BigBrother-84

I am surprising myself to have similar thoughts about Ladies. Getting older, I sometimes look discreet to some beautiful grey heads.

Absolutely! We should put some coins in, for future generations explanation, before there won't be any more in circulation!

I feel I read at my own story... This is the case of almost every job I did on Big Brother. But I have absolutely no regrets! Nice result! Too bad for the bugs, they are now part of your truck.

LOL! I love the dash-speaker-cup-holder! BTW, we often forget that the opened glove box door offers two cup holders... well, truck has to be parked since the moulded flat circles do not "hold" a lot of things.

That's why crew cabs became so popular these days.

Simply amazing, Tobias! And I LOVE the telescopic steering shaft!

Gary, my local junk yard has a weighing station. Today (while buying a radiator) the owner accepted to freely weight Big Brother. Empty truck, fully fueled (curb weight) = 5533 lbs. Note that Big Bro doesn't carry accessories, no A/C, no electrical windows, just one 19 gallons tank, very basic truck.

Wow, love it too! Very nice!

Ok friends, I decided to make a first "cheaper" test. The good side is that all this experiment can be done without stalling Big Brother. I can take my time. Today, I went to my favorite junk yard (easy, it's the only one around that keeps old f-series). Jonathan Labrosse, the owner and a very nice guy, took a long time to dig around his stock, and finally found one 1981 original rad that fits perfectly. The interesting fact, aside it's in pretty good shape and not too expansive (90$ US), is that it is wider (27") than my existing one (21"). I cannot imagine that 6" wider cannot deliver a cooler effect. The downside is that my fan housing covers only 21" wide, so this supplemental 6" of radiator will be cooled only when the truck is moving. Not very satisfying for me. I would prefer that the fan creates an air flow through 100% of the radiator surface. My plan is: 1- Clean it as much as I can, in and out, using any stuff you could suggest me, to make it shine as a new; 2- Make a pressure test on it; 3- If positive test, find a larger fan housing; 4- Buy a new lower coolant hose, since it is longer and has to get around the power steering pump. If it's a fail, I'll step back and go with the new aluminum option, with no regrets.

Right. I didn't have the foresight at the time to remove those lower radiator saddles. When I pulled the whole body off the 1995 F150 I was only concerned with the chassis at the time because I thought I'd just buy the correct radiator for the 1980. Later on, deep into Covid I found out that you couldn't buy the 1980-1984 radiators anymore...they were double the price from a year or before, and they were all out of stock anyway. So I bought a used 1994 rad from a friend and that was all he had left of that truck, so I had to make my own lower saddles. Thanks guys for digging and pointing out relevant information. In all cases, I realize it's going to be quite expansive, especially considering the shipping fees. I'am also contemplating the rebuild solution. A specialized shop in Montreal told me they keep the lateral tanks and put a brand new radiant core, all for 435$ US. It is tempting to go that way, since the result is a "new" rad exactly the same as OEM... Any advice about such rad restoration?

WOW!!! Bob, I am totally astonished! And I admit that, reading at your post, I was wondering about Lesley reaction during this action trip. Reassured by your conclusion!

Sounds more than good! A guy that plans such trip is a guy saying goodbye to Covid, it is reassuring! When I heard about your son's accident, I was so sorry for your father-son trip cancellation. Couple of weeks later, it was one of my sons that had a bad knee accident while doing sport (ultimate frizbee). Soon will have surgery. I thought to myself if it was the karma of "bullnose" dads. Gary, not only you're going to have a nice father-son trip, but do you realize that, all things being equal, you're going to make it in a at least half-million dollars truck!

Sorry Gary, I did't expect to make your pressure raise that much and make you hit the roof that way! I am pretty sure we all find this price completely ridiculous. Buying a real original truck and completely restoring it is much cheaper and results in a true, genuine, authentic good «NOS» truck. LOL!

Hi Gentlemen! I was looking for a long time about a convex passenger side "aero" rounded OEM mirror head. Based on the part table, I was looking for #E5TZ-17723-A. Well, I finally found one on eBay, but part number is E3TZ-17723-A, which is supposed to be the non-convex version. Am I missing something? Maybe in a wrong Ford OEM box? Anyway, I am very happy!

Not cheap... https://carbuzz.com/news/1970-ford-f-250-restomod-packs-coyote-v8-power-and-285000-price-tag

Clean as new!

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Sam Galloway Ford (Fort Myers, FL). They're still in business. Postcard for sale on eBay: https://www.cafr.ebay.ca/itm/384276876970?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=0TENdfUKQe-&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=IndEmVWHQBa&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

I fully agree with Dave. I did the same, keeping everything in the list while striking out the done jobs. It is very rewarding to see all the work that has been accomplished, and not only what's ahead.

Sorry to hear you caught it, Gary. Hopping it wasn't during your last vacations. Seems to me that a hurricane would have be enough for this trip. Take care.

Thanks guys for these advices. Gary, I'm going to read about this 1985-1996 style retrofit less expansive option.

Changed the starter. Had the "hot-core-hard-to-spin" syndrome. One of the fastest and easiest swap to make on these trucks.

Hi Gary, Maybe am I much too enthusiast, but I cannot keep my idea bouncing under my scalp without sharing it. I understand that probably more than 97% of the members are living in Continental US. But looking at the members map, I also see that a huge proportion are based all round and at four corners of USA. In fact, these friends are as far as I am from the Show. Next one will go on 2023... I understand that James Kirk will born 210 years ahead, but some technological tools are already here with us. Is it crazy to imagine that a part of the Show could be streamed over the web? Don't know, maybe the prizes section, couple of minutes this kind. And — why not, let's wander some more! — maybe a kind of Zoom or Teams link that would enable each of us to log in and discuss in a "real" Ford Lounge, for half an hour? Now, let's talk about the date. The US Labor Day is always the same date, no matter if in the week or the weekend. So, if my foolish idea is gaining ground, the Show should be on a weekend, to enable most of us to participate, since couple of "non-US" members are probably working on the Labor Day. OK, the seed is planted, now let's see what will happen. Ciao!

Hi Gentlemen! Last month, Big Brother climbed to the summit of Mont Tremblant ski station. The weather was very good, a nice coloured fall day, fresh temperature. I was little surprised to see that the engine temperature was also climbing with us. I decided to stop on the road side, and the temperature went down rapidly. Frankly, I do not remember when the radiator was changed... Certainly more than 15-20 years. Probably more. Coolant, hoses, radiator cap and thermostat were all changed a month ago. I also put a "flush rad" stuff in the radiator when renewing these items. This fall, I plan to tow my tractor to our chalet for some site works. A 2 hours trip, with some steep hills to climb. Last thing I want is to overheat BigBro's engine and have to call a towing to help us. So I am considering to buy a new radiator. The current radiator is a very basic model, copper and brass 22" x 19.5", no A/C, 351W, T18. I can consider to go aluminium, but I would prefer to not having to mess around with some fitting issues. A simple "plug and play" would be nice. I read across some threads on the Forum and also found some information over the web, but I still have 3 questions not clearly answered: 1- How to tell if my radiator needs to be changed? Does not leak and doesn't look rusty on the outside. Just seems to not enough cooling when BigBro makes some effort. 2- If a new one is needed, how to be sure about the Ford original part number? The table shows 5 numbers for manual transmission. 3- Finally, WHERE to find one? Here in Quebec, seems they are unavailable (NAPA, CarQuest, LKQ, Canadian Tire). On the web, seems so be similar (Rock Auto, Parts Avatar, Speedway). Maybe I am just looking for the wrong part? Thanks for help!

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