MR HYDE IS COMING TO LIFE

[garcmol]

At least you're saying "good" news now! Can't believe that wiring mess. Reminds me of this;

[Dr Jkel]

Originally Posted by garcmol

At least you're saying "good" news now! Can't believe that wiring mess. Reminds me of this;

That looks good compared to what I had....at least the lights worked

Seriously though we are moving forward...I have ordered a bunch of wiring stuff to be able to finish it like it should.......Every exterior connection will be waterproof and I will be installing Bulkhead connectors for the main rear and front wiring harnesses instead of using the ole hole in the firewall method......and it did not have a rubber grommett when we started looking Wonder how long a group pf wires in a sharp metal hole would have lasted Don't know but didn't want to find out if you know what I mean.......

[Dr Jkel]

December 19th, 2011 Monday

Ordered a BUNCH of wiring supplies....A LOT cheaper on the internet rather than buying it locally.
I ordered 2 bulkhead connectors so that I can simply disconnect the wiring harness to the front and rear, they are not the original ones but will work great since they are weatherproof.....One place they were 99.95 ( Summitt ) but I found then for 24.95......22 pin bulkhead connectors.

Since moron screwed up the wiring harness we have basically just cut the wires and will attach them correctly to the desired location so I had to buy rolls of wires and connectors...again weatherproof ( actually called Weatherpack connectors). These things are pretty cool but expensive.

So with really nothing to do we ( MATT) polished the instrument cluster panel. It WAS polished aluminum and was supposed to look like chrome....NOT. It had a lot of scratches, was dull and really looked awful...but now it is nice and shiny.....just need to do a little more hand polishing to make it perfect.

[Scrappy Doo]

Good to hear some progress!

[Dr Jkel]

Originally Posted by Scrappy Doo

Good to hear some progress!

Yes it is......Matt and I seem to think that I will be able to test drive it MAYBE for the New Year, but with the holidays and everything that goes with it we may be delayed a bit.....

One thing is for sure though...besides the body work, transmission and interior the rest will be done correctly.......

We are waiting to pull the transmission because we want to kinda test drive it when we get it running plus it will be much easier to let them take it out while it is on a lift.....Luckily Matt's boss also does transmission work and since we are running all this through his shop it is just easier to let them do it....not to mention they are backed up for a bit....beggars can't be choosers...

Once at their shop their are going to check pinion angles, shorten the trailing arms so that the rear end sits correctly/evenly inside the fender wells and not toward the rear plus a couple of otehr things that are easier to do on a lift.

Just kinda makes me mad that the money I am spending now was money I was saving for a lift...but maybe the courts will give it back to me...

[Dr Jkel]

December 20, 2011 Tuesday

I am not really sure one can realize the immense knowledge it requires to totally understand the wiring of a vehicle, ESPECIALLY if you plan on doing it right and everything being correct.........WELL I am Learning.

I had ordered some bulkhead connectors so that the main front and rear harnesses could be disconnected in the event of an accident, doing paint and body work etc...... They should arrive in the next day or so.............

So in preparation we decided to get everything we could done and be prepared.............
The first thing Matt did was cut the wires that ran to the back of the truck...pretty much everything was heat shrinked once it left the cab.........so identifying things would be a little difficult.......so Matt started looking at wires inside the cab, especially since the wires are marked ..............Next thing I know Matt is basically cutting the remaining wires that were ran to the fuse box off as far away as he could easily get to, and snatched the fuse box and the bundle of wires out.

The best way to describe this is to think about coat hangers, extension cords and Christmas lights......it was a tangled mess......Then Matt says it is all coming out.... I was like UH OHHHH

As you can imagine nothing was correct.....I had wires marked trunk light, electric choke, and whole bunch of other stuff just ran everywhere........As you can probably tell a TRUCK DOESN'T HAVE A TRUNK and FUEL INJECTION DOESN'T HAVE AN ELECTRIC CHOKE.

From the best we could tell they just ran whatever wires was convienent no matter how it was marked....The problem with this is if anything electrical ever happens the first thing you do is to check the fuse and if they are not properly marked you will chase fuses for awhile....if it is a wire issue then you really have an issue since you don't really know what is running to where.

As we pulled the rear harness out we realized that there were wires unattached at the rear of the truck just wadded up...problem is that is where the gas tank is.....

From what I have learned about all this is that I bought a Painless Wiring Harness.....EVERY wire is marked but as is the case the wiring harness is set up for pretty much everything they could think of that would need to be operated. As in the case of fuel pump wire and electric choke...some things you need and some you don't. IF you don't need them then you remove them from the harness, really simple.....This way you don't have a wire that is hot just laying in the wiring harness or touching the frame........this was not done........not to mention that wires that were supposed to run to the front of the vehicle were actually running towards the rear and vice versa.... Thus the reason Matt cut it all out.

I was like WTF am I gonna do now......so I went to get my phone and Matt asked what I was doing...I told him that I was going to order another harness........Matt said NOPE we are gonna fix this one as I looked in dis-belief.

So then we started the process of untangling wires OMG this what such a PITA and after about 2 hours we had all the wires seperated

It was kinda funny though because it looked like a 100 leg spider, wires were running everywhere..........THEN I GOT A LESSON ON WIRING.

When you do something like this you need to plan what you are doing....You also need to know what you need to hook up.......So wires we knew we did not need we disconected from the fuse box, wires like the trunk light, electric choke etc.......

Then you decide where you are going to mount the fuse box...as simple as it seems you start making mini harnesses with the closest things first....so the first closest thing was the headlight switch.....You measure how long the wires need to be....find the wires from the fuse box and zip tie them together...What I learned is Painless pretty much color codes wires to like accessories which makes it easier to recognize because the wiring letters are pretty small.......So we spent the rest of the night seperating wires and making mini harnesses, zip tying them together and making it look right.....of course we did not finish.

We got the dash, radio, and engine wires seperated and tied together. There are alot of little things that spin off the harness like wiper motor, radio, ignition switch, cig lighter etc..... we went through a bunch of zip ties.

So after we get this done we will install it in the truck, ensure we have enough wire to go to the switches or wherever they go. We already know we are going to have to add some wires in some places but that is fine especially since I ordered a bunch of rolls of wire......Once you get it all installed, ensure that all the wires are the correct length, check to ensure you have wires for everything you need then you remove the whole harness and add terminal ends and you loom the wires or wrap them in tape.

We already know we are going to have to add wires since I am adding things like LED lights, Dome light interior door switches, electric cutouts ( YES I HAVE TO HAVE THESE, Can't Imagine why) power outlets etc..... the fuse box has plenty of spaces so what we will do is add terminals in the fuse box in the ACC locations.

While I do not have to actually install these at this time the wires will be run and connectors installed so all I have to do is buy it and plug it in.....to ensure no live wires are laid in the truck all you do is unplug the fuse........ then later on I can buy what I want and simply add the device wires to the main connectors

So I am glad we are doing this since it was so messed up, that all the features of the computer will now work like the neutral safety switch and I can add things I want like power outlets, LED lights, cut out etc.... and not have it look like an after thought.....

I will never be able to pay Matt what this is really worth because without him Mr. Hyde was simply have to sit right now....He is a great friend and a better mechanic.....Mechanic just doesn't seem like the right word in this case......I just know that hopefully one day he will build a new house and I will return the favor for him since he has no clue about building and since I am a certifed homebuilder I will definitely hook him up......to say the least I have much and admiration for him.......

I was telling him last night how much I really did appreciate him....he then reminded me that he told me to go get the truck and he would help me finish it and that he wasn't backing out of his word......

So we are making progress

[f5journal]

After all the bad, this is actually a feel good episode to the story

[Dr Jkel]

Originally Posted by f5journal

After all the bad, this is actually a feel good episode to the story

Yepper starting in the right direction now......

I guess I should have been more diligent before now but really had no clue about all this stuff but I am learning now.

It is so funny and ironic that I am calling all these vendors I bought stuff from and they are so willing to help me....kinda like Painless Wiring.....I called them and they were so nice, explained things to me, basically told me a NOVICE could install this system in about 20 hours....I guess the 2 weeks he charged me for labor was kinda inflated........ya think?

The more I do, the more I find and the hole he is in just keeps getting deeper....

[Dr Jkel]

December 21, 2011 Wednesday

We started he night by finishing up seperating the wires into the actual groups where they actually go.......

Once we got the entire harness finished we placed in into the cab of the truck....Matts measurements were pretty good and most went where we needed them. There were a couple of sets of wires that we had to shorten but that is better than trying to add to them. We pretty much have the entire cab harness in place, wires shortened and all we need to do is put terminals on them.

Since we are waiting on the rolls of wires that I ordered to get here so that we can add wires where we want/need them we decided to start pulling the harnesses out from the rear and front of the truck. Of course it is like all the rest were.....screwed up, but it is alot less wires to deal with.

The great thing about all this is it is done like it is suposed to. Each items has a place in the fuse box and no jumper wires are used. The accessories that I am trying to decide if I want have a place in the fuse box as well.

If jerk had not screwed this up from the beginning we would be completely finished at this point time wise but we are not that far from being done with the wiring part of this.

Luckily for me Painless Wiring Harness staff, Street and Performance Staff, Ididit staff and Classic Instruments staff have been great. They each provided a wiring schematic of there products and it is so easy to follow and it is SO much easier when you have someone like Matt who actually knows what he is doing.

I have to buy a new head light connector because they butchered up the one in the truck.... wrong terminals in the connector etc....plus it looks pretty beat up.

Now I am deciding what accessories I really want so that when the wires come in that we can add the wires we need, lengthen the wires that need it and add connectors.


I know I am going to have LED's... I am installing footwell lighting, grille lighting, engine lighting and some under chassis lighting. The great thing about LED's is they do not pull alot of power and since we have it torn apart right now we can route wires, install lights so that they are hidden.

I know I am adding door light switches, which means when you open the door that the interior lights come on.

I am really leaning on adding keyless remote/power door locks/ remote start....The only issue I have with this system is because I will lose the key lock function. Due to the age of teh truck and the simple door locking mechanism it does not mate up to modern electronic. SO if I added this feature then I could either use the key fob OR the actual KEY.....IF I used the key then the remote would not unlock the door since the actual door lock button would still be locked. I am sure that there is a way to convert all this so that it would work but in realityI would have to re-design alot of the door operation, door handles etc....... I am going to check and see what is on the market right now but will just have to wait and see.

There also a couple of other little things that I am thinking about adding like fog lights, rear back up lights more functional type things.....I just have to decide on the product to use...but it will be wired for it so all I have to do is add the product.


The 22 pin bulkhead connectors arrived today.

All in All a good night, got alot accomplished and things are looking up....Matt said that once we put terminlas on we will re-install the harness, install the batter and check every thing on the truck for function. Once we are satisfied that everything works we will then remove the harness, wrap it all in either electrical tape or some type of wire loom and then re-install it. We are setting it up in such a way that the harness can be easily removed and installed so when the truck geos to the body shop all of it can be removed.

Matt is repolishing the instrument panel and once he is done then he will wire the gauges up.

[Scrappy Doo]

If you are adding keyless entry, add push button start!

[Jekyll-N-Hyde]

[Dr Jkel]

Originally Posted by Jekyll-N-Hyde

That seems to be what I am doing waiting on the parts ( electrical supplies to get here)

[Dr Jkel]

December 22, 2011 Thursday

Didn't really get anything done, had to spend some family time together.

Wiring supplies did arrive by UPS but it was later in the evening so I will have everything I need to finish up. The funny thing is I bought zip ties ( plus a lot more stuff) from a place called Del City.....I got 1000 for what it would cost to get 100 locally.........

[Dr Jkel]

December 23, 24, 25, 2011

Did not do anything on ole Mr. Hyde because of the Christmas holidays



December 26, 2011 Monday

Was off from work today as part of the holiday weekend so got a lot of non-truck related stuff done along with some truck stuff.


Finished making the wiring harness, added wires for the accessories that I wanted then started the zip tying process....did I mention we went through a ton of zip ties. We finally got everything seperated into sections i.e. ignition switch, cig lighter, wiper switch, LED switch, headlight switch, CEL, and instrument panel as well as all the wires for the motor, and rear of the truck.

I think that I have added everything I want to this truck so then I started zip tying. Each section had been tied together by section and now the process of making a continuos harness. Everything had been placed in the truck, wires placed where they were going and cut to length. Then we removed the harness and started closest to the fuse box adding zip ties. We first tied zip ties on both sides of every drop so we could ensure they stayed in the correct position.

Once this was completed the process of adding zip ties every 2" started. According to Matt it was to keep the wires from rubbing each other, keeping everything tight and the way an old man taught him....Who am I to argue? You sure go through A LOT of zip ties. Of course after this is done you have to clip off the excess and it makes a mess.

I had bought a couple of different wire looms. One was an expandable loom and one was a split loom. I added some of the expandable loom first on a couple of the drops..........don't know if I really like that too much. Then I added a piece of the split loom on the main section.....preferred it a little better since it makes it look cleaner.......After that I just let it hang while I cleaned up the shop, put all the tools back in place and swept up all the trash on the floor, cleaned out the interior of the truck.

A interior/stereo guy was supposed to come by later in the evening but never showed up.

Need to pick up a headlight connector...they kinda destroyed the old one, need to pick up some wire loom....think I am going to go with the split loom type. Got to get a 1 1/2 hole saw for the bulkead connectors, pick up a uni-bit to enlarge the dash holes since I moved some things around on the dash. Hopefully the stereo guy comes tomorrow so I can ensure I got all the wires ran that I need. But progress is continung.

Once we are sure we have everything we will add the terminal ends and install the harness one last time. Plan is to have everything installed and crank the truck on Friday....then we can see what it will do since everything will be wired correctly.