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Hello hello. My 4thwas pretty uneventful. Fixed my step brothers Buick with a small tune up and a coil pack replacement. He was so pleased with the result that he bought me a bottle of 160 proof Strohs. Austrian rum. I haven't had it on a long time but I think it was pretty tasty stuff.
In other news, I did a bit more work to the bronco. My tailgate window is now working. It gets stuck on the way up, not fully sure why but I bet it's the wiring. Last time I checked it and fixed a few connections it moved much better. I'll have to go through that again.
This was a hell of a job. Not really hard but there is so little room in that tailgate, its hard to do anything. I cleaned up the track the best I could and since the track faces the inside of the gate, I couldn't get the white lithium to spray into it. I has to spray it on my fingers and try to smear it in the track. Then I started spraying it on the bushing and sliding that back and forth. It seemed to work OK.
Before I did that though, I really had to do some cleaning.
After the cleaning, while working on it.
After it was all cleaned out and back together. Much more room!
This was the side that originally had the broken bushing. I didn't know it but the little ball joints were basically riveted on. I got the grinder out and had to climb into the back to get a good angle. I'm surprised it worked so well.
When it was all said and done. I had forgotten how nice it was to have the window down.
After I did the tailgate work, I decided it was a good idea to dig into my new tail lights. I spent a bit of cash on some tail lights that a guy makes. They are the stock 78 housing but he splits them open and installed LED strips. You lose the use of reverse lights (mine didn't work), but gain better lighting.
They weren't too hard to wire up. But I made it difficult by trying to put a resistor on the wires before connecting them. It didn't occur to me that normally people just insert an LED bulb in their stock socket, then use these little clips that come with the resistor to splice that in. Eventually I gave up on that and just wired up the lights alone. Got the wires figured out, and noticed that everything was working pretty well without the resistor. It didn't make much sense, and still doesn't. I got them both wired in and the turn signals were working almost fine. The left side was intermittent, the right side worked like normal.
After a little research I decided to replace the flasher unit with an electronic one. Not only did it fix the issue with the tail lights, it also makes the bulbs in the dash work now.
Brakes off.
Brakes on.
Since those are done I went ahead and ordered some more stuff to do the front. I got the Amber lenses, mine are falling apart, and new sockets to wire in. I got an LED bulb for the dome light, and the cover for that, plus a few odds and ends. I'm planning a full LED conversion.
On top of all this, its time to start looking into new gears. My third member is leaking now so I figure I better bite the bullet before it bites me.
I have been informed that in the past someone has probably changed out the entire rear axle for one out of a 2wd car from the same era. Hence the 2.73s. That also means my axles are 28 spline. So, now I'll be looking for 4.10s with limited slip in both, 31 spline, and some 31 spline axles
The day will finally come where I actually have 4 wheel drive!
Thanks bud. I bought some new deadbolt latches for the tailgate, the kind you lock your siblings in the closet with. My current latches are pretty beat up. I need to get back into the gate and fix the latches. Even then I plan to keep the dead bolts. Extra assurance I won't lose anything
Been working 10s and 12s last couple weeks so haven't been on the computer much.
Wife is up north going to her cousin's court dates, looks like we're back on to adopt the baby as her cousin hasn't gotten here $#!T together. I'd rather take on another little one then have her be in the hands on a heroin junkie.
Been working 10s and 12s last couple weeks so haven't been on the computer much.
Wife is up north going to her cousin's court dates, looks like we're back on to adopt the baby as her cousin hasn't gotten here $#!T together. I'd rather take on another little one then have her be in the hands on a heroin junkie.
Hope you can work it out.
DSHS would be almost as bad.
I'm also glad work is getting done. I am in the process of an LED conversion but something else has came up. My rear diff is leaking . But this is an excuse to take care of my gear problem. So I've showed a few people some pictures and talked a bit, they are saying the PO most likely swapped the whole rear end out for one in a 70s era car. Which means I've got 28 spline axles.
So after some minor debate, I've decided to go with 4.11s. I'll do gears and axles in 31 spline. The rear axle should be simple, I planned to have a shop or someone who knows what they are doing install the guts of the third member. I should be capable of removal and installation of the third member. It's the smaller technical details I can't do.
I also have no idea what I need to do the work. I tried looking at Randy's Ring And Pinion but I have no idea what I need to get. I'm looking at new axles, 4.11 gears and trac-loc. I also have no idea how I'll do the front axle. But due to the cost of just the rear, I might do the rear and front separate.
I'd be adding a Trac-Loc. Or an LS since its apart. Plus the main reason for the cost is new parts vs previously worn used parts. Not to mention if I pull that whole axle out I'd probably end up looking at a lift kit as well. Which isn't cheap. Then I'd think "well, while that's apart, I'll replace this and that.." Then next thing I know the money I've tried to save is gone! Hehe. I thought about replacing the whole third member with a new one but those are more than a racing T5 for my Mustang.. If someone happen to have a third member that had 31spline 4.11 gears with at least LS and knows that it's in good condition, I'd certainly take that. Junkyards are too risky for me since I know nothing about gearing. I'm not sure what to look for.
Not much going on with the bronco. I do need to do the gears but I'm kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place. My parents are planning on having the outside of the house painted and some of the siding fixed. This prevents me from setting up the tent I bought to park the truck in to work on. I may have to pull the third member and just reseal it for now.. I'm not sure what to do.
Alternatively I'm continuing the LED work. I'll be doing the marker lights soon, I bought green strip lights to stick under the dash. Those will get wired into the marker lights and shine onto the floor. I've got a small issue with the turn signals/brake lights that I'm going to try to fix today. I may have made a stupid mistake . We will see.
07-04-2015, 04:58 PM
. But this is an excuse to take care of my gear problem. So I've showed a few people some pictures and talked a bit, they are saying the PO most likely swapped the whole rear end out for one in a 70s era car. Which means I've got 28 spline axles. 
. We will see.