My 78 K15 High Sierra build - Fish Tremble

[y5mgisi]

I can't wait to get back to that stuff in mine!

[swamp rat]

Nice set of crimps man! don't forget the shrink wrap unless there is a plastic fitting going around it (don't know your kit personally) My luck i always end up crimping a terminal then realize i forgot the shrink or plastic cover, much like doing a double flair and forgetting the flair nut! Ya cant go wrong with the ground straps ether.

[rgunlock]

Thanks Mike! That is one nice thing about this kit - nearly every terminal ends up going into a plastic connector so there really isn't anything exposed that needs shrink wrap (at least so far). I did redo all the terminals I'd done in the front light harness and nearly finished that up this weekend but had all the kids home, Olympics on TV and heat indexes north of 105 so didn't make as much progress as I'd have liked.

It is amazing how much faster this is moving along when I get good crimps on the 1st attempt - every time!

[swamp rat]

Thanks for the PM's today, much appreciated! I posted a pic of today's results.

[rgunlock]

Some progress over the last couple weeks. Glass guy came back out and installed another new windshield using original rubber he'd picked up from a salvage yard. Seemed to go in easier and he said it fit much better than using the repro rubber gasket. The previous glass had been tough to get in, and cracked in the corner from stress after a few weeks.

Finished the front light wiring, also the back light harness other than the fuel guage senders and dual tank switch. Kit doesn't account for dual tanks so I have to figure out how to modify that. Also, the kit has no accommodation for trailer lights, and in fact doesn't have the disconnect for the driver side rear frame that the original harness has. Cut the connectors off my original harness and added them to the new taillight harness since the "no splice" trailer light harness 'T's into that disconnect.

Spent most of a day last weekend re-doing gussets on the homemade trailer hitch receiver that came on the truck. Got it all welded up, painted and mounted up. Looked pretty good. Then tried to stick in a drop hitch I had and it didn't fit - too big. I think that the square tube must have been for class I or II. Ordered a new class IV that should be here next week.

Also finished the redo of most of my engine harness. Those connectors are made to take and hold the terminals - removing the terminals... not so much! Got it all done but down by the starter.

Thought I'd hook up my new battery and test the lights I've gotten hooked up. Doesn't pay to get ahead of myself I guess. Soon as I connected it the horn went off. Guess I know where my troubleshooting will need to start. Took that as a sign and just went back to re-doing terminal crimps. Any case, I am knocking out the wiring and the end of that phase is in sight!

[y5mgisi]

Good work!

[cmabolt]

Looking Great Rick! Nice to see things coming together.

Chris

[7dee2]

Very nice, I do like that color! Had a 75 Camaro when I was a kid that was kind of a burnt orange.

[swamp rat]

Nice to see the progress!

[rgunlock]

Originally Posted by y5mgisi

Good work!

Originally Posted by cmabolt

Looking Great Rick! Nice to see things coming together.

Chris

Originally Posted by 7dee2

Very nice, I do like that color! Had a 75 Camaro when I was a kid that was kind of a burnt orange.

Originally Posted by swamp rat

Nice to see the progress!

Thanks for keeping an eye on my build fellas. I did get my new Curt Class IV receiver and started this weekend on mounting it. It does require drilling some holes and I did get started, but busted my stepper bit off at the shank trying to widen a hole so I called it off for the weekend. Spent most of my time changing a window regulator and motor on my daughter's Honda and yardwork so was mainly just trying to do enough to claim some progress.

[y5mgisi]

If only we could be two places at once.

[mjensen]

Looks awesome Rick!

[rgunlock]

Mike!!! Long time no see - glad you are back! Hope to see activity on your thread soon.

So today I spent the afternoon on my back drilling big-a$$ holes in the bottom rail of my frame and got my receiver mounted. Then mounted a backup light to the receiver. Wanted to get my extra lights mounted so I can deal with the wiring at the same time as I wrap up the rest of it. The rear light is a "flood" LED light from Rigid Industries. Got another pair for fog lamps on the front, although they are supposed to be a more focused beam. Notice on the box "not for highway use". Bought the fog lamps specifically because I thought they were legal. Well, I'll point them down at an angle and hope they don't get me into trouble

Right now, I've got the mounting brackets for the fog/driving lights clamped to my frame horns. This would be the easiest spot to mount them, but I'm concerned that they'll be too close together. Temporarily hung the front bumper and the lights do tuck up under them nicely. What do you guys think? My more modern "drivers" have the fog lamps almost out to the end of the bumper.

[MTCK]

Lights look good. My experience with all those LED lights is that they don't do great at a true fog light mission. Great driving lights, or floods, but good fog lights have a very narrow focused beam vertically (think under the fog) and are wide horizontally. I've got some Hella's on my Tacoma and a set to go on my V3500 which work great. I'll be curious to see how you like these, and if they are acceptable to drive towards oncoming traffic with them on. I don't think they are too close together.

[rgunlock]

Thanks Marcus, I'll be sure to let you all know once I get a chance to try them out.

Puttered all 3-day weekend. Doesn't feel like much forward progress, but a lot of little things accomplished.

- Disconnected horns so that I was able to test my front and rear lights - all worked fine, even hi/low beam.
- Fixed the horn. Must have reassembled horn button in column wrong.

There has been a couple things really bothering me about this AAW wiring kit. One is the reverse/backup light switch. Harness has this short green & pink wired connector coming off the fuse block. This doesn't come close to reaching the backup light switch on my SM465, has wrong wire colors, and wrong connector. Finally wised up and went scrounging through my old harness. Found the piece with the switch connection, but still wrong on the other end for the AAW connector. Bit more searching and I found another part of this circuit with the firewall grommet and low & behold, the right connector to plug into AAW. Sorry for blurry pics.

[swamp rat]

Progress is progress, it all adds up!

[rgunlock]

Thanks Mike. Got interrupted posting this weekend's progress to grill some fajitas and watch Sweet Home Alabama. Few more things moving me a little forward.

Similar effort went on for the wiring for my dual tank setup. Sorted the old harness out and ordered new wire in close to the right colors to make a new one. Details are in this thread that now contains about all you need to know about how these dual tank setups with the single wire going to the solenoid valve.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=558564

Also pulled the rest of my body side mouldings out and discovered that the left bedside trim is beyond my ability to repair. Can't count on a repro piece matching the rest so ordered a new full set from classicparts.com.

My daughter was heading for Hobby Lobby and picked me up a few samples of reddish-orange (or thereabouts) model paint to see if we can come up with a color that would look good on my GMC emblems. Couple are close, but... not sure yet. Top piece is one I got off ebay a few months back. That orange just doesn't look right with my brown paint. Needs to be redder...

[y5mgisi]

I also recently ordered a full trim set for my crew cab and I don't think you will be disappointed. It's not factory, but I think it's worth it.

[7dee2]

Glad to hear the horn is fixed that can be a bit irritating to work on. The extra light should be really nice and new trim, beauty!

[rgunlock]

Originally Posted by y5mgisi

I also recently ordered a full trim set for my crew cab and I don't think you will be disappointed. It's not factory, but I think it's worth it.

I remembered that you had so went back to your build to find out where you bought it. My truck only had the upper mouldings, so getting just those was quite reasonable - considerably less than $200 even including shipping.

Originally Posted by 7dee2

Glad to hear the horn is fixed that can be a bit irritating to work on. The extra light should be really nice and new trim, beauty!

Tell me about it! Fixing the horn I managed to scare the dogs out of the shop more than a few times

[boynton]

I personally like the black. are you going to black out the front a s sides? I think it would give it a nice subtle touch.

[MTCK]

I forget how much I like that paint color. Then I see it again and wow.

[7dee2]

I agree black looks great against your color, very nice.

[rgunlock]

Originally Posted by boynton

I personally like the black. are you going to black out the front a s sides? I think it would give it a nice subtle touch.

I'd been thinking to do the cab corner pieces in red, but just not finding a shade I like well enough. May do these in black also. Fender emblems I was thinking of trying to do the original colors. Going to have to figure this one out quick because these emblems need to go on the fender before the fender goes on the truck! Don't actually have the GMC emblem for the grill, so not worried about that yet.

Originally Posted by MTCK

I forget how much I like that paint color. Then I see it again and wow.

Thanks Marcus! Gotta say that I was a little nervous when I picked the color, but I've been looking at it for a year and no regrets - love this color!

Originally Posted by 7dee2

I agree black looks great against your color, very nice.

Thanks Brett! Black it will stay. Just got to get my daughter to paint a second coat to try to reduce the brush marks. She painted the first coat. No way I could keep the edges clean myself

[cmabolt]

[QUOTE=rgunlock;7753040]I'd been thinking to do the cab corner pieces in red, but just not finding a shade I like well enough. May do these in black also. Fender emblems I was thinking of trying to do the original colors. Going to have to figure this one out quick because these emblems need to go on the fender before the fender goes on the truck! Don't actually have the GMC emblem for the grill, so not worried about that yet.


Hey Rick. Paint is looking good. I also like the black.

If you did want a touch of color somewhere in the emblems, see color wheel below. This is a good suggested method for finding a good match for your brown. Your's is a lot lighter than mine so tougher to find a good complimenting color. Black may actually be the best.


Using the color wheel, try one of these 4 things.
1) go with a lighter color in your range. So the lighter colors in the Pumpkin -Peach wedge.
2) Go with the opposite colors in the wheel. So Peacock-Sea blue
3) Use a darker complimenting color to the left or right of pumpkin peach
So Chocolate-sand or burgundy-pink
4) Use black or white

Using the color wheel as a guide
I go to home depot or lowe's and grab a ton of those color chips from the paint department and cut out or tape up on your body color. The right or preferred color should jump off the paint. In your case a brighter color like red, yellow or blue would probably pop a lot and be very visible on the emblems.

For what it's worth.
Good luck!
Chris