Thanks Roger. Still no idea how to staple thru sheet metal!
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Thanks Roger. Still no idea how to staple thru sheet metal!
Well I got this answer on a posting at ford truck enthusiasts, seems to explain it! I want a stapler like that!
"The staples shouldn't be welded. That is the stock configuration. I'm sure there was a guy down the production line that stapled the welting on with a pneumatic/hydraulic stapler. You can glue on the welting after paint. No one will know except you and everyone that comes across this thread."
Steve, if you do a little more research you'll find a bunch of guys who took nominal 0.040" SS safety wire, bent it into a tight staple form with needle nose pliers on 7/16 centers, drilled nominal 0.040" holes through the weatherstrip & fender/cowl, inserted the new SS staple and bent the back side over with pliers. To finish a little hammer & dolly work on each one has them just like OEM.
Wow that's a bit intensive, but then again, when I get there it may be just the ticket! Thanks Roger!
Here are a few shots of the Lokar shifter in place. It's much taller than I thought it would be, but kinda cool! I still have to align the linkage on the c6 with the shift linkage for this kit, but all the grunt work is pretty much done(LOL who knows how hard the next part will be!). I called the Lokar tech line around 1:45 PST and caught a nice fellow right before the end of his work day. He apologized for the instructions which were first done in 2003. He said they were so poor that they are in the process of rewriting them all and adding lots more pictures. On my instructions step 3 is really step 11! Kind of gets confusing until you lay everything out, then it's not so bad. Still trying to figure out park on the transmission is it clockwise all they way foward or counter clockwise. Manged to figure out neutral though! :):rolleyes::3dSMILE:;)
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If you know where neutral is, park is 2 positions away, in the other direction - Lo is 3 positions to the end. If you have the driveshaft in, test your suspected park by trying to move the shaft or the whole vehicle. If your tranny was originally a column shift then the arm "USUALLY" would point down, Floor shift is the opposite. But this is not guaranteed or written in stone, there were quite a few combinations I think, but this might provide a way to test / prove the position.
You also had / have it running right? Driveshaft is in? Warm it up, let it idle and shift it with your foot on the brake. That'll tell you!
I was just joking about the positions and park. It all came from my Tech conversation this afternoon. The guy was telling me left and right vs. passenger/driverside, which deteriorated as we started talking about how to connect the new shift linkage and what direction the rotation of the linkage from 12 o'clock would be. In the end I was so spun around I couldn't remember where park was. But as you stated, it rolls in neutral, and by counting clicks you can find park. Sorry for my sarcasm, I was just frustrated with the instructions in this kit. Fortunately it's fairly straight forward once you delved in.
I was thinking later that you had this rig moving under it's own power.. so you must've known already! But then I couldn't remember if that was true or my other brain cell was misfiring due to the cold temps...
I had the day off today, and went and got a piece of scrap 16 gauge sheet metal to mock up a new tunnel around the shifter. Haven't decided whether to weld it all in, rivet, or just use sheet metal screws and caulking so I can remove it all in the future if need arises. I'm leaning towards welding all the plates above the shift linkage together, and caulking and bolting in to existing pan with sheet metal screws, then, screwing in the lower panel below the linkage and caulking it at the seems so I can access whatever. I like the idea of having it all welded together for strength, and bolted to the floor, and caulked. There is enough access through the cut out around the shift linkage to remove the shifter, if I wanted to pull the transmission.
Here are some mocked up pics
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Great work, Steve! That shifter is really spiffy looking.
This is strange Steve 51 pages and i've never seen your thread before :confused:
Looking good.
Yeah it's been a learning experience with lots of mistakes, but I'm plugging away now! Don (Florida)was pretty inspiring when I first started here, got me interested in hot rods. I find two tools that have been most useful are online hot rod/ ford truck forums, and the welder! Should get some work done today. I'll post this afternoon any progress. The drought were having has made it easy to get time to work on the truck!
Steve you have done darn well considering that you are working in a single car garage or out side in the sun shine. I heard you guys haven't had any rainfall for sometime and your water reservoirs are real low which could be a problem heading into your next summer. I like that shifter too and it certainly gives you more floor space.
Thanks Whip. I just got finished doing a few little things that needed attending to. I cut a piece of rubber hose and wrapped it around the fuel line where it passes through a narrow opening between a cross member and the frame to keep the metal from potentially rubbing there. I then clamped the fuel line down in a few places. to keep it protected inside the frame rail. I was able to adjust the idle on the engine to keep it running without the need to keep my foot on the gas petal. I think I may have to pull the distributor down the line and move it back a few teeth, but it runs ok for now, I then found the original brake return spring and reattached it to the brake petal and drilled a small hole in the frame for the other end so now my brake petal comes back up when I need it. I spent perhaps 20 minutes under the cab section assessing the sheet metal situation and came up with a few ideas on shoring it up and fixing a few other issues related to the cab floor. I also decided to weld up the huge fuel hole in the floor panel vs. trying to plug it up with an after market rubber plug if they even make those! Lastly I worked on the two Toyotas that were left here. The 1993 4x4 with 196K on it needed a new reverse light bulb, and the 2003 Highlander had the driverside brake light out, so I got some replacement bulbs and worked on that. The truck was easy, the highlander may have a short somewhere or a bad connector but I need a second person to press the petal while I figure that one out. So now it's beer thirty, and dinner prep!
A piece of 1X2, 2X4 or whatever you have laying around, cut to length so it wedges between the pedal and the seat back, or the pedal and back of the cab if the seats are out, is a good substitute for a second person, and the stick is much preferred over enlisting your wife into that duty..... Old guys have learned some lessons along the way.....Quote:
Originally Posted by stovens
That's for sure Roger, it's her car that has the problem, she left to visit a sick friend for a few hours that turned into the whole day!
With your wife you'll get into "...are you still holding the pedal down?", wondering why you're not seeing voltage, and the reply will be something like, "Oh, no, did you want me to hold it down?? My leg got tired so I let it go five minutes ago....." Use a stick.
LOL yep that would be the gratitude level too!
If it's a dual element bulb just turn the turn signal on, no need for second person or anything else.
Turn signal works off a third bulb, that I believe is the reverse light. All signal and running lights work, just not the brake lights(#1 and #3 bulbs respectively, and that is with the new bulbs in as well. I have been reading up on the Toyota forums that this is sometimes caused by bent pin connections where the bulb socket screws into the integrated housing. I just need to pull them again when the car gets home and I'm home to see if this is the cause, mind you it would be helpfull to have a pedal pusherer! :)
Well had a little time on the truck over the last few days, got the floor panels screwed in temporarily, and got stuck thinking about the windshield wiper system. I spent probably 8 hours searching online sites for 12 volt motor setups, and figured maybe the cheapest might just be the best with the Speedway setup which uses the stock transmission, and motor mounts. But the I spent 2 hours tearing the garage apart and can't find the transmission I took out! So now here we are three days later with no parts because I'm sure I have the wiper transmission, but haven't a clew what it's buried under! But here is the really good news! I had lost the cordless phone for the garage almost six months ago, and spent numerous hours trying to locate it, but today while searching for the wiper parts, I found the phone. I swear to God there seems to be a lesson in there that I just can't learn, so I decided to let the wiper thing go for a while and work on the 12 volt lighting situation, to where everything uses 1157 bulbs, so I get both brake lights and turn signals, and I am looking into xenon and halogen bulbs for the head lights. Anyway seems to be a good way to waste alot of time on a cold wet day off! Some days we just don't get much done but a lot of thinking! :)
On my uncles 48 F-1 I installed the 12 wiper motor conversion... expensive for sure but worth every cent in my mind... his has only the driver side wiper, does yours have both? If you want the old vacuum one, let me know! I did the 12 volt lighting quite a few years back, don't remember what I did exactly but I think I swapped out the sockets... I just did the socket change for my friend Marks 28 Ford Tudor.
Anyway.. if you need to get your hands on the old wiper setup, just holler....
Thanks 34_40! I am running an entire new wiring system, just trying to keep the old light housing, brake lights, and running lights. As for the offer for the old setup, let me tear apart the garage tomorrow, and if I can't find it I will let you know. My set up is two wipers. The worst is I found the old wiper motor maybe last month!
As I said. We went electric as the vacuum setup just sucks... and his is the one side, drivers only... but if it can help you, it's yours...
I finally got a chance to get back to my wife's highlander today. I took Roger's advice to use a board to push the brake pedal down. Was able to tweak the bulb sockets to get both side brake lights to work. Next I repklaced both head lamps with new Napa super white bulbs that produce 30% more light than stock from Napa Auto parts as well. So saved a few bucks there! Got more parts for the truck. and got bed back on. Now saving pennies for exhaust system for x pipe cross over and Flomaster Delta 50's.
Quote:
Originally Posted by stovens
Been saving my pennies for an exhaust system, and working a lot to generate income. I talked with a custom exhaust company locally and it looks like I'll be able to get a cross over custom system with Flowmasters Delta 50's series mufflers. He wants the bed on to rig the exhaust connection points so I'm thinking of doing something similar to Steve's Gasser willy's build truck. A solid sheet of 1 inch thick cabinet grade plywood, not sure what type of wood, but thinking white oak quarter sawn, if I can find it, glassing the bottom and placing stainless strips on top to make it look like a real plank wood bed. Will save lots of money mucking with old 48 ford truck bed issues, and come out with a nice compromise and a substrate for the hangers for the exhaust. I'll meet with the guy in the next week or so and go from there, but it's a big step towards getting this beast on the road, and keeping the neighbors happy.
Because of the roll pan built into the tail gate of the truck, I think I'll have him have the exhaust tips, come out in front of the rear tires under the fenders, we'll see how that may look , versus exiting under the roll pan to the rear!
Very nice! It sounds like you have a good game plan laid out!
So I had some time to scout the area for hardwood faced plywood. Found a 3/4" sheet of oak plywood that should work just fine. I then bolted the bed t the frame and measured up the plywood for length and for the in bed gas cap. Everything went smoothly and here is the preliminary result. Still have to get steel strips and trim pieces for edges, but I think it'll look nice when done. The wood is just floating with the exception of the fuel cap right now, so don't worry about uneven edges, etc.
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That'll work nice Steve, with your skill in the wood work department.. and the trim installed.. it'll be nice I'm sure.
Steve,
Nothing wrong with the approach, but I expect when your exhaust guy told you he wanted the bed installed he meant the steel. I would be very leery if he starts talking about anchoring your exhaust with wood screws into that plywood.
The steel strips will have carriage bolts, perhaps the exhaust tech was planning to use them for anchors.
I think he wanted to see how much clearance he had to route the pipes but I am thinking with the roll pan maybe going out to the sides, yet there still is a fair amount of rear clearance since the back end is stock height to exit under roll pan, I have a few weeks to figure it out!
Roger don't worry that won't be an option. There are a few steel crossmembers he can attach to on the bed subframe. I think it was more for clearance referance than anything else, also he's worried about room, I guess Flowmaster Delta 50's are some big beasts of mufflers, around 20" long?
Worked some more on the truck today. Found the package of fender bolts so I bolted the old steel fenders on, and cleaned up the shop/garage so I could maneuver around a bit. In all took about three and a half hours but at least I can move around in there now, and less truck parts not on the truck.
Sorry for no recent updates, my friend who owns a tow truck business and who races cars, disappeared from my radar for a while, he's actually just got a new # but for some reason Ma Bell doesn't forward you to that number! Anyway we are now back on track so hopefully the muffler guy can clear some time for my truck, in the mean time, the garden has my full attention. Went after a massive quince bush, and it took two days to dig the stump out. Since I got called off work today, I took an alieve along with a few beers, and just kept at it until the stump started to move, then out came the heavy steel chain, and "Old Faithful" our 1993 Toyota 4x4. It did the job of pulling the stump and remaining roots out of the hole! Gotta love 4x4's. Now my neighbors can see out of the drive way as the back into the street(the bush made that trecherous!) that's it but I'm one step closer to getting the truck on the road.
Nice work on removing your stump. We were going to plant our garden yesterday but it rained like crazy off and on all day.
Did a bunch of stuff today and yesterday. I had bought some rusty fender braces for the front so I hit them with a 3m disc to get the thick rust off and then coated them with an old can of POR 15. The paint is so tough I had to peel the lid off with vice grips, but managed to use up the last of it on the frame and fender braces. While I was mounting the braces today, I noticed a bunch of parts of the frame I never hit with por 15 due to the difficulty of getting at them. I also noticed that you can easily remove the front fender with just 4 bolts that are easy to access versus all the impossible to reach rusted out bolts of the inner fender wall /skirts. Once they were off the whole fenders and inner fenders are now free of the truck making it much easier to work on the fenders, and get rid of the old rusty bolts now that they are on the work bench and I'm right side up instead of under the truck! I also oiled the plywood floor to the bed with a couple coats of clear danish oil and today started top coating it with layers of polyurethane with a uv guard in it.
The front fenders need some work and few patches where they are rusted thru.
I figure I'll leave the front off while the exhaust goes on and work on the fenders getting them ready to prime while they are off. Plus when paint time comes they will be bolted back on with new grade 8 nuts and bolts, making it easier to take apart when it comes time to paint everything
Here are a few shots.
Still amazed at all the bolts holding this thing together.
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The red edge is the sun umbrella above reflecting on the black paint
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Good progress There Steve!
Grade 8 fasteners is overkill, Grade 5 will serve you well.. but, it's your money!:LOL:
Good to see you're making progress. I agree with Mike, when I read your post earlier the Grade 8 statement caught my eye, too. For body bolts even your run of the mill Grade 2 hardware is sufficient, IMO. Tensile strength (psi) for smaller bolts (1/4"-3/4") is nominal 74,000 Grade 2, 120,000 Grade 5 and 150,000 Grade 8. Your fender will rip out before you see 74,000 psi on the bolts, but it's just $$ if Grade 8 makes you feel better.
I'm all about saving money, I just don't want the bolts to crumble over time, but I guess grade 8's are over kill. And I'd have to park it outside for another 66 years to get to the old bolts level of decomposition! :) Thanks for the advice, need to save where I can.
Steve, the issue with bolt selection is tensile strength, not so much corrosion resistance. You could use polished button head SS bolts for corrosion resistance, if that's your concern?
Roger, your first phrase is what I always tell the folks who are afraid to lift their engines with a carburetor plate.Quote:
Originally Posted by rspears