Molasses Carnage Corrections

[crash-harris]

That connector is available. You just can't find the damn sender side. They used them forever. I think I found it originally for a late 60's mustang.

I first looked on Autozone, then rockauto, then ebay. When I found the Airtex part number on Ebay I cross referenced it on Autozone and found the correct connector for the same price. It was a vendor order part. It's on its way. I'll post the number and tag it when I have it in hand for future searchable reference.

 

[crash-harris]

As promised, here is the part number and a visual reference for the fuel tank, fuel sender harness, connector (extra words for future search results).

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So that's in and done. We'll see if everything is up to ***** when I start it back up the first time and switch tanks.

I reinstalled the overhead console today to wire up the switches. I'm probably going to cut another small piece of diamond plate out to fill the small gap underneath it. I left today with all the switches hanging out. Ran late tonight working on the wiring, but come Monday I only have the signal wiring to the relays to do. The perfectionist in me has a mild reaction to the holes not being 100%, but luckily I can't tell from the driver's seat.

From left to right: Aux driving lights, aux fog (flood) lights, mirror defrost (blue LED), lights on the front of the bed pointing into bed (we'll call them hitch lights) and the last on the right will be for rear bumper mounted lights later on.

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This is my solution to a underhood fuse/relay box. I have an 8 gang fuse holder on the way that the power for all the relays will run through. I used the new damaged fender to mock up where everything is so I could get the placement down and went ahead and bolted the inner fenders to the new core support. So far today I got the running board lights completely connected to the relay and activated by the headlight switch (all running lights will eventually draw power from this relay) and the bed hitch lights completely wired to a dedicated relay.

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I'm hoping that my replacement fender will show up this weekend so I can start painting them Monday. While they dry I'll be tying the marker lights on the mirrors into the running light relay and wiring up the mirror defrosters along with running most of the wiring for the grill guard mounted lights. I also cut the 75 ohm coax cable for the cophased CB antennas, so I'll be running them as well (so they can hang in the overhead console until I get the CB!). Staying home tomorrow and replacing one of our janky fence gates with a permanent one. One day my yard may dry out enough that I can mow the jungle back down

 

[crash-harris]

Looks like no paint happening this week. UPS just called to setup delivery for the replacement fender Tuesday. At least that will give me some time to get the wiring and interior done before starting paint the week after this upcoming one.

 

[crash-harris]

Another small update today. The mail lady dropped off some more supplies this afternoon. Got the 1/8" diamond plate for the shifter surround panel on the center console and 10 one quart paint measuring/mixing cups with a friend dropping off some more Monday. I'm really excited to be getting into the interior mods on this truck! My 8 gang fuse holder is still on the way as well as 6 green LED lights for the metal trim panel over the rear window and the front and rear floorboard lighting that I'll bolt to the center console. Also have LED switches that match the ones in the overhead console, but in green and amber that will run future mods. Green for electric cooling fan thermostat controllers, 2 amber ones to manually override each fan controller to full on, and another green for the York 210 clutch that will be wired up with a 150 psi pressure switch to cycle on/off. Still have more relays and sockets on the way with a nifty 12V charging station on the way. It's a flat mount panel with 3 holes filed with a small digital voltmeter and two 3.1A USB charging outlets (to is 2.1A, bottom is 1A, both are 1A if both are in use). I also have a single panel on the way for one 12V power outlet to install on the back of the center console for rear passengers.

Next week will be all about painting the body panels though and only doing electrical/mechanical work in between coats drying.

 

[crash-harris]

Not much as far as pictures go today. I spent most of the fat scratching myself up routing wires. I've got the mirror defrosters tied together, the mirror marker lights tied together and into the running light relay. I dropped the center console back in place after running the 12V power for the charging ports and outlets. Got the door panels off and routed the CB coax cable and started loosening the lower 2 arms on the mirror mounts so I can seal off the rust around them. Also got the 1 dead rear license plate light replaced.

Fuse/relay plate installed. Still waiting on the fuse block and picked up some 1/2" wire loom to clean the fender up when the wiring is done.

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Not my focus yet, but this will probably happen after I cab drive the truck again. Got this from a recycling place once upon a time.

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I have to stay home tomorrow and wait for the UPS freight driver to call so I can pick my replacement fender up from him. Going to try to get the landing gear on the 5'er wired back up while I'm waiting. Wednesday I'll get the triggering wires run for the rest of the overhead console switches so I can the trim back on.

 

[crash-harris]

Total waste of time today waiting on the replacement fender for the new one that I received damaged. This one looks like someone in the warehouse dropped it on its nose before it made it to the box. I didn't accept the delivery and emailed LMC with these pictures and also called the lady that I had been emailing with to let her know directly. First 2 times I've ever received damaged body parts from them and one was a replacement for the first! I might get to paint and have the truck on the road before the wedding, but now moving the heavy equipment and getting the driveway finished in preparation might not happen by then...

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At least the freight driver was nice. He's rather new and didn't understand where we were meeting, but now he knows where and that the place has a larger turnaround area for when he has to deliver large items out here for other people.

 

[laserjock]

The first hood I got from rock auto had no outer box by the time it got here.

[emoji23]

 

[crash-harris]

That's terrible. I had planned to paint last week until I found the first damaged fender. Then my plan was to paint next week which won't happen. With any luck I'll be waiting at home one day next week for the nice freight driver to bring the replacement for my replacement fender. I even sliced my hand putting this last one back into the box!

 

[crash-harris]

Well I finally had a mostly smooth day today. I got the overhead switch panel wiring all done and tucked away. I also got all of the wiring for the floor console done, at least for the 12V accessories. Got all the wires running into and out of the cab in split loom. I still need more red 14 gauge wire for the output from the relays to the auxiliary driving lights, fog lights and future rear bumper lights. I finally mocked up the passenger side fender and grounded everything, dropped the batteries in and tested everything. All the switches work and I only got one installed upside down! The fuel pump priming circuit works great! But the relay wouldn't trigger off the oil pressure safety switch. Turns out the red with green tracer wire that I tapped on the driver's inner fender for switched ignition power was a dud. Thanks to @riotwarrior for the pleasant phone call and helping me realize that the FSS trigger wire was right beside the oil pressure switch! So now all is well. The dampened fuel pressure gauge on the Duralift's output bounces at about 6psi and the in-cab readout from the filter head reads right at 6 at idle. I haven't tested the FSV yet, but I suspect that if it doesn't change tanks then the switch on the dash needs replaced. But she runs soooo much smoother now

I know I didn't get a "before" picture, but the forward interior looks as it should again. (Panoramic view from the back seat).

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Most of these yellow wires are routed up the A pillar inside the trim along with the CB cable. Just imagine the mess before I got it pinned up!

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And the new (only undamaged fender) mocked up. Went on and lined up pretty easy.

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Tomorrow I'll be tracking down my next problem, most likely caused by the "Master Electrician" that made little wire rat nests all over the place...

Horn only works when the truck is off. I'm really hoping I bumped a fuse today, but I'm not holding my breath. Then I'll be digging the bottom half of the broken ABS sensor in the top of the differential out.

 

[crash-harris]

Oh, I forgot that I also started cutting out the diamond plate filler panel to hide the wiring for the overhead switches. Unfortunately my cutoff wheel didn't have enough material left to finish the job. Aluminium cutting wheel should be here soon though.

And I started on the shifter surround on the floor console. Got the wood panel cut out into a frame and marked out the shifter hole in the diamond plate and where I need to cut it to fit. On another note, I found one of the 12V accessories in the mailbox when I got home!

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This plate will be the one mounted on the rear of the floor console with a regular 12V socket. As mentioned before, this USB plug will be mounted on a 3 hole face with another USB outlet and a digital voltmeter on the diamond plate shifter surround.

 

[laserjock]

Glad your LMC fender lined up good. I have a pair hanging in the rafters to go on my truck along with a hood.

 

[crash-harris]

Now if only they could send me an undamaged driver's fender I laugh about it so I don't put a hole in a wall and have to fix that too.

Minor work today but a GIGANTIC headache. My goal was simply to take a few hours and findout why the horn circuit wouldn't work with the key on. It would work with ignition off or in accessory, but so as soon as the key was rotated to ON. Tested a lot and determined the steering shaft inside the column was NOT grounded, but the tumbler was. So I decided to make a ground strap and realized my wire strippers and crimpers were on the kitchen counter 20+ miles away. Soooo, I decided to swap on my new steering wheel and found that The Master (new nickname for whatever PO royally fubared everything he touched) had forced the steering wheel on the splines in a different position than the factory. Found out this was because he bolted the steering shaft up to the column shaft wrong. I tried to remove the steering shaft and it WOULD NOT BUDGE. This resulted in yanking the entire column out of the truck with the outside of the telescoping steering shaft still attached. Then I had to figure out how the 2 little shims went back into the notches on the inner part of the shaft. Also found out that the column was only held onto the firewall worth a few bolts. Turns out THAT'S why the shaft inside the column want grounded. Luckily I had picked up some 1" long lag bolts that were the same diameter as the factory ones. Once the column was fulles bolted back to the firewall I treys the horn again with the key on for ***** n giggles and it freggin' worked.

So I mixed up some JB weld and set some dash cracks around where the headlight and wiper switch bracket secures and promptly headed home...without my wallet. Of course I turned around halfway home and went back for it. I swear, The Master is driving me mad. The right side of my jaw has been trying to lock up for about a week from the stress, but I think I've got all of his garbage hack jobs dealt with for now...other than the taillight wiring, but they work so that's a for later project.

 

[crash-harris]

Test run for the Duralift functionality check. I couldn't figure out why the cold idle wasn't kicking on...at 75*+ outside

First bit is just idling. Sounds pretty badass in that barn, but I'm pretty sure the timing has changed. I could smell diesel for awhile after shutdown.

And if you don't skip ahead, no, you didn't see me grab a ratchet off the intake screen

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[laserjock]

Cold advance probably was on. It doesn't kick off till water temp gets to like 120.

Sounds good. I miss that sound in my garage.

 

[crash-harris]

It was. And being almost 80* the high idle wasn't going to kick in. No/very little coolant floating around in there. I walked around and jiggled all my battery and charging connections because the battery light on the dash was pulsing. By the time I checked it again, it was off.