Re: ClusterTruck; because that’s what it is
 

Nice work on the exhaust! That combination of bends you used is similar to what I ended up with to get over my rear axle. I'm curious to hear your exhaust with the H-pipe and those mufflers. With mine, I have the X-pipe so far back that it gives the exhaust a bit of a weird tone. I'm thinking about changing it to something like you did here.

Re: ClusterTruck; because that’s what it is
 

Thanks, it turned out ok.
Interesting, I never thought about the location of the crossover and it's effect on the sound.
Eventually, when I get it running, I'll take a YT clip of it and post it up.

Re: ClusterTruck; because that’s what it is
 

I recall reading the farther upstream a cross-over is, the more it can help with 'taming' the sound.

Resonators & 'Helmholtz Chambers' are becoming much more common on big HP (& not so coincidently big $$) builds in efforts to keep things reasonable.

Re: ClusterTruck; because that’s what it is
 

There's some interesting technology there. I'd like to see under some of the newer factory fast cars and how they've been doing things.

Re: ClusterTruck; because that’s what it is
 

The cab has been at my friends shop for bodywork. We’re doing a labor trade for the body and paint. He’s got a couple of hot rods that need done and I’ve been helping him with mechanical and electrical items.
He does nice work, and it’s slow. It’s slow because he likes to let all the products cure before going onto the next step. Over the spring that can take a while because heat really speeds up the cure.
Anyway, here’s some pics of the cab.

Re: ClusterTruck; because that’s what it is
 

The cab I have was dry and clean-ish, but it definitely had been worked hard. The back had a lot of dents. Dave and I got a lot of them out with the stud gun, then it was time for a skim coat. He has a cool sanding technique that gets the panels pretty flat. He uses these very long sanding blocks and a powder guide coat.
These pics are of a door, but the same technique applies. Those long blocks really show the imperfections, and eventually smooth them out.

Re: ClusterTruck; because that’s what it is
 

Here’s where he got the idea. https://www.linearblockingtools.com/
He makes his own with plexiglass and vinyl tubing.

Re: ClusterTruck; because that’s what it is
 

Body work is one thing I'm glad I didn't have to do on my build. What color are you going with?

Re: ClusterTruck; because that’s what it is
 

516 Omaha/Tangier orange and white. I don’t want to lose track of it in a parking lot.:metal:

The bad part about piecing this thing together is that none of the panels match so some kind of paint job is needed.

Re: ClusterTruck; because that’s what it is
 

This past few weeks have been exciting, paint has happened on the cab and doors!
Here’s a shot of a door after the first bake. It baked several times in the booth and for a week straight inside his enclosed trailer out in the sun. That also made room for some other cars he’s working on.
Dave lays down 4 wet coats of clear so that it will sand and polish nicely. The long hot cure also helps harden the clear so it sands and polishes better.

Re: ClusterTruck; because that’s what it is
 

Here’s a shot of the door after the sand and polish.
He blocks the clear with 800, 2000, and then a DA with a 3000 pad. Then the buffer. It’s a long process but it works.

Re: ClusterTruck; because that’s what it is
 

Looks real nice.

Re: ClusterTruck; because that’s what it is
 

Thanks, it’s coming together. The front clip is next. I’ve got the hammer and dolly work done on the fenders so they’ll be getting the skim coat soon.

Re: ClusterTruck; because that’s what it is
 

The fenders are ready. They needed a fair amount of work. My original driver side had a lower dogleg rust “repair” that was a patch welded over the top of a hole. Lovely. I cut it out and made a piece for it. The passenger side had a lot of previous repairs with paved filler over dents. There were also bondo worms on the back side of the dogleg. These came from several holes from an old school puller. But no rust, even in the cup.

Re: ClusterTruck; because that’s what it is
 

The last thing I needed to do to get the frame ready was to make my exhaust heat shields. The ones that Angus from AC/DC was helping with. :metal:
I had some really good heat shielding left over from my dealership days. It’s from an E-class gas tank recall. The new tanks came with the shield already attached, so I grabbed a couple of the old ones, thinking they may come in handy someday. Fast forward 10 years.
It looks really beat up, but it’s not. The layer you see is the thin foil backing, about 2x the thickness of kitchen foil. It really shows the dents from reforming it. It’s a 3 layer item. The thick foil layer is about 20ga and is faced towards the exhaust, the middle layer is fiber insulation and the thin layer is facing up.
The last photo is from underneath, before I rolled the cut edge to seal up the fiber inner layer.

Re: ClusterTruck; because that’s what it is
 

I wanted to add some heat shield on the cab to work with the heat shield treatment on the frame. Mainly for the lower header and collector area where the other shield wasn’t covering.
I got the DEI floor and tunnel shield. It sticks to the exterior of the surface you’re working with. I did the toe kick of the firewall first, then to the sides of the tunnel hump area under the floor (no pic, sorry). I also lined the floor hump.
I could have run it up the firewall further, but I don’t love how I thought it would look so I stopped at the bodyline.
It’s pretty easy to work with, but you definitely want to make a template before you cut it. Once it’s stuck, you’re not moving it without destroying it. I used cardboard like what cereal boxes are made from for my templates. It’s flexible enough to give an idea how it will go over uneven or curved surfaces.

Re: ClusterTruck; because that’s what it is
 

Time for a trip. Having a winch is a good thing. Having a sloped driveway however isn’t. I used some big wood scraps under the trailer jack to get it level so I didn’t have to worry about gravity.

Re: ClusterTruck; because that’s what it is
 

We used a lift to put the cab back on the frame. I didn’t want to risk any damage by using my engine hoist lift because the doors were already fitted and I didn’t want to take them back off to lift it on the pinch weld.
It was uneventful, which is a good thing. Lift cab, move frame, install mounts/bolts, load back up.
It sure does look good now. That 516 really pops in the sunlight.

Re: ClusterTruck; because that’s what it is
 

For unloading, the Jeep earned its keep again. I backed it into the garage and left the trailer sloped. Worked like a charm, which is good because a quick rain shower was coming thru.
Here she is, back home.

Re: ClusterTruck; because that’s what it is
 

Looks great!!!

Re: ClusterTruck; because that’s what it is
 

Nice progress update.

Re: ClusterTruck; because that’s what it is
 

Thanks
It's exciting to have some color. I keep chipping away at it. There's a zillion little things to do still.
I'll post up some more when I have time to put in some pics.

Re: ClusterTruck; because that’s what it is
 

I like the detail stuff like the heat shielding/sound deadening/exhaust considerations. 'Old' like 'new' experience in the end.

Re: ClusterTruck; because that’s what it is
 

I figure there’s no reason to not add the heat shielding. It definitely works or the OEMs wouldn’t do it. I’ll definitely report back after I have it up and running.

Re: ClusterTruck; because that’s what it is
 

Exactly.

Re: ClusterTruck; because that’s what it is
 

Wow, That looks great! Love the heat shielding as well. That is some motivating progress. Congrats

Re: ClusterTruck; because that’s what it is
 

Any concerns with that heat shield getting wet and holding water?

Re: ClusterTruck; because that’s what it is
 

Thanks, the core support will be done soon and I have door parts coming from GMC Paul’s. Work work work.

Yes, I’m wondering if it will absorb, and if so how long it stays wet. I’ll update on that too.

Re: ClusterTruck; because that’s what it is
 

Amazing updates, that fresh 516 paint is stunning! I'm looking forward to seeing this thing come together.

Re: ClusterTruck; because that’s what it is
 

Deleted.

Re: ClusterTruck; because that’s what it is
 

Thanks. I was surprised by how it really brightened up in the sun.

Re: ClusterTruck; because that’s what it is
 

It’s been a while, but still chipping away between busy summer activities.
Lots of sound deadening to start with. First layer is 80mil siless kilmat and the second is the siless thin foam.
It was not a bad job. It’s made a huge difference in the tinny sound of the bare cab. The biggest surprise was how much quieter closing the doors was after doing the rear cab wall.
Sharp heavy scissors are a must and making paper templates for the weird shapes and contours was helpful.
After I had it done I found that the tar like layer wanted to come thru the joints. Not a big amount, but enough to stick to you and then get around to other surfaces. A strip of masking tape on the joints took care of that.

Re: ClusterTruck; because that’s what it is
 

Then I put in the pedals. I did add the upper and lower clutch switches. The PCM does use these inputs and I want all those features to work.
I just used momentary switches since these really don’t have much load, just signals to the PCM.

Re: ClusterTruck; because that’s what it is
 

What info does the PCM require from/for the pedal position?

Re: ClusterTruck; because that’s what it is
 

Look's great..subscribed.

Re: ClusterTruck; because that’s what it is
 

The top of pedal travel switch has influence over the throttle during shifts. I think the throttle cracker table and maybe others. It also disengages the cruise control.
The bottom travel allows the starter to engage if you have the pcm control the starter like the factory. Maybe it has other uses in the tune.

Re: ClusterTruck; because that’s what it is
 

Thanks!

Re: ClusterTruck; because that’s what it is
 

Start & cruise control were the only things I could think of but wasn't sure otherwise.

Re: ClusterTruck; because that’s what it is
 

The more I looked into it, the more it seemed to make a difference.

I'll be starting my tune with a manual transmission BIN file vs doing a segment swap on the auto one I already have. It seems there's more than just the transmission tables that change between the 2.
I went fairly deep into the rabbit hole on the usual tuning message boards and decided it was worth it to save me chasing driveability problems down the road.

If anyone needs a 2004 6.0 manual BIN, I can send it out. I don't have the full version of HPtuners now, so it'll be in the TunerPro/PCM Hammer/Universal Patcher version. If I end up getting the full HP version I can convert it to that .HPT format too.

Re: ClusterTruck; because that’s what it is
 

When I first got the truck, it had the front end trim. When I got it painted in 91-92, the trim wasn't available per the body shop. Modern me says they didn't look hard enough and I'll go find it myself, but then me said ok weld up the holes and don't worry about it.
Well I like that trim and the 2-tone look so now it was time to un-do that.

My first attempt on the l/f fender worked out but it wasn't easy. I just used a drill bit in the right spots. Should be easy, right?
No
Behind the smooth-ish exterior was a bunch of weld chunks and wire pieces. Anyone that has ever filled a hole knows what I'm talking about. It's not necessarily a bad repair, that's just what the back side of a filled hole is unless you go in and grind it smooth.
As a result, the drill bit flutes wanted to catch and tear the metal. Very easy to have the nice hole turn into a curlicue mess that then required more welding to reshape. Of course this is a repaired hole where the margins aren't a consistent thickness. So more blow thru and such. Not fun but I got it done.

Did I take pics of the mess? No. I was pretty frustrated and just wanted to get it over with.

So now I'm looking at my hood edge. Lots of holes on a sharp point that is super visible. Not something I want to have go poorly.
Time to really think and not just rush into it...... because I'm not the 91-92 guy anymore.