The Dentside

[ATC King]

Thanks.

The gauges will certainly be more functional. As far as looks, I'm using the old bezel, just cleaned up, with a new lens. I would prefer to fix all the cracks in it and do some some custom paint but the cracks can't really be seen when installed and with all the other things the truck needs, I really don't have the time to focus on too much on this project.

The truck has always been a driving project and maybe one of these days when I feel it's mostly complete, I can blow it all apart to focus on the finished appearance.

There wasn't even a dash pad when I bought it. I found something crazy stupid cheap on Ebay just to have something in there but it's in terrible condition with a lot of cracks. At least since there is one now, I can install one of those plastic covers on it.

I've probably spent $1,000-$1,500 on things that make the interior look better but that's because it was all pretty wrecked and need it. Stuff like a new bench seat cover and vinyl full floor mat were a pretty big chunk of the cost. I redid the door panels a few years back, in black, after welding up some cracks and they've held up great. The aftermarket panels I've seen don't use the OE clip style but instead have screws, which I don't like. I used paint on the arm rest pads and the driver side has worn off where my arm rests, but if I had used a vinyl die it probably would've held up better.

Years ago I built a custom sub box for behind the seat, with a 12". This year the old amp gave out and I bought a new Skar monoblock that's 1ohm stable. I replaced the old Audiobaun 12" with a new shallow mount DVC Kicker 10" and wired it for 1ohm. That was a bit of modification to build an inset adapter ring but it turned out good. I couldn't build a simple adapter ring for the front of the box because the sub would hit the rear of the seat.

There isn't much room at all behind the seat with it fully back and the box looks large but it's only about 1.1 cu. ft. because it's so shallow. With the original sub I even had to router a recess into the back so the magnet would clear. I'll try and get some info and pics uploaded about the box. Beside being a higher quality speaker, I'm liking the 10" more for the music I listen to. The 12" was a tad lazy for double bass metal and wasn't as clean at higher Hz.


Edit:

Here are some pictures of the smoked lens that needs the screw holes countersunk so it'll sit flush with the bezel. They shouldn't send out a ready-to-go type of product that needs this kind of finish work. It's a bit of a pain because there are eight holes and during each one I was worried about screwing up the whole thing.



It's another one of those things that's slowing the install down. 10 minutes here, 20 there, it all adds up and I only have that much time a day or two during the week to work on it.

[ATC King]

I haven't driven my '79 in a few months, mostly because I've lost motivation on getting the digital gauges installed. I worked on that a little today and maybe tomorrow I'll have it back together enough for a drive.

It's certainly my travel/trip vehicle and I've got a weekend trip in mind that I'd like to take before the temps get up and the bugs come out.

I really need to focus on the bed interior this summer. Getting the dents out of the floor and inner fenders as much as possible then spraying a bedliner in. After that, I'll put a new gasket on the camper/topper and hopefully have a dry bed during the rain. That'll make camping in bad weather a whole lot more comfortable. I'd really like to run some battery cables to the rear, add an extra battery, a power inverter, and nice interior lighting.

[kiser]

Making the bed better to sleep in will make life a lot easier and cheaper when traveling! I got the brakes done on my Ford but haven't got them adjusted yet. I had to take it off the lift for other projects so it's outside and I haven't had a chance to get back to it. Hopefully this weekend I'll get a chance to run the adjusters out and see if if everything works, fingers crossed its all good!

[ATC King]

Making the bed better to sleep in will make life a lot easier and cheaper when traveling!

I've been cheap for years. Slept in the back in countless Walmart parking lots. I even lived an entire summer in it. Through several states and years I've visited the land of nod in the back of this truck, it's just never been as finished out as I'd like.

There's more interesting places, but I slept in it behind the Lynchburg, Tennessee city hall, next to the Jack Daniels distillery. I stayed there after doing the tour. I spent about a week in it while doing the Kentucky bourbon tour too.

I did buy a portable AC unit some years back and used it. They're really nice and run on low amp 110, so anything like a basic home socket will power it. There's no need to pay for the higher amp RV sites like those AC units run on. Being designed to cool a house bedroom, it's way too large and very much overkill. Full on outside window sweat during the hottest part of summer type of overkill. It makes the outside of the camper shell look like a frosty beer can even in 100 degree weather.

I'm really not comfortable in a hotel. Things the way they are and business cutting corners to save costs, those rooms aren't as clean as people may think. Sheets may get washed between each stay but the comforters, not so much. Then there's those fabric couches and chairs...

Even high priced places can be a horror show under a blacklight. I'd rather leave those rooms open for families on vacations to stay...by all means, ignore that curly hair on couch cushion and the crust between the TV remote buttons.

I have a E100 Ford van that would really make a great travel vehicle without being a cumbersome RV. I haven't had the time to get it going.

[ATC King]

I finally got the digital gauges installed, mostly.




The tach isn't working but I'm sure that's because I connected it to the coil negative and I'm using a CDI instead of the stock ignition. There's no tach output on the ignition but there's a wire I may be able to get a signal from that I haven't tried yet. I haven't calibrated the speedometer either. It's an easy thing to do, I just haven't measured out a mile yet to do it.


I'm still nervous these gauges aren't gonna hold up. There were all kinds of things to make me feel like that. Parts missing in the package, terrible directions, all kinds of DIY involved to install it properly (not even remotely plug-n-play). It doesn't work with stock sensors other than fuel (to be seen how accurately), which means if they break years down the road, sourcing new ones may be an issue.

The only thing on the stock gauges that was accurate, at least towards the empty side, was the fuel gauge. The fuel gauge on the digital dash has four resistance settings via two DIP switches on the board which aren't accessible after it's installed. I think I chose the right setting and it's working but to how accurate has yet to be seen. The truck has dual tanks which means I can run one out to discover if it's empty at or before 00 and not be stuck on the roadside, and that's how I'll test it.

The speedometer sensor O-ring was too large and I had to use the old one from the cable. The gear fit but the clip rubs against the sensor's aluminum housing and causes a little drag. That'll sort itself out, I hope without breaking something. The instructions say as much about possibly having to backwoods engineer the sensor to make it fit, which ain't right. The clamp had to be 're-designed' and the hold down bolt swapped over for a button head, a standard hex head will not fit. Luckily I have a bolt bucket to pilfer for stuff like that.

None of the wires coming from the digital panel are terminated and they suggest using butt connectors. Really? What kinda hokie garbage is that? At least provide it with a connector and pigtails. I installed connectors so I can simply unplug it if needing to return for repairs (lifetime warranty...we'll see).

I ran everything as best as I could but all them wires have to run past each other at some point and it seems I have some interference with the speedometer. It'll spaz out sometimes. It's mostly dependable and I'll live with it until I can't anymore, then I'll try to find what's causing it.

There's more detail I can go into and more to cover, but at the end of it all, the little button for cycling the features and calibrating things was missing the nut to hold it in. I looked for an hour to find one but it's some odd tiny size and noting I found would fit. I wanted to install it in a nice area, out of the way but accessible. Since it was missing the nut and I done had enough with the whole situation, it's dangling behind the dash where I can reach behind to use it. Every time I have to do that, it's just going to bring back aggravation.

There are some positives to it, but I'm going to wait a while before confirming any of those or using it for target practice. Sure, companies provide warranties, but labor isn't covered, therefor I view warranties as about worthless. I've been down that road too many times and I'm to the point where I don't even bother calling a company if what I see points to poor practices to begin with. I don't want to deal with them again. Multiple missing parts is inexcusable and if someone is on a deadline, frustrating isn't even the word. There is no making it right in those kind of situations. Luckily for me, there was no deadline and frustration fits the emotion. I had contemplated doing this as a parking lot install far from home and am so glad I didn't attempt it.


There were a couple other things I was able to fix while the dash was out. The driver door jamb switch was broken and may have been since I bought the truck, I don't remember, but I did buy a new switch nearly a couple years ago. The problem was the connector was broken off and the wires needed pulled back through the cab to repair. The easiest way to do that was with the dash out, so now that's one little thing fixed and my dome light comes on with the door open, like it's supposed to.

The bulb socket for wiper/headlight switch illumination had the ground wire broken off. From the factory the ground wire is crimped onto the socket but I couldn't undo that so I soldered the wire back on. Another little niggle that had bothered me for years and having the dash out gave me the opportunity to easily fix.

At this point, about the only thing original that's not working because of missing or broken wiring is the underhood light. That's not bothering me too much as they're mostly useless for their intended purpose. Once I get around to doing body work and putting nice paint on it, that'll probably get repaired. The hood will be off at that point and running wires back through it easier.

The seatbelt light and buzzer aren't working anymore. The new dash doesn't have the light for it. Call me a bit stupid, but I thought it was cool that still worked, even though the seatblet is nearly worn in two.