Big Blue's Transformation

[Gary Lewis]

Train?  And, why not let Henry drive?  What the deal with him and trains?  Standard Oil I understand, but not trains.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Henry Flagler is 99% responsible for populating south Florida.

He pushed his railway all the way to the Keys.

Miami and that whole area wouldn't exist without him.
Neither would Flagler Beach, or Flagler County.

[Gary Lewis]

Ok, now I understand.

[85lebaront2]

Gary, are you sure you never worked for NASA?

[Gary Lewis]

No, but I did work in the electric utility industry and was involved, briefly, in building a nuclear power plant.  Does that count?  

So, you think my grounds are OTT?  (The Brits get it - Over The Top.)  Or is it the prep?  Or both?

Anyway, at this point all I have left to do with the electrical system is to put the ground strap from the engine to the firewall, although there's not much need for that given those fender/cab grounds.  But I'll see where it might go and get it on today.  And then test the clutch switch and call the electrical system good.

Then it is on to the headers.  But, before doing that I need to clean off the work table.  And put some tools away.  And generally CLEAN!  

[kramttocs]

I really like those stainless steel standoffs.

Gary Lewis wrote

So your ground strap (not the fender one) goes from one end of the hood hinge to the other? Maybe I missed it but is that factory? I am thinking I've only ever seen them from the cab sheet metal to the hood sheet metal.

[Gary Lewis]

Thanks, Scott.

Yes, that hood hinge has a strap from one side of it to the other.  Probably for the hood light and/or radio interference suppression, using the hood to shield the antenna.  I've not seen that before, but these are fairly new hinges, and I don't know the source.

As for the starter switch on the clutch, the starter comes in with a fuse in the connector, but not with the connector to the switch - if the arm of the switch is attached to the clutch pedal.  However, removing the arm from the pedal and pulling farther engages the starter, or I should say the starter's relay as I'm not spinning the starter.

I still have a spare pedal assembly here and a spare switch, so I'm checking to see what might be going on.

[grumpin]

I don’t think you can go OTT on grounds!

[Dorsai]

Gary Lewis wrote

Then turned to the ignition module spacer. The idea of making 3/4" diameter pieces 1 1/4" long using a hole saw on a 1 1/4" thick block of aluminum didn't pan out. So I went back to the stainless. And with a lot of patience I finally got the next two drilled and tapped 1/4-20 on both ends.

This is a bit late given that you've already made your spacers, but if you think you'll ever do it again you might try some 'churro' from the robotics world. Our kids use it for spacers, standoffs, and the like, and the first time I saw it I immediately thought of your ignition module spacers: Churro - AndyMark It's easy to work, you can put a 1/2" wrench to it, and best of all it comes in a range of stylish colors. Incidentally, the ones you gave me (along with the attached ignition module) are still serving honorably - thank you again!

[Gary Lewis]

Dane - You are absolutely correct.  And, to prove that the grounds are working, prior to installing those grounds the dome light dimmed when I brought on the blower, honked the horn, etc.  No more!

And, the problem is solved on the clutch switch.  In the pic below the switch on top is used and the one on the bottom is new.  Note where the "stop" on the right end of the plastic arm is on the two.  That stop is what causes the switch to close.  On the new one the stop is a long way from the end of the arm where on the used one it is much closer to the end.

When you put the new one on a truck and depress the clutch pedal the stop slides on the arm and automatically adjusts for the throw of the pedal.  And the serrations in the arm prevent it from moving farther.  But if you put a used switch on it may not be adjusted for the throw of the pedal.

I put a used one on Big Blue, for some reason, and it wasn't hitting the switch.  So I slid it down the arm and pressed the pedal down.  Zipppppppppp!  And now the starter comes in - but only with the pedal down.  

[Gary Lewis]

That's cool, Matthew!  Wish I'd known that.  Those would have been perfect.  I could have had red!  

My nephew is one of the guys that are RobotZone, and I'm sure they have the same stuff.  I'll have to ask him.  From what I understand they are one of the big suppliers to folks doing robotics.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Well, I'm glad that didn't turn into an eight page microanalysis.  

[ArdWrknTrk]

You know, there are these funny little threaded hex bushings called coupling nuts.
You can get then at most any hardware store.
They're cheap as chips, and are commonly found #6 through 3/4 NC.

[kramttocs]

I am using a number of these in varying lengths as standoffs for the fender platforms.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/392093482280

[Gary Lewis]

Yes, as Scott knows, I used coupling nuts originally.  But I didn't have any and, with the virus, didn't want to go to the hardware store.  Nor did I want to wait for them to be shipped to me.  So I thought I'd make some.  But I didn't bargain for how hard to tap that stainless is.  It cut and turned nicely, but my taps didn't like it.

Anyway, I got there w/o having to go anywhere nor wait.  But for a fancy look some of those aluminum Churros would be cool.  And, good heat conduction as well.  Plus, easily tapped.

[kramttocs]

And something to be said for being able to make them yourself. I really like the smooth cylinder look.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Oh, absolutely!

And before my Covacation I'd have thought it ridiculous to spend more on the stock than the buck or so a coupling nut costs.

Time changes all things...

[Gary Lewis]

Ok, I'm going to officially say the "electrical system" is done.    (That's not to say that there isn't other "electrical" work to be done, like re-installing the oil pressure switch and connecting the harness to it.  And there's the winch to put back on.  But that's all old stuff.  Its the new stuff that is done.)

But, to get to "done" I did something that may test Dane's statement of "I don’t think you can go OTT on grounds!"

I got ready to install the strap ground from the firewall to the engine and ran into a minor problem.  I have several of the ground straps, but for various reasons none of them were fit for the job.  One was way too long.  Another had too small of ring-tongue terminals on it.  And then I looked at the one that was on Big Blue when I got it, and discovered how poor of shape it is in.

So, I made one out of the leftover wire and terminals I had that would fit.  Turned out that the connectors I had to fit the bolts/screws I wanted to use were for #2 wire, and I had just enough of that to make the ground.

To prep I ran a 3/8-16 tap into the back of the head to clean those threads, and filed/sanded the paint off the mating spot.  Then I found a new screw for the original spot for the ground on the firewall, sanded the spot down and cleaned the threads.  And, with liberal doses of my favorite anti-seize, here 'tis:




But, I forgot to take a pic to compare the old to the new.  So, here's the old with the last bit of #2 wire I have left.  Dane, is it OTT?  

[grumpin]

No! Beauty eh?!

I like it! You got me thinking, I’m going to check some grounds on my truck sometime soon.

[Gary Lewis]

Just FYI, an electronic engineer would quake in his sandals if he saw my grounding system.  You really shouldn't have multiple ground paths, but I do with the ground straps from the fenders to the cab and from the engine to the cab.  That can cause currents in the grounds called "circulating currents".

You can read up on it in this dicussion on What Is A Circulating Current?  It mainly bothers sensitive electronics, like data collection systems, which I used to manage.  But I doubt it'll cause problems with Big Blue.  

And here's the plan, graphically: