Did some more work on the throttle pedal and it's probably as good as it can get. The electric speedo and temp gauge are not working so I have to figure that one out.
Printable View
Did some more work on the throttle pedal and it's probably as good as it can get. The electric speedo and temp gauge are not working so I have to figure that one out.
I hope you get it all figured out, spring is upon us. And that will be a very neat truck.
Temp gauge - you didn't use Teflon tape on the sensor that screws into the block/intake, did you? It gets it's ground through the housing, and tape can insulate the connection.
I hope I wasn't that dumb, but it's possible! I'll see if I can see it, it's in a bad place to get to.
Attachment 75884Attachment 75885Attachment 75886
It's super hard to even see the temp sender, I have to use a mirror. I tested the body of it to ground and it was good so I'm thinking it's not insulated with tape. I finished up a hitch receiver for it, it just hangs under the license plate so putting the plate on a hinge so it can flip up when in use.
Got my speedo working yesterday, I didn't have the wire from the ECM hooked up! Did a cal on it and then pulled the needle off and eye balled it to the right spot on the Stude gauge and it works perfect. My temp gauge is dead I think, the sender changes resistance but the gauge never moves at all. All the other electric gauges move when they get power, so I'm going to buy another one.
You did a great job on the hitch receiver! Beefy and very clean design. I'm impressed.
Thanks Roger! I've been trying to figure out how to securely lock this thing. Stude only put a lock on the passenger side, what a pain. I'm starting to think I may go with Bear Claw electric latch. It'll lock and pop open the doors with a remote, seems like it would be harder to steal that way. Any one use Bear Claw stuff?
Just looked some more and realized the electric remote setup won't work so I'll have to decide if it's worth the work to install the manual ones.
The left door should lock from the inside, both my 36 and 40 did, and with a bench seat it's not too much of a hassle. It appears your door lock is below the handle which makes it difficult for the left side.
Many old cars had the lock function built into the same handle inside. One rotation would open the door latch, the opposite direction would set the latch to lock. And I think all vehicles "back in the day" only used a exterior door lock cylinder on the passenger side. I know it was a law on the books here in Mass. to only enter/exit from the curbside door. Even into the 1980's it was still on the books. Maybe you already knew all this???
Both of mine are fiberglass bodies and came with bear claw latches already installed, but I used the safety latch kit from Rocky Hinge on the '33 that has suicide doors, and also used their front drive setup on the SBF in the '33 coupe, and the safety latches on the suicide doors - https://www.rockyhinge.com/ The dad started making street rod hinges, than son Brad got his engineering degree and they expanded their line. Great products, great family business. You might take a look at their stuff and see if there's anything that works for you.
Roger, thanks for the heads up on Rocky Hinge, I ordered their locking latches yesterday. Didn't want to use China made latches. Thinking I'll do electric actuators for the lock part, get an alarm with remotes.
Very cool! If you have any questions about the installation don't hesitate to call them. Brad is a great guy, very much committed to their stuff working right, in my experience.Quote:
Originally Posted by v8nutz
I used them on my 40 Ford. I still have to set up a lock rod. IDK if I'll lock the car though. I'd rather the dirt bags open the door rather than knock a window out............
Been busy on the truck. Decided I should finish fitting the bed wood, I had it so it would sit in there but it wasn't mounted or finished around the edges. So made some mounting strips with rivet nuts, the rest of the stainless strips are held in with washes with rivet nuts and a stainless screw. It all in there now and mounted solid.
I also got some nylon tailgate straps and installed them.
Attachment 75923Attachment 75924Attachment 75925Attachment 75926
So installing the trex bed wood got me thinking about all the heat from the exhaust and the possible melting of the wood. Also noticed the floor on the passenger side getting hot on a warm day. So spent a few days making heat shields, a pain the rear for sure. Used my rivet tool like crazy on all this stuff, if you don't have one GET ONE! How did I live without it? Feel the same about my led headlight.
Attachment 75927Attachment 75928Attachment 75929Attachment 75930
I haven't been enjoying the ride quality, it's very firm. At first I thought springs but they should actually be light because they were meant to be used with factory air shocks. Figured it must be the KYB gas-a-just. I've used KYB on previous cars and really liked them but these are too much. I took off the back today and drove around and it was noticeably softer. Thinking I will get some OEM type shocks unless anyone has a better suggestion. I noticed with the back shocks off it dropped about an inch.
Changed the shocks yesterday to OEM spec Monroe, they are still gas shocks. Disappointed that the ride is still very firm, it is not as bad but I was hoping for better. Might have something to do with this truck being about a thousand pounds lighter than the Explorer was, so the valving is set up for that.
I think you're right, the (likely always) unloaded truck is rear end light, so you don't need much damping action at all. I question gas shocks for it, and would be tempted to try a regular old school shock on it.Quote:
Originally Posted by v8nutz
Yes, these are oem type shocks, not sure if they make a regular shock for this. I used Explorer front but the back mounts were modified to keep the bed low so late 80's 4runner shocks on the back. I could have some Bilstein's revalved for a chunk of change I'm sure. I did that on the Miata and the first valving was like a rock, the 2nd is maybe too soft but I didn't want to keep pouring money in.
I just did a bunch of googling and it seems there is no hydraulic shock for the Explorer. You can buy some for classic cars.
So I found one reasonably priced old school hydro shock out there and it looks like I can get a size that will work even though they don't list them for Explorer. It's the Skyjacker hydro 7000, they boast it has a soft ride and is non gas charged. They are geared toward off road. I think I'm going to return the Monroes and get them.
I've run Skyjacker's on my Jeep for years. They've been great for me and stood up to offroad flexing back when I did more of it!
I got my door latches installed. Man that was a lot of work! All the the little arms that had to be fabbed to hook up the door handles and the lock. I have the electric lock motors installed and tested but still have to install my alarm to get the actual use of them.
Attachment 75951Attachment 75952Attachment 75953
Don't make the alarm real sensitive, it can drive you nuts and depending on brand can run the battery down.
Just a basic Viper, I've used them on several cars and been happy with them. Never set up electric locks before though.
Well, it certainly looks complicated enough to make you want to pull out some hair.
But I bet it works a treat!
I got the Skyjacker hydro shocks on and they are as soft as I'm going to get. It still rides kind of firm but better. One of the main issues is the front is about a 1/4 off it's bump stop, the lack of a gas shock let it drop down further. I tightened up the handy torsion adjusters some to raise it and it has helped the ride. I ordered some Belltech progressive bump stops that will give me some more travel and a softer bottoming.
Good news followed by really bad news. I got my alarm in and have the door locks working. The really bad news- it wouldn't start. The check engine light is not lighting up and the fuel pump wasn't working. I traced down a blown fuse for the PCM power but it keeps blowing the fuse. I put a 15 amp in there and it gets really hot as soon as I start the engine. Still no check engine light. I am completely baffled.
I did think I heard an electrical sound yesterday when I was wiring the alarm, sounded like it came from the engine compartment and lasted a few seconds. I wasn't even sure if it came from the truck but now I'm wondering although I have no idea what that could be. Pretty depressing.
I think I'd backtrack and unwire the alarm and locks, labeling all of the connections, and see if your problem goes away. Sounds like a mismatch of components, like a hidden ground or sneak circuit in your alarm system.
I did a lot of wiring the last few days. I wired up the Vintage air relays too. Had it all looking organized. Agree something must be grounded. God I hate trouble shooting wiring! My fear is I fried some random thing that will be hard to find.
I worked through the wiring problem, I think it was an undersized wire going to the LS power fuse block getting kinked and causing a high resistance. I replaced the power wires going there with a couple beefy ones and it's good now. Got my Vintage Air system all wired in and the controls and vents in place, just have to charge it up.
Installed the shorter front suspension bumpers too and along with the shocks it's riding better. I think if I raised it up some more it would ride even better, but I do like the current stance so I'll wait and see.
Finally tracked down my AC leaks, had to buy a sniffer tool to do it. It was one hose fitting that attached to the condenser and one quick connect fitting on my AC manifold hose. The thrill of victory turned to the agony of defeat on the test drive when my water pump sprung a leak. The replacement appeared to leak too (made in USA Melling) so I have another on order.
While it's down I decided to cut down the rear lowering blocks to raise the rear about 3/8" since it had dropped with the hydro shocks. Used the table saw with a guide and multiple thin passes, turned out nice. I have a 1/4 inch lowering block leftover if anyone need one LOL.
So happy, went for a long drive with no coolant leaking, AC doing it's thing. Put on a Gates water pump since the made in USA Melling leaked on me. AC pump makes a little noise, seems like my GM ones in the past did too.
Discovered I had only put in two hand tight bolts to hold on the clutch fan, yikes! That could have been ugly.
The ride height looks perfect to me now, glad I did lowering block mod.
I've wanted the optional chrome radio speaker grill but they are hard to find and expensive so I decided to build one myself. I made it from 1/4 inch aluminum and cut it out on my wood bandsaw. Then many hours of sanding to get them to shape. It was tricky to weld together, welding delicate stuff is not so easy with aluminum. It came out pretty much like I'd hoped.
Looks great!!
I agree, looks like that grille was time consuming but the results are worth it
Wish I had welding skills, you did a beautiful job!
Thanks, truthfully I'm not a great welder but I can get by. This was way too much work but it was something challenging to do and I could work on it in my garage with the swamp cooler going when it's too hot to do much else. I can get some things done outside until maybe noon at the most then it's not tolerable.
