No problem, & let us know how the setup works. I'm a bit nervous about this unit heating or cooling an entire crew cab, but we will see.

And yes, either of those defrost ducts would work well I think. I figured I'd be searching for something out of a car at a wracking yard. Never thought to look new through summit, etc. but that's way easier and probably cost the same or less.

 

Well I decided to keep the stock defrost duct for now. I ported 2 of the outlets to the defrost/floor heat. Hopefully this will be enough air for the defrost to work well. The truck will be very well insulated so I shouldn't have a problem keeping it warm if the blower motor is half decent.





Here's a pic of the dash. The 3 holes on the right side labeled "3/8" are for the cables. One will go to on/off for the coolant supply to the heater core, one will go to on/off for the floor and one for on/off for the defrost (see page 14). The other 2 holes to the left of those 3 are for fan off/low/med/high and temp control for the AC.



I welded in some nuts for the gauge cluster into the dash (seen above around the perimeter of the insert). I used 10-24 weld nuts (picture below). Just tacked them into place. Worked pretty well.



I started on the wiring Christmas eve. I've already gone through 2 bottle of IB profin. Haha but seriously its not too bad. I'm using the chassis harness from EZ-wiring. Its a good start, but i have so many things i'm adding in its becomes messy quick. Here's a quick list of aftermarket items I'm putting on the truck: Cruise Control, Power door locks, power windows, security system/remote door lock, stereo system with amp and sub, Pac Brake, aux lights, inverter. Some of these things I'm not installing right now, but I'm running the wiring for everything now to make things simple in the future. As i mentioned before, I'm making a detailed wiring schematic for the entire truck (which I'll share with everyone when I'm done).

Wires everywhere! Some wiring tips: start on one section and finish it, then move on to the next. Take small bites so you don't get overwelmed and confused. If you do this you'll see that a big job like this is very manageable. I'm starting with the interior wiring. This includes everything under dash and inside the vehicle. This is by far the biggest chunk of the wiring, so once this is done it'll be cake from there on out.



I'm using a simple label maker to temporarily mark the wires so I know what eveyrthing is for. The EZ-wiring kit has wire designations printed every 6" on the wires, which makes life very easy! I'll be labeling alot of the wires (especially where wires hook up to switches or aux items) with more permanent wire labels once the wiring is more complete.

 

Looking good! 2-3 (more like 20-30) steps ahead of me at all times. I love it as it keeps me inspired to get back out there & tackle wiring, etc...

 

Glad I could inspire! It always seems like I get 1 or 2 things done, and there's a list of 1000 things still to do.

Not much of an update. Just workin on the wiring. Very time consuming, but I've finally got my head wrapped around it I think.

 

Well believe it or not I'm making alot of progress, but not really much to update. Just running wires.

Since I'm here, I'll give a few tips for wiring that I've learned over the years. First we'll start with the tools. Lets talk about strippers. Always tip them. Haha, but seriously. Get yourself a good set of self adjusting wire strippers. I have a set like the one below. It has a tension **** to adjust for harder or softer coatings, and a wire stop so you can make repeated strips the same length. These can be found at home depot or lowes for around $20. Well worth it, just go buy it.



Next is crimping tools. For standard ring lug and butt connector terminals get yourself a rotary crimper. These are nice, as they make a perfect crimp everytime and don't overcrimp. About $15.

Also if you have special terminals that require a special crimper (like the weatherpacks I'm using), buy the damn tool! Don't try to crimp these terminals with a the correct crimper.

Next is soldering. IMO try to stay away from butt connectors if you can. A solder joint will last forever if done correctly, and is much stronger. Here is an excellent video on soldering. Very good vid, straight forward and easy to understand. I won't go into the details of soldering, just watch the vid.


Labeling is always a good idea. I'll be labeling alot of my wires with paper labels with clear heat shrink over them.

When you run wires, make sure they are protected. Keep them away from heat, moving parts, and sharp edges. Protect them if this is not possible. They make all different kinds of grommets and sleeving that will protect against heat and abrasion.

If you don't have a multimeter, go buy one. Even a cheap $15 multimeter will work. At the very least learn how to use the DC and AC voltage functions, and the continuity functions (Search on Youtube). These 2 functions you will use 99.99% of the time, and will be an invaluable tool for checking your work, and also diagnostics.

I hope this little bit of info helps if you're trying to tackle a wiring job. Please chime in if you have any questions!

-Kyle

 

This wiring is taking me forever! A good 3 hours almost every night after work for the past couple of weeks. But its coming together.

I utilized the drivers side A-pillar to run wires to the roof and rear. It was tight!
Sorry for the crappy pic:



The stock dome light wire runs through the drivers side A-pillar, so there's a hole i can run the wires through. The passenger side doesn't seem to have this same hole (which i thought it did), so I'm going to have to figure that out. Might have to run the wires under the cab, or along the floor under the carpet.

I'm using split loom to wrap the wires in. All of the wires i ran through the A-pillar were wrapped in split loom. This stuff is nice!

Link:
Shot of the under dash wiring so far. it'll look all clean and neat when its done. But right now i need to keep all the wires accessible until i hook everything up.



I know it doesn't look like much, but this is alot of work! I'm pretty much re-wiring my truck from scratch, and I need to incorporate all the added gadgets. For example just the buzzer to remind me of when i leave the headlights on. I need to use a relay that will send power to the buzzer when 1) the ignition is OFF and 2) the headlights (actually parking lights) are ON. I'm also hooking the buzzer GND to the door switch, so it will only buzz when the headlights are on, ign is off, and door is open.

But all this stuff will be worth it, and is stuff that I really want on the truck. You really take the creature comforts for granted on the newer cars!

-Kyle

 

Tell all about wiring! Pfft... takes forever, and can quickly turn into a mess if you don't have a plan or schematic.

Took me a year to get to this point:

Imgur: The most awesome images on the Internet
Imgur: The most awesome images on the Internet
Imgur: The most awesome images on the Internet

and two more to finish it and install! Biggest problem was creating a custom schematic to use as a base for what goes where to do what... things like using fuel tank switch on dash to control relays that power the fuel pumps :P

Keep at it and eventually you'll be grinning ear to ear knowing that ya did it! And did it right

 

That looks pretty good! Starting with a pre-made wiring harness definitely helps, but I'm still spending alot of time wiring everything up while its in the truck. Thanks for the inspiration!

 

I've been on the road quite a bit lately, but I've managed to get some stuff done on the truck.

Got my relay/fuse boxes mounted and ready to be wired.



3rd brake light and bed light assembly from a 99-03 Ford Super Duty. Had to cut the hole bigger, but fits nicely. Therese a small gap on the ends, but i can fill that with weatherstrip foam.



Decided to make my own battery trays. I had some .050" stainless steel laying around. I put some dimple dies in there, and bent the edges. Turned out great! I'll be using group 65 batteries, the same batteries used in 99+ Ford F250's and F350's Super Duty. Big batteries, and fairly cheap.





More to come. I just got the Pac Brake compressor mounted, and also the air horn (which is freaking loud!). Going to be working on the under hood wiring as much as I can.

 

just read through this thread, wow!! awesome work brother, that engine looks phenomenal!!

 

Yay, wiring! I just put that one to bed. Used a 12 circuit harness and completely rewired my truck front to back. Glad it's over!! You will get it done.

 

Thanks! The compliments are very motivating! And at this stage I need all the motivation I can get haha

There's just so many circuits I'm adding to this truck. If it were a stock wiring harness it'd be cake. But I've got my head wrapped around it, just gotta do work now!

 

Man i love watching projects like these. I wonder if my wife will let me have another truck in the yard?

 

Great thread. Keep sharing the progress.

 

Just caught up on your build - looking good! Just keep working at it and eventually it will all come together.

I like your dryer mount - wish I would have seen that before I mounted mine as I like how yours turned out better.