Big Blue's Transformation

[1986F150Six]

David - If Big Blue was a daily driver then I'd be worried about the longevity of the Honda bulbs. In fact, Daniel alluded to that when he said:

Yes, though the Honda bulbs' lifespan in continuous-duty service might be short enough to cause grumbling, and I don't have direct data on the continuous-duty heat resistance of the Bullnose front turn signal assembly. Might be just fine, or might be a case of "Hey, the turn signal is just a 50% duty cycle, so we can use cheaper plastic with half the heat resistance!".

But, I'm not supposed to be driving more than 6000 miles/year, so I don't think I'm going to worry about that.

As for testing, you know me. My plan was to put a new 1157 on one side and the Honda bulb on the other, both front and rear, and take pics. But you think I should take one pic with just the two bulbs by themselves? The camera would adjust to average the light, but if one bulb is brighter than the other it should be obvious. Right?

And now for what I've done today. First, I installed the BNC connector on the GMRS antenna lead. But when I tried to put it on the connector that's on the truck I found that they are not compatible. So I've ordered the right one from Digi-Key.

But, installing that connector will require dropping the headliner, and that's a pain. And if I get a rear view mirror with front & rear cameras I'll have to drop it then as well. So I'm going to hold off installing the connector until I know the status of the mirror - and I sent Pormido a note asking for an update today.

However, I did get the altimeter in today and have looked the cab over for places to mount it. Here are the three places I found, in my preferred order. But I'd like to hear from y'all as to what you think and if you have other suggestions.

First, here it is up on the headliner above and behind the GMRS radio. In that location it is easy for either the driver or passenger to read in the daytime, and if I want to read it at night I can turn on the dome light as it isn't illuminated. The minor downside is that the handsfree mike would need to be relocated. But in reality it should be farther forward to pick up the sound from the occupants better.

Then here 'tis directly in front of the driver, above the sun shade. But it is in an odd, non-centered, location and requires that the mike's cord sags - which it seems to do normally. But then it isn't easy to read by the passenger.

Last, it could be put beside the other three gauges. But it doesn't match, can't be lined up exactly, and wouldn't be easy to mount there.

Go with option #1.

Google says 646 ft. altitude for Skiatook. What does the gauge indicate?

[Gary Lewis]

Go with option #1.

Google says 646 ft. altitude for Skiatook. What does the gauge indicate?

Thanks, David. I think that's where I'll put it and move the mike to the front.

As for the elevation, it was showing about 700' when I got it. And the instructions say to turn the outer ring to align the pointer with your elevation. So I pulled up Gaia, the mapping app, and it said our house is at 723'. I then turned the ring to as close as I could get to 723. But barometric pressure changes will vary the reading, so it isn't going to be dead-on. However, it will provide a good indication of how high you are, and if you want it to be exact then bring up Gaia.

[Gary Lewis]

Thanks, David. I think that's where I'll put it and move the mike to the front.

As for the elevation, it was showing about 700' when I got it. And the instructions say to turn the outer ring to align the pointer with your elevation. So I pulled up Gaia, the mapping app, and it said our house is at 723'. I then turned the ring to as close as I could get to 723. But barometric pressure changes will vary the reading, so it isn't going to be dead-on. However, it will provide a good indication of how high you are, and if you want it to be exact then bring up Gaia.

Well, I didn't get the altimeter mounted today. Instead, after packing up the broken scanner for returning it to Xerox, I "cleaned" the HVAC system.

First, I put a vinyl tube in the condensate drain. The drain is really hard to reach, and cannot be seen due to the fender liner. So after trying to put a tube in for about 30 minutes I removed some screws and pulled the liner out of the way. (It was a lot easier said than done!)

That let me see the drain hole, which is D-shaped, so when I put the hose into it I put some putty around the opening in an attempt to seal it to keep the cleaner in there for the recommended 15 minutes. You can see that in the pic below.

As previously said, I only had one can of the Kool-It cleaner, so I only went one round. And, I don't have a syringe with which to measure, so I filled the Kool-It hose "sufficiently" with Lysol. Then I stuffed it up as far as I could in the drain hose and pushed the button to put the full can into the plenum. After pulling the hose out I plugged the drain hose to keep the stuff in the plenum for the prescribed 15 minutes.

But about that time the phone rang and I talked with my cousin for 30 minutes. And when I went to check on the truck there was a lot of liquid on the floor of the shop, so there was a leak somewhere. But then I started the truck up, backed it out, and fired up the A/C.

With the windows down and the blower on high there was a sweet smell coming from the vents, and maybe a hint of the "funky" smell. But after a bit the funky smell seemed to go away. So I asked Janey to go with me for a ride. She said she got a whiff of the funky smell as she got in the truck, but then it went away. And by the end of a short trip - to Sonic and the gas station - we couldn't smell it anymore.

As for the MPG, I haven't calculated it. Looks too difficult to do the math. 108.1 miles and 10.803 gallons.

[1986F150Six]

Well, I didn't get the altimeter mounted today. Instead, after packing up the broken scanner for returning it to Xerox, I "cleaned" the HVAC system.

First, I put a vinyl tube in the condensate drain. The drain is really hard to reach, and cannot be seen due to the fender liner. So after trying to put a tube in for about 30 minutes I removed some screws and pulled the liner out of the way. (It was a lot easier said than done!)

That let me see the drain hole, which is D-shaped, so when I put the hose into it I put some putty around the opening in an attempt to seal it to keep the cleaner in there for the recommended 15 minutes. You can see that in the pic below.

As previously said, I only had one can of the Kool-It cleaner, so I only went one round. And, I don't have a syringe with which to measure, so I filled the Kool-It hose "sufficiently" with Lysol. Then I stuffed it up as far as I could in the drain hose and pushed the button to put the full can into the plenum. After pulling the hose out I plugged the drain hose to keep the stuff in the plenum for the prescribed 15 minutes.

But about that time the phone rang and I talked with my cousin for 30 minutes. And when I went to check on the truck there was a lot of liquid on the floor of the shop, so there was a leak somewhere. But then I started the truck up, backed it out, and fired up the A/C.

With the windows down and the blower on high there was a sweet smell coming from the vents, and maybe a hint of the "funky" smell. But after a bit the funky smell seemed to go away. So I asked Janey to go with me for a ride. She said she got a whiff of the funky smell as she got in the truck, but then it went away. And by the end of a short trip - to Sonic and the gas station - we couldn't smell it anymore.

As for the MPG, I haven't calculated it. Looks too difficult to do the math. 108.1 miles and 10.803 gallons.

Is there sufficient clearance between the plastic housing and the evaporator coil such that a small hole could be drilled on the top and with the drain tube blocked [perhaps add length to the drain tube to ease future treatments] the Lysol and Kool-It cleaner could be added through the hole? The hole could be sealed with a plug.

By the way, was the puddle on the floor dirty?

It sounds like the cleaning process has promise.

[Gary Lewis]

Is there sufficient clearance between the plastic housing and the evaporator coil such that a small hole could be drilled on the top and with the drain tube blocked [perhaps add length to the drain tube to ease future treatments] the Lysol and Kool-It cleaner could be added through the hole? The hole could be sealed with a plug.

By the way, was the puddle on the floor dirty?

It sounds like the cleaning process has promise.

That's a good idea, David!

I don't know off the top of my head if there is enough room, but I'll bet there is - somewhere. I could probably figure that out by looking at the left-over '85 plenum, although the plenum that's in there is the '90 version from Huck. Still, they are close enough that I'll bet I can figure it out. Or, I could pull the motor or the resistors and put it in there.

However, I didn't leave the drain hose in. That's because there's no easy way to tell that you don't have it protruding up into the plenum, which would allow condensate to pool until it gets high enough to go over the top of the tube. And the D-shape of the opening is really hard to seal, which probably explains why the stuff leaked out.

And, speaking of "the stuff", it was spread all over the floor so there was no way to tell if it was dirty or not.

Yes, the cleaning process appears (smells?) to work. I hope I don't have to use it again, but if I do I'll probably get two cans of Kool-It from O'Reilly's and hit it twice. And I think I'll use more Lysol as I never did smell it this round.

Speaking of that, my brother was a bit skeptical when I told him what I was doing. And it was the Lysol that caused him to worry. That's 'cause he said he once cleaned a system using Lysol and the smell never went away. But then he admitted the problem might have been that he used a whole can.

[Gary Lewis]

That's a good idea, David!

I don't know off the top of my head if there is enough room, but I'll bet there is - somewhere. I could probably figure that out by looking at the left-over '85 plenum, although the plenum that's in there is the '90 version from Huck. Still, they are close enough that I'll bet I can figure it out. Or, I could pull the motor or the resistors and put it in there.

However, I didn't leave the drain hose in. That's because there's no easy way to tell that you don't have it protruding up into the plenum, which would allow condensate to pool until it gets high enough to go over the top of the tube. And the D-shape of the opening is really hard to seal, which probably explains why the stuff leaked out.

And, speaking of "the stuff", it was spread all over the floor so there was no way to tell if it was dirty or not.

Yes, the cleaning process appears (smells?) to work. I hope I don't have to use it again, but if I do I'll probably get two cans of Kool-It from O'Reilly's and hit it twice. And I think I'll use more Lysol as I never did smell it this round.

Speaking of that, my brother was a bit skeptical when I told him what I was doing. And it was the Lysol that caused him to worry. That's 'cause he said he once cleaned a system using Lysol and the smell never went away. But then he admitted the problem might have been that he used a whole can.

Got the hands-free microphone moved and the altimeter mounted. Below is a driver's eye view of both. And there is plenty of room to get to the radio - if you are wondering.

Also, I think I've come up with a way to install the BNC connector w/o dropping the headliner. I'll tie a string to the BNC connector and pull it forward between the roof and the Highliner using the coax that goes up to the radio. If I'm lucky I left enough room between the two to slip it by. Then I'll swap out the connectors and pull it back through with the string.

[grumpin]

Got the hands-free microphone moved and the altimeter mounted. Below is a driver's eye view of both. And there is plenty of room to get to the radio - if you are wondering.

Also, I think I've come up with a way to install the BNC connector w/o dropping the headliner. I'll tie a string to the BNC connector and pull it forward between the roof and the Highliner using the coax that goes up to the radio. If I'm lucky I left enough room between the two to slip it by. Then I'll swap out the connectors and pull it back through with the string.

Nice job! I think that altimeter will be interesting to have on board.

[Gary Lewis]

Nice job! I think that altimeter will be interesting to have on board.

Thanks. I think it fits right in and adds to the feeling of being well instrumented.

Here's another pic that gives a better view of the altimeter. Looks like I bumped the outer ring as I installed it 'cause we are at more like 700' than 300'. But that is easily corrected.

Anyway, it is hard to believe we'd have had that thing pointing at 13,000' on some of those passes!

[1986F150Six]

Nice job! I think that altimeter will be interesting to have on board.

Nice!

[Gary Lewis]

Nice!

Thanks, David. Both for the encouragement as well as finding the altimeter.

Here's where I am on the truck as well as some thoughts about near-term projects on it:

• Rear View Mirror & Camera System:

  The vendor, Pormido, changed their minds about coming out with a different version of their mirror system, PR998, with two sealed cameras, one for the front and one for the back. Apparently there isn't enough demand for it.

  But we did establish that using a second one of their sealed backup cameras on the front bumper and using an external switch to select the front or the rear camera to feed to the mirror would work. Or, if I can ensure that no water gets to the "front" camera that was intended to be on the inside of the windshield, I could put it in a box and mount it on the front bumper.

  Last night they were running a special on the system so I could have gotten it for $170 instead of $200 and they were willing to give me another $30 off that. In fact, I could have had it tomorrow. But the 2nd backup camera wouldn't be here for another month, and it costs $50.

  However, they are coming out with yet another backup camera system with 4K pixels instead of the 1296 of the current one, and they seem to think it'll be by year end and I can be a tester. So I think I'll wait on it and then wire up the 2nd camera by either mounting the "front" one in a box or using an external switch to a 2nd backup camera.

• Lighting:

  I have my list together to buy from Daniel Stern, but I'm not quite ready to pull the trigger. He says he's "swimming in the stuff" so there's no need to hurry.

• Fuel Injection:

  I have a few more components I need to get, like injectors, before I start this. And our son, Bret, and family are to come right after the first of the year, so I want to make sure the truck is running then as I want us to take it on a trip. Given that, I'm going to hold off for a bit to get started. Maybe in February.