Gary Lewis

That is cool! As you, Shaun, I've seen it in the accessories catalog, but never in person. Someone should buy it and install it.

You've obviously never been to Central, or north western South America. Qui (?) Is quite popular and delicious! Jim - No, I've not been there. Been to Nicaragua where they eat iguanas though. VW - What Erik told me yesterday is that it'll be two weeks to ship the new part, but another week for me to get it here in Okiehoma.

Looks like you are ready to paint! Can't wait for the results.

I think we need to think through how to use the results of a leak-down test. As I'm going through this myself I've been thinking about it a lot, and the conclusion I'm coming to is that if an engine is running seemingly well then I'd leave it. But, if you have it out, like I do with Big Blue's 460, then I'd seriously consider rebuilding it. Had I not already pulled the engine when I ran the test I probably would have at that point since I'm in the midst of a huge rebuild/transformation. But, were I not in this quest I'd probably have left it as it was getting pretty much bog standard carb'd 460 MPG. (IOW, poor.) I say all of that to say that the leak-down test is one tool to use in decision making on an engine. If it is running well and not using an excessive quantity of oil then poor results of the test are an indication that at some point in the future a rebuild will be needed. But if it is dropping a couple of cylinders, as Big Blue was at idle, then the test may tell you how to repair it.

Yes, I agree with both statements. Erik tells me that the frames vary in that area, but all I know is what I'm looking at, and it doesn't quite fit mine. Guinea pigs or pioneers. People don't usually eat guinea pigs, but the pioneers and frontier soldiers did wear arrows from time to time. (Hm, you're a little bit late on that one, charlie. Ooh, I bet that smarts!)

Yep. And I wonder how easy it will be to get one at O'Reilly's.

Ok, Jim. Thanks for checking. I've read that the "good" ones have a very smooth orifice that doesn't induce turbulence. Supposedly some of them, probably like mine, go turbulent at high flows. However, at that point I'm not worried - if there's that much flow then there is a problem and it doesn't really matter how bad the leak is. It is bad.

Never. I just use the plain domain URL, and then browse the threads. Steve - You do know that you can use Topics View and see the latest posts in chrono order. Right?

E3TZ 9A050-AA (marked #E3TB 9A050-AA) mounted in heater control head 83/86 F250/350 - - w/8 cyl. 420 diesel 83/86 F250/350--8 cyl. 460 gas w/electric fuel pump 85 F150/350 — w/dual fuel line system

Cool! Progress is good. But, isn't being a pioneer fun?

Ok, after talking to Erik I got to work with the air chisel, drill, etc and got the passenger's side rear spring hanger off. Boy, that was WORK!, to quote Maynard G. But, it is off w/o damaging the frame nor it, so I'm happy. To install the bracket the instructions say, with the bold emphasis being mine: I drilled the bottom holes 1/2" per the instructions, but couldn't figure out what the "machined bolt" is. And, having slipped the bracket in place and tightened the bottom bolts up I could see that the Sky bracket's holes were about 3/16" too high for the factory holes. In fact, in the pic above you can see where they'd hit if installed as per the instructions as I scribed the holes onto the frame. So I called Erik for the second time today. Turns out the "machined bolt" has the hex trimmed to clear the spring bracket, as shown below. And, while I had him I asked if I can slip a piece of 3/16" stock between bracket and the bottom of the frame to space it down and line the holes up. Yep, so that's my plan. Here's the shot from below showing the machined bolt on the left/front: And, here's the bracket in place w/o the 3/16" spacer. You can see how the holes will line up better with the spacer installed.

Wow! Don't like the language, but I like the engine!!!!

Yep - Worst we could do is to drop a plug and have to go to the parts store. Not even that - I should have two in the spare parts bin that's coming out with me. Sounds like a plan, Stan. When are you getting in again?

Yep - Worst we could do is to drop a plug and have to go to the parts store.

Yep, we could do that.

Erik @ Sky answered "Good morning, Gary." He'd already read the latest post from Friday, and said he's going to have the flanges redesigned and a new one made and shipped to me. That'll take about 3 weeks before I get it. In the meantime I'm taking the rivets out for the rear brackets. Then I'll get the Sky bracket ready to go on. And I'll also order in the u-joints, wheel bearings, seals, etc so I can have the D60 ready when the springs are in. There's a remote chance I'll have the suspension under the front of it so I can roll it out on the 20th and get Dad's truck on the trailer to take to the show. If not, there's always next year.

Do either of you know what size of orifice your tester has? I think mine's got a .040" as that's what I've found is the standard, so surely that's what I put in there. My understanding is that the difference is how sensitive they are. In other words, one with a .040 will make things look worse than one w/a larger orifice.

LOL! You should see it now! It has been wet and I've been slacking, so I've been cutting less often and raising the deck height so I don't have hay. Mowed on Friday and moved the deck to 4". The stuff is lush.

The flywheel in my son's 1984 and the one in my 1986, both, were factory drilled for either the 10" or 11". Both trucks received the 11" LUK clutch kit. The 11" clutch required less pressure [leg] than did the 10" units. The kits only cost ~$35 more [11" vs. 10"]. The mounting bolts are different, but easy to obtain. There was only one manual transmission flywheel from 1980 through at least '89, which is the end of my catalog, as shown here: Engines/Flywheels. And there were both 10" and 11" clutches used during that time, as shown here: Driveline/Clutches & Linkage. So the one flywheel fits both clutch sizes, just as David and Daniel found on their trucks.

YES! That's the explanation I was looking for. The permalink the web browser was given was to the post, assuming you are following a link in an email. But until the picture gets loaded it won't go to the post. So, on slow ISP's you get stuck looking at the top of the picture for a while. If I downsize the picture it'll load faster. I'll try that in a bit and let's see if it helps. Ok, let's see if this makes a difference. I downsized the file from 1 Mb to 236 Kb. Please let me know if it loads faster. And, if the quality is acceptable.

Bill - Big Blue has the same insulation, as shown below. But, not all Bullnose trucks got that. And more of it can make a big difference. So, as I hope to spend many hours in BB's cab I'll be adding more.

Yes, Bill for the win! I like the idea of the 32/36 DGEV's, but they are pricey. So the Holley/Webers would be a good option as they should be available from a salvage. But, as Bill said previously, get several of them to have parts.

YES! That's the explanation I was looking for. The permalink the web browser was given was to the post, assuming you are following a link in an email. But until the picture gets loaded it won't go to the post. So, on slow ISP's you get stuck looking at the top of the picture for a while. If I downsize the picture it'll load faster. I'll try that in a bit and let's see if it helps.