Finally got around last week to installing some of GRM's favorite Barrina LED lights. I put up the same lights in my shop in SC but man what a difference do these make and what a difference good light does for motivating you to actually work on your projects. I also unloaded all of my metal that has been sitting in the bed of the truck since mid-June and it is no longer squatted like a 25 year old Carolina Tahoe.
The third bay will get lights eventually once the truck moves under it's own power next spring.
Looks great with the added lights. I had been thinking about this lately and wondering how it's going! Feel you on the cold, lately..
Always happy to see this at the top. So what's the status of the truck? Or the plans you have for it?
Wiring and fuse panel needs to be cleaned up and redone. I have a lower rad support/front lower cross member to weld in that will pull the radiator forward and more upright so I can fit an actual fan shroud. I've also been thinking about ordering a LS7 flywheel and pressure plate, I hate this South Bend Stage 2 pressure plate in the truck right now engages. The pedal is so heavy and engagement is such a small window with the 6 puck clutch.
In reply to RacetruckRon :
I know it's a couple bucks more than an LS7 setup, but I'd recommend taking a look at the McLeod RST. I absolutely love the one in my C5. Light pedal pressure, super easy engagement, and it takes all the power.
In reply to obsolete :
I've heard great things about that clutch. My trouble is the CD009 with its stupid 24 spline input shaft really limits my clutch choices. If I could go back 5 years I would just shell out for a T56.
In reply to RacetruckRon :
Ohh, right. Which disc do you use with the LS7 flywheel and pressure plate then?
In reply to obsolete :
This is the ACT puck style clutch I have currently, it's what came with my adapter kit and it's what I was planning to use with an LS7 setup. Link
Fabbot offers something similar and claims there's "drives just like stock" so I'm wondering if my really heavy pedal is coming from this uprated South Bend pressure plate. I can handle the aggressive bite of the ceramic disk but the +70lb clutch press makes that bite really hard to control.
An odd shaped shelf has been dusted off. Hello truck, are you going to be on the road in 2023? We will see.
It's been over a year and a half since I started ripping the wiring out to redo it. I've been staring at this sheet of aluminum with a cheap fuse panel and a handful of relays for way too long.
I did change the fuse panel out for a slightly nicer panel than the cheap amazon special that had aluminum fuses that bent on installation. New panel is from Blue Sea Systems which is the same company that made the bus bars I originally used in 2020. They seem to use better materials than the really cheap chinese components and should be less of a risk for a thermal event.
Mostly done with the relay wiring after a couple hours of planning and crimping, then it's onto chassis integration. I think I have a solution for the clutch issues worked out but more on that once I actually have parts in hand.
In reply to RacetruckRon :
Ahhh wiring. Fun times.
Only thing I would change is goto the bare terminals and heatshrink. So much cleaner packaging imo.
Ranger50 said:
In reply to RacetruckRon :
Ahhh wiring. Fun times.
Only thing I would change is goto the bare terminals and heatshrink. So much cleaner packaging imo.
I was just thinking about that last night at like 1:30 when I was 80% done. Next time, next time.
How I hope most of my wiring turns out.
In reply to Ranger50 :
That looks great! I've come to actually enjoy wiring. I just need to get myself in the right mindset before doing it or I end up getting frustrated and I end up cutting corners.
Uncobbling continues! First time the floor has been clear of random parts since sometime in late 2021.
Here you go electrical panel, this is your new home. Please be happy here. I think I finally understand all of the wiring that my 2020 self did. Now I just need to decide how much of a problem it is and how anal I want to be about fixing it.
I was hoping the truck would be running and I would be sharing a video of V8 noises for post #666 but the wiring demons are not cooperating with me. I have sub looms made for the switch panel, dash, front half and rear half of the truck. I just need to create intermediate looms to tie everything together.
Relay panel mounted with rivnuts and metric hardware. I actually had to buy a second rivnut tool because I could not buy individual mandrels for smaller metric sizes that would work with the rivnut tool I had. I guess that's what I get for buying a chinese tool off of amazon but the new one only cost $35. It's basically the same exact one I bought 3 years ago but sold under a different name (of course) and cam with M3-M10 mandrels rather than a mix of SAE and Metric sizes. I could have just used 5/16" hardware but why do that when everything except the driveshaft bolts on this truck is metric.
I'm running into some half finished work that I'm sure I had a good plan for back in December of '21 but I can't figure out what I was thinking back then. I was changing up the way I have the headlight wiring routed and going from a 4 pin relay to a 5 pin relay to control high beams. Honestly I have no idea how I was able to make this work before but it was working *shrug*. I'm probably overthinking this and just need to follow my wiring diagrams and not try and get it right in the first shot.
A box from California showed up today. I'm looking forward to getting this installed and trying out my new hammer store transmission jack.
Heck off CD009. Whoever designed this transmission tunnel is an shiny happy person...
I've been fed up with this clutch since the second time I drove this truck. It's too heavy and I can never quite get the slave cylinder fully bled. I'm fixing both of those problems before the truck comes off the blocks. I ordered a custom clutch and pressure plate from California Clutch or now known as Custom Clutches. Pressure plate is slightly increased clamp load over stock and the disk is a hybrid organic/kevlar and ceramic piece. Originally I was just going to order the disk and then a LUK LS7 flywheel and pressure plate but Brandin at Custom Clutches gave me a good deal on the kit and I ordered a cheaper LS1/6 style flywheel. The pressure plate didn't have dowel pins for a stock LS1/6 flywheel but should work with CC's steel billet flywheel. I didn't want to shell out the extra cash and deal with RockAuto's dogE36 M3 return process so Brandin offered me a refund on the pressure plate and I have a stock replacement C5 Z06 pressure plate that is supposed to show up from Rockauto tomorrow.
I'm a little bummed the pressure plate from Custom Clutches didn't work out but I have no issue buying from them again. Brandin over there is a straight shooter and is into the weird swaps we like doing over here. He can be a little hard to get a hold of but he's a busy guy so I have nothing to complain about. I'm so ready to ditch this stupid Stage 2 South Bend pressure plate and ACT 6 puck clutch.
Persevere, Brother. You've done the hard parts, now just refinement (says the armchair quarterback). I do love this project. Mini Trucks for ever.
[could be: image of Morgan Freeman pointing up, with text "He's right, you know."]
I got the clutch in a couple days ago, no issues with that. A few issues have arose along the way. First off only 3 of the 8 bellhousing were tight, so that's fun. I was using some random M10 bolts that I don't think were quite long enough. The bolts are supposed to be 40mm long, Mcmaster M10x40mm on the right, my "bellhousing" bolt on the right.
I had to hog some more of the transmission to actually get the bellhousing off to double check throw out bearing clearance.
I forgot my notebook inside but had to write some notes down before I forgot.
I got some actual dry break quick connect fittings for the clutch line not the dumb OE style that needs a special tool I can never find. But I wanted to adapt the line right off the slave cylinder to be -4AN. Earl's had a fitting on Amazon that was supposed to work with T56 slave cylinders. Not even close, O-ring surface and roll pin interface are completely wrong.
-3 AN adapter that does work but with a -3AN female to -4 male expander. The expander doesn't allow the -3AN male fitting to bottom out on the angled sealing surface, it relies on a rubber o-ring to complete the seal. That's a big no go for hydraulic fittings and for brake fluid.
I have some new fittings on the way, hopefully we can find a solution here soon before they turn off the nice weather here in Wisconsin.
Hey Ron!
What seats are you using in the Ram 50, and did you have to modify the floor pans to mount them?
I was just given my Dad's '91 Ram 50, and I need a wee bit more headroom than the stock seats offer.
In reply to Recon1342 :
My seats are from an EP3 Civic SI. I made custom brackets to get them to sit where I want. It seams like a lot of guys have pretty good luck with other Honda bucket seats lining up 3 of the 4 mounting holes and drilling a fourth hole.
The Facebook groups for the Ram50 and Mighty Max get asked this question almost daily so a search on there will yield a lot of info. I just buy cheap parts and make them fit with the welder lol
In reply to RacetruckRon :
I have some $60 RX8 seats ready for my Colorado when the time comes. I figure some flat stock will be better than paying $200 for a Corbeau bracket.
In reply to Scotty Con Queso :
Yeah I cut the Honda brackets off of the sliders and used some 1"x 3/16" flat bar and a couple weld nuts.
