A '54 named Busty

[Gregski]

today we took on the brake lights, but first a Unicorn sighting

yup that's a clean workbench

[Gregski]

we got our wiring constructions, let's see how closely an abandoned truck siting in a desert has follow them, ha ha

it appears from the diagram there are two ways to do this:

1. Brake lights and Tail lights only no turn signals (and of course trucks back then had no reverse lights)

~ OR ~

2. Brake / Turn Signals and Tail lights

we are taking baby steps, so we will go with Option 1

[Gregski]

I love the simplicity of this truck, the stock fuse block had only two fuses in it (one for the brake lights and one for the tail lights), we are going to go crazy and replace it with a six fuse one

[Gregski]

mandatory stare and compare

[Gregski]

look at all those neat yellow hard plastic connectors it came with

[Gregski]

and this is the stock headlight switch, I was hoping to use it but it looks like the springie thingie is broken, darn it

the headlight switch does play a role in the brake circuit, why I don't know but it does

[Gregski]

I figured I would mount the fuse block somewhere to get a proper gestimation of the wire length runs from the headlight switch to it etc.

I thought it and the drive by wire throttle box could share a flat

[Gregski]

gonna mount it above the trans tunnel way up high where it's difficult to get to

[Gregski]

I crimp, solder, and heat shrink all my terminals and connectors

[Gregski]

so the first thing we do is bring the Power red wire from the ignition key switch to the P terminal on the headlight switch

[Gregski]

then for brakes all we have to do is send that power on the Orange wire from the Stop "S" terminal to our fuse block like so

[Gregski]

if we were wiring up the Tail lights we would simply send the power on the T terminal of the Headlight switch

Note: I hate it that they use a black wire for the tail lights, black is usually ground

[Gregski]

so to have brake lights and tail lights our headlight switch would look like this

again, the black wire is not ground it is for the tail lights, the orange wire is for the brake lights, and the red wire brings the always on power from the ignition key switch, meaning even with the key off or no key in the ignition at all, the headlight switch still has power going to it, that's why you go to Kmart and leave your lights on in the truck

[8man]

You are going to be done soon. Also, agree with the crimp, solder and heat shrink everything.

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by 8man

You are going to be done soon. Also, agree with the crimp, solder and heat shrink everything.

thanks bro, Progress not Perfection!

[Gregski]

so new smaller tires showed up today so I got them mounted up and installed on the front and that seemed to have fixed the rubbing issue on the driver side only but the passenger side still dragged over the speed bumps but only at higher speeds

so I decided to trim about a foot off the front fender antler bracket and hammer flatter the wheel well ridge thingie and that finally did the trick, now I need to put a gentle bend in the cut off fender bracket and extend it a couple inches

[6DoF]

haha, can't hit nothing if nothing is there to hit!

[youngrodder]

On my last few builds I always removed that brace and also rolled the fender edges. These were a must running 20" wheels and a decent sized tire not to mention on bagged truck. I never seen any issued not running those braces.

Nice fix

Marc

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by youngrodder

On my last few builds I always removed that brace and also rolled the fender edges. These were a must running 20" wheels and a decent sized tire not to mention on bagged truck. I never seen any issued not running those braces.

Nice fix

Marc

hey bud I really appreciate this type of feedback I was wondering which way to go on these, I notice the fender now flops and rattles in the front because I don't have the grille on her yet, but once that goes on it should pull it in nice and tight, I still may fandangle that bracket a little bit and weld it back on

[youngrodder]

Originally Posted by Gregski

hey bud I really appreciate this type of feedback I was wondering which way to go on these, I notice the fender now flops and rattles in the front because I don't have the grille on her yet, but once that goes on it should pull it in nice and tight, I still may fandangle that bracket a little bit and weld it back on

You should be good once the grille is bolted in place. On the rear fender braces I scored the flanges so I could pound the braces flat. It offers support but it makes the bracket thinner and it didn't interfere with the tires. Again this was on a bagged truck with 20" rims and large sidewall tire. I mention it because you could have done the same to the front braces. I chose to remove them all together and I also shaved the mount location on the inside fender lip to roll the fender edges to provide move tire clearance when turning. These mods were a must with a bagged truck with 20"+ rims. I did the same mod on my current product (53 Suburban).

Marc

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by 6DoF

haha, can't hit nothing if nothing is there to hit!

aint that rights?! now come over please and help me find that annoying squeak coming somewhere, exactly, specifically in the TRUCK, ha ha that's as far as we've narrowed it down

seriously though it's coming from the front and only when we are driving, that or when we try to jack up the front end up from the front with the jack right under the engine crossmember, something will squeak for the first 2 to 3 pumps of the jack as we take the stress off the suspension then no more squeaking the rest of the way up, and I've re greased both the upper and lower ball joints on both sides again last night and still no dice!

we can also recreate the noise, with the wheels on the ground by rocking the top of the cab with our hands above the doors, it honestly sounds like two teenagers in a drive in

should we start removing parts until the noise goes away, or until there's nothing left, ha ha

[Rickysnickers]

Were you tires marked with "Prop 65?" HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by Rickysnickers

Were you tires marked with "Prop 65?" HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

LOL, yeah they're the 215/P65R15

[Gregski]

alright, so now with the smaller tires and the "trimmed" antler I'm thinking about pushing my luck and removing these knuckles out of the front coil springs!?

[Gregski]

well this puts a guy in a better Moog

and HECHO EN E.U.A to boot!