The Wanderers build

[superbuickguy]

Did get some wiring done on the Blazer, but it would be the height of pointless to take pictures.

One thing, though, it sure is nice having another square nearby (my 3 plus 3).... it's like having an assembled puzzle nearby to use as reference.

 

[superbuickguy]

so there will be some random in here. I'm working pretty hard getting stuff ready to go, so part of tonight was fixing my trailer winch - after all, not all of my cars can drive onto a trailer....
so last summer when the uninsured person hit me, it broke the ring gear on my winch. The bright side in this is my trailer winch needed a controller - since I use mostly smittybilt winches - interchange is possible

even reused the synthetic winch cable as a cable extension

then onto struggling through with the a/c system. Of course, it doesn't hold vacuum the first time.

not to mention that this system had never been converted to 134a - so I had to find adapters

and their wrong, so Chuck to the rescue with the right fittings
waiting on new clamps - two problems with the vacuum issue - first, I didn't have the right, thick washer for the connection to the pump (and had the same exact issue with the 90 truck), also why the used a 5/8 ring clamp on a 5/16 hose is a question for the ages... so waiting on new clamps.
so I went back to continue tig welding the corners

got both 'ends' done before my welder said 'enough' for tonight.... for those who don't know. duty cycle on a welder tells you how long a welder can weld at various heat ranges in 10 minute intervals. Thus a 40% duty cycle means you can weld 4 minutes of every 10.

eventually you get heat saturation - in this case after the 3rd 4 minute cycle

and that's where I stopped tonight. I could go out and weld more - but I want the skid plate to fully cool before I pour more heat into it. It shouldn't warp but when you have time, take it and save yourself the headache
and for those playing along with "what welder is Aaron using" .... a Miller 220. I want a 255 but 6k isn't something I'm willing to invest right now.... and even if I could, I'd probably have 2 machines instead of just one (or even 3, a big mig, a squarewave tig, and my 220). This machine really is perfect for the heavy use hobbyist but I could use a bit more heat but the problem with that is I should have more dedicated machines - for heavy and for light duty work. My old Tig machine would have laughed at what I was doing today - but that's 1000# of copper and a cooled torch (which, incidentally I still have)

 

[superbuickguy]

finished welding it up

 

[Todd780]

Just out of curiosity, have you considered painting the center bar in the grill black to match the head light surrounds?

 

[superbuickguy]

Just out of curiosity, have you considered painting the center bar in the grill black to match the head light surrounds?

View attachment 874327

yes

 

[superbuickguy]

only had a half day so got a bit done
I won't admit how long it took to get these in place

but no scratches!

then painted the skid plate
no one sees the inside so just rustoleum gloss

and undercoating for the outside

 

[superbuickguy]

pulled the roof off tonight so I can put the weatherstripping onto the top and also get easier access to screw the inner panels in place

and these rubbers

 

[superbuickguy]

time to finish the top
clean the rails

I have new seals so extra cleaning to make it all stick together

test fit

in other news, the a/c system holds a vacuum. I found a NAPA that still does a/c lines and got the lines fixed

almost looks like I know what I'm doing (don't be fooled)

 

[superbuickguy]

so tired of chasing leaks.... now the condensor has a crack... I'm calling an audible and simply going to replace all that I haven't replaced.... you know, the easy stuff... that would have been really easy to replace when the *(&^@@@ motor wasn't in the truck

how to check for leaks without using compressed air (which has moisture in it).... ah yes, nitrogen

still upside down

now with glued rubbers

and clamps

ah yes, distraction

tomorrow I'm hauling the Buick wagon up to Sandpoint... but it doesn't run, and the winch I thought needed a solenoid, actually needs a motor

it's so nice they add all those accessories like solenoid, two switches.... not going to use any of them... just jumper cables to the lugs... simple

tomorrow I'll either be brilliant or dead.... sounds about right.

 

[superbuickguy]

onward... time to finish the interior.... side panels

thresholds

carpet transition

install seat belts

shifter boots

need to bolt the seats in and just a bit of wiring

then fix the leaking condensor... 10 steps forward, 10 back

 

[superbuickguy]

Soon to be finished

I swear I should write a book "how to build cool vehicles that never get featured anywhere"... but the reality is that would be ignored too (good, I'm not doing this for anyone but me).

long studs to hold the seat in place. Because I used 87 brackets (changed in 87), the seat base may need a 1" riser on the front... before I go to that work, though, I'll drive it as is.

I build in circles - I work on whatever until it bores me then move onto the next, adjacent task. In the end, I'm working on driver controls. Here, again... need to wire the heated seats, heated mirrors, a/c, offroad lights..

ain't perfect but it works for me

my wife is short, she gets steps. She never reads here so I'll lay this out but my bet is her Colorado will go down and she'll drive this... then I'll never get to drive it again...

 

[superbuickguy]

a commercial plug (that I don't get paid for). I love these things. they're 5 gallon boxes of oil in whatever weight - and they save dollars. With discounts, delivered, it's like $3.00 a quart for full synthetic.

tonight's fun was fully unplanned - speedo no longer works

note the broken end?
measured the cable to order a new one but remembered I have several others

not quite an exact match but close enough as long as I used the new housing

of course it had to fight me once more and the steering column needed convincing to go back over the slide washer

but back together, should work now

basically I'm at the point of driving it to make it drivable. Right now, speedo didn't work (should now), steering is dead in the middle (too much caster) and needs a bit of toe out. Turbo isn't spooling up like it should so need to change the wastegate spring. Seating position needs to be leaned back (which I knew but wanted to see how it was without), rear window needs to either operate by the switch or the key (right now it does neither), then finally finish wiring including getting the amp to shut down when the ignition switch is off (for whatever reason the stereo isn't shutting it down with key off)