Gary Lewis

Guys - As said on another thread, I'm wanting to upgrade the 3G Alternator Conversion page. And there are at least two areas to address - what donor vehicles have the 3G's we want, and what to do about the ammeter. So, let's start with the donor vehicles. The page says: However, I don't think that is completely accurate. And, it is confusing as it doesn't say which are the 90A and which are the 130A units. According to our new Alternator Interchange page I get what's shown below. It shows that there are two different 130A alternators used across the above applications. And I am seeing that our previous list is flawed. First, both the 3.0 and 3.8L engines used the same alternator. But, is it the 8.25" or the 7". Surely it is the 8.25" - right? And, the year ranges aren't accurate. So, is there any reason not to put this table in place of the previous list? And, do we want to say anything about the 90A? If so, that's going to be a problem as the list does no include a Motorola 90A alternator. A Mazda yes, but no Moto. However, there are several 95A units. So if we really want to say something about the smaller alternator I'll need some help determining which one(s) it is. If not, we can clean the information up by removing the information on it.

You learn quickly. Well done!

There is a small spot on the frame I'm going to need to repair. I was thinking that I'd have to remove that crossmember to fix properly, but after looking at it some more, I don't think it will be too bad. I should be able to fix it by just removing the driver's side spring/shock tower. I have another weekend worth of work to finish stripping the frame on this old thing. On a good note, I have a sale pending on the AOD trans and associated parts (starter, flexplate, etc), and I've located a 302 manual trans bellhousing tin cover for $25 bucks. Now I understand. Hope you can repair it w/o removing the crossmember though.

Yes, 300 starters are the same as the Windsors. From our new Starter Interchange page: 83-86 6/8CYL 300/302/351WM/T 85-86 6/8CYL 300/302 A/T

Looks good!

Zach! That's a wonderful job. But, are you telling us that you just bought the router? Meaning that this is all new to you? In any event, that's a beautiful job, and one you are surely, and rightly proud of. And, your daughter looks like she really had a blast. You will both remember this for quite some time.

I think only the 460's and diesels got the T19, so it should be either a T18 or NP435. But both of those are stout transmissions, and if your new truck has a Windsor or 300 six then it'll bolt to your 302. And, Jim is right-on regarding the other things.

That's a huge question. And I don't think there is a set of instructions to do this. So we are going to have to take things one at a time to answer that question. Let's start with the ignition part. See this page: Electrical/Ignition and the Ignition Simplification tab. I know you said Pertronix, not HEI, so we will have to rethink that. My understanding is that the Pertronix system puts the module in the distributor, but not the coil. So the question is whether or not you need to eliminate the resistor wire and provide higher current to the module. Do you have an owner's manual? For your other questions, I'll take a shot at the vacuum part. You need vacuum for the vacuum advance, brake booster, HVAC, and speed control if you have one. But I don't know about the size of caps and plugs, so we will have to cross that bridge when we get to it.

Dave - I think you are right. The 460 crossmember is different but the others are the same. I think. So I wondered the same question of why remove it.

I saw that on FB. Was there any explanation given on how difficult it was?

Glad you got it out. As for the crossmember, I've replaced the engine stands and replaced some bolts on the crossmember, not removed the whole unit.

No such thing as a 4-banger in an F. The base engine was always the I6, except a few rare catastrophes in '82~4 that got a V6. I just found something in the '81 shop manual I've never seen before... It indicates there was a gasoline 255ci (4.2L) V8 available in '81 Broncos & Fs; VIN code "D". The only "E" I can imagine being on the frame stamp is for the Mahwah,NJ/Jefferson,KY assembly plants, but F150s were never built at either. I suspect he misread a "B". Steve - To paraphrase a famous Okie, all I know is what I read in the catalog. So I'm sure we will run into instances where the catalog doesn't match with what we find in the real world. And for those instances we need to have a contingency plan. On approach would be to say something like "This is what the catalog says, but we've not seen one of these in this vehicle". And pictures as well as part and ID #'s would help as well. But I think we can use this info to help people find what they are looking for. And, on the 255 engine, you can also read about it here: Engines/Windsor Series. Chris - I thought of you when I saw that.

There's a lot of VIN info in this caption: https://supermotors.net/getfile/72354/thumbnail/doorsticker.jpg What do you want to know about them? It's the last 8 digits of the VIN, between asterisks. https://supermotors.net/getfile/1141066/thumbnail/framevin96.jpg Another use for the interchange info - upgrade our how-to's. This morning I was looking at the 3G Alternator Conversion page with an eye to upgrading the instructions on the ammeter since Steve suggested that there's a way to change the wiring and not have to replace or disconnect the ammeter. (However, then the ammeter will only read on the discharge side, but that may be acceptable to some people.) And I saw the donor vehicle list and wondered if the new Alternator Interchange page might help us refine the donor list a bit. The page says "90-99 Taurus/Sable (the 3.8L has 8.125” mounting. 3.0L has the 7” mount spacing) *Need to confirm this info." But it doesn't say if they have the 90A or the 130A alternator. So I went to the interchange pages and found that there are some 130 amp alternators on some of the vehicles we listed. And I searched the pages for both cars and trucks for that part number and found these hits: TAURUS 90-94 6CYL 3.8L MOTORCRAFT130AMP. F1DZ10346BX (Note that this doesn't say "Sable") LINCOLNCONTINENTAL 91-94 6CYL 3.8L MOTORCRAFT130AMP. F1DZ10346BX SABLE 91-92 6CYL 3.0L MOTORCRAFT,130AMP F1DZ10346BX SABLE 91-95 6CYL 3.8L MOTORCRAFT130AMP. F1DZ10346BX TAURUS 91-92 6CYL 3.0L MOTORCRAFT.130 AMP, EXC.SHO F1DZ10346BX E-SERIES 92-93 ALL CYLS..MOTORCRAFT, 130AMP-EXC. F1DZ10346BX BRONCO 92-92 ALL CYLS..MOTORCRAFT, 130AMP-EXC. F1DZ10346BX F-SERIES 94-96 6CYL 4.9L MOTORCRAFT,130AMP F1DZ10346BX E-SERIES 94-96 6CYL 4.9L& 8CYL 7.5L MOTORCRAFT,130 F1DZ10346BX WINDSTAR 95-95 6CYL 3.8L MOTORCRAFT130 AMP.BEFORE 3/1/94 F1DZ10346BX This will take some refinement, but I think we have a new way to "tune" our instructions on things. And, I may even be able to cross-ref the part number to an ID/engineering # that will tell us what the alternator actually says it is.

Cory - I forgot: Facebook sharing is a big driver for people finding the site, and this forum. When I've shared some juicy/interesting info on the several FB pages I'm part of I've seen spikes in the traffic to the site. So there's an interest and need in/for the documentation. They just don't know it is there. One of the FB pages had 25K members last summer, so I shudder to think what it has now. And the others have lots of members as well. So the audience is huge. We just need to get the word out to help them help themselves.

Gary, Just to play devil's advocate here, according to some of the stuff I have been reading and listening to lately, one should consider at least 50% (and probably more) of likes and shares to be done by bots, and not real people. I have no idea if that is true or not, but it is quickly becoming the defacto standard (ugly truth). The number could be 90%...it really is kind of unknown. Now, in the case of sharing and liking a forum like this, with no product advertising involved, I would like to think that the activity would be more real than fake, but that's just my 2 cents worth on the topic. I'm neutral on the share buttons. I won't be using them, but I don't dislike them in any way. I am on Facebook, almost entirely just to follow a half a dozen Ford/Bullnose groups, but my social activity on there is minimal. I see you sharing and linking info on the FB pages Gary, and that seems to be a BIG driver of new Garagemahal traffic....at least that is my perception. Steve - I'll look, again, but I don't see any user-configurable settings for the buttons. Sorry. As for them not detecting "I HATE SOCIAL MEDIA", they can. But just don't care to do so. Everything we type on this forum will eventually be "findable" via a Google/Bing/Duckduckgo/etc search. So even w/o the buttons we are wide open. However, we do not have advertising and my pledge is that we won't. It costs me a bit annually to have the site, the URL, the tools, etc. But it isn't that much and it is my hobby. And my wife and kids know that it is my wish that the site remain, and that it remain w/o adverts. Cory - That's an awful thought. So, let's see what changes there have been in the "shares" overnight, with the second #, the one in bold, being this morning's: Bullnose FAQ's: 44 44 Calibration Info & Part #'s: 43 43 Electrical/Alternators: 59 59 Engines/385 Series: 38 38 Interchange/Air Conditioning: 17 24 Specifications/Towing: 2 2 TSB's/TSB Index: 29 29 Year-To-Year Differences: 18 18 So, the only change was Interchange/Air Conditioning. That suggests that maybe what we are seeing is from people, but maybe that's wishful thinking. But, contrast what is now a count of 257 shares, and that just on the pages I've found, with this report from Sumo, which shows that in the two days those buttons have been on we've had 17 shares. And you can see the pages shared down below, which doesn't correspond with what is shown on the pages themselves.

Cory - Pretty sure the air bags were just slipped inside the coils. That's the way I've seen it done. But I don't know if you have stock coils, although that is the most common way I've seen. The bags go up/down against the supports on the end and provide more lift as you add air. On the AOD (AOT ) removal, you do have to pull the inspection cover and remove the bolts holding the torque converter to the flex plate. And you'll have to rotate the engine between each bolt. But watch out for the drain as if you pull it you'd better be ready for a bunch of fluid. And it is a flex plate with a ring gear on it. At least that's the common usage. Ford typically called that a flywheel, but in the case of the diesel they called it a PLATE (FLYWHEEL TO CONVERTER FLEX). Anyway, enjoy "wrenching". I find it much more rewarding that cutting as there's always the nagging fear that I'll need the part I just cut up at some time in the future.

Thanks, Mark. I'd forgotten that.

Ok guys, we are making progress on the buttons. Thanks for the feedback. And, we are apparently being "found". The buttons were on the forum pages previously, so I can't tell any change there. But, they've only been on the rest of the web site about 24 hours and some of the pages are showing that they've been shared. Here are some examples of pages with shares: Bullnose FAQ's: 44 Calibration Info & Part #'s: 43 Electrical/Alternators: 59 Engines/385 Series: 38 Interchange/Air Conditioning: 17 Specifications/Towing: 2 TSB's/TSB Index: 29 Year-To-Year Differences: 18 That, oddly enough, is 250 shares we wouldn't have had w/o those buttons. And that's just in 24 hours and a few of the pages I checked.

I'm on a bit of a mission because I only have limited use of the shop and equipment. I can usually use it as much as I want, but we do have a couple projects starting soon, which means all my junk has to be out of the way...lol. I have free rein of the shop on the weekends, but I try to have all my stuff cleaned up and out of the way by Sunday evening to keep the peace. This first part is happening very quick Gary, but it's going to be moving pretty slowly from here on out. Oh well, there are worse things a fella could do with his time...haha. No idle hands here. Yup, Proverbs 16:27 is right. And that's not you. Seriously, I'm impressed. If you'd done Huck he'd have been done overnight instead of overmonth.

The VIN decoder is in Specifications/VIN Decoding. As for the partial VIN no, I don't have a document regarding that. I don't think I've seen anything that tells about it officially. But I do have a picture somewhere that shows the one on Dad's truck's frame if that would help. Considering the speed of scanning, it still isn't all that fast. I scanned everything at 600 dpi so the OCR would come through w/o issues, as anything less than 600 has caused LOTS of verification in the past, and that takes much too much time. Better to take the time scanning at 600 and have the OCR be accurate than to scan faster and have to correct the OCR results. And I actually ran two computers doing this. My laptop ran the scanner, and I used the shop computer to set up the website as well as to manipulate the pdf's. And by that I mean move the pages around. I scanned the odd-numbered pages and then the even-numbered pages, so the file was 1-3-5-7 and then 8-6-4-2. Save the file to the cloud from the laptop and start a new scan. Go to the desktop and pull up the file and re-order the pages. Then create the new web page and put the file on it. Somewhere there's a buffering problem when doing the scanning. The first several pages went about as fast as the scanner and document feeder could handle them, but then the buffer apparently got full and things slowed dramatically. So I could run through short documents, like 10 pages or so, faster than I could process them on the other computer. But there were a few 70-page docs that took a lot longer and I had time to catch up. And the "like" button is to the left on a computer and to the bottom on a mobile device - as of last night.

You are a man on a mission! Well done! Yes, from what I understand you can cut the hole open, thread the holes, and put a pump on there. But, I've not done it, so keep that in mind. And, I like your organization. Keeping the parts in the cab in their original position will keep the fasteners in place as well.

DONE! We now have in the interchange section: A/C systems: 107 pages Alternators: 116 pages Brakes: 199 page Carburetor: 42 pages Crankshaft: 25 pages Diesel Inject: 8 pages Distributor: 34 pages Fuel Pumps: 61 pages Heads: 44 pages Starters: 64 pages Steering: 96 pages Window Motors: 46 pages Water Pumps: 28 pages _____________________ Total 840 pages on interchange possibilities between Ford cars and trucks from the 50's to 90's

Two sets of responses. First, to the "small-town" folks (), I'm not a big fan of Facebook. However, if we are trying to help the masses of Ford enthusiasts, and especially our Bullnosed brothers, we need to let them know that the information they'll need to support their trucks resides on here. So, I've been pointing many Facebookers here to answer their questions. (In fact, I just did to help a guy asking electrical questions.) And, I've seen the number of people using the site grow significantly after doing so, meaning that it works. But, we are missing a key ingredient towards them telling their friends about the treasure-trove of information we have here - the ability to "share" or "like" what they find. Therein lies the need for some form of buttons to let them do just that. And that's why I was interested in getting some sort of buttons on the site. Now, to Vic's concerns about the size and location of the Sumo buttons, I've now made them as small as I possibly can. And, I've changed how they display when on a mobile device. So, please see if that helped. Also, I added a Facebook share button to the footer which goes on every page. I think it is too difficult to see way down there to be very helpful. And, it is only Facebook, although I can probably find buttons for Pinterest and Twitter if we decide that this approach is better. Also, I can probably move them either just above or just below the featured-truck picture if that would be better. Thoughts? Input? PLEASE! This isn't a done-deal. So I need help, meaning your opinions.

I had to look that one up. Center High Mounted Stop Lamp. Cool! Thank you for the translation!

I agree - those on LMC aren't quite right as the originals had no partition. However, they were prone to breaking when you let the door hit your foot or leg, so it may be that the partition is really just a brace to prevent breaking. But, if you find a set of the originals you can glue a piece of steel just inside the lip and it greatly strengthens the plastic.