Gary Lewis

Mike - I don't see any reason not to go with a solid window, although I won't as I open mine up from time to time. Are you going with a tinted window? I would as the sun gets hot. As for the gasket, I would call them and ask. The bit about "originally came with a sliding rear window" doesn't make sense to me as the trucks aren't different. So why does it matter what it originally came with?

My 1984 F150 had this same flat bag of white fibrous insulation on the passenger side (basically, on top of the catalytic converter). I certainly don't know what it was, but I threw it out since it was looking pretty ratty at 35 years old. Here's where Big Blue's was. Not sure I'll use it, but I still have it.

Here's a closeup of the pad out of Big Blue. I don't know what asbestos looks like, but this looks like fiberglass to me.

Makes sense. Supposedly that's somewhere around 380 degrees for the majority of the powders, but some flow out a bit lower.

Ok, I'll bite - what's "TG"? As for what I did today, I got the valve covers blasted so they are ready for PC'ing: And, speaking of PC'ing, I did a bit. Here is a before and after:

I wasn't doubting you, Jim.

I feel sorry for Dave. Good guy.

Amen.

Jim - I thought maybe you had Bill's metallics in the rear and were just heating them up. Hopefully they aren't hurt. And, I hope the Motorcrafts are good ones - have the same set awaiting installation, as you know.

I agree with Jim. Whomever is telling you that DS-II is fixed is wrong on that point. Which raises the question of what else he's wrong on? A factory DS-II retards the spark during cranking, and it makes a significant difference. I say "factory" because there are DS-II modules that don't. When I got Big Blue it was hard to turn him over when the engine was hot because it kicked back on the starter. I had another module and swapped it out and it started MUCH easier. Apparently the module on it did not honor the white lead's input. (You can find lots of documentation on the retard feature on the internet, including FTE.) I guess it is possible that the gentleman on FTE didn't mean that DS-II is ALWAYS fixed, so perhaps omitted that bit? Because the DS-II is fixed other than during cranking. As for using a TFI coil on DS-II, if it was a good idea Ford would have done it. They had TFI out while they were still producing DS-II. The TFI coil has a lower impedance than a DS-II coil, so the module has to sink more current to charge it. And that current creates heat, which can damage the module. I would not mix components - Ford designed them and didn't. But, I really don't know much about DS-I, so can't speak to the rest of what he said.

Just saw this on Facebook, shared by Chris McGaugh. What are your thoughts?

Bill - Excellent catch! The way I show it the engine won't fire until you turn the key to Run. I'll fix that and work on that tab later. Thanks.

No prob. I thought you were saying something more was needed. Anyway, let's see what Bill says. If he agrees then I'll do some work in a day or two on using his words to explain how the wiring works on these trucks and what is needed to convert to DS-II.

Bill - Your thoughts, please. They are your words. Jim - Why isn't this schematic from the One Wire tab enough?

Bill/Jim - We may have the right place for it. Please take a look at Documentation/Electrical/Ignition and go to the Ignition Simplification tab. There we have an explanation up top and then two more tabs: DS-II and One Wire. But Bill's explanation doesn't quite fit neatly into the DS-II tab. Instead, I suggest we put the first three paragraphs of Bill's post up top, before the DS-II and One Wire tabs. And then the last paragraph would get split between the two tabs. I think on the DS-II tab we'd need to include the appropriate schematics from the EVTM, which is easily done. And on the One Wire tab Bill's explanation about where to get the switching signal for the relay fits perfectly with the diagram. Thoughts?

That is essentially the Cole Hersee isolator, but with slightly different spec's and a lower price. Go for it.

It isn't the ball joints themselves that adjust, but the bushings or eccentrics Jim mentioned. And the truck had adjustable bushings, but they only had a very limited range. I use Moog's bushings, as shown below, which give the widest range of adjustment I can find. But even then you'll have to do what Jim described to get it properly aligned. The bushing on the top is probably a stock bushing, and the one on the bottom is the Moog fully adjustable one. With the stock one you get two settings. With the bottom one you get 6 on the outer part and something like 25 on the inner.

It seems less utilitarian. Sporty even. And different. I got a good deal on a NOS one and needed a new bumper for Dad's truck, so went for it.

Sorry, missed that one. But it is there now.

Ray - That is interesting! Let us know how it works, please.

Shaun - Maybe you could put a 6.9 or 7.3 IDI in your truck and paint it IH yellow? Jim - Some of the powders come out looking very different from how the raw powder looks. I'm sure some can mix and get something that works, but it didn't work for me.

This is the one I got for Dad's truck:

I have done some blending, but not very successfully. However, Eastwood has come out with a plethora of powders over the last few years, including 3D Shimmering Metallic Flake Cataclysmic Black, and Black Diamond Metallic, and Black Stardust, and Black Chrome. I've not used any of these so can't say what they look like, and the website's pics don't really do much for telling. What did you have in mind?

As for reality (), Scott called today and we got the details worked out on my order and he got it on the way:Head bolts: They aren't ARP's, but they are what he uses and are much less expensiveWater pump bolts: A stainless setHead dowelsAnd then I media-blasted a part or two. These are the ones that will be PC'd black. I'm not sure I'll need all of those, but they were in the bag of parts that supposedly came off Huck. However, I think I may have merged the ones from Huck and the F450 Jim parted out so probably have too many. But, too many is better than too few when assembling things.

John Deere Green? I could, but NO! (I got that powder when I bought the oven and haven't found a use for it, but unless I'm going with a cherry red pair of plenums I think I'll pass on that idea, thank you very much.)