Time for an update............
My bed kit came in from Mar-K. Ordered red oak and polished stainless strips. To date, the stuff I've ordered from them has been really good quality, but one piece of wood in this order is checked and I'll have to repair it before I can put a finish coat on it. The fit between the angle strips and the wood is very tight too, so I'm going to have to sand it down a little to get it to fit. Here's the trial fit we did yesterday. (I much prefer working with metal than desiccated dead tree carcass parts)
I like the color just the way it is so I'm not going to stain it. I'm planning on coating it with UV cure polyester from Solarez after using their grain-fill product. Their grain filler is glass micro-balloons in a 100% solids polyester that cures with UV instead of MEK so I can coat the boards and take them outside in the sun to cure in just a couple of minutes. They say that the grain fill process is 'one and done' since there is no shrink-back. Ditto for the top coat, but they say that you can apply it inside the shop with a brush and leave it to self level for a half hour then take it outside to cure under the sun for a couple minutes, avoiding having to spray it on. I'll block sand the polyester to 1200 then polish it out with compound on a foam buffer wheel before I install them.
I spent about 5 hours in the DMV last week and walked out with my registration tag. I had a title in my name, but my registration had expired in 2015 so they wanted to fine me for not registering the truck for the last four years. After some dancing around, the DMV said if I'd sign a statement saying the truck wasn't used on public roads since the registration expired that they'd waive the fines! The VIN for this truck was on the engine block and is probably melted down and in some casting on a HF product by now. I was afraid that they'd ask for a Level 2 inspection where they want you to bring the vehicle in for VIN verification, but I dodged the bullet. Bought an agreed value policy from Grundy for $190/year
I'd pushed my master cylinder and hydroboost back 18" to clear my headers and that put my brake reservoir under the front seat. I made this cover up and put a Dzus fastener on it to hold it closed and a tool isn't required to open it. You can see the DPDT switch for the parking brake in this picture (more on that coming up)
Need to trim up the hole. Looking to borrow an air- file to smooth it out - grinders around paint make me nervous.
Finished hanging the tailpipe and polished them up a little
The flanges on the sides of the MarK roll pan weren't wide enough to drill for a bolt to mount it to the bed. I found some '29 Ford gas tank clamps to hold it in place without having to put holes in the flanges.
Now that the new Rebel harness is in and working, I loomed all the exposed wires under the truck with a fabric split loom. Tried to put extra grounds close to all the lights and other electrical devices. Still need to tie the wire loom to the chassis before bed wood can go in. Extra wire is for the LEDs that light the license plate.
I spent a day or so putting knock-off Weatherpac connectors on all the lights and electric accessories on the truck.
Wyatt replaced the bottom of the rear fenders where they meet the running boards when he did the metal work on the truck, but left the bolt holes out so we could match drill them to the holes in the running boards. Job done with the seal installed. (The white paint pen on the floor is used to mark fasteners that I've tightened. I have a very bad habit of getting everything fitting together and not tightening bolt up, so I mark each one that's done with the paint pen)
Installed my flea-bay linear actuator for the parking brake after making a couple of brackets and a cable yoke. It is actuated with that DPDT switch in the previous picture. I hooked it up to a 12V battery charger and actuated it and it seems to work pretty good. Some adjustment and tweaking and it should be functional.
Bought a group 24F battery for the truck, but the fit is so tight that if anything ever went wrong on a road trip and I had to replace it, it would be very difficult. My solution is an AGM Odyssey battery with a smaller footprint and same CCA. I liberated this one from the sandbuggy and made a hold down bracket for it. Will install it under the floor and have a trickle charger pigtail on it so I can keep it topped up. I like AGM batteries, but they are a PITA to recharge if you let them go dead. I've killed a couple of Optima's that way.
I also spent a couple days fixing the geometry of the trailing arms that support the airbags on the Jag IRS, but the way I had it set up was going to bind a little. It is frustrating to take something you've fabricated, throw it in the trash and start over. You can just see the new cross member (behind the actuator) I fabricated to bring the pivot point up higher. Also trashed the control rods and brackets I'd made to hold the diff pinion angle for a new design - the old one was too close to the exhaust. Somedays it seems like I'm trying to stuff 10# in a 5# bag.
Pretty close to putting the battery in and filling it with fluids and bleeding the brakes
and clutch.
I haven't yet figured out how I'm going to make the speedometer work. The WC T5 I used has a tailshaft from a V8 Camaro but the housing is from an S10 to move the shifter forward in the cab. Shifter location looks good, but now I don't have a way to drive the speedometer cable.
Speedhut sells something called a Speedbox that converts a GPS signal to a 1000 rev/mile cable drive and sounds like a good solution.
The problem is the GPS antenna. They recommend putting it on the roof of the truck, but I'll be damned if I'm going to put a hole in my roof, and I think it looks like a wart if it is installed on the dash. I know sheet metal attenuates the GPS signal but I'm wondering how it would do under the wood in the bed. Anybody with any expertise is microwave signals and antennas?