72 k20 project

[Ozzy2013]

Looking great love the welds.

[ryanroo]

Thanks!

this started a while ago. i got all wound up and bought this bussmann panel while surfing around one weekend. i knew i needed more juice but had not made much of a plan.



that plan morphed. then morphed again. this is the final result





now i have a dwindling supply of excuses not to make some headway on the wiring.



when i opened my package of purple relays, i was a bit miffed. who wants a damn purple relay? now, i kind of like them. gives it a nice pastel easter egg thing.

[ryanroo]

the USPS lost the bet on this flat rate box, but they delivered a day early anyhow!

battery cable showed up.



this is the bidness end of the 1/0



i dont think i have worked with better power cable. super thick jacket, super fine strand count(4700+ in 1/0) OFC and it is tinned. extra flexible. i got enough 1/0 to do the power cable to everywhere, some 2, some 4 and a bunch of 8 to make sure i have plenty of grounds and for a few lesser draw power. i still need to get either fuses or circuit breakers to protect the cable and loads. and a bunch of other stuff.

[Ozzy2013]

Wow looks great shouldnt have any amperage drop with this cable.

[mx289]

Looking good.

What did you decide for batteries ?

And those purple relays go perfect with your pink engine stand.
Very nice panel BTW.

[ryanroo]

thanks guys!

batteries, not really, but i am leaning towards the odyssey.

been fiddling with the wires

this was a Metric-pac 280 plug that was included with the air drier to power the heating element. the pigtails were 12ga and red. ugliness. so i popped them out and made made the connector part of the harness. i used pink, since i had the wire and no other use for it that i could think of. i did the math and with a 100 watt element and the length of wire 14ga was plenty.







white is ground.

plugged in. routed with the rear harness



chaos



trying to keep the underhood wiring as neat as possible. there will be plenty of plumbing and and whatnot under the hood. i want the wiring to be as unobtrusive as possible to help eliminate to much eye distraction.



there is a bunch of stuff going on back here. i have some additional supplies ordered to finish up. there are some weather resistant Hella relay boxes and a terminal block and there will be some circuit breakers as well



i need a fuel pump relay, and i had a moment and decided there was no way i was willing to power the trailer lighting off of the truck harness. so i will have the truck harness trigger relays for the trailer wiring. the trailer plug is hard mounted to the frame and the wires are large. hopefully since the truck wiring will be bigger than the trailer, there will be no issues on the truck side if it gets hooked to a trailer with crap wiring. the trailer will burn but not the truck. also, the circuit breakers will eliminate the frustration of replacing a thousand fuses if you have a fault on the trailer you are trying to find.



i will make a pigtail to leave in the truck, to extend the trailer wiring. i really didnt want the wires to be hooked to the bumper, should i ever need to remove it. and it would hang down and look bad. cant have that.

[Dieselwrencher]

Nice work on the wiring!

[joeydurango]

Sheesh. Can't wait to see this thing driving around town... might be a while, but looks like it will be worth it! Nice job!

[ryanroo]

Originally Posted by joeydurango

Sheesh. Can't wait to see this thing driving around town... might be a while, but looks like it will be worth it! Nice job!

Thanks

No kidding! i am ready to drive this thing. everyday i drive home from work, i pull the hill up out of the florida bottom, and think about how fun it will be in a TT12v version of the old tank i drive everyday.

i have had some sightings of your truck, it looks awesome. i like the look of those soft rear canopies.

[joeydurango]

Well shucks, thanks. And happy New Year!

[brimc]

This is awesome. Everything looks top notch. Following along closely on the wireing as I'm getting close to this stage in my build. Interested to see how you wire up the starting circuit and the grids.
Thanks for sharing.

[marvgarr68]

Wow! I haven't looked in here in a while just plain awesome. So clean and organized will draw heads when finished. I cringed when I seen the pic of the electrical panels on the rear cross member. I then remembered your lifted so no problem. I had to go the other way everything up top cant get under it if something went wrong. I also like how you think ahead like me and prepare for what might happen on the side of the road.

[1985-GMC]

Originally Posted by ryanroo

i installed the now cooled off enough to touch mounts on the engine. everything worked after welding with no problems.





then i could do this





so could measure the back of the engine.

Hey Ryan what bushings did you use for your motor mounts? I was going to use 2 rear Chevy leaf spring bushings per side but now I see these and like that they're a little bigger. http://diy4x.com/cart/index.php?rout...product_id=197 what do you think?

BTW what do you plan on calling this truck when a truck magazine wants to cover it? 😀

[6BT 56]

I sure buy now you know I'm a big fan of your work. But what electrical stuff is going to be mounted on the crossmember under the bed ? Was just thinking that once drive shaft and exh , shocks etc was added that area my be a bit hard to get to. Not to mention exposed to typical under truck yuck ? Maby it's just the side of me that is used to our rusted corroded Canadian junk that wonders. I like the way you are putting a relay for every circuit on the trailer electrical. I did that with a 79 dually I built a few years ago. Was a great move. Never had any problems with that setup.

[ryanroo]

Originally Posted by brimc

This is awesome. Everything looks top notch. Following along closely on the wireing as I'm getting close to this stage in my build. Interested to see how you wire up the starting circuit and the grids.
Thanks for sharing.

Thank you! i am slowly working my way towards the engine bay. i still have some stuff to figure out and some components to buy. i need to buy a new FSS. the one that came on the engine is toast, but starter and grids are coming along. i am about done doing the wiring on the relay box as far as i can on the bench. then i move to the engine compartment. there are a number of things i need to address in there. wiring and otherwise.

Originally Posted by marvgarr68

Wow! I haven't looked in here in a while just plain awesome. So clean and organized will draw heads when finished. I cringed when I seen the pic of the electrical panels on the rear cross member. I then remembered your lifted so no problem. I had to go the other way everything up top cant get under it if something went wrong. I also like how you think ahead like me and prepare for what might happen on the side of the road.

thanks! i hope i can keep it clean with all the other stuff i have yet to do. it will be a challenge no doubt. i still have a ways to go on the rear harness. i plan on giving it some form of protection, just haven't figured it out yet. i do like the height advantage of 4x4s when you have to work on them!

Originally Posted by 1985-GMC

Hey Ryan what bushings did you use for your motor mounts? I was going to use 2 rear Chevy leaf spring bushings per side but now I see these and like that they're a little bigger. http://diy4x.com/cart/index.php?rout...product_id=197 what do you think?

BTW what do you plan on calling this truck when a truck magazine wants to cover it? 😀

those are beefy! i think if i mounted with those i would only do one. in fact, i wouldn't have any issues about just one regular t bushing per side. i just have the twitch. my bushings are just 1.5" t bushings. mine are rubber versions that i found online to try to smooth out some vibes. normally they are poly like the ones you linked. actually i think they are gm aftermarket rear spring bushings. i just bought them by dimension.

as for a name... the only thing the lady and i have ever called it other than the chevy or the green truck is Gert or Gertrude. i suppose i could call it Acute Neurosis. that would be accurate. haha

[1985-GMC]

Ok thanks, your opinion is like gold so that just made up my mind for me! Haha
I guess you haven't run yours yet nor do you have a way to compare it to poly bushings but do you think the vibrations will be bad with 2 of those?

Haha the Acute Neurosis seems fitting

[1985-GMC]

Wow I am indecisive haha. OK now I'm looking for some big honkin rubber bushings, possibly from a semi or I might even make some if I can't find what I'm looking for. I'll keep poly for all the suspension bushings, engine and trans I'll go with rubber. I'm afraid I'll hate the vibration transferred through the poly bushings.

[ryanroo]

i know what you are saying. i couldnt decide and didnt know, had a thousand ideas. i still stand behind the idea that i will accept the extra vibes from the way i mounted it to know that it is super tied in. also, it takes a bit of stress off the BH. i still got all nervy and replaced the poly with rubber. i bet mine shakes a little. one advantage of the manual is that the converter pulling an auto down while at idle in gear, stopped is one of the worst times you feel it. you dont have that lug at idle with a manual. above idle they are pretty darn smooth.

i also specifically went with rubber body mounts to try and help isolate the shake more. in the end i know i will be happy with whatever it has since i will be able to listen to the whistle of those turbos just as often as i want!

i agree that poly in the suspension is best. you want those bushings to be stiff.

[millerme]

AWESOME TANK/TRUCK! i would love to see it when its done!

[ryanroo]

Originally Posted by 6BT 56

I sure buy now you know I'm a big fan of your work. But what electrical stuff is going to be mounted on the crossmember under the bed ? Was just thinking that once drive shaft and exh , shocks etc was added that area my be a bit hard to get to. Not to mention exposed to typical under truck yuck ? Maby it's just the side of me that is used to our rusted corroded Canadian junk that wonders. I like the way you are putting a relay for every circuit on the trailer electrical. I did that with a 79 dually I built a few years ago. Was a great move. Never had any problems with that setup.

Thanks! i missed your post for a few days. i guess i left the screen open to long and it never showed up that there was a new one. the electrical on the rearward crossmember is all just to accommodate the trailer harness and the fuel pump relay. there are several relays for the trailer and i will be running the fuel pump through two. just to be extra twitchy. one relay is enough for the pump. if it splits between two, i should never have a failure. if one does fail, the other will still handle the load. if both fail, i needed to stop anyhow!

Originally Posted by millerme

AWESOME TANK/TRUCK! i would love to see it when its done!

Thanks! i am eager to see it finished too.

[ryanroo]

not a terrible lot of progress lately. but i have done some fiddling.

the trans is gutted





there was a bit of ugly in here. oh well, all the shafts need replaced or upgraded anyhow.



the dingleberry that had this apart last was a real beacon of smart... the oil feed for the input bearing is totally gooped full of rtv. jeez



also ordered the resonator. this will be my muffler but is super easy to package and is reported to kill the diesel drone.





the trans guts and case are headed to the hotwash and then paint or powdercoat. the rebuild stuff needs ordered still.

also, no pics but my bed sides are on a truck, headed to colorado.

[Vintage Windmills]

Cool, what brand is the resonator Ryan?

[ryanroo]

The company name is FTE. this the link to what i bought. there are a lot of positive reviews on a few websites about how well they cut that annoying drone. this is the shorty version and is said to only remove the drone without affecting volume much and the longer one will quiet it down some. guys are running them with mufflers for a quiet ride. i wanted a little red-neckitude with mine, and with twins they are really not loud anyhow.

FTE Rez

i am kind of pumped for the exhaust. what i am planning should look cool. it will probably be a huge pain... whatever

[ryanroo]

got the nv4500 busted apart





i borrowed a wash cabinet from a buddy and cleaned everything



case and flywheel housing are painted. the bell housing and top cover went to the powder coat dood for a blast and clear so they match the oil pan.





top cover was gutted and i picked up some new forks.





working on this slowly as well

[Dieselwrencher]

It's looking nice Ryan!