Day of wiring. I dropped a couple riv nuts in the fender adjacent to the new fuse panel and bolted down the relays. I also wired the lights with bullets to make replacement and service easier. That’s all done I also wired the switch panel and routed the armored cable into the engine bay. That armored cable will also run under the truck from the relays to the roll bar along the frame. A lot tidier than running separate wires and covering them with split loom. Tomorrow I will wire trailer plugs to the cable so the roll bar can be unplugged and removed if necessary.
That heavy armored cable has six 12 gauge leads within. It is heavy but under an off road rig there is nothing to worry about. Also made for a tidy user dash install. All the wiring exits the firewall and doesn't look out of place. I taped off the superfluous leads for future use, never know when an extra run to the bed may come in handy. I still have to install the stereo and she has asked for a kill switch or two. I have made some plans for that provision, should be easy and effective.
I paint, well I used to paint, no time for it at the moment. But that is one of my easels and it holds the fan well! It is adjustable up and down and I am thinking about mounting casters on the bottom. Possibly a power strip, lights and a cup holder.
Might be over kill but I don’t like the thought of the wiring bouncing around inside the roll bar. I had a long chunk of 3/4” heater house so I slid it up the bar around the wiring before adding weather proof trailer plugs. They are staggered to fit through the hole in the bed I added two kill switches. One for the starter and one for the distributor power so it can’t be push started. My daughter insisted on them. Like that Forged in Fire guy says, “it will KEAL”. Next up is to install the stereo I bought her. NOS Sony cassette deck with shafts. That’s a cool find and perfect for an 81 truck. Hers was a loaded truck with AC and door speakers which only came in trucks with tape decks I found out. it needs an antenna but I have to remove the fender to install it. That will wait, reception on MT Hood anyway. you should see her cabin, she has about 8 feet of albums and a strobe turn table. She is one cool chick.
Well crap. The deck I bought will not fit the dash. Way too wide and I don't want to chop up her nice dash to install it. The original stereo must have been tiny. I was thinking about an underdash supertuner? I can always sell this little Sony.
I checked with my daughter about finding a different stereo that fit the dash better and she told me to “MacGuiver it”! So…. I cut out the aluminum plate and hand filed to fit the deck. I put a bevel on the edge so some shiny bits would be visible. Sanded the edge to 3000 and tossed it across the buffer. Then added the guitar pick like I did on her switch panel. Sure beats the plastic faceplate. You can see the rounded corner that fits her dash. The square cornered plastic one just didn’t. And cutting plastic is just wrong. For fun I added two fret buttons in white above the knobs. I mean why not? I like it, jury still out in what she thinks. She got 17” of fresh snow yesterday and more coming today. She’s needs her truck back so I have to stay on it. Obviously she can’t come down to help right now. This is more solo work anyway. Very tedious. Garage heaters are on, Van Halen on the stereo, perfect day for spending 4 hours milling a face plate for a $100 radio. Did I mention I love this girl? Yeah, I’m wrapped around her finger, always have been.
Thanks man. I will primer the roof tomorrow but it is soooo rusty. And thin! I was DAing it the other day, trying to get through the brown crap and the roof pops around like I was trying to sand a Wrigley's gum wrapper. After the winter I will access that roof and maybe find another one that is straight and clean and chop this one off. Do you think my daughter would notice a little hair cut? Toyota make a factory sunroof truck? That would be cool.
Primer on all the spots that were bare steel and rusting. The roof is the worse panel. It will take some hours in the spring. I also had to epoxy primer the tops of both front fenders, the left fender to the tire, the tops of both doors and the rear of the cab where a canopy wore all the paint off.
The Jalopy Journal
