dimlight65 Posted April 15, 2023 Report Share Posted April 15, 2023 (edited) Ok, so I think this is the final location for the fusebox... and relay box. We'll scrape and POR15 that battery tray with the same grey as the roof before final install, of course. Then we had a look at the steering column. I took no pictures during the process (John may have), but we trimmed away a bunch of superfluous schmutz and slid some corrugated "Robot Arm from 'Lost in Space'" material around it. The steering wheel adapter seals it off nicely. The dash hides some other ills. and ties the room together. I reinstalled the quick release with new hardware. And replaced the rusty black oxide screws in the wheel with stainless when I removed the "Push to Talk" horn buttons. And then I was thinking, "There's something missing from the camper section of this van. I just can't think what it could be." Oh! Right! It doesn't have a purple Hookah back there! Edited April 15, 2023 by dimlight65 1 2 Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted April 20, 2023 Report Share Posted April 20, 2023 Did a little more work on the dash today. Made a panel for the headlight, wiper, turn signal and hazard switches... Then almost immediately bumped into the T/S stalk and broke it off. I was a bit annoyed. I reconfigured this panel and replaced the T/S switch with a horn button and relocated the T/S switch next to the clock from many many pages back... but took no pictures of that. Then I made a blockoff plate for the old A/C vent on the passenger side... and a plate for the heater vents in the center (a USB charging port is going in between the two vents)... We then recajiggered the defroster holes to fit registers to them. And finally made the holes for the heater fan switch and temperature control cable... Knob goes out for warm... Knob goes in for... less warm. We are going to paint it all wrinkle finish black before final install... Stay tuned! 1 Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted April 22, 2023 Report Share Posted April 22, 2023 (edited) Played with a few things at the shop today. I decided I didn't like the defroster register plates under the dash after all. Trimmed them to go outside. Passenger side turned out ok... Driver's side... not so much! I think once the dash is sprayed with some wrinkle finish black... it will probably still look like ass. Fine! We'll redo that one! Looking along the dash from the sides... Yeah, ok... Yeah... no. Gotta replace that one. I also decided to "dead head" the water to the heater core in the summer rather than buying a bypass valve. No water to the heater core... Yes water to the heater core... I have a cable operated shutoff valve for fine tuning the temperature when this valve is open, but I have doubts whether it would stop the flow adequately for summertime driving comfort. Then I had a look around for other things to do. I saw the panel I made for the holes in the dash surrounding the heater core and decided to do something with it. I cleaned it. (Yup, it works!) And hung it up for a coat of paint. I added some switch condoms to the turn signal and hazard switches... And then did a little experimentation with dumbassery... Once I realized it was going to be 60° off, I put the quick release and flat-bottom wheel back on. Oh well. I might put it on something someday. Edited April 23, 2023 by dimlight65 1 Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted April 22, 2023 Report Share Posted April 22, 2023 (edited) Oh yeah! While I was working goofing off, a pair of impossibly smol voids crawled out from under the toolbox. I managed to cuddle them until their mother arrived to claim them. I'd bring them home, but my cats would probably not like it... and I know my brother-in-law wouldn't! Edited April 22, 2023 by dimlight65 2 Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted April 27, 2023 Report Share Posted April 27, 2023 I was worried that mama cat would relocate the kittens after I handled them and that I'd never see them again. She didn't! They were still under the toolbox and came out to see me today! And despite this, I actually accomplished a few things on the van! First off, a different switch condom arrived for the turn signals. I mounted it up: Off: Right turn: Left turn: I then discovered that installing this panel was NOT a one man operation! But once John arrived, we got it pookied and installed. We came up with a design for a remote filler on the cooling system, but I didn't take enough pictures to tell the story properly. We should have something to show y'all Saturday Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted April 27, 2023 Report Share Posted April 27, 2023 (edited) Oh yeah! I also installed the air horns... ok, I decided on a totally inaccessible location, drilled the holes, and John installed the air horns! Edited April 27, 2023 by dimlight65 Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted April 28, 2023 Report Share Posted April 28, 2023 On 4/26/2023 at 9:14 PM, dimlight65 said: Yeah, the more I look at this location, the more I think I am going to move the pump. It's under a gap in the seal of the hood and I'm sure it's already full of water. We'll see. Quote Link to comment
EDM620 Posted April 28, 2023 Report Share Posted April 28, 2023 On 4/19/2023 at 9:08 PM, dimlight65 said: Knob goes in for... less warm. Old Skool, like my old Cj5.. very un-technical and "quaint" 🤣 1 Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted April 29, 2023 Report Share Posted April 29, 2023 23 minutes ago, EDM620 said: Old Skool, like my old Cj5.. very un-technical and "quaint" 🤣 Yes, but I realized in the middle of the night that it's not going to work like that after all. The way the cable attaches and operates, it will be the opposite... knob goes in for warm and out for less warm. Needles to say, I'm not terribly chuffed with that. We're going to look at it again and see if we can make it work right. Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted April 29, 2023 Report Share Posted April 29, 2023 (edited) 20 hours ago, dimlight65 said: Yes, but I realized in the middle of the night that it's not going to work like that after all. The way the cable attaches and operates, it will be the opposite... knob goes in for warm and out for less warm. Needles to say, I'm not terribly chuffed with that. We're going to look at it again and see if we can make it work right. "On closer inspection, these are loafers." But, on closer inspection of the valve, it will work correctly. So John made some new defroster register surrounds, as I knew he would. Thank you sir. And in place... Then he started applying the paint As promised, I relocated the horn's air pump. Then we added some purple grip tape to the passenger footwell firewall to protect my half-assed paintjob. Edited April 29, 2023 by dimlight65 Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted April 29, 2023 Report Share Posted April 29, 2023 Man! You can't have shit in Detroit! Arrived at the shop today to find the filler neck removed and 20 gallons of gas gone! Just kidding! I told the guy in the next shop over that he could have the gas if he would do the dirty, smelly job of getting it out of the tank for me! Now we can drop the tank and backdate it to a carburetor fuel pump. 1 Quote Link to comment
EDM620 Posted April 30, 2023 Report Share Posted April 30, 2023 7 hours ago, dimlight65 said: You can't have shit in Detroit! April 1 was a while ago dude... Cat converter theft is a big issue here, B-i-L just got snookered last week, on his old F250. Video shows it happening, takes only like 30 seconds with a battery powered sawzall. Bastahds. 1 Quote Link to comment
Duncan Posted May 1, 2023 Report Share Posted May 1, 2023 Same here in SoCal. Cat thefts are rampant here now. They even have stations set up here to engrave your converter for free.. Fortunately for me, my daily driver is so low, most jacks wont fit under it to lift it.. Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted May 1, 2023 Author Report Share Posted May 1, 2023 1 hour ago, Duncan said: Fortunately for me, my daily driver is so low, most jacks wont fit under it to lift it.. This was my defense. 👍 Wife's is up high, though. Guess they don't want Mazda converters... 😋 Quote Link to comment
EDM620 Posted May 2, 2023 Report Share Posted May 2, 2023 Theivin' Bahstads, aided by recyclers that buy them 2 Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted May 4, 2023 Report Share Posted May 4, 2023 Yanked the radiator out today. So I could install a new aluminum crossflow unit... It is a couple (ok, three) inches shorter, but if it is sufficient to cool a small block Chevy, it should cool a small block Dodge. Also, I feel like crossflow otter cool better. Then I made a bracket to install the heater control valve. And installed the heater control valve. Meanwhile, John began laying down the wrinkle finish on the dash. We're working on an interesting solution to the "The heater is higher than the radiator, how are we going to fill it?" problem. Well, I think it's interesting at least. Stay tuned. 1 Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted May 6, 2023 Report Share Posted May 6, 2023 (edited) On 5/3/2023 at 10:09 PM, dimlight65 said: We're working on an interesting solution to the "The heater is higher than the radiator, how are we going to fill it?" problem. And I think it turned out pretty well. Made a plate with bulkhead fittings, nipples, and pipe plugs... Bunged on a bracket to keep the fittings from rotating... And mounted it here... The heater hoses were routed to two T's with a leg of each going up through the scuttle... The front (lower) hose will fill directly into the water jacket in the intake manifold, while the rear (upper) vents the air out through the water pump. And they go back down to the donk like this... It might take a week or two to fill the system, but it should bleed out all the air in the process. Edited May 6, 2023 by dimlight65 1 Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted May 6, 2023 Report Share Posted May 6, 2023 I also relocated the air filter to here... Behind that nice big hole in the radiator support... John then added a fresh air duct to the bodywork right in front of it... It came out perfect! He also glassed up the old tachometer mounting holes in the dash and applied another few coats of wrinkle finish black... We're slowly making progress. 1 Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted May 11, 2023 Report Share Posted May 11, 2023 It was raining today so not a lot happened. I decided I wanted the rest of the world's eyes to bleed lower power consumption, so I got some LED headlight bulbs. They hooked up to the connectors... and popped into the housings just fine... What was not so fine was the locking rings... The one on the right has no internal retaining bits anymore, and the one on the left... is the one on the left. We're going to see if we can find a good set somewhere. The googles and amazons are not being very helpful. 2 Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted May 12, 2023 Author Report Share Posted May 12, 2023 22 hours ago, dimlight65 said: What was not so fine was the locking rings... We're going to see if we can find a good set somewhere. 2 Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted May 13, 2023 Report Share Posted May 13, 2023 Today we got the radiator bolted in fully. First, I made a bracket to rigidify the top bracket. It wasn't quite enough. So, I made a bracket to rigidify the bottom bracket. That was a lot better! John added some felt pads to stiffen it up some more... And then took some steel wool to the top of the rad to make it prettier. We hunkered all the bolts and brackets and people and motors and shit... And I think we're good to go. Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted May 13, 2023 Report Share Posted May 13, 2023 Oh, I intend to make a baffle or shield or duct or... whatever you want to call it, to go from the right side of that oil cooler to the left side of the radiator... ...to prevent the hot air coming off the oil cooler from going through the radiator. It will make more sense once you see it. Quote Link to comment
EDM620 Posted May 14, 2023 Report Share Posted May 14, 2023 4 hours ago, dimlight65 said: And then took some steel wool to the top of the rad to make it prettier. I would think the aluminum would've been anodized or clear protected somehow, and scrubbing the alum might lead to early oxidization. Dunno for sure. Gold maybe?? 4 hours ago, dimlight65 said: We hunkered all the bolts and brackets FWIW, I learned a trick to mark the bolts with a paint pen across the nut & threads once you're done - 2 benefits - first you can tell at a glance that yup you tightened them up already, and second if something backs off it's easy to see which is the culprit. 2 Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted May 14, 2023 Report Share Posted May 14, 2023 1 hour ago, EDM620 said: 6 hours ago, dimlight65 said: And then took some steel wool to the top of the rad to make it prettier. I would think the aluminum would've been anodized or clear protected somehow, and scrubbing the alum might lead to early oxidization. Dunno for sure. Gold maybe?? LOL, he was actually just trying to get rid of the residual rust left behind by a drill bit that got rained on. I think the Chinesium radiator was actually just painted silver, to be honest. We'll see. 1 hour ago, EDM620 said: 6 hours ago, dimlight65 said: We hunkered all the bolts and brackets FWIW, I learned a trick to mark the bolts with a paint pen across the nut & threads once you're done - 2 benefits - first you can tell at a glance that yup you tightened them up already, and second if something backs off it's easy to see which is the culprit. I've seen that done. It's not a bad idea. I probably should be doing it. I'm not going to, of course, because I'm far too lazy... but, y'know... I should. Sort of thing. 1 Quote Link to comment
EDM620 Posted May 15, 2023 Report Share Posted May 15, 2023 23 hours ago, dimlight65 said: I've seen that done. It's not a bad idea. I probably should be doing it. I'm not going to, of course, because I'm far too lazy... but, y'know... I should. Sort of thing. well that is better than just bullshitting, cause well SHINY! 1 Quote Link to comment
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