Wife's 48

[joedoh]

staggeringly beautiful! i love how shiny the green is, especially looking back at the beginning of the thread!

I am always dumping coolant on my floor because of my excitement to get things installed incorrectly, that sickly smell is a good reminder haha. glad you got yours figured.

[youngrodder]

Its funny how you think, I have all sorts of room for activities then you mount he AC, all of the relays and various CPU boxes and you quickly run out of room.

Looking good.

Marc

[rnrdthefox]

I bet you walk into the garage with a smile even on a bad day when things aren't going as planned. Every day would feel like a new day working with everything freshly painted knowing you are working on final assembly items. Jealous

[8man]

Outlaw, you are right, any progress given how long this took just to get painted.

Joe, thank you, I do like the paint, now that it is almost done and I'm only waiting on about 5 small parts.

Youngrodder, exactly why I'm putting stuff in to check for fit and then I'll go back to wiring.

Rnrdthefox, yes, I do. The paint color makes me smile every time I look at it.

Thank you all, it is a journey that is very satisfying.

[oldman3]

Robert, when you get to the point you are now, you can see the light at the end of the tunnel, and know it was all worth the effort. Coming together nicely...Jim

[8man]

Thanks Jim. I am enjoying going into the garage now.

[8man]

I know it's been a while since I posted any progress, but it was happening - sort of.

I got all the wires run to the far corners of the truck and to the relay box behind the seat and under the dash. Here is some of what happens when I hook up the 20 amp power unit and put it in reverse.

IMG_1011 by Robert Moorman, on Flickr

All the lights work, the dome, door locks and radio are all functional, I even got to listen to my Pandora station.

HOWEVER, I went with the Gallo Technologies GTS-3 push button start. I hooked it all up and when I added the 20 amp power, the light flashed green, the key fobs wouldn't do anything and if I tried anything with the electrical system or opened a door, the alarm went off. After almost 2 weeks of trying to get Gallo to talk to me, I finally got them to answer the phone. They said, "it shouldn't do that, mail it back and we will check it out." So, I'm stopped on finishing the electrical again. When I get it back I'll reinstall it and see if it works. I have the Dakota Digital gauges sitting on the work bench waiting to be installed and plugged into the "brain" unit and I have to put the Vintage Air under dash vents and switches in and the inside will be ready.

Then I decided to finish the front, since the lights were working and I needed to do something. I got out the brand new OEM grill and tried to put it in place. Notice I said "tried"! I have read where they don't always fit, but I had no idea the parking lights wouldn't fit without trimming the darn thing. After some Dremel cutting and grinding and a pair of tin snips, this is what I have.

IMG_1012 by Robert Moorman, on Flickr

Laura is very happy with the front, as am I. Next report after we get back from Sedona in a couple of weeks.

[dsraven]

it looks really good, nice job. good plan to go with the chrome on the dark colored truck.
it sucks that things didn't work out electrically but it gave you time, with no real deadline, to do some other interior work. hopefully the push buton will come back working and labelled as to what wire goes where.
when trimming stuff like you had to on your lights, I sneak a bottle of the wife's clear nail polish to cover the bare metal where I had to dremel a bit. that way it doesn't start to rust right away.

[8man]

Thanks for the suggestion on the nail polish Raven.

I've been spraying some paint into an old plastic spray can top and using a q-tip to paint over the exposed metal. It is a Rustoleum 2K primer/paint so I'm hoping it is doing the job. However, I may have to go shopping for some dark green fingernail paint, or ask the wife to do it so I'm not seen shopping for it.

[dsraven]

haha, yeah. get the wife to take a paint sample with her and bring some clear coat too.
it's like when the wife takes you along shopping and she wants to try something on. the change rooms are usually located right in with the bras and panties so when she goes in you are left there by yourself like some perv. maybe next time I will pick up a few skimpy things and walk around with them and if anybody looks at me weird I'll go "will these make my butt look big?", haha. kidding.
I like taking my wife to an auto parts place and taking my sweet time looking at stuff I totally have no need for or interest in buying. we have a store kinda like harbor freight called princess auto. lots of different stuff in there but they have a "surplus" area with all kinds of different types of things. she likes shopping in that area while I am looking for lights or welding supplies etc. last time I had to go find her when I was done and she was like, "oh, I'm not done looking yet".
now I go there alone.......

[oldman3]

Robert, truck is looking great. Electrical parts can be a pain, when you check to see what you did wrong, and it's the part. Had large problems with my re-pop grill also...Jim

[8man]

Raven, that's hysterical. Thanks for the laugh this morning.

Jim, I'm such a newbie at electrical (my second time) I spent at least 2 days trying to figure out what I did wrong before I started calling Gallo. And thanks for the compliment. Once I did the trimming on the grill, it went in and fits good.

[nvrdone]

raven. thats the best laugh I've had in a long time. Even my wife enjoyed it. Now she understands why I hate going shopping with her.

[OutlawDrifter]

Robert that looks great. Hopefully they can get your system sorted out with a new one!

[8man]

Thanks Drifter.

Raven, the wife is already shopping for fingernail polish!

[dsraven]

It usually doesn't take much to get them out the door if you are condoning the shopping bug, lol.
I seen a sign behind the paint counter at a body shop supply place. It said
If your wife complains about the price of paint for your car, remind her how much she pays for a few drops of acrylic lacquer in her nail polish bottle. Extrapolate that to equal a gallon of product and she will likely not bring that subject up again

[8man]

Got back to town and the Gallo Tech push button start, door lock, alarm thingie was in the mailbox. So today I took a little time to install it and try it out.

It works! The 20 amp power unit even made the starter click when I pushed the start button. Doors locked, radio came on, courtesy lights came on when I opened the doors, and it seems the electrical is working. So I started buttoning up the dash.
IMG_1017 by Robert Moorman, on Flickr

I have to get a real battery now and hook it up and try it all out. Fingers crossed it starts and moves. Then I can move on to finishing stuff up. My woodworking buddy is really antsy to help on the bed wood.

[oldman3]

Robert, glad it all checked out...Jim

[mongocanfly]

looking good Robert....love the green

[8man]

Thanks Jim and Mongo.

Funny story, I thought about the install for the CPUs for the gauges and light control last night and decided to build another way to secure them under the dash when I realized I might not be able to get to them, if necessary, with the gauges installed. I was using the gauge holes in the dash for access, and I may have to work on the wires, so back to the drawing board.

[joedoh]

beautiful!

[8man]

Thank Joe.

I think I've been overthinking things again.

I back tracked and built a new bracket for the CPU for the gauges, then installed the duct hose and vent on the driver's side. Will work on the passenger's side today and maybe have pics this evening, unless my OCD kicks in and I see a squirrel, like yesterday with the bracket.

[NorCalGal]

Wow!I haven’t been on here in a while your truck is looking great.

[8man]

Thanks Jan. Hope all is well in your life.

I have the front end assembled and most of the wiring is not "loomed up", hope to get that finished today. I'll have some more posts in a day or two.

[lower50's]

Wow it's been a while since I checked in on your build. You have done a great job Robert all the details, looks AMAZING!! Laura is going to love driving it around. I find wiring takes forever to get your head wrapped around it then once you get all the wires run in the right direction it goes fairly quick. Keep up the good work the end is in sight. Did I miss the exhaust part or is still to come?