Promise... the build

[Selahdoor]

Already have the metal plate made. Now just waiting for more clear weather.

Raining cats and dogs here, the last 2/3 of the day. Thunder and lightning, as well.

 

[IDIBRONCO]

Raining cats and dogs here,

Man! And I thought that hailstones at 70MPH on a motorcycle hurt!I'm glad that you've got it made. That was mostly a suggestion for future reference.

 

[Selahdoor]

Ok, the stages to getting the plate made:

Paper pattern

You must be registered for see images attach

Cardboard pattern, (From ******* box.)

You must be registered for see images attach

Now marked on tin and ready to cut out.

You must be registered for see images attach

The reason for all three stages is... The paper is necessary, to get a good rubbed pattern. Bring that in the house. Draw it better. Cut it out, then run out and check it against the truck itself. It was a good fit, with only a couple minor alterations.

Didn't go straight from paper to tin, because it is too easy to get something screwed up that way. Make the cardboard pattern from the tin, Now you have a more solid pattern that is still easy to check against the truck, but not so easy to fold, bend, stretch, or just accidentally slip with, when marking the tin.

 

[Selahdoor]

Here is a closeup of the area that this plate is going into. I have made an insert in the lower left, showing the cracks around that bottom hole.

You can see from this that the upper hole is hogged out and rough. The lower hole is just kind of dangling there. That triangular shape can fall out at any time.

You must be registered for see images attach

And then here is the plate taped into place.

You must be registered for see images attach

I realized when I did this that it was impossible to be sure the plate, and therefore the holes, were perfectly in place.

So tomorrow, I will take the metal plate, tape it in place on the passenger side instead, with the hole perfectly lined up. Then I will take measurements at the four places I have marked with green lines.

With those measurements I will be able to tape this plate into the exact same position on the driver's side. Then it will be time to figure out how to connect it.

Rivets seem like a given. Until you realize that they may hold only for a while, and over time with road stress, (I live 2 miles down a VERY rough gravel road, full of potholes.), the rivets may work their way out of that plastic plate.

So I may have to mark, drill, and install with small bolts and washers and nylocks.



Before I do that, I will be removing the battery on that side. Then the battery tray. Then deciding whether to replace that vacuum canister. It's just the old metal coffee can type that comes from the dealer. Rusted, collapsed and full of holes. If I replace it, I'll do so with a piece of PVC pipe with caps on both ends.



I want to get down in there that far anyway, to be sure I will not be causing problems when I drill through to bolt this plate on.

One last point is that I may cut out some of that fiberglass at the backing plate, for the larger, upper hole. Reason for that is that I may put a washer behind my mending plate, because I think the headlight mount might need to be stuck through a thicker material, for the clip to work.

 

[Garbage_Mechan]

I have done the similar repair to the same panel on my 96. Small machine screws and nuts with washers but most importantly epoxy. Did that in ‘03 and it is still solid.

 

[Selahdoor]

Also considering adding some epoxy into the mix.

I want to make sure I get everything lined up correctly, and marked, first.

 

[Va_Mike]

its not cheap but west system G-Flex is a two part epoxy that is designed to work with ABS plastics. i have used it extensively and it works very well, as with anything prep and following directions makes something work properly and last.

 

[Selahdoor]

Raining cats and dogs here, the last 2/3 of the day. Thunder and lightning, as well.

Man! And I thought that hailstones at 70MPH on a motorcycle hurt!I'm glad that you've got it made. That was mostly a suggestion for future reference.

They were tiny little cats and dogs.


Ok, here is where I am today.

I had to go ahead and take off the grill, then take off that headlight backing plate.

Reason being, I couldn't complete the repair of the plastic plate, nor could I get the clips back on the headlights.

Here is a pic of the plate laying on top of the hood. Did this to show the bare front of the truck too.

I have already made the repair to the plate, and put the headlights on.

You must be registered for see images attach

Now here is the back of that plate, with the headlight installed.

The old clips almost all broke, when I took them off, without removing that plate from the truck. My advice, if you are going to change your headlight housings is that you go ahead and remove that plate, before you try to remove the clips. With it laying on the bench, or the ground in front of you, you might be able to remove the clips without breaking them.

Reason you'll want to do that.. The nice shiny ones there... Dorman product. About as robust as 4 or 5 layers of aluminum foil glued together. maybe not even THAT robust because at least you'd also have the glue.

Just pushing one on with your FINGER... you'll crumple them instantly, if things are not all lined up perfectly.

You can also see the 4 bolts that I used to hold my metal plate in place. That worked out perfectly! Glad I did that.

You must be registered for see images attach

Seriously. It isn't that much trouble to tear everything down to that point anyway. And it makes removing and replacing the housings, a breeze. (An you are most likely to be able to save the beefy factor clips.

If I can get some beefy clips in the future, I might consider taking this back apart again, to replace those again. But for now, it is going together with my hopes that it will stay.

Of course if those clips fall apart in use, I WILL be back in there to repair it again. And I won't do it again, without some better clips.

 

[Selahdoor]

Now...

Before putting all that back together, I am considering something.

Probably won't be popular. And will certainly make the truck look butt ugly for a while. (Maybe a new name for the truck? We already have "Big Ugly" here.)

I am considering taking the front bumper off, and replacing it with this:

You must be registered for see images attach

As you can see, it is not a full bumper. I DO plan on fabricating the rest of the bumper, in the future, but for now, it just kind of sticks out there like a canker sore.

The purpose... I am not sure this truck is not going to break down. Maybe the brakes could go out. Maybe the trans could break down. Just a whole lot of unknowns.

This has a towbar on it. (Obviously. ) If the truck breaks down out on the road, all I'd have to do is to get a ride back home. Get my other truck. And go out and tow myself home.

This also has a winch pocket welded into the mix. Once the bumper is done, it would be a beefy and functional bumper. Until then, I have never gotten stopped, warned or ticketed for this on the old truck. So I am not worried about it's "legality" as-is.

 

[Selahdoor]

A quick tip:

If you buy battery cable ends, and you don't get positive and negative...

If they are both negative, one will not fit onto the positive terminal of your battery.

Conversely, if you buy both positive, one will be too big for the negative terminal of your battery.

Here's a tip for if you buy both positive. (And by the way, even though this pic shows a positive and a negative, I cannot find the negative version of this kind of battery cable end, at any of the parts stores. They are ALL positive in size.)

Carefully trim some of the lead from the inside corner. I have marked the cut lines with red lines.

You must be registered for see images attach

Now it should close far enough to firmly grip the negative terminal.

Don't trim off too much. But you do have to get enough of it off there, to let if close enough. Better to take off too little than too much. You can always trim a little more.

And don't trim flat across front to back. Better to trim it at an angle like that. If you make a straight through cut, you'll make them too thin. They'll break. Ask me how I know...

 

[IDIBRONCO]

When I get two negatives, I just flip the one for the positive cable over so that the taper runs the opposite direction from the battery terminal.

 

[Jason1377]

A quick tip:

If you buy battery cable ends, and you don't get positive and negative...

If they are both negative, one will not fit onto the positive terminal of your battery.

Conversely, if you buy both positive, one will be too big for the negative terminal of your battery.

Here's a tip for if you buy both positive. (And by the way, even though this pic shows a positive and a negative, I cannot find the negative version of this kind of battery cable end, at any of the parts stores. They are ALL positive in size.)

Carefully trim some of the lead from the inside corner. I have marked the cut lines with red lines.

You must be registered for see images attach

Now it should close far enough to firmly grip the negative terminal.

Don't trim off too much. But you do have to get enough of it off there, to let if close enough. Better to take off too little than too much. You can always trim a little more.

And don't trim flat across front to back. Better to trim it at an angle like that. If you make a straight through cut, you'll make them too thin. They'll break. Ask me how I know...

Gotta be a smart a__ and ask how do you know? joking

 

[Selahdoor]

When I get two negatives, I just flip the one for the positive cable over so that the taper runs the opposite direction from the battery terminal.

Great idea! Even better. At least for a standard battery cable end. But...

Did you notice the wing nut? (BTW: I replace that wing nut with a nylock of the right size, and a washer.)

Gotta be a smart a__ and ask how do you know? joking

I'll bet you can guess.

 

[IDIBRONCO]

Did you notice the wing nut?

Yes I did. I just don't use those.

 

[Selahdoor]

I worked with the IP timing again today.

I decided to turn it down about a half a dime thickness.

Tried starting it cold after that... And it still took several cranks before it finally started.

Gave it about a minute to warm up. Maybe less. Turned it off and tried to start it again. Letting the GPs cycle. Still took quite a bit of cranking.

Did that all over again, one more time. Never started right up. Loped and bounced/rocked the truck so bad that it closed the hood. And smoked again.


~~~


Decided... Well, what have I got to lose? I turned it even higher than I had, before. So now... About two and a half dimes thickness advanced from where it was originally.

It was cooled off by then. High idle kicked in. Good indicator that it was cool.

Started with half a crank!!! Ran smooth. (Except for a problem I will get into next.) And ZERO smoke!!!


~~~

Ok, here's the problem... (I may start another thread with this by itself, for better coverage.)

While it is still cold... It surges.

This is not the lope that I had a problem with. It is a surge. A slow surge. The lope was fast.

It slowly raises and lowers the RPMs, all by itself.

Here is the vid. I was not touching the gas pedal.

xc_hide_links_from_guests_guests_error_hide_media

In addition to the slow surge, while it is still cold, if I use the pedal to very slowly raise the RPMs... When it reaches 1800 RPMs... it suddenly jumps to 3000 RPMs all by itself.

It does immediately and slowly come back down to normal idle if I let off the pedal at that time.



Both problems end when the engine warms up enough to turn off the fast idle stuff.

After that it runs the best I have ever seen or heard it.