Big Blue's Transformation

[Gary Lewis]

My son used Darth in setting up and tearing down the Vietnam Veteran's Haunted Forest in Norfolk Virginia's Botanical gardens. The "roads through there were built for a tram (train of open sided cars towed by a rear-engined tractor, made up to look like a caterpillar and are maybe 9 feet wide. The cars follow the tractor similar to airport baggage carts or farm trailers and the "road" reflects that. He was able to drive through them in Darth without any issues except occasional "brushes" with small branches on the rear fenders.

I am not saying I would go up a jeep trail, but having seen a comparison recently by a bunch of real crazy off roaders, the Big Bronco did damn well, went places some smaller ones had trouble with. If I were going to build an off-road truck, I would start with an old M37B1 truck, put better gears in the axles (original is 6.37:1), better brakes, power steering and probably a decent 318, probably an older polyspheric head model and a 5 speed. Since the transfer case is divorced, it just needs room for a short driveshaft. I swore if I could get traction I could drive one of those straight up a wall. I pulled a 350 gpm portable pump that one of my fellow USMCR drivers had gotten stuck in the sand up to the axle on it's trailer (used M38 Jeep wheels) and simply pulled the extendable tow hook out to it's longest position, hooked up and used 1st gear Hi range and walked it out. I got real good at double clutching as 1st and 2nd were unsynchronized in those trucks.

Bill - That would be quite a truck. Not many around. But you are right, upgrading the engine would help. But then you need to upgrade the tranny. And the brakes. And the.... Sounds like what I did with Big Blue.

Speaking of BB, the door lock motors came in. Here's a comparo to one I took out of another truck. They look like twins, save for the fact that the link on the old one doesn't come off and the link on the new one came out of a pack of them and is held on w/a roll pin. Otherwise they are the same and take the same connector.

Then I did some work on the radio support. I folded the top tab back and tacked a piece of angle to it, installed it, put some black paint on the end of the screw, and slid the radio in. Bingo!

Then I pulled it out, drilled the hole out to 1/2", and hit it with a countersink. Then I put it back in w/the rubber stopper on the screw and the rubber went into the hole perfectly. Snug with no movement. So I pulled it back out and welded the angle on a bit more securely. And, here 'tis:

Now it is ready to go in, but I want to fill the hole in the top of the instrument bezel so you can't see the wires, so the plan for tomorrow is to cut the plastic holding the XLT emblem out of the bezel on the left, trim it to size, and put it in the bezel on the right. Then I can install the bezel and radio, and hopefully be done with that.

[85lebaront2]

Now it is ready to go in, but I want to fill the hole in the top of the instrument bezel so you can't see the wires, so the plan for tomorrow is to cut the plastic holding the XLT emblem out of the bezel on the left, trim it to size, and put it in the bezel on the right. Then I can install the bezel and radio, and hopefully be done with that.

http://forum.garysgaragemahal.com/file/n91196/Old_Bezel_With_XLT.jpghttp://forum.garysgaragemahal.com/file/n91196/Misson_Control_Switches_ON.jpg

You could put a sign up there "Warning - Hyperdrive Active".

[Gary Lewis]

Now it is ready to go in, but I want to fill the hole in the top of the instrument bezel so you can't see the wires, so the plan for tomorrow is to cut the plastic holding the XLT emblem out of the bezel on the left, trim it to size, and put it in the bezel on the right. Then I can install the bezel and radio, and hopefully be done with that.

http://forum.garysgaragemahal.com/file/n91196/Old_Bezel_With_XLT.jpghttp://forum.garysgaragemahal.com/file/n91196/Misson_Control_Switches_ON.jpg

You could put a sign up there "Warning - Hyperdrive Active".

Are you suggesting it looks like a space ship?

[Machspeed]

Now it is ready to go in, but I want to fill the hole in the top of the instrument bezel so you can't see the wires, so the plan for tomorrow is to cut the plastic holding the XLT emblem out of the bezel on the left, trim it to size, and put it in the bezel on the right. Then I can install the bezel and radio, and hopefully be done with that.

http://forum.garysgaragemahal.com/file/n91196/Old_Bezel_With_XLT.jpghttp://forum.garysgaragemahal.com/file/n91196/Misson_Control_Switches_ON.jpg

You could put a sign up there "Warning - Hyperdrive Active".

Did you get the material to tone down the light from those things? I suspect your space ship glows at night....

[ArdWrknTrk]

Did you get the material to tone down the light from those things? I suspect your space ship glows at night....

I think the foil wrapped heater plenum looks like a satellite (or similar)

[Gary Lewis]

I think the foil wrapped heater plenum looks like a satellite (or similar)

I'm reminded of this. 1962. I was a sophomore in high school. Good times. Enjoy.

 

[1986F150Six]

Are you suggesting it looks like a space ship?

https://www.oreillyauto.com/flux-500.html

[Gary Lewis]

Are you suggesting it looks like a space ship?

https://www.oreillyauto.com/flux-500.html

Yes, a flux capacitor might be just what I need!

As for what I did, I talked to the lady at Contech Enterprises about building the bumper. She seemed interested, asked good questions, and asked for the drawings. I've sent them awa a number of notes, so we'll see what she says.

And, I made a filler piece for the radio bezel. Used some plastic I have laying around and milled it down to just fit in the recess on the back side of the bezel. Then I washed it with Dawn and then SEM soap, and scrubbed it with a gray 3M pad, which took the sheen off. A bit of Plastic Prep and some coats of SEM black and it turned out pretty good, although not quite the black I was after.

Then I put it in the bezel and tacked it with hot melt glue so I can get it out down the road if I should want to put something else in there.

Anyway, I then pulled the XLT emblem off Big Blue's old bezel, trimmed the studs off of it and removed the double-sided tape that was no longer sticky. Put more double-sided tape on, and put it in place. And with the bezel in place I connected the radio up, slid it in, reached up behind and moved the wires out of the way and lined the bracket up, and the radio slid into place with a couple of clicks when the latches snapped in.

And, here 'tis:

[kramttocs]

Yes, a flux capacitor might be just what I need!

As for what I did, I talked to the lady at Contech Enterprises about building the bumper. She seemed interested, asked good questions, and asked for the drawings. I've sent them awa a number of notes, so we'll see what she says.

And, I made a filler piece for the radio bezel. Used some plastic I have laying around and milled it down to just fit in the recess on the back side of the bezel. Then I washed it with Dawn and then SEM soap, and scrubbed it with a gray 3M pad, which took the sheen off. A bit of Plastic Prep and some coats of SEM black and it turned out pretty good, although not quite the black I was after.

Then I put it in the bezel and tacked it with hot melt glue so I can get it out down the road if I should want to put something else in there.

Anyway, I then pulled the XLT emblem off Big Blue's old bezel, trimmed the studs off of it and removed the double-sided tape that was no longer sticky. Put more double-sided tape on, and put it in place. And with the bezel in place I connected the radio up, slid it in, reached up behind and moved the wires out of the way and lined the bracket up, and the radio slid into place with a couple of clicks when the latches snapped in.

And, here 'tis:

I see nothing that would warrant a

Looks excellent!

[ArdWrknTrk]

Yes, a flux capacitor might be just what I need!

As for what I did, I talked to the lady at Contech Enterprises about building the bumper. She seemed interested, asked good questions, and asked for the drawings. I've sent them awa a number of notes, so we'll see what she says.

And, I made a filler piece for the radio bezel. Used some plastic I have laying around and milled it down to just fit in the recess on the back side of the bezel. Then I washed it with Dawn and then SEM soap, and scrubbed it with a gray 3M pad, which took the sheen off. A bit of Plastic Prep and some coats of SEM black and it turned out pretty good, although not quite the black I was after.

Then I put it in the bezel and tacked it with hot melt glue so I can get it out down the road if I should want to put something else in there.

Anyway, I then pulled the XLT emblem off Big Blue's old bezel, trimmed the studs off of it and removed the double-sided tape that was no longer sticky. Put more double-sided tape on, and put it in place. And with the bezel in place I connected the radio up, slid it in, reached up behind and moved the wires out of the way and lined the bracket up, and the radio slid into place with a couple of clicks when the latches snapped in.

And, here 'tis:

Fancy!