Gary Lewis

Just learned out to embed a video from a non-supported site. Tick the "Message is in HTML Format" box and paste the iframe code into the post. And, I thought y'all would like this. Turn up the sound!

Steve - Yes, everything done in any color would be monotonous. And while white makes it easier to see underneath, it would also make it harder to look spotless. (Black may not be spotless, but you can't see the grease or oil as easily.) So I'm going black with accents. Jim - I'm afraid to ask, but what is the "710 hole"?

Kyle - You can still find the EEC-IV system in trucks up until '95, depending on the engine. In fact, the 460's were still running IV through '96 for all but the California trucks. So you don't have to find a Bullnose to get the connectors. However, you might have to re-pin the EEC connector.

To each their own, but I completely disagree. Maybe it is just a left-brain romance with the running gear, but I have really come to love the look of certain stout Ford components like the 9” center chunk, webbed ZF main case, mono beam D60 kingpin caps or the straight six timing cover. And yeah... I want to see ‘em and show them off. I get what you are saying about spending too much time putting trendy colors under a trail rig, but for the average use truck it just does not take that much extra effort to use some accent color to show off your gear... It can easily be over-done, but one contrast color (especially a metal tone) looks classy, I think. No sense arguing aesthetics since there is no right answer, but to me the engine bay and drive train are every bit something to look at as the body lines and trim. Bob - That's good to know. It was a guy named Gary @ Eaton that told me not to heat springs to 400. So perhaps they stress-relieve at a lower temp? Anyway, it is easy enough to paint rather than powder coat, so I'm being safe rather than sorry. Jonthan - You are right, it is "aesthetics" and there is no right or wrong. Only opinions. And, as I've said, I find all-black monotonous. My brother and I talked about it when I started down this path, and we agreed that some accents to break the up the black would be good. Toward that end, here's what I did on the rear suspension. But, that was before I learned that it is better to make the fasteners black as touching up black is far easier than touching up the silver. So, for the front the things at the top of this pic will be silver, meaning the end links, the brackets that go on the front of the crossmember, and the brackets that wrap around the bushings. All the other pieces will be black. But, I'm happy to see others thoughts.

On my "research" list. Are you going to jump in at the last minute? I don't want to bid against you.

That is a buy for $500. Lotsa parts if you don't want to drive it. Oh, and it is an '86 F150 with what we thought was early '85 press-on trim. So, if the trim comes off easily then you have clean body sides with no holes nor nails. Nice clean truck. Lot of people would pay $500 for the bed. And how much for the rack? And the bumpers, and .....

Yes, it is the temper that is the issue. I wouldn't have thought 400 degrees would be an issue, but he sure did. He's tech support at a spring manufacturer and I had a college-level class 50+ years ago. So I'm playing it safe.

Did you get the impression that he had ever taken a materials class? Did he mention the temperature at which they temper their springs, and for how long? If you have any spares, I'd paint one, powder the other, and then drive on the powdered one until it breaks. I bet it'll take a long time. No, I didn't get the impression he'd had a class. But, he was emphatic that I need to keep the temp below 300 degrees, if I remember correctly, and powder has to go to 425 and then back to 400 for 20 minutes. So I've POR15'ed all the springs. The spare that I have is for an F250 and is twice as thick and is of a different shape, so won't work. But, I agree with you - it doesn't make sense given what I've been taught about steel.

Yeah, we are having whiplash on the temp as well. Single digits early in the week and into the high 60's late in the week. As for what I did to my truck today, that's written up, ad nauseum, on Dad's Truck Build. But, my goal of getting all four tires on the ground in a day or two is not going to materialize. That's because I have the wrong wheel bearings, and the new ones won't be in until well into next week. In the interim I'll get the sway bar and front crossmember prepared and installed. But, that probably won't take all my time, so I hope to finish the 3G Conversion re-write. And maybe get back to the TSB effort.

I'm not a fan, for several reasons. I don't really like to draw attention to the undercarriage - it's just bare, rough mechansisms. And I wheel mine hard - so I need to be able to touch it up quickly & affordably. But I'd never use a light color because it would show stains too easily: either grease/oil stains, or rust, or dirt (there's a lot of Iron in the soil around here, so many things acquire a reddish hue). Since no one will ever see the whole underside of the truck at once, I don't see that as a real consideration. This was pretty difficult, and it's the only time I've ever done it: https://supermotors.net/getfile/65161/thumbnail/winchup.jpg The temper (eutectic) point for steel is far above that, so you're safe to PC any spring. If it breaks afterward, it had NOTHING to do with being in the oven. I'd use anti-seize lube. But if it's tough now when it's perfectly clean, it'll be nearly impossible next time it needs to come apart. So I'd shave a little metal off somewhere to make a little more clearance (not slop). Bill - Thanks! Steve - I understand your thinking, but this has turned into a show truck, and I don't like the monotonous black I see on most vehicles. So I'm adding a bit of Silver Lining here and there just to break up the black. As for the temp of the metal, I had the same class you apparently did: Mechanics Of Materials. And a year ago I'd have agreed that 400 degrees won't hurt a spring. But, that was before having a long conversation with tech support at a spring company, and that guy strongly recommended that I not powder coat springs. So, I don't. Anyway, here's today's blasting results. Looks like a little bit of touch-up here and there is needed, but overall not bad - 47 pieces in half a day. Just have to get the sway bar and cross member blasted and it'll be powder coating time! EDIT: Steve - I meant to say that I wish I'd have thought of anti-seize instead of grease.

Thanks, David. Well, not lots to report today. Must remember that two steps forward and one back is still progress. First, I took a step forward and got the wheel studs installed: Then came the step backward - I was going to install the wheel bearings and seal and discovered that I ordered the right outer wheel bearing set, but had ordered the wrong inner bearing and seal. With lots of measuring and consulting the Timken site I've determined that the truck takes: Outer bearing & race: SET45 Inner bearing & race: SET37 Inner seal: 4250 So the inner ones are now on order, but won't be in until next week, and the wrong ones will be returned tomorrow - on our way to T-town for a day "off". (We are taking Blue to the dealer's collision service to have his wounds from the encounter with the deer taken care of. And otherwise having a day together.) Then, given that I was stymied on getting the front wheels on it, I turned to the front sway bar and cross member. While the parts washer was heating up I pressed the bushings out of the links: And, then it was to the blast cabinet. It is interesting what you find under some of that rust and grime: Doubt I'll get everything blasted clean today, and with tomorrow off for the outing to Tulsa and Friday off for a funeral, it may be Saturday before I get to finish the blasting and powder coat a few things.

Gary, your father might say, "if that was a compliment, then I thank you"! He would, in deed! Thanks for the reminder, David. I was literally just thinking about him. He'd be taking bets with my brother about whether I'll ever get his truck back together. They certainly did on whether I'd get the boat Dad and Mom gave us back together. It needed lots of work and I took it well and truly APART, but I got it back together.

$8200 is lots of money for something that is acknowledged to have "Plenty of rot". I sure hope our trucks get to the exalted status that the early Broncos have, although I doubt it. Recently re-watched The Eiger Sanction, partly to see Clint as well as the Eiger and the train up there. But I had forgotten the part the early Bronco had in it. Cute "truck".

Bill is gonna like that one. It is a smaller Darth. Supercab instead of Crew, and short vs long bed. But nothing is said about the engine? And it has a manual tranny. But, $11,500?

Yup. My son's in-laws used to live there and he ran the plant to build fire engines. Which is why I remembered where you are. I kinda forget how long and skinny Florida is. Yes, he'll see the "cold" when he leaves in the morning.

Ummmm….. Although this is pretty warm for most of you, it's pretty cold for us. Bret was claiming almost 90 down south today, but he did say it is going to cool off. But we'll be up to 60 on Thursday!

Is that notoriety or fame? Jealousy or admiration?

It's only an 8-page micro-analysis!!!! Has my notoriety grown on FTE after I left?

It doesn't have to be momentous or thorough. Just do your thing.

Shaun - I assume you are enjoying the nice weather our son, who lives in Palm Beach Gardens, is telling us about. We were into the single digits last night, but it is 42 now, and will be getting even warmer later in the week. Anyway, what I did was to install things and then take them off. All day. Several times. In the end I made progress, as discusses here, but I'm wiped out. However, here's a pic with a bit of the detail:

I'd be happy to have it for a reasonable price. The CA emissions stuff would come out, as would the 302 and AOD. But, the solid body and good interior would be a big plus.

Several things. For connectors you can't find in Ford's catalog I'd suggest going to the salvage - several of them - and buying portions of harnesses as needed. Then, graft them in as Bill suggested - solder things and use adhesive-lined shrink tubing to seal the joints. I like kits like this one: https://www.amazon.com/130-pcs-Adhesive-Assortment-MILAPEAK/dp/B071H5XC7C/ref=pd_lpo_vtph_468_bs_t_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=PHJWVN600BRVV1H4WXP5 As for the wire colors, I'd recommend that you leave the factory wire showing at the connectors if you can. That way you can figure out what the circuit is. In other words, go to the salvage and get an EEC connector and as much wiring with it as you can. Then replace what you need to on your harness, but if the wires aren't long enough splice in a common color - between factory wires. On the resistor, you can get a common resistor and encase it in the shrink tubing already mentioned for protection. And assuming that it is just in a sensing circuit a common 1/4 watt resistor should work.

I've heard that you always need to top-coat over POR-15, something about it not being UV-resistant. Seems to me that shouldn't be much of an issue on under carriage parts, but as I said, I've heard that you always need to top-coat it (and the advice, whether it's necessary or not, has included under carriage applications). Yep, POR15's gloss base coat needs to be top-coated to protect it from UV. I've read that it'll turn white otherwise. And, for the most part I've used POR's Chassis Black top coat. But, I know I missed a few places, like on the springs, as I can see some gloss in some places. But, on the sway bar I'll top-coat it well as it will probably see some UV. Anyway, I'm at a stopping point for the day. And it was a day of doing the dance where you step forward and then backward, and repeat the process several times. Forward: As previously said, I got the driver's side axle shafts on, but then discovered that the passenger's side wouldn't go through the various passages in the swing arm and steering knuckle, so I took a late-morning break to contemplate things. Backward: The first step backward came when I came back out after the break and realized I hadn't put the brake dust shield under the stub on the driver's side. Remember the conversation about having to take the powder off to get the stub on? Well, it not only didn't want to go on easily, it certainly didn't want to come off. Fortunately by whacking the end of the stub up and down w/a dead-blow hammer bunches of time I got just enough clearance to insert plastic trim removal wedges. Whack the stub, hammer in the wedges, whack/hammer, whack/hammer, and pretty soon it started coming off. Forward: I put the dust shield on, then the stub, and torqued the nuts down, again. Backward: Then I took off the passenger's side steering knuckle, albeit not quite that easy. And then discovered that the retaining flange for the differential's output shaft won't go through the swing arm. So I put the steering knuckle back on. Forward: Fortunately I realized that the slip joint in the middle of the right side would come apart, so I put the outside splines in the vise (protected by 2x4's) and gave a yank. Sure enough, it came apart. And, better yet, the output shaft and associated slip yoke went into the diff easily. Further, the outside shafts went back into the slip joint nicely and the seal popped home on the yoke. But now I'm done for the day. However, I promised you a pic of the stubs with and w/o the powder, so here they are: And, here are some shots of what it looks like with the axles in: