So when I wired the ECU and ballast resistor, I followed this http://www.allpar.com/fix/electronic-ignition.html wiring diagram for the 4 pin ECU,2 prong ballast and rigged the fuel pump to a toggle switch and it worked good. Last week I installed the fuel pump following this http://www.how-to-build-hotrods.com/...fuel-pump.html article, and now I have some problems. When I crank her over she fires right up, but dies as soon as I go off the starter. If I crank for a second after she starts I can hear the pump run for a couple seconds after she dies, so the oil press switch must be working, she just wont stay running though. If I unplug the relay its the same deal, fires up and dies once im off the starter. So im thinking maybe I did something wrong with the relay? Also I noticed today after I tried it a couple times that the resistor was sizzling and pretty hot. :/ I have a bad feeling about that. Bad coil maybe?

 

I would be so lost without my boss. :P Took us a fair while but we figured it out. On the ballast resistor, the wiring diagram shows on the one side to wire it too the coil+ and starter. We had power on the switched 12v side of the resistor, but not the coil+ side and just leaving the key at "on" the resistor was cookin pretty good. So we disconected the ballast from the starter and just to coil+ and she works like a charm now. Got power on both sides of the ballast with the key at "on". Starts, runs, and stops with the key no problem.

 

So I had her running outside the other day, and she was purring away and then just died again. After about 2 afternoons of fiddling and testing just about everything on the ignition side, we found the ignition module didnt have a good ground. So I added a ground wire to make sure and ran her for about 20 min no problemo. So that pretty well takes care of everything in the engine bay, except the oil pan is leaking more than I thought so Ill change that and the oil filter housing has a little drip when running, so ill fix that too.
Ready to get the dana 60 underneath, we just have to shuffle some stuff around yet so hopefully ill get that done this week. I went to swap the front hubs to my 3/4 ton 8 bolt hubs to match the rear, and I can confirm that the hubs are directly swapable and the dust shield can be made to work, but the spindle is slightly different where the caliper bracket mounts. :P When the snow melts ill pull that off the 83. Guess ill just have to run 16 inch 8 bolt rims in the back and 15 inch 5 bolts in the front for awhile. XD

 

Mini update: Got the axle sitting under the truck just waiting to bolted up, like it has been for the past 2 weeks and a half. My u-bolts that were supposed to be here 2 weeks ago on the bus went AWOL. Still waiting there.

Is it possible to adjust the doors inwards, like towards the cab/seat? Mine is sticking out to far on the drivers side and water gets in when it rains. I looked and I cant find an adjustment that way except to adjust the fender.

 

The Dana 60 is in, changed the valve stems so the tires hold air, and now shes sitting on some 265/75R16s in the back. I sent the driveshaft to be cut down but when they cut it they found it had a rubber insert in it, something to help with vibrations but they couldnt reweld it. So $300 later I have a brand new driveshaft painted a nice cherry red.

Also I swapped my 3/4 spindles on the front, and I can confirm that the spindles and upper press fit balljoints are interchangable between my '83 D250 with the 3,300 lb front end and my '85 D150. I tried to save the balljoints when removing the spindles but I ended up wrecking the one side, so I changed them since I still had a pair from my '83 that never got used, I just had to get the tool. Shes sitting on 245/75R16s in the front and I like the way they look, however the front is sitting higher than I care for so I still plan on dropping it with some van control arms, I may have to adjust the front tire size as necessary. Working on swapping in my 3/4 brake booster to make future engine pulls/install easier, then bleed the brakes and have the exhaust done and shes ready for a test run when the snows gone nxt month.

 

did you check to see if the bearings and rotor would have fit on the stock 150 spindles? only reason i ask is when i went to the parts store they told me that part number on the inner bearing was listed for the the 8 bolt 3300lb axle but it work with the brand new rotor i bought for the 81 d150.

 

Yup, I tried that first and the bearings on both are the same. The pads, calipers, and caliper brackets are interchangeable, just the spindle and hubs are different.

 

To adjust the door in, you can loosen the post that the latch grabs on to, and move it in towards the truck, then tighten. Go in small increments, because if you push it in too far, you'll have to really slam the door. I believe you can slide around the hinges on the front some to adjust that too.

 

Ill have to snap a picture of the door (and how the rest of the truck looks too now) but the back end of it by the latch is fine, its the front of the door thats out too far, I dont think the fender is quite lined up proper either. I played with the hinges a little but I could only get it to adjust side-to-side not in-and-out.

 

Got my 3/4 brake booster painted and installed, had to swap brake pedals as well. The 85 was held in by a clip but the 83 had a bolt through it, the pedals and booster rod werent interchangable. I got the exhaust done, dual side exit on the pass side with glass packs, I have to get a pic of it yet. Took it for a test drive and itll run ok, but trying to go up it hill it will stall out and stay stalled till I go off the throttle, then it starts again (its coasting in gear) but if I do anything more than feather the throttle it keeps stalling/starting until im down in 1st and can hardly get up the hill. The dizzy cap and plugs arent in very good shape so doing a tuneup tomorrow and well see if that helps.
Heres a few pics too.


Dana 60 in.



Before I got the front spindles swapped.