Fc-150 Resurrection

Iv been working on the wiring in the dash. Its almost done. Just have to hook up all the gauge wires and thats pretty much it. A couple days ago it was warmish so i put a coat of paint on the driver door and dash. I guess it was too damp because it fogged over. It buffs out but needs more coats anyway. I never really wired anything completely by myself like this it wasnt that bad. Kinda fun actually. We'll find out if it works.

 

Need pics

 

x2,.

 

Sure if you want to see a rats nest I know I havnt been taking many pics mainly because iv been in caves with better lighting than my garage. Anyway I know its messy but its pretty simple. there are two switches to the right the fan and fog lights. The light switch and key switch on the left. I made the light switch so the brights are on it. There is a fuse box with 4 fuses. The box is powered by a relay that is powered by the ignition switch. I didnt want all the power running through the switch. One for the fan one for the fog and one for the coil and horn. The last one has all the lights on it. There is a seperate in line fuse for the brake lights, one for the temp and fuel gauge and one for the signals. These all run to the back of the ignition switch. And thats pretty much it.
The seats are from a 80s-90s dodge van. The low back ones have always been hard to find. Especially since only the passenger side is ever good. But I got 5 of them over the years of junkyard searches and they are in my 3 jeeps. Now i only have one for my 2a but I havnt had the passenger seat in it for atleast ten years. If I ever need one again ill figure out something else. I was thinking of going back to the original style ones anyway. So the back "seat" isnt so much a seat but a place to put a person when nessesary. I think itll work. Probably illegal but whos to say. It folds up to access underneth. I might put a basket or something in there for ratchets and stuff. The middle seat isnt installed yet but im going to do the same thing with hinges in front so i can access the screws that hold down the panel. The back rest will mount on a flat bar that will slide down in a channel im going to weld on benneth the dog house. Today I cut out a piece of luon for the driver door panel and iv got a plan on how to upholster it.

 

Thanks for the pictures! Cool seeing an old FC brought back. I am sure 95% of us have messy garage when getting crap done.

 

Iv been working on the passenger door. The frame is pretty well ready and im welding patches on the skin. Also made a door panel. Its 1/4" luon I put some of the original clips in to hold it I think the arm rest should do most of the work but i may be putting some screws in the face of the carpet area and maybe one or two on the corners. The vinyl is from an old toneau cover i pleated and put some padding on the back. The little strip is aluminum I dont know what its from but i have a matching one from the other side and i made some clips to secure it. I dunno it may be too fancy for this Jeep!

 

Nice!

 

Wiring...Fun stuff for sure! Looks like you're on the right track. Remember, everything electrical is powered by smoke: If a wire is in the wrong spot and smoke begins to leak out, nothing will work so DON"T LET THE SMOKE OUT!
All kidding aside, a bag of mini zip ties and a flush cutter will work wonders on the "nest" by keeping circuits organized and tidy. For those that haven't used them, Flush cutters are small diagonal wire cutters with the blades ground so that they can cut a wire or a zip tie tail flush with a surface. Makes it so much nicer looking plus no zip tie "claws" grabbing at you when putzing around the wiring. (even the cheapies from horrible freight work fine)
BTW, that Sparton Turn Signal unit is looking good; how well does it work? FWIW, I re-furb'd a rubber cancelling wheel with marine polysulfide goo, seems to be holding up.

 

Yeah i will clean it up a bit when I know its all working. I didnt test the sparton at all I didnt even open it up. But the wheel is in good shape and cancels as it should. The one on my cj5 works good I like them. I have extra parts and a nos one if it needs repair. Yesterday I got the door mirror mounted. Ill get a picture

 

Got it running and drove it today! Around the house and up the road a few houses. It was not without incident! The temp gauge goes up to pegged and stays there so i didnt really know the temp. At first i could tell the block was getting too hot with my handheld thermometer. And the top hose was cold. It was low on coolant I added more than a gallon. It must have only filled the radiator the first time. I had to fill to the top of the tank so it back flowed into the engine. Then it was ok. Thats when i ran up the road with it. I think it was running out of gas and the timing may be off. I had to add a throttle return spring and adjust the idle but it runs pretty good when it has enough gas. When i got back i shut it off and it steamed out like crazy. I didnt have the fan on I think that was probably the problem. I needed a temp gauge that works so i put one on it. Further testing required when i get more gas. I tested the old sender it seems to work. I need to test the gauge. But I might have to relent and put in a better gauge. Anyway I guess it was fairly successful. The drivetrain seems to work fine. I had to adjust off the parking brake a bit and it made its way out of first gear once. I dont think thats adjusted right.

Heres a pic of the mirror. I used the one from my 2a its convex and i dont like convex mirrors but I think itll work better here. Then i made a short post and had an extra mounting bracket. For the bolts i welded 4 bolts to a plate and epoxied it inside the door. The passenger seat brackets worked out good that i dont need a limiter strap they bottom out and keep it from going too far forward. Also it needs some sleeves for the tailgate chains they slap around a bit too much

 

Hooray!

 

Also the turn signals seem to work. At first not so good but i think it was the ground to the column. I didnt shave clean an area because i didnt have the wheel on. But when i moved it to put the wheel on it worked better.

 

Another one back on the road! Awesome!!

I actually enjoy looking at mine more than driving it. FWIW

 

lol. I enjoy all the points and stares when I drive mine.

 

Iv been working on the door. Got the skin all crimped on and worked the edge to make sure it fit the opening and the window frame. Now im doing filler and primer in the warm basement. Then ill slap paint on the jam so i can mount it. Today i drove it again for test drive #2. There were no overheating problems at all today. I put it to work gathering firewood. When I took it up the road last time it was down on power. I checked the timing today and it was pretty far advanced. Like an inch off 5 degrees at idle but also jumpy. So I tuned it back and went for a drive. There was no power at all. So I cranked it the other way. Maximum advance. It was much better had good power. So something is wacky with the distributor its way off its mark. I cant remember if we put the oil pump in the proper way. But its also a different dizzy than it had. So iv got to do more investigation on that. Probably pull the dizzy again and make sure the weights are working right and put better points in it because the ones in it were touchy when we were testing it. Also make sure the oil pump is in right.

 

I rebuilt the dizzy. The oil pump is a tooth off its at 12 o'clock but it wasnt wanting to come out so i didnt move it. The weights were floppy not enough spring tension left so i tensioned them up again. Also changed the points and timing is better now but i didnt test drive it yet because the brake master reservoir was leaking again so im still fighting with that. Of all the things on this truck never would I have guessed the brake reservoir would kick my butt the hardest. Anyway I got a coat of paint on the door but it needs another before i can put it on. Also the belt seems to be slipping its bottoming out on the water pump and crank with the 1/2" belt. So I got to put a 5/8" belt on it so i need to change the alternator pulley. I might make an aluminum one if i cant find one in my stash. We cast a bunch of slugs years ago when we got our little lathe and still have some left.

 

Super common for the stock banjo fitting off the end of the master to crack and leak.. I had a tough time coming up with a good one. Make sure yours isn't cracked.

 

Im using a dual master from an 81-82 Mazda 626. My problem is I dropped it and broke one of the plastic elbows and cant find a replacement. I made one out of brass last night and it seems to be holding. The other problem is the reservoir doesnt have the proper barb fitting on the bottom because its the kind that bolts right to the top. From a toyota or something. So I jammed some barbed nipples in it and they were giving me trouble. So i drilled them out bigger to push the hose right up inside. and I used the nipples inside the hoses so they dont squish and hold tightly. That seems to be working. If that fails I can buy a porsche 911/914 reservoir I thought i might have had an extra but i couldnt find it. As of now its not leaking so ill keep an eye on it. Also put in my new temp and fuel gauges. the fuel gauge seems to be working but I didnt run it long enough to get any temp in it. I found the perfect pulley in my stash just have to buy a belt. All the ones I have are a few inches off go figure.

 

I got the new belt but now its not charging. I figured out its a ford 4g alternator. In a way its better than a gm because the regulator with the brushes built in just bolts on the back of it super easy. So i ordered a new one and give it a try. I got it from an explorer that my neigbor crashed on my road she was going too fast in the snow and blew right over the guard rail down a hill and ripped the front axle right out of it. Maybe its bad luck. Anyway i got the passenger door pannel made and i started piecing together weather strip for them. Just using random bits and pieces for each section whatever i have that works best. Next i will put in the upper window frame and glass for the passenger door. Its painted and ready to go on. Also i was missing one of the dog house cover rubber latches. They still make them for tractors and stuff. Its 1/2" shorter than the old ones but i think itll work without moving the brackets.

 

I eneded up buying a new alternator. The regulator didnt fix it. We couldnt figure out what the problem was with it. Seemed like an internal short because it was making juice it just wasnt coming out. The pulley turned magnetic when the power was on lol. Anyway the new one works. The engine didnt seem right. I pulled the plugs and saw coolant in #2. Turns out that cheap head gasket bit me in the butt. I think i saw that spot was questionable when i put it in. Also its like the fire rings are too small and hang over the edge. So ill get a felpro and try again. I dont really want to use a copeer one.