Gary Lewis

It's an unused ground. Here's a little clearer view of it on my truck. Easier to see with no engine;). It is crimped in the firewall end of the engine ground cable. I found some interesting information here: Electrical/Grounds/Engine To Firewall Ground.

Glad it is better and, hopefully, you can now see the gauges. I now have the LED's and new paint from HiPo and hope to do the test soon.

Interesting. Maybe the to-be valve covers will have good seals on the bolts? So, how 'bout the bearings in the throttle bodies? Any tips on removing them so I can reuse them after I blast the housing and PC it?

Pretty sure I removed a layer of protection because what is showing is copper. So they must have electroplated the inside of the valve covers. I could powder coat the inside, but might as well just get a good pair. As for the bolts, I've taken them out of the clean cover, but two of the seals are bad. Is there a good source for them?

Got the lower plenum powder-coated: And then mated the two plenums for pics and kicks: Now I have the thermostat housing and a bunch of fasteners to do. But the lower plenum took the most time due to all the masking involved. Very time-consuming. And then there's the valve covers. I knew I needed the passenger's side one since it is broken, but looks like leaving the driver's side in hot Simple Green all night stripped off a layer of corrosion protection. But, it got it lots cleaner. Anyway, I think I need a pair of them now. And, here's the tops for comparison. The o-ring groove is .160" deep and .160" wide. So, Bill, can the HD ones be installed where these LD ones were? Are they better due to the bigger o-ring?

Here are the labels: And here are the bores. I have the '95 TB apart, and can cap things and then blast the outside. How hard is it to get the seals for the shaft?

Bill - Lots of questions. First, here are three shots of the two throttle bodies I have. In this first one you can see that the one on the left, which was from the 1990 F20 (Huck) has a flange on the left, and I'm wondering if that is the casting you mentioned where the heater was? Also, note that the one on the right, from the 1995 F450, has holes in the throttle blades while the other doesn't. Obviously that would change how far open the blades need to be to achieve that idle speed w/o the IAC working. So, you think it would be reasonable to trim the staked screws and remove the throttle blades, pull the TPS, pull the shaft and linkage, and then blast and powder coat one? Would you use the later one w/o the extra casting but with the holes in the blades? Here's another shot of the side showing that extra casting and the spots that might have been the ports: And here's the other side:

I believe the quickest visual clue is whether you have vacuum advance on your distributor or not. If you have a vacuum advance line, then your truck is Duraspark II, not EEC-IV. No vacuum advance, then you have an electronic distributor and feedback carb (EEC-IV). The second bit of evidence, as shown in your picture, is that big black rubber plug in the firewall right next to where the unused pigtail is. If your truck was EEC-IV, then there would be a bundle of wires going through the firewall where that plug is, to the ECU in the cab. Somebody can correct me if I'm wrong here, but that is my understanding of the quick and dirty checks as to EEC-IV and non EEC-IV. I think there is a a bit of a misconception that all 1984 trucks were EEC-IV. Maybe it was a mid-year change, I dunno, but my 1984 is not EEC-IV, and it doesn't look like yours is either. I've found others in my searches as well. My truck was a one owner unmodified vehicle, so it came from Ford that way. As always, take it all with a grain of salt. I'm certainly no expert, but I did go through all this originally when ordering parts for my '84 F150. I think you are right on that. Good points. As for the ground, I'm glad to know that. Thanks!

Glad you are making progress. These trucks are like onions - we keep peeling the layers and crying, but it is all good if you like onion rings. As for the pigtail, it doesn't look like a Ford connector. But, there should be a ground from the engine, usually from the valve cover bolt to the wiper motor. Do you have that ground?

Well, when you get to liking CAD again maybe you are the guy to help create some 3D drawings? Bill sent me 3 plastic windshield clips from a Chizzler and I drew one of them up so he could 3D print it. But there are two to go and it took soooo long to do the one..... Perhaps you could do it in your sleep?

Meticulous? Naw, that ain't nothing. You should see what I do for a living!!! From the finished floor to the top of the loft subfloor is about 8'4". I decided to sacrifice a little head room underneath, so I could fit those nice big shelves up top. I plan to keep the garage floor as neat and simple as possible. I've got 7' 6-1/2" from finished floor to bottom of floor joist. That is plenty of room. A little shorter than average 8'. That gave me about the same head room up above at 7'-8" from subfloor to bottom of trusses. As far as support for the top of the stinggers, I will put in a 2x4 or 2x6 header and notch the stringer. Then screws from the backside to pull everything tight. Rise is 8.21" and run is 9" How much of this has been drawn up in CAD?

Hmmm. That raises lots of thoughts, questions, etc. First, Huck had a tee in the heater hose with a smaller line going somewhere. And, he had an E4OD. Is that what you are talking about? Second, the TB from the '95 F450 says "Do not adjust" on a label. Is that the same thing you are talking about? Is there a dimension that the throttles are supposed to be held open? I realize the IAC supplies air, but maybe there is a standard? And, are these like carbs? Meaning, they are precision parts, but if you are careful you can pull the butterflies, shafts, etc and clean them, PC them, and reassemble? I have two TB's, so could do that. Maybe black to compliment the plenum?

Oops! Probably right. I just grabbed a 3/8" and it worked nicely. Obviously the threads are well lubed, so the bolts came out easily. But, otherwise the wrong wrench might have been a problem. Boy, talk about varnish! The inside of those valve covers are/were awful! The good one is in the parts washer with Simple Green sitting in it as I type. Hopefully the overnight soak will loosen that stuff and it'll come out easily this morn. But my plans for blasting and PC'ing the covers along with the lower plenum today are obviously not going to happen as I'm down one cover. Hopefully I'll at least get the plenum done and the one cover cleaned, if not blasted. It is amazing how time-consuming it is to blast the lower plenum given all of its nooks and crannies. Every time I thought I was done I'd spot something else. Then, when that was done came the daunting task of masking it off as powder on the mating surfaces isn't good, and powder where the injectors go is probably not a good idea. And there are the sensor ports, which should have powder in them either. Ran out of the high-temp plugs as well as time yesterday, so decided to get the uppers done and be able to tick that box for the day. So I can pull the plugs from them and use them on the lower plenum today - after I mask everything else. But I hope to have another shiny pic to show tonight.

I remember watching that be done for my shop. Lots of meticulous work. Well done! How high is your loft? My 2nd floor is 12' up, and the stairs are loooong - especially when carrying things up. What support will there be in the center?

Good point, Ken. I've seen that as well but didn't think about it being a source of the leak. Gsmblue - The aluminum intakes corrode pretty badly there on the ends if the coolant isn't changed routinely. It is due to the interface of dissimilar metals in the presence of a liquid. So the liquid, in this case coolant, has to have corrosion inhibitors, and they go away over time.

Thanks! And if you see a pristine throttle body on one of them I'd like that as well. I have two of them, but neither are shiny enough to put with that upper plenum. And I'm not sure blasting and powder coating one is a good idea, although maybe if I disassemble it. Anyway, shiny, new, pristine, etc.

I like that, it IS therapeutic! I like the comparison to gardening. You get dirty. It is therapeutic. And beautiful things come from it.

Yes, please look if you are going this morn. It only takes a 3/8" wrench to get them off. And I'll bet this is the common one as it appears to be original to Huck, which was a 1990 F250.

Talked to Eric Weingartner tonight. He's the one that flow tested the D8OE's I ported a few years ago, and he recently did a pair of heads for Brandon. He doesn't port cast iron heads any more, but that's ok as he'll do a 5-angle valve job on these, deck them to make sure they are flat, do the guides and seals, etc for about $300 if I caught all the numbers he was telling me. Of course there may be bad valves, but I didn't notice any of them leaking today, so maybe not. In any case, he will make them bolt-on ready and turn-around is two weeks. I have a plan.

Brandon - I really like that meter. You keep leaving things here, so why haven't you left it? On the batteries, I've had good luck with Interstates. Not used a lot, but some.

Passenger's side. But I'll have to check on which version I have. Will do in the morn, Bill.

I wouldn't have notched the 6x6. Solid Red Oak 6x6 I am venturing to say would be pretty equivalent in strength to a 2x12 in Spruce or Fir. It takes three people to lift each of these beams....I think they are on par with concrete lol! I have a bunch of 1-1/2" or 2" Steel tubing I was considering for the job. Would be a lot of welding, and I don't have a good welder yet. The rough sawn lumber wouldn't splinter your hands. Its dense hardwood, not weak splintery Fir or Spruce. The worse part of the rough sawn stuff is that everything is a different size. I'd need to get a table saw to get pieces within dimension. Cutting the pieces to match sounds like a lot of work, but then welding up a tubing hand rail would be as well. Let us know what you decide, but I'll bet it will work well.

It is a big list, but should be doable. Keep us posted.

Haven't heard of them. Got a link?

More in EFI for Big Blue, but got the upper plenums PC'd today. Here's the one for Big Blue. What'cha think?