Big Blue's Transformation

[ArdWrknTrk]

Yup, looking down the edge of the board, which is hard to do, it appears to be straight. So that says that the LED strip probably compressed in the center as I was able to get about 1" of movement at the end of the board. And reaching up behind the board it appears that the strip is up against the bed at the ends. The LEDs work, so...

If this doesn't work I'll probably use a 1x2 and trim the board a bit at the middle stake pocket. But here's my interpretation of what is going on:

I'd imagine that's what's going on.

My only fear would be crushing the LED strip and causing a short, but you say they work, so.....

[Gary Lewis]

I'd imagine that's what's going on.

My only fear would be crushing the LED strip and causing a short, but you say they work, so.....

I don't think it squished things that much. It is ~18" from the stake pocket to the end of the board, so if it moved up 1" at the end then I think the squish was only .055". Right?

Anyway, I see them come on so I think we are fine.

I've now put the tail lights back in and glued the switch in place, so hopefully everything is well and truly stuck and tomorrow I can put the clamps back in place for the bed cover's tracks.

 

[BigBrother-84]

Thanks, David. I'm just now getting to the shop as we had a SLOW morning after having the "utes" over from church last night. Hamburgers and a movie.

"utes" = youths for those who might wonder?

"utes" = youths for those who might wonder?

LOOOOL!!!

Sorry Gary to suddenly jump back couple of days ago! I got late about Big Blue's latest Transformation...

And thanks for David's help! Because yes, I was wondering about the "utes" meaning. Searching over the web, I found what the serious Cambridge Dictionary had to say about it:

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/fr/dictionnaire/anglais/ute

So, I was questioning myself "why Gary is tired after having some pickup trucks at the church parking?"

Too funny!

 

[Gary Lewis]

"utes" = youths for those who might wonder?

LOOOOL!!!

Sorry Gary to suddenly jump back couple of days ago! I got late about Big Blue's latest Transformation...

And thanks for David's help! Because yes, I was wondering about the "utes" meaning. Searching over the web, I found what the serious Cambridge Dictionary had to say about it:

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/fr/dictionnaire/anglais/ute

So, I was questioning myself "why Gary is tired after having some pickup trucks at the church parking?"

Too funny!

My Cousin Vinny is one of my favorite movies. What got me was the question of "Now, Miss Vito, being an expert on general automotive knowledge, can you tell me what would be the correct ignition timing be on a 1955 Bellaire Chevrolet with a 327 cubic engine and a 4-barrel carburetor." As I watched the movie I was thinking "Wait! There wasn't a 327 in '55!" And she said "Chevy didn't make a 327 in '55. The 327 didn't come out til '62. And it wasn't offered in the Bellaire with the 4-barrel carburetor til '64. However, in 1964 the correct ignition timing would be 4 degrees before top dead center." I was hooked.

[ArdWrknTrk]

My Cousin Vinny is one of my favorite movies. What got me was the question of "Now, Miss Vito, being an expert on general automotive knowledge, can you tell me what would be the correct ignition timing be on a 1955 Bellaire Chevrolet with a 327 cubic engine and a 4-barrel carburetor." As I watched the movie I was thinking "Wait! There wasn't a 327 in '55!" And she said "Chevy didn't make a 327 in '55. The 327 didn't come out til '62. And it wasn't offered in the Bellaire with the 4-barrel carburetor til '64. However, in 1964 the correct ignition timing would be 4 degrees before top dead center." I was hooked.

Oh, I remember that well!

My girlfriend at the time, Melissa, wanted to see it because she had gone to summer camp with Marisa Tomei

I actually blew the major plot point when they showed those photos of the burnout over the curb. (neither of us knew it.... yet)

[Gary Lewis]

Oh, I remember that well!

My girlfriend at the time, Melissa, wanted to see it because she had gone to summer camp with Marisa Tomei

I actually blew the major plot point when they showed those photos of the burnout over the curb. (neither of us knew it.... yet)

I didn't twig to the independent suspension bit. Guess I'm a bit slow.

Anyway, the LED strips are well and truly glued. And they work.

So I re-installed the center two brackets and kickstands for the bed cover tracks. But that was quite a bit of work as the cover didn't really want to close when I was done. Turns out that the tracks were 1/16" too close together, but it took a lot longer to fix that than to type about it. However the cover closes pretty well now, so I'm calling it good.

So we are going to stretch BB's legs tomorrow. Headed up to Sedan, KS to meet my brother and SiL for lunch. Round trip about 150 miles so it'll be a good test for the spring clamps. We'll see if there are any marks on them when we get home.

[ArdWrknTrk]

I didn't twig to the independent suspension bit. Guess I'm a bit slow.

Anyway, the LED strips are well and truly glued. And they work.

So I re-installed the center two brackets and kickstands for the bed cover tracks. But that was quite a bit of work as the cover didn't really want to close when I was done. Turns out that the tracks were 1/16" too close together, but it took a lot longer to fix that than to type about it. However the cover closes pretty well now, so I'm calling it good.

So we are going to stretch BB's legs tomorrow. Headed up to Sedan, KS to meet my brother and SiL for lunch. Round trip about 150 miles so it'll be a good test for the spring clamps. We'll see if there are any marks on them when we get home.

I actually didn't know the Tempest came with posi (WE didn't know there even was one... yet)

But I was darn sure a Skylark never had IRS with posi back then.

My autistic brain is always noting and commenting on incongruities.

Glad the cover is closing smooth.

I hope you and Janet enjoy your lunch, and the ride.

[Gary Lewis]

I actually didn't know the Tempest came with posi (WE didn't know there even was one... yet)

But I was darn sure a Skylark never had IRS with posi back then.

My autistic brain is always noting and commenting on incongruities.

Glad the cover is closing smooth.

I hope you and Janet enjoy your lunch, and the ride.

We did enjoy both the lunch and the ride. And looking at my brother's car.

As we pulled into the parking lot Janey said "Look at that car!" I didn't bother to look but said "That's my brother." Sure enough he'd brought his '54 Ford Skyliner. Beautiful restoration. And in its salmon color it is stunning.

Anyway, when I filled Big Blue up before the trip the 19 gallon tank took 9 gallons but the gauge was sitting on 1/4 but should have been roughly on 1/2. So I'm going to re-program the MeterMatch. We drove 160 miles and at a guessed 12 MPG that's 13.3 gallons, leaving 5.7 gallons in the tank. 5.7 divided by 19 says the tank is 30% full so should be reading on the high side of 1/4. I'm going to set the "mid-low" calibration point so that the gauge reads just above 1/4 with the gas it has in it.

Then I think I'll put 8.5 gallons in it at the station and set the "mid-high" calibration point to read 3/4 on the gauge. Finally I'll fill it up and make it read Full - although it should already.

Also, I've created a new thread where I am looking for help on the steering wheel. The thread is "Is There A Way To Seal A Steering Wheel?"

[Gary Lewis]

We did enjoy both the lunch and the ride. And looking at my brother's car.

As we pulled into the parking lot Janey said "Look at that car!" I didn't bother to look but said "That's my brother." Sure enough he'd brought his '54 Ford Skyliner. Beautiful restoration. And in its salmon color it is stunning.

Anyway, when I filled Big Blue up before the trip the 19 gallon tank took 9 gallons but the gauge was sitting on 1/4 but should have been roughly on 1/2. So I'm going to re-program the MeterMatch. We drove 160 miles and at a guessed 12 MPG that's 13.3 gallons, leaving 5.7 gallons in the tank. 5.7 divided by 19 says the tank is 30% full so should be reading on the high side of 1/4. I'm going to set the "mid-low" calibration point so that the gauge reads just above 1/4 with the gas it has in it.

Then I think I'll put 8.5 gallons in it at the station and set the "mid-high" calibration point to read 3/4 on the gauge. Finally I'll fill it up and make it read Full - although it should already.

Also, I've created a new thread where I am looking for help on the steering wheel. The thread is "Is There A Way To Seal A Steering Wheel?"

I forgot to say that we hit a number of significant bumps today so I know the front suspension flexed a bunch and there are no marks on the spring clamps.

[Gary Lewis]

I forgot to say that we hit a number of significant bumps today so I know the front suspension flexed a bunch and there are no marks on the spring clamps.

Did the following:

 

1. Assumed that the truck had 30% (5.7 gallons) of gas left (19 gallons - (160 miles/12 MPG)) so in the shop I set the MeterMatch to read just above 1/4 of a tank with what was in there using the mid-low calibration point.

 

Then I drove to the station and added 8.5 gallons, which I figured would put it at 14.2 gallons which is 74.5%, and then set the MeterMatch to read 3/4 tank with the mid-high calibration point.

 

Added 4.1 gallons, which filled the tank completely and the gauge read above Full. (Actually I overfilled the tank because when I got home there was gas dripping off the front of the tank. )

 

Then I did the math: 159.3 miles/12.584 gallons = 12.6 MPG. Not at all bad for that trip. Lots of hills, running on cruise half the time, and lots of wind - with us on the way up and directly against us on the way back.

 

However, I noticed on the drive to the filling station that while the gauge read above 1/4 when I set the mid-low calibration point in the shop with the engine off, it only read 1/4 with the engine on. I gave the mid-low two more "up" button pushes to correct this, but when I got home I was reading the instructions more closely and found this:

 

Early Ford/Mopar Gauges with Mechanical Regulators: If you are controlling a gauge that is powered by a mechanical voltage regulator in the dash panel(such as early Ford and Chrysler products), you can reset the MeterMatch to near-correct values byperforming the reset operation: (1) power off, (2) setting the rotary switch Ѳ to seven, (3) holdingdown the Save button and finally (4) applying power until the LED blinks. This will also turn onVoltage Correction which is necessary when using a vibrator-type instrument voltage regulator.If you have an electronic regulator in your vehicle, Voltage Correction should be turned off. You canset to near-correct values for Ford/Mopar gauges with electronic regulators by resetting theMeterMatch exactly as above, but hold both the Save and Up buttons down, rather than just theSave button.Both Ford/Mopar resets populate switch settings 1, 2, and 4. 2 is for ½ tank

 

Voltage Correction:Most gauges are connected to a voltage regulator in the instrument wiring so that they get a constantvoltage whether the engine is running or not. However, if this is not the case, when you calibrate yourgauge at one voltage (for example, engine not running, battery at +12.5V), then start the vehicle andthe voltage rises (for example to +13.8V), the gauge reading might change significantly. If you runinto this, MeterMatch has an automatic voltage correction feature that corrects the reading fordifferent voltages. To enable this feature: (1) remove power from the MeterMatch, (2) set the rotaryswitch Ѳ to position "0" (normal operating), then (3) press and hold the Up button while applyingpower to the MeterMatch. Hold it until the LED blinks after power is applied. MeterMatch willremember this setting in future use. If you wish to remove the voltage correction feature, repeat thesame process, but hold the Dn button rather than the Up button. Note that if you change this setting,the gauge may need to be recalibrated with the new setting.

 

I don't believe I turned Voltage Correction off and I do have an electronic ICVR, so I may need to turn it off if these new settings don't get it where I want it. But they have to be better than what I had, which was a fall off from Full very quickly and then staying just above Empty for a looooooong time. We shall see - maybe on Tuesday as we plan to go out again.