Gary Lewis

Good point, Bill. Thanks. Another issue or three that will be corrected as a result of the swap: Brake master is leaking at the cap and there's another brake fluid spot on the driveway. But I have the F350 master from Jim, which has the plastic reservoir and single plastic cap, and that will fix the problem. Dipstick: The one that's in there is an aftermarket round one, and it is all but impossible to get to and cannot be removed w/o wiping it on the side of something coming out. But in the swap Huck's pan and later style o-ringed dipstick tube will be installed, so problem solved. Oil leaks: Yesterday's run has new/more oil thrown from the front main as well as from the rear of the intake manifold, so now there are more oil drops on the drive. But, as said, Huck's pan will go on in the EFI installation, and I'll install new front and rear main seals as well as do the lower plenum up well. So, yes I can tell Janey it is NEEDED!

As Jim says, progress is good! You are nigh unto having it running again.

My prayers, plural, yesterday included the equivalent. For sure! Several observations from yesterday that I didn't mention last night or that need restated: Under heavy load, like the pickup and trailer, there's a buzz in the truck between about 55 and 60 MPH. It isn't very strong, but it is there. Not really a vibration in the way of something out of balance, but just the feeling of touching rotating machinery. I'm thinking the torque required to move that much mass has the header against the frame and it is the vibration of the engine I'm feeling. Dunno why it isn't there above or below that speed. The glass packs have to go. Now that the new window runs have muted the wind noise, the exhaust noise is ever-present. But, when accelerating with a load it is obnoxious. People turn and look. The tach is starting to have an erratic tick to it. One thing , but that could cause that is an ignition problem, but it is doing it under load, with seemingly no glitch in the power and no change in the exhaust note. Could switch out the tach for the one going in Dad's truck, but this one shouldn't do that. The gas gauge is stuck on Full+. I've checked the wiring and pulling the connector from the tank sends the gauge to zero, there's pulsing voltage to the connector, and placing it back on sends it above Full. So the sending unit is apparently stuck. Its been that way for a week or two and I'd hoped that a long trip and bouncing around as it did would cause it to start working again, but not dice. Interestingly enough, those ills will be fixed as a result of the upgrade to EFI that is planned for Big Blue. The EFI heads have different exhaust openings so I can't use the existing headers. The exhaust that came on Huck will bolt back on to those heads, but the pipes are cut in the perfect place to have Magnaflow mufflers installed. As for the tach, I'm assuming that the EEC-V system will drive it, so at least the ignition system will be completely different. And the sending unit will have to be completely different so that problem should be solved. Is that reason enough to do the swap?

Ahhh! Got it. I'm not a big fan of cats, but I like that one.

Core Tuning has, or soon will have, a custom tune for the EB. And since I'm going to buy their package it doesn't cost much more to get that tune as well. But I don't really need more power. However, I would like a bit more MPG and the ability to tune the shift points some. I was told that their tune does both of those, but when I am buying I'll research that a bit more.

Yes, beautiful truck. Kinda high, but probably worth it given the condition.

Nice truck. And $4,500 isn't bad at all since that is a lot of truck with no problems. But, what is a PNW truck?

Brandon - I've not heard of them. David - Yes, I'm checking gas mileage. On the way over I got 8.3 MPG, but there was lots of idling to run the alternator while winching. But I'll check the return MPG when I fill up tomorrow as it was late when I got back tonight. Anyway, the trip went extremely well. I had all the right tools, Big Blue towed the trailer quite well (although not as well as Blue), and the winch and electrical system worked perfectly. In fact, the only problem we had, and that was minor, was that Big Blue still pings some on 91 octane gas when he's pulling a loaded trailer. However, I was prepared for that possibility and had take a plug for the vacuum advance line - problem solved. I had to drive through some pretty tall grass, weeds, and briars, but Big Blue didn't spin a tire. However, I might not have been very happy if I'd taken my new truck, so I'm really glad I took Big Blue. Here's a pic of the grass I had to drive through: Here we are winching the '60 out of the ground. It didn't have wheels on 3 of the corners, and while there was a wheel on the 4th it had absolutely no rubber. Consequently all 4 corners were sunk well into the ground. So it was a chore even getting a jack under something, and there was no way we could get it high enough to get a tire on, so we had to dig out enough to get the tires on. But, we got the '60 out of the way and then winched the Malibu on the trailer to take to storage: After taking the Malibu to storage in town and getting lunch, we went back to the farm and loaded the '60: I can't imagine doing that job w/o a winch. Several years ago we pulled the '50 Chevy pickup out from behind where the '60 was sitting, and we did it with a hand winch and a come-along, and that took us all day to load one vehicle. Today we loaded two vehicles and unloaded one, all with the electric winch. It just wouldn't have been possible w/o it.

Welcome! Good looking truck. Where are you located?

Sounds good. I have you down for a "maybe".

Ray - I really didn't know it was that big of a deal for you. I was just happy to help someone. David - I didn't realize what I have. Wow!

I like the map idea! I wouldn't want people to put their actual addresses in, but zip codes would work well. I'll pose the question and see if people want to participate. Thanks.

Ray - Welcome! Glad you are here. And, by the way, there are places on here where you can tell us about your non-Ford projects. After all, I'm headed out in a few minutes to drag back a Chevy - which Ford's do easily - and I've documented that project. But, I think your memory has embellished things a bit. Glad I could help, but don't think I deserve that kind of praise.

Gary, Do you have to give the vehicle title to the bank if you finance a vehicle in Okiehoma? That's something I always found frustrating when trying to buy a vehicle in the US, and I wasn't sure if it was a state by state thing, or countrywide. I had to walk away from some deals in the US because of this, and in the end the only private sales I did were when the seller had the title in their hands. Up here in Canada, at least out on the east coast, we the owner always keep the title, financed or not. Interesting on the Autobahn speeds as well. Oh well, there's always Nurburgring, right? Don't they have special track days when anybody is allowed on it, trucks included? And six bucks a gallon for gas eh? It's up to $1.25/L here in Canada, so $5/gallon CDN...which is more like $4/gal USD. Perhaps I won't be driving my old F150 as much as I'd like this summer...or maybe I'll just go on a diet to cover the extra fuel costs...lol. Good luck with the truck Jochen Jochen - Hadn't realized the pickup hadn't been registered in Germany. I guess I assumed that it was owned by a US serviceman and had been registered there. So, not having been registered makes it a bit more complex, even here. In that case they have to "inspect" the vehicle to ensure that the VIN matches the title. And, they charge you a larger fee. Anyway, why not start a thread in the main body about your truck? I'm sure the guys would want to read about the fun of getting it registered, etc. And then there's the care and feeding of it. Pebcak - Yes, the bank does keep the title until you pay the loan off. In fact, when you "import" a vehicle from another state, if they can't do the inspection the state keeps the title. That's the situation with the Super Bee as it isn't driveable.

That is the right number for the air charge temp sensor. Used on a whole lot of trucks.

I'm glad "old timers", like us, are still getting it done. Now I understand about the 5-speed. It was the linkage/cables that caused the problem, not the size of the tranny. On the engine, I can imagine how hard it would be to get to that plastic tee. So plugging that and moving the tap up front makes sense. But, was there a benefit in the injector angles being changed?

I have also heard the off road guys do the same and some times the roll cage. They also use and old AC compressor, York piston type, as an air compressor run off the motor. They say there is enough oil in them not to worry for a bit. Could also make up a fitting to fit in a spark plug hole, hook a hose to it and the other end to the flat tire. Start the motor and blow the tire up. Gary, if the air tanks leak down I would stop at a station closer to the pickup site and fill the air tanks, the gas cans unless you need them for big blue, and fill up big blue. I know the 12v lighter compressors are not great but are better than nothing. When you are messing with other stuff it could be running and filling 1 of the air tanks. Dave ---- I'm sure 12v compressors have gotten better, but back in the early 70's I had a Coleman unit that worked - slowly. I had really wide rear tires on my '72 F250 due to the 9 1/2' self-contained camper it was carrying. One Sunday we were ready to leave a campground and one of the tires was low. I hooked up that compressor and we played several hands of cards before it was pumped up sufficiently. When you go overlanding you routinely "air down" to get as much tire width and traction as is possible. But, when you get to the end of the trail it is time to "air up". Big Blue's tires are probably as big as those on the '72, so I'm looking for more capacity than what I've seen in the 12v units. Given that, the York I have is probably going to find its way onboard. The bracket looks easy, so all I'll need is a serpentine clutch/pulley, a tank, a cutoff switch, and some wiring. It might have really come in handy tomorrow. But, you are right - I can fill up the leaking air tank when I get to Grove tomorrow, as well as fill up Big Blue's gas tank. He only has the one 19 gallon tank, and the gauge is pegged on Full. So, I'm carrying 10 gallons of "reserve", just in case.

Many of the overlanders install bumpers like that. Someone put a roll bar in his truck and the roll bar was a tank. But, when I do the EFI upgrade to Big Blue I hope to include a York compressor that will give me something like 6 CFM of air at 30 psi. Add a tank and I'll have plenty of air. As for the "old" guy, 88 isn't sounding nearly as old as it used to. I hope to still be active when that time comes, and it'll be here soon - too soon.

I like the plan. And I agree that rubber hose against the dizzy doesn't thrill me. So I want to see what you do.

Wow! Just WOW! That's OTT as the Brit's would say. (Explain that one please.) Here in Okiehoma we sign the title and hand it over. Then, within 30 days, we go to the tag office and put it in our name. Anyway, glad things appear to be going along smoothly - if slowly. As for the Autobahn, I didn't know the speed had been reduced that much. (For the others, 120 KPH is ~75 MPH.) And I'll bet that they are policing it pretty closely. On the length of the post, what's the worry? We don't pay by the word.

Well, we are loaded. All I have to do in the morning is to top the two air tanks off (the new one and the old one), add some water and Gatoraide bottles to the cooler, and be off. Here's the check list - please tell me what I'm forgetting: And, here are a few shots of a loaded truck:

Brandon - The Quick Fuel regulator has to be the Holley one. The pic below, of the Holley non-return style regulator that's on Big Blue is the spitting image for the Quick Fuel one. Mine has "In" and an arrow in the two places that one does, and it says "OUT" on both ends with arrows there as well. But the Trick Flow unit is slightly different. The body is different and there are no arrows. In any event, as you can see in my pic, I'm using a gauge on one "out" port and a hose to the carb on the other. That regulator has performed perfectly for many thousands of miles that way, having first been on Dad's truck, then Rusty, and now Big Blue. I've always had the gauge on it, and the pressure shows just fine. In fact, as said, on Dad's engine or Rusty's with the mechanical pump it would sometimes still have pressure the next day. But not so on Big Blue as the pump on it apparently doesn't have a check valve. In any event, there is no reason you can't put a gauge on one end and the supply to the carb on the other. It is straight through and whatever pressure you have on one end you'll have on the other.

Congrat's! Looks like it is a highly-optioned truck, and should be fun to drive when you get all the layers on the onion peeled.

I've not had trouble with the Holley regulator I have on Big Blue. And, it was on Rusty before I sold him. Seems to work fine. You could put the regulator/gauge combo from the Bronco on this engine and at least see what pressure the pump puts out. If you don't need it, take it off. If you do, leave it on and buy another one when the Bronco "eventually" comes to life.

Oh, so the Holley gave you problems? I don't think I'd heard about that. That Carter sure looks like the Holley.