LockDoc's "Low Budget", "Low Maintenance" Project Thread

[regan wilson]

Originally Posted by LockDoc

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My Friend Ron and I installed the rear slider this afternoon. Worked out pretty good. Planning on installing the windshield next week. I have a few things I want to do before we install it. I may go ahead and install the gas tank tomorrow or Friday. I need to take it to the car wash and spray it out good. I checked out the inside with my inspection camera and it looked suprisingly clean. Just a little residue in it.

LockDoc

This is going to be a neat truck. I like the the bed as is. That rear window is an old one. It looks just like the one in my truck. We painted the outside of mine black years ago. My window was bought in the late 70's by my brother.

[Dieselwrencher]

Nice work sir!

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

Nice work sir!

Thanks Ryan. I'm gaining on it.

LockDoc

[LockDoc]

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Got some more parts installed the last couple of days. Wiper motor, dash pad, under dash wire loom, Interior heater box, ignition switch, light switch and wiper switch. I installed the gas tank Saturday but I forgot to take my camera out with me. I took the tank to the car wash and pressure washed it. This time I vacuumed out the excess water with the shop vac and let the heat gun blow into it long enough to dry it out inside. That worked good.

I need to paint the glove box door and ash tray.

Ron and I will put the windshield in Tuesday morning. I would like to take the drive shaft to get shortened Wednesday. We'll see how that goes.

LockDoc

[Ol Blue K20]

You're going to be driving it in no time!

[kev2809]

good progress. what did you spray the dash with? (as in what paint)

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by Ol Blue K20

You're going to be driving it in no time!

Well, that remains to be seen Dale..... I have built enough of these trucks to know that nothing goes as planned. I will just keep plugging away on it as much as I can.

Originally Posted by kev2809

good progress. what did you spray the dash with? (as in what paint)

At this time plans are that everything is going to be Rustoelum Satin Black, hence the "Low Budget" part of the build. I will have to buy very little to put this truck together.

LockDoc

[LockDoc]

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I forgot to mention a couple of things in my last update post:

One is that I cleaned up the wiper motor and tested it. I also checked out the wiper linkage and transmissions to make sure they moved freely before connecting the arms to the motor.

The wiper motor testing thread is located here:
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=413551

Two is, before I installed the under dash wire loom I sprayed all of the contacts and connectors with electrical contact cleaner and connect and disconnect them a couple of times with the parts they connect to, and it cleans the male and female terminals up pretty good.

LockDoc

[cj847]

Originally Posted by LockDoc

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I forgot to mention a couple of things in my last update post:

One is that I cleaned up the wiper motor and tested it. I also checked out the wiper linkage and transmissions to make sure they moved freely before connecting the arms to the motor.

The wiper motor testing thread is located here:
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=413551

Two is, before I installed the under dash wire loom I sprayed all of the contacts and connectors with electrical contact cleaner and connect and disconnect them a couple of times with the parts they connect to, and it cleans the male and female terminals up pretty good.

LockDoc

Is there a way to test electric motors off of vehicle WITH a load? The reason I ask, I had a blower motor once that would run off the vehicle but didn't have enough power once the fan was added. Wipers have a pretty heavy load, so my concern.

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by cj847

Is there a way to test electric motors off of vehicle WITH a load? The reason I ask, I had a blower motor once that would run off the vehicle but didn't have enough power once the fan was added. Wipers have a pretty heavy load, so my concern.

Really no way to do that out of the vehicle as far as I know. I installed a wiper motor in another truck, that I had previously tested, it ran fine on the bench but was really slow with everything hooked up. I disconnected the arms and tried moving them by hand and they would hardly move. I sprayed them with PB Blaster and moved them back and forth until they loosened up and the wipers worked fine then.

On the blower motors, I always drill a small hole off to the side in the closed end, and spray a little PB Blaster in it to lube the rear bearing. On the front you can just spray the shaft behind the blower wheel.

LockDoc

[68Gold/white]

That contact cleaner is sooo needed on any connection with much age on it!

Dielectric grease can help preserve those connections in the future!!

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by 68Gold/white

That contact cleaner is sooo needed on any connection with much age on it!

Dielectric grease can help preserve those connections in the future!!

I have some dielectric grease but I didn't do that. It would still be easy to put some on the connectors since I don't have the dash cluster and stuff in yet. Thanks for the reminder....

LockDoc
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[Dieselwrencher]

Very nice work Leon. It really feels like a truck again when the glass is back in. Did you get that windshield from Bucklyn's?

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

Very nice work Leon. It really feels like a truck again when the glass is back in. Did you get that windshield from Bucklyn's?

This was a good original one I had saved, as was the gasket. I usually get my new ones at Bucklins. The last one I got was just over $100.

LockDoc

[LockDoc]

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Well, I didn't get the cluster finished up yesterday, I had to work on my taxes....

I finished it up this afternoon. I polished the lens with some red rouge compound on my buffer. If you do one don't do ANY polishing on the side with the printed numbers and letters. Only wipe it off with a very soft cloth slightly dampened with clear water, nothing else.

Our power was out for 3 hours tonight.. Found out a while ago that a whole town 12 miles South of us was out also. Finally got it back on about 30 minutes ago.

I also have a van tilt column that I am going to use in this project so I will get it ready to install in the next couple of days. I need to shorten the intermediate shaft for it and move the NSS down lower on the column.

LockDoc

[Dieselwrencher]

The cluster looks very nice Leon. My brother, Nick, lives east of New Sharon and they were without power as well. That 50* didn't feel at all like 50* with those 50mph gusts. Our temps are all over the place currently.

[cj847]

Quote- I also have a van tilt column that I am going to use in this project so I will get it ready to install in the next couple of days. I need to shorten the intermediate shaft for it and move the NSS down lower on the column.

I didn't know you could move the NSS, or at least not without a ton of work. However, I have a suggestion for you. You can tap NSS and BU lights off of the transmission wiring. That is what I did on my Willys with an LS swap. I bought the cheapest Ididit column (floor shift, key in dash, no NSS). You do need to use a relay to trigger the starter as you don't want to run high amperage thru the 20 gauge transmission wiring. Also the BU and NSS are more accurate this way (can't get out of adjustment).

I am not sure that the allison transmission uses the same connector as 4L60/4L80 but here is a diagram to get you started if you want to do it.

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by cj847

Quote- I also have a van tilt column that I am going to use in this project so I will get it ready to install in the next couple of days. I need to shorten the intermediate shaft for it and move the NSS down lower on the column.

I didn't know you could move the NSS, or at least not without a ton of work. However, I have a suggestion for you. You can tap NSS and BU lights off of the transmission wiring. That is what I did on my Willys with an LS swap. I bought the cheapest Ididit column (floor shift, key in dash, no NSS). You do need to use a relay to trigger the starter as you don't want to run high amperage thru the 20 gauge transmission wiring. Also the BU and NSS are more accurate this way (can't get out of adjustment).

I am not sure that the allison transmission uses the same connector as 4L60/4L80 but here is a diagram to get you started if you want to do it.

Here is a complete write-up on using the van column including moving the NSS. It isn't too bad to do. I have done a couple of them.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=147927

Thanks for the tip and visuals. I saved the picture. I will check the Allison wiring diagrams and see if I can figure this out. That sounds like a viable solution for the BU lights and NSS.

LockDoc
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[LockDoc]

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I started working on the van tilt the other day. It needed quite a bit of cleaning, prep, and a new lower bearing. and I needed to shorten the intermediate shaft to accommodate the longer van column main shaft.

Member "cj847" mentioned in his post above about using the NSS and reverse light function from the transmission wire loom. I checked the specs for the Allison and it actually uses a switch located on the side of the transmission and integrated with the shift linkage. I am going to try and use this instead of the column mounted stock NSS. I may go ahead and cut the tube to move the van NSS down in case something doesn't workout with the Allison components. It isn't that hard to do and it may save me from having to pull the column back out later. I hope to get that done and get it painted tomorrow, and get the column installed tomorrow or Sunday. I need to get the defroster duct installed before I set the gauge cluster in, it makes it a lot easier.

LockDoc

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

The cluster looks very nice Leon. My brother, Nick, lives east of New Sharon and they were without power as well. That 50* didn't feel at all like 50* with those 50mph gusts. Our temps are all over the place currently.

Thanks Ryan.

The wind on top of the hill here was almost unbearable if you were outside very long. Yep, we are on a temperature roller coaster for sure.

LockDoc

[pjmoreland]

Will you be able to tie that van cruise button on the turn signal lever into the ECU somehow to get cruise control working?

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by pjmoreland

Will you be able to tie that van cruise button on the turn signal lever into the ECU somehow to get cruise control working?

No, because the column fell over after I painted it and broke the handle off of the lever. It upset me, but luckily that was the only damage and I wasn't planning on using it. I just hated to see it get broken. I am going to use a later one with the multi function cruise.

LockDoc

[pjmoreland]

That sounds disappointing. Makes sense that you'd need full controls though to take full advantage of the modern cruise control. I've thought about trying to add a cruise control system from an 80s S10, which would be able to use the style of turn signal lever that Dakota Digital sells. The challenge would be to figure out how to replace the speed sensor that those pickups had built into the back of the speedometer.

https://www.dakotadigital.com/index....prod/prd50.htm

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by pjmoreland

That sounds disappointing. Makes sense that you'd need full controls though to take full advantage of the modern cruise control. I've thought about trying to add a cruise control system from an 80s S10, which would be able to use the style of turn signal lever that Dakota Digital sells. The challenge would be to figure out how to replace the speed sensor that those pickups had built into the back of the speedometer.

https://www.dakotadigital.com/index....prod/prd50.htm

From what I read, if you use the Dakota Digital lever that you have to use relays to change the "Normally Open" state they use to a "Normally Closed" state. What I was reading was a little dated so maybe they now have one that is NC. I don't know.

LockDoc

[pjmoreland]

Originally Posted by LockDoc

From what I read, if you use the Dakota Digital lever that you have to use relays to change the "Normally Open" state they use to a "Normally Closed" state. What I was reading was a little dated so maybe they now have one that is NC. I don't know.

LockDoc

That sounds like a bit of a headache.