"Crewcab Jake" the 84 to 74 conversion

[Greenlee]

I like the narrow band. It’s different since you never see those.

[OlySezHey]

The ol' school look of the narrow band looks better imo.

[N2TRUX]

I guess y'all will have to wait and see which one stays. Keep in mind the final decision wont be maid till the sidemolding goes on.

[N2TRUX]

Wow, what a crazy weekend. We bounced back and forth between several projects.
Saturday morning I went to see Jaime Villalobos at Cypress Auto Interiors to pick up the inserts he had covered for me

[N2TRUX]

After leaving with my newly covered inserts I headed home to work on the plastic pieces. I gave each piece a thorough scrubbing with soapy water, rinsed and repeated. Its tedious work but is truly necessary to ensure a clean surface. I gave them a blow dry with my leaf blower and layed them in the sun to finish the process.

[N2TRUX]

Once all the pieces dried, I sprayed the back and front with SEM primer. I gave each piece two wet coats and laid them on my trailer to bake in the sun. Unfortunately it got dark and I didn't get pics before bringing them inside.

[N2TRUX]

Between coats of primer I opened up a shipment I had received from Brothers Truck Parts. There were a few final pieces of the interior puzzle that I desperately needed to complete the package.
One of those parts were a new a/c vent.

[Wikid61]

Those aluminum pieces tie in that smaller tailgate insert.

[N2TRUX]

You might ask why one would get a brand new part, and immediately take it apart? Especially when you consider these parts are the very well made.
I have found that there is a minor modification that can be made to greatly improve the function of the a/c vents.
To compound the foam disc that's designed to keep the vent aimed where you set it is too soft and too thin to be effective. I can't do anything about the vent location, but I do have a cure for the vents staying where you direct them to.

[N2TRUX]

I found a fiber disc that's used as a furniture glide. I shopped till I located a size that was very close to the foam washer in the vent. Gently peel the old one off. Dont worry about the adhesive backing left behind unless it balls up.
I use a pencil tip soldering iron to burn a hole in the middle that's big enough to fit over the spindle.

[N2TRUX]

After installing the fiber washers I test the amount of friction. If it's a bit too much I use a box cutter to split a thin layer off of the top.

[N2TRUX]

I do the same modification to all of the vents across the dash.

The smaller ones require the fiber washer to be split rather thin. It's just a bit bigger than the foam spacer when done. Once tuned and reassembled the vent will now stay exactly where you position it.

[N2TRUX]

While I was working on the a/c vents, Chris was working on the a/c system.
I got a shipment from my buddy Ronnie at Vintage Air. He sent the dash control module so we could get started on the install. He included a couple of shirts and a cool tin Vintage Air sign for my shop.

The Vintage Air control is 100% electronic, but has the look of the original mechanical controller. IIt integrates so nicely, f it didnt have the V/A logo you probably wouldn't notice.

[N2TRUX]

We wiped down the shop dust and Chris got to work. We pulled the stock steering wheel and installed the Eddie Motorsports billet wheel again.
The stock mechanical control was disconnected and the related wires, lines, and cable was removed or pushed aside.

[N2TRUX]

The new Vintage Air controls simply bolts in the stock location. Its just that simple. I have some decisions to make before we decide how the rest of the system lays out, so that's all we can do for now.

[N2TRUX]

We worked late this evening so Chris got a jump start on work. It's hard to tell from the pic but the passenger front wheel had really bad caster and camber.
When I converted from C20 suspension to Ridetech coilover C10 system the front wheel alignment was off and never got corrected.

Chris did some measurements and got the castor fairly close. I'll add some shims to adjust the camber when I switch wheels.

[N2TRUX]

We teamed up once I got home and wrapped up a couple of projects we had previously started.

I recently teemed up with the marketing manager from United Pacific and we mapped a plan to convert to a full LED light system. John sent me a box filled with the latest and great that U/P has to offer.

[N2TRUX]

Since my wiring harness is not completely converted I didn't try to install the lights in the limited time we have.
Instead we focused on the side mirrors. We opted to use the United Pacific 70-72 GM truck mirrors. They are about an inch bigger than the 73-87 mirrors. They are the ideal size for function and look aesthetically correct.

[N2TRUX]

To get started we researched the mounting location of the smaller 73-87 mirrors and adjusted our spacing to accommodate the larger size.

We protected the door with layers of masking tape that allowed us to see our marks as well. To ensure we had the right location we set the seat to driving position and verified our measurements.

[N2TRUX]

Once we had our location dialed in we triple checked each mark before drilling. We drilled the front hole and mounted the mirror and took one last look to ensure alignment before drill the remaining screw and wire holes.

[N2TRUX]

Once we had all the holes drilled we installed the gaskets on the outside and the backing plates on the inside.

Chris routed the wires to the Dakota Digital RTX cluster. Ironically the red color in the blinkers match the digital dash lights perfectly.

[GRAY GOOSE]

I really like those mirrors.

[N2TRUX]

Originally Posted by GRAY GOOSE

I really like those mirrors.

They are premium quality products and functional as well.

[N2TRUX]

While I finished my day at work, Chris came over and switched the wheels out. We are off the crusty chrome rollers and back on the American Racing Vf527 again.

[N2TRUX]

To backtrack a bit, we had received a shipment from Precision Replacement Parts several weeks ago, and we hadn't had a chance to dig inside.
From experience, I didn't feel pressured to inspect the contents because PRP never let's me down.

I had sent in a pair of crusty vent windows and the rear quarter glass. They sent me back a box filled with beautiful new parts.