Gary Lewis

Thanks, Bill. I wish I'd have thought of this bracket approach before as it would have saved me time. But I'm happy with the results this round and nothing will need to be changed re the isolator when I go EFI save for a short link from the isolator to the PDB, which will be where the ignition modules are now. I needed to get everything nailed down as we are taking BB on another road trip on Wednesday. Both of us want to get out of the house, and I want to drive the truck and enjoy the speed control working correctly as well as the rear springs giving a bit on bumps. And then I can move on to the next projects: Mission Control: Need to get the switches wired up Inverter: Need to wire it up now that I have the #2 wire run to the aux power relay OX Locker: Need to install the actuator and wire it up Air Compressor: Take it apart and install the tank below the bed and the compressor in the tool box Fog Lights: Install a relay and wire them up. May just do temp wiring so I'll have them for any driving we do this spring and summer, but will want to put the relay in the PDB if there's room later. At that point the truck will be essentially ready for the outings we are hoping to do this spring and then the big trip this summer to Colorado.

Chad - Those notes are going to help others, for sure. But wow, those front springs are looooooong! And 11 leaves for the rear springs? I hope they are very thin leaves as I had 6 leaves on Big Blue and those spring were way too stiff. I took 2 leaves out and it helped the ride significantly.

Ended at $91K. WOW!!!!!!!!!

Well, today I did what I should have done the other day - made a bracket for the battery isolator and attached it to the EFI air box bracket. That way it can be used now as well as later. Yes, I'd already made a whizzbang bracket, and powder coated it, to hold the isolator. But then I discovered that two magnalugs won't fit on the studs for the isolator, and the temp solution of a connector nut put the hot battery terminal too close to the fender. So, if I was going to have to make another bracket why not do it right. The bracket is made out of 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" stainless angle. I installed two nutserts to take the mounting screws for the isolator, and then drilled it five places and plug-welded it to the bottom of the EFI air box bracket. Here's a shot of it looking at the back side of the air box bracket: And here are the welds: Then I made the third spacer to hold the air box bracket to the fender, and tried to mount the bracket. I lost count, but I know that I dropped each spacer at least once and one of them maybe three times. And, of course, each time they went into the bowels of the fender, usually into the front corner where it is really hard to get to. And, since I made the spacers out of stainless I couldn't pick them up with the magnet. So, when the air box comes off next time I'll tack weld the spacers to it, media blast the whole thing, and then powder coat it. But, for now it is installed. However, before getting to that pic there's another story. The EEC-V air box bottom didn't have any of the knurled nuts that hold the top to it. So I had to raid two EEC-IV air boxes to get enough of them, and then discovered that the ear of the EEC-V box is cracked, as shown below. I put the nut in with hot-melt glue, but I'm wondering about patching it somehow. Any suggestions? Maybe a piece of thin metal top and bottom held together with a nutsert? But for now the EFI air box is in, and the battery isolator is installed, as you can see here:

Yes, that would work fine. But I didn't think of that. But it worked out fine anyway as I wanted fuses rather than fuse links. On the other hand it made for more work.

My review of RA in Marketplace/Vender Reviews & Ratings says: I buy from RA, but only things that I know are the right part. And they aren't my favorite vendor, for sure. If you have a problem, you have a problem. And it would appear that you have a real PROBLEM. Sorry, John. Don't know what to tell you.

Glad the search turned us up. The # of folks finding us via searches is going up, which then means Google shows us higher in the search results, which means that more folks find us, which means.....

You are now on the map - east of Show Low. Truck looks good, but that tire is low.

Yes, they were a very nice change from the worn out shocks I removed. There weren't even labels on them, so I have no idea what brand. I've been chasing a rattle on the passenger side when going over washboard type bumps in the road. Thought I found it with the ball joints, since the passenger front tire lower joint was extremely loose and I could wiggle the tire by hand...but that wasn't it. Or the battery tray, or the bumper, or the spring/bearings, calipers, radius arm bushings. Axle pivot bushings looked new when I was under the truck. They were replaced about 3 years ago. Maybe brake lines rattling along with wiring harness bouncing off the fender liner. Wow! You've covered all of the things I was going to suggest. Like wheel bearings and radius arm bushings.

I don't blame you on not wanting to go back into the hubs. Hard to imagine what it might be to start at 7 MPH and not do it below that. I was going to suggest it might be a rock between the brake rotor and backing plate, but that should do it at all speeds. Have you tried jacking the front wheels up, one at a time, and rotating them? If you don't have it in 4wd on the t-case and don't have the hubs locked in the drive axles shouldn't rotate, so it shouldn't be those bearings.

Hello, Wayne. Glad you joined. Tell us more about "NE AZ"? We have a map (Bullnose Forum/Member's Map in the menu) and we can add you if we had a city or zip. And tell us more about your truck, inc some pics. Also, how 'bout creating a signature with your name and details about your truck? That way we can call you by name and not have to guess when answering questions. How to post pics and create a sig is explained in Bullnose Forum/Forum FAQ's.

No, I didn't have any heat or melting issues Gary, but I did cut very slowly, in little bursts...maybe 3/16" at a time...wait a couple seconds and cut again. I can't quite describe how the paint behaved...it's almost like it wanted to run or sag a little bit, but that was only on my test bezel...and maybe it wasn't clean enough, or it was too cold, or I was too close...I don't know. It looks awesome on the black weave pattern though...like brand new. The Satin Black seems to give the bezels the kind of lustre that they probably had when new. Not too shiny, not too dull. We'll see how it goes. I'm going to paint it today. Good luck!

So, what's the plan, Chris? How are you going to fill the holes?

The Jigsaw actually worked pretty good with a fine toothed metal blade...but still, you have to be super careful as it walks through that plastic with ease. Having pre-cut the edges with an Xacto knife made the lines a little easier to follow. I suppose I should have checked to make sure the clock even worked before I went through all the trouble...lol, but anyway. I took the clock apart and the contacts are shiny clean, so hopefully it is OK. Being an early 1980 it is the old style clock with a 4 pin plug like a trailer connector. As for the paint...I'm not 100% happy with how the paint went on the flat surface, so I might mask that off on the bezel just in case. That is what I did with the instrument bezel...I masked off some of the flat smooth surfaces, and just focused on the weave pattern and edges. Did the metal blade not cause enough heating of the plastic for it to fuse again behind the blade? That's the problem I've been having. On the paint, is it too shiny or what on the flat surfaces? I'm pretty happy with the two bezels I have on Big Blue, but they aren't a perfect match so I might paint them - some day.

Ty - It is looking GOOD! It is amazing how much better they drive with all new suspension. And I see a Bilstein shock under there. Do you like them? George! We've been missing you! Glad you are back. On the carb, have you tried the orange thread locker? Supposed to have 3x the strength of blue but can still be removed w/o heating.

I second this motion! Amen, brothers! The added-on cap seems bizarre. Do you really need the extra head room? Do you need to see out standing up? And that moves the rear window up so high that you probably can't see what you are backing into.

Yup, that's a handy trick. I used to do it every now and then if I didn't have a tap or a thread chaser. I use a zipcut disk and cut it on an angle so that I end up with a sharper cutter (as opposed to cutting perpendicular to the threads). Another handy tip is to buy a Refrigeration Ratchet Wrench to keep in your tap and die set. I have used mine for tapping threads many times. It has 4 different square hole sizes, and while it doesn't fit every tap size, it fits most of them. Great for tight spaces where you can't fit the big tap handle or get a good turn on it. Cory - Thanks for the tip on the angle to cut the bolt. That makes sense. But thanks even more for the suggestion of the refrigeration wrench. Someone has recommended that before, probably you, but I didn't follow up on it then. But I did today 'cause I've recently had a need for that as the tap handle was a pain where I needed to use it. So I bought this Klein Tools ratchet from Amazon for $17.50 inc tax.

Gary, The glue doesn't melt the lens. I didn't take a lot of pictures this time, but I've done this before a couple times. Seems every used bezel I've looked at has at least one lens that is broken. I just cut them short so that when I lay down the glue on each end it sits on the black plastic and the lens, overlapping each by about 1/8" or so. Better pics from an older thread here: http://forum.garysgaragemahal.com/Dash-Bezel-Lense-Replacement-tp52379.html The lenses are attached a couple different ways. I have a newer bezel here...1985 I think, and its like they used hot pokers to melt the lens into the black plastic. Thanks, Cory. And I now remember the previous post, but I didn't pick up on that you used a glue gun. Yes, you said you did, but.... I'm reminded frequently that I have some changes to make 'cause my bezel has Upshift in the far left opening and I need it to say Check Engine when I go to EFI. But that can wait.

Yes, glad it is sorted! Especially at such a cheap price. I hadn't thought to look through my many pics until Bill mentioned that he had. So I went looking and sure enough, had that one. (And I'm glad that I did as it reminded me of how UGLY things were under the hood. So much better now.)

Nice. And not a bad price.

The fuse links have been turned into fuses in the passenger-side PDB. If I had it to do over again I'd leave them as fuse links for now and then put fuses in the driver-side PDB. But I'm not going to change now. EDIT: That wouldn't have worked. There is no fender-mounted starter relay on which to put the fuse links. So something had to change, and I decided to turn them into fuses in that PDB.

That was my thinking as well. If I move the backup lights and trailer lights to relays I'm also going to move their feed to the main battery. But the trailer battery feed will stay with the aux battery.

I knew "tea life" wasn't right, but couldn't come up with what it should have been. On the bolt, if you are careful you could groove it with a hacksaw. The groove will be deepest at the end, but it won't take much. And a sharp edge will cut through the junk that's in there far better than just a nice smooth thread. Just don't cut all the way through as you want the bolt to be full-sized and not deflect in.

Let's see if this is zoomed in enough to help. (Man, I'd forgotten how ugly that engine was!) If not, how 'bout this?

Scott - You've done what I just did yesterday, which is to make the aux battery required. I meant to mention that on BB's thread, but forgot. Yesterday when I was setting up the aux power relay, meaning the old aux battery relay, I realized that the two fuse links on it are for the trailer lights and trailer power. And while it used to be that the relay had the main battery connected on one side and the aux battery on the other, it no longer does. So, if the aux battery is dead or if it is removed, until the CH smart isolator closes the things counting on the aux battery won't function. And I think that's now the case on your truck. Right?