Gary Lewis

I will, but they are in the shop and I'm in the house dealing with church issues - like creating my lesson for the class I'm teaching on Sundays. However, I hope to be done this afternoon and get to go play.

Sent you an email re my availability. But, I should also say that the dizzy is curved for whatever spark advance Tim found that my engine needs. However, your engine has EGR and mine doesn't, and that changes the advance curve requirements since the flame front doesn't travel as rapidly in the diluted mix when exhaust gas is added. So I'm not sure that it would work well for your engine. Perhaps those that are more familiar with curves for engines with and without EGR can comment? I know that Bill is quite familiar with that situation, and there may be others.

Thanks, Bill. That would explain why I couldn't figure out how it worked. So now I don't need to draw it out on one page instead of trying to wrap my head around three pages in the EVTM. But, while I could change the wiring to get them to blink out of phase, as explained by Daniel here, I think I'd rather use Daniel's DRL-1 module and make them flash in phase. And, as a bonus, I'd have daytime running lights, as shown here.

Or, buy my TMeyer distributor. Tim makes it and puts an HEI module in it so there's no need for a Duraspark module, just the coil. I have serial #1 from Tim and have powder coated it and sent it back to him for use on Dad's engine. Tim then ran it on the dyno for a few pulls and then brought the engine to me. However, I'm now going EFI on that engine and will use a 460 dizzy, so that one is for sale. I'll sell it for half of whatever Tim is asking for a new one, and I've read that all we will have to do to make it work on a 351W is to replace the drive gear, which we can take from your existing distributor. But, we should confirm that with Tim.

Good luck! I'll keep you in my prayers that all goes well and there are no injuries.

Dyn - I'm glad to see that the Cibies work as well as others have said. I can't wait to put them in, although I'm not going to do that until I pull the engine out and re-wire as I don't want to run the heavier bulbs on the stock wiring. But, I believe the only way an LED H4 replacement bulb can give the right cutoff and light distribution in a reflector housing is for someone to make an LED that is shaped exactly like a filament on a halogen bulb. That's because the reflector housing has been engineered for the light source to be in exactly that position and have exactly that long, skinny shape. And since I don't think it is physically possible to create an LED that has the same shape and light emission as a halogen filament I do not believe it is possible to have a replacement H4 LED do what it is supposed to do. If you think about it, the shape of the filament is a point-source when viewed from the side and a wide source when viewed from the top. And it throws as much light up, back, and down as it does forward. So the reflector has been engineered to focus that light into the right beam. But the current replacement LEDs emit light in very different directions than the halogens. Looking at the from the side, they emit light ahead of and behind the filament, which is the focal point of the reflector. So the vast majority of the light they emit cannot go where it is supposed to go because it hits the reflector at the wrong angle. Which is why the big boys, like JW Speaker and Truck-Lite, have gone to complete units for the LEDs. They get to design a whole new reflector to accommodate the light output pattern of the LED, and add a lens that shapes the beam. That approach does work since everything is engineered for the LED - just like the reflector housings we currently have were engineered for the shape and light output parameters of a tungsten bulb.

Chris - I have both an '85 EVTM and a '96 EVTM, and will look later today to see what connectors they show for the radios and let you know.

Bill - Those look great! Are they cast as I've read?

I'm not blaming you, at all. And the plan was to KISS. But, as all of my plans do, this one did a bit more than creep. However, with the expectation that we will use Big Blue for some long-distance driving and pretty significant overlanding then I think the creep is justified. As for your brake cables, I assume you have already flooded them with some kind of lubricant? This seems like the appropriate application for WD40.

In looking at the EVTM that some nice guy supplied I haven't gotten my head around that. I fully understand what you are saying, but since I have to look at more than one page to put it all together it hasn't clicked. But, I'll draw it out and that should do it. And, I think the wiring is original on that part of the truck, so it should be working.

So Ron is actually selling some? Cool!

Bill - I've looked but haven't found that pic. Where is it? As for the exhaust, I'm planning to use the manifolds and exhaust system off of Huck. But I don't like the glass packs so will insert a 2-in/2-out Magnaflow.

Been thinking about how I'm going to paint or powder coat things on Big Blue when I pull the engine and it dawned on me that the valve covers I bought won't work. They are the OMC King Cobras and are for the non-EFI heads. But I'll be going with the EFI heads. Looking around I haven't found much in the way of neat valve covers for the EFI heads, but a couple of posts seem to say that the factory covers are cast aluminum and clean up very nicely. Does anyone know about that? Also, some suggested that the lower plenum isn't a good match for the EFI heads and the upper and lower plenums don't match each other, so all should be gasket-matched. I realize that I have those items to check out, but baby it is cold out there right now, so does anyone have any experience there?

Good idea!

So, what else have you made?

That is a good looking truck. But, that price is a bit high - to say the least.

Dan is a very strong proponent of a relay harness, and has a page dedicated to them: http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/relays/relays.html. Note the table of voltage vs lumens.

Hmmm. Ron???

Welcome!! Glad you found us. And, I like late-model Bullnose. I'm going about that in a slightly different way by upgrading most things under the hood to later model specs. But your approach might be easier.

Looking good, Ron!!!

Interesting reads. And what people are saying confirms my experience and what I've read. First, when I put replacement LED's in Big Blue's brake light sockets I was disappointed. I still have an LED in one side and a regular bulb in the other and it is obvious - the regular bulb is brighter. And the reason is as has been explained - the housings and lenses were designed for the tungsten bulbs that are essentially point-sources. But the LED's I've tried are anything but point-sources, so they do not work well in our housing. Having said that, I will be trying those that Dan recommended. I trust him - even if he is a MOPAR man. (Well, I do have a Super Bee in my stable, so.....)

EDIT: See this post for a more recent update from Daniel Stern. I'm exploring lighting upgrades for Big Blue and, when the time comes, Dad's truck. In the course of that I've done a lot of reading about the subject, particularly about headlights, and have come to several realizations that I thought I'd share here. First, there is a whole lot of misinformation out there about lighting. So you have to sort through what you read and determine whom to believe. One source that I've learned to put my faith in is Daniel Stern Lighting. In fact, I've found that Daniel is very friendly and helpful, and has responded to my emails quickly and in-depth. Headlamps: Basically we have three possible choices for upgrades: Halogen: Installing a headlamp that uses the H4 replaceable bulb is a significant step up, especially if coupled with a headlamp relay system using larger wiring. But, those headlamps vary significantly in quality, with some being classified as "junk" by Daniel saying "Stay away from it." My old standby of Hella is said to have problems with the low beam and high beam having different aiming points such that if you adjust for the high beams the lows will be way low, and if you adjust for the low beams the highs will be too high. But, the Cibie E-code headlamps are said to be the absolute best, with the Bosch units being good as well. Then there is the question of what bulb to use in the headlamp. Daniel said in an email to me: "Generally the optimal bulbs are precision-focus, ultra high luminance 60/55w items, $43.18/pair. It's tempting to grab for big wattage numbers (100/90, etc) but it's usually not the most productive way forward; please see bulb test results posted by my colleague Virgil at http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?392498-Interesting-headlight-bulb-test-results . Overwattage low beams would not be recommendable on that truck due to the high headlamp mount height -- either you tip the aim down far enough to avoid unsafe levels of glare (and your seeing distance is minimal) or you don't (and you'll eventually get ticketed or road raged for the glare you're causing)." However, Daniel says, and we already knew, that a major part of any upgrade to the headlamps needs to be a set of relays with much larger wiring. He offers a kit, which has the components necessary, including ceramic sockets since the halogen bulbs get hot. HID: On this subject Daniel said "There are no legitimate HID headlamps to fit your vehicle (just headlite-shaped toys/junk). "HID kits" in halogen-bulb headlamps (any kit, any headlamp, any vehicle) do not work safely or effectively, which is why they are illegal whether you buy the lamps and the kit together in one go or separately. See http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/bulbs/Hid/conversions/conversions.html. LED: There are basically two ways to approach this - an LED bulb as a replacement for a halogen bulb, and a purpose-built LED light that has both the reflector and bulb included. What I've learned in my reading is that the LED bulbs that you put in the headlamp in place of a halogen bulb do not work properly at all. And the reason is that a halogen bulb is basically a point-source when viewed from the side so the manufacturer can shape the reflector to aim the light from that point. However, LED's are anything but point-sources and the source of the light is not where it should be, causing the reflection to go where it shouldn't. However, the purpose-built LED units can be very good as the reflector/lens combo was designed with the exact LED light source in mind. Daniel's comments to me were "The "LED bulb conversions" now flooding the market are not a legitimate, safe, effective, or legal product. The failure is at the concept level, not the implementation level. These are a fraudulent scam. Not capable of producing even a fraction of the amount of light produced by the filament bulb they supposedly replace, let alone producing it in the right pattern for the lamp's optics to work. But there's a number of engineered LED headlamps on the market -- they range in quality and performance from pathetic to excellent. The king daddy of them all is the JW Speaker item in chrome https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0120QGXIO/?tag=2402507-20 or black https://www.amazon.com/dp/B013588TCY/?tag=2402507-20 . If those aren't in the budget, then get the Truck-Lite item https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007ED7HNY/?tag=2402507-20 . Beam focus and width aren't as good as the JW Speaker lamp (there are streaks and spots in the beam pattern), but it's still objectively a fine headlamp. LED headlamps are *not* advisable if you do a lot of wintertime driving with heavy snow and slush; the LED headlamp lenses run cold so snow and ice build up on them instead of melting off like they do from a warm halogen lamp lens. But, in a later email he added "JW Speaker just released the newest version of their top-class LED headlamp in this size: http://www.jwspeaker.com/products/led-headlights-model-8910-evolution-2/?utm_source=homepage&utm_medium=image&utm_campaign=8910%20Evolution%202%20Launch&utm_content=slider1" . And, he said that headlamp does have heaters so could be used in heavy snow or slush. Turn Signals/Marker Lamps: Daniel said that he "Can also make your front sidemarker lights 80% brighter for safer all-around visibility of the vehicle, $4.59/bulb. Your turn signals are presently invisible from the side, but there is an easy modification you can make to the front side marker lights' hookup so that they do double-duty as side markers _and_ side turn signal flashers, see http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/markerflash/markerflash.html . This is a very good safety improvement, as your turn signals become visible to the side (cars in the next lane, bicyclists, pedestrians) instead of just front- or rear-on. It is also fully road-legal. With your two-wire side marker lights you have two options for how to do this, both described at the link. Use the logic module method (module kit $59) if you want the side markers always to flash in phase with the front and rear indicators, or use the cross-feed method (no module required, just a couple of wire connectors) if you don't mind opposite-phase flashing of the front side marker light when the parking lamps or headlamps are lit. Either way is legal throughout North America; elsewhere in the world, international rules do not permit opposite-phase flashing because it's considered potentially confusing to an observer who can see both the front and the side flashers at the same time. Brake Lights: Daniel suggested using these: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01A77TV4Q/?tag=2402507-20 Backup Lights: He suggested these in the factory postion: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00TQ8H4KG/?tag=2402507-20. And, for add-on lights since our factory backup lenses don't do much he recommended these: http://www.foxtaillights.com/product/pmc-820kc-10/. If you want to cut the bumper, mount them in these grommets: http://www.levineautoparts.com/peterson-mounting-grommets-421-18.html. Or, use brackets like these: http://www.levineautoparts.com/peterson-mounting-brackets-guards-421-09.html. Day-Time Running Lights: According to Daniel "Daytime running lights significantly reduce your risk of being in a crash during the daytime, and are required equipment in Canada, throughout Europe, and in a large and growing number of other countries throughout the world because they are a very cost-effective safety device (i.e., they work). You can easily enable this functionality in your vehicle using a DRL-1 module ($59); see http://dastern.torque.net/Mods/DRL/DRL1.html for instructions and demonstration videos. This is the best way to put a daytime running light function on a vehicle not originally equipped (or which has had its headlamp-based DRLs disabled for installation of headlight relays). The module enables the steady-burning operation of both front directional signals as daytime running lights (except, of course, when you're signalling for a turn). They produce a light distribution with a wide view angle, are generally well located for DRL service at the outboard edges of the front of the vehicle, consume considerably less power than any headlamp-based DRL implementation, use light sources of generally much longer life than a headlight bulb, do not encourage improper nighttime use of lights, and do not require additional lighting devices to be added. I'll add more as I get further into this and as I make decisions. But, I thought I'd share what I'm learning and get your thoughts as well.

Interesting. Let's let others chime in with their observations and then I can take the empirical data to Nabble.

Hey, drywall is a major milestone! I remember when it went up in my shop, and it transformed things from insulation and electricals running everywhere to a real set of rooms. As for the browser, I wondered if there was a problem with yours. The folks at Nabble said the change they made would cause problems with Safari, so they recommended that I make changes to fix that. Now it appears that Mozilla is a problem? Ok, when a few more chime in and we get a handle on what the issues are with which browser then I'll go back to Nabble. Thanks.

Let's see if I can do this.... 3 pictures embedded, lessee if this works... First picture is the front page of Gary's forum; notice the RH slider bar is at the very top: When I scroll down to the bottom of the content (i.e. to the end of the list of threads) notice the RH slider bar is still pretty close to the top of what the browser considers to be the entire page: When I scroll all the way to the bottom of what the browser considers to be the end of the page (can see that by virtue of the RH slider being at the bottom) notice the "View More" link at the LH side. Myself and a few others needed to click that View More thing in order to see "long" threads, e.g. the one about the foglight switch bezel: ~~ As an aside, another problem since the most recent change.... At the front page, list of threads... Observed Problems is purple BUT Bill Vose had posted and the timestamp representing that was blue to tell me that. I click that blue link which would normally take me to Bill's post, it doesn't do that anymore; instead, it takes me to partially down the FIRST page, I need to scroll down to the bottom of the thread (which is still way above the View More link) and click the furthest RH page number to be taken to the last page (and to Bill's post). I think I heard Rod Serling talking and I've entered the Twilight Zone. Chris - You did a good job of explaining and documenting, but I can't duplicate your symptoms. Chrome doesn't seem to give me View More, even on really long threads like the fog light bezel or WHYDTYTT. In both cases I can scroll to the bottom of the page w/o getting a View More. And, if I click on the timestamp for your post it takes me directly to your post. So, is this a browser issue? Let's see who sees these issues and what browser they are using.