kramttocs

Congrats!

Hey Gary, it would be my pleasure. I should have another Dee Zee product coming so I'll put everything together and send it.

Wow, didn't realize just how much it was.

Not sure if these are already somewhere on here or not but thought these were neat. Only added a few but can take more or scan them if anyone wants better quality since these aren't great with my phone.

Have you noticed any condensation? That seems to be the only complaint I see with those or else I'd be all for that route.

The magic smoke protectors. Taking this off on a huge tangent but I've wondered if there has ever been an experiment to identify what impact the first response to a post has on the rest of the responses. There have been many times I've seen the same question asked but one gets informative helpful responses while the other gets railroaded. Does it have to do with the first response like I am hypothesizing? Or the day of the week? Time of day? Anyways - no need to follow that rabbit trail but just something that came to mind when seeing the post and that actual help was provided.

LOL I saw rug and was thinking footbox/firewall. I guess on the dash isn't the first thing one thinks of when they see 'carpet' In the end I don't think the wifi one matters a ton. The gps was the more important one in getting it outside the vehicle. I may just leave the wifi one zip tied up behind the dash next to the unit. The truck didn't originally have cab lights but I've always been a fan of them. I would definitely recommend the rivet nuts if adding them new. Makes them nice to install. The wiring was really easy with the super cab as there is access to the wiring for each light. So I could put each light in and then connect them all together inside the cab, tucking the harness up in the 'shelf' when done. I used a factory harness and spliced the new light socket pigtails in. In addition to the rivet nuts I'd set them back a little ways further than factory. Not much but enough to help them lay flat.

Haha for sure. I might need to stock up on them. Those mini splits would be nice. I would really like the wood stove approach - the downside is that it doesn't work well for squeezing in a couple hours at night without having to have it run for hours before that. They definitely put out some good heat though and cheap to fuel around here at least. The vent-less units are convenient but I just kept reading about the moisture they introduce.

That's neat. Looks like they are all gone. Post back with some photos once you get it.

I am on the fence with that as well - the wifi antenna. The wifi antenna is for it to connect to either my phone while driving (phone as a hotspot) or my house wifi when at home. When connecting to the phone since it will be just a few feet away, anywhere in the cab should be able to pick up the signal. I've started leaning towards placing it under my carpet dash cover towards the front of the windshield. I have a dime size chunk out of the speaker grill in the dash so I could route the cable through there. Open to ideas. I just won't want it visible. A backup camera is a big reason I went with the double din unit also. I am going to use the Atoto A6Y Pro. I don't feel like Android units have really come as far as they should have by now but once the double din cage is in there, swapping in the future will be easy enough. The camera I am using has the ability to snap into a hole. Since the bumper has a hole in the center behind the license plate I purchased a dark license plate (black and dark grey American flag) that I am going to drill a hole in matching the bumper hole and place the camera there. I have some better pictures somewhere of when I was actually modifying the dash support but as many others before me have found out, these trucks aren't setup for the double din height. Especially when A/C is involved. The route I decided to go since I wasn't going to cut the hvac duct was down instead of up. This isn't all finalized so it may not work out as well as it does in my head. The dash support has a hump in it above the hvac controls that the radio support clips into. I removed that, flattened it, and reinstalled. This makes the support in line (hard to tell in the photo) with the shelf in the plastic beneath the opening for the radio. By removing the two bottom holes for the factory radio and shaving a little off the lip, the double din cage will slide in and rest on/attach to the flattened support. I haven't gotten up the nerve to cut the plastic dash yet . My concern at this point is if it will be too low in the factory bezel and look weird. I believe I will have to cut slightly below the inward curve on the bezel and then design a trim bezel to make it look seamless. Not sure I am describing this very well but I'll add photos as I work on it. Just like the wifi antenna, I welcome any ideas/suggestions.

Got the cab lights in. Was good to see some life back in it. Hopefully the GPS antenna thing works as I don't want to snake that wire again Put a grommet in with some white grease around the lip just in case any water makes it past the gasket.

I thought it was kind of funny. Posting for sale ads can be asking for trouble sometimes. Unfortunately, running or not the truck really isn't worth much. Body is shot, and the frame likely isn't much better. That leaves a 302, transmission, and rear end...none of which fetch any decent money on the used market. You're right - we all know that pain. Doesn't seem to matter what you put in the ad. Not much in the way of good parts but those are the factory bed rails, right? He might get rid of it for a song before too much longer

One of the next things is installing the cab lights so I can finish insulating the roof. While I am not ready for the stereo install, figured I'd add this while thinking about it. The truck will have a double din Android unit that has external gps and WiFi antennas. The WiFi will be located inside under the headliner most likely but for the GPS I am placing it in the center cab light. I removed it from its case, cut a slot in the light opposite the bulb hole and then sealed it back up with gasket maker(not the prettiest thing). The purpose is twofold - hopefully get interference free signal but also make the antenna invisible unless really looking for it. I didn't find another example of anyone doing this so if there is a fatal flaw in it that I am not thinking of, let me know.

Thanks! It's been a bit more time consuming than expected but getting there. Gary- funny you should mention that. Been doing a lot of research and weighing options. Spray foaming and a vented propane tube heater would be ideal but just not practical right now. So as an interim solution that will hopefully work well enough this winter I am going to hang some thick tarps and section off a roughly 20x30 area. My dad has a propane furnace/air handler that I will blow into the area like you did. It may not work extremely well but I figure for a couple hours at night after the kids are in bed it will make it manageable.

But the smoke effect looks good

Got the truck back from the body shop today. Really wishing I had a heated shop now. Thought the tailgate came out nice. The truck had the 86 trim so they had to weld the holes.

Very nice! Really like the striping. Subscribed.

Good question. If the charger can overcome the draw of the pull-in current of the isolator then there's no harm no foul. In my case the little HF charger couldn't and the relay would pull in and the voltage would head south. Then the relay would drop out and the cycle would start again. But in this case the charger is going to be adequate to not only overcome the current of the relay/isolator but also that of the inverter, so there's no problem at all. I wasn't thinking. In your case, check the capability of the charger you are going to use. But also note that the relay will parallel the batteries so the charger will see both of them instead of just one. It's definitely something to be considered when using dual batteries and a smart isolator so I am glad you brought it up. Amps aside, I looked at tech sheets for three chargers and they had min values of: #1. 13.4 #2. 12.6 #3. 12.7 Isolator joins at 13.2 Which would be better? 1: Would keep the batteries constantly connected and thus both charged Would also keep the solenoid engaged continuously More prone to short cycling as the solenoid would be a parasitic draw? 2/3: Would primarily be floating the main battery. Only triggering the solenoid and charging the secondary battery if the main battery needs topped off as that would go over 13.2. Chance of the aux battery draining and not being charged Correct me if my logic isn't right on this.

Can you explain why this is a problem if the charger is big enough to overcome the isolator draw? As you know, I'll have this situation and also want to use an onboard maintainer.

You know, I thought all the seams are inside the cab as well. But I checked the hoses and connections, and I can't find a leak anywhere. The only place it is wet is the outside of the plastic heater case, under the hood. There is a small drip there that lands on the plastic inner fender. Just installed my core a couple weeks ago and I didn't like the look of how close the tubes were to the firewall (was clearance but not much) so I wrapped the tubes with some of the silicon repair tape to provide a bit of a buffer. But I agree - I can't think of anywhere else beyond the tubes + firewall or tube + hoses that would be dripping outside the cab. I don't know how often you drive it but maybe stick some tissues in various locations and monitor?

... I would also vote for a van or truck with a walk-in shell. Something ready to go right now that you can slap a logo/phone number on the sides. I'd be afraid of that one time you need a little more room so you throw something in the back of the Ford and then it just escalates from there. Don't get me wrong, there is a landscaping business in town where the guy uses a really nice 80's Chevy to pull his mowing trailer and while he'd probably be the first one I'd call if I can't do the work myself, I also always wonder if he's ever caught it with a rock or some other occupational hazard.

Good to know on the antenna. Harness looks like: D8TB-18A919CB Both ends have Burndy on them.

It's definitely similar but the nos one has an extra button, lights in the mic, and the mic/display are swapped. Was looking at the manual - anyone have one of the mic holders that mounts to a bucket seat? Would like to see a photo of one out of curiosity.

Huh, never noticed that my 80 had that style (or that there were two styles). What is left of the 'behind panel' style in my 80: What is left of the 'thru panel' style in my 85:

For sure. Got out my electrical/vacuum book to check out this evening. Just a side story that doesn't directly relate to Camano - When I was looking for HVAC parts in the jy yesterday I stopped in front of truck that had always been inaccessible and barely visible due to thorns for the past few years I've been going. I wanted a not-as-badly faded HVAC control and I thought the thorns might have helped out. Since I was in my coveralls and thick jacket I literally threw myself backwards breaking through the thorns until I could access the rolled down window and climbed/fell through (winter clothing doesn't make for graceful gymnastics). Inside I was rewarded with a fairly red HVAC, a locking hood release, and a 2nd gen dash clock. I was most excited about the clock as I have only ever found the 3rd gen style. Probably the best part though (might be a location joke but...) was when a couple guys walked by, did a triple take, and tried to peer through the thorns after hearing some noise and eventually making eye contact with me as I was just sitting in the cab of a truck that looked like those jumanji vines had won out. Going back to the locking hood latch from earlier - it looks like the locking glove box latches use the same wafers. Comparing a 1 from each: