Gary Lewis

I do remember Get Smart. So I've seen one on TV. Just not to lay hands on.

No, it doesn't surprise me that it was done. I'm well aware of that. But I've never actually seen one. That was the surprise.

A Sunbeam Tiger?

I see this. It may be what I was missing... I just said that I can see a pimple on the butt of a fly a block away but not the gorilla in the same room. What is it about alternators you need from me? Jeff is going to start a thread to discuss his upcoming 3G conversion on Big Bro. I have a plug & play harness I'll ship him and he plans to send an ammeter he has to Rocketman. But he'll also need an alternator and I was suggesting we get you involved. Which size/amperage, which application, which vendor, which regulator, etc. But I don't think he's started it yet.

Good idea. Should I add a new topic in Projects/Big Brother’s transformation thread? Or just start a specific thread for this 1G to 3G upgrade? What do you think? I would put the thread in the main section. But that's just me. You want the maximum coverage, but if Jim doesn't chime in early on we'll tag him. He'd the guru on alternators.

These don't have arm rests on either side. And, by the way, the captain's chairs have arm rests on both sides, which was only done for a few years. I thought they'd be ideal for long trips but we haven't really found it so. And, they make the seats wide enough that it is difficult to get the shoulder harness out past them. So we aren't going to miss them.

$23,100! Wow! But how often do you see on with 4,925 miles? That is a time capsule.

Just had an interesting thought. The only difference I can see between the driver's and passenger's seats are that the driver's has a latch with a release to let the back be tilted but the passenger's has a strap and a bolt which, when the bolt is removed, will allow the back to tilt. I like the idea of the seat backs tilting as it allows access to the stuff behind the seats. But if I leave the bolt out of the passenger's seat it will probably tilt when I hit the brakes if no one is in the seat. So why not swap the seats? If there's a driver then the seat back won't tilt. Anyone see a problem with that?

Now I've changed it and it seems to work on my iPhone in portrait mode. Please see if it works for you.

On my iPhone 13 Mini, portait: And if flipped in landscape, it gives just a “zoomed” view of the vertical one (and I cannot unzoom): Ok, you win. I'll go see what I can do to make it read better. Thanks again. By the way, I think the 3G harness is done. I know you don't plan to install it until it warms up, but have you thought about starting a thread on Big Bro's 3G upgrade? Discuss what alternator, brackets, etc?

If this is Day 1 I think I'll watch you do it as I won't be ready for anything that steep/hard by then.

Oops, I missed the bit about the "giving truck". Yes, that was fortuitous. Big Blue certainly benefited from that, and almost all of it is in use.

Took Big Blue on an outing today to get my hair cut, have lunch, get the eyelet terminals to finish the 3G harness, and take the seats to the upholstery shop. I can say that while he still rides like the truck that he is, he rides dramatically better than he did when I got him. The SAS & RSK made a huge difference, so thanks to all that helped make that decision. And having watched several videos that Bob referenced regarding Moab, I can see that the 8" of articulation instead of 2" is going to make a huge difference. There are LOTS of bumps, rocks, drops, etc that we will encounter, and Big Blue is far better equipped to do that now than he once was. As for the seats, I bolted the driver's seat in this morning to check out how it'll sit. You can see in the left pic that it fits right in, but there are a couple of things you can't see. First, that in the full back position the top of the seat hits the window such that it won't allow the seatback to latch into the base. You can see the latch in the pic on the right, and it won't quite latch. But my plan is to space the latch up a bit and space the black stops up a bit as well to get it to latch but stop before hitting the window. The other is that the plastic back, which covers the back of the seat as a finish piece, hits the storage unit about where those marks are above the latch. I'm hoping that spacing the stops up will fix that, but it'll take some testing to see. Then I took the seats to the upholstery shop and we talked through what the guy is to do. I told him that we think the red captain's chairs are quite comfortable so he checked out how the previous shop accomplished that. Looks like they put a 1/2" layer of soft foam over the base foam. And I explained that I want the bolsters to be higher to keep us in place, much like the red seats' bolsters are, so he is going to add 1/2" of firm foam there. And we picked out the color of vinyl, which is a very good match to the panels I've already painted in Big Blue. It is a marine-grade vinyl and he uses marine-grade thread, so they should be good for a very long time. The seats are to be ready in about two weeks, so I guess I'd better get started painting the seat trim as well as the center console.

Ok, I've watched all of those videos and reviewed your earlier trip. WOW! Seven Mile looks great. I'm tempted to show the video of the couple with the two Jeeps to Janey, but I want to watch it again a time or two before I decide to do that. The thing I like about it is that it shows and discusses the scenery, which will be a plus for her as opposed to the climbs and descents. As for Wipeout, thank you but no thank you! That's way beyond what I want to do, or think I could do. But it was fun watching the video anyway.

Good catch - yes “response” not “reduction”. Same load, but just responded to slowly.

Deren sent me a packet of Cerakote and it didn’t truck for months, if not a year, on my sticky steering wheel. I tried cleaning it with everything known to man and the sticky wouldn’t go away. But Cerakote sealed it in. CERAKOTE® Ceramic Trim Coat Kit - Quick Plastic Trim Restorer - Ceramic Coating Black Trim Restoration to Last Over 200 Washes – A Ceramic Coating, Not a Dressing https://a.co/d/i8fsyW6

I’d forgotten about that, Jim. I’ll look to see that I still have it.

Right - going to dual belts is extremely challenging. I had to make the pulley for Dad’s truck by altering a pulley on the lathe since I couldn’t find a 2-belt pulley with tho grooves the same size. So I wouldn’t bother to go to two belts. Follow Jim’s lead, but get an LRC regulator. Load Reduction Control ramps up the charging over several seconds instead of bringing it on quickly.

Bummer! All the way around! The knee and the diff. So sorry, Jim. Here's hoping you get well and the diff sorted, quickly!

That would be cool! But maybe not needed in camper?

Yes, I'm sure BB was screaming "Get me out of here! Stop cutting my bones away. Quit bypassing my safety features. Please put some gaskets in my engine!" Concerning the wheelbarrows of cash, I think Vern's wife got a glimpse of the total, which is why BB changed hands. Vern is/was a merchant seaman and apparently they have lots of time as well as access to the internet while gone for several months at sea. He stockpiled parts he knew were needed as well as some he thought might be needed - mostly NOS. Meanwhile was having his way with the truck. As for spending my money, you weren't alone. Others on here have had a hand in that as well. But I must admit that the result is great!

You can fix the pict orientation directly on your phone, in two steps: 1- Edit the picture by forcing a rotation (even if it appears correctly on your phone screen, just rotate it and save it). 2- Edit it again, rotating it back in the right position, and save it. Now, if you post this “modified” picture, the forum will show it in the right orientation. Thanks, Jeff. I forgot that trick.

Thanks, Jeff. Both for checking and the suggestions. I'll see what I can do. However, does the screen still behave that way if you turn your phone landscape? Mine goes from the narrow look you posted to the same look I have on my tablet or desktop. But maybe that's just my phone?

Technically I don't think he "ran" away from Florida. In fact, he wasn't able to run at all at that point in time. More like was removed under protective custody. As for the future, he figures in a trip to western OK in the spring and one to Moab, UT in the summer.

The intent certainly is to have it color matched. I’m taking Big Blue with me tomorrow so he should be able to match it well. I might even take the can of SEM I used to paint the panels so we can shot some and he will have something to match.