Gary Lewis

There hasn't been any talk about a diagnostic session. I'm going to guess that for the most part the trucks that will be there that night will be pretty well checked out. However, Jonathan has just put a new (to him) dizzy in his and the vacuum advance was tuned for David's truck, so there could be some work done there. And if you get with Chris twixt now and then that may help his MPG getting here, so that's a very good idea. But there might be some on Saturday that will want to talk with you, if not have you look at their truck. So your services would certainly be appreciated. As for Friday evening, we are "catering" it. Mac's BBQ is one of the best places in this part of the country, so once we have a handle on how many are coming we'll order enough meat for them and then nibble on the leftovers for the rest of the weekend. But thanks for the offer.

That's the night that we are hosting quite a few from the forum for dinner, including Darin/Oz Econoline & his Anita from Australia, Ken Blythen & his wife from New Zealand, David, Jonathan, Don/Pebcak & his wife Stacey from Texas, Jim/The Human Wrench from MO, Vinny from Canada, and several others whose names escape me. (If I've missed you I'm sorry, but please let me know you are coming.) And, there's a 50/50 chance Ray Cecil will be there. In addition, Cash Billups & his fiance Cassie hope to be there that night. Their wedding is the following Saturday and they may not make the show due to prep'ing for it, but hope to at least make the get-together on Friday night. So, you might want to set an alarm clock.

Works for us. So you'll leave CO on Friday morn?

Yeah, the M5OD was basically an F150 and Bronco transmission, but it did show up in the lighter duty F250 trucks. The guy I bought my original M5OD from actually had it for sale as a "ZF" for a while, because he assumed that is what came in all of the 3/4 ton trucks. Somebody corrected him on it, then he relisted it correctly as the M5OD. The one currently in my truck is tagged F1TA-HB, and the one I picked up today is tagged E9TA-CA. These transmissions were fairly common, but they're a bit more difficult to find around my area. The key point of interest with the M5OD 5spd, at least for Bullnose use, is that the cable driven speedo disappeared in 1992. So, for Bullnose use, the 1988-1991 M5OD is the one you want. And, I'm speaking specifically of the 4x2 version. With a 4x4 you may have more options with regards to speedo cables since they go into the t-case don't they? Yes, E9TA-7003-CA does show on that page as the tranny for an F150 or 250 4x2 with a 3.08 or 2.73 axle. And you are correct - a 4x4's speedo cable goes into the transfer case, so you could use the later transmissions and put an earleir t-case on it.

I didn't realize that the M5OD-R2 was available in the F250. But, my page on manual transmissions confirms it if you know what to look for. As explained by Core Shifters, Ford used the term M5OD to refer to both the ZF as well as the Mazda-built unit. But, in the catalog they are differentiated by "TK" for Toyo Kogyo, which is the arm of Mazda that built them, and "ZF". The TK was used in F250's below 8500 GVWR, and the ZF above that. So, it would seem that the TK would be a great tranny for many of these trucks. It gives an OD, albeit only .80 vs the .72 of the ZF, so you can use taller gears with it than with the ZF. Cool! Does the new tranny have a tag on it?

That's a good trick. Glad it worked.

Tim Meyer just posted a video on Facebook of the final dyno run on his first aluminum Cleveland block, known as Track Boss #1. Here's a screen grab from that video that shows what I think is the max HP. Tim said "TB#1 final dyno pulls. 4.155" bore, 4" stroke, Cam Research solid roller cam 780/780 lift & good old Ford C3 heads." What do you think?

Check it out, Pete: Bullnose Forum/Member's Map.

Ray - Wish you could have made it, but there's always next year. Surely you can get your passport renewed by then?

It sure looks good. Rare to find one in that good of condition and unmolested. And, from what we can see, no rust. Plus, I like the wheels. But I'm not sure about the paint job nor the blackout treatment.

Yes, that's a really good job! Well worth $650 for the bed, tires, wheels, and rear bumper.

Good catch, Jonathan. I missed those points. But, in my defense, that paint scheme is sooooo busy it is really hard to focus on details.

Congrat's!!! Not only is the problem probably gone, but the smoothness, performance, and surely the MPG have been increased. In one fell swoop. And, now you'll feel more comfortable not just hauling water or lumber and tools, but driving long distances. As for David, that's just the kind of guy he is.

That is about 2.5 miles from me, where Shinarump Drive dead ends at the wilderness boundary. Our view isn’t quite as picturesque with rocks and vegetation, but the skyline from our property is more interesting. Beautiful shot.

I've long-ago given up on my list. We have live-in grandtwins, and we are enjoying them very much, but it doesn't leave much time for trucking. However, there will be time for that after they go back home.

Is that your view? That's cool!

I sure hope you'se guys get this figured out as I want to XLS Dad's truck. (But, at the rate it isn't progressing you have a lot of time to get it sorted.)

Just a reminder, the show/swap meet is 1 month from today - Sept 15th. And, things are coming together. I'm ordering the t-shirts tonight, and I picked up the trophies today. Unfortunately they misspelled garagemahal, so they'll have to send the replacement pieces to me via the mail, but that shouldn't be too big of a job to replace them. And, for categories I stayed with the ones we had last year since I have 140 ballots left and if we changed categories I'd have to print more ballots. But, here's what they look like, although the last line will be "garysgaragemahal.com":

Jonathan & Lew - Please check out the map (Bullnose Forum/Member's Map) to see that I did it correctly. Lew & Bill - The map says you are 20 miles apart at times!

Nice trucks! My 1984 Flareside is a bare bones truck also with no radio;). Did you get them at an auction or something? And did you say you picked up a 1987 Flareside as well? If so, that was the very last year for the Flareside, and it has unique one year only rear fenders, FYI. I think most would consider an '87 Flareside to be somewhat rare. Where are you located? Where is a good question. We have a map, shown in the menu as Bullnose Forum/Member's Map, which shows the approximate location for some of our members. Happy to add you if I had a location.

Yeah, that's why I'm saying it is a 400, which is 6.6 liters. But many guys seem to think the engine is a "351M 400". I'm not sure why as they were two different engines, but the label on the radiator support did mention both, regardless of which one was in the vehicle.

Good points, Bill. Thanks for the clarification.

With Bill's help we've added 278 acronyms that, for the most part, apply to EFI installations, although some of them also apply to the feed-back carb systems as well as other, less complex, installations. And, we have pin-outs for most of the EEC-IV and EEC-V installations. All of this is on the Acronym and Pin-outs tabs on the page at Fuel Systems/Carbs, Chokes, & EFI/EFI. And, since this info also is frequently needed in electrical and emissions work I plan to link to that page from those sections - once I figure out the best way to do that. (Suggestions would be appreciated.)

If the bearings are dry or worn such that the armature is dragging on the field, which happens, then it will draw more current than it should. On a lower speed setting that still shouldn't be more than 30 amps, but it could be on High.

Not between a 351M and a 400. The only difference is in the crankshaft's throw (3.5" vs 4.0") and the pistons. All else is the same. But, he said 6.6L, and that's a 400. However, he doesn't know that there's a difference between a 351M and a 400 from what he wrote, so....