Big Blue's Transformation

[Gary Lewis]

LOL! I'll need the patience, for sure. But I've already reached through the hole in the Highliner for wires coming into the radio pocket and marked the inner panel of the roof. And there's ~1" of space between the Highliner and the inner panel at that point, so if I put a hole in the inner panel there it'll be easy to drop the radio power and ground wires into the pocket but run the speaker wires on back to the speakers.

And, I got the weatherproof BNC connectors in today so need to figure out where the cab-mounted one will go and then cut through the inner panel there and drill the outer panel to take the connector. And, put grommets on all of those openings.

As for fishing the wires, I'll take your lead on how to do that, although I don't have one of those fish tapes. But I'll bet I can get there as I've done this kind of thing a few times.

Hmmm, if I go this way, meaning up the A-pillar, then I can put the kick panel and B-pillar trim on. Just not the A-pillar trim.

Repeat after me: Two steps forward and one back is still progress. Two steps forward and one back is still progress. Two steps forward and one back is still progress. Two steps forward and one back is still progress.

When I put the passenger's door panel on there was one "christmas tree" that didn't seem to go in correctly. But I didn't worry about it too much. However, today I put the driver's door panel and it, too, wouldn't go on correctly. In fact, I broke two christmas trees trying to install it. So, tomorrow I have to pull the panel and see what is going on.

But, on the positive side, I did get a few smaller things done, which I'm going to document her 'cause I frequently get questions about these things on Facebook.

I got the speaker on using rope caulk as bedding compound:

And the rope caulk on the door itself:

And then the heavy duty trash bag on the door as the vapor barrier:

And I got the glass scraper and the insulating felt on the door panel:

On that topic of the glass scraper, you can see above that I used pop rivets. But more specifically I used 1/8" rivets with a 1/4" reach. And, I used #6 washers behind the plastic to spread the load. In this pic I show the rivets that came with the scrapers on the top and then rivets I used on the bottom. The top ones are too short to allow getting the washer on. Don't know how long it is, but it is too short.

[Gary Lewis]

Repeat after me: Two steps forward and one back is still progress. Two steps forward and one back is still progress. Two steps forward and one back is still progress. Two steps forward and one back is still progress.

When I put the passenger's door panel on there was one "christmas tree" that didn't seem to go in correctly. But I didn't worry about it too much. However, today I put the driver's door panel and it, too, wouldn't go on correctly. In fact, I broke two christmas trees trying to install it. So, tomorrow I have to pull the panel and see what is going on.

But, on the positive side, I did get a few smaller things done, which I'm going to document her 'cause I frequently get questions about these things on Facebook.

I got the speaker on using rope caulk as bedding compound:

And the rope caulk on the door itself:

And then the heavy duty trash bag on the door as the vapor barrier:

And I got the glass scraper and the insulating felt on the door panel:

On that topic of the glass scraper, you can see above that I used pop rivets. But more specifically I used 1/8" rivets with a 1/4" reach. And, I used #6 washers behind the plastic to spread the load. In this pic I show the rivets that came with the scrapers on the top and then rivets I used on the bottom. The top ones are too short to allow getting the washer on. Don't know how long it is, but it is too short.

The Highliner uses a #912 incandescent bulb for the dome light. It goes right up against an aluminized piece of insulation, but I don't like that idea due to the heat. So after a bit of searching I bought a set of 10 of these LED bulbs from Amazon. I'll have to put a piece of tape on the back side to ensure there isn't any shorting to the aluminized insulation.

A #912 is supposed to put out 144 lumens. These LED's are rated at 600 lumens, meaning four times the light, but with a lot less heat. And, all of the light is directed down. (That emoticon is named "beam". Get it. )

[Gary Lewis]

The Highliner uses a #912 incandescent bulb for the dome light. It goes right up against an aluminized piece of insulation, but I don't like that idea due to the heat. So after a bit of searching I bought a set of 10 of these LED bulbs from Amazon. I'll have to put a piece of tape on the back side to ensure there isn't any shorting to the aluminized insulation.

A #912 is supposed to put out 144 lumens. These LED's are rated at 600 lumens, meaning four times the light, but with a lot less heat. And, all of the light is directed down. (That emoticon is named "beam". Get it. )

Got the driver's door panel on today, but one of the bottom christmas trees refuses to hold, just like the same position does on the passenger's side. They'll just have to be loose.

I turned to the dash pad, ensuring that it was smooth enough with no sharp edges sticking up. Then I pulled the new Coverlay cover out and found that they've changed their adhesive to the same stuff that Bruce recommended:

A trial fit showed that this one fits better than the broken one. It goes farther down into the defroster vents and the other areas. In fact, I'm almost tempted to leave it black, but there are a few places where a bit of the old dash pad shows through.

And then I cleaned the dash pad and cover thoroughly and applied half of a tube of that adhesive and tied it all together with bungee cords. Tomorrow I can clean it and paint it. Or, maybe Monday as tomorrow is Janey's birthday.

[kramttocs]

Got the driver's door panel on today, but one of the bottom christmas trees refuses to hold, just like the same position does on the passenger's side. They'll just have to be loose.

I was going to say something when you ordered your trees but didn't want to be Debbie Downer in case it was just my panels/doors. I ran into the same situation. On a whim I picked up a multipack from O'Reillys that had some the same length as the non-holding ones but then some longer. The longer ones did the trick so I bought a couple more packs and just replaced all of the bottom trees on both doors with them.

Might not be the answer to yours but might be with a shot.

Dash looks really good

 

[Sac79]

Repeat after me: Two steps forward and one back is still progress. Two steps forward and one back is still progress. Two steps forward and one back is still progress. Two steps forward and one back is still progress.

When I put the passenger's door panel on there was one "christmas tree" that didn't seem to go in correctly. But I didn't worry about it too much. However, today I put the driver's door panel and it, too, wouldn't go on correctly. In fact, I broke two christmas trees trying to install it. So, tomorrow I have to pull the panel and see what is going on.

But, on the positive side, I did get a few smaller things done, which I'm going to document her 'cause I frequently get questions about these things on Facebook.

I got the speaker on using rope caulk as bedding compound:

And the rope caulk on the door itself:

And then the heavy duty trash bag on the door as the vapor barrier:

And I got the glass scraper and the insulating felt on the door panel:

On that topic of the glass scraper, you can see above that I used pop rivets. But more specifically I used 1/8" rivets with a 1/4" reach. And, I used #6 washers behind the plastic to spread the load. In this pic I show the rivets that came with the scrapers on the top and then rivets I used on the bottom. The top ones are too short to allow getting the washer on. Don't know how long it is, but it is too short.

I like the insulation on the door panels...

[Gary Lewis]

I like the insulation on the door panels...

Scott - I appreciate the suggestion! I banged my head against various things yesterday and again today and couldn't figure out what the problem is. So I'll get some of those and give it a try!

But, you don't happen to have the package do you? I just looked and there are 2512 results for interior trim panel retainer on the O'Reilly's site.

Was it a Dorman assortment? Have a pic?

Rob - That insulation made a difference in the sound the door makes when it shuts. It really made it more of a quiet "thunk" than before. But I haven't driven the truck so don't know if it made a real difference in the sound.

[ARM Ashby]

Scott - I appreciate the suggestion! I banged my head against various things yesterday and again today and couldn't figure out what the problem is. So I'll get some of those and give it a try!

But, you don't happen to have the package do you? I just looked and there are 2512 results for interior trim panel retainer on the O'Reilly's site.

Was it a Dorman assortment? Have a pic?

Rob - That insulation made a difference in the sound the door makes when it shuts. It really made it more of a quiet "thunk" than before. But I haven't driven the truck so don't know if it made a real difference in the sound.

Gary, I got these from NAPA. Balkamp # 665-2362. Have used them for years.

[Gary Lewis]

Gary, I got these from NAPA. Balkamp # 665-2362. Have used them for years.

Thanks, I found them here. But those don't look to be any longer than the ones I have. Am I missing something?

[kramttocs]

Scott - I appreciate the suggestion! I banged my head against various things yesterday and again today and couldn't figure out what the problem is. So I'll get some of those and give it a try!

But, you don't happen to have the package do you? I just looked and there are 2512 results for interior trim panel retainer on the O'Reilly's site.

Was it a Dorman assortment? Have a pic?

Rob - That insulation made a difference in the sound the door makes when it shuts. It really made it more of a quiet "thunk" than before. But I haven't driven the truck so don't know if it made a real difference in the sound.

I am pretty sure I have the package still (with the short ones in it).

I'll look when I get home. Yeah - they were in a dorman orange package on a spinner display.

2500! Goodness.

[Machspeed]

Thanks, I found them here. But those don't look to be any longer than the ones I have. Am I missing something?

Gary, those "Christmas Trees", as you call them, are available in Autozone. I had to purchase them recently after removing my door panels for running new speaker wire.