Nickelplate Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 38 years of untold abuse. It didn't even throw a chunk through the tin cover. I'm sticking with my story. Today, I'm getting ready to gamble. My old door panels were totally trashed by the sun, so I got a brand new set. I didn't realize that there were two different kinds of door panel. Apparently they made the standard kind which has a raised area near the speaker hole, and then they made the deluxe panel which was totally flat in that area to make room for the cloth-covered trim panels. I'm getting ready to make some drastic cuts on these new panels, and melt part of them to the point where I can press them flat in the right areas. Test melting on the back side of it seems to have worked, so I'm going to go ahead. Might be a few hundred dollars down the drain. I'll check back in later with pictures and the final verdict. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mat in tn Posted February 2 Share Posted February 2 Today, I'm getting ready to gamble. My old door panels were totally trashed by the sun, so I got a brand new set. I didn't realize that there were two different kinds of door panel. Apparently they made the standard kind which has a raised area near the speaker hole, and then they made the deluxe panel which was totally flat in that area to make room for the cloth-covered trim panels. I'm getting ready to make some drastic cuts on these new panels, and melt part of them to the point where I can press them flat in the right areas. Test melting on the back side of it seems to have worked, so I'm going to go ahead. Might be a few hundred dollars down the drain. I'll check back in later with pictures and the final verdict. no guts no glory! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickelplate Posted February 2 Share Posted February 2 no guts no glory! Well, it didn't turn out like I thought. I think it's still salvageable, but the plastic is really hard to get to a pliable temperature without actually melting the surface. Then the tools I am using (blocks of steel) to flatten it also have to remain heated. I think in order to complete this, I will need to fab up a specialized heated hydraulic press or something. It doesn't really seem worth it except I don't want to have partially flattened an expensive door panel for nothing. I'll see about creating the custom tools for it over the weekend or early next week and get back to you. If there's a process, I'll figure it out. If there's a tool that needs to be made, maybe I'll make it and then send it to Gary so others can borrow it for their own trucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted February 2 Author Share Posted February 2 If there's a tool that needs to be made, maybe I'll make it and then send it to Gary so others can borrow it for their own trucks. That would be cool! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted February 2 Share Posted February 2 Well, it didn't turn out like I thought. I think it's still salvageable, but the plastic is really hard to get to a pliable temperature without actually melting the surface. Then the tools I am using (blocks of steel) to flatten it also have to remain heated. I think in order to complete this, I will need to fab up a specialized heated hydraulic press or something. It doesn't really seem worth it except I don't want to have partially flattened an expensive door panel for nothing. I'll see about creating the custom tools for it over the weekend or early next week and get back to you. If there's a process, I'll figure it out. If there's a tool that needs to be made, maybe I'll make it and then send it to Gary so others can borrow it for their own trucks. I'm used to forming Kydex which is kind of somewhere in between ABS and Lexan You might get some good tips on presses from knife making and holster forums. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickelplate Posted February 2 Share Posted February 2 I'm used to forming Kydex which is kind of somewhere in between ABS and Lexan You might get some good tips on presses from knife making and holster forums. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted February 3 Author Share Posted February 3 Thanks! What have I done to my truck today? Nada. But I've been doing something for my truck, or maybe more correctly for whomever gets to maintain it later. I think I've completed the major part of Big Blue's documentation regarding the electrical system he's sporting. There are schematics for: Charging & Power Distribution: This shows the alternator, the PDB's although not what's in them, the battery isolator, both batteries, and the aux power relay as well as all the cabling connecting them. Passenger's Side PDB: This has all of the relays and fuses in that unit as well as what each does. Driver's Side PDB: Ditto the PS one Mission Control: This is the set of switches above the radio that control the OX locker, aux power relay, air compressor, backup lights, battery isolator, and the fog lights. Each of those schematics has been printed and included in a binder that rides in Big Blue's console. In addition they've been "printed" as pdf's and reside in the first post of Big Blue's Transformation thread, which also currently includes three other documents: the overall summary of what has been done to Big Blue; the "card" I use at shows to tell about him; and the parts list for maintenance purposes. In addition, those schematics are on the page at Documentation/Picture Galleries/Big Blue/Big Blue's Documentation. What I have yet to do is to print the spreadsheet that shows all of the connections to the ECU and figure out how to document what parameters I have dialed into Binary Editor for the EFI system. Bill, do you know how to do that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigBrother-84 Posted February 4 Share Posted February 4 What have I done to my truck today? Nada. But I've been doing something for my truck, or maybe more correctly for whomever gets to maintain it later. I think I've completed the major part of Big Blue's documentation regarding the electrical system he's sporting. There are schematics for: Charging & Power Distribution: This shows the alternator, the PDB's although not what's in them, the battery isolator, both batteries, and the aux power relay as well as all the cabling connecting them. Passenger's Side PDB: This has all of the relays and fuses in that unit as well as what each does. Driver's Side PDB: Ditto the PS one Mission Control: This is the set of switches above the radio that control the OX locker, aux power relay, air compressor, backup lights, battery isolator, and the fog lights. Each of those schematics has been printed and included in a binder that rides in Big Blue's console. In addition they've been "printed" as pdf's and reside in the first post of Big Blue's Transformation thread, which also currently includes three other documents: the overall summary of what has been done to Big Blue; the "card" I use at shows to tell about him; and the parts list for maintenance purposes. In addition, those schematics are on the page at Documentation/Picture Galleries/Big Blue/Big Blue's Documentation. What I have yet to do is to print the spreadsheet that shows all of the connections to the ECU and figure out how to document what parameters I have dialed into Binary Editor for the EFI system. Bill, do you know how to do that? Wow! Impressive! What have I done to my truck today? Nada. But I've been doing something for my truck, or maybe more correctly for whomever gets to maintain it later. I think I've completed the major part of Big Blue's documentation regarding the electrical system he's sporting. [...] schematics [...] this shows [...] relays and fuses [...] cabling [...] Mission Control [...] set of switches [...] printed [...] binder [...] other documents [...] spreadsheet [...] overall summary of what has been done to Big Blue [...] Well, Gary, I understand that the future owner of Big Blue will need a truck to carry all its documentation? Â Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted February 4 Author Share Posted February 4 Wow! Impressive! What have I done to my truck today? Nada. But I've been doing something for my truck, or maybe more correctly for whomever gets to maintain it later. I think I've completed the major part of Big Blue's documentation regarding the electrical system he's sporting. [...] schematics [...] this shows [...] relays and fuses [...] cabling [...] Mission Control [...] set of switches [...] printed [...] binder [...] other documents [...] spreadsheet [...] overall summary of what has been done to Big Blue [...] Well, Gary, I understand that the future owner of Big Blue will need a truck to carry all its documentation? Jeff - That's funny! But I did add the spreadsheet of the connections to the ECU to the initial post in the thread. So now I need to print it out and put it in the binder. Still need to figure out how to document the ECU's parameters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted February 4 Share Posted February 4 Jeff - That's funny! But I did add the spreadsheet of the connections to the ECU to the initial post in the thread. So now I need to print it out and put it in the binder. Still need to figure out how to document the ECU's parameters. Hitch the trailer, load the file cabinets and the microfiche... You can't screenshot the parameters? By the time anyone needs to mess with it there's not going to be a way to pay to change them anyhow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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