Gary Lewis

On the bench; yes. But on the truck, it only fits 1 way. It might go on 3 ways, but in 2 of them, you can't connect the tie rod. That's why there are no instructions. Jonathan - That's one of the reasons I posted that pic. Next round I'll try Blue Top. Perhaps they take more care. Steve - I didn't want to chance getting the thing on and finding out later that I couldn't attach the linkage. And it was a 5 minute job to figure out, so I thought I'd pass that on to the rest of you.

I don't think I've gotten a single water pump off on a Windsor w/o breaking a bolt. It seems to be a curse. Which is why I'm interested in stainless bolts for the water pump.

Cory, note the filler door is a flare side only part. I do know the style side doors are different, don't remember for sure on the size but I know 1 is curved and the other flat. I cant remember if a duel wheel one is the same as ours? Maybe Gary has this listed as we talked about this when I was working on mine. Dave ---- Exterior/Beds, Tailgates, & Components and then the Fuel Filler Door tab says Stylesides used one door and Flare and DRW's used another. At least that's the way I read it.

Yippee!!! Well done!

I didn't loosen the bolts on the box. It came that way. They painted the bolts and the box black and the top red. Then messed up the bolts and the top with a socket. I just hope their ability to do machine work is better than their care in assembly.

I put the fuel pressure regulator just after the hot fuel "T" as you called it. However, were I to do it over again I'd replace the T with a return-style regulator. There are two styles of regulator - a "dead-head" unit that goes on the end of a line and just lets enough gas through to supply the pressure. Or a "return-style" unit that diverts fuel back to the tank to keep the pressure at the set point. So, if you used one of those you wouldn't need the T. But, right now you have no pressure. And the truck may run fine with your pumps. So worry about that if and when it happens. I see Bill has responded, so I'll not address the other things so as to not overwhelm you.

Nope. I was able to do it, so I'm sure you can.

It wasn't actually my truck, nor even a Bullnose. But Steve/FoxFord83 came over today. He's just now learning about the dreaded Ford timing cover, and especially on a Windsor. His '93 351W needed a water pump, so he tore into it and got lucky - he only snapped two bolts. But, with all the bolts out he said he couldn't even wiggle the timing cover. He wound up driving a safety razor blade between the block and the cover, and that moved it enough he was able to drive two razor blades in. Then a screwdriver, then it came off. But it was gunked up badly, so he brought it over and ran it through the parts washer. Then we pressed out the old seal. (I think he was impressed with the large socket I have that's been turned down to just exactly the right size for a Ford front seal.) And he cleaned out the bolt holes in it with drill bits in a hand-held chuck. One of those holes had been tapped oversize by the previous owner when a bolt had snapped off on him. And then we pressed the new seal in. With that done we turned to the harmonic balancer. The sealing surface was gunked up, so we chucked it in the lathe and cleaned it up. But, it was grooved so we pressed on a Readysleeve I happened to have. Then we poked around and found a bag of bolts marked "Timing Cover" and he went home with that and a MAPP gas cylinder, planning to heat/oil/heat/oil/heat/oil the stubs of bolts that were sticking out of the block until they surrendered. He later sent me a pic of what he called "beautiful broken bolts", so apparently he got them out, although I don't know how many heat/oil cycles he used. Another afternoon at the Garagemahal.

Brandon - You and Kris did well. On the clocking, Steve has a how-to toward the bottom of this page: https://www.supermotors.net/registry/media/1079023

YES! And, I ran the angle grinder across two fingers on my left hand. Turns out rubber gloves don't offer much protection. And yes, I know better! Fingerprints grow back, right?...lol. Soon time to start working on the bed. The good news with it is that the whole thing will be all brand new parts with the exception of the fiberglass fenders and the tailgate, which is the nicest condition part on the whole truck...lol. I still haven't quite figured out what steps to take when assembling the flareside bed. Paint all of the panels first, and then assemble? Or just paint the critical spots first? I want to paint the areas that will be covered either by wood or by other panels. If I paint all of the panels first, then what do I do about the bolts and stuff...paint over it again I suppose. Oh well, I'll worry about it when I get there... I'm laughing to keep from crying. I'm sporting two bandaids - to cover the lack of skin on two knuckles. When the angle grinder hit the first knuckle I thought I ought to get gloves. But, I didn't get them until I hit the second knuckle. Anyway, you are really making good progress. I love the reports. But, don't have any suggestions on the bed side.

That's a popular myth, as is Ford inventing the assembly line. Neither is correct. Ford's innovation was having parts delivered from suppliers as they were needed on the assembly line, making warehousing unnecessary, and eliminating "old" stock (since there is no "stock"). Vehicles are built with the parts that are delivered that day (or shift), and fresh parts only arrive as more vehicles are being assembled. So there's never a pile of "wrong" parts when there's a redesign - the early-design parts are gone, already on the vehicles that are done. The new-design parts go on the next batch of vehicles, as a running change, with a notation about the serial number &/or date where that change occurred. I think that's more a result of the running change notes being inaccurate, or lost, or damaged, or illegible from back before computers were used. IOW: the truck was built "correctly" - it's the PARTS BOOK that's wrong. Steve - We are saying the same thing: The truck is correct, but the books are wrong. Anyway, I got the steering box and pitman arm on today and things touched up - except for the problems created by RedHead. Here's what the top of the box looks like. Why do they bother to paint? I'll have to find some red paint. Anyway, here's the whole box mounted and the pitman arm on. Note that the pitman arm lines up with the "wedge" on the box in this pic. This is with the input shaft turned fully clockwise when viewed from the back of the box, or driver's position. And, since the box is a bit stiff, I took a rag joint off a shaft and used it to turn the input shaft on the box. That let me line the arm up with the wedge and install it.

More onion rings! It's about time for a Bloomin' Onion, isn't it?

Well, the dual degrees came kind of as an accident. I discovered that I would be just a few hours shy of a degree in math by the time I got the degree in physics. So, why not take those hours? Would you like me to put you on the member's map? In Racine?

I'll bet you are frustrated. First, before going any further and before I forget, when you get this sorted out you may need to put a fuel pressure regulator on. Edelbrock's don't like more then 6 psi and the electric pumps can give too much pressure and overpower the floats, especially at idle. But, that can wait as you need fuel first. Anyway, to troubleshoot I would break the system down and test it section by section. Pull the line from either the front or back tank off the selector valve and see if you get fuel there. If so, but it back on and pull the line leaving the selector valve - do you get fuel there? If so, keep going. But I doubt you'll get that far before finding the problem. And, I'm suspecting the selector valve is the problem since it is a common thing in the issue. Maybe it is bad? Maybe there's a wiring problem? By the way, those pumps aren't supposed to have full voltage other than when starting. There is a resistor in the line when in Run. I don't think you hurt them as the engine wasn't running and the voltage would have been something like 12 volts instead of the 14 volts with the engine running and the fuse link straight to the battery. But, I wouldn't want to run them a long time with full voltage.

Those are Happijac tiedowns for a camper. They have the removable piece that the turnbuckle hooks to. You can see the front tiedowns by the trim line. Thanks, grumpin.

... He is using the large case -2 hole, 130A- but the narrower 7" C-C mounting ears. Mounting distance and case diameter are independent of each other. Ok, got it. I think.

Yes, but the NEXT several show the interference & clearancing better: https://supermotors.net/getfile/565796/thumbnail/alt02top.jpg I used a 4.5" angle grinder & 1/4" wheel. Jim - I missed that he had the small case but 130a alternator. Thanks. And, I'll ask him for some pics. Steve - Thanks.

Ahhh! I missed the point about the steering column. And, I agree - Ford threw nothing away. So there was a change, but they used up what was left. In Dad's truck they used a steering box for an '80 even though this was an '81 truck. But it got the correct pitman arm. Doing a "numbers matching" restoration would be a nightmare on these things since what came on them is not what it looks like they were supposed to have.

I'm using a small dab of grease where I torque down powder against powder or paint, and it seems to help. I'd like to use grease on the powder-coated threads, but if I do have to re-paint that makes it more difficult.

I don't know, guys. There's a crack in the bed top on the passenger's side about where a tool box would have mounted. But, otherwise it looks pretty good. However, no pics under the hood? As for the sun, note that the stick-on trim looks good on the driver's side and is in bad shape on the passenger's side. Has this been under a canopy pointed east? And, what is the little "chrome doohicky" on the bed side towards the rear? A light? Last, did it have the bumperettes and they've been removed? Note the marks on the bumper.

It's shown in this photo album, but SMN was down when I posted this: https://www.supermotors.net/registry/3536/54000-4 It's probably back up now. Steve - It is up at the moment, but I'm not sure I found the right pic. This one says there is interference with the large case, but Brandon is going with the small case 3G. Is this the wrong one? http://supermotors.net/getfile/565795/fullsize/alt01interfere.jpg

Good to know. Thanks, Steve.

I thought you might have to have a filler. Will the lights sit inside the filler or butt against it?

Well done, Brandon! Both for the harvesting as well as documenting it! That '98 Expedition harness looks to be quite the score.