Gary Lewis

It is a steal @ $1000 for just the tranny alone. I paid $2400 for my E4OD, although it was seriously upgraded and has a very stout torque converter with it. If it does it at the same place each time, perhaps it is at the same point in the warm up of the engine or transmission? IOW, he gets to the same place from a cold start on his way to or from work and it hiccups? Or maybe the frame twists due to a weird angle of the road and a connection lets go? On the OD button, I'm hoping to use a later shift lever with the OD button in it when I do Dad's truck. Somehow incorporate the later shift lever in the Bullnose shifter?

This reminds me that I need to get back w/the gal that runs the nearby salvage and see when I can go over and look for parts. Would like to pick up some of those strikers. Brandon - Plans for Saturday?

Sounds like you can even drive it home, right? Should be easy. And having a complete vehicle sitting there with all the goodies should make the swap much easier.

I actually have an '87 EVTM. I don't know who gave it to me, but someone did. I've not started adding anything from it to the documentation side, but could scan something in for a post. I, too, run along the wires and see where they go, but had never realized I'm playing electron. Cool! But I don't know if conductive defroster repair 'nailpolish' will fix the flex.

Yes, it is Shaun. Nice truck. I hope they get that much money for it, but I doubt it. On the A/C controls, it sure seems like they could have laid them out better. They look cramped and hard to tell which is which.

Thank Bruno! I think guys have had pretty good success with the PEX replacements, and that was with cutting them to fit. The way Bruno has them installed, they'll last a long long time. Our page @ Documentation/Interior/Doors/Door Locks shows an illustration that says the striker is #22008, which in the Text side of the catalog 22008 is a Plate (Door Latch Striker). And while the info below wasn't on our page there it is now. However, note that it says all of our trucks, from 1980 through 1989 took part # E9AZ 5422008-A, as did the E-Series vans. (None of the other vehicles in the list use that part so I didn't include them.) But that part was designed in 1989 given the "E9", and clearly anything earlier didn't come with it. So there must have been several iterations of the design. Probably one with an E0 part number, then one with an E6 part number that added the shield that Shaun's has. But, apparently everything got replaced by the E9 part number as it was thought to be a superior design.

Being the electrons would be handy. At least you could report back on which way they flow. Hard to understand how you could lose individual lights/circuits unless they are breaking in the flex. But then I'm not au fait with the '87 and later dash wiring, so don't really know.

555 and a pot is exactly what I would have done. I even have a pretty nice battery charger using a 555. Loved them.

So we need to go with the later striker that comes out?

The Bullnose trucks don't have that guard, although installing the later striker with the guard is a good upgrade.

Ok, I see what you are saying.

I should have thought of that as I put LED's in the turn signals and they didn't work. Glad you figured it out.

How about locking out the overdrive to see what happens. And if that doesn't change anything then maybe put a light across the solenoid and extend the wires up into the cab to see if the light flickers when that happens.

Good job, Branden! But two questions: First, do you know the size of the PEX you used? Second, any chance it could be put on while the striker is still on the truck?

Gary, Yessir, the 347 is one of the common 302 stroker kits, as is the 331 (I think), and I believe one other size. Somebody commented on one of the other forums one time that Ford made a factory stroker kit for the 302, it's called the 351 Windsor...lol. I guess it depends on the situation, and availability of a good 351 block/rotating assembly. I think a a 302 stroker kit is a couple grand isn't it? If you do that, then nothing else has to change. If you swap in a 351w, you'll need a new intake manifold for sure, and headers...or exhaust modifications to make the 302 headers work. Different flywheel or ring gear, as well as some accessory brackets, etc. Being a guy that spent a bunch of money on a 302 (and wishes he had a 351), I know this situation all too well. However, hindsight is 20/20 isn't it? We'll see how I feel after I get mine working better (like the way it should have been). If I could do it all again (and I might someday) I think one of the very late (1994/1996?) 351 Windsor roller block engines would make a lovely SBF for a light little Bullnose. They're a bit scarce though...kinda like finding a ZF5 trans with the small block bolt pattern. Cory - I don't blame you for building up the 302. It is the idea of stroking the 302 into almost as big as the 351W that seems crazy to me. Surely it is less expensive to go with a 351W. Yes, you need a new intake, but you are probably going from a 2bbl 302 to a 4bbl anyway. And yes, you need slightly different exhaust 'cause the V is wider. But otherwise.... But there are other things to consider. By stroking the 302 to 347 you change the rod ratio. There's a lot of discussion about that, but you can read a bit about that here: https://www.enginebuildermag.com/2016/08/understanding-rod-ratios/.

No prob, Jim. Rattle cans work, and I'll probably use two of them on the block, heads, timing cover, and water pump.

I made a simple one by taking the porcelain out of a plug, tapping the hole through the middle, and running a carriage bolt in it along with a lock nut. It isn't fancy but it works. So I'd go with the simple one. Yes, you have to rotate the engine back and forth and find the mid-point for TDC, but it isn't difficult.

Yes, it is looking good, in spite of the slightly different blues. I don't think there were three blues. But I do think that different companies have slightly different colors for the same paint.

A couple of things to report today. First about the head bolts. I had re-torqued about four of them using copious engine oil on most of the threads when Brandon/Bruno2 called. In the midst of the call he mentioned using ARP's grease on head bolts, and that reminded me that I had some of that grease left over. So I decided to do a test of oil vs ARP's grease. The bolts with engine oil had about 2/3 of the threads dipped into 10W30, and some of the oil that was dripping was allowed to drip onto the head where the bolt's flange hits. And those four bolts turned 1/8 to 3/16 of a turn more with this approach than they did with my sparing application of oil. And unlike with just a bit of oil, all of these with in smoothly. So then to the ARP grease. I put the grease down into the first 1/2" of threads and then a bit under the heads of the bolts. And these also went in smoothly and turned 1/8 to 3/16 more to reach 140 lb-ft than they did originally. In other words, I couldn't tell any difference. However, I did check to see how much torque the bolts took to turn down to the original spot when well lubed, and that varied from just over 90 to 120 lb-ft. Then I turned to getting the rest of the parts out to assemble the engine. But, try as I did I couldn't find the timing cover I got from Jim. So I pulled out the list we used, and sure enough there wasn't a timing cover on the list. So I pulled the balancer, "hatchet", and timing cover off of Huck's engine. YUK! Those things were FILTHY! So I ran them through the parts washer, and then media blasted the timing cover and its fasteners as well as the timing pointer. I think they came out well, so now I'm debating how to finish them. I think what I want to do is to PC the timing pointer Silver Lining like the intake and valve covers. And then put the timing cover on w/o the pointer, the water pump on with the stainless bolts, the extra lower plenum and an old pair of valve covers on and paint everything dark Ford blue. Then I'll add the timing pointer and replace the pan Scotty sent with the black one I got off of Huck. In other words, the engine/timing cover/water pump will be blue, the intake and valve covers Silver Lining, and the pan black. Thoughts?

Sounds like the cat(s) is good. Time for the leak-down test. Bad valves or a bad cam can certainly cause rough running. Been there and done both of those.

Yep, my bad - the '95 F350's frame doesn't have krinkles. So it was an under-8500-GVW thing? Meaning the LD F250's might have it and the HD F250's don't?

Note that there are two numbers associated with every Ford part, but neither are "catalog numbers": Part Number: That's what E3TZ 9189-D is. And that's what you'd use to order a part from Ford. But, the part number is never put on the part itself. It is usually on the box though. ID or Engineering Number: This number that is on the part. And in the case of E3TZ 9189-D the ID # is E3TB 9F271-CA, which you can see in the right column. So when you go to the salvage you'll be looking for a part labeled E3TB 9F271-CA.

Maybe so. The '95 frame has it - I think. I'll look in a bit.....

LOL! It took a minute but I got it. Bumper looks good. And I do remember from Huck about all the bolts holding it on. Amazing the difference from the Bullnose and earlier trucks. But you did gain the crush zone.

Very nice! I suppose a "347" is a stroked 302? I don't understand why people do that when building up a 351W would probably be cheaper as you don't need an aftermarket crank or different rods. But, the 302 is smaller on the outside, so maybe that's the issue?