Project Big Red

So theme for today was electrical.

I put together the other half of the Anderson connector for the glow plug controller.



Did my vacuum pump up.



I think it and the fuel pump are going to set on the same bracket. Need to see if I can get that cutout tomorrow and then I can finish up this portion of the electrical. I fit the plate to the new inner fender which required a little tweaking.

I put two circuit breakers on this panel.



One to feed the headlights and 1 to feed pretty much everything else auxiliary that I'm adding. The circuits will be individually fused as well but I wanted to break up the main a bit so that if things went to hell for some reason, I could get home with a jumper wire and the headlights were on a different set of circuits.

I've got mega fuses for the charging circuit and the feed for the GP relay. I don't like fusible links.

I hung the second battery under the cab so I could measure for the cable.



End is soldered on. Once it passes the tug test (none have failed yet), I hit the joint with liquid electrical tape, and put the heat shrink on. Couldn't get the adhesive stuff so I figure this is as good or better.

Did the grounds.



So that's where we are. Need to hang the starter and make the starter cable. Hand the fender so I can bolt up the inner fender and the mount plate and finish pulling the wires enough to be able to start it. Tomorrow I'm going to pick up a pipe expander to fix the crossover pipe. It's a little whooched. So the short short list is:

Starter
Starter cable
Fender
Fender solenoid
Feed to fender solenoid
Cable from solenoid to starter
Fill the crank case
Fuel pump plumbing
Return line connected
Radiator back in
Paint intake hat
Tweak IC tubes

Okay. That list isn't as short as I thought but it's shorter than it was I guess.

[emoji21]

Looking pretty swanky. I'm curious where you are putting that fuse panel, you might have said somewhere back in the other 97 pages but I probably missed it.

Also, I assume you got the high temp wire loom? I didn't in years past and after a couple months/years at high heat it just cracks apart.

It's going on the pass inner fender. I did not get the high temp stuff. When I bought it I didn't know there was such a thing. Guess I'll deal with it as it comes.

I haven't accomplished much today. Picked up a pipe expander so I could straighten the crossover pipe.



It fits together now.

I put the radiator back in. Need some nuts and washers for the shroud.



I climbed up in the rafters and pulled a started down. It was functional but I may pick up a new one. We will see.



Good news is my cable connectors fit nicely. No modification needed to make it fit.

Well, what do you do when you feel guilty about sitting on your butt watching football?? You run out grind down a pair of pliers and grab the IC pipes off the truck and retire to your chair.



This works pretty good it if I thought I was going to do very many, I'd spend the $130 on the tool.

Comparison to factory.



This one was pretty tough on the inside of the bend and pretty easy on the outside.



Probably a little thicker. I'd like to see it a little bigger hump but it does okay. We will see how they hold. I cut that short straight pipe to fill in my IC plumbing. I put the radiator hose on top and I think I have a shooting solution for the left hand pipe.



The middle pipe needs shortened in both directions to drop it down and tweak the angle going to the intake hat. I think that will take care of it. Then I need to mark the intake hat, cut the stub and bead it. Then I can sand blast and paint it.

Very nice! My father always taught me that a good honest man had a firm strong handshake. Now we know he was wrong. A guy with a good firm strong handshake just beads a lot of IC pipes!

Seriously though, its really looking great.

Looking great, it's funny I found putting a lip on steel pipe easier than aluminum piping. With my little home made vise grip set up I can progressively make the lip larger.

That helped make it a little easier on the hand to keep from cramping up.

After doing that and the constant one handing of grinders on my project people stopped challenging me at work to hand squeezing contests lol

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No kidding. A little tweak with a file would make these better but hey...it's getting the job done.

Tonight's main project was assembling the electrical center. So I converted the inner fender plate to be my new electrical center/fuel/vacuum pump mount.



I also added the mega fuse holders for the charging system and the GPS.



Notice the original vacuum switch is hiding under the fuse/relay blocks.



Should be room to get the fuel bowl off. I'm real happy with how this turned out. I think it will be serviceable without disassembly.

On to the next thing. Got the IC pipes all fitted.







I still may need to shorten the verticals for clearance with the hood but it's all pretty close.



More this. My hand hurts.

Now I just need to trim the intake hat down and bead it, blast and paint it and the IC plumbing is done. Need to order tube for the air filter.

Tossed the fender on.





Not bolted down tight yet but it all lines back up pretty close. After a little wiggle, got the inner fender lined up.



Set the panel in and the GP controller has to move. It's into the coolant filter block.



In the mean time, I pulled the intake hat off and trimmed it to length. I beaded it but man. The steel was rough. Hand and leg hurt tonight. Shot a little primer and paint on it. Looks decent.





I need to figure out where the starter solenoid goes exactly. Picked up a set of remote battery posts for under the hood. Need to know where to put them hence needing to locate the solenoid. Also will have to put the GP controller somewhere else do it will probably end up on the fender too.


Really think I'm going to have to shorten the IC pipe as tight as I can. It's going to be tight.

Such beautiful paintwork....makes me wanna go paint something i own read

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Alrighty. Tonight I installed the 7# radiator cap.



I installed the block ground.



Made and installed the fuel feed line.



And the fuel feed line.



I also installed the starter relay. Trying to decide where to put the glow plug controller is going to go. I have a set of remote mount battery posts you would think that with the battery removed there would be a ton of space. There is but... there is a big empty space with nothing to bolt anything too. So I need to figure out where to put that stuff.

I filled the crank case. Between the filter and the pan, I think it held 10 qts.

I think I'm a crossover pipe, starter, starter cable, power wire to the starter relay, pig tail to the fuel pump, and connection of the fuel return from starting this pig. Have to figure out which tank the selector valve is turned to so I know which tank to put the fuel in. I think I should be able to blow through the return line and hopefully hear which tank its going through. Right now, I don't have a convenient way to switch the tanks.

Tomorrow might be the day.

Why a 7lb radiator cap? Stock was 16lb right?

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Stock is 13#. I have one of those too. [emoji6]

There's been a good bit of discussion around this on this forum. The champion radiator caps seem to be universally crap. Many people run 7# caps. Many run 13# caps. 7 is a little easier on the coolant system. 13 gives you a higher boiling point and in theory more cavitation protection. I don't know which one I'll run long term but I have a 13 too so we shall see. If you do the math, the 1.1 bar cap is like 16-17 lbs (assuming it works right) and there is no need to put the extra stress on the system.

lookin awesome Mike! one helluva job!
I have a 9# cap, zero issues, I run 190 all day long

I guess I've missed those discussions. Maybe I was thinking 16 because that's what all the trucks I have had came with, Guess that's what I get for assuming..... Well I'll definitely have to ditch the 19lb cap my new mishimoto radiator came with...

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I just noticed your t boot on the wire loom. Now that's what I call a clean install. They didn't even take it that far at the factory. Very cool

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