter of some kind...just not sure how it would work without a fan to actually push the air. I'm with Scott though...if you drive in the winter and forget one of those vents open, you'll know it very quickly, so they do indeed flow pretty well assuming the air has somewhere to go. Since I plan to drive off-road and will surely wind up meeting others, if not following others, there will be dust. I've been trying to figure out how to put filters into the HVAC system, but haven't been able to. Can't find a reasonable spot. Maybe someone else has an idea?

Yes! The princess is gonna be HAPPY! So, what sound deadener are you going to use?

Interesting, Jim. Is the 80 mil duct liner something like this from Frost King? The mass damping vinyl attached to 12mm foam rubber uncoupler on the firewall, transmission tunnel, and passenger's floor is getting pretty scientific. That's a good approach. I don't plan to pull the factory stuff off the firewall. And while I know the benefits of an uncoupler and mass damping, I doubt I'll go that far. How big of a difference did you notice when you installed all that? And can you tell a difference from the driver's side to the passenger's side?