Project: Over My Head

[yossarian19]

Pics tomorrow w/ the daylight...
Spent most of the day working on customer's cars. Which is a good thing.
This evening, though, I got some 5/16" diameter stainless rod (left over from the Lokar shifter kit) and with MAP torch, big hammer, Grandpa's old bench grinder & a drill, I got a nice looking turn signal lever.
So. Gotta wire the turn signals, should take half an hour, and put an exhaust on it. Then there's about a million small details to iron out.. but i'll be driving it while I do.

[yossarian19]

Here it is.

It's a very small thing but actually one of the parts I'm prouder of on this build. I like making things from scratch when I can.
Wired up the turn signals, they work. Need to fix a bulb socket on the right front but power & ground are going where they are supposed to.
So, i'm down to the exhaust + lots of securing / clipping / wrapping lines - fuel, brake & electric. Once the exhaust is done, I can at least start driving it.
Of course, I just wrote a bunch of checks for tuition, books, wedding expenses & annual insurance on my daily driver. + I have a repair bill coming for an old sander I wanted fixed... so it might take a while before I'm comfortable spending $$ on a welder & pipe.
We'll see.
Thanks for the kind words & for following along so far, folks! Happy Holidays!

[Kim57]

Nice looking gauges.
Kim

[yossarian19]

Well, I haven't worked on the truck much in ages. Between the Jeep taking a dive on me, the holidays, adventures in self employment and (big news) getting the fiance pregnant... the truck has taken a back seat.
Starting school on the 27th of January, as well. 14 credits worth of robotics, machine work, electronics & PC configuration.
Some time soon, though, I'll spend some money on a welder and get to work on an exhaust. Or maybe not. The way things are going, I might just have to keep the truck on ice for a while.

[iowaboynca]

Congratz Dad!...just stick with it. I can't tell you how many days i just go out to my garage to look at my truck and say "someday". Your build gives me hope so stick with it, and don't let life get you too down.

[yossarian19]

Thanks.
One step forward, one back today. I got sick of the rat's nest of wiring I'd made while hastily getting the truck out of the old garage. Added in a fuse between alternator & battery, then took out the engine management harness to clean it all up. Somewhere in this process, I arc welded a hole into the radiator. I disobeyed rule #1: disconnect the battery.
OK, embarassing, but I doubt I'll ever do it again.
Small bits of progress being made on wiring, I'll get my radiator hoses improved while the radiator is out for repairs... Heck, before I know it, things will be better than they ever were before.

[yossarian19]

Will have some pics up soonish.
I'm almost done cleaning up the wiring mess so it all tucks under the fuel rails & is tidy enough to work on. Lots and lots of soldering done in the last couple weeks.
I realized that the 50-odd year old battery tray just wasn't going to cut it, so I took the support brackets & fabbed a new tray onto them. 14 ga 1 1/4" angle. Paint is drying now.
Ordered some parts to get the air intake situated a little better. At the moment, it's wedged in place between a radiator hose and the radiator... which was fine for driving it onto the trailer, but isn't going to fly long-term.
Radiator still needs repair (which rhymes with "despair")
So, my self imposed rush to get on the road is out the window. I'm realizing that this is a longer term project than I'd anticipated. In no small part the timeline is dictated by the scope of the build and in larger part by my being a novice builder. Se las vis - such is life.

[Stepside Jim]

Originally Posted by yossarian19

So, my self imposed rush to get on the road is out the window. I'm realizing that this is a longer term project than I'd anticipated. In no small part the timeline is dictated by the scope of the build and in larger part by my being a novice builder. Se las vis - such is life.

The above quote is a real motivation killer for me at times.

The idea that I think I can put a time frame on a project, I really understand the mental dilemma that a timeline can do to a project.

Over the years I've gotten rid of the time frame, it is what it is and it will take what ever it takes. My worst time on a project is when I take my focus off the exact item I'm working on and I let the full picture of what is still to finish start taking over, it can be very overwhelming at times.

At that time I have to sit back, look at where I was, and what I've accomplished so far. Once my focus is back on what I've done and not what I still have to do, I can move forward and tackle the "still have to do's" in a more relaxed mood.

I've kept up with your build, I see your plate is full, but I also see a desire to learn as well as move forward.

I see the headline is Project over My Head, but I see you raise your head higher each time you get too deep.

Keep up the good work, I really enjoy seeing people doing alot of hands on work and fabrication as I see you doing.

Jim

[Kim57]

Looking forward to pics.
I've been saying for years that this is the one I'm going to have mine running.
One of these days I'll be right.
Kim

[ZR2RICK]

My truck project is 2 years old now, and i just keep working on the things that keep me inspired, to me it's just like raising kids, the best part is the journey not the destination. I have built many bikes and cars and I have never enjoyed the finished product as much as the process of creating it. hang in there you are doing some killer work there.

[yossarian19]

I haven't touched the wiring since my last post, I don't think. My daily drive is a Jeep and I live in the country - so you can imagine that the Jeep get's it's fair share of my automotive enthusiasm.
I did manage to do this, though:

Ignoring the funky salmon colored carpet, I got patch panels cut to fit & tacked in over the hole in the trans cover. I'm not bragging on fab quality or welding, here - I'm learning as I go (aren't we all?) and having fun with it.
If it ever stops raining & the wiring gets finished, I'll get a picture up of the wiring & battery tray. May have been a mistake to pull the harness with the truck outside...

[Kim57]

It's all about having fun and learning new skills.
Kim

[dmack91]

Every step forward is getting you closer to driving it.

Did you get a welder?

[yossarian19]

Yep, I bought a little 90 amp flux core welder. I've done better work with nicer welders but for $80 & maybe $40 in consumables and a nicer ground clamp, I'm happy.
Here's the battery box / underhood shot

You can just see the cable / Mega fuse snaking back from the alternator & along the injector rail. Most of the wiring will be routed under the injectors to keep it tidy.
Battery box is made from angle that I cut with a sawzall. Fit and finish have room for improvement but once I had it tacked together & a battery clamped down on top of it, I just burnt it home & painted with rubberized under coating. So long as it keeps the battery off the highway & off my intake manifold, I'm happy with it. Total cost: $15 or less.

[Kim57]

Looks good and functional.
Kim

[87Lowrider]

Just finished the thread... nice work!!

Keep it up. /Ken

[dmack91]

Looks good. Now that you have a welder, are you going to try doing your own exhaust? It was fairly easy if you can come up with some pre-made bends. I picked up some 22 degree and U-bends at last year's swap meet (only one large one in Portland each year) for $4 each. Add a couple of Summit mufflers on CL new for $30, and scrap pipe, I had around $60 into my 2 1/4" system. No where near as nice as a shop, but no where near the price either. Plus, it is nice to say I did everything on my truck.

[yossarian19]

Well, I just ordered exhaust flanges to bolt up to my manifolds. After welding the patch panel together I think I can do an exhaust. I don't think "Hey, I'm a fully qualified exhaust guy now!", but I think I can get it done good. It's just round sheet metal... if I give myself enough time & don't blow too many holes in it, I should be fine.
I don't want to put a jinx on it, but I think today might be the day I get the engine wiring put back together. I'm feeling good. It's sunny out. I'm caught up on school work. Maybe I'll see if it all still works later today.

[yossarian19]

Well, I had a few errands to run and a nice walk downtown to take. I did get the engine wiring sorted out & re-soldered.
When I took it all out of the engine bay I broke my own rules and clipped wires without verifying & labeling what I thought they were.
Predictably, it took me a little extra time to put it back together.
Still - I've only got three more soldering connections to make underhood & then I plug it all back in, see if it will fire up again.
Pictures by Sunday pm.

[davecarney2]

Looks great

[dmack91]

Keep us posted. Sounds like you are getting close.

[yossarian19]

It's 5 PM and I don't quite have the energy to go get more electrical supplies & get it started. I'm close, though. Very close.

I decided I had to move the computer if I wanted to route the main harness bundle away from dip sticks & sharp metal edges. Since I really, Really don't want to chafe through the harness & create new ground paths, I took a step back & found a new place to put the ECM. Finished soldering everything I could, took a picture & moved everything inside.
This Tuesday, I think I'll :
Stretch my starter wire from it's new origin down to the motor
Put wire wrap over the exposed stuff
Shorten the heavy wire running from battery to starter
Shorten the power supply to the "body" fuse box
and then have a cup of coffee & celebrate.

Thursday I might get into some cooling system work, or maybe I'll figure out where the air intake is going to go & order a few parts. Either way, I'm happy with the weekend's progress and I managed to stop working before it stopped being fun.

[Kim57]

Very unique place for the computer.
Kim

[yossarian19]

Unique good or unique bad?
I'm still not sure.
I've established that nothing hits when I close the hood, that there is plenty of length in motion (so I dont think wires will fatigue) and that no wires are stretched.
I cant help thinking, though, that somehow the whole mess might fall off the underside of the hood. I may have to use some loctite & go back over the welds to feel good about it.

[akdg87]

just make sure your hood is always latched, i fed my harness through an existing hole in the firewall and mounted the pcm and fuse block under my seat. I just like having the pcm in the cab and out of the elements. Nice build BTW