Sarge's rattle-can rebuild

[48cj2a]

Yes, I was pretty intersted in his window and a custom headlamp harness as he does outstanding work, but his prices are way out of my reach on a shoe string budget.

[68Timber]

I just went through the CUCV melted fuse issue where you lose all lights and horn. I'm sure you're familiar with that one. I used the Steel Soldiers fix, including LMC's heavy duty headlight wiring kit. I already have Sylvania Silverstar headlights on the truck but adding this harness made the real difference. I'm sure his is better quality, the the $25 version from LMC made much more difference than I thought it would. You don't know how much you're leaving on the table until you wire one up.

[48cj2a]

The Headlamp wiring would probably be a higher priority for me as I bought the Hella H4 Kit...but have not installed it yet. Any pics or write up on that mod?

[68Timber]

I didn't take any pictures of that. It comes with good directions from LMC and is made to plug into the factory harness, no cutting or splicing needed. I used two self-tapping screws to mount the relays on core support behind the front battery and some wire loom to cover and protect the wires where they passed over the the top of the fan shroud.

[48cj2a]

I think I would like to try and build the kit from scratch any chance you still have the directions and could scan it?

[68Timber]

I didn't, sorry. I've seen where guys made there own though, there's not too much too it. Just time.

[77K10Silverado]

Looking good! Whats next?

[68Timber]

Originally Posted by 77K10Silverado

Looking good! Whats next?

Thanks! I've started on the cluster. It came with idiot lights and I want gauges. The CUCV's have these GEN 1 and GEN 2 idiot lights that help you keep tabs on the health of the dual alternator system and those took up two holes. I've got to make them work in one. I'm working on it. See third pic below, I'm going to run GEN 1 over GEN 2. I got a divider epoxied in place so they can light independently. I've got to make some jumpers and mounts for lights in each half. I've got an idea to make it work, we'll see. haha

[68Timber]

Minor update. Lot's going on this time of year and my daughter wrecked her car to boot, so I'm sneaking off to the shop when I can. Backtracking a smidge, in the first two pics you can see how I've modified the cluster housing for gauges in three places that used to house idiot lights, and the only remaining idiot light spot has been modified for two with a divider epoxied in the middle. In the next two pics, you can see how I've approached it. For starters, I got a couple of factory connectors out of the junkyard wired into the aftermarket gauges so the cluster can still be easily removed. Getting that wired in meant getting creative with the cluster housing and even the printed circuit in a few places. I have not plugged it in yet, but I've tested the printed circuits next to where I had to remove clear plastic and those circuits still have continuity. In the last pic, you can see three of the twist lock light plugs across the bottom. The one on the left is the old GEN 1 light, and it is jumpered with the red and green wires to it's new position over the GEN 2 light. I used a cheap plastic walmart cutting board to make a patch panel over the back of the GEN 1/GEN 2 hole and trimmed it to fit the factory twist lock sockets you see plugged in. It is screwed to the back of the housing and under the printed circuit.

[68Timber]

I cleaned up the speedo and fuel gauge, they turned out mint. I wasn't expecting that in this truck. I also used n2trux idea for masking the needles with cardboard and painted them with testers fluorescent orange. My original shift indicator was gunked up so I just replaced it and painted the new pointer to match. The original could probably have been cleaned up, I'll keep it as a spare. I'd recently picked up the headlight polishing tool from HF and tried it out on the cluster lens. It came out great. And I trimmed the GEN 1 and GEN 2 plastic covers to fit their new home, secured with good old duct tape. You can see the other end of the plug laying on the bench, I've got to get that wired into the truck so I can plug all this in. That's where I'm at for now.

[48cj2a]

Nice work...aren't the clusters fun!

When I did my donor motor swap I also swapped in the factory Civy dash harness and got factor gauges at the same time. I also used foil tape for better reflextion and swapped all the bulbs to Red WLED-X5 LEDs from Superbrite: Milverado

[68Timber]

I didn't know the civvy harness would plug in and work. Some guy at steel soldiers put a civilian cluster in his truck and claimed he had to wire each gauge individually to make it work. So I'm thinking if I have to go that far with it I'll use better gauges. I forgot to mention, I did give the inside of the cluster several coats of gloss white and of course used red bulbs for all the lights and put one in the heater controls too. I didn't use LED's though, I wanted to try regular 194's first. Sometimes I see clusters w/LED's that are too bright and of course the dimmer doesn't work on them. There was a thread here where a guy found a set of LED lights that he said put out a nice appropriate amount of light without being too much but of course I didn't bookmark it. I'll check out your thread again, but how do you like the light output?

[MTCK]

Cool build. Sorry to hear about your daughter's wreck.

[48cj2a]

I had did the civy engine harness swap with the motor at the time so it definitely was no problem. There are differences so the mil engine and civy dash might not be compatible then.

I also took the time to extract the pins on the blackout drive lamp circuit from the fuse block and reinstall it in the civy harness so my Headlamp over ride and the B/O still work too...

[68Timber]

Originally Posted by MTCK

Cool build. Sorry to hear about your daughter's wreck.

Thanks man, I appreciate that. She walked away fine but it had easy potential for the worst.

Originally Posted by 48cj2a

I had did the civy engine harness swap with the motor at the time so it definitely was no problem. There are differences so the mil engine and civy dash might not be compatible then.

I also took the time to extract the pins on the blackout drive lamp circuit from the fuse block and reinstall it in the civy harness so my Headlamp over ride and the B/O still work too...

I don't know what the guy tried, he didn't give any details on the install. For all I know it'll work with some minor repinning or something. I like the B/O light system, cool that you kept it. It wasn't but a few days ago I was outside with my sons after dark and showed them how it worked.

[Zoomad75]

Originally Posted by 48cj2a

I think I would like to try and build the kit from scratch any chance you still have the directions and could scan it?

I did a write up on this quite some time ago, but the details are still good. Go to this link and follow the instructions. You can do it for under $40 worth of supplies.

http://www.73-87.com/7387garage/exte...ight_relay.htm

[48cj2a]

When I was doing the engine swap from the donor crewcab, the interior dash harness was the bulkhead connector and fuse box coupled to the engine harness keeping that portion all civy and gaining the gauges, intm wipers, fiber optic light to the ash tray, cig lighter just to name a few items in building Milverado.

When I reattched the front headlamp harness to the bulkhead, I had to extract the front bumper blackout lamps as that particular circuit in the civy harness is the washer pump wiring and I had swapped the donors washer bottle to gain the better electric pump over the vacuum pump intregal to the standard wiper motor. There is a writeup on that in my Milverado link too.

Still piecing cruise control together which I'm really looking forward to.

[lane224]

Don't know if this will be any help to anyone but there is a guy out my way that specializes in these military Blazers. He's not a board member. Seems to have a lot of parts. Name is Tom. Here's the link.

http://hudsonvalley.craigslist.org/pts/5366900463.html

[68Timber]

Minor updates. I didn't realize I'd let this go a month, I have been piddling away on it, but the weather... Here's where I left off and where I am now. In the first pic you can see the cluster on the bench with the female end of a factory plug wired into the new gauges. I got the senders installed and the male end hooked up in the truck. No pics of that, just a lot of tedious trimming to length, solder and shrink wrap.

Next pic the cluster is in the truck plugged up. In that pic the key is in the forward position, but the engine is off. But you can see the GEN 1 and GEN 2 lights move to one position was a success, and I can keep tabs on the engine vitals now. Tip of the day to anyone thinking of pulling their cluster to dress it up: Don't put your shift indicator on until the cluster is mounted! I bent my brand new one doing just that. I'm going to see if I can get it true again with a hammer and flat punch, but if not, I'll move the new spring and pointer over to my original "back".

I'm leaving it like that for now. I'm going to get a new dash pad from Cheyenne Pickup Parts, but they're out and won't have any for 30-45 days. Here's a link to the auction I missed: LINKY

On to other things...

[68Timber]

If you're not familiar with military Blazers, the gov't spec'd them out CHEAP. Besides the inside being a bare-metal tub, you don't get a console. Someone on another site made a console out of an ammo can and it looked pretty cool, so I had to try one. I've had this sitting around waiting on me to install it, time to figure it out. I got the cupholders from a marine website, I think it was Overton's. The other pics are just me trying my hand at fabrication. I got the steel from Home Depot for maybe five or six bucks, then heated it up and hammered it into something that might hold a console. I was afraid it might bend right or left over time, so I made end caps and welded them on. This is my first time welding anything. I bought a MIG a while back and it sat around waiting on me to buy some gas for it and give it a try. I only had a few bucks in this so it was a good place to learn. The back sides tell the tale, the front sides were dressed with a 40-grit flapper disc. At first I was zig-zagging all over the place like a 10 year old trying to learn to drive in a 1950 Buick. It took a little bit to learn to see the seam and the wire and control it with any success.

[68Timber]

Here's a shot of the pretty side of the mounts, then on to getting them mounted to the console. The lower tabs that will attach to the floor were left a little long, once I get it where I want it in the truck I'll trim them up a little tidier. I'm going to paint the bases and console, but I want to get it mounted in the truck first and make sure it's all good first. And it'll get a padded arm rest.

[48cj2a]

Nice work!

Amazing what a little scuff pad can do!

You can never have enough Ammo Cans:

[68Timber]

Originally Posted by 48cj2a

Nice work!

Amazing what a little scuff pad can do!

You can never have enough Ammo Cans:

Thanks man! Oh my - if you start a console bidness you have a lifetime supply! LOL

[68Timber]

Next four pics - In the first pic you can see the console sitting where it needs to go, base attached. It looks tall, but the base height and padded armrest height were taken in consideration to get the thing up to my elbow to make it a comfortable place to rest your arm. Second pic - remember I said these things were spec'd cheap? Uncle Sam said if you smoke, bring your own d@mn lighter. I quit smoking a couple of years back, but... Where to charge our screens? We're lost without our screens! Pic three you can see where this is going and pic four how I chose to solve it. I'm mounting one on the front and one on the back, so even if the whole family is in the car they can keep their screens charged.

Question: I want to use two 12v distribution boxes of the enclosed variety, one hot and one ground, so I don't have to go redneck and make six wires teed off the main hot and main ground. Well, five, but you get the idea. One thing the console has is more depth than necessary, so I'm going to make a short four-legged "table" for the inside that will be the new bottom of the console, maybe three fingers tall? Just high enough so the wires to the chargers and distribution blocks have room, kinda like the raised floor in a computer room. It'll be flush to all the sides so nothing can get past it but liquid, but I would like the wiring underneath to be neat and safe. Ideas?

[48cj2a]

Go to your favorite box store (Menards, Lowes, Home Depot) and buy a Carlon Plastic 2-Gang weather proof box and lid.





You can then easily mount it to the bottom.

Mount these inside (one for + and one for -)



Use these for entry into the ammo can and the electrical box for weather seal and restraint with a piece of heavy drop cord 16 gauge minimum