Princess Rig: Diesel Manual Troopy-Style Pop-top Conversion and Off to Adventure
- Thread starter CaptBeardilocks
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- #62
Jesus... A month without an update. You'd think this Pig was on the back burner. Of course that's not how you cook a pig. Slow smoked over natural charcoal at ~250* with a mixture of hickory and a bit of mesquite wood, and with just a nice dry rub. But I digress... this is not a cooking blog. And I am working on this thing literally every single day.
I need to start documenting the "less-than-sexy" parts of this build as I'm leaving way too much out. I'll try to rectify that in the next couple of weeks as things progress. Of course the part you cannot document in photos is the hundreds of hours a day spent chasing parts, ideas, theories, yelling at parts vendors that aren't shipping, trying to source things that shouldn't be a problem to source, researching, learning, and procrastinating. All of which I'm much more inclined to do when it's bloody 10F outside. My extremely vintage Reznor heater puts out 88k BTUs. Buuuuut also a lot of CO. So that adds another exciting element to things. (Don't worry, I have a CO detector.)
What did I do that didn't get properly Insta-documented? Everything steering: new rag joint, firewall seal, rebuild u-joints, Redhead steering box with 105 upgrades, refurbed paperclip, all new high pressure lines, steering damper from Dobinson, rebuilt tie-rods. blah blah blah.
And all the Sub-Tank retrofit stuff. I had not planned on doing the Sub-tank addition in phase one of the build, but I got a set-up off of a member here and it arrived in time for me to say f*uck it and install it now. I didn't document the process at all because... it's boring and I'm lazy. But I'm using George's relay and using a petrol tank set-up on the diesel. Essentially this just means that I'm using it as a jerry can butler. I don't want to be bothered to get out and add fuel. So I have a questionable used Aussie fuel pump that moves the fuel to the main tank at the push of a button. Instead of the diesel version where it switches the tank that engine is drawing fuel from. I'm doing this for two reasons: 1) It was what was available. 2) In my view it's simpler and more fail safe. That can be argued both ways but for me this is simpler in that, if my transfer pump fails 100mi from the nearest Shell station, I can get under the truck with tiny emergency hand bulb and transfer the fuel since all the plumbing is already set up that way.
Boring ramblings without any picture right? I gotta work on that.
What did i document?
Refurbished tank with cut-off stock fill tube redesigned for duel filler neck and sporting the cheater's sub-tank transfer graft.
A lot of people seem to be OK with hanging the bulky dual filler contraption by just one bolt. I added a very cheap & cheerful bracket to hook it to a 3rd row seat bolt hole that I'm not using. That should keep it from yeeting off on the desert washboard.
Sub-Tank Transfer hardware all tucked away under there.
Main tank finally hung & set up as well. New 3" Stainless exhaust also hung. I went with PPD from Oz because, well, frankly, they were actually currently producing (one run a month shipping out) and their shipping wasn't absolutely insane. I really wanted a Beaudesert system but at literally double the cost after shipping, I couldn't justify it. Looks great, fits great, have to see what it sounds like if and when she ever actually starts up. We'll see if I regret that.
I also did not document the 'custom' stainless steel fuel lines I bent and put in. 'Custom' is a fancy word for 'I did the best I could with the minimal tooling I had because I didn't want to drop $500 on factory lines from Japan'. So I dropped ~$125 all in for the 1/2" delivery & 3/8" return lines and about 3 days all told doing the deed. Part of that was lost in renting a 1/2" tube bender an hour away (4hrs total travel for retrieval and return). The lines won't be winning any concourse events, but hopefully they will work properly. And if you're looking at the fuel lines under my truck I'll probably have some questions as to why you're under my truck and judging me in the first place.
I need to start documenting the "less-than-sexy" parts of this build as I'm leaving way too much out. I'll try to rectify that in the next couple of weeks as things progress. Of course the part you cannot document in photos is the hundreds of hours a day spent chasing parts, ideas, theories, yelling at parts vendors that aren't shipping, trying to source things that shouldn't be a problem to source, researching, learning, and procrastinating. All of which I'm much more inclined to do when it's bloody 10F outside. My extremely vintage Reznor heater puts out 88k BTUs. Buuuuut also a lot of CO. So that adds another exciting element to things. (Don't worry, I have a CO detector.)
What did I do that didn't get properly Insta-documented? Everything steering: new rag joint, firewall seal, rebuild u-joints, Redhead steering box with 105 upgrades, refurbed paperclip, all new high pressure lines, steering damper from Dobinson, rebuilt tie-rods. blah blah blah.
And all the Sub-Tank retrofit stuff. I had not planned on doing the Sub-tank addition in phase one of the build, but I got a set-up off of a member here and it arrived in time for me to say f*uck it and install it now. I didn't document the process at all because... it's boring and I'm lazy. But I'm using George's relay and using a petrol tank set-up on the diesel. Essentially this just means that I'm using it as a jerry can butler. I don't want to be bothered to get out and add fuel. So I have a questionable used Aussie fuel pump that moves the fuel to the main tank at the push of a button. Instead of the diesel version where it switches the tank that engine is drawing fuel from. I'm doing this for two reasons: 1) It was what was available. 2) In my view it's simpler and more fail safe. That can be argued both ways but for me this is simpler in that, if my transfer pump fails 100mi from the nearest Shell station, I can get under the truck with tiny emergency hand bulb and transfer the fuel since all the plumbing is already set up that way.
Boring ramblings without any picture right? I gotta work on that.
What did i document?
Refurbished tank with cut-off stock fill tube redesigned for duel filler neck and sporting the cheater's sub-tank transfer graft.
A lot of people seem to be OK with hanging the bulky dual filler contraption by just one bolt. I added a very cheap & cheerful bracket to hook it to a 3rd row seat bolt hole that I'm not using. That should keep it from yeeting off on the desert washboard.
Sub-Tank Transfer hardware all tucked away under there.
Main tank finally hung & set up as well. New 3" Stainless exhaust also hung. I went with PPD from Oz because, well, frankly, they were actually currently producing (one run a month shipping out) and their shipping wasn't absolutely insane. I really wanted a Beaudesert system but at literally double the cost after shipping, I couldn't justify it. Looks great, fits great, have to see what it sounds like if and when she ever actually starts up. We'll see if I regret that.
I also did not document the 'custom' stainless steel fuel lines I bent and put in. 'Custom' is a fancy word for 'I did the best I could with the minimal tooling I had because I didn't want to drop $500 on factory lines from Japan'. So I dropped ~$125 all in for the 1/2" delivery & 3/8" return lines and about 3 days all told doing the deed. Part of that was lost in renting a 1/2" tube bender an hour away (4hrs total travel for retrieval and return). The lines won't be winning any concourse events, but hopefully they will work properly. And if you're looking at the fuel lines under my truck I'll probably have some questions as to why you're under my truck and judging me in the first place.
- Thread starter
- #63
Oh... And this showed up.
This another item that I had planned on adding in a year or two as time, money, and my frustration with not being able to stand up in bad weather, all came together. But a member on here had a deposit one in production and needed to bow out, I picked up his place in the queue. So I guess now I'm cutting my roof off sooner rather than later? **** me. Is it strange that I feel really bad about cutting the top off a rare factory-deleted roof rack/rear spoiler truck? I always loved that about this one.
This another item that I had planned on adding in a year or two as time, money, and my frustration with not being able to stand up in bad weather, all came together. But a member on here had a deposit one in production and needed to bow out, I picked up his place in the queue. So I guess now I'm cutting my roof off sooner rather than later? **** me. Is it strange that I feel really bad about cutting the top off a rare factory-deleted roof rack/rear spoiler truck? I always loved that about this one.
- Thread starter
- #64
Well, it's been too long since my last update. Again. Lots of slow boring progress that looks like no progress at all. But things are starting to heat up and click a bit and I wanted to get this this thread caught up for more frequent updating.
Where to begin...
So I guess she's officially a stick shift now with these in place.
This picture gives me anxiety with everything that's MISSING in it. But it took a lot of time to get this much in. And a LOT of money. Holy Jesus. Lol. I sourced the LHD Pedal assemblies from a friend in the Canary Islands and all the transmission tunnel bits are custom or new OEM. I didn't document a lot of this as it's been done before. But I cut out what was necessary from the transmission tunnel to fit the manual shifters and the fact that the transmission moved forward about ~2.5-3". Then I made a top plate out of of tin to match what the manual trans tunnel would look like having my parts truck to base it off of, but the parts truck being to rusty to cut out and weld in). I used an OEM figure-8 bottom plate with capture nuts and then glued the three layers together with body seam sealant and bolted on the upper plate with accordions. I still need to add in the rear console bracket at some point.
I think I'm legally required to post a Spaghetti pic of the engine harness. I believe this is the FZ harness before the fat was cut.
Quite a bit of this going on as well. I'm still trying to sort out the waring light mess and which "films" to use since they all seem to be NA at this point and I'll have to make due with what I have.
Where to begin...
So I guess she's officially a stick shift now with these in place.
This picture gives me anxiety with everything that's MISSING in it. But it took a lot of time to get this much in. And a LOT of money. Holy Jesus. Lol. I sourced the LHD Pedal assemblies from a friend in the Canary Islands and all the transmission tunnel bits are custom or new OEM. I didn't document a lot of this as it's been done before. But I cut out what was necessary from the transmission tunnel to fit the manual shifters and the fact that the transmission moved forward about ~2.5-3". Then I made a top plate out of of tin to match what the manual trans tunnel would look like having my parts truck to base it off of, but the parts truck being to rusty to cut out and weld in). I used an OEM figure-8 bottom plate with capture nuts and then glued the three layers together with body seam sealant and bolted on the upper plate with accordions. I still need to add in the rear console bracket at some point.
I think I'm legally required to post a Spaghetti pic of the engine harness. I believe this is the FZ harness before the fat was cut.
Quite a bit of this going on as well. I'm still trying to sort out the waring light mess and which "films" to use since they all seem to be NA at this point and I'll have to make due with what I have.
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- Thread starter
- #65
I got started on my custom airbox to increase airflow for the upgraded turbo set up. Nothing too fancy. Just a Breath-Rite Strip for her really. 4" in & out. The design has been done several times before by others more talented than me on here, so nothing revolutionary. Fits a ~2006 Duramax cartridge filter. Some finishing up & off to powder coat for it.
Engine compartment wiring test fit. ABS has been deleted, with significant wiring tucked back into the cabin. New clutch master cylinder plumbed in. Among MANY other things.
And these arrived. Not a horrible wait time. 6-7wks? I'd have to check. I can't wait to test fit and see just how much of custom belly pan I have to trim for them to fit...
My fault.
Un-photo-ed: Installing all new non-ABS brake lines, driveshafts are going in, more & more AND MORE wiring fun including Kill Switch/Wilson Switch/Center Diff Lock/Pin7/and some others, and fake wood removal is fun. Oh and apparently I didn't remove the fill plug for the rear diff before they were refurbished and it has unfortunately decided that it likes it where it is. So now that the whole axle is painted and installed I'll have to weld a nut on what's left of the plug and try to get it out that way. Freaking ROOKIE mistake. But there's way too many bullet points on my dozens of lists to not miss something.
I also have to decide whether I volunteer for another few months confinement here to cut the roof and install the Campteq as long as the interior is gutted. Or if I just throw a couple of blankets and my Coleman in the back and run for the hills...
Engine compartment wiring test fit. ABS has been deleted, with significant wiring tucked back into the cabin. New clutch master cylinder plumbed in. Among MANY other things.
And these arrived. Not a horrible wait time. 6-7wks? I'd have to check. I can't wait to test fit and see just how much of custom belly pan I have to trim for them to fit...
My fault. Un-photo-ed: Installing all new non-ABS brake lines, driveshafts are going in, more & more AND MORE wiring fun including Kill Switch/Wilson Switch/Center Diff Lock/Pin7/and some others, and fake wood removal is fun. Oh and apparently I didn't remove the fill plug for the rear diff before they were refurbished and it has unfortunately decided that it likes it where it is. So now that the whole axle is painted and installed I'll have to weld a nut on what's left of the plug and try to get it out that way. Freaking ROOKIE mistake. But there's way too many bullet points on my dozens of lists to not miss something.
I also have to decide whether I volunteer for another few months confinement here to cut the roof and install the Campteq as long as the interior is gutted. Or if I just throw a couple of blankets and my Coleman in the back and run for the hills...
- Thread starter
- #66
Oh and this accidentally happened. Literally fell into my lap.
1997 LX450 200k mi (but the head gasket and heater core were done less than 10k mi ago), 3x Locked, bone stock, sunburned but no rust, leaks oil like the Exxon Valdez, but should just need a couple seals. Interior is TRASHED because it was the truck the PO took his dogs to the beach in. And I don't think he ever cleaned it. I've never seen an 80 where the driver's seat was in the better shape than every other seat. But since the Princess is getting a new seat for me and I'm deleting the rest, this one will get all those. Not bad for $4k these days.
1997 LX450 200k mi (but the head gasket and heater core were done less than 10k mi ago), 3x Locked, bone stock, sunburned but no rust, leaks oil like the Exxon Valdez, but should just need a couple seals. Interior is TRASHED because it was the truck the PO took his dogs to the beach in. And I don't think he ever cleaned it. I've never seen an 80 where the driver's seat was in the better shape than every other seat. But since the Princess is getting a new seat for me and I'm deleting the rest, this one will get all those. Not bad for $4k these days.
Currently driving a 1HD-T/H151 here in Germany. Boring reliability, enough speed to keep up on the autobahn, but a bit loud. can’t say how the MB engine would do, but downstream fixing the 1HD would be easier.The HDJ80 kind of fell in my lap unexpectedly. Well, as "unexpectedly" as anything can be when you search the classifieds for 80 stuff every morning over coffee... JDM, RHD, Diff Locks, gorgeous blue-grey velour interior but the body is rusty & crusty. It was too much to pay for a rusty 80 but cheap for a 1HD-T/H151 drivetrain. Trailered it back to WNY from the DC area.
My polling numbers are split as I am over which engine to use. Nearly 50/50. I'm sort of hoping another cheap, rust free, blown motor 80 falls in my laugh so I can build both. Lol. As if I have the time/money for that...
View attachment 2338486
- Thread starter
- #68
It's been an interesting couple of weeks making slow, dragging process on the truck. It's getting to the point in the build where you have to start clearancing everything. Lots of custom bits mixing with lots of stock bits and when they're all bolted together.... they don't fit. Ah well. Then you run out of welding gas. And then one crucial part is delayed/backordered/lost and a whole system is waiting weeks to get finished. But things are slowly moving towards an attempted start and a few things are moving towards "final product" look. Feels good until I realize I have to build a whole bloody house in this thing after I'm done building the "truck" part of the truck.
Brand new radiator and fan shroud in. Amazingly both are available still from the dealer. The manual transmission, diesel radiator in the US (why the hell that is I have literally no idea), but the shroud had to come from Dubai for... well not nearly as much shipping $ as it should have cost.
When I peeled the old wood off of left side of the dash, the paint underneath was heavily textured and looked like crap.
So I a bit of Acetone and a lot of elbow grease later I cleaned the paint off decent enough and hit it with plastic adhesion promoter & some black trim paint and it ... doesn't look half bad.
There was one bastard run right, dead in the middle that i did my best to clean up with a q-tip and hope it would fill in that kept it from being perfect. That will haunt me every time I look at it....
Brand new radiator and fan shroud in. Amazingly both are available still from the dealer. The manual transmission, diesel radiator in the US (why the hell that is I have literally no idea), but the shroud had to come from Dubai for... well not nearly as much shipping $ as it should have cost.
When I peeled the old wood off of left side of the dash, the paint underneath was heavily textured and looked like crap.
So I a bit of Acetone and a lot of elbow grease later I cleaned the paint off decent enough and hit it with plastic adhesion promoter & some black trim paint and it ... doesn't look half bad.
There was one bastard run right, dead in the middle that i did my best to clean up with a q-tip and hope it would fill in that kept it from being perfect. That will haunt me every time I look at it....
- Thread starter
- #69
Then I got my dead sexy White Knuck's installed. The first "finish" piece to the puzzle as far as I'm concerned. As I had feared I had to trim my custom bash plate to allow the driver's side to fit. It's still about 1/2" further forward than would be perfect, but I'll worry about that stuff if I live long enough to drive it. The passenger side front mount mounts exactly where the exhaust hanger mounts, which ended up taking an annoying amount of minor modifications to get it all tetris-ed together. But they look sooo sexy.
Next I got my prototype air box back from powder coat. I was hoping for something more Satin/Matte but for the price I wasn't complaining. The mounting still needs some work. But total cost isn't bad.
Now this is where things start getting scary. Pulled the headliner and sunroof in preparation for cutting the roof out. It's not that the job of cutting the roof off is that overwhelming. Pretty basic job. Gluing the Campteq on is a whole other problem since I'm on my own & need to rig a system to lift it and set it down etc. Hahahaha. But the bigger picture is that I've spent over a year on this build without driving the freaking thing. I had waffled on living out of the truck for a year without doing the pop-top, but here I was with an empty truck and it just seems like it's more work later. I dunno. I just need a got-damn vacation.
A million other small things have happened in between. One arm has a livid bruise from trying to installing a new manual radio antenna and feeding the cable inside the fender. The other is killing me from my round 2 Covid jab. Wiring is mostly done (I hope), at least for the drive battery. PDI intercooler install has started. I'm staring at many gallons of Second Skin that will be added for sound deadening once it warms up a bit. And someday I might actually drive the basterd around the yard. So all 3-4 of you should stay tuned for that boring update. lol. I've been listening to a lot of Last Podcast on the Left the last several weeks on this build. I guess there's something about a short angry Polish man comically screaming about aliens and serial killers that perfectly fits my mood at this point in the build.
Next I got my prototype air box back from powder coat. I was hoping for something more Satin/Matte but for the price I wasn't complaining. The mounting still needs some work. But total cost isn't bad.
Now this is where things start getting scary. Pulled the headliner and sunroof in preparation for cutting the roof out. It's not that the job of cutting the roof off is that overwhelming. Pretty basic job. Gluing the Campteq on is a whole other problem since I'm on my own & need to rig a system to lift it and set it down etc. Hahahaha. But the bigger picture is that I've spent over a year on this build without driving the freaking thing. I had waffled on living out of the truck for a year without doing the pop-top, but here I was with an empty truck and it just seems like it's more work later. I dunno. I just need a got-damn vacation.
A million other small things have happened in between. One arm has a livid bruise from trying to installing a new manual radio antenna and feeding the cable inside the fender. The other is killing me from my round 2 Covid jab. Wiring is mostly done (I hope), at least for the drive battery. PDI intercooler install has started. I'm staring at many gallons of Second Skin that will be added for sound deadening once it warms up a bit. And someday I might actually drive the basterd around the yard. So all 3-4 of you should stay tuned for that boring update. lol. I've been listening to a lot of Last Podcast on the Left the last several weeks on this build. I guess there's something about a short angry Polish man comically screaming about aliens and serial killers that perfectly fits my mood at this point in the build.
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Great build thread. 
Cheers
Cheers
60wag
SILVER Star
Great read, looking forward to the roof cut.
Just read through it all. This is awesome man. Keep it up!
- Thread starter
- #74
FINALLY got my custom airbox buttoned up. Holds a 2006 Duramax cartridge with 4” in & out. 4” to 3” at the turbo. Custom mount that basically hits the 3 points the stick box did. Def could have been more efficiently designed but I tried for a two-point mount that didn’t work so I modified to hit 3 points. And it could be 1/4” shorter. C’est la prototype. It all tucks nicely btw everything. PDI intercooler pipe is a bit overly dramatic without the huge stock box & outlet in there. May tone that down someday… Waiting to see how it breathes out the road/how loud it is. Lol.
So far I’m happy with my Might Mouse Turbo Diesel catch can. Looks good anyway. Haha! Great build quality on first blush.
Closer and closer to cranking it over. Need to sort out how to prime the fuel system. Everything is bone dry.
So far I’m happy with my Might Mouse Turbo Diesel catch can. Looks good anyway. Haha! Great build quality on first blush.
Closer and closer to cranking it over. Need to sort out how to prime the fuel system. Everything is bone dry.
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- Thread starter
- #75
Breaking News: It Runs! And drives. 
A couple of days ago I fired the beast up. The initial attempt at cranking exposed an un-tightened fuel return hose they ended the brief life of my very clean engine bay. Baptized in diesel fuel now, I suppose as it should be. 3 more unsuccessful attempts before I cracked the #6 fuel line to check for fuel. Not sure if that forced some air out or was just a coincidence but it started on the next go. Sounded great except for a very slight *pfft pfft pfft pfft* out of #2. You most likely don't remember an earlier episode in our series where the #2 injector seat was a bit marred from a previous ham-fisted owner. It's not terrible and I'm going to see if it goes away after a bit of driving. When that doesn't work, I'll have to pull the injector and try something else.
I had a start up video but haven't bothered to try to upload it to one of my sites to display here.
In the meantime a few other things:
Last minute decision to flush the heater core before adding fresh coolant/water. Happy I did because of the snot that came out. Fun fact: Standard garden hose fits the 80's heater hose nipples at the firewall.
First time out in the daylight.
Gotta love the Japanese translations... (yes I'm still 14 on the inside)
Stuffed an old EARLY 80 manual seat I had in there for test driving purposes. It came with pre-applied skid-marks from whatever horror befell the previous owner...
A couple of days ago I fired the beast up. The initial attempt at cranking exposed an un-tightened fuel return hose they ended the brief life of my very clean engine bay. Baptized in diesel fuel now, I suppose as it should be. 3 more unsuccessful attempts before I cracked the #6 fuel line to check for fuel. Not sure if that forced some air out or was just a coincidence but it started on the next go. Sounded great except for a very slight *pfft pfft pfft pfft* out of #2. You most likely don't remember an earlier episode in our series where the #2 injector seat was a bit marred from a previous ham-fisted owner. It's not terrible and I'm going to see if it goes away after a bit of driving. When that doesn't work, I'll have to pull the injector and try something else.
I had a start up video but haven't bothered to try to upload it to one of my sites to display here.
In the meantime a few other things:
Last minute decision to flush the heater core before adding fresh coolant/water. Happy I did because of the snot that came out. Fun fact: Standard garden hose fits the 80's heater hose nipples at the firewall.
First time out in the daylight.
Gotta love the Japanese translations... (yes I'm still 14 on the inside)
Stuffed an old EARLY 80 manual seat I had in there for test driving purposes. It came with pre-applied skid-marks from whatever horror befell the previous owner...
- Thread starter
- #76
As those who have been through it before, the wiring and modification of the gauge cluster can be a bit of fun. I moved my 1990 diesel Tach into my 1995 cluster. That worked pretty well. Except the over-boost light in the tach was permanently on. I'm running higher than stock boost, so I'm deleting the old boost switches for these lights. I had played with the idea of using that for the glow-plug indicator, but the circuit is permanently 12v with the boost switches grounding out to trigger the lights. More work than I wanted to get into to modify that. After reading up on how @Rock40 tackled the diesel tach in a gas cluster I began experimenting with adding the power screws to the green & red boost locations on the back of the cluster. No luck shutting off the light there. I added a ground wire soldered onto the printed board on the cluster to ground out the the turbo light. This shut off the red light & turned on the green light. Sigh. Added another wire to ground out BOTH after adding a screw to each and Bingpot!
Obviously could have done that a bit neater with one wire. But I don't want to risk soldering that thin circuit board more than once.
I am now temporarily using the AT/P warning light for the glow plugs HOT light. I tried several other locations but that ended up being the easiest due the existing wiring for that particular warning light (12v in/ground out, not 12v supplied by the cluster chain and ground in like most of them). I have that wired up to the glow plug side of my relay on my Wilson switch setup, so that I'll know if the relay fails open and the plugs are still hot after the momentary switch is released. I added a 10A fuse inline for testing purposes, worried that the amps in the glow plug wiring could fry the wiring or blow the bulb in the dash. That is working fine so far and will be added to the fuse box under the hood eventually.
On my first test drive through the fields here I immediately noticed that my rear locker was locked, the front was unlocked, and neither had any inclination to be anything else. After some testing and a few minor oversights (remember kids, you're center locker HAS to be engaged in order for you to have ANY sway over the F&R lockers), I decided I had to pull my rebuilt actuators and see where I ****ed up on that job. Turns out that getting the alignment of the magnets in the motor housing correct only guarantees that the motor will ROTATE. It does NOT guarantee which DIRECTION the motor will rotate. Somehow I won the fail lottery and BOTH the F & R actuators were turning the wrong way. I did pretty heavy research on the rebuild and I can't find anywhere that specifies the placement of the magnets to guarantee correct rotational direction. But I just swapped the positive & negative leads at each actuator and problem solved.
I guess now it's about time to chop the roof off? Crap.
Obviously could have done that a bit neater with one wire. But I don't want to risk soldering that thin circuit board more than once.
I am now temporarily using the AT/P warning light for the glow plugs HOT light. I tried several other locations but that ended up being the easiest due the existing wiring for that particular warning light (12v in/ground out, not 12v supplied by the cluster chain and ground in like most of them). I have that wired up to the glow plug side of my relay on my Wilson switch setup, so that I'll know if the relay fails open and the plugs are still hot after the momentary switch is released. I added a 10A fuse inline for testing purposes, worried that the amps in the glow plug wiring could fry the wiring or blow the bulb in the dash. That is working fine so far and will be added to the fuse box under the hood eventually.
On my first test drive through the fields here I immediately noticed that my rear locker was locked, the front was unlocked, and neither had any inclination to be anything else. After some testing and a few minor oversights (remember kids, you're center locker HAS to be engaged in order for you to have ANY sway over the F&R lockers), I decided I had to pull my rebuilt actuators and see where I ****ed up on that job. Turns out that getting the alignment of the magnets in the motor housing correct only guarantees that the motor will ROTATE. It does NOT guarantee which DIRECTION the motor will rotate. Somehow I won the fail lottery and BOTH the F & R actuators were turning the wrong way. I did pretty heavy research on the rebuild and I can't find anywhere that specifies the placement of the magnets to guarantee correct rotational direction. But I just swapped the positive & negative leads at each actuator and problem solved.
I guess now it's about time to chop the roof off? Crap.
- Thread starter
- #77
Santa came today in his big tractor trailer sleigh. 
At first I wasn’t sure if @Delta VS was trying to send some kind of a mafia style message with the open knife I found left inside the shipping box, or if this is some new promo that they didn’t mention…. Haha! Your knife will be in the mail back to you tomorrow Alex.
Can’t wait to start getting some of this stuff bolted up. In the meantime I pulled the windshield and painted/sealed the frame for good measure. New glass in this week. Really surprised at how knowledgeable my local glass company is.
And finally just a beauty shot as a Mad Max buggy.
Headlights in this weekend when bulbs show up. Then I see how well the Delta front bumper fits over the PDI piping. Maybe get the rear bumper bolted on. And then finally the roof gets cut off.
At first I wasn’t sure if @Delta VS was trying to send some kind of a mafia style message with the open knife I found left inside the shipping box, or if this is some new promo that they didn’t mention…. Haha! Your knife will be in the mail back to you tomorrow Alex.
Can’t wait to start getting some of this stuff bolted up. In the meantime I pulled the windshield and painted/sealed the frame for good measure. New glass in this week. Really surprised at how knowledgeable my local glass company is.
And finally just a beauty shot as a Mad Max buggy.
Headlights in this weekend when bulbs show up. Then I see how well the Delta front bumper fits over the PDI piping. Maybe get the rear bumper bolted on. And then finally the roof gets cut off.
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- #78
Test fit of my Campteq pop-top. Still a bit of work to do to get it fitted properly. But I love how it looks.
chapel gate
GOLD Star
gotta say, i love your workshop. working on "dirty" diesels they shoudnt look like a dentists surgery..
