Starter is out. Took about an hour and I have plenty of scrapes from wiggling around under the truck. Wire between the post and the starter housing corroded and then disintegrated.... My neighbor is taking it tomorrow to hopefully get it rebuilt.







On another front, I got to test by bed light idea.

Aluminum channel and LED light strip


Neodymium magnets








Filled it with "crystal clear" silicone.... which does not dry clear at this thickness...


Lit up




The magnets are a little weak and the LEDs are not super bright through all of that silicone. I need to find some new magnets and I am going to install some sort of spacer for the light strips so the are mounted almost at the surface and the silicone actually dries clear. Then I will be happy

Other than this, I got some new wheels installed on the wife's car. The stock steel ones were a rusty mess. Awful design holds in salt water in the winter and just corrodes the heck out of them. Got a heck of a deal from Discount Tire Direct and due to a mixup, Walmart installed them, mounted, and balanced them for $0. Put a new spare tire carrier on for her too.





Hopefully I'll be putting the rebuilt starter back in tomorrow

 

That is a nasty looking starter. Hopefully it comes back all shiny and new inside.

on the wheels.

 

Thanks Coop! It is nasty. Hopefully I will hear from my neighbor is just a little bit if it can be repaired and hat the damage will be.

She loves the wheels, but her brakes are making all sorts of noise. I need to get those taken care of as soon as the starter is done. Then we will be all good to go again.

 

$50 to have the starter rebuilt. It will be done tomorrow!

 

That's one hell of a nasty starter man glad it's been rebuilt and built for cheap! I like thatched light idea it's very creative!

 

Ya. I can't wait to have it back. I don't like having a vehicle out of commission. I've read the reviews on the rebuilt and new ones from Advance and they seemed really hit or miss as far as quality goes, but they do have a life time warranty. It was going to be $130 for a Motorcraft one from Rock Auto, but I am hoping this is the best option.

Thanks! It has been stewing in my brain for a year. Hopefully I'll have it done by the end of the summer lol. How's the traveling?

 

That is a nasty looking starter. Hopefully rebuilding it works out for ya.

I like your idea for the bed lights. Curious though if that will be cheaper then just getting one of the bed light kits. Don't get me wrong, I'm all about doing it yourself.

 

Me too. Thanks!

It is a very good point. So far I have $7 in LEDs, $5 in silicone, $5 in magnets, $8 in aluminum. I am going to need new magnets and something as a spacer. Maybe balsa wood... And I have found magnets with a countersunk hole for a #8 screw. So I will probably go with those.

All in all the price for the light assemblies will probably be comparable to a kit you can buy. If you add the switches and magnetic tail gate switch, mine will probably be more expensive. But it will be exactly what I wanted and it kept my mind occupied from spending more money on something else lol.

 

Nice job on the lights Love the creative ideas.

Fingers crossed on that starter!

 

Thanks Scott!

I hope it works. I should know about 30 minutes after I get home from work tomorrow. And as a reward, I get to do brakes on the Grand Vitara. Yay me!!!!

 

Starter in and it works! Only charged me $40 because he didn't have time to paint it.





I coated the braid with dielectric grease for a little extra protection. Cheers

 

Nice looking good. I am watching the lights I want to do something like that on mine.

 

Thanks! I have to order a few more parts and then I can go from there.

 

I hear ya. I'm the same way. That's why I have so many projects sitting around. Lol. Have you thought about trimming the sides of the aluminum channel to your desired depth? Also if you polish them up and then clear coat them beforeadding the lights they will reflect the light making it a bit brighter if the are not bright enough.

 

I have though about trimming, but I don't have a good way to get a nice solid consistent cut. I did not think about polishing the aluminum either, but I will have to look into that.