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87 K5 Build...Hmmm, whats that Ryoken up to? stay tuned...

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79BRUISER said:
We're not worthy:bow: :bow: We're not worthy:D

Love it, Love it, Love it. Nice work
Click to expand...

Thanks mang.. :D

Ok, enough yacking... I'll have to bring the camera home and snap some pics, but here's a couple teaser shots I had on the comp...

The beginning of the electronics box...

3/16's composite glass..... This stuff freaking rules!

some parts...

boxparts.JPG


The box begins..

box.JPG


It's built at this point and in primer... I'm cutting the holes, etc for the battery switch, breakers at the moment.. Gonna get it done in black this weekend and HOPEFULLY installed...
 
composite glass, so you using epoxy or resin for glue?
 
epoxy thickened with high density filler...

polyester resin works fine too... I've just been swapped over to epoxy products now for at least 10 years.. 5x stronger, etc, tho about 5x the price...

The angle pieces, bonded into the corners way of building boxes has turned out to be pure genius on my part if I do say so... :o I used to grind, tab and glass them like other glass procedures.. This angle method is way faster and allows for balls on accuracy...
 
These are the waterproof bulkhead fittings I'm using to run my wire thru the box walls..

Thats some of the 1/0 ground cable I'm using running thru it... They have a rubber piece you can see in the taken apart one that tightens down around the wire when you tighten the outer nut..

They are available in different sizes too...

bulkhead.JPG
 
Here are the 3 that face the batteries trial fitted... These are for the 2 main positive leads feeding the marine battery switch.. The 3rd is for h-light signal wires, etc...

boxbheads.JPG


There are 3 more coming out of the bottom, up front in the corner near the headlights that feed the starter, h-lights, fans and horn...

For the cover, I have a couple choices... I have another piece of composite, but I also have a piece of 1/4" clear lexan...

I'm thinking I'll go with the Lexan... Maybe get one of those "WARNING: HIGH VOLTAGE" stickers for on top as a goof... :haha:

But what I am still looking for, and maybe you all can help me out, is an adhesive backed rubber to stick to that top lip for a gasket... I've looked around, but haven't really come up with anything...

I mean I could make one out of an inner tube and contact cement or something.. But I was hoping to find some black rubbery stuff that came on a roll, preferably with a peel-away paper on one side with adhesive... 1" wide would do it...

btw, the composite also accepts taps nicely, threads good... :bow:
 
would truck cap weatherstrip work. it comes in 1.5 and 2" I believe.
 
ummm 3/16-1/4"" I believe. Its been a while since I've used any. Should be able to get it at any decent hardware, or truck cap retailer.
 
hmmm, 3/16th's wouldn't be too bad.. tad thicker than I was hoping for....

Actually I have a cap place right on the way home, I'll have to stop in and see what he has... Thanks....
 
Oh, and since it's hard to tell in pics, some more info on the box...

As it sits without a cover, it weighs about 3 pounds... super, super stiff and strong.. I'd have no worry about my fatarse standing on any side of it... :haha:
 
pomai said:
Where did you get those waterproof bulkhead fittings?
Thanks, Ed
Click to expand...

Hey Ed....

Honestly, I'm not certain... We had em in stock at work... They are used to thread into electrical outlet boxes in the boats... But they also come with a backing nut.. They are gasketed between the base and wall too..

They are a plasticy, pvcish kinda stuff.. The boxes are a similar product.. like a wall outlet box in a house...

There are different styles.. We have gray ones that are very similar, except the outer nut is a knurled style, as opposed to a wrenchable nut.. Since the box is gonna be black, it was a no brainer...

All that being said, I do believe we order them thru one of our marine suppliers.. Mesco Marine, unfortunately I don't have a catalog at home, and their website, well, is completely retarded... :eek1: :confused: :doah: :mad: :haha:

I can't find any sort of catalog listing anywhere, and I'm not gonna bother signing up to see if ones available.. http://www.mescoauh.net/corpo.asp?L=1&C=0&R=0

I will try to take a peek at the book on tues, tho we are just silly busy this time of year... :doah:

Sorry... :o

After using them on this app, I'm actually thinking of using them on my firewall for the rest of the custom electrical system..... Since I'm eliminating the junction block on the driverside, I need to run my wires over by the dual batteries, to the breaker system in the glovebox..

I figure 2 of those large ones will fit all my feeds, signal wires, etc... :saweet:
 
Hey man, nice work :bow: Always better than my hillbilly wiring ;) Have you found what you are going to use for your gasket for your lid? If not, consider going to your local hardware store and picking up some window and door seal weather stripping. It comes in a small roll of rubbery/foamy consistency stuff, and you peel and stick it. It is available in different styles and sizes. I sealed the edge of my steel storage box that I made with the stuff and even after opening and closing it several times, it's still on there. I think it was like $5 to $10. Just an idea. Anyways, what color are you going to paint your box?
 
The box will go semi black, like the dash, etc.... Eventually all the black parts on the truck (cap, tube bumpers, dash, console, box, breaker panel, rock sliders, mirrors, battery box, frame & running gear, visor, etc) will be done in Black Imron, semi-ed out with flattening agent...

Thanks on the weatherstripping tip, hardware store is definitely a good shopping place for something like that.. Going to Homo Depot and the Mom & Pop tomorrow anyway..

I'll have it installed, up and running for tues morn, with no top on it.. I'll cut the lexan and deal with that stuff thruout the week...

One of the projects I didn't forsee, that I'm having to incorporate into the build is the dual volt gauges... I had to add a pair of relays, fired by the "run" position to run each volt gauge, they needed to be isolated from each other.. it's trick, just unforeseen...

The big deal is when I swap the column out, ditch the fuseblock in a couple weeks.. thats when i do the final swap over to the glove breaker panel... thats a big deal, especially when i DD the truck... i'm going into my 1 day off a week mode at work, so i may have to use the company car for a week. doubt I can get that done in a day..

it's downstairs with the black drying right now... should have it installed with it's "basic" wiring for tomorrow.. but as everything on my truck, it's ever evolving.. I've left room for a bunch of expansion ideas at this point.. Eventually I'll have indicator lights in for the breakers and more breakers...

I do also have a trick LED backlit light fixture from a boat that I could run in it at some point, maybe tied into an aux lighting switch... I also have a pair of gravity-switch underhood lights out of some mid-80's car to install under the hood down the road when I go Cowl, maybe tie that all into 1 circuit.. Ya know, an evening, breakdown kinda mode..

I'm pretty stoked on the whole system.. Final evolution will be the welding rig.. Item # 57 on the list... :doah: :( :haha:

My gas station buddy stopped by last night, took one look and said, I was sick, but in a really cool way.. That had me chuckling... :haha:
 
While watching paint dry here :wink1: I thought I'd expand on some of the work that I'm undertaking over the next few months...

With the glovebox breaker panel phase underway, and hopefully done in the next couple weeks (still need to order some breakers), I thought I'd mention the next project..

Going electric fan... At this point, I'm a little tired of running around with a seized clutch fan, and it's time.. The relays, power supply, etc are going in the box tonight, no need to wait. I have everything I need...

I'm in the process of fabbing up some final radiator mounting.. No biggie, boring..

The more interesting part is that I plan on taking the pair of Windstar fans I have out of there busted shroud and installing them in a shroud built from the composite. That way, I can have the shroud fitted nicely with the aluminum radiator I run.. have a rough idea on how I'm gonna do that, it involves the same angle/sheet glass tech as the box..

I know, I know, :D

ttiwwp.gif
 
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pomai said:
Where did you get those waterproof bulkhead fittings?
Thanks, Ed
Click to expand...

Any electrical supply house should have them or be able to get them, Dottie is one manufacturer that comes to mind, then there's Thomas&Betts, OZ Gedney, Appleton......

Look at the top of page 77 in the Dottie Catalog


By the way, that box is friggin awesome! Will the solenoid go inside?
 
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