This section covers items done to complete the job, and are mostly mechanical in nature.  Not all of this work is being shown in chronological order, as some of it was done during lulls in the mainline tasks, and others were done as parts arrived.  For clarity, this writeup is shown as if the tasks were worked continuously.

Rear Suspension Air Bag Installation

The truck had rear air shocks, installed by a previous owner, when I bought it.  By pumping them up to the maximum of my compressor (about 150 psi), I was just able to compensate for the roughly 1300 pounds of batteries I added under the bed.  This is a higher pressure than can usually be found, and the very small volume of the shocks drops the pressure rapidly with even the smallest leak in the system.  I was not comfortable with this approach, so I ordered a pair of rear supplemental air bags.  They arrived and I installed them during the same time frame as the electronics installation.  It appears that about 40 psi in the air bags will set the height of the truck rear at just about the pre-conversion height.  I can vary the air bag pressure to position the rear from several inches below this to several inches above it.
 

The air springs mount between the spring and the frame.  I had to drill 2 holes in the side of the frame on each side.  Otherwise it was simply a bolt-on installation. I have separate fill valves for each side mounted on the rear bumper, along with the fill valve for the air shocks.

Tilt-up Bed Installation

The next project was to remount the bed to the truck.  As I plan to hinge the rear of the bed and add air springs to make a "tilt-up" bed, there is a lot of work to do.  When done, I will be able to tilt the bed up, somewhat like a dump truck, to access the batteries under it.  I bought a kit for this bed tilt.  It included a pair of husky hinges, two 200 pound gas springs, and a pair of formed reinforcement plates.  Unfortunately, the reinforcement plates are apparently for older models of the S-10 pickups and they would not fit mine.  As I show below, I figured out how to modify them to work for my truck.
 

This is the underside of the bed in the area I will be mounting the hinges.  The rear flange of the bed is shown at the right.  The hat section runs the width of the bed and has a pair of these mounting plates where the rear of the bed originally bolted to the frame. I plan to mount the hinges to the outside of the bed rear flange and have the bolts extend through the bent down leg of the mounting bracket and through an added reinforcement piece above it.

This is a cross section of the hinge mounting. The red is the bed and the hat section with the stock bed mounting plate as shown in the last photo. The blue is the added reinforcement.  It is cut from the reinforcement sent by the kit vendor, that apparently fits older models.  I cut it and welded an angle to it.  The angle is bolted through the left of the hat section. The top half of the hinge bolts through the bed rear flange as well as the flange of the original bed mounting plate (bottom bolt) and the added reinforcement plate (Top bolts).  The bottom half has 2 bolts through the frame and square cross member that holds the battery box, and a third bolt through only the square cross member and a doubler plate on the top.

With the bed almost flat on the floor, I started to make the cutouts in the bed rear flange to clear the battery box mounting structure, the hinges, and the battery boxes.

Now it is time to actually put the bed back in place on the truck. I have attached straps to the tie-down eyes and have my engine hoist ready to lift it and roll it into position. I have removed the rear tire to provide more clearance and mobility.

Here the bed is in place on the truck frame.  It really was not very hard to do, even though I worked alone.

I have machined the mounting slots in the bottom of both hinges.  Here the right one is mounted and the left one is shown to illustrate the mounting slots. The right two bolts pass through the frame and the cross member.  The left bolt just goes through the cross member and a doubler plate on top. I figured I needed to provide slots to enable an accurate adjustment of the bed position.

Under the truck looking upward shows the mounted hinge.  The three bolts pass through the 1 1/2 square cross member and two of them continue on through the top frame rail. This view shows (if you look carefully) the drilled top half of the hinge in position for bolting. The structure at the top of the picture (behind the hinge) is the rear bumper.

I cut out two pieces of neoprene and contact cemented them to the frame tops.  I will do this on all the 8 original bed mounting locations.  Hopefully this will keep the bed from rattling while driving.

This shows the hinges fully installed (almost).  I found I only had two 1 inch grade 5 plated bolts left, so they are installed.  The dark bolts are merely pushed into the holes.  I will pick up the correct bolts at the hardware store this afternoon.

The correct bolts are installed and tightened. I have replaced the tail and license plate lights, and they all work! I also installed the tailgate, after using a ball pein hammer to artistically create some clearance dents where the hinge mounting bolt heads interfered with the bottom corner of the inside of the tailgate. It is getting close to being a truck again!

This is my progress through 11/15/08

Tilt Bed Gas Spring Installation

It is now into December and I have been driving the truck for several days.  It is time to finish the work on the tilting bed.

I used my engine hoist and a nylon strap to tilt the bed into the approximate "up" position and used a board which I notched to keep it from slipping out of position to hold the bed safely in position.  I then started swinging arcs for the gas springs in both the compressed (down) and the extended (up) positions.  This gave me an approximate mounting position for both ends of the cylinders.

I wanted to mount the upper end on a stiffener which runs across the bed a couple feet forward of the hinges.  The bottom end would be attached to the frame a couple of feet forward of that.
 

I have drilled the two mounting holes for the upper bracket on this side.  The problem here is that I have very limited access to the inside of the hat section.  I decided to use a doubler plate/nut plate on the inside which I would insert through an opening in the end of the hat section.  Using a heavy wire welded to it, I will position it behind the holes so I can start the bolts into its threads

This is one of the upper mounting brackets and the threaded doubler plate.  As you can see the wire to allow me to position it is quite long.

Here the bracket is bolted in place with the doubler on the rear side of the sheet metal.  My positioning wire worked well.  I gripped the exposed end with a pair of Vice Grips and it was easy to position the doubler to start the bolts. I will leave the wire attached for any future use and will push a piece of foam in the hat section around it to keep it from vibrating.

I have mounted the upper brackets, determined the location for the holes through the frame, and mounted the gas springs. They work well.  Maybe too well!  I have to really pull down hard to close the bed.  The only hard thing about opening it is stooping over to grab the bottom of the bed to lift it.  The lifting is then quite easy.

Here the bed is up!  I have better than a 45 degree lift and it looks like my access to even the very rear batteries will be OK.  I have pulled the caps from the very rear batteries, and can clearly see the water level in these cells.  That's all I need! If I were to increase the lift any, I would not be able to raise the bed in my garage.  As it is, I have to make sure to clear the light fixtures and the door opener. I still need to check the bumper clearances in all positions.  Right now, I have lowered the bumper enough to clear everything.

Tilting Bumper

It turns out that there would truly be an interference between the bed and the bumper when the bed is lifted, if the bumper were to stay in its normal position.  The answer is to lower the bumper as the bed is raised.

I implemented a variation of the solution described by the vendor of the tilt kit.  I pivoted the bumper about one of the bolt locations allowing it to drop under its own weight, and provided a means for the bed to lift it back to the normal position when the bed is lowered.

I started by making a sleeve bushing similar to the ones I used on the electronics board, only much larger and more robust.  I installed these in one of the bolt holes where the bumper bracket originally bolted to the frame.  After installing one on each side, the bumper would pivot freely between a position several inches lower than normal and the normal position.

I then made extension bars that fastened to the brackets and extended forward to the bed cross stiffener where I attached the gas springs.  When the bed is lowered, this cross member presses down on a spacer on the extension bar and presses it down, raising the bumper to its normal position.
 

.	I have installed a heavy duty pivot in one of the bracket bolt holes.  The bumper now lifts freely and readily drops from its own weight. The bottom position is limited by the bumper contacting the battery rack framework.  I installed neoprene on the framework as a soft-stop.

This shows the complete bumper lift system.  The two extension bars reach forward to the bed cross member in the foreground of this picture.  When the bed is lowered, the cross member contacts neoprene pads on the spacers at the end of the bars.  It continues pressing down on the bars, lifting the bumper.

Charger Port

Next I decided to finish the charger port.  Up until now, I have been driving with a hardwired 50 foot power cord coiled in the bed.

Even though the power cord to the charger enters the truck cab just a couple feet from the gas filler location where the charge port is going, I had to run the wire to the rear of the truck along the frame, then up to the bed and forward within the bed structure to the charge port.  This is to allow the bed to tilt up.
 

The wiring from the cab is routed within the frame to the rear of the truck.

As the wiring reaches the rear of the truck it is routed over to the bed where it runs forward over the fender.  There is also a smaller cable of 2 wires from the filler lid switch which runs forward to the hairball.

I originally could not find a panel mounted plug at the local electrical supply houses, or on Ebay, so I was going to jury-rig a cable end plug in the filler cap opening.  I decided I did not want that, so I kept looking.  I finally found what I wanted at a supply house in North Carolina. I made a mounting plate from a scrap left from the electronics board.  I mounted a weatherproof electrical box to the rear and made provisions for mounting the plate to the gas filler opening and for mounting the flange mount plug.  I had to recess the plug slightly to prevent the filler lid from hitting it.

I made aluminum brackets that mount on the gas filler lid.  They mount a weatherproof microswitch that is positioned to activate when the cap is closed. Opening the lid pulls the rounded hinge bracket away from the switch causing it to open. This switch connects to the hairball and prevents operating the car if the lid is open.  Therefore it should be impossible to drive off with the power connected.

The finished assembly mounts behind the gas filler cap with 3 screws.  The main cable, which runs in an opening over the fender, enters through a sealed fitting.  The smaller 2 conductor cable connects to the lid switch at the top. I originally painted the assembly red, as I thought it would look good.  It didn't, so I repainted it gray.  The red shows through some on the board edges.

Here is the finished charge port.  It accepts a 3 prong twist lock receptacle type L6-30, which is rated for 250 volts at 30 amps.

I made cables to use for charging.  The top long one is an extension cord with a twist lock connector at each end.  This will directly connect the charging outlet in my garage to the truck. The short cable is an adapter which has a 20 amp 115 volt plug on one end and a twist lock receptacle on the other.  It allows me to plug into any conventional 115 volt outlet.

I finished installing my charging outlet in the garage.  It is a 30 amp 240 volt circuit.

And here is my truck being charged with my finished setup.  The twist-lock extension cord is plugged into the garage outlet and the truck.  I can now charge up to about 20 amps into the batteries.

The prop rod is inserted in a grommet on the rear of the radiator support, and runs along the length of that support.  The end hooks under a headlight clamping tab.

In use, the rod is lifted and the end secured in an aluminum retainer cup on the bottom of the electronics board. Although it looks like the weight of the board is really bending the rod, it is not. The bends were made for a better fit when the rod is stowed on the radiator support bar.