The "Once in a while" 1983 Scrambler Laredo Build
- Thread starter 53D Scrambler
- Start date
- City
- Hampstead
- State
- NC
- City
- stafford
- State
- va
Next "commando " !!
RIGHT ??
RIGHT ??
- City
- Colorado Springs
- State
- CO
Or maybe the "Next" FC150? 
How are you liking the UPOL for the underside? Did you consider MONSTALINER at all (seems to be the rage on another forum...although I found they are very slow and disorganized in regards to sending out sample swatches)? If you did consider other products, what were your deciding factors for UPOL? Thanks!
- City
- Hampstead
- State
- NC
I love the way the U-POL turned out on the underside. I have seen the Monsta-Liner and they seem very similar. I didn't pick this over the monsta-liner, the U-POL is just the product the body shop used for sprayable liners. I love it though, because it was spray-able it isn't thick and rubbery like a roll-in bed liner...to me it looks very natural on the underside.
- City
- Hampstead
- State
- NC
Small incriments
The build thread is rapidly catching up to my current progress on the Scrambler. I am a little farther than these pictures and will have to start taking more soon. The wiring has been fairly easy but slow in its progression. It's a little hard going from seeing huge pieces be assembled and witnessing progress to just cutting and soldering wires which is progress but seems very small and slow. It's coming together though.
The wires for the alternator/starter relay are "temp" hooked up for now, once I am positive of their correctness I will cut them to fit better.
While I am posting about the wiring I do have a question for anyone who is savvy. The Painless harness has 2 wires for each lighted gauge or indicator(orange power & black ground) however the clock and tach only have a power wire for the backlighting and a signal/power wire. I feel like I could just use the orange (light) power wire from the Painless harness to the light wire of the gauge but what about the ground? Are these gauges just grounded through the casing?
Thanks
The build thread is rapidly catching up to my current progress on the Scrambler. I am a little farther than these pictures and will have to start taking more soon. The wiring has been fairly easy but slow in its progression. It's a little hard going from seeing huge pieces be assembled and witnessing progress to just cutting and soldering wires which is progress but seems very small and slow. It's coming together though.
The wires for the alternator/starter relay are "temp" hooked up for now, once I am positive of their correctness I will cut them to fit better.
While I am posting about the wiring I do have a question for anyone who is savvy. The Painless harness has 2 wires for each lighted gauge or indicator(orange power & black ground) however the clock and tach only have a power wire for the backlighting and a signal/power wire. I feel like I could just use the orange (light) power wire from the Painless harness to the light wire of the gauge but what about the ground? Are these gauges just grounded through the casing?
Thanks
- City
- God's Country
- State
- AR
I know a lot of the gauges (oil, volt, speedo) the lights ground on the housing. I'm not sure about the clock and tach, however, if you can find a way to attach those ground wires I would use them and dedicated grounds are always better than grounding to the dash.
Just a suggestion, but while you have the dash loose, take your speedo apart and clean it out and repaint the needles on the speedo, temp, and fuel gauges. I'm OCD and did this to one of my Jeeps and it TOTALLY changed the look of the dash. You'd be surprised at how much dust and dirt you have on the inside of the speedo glass/ on the face. If you gently pry the chrome bezel off the speedo head comes out fairly easily, and if you clean it and paint the needles it really makes it look a lot better. I did the same on my oil and temp gauges, but if you do those be VERY careful as the needles on those are really fragile/brittle. I ended up breaking the needles off of my oil and temp gauges and had to get another used set to use. Don't have a tach or clock so not sure about those.
Great looking Jeep. Love that color.
Just a suggestion, but while you have the dash loose, take your speedo apart and clean it out and repaint the needles on the speedo, temp, and fuel gauges. I'm OCD and did this to one of my Jeeps and it TOTALLY changed the look of the dash. You'd be surprised at how much dust and dirt you have on the inside of the speedo glass/ on the face. If you gently pry the chrome bezel off the speedo head comes out fairly easily, and if you clean it and paint the needles it really makes it look a lot better. I did the same on my oil and temp gauges, but if you do those be VERY careful as the needles on those are really fragile/brittle. I ended up breaking the needles off of my oil and temp gauges and had to get another used set to use. Don't have a tach or clock so not sure about those.
Great looking Jeep. Love that color.
- City
- Hampstead
- State
- NC
Thanks! I think I will try that out.
- City
- Hampstead
- State
- NC
Progress, but electrical issues now.
Almost finished the wiring, actually the Jeep "could" run that is if I were getting any spark.
At least I don't think there is any spark.I have used a painless wiring harness and the engine cranks over fine which means I am good up to the starter but when I removed a spark plug and held it against the head with some vice grips, I didn't see any spark.
The Howell EFI that is also installed seems to be working correctly, and is not wired into the ignition system at all(except for an RPM pickup off the coil) It is also delivering fuel properly. One of my concerns was this plug off of the distributor, which according to the Painless directions was not mentioned.
I thought this was only used for the old computer controlled, carbuerated system, I could be mistaken though. I am only about 25% sure this might be the issue. I put on different plug wires, I may switch those out first because they might have been bad(were not brand new).
Another electrical issue is the passenger brake light, the reverse light is always on with the lights. And the reverse light on the other doesn't work. Every other function works perfectly on the tail lights. Would anyone have any troubleshooting advice on this one.
On a positive note....I am putting these on while I ponder the electrical issues.
And it was motivating putting the lights back on, something about getting its face back made me feel good.
Almost finished the wiring, actually the Jeep "could" run that is if I were getting any spark.
At least I don't think there is any spark.I have used a painless wiring harness and the engine cranks over fine which means I am good up to the starter but when I removed a spark plug and held it against the head with some vice grips, I didn't see any spark.The Howell EFI that is also installed seems to be working correctly, and is not wired into the ignition system at all(except for an RPM pickup off the coil) It is also delivering fuel properly. One of my concerns was this plug off of the distributor, which according to the Painless directions was not mentioned.
I thought this was only used for the old computer controlled, carbuerated system, I could be mistaken though. I am only about 25% sure this might be the issue. I put on different plug wires, I may switch those out first because they might have been bad(were not brand new).
Another electrical issue is the passenger brake light, the reverse light is always on with the lights. And the reverse light on the other doesn't work. Every other function works perfectly on the tail lights. Would anyone have any troubleshooting advice on this one.
On a positive note....I am putting these on while I ponder the electrical issues.
And it was motivating putting the lights back on, something about getting its face back made me feel good.
- City
- stafford
- State
- va
I don't have any advice on the electrical right now, but I will tell you it looks nice
- City
- Hampstead
- State
- NC
Thanks! I just put one wheel/tire on and love the look. I also figured out the spark problem, at least I think so. I did not wire in the old Ford Duraspark Ignition Module. That seems like the culprit. Now I have to decide if I want to keep that thing or just go to HEI ?!?!
- City
- stafford
- State
- va
Would you like to borrow a HEI distributor until you can get one !!!??
I have one in the shed !!
I have one in the shed !!
- City
- Hampstead
- State
- NC
Makes sense...that was a big
moment for me.Hmmmm....possibly. I am going to check into ordering one tomorrow. I will let you know, thanks for the offer
- City
- Hampstead
- State
- NC
Yep, Randy nailed itI agree, go straight to HEI, do not pass go, do not not spend $200
Done. Just ordered a CRT Distributor from the computer in my garage. I have a sickness...
Oh, BW, I sent you a PM.
- City
- Dexter
- State
- MI
