After getting the holes cut in the cab and plugging the shifter hole up it was time to start finishing out the inside of the cab. This would include the electrical boxes for the outlet, switches and light fixture. Also I had to install some roosting posts for the birds to roost on at night. These consisted of two lengths of conduit that I cut to length prior to welding them in place from the back panel of the cab over to the support bar that held the dash and steering column. I did it this way since the two doors would still be allowed to open, so installing the posts laterally only made sense. I had to ensure a good weld on both ends since these posts will be used to hold several heavy chickens when they roost for the night. The next order of business was the electrical boxes. I wanted to put two boxes in place, one for the outlet and one for two light switches. The two light switches will control the light I'll install in the cab and the one I'll install in the bed shell I'll make later on. I had a stash of old electrical boxes, outlets, and other electrical hardware to pilfer the needed materials from. I installed the boxes on the back of the cab, right above the rear opening. This was the most suitable place since there was a large surface area available for securing the boxes. I did spot welds through the punch out holes in the backs of the two boxes to secure both units to the rear panel in the cab. From here I started installing wiring, which consisted of some scrap wire I had stored in a box in the storage trailer. I recycled a lot of lengths of wire from multiple sources and was finally able to put some of that wire to use right here. Instead of using all new wire I just took a multi-conductor cable and cut it to a suitable length to bridge the gap between the boxes and have extra for wiring the outlets and switches. I had to install a power cord as well. I put the power cord in the large switch box since it was closest to the passenger side where I would need the power cable routed out from. Next I installed the switches and outlet in both boxes, wiring them up to the power cable and the length of cable hooked between the two boxes. I also installed a cable to be used for the light socket as well. Electrical boxes wired up. Note electric heater plugged up to outlet in right box and switches in left box. Red cable is the multi-conductor cable used for delivering power to their respective loads. Also note the black cable going into the left box below the red cable. This is the power plug after it was routed into the cab from a once rubber capped opening. Lastly I installed the light socket. Unlike more modern setups where there would've been a third junction box to install light fitting on, I had this old school ceramic light fixture that could be used as a standalone unit since the ceramic fixture had two mounting tabs on it. I mounted the unit on the rear pillar on the passenger side. I couldn't mount the light on the ceiling since there was still a headliner in place and the roof isn't exactly super thick. So after installing the light fixture and wiring it up I put a bulb in and plugged the unit up. With everything installed I plugged the cable up to an extension cord for testing. The light came on as expected and the electric heater that is pictured came to life with no incident. The truck was ready to go on the inside, but I wanted the whole project done before turning it over to the chickens. I didn't install the second light fixture since I never made the bed shell yet. With the electrical system done in the truck the next move would be the watering apparatus. More on that in the next installment.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
May 2023
|