Gary Lewis

I don't think it will work as it doesn't have the speedometer cable input like the ones for our trucks. I think that one is set up for the electronic speedometer. However, you can add the electronic module to your truck and wire from it to the cruise control. I have a one of those modules, and it goes into the transmission/transfer case where the speedo cable goes. Your speedo cable still connects to it, but you also have the digital output. With that, it might work. But let me do some more sleuthing when I get to the shop. I have the 1996 EVTM and it'll show how that thing is wired and we will know if it needs the EFI.

Yep, it was the highlight of the day. And this reminds me that I need to do the route again with the 750 on Big Blue. And not turn him off at the light.

Four days late. I found this notification in the spam folder. Sounds like your friend made progress, but still has work to do. And the gauge/light issue has probably been a problem for quite some time. But at least he's on track to sort it out. Thanks for letting us know.

Ok, here's a pic of one of the lock-outs. I pulled the tape while the powder was still hot, so maybe that explains the tape marks. I'll leave the other one to cool and see what it looks like.

Well, I'll start today's installment while the last pieces are baking in the PC oven. First, the eye doctor's report: Perfect! The cornea has almost completely filled in, and he thinks it will have be tonight. That's how fast those cells grow. So, he took the clear contact lens off, which made things feel better. There's still some discomfort, but not pain. And when I need it, Tylenol takes the edge off that. And, on the way back from the Dr's office I got a can of Rust-Oleum High Heat, which is supposedly good to 1200 F - far better than powder, even Eastwood's discontinued High Heat Black. (Thanks again, Steve.) And I used most of the can on the rotors, ensuring that they have 3 good coats and that it wafted through the vents. (Yes, I know that will cut down on the heat exchange some.) Then I masked the hubs and spindles and applied the Sherwin Williams semi-gloss powder to the hubs, spindles, lugs, lock-outs, and side windshield trim and popped them in the oven. And, while the parts were baking I pulled out the ID tag for the front diff and started looking up the seals and bearings for the driveshafts/hubs. (Not the wheel bearings but the needle bearings for the driveshafts.) Got all the part #'s and started looking for them online. Then I had a thought - didn't Vernon have some of that stuff for Big Blue? Sure enough, I have more than a full set of bearings and seals for a D44. Big Blue - the gift that keeps on giving! Thanks again, Vernon! Then, when the parts were cool I taped off the lock-outs and applied the red powder, using electrostatic attraction, and popped them back in the oven. They are now done and cooling. Can't wait to see how they turned out. Hmmm.... I peeked and the red isn't thick enough. It shows the black through a bit. So, since the lock-outs were still somewhat hot I applied another generous layer of powder. They are now back in the oven, but I'm not sure there will be enough time to get a pic of them this evening as the oven is still at 300 headed to 400. And, I have a hard-stop at 5:00. So, here's a pic of the rest of the stuff PC'd: And, for comparison, here's the "before" pic:

For you I can see it being easy to miss with keeping this site going, updating the great information and then doing work on your projects. Ulcer, well I cut way back on the hot tea I was drinking. I try to limit them to 6 or under if home all day and 2 or 3 when home after work till bed about 8pm. early get up is 12am late would be 3am. I only have 1 "high test" the others are Decaf for the days hot tea. The bumper was off the truck I only had the brackets hand bolted to the truck to get them out of the way. Once the brackets are de-rusted and painted I can do my "custom touch" to the bumpers. Still looking for lights to fit in the front bumper. I saw a Lighting today and it had lights that might work just need to see if I can find then and get a size. Yes now that the truck is in primer I can see where I rushed the body work on the 2 rear fenders so need to work them over some. I used a different manf. primer on the rear fenders as I could not get what I had been using. I do like the way this sprays and it stays wet longer so no dry streaks no matter how hard I tried not to get any. Also the rest of the truck I can see I did not use fine enough sand paper. I will wet sand the truck with 320 or 400 then I may need to re-prim and sand again, not using build up primer. Dave ---- Yipes! So, you've "cut back" and will "try to limit them to 6 or under"? So, how many were you having before cutting back? I try to limit my coffee drinking to ~3-4 cups/day. But, mine are Starbucks Verona, French, or Sumatra and they have a bit of punch. Anyway, I hope you get things under control. I have Tagamet that I use every once in a while when the stomach says I've had too much. Lights for the front bumper? Have an example? As for the bodywork, that's not my thing so I can only imagine how difficult that is. VERY from what I understand. But, it'll look perfect when you are done and you'll certainly be justifiably proud. And, I do sometimes miss things as I seem to be somewhat all over the place. I have so much I'd like to do on the website, so much I want to do to both Dad's truck as well as Big Blue, and then there are my friends on the forum.

I agree, it won't last long at that price.

Thanks, Steve. Yes, the flake was apparently pretty small. But I guess both of us learned that getting it out quickly is a must. In my case the rust ring was going to be visible to others, so he "erased" it with the Dremel. And watching that certainly is painful. As you've alluded, the pain wasn't physical, but mental. The eye had been deadened, but I could see everything he was doing. Reminded me of when I had a gash across the bridge of my nose and I watched the doctor sew it up - lifting my head with the thread multiple times. And, the cornea certainly grows quickly. I'm going in at 10:00 in the morning, right ahead of going for BBQ paint, and he is expecting to remove the protective contact lens and call it good. That's less than 48 hours from when he worked on the eye. Thanks again.

Steve - That's a good idea on BBQ paint. Don't think I have any, but I'm going out tomorrow so will pick some up. And you are right on the puller - I just don't happen to have a side hammer. But, I did consider cobbling one together by threading a piece of rod and boring a weight to make the slide. However, the other trick worked a treat so thought I'd share it. Bill - Good idea. I can paint the whole rotor and not have to mask it off. That'll save a whole lot of time. Thanks, guys!

Yes, I remember the discussion. But are the other bits so odd that you can't find them? Not sure that's an issue since you have another one, but just curious.

Dave - Not sure how I missed your previous post. Sorry. Any news on the potential ulcer? As for today, glad you took it easy. (I was concerned when you said you took the bumper off, but then saw that you said "hand tight".) Once you get the whole thing in primer I guess you'll step back and look things over to see what needs to be re-worked? Can you easily tell then?

For whatever reason they didn't use a magnet. But tweezers, then a needle, then the "Dremel tool", which is a battery operated device with a brush that digs. But in the end he said "We are golden". Some day he's gonna discover mangled metal on the underside of his apparatus where I was gripping HARD. Anyway, I made some progress today in spite of all that. You can see that over on the Dad's Truck Build thread.

I made some progress today. First, I got the inner needle bearings out of the spindles. I did it by reversing the arms on my small puller and pulling against a screwdriver, as shown below. Then, when the bearing hit the screwdriver I put the edge of the spindle on the edge of the work table and came down through the spindle with a brass drift against the screw of the puller. A few taps with a hammer knocked the bearings out the rest of the way. So now I need to order some new ones. Then I protected the bearing and seal positions and blasted one spindle. Here's a comparison: And here's a closeup of the lockouts: And here's the batch I'll PC tomorrow, Lord willing:

I had to go back thru to find out about the eye .... not good. Between my dad being blind in 1 eye from birth and me having eye issues I don't mess around with protection when working in the garage or where any could get in the eyes. If it make you feel any better ever 12 weeks I have to get a injection (read needle) in 1 of my eyes for the rest of my life if I want to keep the eye and I need the eye to pass my med card test for my CDL to drive a truck. Just had the needle this morning, can't do anything that may put pressure on the eye, like bending over or lifting haves things and why no work (pay or other wise) for the day, or could hurt the eye before the injection site heals. Take care of that eye and don't push it, what ever you want to do will be there tomorrow. Dave ---- Thanks, guys. And good advice - it'll be there tomorrow. As for what happened, it was a fluke. I was emptying the spent blast media into a hole in the yard. The wind was strong from the south so I stood on the south side. But the wind whipped it up and into my eye. I rinsed what I could out of my eye with lubricating eye drops. But one piece wouldn't come out at that point. I hoped that it would during the night, but it didn't. So I called the local eye doctor, expecting that it was a piece of grit that was stuck. Unfortunately it was a piece of metal that had embedded in the eye. Edit: Dave - That sounds awful! I really feel for you. Hang in there.

Well, I don't blast every day, but the bag was delivered near Thanksgiving, and I can't tell that they've broken down at all - they still work as well as the first time. I've done several large Aluminum engine brackets, and several steel & cast Iron parts including at least 1 pair of exhaust manifolds inside & out. So I think I've used the whole bag at least once by now. https://supermotors.net/getfile/883053/thumbnail/12sag.jpg https://supermotors.net/getfile/1143092/thumbnail/20181210_174534.jpg I think glass beads are MUCH more durable than crushed glass, which is why I think they're worth more. And they leave a better finish IMO. I'm not 100% sold on crushed glass, but now that I have quite a bit of it (400 #) I'll use it for many things. However, I'm not sure it'll be adequate on the rear cross member as that would take a long time. Part of the problem is that the glass/walnut hull combo doesn't etch nearly as deeply as coal slag or aluminum oxide. That means the powder doesn't have as much tooth for adherence, so the coating won't be as permanent. Another is that by not digging as deeply it doesn't remove paint from in the texture of the part as well. And since the paint isn't likely to survive the oven, that would cause problems with the finish. So, I haven't found the perfect media. But, I do have the cabinet feeding nicely. And, it has cut WAY down on the dust.

Lots of progress there, Bill. Is that Sag one of the common ones? It looks it, but it is hard to tell. Anyway, if so it'll be easier to find down the road than the ZF, so there's some comfort there.

Let's hope that more thumbs-up are warranted tomorrow night. I'm hoping to get the hubs and spindles blasted and then the whole shooting match powder coated. But that will be Pass 1 for the hub locks as I'll then have to put the red in the recesses, and that won't happen tomorrow.

Today's update is early as I'm done for the day. Spent a while at the eye doctor's while he got a piece of metal out of my right eye. Was deep enough that he removed a bit of the cornea and then put a clear contact lens over that for protection. Said cornea will heal underneath the contact, and they'll take it out on Thursday. However, I did get the blast cabinet working quite well before going to "see" the eye doctor. The first problem I was was too much media. The instructions plainly say not to put much in, and I had gone overboard. So I took a lot of it out and that helped. But then I mixed walnut hulls with it and that really was the ticket. With that combo it'll blast smoothly with no hiccups as long as you want to go. But, that combo is like using fine sandpaper. It'll work on anything, albeit slowly. So I used it on the windshield trim with the pressure at ~40 psi. Here's a before/after shot: And here's a closeup showing the texture, which is about right: Then I tried the mix on an AFB top. This thing is off of a Mercruiser and it has a primer of yellow and a top coat of black. Here's the before: And here's the after. I think it did a good job. So then I used it on the brake rotors - and it was sloooow. But, it worked and I got both done and ready for powder. Then I knocked the seals and races out of the hubs and cleaned them. And took the MM locks apart and cleaned them. Then I put the hubs, windshield trim, and the MM's in the oven for an hour to bake everything off. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to blast the spindles and then PC a bunch of parts.

Yep, it looks odd because it is for a van: 82/ El00/350 E2TZ 3513-A

I agree - check the headlight switch, but consider the relay harness. I have some info on it here: http://www.garysgaragemahal.com/headlight-wiring-harness.html.

Yipes! How long do the glass beads last at that pressure?

It is interesting. But I don't recognize the bed.

Welcome, Murray! We have a member's map (Bullnose Forum/Member's Map) and I can add you if you'd like.

That's what was in my blast cabinet when I got it, and I always hated it for all the reasons you described. I recently switched to glass beads, which is more expensive, but seems to be well worth the cost. I also modified my cabinet to work better: I put it on 6" casters to save my back, and added an LED bar, and changed the way the fresh-air intake works. I may change the way the outgoing air works, too. My blast cabinet is tall enough, and it has fed better than the Eastwood cabinet it replaced, but this plugging is going to be a problem if I can't cure it. Somewhere I read that mixing the media works, so I might try glass with aluminum oxide to see if that helps. And I have some glass beads, but in my experience they turn into crushed glass after a bit, so I'm not sure that's much help. Or, perhaps I'm running too much pressure with the beads? I keep it to 60 psi max, which is what Eastwood called for. What pressure are you using?

Based on what I had to do to get an Aeronose (which uses the same upper mounts as the Bricknose) it will be a bit difficult. At least the steering column mounts are similar. The Bullnose dash is essentially built up in sections, part metal and part plastic. The upper section is several pieces that bolt down with small screws in four locations just inside the windshield. The other item is the VIN location, the Bullnose is further inboard than the Bricknose or Aeronose. The other big item is the wiring, the Bullnose front end wiring is one continuous harness from the right headlight through the firewall, across the dash then back out through the firewall to the left headlight. All the later models have one or two multi pin bulkhead connectors and the only thing on the right side that penetrates the firewall is for the HVAC system. Thanks, Bill. That's exactly why I was asking the question as I remembered some of those things from your quest and thought Shaun should know what he's getting into.