Gary Lewis

You are implying there are “good ones”. From what I’ve read there are just ones that haven’t proven to be bad - yet. 😈 Seriously though, the idea of an oil/water exchanger isnt a bad one. The Subie we have has exactly that as part of the cold-weather package and it helps warm the engine oil in the winter to boil off condensation. My guess is that there is some electrolysis going on with dissimilar metals that causes the problem when people don’t change their coolant regularly. So, did Ford decide in 1990 that the oil/air cooler wasn’t adequate? Or why did they change?

Bill - I think I follow your logic, but that looks like a lot of work and fabrication. And if my idea of drilling the unused #1 port works I think it would be a lot easier. Ok, maybe it is time for an aside on the huck-parting party and see if my idea works. I’ll have a few minutes this afternoon between church activities to see how hard it would be, and maybe even attempt it.

The problem we have is that we would like the valve to work in both Vent and Max A/C. Unfortunately our control doesn’t give a vacuum signal for both of those situations and not others, as shown by a table from the 1981 shop manual, below. My plan is to use connection #1 on the HVAC control, which isn't used. As shown below it provides vacuum on both Vent and Max, but not on Norm. The plastic on the control isn't drilled, and there's no hose on that port of the connector, but I think that should be easy to fix However, that is for a 1980/84 control, and I haven’t looked at a 1985/86 control to see if that is possible with them.

Good idea! The one from the huck doesn’t appear to have failed, yet, so there’s nothing to see.

The huck has one identical to that. Glad Big Blue is an oil/air cooler.

I've found lots of references to F87Z-18495-AA, which is also said to be Ready-Aire by Transpro 4-Seasons #74809. Here's a link to Air Conditioning Mod - Ranger Shutoff Valve where they talk about that valve and have pictures thereof, but it is a 4-port valve that recirculates water to the engine. Since Ford rarely changes the basic part number I then turned to the 1980 - 89 parts catalog looking at "18495". Turns out that they had a valve for the Ranger ® in the 80's: Searching for YG-264 got me the following picture here, although it is said to be E4TZ 18495-A: EDIT: THIS VALVE WILL NOT WORK AS VACUUM OPENS IT!

On a 460 I'd go with the Street Demon. But, I might go with the 750 CFM version instead. And the polymer bowl. The 1406 is a good carb, but it doesn't have all the features of the Street Demon. I've run one on two different 351's and it was all the carb the engine needed. But, I don't think it would be enough for the 460.

I'll look through the catalog, but it will take some time to track it down.

Lights look good. May have to do that. As for what I did, the first part wasn't for my truck but Scott's 1978 F150 - Red. A few weeks ago I drove it and about had a heart attack when I hit the brakes as the pedal went almost to the floor and was soft. So he replaced the wheel cylinders and shoes and brought it over to bleed the brakes. After that we had a firm pedal but it was still near the floor. Turned out that the adjuster between the booster and master needed adjusting. After we screwed it out quite a ways we put it back together and had just a teeny bit of play before the brakes started coming in. Then it was on to the "The Huck". My plan has been to pull the front suspension off of it so I can set the frame down on jack stands and then take the cab off with the lift. So today I got the front axles off and then most of the springs off. Unfortunately I couldn't get the rear bolt out of the passenger's-side spring due to it hitting the exhaust. Anybody need a front axle? Springs?

Ditto. No vehicle names here. Anyway, Jim, have a safe and enjoyable trip.

Yup. And to this day I don't know what orifice is in Big Blue. Probably won't find out until I install the return-style regulator I have and take the hot fuel handling piece out.

Inferior interior.

First, do both of us a favor and FORGET that upholstery shop, using the term loosely. PLEASE! That almost makes me cry, and it wasn't your fault. Anyway, if I had to chose today I'd go with Charles. It isn't a big difference, but I just got a better warm fuzzy with him. For instance, he was planning to make all of those Ford upgrades, and yet it looks like his price will be very comparable to Steve's. Part of that may be because Charles seems to have plenty of cores around and may be thinking of using a later model one just to get the upgrades. And, Steve seemed to be saying to get a drain plug I'll have to buy an aluminum pan, which Charles seemed to be saying he'd just use a later model pan that he has on hand. But, that's all conjecture at this point as I'll not be making any decisions until I get Steve's proposal. And then I may go back to Charles to get more clarity so I can compare the two proposals. Either way, it looks like there are competent people in the T-town area that will build a good E4 for about 1/2 what the "big boys" want. Oh, and Steve doesn't know Charles. Has heard of Aspen, but doesn't know anything good or bad about them.

Can't say that I blame you in the least for that, FWIW, the Chrysler A604/41TE cases are famous for stripping the nice M8X1.25 holes in the aluminum case, as a result I keep a helicoil kit in that thread size. Had a good conversation with Brandon's friend/neighbor Steve Cummings today. He's going to work up a proposal for me starting on Monday. But here are some of the major points from the discussion: Price: He's guessing it'll be $1300 to $1500 for a "stockish" build, and $2200 to $2500 for a heavy-duty build Ford Upgrades: He's not sure all of the upgrades that Ford did over the years, as shown on my E4OD Upgrade whiteboard, are necessary. In fact, if I want all of those it may be better to sell this core and buy a later model core that already has the upgrades. Clutch Upgrades: He likes to use Alto Red Eagle clutch material. Said there is a blue material, but it is a "stage 3" or racing material and is hard on the steel in the clutch pack. Billet: Don't need billet anything. Torque Converter: The brazed and multiple-disk converters are really for the diesel engine. For my application he thinks the What Ever It Takes Gas HD converter would be good. It has a single Kevlar clutch. Pan: For one with a drain plug he'd go cast aluminum. However later ones, like from '97 on, have a drain plug. Warranty: He gives 12 months or 12,000 miles. But he would defer the start of it until I get the truck fired up. Finish: He soaks them in a vat and they come out clean. However, the aluminum may be tarnished, so he could paint it if I want.

The spec may be 4.3 psi, but that has to vary with what orifice is in the return. And, even after the return I measured 5 1/2 psi on Big Blue with the resistor in the circuit. Without the orifice the pressure is going to be more than 5 1/2, which is about the limit for an Eddy, so I wouldn’t feel comfortable w/o a regulator.

My problem is I don’t know whether this one was running right or not. But two pan bolt holes are stripped, so the pan has been off - and re-installed by some ham-handed person. They replaced the bolts with 1/4-20 Phillip-headed screws with nuts on the top. 🙈 Charles said that’s no problem as he will helicoil those two, but if he finds very many more he’ll swap the case for another he has stashed. And it is comments like that which gave me confidence in him. But, not knowing anything about the tranny, not to mention the two stripped bolt holes, gives me zero confidence in this tranny. So it’ll be gone through and upgraded.

I’m not out to shop yet, so haven’t checked the huck, but I think it was built in late 1990. So some of the engine oil heat exchangers were oil/air and some were oil/water? I’ll check as someone may want this. Or, it may go with the engine if I sell it.

Ill check the catalog, but I don’t think it shows anything about the weight. Anyway, I will look.

Good points. The web site for BTS has info on people who have set various racing records with their transmissions. I know that racing of any kind is really hard on equipment, but I don’t intent to do that so don’t need that serious of a tranny. So I don’t need “bullet-proof”. However, I do want a solid tranny that will not have problems. I’ll report back after calling Steve.

I probably have one of those repair kits as well. And don’t forget the main well that leaked. They had rubber pieces that were supposed to seal that well, and they had o-ringed plugs with pointed tips that kept them in. And some coated them with JB Weld. I tried all of those fixes and finally settled on tapping the hole and installing a SHCS with Loctite. Problem solved. Somewhere I have a little Cafe Vienna powdered coffee tin with a few of those other fixes in it as well as a tap and several SHCS.

Makes sense, now. Part way through that I was going to offer the 1356 I have from the huck, but then I read that you have one. Yes, it is a complex problem. But I think your approach of trying it first is the best. But, you don’t have a ZF for the six? Might that do the same?

If you knew a guy who was going to the junkyard in the morning after work I'm sure he could grab you one with enough wire attached to patch it in 😉 ...and I'll bet it wouldn't even cost much. I am up for that if that person could come up with the plug and some wire or the whole harness if not much to get it out. So far the plug/pig tail looks to be about $30+ s/h if it is the right one as they have 2 that look the same with just the last 3 letters being different. 3U2Z-14S411-MCA (WPT448) and 3U2Z-14S411-AVA (WPT344) Any one know what is different between them? Once I have this part of the wiring done and truck running I know someone that is looking for the main wiring harness, had an engine fire, that I would give him my old one if it will help him as I would not needed it. Dave ---- You might check this out: http://bullnose-enthusiasts.12971.n8.nabble.com/1981-straight-six-manual-4x4-project-tp1312p4220.html. 😉

That’s the one that leaks? When were they used? I wonder if there’s one on the huck. Will look in a bit.

Great find! I still haven’t heard back from Midwest on that, but should have asked when I talked to them about the E4. Sorry. 😬

I do have a tranny from this 1990 F150 I’m parting out. But most of the factory changes came after ‘90, so this one won’t have them. However Charles at Aspen said that’s no problem for him as he has most of the good stuff in stock. Or, he may start with another core to make it easier. And the warranty is the same kind of thing with Charles - it starts when I fire the engine up. But if Steve will also do that then he’s in contention. As for the “magical” things, some places think their whole transmission is magical. Or their name may be the magic. Brian’s Truck Shop in Arkansas wants $5000 for their base E4OD, as do several others - regardless of the fact theirs are built to handle 1000+ ft-lbs and my engine puts out 1/2 that. But they don’t do anything with a smaller rating. And their warranty starts when you pay for it. Anyway, I’ll call Steve. Thanks for the reference.