I don't give up, I'm slow sometimes but I don't give up lol. I have built and owned some nice cars over the years but this one is by far the most complex because of all the electronics and one off stuff I've tried to incorporate. I like a challenge but sometimes I wonder......
I know how it feels. Started mine 4 years ago and there is no end in sight. Comes in waves for me. I find getting feedback from my thread is more encouraging than I originally intended . Keep up the hard work....it eventually pays off
I'm nearing a year since I last worked on mine, this being the third time in the 15 year project. Been off my feed all summer, due to what is becoming a chronic gut problem. Doctor ***ures me that it isn't serious, just need more fiber, I asked him if a bale of hay a day wasn't enough. Got a dumb look! Going to tackle a pair of bomber seats for it in the very near future.
I'm The same, I try to do something everyday, even the seemingly small jobs can blow out sometimes. The positive feedback from you guys is also a great help, at least you guys understand why someone would spend so much time and money on a funny looking old truck...... And lve learnt over the years that the fairies don't magically appear to build it for me
This is the start of my Lincoln inspired dash and my four spoke steering wheel that I have yet to do the timber work on. More of that slow but steady progress. Lol
Steve, I hope you get better soon, we all want to see more of your fantastic project. And hay, if hay works for you............
My wife does auto upholstery work, so here is an example of a Tbird she did and the seats for my COE. They look very shiny because the leather had just been bees waxed . I'm a lucky guy
Leather needs to treated to stop it drying out, we use bees wax for that. When its first applied it has that glossy appearance which dulls off as its absorbed into the leather. Leather will crack and split if it's not cared for, but will last for literally hundreds of years if it is. All of the interior will be red leather, just because I have always wanted a vehicle done that way, this will be it. Lol
Yes, you are a lucky guy! I don't expect my cushions to be anywhere near that fancy. Does your wife make the foam cushions, or are those store bought and she just does the leather covers? The reason I ask, is I plan to buy foam blocks and cover them myself and I'm having trouble finding out what foam I need. There is a number for density, (which is a measure of quality, or longevity) and another number for firmness. The seats in my daily drivers seem to be much more firm than the firmest samples I can buy. This isn't something I need to resolve immediately, but it is one of my winter projects to do in the house during the cold weather. Oh yeah, are bomber seats on air ride pedestals traditional?
Foam is also a problem for us, and exactly the same issue to. Since my wife doesn't really do to many newer cars thankfully its not one we have to deal with to often. Nearly all early seats are sprung and don't use much if any foam in some cases. She often will cut up the foam from the rear seat of a late model car from a wrecking yard. The rear seat foam is usually always in good condition and much larger than the front seats. Use a electric kitchen carving knife to cut up the foam and even glue blocks of it together if need be to get the sizes you need. She used to do a lot of motorcycle seats years ago and that proved to be the best solution to the foam issue. Now bomber seats on air bags, thats a whole new can of worms
So I modified my window regulators to work my power windows. I think if I isolate my electric motors from earth and use a pair of relays to go to earth to activate the windows that should work. The electric motors have two wires, one up, one for down. Am I on the right path here guys?
I'm using motors from about a 2000 Buick. They have 2 contacts, one is hot for up, the other is hot for down with the motor body being the ground. Although for a Pontiac, this video shows a diagram at 1.10 www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOXP4SRhPfg Edit: I might have misunderstood your question. Each of your micro switches has a common, an NC and an NO. Run your power in from the battery to the common, out to the positive side of the relay coil from the NO, ignore the NC. Negative side of the relay coil to ground. Battery power to the relay common, then out through the NO wire to 1 of the the motor hot terminals. Ignore the Relay NC terminal. Your other micro switch is wired exactly the same through a second relay to the other motor hot terminal. You may have to switch the wires on the motor hot terminals to match window direction to switch. There are other ways to wire this, but for simplicity, I like to put my switch before my load rather than between load and ground. 2nd edit: I would make some method of preventing over travel on the micro switches if you don't already have it.
Thanks Steve, thats exactly where my train of thought was going but just couldn't quite get there. Makes sense to me now. Yes, I will put in some stops. I just couldn't see paying $200 each for aftermarket switches when the basis for them was right there in my doors already. And thats for Hoffman group parts, pretty low quality Chinese rubbish....
Those industrial limit switches should be good for many million cycles, should be about the last thing to fail on your truck.
Been slowly working on my dash and it's starting to come together now, the lower part will have a br*** mesh to somewhat mimic the gold colour of the speedo. The lower section is removable and will have sides that go back to the firewall and finished in the red leather. Some stainless accents will be in the mix too, I'm kinda going for a more modern twist of the Art Deco look? And my steering wheel is done now too, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out for a homemade wheel. I'm going to change the steering column out, it's a Chinese made unit that have had some BAD reports and will no not p*** our regulations. I'm going to use a collapsible Ididit column now, but better safe than sorry. The cost is up there in Australia but at least I know it's safe. BUT, I'm still plugging away and I can sort of see a distant light in some far away tunnel somewhere...........
Steering wheel is great! Got the Art Deco thing nailed, reminds me of Flash Gordon. With the red interior too.
Thanks guys, I truly appreciate your comments..... The wealth of knowledge of this group is amazing and inspiring
I've been thinking about how to mount the turbos and finally came up with something I'm happy with. I had a 10mm thick plate laser cut and rubber mounted it to the frame with the turbos mounted to it. Hopefully that will lessen the strain on the exhaust both sides of the turbos. Only down side is I have to run a scavenge pipe to return oil to the sump.
I think with a well thought out exhaust system they can sound great, to me that sounds terrible when the guy backs out of the throttle. Some of the v8 Toyota Landcruisers around here sound very nice. Don't think mine will be very loud given the turbos absorb a lot of the sound
I was told I should not run a muffler with the ***mins in my truck. I am glad I did even with the Turbo.
Simon, I will be running cats and the pipes all the way to the back, I'm not that concerned with the end exhaust note anyway. Quite..ish will be fine.
I used a Never Rust Muffler (http://www.never-rust.net/Mufflers.html) with a 3 inch inlet outlet and had it custom made for me. As I sell his product it worked well for me. I do so hate the noise from non muffled turboed vehicles although that can be personal choice. I can understand quietish.
I have 2 inch only in stock. I have been selling them since 1994 and yes a good product. Edit: I run two on a V8 Windsor and it has a unique note prior to that I had 4 hot dogs to keep it quiet.
Just a small update because it's been a while, I adapted a pair of 32 v8 caps to my front wheels, and I'm pretty pleased with how they look. I've spent a lot of time and energy on my garage extension which is now finally done. I've gone from a 3 stall to a 8 stall including my four post hoist and my wife's auto upholstery area. So now I can start doing stuff on my COE again..........
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