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Project 80: Codename Grey Ghost

Now that, Mate, I can guarantee is definitely NOT going to happen. And you can print that.

Yes, I might go to 16" rims and 315.75, but 37? Nope that's a whole load of cash I will not be spending.
 
Well, for those who have been following, it does look like I might have almost, pretty much, sorted my front prop issues. I am not going through the whole prop physics again, but safe to say that all the book say that a prop must run 'in phase' ie all the yokes lined up correctly and that the angle at the top and at the bottom must be equal for it all to work. Well my angles are like a dog's bag leg so that out. I have tried the prop full in phase and it was terrible. I've had it pretty much every which way. Now in truth there are on 20 ways you can have (only 20!) The slip joint has 20 splines each giving you 18 degrees of rotation from 0. So the only places you can stop are 0 in phase. 18. 36. 54. 72. 90 perfectly out of phase. 108. 126. 144. 162. 180 back in phase. 198. 216. 234. 252. 270 perfectly out of phase again. 288. 306. 324. 342. 360 back to the start.

So what do I know now. Well, I went and had a look under another manual GS (Cheers Trev) and lo and behold the prop was set at 90 degrees (fully out of phase) - one spline. ie 72 degrees one way and 252 the other side. No, I know it makes no sense to me either but that's how it was set. Every prop I have looked at has been different.

So today I set it fully out and back one spline.

Guess what. Well it drives pretty well. No clashing and banging even with the CDL engaged on over run. Power it there, no wobbles, gear change is slick again and generally it behaves itself right up to 70mph.

I do feel as there might be room for improvement still, maybe worth trying 180 degree rotation just to see if it's any different, but that's after a drive to Lincomb on the motorway.

So I can rest easy for now.
 
Good news on the prop front then
Where did you get that solar panel and what are specs ?
Pondering over getting one, but so many options


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All good CJ, except for the photoshopping.... :think:

I'm sure there's better ways to get a bit of cable up to the roof lights, without having to fit a snorkel... to strap it to...:whistle:

There's no deep rivers to cross here so I'm sticking with the no-no to deep wading, because I can.

Love the Grey Ghost, BTW, it's everything that it should be :thumbup:
 
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Getting close to being on the last lap with the build on this one.

Fitted the safe today but obviously for security reasons should any bored and corrupt officials be reading my thread, I am not going to say where or post pictures. But it's the Machine Mart one. Pretty decent safe, good capacity and big locking bolts. No, it's not in the roof tent.
 
Finally getting around to those little finishing jobs.

Got a new tap in the back today. Didn't like using the shower for water all the time. Rather unwieldy. I shall make a little fence around this just to protect it.

Screen Shot 2015-05-04 at 20.22.04.jpg


And finally got around to mounting the sub tank fuel gauge. I have tried it and it does actually seem to indicate something. Hopefully fuel level. Made a bezel from aluminium into which the dial fits to stop it pulling through with a bracket on the back to stop it falling out. If that makes sense.


The really good news is that I took the prop apart again today and just rotated the joint 180 degrees, so still 100% out of phase but rotated. Magic. I knew there was still room for improvement and I think I have hit the sweet spot this time. It feels really good. Get some new tyres on next week hopefully and we should be good to go. Had it up to speed on the dual carriageway and it was smooth and certainly quieter. Need to swap the speedo gears though or I am going to get a ticket. But I shall wait till I get the new tyres on just in case the slight change cures it.

Screen Shot 2015-05-04 at 20.22.31.jpg
 
Made a bezel from aluminium into which the dial fits to stop it pulling through with a bracket on the back to stop it falling out. If that makes sense.
Clear as crystal Chris. :thumbup:
 
Its come together well mate. Credit to you.

Your going to be bored when your done Chris......

I can always leave mine with you for a few months to get it up to scratch.

A little feedback regarding my prop. As I said to you over text. The truck feels better on a whole and now better going round right hand bends. Big issue though. Noticed today that its scrubbed the NS front tyre down from outer edge feathered accross to two thirds of the tyre. Not done that many miles since lincomb. Now what's that all about? Any ideas?
 
Thanks chaps. List is looking very small now. Bored Karl? Hmm, not with what my Missus has planned.

Scrubbed tyre? Really should be anything at all to do with the prop Karl. I think if I were you, I'd drop the front prop completely, lock the centre and drive it for a bit and see how it feels. I find the steering a little lighter with no front prop, but at least you know there is no drive and it should all be neutral. I'd lift the front wheels too and just spin the wheels to make sure nothing is binding.
 
Anymore details on the aux fuel gauge and how you wired it up? I've fitted a aux tank to my collie and have the original wires coming out from it via the unit, but not sure how to wire in a gauge.
 
Actually, yes I can! Ok the gauge is just some ching-chong e bay cheapy, but quality aside they all work the same way.

Essentially the gauge is an ammeter. It puts current through the float in the tank and measures what comes out. it then displays this on the display. So when the tank is full the resistance is low so what goes in comes back out. As the fuel drops, the resistance in the float goes up so less current makes it out the other side. I don't know what colour wires you have so we'll have to do that later. But, there should be two wires coming out of the tank sender and three wires in the back of your gauge.

One of the gauge wires is 12v in. This needs to be on Acc so that the gauge goes off when you stop the car. The next gauge wire needs to be connected to the sender via one of the loom wires. The other loom wire needs to be connected to the last remaining gauge wire. So in really easy terms, two of the gauge wires connect to the two sender wires. The last gauge wire is power in. This not only powers the gauge illumination etc, but sends the current down the wires, through the sender and back to earth. It had me foxed for a while until JW kindly told me it was an ammeter. It's nowhere near as complicated as it sounds. You only need a length of 2 core to run from the tank to your dash.
 
Actually, yes I can! Ok the gauge is just some ching-chong e bay cheapy, but quality aside they all work the same way.

Essentially the gauge is an ammeter. It puts current through the float in the tank and measures what comes out. it then displays this on the display. So when the tank is full the resistance is low so what goes in comes back out. As the fuel drops, the resistance in the float goes up so less current makes it out the other side. I don't know what colour wires you have so we'll have to do that later. But, there should be two wires coming out of the tank sender and three wires in the back of your gauge.

One of the gauge wires is 12v in. This needs to be on Acc so that the gauge goes off when you stop the car. The next gauge wire needs to be connected to the sender via one of the loom wires. The other loom wire needs to be connected to the last remaining gauge wire. So in really easy terms, two of the gauge wires connect to the two sender wires. The last gauge wire is power in. This not only powers the gauge illumination etc, but sends the current down the wires, through the sender and back to earth. It had me foxed for a while until JW kindly told me it was an ammeter. It's nowhere near as complicated as it sounds. You only need a length of 2 core to run from the tank to your dash.

Thanks Chris, sounds easy when you put it like that. I've just looked back at the pictures I took and I have three wires coming out from the tank unit. Black, red and yellow hmm I'll update my thread when the time's right. Don't want to go off topic on your awesome thread! Good work by the way :clap:

Whilst you were searching for gauges, did you come accross anything smaller that can be mounted on one of the switch sockets, or is that too small? I wanted something that would look OEM and I think I've seen some fitted there before...
 
I did actually. I was talking to a company in SA who made a calibrate-able led gauge that was really neat and about £20. I could have as many segments as I wanted on the display and choose the colours too. You could set full and empty so it was accurate. But in months of talking to them nothing ever happened. It was a neat little strip and would have fitted in the dash somewhere handy. In the end I bought one of these for about £8. They are typically all about 52mm so if this works but packs up, I can buy a nice one and it should go straight in. I really only need the empty reading to be accurate I guess. It has a little adjuster which I can tuck up under the plastic trim. I will empty the tank and make sure it reads in the red then add fuel say 10l at a time and see where the segments change. It's n indicator only really as by that time I am effectively on the reserve tank.

The oem style gauge by the way goes up in the headlining in a console. These are available. Speak to Chapelgate he might be able to help. But as mine has a none oem sunroof the console wouldn't fit.
 
Its come together well mate. Credit to you.


A little feedback regarding my prop. As I said to you over text. The truck feels better on a whole and now better going round right hand bends. Big issue though. Noticed today that its scrubbed the NS front tyre down from outer edge feathered accross to two thirds of the tyre. Not done that many miles since lincomb. Now what's that all about? Any ideas?

I would have thought that would be an alignment problem Karl, are the top and bottom swivel bearings (kingpin) in good order, tracking, camber and the like? JMHO.
 
YYY
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