Gary Lewis

Michael - I started a new thread on the headliner tracing: http://forum.garysgaragemahal.com/Headliner-Tracing-td47039.html. I'm using it to see if anyone can think of anything else that needs to be done. Monday I'll check to see what it'll cost to ship it and let you know. But I think it'll fold up nicely in a padded envelope and won't cost much.

This is for Michael/Wolpe, and I'll point him here from his intro thread. Anyway, I traced my 1985 regular cab headliner backing today and wanted to make sure y'all agree that it has what he needs for his Supercab. I measured from my back glass to the spot on the windshield where the rear view mirror is supposed to be glued on and got 38 3/4". (Mine fell off and there's a glue spot there.) I'm thinking he can measure his and add the difference in the middle of the tracing. Yes? Also, the front corners are broken on the 85's backing. However, I have the backing from Huck, the 1990 regular cab and while the outside dimensions on it are slightly different, the corners seem to be the same. In the pic below the '85 backing is on top of the 90's backing, with my finger pointing to where the 85's backing is broken. So I added the 90's corner to the tracing for the '85. Thoughts? Is anything more needed? And here's a pic of the corner tracing: Here's the whole '85 backing being traced: And here's the completed trace, but it is cleaner than it looks as you are seeing the work table through the material:

LOL! No, I didn't change anything to make you look bad. It was working for me and I figured I'd see what you really meant after we get a few other things fixed to your liking. I have a line on how to do the drop-downs, but it requires learning a lot more about Excel so it will take me some time. On "Cell D53", I realized after I said that that you can't see the cell references. I'll have to think of something else. And, later today I'll see if I can add the section we discussed so you can see the overall ratios.

Dave - Later today I'll see if I can put the new section in the Calculators page. Maybe that will help you make your decision?

Even if #14 wire is used a harness will be an upgrade. That's because the current has far less distance to traverse - usually directly from the battery to the relay to the right headlight and then across the radiator support to the left headlight. Compare that to running back into the cab, across the cab to the switch, then back across the cab and out to the right headlight.

Jim - The "big" statement was in comparison to the space I was envisioning having. As said, with the compressor fore/aft there's just 4" between the ends of the compressor's housing and the inside walls of the box. Take out 2" and now you are left with 1" on either end for the air to turn and go up/down/sideways. Not much. However, if the sides of the box were louvered/perforated and a lid put on it the fan would draw from under the "wing" of the box and exhaust there as well. Or, if the outlet from the pump were to be pipe and go through the right wall of the box and then the cooler put on that would save room in the box. But, it wouldn't draw air over the cooler. I'll have to play with it when the time comes and figure out the best way to mount it. Dane - No problemo. Not taken the wrong way in any way shape or form.

I put a Derale on my Honda 750 and another one on my Yammerhammer 1100. And that price hardly makes it worth going to the salvage. But, it is fairly big. On the desiccant, my experience with those is poor. That's why I've gone to a refrigerated dryer in the shop. But, if the air is cooled enough, like through an air/air cooler, the moisture will drop out when it hits the cooler air in the tank - assuming again that you aren't running the thing for hours on end. And, since the air outlet is from the top of the tank the moisture stays in. So I'm liking the idea of a P/S cooler. Just need to figure out which one. Thanks, guys!

You'se guys are faster than I am! Jim - the cooler is an interesting approach. From what little I've read the tranny cooler pressure is less than 50 psi, so that's not gonna work. But, power steering coolers appear to be rated at a much higher pressure. This post on etrailer says "I spoke with my contact at Derale and found out that power steering cooler # D13309 is rated for 250 psi." And this article in Hot Rod says "but when the system is cold, it can spike to more than 200 psi for a few moments." So, it would seem like a trip to the salvage might find a small P/S cooler that would fit in front of the fan and take the extreme heat out of the air, allowing a hose to go through the box and then down to the tank. But, the box is 17 1/14" front/back inside and the pump's outer housing is 13" 1/4" end/end. So there's only room to have 2" of space on either end. Maybe I should turn it sideways and put an aluminum "wall" around it so nothing can be pushed up against it.

Yes, the copper sheds heat. And in a situation where you are going to use the compressor for minutes, if not hours, on end the heat is a big problem. But in intermittent use like this I don't think that hot air in the tank is too big of a worry. However, that heat would kill many hoses if used between the pump and tank. But are there high-temp hoses that could stand up to it? A hose would make the connections more secure and allow the pump to be mounted on isolators. But I could just go with pipe and no isolators. Those joints won't mind the vibration and the pipe won't mind the heat. As for the hose to use from the quick connect, I think you are talking about Bostitch HOPB1450, as shown below. Piecing together the info from Grizzly and Amazon it is rated for 300 psi, has field-repairable ends, is ~2 times lighter than other hoses, and is very flexible. Seems to be what I'm looking for. Thanks!

Dave - You've given me a lot to think about. Thanks? So let's take this one thing at a time. On the overall gear ratio, what if we had another box that instead of MPH or RPM gave the overall gear ratio? That would be easily done and keep the same format so as it make it easier to use. For each transmission it would give you the neat table of: Further, if we kept the Transfer Case section in that box you'd have the overall ratios for each gear in the t-case's low range. And, to do that I would put a place up in the blue input section for the OD ratio, which would only be used in this box. Is that kind of what you are looking for on that?

It is amazing that the manufacturers didn't do that themselves. Yes, when multiplied by the # of vehicles the cost difference turns into big bucks, but they still traded our safety for their profit.

Where you headed in Europe. Used to live in the UK and have traveled western Europe quite a bit.

Yes, congrat's!! That's a LOT to have happen. On the starter, relay, and wiring, I'd recommend that you go with the later style PMGR (Permanent Magnet Gear Reduction) starter, as described here: Documentation/Electrical/PMGR Starter. Ford went to that at least in the early 90's on your engine, and it cures a lot of ills by moving the heavy duty relay action to the starter itself. That way your fender-mounted relay is seriously overkill and the brand you buy really won't matter.

Mission Control: I like that. And, you mentioning the "unloader" answered a question. Last night I realized that there's a hose from the control panel's manifold back down to the pump in the area of the switch, and there's no wiring up to the control panel. So the unloader and pressure switch are down at the bottom of the pump near the switch. As for KISS, that's not been my style. But in this case I'll be able to go back to an even more simple state than you suggested. With the relay and outlet in a box by the inverter and no extra switch on the compressor or control panel, I'll be able to go back to "stock" by unplugging the compressor from the relay box and plugging it into the inverter. But while it works I'll have the ability to charge the air tank as I'm coming to the end of the trail. But you are right about the tank. We both came up with that size, and I now have it so, "in the fullness of time" I'll get to find out if it fits. And, you are right about hoses. I hadn't thought about my old and abused hoses not being up to 200 psi, but I'll bet they aren't. So thanks for the tip. This BOSTITCH PRO-1450 ProzHoze is rated at 300 - is that the kind you meant? This one is too long at 50' as I think 25' would easily do what I need to do and take up less room. But I do see others on that page that are rated at 300 and are 25' long. And Bostitch probably makes a shorter hose. And, the isolator below is what I'm thinking of for mounting the compressor to the tool box. The compressor currently mounts to a plate with four screws through the feet, so I'd put those between the feet and the box. Grainger has them in lots of different sizes and weight capacities, so I need to pick one that will provide adequate isolation but be stiff enough to prevent the compressor from bouncing back and forth to the side. However, I just realized that they used copper tubing to go between the pump and the tank, presumably in order to handle the heat. In fact, there's a label saying Don't Touch This, so I know it gets hot. And I remember that one Viair compressor gets so hot that you have to use their hose from the quick connect. I know we talked about using braided hose from the pump to the tank, but will it stand up to the heat? Wouldn't it be better to use pipe, which will both stand up to the heat as well as dissipate some of it? But if I do then there's no reason for the isolators.

Yippee! Was the old one leaking, or just not cooling well?

Not sure what you mean by "I see what you mean about the control panel." That it should have the switch on it? That it is nice and would be good to install inside the tool box? Yes, the tank is larger, but in a previous post I said "Ideally I'm looking for a tank that is 8" in diameter and no more than 37" long." This one's circumference is 26.5", which tells me the diameter is 8.44". And it is a bit less than 20" long. So I'm pretty sure it'll work.

Yep, ain't it fun! But, you do know that you'll need to change some wiring to make the voltmeter work. Right? It is explained on the Ammeter And Voltmeter tab here: Documentation/Electrical/3G Conversion.

This may be the difference, it rains ALOT here in the center of the sunshine state, and with the high humidity, that certainly doesn't help. I can go to the junkyard and even on a closed truck the carpets usually smell awful from retaining moisture. I'll second that it rains ALOT down there. Just got back from there a week ago and it rained some every day for the week we were there. On top of that, I got a cold and bought Hall's cough drops, which were fine when we got them to the kids' house from the store. A couple of days later we couldn't peel the paper wrapper off, it was soggy and stuck on. And that was in an air conditioned house. By the way, from my perspective the moniker "The Sunshine State" is a lie. My son says it is my fault, that every time we come it rains. But we've rarely seen the sun while there.

And, your thoughts on the compressor? Did you like it? Did you compare it to the smaller one? (I didn't 'cause I didn't know I was getting the bigger one.) The overhang where the red circle is has to be something like 1/4 or 1/2". Wouldn't provide any shielding for the opening.

Perhaps I'm not understanding? I thought Jim was asking about the overhang right about the red circle, and bringing the fitting through there? Or, are y'all asking about back in the recess under the "wing", where the green arrow is?

Jim - The overhang is very small, so it wouldn't protect the opening. Back to the outlet of the compressor, I was wrong. The pic below shows the copper tubing going up inside and, where the red circle is, turns and goes into the head of the pump. Why they didn't bring the output out the side of the housing just like they did the inlet, with the filter circled in green, I don't know. But I see no reason that I can't bring it out there myself. And then it can turn and go across at the "waist" of the housing where the yellow line is. Assuming that plan will work then there would be a tee that goes up to the control panel on one side and down through the bed to the tank on the other.

Sounds good! When I had air bags on my F-150 I had them plumbed separately. My reason for having them was to let my 1/2 ton truck (relatively) safely carry a slide-in camper that really belonged in a 3/4 ton truck. So at least as important as spring rate was roll resistance. So I plumbed my air bags separately to keep air from going from one side to the other if the camper decided to lean one way or the other. That has to reduce articulation, but with the usage that truck got (minimal off-road driving) it wasn't an issue. And actually, as we discussed at some point before, the air bags acted as limit straps and bump stops, which was really the limiting factor in my articulation anyway. As I recall you are planning on having your airbags resting on a perch, so when the axle droops out it can fall away and keep the air bags from acting as limit straps. With that setup I don't think plumbing the bags separately will affect your articulation. It certainly won't hurt on the side that's drooping since it will just be falling away from the air bag anyway. And the side that's getting stuffed should pretty easily hit the bump stop assuming you don't have much pressure in the bags (which you won't if you're driving in a place and manner you want free articulation). So the bottom line is I think you should plumb them independently. Bob - I hadn't thought about the fact that I wouldn't be running any pressure on the trails, so was thinking that connecting the two sides would be the way to go as stuffing one side would cause the other to drop. But you are right, I won't have much, if any, pressure when on the trail, so there's no advantage. Might as well run them separate and be able to level if I want to. Plus, I hope to not need a sway bar and that will keep the rolling down. As for running the air intake outside the box, this is where I'm talking about placing the air intake. I'm not sure there's enough room, but I think there will be. And, I'll have to make sure that I can get to it to clean it. The inlet is on the right rear of the pump, so I think it'll work. But the outlet is on the left rear of the pump, so I'll have to see how that works out. I don't want to have the line coming out of the box where it can be hit, so that worries me. Perhaps I can position the pump high enough that the line comes out to a tee, with one side going up to the regulator, gauges, and outlets and the other side going down and then under the pump to come out in the opening in the pic and then down to the tank.

Got the material yesterday. It is 42" wide, which probably isn't wide enough so we got 3 yards, which is 9' or 2.74 meters long. That will be more than enough to let me splice some onto the side Was busy at church today, but hope to get the work table cleared off tomorrow so I can tack the material down, put the headliner backing on it, and trace around it. Then, knowing how much material we are working with I can call the shipping people on Monday and figure out the cheapest way to ship it and the cost thereof. At that point you can decide if you want it or not. But I don't think it'll be all that expensive and it'll give you a good way to create a headliner. However, we need to take some measurements of a regular cab vs a supercab so you know how much to lengthen the tracing. I'll see what I can figure out that would be good reference points, like maybe the dash to the back glass. Or the rearview mirror to the back glass. But, if anyone has suggestions please let us know.

Bill - Thanks for the measurement. It looks like it should work on its side behind the seat. Jim - It's here! And w/o damage. You did a good job packaging. But, I wasn't envisioning 6" right, and I don't think it would go under the seat. So, on its side appears to be the way to do it - assuming that works. I'll have to check that out when it comes time to mount it. But tomorrow I hope to make a couple of cables and hook it to the battery, plug the compressor in, and let 'er rip! Then, once I know it'll play nicely together I'll put this stuff back until I get to that phase of the project. (Get it? Phase. AC? )

It goes south of us and north of us, but we've not had winter weather yet. I'm hoping we get some before the winter is over.