1951 F16

[kb426]

Today I removed the instrument cluster and boxed it up. The lens had developed some cracks. Dakota said they would warranty it. So it will leave tomorrow. It's the end of January. If I don't get in gear, it will be May and I'll be wondering where the time went. I'm planning on no longer than a 3 week turn around on the cluster. It's time to get a "to do" list up and get stuff finished and crossed off. There's about 100 days until the 1st show. There will be plenty of poor weather that will limit time in the garage as well as small parts that might need painting such as the bed cover frame that will need some descent weather to do. When the list gets written, I might find I have 100 things to do. LOL. Painting the truck is not included at this time.

[kb426]

O&S has a grin from ear to ear. I found the UPS driver early and picked up my parts. The truck was already up in the air and ready for a spring change on the rear. I want to say again that I'm impressed with Ridetech packaging. I've seen nobody do it better. Their stuff is expensive but very good. I can't say it's better than all of the rest because I haven't used them all. I have to remove the rear shocks to replace the springs. It's a little of a pain because of the lower shock mount. In a couple of hours I was finished. I raised the fronts about 3/8" on the adjuster. I changed the rebound adjuster on all 4 corners. I installed the wheels and put it on the ground. I torqued the wheels and went for a ride. The intersections going north of my house are rough from years of street sealing. I can now run through fast enough to get into trouble. There's a set of railroad tracks not far from my house. I went over them at 65 mph and it's almost like they're not there. Now both ends of the truck are where they should be. The Ridetech tech I talked to was good. All of this was basic math. Unless I decide to start hauling blown fuel hemi's in the back, I believe I'm done changing springs. One less item on the to do list.

[chimp koose]

your truck looks great.

[idrivejunk]

And ride quality was a thing you worked toward on this one. Applause!

[jaybee]

The truck is really coming together into a nice package, I'm envious.

I sometimes read another forum where guys from Ridetech have been participating for years. They've worked really hard to go from a way to plug air ride into old cars to fully engineered suspension systems, with or without air ride. They're deeply involved in the Pro Touring scene, where handling is just as important as ride and more important than stance.

[kb426]

I spent several hours perusing pics trying to find a color that jumped out and grabbed me. I thought about painting the white one 2008 bullitt green. That is one of the colors that I thought might do the truck some good rather than detract. It would be just like black in trying to keep it clean. I had almost ordered some of the color Matt was playing with and shooting some panels. I thought it would be better to spend more time thinking before doing that. Am I over thinking this???

[WZ JUNK]

My dad told me once that they correct way to pick the color of your car was to match the color of the gravel road in front of your house or the dirt in your driveway.  Dated information today but it made sense to him at the time.  I actually picked the color of the new wood shop at school based on that information.

I go with the big car, dark color, little car bright color idea some but not always.  Personally I stay away from metallics because I know they are harder to repair and I keep my stuff a long time.

You could get a color chip chart and throw a dart at it.

So, I am not much help.

[idrivejunk]

There may be some unseen natural force which makes F1-6s impossible to pick colors for. I figure best thing I can do is leave you be and let your mind burn on it without tossing any more of my logs on. When I went dark green it was WA119B for the pearl effect.

This hard to keep clean thing keeps making mention. Your truck will not get dirtier if black. As a man who has driven black daily since 2009 let me remind you that black touches up with a felt tip pen. Dirty black is it's own look.

Let me know if you want to see something new. Changing parameters as you go is your right. I worked within boundaries of the previous set. Bullitt mention makes me wonder if you've reconsidered formulas containing mica.

If you put your best effort into the appearance, you should be able to put any part of the spectrum you wish to work for you.

[kb426]

John, I agree with your big car small car analogy. The 51 is in the middle but the fat fender deal causes complications. Matt, I appreciate  what you have done. Any of my future requests will have been checked to see if they can be mixed in lower cost paint.

[kb426]

O&S got a slow start today. There was an oil leak on the side of the oil pan. Turned out to be the low oil sensor which I have no ecu to operate. After some research, I found that a 20mm drain plug was the answer. I jacked up the truck and removed the sensor and screwed in the new drain plug. I think that problem is solved. I got started removing the wiring harness to improve the cosmetics of it. I have the dash disassembled to allow reaching in to remove wiring. Lots of sharp edges to avoid.

[idrivejunk]

That Bullitt shade of green would look good. Re-peeking at the chip chart with expanded parameters, these stood out to me, for yours, from top of chart to bottom: merlot, mocha frost, hugger orange, pale agave, mack green, light sapphire blue.

Thats half solids, half other. I think all are plain b/c or s/s.  I'm fairly sure my good intentioned color interventions are most often a hindrance, I can see that now. Like me listing half a dozen picks like I just did really isn't helpful but to me it seems like it would be. Just isn't though, that I can see coming from anything I've done. Anybody else's photo edits are more accurate and just as free also on the right message board.

Heres a diversionary tactic to maybe nudge you out of a color rut... Pick your color for my car then explain your choice.

Do pipe up if you want to see something in particular. I'd have made a Bullitt color one but if it isn't exactly that hue it won't "read as" such. Be a sharp look though, with your wheels.Just not a bargain bin generic industrial color manufacturer's bag though so I doubt a suitable substitute is available.

Mine has Akzo coatings on it. Made my own basecoat in top shelf Sikkens Autobase Plus (Sikkens) for maximum pearl play. Their Colorbuild primer was used for blocking and for PT in '01 she wore dark blue that. Used middle shelf Lesonal epoxy and clear and those have performed as though they were top shelf.

Since then, the Wanda brand (also under the Akzo umbrella) has gained popularity and color range while being discovered and successfully used by numerous hobbyists seeking the right color for amateur (mostly spot repair) paint jobs. I haven't used it but every report is positive when price is bearable.

So maybe see if Bullitt can be mixed in Wanda. Because if you never reach for a star, its sure you'll never grab one right? As you are well aware, sale value isn't affected by paint brand, only appearance. Finding a loophole to leverage for more bang for the buck ain't getting any easier and I don't envy your position of having to search for them.

[kb426]

O&S worked on wiring today. I rerouted some of the relay feeds to the right side of the truck. I removed the buss bar and direct wired all of the fuse feeds. I moved the wiring on the fan and relocated the power feed for the sniper parts. I'm about half through with relocating the relays. The pic shows the fuse panel without the buss bar. The mess above it is the wires going to the steering column. I haven't made a decision on what to do with them yet. They are pulled up out of the way but if you look under there, it is ugly. There are long but I haven't come up with a good way to shorten them and not create a problem along the way.

[idrivejunk]

As always... "sort of" color renditions here... british racing green and dark garnet. 

[kb426]

Thank you.

[kb426]

O&S had a good day. The UPS man had my gauge cluster back from Dakota Digital. Of notice is the fact that they turned it around in 1 day. I appreciated that fact. I completed what I was doing in the re-wiring and was able to put everything back where it belongs. I ran the 3 mid-level vent hoses on the evaporator. They're hanging down under the dash right now waiting on me to build some brackets to hold the outlets. I'm still not real happy with my power feeds running across the firewall. The next step would be to run an 8 gauge wire across the firewall to a connector to split the power 3 ways when it get's inside the cab. As I sit here typing, if I had thought of that and ordered some parts, it would be done. Hindsight vision once again. The pic of the relay panel will show the relays with the fuse in the feed circuit. Unless the relay's are of poor quality, I see no reason for this not to be a good idea. If that plastic block was available in a different orientation, all of that wiring would have been obscured.   When I started the truck, everything worked as it should including the gauge cluster. It's nice to go forward.