Today was fun. By fun, I mean tedious and tiresome. It's almost midnight already. I'd gotten the truck started this morning, then told my friend I didn't need a ride to work. Shortly after it was too late to get a ride to work, I noticed the engine start to idle faster and the system voltage had dropped. I'd spent the last few days trying to repair the wiring harness that had been butchered by a friend, and now this. I determined that a sketchy electrical connection had failed where the alternator output connects to the battery, causing the already crusty old alternator to fail completely. I'd planed to replace it before it failed, but faculty wirimg said otherwise. My friend picked up a new alternstor from Summit Racing Equipment for me, so tomorrow should be new alternator day. 

I missed yet another day of work, but I got most of the truck rewired. The original fuse panel has gotten quite crusty and unreliable, so I mounted a 12 circuit marine grade fuse panel from Blue Sea Systems to the side of the passenger foot well in the cab. It's unconventional, but does make sense for what I'm doing. Everything electrical in the truck is on the passenger side, including the battery. There were some parasitic drains as well, so I bypassed as much of the original wirimg as possible and rewired everything. I have a racing switch panel with the flip up safety covers and the push button start. I really enjoy the switches and button so far. Ignition button goes to the distributor, electric choke, and will go to the alternstor field wire. Start button goes to the starter solenoid. Accessory 1 goes to the USB charger, voltage gauge, and the after market gauge lights. The heater blower motor is fed through a new line going to the new fuse panel and a proper fuse. Headlights have also been wired to the new fuse panel. I hope to have the entire truck rewired and cleaned up by the end of this weekend. It feels so nice to know what's going on with the wiring. Aside from the alternator, passenger door light switch, cab floor light, horn, and a few of the original gauges, every single feature on the truck works. By the end of this weekend, I should have the truck 100% functional. After that the upgrades can begin. I'll likely start with the seat, battery, light bulbs, and some trim pieces that are missing. I have big plans for this truck. I'll be adding some microcontrollers for automation and management, as well as a Seeed ReTerminal as the entertainment and navigation system. 

I'll try to do a more detailed post with pictures soon, but I just need to get through the work for now.