Gary Lewis

Welcome! I don't know how much vacuum the diesel pumps are supposed to give, but I would assume that it would give something similar to the minimum vacuum a gas engine would show at idle, and that would be around 15". Do you have a vacuum gauge? If not, they are inexpensive and you can get one at most parts stores. Then you may be able to put the vacuum gauge's hose inside the hose coming from the vacuum pump and test the output of the pump. I will check the factory shop manual tomorrow to see if they have spec's on the vacuum you should expect.

Before diving into the carb you should do some other diagnostics. Do you have a vacuum gauge? You can check the idle mix with one, but if not you can do it by ear. Here's how I do it: - With the engine off gently screw both idle mix screws all the way in, counting how many turns they were turned out. Accuracy to 1/8 turn is accurate. - Then turn them out 2 1/2 turns each. - Attach the vacuum gauge to a port on the manifold. One of the ports on the plastic manifold back on the firewall will work also. But whatever you use has to have full vacuum at idle. - Start the engine and warm it up, and then turn the idle mix screws out 1/4 turn. If the vacuum or RPM increases, then turn them out 1/4 turn more, and continue that until the vacuum/RPM quits increasing and starts to drop. But if the vacuum/RPM actually dropped when you turned the screws the first 1/4 turn out, then start going in 1/4 turn at a time until you find the best idle. Assuming that you find a good idle then you may not need to rebuild the carb. But if turning the screws all the way in gives a better idle, albeit not really good, then your power valve is leaking. And if turning the screws all the way out gives a better idle then you probably have a vacuum leak, like a cracked vacuum hose. Anyway, give that a try and we will see where to go next.

Welcome, ntex!

Welcome! But, are your sure it is a 351W? In 1980 it should have been a 351M. To tell the difference, the Windsor has 6 valve cover bolts and the M has 8. As for the stalling, these engines came with Motorcraft 2150 carbs, and they can easily have a blown power valve. That makes them idle poorly, among other things, so that might account for the stalling at idle.

Swapping to a V8 is a bit of work - and expense. The engine stands/perches have to be changed, and the radiator's inlet and outlet are reversed so should be changed. But, it is doable. So it becomes what you want and can afford. Building an engine costs a minimum of $2K, and the other bits will add to that. So it does add up. However, a V8 with a bit of a cam sure can sound sweet. On the other hand, a six with split manifolds and dual exhaust can as well.

You can see here (Driveline/Wheels) that in '82 they offered an F100 with 5 x 4.5" wheels. And, if I remember correctly, the power braked F100's had the 4 1/2" spacing and the manual had the 5 1/2". It is counterintuitive, but I'm pretty sure that's correct.

I don't know what happened, but at least you are back in. And, in your list of features on the Jeep you didn't mention that it is a Rubicon. That brings with it a host of things that other Jeeps don't have. A few years ago the next door neighbor asked me to help him "upgrade" his TJ. Turns out that most of the things we did were part of the Rubicon package, and getting a Jeep with that package would have been less expensive than doing it aftermarket. And, a lot less work! Anyway, you have a really nice ride there. Enjoy!

Lew - Where did the pic of the Jeep go? I saw it late last night but it was too late to respond, and now its gone? Never fear, we aren't hung up on "just Fords". We even let Ray post pics of his French vehicle.

Exactly. That's what I was trying to say. I was able to dig up a couple of bad pictures of that latch (on the driver's side of the carrier). I don't know if they're worth 1000 words each, but at least a few hundred (in other words, maybe this'll explain it better than I can): I never had any trouble with mine coming open. But if you are concerned, I think most latches like that probably could be pinned. Because it's an "over-center" clamp, that means the "U" does move past a pivot point for the handle. I think you could probably drill and pin the handle so the "U" couldn't swing past it. And some are probably already set up that way. There are pros and cons to a large tank. I don't know what size I would think was ideal, let alone what you will like. But I'll give you my experience. My Bronco has a 2.5 gallon air tank and 33/10.50-15 tires. I air down to about 15 psi on the trails and then air back up to 30 psi on the roads. If I start with the tank full (100 psi) I can air the first tire up pretty fast, but the tank is down to about 30 psi at that point. So it drops down pretty low when I start airing up the second tire, and now I have to wait for the compressor to air up the tire AND the tank. If I had a large enough tank I could air up all 4 tires before the tank was empty, but if I didn't make it, that last tire would take FOREVER. In my case the air system is mainly for the "toad" brakes (when I'm flat-towing the Bronco) and the air tank is a good size for that (and about the biggest I can fit). So I'm not planning on experimenting on tank size for airing up. The pics helped a bunch, thanks. On the air tank size, I understand the tradeoffs of too big of a tank vs too small of a tank. But I didn't have a good idea of how much air it takes per tire. Basically you are saying that 2 1/2 gallons did one tire. So, since your tires are roughly the same size as mine, a 10 gallon tank is about right to air up 4 tires. The 11 gallon tank I have is just a bit too big, physically, to go in the spot I'm looking at since it hangs down more than I want it to do. Perhaps I won't find one that size that has the right dimensions, but a little bit smaller wouldn't be a bad idea. Thanks, that helps.

Sully - Those gauges look good! But, when you say "glow in the dark paint", what did you really use? And, how do they look at night? Further, what lighting do you have in the gauges to light those gauges? As for what things look like in person vs via a camera and a computer, I find that a frustrating thing. There's just no way I can get even my own tightly-controlled process to compare to the real thing.

Another way to say it is "the tow point is also the bumper bracket". Fewer pieces to fabricate; a stronger design; and safer. Ford never put a safety pin on Bronco swingaways, and I've never seen one of them come loose - even in a wreck. The '92-96 latch bolts on to the swing arm, so you might want to just use one from a JY on yours. https://supermotors.net/getfile/894887/thumbnail/swingawaysexploded.jpg Steve - I'll get to the latch a bit later. All - I've been under Big Blue a million times today to measure "one more thing", only to realize I need more or that didn't fit with other measurements. Makes me wonder why it isn't in on the lift. Anyway, I've done some drawing and checking, and have come to the conclusion that Steve has been right all along - it is easier, and probably safer to put an air tank under the side of the bed. There's plenty of room and it is just a matter of finding the largest tank that'll fit easily. I have an 11 gallon that would fit, but it'll hang down a bit, so I need to find a different one. But that is for a later date. As for the bumper, It is amazing how things look like they'll fit easily. First, here's my drawing of the underside of BB, showing the frame (as straight but isn't), bed, tailgate, and existing bumper: Ok, add the tow eyes. These are 1" thick and 2 1/2" tall. The hole is, as shown, 1", and the eyes are modeled after my Smittybilt drawbar that takes a D-ring perfectly. It has a 1" thick tongue and a 1" hole. And now add in the hitch. It'll weld to the inside of the eyes, and will also have pieces that bolt to the bottom of the frame in at least 2 of the 3 holes the existing hitch bolts into. The issue is that the 2 nearest holes are in a section of the frame that is straight, but the frame drops down before it gets to the 3rd hole, making it more difficult to get to that hole. So I'm thinking that being solidly welded to the eyes, which are bolted in with 4 more bolts will still be extremely solid. And speaking of "solidly welded, the way the lower piece of the hitch attaches to the upper crosspiece on the existing hitch is via large pieces of angle on the top and bottom tying the two together. I plan to do that on this one, although it isn't shown. But I'm wondering how to attach the crosspiece to the tow eyes. Will welding and fishplating top and bottom be enough? Anyway, it is amazing how it'll all fit in the current bumper space. It will raise the hitch 6" and I'm already using a 4" drop. But I want to lower the rear of the truck at the same time by softening the suspension, so hopefully that will keep me from having to run too much drop on the draw bar. Having said that, the 38 gallon tank I have to put back there will come 5 1/2" below the frame. I have the skid plates that were on Dad's truck and may be able to use them if I were to go with a smaller tank. And, I want to keep a reasonable amount of "angle of departure" in back, and lowering the rear or having a big tank back that isn't helping that.

I think I've found something I do not like - any pdf I put out there can be downloaded. So any EVTM, brochure, etc can easily be used elsewhere. And I don't want to put a lot of work into one and have it "borrowed". And, I'm concerned about the legitimacy of scanning purchased documents that then can be downloaded in their entirety. The worst case is the full EVTM, where I'd have created links from each entry of the Index as well as have OCR'd the whole file. Next would be the sectional pdf's, where I'd still have OCR'd the file. So, I'm thinking strongly about staying with the sectional approach with pictures of the pages on them. And, converting the brochures to jpg's as well. Thoughts?

Thanks, Bill. But, before I go much further perfecting "sealing wax", which might bring on my 19th Nervous Breakdown, let's think about options again. I went back to see how I'd done the certification label links and realized how I can make links work. So I put the '85 EVTM on the 1985 EVTM Test page that way. And, the links work, even on a phone, although the fancy stuff of zooming in on something doesn't work - shucks. And, maybe better yet, the search function works - albeit probably only on a computer. Hit Control-F, type into the search line what you are looking for, and hit Enter. It'll show you the first instance, highlighted in orange on my browser, and any other instances on that page in yellow. Hit the down (or up) button and it'll advance to the next one. So, here are two ideas: Sections: What if I break the big pdf into the 36 sections (for the '85 one) just as the other two have always been. But, instead of pasting pictures of each page in the sections, put in the pdf of just those pages. And, have the pdf OCR'd so it can be searched? (We could still do the Prev/Next Section buttons.) The down side of breaking it up is that a search only finds things in the section you are in. Full: This idea would be to put the whole EVTM on in one pdf, just like I now have now but fully OCR'd. The Index page would be fully functional with links that you click on. You can try that on the few links I've set up. But, the normal ways of getting back are to use the slider or type in the page # you want, like 2 for the Index. And there doesn't seem to be a slider for a mobile device, so you are faced with slogging through page after page to get to the index. So I put a Back To Index button at the top. But there may well be other options y'all will think of. So, please give this some thought and testing and let me know what you think. PLEASE?

That's close to what I imagined, but PREV at the far Left T&B, and NEXT at the far Right T&B. Ok guys, thanks for the input. Please see what you think on the first two sections - Intro and Grounds. If you like that I can put it the rest of the way through, but don't want to get carried away if that's not what you meant.

I think you will definitely want to be able to attach a clevis to your tow eyes. That's a very secure and versatile way to go. And in my case the "bracket" and the tow eye was all one piece of steel. But if you wanted to have a bracket bolted to the frame behind the bumper and the tow point on the front of the bumper, with bolts going through the bumper to attach them, then you'd have your non-welded tow points too. That does make it a lot harder to use your bumper as an air tank (if you still were thinking of doing that). Running the tow point all the way through the bumper like I did doesn't rule it out with a hollow bumper, it just means you need to have two air-tight welds instead of one. Yeah, you can make a bumper with an integrated receiver plenty stout. The challenge is usually more in not making it too heavy. On my Bronco I really couldn't angle from the hitch to the frame as the fuel tank is right there. You can sort of see in the picture above that I just boxed in the back side of the bumper by welding another length of C-channel to it between the frame horns. The receiver tube goes through, and is welded to, both C-channels, with a massive gusset plate flush with the lower edge of the bumper (the gusset plate also serves as the safety chain attachment points). I also put the trailer light connection through the face of the bumper, so none of that stuff hangs down to catch rocks. I think you're getting what I did there. But I'm not saying that you shouldn't go with any of the ideas you had previously, just telling you what I did on my Jeep first, and now on my Bronco. Your tow eyes went all the way to the frame!? So, no brackets. I like that as it is the most solid approach, and will measure in a bit to see how that might work on Big Blue. As for an air tank in the bumper, I've got two tanks that I'll test today to see how they might fit under the bed, outside of the frame. If one of those will fit then that would be easier and free up the design for the bumper. On the latch, I'm not sure I understand which way it ran - vertically or horizontally. And I'm comparing the security of that kind of latch to the one Steve suggested. The over-center latch like you used is pretty secure, but there's no "safety" on it that I can think of. But on Steve's latch you could drill it for a safety pin like is used on a trailer hitch, and be pretty sure it won't open. Thoughts?

That looks so GOOD! And after what it looked like out in the woods, that's really impressive. It looks like it was a lot of work. But everything was there? My fear of basket cases is that a critical part will be missing. And it sure is close to the door. How high can a vehicle be and miss the door if it is open?

I made my own tow eyes. I started with some 1" thick x 4" tall bar stock and milled away everything that didn't look like a tow eye or a bumper mount. I used 2"(?) x 4" C-channel for a bumper and milled holes in it for the tow eyes to poke through and welded the bumper to the tow eyes. The tow eyes are... stout. I probably wouldn't recommend using that much steel for them. 1/2" or even 3/8" thick is probably plenty. (And they aren't still 1" thick in the tow eye section, I had to mill that thinner to fit a standard clevis over it.) But I'm happy with what I have. Below is a picture of the finished product. And on my Jeep the "V" pointed backward, so the carrier just swung into it, no lifting required. The clamp pulled the arm forward, to bottom it in the "V" and the taper on the top and bottom of the "V" kept the free end of the arm from moving up and down. And calling it a "V" is maybe misleading. there wasn't a lot of angle to the top and bottom. Just enough to kind of wedge the arm in place. My friend makes tow eyes out of 1" stock. I haven't seen them yet, but assuming a clevis will attach, if they were drilled and tapped they could be welded to the bumper over a hole in it. Then the bracket from the frame could come back and the bumper could be attached to the bracket via the tow eyes. In addition, if 3/16 or 1/4" angle was used to attach to the hitch mounting spots and tie into bumper it would be extremely solid. I would not have any fears of off-angle pulls damaging anything as the bumper would tie the whole back end of the frame together tightly. As for the latch, are you saying the V was a shallow ramp? I was wondering about doing that as it would put enough tension on the swing arm that nothing would move. Or, am I misunderstanding?

Indeed! I also scored a set of valve covers for for my little 302 today. I currently have the factory steel covers installed (painted dark blue with the engine), and I was totally fine with them, but these guys caught my eye and were pretty cheap. Pretty! I really like cast valve covers, and those look to be very nice ones.

Thanks! But would you want to do a write-up on it? I can create the page and add your words and pics.

The only search functions are part of the web browser - and I don't see them on my phone, just my computer. So the pdf approach isn't going to be very useful since about half of the usage is via a phone. Oh well, it was an idea, but apparently not a good one. I'll wait until a few more of you let me know what you think, but I'm thinking the other approach is better. With this one, if you are using a computer you can type in the page number you want and it'll take you there. But on a phone there doesn't seem to be a way to type in the page number, so you are left scrolling. And on a 150+ page document that's a huge pain! A half-way house would be to put the pages for each section in a pdf instead of as jpg's. That way the search function at the top and bottom of each page should find things - but it doesn't. I've not been successful finding things in the documents using either search function, even several days after the document has been put on the site. And since they are supposed to scan daily they should find it. So, I'm at a loss. Perhaps the original way is the best?

Good luck! Would be a nice project. But I have way too many projects.

Do you like it better than the old way? W/o the features? Search should work.

Today I finished the 1985 EVTM and added it to the website in two ways: The old way, with an index page (Electrical/EVTM/1985 EVTM) and 36 subsequent pages that are accessed via the index. All in all, those pages hold 157 pages, including the Index, and represents a whole lot of work. As a pdf, as described in this post. This way is less work in many ways, so I'm interested in using it in future. Please go read that post and let me know what you think in that thread.

You aren't too late. Your input is fitting with what several others said. So, here's the deal: I finished the 1985 EVTM the normal way, and it is in the normal place of Electrical/EVTM/1985 EVTM. But I haven't gone over it with a fine-toothed comb, so please see what you think and let me know. But I then OCR'd the first 6 pages of the pdf version of the '85 EVTM, through and including Page 5 Grounds. And, I created a new page here: Electrical/EVTM/1985 EVTM (Test). And, I did a little bit of the fancy link stuff I was talking about. For instance, in the Index you can see a blue box around the "1" of How To Use This Manual. And there are a few more of those tricks. But, on a web page it doesn't work - at least not for me in Chrome. Strange, because that's how I did the certification label thing, and it works - I think. So, that tells me that it is a waste of my time to do the tricks - unless I find a way to make them work on a web page. But, you can download the file and those tricks work with something like Acrobat. For instance, download it and click on the "5" on Grounds at the bottom left of the Index page. Then, when it takes you to Grounds on Page 5, click on the "87" in the upper left at the ashtray illumination. But, I could make a career of hot-linking just one EVTM, and there are ways for you to use it w/o that. In addition, you can search for text on those first few pages. However, for some reason after the first search my browser quit highlighting the text, so it wasn't very helpful. In any event, creating that was easier than the old way. I still have to OCR the whole thing and do some page cropping and straightening, but I need to hear from you. Do you like this better than the old way? Why? What works for you? What doesn't work? PLEASE let me know.