Gary Lewis

Don't have any Deoxit. But as it is a connector, if my efforts don't work I can pull it apart and Deoxit. And I'll know quickly - if the alternator doesn't charge or the voltmeter doesn't work I'll check the connector. On another note, we got word today that our daughter, SiL, and grandtwins are headed back from Nicaragua to Tulsa. The embassies are pulling all non-essential personnel out of foreign countries, and the non-profit our SiL works for follows their lead. Why do I say that here? Because in about two weeks I'm going to have better things to do than to play truck. So, I'm going to be pushing to get this thing to a stopping point. I'm thinking that getting the electrical system as "done" as I can get it is a good stopping point. And to do that I need to: Finish the PDB wiring Install the radiator support Wire up the headlights, which means I need to order in the sockets Run the large yellow wire between the PDB and the driver's side, which means I have to figure out where to put the smart battery isolator Wire up the trailering wire on the driver's side So, I have work to do! But tomorrow we have friends coming over, so not much will get done - if anything. Perhaps I can get the headlight connectors ordered. Any suggestions? (I sent Daniel Stern a note today to see what he has, but he's not yet responded. May just go with the Dorman ones.)

Luckily the terminal came out of the PDB w/o the retaining pin breaking. I think I got about half of the wiring done today. This includes circuits 37 & 38 with their fuse links replaced by fuses, circuits 65 and 654 to the voltmeter, and circuit 904 (the light green/red wire) to the alternator. That wire goes to the Key On relay as well as the alternator itself, and since the charge cable had a connector on it for that wire, I pulled the mating connector off the across-the-radiator harness from the '96 CA-spec 460 and used it. You can see that in bottom-center of the pic. Note that circuits 65, 654, and 904 run through C610, which you can see in the top-center of the pic. However, I cut the large yellow wire for circuit 37 off that connector. Also, C610's blades were tarnished, so I improvised to clean them. (What you can't see is the drill turning that "tool".

I'm crimping to hold the wires in the ferrule long enough to solder them in. But, since I used my ratcheting crimpers meant for that size of wire, it is a good crimp and might be adequate. However, "might" doesn't fit with my plans, so I solder them to ensure they will be good connections.

As Bill knows, the terms "heavy load" and "light load" are subjective, and what is "heavy" for one vehicle and load might be "light" for another. Big Blue, with the 460, 1:1 top gear, and 3.55 rear gears would pull enough vacuum at part throttle when towing my heavy car-hauler trailer with a vehicle on it to ping. I know 'cause I pulled the vacuum advance hose and plugged it and the pinging stopped. But w/o a trailer he didn't ping with the vacuum hooked up. So if your engine pings then do as Bill explained and adjust the vacuum advance. If not, don't worry about it. But, you'll need that exhaust tamed in order to be able to hear the pinging. But younger people and women hear pinging better than men, and especially old men.

Interesting. If I needed a Supercab I'd be considering that one.

It's already at $6000 now, and with no reserve will potentially go higher. My bad. I didn't see it is an auction.

I'm not Bill, but I'm 99% as old as he is () and I sure remember the counter-long set of books. Anyway, glad you found the vacuum leak. And 1 3/4 turns out is pretty good. As for the distributor curve, yes it probably needs to be adjusted. I say "probably" because if you don't have pinging then I'm not sure I'd worry about it. And if you do only when you are under a heavy load, like pulling a trailer, you should be able to fix that by pulling the vacuum advance line and plugging it. This all has to do with the way EGR works. Inert gas from the exhaust is added to the air/fuel mix via the EGR valve during times when you are just cruising, which is usually when you have high vacuum. The inert gas slows the combustion process, so they advance the timing via the vacuum advance in order to compensate. But if you block the EGR plate off there's no inert gas, so the combustion process goes much more rapidly and you can have pinging. So if you have pinging you can do one of several things: Retard the initial timing, but that will hurt your MPG and performance at all times Adjust the vacuum advance. Many of the vacuum advances are adjustable. If yours isn't then one from Crane Cams would solve that problem. Pull the vacuum hose and plug it if the problem is only during times when the engine is under heavy loads.

I don't know anything about them. But if it works it would be extremely helpful to someone running the EEC-IV system.

I missed that, Jim. Glad you caught it. On the BW1345 there wasn't a locating ball I could find. The output yoke captured the drive gear between itself and the bearing's inner race, forcing it to turn. So perhaps the nut on the output yoke is loose?

Came across another single wheel 350 this morning, this one a little closer to you Shaun. This one an '86. https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/134743237955231/ Not a bad truck at all. Shame about the right rear corner.

Yes, it is a very nice truck. But I'm not sure it'll bring $6k. Probably should, but with no flash and no A/C. Sure is clean. Even the calibration label is still on the valve cover. And the seat is amazingly intact. David - Thanks for calling attention to the rear fender flares. I don't like them. I think the aftermarket ones look much more integrated.

Yes, I do believe all of the "splices" were done with pressure welding. And they are NOT coming apart, even 30+ years on. But that's not in my bag of tricks, so I'll both crimp and solder the big wires. One worry I had of using the butt splices was of them folding right in the middle between the two wires if the wires are bent much. But there's a hole in the middle on the ones I'm using and I'm sure with having pre-tinned as well as feeding plenty of solder in through the hole the center is now one solid mass of solder. It isn't going to bend. And I will admit that the wires have solder wicked up them so are stiff. But they will be in a harness with plenty of other wires, will be wrapped with tape, will be covered with convolute, and will be secured to the fender liner. They aren't going to be moving.

At halfish price that's not bad.

Looks great, Scott! Do you have heat shrink around the rods back to about where they'll hit the back of the cubby? That's a great idea. As for all the wiring, that's where things start getting tricky. But it looks like you have that sorted.

The "fuel injected version of a chihuahua barking at you". That's funny! I'm looking forward to the sound of one or two Magnaflows on Big Blue. Haven't decided if I want duals or a large single.

That's well worth the money. Wish I could.

LOL! Mean? Big Blue had glass packs, and he sounded mean - until you put a trailer with a '65 Malibu SS396 behind it. Then he sounded mad! Way too much noise. Everybody w/in a city block turned to look.

Thanks, Bill. Scott - That's an interesting idea! I'll see if I can figure that out tomorrow. It would make sense if the '85 had a 40 amp alternator and the '82 had a 60.

Amen, brother!

Interesting that they want $4.99 for the part and $22.72 for shipping. But even with that shipping it is CHEAP! And it does fit several Spicer rear axles.

E3TZ 6754-D TUBE ASSY. (OIL LEVEL INDICATOR) 83/85 F250/350 - - 420 CID Diesel "Before ser. no. 173532"

E1TZ 13008-A R.H. (Right Hand) 81/86 F-U100/350 81/82 E100/350

I ordered 3A fuses today. Thought that would be more useful than 1A and the wiring is plenty heavy enough to handle that. Another thing I did today was to strip the tape off several harnii so I could get to wires to splice or strip out unneeded wires. Man, that is no fun. Somehow I always seem to be working on the tape that's under another layer. And I got the alternator installed, the PDB mounted temporarily, the charge cable installed, and fuse links L & M cut out and replacement wires spliced in. You can see all of that here, with the splices shown on the right in the big yellow and black/orange wires. Speaking of the big yellow wires, I discovered that there are at least two different sizes of them in our trucks. I have a harness out of 1985 F150 that had a 351W, A/C, power windows and locks, etc. So I pulled it out and thought I'd snag the yellow wire from Ckt 37. But it was smaller than the one in Big Blue. So I moved on to the harness out of Brownie, the 1982 F150 w/a 351 2bbl, A/C, but no power windows or locks. And it had the right size wire. Here's a shot of the two, with the wire from from the '85 on top - it is a #12 wire. And the wire from the '82 is on the bottom and it is a #10. Also, note that the bottom wire is tarnished. That appears to be from being very close the fuse link. I cut farther down the wire and it wasn't tarnished. Apparently the fuse link got hot. And then I found this: As for how I did the splicing, and not to re-open the crimp vs solder debate, I did both. I find that wrapping #10 wires over themselves to create a splice is hard to do and it makes a big lump in the wiring. But I have #10-12 butt crimps, so I stripped the plastic insulation off them, tinned the wires, put them in, crimped them with my HD ratcheting crimpers, then soldered them and put the adhesive-lined heat shrink on them. Here's a shot of a crimped butt connector: Here's the soldered crimp: And here's the heat-shrink applied:

Is that between 39 and 41? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fawlty_Towers