Gary Lewis

Not that you want to do it now, but it cost me something like $150 an axle to put electric brakes on my boat trailer. With that and the integrated controller on the 2015 truck, it was easy.

Yes, things always pop up that should have been on the list. And now you are taking the trailer. Cool! What brake controller are you going with?

I will take your word for the deflection as I can't see it.

Excellent tip! In my case I'm installing them on the lift and I do a bear-hug of the t-case and then set it on the output shaft of the tranny. But, being down on the floor/driveway would make it much harder, so that is an excellent tip. Will you be driving the truck to work after you get the t-case bolted in?

Yes, I'll measure the length tomorrow. But, doing the math from the measurements I have I should be able to tell you now. 3 3/16" overall minus 27/32" recess gives 2 11/32" of shaft contact. Is that what you need me to confirm? But, you want the groove to be 11/16" wide at the top? Why that size?

Yes, Dave, you are an inspiration. I am amazed at both how much you get done and how well it turns out. Jim - I don't have any spoons or copper plates, so I just weld them up and grind both sides with a right-angle grinder using a flap wheel.

Jonathan - Is that an '83 or?

Ahhh! So that's where I got that pulley! Dawn. Marblehead. Yes, too small of a belt rides on the bottom and slips. But too large of a belt doesn't get down in far enough for all of the side to be engaged, and it doesn't have as much grip as a belt that is fully engaged.

The way I was taught to explore possibilities is to imagine things at the extreme. And, when I imagine hanging a 5 lb weight on the needles I have to fully agree - weight has to make a difference. On the other hand, these are the most imprecise gauges I've ever seen, even with the ICVR replaced with a true voltage regulator. Think about it - they work by a heating element causing a bi-metallic spring to wind/unwind. So, on a hot day they have to read higher than they do on a cold day. No wonder they don't have numbers on them. And, no wonder you can't tell any loss of precision when you paint the needles. What precision?

He told me they are Ford Racing heads, although I don't know if they have a number or other designation.

I don't know where Bill got his information, but he's almost always correct. However, his info doesn't agree with what I see in Ford's master parts catalog. Here are the entries for the 1984 302 and 351W. Note that the 302 did have a 3/8" drive belt from the alternator to the AIR pump, aka T/E. But there isn't a 3/8" belt shown for the 351W.

So it is busted and I cant even send it to Rocketman because it is broken Well at least it will still charge So this shunt thing looks best to mess with when the 3G is installed and go with a Rocketman meter at the same time. Something else to be added to the 3G swap I guess Dave ---- You may be able to pull the ammeter out of the case by removing the nut from the other stud and then pushing the studs through the case. Then reconnect to the broken wire and put it back. And yes, it is best to work on the shunt when you install the 3G. There's really no reason to do anything at all with it until you add the bigger alternator as it'll work just fine with or without the ammeter.

Jim - I'm confused. The pulley on the 3G you sent me is a poly-groove, as shown below. But are you referring to another pulley? Whisler - I only have one unused pulley, and it is a 2-groove as also shown below. Its measurements are: 3 3/16" OD 1 5/8" front/rear Both grooves are 15/32" 27/32" recess on the front for a nut and washer 1/8" lip on the rear to keep it off the alternator's case Will that work for you?

Got it! I plumbed this up this morning (2am could not sleep) and the way I did it was. carb bowl vent> hose> valve with "carb" pointing to carb> hose to canister. This hose stock had a "T" and based on the sticker on the radiator support went to the PCV upper nipple so that is how I ran it. Now this valve with "carb" on it, I could not blow air thru it from either side so I took it apart. It looked clean inside so I put it back together and installed it. So the way I see it with motor off no flow, you say it should? I am not too worried on the carb side as it has a bowl vent under the filter assy. so fumes should stay there. The tanks go to the canisters and when the motor is running should get pulled in and burned. Also because they are in a closed system I should not get any fumes from that when the motor is off either....I hope lol. If you could not tell I did not want to smell gas fumes and figured if I was going to do this might try and do it some what right I also found on the air filter snorkel door valve the nipple was large and the hose that fit that nippl was to loose on the Bi Metal valve on the filter floor. So I ran it to one of the valves (TVS) on the side as it has a large & small nipple. From the TVS to the Bi Metal switch then to the intake manifold. None of the valves I used let air pass thru when I tried to blow thru them so how will the door close off cool air and open the warm air as the door is N.O. to cold air/N.C.to warm air. The temp in the garage was high 40's so I would think the valves would let air pass thru no? Dave ---- Dave - On the air cleaner, I have the info on how the valves are supposed to work here: Fuel Systems/Air Cleaners.

Yep! I sure hope they come back next year. And, speaking of that, I think I recruited another truck yesterday and another vendor a few weeks ago. The truck is owned by my wife's cousin, Leonard Fields. It is an '83 shortbed w/the 3.8L V6. He and his twin, Lester, were at the house yesterday for our Thanksgiving get-together and he told me about the truck and his problems finding a lower radiator hose. Hence the thread on that subject. And the vendor is Core Tuning, who has software and hardware to allow changing the parameters on Ford's EEC computers. Bill Vose used their stuff to get Darth running, and I plan to use it on Dad's truck. So, one of the guys said he'd be here, and I'm going to petition for a course on how to use their stuff.

I'm sold on the backup lamps. Do you have a switch that allows you to bring them on w/o being in Reverse?

That is a thought but I would like to wash the 36+ years of dirt off the back side of the cluster. That was 1 reason I started with the cluster that came out of the project truck as from what I remember none of the gauges worked, it had been pulled apart once before and it had black paint all over it so if I broke it no big loss. It looked like this one I pulled apart as the guinea pig the AMP gauge had a little heat to it. I think that is why the stud was spinning, it heated the white plastic that holds the stud and cracked letting the stud spin. I may take Gary's advice and paint the needles in the housing to be safe. Then again this time I will use a wrench, not a socket, so I can see if the stud starts to spin to stop and rethink the whole thing. So right now I think am good on the amp gauge & film. If that changes I will let you know. Thanks. I do have a question on the AMP gauge? If the stud does spin and it breaks the connection inside what will happen? Will it not charge, no power to the truck or ? I ask because from what I seen posted they hardly move to show anything and if I was to go with a 3G ALT it has to be by passed IIRC. I also remember a post of someone redoing the AMP gauge to show volts (with the AMP gauge face) but don't remember what else needed to be done to run that volt gauge? Just trying to think of all my options. Thanks guys Dave ---- If the stud spins and the ammeter is dead the truck will still charge. There is only a very, VERY small amount of current going through the gauge, with the rest going through the shunt - a physically large but low-impedance resistor wire. And when you go 3G the shunt has to come out of the system as it can't handle the current the 3G will throw. Converting the ammeter to voltmeter is done in three steps. First, send a working ammeter to Rocketman, who does the conversions. Second, take the downstream lead that comes from the shunt and connect it to ground. Third, take the upstream lead that comes from the shunt to a source of switched power. But, realize that most sources of switched power have enough load on them and are after lots of original scrawny wire that the voltage there is not what the battery is seeing, so your reading won't be correct and it will change with the load. I plan to put a dedicated relay in to provided switched power to the voltmeter.

If I have that pulley, and I should, it'll be Whisler's. I'm using a two-groove pulley that I modified for Dad's truck, and may go serpentine on Big Blue, so certainly don't need it.

Eric is the real deal. Several years ago I took a pair of D8OE smog heads I had ported to him, as well as a stock head. His testing showed that all of my work improved the flow at the top of the valve's lift, but did very little for the low-lift conditions, which is where the valve spends most of its time So he grabbed a stock valve, put a back-cut on it, and showed how the stock head now out-flowed my ported head at all but max lift. Anyway, I think you will be very happy with his work, and happy that you took the heads to him. At least you'll know that all the pieces will work together properly - which wasn't going to be the case w/o him.

I've painted a lot of gauge needles on these trucks but haven't noticed any change in their reading.

According to this neat page I found (Engines/Drive Belts), your alternator belt should be 15/32" wide. As said, I'll check to see what I have tomorrow after church.

I'll look tomorrow, but I don't know if I have a single or not. If I do it is yours. But, if so we will need to make sure it has the right width to the vee/groove.

Yes, it is easy to break the connection inside the gauge. Some can be repaired, but I don't know about the amp gauge. I think you may want to paint the good gauges in the cluster.

Happy Thanksgiving! We celebrated again today.

I like it! 'Tis a shame that it doesn't have brushed-aluminum on the doors, though.