GRIZZ’s ‘79 - 2WD BLAZER Challenge over in London, England. “~It’s not a Project~”

[Grizz1963]

Overnight, this happened at @craigrk towers.



@peteh1969 had made it into a 3 piece clip together print.



Resulting in this.



Now needs to be built, glued and finished off.

Then painted and mounted, at least until Andy in Oklahoma can get around to possibly creating a cast and making some cast metal ones.

All the test runs are saved.......



Then added to a small bottle with some acetone and melted down to create a colour coded “glue” to set the parts together.

Some of that gloop that Craig made earlier.





Snowing outside, so I have a few things that I could do indoors.

And a lot of coffee to drink.

[Grizz1963]

Yesterday, between little showers and a chilly “Beast from the East” wind on the drive, down the side of the house, I started with some more of the lights and wiring.

First job was to identify what the two empty sockets on the rear lights were for, indicating or markers.

Turns out they are red side markers, so I added a pair of amber push fit bulbs in.

Also took the pair of chrome finish amber bulbs. @phila had sent and added them to the rear as they now sit in the space the reverse/backing up lamps were before.

Wrapped them up again as the weather promised a mess.



Next job in the garage was to cut down the old amber and new clear side repeaters and mash them together to make a new unit.

I was not going to drill the buckled holes bigger and also was not going to risk losing the wires into the abyss that is the fender spaces.

White replaces black



Cut them up, ground them to shape and also skimmed the new push fit fittings to fit inside the white tubes.

Before and after.



Back to the truck and found this ........ must have been some cowboy who added the side repeaters, holes are terrible, and then the drivers side wire.......

All there was to work with,



Passenger side...... all of this.



Having cut both old and new lenses up, this what I was left with, sexy glue next.



Then the challenge of the day, rain, chilly breeze and a small electric soldering iron.

Note the two separate shrink sleeves and a large to fit over both.

Trust me when I say, first time around, I managed to seal both, in-insulated in the same large sheath.



Sealed them up in a bit of plastic each, after finding the passenger side which previously was temperamental, now completely refused to work.

Job for another day.



Next up off with the front end....... again.

Rain was not helping, and neither the chill running down the alley.

I managed to find the two lives, soldered the resistor in, incorrectly, having to remove it again.

Gave up, job for another day, screw it, indoors to warm up.



So what I should have connected was A&C but of course I did A&B because I am not too bright on electronics.



And then @paulf sent me this useful,diagram, just when I got indoors.




Unfortunately the cold he cut through my 4 layers on the drive and when I went to bed at 10.30 the chicks came home to roost, causing a spasm that resulted in me taking pills and sitting upright in a chair till 01.30 when I crept up to bed, but too scared to fall asleep in case of another spasm, I eventually dozed off at about 5.30

Trust me, it is less fun than it sounds.

[Grizz1963]

A few bits done and completed today.

Those side badges that so divide.

Out in the snow.



And inside the bed, the offending holes, if only the fitter had thought it through.



And finally completed,,thanks to @peteh1969 designing and @craigrk printing.

Two different styles, side badges, and a grille badge.

Painting them, still to be researched.



Also completed today, side repeaters.



And the clear glue all darkened with a black Sharpie.

Should work well, once I figure the passenger light bulb out.



.

[Grizz1963]

Wrap up for the weekend.

Snow made everything a bit indoorsy, unless you went skiing.

So I traded Steve in a straight swap for my Lexus style rear lights to go on his GMC Sonoma Flareside trailer build as I was trying to get this truck the way I wanted it, and ORM does feature in my vision.

22 year old lenses from a well used truck are far from new, but I was happy to risk it to get toward my picture.

So the lights brought home by Mate Martin last week have been waiting for their turn to get some attention.

Tired, scratched, faded,Matheus were well beyond their best before date.

As delivered.



So first step was to take a deep breath, decide that if my attempt at a ham fisted refresh were to fail, then I was up for finding or buying a new set, not cheap at around £130.00 landed, without handling costs locally.

Thought I would try out my method on one of the side repeaters I removed yesterday.

Came up OK and boosted my confidence



Back with my lenses, the first thing was to mask off the black edges. In order not to sand them as well when bringing the 1000 grit wet and dry paper, which I decided to do dry.



With trepidation I sanded the lens in a straight pattern, rather than circular which in my screwup way would make sense too.

At this point I did panic a bit, thinking that I should maybe have gone the wet route or even up to 1500grit.

After wiping it all down I realised it was too late for tears.



Next up, the flannel sleeve off a pair of pink pyjamas and some G3 compound,

Rubbing, rubbing, rubbing.

Firstly just following the sanded groove, then breaking out to a circular motion and keeping on at it, three times, followed by a dry bi[uff, then one more pass with the compound just to ensure I had not missed anywhere.



Last thing was to grab some furniture polish after removing the masking ta-e to clean the black border.

And a photo in the snow.

Though the lenses seem to have chips away, there is actually no damage or chips, just an illusion of the light outside.



After this I came in and made dinner.

Chuffed to bits I took a chance on these tired lights.

Maybe fit them tomorrow after my 1:1 consultation interview at 11.30

Fingers crossed. I have a mortgage to pay .

[Grizz1963]

Woke to this.



Later in the day after that phone call, which was just a bloody script being read out to me and letting me know that we will only know by around 25th February, I needed a bit of head space.

Out into the cold, extra jacket on.

And fitted the rear lenses.



Tested.



Also found out that these rear lenses were made and available for Brazilian models, where ambler indicator lenses are the law, like here.



Then back to some more work stuff.

By 4.30 I went out again, to fit the new clear side repeaters, each made off two different ones cut and glued together

Remember this.



Tested, colour looks fine to me.



So now with clear lenses up front, down the side and original rear lenses.



For the Eagle eyed readers, I did not force or set the repeaters as it was so cold, even the cables resisted me and were stiff as any -2’C day could induce.

Anyway, another small mod that has delivered and changed the look just a little bit.

Roll on summertime.

[Grizz1963]

Random post alert

Not sure exactly where to post this.

A good friend and his wife live and work there along with their 16 rescue cats.

This is near us, a Roadhouse called: Last Exit in Dubai, on the road between Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

In Dubai emirates are like provinces

So Eugene sent me these pics.

Mad Max meets popular culture?





















That’s enough.

[Grizz1963]

.

Right team.........

Input time.

I may ignore your input outright, or it may support totally when I am doing.

The wheels need to be addressed now. Not going to be cheap, and my common sense says do it yourself, DIY is great, but sometimes, just sometimes........

So the wheels I have are rough as guts, needing a full refurbishment





I do not have plan, or Chevrolet centres.

So I guess, fill and flat back the GMC letters.

Then paint them to match the stripes on the truck.





Stripes are this colour.




Anthracite powder coating for the recesses.




Imagine the gold on these wheels switched for the anthracite colour above.




Thank you for your input and opinions.


All taken note of and taken seriously.

[Grizz1963]

A few work days to keep me both busy indoors and weather to make sure I stay indoors.

Woke to this “Sno-Leopard” outside this morning.

Not yet decided what way to go with the alloy wheel refurbishment.



Waiting for this Beast from the East to turn and get warmer again

Got a few things waiting to get done.

[Grizz1963]

Truck bought 30/12/20

V5c delivered today , guess I now feel happier, having the paperwork sorted.

Today I also assembled the rear fog light, to be mounted to replace the one currently fitted at lunch time.



Overnight, one of my American buddies, Tyler, who works for Missouri Department of Transport sent a few pics, his S10 is back on the road, had it since leaving school,. One of those, “It will never be for sale” trucks.





And his night time drive, its an interesting department to work for, all staff members, male and female, regardless of role, needs to qualify to drive these trucks and the grifters.

This one does both jobs at the same time.



Regarding the wheels, I just cannot help myself

The urge to give stuff a go and try do it myself, is just too strong.

Got these coming.

Will have the tyres pulled off, two good Bridgestones will go back on and I will buy another two for the rear, keeping one to go on the spare 16” wheel when I find one to use as spare.

A bit of work to polish and strip them, then prime and paint, must be capable of that.




Also in the post today........

A John Deere box from the USA, no idea why, but one of my favourite agricultural brands.

Here is the lesson for the day though.......

Black and silver = Construction

Green and yellow = Agriculture.

So what’s in the box??



A hoody/hoodie for Sally



Wrapped around a $5.00 Chevrolet part for the S10 , sent by Dan in Deary, Idaho, he refused to let me pay for any of it, guess he has a free dinner r two and accommodation booked here then.

The one on my trucks tailgate handle is broken and a huge irritation to me.



Postage/shipping really is a killer for our hobby.



Thanks Dan.


Friday night, a bit of alcohol, a bit of pan friend meat and vegetables, could be a good end to a rough week.

[Grizz1963]

So I got the wheels home.

Unpacked and rolled them around back.

A few random pics and my observations.

Firstly, the need a clean to remove the “glide soap” from the tyres.

Front and back. Powder coating allround. Only mounting faces left fresh n clean out the blasting cabonet.

Thomas told me the cabinet took 14 minutes to do a complete wheel.



Front side.

Note the way the light actually plays and lightens the dark Anthracite



Rear faces. Love the dark rim, great for brake dust and road grime cammo.



Also tried it with a repainted centre cap in place.



Then mocked them next to the truck.

They are quite a lot taller than the 17” Cragars. Around 45mm so a gain of 20-ish mm





All done.

Nicely stashed indoors. You dont want them to get wet now, do you ?



I must be honest I wanted to fit them but failing daylight was my excuse.


More later.

[Grizz1963]

Ready or not.........

07.00 this morning I was out there, the night had been long, waiting to get up and test fit.



Couple of things became apparent, brakes have not worked for a while, pushing and pulling the truck around on the driveway.



Also, top and bottom control arms need to be serviced and greased, just like my 1966 C10 grease nipples everywhere.



And the turning circle may be impaired by wheels that are too wide, compared to OEM fitment rubber.



Then, on to the front and rear hubs.

Fronts now show why we have those huge Mexican hats as centre caps.

Needs around 60-70mm tall caps/cups up front, there is also space for a spigot ring, or for the cups to become captive from behind.

Maybe a spigot ring is not needed, but the wheel is sitting nice and loose.





Rears fit tight enough that it needed to be whacked to remove after the test fit.

So some flat cap will work here.



The truck also came with locking wheel nuts, something I dislike intensely, and I did not get the socket that unlocks it when I bought it.

Thankfully I managed to get both loose, one was quite loose, possibly finger tight.

So getting decent new nuts makes sense

[Grizz1963]

SILVER OR BLACK


Silver



Black


Choices.


Photoshop may help

Originally Posted by sparkplug

does this help?

[Grizz1963]

@forddan68 and @freshandminty are possibly along with a few others the guys to ask about this.......


Wheel protection.


One of my friends, Paul, off a bike forum suggested I consider protecting the wheels with the following product.

And Henry @rider51 suggested ceramic coating.

Now in my wildest dreams I never thought there was a way to protect the protection on the wheels, but there is a learning in every day.


What is the consensus here please





I was looking at some really manky wheels in Romford, supposedly from a Cobra (Replica?) that were Ex Jaguar to possibly run as winter wheels.


Seller reckons the tyres are good, I am not convinced.

I showed him the rears on the truck, even the central moulding stripe has not been run off, Nankangs, and yet, in my book, only good for destruction.





These do look pretty rubbish for £50.00 but could they be a chance worth taking @rider51 ?

Imagine them blasted, painted with Hammerite or some bronze type colour, winter wheels.






And finally, pics taken this morning.

These were removed again after the photoshoot, done for the pleasure of those of you who do take the time to write, click respond, share knowledge.





And the rear view.

Really happy so far.




Once I figure the wheel nuts, centre caps etc, we should be in business.


Next job.........???

[Grizz1963]

Bacardi poured...... in the way you get them at boozy resorts.

Bloody cold outside, for England, I know Russia, America and other places are a lot colder.

Chatting to Dennis in St Louis, he is so sick and tired of cold and snow.......

Look in the background and you will see the ramp truck recovery he bought to use with the NASCAR Race truck.



The mechanical build is now really close to done, and he is busy with body work now.





So with the wheels loaded, it was off to the tyre shop I like to support. They are helpful, really helpful.

I had hoped to keep three tyres and bin one.

Turned out on closer inspection, one Bridgestone was very really good, and right to go on a full sized spare 16” wheel once I find one. The others, two were oddly worn, 2005 vintage, and the other Bridgestone was a 2007 vintage with sidewall and tread cracks.

Cost me a “drink” to have the four tyres whipped off.

I will be buying my four new tyres from them too.





And while there, I spoke to the manager, and decided to switch from the planned Bridgestone to a set of 4 Avon ZX7 in 235/60 16” 100H rated tyres.

I preferred the tread pattern a lot more than the Bridgestone patterns.

Weirdly, these are marketed as 4x4 tyres.




Lastly, tonight after dark, my doorbell rang, thinking it was Mickey from,next door needing a half a cup of sugar or some cooking oil, I was surprised to find one of our local couriers delivering this,time of the day.

An bunch of Roloc 2” die grinder discs in 60 , 80 , 120 grit and also a load of varying scotch scourers to fit the same application.


Looks like the wheel polishing and finishing kit is coming together too.


Still loads of doubts and concerns here.



Time to relax a bit.

Maybe.

[Grizz1963]

Well, for those who are interested.

Had my second redundancy discussion today, again, completely without emotion, delivered from a script. Legal and all that.

I have been selected to keep my job, based on performance in 2020.

So my mortgage manager will be happy I guess.

So I followed it with a coffee and some electrical filling.

Old vs New



Needed a few little bits.



Managed to get the new unit wired up, ready to plug into the other end once done under the truck rear end




Body work guys........


Remember the centre caps with the grooved GMC letters?


Would this stuff be good to fill the letters and then be flatted back to smooth and then painted over?


In order to make this more neutral.







Last thing tonight is a pic of mate JB’s newest registration plate he had approved after the last one for his race car “CHITBOX” that he uses to race in the Gambler 500 races.





He did have to write an explanation as to what it meant.


Happy to copy and paste his explanation if anyone is interested.


Almost bedtime.

[Grizz1963]

Woke this morning and it was a good day, well, the weather had broken overnight.

Warmer, snow washed away.

Warmer.

I did not expect to get much more out of the day......

However.




After a busy morning, I quickly finished the wiring on the truck.



Hung the fog light.

Really too exposed, so I may fold it up and away from harm.

But beats the wrecked one that was fitted there.





During the day, I had a Messenger pop up from someone I had messaged 31st December.


“ The Lady who had owned the truck” had replied to my question below:

Hi XXXXXXX,
Strange message, possibly.
Did you possibly at some time in the past, own a Chevy S10 pickup truck?
Thanks.
Rian



Her responses included the following:

Hi Rian, yes I did but I sold it about 2 years ago

I don't usually reply to messages from people I don't know so apologies not responded before

Oh my god its got stripes! It didn't when I sold it. Obviously the guy I sold it too can't have looked after it, those wheels were spotless when I had it. Unfortunately I don't know anything about it's history. The guy we bought it from called Graham but he died quite a few years ago. The best person to talk to is Howard Cox who knew Graham well and may know more about where it came from. Sounds like it's gone to a good home and your giving it lots of tlc!

Of course I'll speak to Howard, there is also a guy called Tom Newman down on Mersea who who has a business repairing building chevys. He also did work on the truck. I only really used it as a spare and just drove it every now and then! So pleased you're putting it back as it was. I was aware of the damage but can't shed any light on it but Howard may know. There's plenty of miles in her yet

My pleasure so sorry I didn't respond earlier and keep me posted would love to hear how you get on with your fact finding and history writing.

You've done amazingly well, yes there was only one key, hated putting petrol in as could never unlock it! Does the cruise control work as that suddenly stopped when I had it or is that one more job you'll be tackling!


So it seems we have a connection with part of the trucks past.

[LT7A]

Hey Grizz, it looks like things are coming along on the S-10. Apparently no space for it under the carport? I liked hearing about the enthusiasm from the lady who who was a previous owner of your truck. It'll be nice as you get all of the bits and pieces tended to. I think of it as a bit like bringing a camera into focus. To begin with, you can see what's there but it's might be blurry around the edges. And as you tend to all of the details, the picture gets sharper. Good work. I wonder if Dennis has 15 or 16 inch wheels on his NASCAR truck.I've checked the manufacturers of those type of wheels that I can find and they all seem to stop at 15 in. I'd love to get some 17s but I don't think they are made in that style. Your recent weather is very similar to ours up in the NW corner here.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by LT7A

Hey Grizz, it looks like things are coming along on the S-10. Apparently no space for it under the carport? I liked hearing about the enthusiasm from the lady who who was a previous owner of your truck. It'll be nice as you get all of the bits and pieces tended to. I think of it as a bit like bringing a camera into focus. To begin with, you can see what's there but it's might be blurry around the edges. And as you tend to all of the details, the picture gets sharper. Good work. I wonder if Dennis has 15 or 16 inch wheels on his NASCAR truck.I've checked the manufacturers of those type of wheels that I can find and they all seem to stop at 15 in. I'd love to get some 17s but I don't think they are made in that style. Your recent weather is very similar to ours up in the NW corner here.

Morning mate.

No space under the carport at this point, and moving stuff around to get it in there, currently a No.

However, the lad bed will be coming off to clean and rustproof under it.

That will happen under the carport.

Really good analogy the camera and focus.

Dennis is on 15” wheels, he bought a lot of stuff from the estate of Mike Mittler and the wheels would be part of that.

Also, under the skin that truck is a 2015 race truck.

Weather is recovering again.... Thankfully.







Busy on a `Teams business meeting yesterday, the doorbell rang and rang.

So video off, voice off, and off to see who so desperately needed to speak to me.

Parcel Express Big red van out on the street, and a man with an electronic reader at the door.

Parcel.

Thanks to “Doc” for offering me these tools, to be shared with Fil Sparkplug as he needs a few bits.

The rest to be added into my tool trolley.



Not bad for £17.00 in shipping.



I have also just got to pick up at the station a new lodger with only an electric bicycle to get to work with........ He arrived at the local station, 7 miles from home at 8.30 last night.

There was no way one could leave him to find his way here in both the cold wet weather, but also in the dark.

Thankfully my Focus wagon just managed to fit it with a couple of inches to spare.



Guess his job??

Body man and painter, has worked for Aston Martin and Morgan, and the last job killed off by COVID-19 meant he needs to work locally in a commercial body shop.

Let’s see where it goes, not sure where it will end for him, but all good for now.

While checking the room and bathroom was fine on Tuesday, I realised the bathroom light switch had stoped working, typical.

So ran out to get a switch to replace the busted one, and on the way back, popped in to speak to the guy building this car......... to find out how he uses the resin/fibreglass filler that I am planning to use for the new to me, wheel centre caps.

So he has started on paint as well.

Kevin is an amazing guy, had Corona just after Christmas and last week a partial knee replacement, yet, with a bit of a limp, this 75 year old was bombing around his workshop.

Love people like that who never sit still.

Currently he is about to make and cast resin light lenses for the car as they are essentially unobtainable.





Back at my desk, fighting with the IT guys because part of a system was just not working (turns out I was the idiot, but I also managed to highlight a flaw the were not aware of in the system) the doorbell rang again, my pretty postie had come back a second time to deliver a parcel as my car was back on the drive, because I had been at Kevin’s on the way home when she had tried to deliver. What great service.

Parcel, obviously wrapped by a man, a REAL MAN !!!

How did I know this?

Ratio of Ducktape to parcel and then more brown tape, padding, polystyrene etc inside.



Of course a sharp knife and a fight to get inside.

Bloody brilliant !!!!!

Gift for the Rezin Rockit from Martin, Mucky Helmet, who years ago saved me around £4000.00 when I built the kitchen by facilitating my purchase as a trade buy.

Yup, it is still here, just been on the back burner a bit while the weather has been so rubbish.



Just beautiful



So they will be put on standby alongside the pair @KevinS had given me, I will rebuild them into one unit for left and right.

Soon enough.

[Grizz1963]

Idea factory anyone?

Just as bit of visual guidance, these wheels are not the same as the ones I bought, but I was trying to visualise and figure out what route to go.

Standard wheels



Modified





Making is all silver.........

Will this work on my wheels and truck?



Or does one go two tone.

[Grizz1963]

So today I started another small job.

You know how it goes...... pay someone, or give it as go and try do it yourself.

Know where we are headed?



Managed to find a huge crack in it.



Mixed up too much of the fibre resin, but got this far.

ROCK HARD.



Gave it an hour to harden , then started to work it back.



All four.



Wiped down, amazingly this took an hour to do, time flies.



It needs a bit of primer, then gloss black, followed by a deliberate slow coating in chrome paint ..

Ordered the chrome and hopefully it will be delivered at 07.00 tomorrow morning.

Also need to get some adhesion promoter to ensure adherence to the plastic caps.

Looking forward to seeing this unfold.


More to come soon.

[Grizz1963]

This morning early, I had a major issue with my new lodger, 48 hrs into his arrival.

And that was strike 1 for me.

He will be out on his assss if he carries on like this.

Anyway, by 08.00 I had gone to the motorfactors and collected some plastic primer, and the chrome paint I ordered yesterday. £15.00 and a can of Halfords black wheel paint, so around £20.00 so far for the centre caps. I was around 2 hours in prep into them too.

Also keyed them all, every nook and cranny as they have loads of details.



Cleaned, wiped, perched.



Primered



Yes, it is my house, my kitchen, and I can. At least it was warm and wind free.

Sprayed from 5 different angles, laying it on heavy and fast.

Waited for it to dry, made a coffee.


BUGGGERRRRR !!!!!





Took me till about 4pm to figure what had gone wrong.


Too much wet paint, too fast, and reacted.


Should have been patient, but it is hard between doing the day job and trying to sneak these things in, in between day job stuff.


Called a few places looking for a barrier paint of similar.


Also contemplating spending £100.00 or $140.00 on a set of nasty Chinese chrome replicas, which look nice, but like the OEM items, are not great.






While out in the industrial estate, I checked this place out.


Totally unassuming.








And got talking to Thomas from Lithuania.


He was like a ballet dancer, between various machines and work stations.








And they go to very large sizes.






Right, time to cook some dinner.


Tomorrow I will restart on the prep for the centre caps.


Better luck this time.

[Grizz1963]

So.

Weirdly, no comments from you guys tonight.

And tonight I am as chuffed as a chuffed thing could ever be.

So yesterday at 4.00pm I got to meet Thomasz at Kerbed Wheels for the first time.

My £200.00 and £10.00 for stripping the tyres, wheels were in the back of the car when I spoke to him, after watching him incognito for at least 5 minutes, without him knowing I was watching.

This guy was hitting about 4 work stations, including the powder coating room, wheel machining mill, chemical stripping tank and a mug of certainly cold tea with an amazing ease.

Stuff like this buoys my confidence.

So I asked for advice, recommendations on how to manage my wheels.

He suggested dark anthracite, based on my love of the colour, and wanting to play with the trucks colours as a match.

I spoke to him about machine faces wheels, and the varied opinions, and he made a very valid point in pointing out that the durability is often associated with wheels being damaged.

He sold the idea to me, and at £15.00 extra per wheel, compared to £30.00 per wheel elsewhere, it seemed more viable.

It’s not always about the actual money, but rather the principle.


So we carried the wheels in at about 4.00pm


He took my details and wrote up the job order.


So at £75.00 per wheel, which includes removing existing tyres, and disposing if needed, blasting, chemical stripping, powder coating, followed by machine cutting of the faces, and then refitting the tyres or new tyres, new valves and balancing, I was into these wheels for £300.00 at Kerbed Wheels.

Being the sneaky curse word that I am, I had picked up on his accent and saying “Thank you” to him in Lithuanian surprised him, making him laugh and resulted in a voluntary 10% discount offer, so £30.00 back into my pocket.

He had also quoted £10.00 per centre cap for a paint match, which I had declined to his relief.

He reckoned the wheels would be done by Monday at the latest.

Today at. 2.00pm I called him to say the new 235/60 R16 Avon ZX7 tyres that I had ordered online from Black Circles costing £262.00 delivered, would be delivered on Monday.

He was slightly surprised and told me the last wheel had just gone into the CNC machine for cutting., I did ask him for a photo of the wheel in the machine, but did not get it.

This guy works at a crazy pace.


While the centre caps were a failure today, I will redo them tomorrow and hope they come out well.

If the DIY is a failure, I will go to plan B which is paying £100.00 or $140.00 for a set of Chinese chromed plastic centre caps.




Anyone interested in what greeted me at Kerbed Wheels when I got there at 3.00 this afternoon ??


I have never spent this much money on wheels and tyres in my life and this will actually turn at £900.00 or $1260.00 ince fitted to the truck.

The way I justify it was to say the truck is in such good condition that it deserves to be treated well.



When I got there, there was also proof that they strip more than just wheels.

Vespa scooter frame.





Then on to the wheels.

Mind blown.

STARTING WITH THIS





Dark Anthracite and silver.









And with my not so sexy centre cap fitted.





I really do live these wheels and and so pleased I did nor do this myself.


Enough??

[Grizz1963]

I will admit to having a very foul mouth on me.

Today I was certainly tested.

One job was really easy and a great result presented.

The other........

Back in a bit after dinner to look for sympathy.

[Grizz1963]

Well, at this point I suspect most of you have forgotten and thought I had finished fitting the LED indicators.

Wrong.

Cold and not getting it done happened.

Today and yesterday were warm days, so I got a few things done to the truck.

So this morning I started the process of tidying and wiring in the resistors and LED lamps.

Cut off .



New wires added as the bodged up U.K. MOT standard wiring is just so crappy, and throw out the day I realised that the flamed professionals we often hand out our cash to should not be allowed to eat with much more than a spoon.



Testing to ensure it all came together correctly.

Works



Then soldered and sealed up.



Then on to the second one, passenger side.

Look at all the damage where some genius cut the wires to add in the side repeaters, just incredible that two,cuts were needed.



Why an inch long extension?

Seriously.



Next up, I tried to figure what was up with the passenger side repeater that had stopped working previously.

Unravelling this lot, 3 random joins from,side repeaters to front of the truck where I was tidying up the wiring.

Again...... why?



Back to this mess on the passenger,front setup.

To see if I could figure the side repeaters out.



While I was disassembling the historical fixes, the side repeaters started to work again.

Dry joint?

I also opened and checked both rear lights, disassembled and reassembled it all.

The passenger side rear indicator bulb started to work after I pulled and refitted it.

Another mess to disassemble another day and rebuild more tidily



At this point I had tidied up, soldered and shrinked the second bulb fitting, and just wound it all together to test.

FAIL !

Now everything blinked too fast, there are small side markers in the headlights that also blinked, and inside the cab, the radio display blinked along with the indicators when the headlights were off.
If I turned on the headlights, the radio display blacked out.

Note the side light in the headlights.



ALSO.......

We now had one LED showing white and one Amber if you look closely.



Electronics are a dark art, and I just don’t get it.

So in the phone to @Rider51 Henry, a long conversation, videos and him writing notes furiously.

I also tried to get hold of @craigrk and mate Martin.

Martin went off on his typical explanation, he lives and breathes micro circuitry, and assumes, wrongly, I understand. Anyway, he tried bravely and I offered to kiss his butt if what he said was true. Seems I have a butt to kiss some time.

After 4 hours of working on this job from hell, I managed to get it sorted.

Martin had told me that these lamps actually have defined polarity, I disagreed, as it fits any way, and looks the same both sides.

Wrong.



The crazy thing is, over the lat few weeks these have gone in and out of my pockets many many times, and me as it seems, 99% of the time I managed to fit them correctly to create white light at rest and Amber when activated.

Randomly, after speaking with Henry and Martin, I tried the one lamp, removing and switching through 180 degrees, and believe it, the colour changed.

Then I switched the passenger side lamp around and everything changed,



Once established, I soldered and heat shrunk all the joints.

The breeze all day messed with soldering outside and also the lighter flame to do the heat shrink, maybe time to buy a little blow flame.

So in order to make it all work, I threw my painting groundsheet over my head, swore like a sailor and carried on.



Much better.



Lastly, a quick video of it all working.

https://youtu.be/jdIu7KdpWs0


Really happy that the weekend is over and actually delivered an outcome I wanted.

.

[LT7A]

Good work, and a way to keep at it with the lighting gremlins. I am chasing through the circuiting myself for what might be a dead fuel pump. the wheels came out beautifully, and it looks like your center caps did as well. It's cool that you were able to find the wheels that you liked and got them refinished so nicely. That's the kind of detail that will make you turn around and look at your truck as you walk away from it in a car park or as we say parking lot.