Re: Working Man's Burbon
 

Spent most of the afternoon with the repair of the ignition switch. First off is picture of the bad switch disassembled. I would like to find a OE switch to disassemble for comparison of the contacts.
I have to say I didn't find a smoking gun that I can point to as the problem. I concentrated on the solenoid wiring to start. Following LockDocs lead I did a ohm meter test on the neutral safety switch by removing the purple connector from the switch and hooking my meter to the switch. By moving the gear selector through the all the positions several dozen times while watching the meter. For the most part the meter would read .05 ohms when in park or neutral, but there was a couple of times the reading would be 4 to 8 ohms. So I removed the switch and disassembled it. The photos (#2 & 3) show some wear on the slider and some arc wear on the contacts for the back up lights. In addition the both of the tabs the backup connector hooks to show some heat discoloration from some past issue.
I filed the slider flat and cleaned and soldered the back up light contacts to remove the arc damaged spots. Those spots are probably all/part of the reason that sometimes I have to jiggle the shifter to get the backup lights to come on. I buffed the all contacts with a brass wire wheel in my Dremel, greased the slider, and reassembled. Testing after reassembly showed consistent readings and smooth operation.
Ohm meter testing of the rest of the solenoid wiring did not revel any other issues.
I then moved to replacing the melted connector body on the harness. I found Napa carries a replacement pigtail for $18.00. (Photo 4) A bit steep as only needed the plastic body but I didn't find any other option. I do plan on saving the leads for other projects. One item of note is the wires that come with the replacement pigtail are noticeably undersized compared to the factory wiring. (Photo 5) The red, purple, and pink factory wires next to the wires from the pigtail leads.
After the connector was reassembled and the switch plugged in I did amp load testing on each lead n the connector. I found the total load on the switch to be about 23/25 amps with everything turned on in run. The large brown lead as about 12/13 amps and the pink lead was 8/10 amps. The solenoid circuit was 12/15 amps.
I forgot to post that the rest of the brown wires all had 5 amps or less.
These readings are not extremely accurate as they are on the lower range of my amp clamp attachment. (It is rated for 4 to 400 amps.) But I am confident that there isn't an overload condition for the switch.
One other thing I looked at was how the Packard connectors fit the tabs on the switch. They all looked good except the one for the solenoid. The part of the connector in the middle had lost its spring tension so I replaced it. The connector showed no sign of overheating or arcing so it may not have been part of the problem.
After the plug was installed on the switch I carefully inspected each of the Packard connectors with a magnifying glass to be sure they have slid over the switch tabs properly. Low and behold one of them has completely missed the tab and is just sittng next to the tab in the connector body. To get all the connectors to install properly I bent each tab slightly so it was biased toward the Packard connector. I was then able to get the connector installed properly. This problem may have contributed to the failure, but I have no proof.

Re: Working Man's Burbon
 

Don't forget to check the bulkhead connections for corrosion. They are out in the weather. I have a damaged ignition switch if you want to tear apart a factory one. Let me know and i'll go look for it. I was saving it for the plastic connecter part because I have a good switch that the plastic is broken on.

Re: Working Man's Burbon
 

The bulkhead connection is on the list for today. I ran out of daylight yesterday and it started to drizzle so I decided quit before opening another can of worms. :lol:
Thanks for the switch offer. I appreciate it, but since you have a need for part of it I'm sure I can find another one and you can fix your damaged one. If you desire to tear it apart, feel free to post a picture of the contacts for comparison.
Thanks again.

Re: Working Man's Burbon
 

You can still have it. I just removed the ignition key cyl from a good switch today. That makes the one I offered to you 3rd in line.

Re: Working Man's Burbon
 

More WMB progress today. The bulkhead connection checked out okay. I know I cleaned it up when I put the dash harness in and it still looked good. (Oh and the whole replacement of the HEI power wire too.) So I just blew out the dust and put a fresh coat of Corrosion Block on the spade connectors and reassembled. Thank goodness no new can of worms there.
However taking the snow tires off and putting the mags back had a bit of a hiccup. As I was turning the passenger front wheel heard it click. More spinnng. Sure enough there was a definite clicking sound. Nothing felt loose but after some recollecting, I'm sure that when the truck was in the shop I only checked and repacked the bearings. So the are one of the last pieces that haven't been replaced. It took going to 2 Napa stores to get inners, outer, and seals. Fortunately it was a straightforward replacement with no other detours. I really wanted to wash the truck too as the weather today was great, but my sister called needing help with a bench she is building.
Oh well maybe tomorrow. At least I'm back on the road. :mm:

Re: Working Man's Burbon
 

Well then shoot me a PM and we can work out the details.

Re: Working Man's Burbon
 

I've been preparing the parts for the rear swaybar installation. The holes in the frame brackets for the connecting links are no longer round due to the link bolt rubbing the bracket. (Photo 1) I'm not sure why GM didn't drill the holes larger so the bushing's raised index would prevent metal to metal contact like it does on most lower control arms. Not only would a larger hole prevent the wear but the noise that would accompany the bolts rubbing or rattling in brackets.
I drilled the brackets out to 5/8". (2nd photo) I then put a slight chamfer (3rd photo) on both sides of the bracket to get the bushing's raised index to self center in the hole since I didn't have the exact drill bit size. The bushings appear to be a metric size.
Next I need to come up with some 1 inch spacers to go between the brackets and the frame.

Re: Working Man's Burbon
 

Was there a rear swaybar stock? I wasn't aware that was an option

Re: Working Man's Burbon
 

You are correct there was no factory rear swaybar available for our trucks.
I had mentioned on the previous page that I picked up a rear swaybar from a 82 Trans Am, but I failed to mention that was where the brackets I was talking about came from.
Dhoo! It was a clear as a bell to me. :lol:
I am planning on installing the Trans Am swaybar on the Burban.

Re: Working Man's Burbon
 

What does the rest of the bracket look like?

Re: Working Man's Burbon
 

The complete photos.

Re: Working Man's Burbon
 

Picking back up on another delayed project. The Gearvendors wiring upgrade.
The supplied wire that comes with a Gear Vendors is not shielded. This makes the sytem susceptible to interference from the ignition system.
The GV installation manual states to keep the wiring clear of all other wires which is not really feasible or reasonable to expect, unless you're looking for a place to lay blame if something doesn't work correctly.
After installing my new Pertronix ignition I had problems with the Gearvendors controller freaking out and causing the unit to jump in and out of overdrive repeatedly. I solved the problem temporarily by wrapping the wires in aluminum foil. (The way some of us keep the guvmnt from reading our brain waves. :lol:) see first photo.
I found it a bit difficult to get some 20 gauge 2 conductor shielded wire in less than 500 foot rolls. Covid was the common reason given. Finally though I got 25 feet to make the new cables. Then I got real lucky and found some melted GV wires. By cutting the phone handset plugs off of the bad set it will be less of a guessing game to get the new cables correct.
Gearvendors isn't very forthcoming with information on their controller and its wiring. All I was able to glean from one of the sales techs (Their actual technical desk wouldn't share any information) was that she thought that they only used the outside pins on the phone plug.
They have all 4 pins wired up. (Photo #2)
They use a 6 conductor unshielded cable with the white and the blue conductors not used. (Photo #3)
I just cut the phone plugs off and soldered them to my new shielded cable. The originals had the black and red conductors paired and color coded to be the positive conductor and the yellow and green paired and color coded to be the negative conductor. (Photo #4)
I don't know why but GV connects the white and blue conductors on the other end of the cables they supply. Last photo.

Re: Working Man's Burbon
 

After soldering and heat shrinking the conductors I soldered a 20 guage black wire to the shield on the end that phone plugs are on. This black lead will get tied to the chassis ground. The shielding wlll intercept the stray voltages before the conductors will. By having one end of the shield hooked to ground the induced voltage has a path back to battery negative. Do not hook both ends of the shield to ground.
This can make the shield a conductor and cause more problems.
The last photo is of the pair of melted cables I got. They are the Yellow and White cables that hook to the speed sender and to the solenoid. The yellow and white cables are the only two I shielded with foil and cured my problem. (Only 2 GV cables I obviously covered more than just those 2 with the foil.)
More to follow once I get these installed.

Re: Working Man's Burbon
 

I did some M&R yesterday. On cold mornings the air compressor had started cycling on and off as it approached the shutdown pressure. This was really messing with the alternator. The lights would go bright, dim, bright dim..... I pulled the compressor relay to make it stop and headed to work. That evening after work I could not get the problem to reoccur. So I crossed my fingers and hoped it was fixed. Since I am old and out of coupons I was sure wasn't the case so I put my test light in the truck. Of course several mornings later it happened again. I jumped out of the truck and did quick check of relay by touching it showed it was cycling with the compressor. So it was an electrical problem.
I put a test light to the coil power to relay and found the voltage was constant. That ruled out the pressure switch as a source of the problem. However when I checked the power to the relay from the battery it was cycling on and off. Definitely peculiar,so I pulled the relay and headed to work.
Today I began by following the circuit back to the battery. The next component was a circuit breaker. I had installed a 20 amp automatic reseting circuit breaker back when the WMB was in the body shop. Since I couldn't get the problem to reoccur I made the assumption the circuit breaker was at fault.
Now to confirm whether the circuit breaker was bad or the compressor was drawing more amperage than before thus causing the breaker to open, meant taking checking the amperage of the compressor.
To get a reasonably accurate amperage reading I put a jumper across the circuit breaker then toggled the power manually while watching my meter. This showed there was nothing amiss with the compressor. The amp draw at starting pressure was around 14 amps and at shut off was 18 amps. To me this meant the circuit breaker was tripping early. I have not confirmed it but, I am assuming the compressor draws a bit more amperage when it is cold. It has been in the mid 40's when I leave for work lately.
I bought a new 30 amp circuit breaker to replace the 20 amp one. (First photo) I would have preferred a 25 amp one but I couldn't locate that size. The original 20 amp one was actually correctly sized for the original compressor that came with the truck. When I replaced the compressor I saw that it would be drawing 18 to 20 amps which is pretty closed to the rating of the breaker. Last photo the green arrow indicates the new relay.
I guess my borrowed time had expired. :lol:

Re: Working Man's Burbon
 

Once again my luck ran out on Monday. Short story while sitting at a stop light a car shot out into a lane when he couldn't see traffic and hit an oncoming car. That car then hit me. So now the ordeal begins.
My good friend Robert who own the body shop, where all the work was done previously, died last summer. Since then I haven't made any effort to move forward on other projects that Robert and I had planned. I now have to begin a new relationship with a body shop.
Any help on shops in the Portland area would be appreciated.

Re: Working Man's Burbon
 

Oh that sucks! I'm no help on a body shop though.

Re: Working Man's Burbon
 

Oh man, I feel for you! I'm no help as far as shop recommendations go, but Ill be following along for updates.

Re: Working Man's Burbon
 

Dang! Huge bummer. Sometimes a guy cant catch a break!!!

Re: Working Man's Burbon
 

Damn that stinks! Good luck finding a shop.

Re: Working Man's Burbon
 

Thanks everyone! I have a feeling getting the WMB back to normal is going to be a tough row to hoe. And I'm quite certain the insurance companies will be disappointing to say at the least with their follow through.

Re: Working Man's Burbon
 

wow...sorry to hear about your paint buddy, and the truck.

the damage does not look too bad but I hope you find a shop that deals with these old things so they can fix it right

Re: Working Man's Burbon
 

Thanks. Having it as insurance claim is making it harder to find a shop who is willing to do the work. I've had 5 shops tell me they would do it for cash but not for an insurance company. Too many hassles.

Re: Working Man's Burbon
 

Hmmmmm.... so my wife got cut off a few months back in her brand new BMW 440i and stuffed it into the side of the car that ran the light. Fortunately, she saw it coming early enough that she jumped on the brakes in enough time to get the car slowed below 15 MPH on impact, so the damage was relatively minor and the airbags didn't go off.

The point of my story is that when I went to have it fixed, I had to take the car to a USAA adjuster. They did the estimate for the repair, cut me a check, and told me to take it wherever I wanted. When the actual repair total was over twice the initial estimate, USAA just sent the additional payment directly to the shop although they did give me the option of paying out of pocket and then sending me a check.

What I'm getting at is, isn't there a way for you to "pay cash" to have the work done, then just have the insurance company cut you a check once you provide a receipt? If not, I'd look into a new insurance company.

Re: Working Man's Burbon
 

Unfortunately I don't know. This is my first insurance claim.

Re: Working Man's Burbon
 

Man, that really stinks. Sorry to hear your friend passed away. Luckily the damage to the burb wasn't worse. Hopefully you can locate a good body shop and get it fixed up soon.

Re: Working Man's Burbon
 

Thanks. Replacing the quarter panel will get done, it's a matter if how much of a hassle it is going to be.
Driving past my buddy's old shop everyday was tough before I needed a good bodyshop. Now it is even sadder.

Re: Working Man's Burbon
 

Is been a while since the last time I posted. I have done a lot of running around and there is no end in sight. I have decided on a body shop for the work. The owner has already agreed to allow me in on Saturdays when his workers are gone to work on the WMB. Big plus! Now just waiting for my slot.
I other related news I was grumbling about my turn signal switch cams going bad as it has become difficult to get the signal to operate smoothly and stay on. I finally realized the problem was because the steering wheel was no longer straight up when the truck was driving straight. I took it to my friends at Trackside Motorsports (A-N-T tire) to get the alignment checked. And the results showed the rear end is no longer straight. With the driver's side is toed out and the passenger side is toed in. So I'm crab walking down the road these days. (Photo #1 is from the alignment last November and photo #2 is the latest one) Not the best numbers for tire life and fuel efficiency.
While on the rack we noticed what appears to be oil seeping from where the axle tube goes into the carrier housing and from one of the axle tube plug welds on the left side.
I have not had any luck finding any place who wants to or can repair the axle. But some shops have by yet to return my call.
The truck was converted to 5 lugs when I bought it but I wasn't sure how it was done. I called Mel at ClassicBowtie about a replacement rear end. He told me he has an early rear end but not a 71/72 rear. So armed with the axle width dimensions he gave me, I jacked the truck up and measured hoping to find an early axle. But alas I'm not that lucky. The axle flange face to face measured 63 3/8". Close enough to 63 1/2" to ID the housing as a 71/72. ( Photo #3 & 4) (An early axle would have measured 62")
I clamped some straight square stock to the flanges and measured inside edge to inside edge to determine the length. The 1/8" difference may be due to the aftermarket axle on the left side.
The real rub on this is how the insurance company is going to respond. I don't doubt they will accept replacing the axle, but will I have to pay for rebuilding it? I had the current rear end completely gone through several years back. Fortunately I have an aftermarket long track bar so I could use a later axle and have the mounting pads changed.
So the negotiations to began. Fortunately I have good documentation with receipts and this forum.

Re: Working Man's Burbon
 

Is the rear-end hidden accident damage?

Re: Working Man's Burbon
 

Yes it is.
I did some additional inspecting when I measured the axle width. First was a quick check of the left axle shaft by jacking the wheel up and spinning it but there was no noticeable wobble. I then clamped a straight edge to the axle flange and measured to the back of the backing plate on the front, rear, top, and bottom to see if the backing plate might be bent, but it all seemed okay. The last 2 photos show the largest difference I found. The front to rear difference is .004. The top to bottom was less than .001. Not bad after 50 years under at least 2 trucks and involved in 2 accidents (That I know of).
If I had stock wheels and tires I might not have bent the axle as the tires may have slid sideways instead. But I love me some big meats on the rear. :lol:

Re: Working Man's Burbon
 

Finally some tangible progress! :four: After several weeks of searching I found a 71/72 rear end.
Even luckier (For me anyway. Someone else's misery has made my life better) it came out of running 71 that was recently wrecked. So no worries about the internals being rusted solid.
Axle code says THC which should be a non- posi 3:73. At present I'm sure about the lack of a LSD but the ratio is a mystery. Not that it matters as the plan is to swap my newer internals into this housing..
The cover is all goobered up with silicone so someone has been inside it. The center housing had a good 3/16 or more of greasy dirt on it which I'm pretty sure is from the top part of the cover. I flipped the axle vertical on the jack stands oil dripped out. A clue even I can pickup on.:lol: The oil even looked nice and clean. :metal:
So after several hours of cleaning it is just about ready for some paint.

Re: Working Man's Burbon
 

Looks like a good score!

Re: Working Man's Burbon
 

Yes, stock would have been a 3.73 ratio open . Looks good.

LockDoc

Re: Working Man's Burbon
 

Nice find.

Re: Working Man's Burbon
 

Thanks! Life has been in the way as of late so progress has been slow. At least the first photo seems like progress. I'm not so sure the other photos are. 😕
The bent axle and the new axle are at the shop to be combined along with some new seals and fresh lubricant. Now it's wait for the phone to ring.

Re: Working Man's Burbon
 

And thank you everyone who has dropped in to look in on this thread!
I noticed that there now has been over 100k visits. I am humbled to think that my ramblings on about the WMB have generated that much interest.
Once again thank you all. It certainly has motivated me to keep moving forward.

Re: Working Man's Burbon
 

rear axle looks great, thanks for adding something to my to do list....

:sexy:

Re: Working Man's Burbon
 

Thank you. We'll see how it holds up. A friend told me his undercarriage painting process that he swears by.
Scrape the heavy crud off. Degrease everything. Lightly sandblast to remove rust scale but not to white metal. Wipe everything down with mineral spirts Let dry 1 hour. Put 2 coats of POR15 on 2 to 3 hours apart. The POR15 can't be sticky but needs to have drag when you pull your finger across it between coats. When the second coat has dried to the "drag on the finger" state apply the top coat. He says he has had good results with Rustoleum enamel so I that's what I used. It looks better than just rattle canning it.
I didnt do the backing plates yet as I am planning to swap the ones from the bent axle. They have all new (Well 30k miles new) brake parts.

Re: Working Man's Burbon
 

im actually going to try mastercoat seems legit and not as messy as por 15. when i get it on ill update my build thread

Re: Working Man's Burbon
 

I check back to see, but I'm guessing it will have to wait until your oil water crisis is past.

Re: Working Man's Burbon
 

Back on the straight and narrow again. I got the new axle back and installed, no more crabbing down the road!
I will pass on how I dealt with the U-bolts. After the U-bolts get torqued down to the recommended 250 ft-lb's they distort slightly, meaning that the two threaded sections have spread and are no longer parallel. (See photo #1. The green arrow side is in the hole and the red arrow side is about 3/8" too wide.)
I took a clamp and compressed the legs to get them to slide back into the trailing arms. See the other photos. After taking the photos I cleaned up the U-bolts and gave them some paint and brand new anti-seize before installing them.
I sacrificed a Jorgensen knock off years ago for automotive use. That style of wooden clamp doesn't damage the threads but, they are bulky.

Between the axle shop and having to reinstall the axle single handedly the nice paint on the axle took some damage. Hopefully I can touch it up while in the body shop. The owner said I could work on non-oily projects on Saturdays when his regular crew is off.
Progress! Next up is a trip to the body shop. Tentatively scheduled for 10/25!