Got mine back from the trans shop on friday!! Seems go to go. cleaned it up and worked on the stero, put in passing gear linkage and it works great, Then had to start work on the lawn mower had to repair the deck, no fun there. Today going to change plugs for a trip to Chattango Tenn. monday , We'll see how it does on the 200 mile trip.

 

did a little bit of modding for the past week
new headlights, nightshade, and hids

 

Worked on the PowerDome:

Installed the storage box:

Needed a change, so i painted my billet insert satin black:

Now I just need to decide if I want to use the black grill shell or the chrome one. Might need to put up a Poll thread.
Chrome with black insert mock-up:

 

brought a tire home and did a quick test fit.

 

No way you make it 'til June, Pedro! Lookin' good.

 

haha i'm going to have to but thanks man!

 

Well, it was yesterday when I put my freshly plasti-dipped rear bumper on. It looks great. Definitely will be picking up a few more cans of this stuff.

 

Stealing tires....Only steal one at a time...Less likely someone will notice. Nice! ;-)

 

I drove 150 miles to buy a new bumper for my car that I found on Craigslist..It barely fit.
http://

 

Hooked up the CB... works okay sitting still with the engine off, but as soon as the engine is on, there is a lot of interference... I need to ground the mount, toolbox, and bed better than they are now, and I figure that will clear up a lot.

Suspecting fuel pump, since the interference is not a whine, more of a static/electric motor noise.

I need to pick up some plastic corrugated wire loom and some grommets to get this installed the way I want it to be installed. Also need to make the home brew fuel pump noise filter, which from what I read in the how to, works much better than the Ford factory offered part. So... tomorrow is a day where I get to run around buying random stuff, lol.

When I bought the coax (Belden/Wilson with the little rubber boot over the antenna side PL259) I also got the stud, and a Francis 5.5 foot fiberglass whip. That was his lower cost recommendation over the prone to laying down at highway speeds 102" SS whip.

He did say a Wilson 1000 on the roof would be better than the 102" off the toolbox. Some of his customers report getting 20 mile range on the 1000. Problem is the price... 120 bucks. Too much for me this early in the game.

He also said the Realistic 23 channel that I have is a very good radio. Made by Uniden... (as I found out when I opened it) and he also noted the ***** are exactly the same as Cobras of the same vintage. He has serviced these old Realistic radios and he says the one I have was the top of the line back in its time, and even today is a good radio.

Not gonna argue with a guy that started fiddling with CB's in the 70's. Heck, he even fixed/tuned a trucker's Connex in about 15-20 minutes. The trucker didn't like how quiet the RF gain was, so the CB dude dove right in and corrected that.

He also said the reason (he believes, anyways) many new radios have such a quiet RF gain is because the company doesn't want people returning/warrantying the radios due to excessive noise, which is the radio picking up skip. He mentioned today is a day where there is no skip, due to the conditions.

This guy knows what he's doing and likes his job. Nothing better than that, and to boot, he's one of those just plain nice guys. Got everything I needed out the door for 60 bucks.

He even dipped the antenna end of the coax in oil to prevent corrosion, (never thought of doing that, it's a great idea for preventing corrosion as the oil works its way into the coax cable near the connector) and put a dab of grease on the mounting stud where it grounds against the mount. Told me what I gotta do and off I went to put it together at home. I will going back to see him for an SWR check, even though it likely is squared away as it is.

Had no trouble routing the coax. However, the way I have it routed right now is not the way it'll be forever. I've got to pull the bed to do the leaf spring mounts, shock mounts, frame rust converting/painting, and stuff like that. So... while the bed is off, I'll figure out where I want to put the hole for the grommet. The toolbox will have the coax routed through it, to keep junk in the bed from damaging it. I'll run it along the top where it won't get damaged by the crap I've got sitting in my box.

Maybe you'll see some pics tomorrow... we'll see...

 

Finished up my Tails today. I think they turned out great! I am really happy with the quality of the VHT and how well it holds up, well worth the $14 a can.

Here's a picture of what they looked like from the last time. This was after 4 coats.


This is the finished product. 7 coats and 2 coats of clear. I really like the look a lot!

 

haha i wish but i couldn't do that to someone. i have 5 already mounted ready to go

 

Installed new motorcraft sparkplugs and wires :)

 

 

Plasti-dipped the front park light surrounds, as well as that chrome trim piece above the grille...

Also put the plastic corrugated sleeve over the coax. It covers from the mount to about 3-4 feet of the 18 foot coax inside the cab. So... ten feet of protection. Just gotta worry about the little bit in the cab.

When I was out running around picking stuff up, I turned the CB on and BAM! Nearly perfect receiving... not sure on transmitting, I think I want to wait until the SWR is checked so I don't accidentally burn the radio up... From what I can tell, I have about 5 miles of range as it is right now.

 

Found a 2WD Radio/Heater Bezel with no Power Port.
Been looking for one for a while now, got it for FREE and that’s for me !

Now what color to paint it ?
P.C.’s SEMs Interior Blk or FX4 Silver ?

Also, got Terry’s Red Seat Covers… another thing on the list.

 

Went and got gas a few days ago and noticed someone has taken an interest in my truck...






Damn freeloaders...Come to think about it I should probably get that out of there quick. I took this pic mid week. It's most likely quite a bit bigger.

 

Got gas, put load-leveling shocks on the truck, and the snorkel delete. Next up: new bed, new rear doors and a trailer hitch.

 

Got a coat of filler primer on the PowerDome, a couple more coats of satin black trim paint on the billet insert, added some new carbon fiber parts to the interior---pics coming if it stops raining

 

Went and bought LED blinker lights, installed and realized that I needed an electric blinker due to fast blinking. Went to crappy tire and bought 5 dollar blinker, installed and saw that when I turned on my signal or hazard that it stayed on and didn't blink, tomorrow will go back and buy the $20 blinker.

 

Put the exhaust back together. It's a little quieter now.

But the spare tire carrier and tire will be riding in the bed until the ground dries up again. We got some snow.

Yep, you heard me right... snow. In April.

 

 

got my exhaust re-done!

 

rustmites are on the loose

 

LMFAO yes. when it gets warm out im gonna grind them away!