Jeff Balazs

Thanks Guy's; I like it. It is nice and bright and cheerful inside. Should be really great out on the road. Mark. Did you notice the vent covers I added to the heater? They stop the flow of air from exiting at the screened openings. I did that to boost the air flow into the defroster ducts and it does help. Fog can be really bad here at times and about all that helps is a good defroster and RainX. Hank; Not yet. Need to get the title straightened out and get it registered. We have a good shop in Mission Viejo that is very familiar with solid axle front ends. The owner is best friends with one of my buddies. I got a couple of things to get sorted......like a bad running light switch and finishing my battery lock out installation and then it will be ready to get the front end checked out. Not long now......Hey it hasn't even been two years. Jeff

OK 35# all around.......and it does steer a bit easier. Got a new digital gauge.......not sure about the accuracy yet. Need to check it against a known source. Jeff

Thanks guys; Evolved is a good way to describe this truck. I guess my way of looking at this whole project has been to consider what I might have done to it over the years if I had it since new. It is clean and comfy now. Arm rest is in the perfect location for those times when we actually have to drive with the windows up. Just have a few details to finish now .... get the front end alignment checked over carefully and then it will be ready to go back to work. Jeff

A few more,,,,,

OK so here is my new arm rests. Through bolted with metal frames. Just right I think. And just for Mark a couple of shots of the heater he so kindly sold me..... And a couple shots of my almost complete interior. Jeff

I went ahead and added 300# of sand bags and it seems much better now. Lubricating the springs and adding weight seems to be having the desired effect. Jeff

Chris; Thanks. I do enjoy seeing you ..... and all the others..... make progress on your projects. I got tons of help and encouragement from lots of people here. And I will tell you right here that they made a huge difference in how my project went. There are times in a major project like you are taking on when you will have to measure your progress almost like grains of sand. It is just the way it is with some aspects of these projects. All I can say is if you keep after it......it will come together. And I am certain yours will be very cool. Jeff

Hey Chris; Congrats on your progress. Bit by bit ..... and every little bit is often how we all have to measure progress on our projects. It always seems to take longer than you will expect it to .... and there will be items that don't quite go according to plan. I look forward to seeing your finished product. Love the concept. Jeff

Paul; Was it you that escaped from Alcatraz ? If so and you have managed to escape detection all these years....Bravo! Don't take your truck there.......it will just get rusty. Jeff

Nice project. I don't think I have ever seen such a radical bend in a shifter. Jeff

Bummer. I can just imagine how you felt when that happened. You better do something quickly before the paint cooties get at it. Jeff

Yep. You can then fashion up a small funnel to the end of the cable and starting with penetrating oil get it lubricated. Keep running oil through it until you can get the inner cable to move and then work it back and forth. Motor oil works well at this point. These cables are surprisingly salvageable and that is good because no one makes over the counter direct replacement. Jeff

I got sort of a funny story about tire pressure to tell you. Back in the mid 90's I worked with a fellow named Steve who went out and bought a top of the line Grand Cherokee. He then signed up for a special Baja driving class at a local community college. About every other weekend the class went out to desert to practice all the off road driving techniques they learned in class. Steve really got into it and for several months it was about all he talked about. The culmination of this class was a week long trip on some of most remote sections of Baja. The highlight was to be a 90+ mile section on a beach on the Pacific side. 90 miles in loose beach sand. This type of driving is usually done with very low air pressure.... 10# -15#. No big deal.....when you get back to firmer going you either ad air from a tank or small compressor. But Steve was smarter than everyone else.....and he had come up with a way to save space and weight in his rig. So off he goes on this expedition. He and about 20 other new off roaders and their instructors. When they arrived at the beach section they found it closed by the Mexican government. They found other sections of road but never did any sand driving. One summer day a few months later Steve was out and about in his rig. It was a hot day and he had the windows rolled up and was running the air conditioning when his "air supply" let go. Yes he had his spare inflated to 125# and it was inside the rig when it let go. I saw him and his truck about a half hour after it happened. How he was not seriously injured is beyond me. It looked like a bomb went off and his pride and joy was a write off. He had forgotten all about his air supply. Jeff

I am sure I can get my foot used to this arrangement. I am thinking it might get a bit bothersome in stop and go LA traffic though. Just one more reason to get the flock out of here........................... Jeff

I kinda remember looking at this when I first started working on my project. Seems to me there was something about it that made it a pita. Either the tooth count or interference... or 12V versus 6V. I think I will just work on getting my foot better educated. Jeff

Hank; Your extra ground strap isn't doing any harm. If you did a lot of powder coating etc...and didn't get the mechanical connections all clean then it may just be doing it's intended job. At any rate it won't hurt anything. It does seem more likely that the damage would happen from overheating the starter motor. It would be difficult to attach the battery cables in such a way as to create a direct short in the motor. But then with Pep Boys I suppose anything is possible...... Jeff

Ok....so it is just me. The gas pedal in mine is skewed a bit more to the right in my cab Merle. I suppose it is because I have never had a vehicle that you had to lift your foot so high off the floor to use the brake pedal. I guess I am just over compensating. I am sure I will get used to it. But to be totally truthful I wouldn't mind it if there was a simple and inexpensive way to fit a Bendix type starter. Jeff

I certainly would not be adverse to ditching the stomp starter......what is involved with the Bendix starter conversion? Is it an ultra rare item? and will it fit a fluid drive bell housing? Jeff

No it is between the gas pedal and the brake pedal. And it sticks up quite a bit so it isn't all that far from the brake pedal. Jeff

Trouble is that isn't the only spot varmits can get in through. Jeff

Well to muddy this up a bit.......the opening through the floor in mine clearly had 4 holes around it which looked like they were made at the factory. I just reused them when I made my cover plate from 1/8" aluminum. I made a gasket from inner tube material and the whole thing is as close to watertight as is possible. The advantage of doing it this way....above the floor .... is that any moisture which might make its way to the top of the tank is not trapped in this location by a thick piece of rubber,etc. Having replaced a few below deck fuel tanks in boats......the worst external corrosion is always found where they are supported or restrained by thick rubber, etc.. pads. Jeff

Keven; Good idea. Jeff

Keven; If I was going to take mine apart myself I would get that stuff. I went ahead and put some weight in it and shot the springs again. This time with PB blaster corrosion guard. The rears are really starting to spew rust out. I will run it around some and wipe them down and then do it all over again. I can already tell that the range of movement is improving. Jeff

Looks good. I pretty much did the exact same thing on mine. How is your engine coming along? Hopefully there has been some progress. Jeff

Hank; Yes it should read as soon as you turn the key to on. If you have an ohm meter you should be able to pretest the sender......80/90 empty........40/50 1/2 a tank.......lowest reading at full. Jeff