Diablo Build Update (pics)

[ARMYMAN30YearsPlus]

This is the best thread for inspiration that I have read. You have done great work and I can't wait till Aberdeen in May. It is fitting for a great truck like the duece to get a really prime redo like pimp my ride only better. Hats off to your design and skill. It makes me think of all the rust I have to fix before I get to any other mods to our duece. I do have an inverter mounted under the passenger seat I will take pictures of it next time I get some day light hours at home.

 

[devilman96]

Anyone have leads on weather stripping for Deuce windows? I've checked the usual sources (Mc Master, JC-whom use to have it, several of the larger suppliers)... Im annoyed to death with surplus dealers and trying to find as most don't carry the stuff... I ordered (and paid for) enough to do both windows from Clarks Trucks, after several weeks of waiting and several calls I received enough to do PART of one window...

I can not be bothered to deal with ignorance and im not even going to bothering to explane why a 4.5 foot piece doesn't fit what takes 7.5 foot X 2!!!

I am specifically looking for the rubber type, not the lesser foam type seal... Any thoughts?

 

[Knucklehead]

Try www.steelerubber.com. May have what you are looking for,I have some other sources that may help if I can find the address.

 

[devilman96]

Thanks for the suggestion... I called but no luck... Ya'd think such a simple piece should be easy to find!

 

[WillWagner]

Memphis has all the rubbers for around the doors, the felt channels for the windows and the rubber for the windshield.

 

[KaiserJeep715]

lol i just read through this entire thread and i can't believe your workmanship....i wish i had your shop and tools...i'm envious!!

 

[Autocar]

I realize this is a little bit late, but if you ever rewire your truck, check out www.dedenbear.com and look for the MRC1 multiple relay center. It simplifies wiring greatly and although it is listed at 12 volts, it is available in 24v so it uses 24 volt relays to switch 12 volt circuits.

 

[alphadeltaromeo]

Dman...more pics? Update?

 

[Recovry4x4]

I snuck in the other evening and had a looksee and also spoke with Mike the other day. He was waiting on some lost in trasit amps so its been sitting for a while. He's very close to being done. All the stereo equipment is inas are the seats. Give him 2 more weeks and see where its at. I'll be down his neck of the woods on Saturday.

 

[alphadeltaromeo]

Appreciate the update Kenny - it's almost like Christmas time waiting to see it done. I think the entire SS community will be proud for him.

 

[Recovry4x4]

Once its done, he will be starting over on the bed. Last we spoke beds, he was not only going to shorten it, he was considering narrowing it. Lots of work.

 

[IAN_M715]

what a visionary! so what was your initial investment on the truck, time and money put in to it?

 

[Recovry4x4]

OK, just got back from Mikes place. Of course, he wasn't there but I was able to accomplish my mission by delivering a tote. Anyway, you guys are going to be blown away by this thing. He told me how to get into the truck and I had a seat and looked around. This thing is wicked. All the crazy power stuff, power seats and comfy as heck. Speakers everywhere. More than I can describe for sure. Bad note though, At 40 miles into my 90 mile round trip, the pecking noise in 5th gear turning into a loud knocking noise. Drove the rest of the way in 4th gear. Now I need to find a tranny so I can rebuild this one. Dang the luck!

 

[devilman96]

Sorry for the delays in posting... Yes I know I am a bad MV'er sometimes... No I have not given up but I have had some pit falls... Some of which have been real kickers...

The Audio stuff was the fist in a long string of issues... I placed my order several weeks ago for the amp and cross over that I needed to replace... Both were lost in shipping for almost 3 weeks. The cross over I had to repurchase to get here and actually just received the credit for the original today. All of which has been installed along with the seats... The interior has come leaps and bounds with that out of the way. All I am lacking is the headliner and over head and center consoles which will have to wait to be built when I can make the 200 mile trek north to Orlando.

I will say this... In the current miserable abyss I seem to be stuck in at the moment with this project the stereo system has been a shining light. I cant rally describe the sound or the quality in words but in showing it off to people whom come by to see or hear it very much reminds me of taking a 50 cal to a public shooting range... The first time ya pull the trigger the two most common things you hear after from the shooters four lanes to your left and right is ether "holly $hit"... or "WTF was that?!?!"... This thing is loud and from Hank Sr to what ever the kiddies listen to today its crystal clear... 1800 watts... 14 speakers (you can only see 4 of them)... You really don't expect the wall of sound that hits you to come from the truck... At 50 feet away you have to yell to have a conversation and sitting in the seats your watching the windshield wipers bounce a half inch off of the windshield while your vision is jogged around from the pressure waves.... Ok so maybe I went a WEEEEEEEeeeeee bit over board but its kinda neat!

Problems with in the front of the truck...

I have had more issues with steering.... almost to the point of wanting to light this thing on fire. I was originally told the 710 steering gear I bought way back when needed 5GPM at 1500 psi... Which was incorrect. I need 2.5 - 3 GPM so the whining and chattering noise from the pump and gear drive have been an issue in the back of my mind for a while now and part of the reason I have not buttoned up the front end yet. In trying to address this I have had a million idiots telling me to change this or do that or resize this when in all reality I've kept thinking I needed to down size the pump. Finally I just gave up listening to the "experts" and dumped 350$ in changing out the pump cartridge assembly to lower the flow rate. From what I have learned in this mess... Never trust anyone... hunt down the specs on your own no matter the effort involved. At this point... If there is anything anyone ever wanted to know about the Vickers VTM42 steering pump used on the 5 tons trucks I have a reference library on them!!!

I ended changing the AC condenser I had originally bought... I think I COULD have crammed the first one in there but it would have been an issue with clearances. I hate to spend money twice but I seem to be doing a LOT of that here in the past few weeks.... Any way... I down sized but went with a higher efficiency type condenser which fit in the front grill far better.

The belting... I ended up going back to dual belts on the 24V alternator... (the peanut gallery needs ta ZIP IT!)... I did say a while ago that I would give the single belt a whirl and see what became of it... didn't worky so well! So back to duals and I added a grove to the water pump pulley by fabbing a SBC cranky pulley to fit where the fan was once mounted. This gave me the belt I needed to run the 12V above the injector pump... and speaking of 12V...

In the process of pulleys I wanted to change the driven 12V pulley to the smallest size I could make it... RPM was the idea, I need as much as possible at idle due to the stereo system which will suck the battery dry in 15 minutes. When I removed the nut on the pulley the threads on the shaft came with it... That was my first kick in the crotch... Ok fine... so I will pull it apart and chuck it up in the lathe to fix the threads... Then one of the bolts holding the frame together snapped off.... OK FINE... I will pull it apart and drill the bolt out of the frame... re tap it... then turn the shaft in the lathe and put it back together... (Mind you I just paid 200$ to have this thing custom built 4 months ago)... So I start drilling the bolt out of the frame... steel bolt... aluminum frame... always a hoot to do... *snap* goes the drill bit.... ooooOOOK FINE!!!!! I will tap the drill bit out with a punch... redrill the hole... rethread the hole... turn new threads on the shaft.... find a bolt to replace to one I just broke and dig up a nut for the shaft... and THEN put it back together... While driving the bit out the frame cracked... and then I cracked... At that point much of the alternator became air soluble as I was flinging parts and pieces of it across the shop in every direction. (sometimes ya've just had enough and something needs to die!)

Unfortunately I have had a string of these types of experience the past few weeks... I do this for a living so to have such small things bite me so many times over and over is very frustrating!!! Things have moved along so well for so long that it was bound to hit a wall somewhere... I think its that 90% of the work in 10% of the time thingo... The money kinda works the same... Every time I blink its $200 and when you have a few $400-600$ weeks in a row ya kinda get a little MV'ed out!!!

Yesterday I collected what was left of the parts and pieces of the alternator and took them back to the shop that built it and explane how it got its self into the shape it was currently in *innocent look*... I fully expected to be dropping another 200$ but the guys dug up everything needed to replace what I had destroyed and as I was pulling out the ole bank card (which has taken a horrid beating over the past 6 weeks) the guy dumped it all into a box and told me not to worry about it... I almost fainted!!! So maybe the string of bad luck is coming to an end... *shudder*... I hope!

On a side note... In having this discussion at the shop yesterday I was shown a shelf of about 100 of the same style starters used on the LD's and listened to a few war stories of the nightmares with them... It turns out there is a ND gear reduction starter that will fit the LDT's so I am adding that to my shopping list for near future purchase. More torque, less amperage and 1000 times more reliable... it's just money... *sigh*

Other little things... I went with the 95/100W light bulbs... Talk about being worth the money!!!... and a pic of the ACL lights I am installing in the black out light housing (going to mount the bl in the bumper like a A3). I got a spare housing from Kenny so I have dual ACL's... 157,000CP each.... evil, evil, evil!!!

Any whooo... Hopefully I am climbing outta this rut and will get some smooth sailing this weekend... Whom knows... I might even get to take it up and down the street by Sunday...

 

[BFR]

Looking great!(as usual)
If building stuff to the level your truck is at was easy, we would see it all the time. Every time I see a pic of some new detail I am blown away.
BTW if we are going to start naming our trucks I call dibbs on "the antichrist"

 

[alphadeltaromeo]

Dman...looks excellent. Keep up the good work!

 

[devilman96]

Thanks guys... and don't forget... your ALWAYS welcome to come over and HELP out! Caah and parts dontations are always welcome and I really think I need a wheel sponsor if anyone is feeling froggy! *grinz*

AUUGGGGHHHHhhhhh... I think I FINALLY have my power steering issues resolved... I installed the new rotor tonight and vala... no more screaming and chattering!!! I think I forgot how loud that thing really was until the noise went away... I kinda wish I had gone one size higher on flow but other than dead idle the steering is smooth. I might resize the output orifice tomorrow and see if I can gain a little there.... Ether way its a 1000 times better than before and the heat is WAY down on the fluid.

With my fingers crossed... I might actually be able to get the full sheet metal installed this weekend... Motivation provided I might also R&R the front axle which I have been sitting on doing until I felt a little more resolve with this front clip situation... and as I go out on a total limb here... I MIGHT even be able to take it up and down the road for the first time in 5 months!!!... Prolly getting ahead of myself but its nice to dream I guess... Ether or its getting very close!

By the by... I've been reading a lot about propane and its giving me a woody... anyone done it yet?

 

[Recovry4x4]

HRD had LP on his multifuel before he pulled it. Check with him.

 

[readyman]

Dman,

I was looking at your grill... and didn't know what you were planning.

I threw some perf metal under the grille guard to protect and hide the radiator. Just bent it around the sheet metal on each side to hold it in.

 

[jh1990]

That looks like a really good idea.