I call it the Bruise..........

[Canonman67]

It was an AC weekend since I didn't have half the things I needed to complete the wiring. I'm running the lines under the inner fender to keep the engine compartment clean looking so here's a shot of the hoses in the engine bay.

Under the fender things don't look too bad and I don't think the shield will be too bulky.

I'm having problems cutting holes in the firewall after spending so much time closing the extraneous holes that were there before.

Mounting the drier is proving to be more of a challenge than I thought it would be.

My problems are not helped by the fact that I seem to have lost the condensor so hose placement is a guess right now.

Not to mention that I also lost the center brace for awhile and now I'm wondering how the condensor is going to fit.

[Canonman67]

A lot of little things have been done. The lights are hooked up and work properly (for the most part).

I'm using some aftermarket halogen housings for the headlights that come with "parking lights" inside them so I hooked them up to the normal parking position while hooking the parking lights up to the remain on with the headlights position. Hopefully that makes sense.

Had a ground problem, first with the left turn signal then the right.

The backup light would dimly flash along with the turn signal when I first hooked them up. Happily a temporary ground has things right and I'll fix it properly when I finish up the wiring.

Work progressed on the AC. The condensor was hung and the hoses were laid out. I rolled the lip on the upper valance so the sharp edge wouldn't grind on the condensor. It also gave me a bit of needed space between it and the radiator.


I'm looking for another style of drier bracket since I seem to have put it where there's almost no sheetmetal to attach it to. I'm going to make that work to my advantage though when installing the high pressure(?) switch on the drier itself. I'll run it through the hole to the inside of the engine bay so it's not hanging in the already overcrowded space behind the grille. Here's the number eight hose going over the top of the upper valance.

Not a bad place for it but I'm going to take out a bit of the radiator bracket and the core support so the body work isn't grinding on it while going down the road. Here's where I plan to make a slot and weld a curved piece back in.

I managed to hang the overflow without any problems. Though I forgot the hose. I also mounted and wired the Cadillac horns. A and C on the driver's side.

D and F on the passenger side.

They're LOUD I'll post a video as soon as I figure out where to host it. I also installed the courtesy light switches. I decided to forgo the factory style and went with a simple ground interrupter type that's been around for ages. I welded a bit of sheetmetal to the original bracket and was good to go.

[Canonman67]

Ranchero50 suggested I paint the inside of the taillights with cheap "chrome" paint to increase their radiance.

It sounded like a good idea to me. I also worked on the cargo light, painting the interior with the same paint and changing out the socket to a dual element and switching to a LED bulb.

Instead of using JBWeld I decided to clamp the socket to the housing with a screw and a nut. This also allowed me to make a more positive ground, something I wanted due to the really thick gasket behind the light.







Using the cargo light as another backup light had an unintended result, I now have a reverse gear indicator on the dash.

I decided to use a pair of LEDs for the interior instead of the stock light and finished the wiring except for the light installation itself. Here's the lights I'm planning on using. I think straight overhead in the headliner where they can be used as a map light also.

I received a bonus with the lights, a pair of nine volt batteries I can use to replace the dead battery in my meter.

I'm using military style battery terminals for some reason. I've convinced myself that it's the way to go, but please don't ask me to defend my position since I seem to have forgotten my line of reasoning.

I'm trying to decide how to run the line to the starter I tried running it next to the other cable going to the fuse block and didn't like it much.

I tried it going back along the top and didn't like that at all. I'm wondering if I can run it under the fender like I did the AC lines. Any opinions? I'm out of ideas. Next weekend I'm going to bite the bullet and drill holes in the firewall to finish the AC. I finished up a lot of the other wiring which needed doing but isn't too exciting for photos.

[Craigerf100]

what did u take this gas tank out of?

It's been two weeks since my birthday holiday and I haven't done much to the truck due to overtime and side jobs on the weekends. I only had a short day in the shop yesterday since I promised a friend I'd have dinner with her so not much got done. I just had time to straighten out the brake lines.

Glue some rubber on the tank traps so they wouldn't squeek.

Finally get a decent coat of undercoating on the cab mount inspection covers and get those put on.

And finally I installed the sending unit in the gas tank.

Like I said not much done. Next week I'll get the fuel lines run to the selector valve and engine compartment, put the rear harness in place behind the gas tank and hopefully get the motor and trans in. Once that's in I can work on the trans mount and driveline. And I STILL need to finish the metal work in the cab and get the interior painted.

[Craigerf100]

and what transmission is that? good work by the way

[Canonman67]

and what transmission is that? good work by the way

The gas tank is the auxiliary tank form my parts truck, a '71 F250 which supplied the doors, motor and a host of other things.

The transmission is a NV4500 out of a '98 GMC one ton, I had to switch the input shaft to a Dodge but other than that with the adapter kit it's really a bolt in.


Everyone chases the Dodge version but you can also use the GM version as long as you get the second generation and change the input shaft. With the auxiliary tank you're pretty much stuck with the GM style anyway as the Dodge is just too long to fit.

[Craigerf100]

cool, why did u choose that transmission?

[Canonman67]

cool, why did u choose that transmission?

I'm building this to haul a small travel trailer so I wanted a lower low for those occasions when I need it but also wanted an overdrive for the majority of the time when I'm not hauling the trailer. The NV4500 gives me that with the added benefit of using the stock clutch linkage. Every other option that I found involved installing a juice clutch.

[Craigerf100]

Cool sounds like you found the right transmission. What all did u do to that FE? 390? Like what cam and Pistons etc etc

[Canonman67]

Cool sounds like you found the right transmission. What all did u do to that FE? 390? Like what cam and Pistons etc etc

Yes a 390, nothing much really, a RV cam stock pistons that spec out to between 9 and 9 1/2 to 1 compression. Probably the lower end of that. A set of shorty headers, Edelbrock intake and carb from the parts truck, Pertronics III ignition and a large single exhaust rounds out the engine build.

[Canonman67]

It's been awhile since I posted so this will be a long one. I hated the chrome sheet metal horn button so with a little cutting and grinding I managed to fit the original to the wheel.

I wanted to provide some clearance for the ac hose on the core support so I cut a slot, then

bent a channel and fitted it to the support.

It looked pretty good in the raw after I ground off everything that didn't look like core support.

It looked even better when I saw I had accomplished what I wanted to.

Next up was the throttle, I lost the trapeze that was on the parts truck so I went with a straight threaded rod and ball joint assembly.

It was off center and I didn't want that with the cruise control so I made a spacer for the pedal rod out of an old hinge.

Some 5/16 brake line over the threaded rod and it looks pretty good.

Straight too!

Another angle showing the spacer.

I spent a long time looking for pulleys in the wrecking yards and came up dry so I "settled" for these aluminum billet style from CVF Racing.



Some Rustoleum Rusty Metal primer for the core support...........

............ some satin black

and it was ready for the radiator and installation.

I hit the inner fenders with rust converter and rusty metal primer......

...............rattle can undercoat..............

............and more of the satin black.............

...............to end up with an engine bay I can be fairly proud of.

Excuse the blurry photo, I finally got serious about installing the AC.

This vent here is why I chose this model.

It took me forever to work up the nerve to dril the holes for the hoses.

But I finally did it.

My grand scheme of running the AC lines under the inner fender is finally accomplished.



I don't think the guard to protect the hoses is going to be too hard to fabricate. I think I'll do it in two pieces to make it easier.

I'm often asked why does it take so lng to do something simple like paint and bolt on the engine tin. I'm not sure about anyone else but for me it's things like this..............

I start bolting things together and realize the bolts look ugly like the one on the left, so I then have to clean the 57 bolts that I need so they look at least like the ones on the right and I don't feel so bad about using them. And there goes another hour or two of my life. I enjoy it though so I guess I'm really NOT complaining.

To top things off I temporarily hung the drivers fender just to see what it looked like.

Yep, still ugly but I'll paint it next year after I've shaken down all the mechanicals.

[sargentrs]

Excellent work! Really appreciate all the photos on the AC installation.

[Canonman67]

So this weekend is was all about buttoning things up so I can get on the road. Things like installing plugs, wires, heater box (I removed it to drill holes for the AC, more on that in a bit) gauge panel etc..

I wasn't too happy to see an oil leak after filling the crankcase. Happily I discovered that though I had two leaks they weren't serious. The big one I hadn't tightened the drain plug on the pan and to fix the second I had to turn the rear pan bolts another quarter turn. I finally got around to installing the gauge panel.

I'm working on the lower trim panel to complete that picture. Though I don't have the seat in the new office is rather appealing.

Bonehead move of the month. I removed the heater box so I could drill the holes for the AC. I kept pushing the evap unit up to line things up only to discover when I reinstalled the heater box that it didn't hang like that in reality.

While the small line still works I now need to fill and redrill the return line hole. How was you weekend?

[SeapineF37]

nice work! really coming together.

[Canonman67]

Thanks Seapine, I'm planning to be on the road by the end of the month.