Gary Lewis

Gary, I'm glad that you always make that comment. I think about it ALL THE TIME when looking at used trucks. Knowing what I've spent so far on mine, it almost makes me ill when I see a beautiful truck for $10,000 lol. No joke. But,...and the big but is...I never see one that is exactly what I want, or what I would build given the opportunity....and the project IS the destination (Or at least it can be if you're into that). There is some pride in the old saying "Built, not bought". Vernon had $40K into Big Blue. And while it is an F250 I'm turning it into an F350 - much like that one. So even more cost. If I were to buy that F350 I'd pull the red lights and the radios and sorta be back to Square One - for a lot less money than Vernon put into Big Blue, but with essentially all the same bits. No, it wouldn't have new gears in either diff, nor the TrueTracs. But it would have either a D50 or D60 up front instead of the D44.

Yes, sliding something in on a sprayed-in liner isn't easily done. Same with a mat, although the mat can be taken out. Dad had a mat in his truck when I got it, and it had protected the floor fairly well but not perfectly. Lots of things were trapped under it and they'd gotten wet and caused rust. Little spots of rust in many places. And one of the things it trapped was hundreds of .22 shell casings. He and his grandkids had shot out of the bed of the truck for years, and somehow lots of the casings were under the mat, clustered around the wheelwells.

Nice looking truck. And you could not recreate it for the $9400 current bid - assuming you'd want to recreate it. But they have an innovative way of counting transmission speeds - they include reverse! The shift knob clearly shows 1 - 4 and reverse, but in two places they state it is a 5-speed, so.... And, has the winch been removed?

Nice truck, but $17k????? I really, REALLY hope they get it 'cause that would mean our trucks are "coming of age". But, I doubt it. Ya know, we need a "sales historian". Someone that will chart the selling price of these trucks over time. But it would take some thinking about how to go about doing that since location, equipment, and condition all play into the price. However, it would be cool if it could be done. Anyone want to take that role on?

Congrat's!!! Glad you got it figured out, and happy to help. That's what this site is all about - helping others.

Yes, I think your truck had the base level heater and they added the instrument bezel with vents/registers and cut the dash to put the passenger's side registers in. And the fact that your controls are in the pocket ahead of the driver's right knee confirm that as if it had comfort vent they'd have swapped out the controls below the radio. As for the "not replaced" notation, I believe that means that when they ran out there was no replacement part. And I think you are right about the fast idle. Hopefully I can get some time to work through all of this and create a page on it. But it is a very time-consuming thing as it is tedious to look up all of the part numbers to understand what is in those kits. And even then I don't think we'll fully understand what all the "dealer installed" A/C systems were made up of.

Looking good, Cory!

Well keep an eye on those guys, and keep hydrated. Heat stroke (hyperthermia) is no joke! Nice thing about Scouts (and our troop in particular) is that they’re all about outdoor safety and first aid. It’s rare for someone to get in trouble in the heat, and it’s always mild and quickly taken care of when it happens. Fortunately, today went well - they got all the tables built for the camp with no difficulty. Tomorrow we haul them up (that’s where the truck comes in), and once that’s done I’m free to work on my list. Glad it went well. And I'm sure the truck will shine tomorrow.

I had Blue Rhino-lined when I bought him, and love it. Things don’t slide around in it, and it has a lifetime warranty. Big Blue came with an over-the-edge drop-in and I’m not a fan. It holds water in it as there are no drains, and I assume there’s been water under it to rust the bed, though I’ve not dared pull it to see. And, things slide around in it easily.

Nice truck, but..... The verbiage says it is an "Extra cab". What's that? It shows as a regular cab in the pics. And the verbiage is certainly reminiscent of the Very Rear '96 F350 we discussed recently. Yup, both are by the same guy - Robert.

Here's some more. Note that this doesn't say anything about with or without "Comfort Vent" or "Hi-Lo Vent". Does this mean that the dealers/parts managers knew that they'd only fit trucks with the vents in the dash? I think that's the case, meaning that they only fit those with "Comfort Vent" or "Hi-Lo Vent" as there is only one evaporator part number for each application. And there's no plenum replacement in the kit, so it has to use the existing plenum, which is different for the base heater vs the one with vents. Anyway, once we have this hashed, maybe via a new thread, should this be a new page on the web site?

And/or it'll get “Cruiser-Line Ventiports”, which is the official Buick term for their "portholes", like the Jeep Grand Cherokee we saw last night had. Unfortunately it had but three per side, with one of those being turned the wrong-way-'round.

Looks like I'm wrong. Here are the kits for 1980 F-Series trucks. I'll check the other years when I get through playing Zingo with my granddaughter. Note that "Comfort Vent" later appears to have been renamed to "Hi-Lo Vent".

I think the term "dealer installed" is going to be an issue here. That's 'cause there were several, if not many, different kits the dealers could install. But let's start with the various HVAC systems. There were essentially three from the factory: Heat: This had no vents in the dash. Hi-Lo Vent: Also called Deluxe Heat, this had vents/registers in the dash just like the Integral A/C system. Integral A/C: As said, this had vents/registers in the dash from the factory. And as I think someone else said, these registers weren't cut into the raised "bar" in the dash. The bar actually stopped before getting to the register. Now, on to "dealer installed". The factory had a kit to be installed by the dealers, but I believe this kit only fit trucks that had the Hi-Lo Vent HVAC system. That's because it already had the necessary plenum under the hood to take the evap core. But, there were many other sources of A/C kits available to the dealers. Some were stand-alone with vents below the dash. Some had vents that were to be installed into holes cut into the dash - in the "bar" that was previously mentioned. Again, there's a strong "I think" in this. And, as yet, I can't prove it via the catalog. So don't take this as gospel.

Man, what a mess. But with your ingenuity it looks like you are going to make it even better than "new". As for the wing nuts, bolts, etc, decades ago I started buying twice what I thought was needed for any given project. I even saved all the extras that came with "kits" like yours. And now I have a nice supply of nuts and bolts to which I can turn to complete a project. Anyway, take care in the heat. As Jim told Matthew, heat stroke is serious.

I love ticking the boxes to show I've done something, so have a running list on both Dad's truck and Big Blue in the first post of their threads. (It is an embedded Word document, which is lots easier than HTML, although I see you are good at the latter.) And I sometimes cheat a bit by editing the document to split out the thing(s) I just did so's I can tick them off. In other words, if the list originally said "R&R ball joints" and the only thing I got done that day was one of them, then the list would suddenly have entries for both left and right. Not only that, but when I do things that weren't previously on the list they magically appear, only to get ticked off. I think Mick & the boys were missing something when they couldn't get no/any satisfaction. They just didn't know how.

I didn't find that, but I did find that it is "HAVEY DUTY".

https://supermotors.net/getfile/931405/thumbnail/zz18.jpg I think you're talking about the cover that bolts to the front. The later latch (like my '83's above) has an integral shield behind the release lever to prevent the ol' reacharound (unless you know how weak the shield & cover are, and have fingers strong enough to bend them out of the way). Thanks, Steve. Now I know what I'm looking for. Will check Dad's vs Big Blue when I get home.

I agree with Jim - aluminum is much better at heat transfer. But I buy all aluminum radiators if I can get them, not aluminum with a plastic top or bottom tank. And Spectra is pretty much the standard. You can spend a lot more money and get a better radiator, but I don't know that it's worth it.

For me there are two lists: Must Do For This Trip: I usually create a list for any trip of 100ish miles or more and check the truck over. But for a trip as big as Matthew's, or the trip from OK to DE & back with Dad's truck a few years ago, there are many things that need to be done to ensure a safe and enjoyable trip. Want To Do Long Term: This is my "when I get time" list. For instance, I want to get Big Blue painted some year and all the rust fixed. Plus the headliner needs to be recovered and re-installed - with some sound deadening above it.

Nice truck! Wonder what it'll go for?

Good job, David. Dan - We aren't a big forum, but we are family. Happy to help.

Well done, Matthew. By Sept your list will be complete.

In most cases I'm sure you're right. But I've been writing HTML for so long that it's almost second nature for me to insert the tags as I go. Plus, I'd rather not type along, then have to click on the formatting button, then find the item I want, then click to get between the tags, and then click to get outside them... You obviously know more about it than I do. So if you see things we could do better PLEASE tell me.

I can't speak for the earlier trucks but my 2015 truck, Blue, had the IWE's fail very early on, and the truck had never even been in 4wd much less rough conditions. If ever a truck had been babied it was Blue. But when the problem started happening I Googled the symptoms and immediately knew what the problem was. Lots of others had the same symptoms. And when I called and talked to the service department they were quick to say "The IWE's are bad." That soured me on automatic hubs.