Gary Lewis

Wow!

Jim - Makes sense. And, while Parkerizing is fairly easy from what I've read, what I think I'll do is to give them a phosphate coating and then powder coat them on top of that. The phosphate tightly bonds to the iron and gives powder more tooth, or surface area, to grab. My grandtwins are here and I'm spending time with them. But this afternoon they were playing outside so I slipped out to the shop for a few minutes. Another 20 minutes in the blast cabinet got the one that I'd started on to the point shown below. It think it is ready for the phosphate spray.

Steve - I have several bags of crushed glass media, so need to use that before changing. But, I probably do need to dump what I have and add some new. Might do that before I blast anything else. But, I will say that the glass has REALLY cut down on the dust over the coal slag. As for plating, I want to use the calipers I have given how good they are in the bores. But I do have some epoxy powder that I might use instead of the polyester. It doesn't have as much UV stability, but there's not much UV behind solid wheels. Jim - Plating sounds like a lot of work with chemicals I don't have. Think I'll stick to powder.

It is going to look GREAT!!!!

Wow, prices ranging from $130 to $400!?

Looks good, ETM! Nice looking truck.

Wow! $2 for one and $5 for a pair is excellent! Unfortunately the shipping on the pair is $14, but that's still a very good price for a new pair.

Sorry, but that's for an R or B-Series truck, not an F or U.

Heh, thanks. I really don't have a lot of time between work and school, but right now I have a burst of motivation so I'm making the most of it. Besides, aside from the emergency repair back in January(?) when the squirrels ate the fuel line, it's been nearly two years since I've done much to the truck aside from drive it. If I'm going to make it to Gary's shindig in September, though, there's a lot more I want to do before hitting the road - new U-joints, transmission fluid change, rear diff oil change (it's possible that's still the factory oil in there), engine oil change, coolant change, carb cleaning/rebuild, new plugs/wires/cap/rotor, new speedo cable...and probably more I'm not remembering at the moment. This thread may be busy the next few months. I sure hope you get to make it this year. And there's over three months to get the truck ready. That upholstery looks great. I love using original fabrics.

Yes, I think phenolic pistons are the way to go. Hadn't thought about it heretofore, but it certainly makes sense.

Ahhh! Dawn! Marblehead! Now I understand.

Not everyone knows how that seal/o-ring works - although obviously you do. I think it is cool that it twists and then pulls the piston back, up to a point. Then the piston slips a little bit and the o-ring grips it again and twists. That is, until the o-ring gets stiff or it gets damaged, like by a rusty piston. Which is one of the reasons why the phenolic pistons are a good idea - they don't rust.

Yes, it is cool. Thanks for the suggestion of rebuilding them. As for the POR15, if the surface is properly prepared you won't get it off. But "properly prepared" is laborious for frames and the like as it requires serious cleaning and if the metal isn't rusty it requires a phosphate coating or media blasting to give it tooth. However, I may well paint Big Blue's frame with it where I do the repairs. Someone has already painted the frame gray, and I have gray POR, so..... And, I do expect to do some powder coating or POR'ing of other parts as I don't think the Sky parts come coated. But, I will order the panhard rod already PC'd as I don't want to have to remove the bushings to do that. Fortunately it comes in black.

1985 Bronco - I don't know either, but I'll keep you in mind for it. But I'm not sure when I'll take it off. Hopefully this fall. Anyway, email me if you are interested. Jim - I built an Eddy 600 for my brother. A 750 is just too much for his little Bowtie 350.

Looks like the total for parts to rebuild the calipers is $31.29. As for coating the calipers, if I don't PC them I could put a phosphate coating on them. But, I could also paint them with POR15 which would stick tightly to the rust. And, since the calipers don't get much UV the POR wouldn't really need a top coat. However, since I've learned that it is easy to rattle can the top coat while the POR is sticky, that's not a big deal. Bright red!?!? EDIT: I'll check for the taper.

The bores on these calipers have no pitting. None. Here's a shot of what they look like, all the way around. And that's just surface rust - which you don't see with the naked eye. So I think they are in excellent shape and won't need the hone. Thanks anyway, Steve. And, for those who want to know what's inside of a caliper, not much. Here's the total for two of them. And what I think needs to be replaced is: the seals, which are the square-cut o-rings on the corners; the piston boots, which are the seal looking things in the middle left and right; the bleed screws, which have cleaned up in blasting but which will rust quickly with no plating; and the pistons. The slide pins and their boots, which are across the bottom above the pistons, are ok. Not perfect as the boots were placed in a rusty bore and there are marks on them to match the rust. But, they are solid and I've removed the rust down to shiny metal. And, speaking of that, the left caliper was in the blast cabinet about 30 minutes. Turns out the rust is tenacious and it'll take another 30 minutes to make it ready for powder - if I were to do that. But I'm not sure I want to start that for this project. Thoughts?

Lunch time, I take it. Just left the Mac's/Daylight lot (they were out ) and saw you go by. Anyway, I shouldn't have to hone the calipers, should I? Doesn't the piston pretty much float in the bore and the seal takes the place of the rings? The one caliper I've taken apart had a bit of wear on one piston, the one with the messed-up head, but the other one looked fine on the sides. Guess I need to pull the other caliper apart today while the twins are in Jenks and see what I have.......

Yep. Janey will look at something and because we share an IP address I'll start seeing advert's for that same thing. But, 1984 was a good year - at least for trucks.

The track bar should have you properly located side-to-side. And with the spring shackles/brackets riveted to the frame and a center bolt on the springs I'd expect it to be positioned correctly. So, I'm curious to see what the guys say. But the D60's snout is longer, so I can see the driveshaft being too long.

Dennis - You did good on the signature. And, you are on the map. FYI, most of us would have shared on here the info that you did via email. You'll find that we are a community and like to get to know each other, so personal tidbits are helpful. But that's your call and there's no right or wrong. But, tell us about that "woodpile out back". Do you get taken there frequently? Are you a carpenter? Surely you don't use it for heating since it can't get that cold there.

Ok. The accordions look good on these calipers, as do the bleed valves and their covers, so I may reuse them. I not only have the drilled/slotted rotors, but I have fancy blue calipers and Yellow Stuff pads.

Yippee! So 2 1/4" with a D60 swap and stock F350 springs. Right? And I'm supposed to get another 1 1/2" with the SuperDuty springs and RSK. The front on Big Blue was already ~3 1/2" lower than the rear, so that should just about level it. But, I'm wanting to remove some leaves in the rear. So, maybe the U-Code springs in front won't be quite as high as the usual V-codes. Anyway, did you put a special eccentric in the ...... oh, wait. Does your D60 have king pins or ball joints? Mine has ball joints and I'm considering one of the fancy caster/camber eccentrics.

Welcome, Shorty! You are going to fit right in. Where's home? We have a member's map (Bullnose Forum/Member's Map in the menu) and I'd be happy to add you if I had a town. And a signature would help us help you w/o asking lots of questions about what your truck has each time. Also, many of the guys are adding their given names as we like to call each other by name since it seems more friendly. Anyway, nice truck! I'm particularly fond of that grille.

The piston seal. Does the kit come with the boot that goes over the pins/bolts? By the way, I like this style of caliper. The Bullnose style never seems to center properly for me and, therefore, always drags. But this style should center nicely. And, the extra 1/2" or so on the rotors should help on the braking. Unfortunately I have a pair of drilled and slotted rotors that I got from Vernon, NIB, that won't fit because of the extra diameter. But, I'll wind up selling those at some point.

Steve - That's "less bad". But it is still LOTS of money. However, with "But I'd be shopping for Ford/MotorCraft parts (normal truck pads)", are you saying go MotorCraft? Jim - Do you read lips? I'm hoping none of the red is left when this is over, save for a few buried poly bushings in the rear, which I can live with. Anyway, the rebuild idea is looking better and better. I've never rebuilt one, but I pulled one of these apart today and they are simple. All I didn't figure out is how the seal is held in. Is it pressed in? But, given the simplicity, what is wrong with a Raybestos reman'd caliper, other than price, and that's only ~$44/ea.