1957 Chevy 3100, meet 1994 Dodge Ram 1500

[lower50's]

Very cool!! I love how you are thinking about his project.

[Purcell69]

Originally Posted by lower50's

Very cool!! I love how you are thinking about his project.

You know, I spend a lot of my spare time considering how to resolve the problems I encounter with this, since I'm pretty well on my own for this build. I enjoy the challenge, which is probably my second favorite thing about this build, the first being the truck itself.

-Joe

[Purcell69]

Now the latest update. I encountered a major snag this week while exploring the Big Yellow Book of Knowledge for clues as to the wiring. It seems that Chrysler would frequently issue peel-n-stick corrections, to be applied to erroneous pages as the errors became apparent. Of course, this was seldom done as intended with the end result being what I own now, a book that only has the 84-way plug pin-out for the Cummins diesel powered truck. Four complete pages that do not apply to what I am doing.

The long fix to this would be to go to each electrical component for the 5.9 gas motor, in the book, and then trace the wire code back to the pins on the plug and map the location of each circuit in the plug. It can be done, though would require quite a few hours to accomplish. We'll call this "the right way".

Plan B is to connect the bulkhead fitting as is, then sort through the items in the cab side of the harness that will not be used, tag them and thin them out after the truck is running, to ensure I don't kill a needed circuit inadvertently. This will also be time consuming and isn't the preferred method for doing such things, but it has been known to work effectively as well. This also rules out any additional missing peel-n-stick corrections biting me in the ass.

Of course, doing all of this translates to "I've gotta use the Dodge steering column instead of the Oldsmobile column that is installed now, since I can't be 100% certain of the correct circuits". I was reluctant to ise the Dodge column since I don't really like to big "Dodge" in the middle of the airbag, which is useless to me in this truck, but the leather wheel itself is in decent shape and using the Dodge column has the benefit of correcting the issue with the transmission shift linkage at the same time. It just means I need to spend $60 on a new u-joint to connect the steering shaft to the column.








Tuesday, I pulled out the GM column and installed the Dodge unit. It actually fits better than the Olds column and only required a slight modification to my drop bracket. Once in, the shift linkage was adjusted, again, slightly, and the whole linkage problem went away. I began to embrace the idea of the Dodge column. This also translates to the multi-function switch for the wipers, headlamp dimmer and turn signals, not to mention cruise control. I just need a replacement airbag, since mine was pre-deployed and a new ignition switch assembly to complete the column. I also ordered the steering u-joint, which should arrive next week.

Next on my list was the starter. My donor truck did not have a starter installed when I brought it home, and the leads to the starter had been cut off. Since I was close to one of the pull your part salvage yards in OKC yesterday, I stopped in and found one in a 1995 model Ram 1500. $30 bucks and the needed cables along with a bunch of sweat and almost an hour to get it out, but it was worth it.



After considering mounting locations for the Power Distribution Center and where to cut the hole for the 84-way connector, I committed to using one of the factory firewall holes to be a starting place for the connector, just left of the brake booster, with the PDC mounted below and left, hugging the inner fender.







And of course, yesterday I came to the realization that my battery box is currently installed on the wrong side of the truck, unless I want to use roughly 12' feet of battery cables. It's an easy move though. One I won't mind making in light of how this is all beginning to come together.

-Joe

[joedoh]

Originally Posted by Purcell69

One I won't mind making in light of how this is all beginning to come together.

-Joe

it always amazes me when guys do body swaps and say "I dont want to mess with the wiring" and proceed to buy a brand new wiring harness to adapt to all their swap parts! thats like a thousand times more messing than was needed, all the swap parts plug together already and sure there will be stuff you dont need but, it all plugs together! I tell them, the wiring harness doesnt care what truck its in, donor or recipient, as long as everything is plugged in, it will start!

looking great, keep it up!

[Purcell69]

Originally Posted by joedoh

it always amazes me when guys do body swaps and say "I dont want to mess with the wiring" and proceed to buy a brand new wiring harness to adapt to all their swap parts! thats like a thousand times more messing than was needed, all the swap parts plug together already and sure there will be stuff you dont need but, it all plugs together! I tell them, the wiring harness doesnt care what truck its in, donor or recipient, as long as everything is plugged in, it will start!

looking great, keep it up!

To be fair, I have an aftermarket harness kit that I bought from Ron Francis 20 years ago, before this became a chassis swap project, since the 1957 had no original wiring left in it. I can see where guys do like the plug-n-play aspects of an aftermarket harness kit, not to mention some are built to be chassis specific, which offers a clean appearance. In my case, there is only one, maybe two vendors that offer a stand alone engine management system, using my supplied OEM harness and $750 from my pocket. I can read a schematic, so there isn't any reason for me to pay someone else $750 for something I can do myself.

-Joe

[lower50's]

It's only time right, we all have lots to go around

[Purcell69]

Originally Posted by lower50's

It's only time right, we all have lots to go around

So true. 😅


Yesterday I was looking for the connector for the cruise control servo on the harness from the PDC, but I couldn't locate it. Last fall, I got ahead of myself, believing I was going to be using the aftermarket harness I have for my lighting, soooo, I cut off the front lighting and airbag wiring from the PDC harness.

It turns out, the missing connector is on the portion I cut off. It also turns out I will be using the Dodge lamp wiring since I'm using the Dodge switchgear. Good thing I saved what I removed...just in case. Lol.

Nothing a bit of solder and heat shrink can't fix.

-Joe

[lower50's]

At least you didn't throw it out.

[Purcell69]

Originally Posted by lower50's

At least you didn't throw it out.

Nope. I'm not entirely stupid. 😂

I got a bit impulsive when I cut, then realized I may have made a mistake, so I set them aside, just in case.

-Joe

[Purcell69]

No new pics yet, but after a trip to Tulsa yesterday, I set about to tidy up some details. When I built and installed the battery box, I had it in my head that the electronics would be on the passenger side of the truck, not realizing I would be using the Dodge PDC or taking in to account that the starter is mounted on the driver's side of the truck. This effectively translates to battery cables that are over 12' long, give or take. Instead, I moved the battery box to the driver's side of the frame and now only need cables that are no more than 4' long.

In addition to correcting this mistake, I added some large cable ties to support the engine compartment wire harness to keep things up and away from hot exhaust parts. I still need to replace some of the convoluted plastic shielding, but now the cables are beginning to be laid out in a manageable fashion. Like I said, it's just some little things, but it was getting to me and needed to be done.

-Joe

[Purcell69]

Here's an update from the past month...

Right after I posted the last update, I began having problems with my XJ Cherokee overheating. I flushed the radiator only to have it blow apart the plastic tank on the side while road testing. I feared I may have cracked the head, as it is a 1999 and may have had a 0331 casting, which is known to crack. I pulled the head and found it to be in remarkable shape, but had it rebuilt anyway, since it has 240k miles on it. While it was at the shop, I did everything I could to clean out years of Pennzoil residue that had accumulated under previous ownership. I got everything back together, drained the diesel fuel soak from the oil pan, installed the new radiator and now the engine is cool and runs quieter then it ever had.

I had a bunch of parts arrive for the "Napco" in a push to have it start and run for my birthday, new fuel pump, new battery, hoses, belt, etc. I installed new plug wires, a cap and rotor, new plugs, the hoses and belt, made new battery cables and began to fill fluids. The "new" water pump had a leaking seal and when I installed it, I had my head up my ass and used sealer on BOTH sides of the gasket. The sealer held so well that I needed a pry bar and a 6' cheater pipe to get the pump off. The gasket literally split down the middle with half on the pump and half on the timing cover. It took a LOT of scraping to get the gasket off the timing cover.

I also found the transmission pan was deformed by the previous owner, whose answer to solving a pan leak was to just tighten the bolts to the point of deforming the pan. I have a new pan of the way, as the old one began bleeding out around the 4th quart in.

The weather didn't cooperate for the birthday target, but after all these years, what is a few more days. When I connected the battery, the + cable sparked, which was odd, since the only electronics on the truck relate to engine management. Then the ECM began to smoke and I attributed the weather as having flooded the computer to being the cause for failure. I hit the Pull-a-Part up for another computer yesterday and got a Dodge gauge cluster just to keep eyes on things until I get my actual gauge cluster done.

With everything reconnected, I got a seatbelt light on the turn of the key, but nothing else. I found a burnt 120A fuse and replaced it with no change. Then, after mucking around the wire harness at the rear of the motor, I got a loud whistle followed by more smoke from the computer. It appears the problem lies in the engine harness. Thank goodness I didn't modify it yet. Time to pull it out and look for the problem.

I am sooooo close to being able to crank the engine.

-Joe

[ptc]

heartbreaking----- ;-(

I know the feeling over and over again. Dont loose faith, as you have the God given talent to figure it out.... thats what I tell myself and usually I get a "helping hand" to get it done!


Your pics are not showing up from Photobucket I assume? they have blocked your pic uploads.

Would like to see what you are doing!

[Purcell69]

Yeah, apparently Photobucket has seen fit to change their policy regarding 3rd party photo hosting, effective July 6. Of course, I can pay them $2.50 per month to lose all of their pop-up ads, but there is no mention of whether or not that includes third party hosting or if there is an additional fee for that, or how long it will be before they want more money. As a consequence, I'm in the process of pulling all my images from Photobucket and putting them on a thumb drive for right now.

The computer issue is a bit frustrating, but I'm not going to let it get me down. Even in the worst case I have options, either in the form of another wire harness for the drivetrain, swapping to a carbureted intake manifold and traditional ignition system, or putting a GM drivetrain in, since I still have my 350 V8.

There were only a few places that I altered the original harness, so once I rule out any shorts there, it will be a matter of running each wire and checking for damage. I am not 100% certain, but I have an aftermarket harness kit from Ron Francis that I may be able to use to power the computer as well. Since I already have it, I was going to use it to power add-ons like A/C, stereo, power seat bases and the like. I don't know if this is a realistic option as far as the computer goes, but it is one more option none the less.

Edit...So it seems to get my images 3rd party hosted again, they want $40 per month! I guess Photobucket is looking to implode as everyone jumps ship. So be it.

-Joe

[ptc]

Originally Posted by Purcell69

Yeah, apparently Photobucket has seen fit to change their policy regarding 3rd party photo hosting, effective July 6. Of course, I can pay them $2.50 per month to lose all of their pop-up ads, but there is no mention of whether or not that includes third party hosting or if there is an additional fee for that, or how long it will be before they want more money. As a consequence, I'm in the process of pulling all my images from Photobucket and putting them on a thumb drive for right now.

The computer issue is a bit frustrating, but I'm not going to let it get me down. Even in the worst case I have options, either in the form of another wire harness for the drivetrain, swapping to a carbureted intake manifold and traditional ignition system, or putting a GM drivetrain in, since I still have my 350 V8.

There were only a few places that I altered the original harness, so once I rule out any shorts there, it will be a matter of running each wire and checking for damage. I am not 100% certain, but I have an aftermarket harness kit from Ron Francis that I may be able to use to power the computer as well. Since I already have it, I was going to use it to power add-ons like A/C, stereo, power seat bases and the like. I don't know if this is a realistic option as far as the computer goes, but it is one more option none the less.

Edit...So it seems to get my images 3rd party hosted again, they want $40 per month! I guess Photobucket is looking to implode as everyone jumps ship. So be it.

-Joe

YEa I already dumped all my photos off their site - they wow'd themselves by advertising 1,000000000000 photos by 10,0000000000 customers.... etc

Well now they will have maybe 1% of that..... customers dont like getting the bait-n-switch manueaver put on them...

[lower50's]

Yup very frustrating but you will get it!! Happy birthday, did you still have a good one?

[Purcell69]

Originally Posted by lower50's

Yup very frustrating but you will get it!! Happy birthday, did you still have a good one?

Yes indeed. It was a great birthday, in spite of the setback. I have the engine harness 2/3 of the way out of the truck now, and a good computer is on its way as well. I'm going to strip all of the convoluted plastic (what's left of it) off the engine management harness and check the full wire run before installing new plastic sheathing. It has to be a dead short somewhere in the systems run through the computer. It is just going to take some time.

Meanwhile, the new transmission pan arrived yesterday and i just picked up a fresh gasket. I should be able to swap that out after work and stop the incessant dripping for good. I can't stand a transmission with a case of the drip.

-Joe

[Rickysnickers]

Belated happy birthday Joe !

[Purcell69]

Originally Posted by Rickysnickers

Belated happy birthday Joe !

Thank you Ricky!

The heat wave here is supposed to break this coming week and I have no trips scheduled for Tulsa, just a court appearance (witness for the State, not a "performance award" ). This means I should be able to look deeper in to the wire harness and hopefully resolve the smoking computer issue. I have a new to me computer on its way, which should also arrive next week. I will not be plugging it in until I know I won't fry it.

I did install my new, non-dimpled, transmission pan last night and will be picking up some fresh ATF+4 on my way home today. Everything should be full and dry by the time I have the harness issue sorted.

-Joe

[joedoh]

keep going! you made it this far and you have to see it through. pictures are nice, but in the end driving it is better than pictures on the internet!

[Purcell69]

Originally Posted by joedoh

keep going! you made it this far and you have to see it through. pictures are nice, but in the end driving it is better than pictures on the internet!

I'm not giving up. I'm just stepping back for a few days so I can take a fresh look. I've got to go out of town for a few days anyway and I've been a bit tied up getting things ready for the trip. By the time my days off roll around next week, I'll have a fresh perspective.

-Joe

[Rickysnickers]

Originally Posted by Purcell69

I'm not giving up. I'm just stepping back for a few days so I can take a fresh look. I've got to go out of town for a few days anyway and I've been a bit tied up getting things ready for the trip. By the time my days off roll around next week, I'll have a fresh perspective.

-Joe

That's the attitude! Keep on truckin'

[Purcell69]

Well after a few days away and a short trip to Missouri, I dug back in to the Big Yellow Book of Knowledge and took another look at the schematics, including the 84-way connector that passes through the firewall to the cab interior. I mistakenly believed the diagram for that connector was for diesel only and the book was missing the diagram for the gas engines. It appeared wires weren't in the proper locations, but I was mistaken.

I found, after another look, that the diagram does match up. While this doesn't solve the smoking computer issue, it gets me closer to running regardless. I was able to trigger the starter by jumping terminals on the connector and confirmed my junkyard starter is good. I was also able to spin the motor long enough to prime the oil system (through several tries). I connected the mechanical gauge to get the oil reading and between cranking and some breaks, I got nearly 70 psi on a cold engine, at cranking speed.

Now that things are primed up, it's time to hunt down the reason for the smoking computer.

https://youtu.be/PpoRiOyman4

-Joe

[Purcell69]

While I was removing all of my images from Photobucket the other day, I came across this one.

I bit the wire harness with the grinder while working on the frame. This happened three or four years ago and I'd completely forgotten about it. At the time, I was focused on the frame mods and paint prep, and I wasn't thinking this portion of the harness would be used. In hindsight, I should have stopped and repaired the wires right then, (lesson learned).

I really had to look closely at the pictures and mistakenly believed to was the rear harness (fuel pump, level sender, ABS sensor and rear lighting).

Looking more closely at older pictures from this, (the details in the image, like the factory weld on the frame), I was mistaken about it being anything involving the rear harness (relating to the grinder bite in the image).

The damage is in the harness behind the motor, on top of the transmission. Not the engine management harness, but the chassis harness that feeds the ECM and engine management portion of the harness. Computer failure diagnosis supports this, as it has to be a live 12v to the ECM, the smoking computer supports this, the moving that part of the harness to cause a second smoke event supports this, and finally, the pictures support this.

The way the harness lays between the top of the transmission and the cab floor, it isn't possible to see the damage with that part of the harness installed. I'm going to have to suck it up and remove that portion of the harness from the truck so I have access to the damaged area and can properly repair it. Once that is done, the truck will start and run.

-Joe

[joedoh]

gooooooooooooooooooo man that sucks

[Purcell69]

Originally Posted by joedoh

gooooooooooooooooooo man that sucks

It could be worse. I picked up two spare ECUs, but I haven't smoked either of them. The wires in question are a bit of a pain to get to with the cab in place, but it is nowhere near as bad as it would be if the Dodge body was on the chassis. If it hadn't been for me pulling all the build pics off of Photobucket due to their new business model, I would have fried at least one more computer before I found the problem. Now all I need to do is remove that segment of the harness system enough to repair what I damaged and all should be good. That's a win in my book.

-Joe