Gary Lewis

Good idea, Bill. It was 46 when I got up at 5:30 this morn, but it is 33 now and headed to 15 tonight. And it sleeted a bit ago so my trailer is covered. I sent the weather your way.

TheScatch - Yes, the front-mounted winch with an auxiliary battery works out very well. And I have a connector in the wire run, with a 10' extension using the same connectors, so when I put the winch on the trailer all I have to do is put the extension in and can power the winch that way. Ray - Sounds like a good plan.

Jim - Obviously there's not gonna be any red. A for the dark Ford blue, the block and heads will be that color, so do you also think the valve covers should be? Bill - Yes, and that Silver Lining was what I was thinking about for Big Blue's covers, but wanted to see what others thought. Do you have yours on? If so, remind me how they look with the upper and lower plenum in that color?

To close the loop, I got an email from Scott that said "We bead blast and reuse the OEM VC bolts with copper washers when needed. They seal better than SS bolts." So I'm going to blast the bolts and powder coat them, and if in the two sets of bolts I have I don't have enough of the nylon washers I'll probably use copper ones. Also, Scott said "I buy bulk hardware in SS for assembly." And then later "The 93+ HD water pumps use 5" bolts in several places. I will have to look Monday. I have the list written down and posted in the assembly area." And I'm pretty sure he sent me the 93+ HD water pump. So I'll get the stainless water pump bolts from him, along with the head bolts and the locating dowels. So today I plan to gather the many fasteners, and maybe some other parts, and start media blasting them. Oh yes, and I'll also blast the 2nd valve cover as I'd already done the first. Then I'll have to figure out what color to PC the valve covers, thermostat housing, and all the fasteners. Suggestions?

Glad you stumbled into us.

Sorry for the delayed response. But I think you are stumping us. The compression isn't "bad", it just isn't "good". However, in my estimation a compression test doesn't tell much. A leak-down test will tell a lot more. (I just did a quick search in this thread to see if I've told you about leak-down tests and I didn't find anything to say I have. So if I have please kindly tell me so.) I've had situations where the compression test say all was well but the engine shook badly. Turned out that I had burned valves on cylinders adjacent to each other in the firing order, and it cause the engine to miss quite a bit. So I'd recommend you do a leak-down test. Here's a good discussion of how it works: https://mobiloil.com/en/article/car-maintenance/car-maintenance-archive/how-to-do-a-leakdown-test. Another issue I've seen is that some lobes on the cam were "flat", meaning they'd been damaged and weren't opening the valves as far as they were supposed to be opened. That's a lot harder to find as you have to pull the valve cover and use a dial indicator on each rocker arm to determine valve lift. But that's lots better than pulling the cam and miking each lobe. As for the timing gears, even if the plastic falls off the gears don't usually slip or skip. So I doubt that's your problem as even the absence of the plastic will only retard the timing slightly, and probably not enough to do what you are experiencing.

I think the answer to the fitment question is yes. However, I also believe that the newer MC's ports are reversed from the later MC's ports, so you have to reverse the brake lines. And, from what I've read you will need a fitting to do that. I've not done it yet, but there's quite a discussion about it in this thread starting here. Until I get to it and write the 8-page microanalysis as Jim said, perhaps that one will do you?

That's an interesting tool! Hadn't even heard of that. Cool! If the new hose doesn't help, then it is time to check the vacuum on that new pump as suggested by the TSB.

I'd bet on the ignition switch. It is a common problem this time of year as things start getting cold - and this morning, Randy, it'll be worse with the wind whistling through from Canada. But usually the truck will run although the gauges and blower motor won't come on. However yours is just slightly more badly adjusted or the grease is harder, and it isn't allowing the switch to come back to the Run position fully. One thing you can try instead of bumping the column is to roll the key back a bit farther. But the way to fix it is explained on the Ignition Switch tab here: Documentation/Electrical/Ignition.

Gary, Again you are correct sir. Upon closer inspection after disassembly, the intake gasket was out of place (and probably broken) from the day it was installed. See pics below. I'm not sure if this had anything to do with the issue, the but the gaskets were installed backwards...the side of the gaskets that said "Head Side" were facing the intake. I can't see what that matters though, except the gasket stuck like glue to the cylinder head, and not at all to the intake. The other interesting thing is that the gasket is actually broken...and they're actually both broken. The gaskets have a metal core, and I can't even see how that happened...it's broken at the top of cylinder #3, and also on top of cylinder #6. You can't tear them...I tried. They're thin sheet metal in the middle(core). The only thing I can see is that maybe the gaskets were not sitting correctly when the intake was set into place, and as it was torqued down, it bent the gaskets and broke them? I don't know. Is this what I get for having a shop that builds a lot of BBC's work on my SBF?>..lol. Hard to believe they did such a poor job of the intake install. Breaking the gaskets is hard to do, but I'd guess that they put studs through in the center to hold the gasket and align the manifold, and then they had to press hard to get it down on the ends. And since it was sandwiched between the head and the intake the gasket couldn't fold over so tore. And then to put them on backwards as well. Even lowly Chevys should be treated better than that!

As said on the other thread, you are amazing! That's a lot of work. Hope it resolves the problem.

You are amazing! But what you are going through is one of the reasons I want to convert to the later master cylinder because it has the single cap and, therefore, you can pressurize it much easier. Anyway, I hope it works and solves your problem.

And, I should have told y'all that I added a bunch of part #'s to, naturally, the Part Numbers tab on: Documentation/Emissions/Thermactor Systems.

Just added the 64-page 460 section from the 1995 factory shop manual here: Documentation/Engines/385 Series, then the Instructions tab followed by the 1995 Factory Shop Manual tab. (The other tab is for the section from the 1985 FSM so we'll have both the EFI and carbureted versions.)

A 408 Windsor makes sense in that truck. Good torque and a lot less weight.

Thanks, Scott. Given what I have in this truck (you can see the first post of this thread for more detail), new head bolts aren't that big of a deal. Next question though, do you happen to have the EFI valve cover bolts, the 3" long flange-headed ones w/the nylon washer? If so, let's add them to the "order". And, while I'm on a roll, what about stainless bolts for the water pump? I can get them from Totally Stainless, but if you have them.....

Welcome, Scotty! Glad you joined. We have a member's map (Bullnose Forum/Member's Map in the menu), and I know where Parkland is, so do you want me to put you on the map? Nice truck. But, a 5.8 and you build 7.5's? (I know the 5.8 is much more economical on gas, just giving you a hard time.) Feel free to contribute, start threads, or whatever.

Never doubted you. But didn't realize the level of support he provides. Outstanding! (And, btw, I sent him a link to my previous post. Just want him to know how much he's appreciated.)

Sent Scotty an email at 8:29 this morning, Sunday, and got a response back at 12:10. That's better than 99% of the businesses I've ever dealt with - on a weekday! And to get that kind of response on a Sunday is unheard of. So, when he said he has a bolt kit that he'll drop ship I said "Do it, please!" We will find out what the bolts are and what the price is when he calls for the billing info, but I'll go out of my way to support someone with that kind of service. And, by the way, he said he puts head gaskets on dry.

Getting very hot causes them to fail. So I'd guess something pulled a lot of current. As for a fuse, there's been a lot of debate about that. A fuse usually goes much more quickly than a fuse link. The latter can get very hot before failing, whereas even a slow-blow fuse goes much more quickly. I'd inspect the wiring as best you can, but you know that it happened when you turned on the heat, so that's where I'd start.

Dave - I see three sizes for the shroud. Wouldn't that also mean different sizes for the radiators? What am I missing? 21 35/64 high by 27 37/64 wide 18 11/32 high by 26 31/32 wide 19 11/16 high by 28 27/64 wide

It does not but I am also running LED's and that one could be in 180* out? The light on if the plunger was off center did cross my mind and even thought of shorting the wire out to see if it worked but pressed for time I skipped that. Something else to add to the punch list LOL The only light that comes on is the seat belt light when key first turned. The turn & hi beam lights do work. How could I have missed the brake light? I have to return the booster and the battery for cores and will check if they have a PSI bleeder I can rent if not I will look into making one. I started to years ago but think I can come up with something a little easier to build & use. Thanks Dave ---- On the master, if you have to buy a new one you might consider the later plastic-bodied one. With the single opening you can easily make a pressure bleeder to go right on there.

I'm sorry, I forgot this! But, I've now added 9F287, 9G424, and 9K446 to the part number info. I hope I found everything you need, but if not PLEASE tell me. However, the drawing shows a "9H466" and that number doesn't exist in the catalog. I've added a snippet from the catalog, at the bottom, showing the alphanumeric order from 9B466 to 9H467, and it skips right over 9H466. And here's a snippet from another illustration showing that one of the hoses in that application is a 9B466. I wonder if the "H" in the 9H466 should be a "B"?

I can't see the gasket moving once the intake is torqued down against it. And if it were exhaust I'd say it got worse over time. But I can't see how an intake gasket got worse. The air going in wouldn't have been all that hot nor corrosive, so I think it had to have been there from Day 1. It is such a small leak in the overall scheme of things that it wouldn't make much difference in dyno runs at WOT. But it sure will at idle.

Gary, I'm sure you've heard that saying that goes something like..."If you enjoy what you do, you'll never have to work a day in your life", or something like that? To me it's the same kind of thing...if you enjoy doing a favor for somebody, then it really takes no effort at all. I've gotten a lot out of the forum, so I'll return favors to the members whenever I am able to do so. Darin, great picture! Glad it all worked out OK! Can't wait to see it all finished. Cory - I understand. I, too, enjoy doing favors for others. And it is especially fun to see someone's build from half a world away when that someone has been in your home.