Jeeperjoe's build thread

[Jeeperjoe]

Hrmm

 

[Another Ahab]

Guess you won't be getting any for a while.

 

[Jeeperjoe]

Anyways I found my blackout switches back there so now I have a spare set should make really nice offroad light switches

 

[Jeeperjoe]

so pulled out the sill plates to replace the weatherstripping and buffed the rust with my wire wheel, found a couple small holes on the drivers side...



going to say F it and just replace both floor pans, thats a future project this should be good enough for now and heres the new weatherstripping and sillplates re installed

planning on working on the turn signal switch and maybe getting the origonal blackout light switches mounted back in the plate..

Does anyone have any pictures of the front blackout lights and the plugs that they are plugged into? i think i have all the wiring in place just missing the actual front lights, rears are still in place

 

[Another Ahab]

View attachment 669595

going to say F it and just replace both floor pans, thats a future project this should be good enough for now and heres the new weatherstripping and sillplates re installed

What do you do to remove the old floor pan, prior to replacement:

- is there a defined 'seam" to follow for taking them out?

- And would you cut it (like a Sawmill), or burn it out (or other)?

 

[The FLU farm]

What do you do to remove the old floor pan, prior to replacement

The easiest would probably be to drive it one winter where they use salt or other evil chemicals on the roads.

 

[Another Ahab]

What do you do to remove the old floor pan, prior to replacement:

- is there a defined 'seam" to follow for taking them out?

- And would you cut it (like a Sawmill), or burn it out (or other)?

The easiest would probably be to drive it one winter where they use salt or other evil chemicals on the roads.

It just MIGHT be the best approach!

 

[Jeeperjoe]

It just MIGHT be the best approach!

i plan to cut it out using the new floor pan as a template, that will give me the best fit then just weld in the new floor in place of the old one, im not sure to what extent the new floor pans are complete, if they run up to the floor seam i will have to just adjust for that once i get to that point, like i said thatll be a project for a later time...

 

[Jeeperjoe]

Well let me start todays progress by saying WHAT THE **** CHEVROLET! HOW DUMB ARE YOU?

okay so i decided to go ahead and swap out the turn signal switch and stalk should be an easy job you say right... yeah NO id like to say i did this exact same job to a 1990 ford bronco process took me all of maybe 30 minutes i will say this about the ford though, if your not comfortable with wiring thats probably a pretty difficult job, trick was take apart the plug so its just a harness of wires and then rebuild the plug after the wires are fished i guess i probably could have done the same here but... well on this 86 what a royal pain in the ass... i only have one pic from the first time i got stuck

this had to have been the most difficult column i have ever dug into, with all of the spring tension and this here and that there oh and dont even get me started on the high beam pole / stick (actuating bar) whatever its called... but after about 6 hours i finally got it all done and working properly with the help of one of my mechanic neighbors...

oh also got my blackout light switches put in place where they are supposed to be and to my surprise they worked, of course im missing the front bumper lights need to find a set of those. and im going to need to trace out the marker light wiring, replaced all the of bulbs today with silverstars and they are considerably brighter but my front markers dont work (turn signals do) and my left fender marker only works as a flasher but not as a marker light, and my left signal light is really dim... need to look into the grounds and splices and repair as needed/possible any tips on front markers/signal lights not working as they should?

 

[Gunner USN]

I found black out lights on eBay of all places for front and rear (same lights used on CUCVs and CUCV IIs),

 

[Jeeperjoe]

I found black out lights on eBay of all places for front and rear (same lights used on CUCVs and CUCV IIs),

thanks for the heads up, got a set ordered just now from a facebook marketplace contact that i ordered the blackout light switches from. hopefully they work lol

Updated todo list on post 1

 

[Jeeperjoe]

question for the electrical guru's

so im working on starting to look into the electrical gremlins on this truck but i am uncertain if its still set up 24 v or if its been converted to 12 v

so heres the situation

Wired + to + and - to - with the engine off both batts read at about 16v (seperate) the glow plug resistors have been removed and wiring was jumpered straigt across where they used to be.

with the engine running batts and top bus bar read 19v from + to Gd

also looks as if the slave cables were cut under the plug
here are photos of what im seeing first 2 are of the batt wiring

next 2 are readings on the batts

and the following are of the truck running from + to gd location of the batt and one of the top bus bar


i havent looked at the starter for part numbers and it appears both alternators are still wired up and have belts running to them, Gen 2 light is inop at this time as well... i looked at grounding locations and everything looks clean and attached

 

[The FLU farm]

so im working on starting to look into the electrical gremlins on this truck but i am uncertain if its still set up 24 v or if its been converted to 12 v

so heres the situation

Wired + to + and - to - with the engine off both batts read at about 16v (seperate) the glow plug resistors have been removed and wiring was jumpered straigt across where they used to be.

with the engine running batts and top bus bar read 19v from + to Gd

Sounds to me like you're running a 24 Volt system, but have the batteries hooked up for 12 Volt. You're having 16 Volts on an Optima at rest which is one too many for when it's charging.
If my guess is correct, wire those batteries in series before they're cooked.

 

[Jeeperjoe]

Sounds to me like you're running a 24 Volt system, but have the batteries hooked up for 12 Volt. You're having 16 Volts on an Optima at rest which is one too many for when it's charging.
If my guess is correct, wire those batteries in series before they're cooked.

Well with the glow plug resistor is pulled shouldn't I just complete the 12 volt conversion at this point, but then I would have to replace the starter and other components as well

 

[The FLU farm]

It'd be quicker to hook the batteries up in series, wouldn't it? Then, if they have indeed survived intact, you can buy a 12 Volt starter and begin the conversion process.
And if you do change the battery wiring, do make sure that all the leads are where they're supposed to be. Otherwise you can end up with 24 Volts in the entire system.

 

[Jeeperjoe]

It'd be quicker to hook the batteries up in series, wouldn't it? Then, if they have indeed survived intact, you can buy a 12 Volt starter and begin the conversion process.
And if you do change the battery wiring, do make sure that all the leads are where they're supposed to be. Otherwise you can end up with 24 Volts in the entire system.

No doubt but I don't know how the truck has been rewired now I'm hoping the PO just didn't realize what he did and everything else is still setup at 24v then yes switching the Batts is an easy fix but if like 50% has been converted to 12 and the other 50% is still 24 I don't want to fry everything... what needs to be done for conversion so I can run through it to be sure it's still all setup for 24 before moving the batts

 

[Jeeperjoe]

It'd be quicker to hook the batteries up in series, wouldn't it? Then, if they have indeed survived intact, you can buy a 12 Volt starter and begin the conversion process.
And if you do change the battery wiring, do make sure that all the leads are where they're supposed to be. Otherwise you can end up with 24 Volts in the entire system.

However if the resistor pack is removed won't 24v cause all of my glow plugs to fry?

 

[The FLU farm]

I'm going on (bad) memory here, but there's very little that is on 24 Volts on a CUCV. Actually, I think the starter is it. Oh, and the Volt meter.
When I converted an M1009 to 12 Volts, all I remember doing was changing the starter and removing one alternator. There was a bit more to the wiring, as I recall, but it was minimal.
Going on that same bad memory, on my M1008 the rear battery supplies the 12 Volts for everything. But it could also be that the wire feeding it is hooked to the rear battery, but on its negative post, in which case it's really the front battery that does the 12 Volt part. The more I think about it, the latter is probably how it is.
Without a schematic or the M1008 handy, I better not give any more advice.

 

[Jeeperjoe]

Hmm I can't seem to find the info for a 12v starter to see if it's been swapped all I can find is

from my understanding the function of the glow plug resistor is to allow the 12v glow plugs to be attached to the 24v side but only supply 12v to them to keep them from popping, with the resistor removed on a 12v setup it allows the GP to get the full 12v instead of 6v that would make starting harder... of course this is information that i have read and have no real world experience in converting a 24v truck...

 

[The FLU farm]

Admittedly, I don't remember if you have two alternators or not, but from the readings on your Volt meter it looks like you do. Or your one alternator is seriously over charging.
Either way, my main concern would be to stop that over charge and worry about what voltage the starter is later. Disable the glow plugs for now if you're worried about them.
Have you tried that starter's part number, if that's what it is, on Google?