Pilgrim's Progress

[Slowleak]

Howard, the high-beam wire is the green one.

 

[Yeller]

Sheesh, I may have shot myself in the foot here. Thinking about what neighbor Mark had to say about splicing wires, I may switch to the heat tube with solder from here on out. Probably just leave the old school crimp type be for now, unless they don't work.

View attachment 913064

These are what I’m slowly transitioning to. Been using crips with heat shrink for years, still will for rings and connectors but for splices, the change is happening lol

 

[Howard2x4x4]

Thank you, Mr. Leak, sir! Just the opposite of my guess. I hope that doesn't become a pattern....... Yeah, Steve, I'm gonna start doing that tomorrow, assuming there will be a tomorrow. Next up is the H4 headlights, another thing I don't know anything about. I do believe they require some type of special harness like this one. Lights were made in India,

instructions were made in China, what could possibly go wrong? Got one thing, right off the bat, that I'm not sure of.*

See that plug there? That's the backside of the plug that plugs into the H4 headlights. See how it's kinda exposed? It will be behind the light and under the hood, BUT? Shouldn't it be sealed up somehow? I really don't need another time suck, but I don't want to say 'I wish had' further down the road. Assuming, of course, that this horse will eventually make it to the road. That time is coming, Ken, so hang in there, just a bit longer. Nuther q for an a. Remember all the talk about splicing? Well, I have huge hankering to cut the H4 harness into bits and pieces, and then splice some of them back together in a size and form that agrees with my sensibilities a bit more? What say you, Gurus, Poobahs and Wizards?


* One thing? Ha! Cheaper by the dozen would be a better fit.

 

[Howard2x4x4]

I'll bet you get plenty of chances to test out your work with that heater in beautiful West Michigan.

Stout, it's like you spoke it into existence! I doubt the Bronk will get much winter road time due to the salted roads, but you did speak it into existence! Here's the trip up the driveway today! Ah, boogers! Just remembered, my Luddite mind set restricts me from posting videos on this site without jumping through some hoops. So, 'scuse me a minute while I jump through some hoops. No popcorn, but if you want, have a seat on the back deck, I'll be right back.

 

[Howard2x4x4]

Not real Bronco-ish, but probably moreso than a cow udder.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1709261052928773

 

[Howard2x4x4]

Awright, now that we've had the weather report, let's get on with news! Made an effort to upgrade my wiring skill set today (talk about goin' after low hangin' fruit...) by trying out the wire butt splices with heat shrink AND solder! Could not find ones like in the ad from Amazart, but I did find them at three different places in beautiful and commercially viable west Michigan, and guess what : HF was the cheapest! Kudos, HF, us Hollanders appreciate that. Still don't know what I'm doin' with the wiring, but I do want it to look like I know what I'm doin, so, without further ado (drumroll please)

Tada! (thunderous applause and shouts of Bravo! Bravo! Encore! Encore) So I encored. So, Steve, etal, that shrink tube stuff is kinda fun to work with, the wiring kind anyway. The skinny-dippin' in cold water kind, not so much Howard in beautiful and snowy west Michigan.
But not as snowy as beautiful and snowy Colorodeo.

 

[fordfan]

That radiused peninsula of a deck looks great, even with snow cover, Howard! I didn't realize you had a pond in the back yard too!

 

[bronkenn]

Thanks for the relaxing ride in Beautiful West Mittengan. I think I may have dozed off...

 

[Howard2x4x4]

That radiused peninsula of a deck looks great, even with snow cover, Howard! I didn't realize you had a pond in the back yard too!

Big double yuppers on that Dennis! Two ponds, actually, a small goldfish pond with a water feature (whirling sprinkler on a post), and a larger pond with an island and koi and bluegills and bass, an occassional snapping turtlle and a pesky, fish-nabbing blue heron now and then. The koi can sense the vibrations of my foot steps and come to the dock at mealtime.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=349063484176517

Just don't ask how I know about the other kind of shrink tube. Must be you've got a pond in the yard also?

 

[Howard2x4x4]

Thanks for the relaxing ride in Beautiful West Mittengan. I think I may have dozed off...

Ken, I sure can't blame ya. Seems like there's few things as relaxin' as takin' a Fall ride in the woods and having it last till Winter. I think that's what happened to Rip Van Winkle, too. I think. Btw, I thought of you today while workin' on the Bronco. You know how I've been trying to get the Bronco done while we're both upright, able to take nourishment and above the sod - Well, today I saw something that brought you to mind. See that proportioning valve? And the two wires hanging out in the same neighborhood? Well, only one of them belongs there, and I finally figured out which one today and thought about how sometimes turtle speed ain't so bad because sometimes you get to correct your mistakes even before you make them. Gotta say, you and all the other wranglers here are pretty decent travelling companions.

 

[Howard2x4x4]

And in closing, I just wanna say that I found something today that may come in handy for a lot of us. Had some corroded wires from an old harness and want ed to clean up the ends for goodconnection purposes. Found this stuff at Ace Hardware in beautifful downtown Zeeland and it worked great! And fast! Sorry, no 'before' pics but here's the 'after"

That little white thing is a cut up rattle can top to hold just a bit of the acid for just a quick dip.

 

[stout22]

Thanks for the weather report. Here in Alabama, we look forward to any snow.

 

[Howard2x4x4]

Since it was Monday, and Monday is wash day, I installed a washer. As Dennis Fordfan and Ken Bronkenn have mentioned, the keeping it simple is not really my strong suit. Due to a wiring harness on the fender well, and a slight bulge in the tank molding for the pump, I had to customize the installation somewhat. Also added a blast from the past decal. Ooze Cruisers was a club of mud aficienados of which I was a founding member back when I was mostly fueled by alcohol. I came up with the name. could have been Ooze Cruizers Boozers. Back in the day and just because I was mostly seeing double back then * Ahh, the good old days - if only I could remember them. My good buddy Bill still has a bit of the addiction, to mud, not alcohol. So do a couple of his sons, still under the Ooze Cruiser banner. Talk about wash day... Still battling the wiring and my own ineptitude. Lots of three steps forward, two steps back. Dressed the oil pressure and temperature sender wires just a bit. Pretty safe bet they'll never see mud. Pretty safe bet they will see the road. Eventually. Fairly soon. Hang in there, Ken.
* Zoom in on the mammoth tow hook on the custom front bumper!

 

[Howard2x4x4]

No big surprise here, I'm tiring of the wiring. Moved the ball a bit by grounding the battery to the engine block and frame.

Also added grounding bus bars to the kick panels on both sides. Also, verified +/- that the dash

would clear +/- the Australian wipers and that the tilt steering column would fit +/- .

And then I wandered a bit off the reservation. Had a bunch of wires hanging out in the center dash area (speedo, NSS, back-up light, etc) so I switched gears and started thinking about switching gears instead of switching lights, etc..

 

[Howard2x4x4]

And by switching gears, I mean the gear shifter, linkage, e brake, linkage, wiring requirements, console configuration, yada, yada, yada. The dash pic in post #374 shows a bit of where I'm heading, and post #287 shows some pieces and parts I hope to use. The Bronco has a C4 and I'm using a tilt column from a 1987 F 150, so any stock linkage would not work. The plan is to use a Lokar shift cable*. Before I go any further and get completely stuck in the weeds, I have a Q for an A from any Guru, Poobah or Wizard on this site who may have knowledge concerning Ford Explorer heated seats. Actually, 2 Qs. Q #1 What belongs in the hole by the yellow arrow? Q #2 What is the switch by the red arrow for? I ask because I

would like to incorporate the seat heat switches into the center console. I would also like to incorporate the dimmer switch in that panel. This gives an

idea of what the concept is, including a radio. I had a couple of Ford console mount shifters laying around, so I chose

the one that was more complete. Even a nitwit knows that you can't put something together if you don't take it apart

first, and that's what I did. Cleaned things up a bit re-assembled a bit and, voila, a

'nifter' shifter! Except...... aw, $h!T and crap-a-roonies, the spiffy new shift bezel does not mate with the spiffy newly

refurbished shifter! Heck! No one said it'd be easy, but, no one also didn't say it'd be this hard! I think what happened is that the shifter bezel is for a genuine Mustang, and the shifter itself is from a Mustang Jr, (Mustang II). Well, good, howmi gonna do that? Plan A, get a Mustang Jr. shift bezel, or, Plan B, refurbish the old, correct shift bezel, or Plan C, Howard-ize something. I'm thinkin', I'm thinkin'.....


* If you want to hear a really funny story about what a nitwit I can be, and also a 'how sausage is made' secret, let me know by replying 'Yes" to this post. If I get 12 'Yes' replies, I'll spill the beans.

 

[El Kabong]

* If you want to hear a really funny story about what a nitwit I can be, and also a 'how sausage is made' secret, let me know by replying 'Yes" to this post. If I get 12 'Yes' replies, I'll spill the beans.

Yes. Yes. Yes.
Yes. Yes. Yes.
Yes. Yes. Yes.
Yes. Yes. Yes.

 

[Howard2x4x4]

Yes. Yes. Yes.
Yes. Yes. Yes.
Yes. Yes. Yes.
Yes. Yes. Yes.

That's pretty funny in it's own right! One down and counting!

 

[67sport]

View attachment 913462

Love that bronco on ground hawgs. That's a fun way to play in the mud. I had a 75ish f250 with a 460 and 40" ground hawgs. It was great in the mud.

* If you want to hear a really funny story about what a nitwit I can be, and also a 'how sausage is made' secret, let me know by replying 'Yes" to this post. If I get 12 'Yes' replies, I'll spill the beans.

You tell pretty good stories...Yes.

 

[wsager]

Yes

 

[Howard2x4x4]

Love that bronco on ground hawgs. That's a fun way to play in the mud. I had a 75ish f250 with a 460 and 40" ground hawgs. It was great in the mud.


You tell pretty good stories...Yes.

Thanks 67, 2 down, 10 to go..... That old mudding Bronk made a bunch 'o' memories, if only I could remember them. Home-made lift, cut fenders and ready for the mud!