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The "restification" of a 98 6.5 TD...

Woody35 said:
hows tuning coming along
Click to expand...

commin.

Still testing parameters and checking out what thye do when altered in certain ways.

Time to play is limited though, still gotta pay the bills and the wife keeps stealing the truck to take the dogs to agility classes and whatnot.

Still haven't heard back from Craig yet on ostrich 2 use.
 
I just have to say I love this thread. After reading all 19 pages I feel like I know you personally and want to move to Canada just so we can swap ideas in person lol. I have my truck set up with a light bar and such and have a lot of wires hanging around in the cab. Been wanting to to a overhead console like you and add all my switches in it.. I will follow this till you are done which I hope is a long time.

He promised "Change" Well he was right because that's all I have left.

Location: NW Iowa

1994 GMC Sierra 1500 Vin "S"
6.5L Turbo 191,000 miles
Relocated PMD #9 resistor
Custom Waste-gate bracket to increase boost
BD 3" Downpipe,Strait Pipe, Suspension upgraded to 1 ton, High Idle hooked to ECM
New Transmission at 189,000 miles built to be bullet proof.
 
rbtaylor14 said:
I just have to say I love this thread. After reading all 19 pages I feel like I know you personally and want to move to Canada just so we can swap ideas in person lol. I have my truck set up with a light bar and such and have a lot of wires hanging around in the cab. Been wanting to to a overhead console like you and add all my switches in it.. I will follow this till you are done which I hope is a long time.
Click to expand...

Kind words.

Thanks.

:)

It will probably go a while as the truck will eventually get a new P400 6.5 TD, an LB7 or (after hauling my new 35 foot camper for the first time the other day) a Cummins....
 
Got a bit of work done on the lower console:

DSC03999.jpg


DSC04000.jpg


DSC04001.jpg


I was a little sloppy on pulling a fiberglass form from the cardboard buck, so it needs lots of work. Nothing I can't handle, just time consuming. I probably should have just pulled a mold off the cardboard buck like I had originally planned in order to be closer to the finished form, but too late now I guess....

I've got a more or less plan for filling it.

7 inch touchscreen for the backup camera (and maybe a carputer for on board OBDII monitoring) later.

There'll be 4 or 5 Auber gauges (which will drive the warning lights in the dash message center I built) in the portion that mates to the old ashtray area.

A Snow's WMI controller (eventually).

I'm looking at a Hawk TPMS for the truck and trailer so that display will also be mounted in it.

A space to hold my Ipod classic.

An area for the switches for my planned power ext cab windows

I'm planning a rear wiper assembly for the bed cap, so that switch will probably also go down there.

A small "cubby" with a pop open lid for loose bits.

And finally, some vents on the sides to help direct the heater output.

That will just about eat up all the available space...
 
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BJ - you might want to check this out for TPMS... not sure if you can add enough sensors to do the camper or not. I use it in my wifes suburban, its pretty slick.
 
Well, I finally got tired of staring into a black hole at night behind the truck. The reverse lights just aren't cutting it with the truck cap already cutting down the vis.

So, since the PO had graciously backed into something and dented the heck out of the bumper I'd thought I'd pull it off, work on hammering the dent out and do some metal fab:

DSC04017.jpg


Not too bad says I :)

That thick metal is some hard to bump out smooth though!

I'll cut for the other side light tomorrow.

Two of those 35w flood lights are gonna turn night into day!

A little bit of electrical work will set me up with a relay triggered off the reverse lights. I may add a switch later on down the road but I'm running out of dash space, at least until I get my center console finished ;)

I could have just hung the light under the bumper, but my trailer rock guard would block it while installed and render them useless. Bolting the light on top of the bumper is just not appealing to me at all.

I prefer a more "integrated" look and tacking lights on or under the bumper isn't gonna get it.

Maybe I'll cut a couple slots and mount some shackles directly to the frame too :)

After it's all done, I'll send the bumper out for final smoothing and re-chroming

:)
 
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That's a sweet looking set up! Where did you find lights that mount like those do? I have wanted extra lighting back there for a long time but have never seen lights with that type of external mount.

Don
 
handcannon said:
That's a sweet looking set up! Where did you find lights that mount like those do? I have wanted extra lighting back there for a long time but have never seen lights with that type of external mount.

Don
Click to expand...

They're just plain ol' 35w tractor flood lights I found at walmart for 20 bucks a piece but can be found nearly anywhere for a similar price tag.

I cut the openings in the bumper to recess them and welded a bracket on the inside of the bumper to bolt them up.
 
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I'm used to seeing the pedestal mount lights around here, Coastal Farm, Bi-Mart, gypo auto joints etc. I was in Salem today and went right by Wally World. They aren't close to me so I don't usually even think of them. I'm just going to have to start thinking outside the box like you did and see what I can modify to do similar to what you did.

Don
 
Finally got the lower console into primer:

DSC04032.jpg


I've added an inverter and a USB power supply. The inverter plugs are on the lower face with the switch and the USB plug in is the square in the lower right upper surface.

Left to do is put the monitor back into it's casing, install the auber gauges, make the black plastic floor for the cubby and final painting to match the interior.

Also made something else to go with it:

DSC04029.jpg


Can't see it? Pic too fuzzy?

Lets zoom in and see if you can pick it out:

DSC04031.jpg


Yup, rear cam!

Night vision and all.

:)

Made myself a nice solid bracket and welded to the bumper. The cam clears the tailgate when it's down by about 1/4 inch. The rear bumper lights are going to go very nicely with it.

You just knew I was going to do something with that monitor in the console.

;)
 
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