Markeb01 Build Thread

[Ta2Don]

…and the bar is once again RAISED!
Well Done Sir, Well Done!

[62 Barnfind]

Looking good! I never would have thought to add those lights to the truck.

[piratexpress1369a]

that is outstanding

[markeb01]

I started out in to the garage this morning somewhat earlier than usual today. Having great confidence in how much easier it was going to be replicating all the stuff I learned on the passenger side, I cut all the external holes at the same time:



I then sliced all the upper curves with a sabre saw:



This not only went much faster than the Dremel cut off wheels, it kept the heat down much lower preventing blistering of the edge paint. The bottom curve of the rear two holes still required the Dremel wheels, as there was insufficient space for the sabre saw blades.

In anticipation of today’s workload, I got online yesterday and searched for some type of sanding drum more effective than the little Dremel drums I’ve been burning through. I found the following on Lowe’s website. We ran out last night just before closing and picked up a couple:



What a difference. After cutting all four holes open, the grinding needed for final fitting took less than an hour. Using the Dremel drums to accomplish the same task took most of a day.



The next several hours were spent connecting the light wires and sequencers. It was straight forward and easy, but tedious and time consuming. Both parking light and blinker systems were double checked and operating perfectly. The last effort was running the new harness through the hood support and feeding it next to the existing hood harness.

Here’s the only finished photo taken tonight:



There’s less than an hour of work left to attach the connectors and run the new hood ground, but my right ankle and knee starting screaming an hour earlier and finally gave up and stopped working. I’m really looking forward to having this done tomorrow as there is no more “dirty” work. I’ve had enough cutting and grinding to last for a while.

It’s late enough in the season that as soon as the wiring is finished, I’m going to wash the truck, detail the mags, pull the snow tires and reinstall the street rod tires/wheels. Then it will be ready for some finished photos and a video showing how cool the lights look in operation.

[McMurphy]

I always liked the Buick portholes as a kid, they really made the cars stand out.
You have taken it totally up a few notches, and nicely done !!

Thanks for sharing the little drum sanders, now I have to go find some, Ohhhhhh the stages of projects I could have used those on

Looking super good there brother, cannot wait for the video

[piratexpress1369a]

i can'rt wait to see the final finish ..looks awesome

[1963c-10]

Looking great...can't wait to see them lit up!!

[Ta2Don]

Originally Posted by 1963c-10

Looking great...can't wait to see them lit up!!

X2

[McMurphy]

I got the box today, and gushed all about it on my thread.
Thank you !!

[markeb01]

That’s great Mike, I’ll be sure to check out your thread. I forgot to include the jam nut they provided. It came with a note that says not to bottom out the knob on the stick or you can crack the knob. The nut seems huge and inappropriate to me. I’ll take a picture of it and scan the note, probably tomorrow and if it interests you I’ll drop it in the mail.

*

I finally completed the Buick porthole project this morning. It took about an hour to hook up all the wires to the front parking/turn signal harness and button it all up. After that the mags were reinstalled and the truck was given a bath for the first time in months. Not only was it dirty from winter driving, but it was also covered in cutting and grinding powder.

Here’s a quick poor quality video taken on one of our cheap import dash cams. This is the best I can do until that new GoPro shows up (maybe for my birthday):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l83Fv...ature=youtu.be

Apologies for the misstatements in the narration, I was exhausted by the time we got to filming. The video shows the sequencing of the lights, but in real life they look very little like the video. Rather than being blurry, they are razor sharp and almost look like fire coming out of the ports from certain angles. I couldn’t be happier with how nice the project turned out.

I’m still on the fence about the Moon decals. I’ve always liked them, but to me they now seem out of place, and somewhat detract from the stainless and chrome parts. Opinions for or against are welcome.

Thanks for looking!

[piratexpress1369a]

wow they turned out awesome nice job on them

[siggyfreud]

Looks awesome, and definitely very unique!

[Ta2Don]

Awesome Video… Those Portholes are...

Moon Decals… I vote to Keep em… but in the long run, you have to be happy with them!!!

[likaroc13]

Awesome job Mark! Could you not magnetize a set of Moon decals & just install or remove them as you please? I bought some magnetic sheets & planned to do that with my S-10 in which I had already installed Mooneyes. I sold the truck though before trying the magnetized idea.

Also, if you plan to do another photoshoot, maybe we can decipher what looks best then. Maybe we can get a better glimpse of how they look with your new portholes.

[markeb01]

That's an easy enough idea to try out. I have sheets of magnet material, spare decals, and even a set of stickers. I'll give that a try!

[Bomp]

That is Trick.

[markeb01]

As a wrap up on the porthole project, I wanted to share what parts I used and where I got them. Not that anyone will want to duplicate this project on a 60-66, but in case someone wants to add lights to a Buick, and old custom, or anything else, the parts I used were:

1954 Buick Porthole reproductions came from:

OldBuickParts.com:



http://www.oldbuickparts.com/catalog...952a43&x=0&y=0

*

I added two LED bolts to each porthole.



One amber 6mm for the parking light circuit, and one amber 16mm (with lens) for the sequential turn signals. They were sourced from Oznium –

http://www.oznium.com/led-bolt

*

WebElectric Products provided the sequencer kit (Part number STS-4) -

This is a shot of a two circuit module. The 4 circuit looks the same but has more wires sticking out:



http://www.webelectricproducts.com/products.htm

WebElectric was the only outfit I could find that offered sequencing for 4 lamps instead of only 3. Once I figured out the circuitry it was very simple to hook up. Being solid state it should be very dependable.

And here are my greatly simplified wiring instructions, for turn signals only - when brake lights will not be involved in the installation:



That's about it for now until some other idea pops in my head!

[markeb01]

Today was a day of discovery on a couple of topics. Ever since I installed the stainless steel windshield trim back in 2012, I’ve been plagued by an intermittent chirping squeak somewhere in or near the dashboard. At first I thought it was the windshield trim, and numerous adjustments and hours of modifications presumably eliminated the irritation. Weeks or months later it reappeared. Eventually I found an errant nut wedged between the dash and the under dash panel. Removing the nut also eliminated the noise. As it came back again many more times. I would make corrections that apparently “fixed” the problem, only to have it come back repeatedly.

After a long winter nap, the truck was finally taken out for a nice long ride today. The chirping squeak was back, louder than ever. We touched, pushed, pulled, and pounded on just about every surface in sight, and it just got worse. It became so loud I could hardly stand to be in the truck, but it became so persistent it eventually became apparent the squeak went away when the driveline was disconnected. Running through the mental checklist I eliminated the u-joints and throw out bearing, which led me to the clutch linkage, which is hydraulic.

Taking logic a step further, the hydraulic portion doesn’t start until the firewall. The culprit turned out the spherical joint that connects the push rod to the original pedal arm:



When first assembled, it received a dose of WD40 or something similar. Nine years later the joint was so dry it wouldn’t even wobble when disconnected. After a good cleaning it returned to free movement, and was liberally coated with white lithium grease. Once back together the squeak was gone! I’m hopeful it’s really permanent this time, as this is one of the few functional pieces that has been neglected for a long time.

Another interesting thought jumped off the page when I looked at the new snapshot. Compared to the next shot taken around 10 years ago, the area certainly has been cleaned up by installation of the new fuse panel, elimination of the wig wag lights and removal of the cruise control. It isn’t pretty, but it’s much cleaner:



We also discovered another interesting phenomenon riding around. Cars, minivans, trucks, and big rigs that would intend to zoom by us on either side, apparent smitten with the lighted portholes, stopped their forward progress roughly even with the front of our truck and dropped back to sit on my rear quarters studying the portholes/lights. When they decided to move on several drivers stuck out their arms with a “thumbs up” as they accelerated away.

I also encountered a pair of cyclists as we approached an intersection simultaneously. They wanted to go straight (in the bike lane) and I wanted to turn right. I remained in the main traffic lane and flipped on the signal. They rode alongside the door for a few seconds watching the sequential blinkers and finally pulled out in front of the truck. Both turned around and offered another thumbs up as they went across the intersection.

Some individuals may not find favor with the portholes or the lights, but they generated more waves, smiles, and thumbs up in one day than in all the years we’ve owned the truck. They’ve added a whole new level of fun to the driving experience.

[Ta2Don]

Great write-up and detective work!!!

Always better to get waves and thumbs up...

[1963c-10]

So when are we going to see some pics of them lit up!!!!

[markeb01]

I posted this video a couple of days ago, as I thought it would show them off better than photos. I do intend on taking some nice outdoor pictures soon, but the rainy weather and winter brown colors aren't very attractive at the moment:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l83Fv...ature=youtu.be

[pdxhall]

Hey Mark, check out what I saw at the Portland Roadster Show today.
Sorry about the crappy pictures. I was trying to use the camera in my phone.

[markeb01]

That's really interesting! Thanks for sharing.

[Grizz1963]

Good morning Mark

Just watched your video again while having my breakfast.

07.00 here in the UK.

I really like the sequential mature of the portholes.

And seeing your Caddy rears in action makes me want a car with some on too.

Just off to the garage to start welding. Have a good night.

[markeb01]

Here’s another short video clip my daughter took when I was heading out for something completely different. I just fired up the truck, and had the pipes open for 17 seconds. At 54 seconds I opened the cutouts again and shut off the fast idle:

1960 gmc 350 4 speed open pipes - YouTube

It caused me to realize the video (and audio) taken on our phones is way better than the dash cam, so I’ll be trying this again with the camera turned the right way!