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The Jeepster's wiring is mostly 1987 GMC S15. The steering column is out of a 1991 Chevy S10 Blazer (with a new directional switch). The Jeepster's front light sockets were changed for two filament bulbs ( 1034 1157 ). The rear light are trailer lights. My right side lights will light when That side is selected but the won't blink.  It seems that I that I remember that when the lights changed from 1034 to 1157 some older 12v cars had a similar problem and I seem to remember it had something to do with the amount of power the bulbs used effecting the flasher. I'm too lazy to go out and pull the bulbs and check them (cause they do light) with-out some other ideas, so I'm asking here for any ideas. GPster

Well I've been working on it. After the old street signs idea bombed out I worked on my wife's idea and looked at cooking pans. I found a cookie sheet that was made out of 12 ga. aluminum. I looked further and found that this company made the same type of cookie sheet that was large enough for me to get three pieces of my design (in case I made any mistakes) so I've got a piece to make another instrument panel. The GPS that I got from Amazon has an odometer on it. It also has directional signal and high beam indicator lights which added something that I didn't have before. I also put a fuel level gauge in. I removed The S10 gauge cluster, now all the gauges are mechanical gauges and the only electric senders are the ones that feed the computer. Put all the wiring that I still needed to a terminal board on the back of the new gauge panel. Two days ago I had the terminal board wired from the ignition switch on and the light switch. The engine still started and ran. So yesterday I wired the GPS and back lights for the gauges and the fuel level gauge, hooked up the battery and blew a fuse. So I spent the rest of yesterday thinking. The GPS and the volt meter  are the only things on that fuse's circuit so I checked to see if they were shorted to ground then tried with a new fuse. Everything worked today but the battery was down so it's on the charger. More tomorrow and maybe I'll work on the GPS antenna. Guess I can't put the rear end on jack stands to see if the speedo works. I'll have to find something else to work on till spring. GPster

What S10 parts do you need. The Jeepster is built over a GMC S15 and I have a few mechanical parts laying around. I tried to send you a PM but I must not have been successful and/or I don't know where to look for a reply, GPster

! got mine the other day. The subscriber will get there's first so you won't find them on the news stand real quick. The quality is where it was but because it took so long for it to come around it had a feature written by Pat Ganalh. I'll miss that as much as I'm missing his on line writings. GPster

How is the name of pressure fittings  that use an "O" ring to seal named? If I knew how to refer to them maybe I could look them up and get smarter. That's my stupidity but this is the problem. The Jeepster has a power steering box that is '87 GMC S15. I changed the power steering pump to one from a '91 (?) S10 to get a pump with a fluid tank on it. It works with a assortment of hoses from both donor vehicles. To make the combination of hoses work I had a short line made (3 1/4") so I could keep the power steering pressure sender in line so steering (parking) wouldn't stall an idling engine. The fitting on the pressure hose from the pump leaks and the "O" ring doesn't seal and tightening the fitting nut seems to flatten the "O" ring to the point of splitting. The fitting nut on the 3/8" line coming out of the steering box is different than the normal 3/8" line nut as it is larger (18mm) ang has a longer boss on the bottom even though it fits the threads of a regular (3/8") line fitting.. Does this different nut in the steering box require a different seal? I went to the parts store and i drew a blank stare about the "O" rings and all they could offer is to try and match them by size and I bought their last three. The 3 1/4" 
line I had made is a copy of the original line that I broke when I took the pump off the '91. So I'm not sure what kind of seal was on it. any comments would be welcome. GPster

The power steering fittings that I used to piece together the line out of the pump broke today ang allowed the pump to empty itself all over the engine and under the hood of the Jeepster. The vibration of the four cylinder engine and the weight of the tee for the pressure sender is to much weight for the 3/8 out of the pump. Can someone reccommend a site that I can go to that shows what fittings are avaiilable so that maybe I can come up with a more substantial  fix. Or maybe I'll have to start looking at a new hose. The pump is out of a newer Sio so that I could get a pump with the tank on the pump but the hose.and steering box are from the '87 S15.Also what is the proper name for these fittings? It might make it easier to ask this question. GPster

The Jeepster has been setting in my garage for a while. I fixed the power steering leak problem and I drove it to the Father's day car get together with no problems except when I put it in reverse it took a while for it to start moving. It has happened before and the first comment was to check the transmission fluid level. after that initial hesitation it seemed to be fine so I drove to the get together and didn't check the fluid level til I got back. Checking the fluid with the engine running and the trans in park it took almost two quarts to bring it into the full space on the dipstick. I filled it and parked it in the garage and left it. Went away for the holiday and when I checked it after I got home it was sitting in a pool of ATF. I took a pump and took about two quarts of ATF up the dipstick tube and it quit dripping. It looks like it's leaking out the pan gasket but it hasn't leaked previous to this adding the two quarts of ATF that it took to bring it up to the full mark on the dipstick. I changed the fluid and installed a new filter before it was ready to drive which was a chore  because it had been done by a previous owner that had used the wrong pan bolts and stripped some of the holes in the trans case so I had to re-thread the case and install new bolts. It hasn't leaked in over a year so I thought that I had made a good fix. This is a 700 transmission and the drivetrain is '87 GMC 2.5L S15. Is the normal level of fluid in a 700 trans above the gasket line of the pan or is there something else above the pan line that can leak ATF? I can't see anything above the pan laying on my back on a creeper. The local transmission shop had a major fire two months ago and may neighbor that had a repair shop died a year ago so I can't use the lift in his garage to see the situation better. Just talk to me to give me your ideas or make comments about anything that may have slipped my mind. GPster

Yes I'm still here! I check daily but I'm not saying too much because I tend to talk too much. The Jeepster is sitting on a 1987 GMC S15 frame and uses the S15's engine and tranny. It also uses it's power steering and had a power steering pump with remote fill. I found a different pump with attached fill on another S10 and changed pumps to give me a pump with the fill attached. Because I had to relocate the engine further back in the chassis than stock I had to raise the pump mounting higher on the engine than stock (it took three tries to do this until I got it where it wouldn't throw the belt off). Now I have a leak that looks like it may be be in the return hose or the  bottom of the fill tank (I can't tell for sure because I fell last week walking the dog and my left leg is swollen and that knee won't bend). So because of the  problems in this area and the fact that when is thing has thrown belt, I've had no problems steering with-out power I'm thinking it's something I can do without. This is a thought that comes up while I can't do anything anyway but there appears to be a lot of GM steering boxes that look the same. Anyone got any ideas of a steering box with-out power ( including old S10s) that would bolt in my frame and let me loose the power steering and pump altogether? While I'm in this think but can't do mode I'm looking for ideas. GPster

I'm trying to make a comment about being in a rut but when I hit about making a comment it throws me to the opening page and it greets me so I know I'm logged in. I'm stuck in the seventeen's for six more years. GPster

Well I've waited and I thought it was safe to take the Jeepster out again, It started right up and I was surprised because the new voltage gauge showed only about 9 volts (the gauge might read low) but revving the engine a little caused the needle to rise. No temperature reading but the engine was cold and the oil pressure was 30 so I put it in drive and proceeded to the street. Didn't hear the noise that I thought might be the fan blade hitting (the shorter fan spacer must have done the trick). I only heard the power steering noise on the first turn (this must be when the fan belt jumped). I drove around the block and the got brave. Headed out to the country and put probably 30 miles on it. A half mile from home I had to wait behind a truck  that was looking to cross lanes to get on the road. I noticed a small puff of smoke when he sped up  and I thought his truck engine was "Loading up" from sitting in place so long. Got home and the smoke was coming from under my hood. I don't know why the new gauge didn't show any thing but the engine had boiled out most of it's coolant. The belt had jumped off the pulleys so nothing was turning. I was happy that the fan wasn't making the hitting noise that I had worried about and even though the steering was a little harder I thought nothing of it. Driving was the main thing on my mind and there were no funny noises. Well the engine sucked up three quarts of coolant and the fan blade moved back makes it a little harder to get the belt on. There is one problem that I found now that I got into cruising speed but my fingers are tired so I'll ask about it later. GPster             i

I put a 1992 S10 tilt column in the Jeepster. The Jeepster is wired with an '87 S10 harness. The tilt column's directional signal switch is bad. The '92 column had the high/low beam switch mechanism, cruise control and windshield wiper switches are also in the directional signal wand. Is there a simple switch that will fit this column? What years? GPster

Years ago it became apparent that the original frame under the Jeepster needed to be replaced. So many times S10 frames are suggested.  Down here in this "Rust " belt old S10 frames usually rust through around the rear end. When I was looking for a donor for a frame swap I was pleased to find a '87 GMC S15 that had an intact frame. I started to dis-assemble the vehicle in the junk yard and then the yard owner offered me the whole vehicle at a good price. So I put a battery in it and drove it out of the yard. I borrowed a truck and trailer to bring it home but I didn't trust my coordination. I had a friend drive the purchase on the borrowed trailer, unload it and park it in an out-of-the-way place behind  my garage. It ran and moved so i had no question about the engine (2.5L Iron Duke four) or the transmission (700R).During the further dis-assembly of the vehicle I noticed that the cable from the transmission to the throttle was frayed almost to the point of breaking so I replaced it  with a cable from NAPA that was adaptable to 700R applications. The transmission has new fluid and filter that I installed probably a year ago and the only movement the vehicle has seen in that time has been a drive to my neighbors garage to use his lift to pull the rear axles for some brake work. I notice the Jeepster needing a lot of throttle to move when driving it home but I thought it might be because this was the first the vehicle had moved since the trans oil and filter had been changed. Over the last couple of days I have been preparing the Jeepster to drive it to a local car show only to show everybody that I have been telling for the last 25 years that I actually have it. There has been so much talk about. the proper adjustment of that cable and how improper adjustment can burn up a transmission that I'm concerned that maybe the faulty cable has lead to the death of this one.This throttle linkage is nothing like any of the typical examples you see in an adjustment picture. This and the throttle cable hook to a nylon wheel and the rotation of that wheel drives the mechanism that turns the throttle shaft on the throttle body.That and the instructions that came with the replacement cable suggested that you adjust the new cable to the same length as the cable you are replacing. That doesn't seem like a fool proof way to replace a damaged or broken cable. I'm looking for comments and/or suggestions on what to do next. GPster

One of the many changes to the Jeepster is having directional signals. The shape for the original parking lights was/is stamped into the front of the radiator/grill panel. The original lights only had a single filament so I had too change them to sockets for dual filament bulbs. That accomplished new bulbs are so much bigger that the the lenses aren't deep enough to be fastened over the bulbs and to the body. I can remember back in the early '60s when 1157 bulbs started to replace  1034 bulbs. Do you know if the 1034 or any other 12V double filament bulb is smaller than the 1157 bulb? I think this question might be out of the understanding of a 20 year old counter clerk in a parts store and looking at a manufacturers specs on bulb sizes in mm would be out of mine. GPster

When I bought the Jeepster back in '93 it came with an Ohio title. Because of that it didn't require a verification of the serial number. Because the firewall has been mostly replaced and it is now sitting on a '87 GMC S15 frome I have no idea is there it any identification numbers on it. It would probably raise a question with the DMV if I asked them where the numbers belong but over years of reading posts here I'm sure that somebody knows. If I knew then I could at least stamp the numbers on a piece of metal and fasten it in the correct place. The S15 that furnished the running gear had been properly junked and the title surrendered but I have a Bill of Sale for it but I have insured it as a '48 Willys and am getting ready to buy plates for it (so I can drive it someplace other than into my garage door). Any help? GPster

My neighbor has a '93 E250 Ford van with a  5.8L V8 . This was his work van until it quit running one day. He replaced it with a '91 E250 Ford van with a 4.9 straight 6. The '93 has been a source of parts for the '91 for years but it's now to the point that it will find it's way to the "crusher". The '91 has developed a transmission problem that was diagnosed as a bad torque converter. The '93 died with a good functioning transmission.The question is will the '93 transmission fit and function in the '91? They are both supposed to be computer controlled transmissions  but will the '93 work tied into the '91's computer? My knowledge on this stuff is older than it is.  I thought that at one time that Ford's big 6s shared the same bell housing pattern as their V8s and that the Ford's C-6 transmission had what looked like a removable bell housing that could be changed to mate it with the application. These could be false ideas but he doesn't want to give up the '93's transmission if it could make the '92 last a little longer. Ideas? GPster

Preface: This rambleing doesn't include any question that need answers.Read it if you want. The time involved with this task took longer than it did to type about it.                                                                                                                                      While I was stripping the donor vehicle for the Jeepster I noticed the cable that went from the transmission to the engine was frayed. Even though the vehicle moved under it's own power I didn't know any of it's history and why it was "junked". I had originally been told that it was a "good" engine but when I couldn't get "PARK" from the transmission even though it started in "PARK" the transmission remained a question. The Jeepster's body made it necessary to put the engine further ti the rear in the donor chassis. During that task I became aware of the fact that the transmission was actually a 700-R4. This heightened the importance of that  frayed cable with all of the horror stories about burned-up transmissions caused by neglecting that cable's importance. Replacing that cable became a priority. I was pointed to a cable that fits all of these 700-R4 applications (even had my application on the package) so I bought it. That will fix that problem. An old time mechanic had put me in the mindset that it was better to change oil in an engine when the oil was warm. That was a priority in getting the engine to run after five years of sitting (there are pages covering that in this forum). I also wanted to get the fluids moving in the transmission and rear end so the thought had me getting the vehicle up on jack stands so things could move freely (PARK is still a question). What timing should I plan on for replacing the cable?  My Haynes book recommended changing the transmission fluid when it was warm. Can I change the detent cable (I know what it's called now) without dropping the pan? Will I hurt the transmission if I run it with no load and old fluid with this cable unhooked? These things while I can't even make the engine run. Slow Down, get the engine to run. That accomplished, start grabbing at other question. Someone that seems to be able to find an answer for every automotive question found be a site that said the detent cable could be unhooked from the transmission without dropping the transmission's pan. Everyone explains in detail how to adjust the detent cable at the carb (I have a throttle body mounted crossways) but no one shows how to change the cable. OK Now I know how to get the cable out of the transmission. Step One, read the instruction on the package. The fits all cable should be adjusted to be the same size as the OEM part.The transmission ends appears to be the same style, the housing can be adjusted to be the same length as the OEM, the replacement housing's other end appears to be adaptable to the 700 applications that the package's chart suggests and the cable is about a foot longer than the original. The replacement cable includes a few cable ends with the instruction on how to use them to replicate the OEM's use at the carb. There's a problem. My engine has a throttle body. The adaptable pieces fit mechanical linkage and the cable end on the OEM looks like the of a brake cable for a bicycle and fits in the hole at the end of a grove of a plastic pulley. The only parts that look similar to what I've got is the end set of your cable. It's 5/16" OD but the end of my cable is 7/32"OD. Am I supposed to know to drill out the hole in my linkage's plastic pulley to accept the supplied end? A visit to the manufacturer's web to ask that question gets me a prompt answer in the same day. No they don't recommend drilling the plastic part as that might weaken it but they suggest another one of their product that "MIGHT" work. A look at their suggested part on their web site didn't look like it held any solution but it did have a cable that was 40" long so I could have an additional 20" of cable to throw away. Googled my application (1987 GMC S15 2WD 2.5L 700-R4) to look for a detent cable that was supposed to work. Most vendors showed their solution coming from the same manufacturer but the all seemed to be solutions that could be adapted to fit. Then I started to look for an OEM part thinking that I wouldn't have to explain what I have but that came up empty. Maybe I hit on a solution when I thought that the end of the OEM cable looked like the end of a brake cable for a bicycle. The local bicycle shop that does repair is closed because this is Sunday (then) and it's closed on Monday too. Dorman/Help shows cable end sets in an assortment  with some (2) that are 1/4" (surely that plastic can stand drilling it 1/32" larger).  Bought that assortment but the screw (10 32) doesn't bottom against the cable hole but is tapped clear through. Plus the screw's head is larger than the diameter of the part and will stick out and maybe restrict the movement of the surrounding mechanisms. Google set screws. Lowes should have 10 32 1/4" set screws with allen wrench drive. If I have two of them I can screw them in from each end and they can each bottom against the cable and each other. The local Lowes has them, they are packaged in pairs and I got the last two, $.68 .They must have been for metric allen wrenches but I had that covered. I now have the fits all cable sized for my application. Install it into the transmission as instructed. Thread it up between the engine and the firewall. Drill the plastic pulley as necessary. Re-route wiring harness, re-position accelerator cable around harness. The new adaptable harness is going to have a kink where it goes into the bracket on the engine. Make the hole in the center of the firewall larger to lessen the sharpness of the bend (burn my 4 1/2" side grinder up and have to borrow the neighbor's to finish). The cable's housing end made to fit 700 applications has met 701.  The housing end is made to  "click" into a square opening and bracket is made to have the attachment "slide in" from the top. Step stool and trouble light didn't make it look any better. Side by side you would not see any reason why the adaption wouldn't work but over the engine or through the bigger hole in the firewall, there's no way. Even broke the new housing's clips trying to make it work. I wonder if the local trans shop might have a cable in their junk. Everyone says the Detent Cables break at the carb end and all the cables that have to go clear to the carb are going to be longer than what I need. I've already engineered the end for my plastic pulley and I've already modified the pulley to where an OEM cable won't be right. Well it's already after 5:00PM and the shop will be closed. I've already cut the cable and broken the end of my replacement so It's of no use to anyone. I'm tired and it won't look any better tomorrow. Out with the new cable, gather up the OEM cable, remove it's frayed cable, insert the cable from the fits all kit. I'm getting pretty good at hooking up the cable at the transmission. The other end of the cable's housing fits in the bracket on the engine like they grew up together. Now I can change the fluid and filter in the transmission and make new lines to my trans cooler.As long as thie Jeepster is up in the air on jack stands in my garage I can't show it off and say "see what I built". It makes me talk to myself. well I haven't done anything today so I think that I'll get cleaned up go to mass tonight. Getting the engine running had my wife making me go to my doctor for tranquilizers. He's a catholic too and when I told him peace and tranquility in church wasn't helping. He gave me a perscription but I'll call this deal done for now so I won't need one. GPster

Years ago the advise for using S10 frames for frame swaps was to use 2WD frames and substitute the rear ends with ones out of a 4WD for the added width. The fact that the spring pads were in the same place as the 2WD rear ends meant they would bolt right in. The added width was needed on the Jeepster to put the wheels under the fenders so I jumped at the first chance to get one of these rear ends. I found a guy parting out a Blazer so I bought the rear end. Unfortunately, I never found out what year the donor was. The brakes were different than what was on the 2WD rear end and it had ABS where my 2WD did not so I junked my 2WD rear end end and planned to eliminate the ABS and do a brake job on the 4WD rear end and eliminate the ABS later. Now I find myself with a mess I can't identify. The ABS sensors (that I have eliminated)  by pictures on the internet are only identified as from a K3500 when I was looking at pictures of 1991 S10 Blazer rear ABS sensors. They are square boxes with long wire leads attached that bolt along with the brake backing plates to the ends of the axel housing. The brakes are ordinary 9 1/2" x 2" shoes with common  parking brake and self adjuster hardware, springs and clips by the pictures. The drums by S10 Blazer pictures look to be of the '92 or earlier variety. The vehicle this rear end (the parking brake cables were still connected to it) was out of was of the S10 heritage of the early body style but was a 4dr like a mini suburban. I hope it wasn't one of those special police vehicles made with odd parts. What started this search. At the start these brakes looked like the typical 4X4 around here, full of mud and appeared to have been used below water.  I saw that the bolt in brake anchors at the top of the backing plates were worn. Couldn't find replacements available and I don't know anyone building a "Metric" framed dirt track car to get a junk rear end. Dorman sells replacement backing plates with the anchors that are supposed to fit any of these rear ends from '78 to ? but they only show being bolted down with two bolts (only 2 bolt holes). They don't show the third hole necessary for the sensors like mine have or the oval hole for the harness of the sensor to pass through. Talk on the S10 forum is that the ABS sensor on the 4X4s comes from a sensor in the transfer case. I don't know what I have and I've stopped thinking that I can fix things without some help. I stopped thinking about the 700R detent cable waiting for help there. GPster

Well I've been taking small steps towards getting the engine running in the Jeepster. It hasn't run since I drove the donor vehicle ('87 GMC S15 2.5L) out of the junk yard onto a trailer and off the trailer to park it in my yard Five (?) years ago.I pulled the spark plugs out yesterday and was pleased when I didn't have any shorts when I hooked the battery up to my revised wiring harness and even more pleased when turning the ignition key engaged the starter and the engine rolled freely with the spark plugs out. I thought I shouldn't press my luck so that's as far as I ventured with it yesterday. This afternoon I put the plugs back in , put coolant in the radiator, put a little gas in the TBI and tried to start it. It fired on the prime so I know there is ignition but no fuel. I couldn't hear the tank fuel pump run so I made sure the wires were connected and found that I hadn't hooked up the tank's ground wire. Tried fastening it to the body's floor brace and still got nothing. Ran a wire to the battery.s negative (and did something that I think fried the alternator) but still couldn't get the pump to run. Maybe it's the pump relay but it worked five years ago. The short run of the engine on prime threw of the fan belt ( or maybe the alternator was trying to motor when I burned it up) But the fan belt diagram is up in the trusses of my garage with the radiator and it's to late in the day for me to trust my luck on a ladder and this day has probably already cost me an alternator so it's time for me to just sit in the cool house and look at my wiring diagrams. It's still a long way from driving but with it up on jack stands maybe with the engine running I can watch the driveshaft turn. GPster

The Jeepster is actually a re-bodied '87 GMC S15 truck with a 2.5L four. It is a TBI engine that was not California built and will be running on it's stock computer and it's original instrument panel. When I drove this thing out of the junk yard and stripped it the catalytic converter had already been stripped (no surprise or concern). Piecing this thing back together I find out that the O2 sensor is in the exhaust manifold not in the pipe near the converter. Taking the sensor plug out of the manifold left me with pieces and a hole in the manifold. My plan is not to run a converter because it would need to be right where I had to build the "K" member that I had to build to support the transmission. Some information I have seen is that the older O2 sensor may not have much to do with the engine's operation but mostly acts to activate the "check engine" light. Can I just use the broken O2 sensor bulb mount to make a plug for the exhaust manifold or am I going to have to find a 30 year old exhaust manifold to replace the broken piece so I can get the O2 sensor to work when I want to get the engine running. Just trying to get my chores in order. GPster

The S10 (S15) engine engine in my Jeepster originally had a radiator with a heater hose connection in one of the radiator tanks. This was part of the intake manifold heat system that took warm water flow from under the thermostat ran it through the intake manifold and used a hose to return the water to the radiator. Somewhere I saw an after-market heater installation that used a heater hose adapter fitting that allowed you to make a "T" type connection in a lower radiator hose by making a hole in the side of the larger hose and installing this fitting through the hole in the larger hose from the inside. This fitting has a shoulder that seals against the inside of the hose and a seal that is threaded down it's outside to seal the hole from the outside. When I first say this I just kept the idea in mind but didn't save any of the information. The radiator that I'm using on the Jeepster has no prevision for this extra hose in either tank and that type of fitting would make the change in radiator hose sizes and routing them around the front side of the radiator simpler, easier, cleaner. Anybody seen what I'm trying to explain and know where/what I can get it? In the old days I would have plugged it hose off and forgot it but I'm sure the computer reacts to the temperature of the intake manifold. GPster

The Duke Convention Center in Cincinnati, Ohio, will host more than 70 traditional hot rods and race cars this weekend (1/8-10-16) at the 13th annual Survivor's Alley. The show is part of the Federated Auto Parts Cavalcade of Customs.
Check, http://www.roddersjournal.com for more info.

GPster

Is there any Swap Meets in the Cincinnati area this weekend?  There are some after market items that I need for the wiring on the Jeepster and it would be easier to find them at a Swap Meet type vendor then trying to explain them to a counter person at a parts store. GPster

I didn't want to put this under the "What are you doing today" Forum because I have been working around it for months. I'm using the instrument panel from the '87 GMC S15 to match everything else that I'm using my Jeepster build (kind of like a Ford truck Mustang). In my trying to trim off all the extra plastic to make the instrument cluster  work in a "flat dash" I managed to scar the printed circuit board in my cutting. I had thought that S10 Or S15 parts wouldn't be any problem coming up with. Because nobody mentions interchanges and there seems to be so many options that might change things .I need some sort of direction.The printed circuit board is of Packard Electric manufacture and has part# 25086175 on it. This is an A C instrument cluster (rather than just indicator lights) with an 80 MPH cable driven speedometer on it and a speed sensor for the computer. I'd rather replace the circuit board than try to solder a jumper on it (one suggestion) or using the repair kits for rear-window de-frosters. I thought at one time I'd ask at a Radio Shack for suggestions but for as long as they've been going down hill their clerks can hardly come up with batteries for my hearing aid. I had thought that searching with the part number in A C would come up with something but no. I tried Packard Electric but that didn't fly either. With the amount of information I needed to get the wiring diagram for this truck I'm afraid that the difference in wiring could effect this part and I'd really like to keep this all together. Please offer suggestions. GPster

I've spent time straightening out the wiring harness { '87 GMC S15) for the Jeepster. I've got the hole through the firewall for the engine compartment terminal block to plug into the under dash fuse terminal. Before I plug the two terminal connections together they certainly water-proofed and terminal greased together. This must be factory as they were just taken apart from a running truck and stored in a box inside. Is all this mess sprayed on after installation or is some of it something to improve the conductivity of the terminals and put on before they are plugged together? I've never worked on any fuel injection ( TBI ) wiring before this or anything so new that the wires didn't just go through a big hole in the fire wall. I'm smart enough to understand the need for well grounded connections that Wayne reminds us about but this mess certainly doesn't look conducive to the  proper flow of electrons. What's a good way to clean this up and a proper way to re-seal it. GPster

I try to be on the edge of the information highway but an announcement was in my Email from Rodder's Journal this morning. It seems that Brookville is having an open house and car show this Saturday and Rodder's Journal and a couple of Discovery channel's Velocity characters (?) will be in attendance. With Brookville, Ohio near the western border of Ohio, close to the  I75/I70 intersection it might be a short drive for a lot of people or a side trip for anyone returning their daughter's car. It's not quite as far as "Build Days" for me but I don't know if it's in my plans yet. Just letting this information cross paths. GPster

I bring this problem to this group of people that has more experience than me. I put the doors back on the Jeepster so that I could start fitting the cowl on the S15 frame change so that the doors would open and close and the body lines would match. On the old frame and previously on this newer frame the body had been so "slump-backed" that I didn't realize (or had forgotten) that one of the door latches didn't work. Having found that out I removed it and found the springs broken. I started looking for replacement springs and that failed. Then I looked for replacement latches and only found them at one place. They are available but of course they are different for left or right. My being a cheapskate they are more expensive than I would want to spend for just two little broken springs. Because the Jeepster was only a three year offering, because it came from a low volume manufacturer and because it is actually a phaeton/touring car rather than a convertible these latches may not be of Willys manufacture. Looking at car door latch springs images on the computer the broken pieces don't look that odd. I looked on the body of the latch and found no manufacturer's stamping. I haven't yet gotten the latch off the other door to see what the un-broken springs look like but any ideas of automotive door latch suppliers of the late '40s might help me narrow this down some. Without Wayne answering a question I thought there was a lack of reading (I enjoy your information, Wayne) so any information would be appreciated.           GPster (my spelling)

Went for a ride in the truck I now own with our new (to us) dog to pick up my new glasses. Noticed when I was leaving town that the one-two shift on the automatic transmission in the truck ("03 Ford Ranger 3L v6 157,000) was more firm/harsh than usual. Noticed the OD / off light on the dash was on. The previous owner of the truck had told me that had happened to him occasionally and if he shut the truck off when he re-started it the light would clear. That has only happened to me 3 times in the year I have owned the truck. We got to our destination and shut it off. When we were ready to leave the light had cleared so everything was OK. On the way home the light must have came on because when stopping and starting to roll again I got the firm/harsh 1-2 shift again. This shift has not been a part of the "light on" situation before and this situation has never occurred while driving and the light was off when I first started. What should I add to my Christmas list? GPster

I've been watching for this and it comes just in time for "What's dad want for Christmas". Rodder's Journal has added a couple more "Coffee Table" books to their list and one is "Middletown Pacemakers". It's supposed to be a collection of photos of an Ohio based Hot Rod club that existed back in the '50s. There is no argument that lot happened in California but it will be a nice change to see examples from somewhere else. I read about this book a while ago and it's mostly a collection of photos that has been reproduced and arranged by a publisher back east. Living in a historic community I see this type of thing all the time and they're not history books but they're usually well done and entertaining. GPster

I've put an '93 S10 Blazer rear end on the S15 GMC frame under the Jeepster. That was a trick they recommended to get the extra tread width to get the wheels to center in the fender opening. That part worked well but the rear end came with junk emergency brake cables. While the thing is still up on jack stands I'm working on ideas on that and it would be easier for me to look in a catalog at what is available then crawling under cars in a junk yard. Anyone know of a manufacturer that has them listed by length and size in addition to vehicle? GPster

My Jeepster project is sitting on an '87 GMC S15 swb  pick-up frame. It is just a single gas tank with the filler neck on the driver's side with the tank in front of the rear axel. The running gear and the electrics on this vehicle are mostly from the S15 but to be able to fill the gas tank I'm building a custom filler neck to mate the Jeepster body to the S15 gas tank which is in it's stock location in the truck's frame. The filler neck on the tank is on the upper edge of the tank's side so there is an air vent from the top of the tank that is connected to the top of the tank's filler neck (near but below the cap) with a rubber hose ( 5/8"ID ?). The stock S15 filler neck had a bracket on it's side for this vent hose to pass through so it was somewhat secure in it's passing from the top of the tank to it's barbed fitting at the top of the filler neck. I've tried to incorporate these features in the filler neck that I am making but I notice that if I run this rubber hose through the bracket's eyelet it will form a "Trap" which I wouldn't think you would want in a vent line. It has of course been years since I gathered these pieces and the original purchase didn't include the truck's bed but I've duplicated everything as best as I can imagine. Am I hunting for something to worry about or have I messed up? GPster

I've been in the outer edge of car building for so long I can't even think of ways to solve some problems. I've got body floor bracing and frame mounts constructed to mount the back end of the Jeepster body to the frame. The floor is high enough to miss the "kick-up" of the frame over the rear axel and the floor will be parallel to the top of the main frame. Right now I have the back body section sitting on the mounts with wood spacers that are 3/4" thick. I'd like to find some rubber biscuits, doughnuts, hockey pucks that are about 2" in diameter and 3/4" thick that have or I can make about a 3/8" hole in the center of them, I only need four of them. The last time I did this was about 40 years ago and in the heating/air conditioning/refrigeration there was enough compressor and electric motor mounting that I was never at a loss for ideas but my mind has seemed to have retired in the meantime. I'd look at McMaster Carr but I can't even think of a title or category. The last time I did something like this was back in the '90s when I mounted the side car body back on it's frame after I had it painted. The I talked the auto body paint supply shop out of a bunch of those little rubber squee-gees that you spread body putty with. To get 3/4' thickness I think I need a better solution. Ideas? Suggestions? GPster

The last couple of times that I've started the middle Jeep ('80 CJ7 AMC 258 straight six) the after-market oil pressure gauge has acted funny.  Usually when the engine starts it goes up to 80 PSI, settles down to 45 PSI  and then when the oil gets warm it will go down to 15 PSI at idle. Lately checking it after the engine starts it shows low pressure (5) and it goes up some (8-9) when the engine warms some. Occasionally it wouldn't register at all. It's been freezing outside and the gauge (mechanical) I thought might have gotten some condensation in it and be frozen. It's been warm the last couple of days and I started the Jeep just to check my theory. The gauge went up to 80 PSI, stayed there for a minute, then dropped to nothing. This pressure, or lack of it, doesn't have any connection with the way the engine is running. There's no rattling or knocking. This gauge is connected to a port underneath the stock electric sender (which is still there but the dash gauge is gone). I know oil filters have a bypass on/in them. Could this create this kind of indication or can a mechanical type oil gauge fail like this? I'm cleaned up for dinner and my mind is going blank of the possibilities. I don't type fast but it's easier to ask than change and get dirty. GPster

My middle Jeep hit me low. From the very begining I thought it had been assembled from "cast-offs" but I've managed to overcome them. Dropping the skid pan to work on the transmission gave me a chance to fix the transfer case shifter that the "body lift" had rendered un-workable. With that much now functioning I finally got the front locking hubs freed up only to discoverr the reason nothing functioned. When the later model      "wide track" front axle had been installed it must have been just for looks. It's got 3:54 front gears and they don't work with the 3:07 rear gears. I can't sell this thing with-out warning a prospective customer this problem. At this point I'd change either end to make it finctional and I don't even need to match the "Wide Track" mistique. Any one got some Jeep parts laying around? A Dana 30 front axle with 3:07 gears. Cloest match would be a '82 to '86 CJ7 but '76 to '86 CJ anything has possibilities. If I changed the other end an AMC 20 3:54 out of an '82 to '86 CJ7 would be the best match to the front end I already have  but again a rear from a CJ anything in that ratio would at least be workable. Any calls around here have only netted matched pairs that they don't want to split which also indicates that junk value for my vehicle would be low.  It doesn't weigh enough to sell by the pound. This all started with me thinking that a 2wd postal Jeep would be a simple vehicle. Appears that's all I got. GPster

In case you've forgotten. !980 Jeep CJ7, 258 cu. in. straight six, Quadratrack transfer case and Chrysler 999 Torqueflite. While on vacation it hadn't run for about 10 days and some guy and his wife came to look at it because she thought she wanted to "Off Road" with him and his friends and she couldn't drive a standard transmission. I truthfully told him that it would probably require some "messing" with and then got it running for them and let him/her take it for a little ride. It took "choke" to get it running and had to leave it on some because it was cold and hadn't run for a while. It sputtered when he took off but he remembered the choke so it straightened out. They were gone for a while and she was driving (white in the face) when they came back. We talked for a while, no mention of anything drastic they found wrong and they said they would think about it. Backed it back into the driveway and left it sit for a couple of days. Went to drive it yesterday and when it finally had run long enough to idle (which seemed a little fast) it took off. It made a firm/quick shift out of low and seemed firm in second (mid-range?) but stayed firmly in that gear with no shift to high. Got out my Hayes manual and read. Fluid red and level OK (running, warm after driving and in PARK). Shift linkage OK, the next movement is NEUTRAL. Checked gas linkage with my mind aware of the fast idle the other day. Linkage OK and idle had settled down. The throttle control rod from the carb linkage to the trans was questionable (but it may have been that way from it's "Mudding" days) so I work on it and made it look like and adjusted as per the manual. Still no shift. The next step in the manual is to consult (rather than Insult) a professional. This Jeep has a "Skid Pan" rather than a normal transmission crossmember and at least two of the bolts into the frame are twisted off. I've put off changing the transmission filter (and fixing the speedometer) this long because of that. I don't know yet if I'm going to end up fixing my truck myself after that wreck so I'd rather explore any suggested "Quick Fixes". GPster

Somewwhere between two grandkids and six chickens I have a garage with my 19 year Jeepster project in it. That old "Sway-Back" convertable had no floor in it when I got it and the necessary frame change opened up the guessing dimensions even more. I pretty much nailed down the width of the body at the rear fender wells on the old frame and that part has been mounted on the replacement frame satisfactorily. The firewall takes care of that width and it and the cowl have given me the width at the A" pillars. What I need is the body width at the floor between the "B" pillars. This place appears to me like a good place to build a crossmember style floor brace because my building design for this vehicle is to be like a 2 seater "Ute" roadster and the floor will step up to the level of the frame "Kick" over the rear axel. I "Googled" Jeepster and looked through 38 pages of results hoping to find someone that has built or is building one with no apparent luck. It looks like I could go to College Station, Pa. this fall with a tape measure but I don't want to wait that long or have to explain to a bunch of restorers what I am doing. Does someone know how to ask the internet my question better than I have or does someone know the where abouts of one (Willys Overland Jeepster '48 - '51) and can get me that measurement. GPster

They used to call it an Emergency Brake. Now if you Google it it comes up as Parking brake. Our 2004 Jeep Cherokee Laredo was mistakenly driven with the brake set for a while and we tore it down and nothing appeared to be hurt so we put it back together. Wouldn't hold so it wsa checked again. Even had the discs/drums turned and they were with-in tolerance so we put it back together. It will now hold if things are at rest but put it in gear (automatic trans full-time 4 wheel drive) and it will creep even at idle. Our last Jeep a 2001 had a transfer case that we didn't have to deal with full time 4 wheel and the emergency (?) brake held on it and we never paid attention (100,000 miles) on this one till we thought we had hurt it. Are we trying to fix something that won't happen? Back in the '70s when Ohio had on-the-road vehicle inspection my father-in-law was one of the inspectors and I know they expected the brake to hold under power. Is that something that was lost in modern times or are we not fixing something right. Any information I can find on the Internet tells you how to do it but nobody tells you what to expect when you're done. GPster

The middle Jeep, '80 CJ7 258 L6, started running real bad just trying to move it from one parking space to another. I poped the hood and it sounded like a couple of cylinders weren't doing anything. Popped the air cleaner and it had an accumilation of oil but the valve cover breather hose has been jury- rigged and blow-by drained that way. Changed the air cleaner and re-directed the hose and it still ran bad. Pulled plug wires one at a time and narrowed it down to cylinder 4 and 5 so I pulled those plugs, They were covered with oil/carbon and looked like they had been that way for a while and finally got overcome. Worried about this problem being on two cylinders next to each other so I tried to do a compression test on them. It took me three different style compression testers (borrowed) til I finally got 80# on number 4 and 30# on number 5. I wouldn't trust those numbers so I'll probably go out and buy a compression tester I think will do the job.  These heads seem to take long reach plugs that don't use very much thread purchase. There never seems to be any problems with the cooling system so I thougt if the head gasket were bad it would be between the cylinders but when I checked the compression the plugs were out of both cylinders so showing any pressure and two different nunbers has me doubting myself even more.  The other plugs in the engine show lack of care. I pulled them to see if #4 and #5 had different plugs in them do to a long term oil problem. Like I said, it's too hot to go out and shake my head at it but someone with a cooler mind might point me at some things to check. GPster

The middle Jeep ('80 CJ7) quit on me last Monday. It was on the crest of a bridge two blocks from home and I could just coast it off the bridge onto my street and park it and see what was wrong. My first thought was that the ammeter had opened it's circut but then when I popped the hood open I found one of the battery connections loose. Because the Jeep doesn't lock I don't carry any tools in it so I walked the two blocks home and got my battery terminal cleaning brush and a 1/2" combination wrench. Got back to it and tended to that repair. That wasn't it. So I walked back home and cot my tow sling and waited for Linda to get off work then we towed it home. Started feeling sick so I didn't do any more to it or anything else. Tuesday morning got in to see my doctor and then spent the next day-and-a-half in bed when I was puking. Now two days behind on everything I never got a chance to investigate the problem. I did check my wiring diagram and at one point I did get out and check and the headlights and the horn worked so the ammeteris OK and live power was getting at least as far as that junction so next will be to see if power is getting to the ignition switch on the steering column. Couldn't find my test lamp. Finally got over town and got another test lamp and when I got back to my garage I started moving stuff to have a clean spot on my workbench and I un-covered my test lamp. Found myself with a little free time this evening so I got my test lamp and the ingnition key and went out to look. Put the key in and switched it on. The engine started rolling. It didn't start but I was standing beside it. So I got in, set the choke and pumped the gas one time and it refused to roll again and the ammeter shows no movement if any of the keyed accesories are turned on. I've never had one of these switches do this in a GM car or anything I've ever built and put a GM column in but of course I was talking with a guy that's owned Jeeps for years and he said he had a couple of them that failed that way. Of course I've had this switch out one time already duping my re-wiring escapades. It wasn't packed in mud and looked OK but I had to  use a small combination box end wrench to get the machine screws out because of the lack of room. Well I'd better go to bed and rest up "Tomarrow is another day" GPster

Well the weather (according to experts) doesn't look promising but what's it look like in the pits? I'm this far and I'm wearing my weekend pass but is there anything going to happen that would encourage my son and grandson to go? I can look at machinery standing still but they need to see it moving.GPster

When I read a post on the Forum and press the back button (arrow pointing left) it returns me to the post about Rust proofingat the top of the page . This post was on 4/12 and it always returns me there rather than the current page that I left. This is the only site I visit that doesn't return properly and it always returns me to the same place , 4/12. If I refresh it takes me to the current site but if I read another message the back buttom brings me back to 4/12 again. Am I locked up somehow or what. GPster

Harbor Freight has oxygen regulators on sale and it put me in a "Fix or Replace" quandry. I inherited my torches thirty years ago and I don't use them very often (evidenced by the lack of burn scars) but the last couple of times I noticed the oxigen pressure creeping up. The sale has gotten me to see about repairing my regulator if I can. While searching my regulator problem seems common and the reason is usually a hard and cracked seat because of age. My regulator is a Harris Calorific 441 and I haven't foundany sites that identify that model. Sending it out for repairwould be more expensive than a replacement on this sale but the replacement seats seem resonable for other regulators and there doesn't seem to be any warnings against trying to fix it. Can anybody find a site that recognizes this model rerulator? GPster

When I ordered the replacement repacement tie rod ends for the middle Jeep's drag link I thought I'd get a few more pieces to travel on the same shipping charge and to get the order over $75.00 for a discount. When the prevous owner had "jacked" it  the rubber hose to the front brake calipers were stretched to their limit and the hose's outer covering was frayed. The steel lines looked in decent shape and even the outer springs on them was loose so that I could slide them back to get my line wrench on the fitting nuts. The nut are rusted to the lines. Ordinarily i would just go ahead and break the line by twisting the nut but I'd really like to not go any further back in my trying to get the heater/defroster blower to run. I went backwards on this problem and have gotten the hoses loose from the lines where normally I would have taken the lines loose from the hoses. Any tricks or ideas on how to get that  fitting nuts loose from the steel lines while it's not connected to anything? GPster

I bought replacement parts for the steering shaft on my '80 Jeep CJ7 to replace what it was put together with. Evidently it had been put together with the wrong pieces. I replaced the steering wheel with something that I had all the pieces for to get it centered and to get the horn to work. I got the steering box in mid arc (1 1/2 turns either way) and the arrow on the steering shaft pointed straight up. The horn wire goes through the place in the steering wheel like it's supposed to but the wheels don't point straight ahead. Turning the adjustment tube on the steering shaft I can get the wheels straight but then the tube only has about 1" grab on the threads of the tie rod end and the steering shaft. The adjustment tube is 4 1/2" long and the 11/16" 16 (18?) right/left threads. I don't know why this combination isn't working. It would work if I could find an adjustment tube that was 5 1/2" or 6" long because I bought new steering shaft and tie rod end. Anyone got a steering parts book that shows pieces by size rather than just application? GPster

The saga of the middle Jeep (or me writting so much about little problems) continues. Two months ago I thought it was getting cold enough that if I was going to drive it I'd better get the heater fan working so I'd have a defroster for the windshield. The switch was questionable but then I found out that there was no Acc. power from the switch to the fuse panel. When I started sorting it out I found the under-dash wiring so bad that it was going to require major fixing. No more coordinated than I am I thought it would help to remove the seats and I wanted the driver's seat to sit higher and more upright and the passenger seat had better upolstery so I went to work. Of the 8 bolts that needed removed at the start 2 were missing and I broke 3 of the remaining 6. I still had 8 bolts to remove the seats from their mounting frames and I broke 7 of them. As long as things were going this way I thought about using some other seats. I happened upon 2 front seats out of a '90s something FWD Pontiac Grand ? that were available and they were already out. The driver's seat has power adjustment that will work at making me sit up-right and higher but the wires were cut. There is a black wire and an orange wire with a black tracer. I don't see any connection to make me think the negative comes from the seat being grounded so I'd think the black wire is negative and the orange is power (+) or am I missing something and there are two positives and the seat is getting negative from being grounded. I'm having more trouble getting this seating situation fixed than I will (I hope) getting the defroster fan to run. GPster

This is a '91 (late manufactured) E250 Ford van with a 351 cleveland engine. It's fuel injected and it's not getting any gas from either tank. Tried replacing the gas pump relay but the new one acts the same as the old one. There doesn't appear to be any power to the relay. This van has two tanks but the fuel gauge reads for both tanks so that that switch is probably OK. What gives power to the relay? One time it started but only ran long enough to make it halfway out the driveway but then it stopped like it only had gas from the starting circuit. That one time and that was all. It would maybe help if we could find some wiring diagrams. Because it was a late '91 manufacture it seems different than the earlier ones. seems to be a fuel delivery problem. GPster

In cleaning up one of the messes in this middle Jeep I installed some after-market (Harbor Freight cheap) gauges. I made a new circuit with #10 wire for the -60 0 +60 amperage gauge and wired it so everything except the starter went through it. Through all the carb and starting problems and a new battery the amp gauge worked as expected. Now it's not working at all. It doesn't show a drain when starting and doesn't show a charge. When it was installed you could tell by the gauge that the alternator needed a little blip on the throttle to excite the alternator to start charging  but then the charging rate never was above 20 amps. There doesn't appear to be any short because the battery is staying up and the gauge is not an open circuit because everything works and it's all wired through the amperage gauge. Are these gauges designed with a circuit in them as a bridge in case the gauge fails? The alternator appears to be the stock one for this Jeep ('80 CJ7) and it's output never has appeared to be over the capacity of the gauge. There's so much to work on that doesn't work that I don't want to start on something that almost works with-out an idea and it's raining. GPster

Dug out what I have that resembles a timing light and I can't figure out how to use it. It's an R A C light that I probably got at a yard sale or cleaning out someone's garage and I've never used it. It's a simple gun shaped tool with a light and 4 wires. Two of the wires are spark plug wire type, one with a male and one with a female spark plug terminals. That part is self explanitory. The other two wires are probably about 16 ga. with aligator clips on their ends. But both clips are yellow not one black and one red for positive and negative. I did some searching on the internet and came across someone with the same question (on a Ford truck site). He got no answer. Lots of people could explain how to use it with red and black clips but no one could explain the yellow. One suggested it was for a remote start swich but there is no continuity between the two yellow clips with the trigger on or off. Might it be a different kind of light that's not polarity sensitive?. I tried to go directly to the compary (Rite Autotronic Corp) but most of that heading brought Chapter 11 Bankruptcy notes. Anyone else ever tripped over one of these things. I'd rather not have to add the price of a timing light to the outlay on this Jeep and I certainly don't want it to eat a borrowed one. GPster

First the data. This is a 1980 jeep CJ7 the engine is the big 258 cu in 6 with the 2 barrel carb. This Jeep has the auto transmission (Torqueflite with Quadratrack) and power steering. The air injecter pump is gone and I don't believe it ever had a catalytic converter on it. The distributor is electronic with a remotly mounted module (stock). It will not start if it's been sitting a couple of days without a shot of either in the air cleaner and then it hits right away. After it's been running it will start imediatly with no pumping and with either even cold it fires imediatly If it doesn't start imediately then no amount of pumping the gas or choking  (manual now)  will get even a hit out of it. Just yesterday I happened onto a discovery. If I don,t catch the initial "hit" when starting (like to give it gas when it fires because I reached in the door to turn the key, the neutral safety switch works now) if I turn the key clear off and try again from the off position I'll get the initial fire again. The initial fire seem to come only when proceeding from an off key and if I miss that initial fire then I will continue to grind with what seems like no ignition. Is this a problem of a failing Module (Motocraft?)? The wiring diagram shows a resistance wire between the Module and the coil but the coil has a wire from the starter solenoid too. I haven't had a chance to check if there's power from the solenoid to the coil when starting/cranking as my arms aren't long enough. I may be trying to start with only the power to the coil through the resistance wire. I could see that on the first time because the initial power through the wire would be full voltage but I would think that subsequent tries would be at reduced voltage but turning the key off and on again seems to make it hit. When it starts it seems to run well and idle fine with good oil pressure and doesn't overheat but I'd like to take it out without either for it or for me. GPster

The steering column in my '80 CJ7 Jeep looks to be of GM manufacture but the more I look at it the more question I have that it might be the wrong on the stop/position in the gear selector (automatic trans). The selector seems to be sloppy and this sloppyness may be part of what is keeping the neutral safeth swich and back-up light swith from working correctly. The column is a different color than everything else in th dash and there is an after market steering wheel on it and the horn doesn't work so it is a mis-matched mess. The key is in the column so it's newer than '68 (?) but there are no extra functions off the directional switch so it's older than ?. The transmission gear selector (three speed automatic) is in the column but the gear indicator is on top of the column like a van rather than in the dash. It may be a Jeep column and out of some bodies spares but so many parts of other assemblies are missing I'd like to see a parts break down of this thing so I know what should be there befor I take it apart. Anyone got a usefull site for these columns in their favorites? GPster

Well I drove the CJ7 out of the garage under it's own power. It's now about 50' from the garage door (where it can kill the grass). I had to move it so I could update the list of things I need to fix. There was no neutral safety circuit wired in it and the usual way for these is that they use a starter solenoid/relay that is not grounded to it's body and they get a ground through contacts in the back-up light switch. I thought I had found the right contacts with a test lamp but now the gear selector on the column is not moving through it's selection correctly so I'll probably have to take the column apart and clean the mud out of it. I'm going to put the Jeepster back in the garage and leave the CJ7 out on the gravel. With summer here and long day-light hours I can work on it outside and because I've got plates on it I can drive it around the block (or into the river) to see if I'm making any progress. GPster