Half-Burnt Swiss 404.

[Muckin_Slusher]

Carburetor soup.

My wife's a fucking saint. I don't even bother looking for old pots anymore, just use the good ones now.

Anyway, boiling didn't work good enough, so I've got a 15 liter ultrasonic cleaner coming in.

 

[Austin]

Can someone disconnect one lead off their ballast resistor and check it's resistance? I'd like to see what it should be.

I think I can test mine after the kids are in bed. I started pulling all the wire to replace and convert to 12v but I don't think I've touched that yet.

 

[Muckin_Slusher]

Pulled the tanks and the fuel pump. Pump looked good, it has a screen in it and I got out about a bottle cap full of rust from it. Greased it and reinstalled. Yanked all the shit out of the tanks so I could clear them out. You can see the dip tubes, old screens, etc.

 

[Muckin_Slusher]

Holesawed the dashboard today. Two of the gauges are obscured by the goofy steering indicator, but I don't think I'm going to keep that thing anyway.

These gauges are by a company called HI-Q lighting, they're sorta local and make gauges for mining. All 24 volt stuff, and the trim match the factory speedo. Everything's electric except the oil pressure needs a hydraulic line.

 

[Muckin_Slusher]

I had some bolts to mount the air filter, but then I found this black piece. Seems it's used to cap the outside air intake, and instead draw air in from underhood (possibly for cold weather...?).

It spaces the filter 1/2 inch from the fender and caps off the louvers.

 

[Muckin_Slusher]

The boy says hello!

 

[Muckin_Slusher]

.............and this is my fuckup for the day.

I was trying to clear the steering pipe for the horn wire (pretty sure the horn wire goes from the button down through the pipe and out the bottom).

Looking down from above I could see someone dropped a nut in the pipe and it was blocked. Couldn't fish it out from above, so I tried a punch from the bottom up. A few tappy tappy tap taps then water then oil start pouring out.

FUCK.

I guess I am going to learn how this fucking box works.

I see from the exploded view that there is a "oil level tube" in the box, seems like it might be threaded in, but I can't unthread it in place as the frame is in the way.

FUCK.

 

[Muckin_Slusher]

I guess I could just gently weld it closed.

I would lose the ability to have a steering wheel horn button...

Or this could be an opportunity to go full hydro steering...

 

[Austin]

The boy says hello!

He looks really bright n all, but what are you going to do for lights after his bedtime?

 

[Austin]

Back into the ignition stuff.

I'm trying to make my pertronix coil

I did cut all that stuff already, I can jerry rig something to test it though. Were you looking for the instructions from the pertronix conversion? I did find those ....

 

[Muckin_Slusher]

I did cut all that stuff already, I can jerry rig something to test it though. Were you looking for the instructions from the pertronix conversion? I did find those ....

Thanks for that info.

Did you also throw away your electrical stuff that you cut out?

All I need is the resistance measurement of the ballast resistor (see pic).

 

[Austin]

Thanks for that info.

Did you also throw away your electrical stuff that you cut out?

All I need is the resistance measurement of the ballast resistor (see pic).

I've mostly been cutting wire, havent pitched anything yet, it's in a pile. Mostly junk since it's been sitting wasting away for so long.

I saved all the fuel stuff I took of when I went propane. Carb, pump, etc

WTF is that a picture of?

 

[Muckin_Slusher]

I've mostly been cutting wire, havent pitched anything yet, it's in a pile. Mostly junk since it's been sitting wasting away for so long.

I saved all the fuel stuff I took of when I went propane. Carb, pump, etc

WTF is that a picture of?

That's a ballast resistor. it's in the tuna can thing in the pic below. The coil is to the left of the ballast resistor, and the long thing just below is the radio interference reducer.

They make the coil for ignition systems run at a voltage less than the system's voltage so that they'll work while you're cranking and the system voltage drops (life would suck if the thing won't spark while cranking...).

So the battery/alternator full voltage goes to the ballast resistor, which drops the voltage a bit to what the coil is built to handle. When you're cranking there's a relay that bypasses the ballast resistor giving full voltage to the coil (but remember this full voltage is less while cranking because you're putting lots of amps through the starter).

 

[Muckin_Slusher]

So, I took out the "oil level tube" from the bottom of the steering box. Just threads out. Turns out for some reason mercedes couldn't just weld a straight tube on the plug, they had to make a fancy crimp in the middle. I was able to just sneak it out without removing the steering box.

If you look close you can see my dumb.

 

[Muckin_Slusher]

Goobered it closed with some mig and punched the rest of the crud out and I was able to get a single strand blasting wire (solid core) through it, so I will have a steering wheel horn button.

 

[Muckin_Slusher]

Decided on location for my pollak switches. I put them between and below the gauges.

Think it looks nice, and leaves spaces for two more switches if I can think of anything else that needs it. Really like the look of the gauges and old timey switches.

So far my electrical switches include:

Ignition on/off--------------dashboard
Start-------------------------dashboard
Wipers----------------------dashboard
Lights------------------------dashboard
Dimmer---------------------floor
Horn-------------------------steering wheel
Turn signals---------------central dashboard
Master disconnect-------under driver's seat (stock location)

That's it.

Future will get:

winch in/out

I won't need a "winch enable" switch as I'll be using a single controller to control both front and rear winches. They will be selected by two battery master switches mounted side by side with a mechanical interlock so only one can be on at a time, but both can be off.

 

[Austin]

That's a ballast resistor. it's in the tuna can thing in the pic below.

Ahh, I don’t have that. I think mine was rewired at some point before

 

[Muckin_Slusher]

Austin

Pretty sure I found it. The thing circled red looks resistory.

They can look like all kinds of things.

If that's it maybe it'll have a part number on it.

 

[Austin]

Austin

Pretty sure I found it. The thing circled red looks resistory.

They can look like all kinds of things.

If that's it maybe it'll have a part number on it.

I was swamped all weekend, I'll try and get some juice running through it tonight

 

[Muckin_Slusher]

I was swamped all weekend, I'll try and get some juice running through it tonight

Awesome.

You don't need to power anything up, just disconnect one of the leads and use a multimeter set to ohms ( Ω ) to test it. Should be less than 5 ohms (hopefully 1.1 ohm).

Just make sure you're not touching the leads with your hands when you do the test as your body's resistance will be picked up.

Thanks man! And if there's any markings on that thing it would be helpful!

 

[Austin]

And if there's any markings on that thing it would be helpful!

no markings on the top, I did not pull it off to see if there was markings on the mount

 

[Muckin_Slusher]

Well, I sure am confused.

I had this thing running before with a 6 ohm resistor, now I can't see spark unless I'm down to 2 ohms.

Mathing it out with a 3.0 ohm coil means I should need 1.1 ohms.

Anyway, I'm not going to spend any money until I get it running. Maybe I'll be fine with one of my 4.0 ohm "pinz" resistors.

 

[Muckin_Slusher]

Got two packages of parts today, mostly rubber things.

Ultrasonic cleaned the carburetor, got the horn working (took apart and cleaned up some contacts), and played with my new safety wire clamping doohicky.

The 32 mm silicone heater hose is sweet. It works on both the 1 1/4 and 1 1/2 pipes.

 

[arse_sidewards]

I like how you put the worlds worst type of hose clamp on your fancy silicone hose.

 

[rattle_snake]

....

Bro, we all know that multiple shackles are needed on the bumpers at all times, but that one looks a bit small....

 

[Muckin_Slusher]

I like how you put the worlds worst type of hose clamp on your fancy silicone hose.

I'll update this thread when those clamps give me problems. Silicone hose is super nice being flexy. No worries about cracking the rad.

 

[Muckin_Slusher]

Tried priming the fuel lines and couldn't because I was sucking air at the tank selector valve. I had skipped over this part hoping I wouldn't have to get into it.


Wrong!

 

[Muckin_Slusher]

You can see two brass tubes sticking out, those are alignment nubs, to keep the gasket from rotating when the brass valve rotates.

I have some rubber about the correct thickness. Scissored out a circle, then put it in the body of the valve, those brass tubes made nice impressions to locate the holes. Bent a piece of flatbar double to use as a guide and clamp for drilling .

 

[Muckin_Slusher]

Voila! Used some spray lube on the rubber to help the valve rotate. I have no idea if this rubber is gasoline friendly. I'll try a piece in a jar of gas and see what it does.

I don't plan on operating the valve for a while, so if this rubber is a problem I'll at least have time to order in the proper one.

For now I'm happy it works as intended, including selecting either tank, or shutting off the fuel.

 

[Austin]

Is your cab wider in the back vs where the vents are in front of the doors? Mine flares out about 6" at the rear corners and I can't tell if the PO did it for looks or thats how it's supposed to be.