Big Blue's Transformation

[ArdWrknTrk]

Morning, Jim. That is hard to say. Let me think by typing:

• Radiator Support: The original radiator support had been hacked up so he could run the hoses to the engine oil cooler in a bizarre way because he put the cooler in the wrong spot. Jonathan gave me a replacement. In fact, he brought it from Arizona on one of the show trips, probably two years ago today come to think of it. But, as he'd discovered, it was covered with little cracks here and there. Maybe 10 - 15 of them. I examined it closely to find them, wire brushed the paint off where they were, and then welded them up and ground the welds smooth. Then had it blasted and painted. That probably took at least a week.

• Crossmember: For some reason he cut a big chunk out of the engine crossmember. So when I got the D60 I had them include the crossmember. But it took a LOT of searching to find someone that had the right crossmember and would include it. Then there was the consultation with WelderScott on how to cut the hole in a uniform way w/o leftover saw cuts, which it had. And how to cut the piece out of the D60's crossmember to put in. And then all the cutting and grinding and fitting. Then Scott came over and welded it. But even after that there was the work of reaming out the bolt holes and tightly fitting bolts where he'd left them out. Man, that is hard to estimate, but I probably had a month tied up in that.

• Fuel System: I'm not sure if this counts as it was prior to the "transformation", but when I got the truck the wiring for the fuel system was badly hacked, with both the inertia switch and the resistor wired around and the oil pressure switch having been removed. That took probably two weeks as I had to find out what had been done, which took a lot of testing, then figure out what I needed to do to put it right, order parts, and then add them in. Probably two weeks right there.

• Engine: This is a BIGGEE! The engine was supposedly only a few months old when I got the truck, and it had been "being built" for four years prior to that. It had an edelbrock intake, carb, and water pump, and supposedly an Edelbrock cam. But it dropped a cylinder at idle when I first got it and then was probably dropping two later. So, like a ninny, I assumed there were valve problems and had Huck's EFI heads redone and planned to put them on awa the plenums and go EFI. But it turned out that the engine had apparently been pulled from a salvage, prettied up, and put in Big Blue. And it was badly worn.

  BADLY! So that mean I needed a whole new engine, and it took a lot of time to determine what I wanted, get it built and shipped in, etc. But it was a short block and that meant more work than if it had been just swapping heads and intake on the old engine. This was at least a month.

So now we are at 2 3/4's months. And I know there are things I'm forgetting. Did he leave off the speed control servo and hack the wiring? Dunno. He probably is the one that installed the speaker in the door panels so I have to replace door panels and speakers, but I've not done that yet so it doesn't count.

Given that, there's at least 3 months of work fixing handiwork. And let's say I'm 15 months into this, so 20% of the time was caused by him.

But you're MUCH closer to having him where you want him!

Mount the winch, compressor and inverter.

Fab the bumper/tire, hi-lift, Jerry can thingy.

Redo the cab interior with SEM, New carpet, infotainment. (and a seatbelt)

What else???

[Gary Lewis]

But you're MUCH closer to having him where you want him!

Mount the winch, compressor and inverter.

Fab the bumper/tire, hi-lift, Jerry can thingy.

Redo the cab interior with SEM, New carpet, infotainment. (and a seatbelt)

What else???

Yes, much! Our son called a few minutes ago and he seems to be receptive to meeting me in Colorado next year to drive the trails around Ouray. Hooray! So I need to get him in shape for that. But Janey and I want to do some places around here this fall/winter, so need to keep that in mind as well.

So yes, the winch, inverter, and compressor. And the interior, inc carpet for the rear wall. And new door panels that don't rattle on bumps 'cause they cannot possibly stay attached to the door with the large speakers and the fact you have to slam the doors due to the new weatherstripping. And the dash cap. Plus the kick panel vents.

Oh yes, the radio bezel with switches for various things, like the OX locker, compressor, battery parallel, extra lighting. And/or the Highliner with the switches up there awa a CB. But, getting the wiring up there for those switches seems difficult, so probably the radio bezel is the best way for that.

Oh yes, the Arduino! These fuel gauges are a pain.

And, sooner rather than later I need to finish the alignment, which Steve has volunteered to help with.

And getting the A/C going. Plus the power steering and t-case leaks.

I need to revise the Word doc and put some thought to priorities.

[85lebaront2]

Yes, much! Our son called a few minutes ago and he seems to be receptive to meeting me in Colorado next year to drive the trails around Ouray. Hooray! So I need to get him in shape for that. But Janey and I want to do some places around here this fall/winter, so need to keep that in mind as well.

So yes, the winch, inverter, and compressor. And the interior, inc carpet for the rear wall. And new door panels that don't rattle on bumps 'cause they cannot possibly stay attached to the door with the large speakers and the fact you have to slam the doors due to the new weatherstripping. And the dash cap. Plus the kick panel vents.

Oh yes, the radio bezel with switches for various things, like the OX locker, compressor, battery parallel, extra lighting. And/or the Highliner with the switches up there awa a CB. But, getting the wiring up there for those switches seems difficult, so probably the radio bezel is the best way for that.

Oh yes, the Arduino! These fuel gauges are a pain.

And, sooner rather than later I need to finish the alignment, which Steve has volunteered to help with.

And getting the A/C going. Plus the power steering and t-case leaks.

I need to revise the Word doc and put some thought to priorities.

On seating the rings, high gear (4th with the ZF5) do some WOT "pulls" from where it will just pull smoothly (25-35 mph) to 55-60. Do this 5 or 6 times then just cruise a bit so everything cools down. For mine, I will have to use 3rd and not get far enough into it to unlock the converter clutch.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Yes, much! Our son called a few minutes ago and he seems to be receptive to meeting me in Colorado next year to drive the trails around Ouray. Hooray! So I need to get him in shape for that. But Janey and I want to do some places around here this fall/winter, so need to keep that in mind as well.

So yes, the winch, inverter, and compressor. And the interior, inc carpet for the rear wall. And new door panels that don't rattle on bumps 'cause they cannot possibly stay attached to the door with the large speakers and the fact you have to slam the doors due to the new weatherstripping. And the dash cap. Plus the kick panel vents.

Oh yes, the radio bezel with switches for various things, like the OX locker, compressor, battery parallel, extra lighting. And/or the Highliner with the switches up there awa a CB. But, getting the wiring up there for those switches seems difficult, so probably the radio bezel is the best way for that.

Oh yes, the Arduino! These fuel gauges are a pain.

And, sooner rather than later I need to finish the alignment, which Steve has volunteered to help with.

And getting the A/C going. Plus the power steering and t-case leaks.

I need to revise the Word doc and put some thought to priorities.

You're going to leave the highliner black, rather than paint it with the SEM?

Ah, you're beginning to see my pain, with having to guess how far I can really go.

I'd almost forgotten about that....

As for the D60, everything should be fresh, so you don't have huge problems breaking those bushings loose.

And you do have a nice lift.

Progress is GOOD!

[Gary Lewis]

You're going to leave the highliner black, rather than paint it with the SEM?

Ah, you're beginning to see my pain, with having to guess how far I can really go.

I'd almost forgotten about that....

As for the D60, everything should be fresh, so you don't have huge problems breaking those bushings loose.

And you do have a nice lift.

Progress is GOOD!

Jim - Interesting question about the Highliner. WelderScott was just here to do his show entry. With that done the conversation turned to the bumper, which he's going to discuss with his very close friend (my friend as well, but I'm not as close to him as Scott is) and see if it can't progress a bit. And then to HiPo LEDs, and then to mounting a CB. I showed him the Highliner page and Rob's installation thereof and he's sold.

But, what color? I think leaving it black may be the way to go. But, if I'm spraying all of the other interior parts, that would be the time.

Thoughts, y'all?

As for the eccentrics, yes they should come out fairly easily as they've not even been wet. But I need to do that before they form a bond with the rest of the suspension. And the lift makes it easy.

Oh, and don't miss my ? in your Saginaw/u-techcenter thread. Looks like a good solution to my leak?

Bill - I've done all sorts of WOT runs in all sorts of gears, including 4th. I'm relishing the break-in process.

 

[kramttocs]

Jim - Interesting question about the Highliner. WelderScott was just here to do his show entry. With that done the conversation turned to the bumper, which he's going to discuss with his very close friend (my friend as well, but I'm not as close to him as Scott is) and see if it can't progress a bit. And then to HiPo LEDs, and then to mounting a CB. I showed him the Highliner page and Rob's installation thereof and he's sold.

But, what color? I think leaving it black may be the way to go. But, if I'm spraying all of the other interior parts, that would be the time.

Thoughts, y'all?

As for the eccentrics, yes they should come out fairly easily as they've not even been wet. But I need to do that before they form a bond with the rest of the suspension. And the lift makes it easy.

Oh, and don't miss my ? in your Saginaw/u-techcenter thread. Looks like a good solution to my leak?

Bill - I've done all sorts of WOT runs in all sorts of gears, including 4th. I'm relishing the break-in process.

What about the same color as the light blue on the exterior?

With the black exterior trim you are adding though, I don't think black is a bad way to go.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Jim - Interesting question about the Highliner. WelderScott was just here to do his show entry. With that done the conversation turned to the bumper, which he's going to discuss with his very close friend (my friend as well, but I'm not as close to him as Scott is) and see if it can't progress a bit. And then to HiPo LEDs, and then to mounting a CB. I showed him the Highliner page and Rob's installation thereof and he's sold.

But, what color? I think leaving it black may be the way to go. But, if I'm spraying all of the other interior parts, that would be the time.

Thoughts, y'all?

As for the eccentrics, yes they should come out fairly easily as they've not even been wet. But I need to do that before they form a bond with the rest of the suspension. And the lift makes it easy.

Oh, and don't miss my ? in your Saginaw/u-techcenter thread. Looks like a good solution to my leak?

Bill - I've done all sorts of WOT runs in all sorts of gears, including 4th. I'm relishing the break-in process.

Replied over there...

I don't think I'd like black overhead.

I seem to have a cloud over me all the time anyhow...

Would be nice to have another pair of speakers though!

[Gary Lewis]

Replied over there...

I don't think I'd like black overhead.

I seem to have a cloud over me all the time anyhow...

Would be nice to have another pair of speakers though!

Yep, saw the reply.

On the Highliner, I think that may be a Christmas gift. My interior decorator and I discussed colors thereof using Rob's pic from this post since Eddy Myrtle has pretty much the same colors as Big Blue. She doesn't think the light blue would look right for the Highliner and suggests either the dark blue or just leave it black.

And, I have to start thinking about a CB.

[salans7]

Yep, saw the reply.

On the Highliner, I think that may be a Christmas gift. My interior decorator and I discussed colors thereof using Rob's pic from this post since Eddy Myrtle has pretty much the same colors as Big Blue. She doesn't think the light blue would look right for the Highliner and suggests either the dark blue or just leave it black.

And, I have to start thinking about a CB.

I have a Cobra 29 LX BT in my Ranger. It's been a great CB and has way more features than I'll ever need.

 

[Gary Lewis]

I have a Cobra 29 LX BT in my Ranger. It's been a great CB and has way more features than I'll ever need.

LOL! I Googled "President Bill" and then Amazon told me about others I was following up on them. Here's what my screen was showing when your note came in: