47-55.1 1953 3100 "Honey-do"

[daveshilling]

That looks amazing! This is how filler is used like an expert... sparingly, and only when perfection is desired.

[Rickysnickers]

Looking very nice!

[Tempest67]

Thanks for sharing your ideas and workmanship.

Great work

[rnrdthefox]

Thanks for all the comments. Much appreciated! Renard

[vintovka]

Very nice and very expert restoration. I really admire your efforts. I wish i could have done what you are doing on yours.

[mobileortho]

Man! I love your workmanship!

[slammed57]

Man I just stumbled across this. Great build , Strong work. I'll be following bud

[28TudorAZ]

Looking great. You got rid of all the good rust on the outside.

[rnrdthefox]

It's been a few months since I last posted. I'm making progress, albeit slowly.

First - Thanks for all the replies. They are much appreciated.

I've been jumping around a bit as I get tired of bodywork. I'm still focused on getting the cab ready for high build this early summer. I've still got some mechanical things to finish up on the cab also.

Finished patching and welding in the cowl drip rail. Got the outer cowls put back on. Used some Kitty Hair on the joints and then Evercoat Rage over that.

[rnrdthefox]

More pics

[rnrdthefox]

Moved on to the back of the cab.

[rnrdthefox]

Finished the final placement of the brake and gas pedal. Drilled and installed the nutzerts for the steering shaft boot.

[8man]

The metal work is looking great.

What year model Impala is the 3rd brake light from?

[rnrdthefox]

One item that I've been kicking down the road is the transition from the center console to the dash. I think I posted a while back that I was moving the shifter from the column to the center console. This is mainly because I want to have a more usable Sport and Manual shift modes when I'm in the mood (or the Boss if she's feeling it).

The center console is out of a 2008 CTS. It gives normal P, R, N, D and sport and manual modes. The other things I've been mulling over have to do with where I place the window controls and master door lock. I want to keep the door lock switch from the passenger side and window controls from the Escalade. Doing this doesn't give me much room on the doors to put them there so I'm going to try to put them into the center console. Either passenger will have access to the door locks and the window controls. There should be enough space for the HVAC Dakota Digital control unit and the Heated and Cooled Seat controls. I don't have the Heated and Cooled seat controls mocked up yet but they will be at the top left and right above the window/door controls.

Here are some pics for the work in progress. It's taken several attempts to get this far as I will do something and not like it and start over. Oh well, part of the process.

[rnrdthefox]

Originally Posted by 8man

The metal work is looking great.

What year model Impala is the 3rd brake light from?

Thanks. 2010ish I think. They are all over the wrecking yards here.

[8man]

I like the console idea. What is it out of?

[rnrdthefox]

While the cab is off and I have a few hours here and there, I've started working on the various fluid systems. I've got the PS system done. The brake lines will be completed with two flex hoses from the cab to the rail. The Transmission is nearly completed. Just need to run the hoses from the hard lines to the external cooler and then to the internal cooler of the radiator. I need to replace the air dam below the radiator first so I can drill a couple of holes for the hoses.

[rnrdthefox]

Originally Posted by 8man

I like the console idea. What is it out of?

2008 Cadillac CTS. They are showing up in the yards a lot now too.

[rnrdthefox]

Tossed the battery box on with a few nutzerts while I was at it.

[rnrdthefox]

Another thing I've been focused on lately is with the wiring and electronics. As I'm trying to determine where things like the door locks and window controls go, I also have to make some decision on the heated and cooled seat controllers.

You will notice in the one picture of the HVAC unit out of the Escalade that the controller for each seat is built into the module itself. I have no desire to try to transplant that ugly thing so I needed a couple of standalone controllers that would work. The only problem is that I couldn't find standalone controllers within any GM platform from 2008 - 2013 (needed this for compatibility reasons to put it simply)

While doing some research, I found where another guy was using controllers out of a 2014ish Silverado platform. Those are shown below.

[rnrdthefox]

Of all the wiring obstacles that I have to overcome to do what I want to do; the heated and cooled seats was one of the biggest. I couldn't simply take the standalone controllers out of the Silverado and use them with the existing Escalade harness. Without going into a bunch of details that most people don't want to hear, the simple issues are the Escalade uses what's called a GM Low Speed Lan (GMLS LAN) to control most of the non-safety critical systems (door locks, remote entry, heated and cooled seats, outside temperature reading on rearview mirror, etc.) and the standalone controllers use a different network called LIN (Local Interconnect Network) a more broadly accepted network protocol for the auto industry.

So, what does all this mumbo jumbo mean? Well, it means the easiest way to do what I want to do is with a microcontroller that understands both network protocols and program it to do what I want it to do, and then insert it into the harness out of sight. That's all easy enough, but, I don't like the programming part of it. I didn't like it in college, and I haven't developed a liking for it since. But I'm lucky my neighbor does both hardware and software design, and he offered up some of his time to do the integration of the microcontroller and most importantly, the programming. Yah Team!!!

The pictures below are the entire set of harness' out of the Escalade setup on my pool table along with the various ECUs, seats and other sensors that I need to be in place to get the seat controllers working. As far as the harness and electronics go, the system doesn't know it's not in the vehicle. As an example, I can use the key fob for remote entry where it unlocks the doors, even the lights come on. When I put the key in the ignition, everything comes alive just like if it were in the vehicle.

[rnrdthefox]

Pool table pic

[rnrdthefox]

I'm also lucky that my neighbor happened to have access to a high-end oscilloscope that reads both GMLAN and LIN networks - A key part of deciphering the messages that need to be captured and programmed into the microcontroller. We were able to capture the message sequences for each standalone controller, the messages from each seat, and the handful of messages that needed to be replicated from the HVAC unit. At this stage, we have this working. There is a glitch that we are trying to figure out where the seats get out of sync with the switches sometimes for an unknow reason. It's easy to reset by turning the key off and back on again. But not so easy if you are driving. As a backup if needed, I will hide a relay and switch that cuts power (same as turning the ignition off) to the seats to reset them while driving if we can't get the software glitch figured out. But my neighbor is a perfectionist and said he wanted some time to look into it.

Here are a few pics of the equipment, microcontroller, and the start of the process of "de-wring" ~ 70% of the wires from the harness that I won't need. The pic below is just the wires that I've de-pinned from the Airbag module and were later removed from the harness.

I've been waiting for the seat programming to be done so that I didn't disrupt some wiring inadvertently while removing wires. I'm confident that I can start that process now.

Next, I need to determine where all the wiring will layout so that I can cut the hole in the firewall, mount a few ECUs under the dash etc. It's all related to finishing the cab, so I want to get it going.

Thanks, and that's all for now.

[youngrodder]

Man that is crazy...and very confusing. I don't know where you would begin. Then after you have all the wiring figured out you need to try to hide it all. Very cool concept tho to have the vintage truck full of modern technology.

Marc

[rnrdthefox]

Originally Posted by youngrodder

Man that is crazy...and very confusing. I don't know where you would begin. Then after you have all the wiring figured out you need to try to hide it all. Very cool concept tho to have the vintage truck full of modern technology.

Marc

Yep, I get it. First you have to have some desire for self-inflected pain. You also need to start with a complete wiring diagram for the vehicle which I have. I couldn't do it without it. The only options I plan to keep are:
- Relay circuits and fuses for items that are left (all of this resides in the under-hood fuse box). I will repurpose some for the Vintage Air, Stereo, and misc items
- Heated and cooled seats, with power adjustments
- Inside rear-view mirror with outside temperature and compass and auto dimming. I down-graded to a 2007 mirror to get rid of the extra on-star buttons.
- Auto headlights at dusk (requires one small sensor to be retained and added to the dash).
- Power windows, door locks and alarm with disablement, remote entry and start.
- Circuits for headlights, turn signals, brake lights, running lights, and driving lights.
- Wipers with variable delay, fast, slow settings (all controlled by the BCM and using existing wiring with an aftermarket motor for the 3100.
- I will also integrate an aftermarket stereo into the harness so that the steering wheel controls still work. I've already tested this on the pool table and it works.
- ECUs: ECM for engine, TCM for Tranny, (FSCM) Fuel System Control Module, RFA for remote entry, Passenger door controller, and (BCM) Body Control Module for everything else that remains.

I've removed all the stability controls, trailer brake module, ABS, Airbags, Onstar, SirrusXM, rearview camera, proximity detection, and a host of other misc things. I've still got a ton of wires to remove that i cut starting and the second row of seats that control things like the rear hatch, HVAC, rear entertainment, etc. It's a VERY tedious process and not everyone's cup of tea.

If I'm lucky, I end up with a number of modern conveniences, reliable factory harness' for both chassis and in the cab and something that will be a daily driver for years to come. But it is a huge undertaking and many hurdles left to overcome including stuffing what's left into the truck.

thanks
Renard