Gary Lewis

I should have said that we have a page on the website (Metrics in the menu) which shows usage for the last ~9 months. Anyone can view that and it is updated automagically. But, it doesn't exactly correlate to any of the other sources. Close, but no cigar. Perhaps different cutoff times, but I don't know. Having said that, it just occurred to me that there may be a way to add social media shares to that page. So I'll be doing some research on that. But, at first blush there is and it may actually change how/where/by whom the buttons are presented.

I agree with all you said. And while we are on the subject, I have several sources of info for traffic to the site and to the forum - which are two separate things. (The forum is embedded on the 1st page of the site.) One is Weebly that hosts the site. Another is Google, and another is Sumo, the outfit that put the social media buttons on. But, those sources do not agree with each other, and one could easily go crazy trying to reconcile them. So, I don't. But I do watch all of them because each has different bits of info. However, Weebly is the one I like the best. And it certainly shows up the results of posting on FB. Here's a grab of the last ~6 months traffic from Weebly, and on the "unique visits" chart I've circled several peaks. (A unique visit means that you get counted once per day, no matter how many pages you view.) And I'm sure I could go back to FB and correlate those peaks to one or more posts I've done there about new content. But there are several things to note from that chart. One is that 6 months ago we were running around 300 unique visits per day. And now we are pushing 600/day. Another is that the peaks are around 800, but you see how much smaller the peaks appear since the base is increasing. And that doesn't even speak to the posts on FB where I point someone to the site to answer his/her question. Those generate repeat visitors as well. And, several of those have started answering other people's questions with links to the site. So, in some ways we are the best-kept secret re Bullnose trucks. But, the word is slowly getting out.

Yes, and I have a couple square feet of this same steel to do some test welds on. I'll do some trial runs this week to get ready for welding it all together. I don't have any of that weld-through primer, but I'll get some this week as well. Any suggestions on sanding disk(s) to smooth the welds out afterwards, as in what grits to use? I don't know about anybody else's trucks, but my Flareside has blue paint inside the stake pockets, so Ford at least tried to get some in there... I'll be spraying some rust inhibitor in there anyway, but I don't want to be scared to take this thing out in the rain, so I'll have to do something with the bare metal. I would be tempted to paint the inside of the pockets as well as the bed in the area under the pockets with both weld-through primer as well as the finish paint. And then clean the spots to be welded to ensure you can strike an arc. Yes, the finish paint will burn, but probably only right around the weld and not where it can be seen. And the primer should protect the metal. As for sanding the welds, I use my 4 1/2" right-angle grinder and a flap wheel. But I'm usually welding and grinding on 1/8" thick stuff, so I use a pretty aggressive grit to start with, like 60 or 80. However, I have some really fine stuff, like 220 or finer, that I use to smooth things with, and with the thin metal you'll be working on you'd better go with fine wheels. Having said all that, I'd check with people that do this all the time, like Pete or Dave. I'll bet they know how to paint the stuff and what grit to use.

Just out of curiosity, where does one send a t-case for service or overhaul? Is there a shop that specializes in these? Cory - Around here there are several 4wd shops that will do it. But James, Brandon/Bruno2's neighbor, used to work in a shop that rebuilds drivelines for all sorts of vehicles, right up to and including the tractors for 18-wheelers. He knows his way around transfer cases, driveshafts, transmissions, differentials, etc. So I've had him do several such things for me, and that's probably where I'll take BB's 1345. Jonathan - Wait until you get to my age. Now I'm realizing that there needs to be a sticker on the windshield that says "Objects in the future are closer than they appear."

Cory - Those pockets look really good. But I think you'll want to paint them with a weld-through primer to protect the backside as well as the space between the pockets and the bed. I've not used one of the spot-weld tips, but I have done a number of plug welds. And with a bit of practice those usually turn out pretty nice. As for size, I've always used 1/4". And by the time you weld them I suspect they'll be at least 5/16" so you might want to go a bit smaller, like 3/16". But you have the pockets that aren't quite right to test.

Yes it does. I don’t know if there are others, but the 1345 and 1356 both have this Achilles heel 😔 Ok, thanks. I wonder about sending Big Blue's out to be gone through while I'm EFI'ing him. Brandon/Bruno2 and I know a guy that does good work fairly inexpensively, and while I'm sure I could do it there's the time factor. So I might have him go through it to at least weld that rod on.

Jonathan - I think for now we have enough info and pics to allow me to think through this issue on Big Blue when the time comes. Thanks, a bunch. But, just for help in getting back to it, here are a couple of links to FTE where I discussed how and where I cut the engine plate: - First discussed here - Later discussion here, where I said:

Yep. That's the way mine is as well.

I know this is for a 1356, but does it also apply to a 1345?

Glad you knew going in what all was required. It would have been a real bummer to have gotten home expecting it to fit and it didn't.

I think you have a reasonable plan. But, with a plan you need to weigh each decision against the plan. And if this decision doesn't fit with the plan then either alter the plan now, knowing full well the implications thereof, or don't do whatever it is you are considering. I say that because I didn't adhere to my plan on Dad's truck, and I now have a trailer queen and a seriously-flattened wallet. I like the results, but don't know how I got here.

There's a process to do it in OK, but it takes time. And, it isn't fool proof. I wouldn't go down that road.

No, likes and shares are the same, I think. I have an option to determine what that says, and I could make it either. But I do get some reports, as shown below. However, the info is highly suspect. The first screen grab is from Feb 3rd and it says we have "All Time Shares" of 20. The second grab is from today and it says all time shares are 113. So, there were 93 shares in that timeframe but we went from almost no shares showing at the bottom of the page to 1K shares? And, as a freebie user I can't change the start and end dates in the report. You have to upgrade to do that, and they want $39/mo for that. But if that info isn't any better than this info I don't see a reason to pay. Am I missing something?

This forum has been around about 1 1/2 years, and this is the first I've quarantined. However, I did delete a person's post several months ago wherein an impossible condition was described and a nonsensical question asked. Someone pointed out that the same post had been done on FTE wherein someone responded and got no response from the OP. I should have quarantined that so I could get back to it, but I just deleted it and banned the user. In any event, that's not too bad across 18 months. But part of that is probably due to people having to sign up and we have to respond via email. We didn't have that originally and started getting all kinds of spammers. In fact, Nabble, who hosts our forum, has a support forum and it doesn't have the sign-up step and I get all kinds of spam from it.

Jonathan - Thanks! I like the silver accents so much that I had to show Janey, and she seemed to like them as well. (At least she said she did.) The sway bar was a battle because of the stiffness of the Prothane bushings. At first blush they didn't appear to be split, but with some prying you could tell they were. However, they didn't want to open up enough to go around the sway bar, so needed to be pried open. And, since the sway bar is painted I didn't dare use a metal tool. But finally I grabbed a nylon interior panel tool and it gave me enough leverage to get a bit of a gap. Then, with plenty of sticky grease and some force it popped on. However, that turned out to be the easy part. Even with plenty of grease the u-shaped clamp didn't want to go over the bushing. Either the new bushing is bigger or much more rigid than the old bushing, and it took a lot of force to get the clamp over it. My guess is that the sway bar will be much more effective now. Anyway, I am interested in how the diesel inspection cover fits. In fact, I wonder if one couldn't be grafted onto a 460's ZF plate? Or, maybe this 335 manual tranny plate modified to accommodate the inspection cover?

Folks, I've created a new folder called "Quarantined Threads & Posts". You can see the presence of it, but you cannot see what is in it - mainly for your protection. That's where we will move any posts, or even full threads if needed, that appear to be spam or not according to our guidelines. And, we have our first quarantinee - Goodone's post, and my followup posts, in Ron/reamer's thread entitled "Got the Dual oil pressure and real voltage gauge in, No I know what "R" means.." S/he's still not responded after more than 3 days from when I asked why the post, and more than 48 hours from when I sent an email asking for an explanation. So I moved the post into quarantine. Further, in 4 more days I'll permanently ban the user unless I get a reasonable explanation prior to that time. Sorry for the drama as well as the folder into which you cannot see, but .......

Yes, it looks amazingly clean! And my favorite year. But not my favorite engine. Hmmm, know a guy on FB with perches for an M-block. Tim is selling aluminum Cleveland blocks and can stroke them out to way over 400 cubes, so lots of torque and light weight.

Has a cubic inch delete kit installed. Carbon buildup?

Man, if I was close I'd buy it. Probably a better deal, by far, than the one in AZ given the lack of rust - from what I can tell.

Ok, here's a mid-afternoon update while I have another "cuppa".Got the pics taken of the engine plates. Here's a shot showing the cut-down ZF5 plate vs the 335 manual tranny plate:And here's another shot of it. You can see that I cut it down to be held on with just the two bolts into the "inspection cover" area of the ZF, as well as being pinched between the engine and tranny on the top. Not quite sure why I did that, but there it is.And here's a shot of the front of the tranny. You can see the two bolt holes where the cover is held on. So, a full engine plate would then cover the "inspection area". But I could cut the "cup" off of a full plate and cut the remainder such that it could be removed with the two bolts. Basically, just ensure the two parts don't touch so they won't vibrate against each other.Thoughts?Then on to the sway bar. IT IS ON! But not without a battle. The new bushings that go around the bar are split like the originals, and you have to pry them open to get them over the bar. That in and of itself was a battle, but armed with a plastic interior panel tool and that sticky grease I won the battle.But then came the Battle Of The Bulge! The bushing didn't want to go into the U-shaped clamp far enough to let both bolt holes of the clamp line up with the holes in the crossmember at the same time. So here's how I did it - installed the bottom bolt tightly, then used two clamps, appropriately padded, to pull the clamp over the bushing. Both of those clamps are as tight as I dared make them, but the hole finally lined up.And here's the detail at the end of the sway bar with the link:And here's the bracket that Jonathan asked about from the front:This is the backside, showing the u-clamp, bushing, etc:And now it is time for a drive in Big Blue!

Looks rough, but for that price not bad at all. However, "bill of sale only"????????

Seems kind of high for what it looks like, but it also sounds solid mechanically.

I haven't seen one either, Steve. You commented first, so I'll wait to see if you buy it.

Jarek - It takes a while for the seals to give a bit and the door to be easier to close. But you can make it easier by adjusting the door striker bolt outward just a bit so the door doesn't go as far in. And then, when the seals soften/give you can re-adjust the striker bolt back to where the door is flush with the body.

If you could find the calibration code (Specifications/Calibration Code) then I think I could find the exact vacuum routing diagram for you. If not we may be able to get it down to 3 or 4 calibration codes and then find the vacuum diagram for each and you can try to figure out which is the closest one to yours.