Me- “do you want to be in the 4th of July parade?”
Son- “can I throw candy?”
Me “you betcha,”
So I’m not officially in the local car club, but I friends in the right places. We have a small town parade every year and they always want more classics. A quick text and I was in the parade. I’m a hell of a dad!!!
We show in time to sit and wait as we were instructed. Talk to some friends and wait as the day turns from pleasant to hot. Finally there’s movement, all be it slow. I throw it in 2low and we creep on toward Main Street. My boy is perched on the ‘cage with his bag of candy. It’s 1.5 blocks to the official start of the parade. Takes about 15 minutes to travel. Temperature never stops climbing. Halfway there I notice I’m at 195. 3/4 of the way to the official start, I’m at 205. Wife and I are doing the”what now” conversation. I pull off into a parking lot just before Main Street, temp is 243. Shut her down and pop the hood. No coolant puking out, so walk away and enjoy the parade. Heard a K20 p/u stalled in the parade and had to be pushed the final 2 blocks…
Come back and find out I melted a 40 amp fuse and the spot for it as well. Ironically, I parked next to a similar vintage CJ5. I live through a few ribs about how I should of bought an American truck. The owner points out that he has fuel injection, so I ask if it’s a sniper. “Ah hell, I just paid someone to put it on.” I keep my mouth shut. It’s a small town and I know this guy by reputation, so I just let it slide. His tone shifts when he realizes I have an LS In my frankencruiser. After fiddling with it for a while, I decide to go home and grab the trailer. Better to drag it home then risk burning it to the ground with a Jerry rigged electrical.
Wife and kid go float the river, so I dig in…
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Hmmm, toasty…
Old feed wire off the relay and new one.
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So I when I redid the fuse/relay box for the LS, I accidentally fed the cooling fan from the keyed power relay- No Bueno. Fried the relay as well, which explains why I was unable to start it once it cooled off. So surgery commenced. The fan now has a direct power source from the bus bar- with a 40amp inline fuse.
Currently, I have it engaged by the ecu to the Volvo fan relay. Next I’ll need to wire up a switch for the high speed side of the relay- someday when I have nothing else to do.
Next weekend headed to Ennis for a quick wheeling overnighter. Last time I was there, I lost a bolt in the transfer and had to buy an Orion. Wish me better luck.