Gary Lewis

Or, better yet, Gary's to-be Arduino that will not only translate Bricknose senders to drive Bullnose gauges, but will also give a digital readout of oil pressure and water temp.

Ok, I'm as thick as two planks, but humour me. You have the Mustang's plate off, right? Why wouldn't you just make a new plate? Or, maybe I'm thinking how I'd do it given the machines I have. So, if you don't have the machinery to do that, perhaps that's why?

Yeah, my VW's have all run right on 90C, so I'm used to seeing that number fixed on my screen;). I thought temperature was indicated by N O R M A L.

Ahhh! Got it. Haven't welded much stainless, but did buy a bunch of school cafeteria sinks and counters when I was building the shop. Have used it in the shop, but had to reconfigure. Scott came over and told me what gas I needed, sold it to me, and showed me how to weld with it. I got the counters/sinks in and haven't welded stainless since.

Cory - Ok, I understand on the conduits. As for metric, I'm poor at conversion. I can do the math, but I can't think or imagine in metric. On temps, when we lived in the UK I got pretty good at "imagining" in C, and pretty quick on converting. But I can still do it. In fact, I did the other day driving the GLK. On our long trip I realized that the temp gauge sits at 90 all the time. Hmmm, 90/5 = 18. 18 x 9 = 162. 162 + 32 = 194. YIPES! This thing is must be running a 195 degree 'stat, and that gauge is accurate!

Jim - What are you saying about "back purge"? That it is necessary when going from one gas to another? I had't heard that. Please tell me more.

Pretty! But not wide enough for Big Blue, and probably aren't a good choice for rough country.

RTV on cork gaskets is quite slippery. My father would have said "Like snot on a glass doorknob." So you are right to let it set up. Anyway, congrat's! I'll bet you are gonna be happy!

Gary, These conduits arrived today, and they are indeed smaller than the ones I already have. These appears to be meant for holes sizes 1.5" and 2", with the 2" being the door side (I think). I just glanced at the inside of my new door, and it looked to have approx a 2" hole in it... Cory - I've slept since we had the discussion, but are you saying these are or aren't the right sized conduits? I think you said they are, but just want to make sure I understand.

That's a BIG box! Lots of goodies inside.

Hope you get caught up and get to work on the truck.

Keep us posted.

Yes, it happened to arrive. But did it happen to get installed today?

That might be it! I get 1.628" on the little bit of threads that protrude from the nut.

I see what you mean. The plate on my unit is flat, with no angle. Should be easy enough to make out of plate. But, I don't see a good way of getting the nut off on mine. I took off the snap ring, but don't have a socket big enough for that nut. And my adjustable wrench can't get around the studs. I'm assuming you tried a thread pitch gauge to discover the thread pitch. My metric one doesn't do anything but 1/2 mm steps, so wouldn't do 1.6 mm. However, everything on my unit that I've measured is SAE, so might that nut be? 1.6mm is really close to 16 turns/inch, which is a favourite for our nuts.

Their mother.....nuff said. So, you still have yours as well?

Where did they get that? My father would have said "They didn't get it from me - I still have mine."

Let's see if this answers the question. Both the studs for the master cylinder/hydroboost interface and the firewall/hydroboost interface are 3/8-16. The measurements are "raw", meaning that they may 2.400" and 3.200", but they are what I got by measuring outside/outside of the studs with my dial calipers and subtracting the measured diameter of a stud.

I think where you have this thread is fine. And on the question of training, I'd vote for a community college. Some of the most fun I've had was taking a community college class on the lathe and then the mill when I was in my 60's. The young pups were just there to get the pre-req, and I was there to LEARN. I'll never forget on the final the instructor said that when you finish the test go out into the shop and work on your project. I got done and everyone else was still working on the test. So I put my first set of answers aside and took it again - with the same results. So I turned it in and went to the shop. And then the instructor came out and said the young pups were not going to like me - he graded on the curve. Pretty soon a younger guy I was friends with came out and asked what my answer was for a certain question. I gave him the answer and he asked how I knew. I told him it was in the book and he said "YOU READ THE BOOK!!!" I didn't have the heart to tell him that I skimmed it the first night I got it, then read it cover-to-cover before the class started, and then read each section and took the quiz as we came to it. As for the welder, I can't speak to the TIG aspect, but can to the MIG. It is far easier to MIG than use a stick welder IMHO. In fact, it is pretty easy to do, but perhaps that's cause I have a bit of experience and some understanding of when I'm not getting penetration. But, I still don't do a good job in many cases, as member Scott/WelderScott has pointed out a few times. Speaking of Scott, he says I need a TIG. He owns Victor Welding in Tulsa, which is a welding supply house, and is licensed to weld anything, so I suspect he knows what he's talking about. But, not having ever used one I can't speak to that. Speaking of Scott, perhaps I can get him to respond on this thread......

The 1984, 1985, & 1986 dealer facts books have only one entry in the Options/Accessories section for grilles: Grille, Chrome: Brght plating provides a sharp, dressy highlight to the vehicle's appearance. Replaces standard painted grille. Especially attractive with optional trim packages. Standard with XLT trim on Bronco II and Club Wagon. Not available with XLS trim on Bronco II. And they this for Grille Assembly in the Standard Trim Features section: "Light Argent Grille with Bright Grille/Headlight Surround Molding". In fact, the writeups on the XL and XLT packages do not mention the chrome grille as being part of those packages. Further, in the Options section it shows the chrome grilles as "available" for $57. One exception to this is that the chrome grille is included in the Explorer XLT packages, but not the Explorer XL's. Another exception is that the 1986 Optional Equipment Summary says it was included "with the XL Trim on Flareside Regular Cab, DRW Styleside, Crew Cab and XLT Lariat trim". In other words, only those two grilles are mentioned. No Dark Charcoal.

Very true!

Which Coopers do you like? I have the Discoverer S/T Maxx tires and like them. They have an aggressive tread but aren't too noisy. Or, I think they aren't too noisy, but with the headers and glass packs.... I remember that I didn't think Rusty's tires were noisy until I replaced the flatulent Flushmaster with a Magnaflow and suddenly discovered the tires were singing, loudly.

Ok, the list of pre-work things is growing - after finishing this cuppa and having another. I think it is:

What were they thinking (other than "this plate is rotted through, and I'm not waiting til tomorrow to put it back together")? There's just no way a centrifugal pump can work efficiently with THAT much side clearance, and 0.080" of RTV isn't winning any prize either. Thinking? I don't believe they were. At least not well. As you'll see, Big Blue is sporting an Edelbrock water pump, and I'm hoping theirs a plate behind it. However, Florida Man put it on, so.....

Oh. Ok. And, speaking of that, it just thundered here. Radar shows it passing us by a mile to the north. As usual.