BigBrother-84

Dennis, is it rare, or you are meaning unique?

What I have done with my truck tonight. The manure duty. Was snowing.

Well, I would say 99% of the brochures trucks don't have radio. That's a huge proportion, certainly not the same as the real sold trucks. And when few of them are antenna equipped, the marketing guys took out the whip, that's curious.

Hey Jon—I sure do! It is Classic Car Stereos—here is a link: https://www.classiccarstereos.com/ford-radios.html It works fabulous. I would, however, redo the speaker selection I have. I know there’s a modification one can do to put 5x7 or 6x8 behind the seat grafted into a later model Ford truck molding that goes from the floor to the liner in each corner. I might have done that instead of the door + stereo single speaker in the dash. But than that about the speakers, the radios are great. Highy recommend. Come bluetooth capable, and with lots of options to hook in Sirius, or Ipod. I too went that way. Sent my original radio, they modified it with the Aurora kit and sent me back. Hands free, USB, Bluetooth. Same vintage look and feel, but modern features. I even could plug a sub-woofer (with a pre-amp), but did not installed one yet... These trucks are not very "quiet", so I'm not sure about the result, if it is worth it.

Really not important subject. But funny one. Going through my original 1984 paper sales brochure, I suddenly noticed that there were just TWO pictures showing a Bullnose with an antenna. And only their base... All others and shown without. So, I went to the Forum's library and verified other years brochures. Guess what? 1980 to 1986 are the same... no antennas! I first supposed that, in those far-off times , antennas were considered as very unsightly items. So they were wiped-off the sales pictures. In fact, looking closer at my sales brochure, I read that all radios models (and therefore their antennas) were listed as options. Does this explain the "missing antenna" mystery? But why is there a credit for the "standard AM radio" cancellation? Seems that the AM radio was standard equipment. Here are picts from the '84 brochure.

I like this approach, simple and easy. I'll give a try. My main issue is in winter time, when weather is very cold (let's say below 5°F, often below -5°F). Batteries suffer of that, one minute cranking can low them drastically. Have similar issue with my AVTs, as if mixture can't be enough rich for too cold air. They just don't start before the battery dies. Summer time is different, I can crank longer and let the fuel come up, no battery issue. That's why I am looking for an easy method to manually fill the bowls before putting battery and starter at work. Gary's suggestion about a parallel fuel circuit with a small electrical fuel pump could do the job. But little more complicated to install than a syringe. I'll consider that, but not this winter. Block heater (and battery heater pad) help a lot. But the wait for the first spark is still long. Guys, please don't suggest me to insulate and heat my garage. I found it was strategic about the rust (and more economic I admit) to keep Big Bro out of the snow/rain/sun way and at "natural" weather temperatures. The guy has absolutely no rust and I want to keep it that way.

Am I squinting, or this is a crew cab with a 6' bed? If so, this truck was 30 years ahead of its time. I feel that vast majority of today's trucks are crew cabs + 6'. But in the 80's, were there such crew cabs? Was this one a very special frame?

Gentlemen, thanks for your advices! Moving the carb bowl filling question to a separate topic. Curious about your experiences with mechanical fuel pump and dry bowls. https://forum.garysgaragemahal.com/Filling-dry-carburetor-bowl-tp130566.html

Gentlemen, I am on the route to solve my problem. Recap.: - I use my truck (Big Brother) one or two times a month. A little more in summer time, but not so much. - The engine (351W) is equipped with a 4V Holley and a mechanical fuel pump (which I don't want to modify). - Carburetor tends to dry between each use. - Until now, was cranking the engine and "pumping" furiously the pedal until getting a start. - Jim mentioned he uses a syringe to pre-fill his carb, through the primary vent tube. - I feel that pre-filling my carb after a long-term inactivity would result in a "softer" and les "agressive" starting process for various parts (battery, starter, etc). So, I am willing to give a try for this starting method. I am wondering about your various experiences about filling a dry carburetor. - How do you proceed? - How much fuel do you fill? For the moment, I plan to use a squeeze bottle or a syringe to pour some fresh fuel into the primary bowl vent hole. Thanks for sharing your advices!

For the VCL itself, their site indicates 40$. But you need to already have your truck information. If like me you lost everything, you'll have to climb in their report type (and cost), in order to pay them to make all the required research.

Matt, you're absolutely right. Pumping the pedal is not the correct word, pardon my poor English. There is certainly another way to describe this furious pedal movement. What I mean is, if I don't "force" the fuel into the carb with pedal «pumping», the engine will take much longer to start. I suppose that the "rhythm" of the fuel pump is constant, feeding the carb with a regular fuel flow. But I cannot just leave the carb alone for "pushing" fuel into the mixture. Well, I cannot explain why, but not touching the pedal while waiting for the start is really not the same as "pumping" it.

Matt, I received my Marti report today. Take a look at this post: https://forum.garysgaragemahal.com/VCL-Vehicle-Certification-Label-aka-Door-jamb-sticker-or-Door-Tag-tp123238p130532.html

Finally, received today the "report" and the door VCL sticker! What a surprise! I was waiting for a «report», a paper document, kind of. Well, when Marti say Deluxe, they mean Deluxe. I received a very professional certificate... in a frame. Wow! And my VCL is complete, no missing data, as a genuine new one! Was costly, took a lot of time, had to be very patient, but it was worth the wait, really.

Jim (and others), I posted a movie on YouTube: https://youtu.be/yEoUzQ9IO5s Was cold (really) this morning (-6ºF / -21ºC), so I decided to make a "hard" test. No block heater, no battery heater. Just the battery maintainer was plugged. Usually during winter, I plug the block heater overnight before using Big Bro. And when very cold, I add the battery heating blanket. But I wanted this morning test to be very difficult. Remember that Big Bro starts one or two times a month. As you'll see in the movie: - Big Bro needs its carb bowl to fill. - The colder is the weather, the more I need to pump before getting a first spark. Much easier in summer. - If I do not pump the pedal (letting the mechanical pump to do its job), it gets much longer to get the fist spark. - I stop pumping at the second I feel the engine wants to start. I am wondering how I could fill the carb bowls without pumping. Jim, you mentioned the use of a syringe. Where do you inject the fuel? Possible to have a pict about this method? Thanks!

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Nice looking truck Yuri!

martiauto.com (Marti Report) does it. I remember I found some others who reproduce it too, lost their name. But Marti can «reproduce» a lost one, recreating it from scratch. But frankly I begin doubting about Marti. I am still waiting for my door sticker since months and months. I received my report, but the sticker is still missing. They say "working on it"...

You're right, and for what I know, Canadian stickers are red and US ones are blue. Just curious that the speedo shows Km/h scale. I didn't know that US trucks were showing the KM/h scale too.

Cool! Leaves in the trees all year long in Tennessee? That's a chance! I see that you have a km/h speedo. I suppose this is a Canadian born truck?

Bought mine at LMC. They have couple of styles, they also sell parts to repair seats.

Very nice! Viva Tu Tone!

Pete, is this what you're looking for. Seen it on LMC's site.

Gary, when I discovered this "cut plate" on my new carb, I thought about this little opening gap required when adjusting a "normal" carb, and was wondering if Holley made this "cut plate" to avoid owners to have to deal with, and simply have a full closing flap. And potentially drop a 1/16" drill bit in the intake while adjusting... More seriously, I find this cut much wider than the usual 1/16" opening. That's why I was wondering about a too lean mixture on very cold start conditions.

I love dad jokes! But I am the only one at home, really don't see why...