81 F100 flare side custom with 300 six & T18

Good grief Dave, you have some mad skills!!

I'm not sure how you feel about body work  but it looks like you do incredible work!

I am along for the ride trying to learn as much as I can because I may attempt the body work on mine next winter... So, KEEP THOSE PICTURES ROLLING‼️ (and good luck)

I agree with the others, looking good!

But I'm starting to think you have a problem with body work.

If you start an "I hate body work club", I would join!

Well the "I hate body work" was not as bad this weekend as I did not have as much body filler to sand.
 Had to fire up the heater as it was 40*in the garage, on low it got up to 55* so was not too bad for working.

 I pulled the left rear fender off to finish prepping for primer but had a little filler work that needed to be done.
 A little filler followed by sanding and the fender is ready for primer just need to prep the 2 fuel doors before priming all of them.

 I also adjusted the IGN switch. When I would try and turn the motor off you would have to push in the button to turn the key a little bit more.
 If this does not work I will replace the switch. Before I installed it I sprayed it with cleaner & lube and it worked good in my hand but who knows now?

 Hope to get out and prim the parts tomorrow and maybe work on the dent in the fender.
 Then it will be the final block sanding before paint.
 Dave ----

I'm glad things went well.  You did adjust the switch as shown here?  http://www.garysgaragemahal.com/ignition.html

Gary Lewis wrote

I'm glad things went well.  You did adjust the switch as shown here?  http://www.garysgaragemahal.com/ignition.html

When I first installed it I did it that way and as said when you went to turn the motor off you had to push the button in on the left so the key would turn a little more to shut down.
This button is so you can turn the key to the lock pos. to get the key out and should not need to do that to shut it off.

Right now the switch is adjusted down as far as it will go so if it still "hangs up" I will go for a new switch.
I do have another used one but as hard as it is to get to I think new is the way to go for now.
We will see in time.
Dave ----

On Big Blue you have to push the button to turn the key far enough to shut off.  I thought that's the way it is supposed to be.

Gary Lewis wrote

...push the button to turn the key far enough to shut off.  I thought that's the way it is supposed to be.

No, the key should turn the engine off any time you turn it back.  The button (or the internal interlock in shifter columns) is there to prevent you from LOCKING THE WHEEL while the truck is still rolling.  An auto column will only allow the key to go to LOCK when the shifter is in P.  For manual columns, the driver has to press an extra button before the key will turn that far.  But the engine should shut down without pressing that button.

If not, either adjust the ig.sw. position so that it DOES, or repair the actuator(s) - the linkage between the lock cylinder & the ig.sw.

Steve83 wrote

Gary Lewis wrote

...push the button to turn the key far enough to shut off.  I thought that's the way it is supposed to be.

No, the key should turn the engine off any time you turn it back.  The button (or the internal interlock in shifter columns) is there to prevent you from LOCKING THE WHEEL while the truck is still rolling.  An auto column will only allow the key to go to LOCK when the shifter is in P.  For manual columns, the driver has to press an extra button before the key will turn that far.  But the engine should shut down without pressing that button.

If not, either adjust the ig.sw. position so that it DOES, or repair the actuator(s) - the linkage between the lock cylinder & the ig.sw.

Gary, that is what mine is doing and I know it was not right as Steve pointed out.

Well if the switch adjust does not work I will have to look into the actuator and I don't really want to do that so I hope it works now.
Dave ----

I got a package from Jonathan aka: Ford F834, He is a life saver!
It was AC compressor brackets for 83-86 for the 300 motor.

It gives me something to work on this weekend. I hope to get this mounted.
Going to see if the "banker" (wife) has any money for the compressor as it is heavy and want to mount it before I fix the dent on the fender I have to lean over.

Hoses I don't think is a big deal as I think you can do from the front but if not you would not be leaning on the fender like the brackets & compressor.
Dave ----

FuzzFace2 wrote

I got a package from Jonathan aka: Ford F834, He is a life saver!
It was AC compressor brackets for 83-86 for the 300 motor.

It gives me something to work on this weekend. I hope to get this mounted.
Going to see if the "banker" (wife) has any money for the compressor as it is heavy and want to mount it before I fix the dent on the fender I have to lean over.

Hoses I don't think is a big deal as I think you can do from the front but if not you would not be leaning on the fender like the brackets & compressor.
Dave ----

That's awesome! Those brackets can be a pain to find.

Cool!  Jonathan's THE GUY!

Gary Lewis wrote

Cool!  Jonathan's THE GUY!

Yes... as long as the parts are not plastic.  The Arizona sun is not kind!

1986F150Six wrote

Gary Lewis wrote

Cool!  Jonathan's THE GUY!

Yes... as long as the parts are not plastic.  The Arizona sun is not kind!

Ha ha... I live in the UV belt... but I will take that over the rust belt.

The funny thing is about a year ago Trent mailed me these same brackets because I couldn’t find any. I just got lucky and looked under the right hood at the right time in the junkyard so I could pass on the favor 🙂

Spent some time on the truck to night.
Went to degrease the AC brackets and found my parts cleaner dry? Guess it evaporated? So went with the sand by of $2.26 gal wash fluid LOL
After washing the grease off I had to give it a dry fitting to see what bolts & spacers I need.
I had to run a tap thru all the holes before I could get any bolts started but it is in place for the fitting.

I need to pull it off for painting and will do that air filter bracket at the same time.
I also need to get some bolts, 7/16-14 for the main bracket to motor and something to use as a spacer.
I also had to change 2 plug wires around so the 90* boot was on #1 plug.

Then the hard part finding and laying out the money for the compressor, hoses, dryer and a few other things to have working AC system.
Dave ----

FuzzFace2 wrote

...my parts cleaner dry? Guess it evaporated? So went with the sand by of $2.26 gal wash fluid

It only takes slightly longer using warm/hot water, Dawn dish soap, PurplePower/SimpleGreen, & a stiff brush/scraper; than using solvent.

I have a parts washer. It holds up to 80 gallons of Simple Green solution, heats it to 130 degrees, and circulates it through filters to get out the crud.

That’s where parts that come into the shop start. Then they are rinsed in hot water, let dry, and then go to the blast cabinet.

That works really well, but I usually have 30 gallons or so in the washer, and that takes quite a while to heat up. And I’m not that patient. So I do frequently use brake cleaner for small batches of parts. 😳

Mine is a 40g cold tank serviced by Crystal Clean, which does a good job of dissolving grime, without suspending the dirt or stripping skin oil or smelling.  It's slow to dry off the parts, but that also means it's slow to evaporate out of the tank.

I like Crystal better than what I'm using, but I've bought whatever I'm using locally and can't find Crystal locally.

But I don't use the standard Simple Green in my heated cleaner as the smell will drive you bananas.  So I think I have a lemon-smelling one, but don't remember.

I have to watch what I put down the sink drain as it goes to a gray water well and can seep into the ground water well that we use to water the garden and fill out side dog water dishes.
Even being on the other end of 4 acres I don't want to take the chance.

It can only be done when the wife is not home as it would have to be in the house, no water in my garage and that is closer to the water well, only 100 feet away.

I had 5 gal of Zep purple industrial degreaser, vary HD stuff, cut a water. In is in a normal parts washer you would get at say Northern Tool with a pump and lid, not air tight by any means.
Does a great job removing grease and I do rinse with water, rain water in a bucket with a lid so dogs cant get to it. I also wear heavy rubber gloves that go almost to the elbow.
I have not used it in maybe 6+ months and it gets really hot in the garage, why I don't do much work in there during the summer.
When I was setting up the garage, blue with red top used as a table here LOL


Now that it is empty I can clean the mud out of the bottom, oh joy ...... NOT!
Everything was washed, checked, painted before going back on the truck so a lot of grease & dirt.
I should then pull the drain plug and install a valve so I can drain, clean the bottom, filter the mix and store the mixture when not going to use it.

Now to get out to the garage to see what bolts I need from the hardware store.
Dave ----

Painted the AC brackets then hit the hard ware store for bolts and propane for the shop heater as it ran out just before I started to paint.
Only ones they had were too long so had to cut them down and rework the threaded ends.
Also had to make a spacer to fit between the AC bracket and the power steering bracket. I found an old ear from a ALT that I cut and filed to fit.
Got the bracket bolted up and ready for the compressor when I get it.

With that done I moved on to wire brush cleaning of the hood hinges & springs and got them painted.
Got the springs installed but the hinge bolts were rusty so had to soak them.
I then went looking for the hood release cable. I think I should of had 2, cant remember if the parts truck had one. After looking for half hour I found only 1 and got it installed.

When I stood back to look over the truck I saw I did not pull and paint the air filter bracket so pulled it and hit with paint.
With the air filter off I adjusted the choke so it would close when cold as it was open about half way. I also raised the fast idle speed a little as it was not working but could of been from choke not closing, time will tell.

After dinner I cleaned the bolts for the hinges and the jack bracket for the fender and hit them  with paint.
Hope to get them installed tomorrow.

In looking for the hood cable I pulled out the 2 sets of running boards I have. I will look them over and get the bolts I have together to see what I have to get together before painting.
The plan is to get the bed painted as soon as I can and need to get all that prepped for paint.

When looking for the hood cable I found the bed heat shields from the long bed parts truck. Along with installing the hinges I want to try again on fitting them to the bed.
When at the hard wear store I picked up bolts for the bumpers as I have a custom touch I want to do to them and my look into starting that.

Little by little it is getting done.
Dave ----