After not being able to finish the fuel tank install due to not having a fuel hose, I had to wait until the next day, after getting a piece of hose. With that, I could finish up on the install of the fuel tank. Unfortunately, things don't always go as easily as they should. After installing the hose, I noticed some moisture under the fuel tank and after wiping it away, found that the moisture was from some water that was still in the fuel tank, leaking from a couple of pinholes in the thing. This means I'm going to have to get some epoxy to plug up the pinholes on the fuel tank, since replacing the whole tank isn't going to be a viable solution when it comes to trying to do things on a budget. The next thing to address is the proportioning valve. As is the case with anything brake related, this tends to be a pain in the ass at times due to the fact that old compression fittings need to be broken free, hopefully without damaging the metal brake lines. My plan was to remove the bottom brake lines and hook them up to the new unit, then remove the top lines before removing the old proportioning valve. After installing the new PV, I can then install the top brake lines to finish the job. After getting the new PV bolted down and two out of three of the top brake lines installed, I found the last one's compression fitting was a different size relative to the new PV's port. As is the case with these aftermarket generic parts, you run the risk of having the unit not be a direct fit in your vehicle, something might need to be modified. In this case, I had to remove the old fitting, install one that fits on the new PV, then re-flare the tube end so I can secure the brake line in the new PV. It's always something when one tries to save a few bucks by getting something that is not name brand or a direct fit. Of course the BS didn't stop here. The brake fail switch on the proportioning valve that activates the brake system light on the dash was different on the new PV compared to the old unit. At first I thought maybe I could switch these pieces between the new and old but as the case was with the aftermarket generic shit, the thread size was different between the two switches. The old plug on the truck was a two wire unit while the new one is a single wire unit. For right now, it looks like there won't be a brake fail switch, I'll have to jumper out the plug so the brake light doesn't stay on in the cab. Thanks aftermarket generic shit. In the meantime, I had to refill the reservoir on the master cylinder, and will let it sit overnight with the hope that the oil gravity feeds down into the PV, hopefully displacing the air in the unit and sparing me the need to bleed the brakes. Another thing I need to take into account is the idea that these "stock" proportioning valves have a feature where they can fail safe to one side or the other. If the front or back brakes fail due to a line rupture, instead of letting all the brake oil piss out, it will pop a valve lock in the PV to that side so oil isn't allowed to go past the PV down to the wheels. Sometimes if one isn't careful bleeding the brakes, they can trip this failsafe. I hadn't researched how to reset, or if its possible to reset, the proportioning valve. So as far as bleeding is concerned I'll exercise caution. There's a couple things I still need to do before I can move on to the advanced, and hopefully final stages of this truck project so I can get it back to our friend more sooner than later.
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