Gary Lewis

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

Ford told Leonard that they couldn't find the lower radiator hose in the system. What??? Also, the engine had a vibration that turned out to be the flex plate. And the mechanic was told that there were 4 different flex plates. Huh???

Here's all I know about radio wiring for these trucks. From the 1981, 1984, 1985, and 1986 EVTM.

Yep happy wife happy life! If I had water in my garage the dash parts would not have been in the house. We don't have any projects that don't take a lot of $$ we don't have at this time. She does volunteer work 1 day during the week (plant a row for the hungry) and Saturdays (pet adoption). It is when she is out is when I sneak things in to wash. This time I did not sneak the parts in. Wait till I set up a table in the living room, no furniture for 2 years now (we don't use the room), to do the dash parts restore......J/K 1 of the 3 cats would knock the parts to the floor lol. Yes it is a 1G. Down the road (far down) I will do a 3G swap but the 1G will have to do for now. If this was the 2G fire starter I would have to rethink the "down the road" part. Dave ---- Yes, were it the 2G there'd be lots of help planning a quick change. I know I bought a "new" 2G for $15 years ago and the guys were quick to say "Don't install it!!!" Hmmm, anyone need a 2G? Seriously though, I took it to my swap meet/truck show last fall and no one was interested. It'll keep going back until someone takes it off my hands - cheaply. As for doing projects in the house, my mother allowed carbs to be rebuilt on the kitchen or even dining room table. So when Janey and I got married it wasn't unusual for me to bring a project inside. The first of those was the engine for our VW van. (Hippy van. ) Put the case halves in the bathtub to clean them, and built the engine on a roll-around TV stand. I if that had anything to do with us buying a house with a garage soon thereafter?

Thanks. I've posted that in the FAQ's. And I wonder how many oddities ad blockers account for.

When was yours?

Gotta keep the wife happy. Maybe she needs a project done? As for the alternator, surely it is a 1G - right? External regulator and fan?

That's cool! You can do the whole length in one go?

To see twenty feet behind Big Blue would be wonderful. And fifty feet would be unbelievable. I like the idea of getting them high enough to use the bumper as a shield, and the receiver should be just about right. Good thinking!

Bummer on the hubcap. As for the backup lights, even in the leaves they look good!

It is strange, but those illustrations plainly say 1980/83 300 (4.9L) and list two parts: 9B963 and 9B999. But 9B999 does not appear in the Text section of the catalog anywhere. And 9B963 doesn't show up in the calibration parts lists until 1985. So, maybe they weren't considered part of the calibration? I ask because there's the listing, below, showing them being used as early as 1980. Anyway, there they are and you can see the Motorcraft part number. For yours I'd go with CX-330, and there's one here on eBay.

Play like you are posting in response to this, highlight the proper words, hit the B chiclet, and then copy and paste the resulting code.

Oh yes, what I did was cheated. I went to a normal post, typed out what I wanted and used the chiclet there. Then I copied it and pasted it into the signature field. Or, place a ahead of what you want bold, and a after it, and change "x" to "b".

To find the full part number you need the calibration code. And, you probably don't have that - right? We can probsably get close enough with just a 300 six for an '81, but do you have the code? And, these are the illustrations you found, I'm sure:

Welcome! (Again.) Lurker? You've already offered free parts. How can that be a lurker? Anyway, glad you are here.

Just use the bold chiclet after highlighting the names. It'll put "" in front and "" behind what you have highlighted. Well, that didn't work. Just use the chiclet.

Welcome to the forum, Whisler! And what a way to start - offer free "stuff".

Gary, Thank you. Air cleaner routing I can now do if I had the hose. Going to have to wait for someone that has played with the canister purge side of this to help out as I am still in left field. I could not find "VCV" in that link. It is in the lower left of my picture. I did see "VCKV" in 2 times (VCKV & V CK V) Thanks for the help Dave ---- Dave - Sorry about that, I thought that VCV was in there. But, it is now. The Ranger Station says that is Vacuum Control Valve, and Rock Auto concurs. And, I took the second V CK V out. Thanks!

I just had an epiphany! In my case it isn't Edge nor Chrome that is killing the signatures. It is AdBlock. I got a new tablet, this Surface Pro, to replace my iPad and in the course of setting it up I've been installing all the "stuff" I have on my laptop, including AdBlock. One of the reasons I went with a Windows device is because I cannot edit the website with an iOS device. So, once I got the tablet set up I started editing the website, and I ran into problems doing so with Edge. Then I downloaded Chrome and it worked fine on editing the website, but it didn't show the signatures. Hmmm, what happens if I turn AdBlock off on any page on the website? Signatures show! Then I want back to Edge and discovered that with AdBlock running on the forum pages the signatures don't show there either. And, sure enough, when I disable AdBlock on those pages the signatures show. However, even with AdBlock turned off on the Weebley pages Edge still won't let me do certain things, like change the color of font, that Chrome will let me do. So, Chrome is back as my favored browser, and signatures show!

It was for me! Had turkey (supposed to rhyme), saw a lot of family, had some more turkey, and a few pieces of pie. Lots and lots to be thankful for. And, I get to do it all over again tomorrow. This round is my wife's cousins while yesterday was mine.

Dave - You can find what all of those abbreviations on the diagram mean here: http://www.garysgaragemahal.com/vacuum-diagrams.html As for the vacuum advance, I like to run it to ported vacuum. But, the carbs on the 300's don't seem to have a port that will give full vacuum at cruise, so on those engines with the original carb I'd go with manifold vacuum. That shouldn't be a problem with yours as you are going with a manual tranny, but those with an auto may run into hunting of the RPM or too high of RPM in neutral. I'm not fully up to speed on the tank canisters and the purge system, so will let others answer that. However, Purge CV is the purge canister valve, and TVV is Thermal Vacuum Valve and they play a role. On the air cleaner temp sensor, the port sticking into the air cleaner itself is where it senses the temp. And the port to the rear of the air cleaner is the one that gets manifold vacuum, while the other one goes to the vacuum motor. And, you can bypass the other two devices if you want. One or both are for cold weather usage to ensure the snorkel doesn't come open if you give the engine too much throttle and drop the vacuum.

Should be perfect for her.

I think your plans for the 5-speed are good. Some might suggest the ZF5, but I think the M5 is a better fit for your truck as it will shift well/quickly. My experience with the ZF5 is that it shifts exactly like what it is - a truck transmission. So, it'll be perfect in Big Blue, but not in a sporty truck. On the exhaust, I suggest Magnaflow mufflers. Or, a single two-in/two-out, which they make. Magnaflows have a deep, mellow sound, which I like. And, I do like dual exhausts with them exiting behind each rear tire. Not easily done, but it can be done and sounds so good.

Nice truck! And a worthwhile project. You've done a lot to it and should feel proud. And I understand the feeling that painted gauges and a quiet speedo cable give. Big Blue's gauges were washed out and the speedo cable so dry that the speedo didn't read correctly and even changed readings on bumps. It is much, much better now, and the gauges look excellent - and I appreciate them every time I get in it.