Projects King of Trucks Chapter IV…new beginnings

Ha! With a Dad

Ha! With a Dad like that, you couldn't help but be a gear-head!

 

I am, he was super excited to see the commercial. Thanks!

Now that’s what I’m talking about!! Party time!!!

I don’t think that was on purpose haha.

Got that right. Thanks.

 

Really cool thread, and I not a bike guy at all but I know cool when I see it.

 

Thanks bud.

 

So this is the solution I came up with for mounting the rear 6.5” speakers. Just a single bend screwed into the floor at the bottom and supported at the top but the lip on the gas tank since I couldn’t really screw into the back of the cab wall. You can’t really tell in the pic, but the speaker is angled up. Sounds pretty nice. I’ll cover them with sub box carpet as soon as I can find some.

 

Yeah, your dad was cool.

 

Still is. Thanks!

 

I’ve been a bit busy with stuff not truck related. But I managed to finish up the big ass stereo stage two install. I added a sub and amp. It’s a 400 watt Kicker amp with a Kicker sealed enclosure single 10” with a 10” passive radiator. I have a real problem with space in the truck with it still having the stock gas tank behind the seat. The passive radiator with the single shallow mount 10” sub allows me to have a relatively small setup under the seat while still having huge sound. Sound like a larger ported box but in a very small package. Hits way harder than I thought was possible out of a single sub in such a small package.

And I have still been driving it daily without any problems what so ever.





I still need to get the gas tank out for sound deadening and insulation. And I need to scuff and paint the cabin. I just haven’t had a large enough block of time to do that yet. Hopefully soon.

 

What’s the height of the sub box? I was trying to fit something under my stock seat but found that the cable that connects the driver to passenger side seat adjuster was rubbing when I tried putting my amp under there.

 

Kicker’s website says 5 5/8” high.

 

good job on your truck...these trucks look good with chrome reverse wheels, here's my 55...

 

Thanks. That’s a nice truck too.

 

Ok, sorry for the lack of updates but I’ve been busy.

Here’s what’s happened recently. I had some water coming in the cab through the windshield wiper bezels. The rubber seals were long gone. So I got new bezels and seals and got them on.

The exhaust that was on the truck was decent, but was cobbled together at the last minute from what I had laying around and a couple of glass pack mufflers. It sounded decent, but was leaking near the front from u clamps. And it was not properly tucked and you could see the glass packs from the side through the front wheel well space.

I had some success with a local exhaust shop that did some exhaust on my 83, so I went back to get some pro work done on the 55. The front where it connects to the short chrome down pipes that bolt to the stock chrome exhaust manifolds is now welded instead of u clamps. Went with 2 1/2” pipe that is now nicely tucked up by the frame and invisible from the side and rear at all angles. I used two tiny magnaflow mufflers between the cab and rear wheels with turn downs off the mufflers. The kickstand pipes are now just for looks.

It sounds incredible.




So now, I’m dealing with a charging issue. Battery was new top of the line when I got the truck back a couple of months ago. At first, I thought the stereo amplifier was using more amps than the generator could provide (and it may be). But I took the fuse out of the amplifier wire at the battery and was still having charge issues. Swapped the battery out on warranty and with the amp still disconnected, I was still having discharge, like within a thirty minute drive after the new battery. So now I’m thinking that welding on the exhaust may have had an effect on the generator or voltage regulator. I’ve got 13-14 volts at the generator at idle but I’m not able to test for amps. Generator was rebuilt by a pro when I swapped the engine, no issues before the exhaust or stereo. I did polarize at the regulator again, just in case sitting so long had an effect, but that didn’t change anything. Volts at battery are not going up at idle or under throttle. Put a charger on the battery and got to 12.7, did not discharge over night, so I don’t think I have a drain.

I was confused at first, seemed like it was running out of gas, stumbling. I thought maybe the new exhaust was too close to a fuel line getting it too hot. But after the slow cranking and battery discharge testing, I think I’ve ruled that out.

So I’ll be trying to solve the charging issue on Monday when I have time. I’m open to suggestions and advice. Thanks!

 

One sort of backwards way to test the amperage output of the generator is to connect a voltmeter across the battery. You said you are seeing 13 to 14 volts which is good if you are checking at the battery. Run the engine at 12-1500 rpm then turn on every accessory on the truck. Head light on high beam, heater, stereo and anything else electrical. If the voltage at the battery stays at 12.9 or above, the generator is putting out enough amperage to run all accessories with a little left to charge the battery. The voltage will probably drop to 12.6 or less at idle, but that's the way generator systems work. The don't charge well at idle.

 

I get the 13-14 volts at the generator. The battery voltage does not go up with the engine running from what it measures with the engine off, whether that’s at idle, or under throttle.

 

No electrical connection from the generator to the battery? Time to start tracing wires.

 

I’ll be doing that this afternoon. Also got a new voltage regulator just in case. Battery voltage hasn’t dropped over two days sitting so safe to assume there’s not a parasitic drain.

 

Hold up on the new voltage regulator - If you are getting "13-14 volts at the generator", the voltage regulator is NOT the problem.

Shotgunning replacement parts makes diagnosis more difficult. It is common to buy new parts that are defective right out of the box.

 

Like others have said, you appear to have an open circuit between the generator and the battery. You should check the voltage at the BAT terminal on the regulator. If it isn't above 12.9 or more it's probable that the cut-out relay in the regulator isn't closing. I've run into that problem on my T-Bird. It seems the regulators you can get today aren't near the quality of the old ones. I've had two that just won't quite close the cut-out relay. If it doesn't close, there is no connection to the battery and no charging.

If you take the cover off the relay, the set of points closest to the BAT terminal is the cut-out relay. It's function is to disconnect the generator when output drops below battery voltage so the generator doesn't go into a motor condition. The cut-out relay points may be open at idle, but should close as soon as you raise the rpm. If they don't, you need to replace the regulator. If this is the condition you have, you can verify that the generator will charge by physically closing the points with the engine at 12-1500 rpm. The problem I've been seeing is that the cut-out relay won't close on it's own, but will stay closed if you physically close them. Once they open they won't close on their own like they are supposed to.

 

Thanks so much for the quick education on how the voltage regulator works. I didn’t know any of that.
So, I pulled the cover off the voltage regulator to look for anything obvious. Nothing stuck out. I compared the one on the truck to the new one. Nothing stuck out. I pushed the battery points open and closed a few times. Nothing stuck out.

So I cranked the truck up and the amp meter in the gauge cluster jumped towards C like never before. Never dropped below half way at idle (this was with no extra load like radio or lights). It would go all the way to C when revved. Voltage at the battery was 12.9 at idle and close to 14 when revved. Ever since I’ve had the truck, the amp meter never really went above half when running and was around 25% when idling. I had always assumed that was normal or the needle was not calibrated.

So I guess it fixed itself. Sort of like the trans issue lol.

 

It started acting up again the next day. I got a made in the USA ac delco voltage regulator and swapped it out. It’s been great since then. I get around 15 volts at the battery now.

I got a quote for interior work. Wow. But you gotta spend money to make money.

 

Any up-dates?

 

Enjoyed the thread… got that interior finished yet?