Gary Lewis

You are now on the map. Doesn't matter that you don't have one. We have several members who don't currently have one, and even one of our admins doesn't. And nobody is going to tell you to go read before asking. That's not what we do. But we might point you to a thread or a page that has the info for which you are looking. On the transmission, for an automatic Ford only put the C6 in a F250HD or 350. In the manuals, the 460 and IDI got the T-19 while the smaller engines got the T-18, neither of which have an OD gear. But, a ZF5 is a popular upgrade, and that gives a lower granny gear as well as an OD top gear.

Scott - I seriously doubt you can get oversized wires through that hard shell, nor two #14's. But I'll check tomorrow. Frank - I doubt this will be a wiring lesson. My plan is to put pigtails on the passenger's side connector and use them to join the run from the PDB to the driver's side. On the driver's side the wires will go directly in. We shall see how that goes.

I think it is bad enough to not need to use the dye and light for 1 of them. It looks to be coming from the lifter cover at the back. I took up on the bolts and hoped it would stop but I checked it after the drive home from work and seen it is still leaking. I installed a new gasket along with the valve & oil pan, so maybe the cover is bent? I also seen the front cross member has oil and some dirt on it so need to look closer at that. If it is the front seal I think I seen the cover has to come off as it comes in from the back side I think? I think the oil from the bell housing is from the lifter cover being blown back as it is above it back there. But when I do the trans swap I can look closer at the rear main but that looked good when I did the other gaskets so did not touch it or front seal. Projects are never done Dave ---- Yes, projects are never really done. Good luck!

I agree, and feel that the RTV would be more than adequate to keep the bearing in place. I think that will work. And, it'll seal between the bearing and the shaft. You might want to pass that suggestion on the manufacturer.

Got the headlight sockets in today, as shown below. I've included a pic of part of the package one of them was wrapped in, but I'm not sure that they actually came out of that package originally. That's because that part number appears to be for a relay socket. And, because the package says "Made in Portugal" and the connectors say "Taiwan". Anyway, it appears that the orange is plastic and apparently the white is ceramic. The terminals are fairly thick, so should hold their tension well. I hope to do that wiring tomorrow, so will show how they go on then.

Keith - Big Blue, which you've seen, handles my car hauler trailer just fine, even though at the time it had a really worn-out 460 in it. The tow ratings for these trucks are in Documentation/Specifications/Towing. And I'd guess that you are talking about a trailer of 2000 - 2500 lbs and a project of 3000 - 5000 lbs. So you could be dragging 5K to 7.5K behind a truck weighing maybe 6K with fuel, tools, people, etc. So, I think you are in the F250 - F350 category. In my opinion, I'd hold out for an '85 or '86 F350. I may be wrong on the '85 F350, but I think it had the D60 solid front axle like the '86 F350 did. I've just converted Big Blue due to the rough ride it had with the TTB & leaf springs as the solid axle with leaf springs is supposed to be significantly better. I don't have it on the road yet, but if I were buying, I'd hold out for the solid front axle. For the engine, I'd opt for the 460, although a lot of guys on here like the IDI. But are you thinking automatic or manual? Also, are you willing to fly to get it and drive it home? I ask because the guys here find all kinds of nice stuff in the Pacific North West at reasonable prices. And from Nebraska it isn't as far as Okiehoma. Speaking of Nebraska, did you see my question about the map?

Ok, today was get-the-radiator-support-in day. And, I'm happy to say that I got it done. But, not w/o some The big issue was where to tighten it down since there is a lot of adjustment available side-to-side. The first thought was that I'd just position it neatly between the two fenders. But then I remembered that the hood hasn't been aligned with the fenders so I thought I'd better do some checking. Looking at the truck I realized that the front fenders curve in but that the bed is straight, so I ran a string down both sides, lightly touching the bed, like this: Then I checked the gap between the fenders and the string and found that the passenger's side was 1" farther in than the driver's side. Given that, I moved the radiator support all the way to the passenger's side and snugged it down. Then I pulled the PS fender in and snugged it down, and the DS fender out and snugged it down. And now there's 1/4" difference, but the hood lines up fairly well. Then there's the question of leveling the radiator support and the fenders. You'll remember that the frame horns had been tweaked, so I didn't trust to measure across them. But the Sky crossmember was dead-on level so I used that as my reference and shimmed the radiator support so that it was level. But, the fenders were still out quite a bit. At this time I don't have the captive nuts on the fender support so can't snug them up when I pull the fenders up or down. But I did that by using the corner brackets that tie the fenders to the radiator support, and have gotten the level as shown below. I'm going to call it a day and go mow, but will check in later to see if anyone has suggestions on how to get things spot-on.

My 3.5L turbo'd six puts out 365 hp and 420 lb-ft of torque. The 1985 7.5L was rated at 245 hp and 380 lb-ft. That's 49% more hp and 11% more torque.

Glad it worked, Dave. As for the oil, if you let it all run out it won't leak any more. Seriously though, how 'bout using the additive and a black light?

Would some of you go check out the way I've done the hyperlinks? There are several options, most of which don't seem to help, but I think this one does. It seems reasonable that you have to click on the blue line. Yes? This is an embedded Microsoft Office PDF, powered by Office.

If it is 3/8", maybe I should do that before installing the starter. I have plenty of inserts after getting them for the alternator.

Probably. I'll mow this afternoon. Does that count?

Ok, I misunderstood.

I've used one of those, but it didn't work very well. Very slow and a pain to install/remove.

When building the engine and going with the 3G et al that will be a good time for the new battery tray. And when you go to the breakers to get one make SURE to get the brace with it. (Don't do as I do.) It is the item on the right, below, and it bolts to the radiator support.

Congrat's! Such a good feeling when a plan works. And David is right about the advance. Dial in as much as you can w/o pinging or kick-back on starting and the MPG will come up some.

I had a dream about this last night. I saw Big Blue from a distance and he was way up in the air. Then, when I got closer, I realized he was sitting on scaffolding, tires dangling in the breeze. No idea why I had that dream, or nightmare, but it sure fit in. Well, Big Blue has been on the lift for quite some time. Sorta - all four tires are touching the ground but I don't take the weight completely off the lift 'cause the lift arms might move. So yes, he's been on the lift for quite some time.

Holding up well, thanks for asking. Staying in and away from everyone, which gives me more "shop" time. As for an '86 version, I'm sure they are out there. But until Clayton sent me this one I didn't even know they existed.

Scott - Those videos really do a good job of showing how well thought out your switches are. Well done! At some point you might consider creating a page showing the plans, schematics, etc all in one go. As for your helper, she is such a beautiful blessing. Please tell her hello from me and I hope to get to see her in September.

Yep, that combo of tranny and gearing is a good one. In fact, I briefly thought of changing Big Blue's rear gearing to that when I got the D60 geared that way. But I liked 1800 RPM better than 2100 RPM at 65, so stayed with the 3.55's. Nice truck. Love the colors.

Keith - Beware the FOG. It is coming in on little cat feet. Flareside Owners Group.

I had a dream about this last night. I saw Big Blue from a distance and he was way up in the air. Then, when I got closer, I realized he was sitting on scaffolding, tires dangling in the breeze. No idea why I had that dream, or nightmare, but it sure fit in.

+3. I've rebuilt many engines, and there's always the worry that you did something wrong in the build that will come back to bite you. If that happens with a long block the warranty kicks in. That ridge reamer may be just that - for taking out the ridges. Do you know if it'll hone the whole cylinder? I know that you want to do this on the cheap. If it was me I'd tally up some of the costs of doing it this way and see how it stacks up to a long block. It might save you some money and a lot of effort, and you'd have a new engine.

I can neither confirm nor deny that Jim has not lost his mind. Seriously though, I do remember the battle. And the cause was hard to fathom 'cause it seemed the starters and the flywheel(s) were perfectly fine - for a while.

Thanks, guys. I was really impressed by the contents and thought we ought to have easy access to them. And individual documents seemed the best way to do that. Glad you agree. I still have a lot of details to work out. For instance, you have to click on the blue of the link rather than the white inside to get the link to work. And I need to include some of what is in each doc in the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) listing for each page so they get found easier. But that scanner zipped through the pages very nicely. This would not have been possible with the old one.