The Great White Buffalo

[Fergie]

Thanks for the kind words all.

Yesterday, I started with the Heat Wave on the firewall and foot wells. I used Contact Adhesive to affix the HW to the damplifier and to anything else.

Due to how the heater core leaked, there was a good section of nasty jute on the fire wall too. This jute though, had a rubberized face on it, giving the firewall a cleaner look from the cab. So, I "surgically" removed the nasty section when I was doing the removal of everything else so I could reuse it. I scraped off the old nasty jute, carefully, and used it as a template for the Heat Wave.

You can see at the bottom of the photo how disgusting the jute is, and how much it had absorbed. As a reference, the non-soaked jute was only about 3/8" thick at most, while the soaked stuff was close to an inch...it doesnt dry out even in AZ weather.

I used foil insulation tape on all the edges, and, when installing it in the foot wells, I seam taped all the joints with the same foil tape.

So, most of the guts under the dash are back in, and surprisingly, it has all fit together correctly, with everything fitting as it should(knock on would).

Theoretically, I could be driving it tonight, but downtown is having an Artwalk, so it'll be another few days.

 

[adventureduo]

You're making us all look bad.

x2!

 

[Fergie]

One lost bolt that was remedied by a quick trip to Copper State Bolt & Nut, and one extra screw...no clue where is came from...although I found one or two screws under the carpet, so this could have been one of them.

Started to reconnect all the heater hoses, but realized I didn't have the right size hose clamps...until tomorrow.

 

[RHINO]

i'm anxious to hear your report on the difference it makes.

 

[ChuckB]

i'm anxious to hear your report on the difference it makes.

x2

 

[Hltoppr]

I'm interested as well. I don't recall my 80 being loud to begin with, so this one should be uber-nice!

-H-

 

[Fergie]

I'm interested as well. I don't recall my 80 being loud to begin with, so this one should be uber-nice!

-H-

The noise reduction will be a secondary result from all of this...I really wanted the trans tunnel heat to be lessened...I hate having hot feet on long drives!

 

[JJackson]

Dang you have been busy! Looks great.

 

[FourByLand]

Lookin' good, dude!

 

[Fergie]

Last night, I got all the carpet back in, 2nd row seats, passenger seat, and was brought to a halt by a small tab on the driver's seat...nothing major, but it provided me with a good stopping point.

Earlier in the evening, I replaced the AC drier as my system had been open for several days, and I also replaced the in tank fuel sock(filter).

I never like working with fuel related items, but this went well, and I didn't smell like gas too badly...

You can see the deflection in the sock from hwo hard the pump was pulling on it...at 168,000 miles, I'm sure a lot of gas has gone through this sucker. It idled much smoother.

The cargo area got one layer of Heat Wave as the facotry jute was still in great shape. Went a little wild on one cut-out, but corrected the others.

The passenger side was much quicker as I didnt need to do all the cut out because of the Engel. I did one cutout just in case I wanted to use the latch bar as a tie down point...figured it couldnt hurt.

 

[Fergie]

Well, after a month of down time for the GWB, I buttoned everything up this morning, and took a drive, about 40 miles round trip or so, from 7000' above sea level, to roughly 9500' above sea level, so the vehicle got a work out.

The difference in NVH was amazing! To my dismay though, now even little squibblers can be heard with the windows up.

As far as foot well temps, my feet, as well as my wife's, no longer toasted as they sat stationary. I did notice however, that the support brace on the right hand side of the driver's footwell transfers a lot of heat, much more than I expected. It was the only piece that was actually hot. The footwell area had no noticeable heat to the touch, and neither did the center console area. This area has two layer of Damplifier and one of HW.

I am extremely pleased.

Proof that the GWB made it out of the garage today!

 

[Funrover]

WOW.... You are doing a great job!

 

[Fergie]

WOW.... You are doing a great job!

Thank you!

This is next...

 

[Fergie]

So the HAM install hasnt happened...maybe this winter.

But, the other day, while backing out of the driveway, my passenger mirror fell out. The tabs that hold the mirror, and electric adjuster to the mirror housing had broken, and so did the screw at the bottom. Thankfully, three wires held the sucker in.

So, after taking the mirror off the vehicle, and assessing the damage, I started to repair it.

You can see the tab on the left is broken.

I used a very small drill to make some imbed holes:

My "imbeds" are picture frame nails. They are attached to the plastic with super glue. I chose to use these in addition to the epoxy as the plastic is smooth, and I want the epoxy to have an anchor to bond to.

A similar operation was done on the screw hole:

I then formed the epoxy putty to the shape I needed in the two location, and it is sitting/curing overnite. Tomorrow I will trim it and drill the correct holes.

 

[dclee]

Great job with the truck! A white 80 is my favorite, and I've long thought that a '91 or '92 FJ might be the best for an expedition build (non-electronic transmission, and I wouldn't feel as guilty throwing away that 3FE as I would a 1FZ-FE for a diesel conversion, hehe).

BTW, that mirror thing is pretty common, though it usually happens on the driver side (I think the repetitive open/close cycles on that door cause it to happen more often on that side). Interesting fix, let us know if it holds up. When it happened on my old 80, I drilled out either side (where you have inserted the nails) and used a bent piece of coat hanger wire inset into the holes and secured with epoxy, to reform what was the original plastic loop.