1941 project fenix

[joedoh]

tackled the VA system today. its the mini system with defrost


had to make my own brackets, the ones they sent were pretty flimsy, but that is my only complaint so far. in their defense its a universal system, you should expect to make some brackets



they even sent grommets for the heater hoses, good guys VA


I put a layer of peel and seal on the firewall after buttoning up all the holes I didnt want and drilling the ones I did.


started hooking up wiring and had to find new cruise release and brake switches. something tells me I am missing some sort of bracket on the brake arm, neither push button reaches the arm and the brake switch wouldnt hit it even in a t bone.


anyone have a picture of the missing bracket? when I got the truck the brake switch was broken and some of the parts were laying in the passenger floor board.

[joedoh]

found it, gigamanx has a great picture. mine definitely did not have this bracket on it

[lower50's]

Another nice cab Good job on recovering the #'s. Your VA unit fits in there quite nicely.

[joedoh]

story time!

so there is something I call "the joedoh rule" or more accurately "the dumbass constant". its like murphys law only more intimately painful to me, because it involves finding the very limit of my patience while examining how accurately I can shoot myself in the foot.

take this example. I have been trying to schedule time with LD2 (loving daughter 2) because her mini cooper is knocking and whining, the serpentine belt is the suspect. she has more important things like work and the boyfriend and things she calls "places" when we ask where she is going. so it breaks one day, and I tell her the time to schedule with me is over, use some of that work money and call a tow to a mechanic of her choosing and have them fix it, all part of growing up you see. if you cant take my gentle prodding to help you fix it preemptively in the driveway you can foot the incurred higher costs of the emergency. essentially "a lack of planning on your part isnt an emergency on my part". but I am not without compassion, so I offer the slattern (my cheapo saturn that just runs and runs) so she is not without transportation. well, she flattens the rear tire and the spare according to her boyfriend "has something wrong with it". I go to change the tire and pick up the car and promptly break two studs. oops. I pick up 4 new studs and slather the remaining lug nuts with penetrant. I get the drum off and replace the two broken studs, better see if all the nuts come off easy though since I will need a tire on that corner, and I break one more stud.


thats after pulling it apart a second time.

oh wait there is more. remember my missing bracket on the pedal? I went looking through older pictures, in fact this one on the first page of the thread.


see it?


sheesh. I have looked in the garage, to no avail. tomorrow a trip to the salvage is required.

I also attempted to run the heater lines, I had retapped the broken connector on the intake but for the life of me couldnt find the suction side. looking at older pictures, it goes to the radiator. so luckily there is a plugged port on the water pump.



got all the lines run, had to move the lines to keep them from kinking. I read about a guy who used copper pipe bent to the correct angles and a heat gun to reshape straight hoses into custom heater hose, I will try that next time I think.


found more problems to solve. this is probably from the engine fire (project name as a reminder!)


tomorrow I seal the floor up for good! no more work needed under there. I have to straighten the power steering line so it fits the front clip and then I can put the front clip on too.

[Nut Case]

Joe

I read an article in the Classic Truck in the last few issues, they were showing how to do custom radiator hoses. In the article they stated that because copper is soft and that it is prone to cracking if use in conjunction with antifreeze. The only metal that they recommend is Stainless Steel.

Just thought you might like know so that you can do some research on the material that you end up using, just in case!

Strong Work

Keep on keepin on

NC

[joedoh]

I wasnt talking about using copper for the lines, you bend the copper to the desired shape and then pull your rubber lines over it and use the heat gun inside and out to set the rubber lines. I did it today with the lower rad hose, it didnt fit over the water pump outlet and so I stuck a 34MM socket in the hose and used the heat gun to set it to the larger size, worked good!

did a bunch of little stuff, got the alignment set at 1/8" toe out and centered the wheels and steering wheel. pulled all the steering parts to paint. I did get the steering lines modified and hooked up.


fenix shifts! my modified linkage works perfectly. I picked up a cotter hairpin and a washer, if you remember it was hooked with a bread tie when I pulled it apart.


ugh. more new stuff. this donor was short on just about everything. learn this lesson, buy the best donor you can, people.


the rad is ready to be hooked up. the bubble flare to barb fittings for the transmission lines were only FORTY ^&*^(*& DOLLARS. sheesh. next time I will just cut them off and flare the end and use clamps.

chipping away at all this stuff, the two steps forward three steps back with all the new repairs hasnt licked me yet.

[gokellurself]

man you're not kidding, all the little stuff is the time and pocket killer

[joedoh]

I dont know where to start, I walked out today and this was on the floor of the cab.


I actually just sat down and looked at it for about a half hour. I didnt have anything on the floor that I wasnt using, and just two weeks ago it was completely empty while I built the missing piece of floor. divine intervention. I took the hint and installed it



I put the steering back together and yep, you guessed it, problems arose


the shifter rod was in a position that the set screw on the steering joint would hit it. only when it was in park though, so I considered just leaving it. who screws the steering wheel back and forth in park?

but then I reconsidered, even though the chances of it happening were small and there was plenty of give in the linkage to let it bump by, I wouldnt want that to happen. so I pulled the rod and shot myself in the foot by dropping it and having the bushing fly off to kingdom come. after 10 minutes modifying the rod (just added a kink) and 40 minutes searching for the bushing, I was done.



no joke, I havent ever seen that little bracket until today.

[lower50's]

That is crazy how it just showed up. You should paint it bright orange so if you ever take it off again you won't loose it lol.

[joedoh]

I didnt take it off the FIRST time. the guy I got the truck from was in the middle of replacing the column and gave up, never finished. I had my wife follow me home because the brake switch was broken.

I didnt know that bracket was even needed because the other pedal bracket I bought from salvage didnt have one either. I looked at gigamanx pictures and that is the first time I ever saw it till I noticed it on the floor of the s10 cab in the early pictures from stripping the cab.

its given me a big pause, no kidding.

[CSHADES]

I am sure you already know this, but the set screws on the steering u joints should have jam nuts on them. They are easy to forget but important that you don't.

[99 to Life]

patience is a virtue. your sequence of events are a reoccurring pattern in my life. problems arise and you solve them, great job.

[joedoh]

Originally Posted by CSHADES

I am sure you already know this, but the set screws on the steering u joints should have jam nuts on them. They are easy to forget but important that you don't.

thank you, I have them, I have a habit of leaving everything loose on a system till its done then setting all the bolts/jam nuts at once. that way one doesnt get left out, and seeing the jam nuts off tells me its incomplete. if you notice, there are a couple set screws missing too. I always drill a detent for the set screws in the 1" DD, and thats not done yet.

the shift rod though, permanently installed, nuts are tight and hairclip pin installed.

Originally Posted by 99 to Life

patience is a virtue. your sequence of events are a reoccurring pattern in my life. problems arise and you solve them, great job.

haha thanks man, once more unto the breach

[joedoh]

the 47-55 battery box is slightly larger than the 41-46, so my s10 battery just barely didnt fit. I could have just bought a new box, or taken one from the parts pile, especially since the one hold down bolt is broken, but waste not want not. I drilled out the rivets and gave the extra 3/8" I was missing. yes you can still get to the oil fill, its not as close as it looks.


cables reach too, thats a nice surprise.


more mr fixit, the drivers door check mounts were broken and the check was missing, but I found it in the kick panel washing out the truck. I fixed up the mount and woop


all the underhood and dash wiring is complete now except the HVAC, which is pre wired anyway, just need the big 12v tie in. well except the cruise switch, I need to find a pinout here, the guy bought a blazer column and only half installed it so obviously the wiring is slightly different on the cruise switch. if anyone has done the wiring change before maybe shoot me the info.
truck side

column side


my wife is going to a work thing for a week so it will just be me and the beeps, probably no progress in that time except what I get done tomorrow.

[OutlawDrifter]

Just went through all 9 pages...whew, great progress!

[joedoh]

thanks, I wish this one would have gone faster, seems like I spent an awful lot of time this year using my days off for stuff my wife wants to do, but hey, sometimes you are the windshield and sometimes the bug.

I have said a few times the guy I bought the truck from was in the middle of installing a new/used column. the bottom bearing seemed loose, there are three slots that I thought engaged the plastic bearing retainer but there were no tabs on it, it kept sliding out. I thought that a bit weird so I looked at columns online and found their is a cup and wire clip that should be present, but was not. I called around to the auto parts stores and no one had it in stock, the dealer wanted 77 bucks for the two parts.

It occurred to me that lots of jeeps used this exact same steering column, in wranglers and cherokees in the 90s, so maybe a jeep shop would have this part. I called the local jeepers and explained what I was looking for, of course they had it in stock (I said 1992 cherokee), new bearing included for 24 bucks! here is the part number if anyone needs it


I went to install just the two pieces I was missing but for giggles pulled off the original "bearing", quoted because it is just slick plastic and two rubber seals.


it looked pretty used and well, I had the new parts already, so



lock nuts relocked. maybe I can get the front end put on tomorrow.

[lower50's]

Sick! Good thinking

[Advanced Design]

Hmm...only pictures I can see on this page is in post 202. The others show third party hosting temporarily disabled.

[joedoh]

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

Hmm...only pictures I can see on this page is in post 202. The others show third party hosting temporarily disabled.

sorry, its not just you. photobucket got rid of their free hosting for 3rd party linking, it hasnt filtered down to everyone but it will. its a ToS update and they want me to pay 40 dollars a month (almost $500 a year!) to keep pictures up. I deleted my account instead because screw them. essentially what they are doing is picking popular images and monetizing both ends of it, a membership fee for me and ads for everyone to view.

I have already signed up to flickr who doesnt play these games, gives you 1TB space and unlimited bandwidth.

if you use photobucket, you will have this problem soon. they want to hold your images hostage, you will think "geeze I have to upload them somewhere else and edit every post with a picture" well no you dont. delete your photobucket and move on with life.

[99 to Life]

typical corporate company, free use company and government. Reel you in then screw you.

[MalibuSSwagon]

man that sucks, I've been using photobucket for years, but in the last year or so stopped because it got to the point of being unusable due to all the ads, could barely load pages.

[lower50's]

Dam I guess ill have to switch as well.

[gokellurself]

thats so weak, think of how many threads are going to fall useless due to no photos
Posted via Mobile Device

[joedoh]

I dont mind companies making a buck, but dont say you are a free host for 14 years then say you arent.

I got the front clip on and the rad in.
I have been on contract more lately which is good for the purse but not for the projects.

IMG_6573 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_6582 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

I needed the bed from the back yard, luckily my wife was home so I went ahead and did it myself. work smarter not harder, these dollies have paid for themselves several times over.
IMG_6596 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_6597 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

wouldnt start without some gas in the TBI, and even then wouldnt stay running. found a ground off, then still no joy in mudville.
almost by Joe Doh, on Flickr

got this tank from a "running truck that just got wrecked". sigh.
52148113169__C62D2E1E-7776-46FA-85F7-80E7E7BE0C08 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_6598 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_6599 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

ahh much better
finally by Joe Doh, on Flickr


I got this donor from the guy who bought the 65. he came by today to tell me I was imagining all the parts I had to replace and how good the condition was of this truck. (just kidding, although he was surprised at everything that needed replaced) he brought the 65 I sold him for a visit. he had just finished the interior. for those not aware, this is a 65 C10 big window shortbed I put on a 98 S10 4 cylinder chassis.
IMG_6602 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_6603 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

still some work to do today but working on the fuel pump in 100 degrees wore me out a little. I always do first starts outside with a fire extinguiser and hose at the ready.

[99 to Life]

back yard looks great! 65 looks killer too. You use the airjax previously know as little larry valves? goin that route for 51'. keep grinding, that thing will be on the road oh so soon.