Big Blue's Transformation

[grumpin]

Bob - That's a good point. But wouldn't turning to ACCY work?

However, ACCY brings several things on, including the instrument cluster, radio (obviously), and most importantly the aux battery relay. I'm using the Cole Hersee smart isolator so the batteries really aren't paralleled then, but I'm going to use the original aux battery relay to power the inverter. However, there is supposed to be a switch in the radio bezel to turn it off. Still, there might be several things to turn off, so it would be far easier to have the GMRS radio hot all the time. Thoughts?

As for the Highliner, I put a layer of the Noico insulation on it. Here 'tis:

And, having marked where the Palco foam fit I put a layer of the sound insulation on the roof's inner panel. Then I put the Highliner in place and it fits. There may not be quite as much space between the speaker's magnet and the roof now as when I had the other foam in, but it doesn't touch so I'm happy.

Easy is sometimes best. I agree with Bob, might want to use the radio with the truck off and securely parked!

I don't plan on using my truck for trails, but I wired my CB direct to the battery, because there is only one cigar lighter power source and we have too dang many electronic devices!

[Gary Lewis]

Easy is sometimes best. I agree with Bob, might want to use the radio with the truck off and securely parked!

I don't plan on using my truck for trails, but I wired my CB direct to the battery, because there is only one cigar lighter power source and we have too dang many electronic devices!

Ok guys, you've convinced me. I'll wire it hot all the time.

And I got the speaker baffles on order. I went with Boom Mat units from Amazon. Should be here on Thursday, so I have plenty of time to get the wiring done, inc the BNC connector for the antenna, and maybe even get the Highliner in.

But to finish it I need to paint the metal trim, and I want to get the dash cover painted first so I know I have enough paint left. In other words, there's lots to do.

[85lebaront2]

Ok guys, you've convinced me. I'll wire it hot all the time.

And I got the speaker baffles on order. I went with Boom Mat units from Amazon. Should be here on Thursday, so I have plenty of time to get the wiring done, inc the BNC connector for the antenna, and maybe even get the Highliner in.

But to finish it I need to paint the metal trim, and I want to get the dash cover painted first so I know I have enough paint left. In other words, there's lots to do.

I had mine wired hot all the time in all my vehicles, the logic being if you lost your keys and were out in BFE you could jimmy open or break a window and call for help.

[Gary Lewis]

I had mine wired hot all the time in all my vehicles, the logic being if you lost your keys and were out in BFE you could jimmy open or break a window and call for help.

Good logic, Bill.

Also, I forgot to say that I pulled the #912 bulb out of the Highliner's dome light fixture and installed the ping pong paddle LED replacement. I'm happy to say that these LED's don't care which wire is positive and which is negative. I have pics if anyone is interested, but suffice to say that it fits - barely.

 

[ArdWrknTrk]

Good logic, Bill.

Also, I forgot to say that I pulled the #912 bulb out of the Highliner's dome light fixture and installed the ping pong paddle LED replacement. I'm happy to say that these LED's don't care which wire is positive and which is negative. I have pics if anyone is interested, but suffice to say that it fits - barely.

At least it won't get hot enough to distort the thermoforming plastic.

Tic another box, Gary!

[Gary Lewis]

At least it won't get hot enough to distort the thermoforming plastic.

Tic another box, Gary!

Yep, that and it won't melt the lens. Plus, the 3x lumens won't hurt.

Just occurred to me that when I pull the Highliner out to do the wiring is when I need to do the radio bit. It'll be far easier to have it upside down on the bench and get the dimensions worked out than right side up hanging in the truck.

So, as I sip my first cup of java, let me think through what needs to be done while it is out:

• Radio: Cut the L-shaped piece to take the nose of the radio, then lay the radio in the pocket and determine what shims are needed to get the nose to come through, and then screw it in.

• Power: Cut into the dome light wiring to provide always-on power and ground to the radio. Extend the wiring so the fuse is in the pocket with the radio.

• Dome Light: Cut into the dome light wiring to provide power and ground to the dome light. Use a 2-pin connector so the Highliner can be take out if required.

• Speakers: Run the rear channel wiring up the B-pillar to the speaker area. Note that the channels will have to be split so both run to each side.

• Antenna: Determine where to put the BNC connector and if that can be gotten to w/o cutting the inner roof panel. Cut the antenna's lead and solder the BNC connector on, making sure the SO connector will go through the Highliner's hole. Drill the hole and mount the connector.

I guess I really do have plenty to do before the baffles come in on Thursday!

Also, I need to space the speaker grills away from the Alpine speakers by 1/8" and I'm wondering if these will do the trick.

At .4" thick these are way too thick. But I'm not finding what I need. And cutting them out of plastic sounds like a huge pain. Anyone have a better idea?

[Gary Lewis]

Yep, that and it won't melt the lens. Plus, the 3x lumens won't hurt.

Just occurred to me that when I pull the Highliner out to do the wiring is when I need to do the radio bit. It'll be far easier to have it upside down on the bench and get the dimensions worked out than right side up hanging in the truck.

So, as I sip my first cup of java, let me think through what needs to be done while it is out:

• Radio: Cut the L-shaped piece to take the nose of the radio, then lay the radio in the pocket and determine what shims are needed to get the nose to come through, and then screw it in.

• Power: Cut into the dome light wiring to provide always-on power and ground to the radio. Extend the wiring so the fuse is in the pocket with the radio.

• Dome Light: Cut into the dome light wiring to provide power and ground to the dome light. Use a 2-pin connector so the Highliner can be take out if required.

• Speakers: Run the rear channel wiring up the B-pillar to the speaker area. Note that the channels will have to be split so both run to each side.

• Antenna: Determine where to put the BNC connector and if that can be gotten to w/o cutting the inner roof panel. Cut the antenna's lead and solder the BNC connector on, making sure the SO connector will go through the Highliner's hole. Drill the hole and mount the connector.

I guess I really do have plenty to do before the baffles come in on Thursday!

Also, I need to space the speaker grills away from the Alpine speakers by 1/8" and I'm wondering if these will do the trick.

At .4" thick these are way too thick. But I'm not finding what I need. And cutting them out of plastic sounds like a huge pain. Anyone have a better idea?

Three things. First, David/1986F150Six sent me an email today asking about installing resonators on Big Blue to quiet the drone I'm hearing @ 1800 RPM, which is 65 MPH. I did some research and then called the outfit that installed the exhaust system. They told me that they've had success with adding small mufflers to quiet a drone. But that a noise at a very specific RPM might be a vibration and that I might want to put it on the lift at that RPM and take a look.

But that got me thinking about vibrations and I remembered that I recently rapped on the door and then the bed side. Wow! The bed rang! So I'm wondering about applying some of my sound deadener to the inside of the bed sides? Or, David asked about "some sort of "rust free" undercoating which could be sprayed in that area and would it change that characteristic?"

Thoughts?

Second, my glue job on the black Coverlay dash cover worked out nicely. And the cover fits so well that I'm tempted to leave it black and use some black paint to touch up a couple of spots that might be seen. That would make the dash match the headliner/Highliner - black. So I'm going to leave painting the cover until the last and see what Janey and I think when I lay it in there.

And, the new Coverlay covers are a much better fit than the old ones. For instance, the skirts that go down into the defroster vents go in so far that I had to drill the cover to take a screw to hold the whole dash pad on, as you'll see below. But I'll use the flanged-head interior screws rather than the oval headed screws as those need to be countersunk and I don't think the think cover would hold up to that.

Last, I realized that I can't get the L-shaped piece for the Highliner in the mill given its shape. So I decided to cut a piece of aluminum to use as a template so I can lay it on the piece and scribe against it. Here's the piece with the radio pushed through it and resting about where it is to go. I'm not thrilled with the fit because the corners of the radio are beveled and my cutout isn't. But you can easily see that in the picture because there's light back there and there won't be any light when the L-shaped piece is put in place. And, the color I painted the panel, flat black, is enough different than that of the radio that you can see which is which. However, the L-shaped piece is a black very similar to that of the radio, so I don't think it'll be easily seen.

Thoughts?

[Sac79]

Three things. First, David/1986F150Six sent me an email today asking about installing resonators on Big Blue to quiet the drone I'm hearing @ 1800 RPM, which is 65 MPH. I did some research and then called the outfit that installed the exhaust system. They told me that they've had success with adding small mufflers to quiet a drone. But that a noise at a very specific RPM might be a vibration and that I might want to put it on the lift at that RPM and take a look.

But that got me thinking about vibrations and I remembered that I recently rapped on the door and then the bed side. Wow! The bed rang! So I'm wondering about applying some of my sound deadener to the inside of the bed sides? Or, David asked about "some sort of "rust free" undercoating which could be sprayed in that area and would it change that characteristic?"

Thoughts?

Second, my glue job on the black Coverlay dash cover worked out nicely. And the cover fits so well that I'm tempted to leave it black and use some black paint to touch up a couple of spots that might be seen. That would make the dash match the headliner/Highliner - black. So I'm going to leave painting the cover until the last and see what Janey and I think when I lay it in there.

And, the new Coverlay covers are a much better fit than the old ones. For instance, the skirts that go down into the defroster vents go in so far that I had to drill the cover to take a screw to hold the whole dash pad on, as you'll see below. But I'll use the flanged-head interior screws rather than the oval headed screws as those need to be countersunk and I don't think the think cover would hold up to that.

Last, I realized that I can't get the L-shaped piece for the Highliner in the mill given its shape. So I decided to cut a piece of aluminum to use as a template so I can lay it on the piece and scribe against it. Here's the piece with the radio pushed through it and resting about where it is to go. I'm not thrilled with the fit because the corners of the radio are beveled and my cutout isn't. But you can easily see that in the picture because there's light back there and there won't be any light when the L-shaped piece is put in place. And, the color I painted the panel, flat black, is enough different than that of the radio that you can see which is which. However, the L-shaped piece is a black very similar to that of the radio, so I don't think it'll be easily seen.

Thoughts?

Your template should be fine. And I think the dash in black will compliment the rest of the interior.

I'm thinking about black carpet(or preferably suede) on mine, maybe even a cover like yours, but since mine is still in good shape apart from the speaker, I don't really want to glue something on.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Three things. First, David/1986F150Six sent me an email today asking about installing resonators on Big Blue to quiet the drone I'm hearing @ 1800 RPM, which is 65 MPH. I did some research and then called the outfit that installed the exhaust system. They told me that they've had success with adding small mufflers to quiet a drone. But that a noise at a very specific RPM might be a vibration and that I might want to put it on the lift at that RPM and take a look.

But that got me thinking about vibrations and I remembered that I recently rapped on the door and then the bed side. Wow! The bed rang! So I'm wondering about applying some of my sound deadener to the inside of the bed sides? Or, David asked about "some sort of "rust free" undercoating which could be sprayed in that area and would it change that characteristic?"

Thoughts?

Second, my glue job on the black Coverlay dash cover worked out nicely. And the cover fits so well that I'm tempted to leave it black and use some black paint to touch up a couple of spots that might be seen. That would make the dash match the headliner/Highliner - black. So I'm going to leave painting the cover until the last and see what Janey and I think when I lay it in there.

And, the new Coverlay covers are a much better fit than the old ones. For instance, the skirts that go down into the defroster vents go in so far that I had to drill the cover to take a screw to hold the whole dash pad on, as you'll see below. But I'll use the flanged-head interior screws rather than the oval headed screws as those need to be countersunk and I don't think the think cover would hold up to that.

Last, I realized that I can't get the L-shaped piece for the Highliner in the mill given its shape. So I decided to cut a piece of aluminum to use as a template so I can lay it on the piece and scribe against it. Here's the piece with the radio pushed through it and resting about where it is to go. I'm not thrilled with the fit because the corners of the radio are beveled and my cutout isn't. But you can easily see that in the picture because there's light back there and there won't be any light when the L-shaped piece is put in place. And, the color I painted the panel, flat black, is enough different than that of the radio that you can see which is which. However, the L-shaped piece is a black very similar to that of the radio, so I don't think it'll be easily seen.

Thoughts?

You know, if you used a piloted pattern bit in a router the cutout corners would have the same radius as the bit.

If you're getting to the point where the noise of the bed is an issue, you should just have it bedlinered.

One and done...

[Gary Lewis]

You know, if you used a piloted pattern bit in a router the cutout corners would have the same radius as the bit.

If you're getting to the point where the noise of the bed is an issue, you should just have it bedlinered.

One and done...

Rob - I hope I like the black. But it isn't that hard to take it out to paint it, so I'll give it a try and see.

Jim - I used a 1/8" mill and when I first took the part out it had nice radiused corners. But, then I discovered that the width was .020" too small and I used a safe file and took the ends out - which squared the corners up.

But to make it fit the profile I'd have to come back something like 1/4" and bevel the corners. I could do that on the plastic as it wouldn't be that difficult. We shall see.

On the bed, I have the large and loaded tool box in there as well as a liner and then the brackets for the 5th wheel hitch. So getting down to where it could be sprayed with bed liner would be a lot of work. But cleaning off the inside of the skirts wouldn't be hard at all and then I could stick some of the self-adhesive squares of Noico sound deadening on. Can't hurt and might help. And now's the time before the the tank for the compressor goes in under there.