Vervepipes' crew cab

[vervepipes]

Heading to the pick n pull in Edmonton tomorrow, maybe I'll find something good, but it has to fit in the back of the minivan since the wife and kids are coming, so maybe 2 captain's chairs max, and I can get the other 2 another time.

 

[vervepipes]

Fixed the embarrassing heater squeal by using a tiny bit of light lubricant on the fan's shaft. I decided to try using some light lube after a spare motor from a donor was squeeky as well. Since the donor didn't cost anything, I probed with some aerosol lube to find the source, once I found it I used a little lube on that part and now she's golden!

 

[vervepipes]

Sold my spare overhead console for $60, and bought a sleeper cab for $60. The console was free, so essentially I got a free sleeper cab. I decided on a sleeper over a full bed canopy because I will eventually have a gooseneck hitch, so this way I can have some extra dry storage space and have most of a usable bed. Under the sleeper will be locking storage cabinets to house various tools and whatnot. Maybe I'll even mount a winch under there and incorporate a roller into the tailgate. I've got time to figure it out.

 

[vervepipes]

Tied up a few loose ends tonight.

My lamp reel is screwed in place on the firewall. There isn't much room on the passenger fender on a vortec truck, so it's beside the coolant overflow bottle, spliced into the stock under hood lamp. The reel doesn't quite reach to the back of the crew cab, but it's still long enough to pay for itself as I found out during the rest of my evening's projects.

The power seats are now working. On the fuze box there was an unmarked spot with no fuze in it, sort of recessed away from the rest and hard to reach. I put in a fuze and it made my seats work. Odd but I won't complain. One switch on both front seats remain inoperable though, I'm thinking they may be lumbar support.

Compass/auto dim rear view mirror and lighted visors are now wired in. The ports at the convenience centre have no power to them. Rather than troubleshooting this I just found an ignition switched wire and spliced into that. End result is the same, the visor lights work and the rear view mirror works as advertized. Now that I've done it once, I'm going to add my spare mirror in my '11 Grand Caravan since the instrument cluster lacks a compass (very few options in that van, most basic model even has a non foldable bench seat in the middle row).

Now I'm at a point debating whether I keep my overhead console or install my sunroof. Pros and cons to both, with no a/c the sunroof could be useful on the odd hot day, the console adds storage and a bit luxury feel. hmm, decisions lol

 

[DRAGGIN95]

Sound's like your getting a lot of thing's fixed on it, what kind of sunroof are you thinking of?

 

[vervepipes]

It's an aftermarket sunroof that was in an '89 reg cab at the pick n pull, I don't know the brand, off the top of my head approx 12"x 30", manual operation. I think it cost me around 20 bucks, so it didn't break the bank. Kind of nervous to cut into good metal, but you have to start somewhere.

 

[vervepipes]

Well, solved the drive shaft problem with brute force and ignorance, but I dropped a bearing cap, so I had to re-use an old u-joint for now. 2 steps forward, one step back. My battery was drained again, so I'm thinking maybe I fouled up the wiring on one of the components I recently installed. Boo, I hate chasing electrons.

 

[vervepipes]

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Got the last of the factory smoked glass in, the back pane being from an '89 diesel, the rear sides from a '85 Tahoe

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New headlights and corners in place. Turn signals arent on because the grille is too far broken to hold them in place, so I don't want them wrecked by jiggling ans smashing around. New grille is coming with my income tax return.

 

[vervepipes]

I also re-shaped the lower rear corner of the driver's door with a little percussive maintenance. A little hammering with a metal wedge behind the door brought it back to shape. Sticker residue is off now too, just a little more work and it'll be ready for paint.

 

[vervepipes]

Got the grinder out and cleaned up the old chips. A wipe down with tack cloth and mineral spirits and then a light coat of filler to even it up with the paint. I havent done any spots with rust yet, luckily too those spots are all below the body line I've chosen to be the top of the bed liner, or will be covered by the fender flares (probably oem style). Don't get me wrong, I'm still going to be cutting and welding, but it doesn't need to be as pretty as where I will actually have paint.

As for the peeling paint, I found that using a brass wire wheel on a drill is best. Rotate one way, then reverse and it chips the paint back to where there's a firmer bond from primer to paint.