Gary Lewis

If a 300 six is set up to run well with carb vacuum it won't like manifold vacuum. That's because the carb vacuum is limited in total vacuum as well as being ported. But manifold will be there all the time and have a lot more vacuum. And, if you are running it where it wants to be with carb vacuum then manifold will be way too much. As for the big tank, it is well worth the risk of getting bad gas to have that much capacity.

I'm not worried that it isn't a Bullnose. We can post what we want to post, so don't let that bother you. But I just like the Bullnose far better.

I don't buy things like "Just needs the front drive shaft put back in." I've been bitten with simple statements like that too many times. If it is out it is out for a reason. So, if an item doesn't function, regardless of how simple the fix should be, it is broken and comes off the price. Case in point: Rusty. "The clutch is out." Nope. The 9" was literally blown up. And, "The front drive shaft needs a u-joint, and is in the tool box." Nope. The splines on the front shaft, and rear shaft for that matter, were totally worn out. I think the total bill for two drive shafts and a rear diff was $900 - on a $500 truck.

Nice, but it seems kind of expensive - and it isn't a Bullnose.

Charley called yesterday. He's found a '96 E4OD from an F450 that he's going to use as the core from which to build Dad's. He thinks it'll have all the upgraded stuff, like steel planetaries, and will be a good starting point. At first blush it might seem that I shouldn't have purchased Huck since the plan was to use his tranny to build for Dad's truck. But, had I not purchased Huck: I wouldn't have gotten the transmission crossmember nor transmission cover needed for Dad's I wouldn't have gotten the EFI 460 heads and exhaust, nor the cruise control, with EFI-specific cables, for Big Blue Bill wouldn't have gotten as much radiator support hardware Darin/Oz wouldn't have gotten the front crossmember nor the top of the cab Brandon wouldn't have gotten the steering box and associated fasteners Local friends wouldn't have gotten the hood and cowl Other local friends wouldn't have gotten the serious bumper, front axle, and transfer case And still others that I've forgotten (or don't know yet) wouldn't have gotten whatever they got, or will get So, all in all, Huck was a good purchase.

I will have a look at the switch and wiring and comment on how it's wired later. It may not have DRL's, but rather a bad switch or a modification from the previous owner...who knows. All I know is that the lights are on when the truck is on, and I can't turn them off;). Headlight wiring shows in Electrical/EVTM/1981 EVTM/Headlights. The reason to use the 1981 EVTM is because in 86 Ford dropped the dots and hash marks. So the 1981 should be used for your '84.

Well, I guess I should clarify...my headlights are on as long as the truck is on...but maybe my headlight switch is broken...lol. I checked Google, and it looks like DRL's weren't mandated in Canada until December 1989. Now, perhaps Ford was installing them voluntarily prior to that, but who knows. I have the full factory manual for my truck (PDF on CD), but I'm not sure if there's a wiring diagram in there or not. I must take a look. I don't see anything in the '86 EVTM about DRL's, and the headlights don't look like they are supposed to be on all of the time.

Jonathan - As Pete is saying, the order of setting timing is: Initial: This is usually somewhere between what the factory calls for and where it causes the engine to kick back on starting. This is what the engine runs on before the mechanical kicks in, which happens maybe just a bit above idle, and it impacts startup, idle, and off-idle. Mechanical: Somewhere above idle the mechanical starts adding advance. Each calibration code is different, but the factory didn't leave a lot of change on the table, so it may not be too bad/slow. Anyway, you usually want all of the mechanical advance you can give it without pinging or detonation. However, if you detect power loss you've gone too far. Vacuum: Once the other two are set you can connect the vacuum and start working on this - but not before. If the can has adjustability it will be via an allen wrench inserted via the vacuum port. And what you are doing is to move the operating window of vacuum up or down in the range. For instance, if the current window is from 12" to 18" of vacuum, you'll be able to move that 6" range up or down. And you want as much vacuum as you can get w/o pinging, so you want to take the range down until you experience pinging and take it back up to where it goes away. And pinging will happen under light throttle and a heavy load/tall gear. The 3G conversion writeup is here: http://www.garysgaragemahal.com/3g-conversion.html And I really think I'm going to like that Spectra 38 gallon rear tank on Big Blue. Just hope I don't get 38 gallons of bad gas though

Well, I just discovered that the theme I've chosen for the website, including the forum page, doesn't give many options on the header. I'll explore what else I can do, but we do have a new pic. Ok, I took out the "header" and inserted a picture. Now we can have however big or oddly-shaped pic we want. Hope it works for y'all.

Rick - Some of your pics are missing on FTE. How 'bout recreating that thread with all the pics on here? They don't go away if you put them here. One way is to create a new thread and put everything in one post so it is all together. Another is to do a new Project and lock the project so no one else can post - thereby ensuring all of your comments stay together. Or, just create a complete post to this thread. However, any way you do it the pics will stay if you put them on here.

What do you guys think about the rules including that the truck has to be a Bullnose and owned by a member on here? Now, if we just had approval by Jonathan, ......

Every once in a while Big Brother comes up with good things. And DRL's might be on that list. I know that when I rode motorcycles I created a module to run the turn signals all the time to provide more safety, long before the industry did that. So why not on our trucks?

I can't find a wire like that in the EVTM and suspect it has been added. I'd go under the dash and see where it goes.

Interesting read on the DRL's. As a Canadian, I'm quite used to them...but from what I've read on forums over the years, I thought they were generally disliked (and even detested) in America....kinda like the Metric system...lol. Just kiddin' guys. The little DRL conversion modules are common...I've installed a few of them over the years. I've imported several vehicles from the US into Canada, and one of the requirements to pass the RIV inspection is to have daytime running lights (within 45 days of import), among other things. This is an anecdotal story I know, but a couple years ago, I installed a set of Osram Nightbreaker Unlimited bulbs in my car, and decided to disable the DRL's to improve the bulb lifespan. Well, I noticed that cars seemed to be pulling out in front of me more often. It was noticeable. Anyway, I sold that car and I'm back to my DRL's now, and I'm just going to leave them intact. Oddly though, my old '84 Bullnose has daytime running lights, and I was planning on disabling them...I've just been too lazy to look in the wiring diagram to see where I had to do it. David - Good to know that the Hellas are working for you. I've run Hellas for many years on things from motorcycles to Chevy vans w/o problems, so it doesn't surprise me that they worked for you. Thanks for that input. Rembrant - I hadn't realized that the Canadian Bullnose trucks have DRL's, but that makes sense. So, it might not be difficult to implement it on the State-side ones. But, given that the module also gives the blinking side marker light I think I'll go that way. Except, Ray sent me the DRL module for the '96 from which he took the harness I'm going to use on Dad's truck, so maybe I'll go that way. Anyway, I do think it is a good-to-have safety feature.

Jonathan! Wow! Those pics are AWESOME! Well done. As others have said, that MPG is good. Maybe the 15 isn't what you'd hoped for running light, but it is good and I'll bet can be improved with some ignition tuning. And 10 pulling that trailer is excellent. On the electrical problems, I vote for a 3G swap and that you change out a bunch of the wiring at the same time. That should solve a number of problems. And on the carb, I've often wondered if the nuts can be loctited on. So many have prob's with them working loose, so surely there's a simple solution. Brakes: I have ceramic pads for Dad's truck, but I don't know if they are better/more fade-proof than metallic ones. Otherwise, I'm not sure what to recommend. Tranny: Glad the gears worked so well. Given that, I'm not sure a ZF5 would be the ideal as I think the spacing on those gears is wider than what you have. However, there are diesel gears for a ZF5, so maybe you could use them and have a ZF built? Anyway, glad you are home and didn't have too many problems. And I'm looking forward to the travelogue.

Guys - I put the picture of Big Blue at the top of the forum just as a place-holder, hoping that we would get a line-drawing of a Bullnose to use there. However, that hasn't happened and I just saw a pic that stunned me. So, what do y'all think about changing the picture out on a monthly basis and having a monthly contest to decide? Here's the one I vote for as our pic for January, 2018. And, with Jonathan's approval I'll do it. What do y'all think?

Great offer!

Ok guys, thanks for the input. I'm pretty sure Dad's ECU will go under the seat, but I'm not sure about Big Blue. If I could come up with a pretty sure-fire way to pass the wires through the plate in the floor w/o a water leak then that seems the easiest. But, I'll also consider the others you've mentioned. Thanks again!

You are really making good progress. I'm impressed.

Looks great! What do you have left to do?

Jerry - Happy New Year! Sounds like the grease in your ignition switch, not the tumbler, or the linkage thereunto has set up. There's some info here: Electrical/Ignition Switch.

Interesting info, thanks Pete. I wonder if my '84 engine was left natural? Other than the gray valve covers, I can't find any evidence that anything else was ever painted. The back of the block is bare, but has a few spots of paint...not sure what they represent, other than some kind of check marks on an assembly line. Some reading I've done suggests that after about '82, depending on the vehicle, the valve covers got painted gray and the rest may have been left natural.

Excellent! Good customer service, and someone I'd like to deal with in future. Thanks for sharing.

Guys - I’m out and about and can’t get my head around all of this on this small screen. But I’ll check it out further tomorrow. Thanks!

Ray - Hadn't thought about the # of injector wires. Ok, that's a problem. If I'm going to have to run wire I'd like to use the correct colors, so I might as well get a connector with wire from a V8. But, this is for Big Blue so I don't need the transmission wires as he has a manual tranny. So, thanks for the offer on the Ranger EVTM, but let's wait to see where this goes. As you know, I'm tied up for a bit, and when I do get back to trucks I need to get the front end under Dad's truck and the engine and tranny in. Then I can turn to Big Blue. So, right now I'm just doing the research. Or, asking you to do the research? But, if I had the Ranger tray, can I use another connector in it? Or, would I just un-pin the other two injector wires and add them to the Ranger connector? I'll confess, I don't have my head around how the harnesses go together. Or, what harnesses there are.