Gary Lewis

Ok, I got it sorted out. I think.

Wait! I think I put the wrong person in the right place.

Chad - You are on the map!

The bolt is probably a body mount bolt. I had several that looked like that in my hands today. But I don't know what the bracket is for.

That would cause weird problems. Hope you get it sorted, quickly.

Yep, the timing tape is the easiest. But if you good with match you can measure the circumference of the balancer and then determine how far each degree is and lay it out. Also, I think some of the small blocks had a pointer on one side and some had it on the other, so you might check both sides.

I hope my father is watching. Funny story: When my brother was here a week ago we were trying to get something out of the toolbox in his truck, but the lid was stuck. So we are in the bed pushing and prying - and it came open. But, it hit him in the nose, which caused him to drop the keys he was holding. They slid down the lid of the tool box, dropped between the cab and the bed, and buried themselves in a very convoluted frame under that Toy. We spent 30 minutes getting them out, and when we got done my brother grinned and said "Do you reckon Dad is rolling on the floor laughing in heaven?"

Cool! I hope it happens!!!

Chad - Welcome! That looks like a PROJECT! Hope you'll start a thread in the main section to tell us what your plans are and keep track of what you do. Also, we have a member's map (Bullnose Forum/Member's Map) and I'd be happy to add you if you'd give me a town/city. Again, welcome!

Ok, we are now up to maybe 1/32" clearance, but I don't have the bottom nuts on the cab mounts, much less tightened down. But, with poly they won't squish much. However, more clearance is needed or there will be thumps and bumps. So, I'm looking into what can be done with the tranny's mount. But, I could put 1/4" spacers on everything. Would that be enough, or does it require 1/2"? Another option would be a spacer on the rear cab mounts and not the fronts. That will then require two different spacers on the bed. Thoughts?

Now to go try it:

Ray - That's basically the game plan I came to a few minutes ago. Then I got an email from David suggesting the same plan. So, here's where I am, but I'll update after a bit.

Maybe so 'cause I'm about to cry.

Mid-day report: I marked the bottom of the cab with a white pencil where the 1356 hits, and then figured out where that is inside - right at the back edge of the bump-up. And here's a shot of the worst offender - a tab that could be cut off. But it would still leave the bolt bosses touching some, so something else is needed. Then I lifted the cab, took pics of the protrusions on the t-case, and then pulled it and installed the 207. Dropped (read SLOWLY LOWERED) the cab, and the 208 hits about as badly. The issue is that the 208 has a bump in the casting dead center, and the cab has a bump down in the floor dead center. Then I slid under Big Blue and looked the 1345 over. There's a REMOTE chance that it'll work. The bumps in the casting are splayed much like the 1356's, which keeps them away from the center bump down in the floor. So I'm considering pulling the 1345 out of Big Blue to see. But, if I could drop the tranny a bit on the mount, which is close to 20" in front of the bumps on the t-cases, then we might get there. Also, I called and talked to John, my paint/body man. He doesn't like the idea of cutting a section of the floor out of another cab and welding it into Dad's floor to move the bump-up back 2". Nor do I. But, it could be done. And, while a body lift would work, he reminded me that then there are problems getting the bumpers to fit correctly. More later.........

Angelo - Glad to know that the word is getting out. Don't want to have a resource nobody knows about. As for the Ford documentation, what kinds are we talking about? Sales brochures? Technical info? Shop manuals? Or, maybe even the master parts catalogs? I have the digitized '94 version, and have an '82 and '89 version on microfiche, but if there was an '86 or '87 version available, especially in digital form, I'd love it. Anyway, what is available? And what of that can we put on the web site?

That's good that the metal is in such good shape. Just didn't want you to get already to put the new mounts on and discover you have to go back for the perches, or whatever the metal part is called. But, if it is only 20 minutes away, that's no biggee.

Edited my previous post after realizing I had the sides and years mixed up. It's been some time since I've spent time working with boat anchors. Do you read lips?

Steve and Gary, Darth's exhaust system is still essentially stock (original muffler and tailpipe) it is dual from the engine to the muffler with a cross pipe where the single O2 sensor on the 1990 parts truck was mounted (it now has my wideband there). This system (which originally had no cross pipe) was a mid 1984 through 1987 system. The 1990 was dual to the catalytic converter inlet (O2 sensor just forward) then a large single from the converter to the muffler and dual tailpipes. The only change I made before the EFI/E4OD change was to remove the screens from the end of the tailpipe at the recommendation of my local exhaust shop, I had asked about a lower restriction muffler and was told I would gain more from that then what he could sell me. the only issue I ever had was pulling the 5th wheel up the on ramp to the interstate before everything was fully warmed up, when I let off the throttle when the road leveled off, my wife reported she saw a rather large flame from the tailpipe which I heard as a loud boom from inside, the Thermactor system ignited the remaining mixture in the exhaust manifolds. He also told me when I drove down to him after doing the EFI conversion and E4OD, to remove the muffler heat shield as it would eventually rust the muffler from the outside. The 1996 bed has heat shields on the bottom as far back as the rear axle location. Yes, that's essentially the system that I took off Huck and plan to use on Big Blue. But, it has no cats and is dual the whole way. Fortunately the guy that cut the frame also cut the exhaust - right ahead of the mufflers. So I'll use the exhaust pipes as is, and have someone graft on the muffs and tail pipes.

Yep. That's one of the reasons Ford changed the floorpan in '89. I doubt they'll be significant, if even large enough to measure by hand. There's only 1 other factory mount system that I know of (the type on my Bronco), but I don't think it's significantly shorter: https://supermotors.net/getfile/72205/thumbnail/shafts-skid.jpg https://supermotors.net/getfile/72206/thumbnail/tcase.jpg That's probably my least-favorite, for MANY reasons. This being near the top: https://supermotors.net/getfile/470220/thumbnail/tsb900612floorreinf2.jpg A body lift is what I did on Frank's '75 Bronco, and it worked well. To test it, I just used scraps of 2x4. But eventually, they were replaced by actual plastic body lift pucks (cut down to minimize the lift). If your lift height does NOT approach the diameter of the body mounts, it will probably be cheap, easy, & safe. That's one more reason I prefer polyurethane mounts - they don't settle or allow as much movement as rubber. My t-case is VERY close (due to clocking), but it has never hit because the body & trans mounts are poly. https://supermotors.net/getfile/936969/thumbnail/tclodd.jpg The engine mounts will be, soon... Yes, for all '80-96/7 FS Ford trucks. Guys - Thanks for the responses, suggestions, pictures, etc. Apparently this is a bit disconcerting to me as I had to take a Tagamet before drinking coffee this morning. As I think about how to check things out it appears to me that the cab has to come off. It only takes removing the four bottom mounts and placing the carpeted 2x4's to make that happen, so I think I will. Then if I want to raise the back of the tranny to explore a shorter mount I can, where as now it would lift the cab. And, that will facilitate measuring - if not installing the 208 to find out for sure. And here are some responses to your suggestions/questions: Transfer Case: With the cab up I'm going to see if there is an easy, slam dunk way to measure the t-cases. If not I think I'll pull the 1356 and install the 208, and drop the cab back. Or, maybe measure the height of the 1356 off the floor and do the same with the 208. But, I'm not yet sure how to measure the in-place 1345 on Big Blue. We shall see. Tranny Mounts: The other day I pulled out all the different tranny crossmembers I have and compared them. Turns out they all put the tranny at essentially the same height. In fact, several of them use the same mount. So changing the crossmember isn't going to help. But, if there was a way to create a shorter mount then that might work. Modify The Floor: That's my least-favorite approach, especially now that I've read through that TSB. (Hadn't see it before, so thanks Steve.) So let's scratch that one. Body Lift: That's becoming my #2 option. However, since the cab isn't fully "down" I'm not quite sure how much lift I'd need. Perhaps I should use Steve's shim approach just to find out if the t-case swap doesn't pan out. And, by the way, all of the body mounts are poly, so I don't think there will be any settling, and probably very little "give" as the bolts are tightened down.

Boy, that would do it. Hope that's it as that's an easy fix.

Reporting back here as I said I would, I've so far been really happy with the Ospho product. Now I'm wondering if this stuff causes any issues with welding?... I guess the worst case scenario is that one would have to grind it away like you would do with rust or paint... Hadn't thought about welding. Give it a try?

What EEC-V harness? From some particular donor vehicle, or some aftermarket setup? But then if the main is dead, how do you connect the aux? And what if you want the added time of running key-off accessories by using both batteries? Have you read the frame noise TSB? https://www.supermotors.net/registry/2742/54113-2 I'm not a fan of the noise, or weight, or extra bulk & labor, or inefficiency. The exhaust system is like a wind instrument - it's tuned to the engine (from the factory) to get the pulse from one cylinder to help scavenge more exhaust from the next. The next (in the firing order) might be (and often IS) on the opposite bank; so separating the exhaust prevents that benefit. The proof is that true duals are louder - that energy is being wasted as noise. Steve - The wiring harness and air inlet system are from a '96 CA-spec F250 w/a 460. As for connecting the two batteries, I didn't explain that there's an optional that I'll install to force the two batteries into parallel. Not sure where I'll install the switch, but I'll also put a warning light on the dash to show they are paralleled. And, I had read TSB 97-03-10, although on here instead of SuperMotors. And while I won't argue about the efficiency issue, I do plan to have dual exhaust. Part of the plan is to use as much of Huck as I can, and one of the things I'll use is its dual exhaust system. However, I won't go back w/the glass packs as I don't like the noise the current glass packs give. Instead I'm going with Magnaflows as I like the low rumble they give. But, to each his own.

Good idea. Done.

I would do the voltage drop test, assuming you can get it to fail sitting still. That's described here: Electrical/Voltage Drop Test. My guess is that you have a bad cable or connection that causes the voltage at the alternator to rise w/o the voltage at the battery rising. This can be either the charge cable or the ground. So if you can get it to fail sitting still, perhaps after you've driven it with the lights on, put your meter from the alternator's case to the battery's negative terminal and put the meter on the 20v scale. If you show more than a tenth or two of voltage then you need to find out where the problem is. Similarly test from the alternator's output terminal to the battery's positive terminal. This will show if you have a voltage drop in either leg of the circuit.