Current projects In progress.

I have been working silently on the truck for a while. The door panels have the black leather inserts done, the lights replaced with blue LEDs in the switches and courtesy lights. MTX 6 inch speakers and tweeters are now in the doors. RAAMmat from RaamAudio.com has been applied internally to the outer door skin, and on under the door panels. New window motors have been installed while the doors were taken apart.

RaamAudio.com has a very fast order fulfillment process. I had to order another roll of Raamat and foam to finish off the doors. So the total has been three rolls of RAAMmat and 8 yards of Ensolite foam and 3.5 cans of V&S Spray Adhesive to complete the entire inside of the Full-Size Extra cab truck. I have a little bit of the RAAMmat left over, maybe a 1/4 of a roll. I'll use up a little of that in the pockets in the extra cab.

Next up is to finish a little bit of wiring, and re-install the repaired MTX 5604 Amp. Install the door sills/kick panels, and a few other misc trim pieces. Then cover and install the rest of the center console.

I have to take a break to clear out the shop, and send stuff off to the recycler.

Once the interior is complete, I'll need to make the tray to bolt down the 2nd battery, and make the bumpers. Then the hardware is done, and all that will be left will be software related.

The progress on the LinuxCNC table continues. I now have the linear slides on both sides of the X-Axis, as well as the ballscrews. I ran my grinder with a flapper disc down each side of the 4-inch wide by 1/4inch steel plates for the slides to allow an easier motion. The X-Axis moves with just pressure from one side, but should be smoother with less of a chance of 'racking' with both sides driven, given the length of the table.

The Y-Axis has been bolted in place. All of the motors now have molex connectors on them. The motor for the other side of the x-axis has been mounted.

Next up:

• Wiring to the motors.

• Z-Axis.

• Install grease fittings and lubricate.

• Install Y-Axis nut on ballscrew.

• Tighten and adjust everything.

• Testing and product creation.

• Cut out pieces for the 'TuxTruck' bumpers.

It was one of those 'Well, Duh!' moments at the shop. I put new bulbs in the turn signals up front, and finished assembling the grill. Then, with flashlight in hand, I took a look under the rear of the truck, and found that the wiring harness for the tail lights was disconnected. I never plugged it back together after removing the bumper. Problem solved.

The rear seatbelts are in, and the MTX 5604 amp is out. I'll test the amp on the bench, re-test the wiring in the truck, and research repair or replacement.

The front seatbelt catches are bolted in, but the actual belts wont be bolted in until I find the two bolts that hold the upper portion of the belt. Once that is complete, I can wire-tie the plates in place, and run the truck over to the gas station if the price per gallon starts to go back up again.

Next up: Finish seatbelts, headliner, and start on the doors.

A semi productive night. It can be simplified into cleaning the workbench(more time than you would think, I should probably do it more frequently), identifying parts, drilling two holes, adjusting a cable, and installing a grill.

I have finished the installation of E-Brake cable relocation bracket. Along with this, I had to re-adjust the ebrake cables. I converted the rear brakes to discs a while back, with a kit from SSBrakes. The calipers need the ebrakes adjusted correctly for them to work. I wondered why I had soft brakes for a while, then I got the adjustment correct on the ebrake cables, and it was much better.

I put the painted-black grill back in, along with new black corner lights. The Dash LEDs fit the running lights in the front, so each corner has a blue light. The turn signals will still be the stock orange, once I buy new lights for all four corners. Neither turn signal was working in the rear, and the front lights broke trying to get one out, so I am going to replace all of the bulbs, and the troubleshoot the rear. As I am writing this, I think that the rear lights may be missing a ground, since the rear bumper was removed, and the trailer socket is hanging in dead air. (smacks head)

I also put cable ends for the 'electronics' battery, so the PC will stay up until all of the software/hardware is configured. It will run continuously on a 1.5 amp trickle charger, but will not boot unless I use the 2amp charger. So the truck currently has two chargers hooked up. The large one set at 2amps, and the maintenance charger on the new main battery.

Seat belts and passenger seat installation next. With stretch goals of getting the doors covered in sound deadening, and the door panels installed.

I will either try and smooth out the dent in the lower part of the third door, or leave the sound deadening off until I get that done.

Here's a few pictures of the table in progress.

One side of the X-Axis is functioning. The other side has been drilled, but nothing mounted so far. The Y-Axis has been put together, and is sitting on the X-Axis Slides, but not completed.

It's a work in progress.