Gary Lewis

Good one, Ray. There's still another mistake in the article. Anyone?

That's one of the issues. 460 wasn't used then, and never made it into a Bronco from the factory. In fact, the 400 doesn't appear to have either.

Are you talking about the AD saying that's the 1980 body style? Or are you asking about the TRUCK? Not the truck, but the writeup. You may want to click on the link and go to #14, which is the Bronco one. There are a few more words not shown in the snag above, which say:

That's a nice and simple system. I like it.

I rarely click on the adverts when reading the news, but did this morning to see which ones Popular Mechanics thought were the 51 Coolest Trucks Of All Time. But then I found this. What is wrong with it?

Looking good, Mike. Does the MSD unit have a vacuum connection? And then it provides the ignition advance? Does the distributor still have centrifugal advance in it?

Tom - You are now on the map. And, I know the countryside a bit. Used to have a client in Burlington and have spent many days there. And, skied there as well. Do you happen to know of the Mexican restaurant with the huge assortment of hot sauces in Burlington? I have a story about that place.

Shaun - That's a horrible scenario. A nightmare. Glad you got out. Jim - I think I understand. And I found another illustration that helped from this PDF. But it shows applications rather than sizes. And, I'm guessing those listed bearings are a bit bigger. For instance, the '95 Dana 60 takes a SET38 bearing, and some of those applications take a SET421. At least the number is bigger. If the repair sleeves don't work I guess I can see if I can cross reference some of those bearing part numbers.

I guess I've never seen anything like that. Cool! So when I REALLY get old I can keep on wrenching. I don't think I'm ready for it now, but it is good to know it exists. Thanks!

The auto parts business is not what it was when I was growing up. I knew the people that worked in the local store and they were there for decades. But it is hard to compete with on-line ordering, whether from Amazon, or O'Reilly's. Thanks again.

Yes, that interior looks GREAT! Well done.

Moose - Forgot you work in corporate. I ordered them from that link and they should be at the house on Friday. Thanks! I used to be on a first name basis with all the people in our local store. But the manager left and is now the assistant manager at NAPA, and they've had a revolving door of replacements of managers and helpers. I got lost and don't know who's there now.

Moose - Thanks! Jim - I'm using a digital torque wrench, so no cheater allowed. (But I do have pieces of pipe laying around that do serve as cheaters when I need them.) Speaking of torque, I was a bit blown away with how easy it was to change out the Pitman arm. I got the air impact out 'cause it is supposed to be torqued to 170 - 230 ft-lbs. However, the nut came off pretty easily. Then I put the puller on and used a breakover to tighten it up before using the impact on it - and the Pitman arm moved, long before I got "down on it". So that Pitman arm wasn't fully seated on the splines. But I will assure you this one is ON.

Bill/Jim - Are you talking about the new sealing approach in TSB 91-6-7? I don't see an illustration in it that explains to me how it works? Do you know of something that might? I'm not understanding how it works. But would that be better than a speedi-sleeve? Shaun - You may be right. Perhaps they stuffed that piece inside a seal in the hopes it would help.

Good advice.

I'm in the fuel injection camp, in spite of having cut my teeth on carbs. And that's for two reasons: First, I'm 72.5 and won't be able to work on the trucks in a couple of decades or so. And I want them to continue working when the kids get them. So I'm going with Ford's EEC-V EFI, which has OBD-II, to ensure that mechanics/technicians can plug their scanners in and find the problem. Second, on Big Blue I want to drive the wheels off of him, including up to 8 or 9,000 feet above sea level. And I don't want to have to play with jetting while doing that. EFI is the only thing that will do that and have the engine run well at all altitudes. Having said that, my son and I were talking about the Super Bee the other day and it may wind up being a true Six Pack: (Yes, I know what brand those carbs are.)

Oh yes, I also pulled the F250 Pitman arm, installed the F350's, and torqued the nut to 200 ft-lbs. Somehow I think that much torque used to be easier to generate.

Well, the next question becomes which Pitman arm to use. The one on Big Blue is shown on the top and the one from the '95 F350 is the bottom one: 85/ F250 - - 4/W/D 4600 lb. front axle "From 1/85" E5TZ 3590-C (marked E5TA 3590-BA) 5 1/8" long c/c w/1.4" drop 85/ F350 - - 4/W/D "From 2/85" E5TZ 3590-A (marked E5TA 3590-CA) 6" long c/c w/.7" drop So I called Sky and they said for sure to use the F350 one as it gives a better turning radius due to the length. And with no extra lift on the truck the drop difference won't matter. Then, as I was about to tackle removing the Pitman arm the spring u-bolts came in from Sky. So I diverted to installing them. Here's sort of a before and after. Which do you like best?

Oh! My bad. Sorry, wrong terminology. I don't know about Scottseals, but SKF makes the Speedi-sleeves. The chart below shows the available sizes, and 99275 is the one I think I need. The spindle measures 2.7512" to 2.7518, so I think that's the right one. Unfortunately that one is .781" wide and the spindle measures .700" before it starts tapering up. And the next smaller one at .406" is too narrow. So I may have to machine the back of the spindle slightly to get the speedi-sleeve to go on. Or, I may have to machine the speedi-sleeve off where it overhanges. NAPA has them for $54, and shows the pic on the left, below. But Amazon has the 99275 for $39.20, although it only has the pic on the right, so I doubt they sell many based on the pic 'cause that's only the installation tool. And, while that seems expensive, Torque King appears to be the place to get new spindles as they are having them made, and they are $365/each. So I think I'll order the speedi-sleeves from Amazon - and hope I get more than the installation tool. Any other suggestions?

Well, I guess 6.5 MPG is part of a baseline. And how long are the burnout marks? Yes, the new EFI systems appear to do a very good job of self tuning. So I think this should solve your driveability problems. Hope you'll take lots of pics along the way.

Welcome back, Mike! That's a cool project. Do you have a baseline for MPG, if not acceleration, to compare with the results you get with the EFI?

Ok, here's the extra piece I found that doesn't show in the illustration. I'm wondering if it is the guts from a seal, like the one shown on the left: And here are a couple of shots of the spindle and its groove. Both spindles look like they have the exact same groove, so is there any possibility that it is factory? I've never seen that and can't think of a reason why they'd do that, but both measure 2.742" and the non-grooved surface measures 2.750". Surely it is just worn and needs a speedi-sleeve.

Yep, me too. And while I know you remember it, Scott, there's the forced-parallel switch that allows you to temporarily parallel the batteries if you have the need.

Where's my brain this morning? A couple of other thoughts. First, what did you do before retirement? Just trying to get to know you. Also, we have a member's map (Bullnose Forum/Member's Map in the menu above) and I'd be happy to add you if I had a town in VT. Kinda cool to know where the others are.