Gary Lewis

Jim - You really were productive! Well done. As for the rubber boot, that was exactly the situation when I got Big Blue. The real level was so low the system had sucked air in and the clutch quit working. And you are right about the bolt.

Right, I hadn't heard of Mustang II front ends being used on trucks.

Yes, it is. Good catch. However, there are no gaskets or o-rings on anything, so that's just a mock-up.

Yes, if the master is leaking then it is failing and needs to be replaced. And if the fluid got low enough to allow air in then you'll have problems even if you've refilled the master. And heed Jim's suggestion as well.

Oooh, purdy! Thanks, David. Got the head bolts, water pump bolts, and dowels in today. So I installed the heads. I'd like to say that it went "smoothly", but that wasn't the case. I lubed the threads of the bolts and under the heads sparingly with engine oil, but some of them jerked/cracked loudly as I tightened them down. So I asked Scott and he said I probably just didn't have enough oil on them and that I should mark where they are, take them out one at a time, re-lube, and put them back to 140 lb-ft. And then check to see if they turned a bit more. Anyway, here's what that looks like: Also, I ran the test of the push rods that Scott suggested. Pretty much as he predicted - from the point where all slack was out of the mechanism the intake on #1 took 1 3/16's turns to bottom the rocker stand in the head's slot, and the exhaust took 7/8's turn. So he's sending me the 8.550" push rods and a shim kit. With that I'll test each push rod and shim so that I have 1/4 to 1/2 turn on the bolt before the rocker stand seats in the head. That will give the ideal pre-load. I also asked about checking for the proper contact between the rocker and valve tip. He said that with bolt-down rockers it is what it is. But, by setting the pre-load we are ensuring that we have the proper contact. And, I "assembled" the engine a bit farther, just seeing how it might look. You'll have to imagine the block and heads being blue, but what'cha think?

Welcome to the world of driving a carbureted vehicle. Pressing the accelerator at least part way down before starting a cold vehicle is a requirement. That does two things: first, it allows the choke to set, and the choke is needed to enrichen the air fuel mix. Second, it squirts a jet of fuel into the intake that also helps to enrichen the mix. But if your engine doesn't stay running the choke probably isn't set quite right. There should be three screws that can be loosened, not removed, holding the black choke housing to the carb. Once those are loose you can rotate the housing slightly, maybe one mark, toward the rich side. Then snug the screws down again. However, you may be able to keep the engine running when it initially starts by giving the accelerator a few extra stabs, thereby squirting more fuel in. Go gently as you might get too much and flood the engine.

Care to expand? I'm kinda clueless on this one. I wish I could, but I didn't quiz him as to what I he does on the 300. Maybe you can call/email and ask him? His intro is here in the New Members Start Here folder with his contact info. Having said that, he has quite a bit of experience with the EEC-IV EFI systems. For instance, my 460 build is said to be "SD friendly". So perhaps he knows how far he can push the 300 and keep the speed density system happy?

Could be, that seems like it would be a pretty easy fix. Would also be worth noting per the post the odometer is reading around 400k miles, no idea if it is the original engine or if it has or has not been rebuilt in the past. The owner is the Men's/Women's rifle coach at The Citadel, given the paint scheme of white with blue stripes, I think until now this was a used to ferry groups of Cadets to and from rifle matches for the last 24 years. Point being before it gets swapped into my truck we are also looking at a rebuild or using the block as a core swap for a reman like this XP1: https://spprecision.com/products/ford-49-300-inline-6-long-block-crate-engine-sale.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIkpeBrJDq5QIVjh6tBh219wWXEAQYAiABEgIE7_D_BwE What made me consider it not being a misfire, in addition to it happened after they put a new transmission in and GM just had an issue quite similar that plague a few of my friends Silverado's, the torque converter needed a different kind of fluid in it, or it caused what was felt like a random misfire. And, if I remember correctly Honda had something like that. Wrong fluid caused problems. By the way, Scotty told me yesterday that they do a build on the 300.

The 5.0L that it has isn't strong on torque, and the 5.8L is better. So if you want to do much towing of anything more than a really light trailer the 5.0L might prove to be a problem. In addition, it has the AOD, which also limits its towing capacity. So this would be a good "running around" truck. It'll get good MPG for a truck of the age. But it isn't set up for towing very much.

Gary, your test user account is active.... Not any more. Fixed it. But thanks.

Nice truck! Wonder what it'll go for? I'll guess $6k. Would be higher w/a 5.8L.

I'm going to have to look at schematics for both the van and the truck to give a solid answer on that one, but my intuition is telling me to convert to run fuse blocks/ the PDB. Will be a cleaner installation, easier to work with and trouble shoot in the long run as it puts everything in one convenient spot. I'm sure I can figure out a location or custom box for the ECU. I dont't know how big or small it is but when we can cross that bridge when we get there. I am not using the center dash speaker...maybe that will be a suitable location IDK. Back on the "random miss fire" issue with the van. The owner says it cropped up after they did a new transmission. They have also replaced the starter, distributor, and ECU after the fact. I'm curious if it is not a misfire, but something that feels like a miss fire from the transmission side, like the torque converter slipping or something in the transmission causing the engine to get a sudden load that feels like a misfire. My trouble shooting side always defaults to the last thing someone messed with prior to the issue arising. If the torque converter unlocked and re-locked it would give a shock that might be thought to be a misfire. So a bad wire/connection?

Yes, I heard that Optima went down hill, badly. But don't have any experience with them. Big Blue came with a huge Odyssey Extreme in the starting spot, and when I added the auxiliary battery I bought another Odyssey Extreme, although smaller, to match. They've served quite well.

I don't think I'm confused. More curious. So, if the first digit is the model year code then it uses this table? But, help me understand the "vehicle model line". Previous to that change the first character of the part number followed this table for the 3rd digit, with "T" being light truck and "E" being the vans. So what table do they now use?

We aren't used to the cold, yet. Happened way too early this year. And that's just in the house! Don't want to think about working outside. I haven't broken my hands, nor anything else but my heel, but I have abused them and they are starting to tell me about it. So broken hands and cold weather don't sound like fun. On the rockers & rollers, that makes sense. I have the conventional rockers - Bill has the rollers.

You mentioned wiring or electrical issues in doing the swap, and I probably made it sound easy. And it really will be. But, what you'll be doing is something I'm getting ready to do, and Bill's already done. Here are a couple of things to think about. First is the location of the ECU. In the van it is probably where it is in the later pickups - in the kick panel area outboard of the emergency brake pedal. Steve83 had some info on how he did it, and Bill has done it as well. But it takes a bit of ingenuity as there apparently isn't initially room for the ECU w/o making some changes. Second, you'll be marrying two very different electrical strategies and you'll have to decide how you want to do that. Your pickup has fusible links running from the starter relay back to the ignition switch or fuse block. But the van probably has a power distribution box on the driver's fender with fuses and relays in it, as well as a smaller fuse block in the cab. I think you'll need the PDB as some of those fuses and relays are used in the EEC system. So the question becomes how to marry the two electrical systems. My plan is to bring the long power feeds to the ignition switch and fuse block from the starter relay to the PDB, which will be much closer. And I plan to use some of the fuses in the PDB to replace the fusible links. But I've not done it yet, so can't tell you how hard nor effective it'll be. However, you are the electrical guru, so how would you do it? And, by the way, I may have the wiring schematics for you in my '96 EVTM - I'll look in a bit.

My only experience with a 454 was in a Class A RV I had, that thing got 10MPG no matter what, up hill down hill sideways, 45mph 70mph. Had it inspected before driving from WA to TX thinking it had a head gasket leak, mech said it was all good. He was wrong, started having some over heat issues tried to push through (was on a deadline to reach TX). About 20 minutes from the TX Border lost all power, coolant flooded the cylinders and locked up the engine, sheared the crankshaft. That's how you get a $400 tow bill and a boat anchor. With regard to "discuss", I'm not sure I agree that "People just aren't willing to do that anymore, its either attack or be attacked mindsets." But I do agree that some people aren't willing to do that. And that's a huge shame. It shuts down others that are willing to discuss and makes people afraid to say anything. That's NOT what we are about here. As for the 454, that's a real bummer. An expensive situation, all the way around.

I've done it on vehicles that just had a bad hose. It can be done.

That is a cool kit! If I had the display space it would make a great addition, but I don't. And I'm spending big $'s on BB right now, with more to come. But that is both functional as well as cool. As for the Sun machine, I'd love to have one of those also. But they take up LOTS of space in comparison to the Cal Tune kit, and I'm out of space.

Frank - I like the wagon wheels. Dad's truck came with them, but only 6" wide. The wider ones are harder to find, but worth the wait. Good luck! Jim - If I remember correctly the way to check the pattern is to mark/blue the tip of the valve stem and the rocker, assemble, and then turn the engine over a couple of turns and read the shiny spots. Right? On the cold, I can't imagine what it is up there. Its way too cold to be doing much out down here, and we are much farther south.

Bill - In spite of having "Racing" in its name that one is roughly the same price, so I'd bet you are right. Same plant and same part. Jim - Yes, the design is decades old. But it amazes me that people don't realize the need. I googled that part number and there are tons of stories out there about people having trouble with their engine overheating, only to discover that plate isn't there. And others breaking the A/C bracket because they left it out. And yes, my portion of the Giving Truck's parts are starting to be used. Those valve covers took a bit of sanding as there was some surface corrosion that I feared would show up in the finish. But I think they look GOOD!

Good luck!

If you look at our page here: Documentation/Driveline/Brakes and then the Master Cylinders & Boosters tab and then the Part Numbers tab you'll find the table below, which shows that an 84-86 F250 above 8500 GVWR takes E4TZ 2005-B. And if you look a bit farther down you'll see that an 84 - 86 F350 also takes E4TZ 2005-B. So, in my book the only catalog that counts, Ford's Master Parts Catalog, says it is compatible.

Interesting. Looking at the pics of the Ford Racing one vs the Ford one they look the same. And the prices are pretty much the same as well.

Yes, it should. And the charge cable.