Builds Cayman Islands FZJ80 DIY build-up (1 Viewer)

[mmajsw]

The next step is installing the Blue Seas 7622 battery manager. The usual problem of where to put it was the first thing and I settled on the back of the battery case. Some aluminum strips were added to the battery side of the case as support, making sure that the screw/bolt heads could not rub against the battery and cause problems.

The exposed ends of the bolts were a potential short threat sitting there. I capped the ends of the 7622 bolts with pieces of fuel line that were screwed on to the threads. The fuel line is thicker and stronger than the normal bolt caps available locally. The open ends were filled with silicone for added safety.

To get the main wire back to the start battery, I decided to run the cable through the channel that is in front of the radiator (under the metal cap where the factory wires are). This called for some creative thinking. I could not run the wire over the battery (the most direct route) nor under the battery (not enough space). I knew that I could run the wiring to the firewall, along to the driver's side then back to the battery but that seemed as a waste of battery cable.
I eventually decided that along the engine side top of the battery case looked most promising so it was used. I will be getting larger and more durable cable wrap - just did not have anything suitable on hand. Zip locks seem up to the cable holding job.

One of the most difficult problems encountered is where to place the fuses along the line.
The one close by the 2150 was fairly easy to position, right besides the 7622 on the fender wall but the one for the starting battery will be a little more difficult. I am using 200 amp fuses.

 

[mmajsw]

But, if you look long and hard, the solution usually reveals itself the next day.
The solution for the second fuse location was besides the relays on the primary battery hold down bar. I initially had 5 fuses in place but had only used 3 to date - LED spot lights, air horn and aux electric fan. The fourth was for the LED flood lights with the plan to add two more for the upgraded headlight wiring. But a change in headlight plans (more on that shortly) meant that I could probably get by with using 4 relays and could remove the fifth. That meant there was space for a 200A fuse holder.
One new hole later and a 18" length of 1 gauge wire and the dual battery charging system was complete.

A test run to check the system with the 7622 relay energizing itself 2 minutes after ignition and the 2150 received a charge. All is well.
Future changes - get fuse holders that are covered and terminal bolt covers to reduce the chance of accidental shorting out of the exposed bolts and cables ends.

More supplies are needed to run power into the truck to power the aux fuse panel and the 1000W pure sine wave inverter. To be done at a later date.

On an earlier trip to Honduras, I ran across a 9600 lumen H4 led kit. I was unable to find any information on the web but did find someone down there who had installed it in his car. He said that it gave better visibility than running a 90/100W halogen bulb. So based on his recommendation, I bought the kit and installed it into the headlights that I had gotten to replace my slight rusty inside units.

From my initial view, they seem to be the same depth as the headlight with a halogen bulb. The driver units are quite small and thin so placement should not be an issue.

The only question is whether I should still perform a headlight wiring upgrade as the LED units draw a fraction of the current that the normal bulbs did? I am opting to err on the side of caution and do it in case the LED units fail/do not perform as expected or I change to HID H4 units. Anyone care to comment?

 

[mmajsw]

I haven't been sitting wasting time. After the LED light upgrade (which is very good in my opinion - white led light is much more useable than the yellowish halogen), I had to do some changes to where parts are located.
The air horn pump had to be moved from the air filter housing as the 7622 relay was now taking its place. The next logical location as about 1' towards the rear of the vehicle on the windshield washer supports. The supports were originally made from Simpson hurricane ties and I did not feel that it could have supported the 12V pump. So, the supports were upgraded to 1/16" x 1" galvanized steel for the greater strength offered. It also gave me a place to mount the 150A relay for the rear fuse panel.

I thought I was done moving things around when I started to look at getting power to the winch. I decided that having the relays on the winch meant that they could be subjected to water damage and it would be prudent to move the relays into the engine compartment as high as possible. This is where the fun begins.
The area between the rad and the grill is full of transmission cooler, aux fan, horns (electric and air), drivers for the led lights as well as upgraded wiring in the form of 1 gauge and a few 10 and 12 gauge wires. The space in front of the aux battery has the overflow bottle and a couple more large diameter electrical cables. The closest space that it possibly be useable is the space between the fender and the windshield washer bottle. About 5' away from the winch. One option that I will explore is to use a smaller or different shaped radiator overflow bottle in a different location, which would allow me to place the relays within 2.5 ' of the winch.
A very remote option is on the air filter housing (with suitable bracing) - on the rear portion facing the firewall. But, I need to go shopping for a plastic housing to hold the relays - looking at a 2 or 3 gang plastic outdoor electrical box. That would bring the relay to within 4' of the winch.
So, this weekend is to finalize the winch relay location (along with the changes needed), wire in the power to the rear fuse panel and start installing a 2m radio, backup lights, etc.

(PS - I adjusted the air horn pump and got rid of the kink).

One issue I had when running in the sand was airing down the tires to a suitable pressure. Spending a good 15 minutes to get them down to 15 PSI only to have to air them back up a 1/2 hour later was not a good idea to me.
I went shopping on Amazon and got a set of Rugged Ridge 15104.53 Automatic tire deflators for US$36. Easily adjustable and now I can do all 4 tires at once (once they have been screwed unto the tire valve). I thought they were a better idea that the ARB which only does 1 tire at a time. It takes a little bit of testing to get the pressures set within 1 to 2 lbs. overall variation but once it is set, you're good to go. The 4 units are about the size of a valve extension and come with their own carrying case. I keep them in a small sealed zip lock to limit the effect of the humidity in Cayman on what I think is the brass housing.

 

[mmajsw]

I was doing some research on the web about relocating electrics above potential water levels and while reading about distributors, mention was made of creating a positive pressure in the distributor so that the pressure will keep the water out during water crossings. I will have on board air at quite a few CFMs so stage one is competed. If I can find a suitable PVC electrical box that can be sealed, stage 2 is complete and I can mount the relays anywhere.
I am thinking that a solenoid switched airline would be best so that the air is only flowing to the relay box when needed.

 

[mmajsw]

The goal this morning was to get the second fuse panel located and wired in. Rain was to come in the afternoon so I had an early start.
The first problem was positioning the panel. Having no heater under the passenger seat, I could not follow what everyone else has done.
I did notice a few 6mm rivinuts along the floor ridge at the front of the seat so decided to use those to my advantage.
A piece of scrap 1/8 aluminum, 1 bend and 5 holes later, I had my panel mounted and ready for power. The red and yellow wire run to the aux battery voltmeter and the control switch for the 7622.

One problem that I had was where to put the circuit breaker. It had to be fairly easily accessible but at the same time as high as possible. The solution I came up with is to place it on the air intake pipe by the fender (actually part of the air filter housing). Another small piece of 1/8 aluminum, and a couple 3/16" snowmobile track rivets (available in Cayman of all places) with suitable backing washers and the problem is solved.

One issue noted was that the circuit breaker will get wet during rains. This showed up when I went out to get a picture during a break in the rain. A simple rubber cover will stop that problem. I placed a flat piece on top to test the theory. It worked on the next check visit. Now to make a custom fit cover.

The route to power the panel is this - aux battery - 80 Amp circuit breaker - 150A continuous duty relay - fuse panel. 6 gauge wire used along with corrugated plastic wire sleeve along the whole length. Connections were once again liberally covered in lithium grease to reduce oxidation. All ends were crimped with anti-oxidant used inside the connectors. Heat shrink over wire/connector joins.
The relay is triggered by the primary battery but I will be adding a separate switch to activate the secondary relay when the engine is off and the primary is not getting electricity to activate it.
The panel will have the following accessories powered off it - HF and 2m transceivers, reverse flood lights and another Blue Seas USB plug for the rear passengers. That would leave 2 spaces for future items.
With the panel wired in, I could now power the second battery voltmeter. But an interesting thing happened.
When I applied voltage to the second meter, the first started consistently reading between 0.5 and 0.6V higher. Something else to investigate.
The way the voltmeters are set up is that the left unit monitors the primary battery and the right takes care of the aux. Before the second was activated, the primary monitor would read about 12.3-12.4 before starting, then about 14.2 when the engine is running. When the connection to the second was made but before the car was started, the primary still read 12.3 and the aux read 12.8. Again, what I expected. I started the engine and the primary read 14.8 (0.6 above normal) while the secondary read 12.8. Once the 2 minute wait was over and both batteries were now being powered by the alternator, the primary battery voltmeter reads 14.8 while the secondary meter reads 14.3. I am not sure if running both meters on the same ground wire is an issue or if one meter has suddenly gone bad.

Engine running, aux battery still in wait to charge mode.

 

[2fpower]

Keep the posts coming. Your making great progress.

 

[mmajsw]

Thanks 2fpower. It keeps me out of the bars and at home. But every now and then the wife says that sometimes she wonders if it would not be cheaper for me to start drinking!
I hope that someone will be inspired to use some of the ideas and build their own.

 

[mmajsw]

I had some fun diagnosing the incorrect reading meter but finally the answer came down to it was just giving bad results. Everything else checked out with a VOM. So, a replacement and a couple spares have been ordered. Should be here in a couple weeks.
In the meantime, it is a long 4 day weekend down here (all stores closed on Friday and Monday) and time to do some major works.
Two jobs scheduled for today - and both were started but neither one finished.
The first was the installation of the 3 groove pulley on the water pump for the air compressor. I thought I could have done it without having to play with the shroud, but in the end I had no choice but to move it. I loosened up the driver's side battery tray and managed to get just enough room by shifting the shroud to replace the pulley. But when it came to putting the original belts back on, things came to a grinding halt. No amount of gentle persuasion would get the two old belts on the new pulley. I now regret not ordering the smaller replacement pulley from photoman. So, tomorrow morning, I will go and get two larger belts as replacements. Research shows that the old belts are equivalent of Gates 7445 and I need to get 7450 - a 1/2" longer. I am taking one of the old belts as a check. And while I am at it, I will replace the AC belt too. It was not in bad shape but had just started to show some cracks along the inside. But it is all apart at the moment, so do it now. It will not take long to wrap thing up when I have the correct parts.

Then, I decided to start the second project - installation of a 1000 watt pure sine wave inverter. After weighing the various options - under the center console, just behind the back seats or in the rear, I opted for installation on the cargo box and accessible through the tailgate. I will probably install a smaller unit (400 watts) in the vicinity of the center console for use when driving.
I ended up cutting the passenger side drawer wing and mounting the unit to the side of the box so that the front of it is flush with the face of the drawer box. It is protected on top and not visible to prying eyes.

It is a nice unit with the display continually flashing, battery voltage, output AC amps and output voltage. It can be remote started (up to 20' away by a plug in cord and has a USB charger built in. Also overload, over and under voltage protection and has auto shutoff at low voltage. Perfect for powering accessories when needed.
I will be making a dust cover for it in the future. I ran 4 gauge wire from the aux battery, through a 100A fuse, all the way to the inverter. I will probably leave the line continuously live (but fused) as I am running out of space to place any more relays and high amp switches. Still have to run the negative cable back to the battery and install the ground wire to the body.
While the whole passenger inside was essentially apart, I decided to run additional wires to the rear area for powering other accessories from the aux fuse box. But, not enough wire colors in my wire stash of 12 or 14 gauge to run the lines. I like to use different colors for the various circuits - easier to identify.
So, I decided to call it a day. The wife has plans for tomorrow so I will probably not get back to things until Sunday morning when it should be a fairly straightforward reassembly.... I hope!

 

[mmajsw]

Got up early this morning while it was still cool and tackled the two fan belts. I was determined not to have to remove the battery case again to install them and I succeeded. Within an hour, both belts were in along with the new pulley and the fan. The AC belt was quite easy in comparison.
Since I had removed the on board air setup to get a bit more space to do the belts, I decided to do the oil suction modification. Following instructions found on the web, it was straight forward. I loaded in the 8 oz. of Ester oil that came with the compressor and the unit was back in the truck. The next thing was installing the compressor belt and tightening it up. Again, fairly easy.

As I was giving everything the final once aver to see if I had missed tightening any bolts, unplugged connections, etc., I glanced down at the location of the on board air belt to check the clearance between it and a few of the other engine parts. I then noticed that while the closest the new belt got to most any item was about 1/4", it was almost touching a small stainless steel and rubber water return line that was bolted to the engine block and runs in front of the engine.

I easily bent the hose assembly closer to the engine, giving a safe amount of distance between the two. The gap is about 1/8", a little less than wanted but it is better than contact. I will monitor it to see if more drastic action is needed.

I went back to the inverter and finished wired it up. It worked but the first thing I noticed was that the battery voltage reading on the inverter was almost 1.3V lower than the inside meter was saying. A quick check with the VOM confirmed what was being displayed was correct. The battery read around 12.8 but the inverter was receiving about 11.5V. That was too much loss. A quick check with an online voltage drop calculator said that I needed to change from 4 gauge need to go to either 1/0 gauge (for about 0.6V drop) or 2/0 for about 0.5V drop. Time to go shopping for cables and removed the 4 gauge ones.
The only other concern is that a pair of 1/0 or 2/0 cables will not be fitting in the factory wire channel. They will definitely have to run outside the vehicle either inside the frame (preferred) or fixed to the outside of the frame. That will be determined later.
With that problem partially solved, I ran a few wires to the rear of the vehicle for a 30A 12V outlets, a couple 20A and a 10 amp for the reverse lights. With the wires labelled, I replace the panels and start preparing for to the next big project - a new center console!

 

[mmajsw]

During the week, I took care of a little project - positioning and labeling switches. I am not using factory switches but instead have some Blue Sea multipurpose switches (rated at 15A @12V). Right now, on the side of the dash by the door, I have the momentary winch in/out switch, the driving/fog lights and the engine fan switch. Just above the shifter console, I have the main winch power switch (actually connects the inside in/out winch switch to ground to complete the circuit (the Ramsey RE series winch controls have only has 3 wires - winch in, winch out and ground)), a switch to activate the relay for the inverter (relay is on order and to be mounted somewhere close to the aux battery) and the final one is to activate the aux battery relay to provide power when the engine/main battery is off. If more switches are needed, I will either look at making a DIN sized plate for the cubbyhole under the radio or place some on the shifter console - to be determined later.
I was able to use both the instructions and symbols to be found in ih8mud as it seems that the 1/2"x3/8" symbol labels are quite common.

It is enough to identify what each switch does.

I also worked on the foam board mockup of the center console. Still some minor issues to work out regarding the cup holders and the positioning of the 400/500watt inverter but I feel those will be readily resolved once the unit is built.
1/2" marine plywood will be the material of choice mainly because MDF does last long in high humidity, tropical weather. I also happen to have some scraps on hand from other projects that are suitable.
Two console designs of interest that were previously done for the 80 series are https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/center-console-upgrade.316001/ and https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/home-made-center-console.209599/. A multi compartment design makes more sense in organization and I am leaning more towards that idea. But the simplicity of 316001 is hard to beat!

Of course, throughout the day (from approx. 10AM) it was rain showers, then sun, then rain, then sun, then rain after which I gave up. Cannot work outside for long so I switched to something that I could do most of the work inside, then finish it outside - capping the ends of the metal tubes that are part of the tire carrier. I used UHMW polyethylene that was cut to interference size on the milling machine, then hammered into the open ends.
I sprayed anti corrosion fluid into the metal first before sealing it up.

The end of one of the tire support tubes

A coat of Hammerite paint will hide the plastic, protect it from degradation and complete the sealing process.

My next trick was to try and engrave "in" and "out" for the inside winch switch.

 

[mmajsw]

The new voltmeters came in and I did a quick replacement of the main battery meter. Still getting a higher reading off the main when compared to the aux when both batteries are being charged by the alternator. This weekend, I am going to run the main meter wire back to the main relay by the battery and see what kind of reading I get. Something is adding additional voltage but I cannot figure out where it is coming from. The maximum voltage can only be the same as the most charged battery when both batteries are in parallel so what gives (unless I have discovered a source of free electricity)?
It is a quick check so should be finished in an hour or so.

The second thing was while I was playing with the positioning of the fuel/cooler carrier, the thought crossed my mind of placing the fuel cans on the same side as the fuel cap. That way, I can transfer fuel to the main tank with a siphon! No lifting and pouring. Glad I thought of that before I welded the carrier in and it also explains why so many other rear installations have the tire on the passenger side. Live and learn!
So, as the weekend has started, I will be seeing how difficult it will be to switch the swing arms around. There will be some minor welding of holes, grinding of stops and new holes to be drilled, but hopefully it is doable.

I added 4 meter labels and two have come off. I admit using hot glue to hold them in but it is obviously not strong enough. Some clear plastic epoxy is the next thing to try and it should be the final word on keeping the symbols in.

I have stopped playing with the center console for a bit. I need to allow the installation of both 2m and HF radios and a good idea is just not coming to me right away. I also ordered some ammo cans (20mm and 50mm (both normal and tall)) and they should be here in a week or two. Strong possibility of using one (or two) for the console as well as other projects.

 

[mmajsw]

Carrying on working with the swing-aways at the back, I have re-positioned the tire carrier arm to the passenger side of the vehicle. I took the arm off the bearings to find that water had collected between the bearing over the past year or so. Seems like the bearing cap was not sealing properly and letting in water. The bearings were fine with no rust on them or the races. So, a thorough cleaning out of the old water and slight surface rust on the pipe and the tire carrier is on the new side. I did make three changes. I drilled the metal and installed a grease nipple so that I can fully pack space between the bearings with waterproof marine bearing grease. Then I replaced the bearing cap with a newer thicker one from Blue Seas. I will be placing a small bit of silicone in the gap between the cap and the arm. Everything should be OK now. The final change was the automatic locking pin. Because I had too much space between the bottom of the drilled out coupling nut and the locking hole in the bumper, the 1/2 bolt readily bent. This cause problems in pulling out the bolt to swing the arm back to the store position. As I have to re-position and re-weld the locking mechanism to the opposite side of the arm, I took this opportunity to place the lower guide very close to the bumper. Result is a shorter length of bolt sticking out and it is not bending now. For the handle at the top of the bolt, I used a 3/4" diameter piece of aluminum rod that was drilled and threaded to accommodate the bolt. The nut locks the position of the handle. Much easier to use and stronger than the previous setup. A little but of anti-seize was used on the threads to stop cathodic corrosion between the aluminum and steel.
You can see the grease nipple just peeking out from behind the bolt. It is positioned so that when the arm is in the locked position, I can use the grease nipple. But it does not stick out past the outer edge.
I will be coating the top portion of the pin with bed liner for protection once both sides are built

While the arm was down, I took the opportunity to weld a piece of metal to the top for a 2-meter radio antenna. Still needs cleaning and painting.

I intend to weld the gas can carrier to the next arm over the weekend and do the install.

Due to the constant sun in Cayman and trying to protect the paint from premature fading, I tend to park under trees. As the trees are now flowering and producing new leaves, I find that I have to clean stuff out of the air intake grill at the base of the windshield on a weekly basis. Small leaves and flowers are always getting in and each week they seem to get further in and are harder to remove.
I resolved that problem with flexible magnetic tape, aluminum screen and silicone.
I first cut the tape and position it to the shape I wanted around the grill. Ensured that the ends were touching and I had good coverage. It is a little further from the back of the grill towards the windshield as I kept the tape on flat surfaces. I cut a piece of aluminum window screen slightly bigger than the outline (about 6" x 16" ) and once it had flattened out, placed it on the sticky side of the magnetic tape as a positioning measure. I then squeezed silicone through the screen onto the tape and did a general secure of the screen. Leaving it for a couple hours until the silicone had cured, I removed the assembly and proceeded to trim the excess screen off. Additional silicone was added to hold the screen to all the tape. Let it sit overnight.
The next morning, some minor trimming of stray aluminum threads and the vent screen was placed into position. It has lasted the past 3 days without moving from where I placed it. And no leaves, small flowers or other debris now gets into the vent. It takes about 5 minutes to make each screen.
I will remove the vent plate this weekend to do a thorough cleaning of accumulated debris under the plate and hopefully stop debris accumulation for good.

And installed on both sides

 

[mmajsw]

On the way to work yesterday, my Cruiser crossed into new territory. The truck has finally hit 70,000 miles after 18 years of existence - about 3900 miles/yr.

I believe that the engine can now be considered fully broken in!!!!

 

[mmajsw]

It is getting hotter down here. The winds were from the south and that means summer is here. Daytime temps in the mid 90s with humidity in the 70-80% range. Really not a good time to be out working on the Cruiser.
The end result is that I wait until the cooler evening to start.
Following on from the screen over the grills upgrade, I removed the panel between the windshield and hood to see what has accumulated down there over the past 18 years. And I was not disappointed.

On the driver's side

Between the wiper mounts

And on the passenger's side.

A mixture of fairly new leaves and seeds and other stuff that had decayed over time. I vacuumed up the debris and used a semi-stiff bristle brush to loosen anything that was stuck to the paint. After cleaning it up, I was surprised to see that there was no rust to be found. There was a bit of staining from the old leaves but did not think it is serious enough to worry about.

Passenger side

Driver's side was similar.

The only thing left to do was put the panel back on. I added some grease to the wiper screws and serrations to reduce the chance of corrosion. As long as the new screens are in, nothing that size can get into that area again.

 

[mmajsw]

I took a day off work to try and finish off the rear tire/gas can carrier.
The first thing was to create two arms and weld them to the swing away on all possible faces. I used 2x2x1/8 angle and tapered it to the ends.
In shaping the arms to attached to the 2x3x3/16 swing away, I had left 3" of flat steel at the arm end so that I could bend it over the arm and weld it on the vertical side. Probably not adding much more strength, but I feel safer. The plate on the bottom is a bump stop for the arm.

The arms showing the taper

The metal box for 3 Scepter MFCs or water cans (still needs additional braces welded in and painting). I ended up drilling for holes (two in each arm) so that various options can be bolted to it.

I just laid a piece of plywood on top of the arms to show the possibilities. Anything from a small 2000 watt Yamaha generator, cooler, ammo boxes with recovery stuff, cooking table, etc. can be positioned and secured here. Will definitely keep the weight on the arm to under 100lbs. to prevent over stressing the setup.

After everything was assembled, I painted all the metal in Hammerite Gloss black paint. Should keep it protected from the elements. In the meantime, got to finish the fuel can carrier.

 

[mmajsw]

I was very self conscious of driving around with essentially two knives sticking out of the back of the truck. I was careful where I parked - reversing into spaces so that no one could accidentally brush up against the arm or when driving - braking slowly to let the guy behind have ample stopping time, etc. So, when the weekend came, I made solving that issue my priority.
I decided to make another MFC carrier. It would be a simple wood box that I could practice my fiber-glassing skills on before tackling the center console. A box was quickly measured out of 1/2" plywood that was in my scrap pile, wood cut and everything put together with screws - no glue. The box size (interior measurements 21" x 14.5" with 7" high sides) was tested with the 3 MFCs and all was well - about 1/2" clearance front/back and 1" side/side to allow for can expansion when filled with fuel.

I then checked it on the arms. The box sticks out about 6" further than the tire. I will be placing red/white reflective tape on the rear side and orange tape on the side sides to increase its visibility. And there is enough space to increase my tire size to 35" if needed without having to modify anything. There is a chance of using a park/stop light or some clearance lights if I can find some nice ones on Amazon or on my next trip overseas.

Next step is the fiber-glassing of the box. I am using a polyester resin as this is my first time doing this kind of stuff. No need to play with the good epoxy resin when learning.
There are no intermediate pictures as during the assemble, as I thought I was under a time constraint, trying to finish the work before the fiberglass hardened. Fortunately, I ended up with a lot of time at the end because I did not use enough hardener.
The procedure was to disassemble the whole box, numbering each side so that it would be placed back in its original position. The liquid fiberglass was liberally painted on all the wood surfaces at each joint which was then reassembled with the screws being used as joint clamps.
When the box was reassembled, I painted liquid fiberglass on all the interior joints. Then I used sawdust with the remaining fiberglass to thicken it up. This mixture was applied to all the interior joints and smoothed out with a spoon (the wife will kill me when she finds out one is now permanently stationed in the garage). This adds a lot of strength to the joint. Anything that was beyond the spoon/wood contact area was scraped off before it hardened. The end results was this:-

 

[baldilocks]

Very good thread. You put a lot of thought into what you do and pay attention to details.

 

[mmajsw]

Thanks for your kind comments balidlocks. It's probably a function of too much time on my hands or just putting research and past projects into one project. I do a lot of home DIY and 99% of my own wrenching so one get to experience a thing or two.

I spent the last week working on the rear MFC box. Learned that fiberglass does not like square corners so I spend some time routing and sanding the 90 degree panel joins to 1/2" radius and the panel edges to a 1/4" radios. Placement of the outside corner and tops of the side pieces of fiberglass went a lot smoother after that. Afterwards it was time to cover all of the outside faces with more resin and fiberglass. That took a couple hours and once it had dried, I did a rough sanding and painted the whole box with Hammerite black gloss paint. It is drying now and will be installed tomorrow.
Also learned that get you should buy fiberglass mat from a boat supply shop rather than the small folded packages offered at the hardware/auto stores. Big difference in quality for about the same price.

Conclusions -
1. The box now weighs about twice as much as when I started.
2. I need to learn a lot more about fiber-glassing before I tackle the center console.

Inside glassed up...

Outside done too. Need to cut out the handle holes.

And finally painted up.

I will be adding a rubber mat to the bottom of the box. One thing I forgot to do it to add a drain for when rain and water collects inside the box. I will work on that when it is mounted.
Wife also noted that some kind of security will be needed to keep honest people honest. Hmmm... Thought a locking and ratcheting strap through the handles would be enough but time will tell.


I have been playing on and off with the high reading voltmeter from a while ago, trying to resolve the issue. To date, I have not found a solution. I ran the positive wire to within 1' of the starting battery and it still reads high. Ran the ground wire to the main body ground point by the starter battery and the meter still reads 0.6V more than the aux when both are charging from the alternator. Replaced the meter once again and still reading high. I am now at a loss on what the problem is. Contemplating putting a 1/4 watt 20 ohm resister to cause a 0.6V drop in the voltage reaching the meter. That is a last resort but the problem still intrigues me. Will continue to play with it.

A few goodies came in over the last week. The first was a F-450 power steering cooler to replace the paperclip stock unit. This will allow me to finish the last item on the baselining list - replace power steering fluid. The cooler is a couple inches too long but that will be rectified soon. Also got a 150A relay for powering the inverter as well as some aluminum plate to start a roof rack. Still thinking about getting the PrinSu unit vs. making my own. The PrinSu is well designed and there is no doubt in my mind that spreading any rack weight over the length of the gutter reduces the stress on the gutter when compared to having just 3 or 4 6" clamps on each side.
My main use for the rack will be protection from the sun, carrying light items and using it as the base for a batwing canopy. There is a chance of using the roof as a stand for some photography. Might consider a couple solar panels later down the road. Will definitely not be doing a spare tire or roof tent installation there.

A long weekend is coming up next weekend so need to make sure that I have all my supplies in hand.

 

[thebus]

Nice build really awesome to read

 

[mmajsw]

Thanks thebus.

As it is supposed to be raining over the next couple of days, I decided to finish off the installation of the fuel can carrier this morning before heading off to work. I used 1/4" carriage bolts (to reduce damage to the bottom of the MFCs) with a 5/16 washer (to fit over the little square at the base of the head) in the box and underneath the support arms a 1/4" washer followed by a lock-washer and a normal nut. All stainless steel. I am considering using 5/16 fender washers to spread the pressure over a greater area on the box bottom but will have to buy some later on. I was going to use Nylocks but I am unable to hold the rounded bolt head enough to thread them on. Not to mention having to take them off.
There is a strip of rubber between the arm and the box to reduce abrasion and insulate the two items from one another. Silicone was used liberally to seal things off.
I also added a strip of red/white reflective tape at the back of the box. It stuck quite well and I do not think that it can be removed without damaging the paint. Anything to assist visibility.

So the final installed view is

And with only MFCs

Or a mixture of MFCs and water cans. Will get a couple of sturdier Scepter military water cans (based on the MFCs) on my next trip to Canada.

Or even 5 gallon water cooler bottles (good for going to the beach when you want to rinse the salt water off before getting into the vehicle)

I also tried fitting a Champion 1500 watt generator and a Yamaha 2000i inverter generator. No problems.
Total cost of the project was definitely under $50 and if you have scrap plywood, under $30. Much less in the States.

P.S. I noticed in the pictures while typing this up that I forgot to re-clamp the DeStaco clamp this morning after working on the arm. Thankfully, due to redundant locking mechanism (namely the eye-bolt through the arm and into the rest welded on to the bumper), there was no chance of anything swinging open. The problem was immediately fixed.