ML builds an old truck

[Howie]

Asymmetrical headlights, new design trend!

[Monsterlover]

Adapt and overcome.

I just took these to show the alignment mechanism underneath the headlight housing. Pretty smart. Just a spherical dent that adjusts in all directions.

PXL_20231202_201958973 by Kevin Ames, on Flickr

The piece I designed and machined to fit that dent
PXL_20231202_202005751 by Kevin Ames, on Flickr

The issue is the second headlight housing is a completely different design than the driver's side. I need to make myself a one quarter inch spacer to fit behind the headlight so that it stays tight against the trim ring. Not a big deal, I will 3D print it. I still had to assemble it all just so I could look at it.

PXL_20231202_203107471 by Kevin Ames, on Flickr

PXL_20231202_203118834 by Kevin Ames, on Flickr

PXL_20231202_203131728.MP by Kevin Ames, on Flickr

[1.21GW]

Meh.  With 750hp+ no one is going to see the asymmetric lights, just a blur.

[Monsterlover]

Meh.  With 750hp+ no one is going to see the asymmetric lights, just a blur.

Here's hoping

[ducpainter]

Looks good from my house 😀.

[koko64]

Looks good from my house 😀.

And mine.

[ZLTFUL]

[Monsterlover]

Tail light time. One of my requirements was that the tail lights were an all in one unit. And given the amount of technology in the front of the truck for lighting, I wanted the rear to match. So that meant LED

I ended up using one of those light bars that's supposed to go between a truck's bumper and tailgate as a supplemental brake light turn signal setup.

This is all LED and will act as running lights, brake lights, reverse lights, and sequential turn signals.

My problem was that the area under the tailgate was not anywhere near flat.

So I ended up fitting some 16 gauge square channel behind that area.  Using some strategically placed clamps I would get it flat and then drill a hole underneath for a cleco clip. I worked my way from one side to the other and while it isn't perfect, it's pretty good.

The LED light bar is meant to mount with double-sided sticky tape or these chintzy little clips that came with it. I wanted to use the tape.

My issue was that the wires exit this unit on the left side and not the back. The last thing I wanted was a big bundle of wire coming off the thing being visible.

So engineered a thin strip for the light to stick onto and also made some small cover boxes for each end of the light bar. The one on the left side has an opening in the back for the wiring to exit. You have to get underneath the truck to see it.

I ended up mounting this strip to my square channel via some strategically built right angle brackets that are welded to the light strip and our bolted to the square channel using riv nuts.

After everything was fit I shot some primer on the stuff under the truck just to get some coverage on it and clear coated the light bar strip because I liked the bare metal look for the end caps.

I'm super happy with the way it came out. The goal was to have the light bar essentially floating underneath the rear panel and that's basically the way it looks to me.

PXL_20231210_195757164 by Kevin Ames, on Flickr

PXL_20231210_195815532.MP by Kevin Ames, on Flickr

PXL_20231216_182904144 by Kevin Ames, on Flickr

PXL_20231216_182925030 by Kevin Ames, on Flickr

PXL_20231216_185631458.MP by Kevin Ames, on Flickr

PXL_20231216_195058453 by Kevin Ames, on Flickr

PXL_20231217_200306913 by Kevin Ames, on Flickr

PXL_20231217_200318922 by Kevin Ames, on Flickr

PXL_20231217_200325537 by Kevin Ames, on Flickr

PXL_20231223_230434644.MP by Kevin Ames, on Flickr

PXL_20231217_203917679 by Kevin Ames, on Flickr

PXL_20231223_230831634 by Kevin Ames, on Flickr

PXL_20231223_230840220 by Kevin Ames, on Flickr

PXL_20231223_230849491 by Kevin Ames, on Flickr

PXL_20231223_230810939 by Kevin Ames, on Flickr

PXL_20231223_230904247.MP by Kevin Ames, on Flickr

Now to figure out how to mount pedals...

[Monsterlover]

Big day tomorrow. I'm going to test fit my intake and the air/water intercooler that fits into it.

Horsepower soon

[Monsterlover]

It doesn't fit. Before I ordered parts I checked with the tape measure and that told me that things would fit, barely.  That seems not to be the case.

On the upside it's very close. Some slight trimming of the hood hinge flange and a flange on the firewall and I think we're in business.

10lbs in a 5lb bag all over again

[Monsterlover]

Just got done weighing it.

Right around 3000 dry.

I'm pretty happy with that.

[Monsterlover]

Working on figuring out pedals. I need a master cylinder (,3 required) to confirm it won't hit the steering column. I got one coming that I know will work for the clutch and it's the same size as the ones that will be used for braking.

However, I need to know the weight to order the correct size bore brake masters. That was accomplished with the bathroom scale, and some boards then a little math. Basically, the tire is positioned 25% on the board so I multiply the scale reading by four.

I tried it on myself and it's accurate to within 15 lb which is good enough for me.

PXL_20231225_185511435 by Kevin Ames, on Flickr

PXL_20231230_203612306.MP by Kevin Ames, on Flickr

Came out to approximately 2900 pounds dry with no wiring or radiator or fluids.

Somewhere in the midst of all this, on Christmas Day I got a chip in my eye. I have no idea when it went in there, I suspect it fell out of my hair or something. By the time my eye was bothering me, it had been a couple hours since I've done anything with metal or tools.

I 100% do not recommend ever experiencing this. Nobody was open on Christmas and I was trying to avoid the ER because of cost and time. I tried to wait it out until my eye doctor opened the following morning but only made it to 2:30 a.m. I was in agony.

I went to the ER and waited from 3:00 a.m. until 8:00 a.m. for them to take me back only for them to not be able to get the chip out.

They sent me to a local eye doctor who dug it out with a needle and then went in with some kind of Dremel tool to polish the rust out.

It still doesn't feel right but it's far better than it was on Christmas.

Zoom in, the chip is basically dead center in my pupil. Before anyone asks, the brown spots are normal. That particular eye is two colors. Been that way since I was a kid.

Given the choice between this or covid again I would take covid even though that was absolutely horrible.

PXL_20231226_014512537 by Kevin Ames, on Flickr

Back to fun stuff.  Time to test fit this intake and see what needs to get cut for it to clear everything. Holley makes three versions of this and this is the one with the longest runners. I went that way for low-end torque.

I'm artificially limiting the RPM on this engine to around 6500. Even though the cam and intake will allow power to be made higher than that. I'm trying to keep the RPM down to help it live longer.  Traction is already going to be a huge issue.

This is a two-piece intake and as it happens to be, tick performance makes a sweet air to water intercooler that fits between the top and bottom halves.

Some minor trimming of the hood hinge flange and firewall flange was required but not much. It is a very tight fit and there is little clearance. May remove a bit more from the hood at a later date.

I had the wife help me pull the hood and grill this afternoon. Tomorrow I'm going to pull the engine in transmission and work on cleaning up some of the underneath areas of the cab and firewall while I wait for my brake master to show up. Sorry, clutch master.

PXL_20231230_175054256.MP by Kevin Ames, on Flickr

PXL_20231231_185144875 by Kevin Ames, on Flickr

PXL_20231231_185652685.MP by Kevin Ames, on Flickr

PXL_20231231_193723023 by Kevin Ames, on Flickr

PXL_20231231_193800994 by Kevin Ames, on Flickr

PXL_20231231_193945729 by Kevin Ames, on Flickr

PXL_20231231_203200987.MP by Kevin Ames, on Flickr

The hood closes. I can fit a piece of paper between the hood hinge and the top of the intake.

The motor mounts are solid so it shouldn't move around much

Horsepower soon.

[ducpainter]

Been in several hospitals getting shit taken out of my eyes. It always seemed to happen when I was taking a layer off.

No fun.

[Popeye the Sailor]

I recall the Dremel of eye doom. Never in the history of "hold still" did that phrase mean so much. 

[Monsterlover]

Not a whole lot to report these days. Work has been slow and somewhat sporadic because the shop has been taking up all my free time.

Stupid shop.

I've been trying to get the floor pans finished up so that I can get them coated and permanently installed. That's my current dream at least.

The floor pans inside the vehicle I'm going to have sprayed with line x.

Also fabricated some pans that mount underneath to fully close off the grid structure I created. Those I'm just going to spray with some primer and hit them with rubberized undercoating.

Additionally it looks like I'll be pulling the cab back off to address some surface rust underneath the original floor. That will have to get cleaned up and then sprayed with rubberized under coating.

Anyway here's a picture of the passenger floor pans in their permanent location but not permanently installed, obviously. Cleco clips are amazing. What a lifesaver. No idea how you could do something like this without them.

PXL_20240218_230647976 by Kevin Ames, on Flickr