Poll - Who has done the Doghead Relay Conversion

[Matt65]

I did it before the gear redux starter. Seemed like cheap insurance with plenty of of victims to the factory piece.

 

[SouthernSteel]

Doghead conversion

I have to say he is the man i havent had any issues with my airforce cucv m1008 since i did it i plan on doin it to the army one once i get it running

 

[Atwater]

i did mine finally for the insurance and because it seemed the ideal time to wire in a clutch switch.

 

[sierrajcharlie]

After reading a couple of horror stories, did the relay conversion right after the spin on fuel filter conversion. Would of done it first but it was leaking fuel. The first time I hit the starter the "snap" caught my attention!

 

[M1008driver]

I did the doghead mod, starter, flex plate, spin on fuel filter, bilstein shocks, batteries, 60g's, gp controller card override to the light blue wire for emergencies, new wheels and tires, dual exhaust, mufflers, and trailer hitch with brake control all from reading here.

I still need a trans cooler, ip rebuild and injectors, and gen rebuilds and I will slow down. Oh, and fix the vent leaks in the cab. Maybe a gp relay too except mine looks good so I am waiting.

Please take up a collection.

 

[Strawman]

i did mine finally for the insurance and because it seemed the ideal time to wire in a clutch switch.

Just finished up sm465 swap & noticed that the clutch switch wiring is already there on mine!


Relay: not yet - but it's sitting in the truck waiting to go in.

 

[tamecrow]

It was the first thing I did, after reading about it here.

 

[lindyp38]

to those who havent made this mod to their vehicles.......do it now....dont wait....it took me under an hour from start to finish......

itll save ur wiring from frying and god knows what else.......

 

[Midnight Rider]

When you need to do it, it will be too late

Probably so, but I have to run my 1009 like that for now.

Since it is working fine as it is, I can't justify spending money on it to fix something that doesn't need fixed. Way to many other bills pouring in, so the 1009 only gets what it needs to keep it running.

If you saw the post about the radiator, I can tell you that mine was leaking for at least a month straight before I had the time/funds to work on fixing that. Good thing I had bought about 25 gallons of 50/50 antifreeze awhile back. I ended up going through almost all of that.

 

[Warthog]

Send me a PM with your address and I'll mail you the parts. It would be a pleasure to help out a fellow member.

Warthog

 

[tdfontaine]

I did the conversion as a preventitive measure. There were other electrical issues (I'm still working some out) so figured that I should do the conversion while I was elbow deep in soldering irons and shrink tubing.

 

[doghead]

Just for reference, it only costs about $20 to do the relay improvement and takes about 30 min.

I would guess the cost to repair a burnt starter,new bolts, bracket if needed, bad relay and a few fusible links would be close to $200 if not a tad more. And it probably takes a few hours and some diagnostic work to find all the burnt wires.

 

[Milbikes]

I did the relay on my 1985 M1008. Painless installation, and it starts as good as it did before I installed it, but there is a greater peace of mind factor now.

 

[ralbelt]

I did the converson because I changed the flex plate and had the starter rebuilt. After reading here about starters burning up I did not want to have to do it again.

Thanks Doghead for a inexpensive fix that potentially saves hours of repair work and a few hundred $$$.

 

[idM1028]

Did it after hearing a few horror stories about the stock relay and what it could do. Took me a bit longer than 30 minutes, but that was mostly due to finding out that the ring connectors I was using were a bit too big on the wire side and figuring out a way to correct this. I believe I've made this AAR comment already.

 

[OL AG '89]

Midnight,

I'm going to try and be polite with what I'm about to say, but your logic make no sense!

If this is your daily driver, when the relay finally fry's itself, and it will, you will be

1. Out of a vehicle, until you can afford to fix
2. Have to spend $200 plus to replace starter
3. Will spend countless hours checking for fried wiring and more $'s replacing them.

Take the 66 stang out to a local carshow and give rides for a buck or two. couple of rides and poof there's your fixin money.

I can't believe you pissed away 25 gals of antifreeze at $8 / gal instead of replacing the radiator???? 25*8 = $200.... cost of new radiator about $200 with all hoses and clamps PLUS more Antifreeze........
Maybe you need to do a little financial checking to see if your making sense.

Do the FIX, borrow the cash from a friend, H*ll if I was closer I'd LOAN it to you!!!!

 

[DrJekl]

I bought the listed relay, first from NAPA for about $20 then found the same relay at O'Reilys in their lawn mower section for $8. Same numbers and manufacturer.

I have done the relay deal on My M1031 and the M1009. I have to do it on two more M1009s.

I think it is a good upgrade in that you avoid burning up a less capable relay that may cause issues. As pointed out, it is important to note that this will not solve other wiring problems so you need to hash them out for sure!

 

[Midnight Rider]

I bought the listed relay, first from NAPA for about $20 then found the same relay at O'Reilys in their lawn mower section for $8. Same numbers and manufacturer.

$8 at O'Reilys? I beginning to like O'Reilys more and more everyday.

I think I know where I am going after work.

 

[jets1959]

I did mine before I even sterted it for the first time when I went to pick it up. To many horror stories and I don't like throwing away money when I don't have to. Thanks, Doghead

 

[camp9]

Just finished it up tonight and starts great. Put the manual GP button in at the same time. Got the stater relay at carquest for $15. Thanks Doghead.