Big Blue's Transformation

[Sac79]

Got the interior together today, meaning the kick panels, the A & B-pillar trim, the thresholds, the trim that holds the the headliner in, and the sun visors and their inboard clips. It all went in well save for the driver's sun visor, which appears to have not gone into the recess for the spring and the spring got depressed and the visor isn't tight like it should be. But I'll take it back off and figure out what the problem is.

And I laid the dash pad/cover in so I could take pics. But it didn't fit in easily and it feels like the cover is hitting the windshield and holding the whole thing to the rear such that it doesn't want to sit down over the rear edge of the dash. So I'll have to check that out tomorrow, and it can't be a big problem.

Speaking of tomorrow, I have some wires to run up to the radio area for the switches, and then I can install the dash pad/cover. Hope to get all of that done tomorrow or Monday as Janey and I want to go on a trip Monday or Tuesday and take Big Blue.

Here are a couple of shots of the interior:

Last, I laid Dad's trim that goes above the rear window next to Big Blue's trim so I could get the retainer clips in the right places. Notice anything?

Looks great Gary!

[Gary Lewis]

Looks great Gary!

Thanks, guys!

Jim - I don't think a belt sander will be needed, but I'm not even sure what the problem is yet. Didn't spend much time checking, but will tomorrow.

And I think you are right, you said Mission Control.

On the coat hook, I've started a new thread to try and figure out when it changed.

[grumpin]

Thanks, guys!

Jim - I don't think a belt sander will be needed, but I'm not even sure what the problem is yet. Didn't spend much time checking, but will tomorrow.

And I think you are right, you said Mission Control.

On the coat hook, I've started a new thread to try and figure out when it changed.

That’s looking good!

[ArdWrknTrk]

Thanks, guys!

Jim - I don't think a belt sander will be needed, but I'm not even sure what the problem is yet. Didn't spend much time checking, but will tomorrow.

And I think you are right, you said Mission Control.

On the coat hook, I've started a new thread to try and figure out when it changed.

Being the rocket geek that I am, it's my likely thought when there are clusters of lights, buttons, radios...

I only suggested a belt sander because that's what I use for scribing shutting boards, counter tops or other flat(ish) surfaces into curves or undulating areas.

By angling it and slightly undercutting you can be assured the finished side will hit first and any chips (or boogers of molten plastic) end up on the hidden side.

I'm interested to see why the dash cover won't fit.

Didn't you try it first???

[Gary Lewis]

Being the rocket geek that I am, it's my likely thought when there are clusters of lights, buttons, radios...

I only suggested a belt sander because that's what I use for scribing shutting boards, counter tops or other flat(ish) surfaces into curves or undulating areas.

By angling it and slightly undercutting you can be assured the finished side will hit first and any chips (or boogers of molten plastic) end up on the hidden side.

I'm interested to see why the dash cover won't fit.

Didn't you try it first???

Thanks, Dane!

Jim - I didn't trial fit it first. This is my third Coverlay cover and there wasn't a problem with the first two at all, so I didn't see a reason to do so. But something should have clicked when I discovered how much more of the dash pad it covers.

It appears to be held just slightly too far aft for it to drop down inside the dash on the passenger's side where the screws come through to secure it. And that may be due to the added coverage on the front side pushing it to the rear. But I was out of time and didn't explore why, nor if the dash will pull out a bit and let it drop.

I'll check it out this afternoon when I go back out and let you know.

[Gary Lewis]

Thanks, Dane!

Jim - I didn't trial fit it first. This is my third Coverlay cover and there wasn't a problem with the first two at all, so I didn't see a reason to do so. But something should have clicked when I discovered how much more of the dash pad it covers.

It appears to be held just slightly too far aft for it to drop down inside the dash on the passenger's side where the screws come through to secure it. And that may be due to the added coverage on the front side pushing it to the rear. But I was out of time and didn't explore why, nor if the dash will pull out a bit and let it drop.

I'll check it out this afternoon when I go back out and let you know.

Well, the dash pad/cover is IN! The issue was that it wasn't far enough to the driver's side by 1/16" and it was hitting a support on the passenger's side. Moved it over and it slid into place.

But, I then pulled it out so I could run all the wiring I need to Mission Control. Up there now are these wires, listed here for documentation purposes:

• Pink: Pull-in for the compressor relay

• Yellow: Spare #16 wire to under the hood on the driver's side. Maybe driving light? Fast idle solenoid? Pull-in for the aux battery relay to power the inverter when not in Accy or Run?

• White & Purple: One is pull-in for the Cole Hersee smart isolator and the other is hot to an LED to tell when the batteries are paralleled

• The other 4: The wires to/from the OX locker

Here's a shot showing the wires behind the radio bezel (Mission Control) and the looms running from both sides into that area:

Then I put the pad/cover back in and tightened it down. And I used the flanged-head screws like are used to hold the radio bezel to the pad to hold the pad down in the defroster vents because the cover is so thin. But the wider screws worked out nicely.

And with that done I put the "power box" roughly in place. But, also in the Amazon delivery with the box were the USB chargers and the DC power points. And I learned something about the USB chargers I don't like - they have LED's in them that pull 14ma whenever power is applied. So, I don't think I want to put one of them in the ash tray as that power is always on. Given that, I'm going to do a bit of CAD work to see if I can get two USB chargers and two DC power ports in the box - along with the relay, AC outlet, and DC fuse.

Tomorrow I'm going to wrap up a few things and then Tuesday Janey and I are going to take Big Blue on an outing. Here's my list, in order of decreasing importance:

• Install the cargo light, hopefully with an LED and the caulk that came in

• Install the meter matching box so the gauges work properly.

• Swap out the burled wood instrument bezel for the black one

ROAD TRIP!!!!

[ArdWrknTrk]

Well, the dash pad/cover is IN! The issue was that it wasn't far enough to the driver's side by 1/16" and it was hitting a support on the passenger's side. Moved it over and it slid into place.

But, I then pulled it out so I could run all the wiring I need to Mission Control. Up there now are these wires, listed here for documentation purposes:

• Pink: Pull-in for the compressor relay

• Yellow: Spare #16 wire to under the hood on the driver's side. Maybe driving light? Fast idle solenoid? Pull-in for the aux battery relay to power the inverter when not in Accy or Run?

• White & Purple: One is pull-in for the Cole Hersee smart isolator and the other is hot to an LED to tell when the batteries are paralleled

• The other 4: The wires to/from the OX locker

Here's a shot showing the wires behind the radio bezel (Mission Control) and the looms running from both sides into that area:

Then I put the pad/cover back in and tightened it down. And I used the flanged-head screws like are used to hold the radio bezel to the pad to hold the pad down in the defroster vents because the cover is so thin. But the wider screws worked out nicely.

And with that done I put the "power box" roughly in place. But, also in the Amazon delivery with the box were the USB chargers and the DC power points. And I learned something about the USB chargers I don't like - they have LED's in them that pull 14ma whenever power is applied. So, I don't think I want to put one of them in the ash tray as that power is always on. Given that, I'm going to do a bit of CAD work to see if I can get two USB chargers and two DC power ports in the box - along with the relay, AC outlet, and DC fuse.

Tomorrow I'm going to wrap up a few things and then Tuesday Janey and I are going to take Big Blue on an outing. Here's my list, in order of decreasing importance:

• Install the cargo light, hopefully with an LED and the caulk that came in

• Install the meter matching box so the gauges work properly.

• Swap out the burled wood instrument bezel for the black one

ROAD TRIP!!!!

I never knew a medium duty bezel would be so handy. 😉

I too dislike illuminated USB chargers and made a point to get one that had two ports with Qualcomm smart charging but no light.

I want to hear what you think of the TechnoVersions gauge adapter.

(I REALLY need to do something about my truck too)

[Gary Lewis]

I never knew a medium duty bezel would be so handy. 😉

I too dislike illuminated USB chargers and made a point to get one that had two ports with Qualcomm smart charging but no light.

I want to hear what you think of the TechnoVersions gauge adapter.

(I REALLY need to do something about my truck too)

These USB chargers do have QC 3.0 chips in them, so supposedly they'll charge some devices much faster. But I put my DVM on one of them today and plugged my iPhone X in. The phone was at 93% charged and yet it only pulled ~100ma. Perhaps because it was almost charged?

Anyway, I won't mind these glowing blue when they are behind the seat as the only time they'll be on is when the engine is running or the key is in Accy. (Or the switch in Mission Control is pushed?)

But what charger did you get w/o LED's?

Hopefully I'll have an answer for you tomorrow on the TechnoVersions Meter Match.

[ArdWrknTrk]

These USB chargers do have QC 3.0 chips in them, so supposedly they'll charge some devices much faster. But I put my DVM on one of them today and plugged my iPhone X in. The phone was at 93% charged and yet it only pulled ~100ma. Perhaps because it was almost charged?

Anyway, I won't mind these glowing blue when they are behind the seat as the only time they'll be on is when the engine is running or the key is in Accy. (Or the switch in Mission Control is pushed?)

But what charger did you get w/o LED's?

Hopefully I'll have an answer for you tomorrow on the TechnoVersions Meter Match.

I'll have to look in my Amazon history.

It was quite a while ago.

Did you consider just snipping one of the leads to the led?

[kramttocs]

I'll have to look in my Amazon history.

It was quite a while ago.

Did you consider just snipping one of the leads to the led?

I went with the Blue Seas 1039. They have a couple different mounting options.