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'90 K5 - The Nevada Blazer [Post 1437: School me on alternators)

Yup, just pull the bottom of the bezel off. Theres like four screws. Either that, the cover that goes into the shift arm on the steering column has some tabs in it and the cover may have just slid down.
 
I wanna say someone on here said Lokar makes a cable that replaces the whole string debacle. Mine has a bunch of slop so it makes me consider it.
 
Cool. Glad to know it's easy. Guess I've got another little task for next weekend.
 
We got some pretty weird looks on the way home, but it made it
I am surprized, CHP didn't give you trouble for this, which way did you take back home?
I did tell you I could help with that, It would have fit nicely inside my trailer.:D
Yeah I know, you want to be independant, I am too and I have done far worse.:doah:
 
I am surprized, CHP didn't give you trouble for this, which way did you take back home?
I did tell you I could help with that, It would have fit nicely inside my trailer.:D
Yeah I know, you want to be independant, I am too and I have done far worse.:doah:



I won't tell em about the ghetto broken trailer debaucle lol!
 
I won't tell em about the ghetto broken trailer debaucle lol!

Yeah you have seen some of the stupid things I have done, and that wasn't even close to the worst.
Flat towing an unknown long bed 3/4 ton chevy full of parts in the bed (extra heavy) with an improvized on the spot tow bar, behind a lifted Jeep wagoneer.
When the frame where the tow bar was attached broke, and the truck came knocking on my jeep and I pulled over to figure something out, in the rain on hwy 680 near milpitas, CA the CHP came to check on me, didn't bother to check if I had papers or if my truck is registered so I can flat tow on the road, they just said: do you need help?, me no, I'll figure it out, them OK be safe.:thumb:
I ended up using the chain to bind the tow bar to the frame and continued the tow all the way to Rancho cordova.:doah:
Never did that again, but some other stupid things since then.:eek1:
 
Well I was making a flat bed trailer, light duty mostly for hauling stuff, and I had to move quick after the bank forclosed on my house.
It was based on a chevy truck frame and I had tacked it together but never got to finish the welding. I started stacking it with lumber I had and kept thinking I will finish welding it before I leave.
Well I put about 4000 lbs of lumber and a few pieces of steel on top, and tried to hook it up to my blazer but the tongue weight was too much, so I hooked up my big rig and headed to my buddies place up in the hills.
I got half way there, about 3 miles from my exit on the highway when I felt it falling appart, so I pull over on the shoulder, and check it out, I realized I could patch it up with ratchet straps so I did and on my way I went.
Got to about 2 miles from my buddies house and the tongue part completly broke off and the trailer was on the ground.
I called my buddy and he came out with a 3.5 ton floor jack and a come along, we ruined the jack because we overloaded it (so I guess the wood with rain soaked in it was more than just 4000 lbs) but we were able to get the remainder of the trailer hooked up to the back of my truck and we dragged it onto his property where it still sits.
:eek1:
 
I am surprized, CHP didn't give you trouble for this, which way did you take back home?
I did tell you I could help with that, It would have fit nicely inside my trailer.:D
Yeah I know, you want to be independant, I am too and I have done far worse.:doah:
I honestly thought it would fit upside down in the bed but, no dice. We went down 80 and got passed by a few chp cars with no issues. It looks a lot worse then it was I think. It was strapped in pretty solid
 
Dude, eldorado is definitely a fun trail I'm in Carson so if you ever want to learn about a ton of trails let me know.
 
Today I finished installing the CB and finished installing the auxiliary audio jack.

Here's the CB location and the audio jack. Wiring is run under the carpet on the trans tunnel. Interior of the truck is still needing a good wash. I never really cleaned it real well after buying... :doah:


download-2 by colbyjstephens, on Flickr

Here's where I installed the antenna. I hope it works out ok, I know it's not ideal. But I think it'll be good for protecting the antenna from getting bashed, and I hope it'll work well enough for intra-truck communication on a trail.


download by colbyjstephens, on Flickr

The previous owner just took out the old stereo and wired in the new one, leaving it to flop around in the big gaping space. He did buy a universal install kit, but didn't use it. I got it installed last weekend, and it came out real nice. I had to "massage" it a bit with the dremmel, but it worked out real well. First time I've had music in a truck, let alone the ability to use an auxiliary music source! Luxury. :D


download-1 by colbyjstephens, on Flickr
 
Colby, how did you mount the CB antenna on the bumper? Just drill a hole in it and bolt it up? Also, how did you run the wiring through the back?
 
I wish it were that easy... that's what I was hoping for when I started the project. Actually, mounting the antenna was a major pain in the ass. The rear bumper is not flat on top, which would make the antenna stick off the back about 20* off of vertical.

Process:
  • I drilled a hole in the bumper.
  • Put a large bolt through it with a metal bushing on it that was 1/8" larger in diameter than the hole.
  • Put a floor jack/block of wood under the outside "wing" of the bumper to prevent it from flexing down under load.
  • Beat the hell out of the bolt while holding it vertical in an attempt to put a flattened dimple in the bumper just where the hole is. The problem with this is that I tried to locate the antenna as close to the body as reasonable, which means that the hole I drilled was awfully close to a bend in the bumper. That bend adds lots of strength there, so the beating method didn't work too well, but it did work some.
  • Beat the hell out of it some more.
  • I then took a nut larger than the thread on my antenna adapter and ground it down as a wedge/shim-washer to the angle that was necessary to have my antenna point just slightly forward of vertical so that while driving the wind pushes it vertical.

To route the coax, I ran it along the frame rail a long with the other wiring that goes from the firewall to the rear lights/trailer hook up. Then I brought it through the firewall in the lowest factory grommet location which as a fat wire going through from the fuseblock (inside) to the engine bay. To do this, I popped the grommet out and used a razor blade to notch a V into the grommet material to allow space for the coax cable. Then I ran the cable through, popped the grommet back in and routed the cable under the carpet to the center console. :)
 
Okay, thanks man. Maybe ill just stick with my magneti roof antenna for now haha. Seems like a lot o work but ill look back on it in the future
 
I wish it were that easy... that's what I was hoping for when I started the project. Actually, mounting the antenna was a major pain in the ass. The rear bumper is not flat on top, which would make the antenna stick off the back about 20* off of vertical.


Process:
  • I drilled a hole in the bumper.
  • Put a large bolt through it with a metal bushing on it that was 1/8" larger in diameter than the hole.
  • Put a floor jack/block of wood under the outside "wing" of the bumper to prevent it from flexing down under load.
  • Beat the hell out of the bolt while holding it vertical in an attempt to put a flattened dimple in the bumper just where the hole is. The problem with this is that I tried to locate the antenna as close to the body as reasonable, which means that the hole I drilled was awfully close to a bend in the bumper. That bend adds lots of strength there, so the beating method didn't work too well, but it did work some.
  • Beat the hell out of it some more.
  • I then took a nut larger than the thread on my antenna adapter and ground it down as a wedge/shim-washer to the angle that was necessary to have my antenna point just slightly forward of vertical so that while driving the wind pushes it vertical.
To route the coax, I ran it along the frame rail a long with the other wiring that goes from the firewall to the rear lights/trailer hook up. Then I brought it through the firewall in the lowest factory grommet location which as a fat wire going through from the fuseblock (inside) to the engine bay. To do this, I popped the grommet out and used a razor blade to notch a V into the grommet material to allow space for the coax cable. Then I ran the cable through, popped the grommet back in and routed the cable under the carpet to the center console. :)

Colby forget to add one more "and beat the hell out of it.."
 
Got the antenna tuned for my radio tonight with the help of a guy on the local 4x4 board. Got it to a 1.2 SWR! :D

Had to remove the shim-nut to do it. The guy taught me a cool trick, you can stick a lockwasher into the spring to make the antenna stick straight up, and this would have been a better solution to begin with rather than hammering a flat spot into the bumper. :doah:
 
Tonight I picked up an auxiliary transmission cooler. Will install that on Sunday along with my steering brace. I'll be glad to get that cooler installed and help put my mind at ease.

I'd like to run a temp gauge too, but that will be a later addition. I noticed that the idiot light for my oil pressure is in the "spare" gauge location, so I don't know if I want to modify that spot (which I thought was empty) for another gauge. However, there is a real oil pressure gauge above it, so I don't know if it really matters.

Still looking for a Dana 60, but have a couple possible options out there. A local guy apparently has a Chevy 60, but I've been having trouble getting a hold of the guy. There's also a CK5er about 4 hours away who's got a Dodge 60 that seems like a good deal. I'd rather not have to travel that far to buy the axle though...
 
Today I got the auxiliary transmission cooler installed today. I am real pleased with out it turned out. I installed a 2" steel strap from the top of the opening in the core support infront of the condensor to the bottom of that opening. I then bolted the new cooler between the center section of the core support and the 2" steel strap. Good stuff.

I went to install the steering brace thinking that the existing bolts would be long enough, but it turns out that they're not long enough. So I had to take measurements and I'll go get some proper bolts and get it installed. Bummer is that the damn brake lines are going to be a real PITA to manage with the install. Oh well.

Also found that the butterfly flap in my air filter housing doesn't work right because I don't have that hose that goes from the exhaust manifold up to the intake. I ended up just flipping the lid on my air filter housing and getting rid of the plumbing of the cold air intake. This was also advantageous because it made it easy to run the auxiliary transmission cooler lines. Hopefully flipping the lid will boost my fuel economy. Didn't realize that I'd been basically starving the engine of air... whoops! :D
 
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