Gary Lewis

Thanks for the suggestions, guys. I think from those ideas there'll be good ways to get rid of the loot.

Thanks for the follow up. Hope it doesn't leak.

No idea what that's called, but I figured out why I never step there - it's got a ball bolted on it so there's not much room to put a big foot like mine. Anyway, I think black will be a good color.

That's creative thinking, Matthew! But that's still one for one, and at that rate I'll have two "things" left. So what do I do with the extra stuff?

Ok, I'm confused. The one you show is for a 1973 - 79 truck. So I looked at the JBG site in the 1980 - 96 section and found what looks to be the same headliner. However, there are two of them: 80-96 Truck ABS Black Headliner With Speakers W/Factory Headliner #37420, and Truck ABS Black Headliner With Speakers WO/Factory Headliner #37425. One to be used with a factory headliner, and one to be used without a factory headliner? And the one to be used with a factory headliner says "Can be used with or without factory headliner." So, I thought I'd look at the pictures. Here they are side-by-side with, supposedly, the 37420 on the left and 37425 on the right. What are the differences?

Yep, I think Jim/ArdWrknTrk was going to go by a place that carries those today and get some pics and measurements. Looks like it might be a viable alternative.

No, I've not heard of anyone taking those rivets out, but I can understand why you'd want to do it. What I don't understand is the question about what color to paint "the step/tongue hole center piece" and the comment about boots. I've not looked at Big Blue's hitch right there lately, but I don't think I ever step there. Powder coat it?

That looks like a LOAD! As for cleaning, I'm in the same boat. My shop is now acceptable, but it won't last as my alter ego will come in and trash it.

I haven't taken anything apart where I used the Dow compound. But, I've used it on several battery cables that I crimped with my 16-ton hydraulic crimper, and those cables have been in service for several years with no problems. And, it doesn't smell like ascetic acid.

I need some help on how to distribute the wealth. The issue is that we will have 5 gift cards, which have a limited life, and three give-aways. But we only have 6 categories/trophies. Here's what we will have: 7 quarts of synthetic oil Lucas Detailing kit 1 Lucas Detailing kit 2 5 $25 gift certificates, 1 from So, what are your thoughts about how to distribute them? The categories are Best Engine; Best Upgrades; People's Favorite; Closest To Stock; Farthest Distance Driven; and Best Paint.

Which "83" Ron?

WOW! And I thought I paid attention to details. No comparison! What I've done on connections like that bolt is to put Dow Corning 4 Electrical Insulating Compound on it. That excludes oxygen and moisture. And then I might coat it with liquid electrical tape. Thoughts?

Wait - I missed the HID upgrade! Tell us more, please!

Crazy things? I hope the end result was good? As for the pulley idea, it doesn't sound like it'll work in your garage. It does take a bit of vertical space to pull it off, literally, and you don't seem to have it. Bummer. On the backfiring, if it is under load then I doubt the idle mix is going to make a difference. The idle screws aren't supposed to change the air/fuel ratio above maybe 1000 - 1200 RPM. In my limited experience a backfire is caused by a very lean air/fuel mix that doesn't truly fire and is still burning when it exits the cylinder. Get a few of those and you do finally get an explosion. So, is your backfire under part throttle or full throttle? I'd guess part throttle, which is when the metering rods are fully down. Maybe you could put a vacuum gauge on and see if the backfire happens at a certain vacuum. If so then maybe you'd want to install a stronger spring under the rods to pop them up at a higher vacuum level. Another thought, assuming the backfire is at part throttle, is to floor it when the backfire occurs. That will pop the rods up and enrichen the mix immediately.

A person on the Nabble support site suggested a new approach and I thought I'd give it a try and pass it on to you. As you'll see in my signature, I have a link in it called "Profile". That takes you to my post in the New Members Start Here folder. That post is ~2 years old and I could update it at any point if I want. The idea is that you can easily find out more about me if you want, just by clicking on the link. So if you want to do it let me give you a tip. As you are editing your signature you'll quickly realize that there's no button to insert a link. The way around that is to play like you are replying to another thread, type in Profile, and then highlight it and insert the link. Copy that code and paste it into your signature. Any thoughts? Questions?

Got the trophies and decided to take a couple of pics of them. Thought you might like to see them:

It comes out from the other side, which shouldn't be flared.

Yes, you've told me before that it is EEC-IV, but I forgot. Sorry. However, if you'd put that in your sig then I should see it before replying next time. Anyway, I do think you should check the timing with the timing light when the computer is controlling it. And, since you have an auto you can put it in gear, chock the wheels, and put the e-brake on and do a load test.

Depends on which system you go with. For Blue I've read several people say 3 hours is all for the install. And $250 gets the kit - without compressor. My theory is that you can always carry an air tank to top them off if you need more air. Or stop at a station. But for Big Blue it may well be much more. I'm thinking of the 5000# system with the Daystar cradles.

Maybe for the drive, but here's our forecast. Granted it is several days away, but last night ABC said we had a 20% chance.

Wouldn't this be a good time to try vacuum timing the engine instead? Regardless of whether his balancer is slipped or not, he could at least getting the engine running the best it can at idle, and proceed from there. Gary, AKA "Gary fellow" I just noticed this! Matthew - Better late than never. Please show your grandmother. And tell your mother I'll catch her, age wise, next June - for a few months. Anyway, yes it might be a good time to set the timing via a vacuum gauge.

Sure looks good! The next to last pic almost looks like you soldered the terminal, which is what I do. But, the ratcheting crimpers can do a really good job. But, for clarification, after you got the several layers of heat-shrink on you put one more on to tie the sleeve to the previous heat-shrink tubing. Right? And, on a different subject, the back of the cab lets in a lot of noise. Are you going to treat it like you did the floor?

I'm not buying that you have a mechanical or a fuel problem if things got worse with a new TPS, and then got "way, way worse" with a power cycle of the ECU. That says "electrical" to me. Neither of those changes would alter either a mechanical or fuel problem, and yet they altered the symptoms. I'd pull the codes now and see what you have. But my worry is that the ECU is bad and, if so, won't tell the truth about codes. Wait - let me rethink this. You have what I think is an EEC-III system. Wikipedia describes the system this way, and while I don't buy everything else they say about the system, I think this is correct for your application: So, I'm guessing that your ignition is "off". Maybe too early. Maybe all over the map. But, it is also very possible that your harmonic balancer has slipped and you are adjusting the timing completely wrong. I'd start by verifying the balancer's mark to TDC. Get a cheap piston stop that goes in the spark plug hole and gently run #1 piston against it and adjust the stop so that you are stopping just a few degrees ahead and behind TDC. True TDC will be half way between the two stops. If that is correct, then put a timing light on it and watch the timing as you rev the engine. Does it stay the same? Does it move smoothly? Is it erratic?

I think I still have a Mark 10. And as you probably remember, Bill, I ran it on the '72 F250 390. You are certainly correct about the oil-on-the-points problem. Ran out of gas in the front tank and switched to the rear tank, but it didn't catch. Long story short, after disassembling the Q-Jet on the side of the road I realized that the points had fouled. Ran a piece of paper through them and off we went.