Sometimes It's Not Glamorous, Sometimes It's Just Mundane

Gray Ghost Fans!  Today was one of those days out in the garage.  I got a couple of items off of the punch list, but none of it was glamorous.  Not even a little.

So what did I do today?  Well, let me tell you!  I got ground wires installed for each tail light.  I got the foot operated dimmer switch installed.  I got the location figured out and prepped for the under-dash ground wires (I still need a long enough bolt, so that isn't really finished).  I got the 3rd brake light wire enclosed in the split wire loom from the frame rail, through a frame section and up between the cab and bed of the truck.  I got the negative battery cable removed from the truck.  I got the defroster ducts removed, the metal vents scrubbed and new hoses installed.  And, I got the absolute last of the old wires untangled and out of the truck.  All in all, a lot of work, just none of it exciting enough to make people go:  WOW!  However, all of it necessary.  No fluff.

Now, what's the implication of all of this?  I am closing in on the end of the wiring harness installation.  So, while I was under the truck fiddling around with the 3rd brake wire, I had to take some time and figure out a few things.  First, I figured out the routing for the electronic speedometer wires.  Essentially, they will follow the same path as the "rear of the truck" wires down the firewall, past the gear shift levers for the 3 on the tree shifter and down to the transmission.  It's actually a pretty straight path.

Second, I spent a minute looking at how the transmission and bellhousing are bolted to the truck. The next task after installation of the wire harness is removal of the old engine and transmission! So it really is time to start thinking about how this is going to work.

Now, there is no way that I can have a post without a photo of something Gray Ghost related.  So here's a shot of the defroster vents and the old hoses and new hoses for comparison.

So there you have it.  Often times its the grunt work that makes or breaks your project.  Today was one of those days.  Glad I got it done and time to move onto something else.  Enjoy!

Wiring Punch List Gets Smaller

Hello Gray Ghost fans!  It' been a couple of weeks since my last progress update.  I've managed to get more of the wiring routed into its' proper place and some of the connections made.  For example, I've made all of the connections between the wiring harness and the 4 plugs that connect to the speedometer and quad gauge.  The speedometer has 2 plugs, one of which is a 6 wire plug and the other is a 4 wire plug.  Additionally, the speedometer requires a positive and negative connection for the 2 gauge lights.  The quad gauge (voltmeter, gas gauge, oil pressure and water temperature) has 2 plugs with 6 wires each.  The lighting for the quad gauge is built in LED lighting, so no extra wiring was required.  While it kinda looks like a wiring nightmare, it isn't and I'll explain that in a moment. Meanwhile, this is what the dash and gauge plugs look like now:

Definite progress, but there are still a bunch of items on my dash area punch list.  They include:

1. Mounting the foot operated dimmer switch
2. Mounting the turn signal plug to the column
3. Finding a suitable location for all of those black ground wires
4. Installation of the actual gauges
5. Installation of the turn signal switch

You can also see in this picture that I've connected and mounted the ignition switch and installed the new lock in the switch.  Now, the excess wires....  Since this isn't currently a restoration, but rather a "just get it running and finally drive it" exercise, I know that someday I will take it all apart and do the restoration.  My thought is that whatever I'm doing to the truck now, I want it to be salvageable and reusable later in the restoration.  Knowing that I'll have to cut some of those wiring connections, I know that I'll lose some amount of wire.  So, I decided that I wouldn't cut any length off of the wires. Instead, I'm just coiling up the excess, where possible, and zip stripping them out of the way.  It looks ratty if you look under the dash, but who's going to do that?

Inside the cab, I had to extend the dome (courtesy) light wires.  They came in the harness just a bit short of what I needed.  I think the issue was that I routed the wires up the A pillar and then around the door and to the back of the cab.  I needed an extra foot or wire for both power and ground.  Once I made the extension, it was time to reinstall the dome light!  This was one of the first items that I removed from the truck and restored.  Installed in the its' original location, the courtesy light looks like this:

I don't know about you, but my eye is immediately drawn to the square hole in the courtesy light housing.  Originally, this light was controlled by a switch that fit in that opening.  When I was restoring the light, I looked all over for a switch that would fit and work.  Then, when I bought the new wiring harness I found out that it came with a headlight switch that also controlled the courtesy light.  Problem solved...except for that hole.  Meh, I'm not going to worry about it.

On to the engine compartment.  Most of the wiring is either routed or laying where it needs to go. I still need to add the wiring that connects the alternator.  The engine compartment wiring currently looks like this:

Here you can see the wire loom carrying the headlight wires to the passenger side of the bay.  In the foreground, you can see the wire bundle that has the driver side lights and engine gauges. The fat, red wire is the main power wire from the starter to the fuse block.  The purple wire is from the ignition switch to the starter solenoid and is the neutral safety switch wire.  The truck does not use a neutral safety, but the wire will be installed per the instructions for vehicles without the neutral safety switch.

On to the rear.  The split wire loom and the rear end wires are now routed and attached to the frame. Here, I had to make a split for the running lights.  The running lights are when your tail lights come on when you turn on your headlights.  Then they get brighter when you hit the brakes. The kit only has 1 wire for the running lights and instructs you to make a split and run 1 to each side.  Also, I needed to add a separate ground wire for each tail light.  Going with the same mentality of functioning, but being removable in the future, I'm using bullet connectors for the tail lights.  I'm not actually installing the tail lights right now, because I'm guessing they'll get damaged while just sitting in the garage.  When it's closer to running, I'll install them. Right now, the wires are run and the female ends of the bullet connectors are on the wires.  It looks like this:

 

So that's where I'm at.  Definite progress, but still a few things left to do.  The end of this phase is within sight.  Kinda exciting!