Got a new Truck (new to me)

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HEI Module to Aluminum Mopar Electronic Distributor Adapter > performance thermal paste.

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Made the jump to HEI.

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Nice job on the conversion kit, even has small guide holes for the plastic line up pins on the HEI module > fits nice.

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Thermal Paste ^

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Ready for the wiring ^

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Set it up with the 12 volt, no ballast resistor E-Coil.

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Filled the fuel bowls and it fired right up. Working Great > as expected.

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Did a keyed start wire > to trigger full 12 volts to ignition coil feed circuit by way of the relay.

Keeps the load off the ignition switch/circuit, and full 12 volt power to the e-coil.

(12 volts, not 7 volts like the ballast resistor ignitions).

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Green wire is the feed wire to the e-coil. 12 volts, no ballast resistors.

E-coil is running cool to the touch.


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Took the truck out on US1 here last night for the first test drive.

So far, so good. Changed oil again when I got back in.

Coming Along...

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Scraped off the old Sun damaged Window Tint on the back and door glass windows.

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Surprisingly there are nice Factory Tinted Windows underneath the old tint, that came as an option with the Factory Air Conditioning.

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Happy about that. Later on down the road would like to put a new windshield in it as this one is fogging around the lower edge.


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Vinegar washed the windows for final clean up. Wow, spotless windows.

Any hard water spots > they are gone.


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OK, have been wrestling with charging issue over the last so many weeks.

Guess it was time to get educated in "Charging System School".

On board '89 Truck computer contains the Voltage Regulator that failed.

Went to experimenting with external voltage regulators and different alternators as all tests had large overcharging issues, like 30 volts overcharge.

Apparently there are wiring issues of backfeeding with the original computerized truck wiring, that is now being bypassed.

Glad I wired in an inline fuse that was heading back to the battery.

The ultimate fix was wiring in a 3 wire Alternator and using the aftermarket 1 wire conversion kit. So that the Alternator and Regulator are now self contained.

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Now holding 14.32 charging volts.

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Success, now to straighten up the rest of the wiring on the truck.


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Now that you've got the voltage regulator running its own show, is there still a reason to supply voltage to the old "Out of a job" computer? Asking for a friend with an 88 D100 who will need to know!
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Now that you've got the voltage regulator running its own show, is there still a reason to supply voltage to the old "Out of a job" computer? Asking for a friend with an 88 D100 who will need to know!
:lol:

That old computer is going to go Bye Bye.

I have tried running with the computer unplugged and it still starts and runs now the way I have it wired.

There is one main power feed that unplugs at the Battery that powers everything in the cab: key start, idiot dash lights, head lights, turn signals and fan motor.

With that main feed plug unplugged that all goes away.

Going to try to set it up now with the main feed plugged in, and the old computer unplugged. Believe that is going to work to get it road worthy.

Really would like to rewire the whole truck to Old School from scratch. But for now just want to get it up and running reliable.


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OK working on the engine bay wire harness to get basic things working.

Computer is plugged in and main power lead at the battery is plugged in.

Found one power keyed wire to feed the engine bay components and start keyed circuit.

Auto Shutdown Relay Plug has the power feed wire to run it all.

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Ignition, keyed start circuit and ignition shut off. Temporary gauges, alternator light, engine temperature light, simple volt meter.

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Alternator light shuts off when the charging system starts charging.

That is the basics on this No Computer Needed conversion.

Headlights, turn signals, fan motor, start circuit, tail lights and flashers and wipers all work now.

So far so good.

Alternator was burning out the 25 amp fuse at the + battery terminal at start up.

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Turns out the 25 amp fuses were not strong enough to handle the initial surge when the alternator starts up and goes to charging.

Went to 40 amp fuses and now all is well, starts up and keeps charging as it should, without burning the fuses.

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Pretty much a rough draft layout, with everything working as I have wanted it to.

Will secure things and get ready for some road miles.

Can always make it look pretty later, just happy things are up and working after all the conversion processes.


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