F150 tow rig

[Deuce]

Bit more progress, finally finished off the majority the the electrical work on this. Starting with the stereo, I added a JVC KMM745BT stereo. I wanted cheap, capacitive touch screen and android auto and this came up as the best bang for buck. It seems pretty good so far too. I 3D printed a mount which fits nicely into the dash in the hacked hole by the previous owner. With this I also added a switchable reversing camera, which allows be to adjust where the camera points for backing up to a trailer etc. This is by far the biggest car I own so I though it would be a worthy addition. Again a 3D printed mount was made to hold the camera utilizing the factory number plate positions. Not 100% sure how well its going to last out in the weather but worst case if it dies I print it out of something different or make a similar one out of metal. When I removed the gas system from this I was left with a nice big hole in the dash to the left of the steering column and the camera switch was the perfect thing to cover this up. I was never going to be happy with the wire running over the dash and back under the dash, so another 3D printed part to both hold the switch and allow the wire to be routed back under itself neatly and through the hole in the dash. So fairly happy with how it came up.

Next thing was the tray lighting, I showed a while back how I added all the led lighting around the perimeter of the tray. Well I finally got around to making up the switch panel for it. The lights themselves came with an inline dimmer so I retained that and added an inline switch and housing. The wiring was then routed down behind the LH tail light which then ties in nicely to the DT connector behind the rear bumper. I added a phone charging port too, as I plan to take this camping too, I swapped out the cigarette lighter for a twin USB plug and wired up a switch on the dash to give these power even with the ignition off. Final thing is the electric brake controller which is pretty self explanatory and very boring, but its in and wired up. Which is good as I need to drive it to Winton for the 6th Feb, so better get on with it.

Mount for the Head Unit

Potato photo but you get the idea

Switch mount, prototype on the right, final on the left. Back side showing the wire path and clip mechanism.

Camera mount with wire path

Camera installed, gold bolts are hideous but they were all I had on me.

Tray lighting switch panel

Wire routing inside

Installed

Phone charging switch and brake controller. Brake controller is in a funky spot so I'm not looking at it all the time whilst driving.

Loving the updates. I strangely quite enjoy wiring, so the last few updates have been great.
I am amazed by the 3d printing, as I have never done this or been around it being done. It looks great.

 

[VS 5.0]

Excellent !

 

[Sandman]

Loving the updates. I strangely quite enjoy wiring, so the last few updates have been great.
I am amazed by the 3d printing, as I have never done this or been around it being done. It looks great.

Cheers, good to hear people are liking the updates. Not sure that I'd say I enjoy wiring, but I like having a clean and working end result which is generally enough motivation for me. Making a point of buying better tools and terminals etc in the last year has also made me a lot more willing to do wiring work as its just easier with the right tools.
See I've been 3D printing maybe 4 years or so now after I discovered it through my old job. Have always been able to CAD model stuff fairly easily which for me anyway is the bulk of the work in 3d printing (I only really print stuff I design). I do have the ability to make parts in other ways, but with my lack of patience, convenience and the ability of 3D printed parts to be suitable for the applications I've used it for, it's always my go to.

 

[someguy360]

Love the printing, the future's looking really bright with restorations being able to replicate/recreate parts and trim no longer made etc.

 

[Sandman]

For sure, it's great that there is reasonable consumer level printers available in the last 5 or so years now. Go back 10 years or so and even the little basic ones were $5k+

Back to F truck things. Been doing a couple of little jobs after work each evening, have done all the filters finally (been sitting here for yonks) and finally got around to fitting the new fuel tank switcher I was discussing a few months back. Managed to get a new genuine one off Amazon for an ok price. Mainly as I didn't want to get stuck if cleaning out the existing one didn't end up being a permanent fix. My mechanic is back this week so fingers crossed I can get the last couple of jobs done, an alignment and then plates on it.

Out with the old, assuming this was the original

Shiny and new. Came with new quick connect clips too which is a bonus as the original ones are nice and brittle after 30 years.

 

[Sandman]

So, some more updates on this, before this went for a roady and Rego I needed to get some rust repairs done, I don't have many photos but here is one in the floor, basically this is from where water was trapped under the rear of the cab from where the gas tanks used to be mounted. All sorted now and then off to the mechanic for a roady, got him to sort out the rear brakes too, as the handbrake cables were flogged and basically the rear brakes weren't doing squat. Due to finding parts this took a whole lot longer than anticipated so I only got the truck back last Monday (1/2) and quickly got plates on it and took it for a wheel alignment. Giving me a total of 4 days to iron out any bugs before I towed the Skyline to Winton, no worries right? The plan originally was to have it done prior to Australia day so I could take it camping and give it a test then, but it simply didn't happen.

I drove it to work every day to check it was all going to work as it should, it held temps well, operated on both the front and rear tank and all was pretty good. The steering box though isn't as tight as I'd of hoped so will probably have to get that looked at again though which is a bit unfortunate. Serious part happens now, Thursday is loading day for me so I go round to my mates and pickup the trailer, but before I leave we test the trailer brakes, connects fine, pump the pedal then the brake controller gets red hot and lets out a bunch of smoke. So off to a good start. I quickly scuttle home with the trailer and go get warrantee on it before the shops close (brand new controller) and also fill up all my jerry cans with e85 to save time the next day. I get the trailer home and its just slightly too big to get into my backyard attached to the truck so I will have to load it before work as I don't want to leave anything out the front over night. Not ideal but workable. Next issue is the ramps are stuck in the trailer, as my mate races 4x4s he's never used them, and they're bent to the point I can't even hammer them out of the trailer. I find some old ramps from a mate nearby so have some for the morning luckily, but its now 9pm and my patience is growing thin. But I pack the truck and everything fits in the tray nicely with only the jack in the boot of the R33.

So Friday morning I get up at 5, get everything out and load the trailer and head to work. Its very slow, the truck has very tall gears which really don't help but once up to speed (above 60-70) it cruises really nicely, its quiet and the suspension is quite plush with the extra weight on board. Unfortunately the extra weight is not agreeing with the transmission its slipping horribly in 1st and is barely making it up and form of incline. As I get closer to work (15km) I can feel the heat coming through the floor, not ideal at all but at this point I'm hoping its just a little low on fluid. I get to work and throw another 0.5L in it to make sure its full and hopefully that's enough to keep me going. I finsh work and set off, I'm doing no better, I am for a slight incline on the way to the servo as if it can't manage this I won't make it to winton.

It fails miserably, 10 minutes of driving and the floor is hot as buggery and my max speed up a small incline is around 30. I call it a couple of mates to see what I can do, no extra tow cars available but we devise a plan to get my car there still. I will street drive another Skyline and he would tow mine, not idea but better than nothing. But at this point I still need to get the ftruck back home which is a 40 odd minute drive at 4pm on a Friday arvo. Long story short it struggles hard, and is extremely hot the whole way, every time I stop it gets hotter and protests more, at some point it starts cooking the engine too before blowing the lid off the overflow bottle 5 minutes from home in spectacular fashion. I let it cool down for 20 or so and add some more coolant, its mostly down hill from here but I'm still skeptical at this point but set off, make it most of the way home, but half way though a round about at the top of my estate it turns off on me. so I'm at the top of a hill now with no power steering and no power or trailer brakes. Manage to pull it up on the grass and let it cool a bit longer before limping it the last km. From here on follow the R33 thread for the rest of the weekends stories.

At this point my options are now to fix the trans or do a driveline swap. Currently strongly leaning towards an N/a Barra and ZF 6 speed conversion as its fairly cheap, with more power and torque than the Windsor with a 6sp Auto. Still need to give it more thought, but I don't really like the idea of spending $2k or whatever on the C6 still for it to be a 1:1 3 speed. I also discovered the heat also played havoc with my new wiring, as currently my reverse camera is not working. Even with 100mm of clearance between this and any other component it must have been bloody hot under there.... Not impressed.

Anyway have a few photos.

One rust hole that was repaired.

Packed and ready to go, love the tray size of this.

Overheated

And once again

And my poor new wiring (to clarify it was fine with all the driving prior to towing the trailer)

 

[ephect]

If there is only one good thing about this, it happened on home soil and not half way up country.

Keep the updates coming mate, thoroughly enjoy reading despite the issues

 

[VS 5.0]

Coyote conversion.....you know you want to.

 

[Sandman]

I'd love to, but I straight up don't have the money too. I killed 2 of my cars over the weekend remember haha. This is meant to be practical and reliable. Although a turbo barra or Coyote would be awesome, the na barra is the most cost effective improvement for what I need this car for.

 

[Deuce]

Coyote conversion.....you know you want to.

I would think a buick V6 and T700 is a more cost effective conversion.
(probably improve the Ford in more ways than we know too, )