Gary Lewis

Bill - I may have to wait until I pull the engine, but here's a cropped image of the pic above and I don't see any threads. Wouldn't they be visible in this pic?

I'm not questioning your knowledge. Just trying to ensure I have what I think I have - a pan w/a push-in tube. Right? If so, it would seem like a slam dunk to put it on BB's engine and vice versa, saving ~$150 or so in the process, and making the $800 investment for the '90 seem a little better/less bad.

Last first - larger holes shouldn't be a problem for using the 90's pan on Big Blue, but I may have to drill out the holes in his oil pan to put it on the 90's engine. Right? But, on the T-handle vs loop thing, the 90 has a loop handle with F0TZ on it, but I'm pretty sure the tube doesn't have a ferrule. What am I missing?

Ok, back to oil pans for Big Blue. David/1986F150Six sent me a link to an oil pan on eBay that says it is OEM for an 1989 - 92 F250 w/a 460. And, it uses a push-in dip stick tube. Hmmm, Vernon sent me with a NOS dip stick tube and dip stick. Maybe this will be yet-another marriage made in heaven. So, off to the attic I went and pulled the dip stick and tube. Then I went to the parts catalog to ensure they'll fit w/the oil pan. They are, E5TZ 6750-C and E5TZ 6754-B. But, they don't show in the catalog. Well, what do you know - the search function found them. Ok, so if the one David found takes a push-in dip stick tube and is for an 89 - 92 F250 and the 1/2 truck is a 90, then it should have a push-in tube: So, it looks like I can modernize Big Blue with the 90's oil pan. Right? The sump is the same on a carb'd engine and an EFI engine? Or at least the pans will interchange?

Rick - You don't know what I had planned to say about the trim. The current blurb on the FAQ's says: I was thinking of adding the following to that: I believe that because we have a report from Jonathan, whom I know personally and trust implicitly, who has found two 1986 trucks with that trim. Yes, it is possible that someone put that trim on, but I think it unlikely that both trucks had it added. In fact, without finding a build sheet and figuring out how to decode it, we can't be sure any of these trucks came from the factory with or without that trim - unless you know the person that ordered the truck or the truck has been in the family since new. And while I agree that Ford went to great lengths to pull that trim from the 1985 brochure, I would guess that they had a supply of it on hand. And, like the amber turn signals and slide door locks, Ford wasn't about to throw anything away. So, they probably consolidated the trim to a couple of plants, just like it appears they did on the turn signals and door locks. In fact, the Twin Cities plant was one of the last to use the slide locks, as we've documented here, and the truck that Jonathan provided the pic of the certification label was made at that plant. So my guess is that Ford used the Twin Cities plant, and maybe one other, as a catchall, and that they used up all of the things that had been discontinued on trucks that weren't someone's special order. The bottom line is that there is now a reasonable doubt that the first statement is true. So I plan to modify the statement in some way to accommodate the new information. But I'm open to suggestions on how to word the modification.

Welcome, Cory! I've made your pic smaller than 1 meg, which is the largest that will display on Nabble. Kansas! My home state. Grew up in Ark City, attended school in Manhattan for a couple of years, and lived in Wichita for several years. Hmmm, you are "close" so maybe you can come to the Garagemahal All Ford Truck Show & Swap Meet on Sept 15, 2018? This year's was the first to be a full-blown show and swap meet, and we had 15 trucks and about 50 people come through. But next year's should be much bigger. I know that David/1986F150Six plans to have his truck here, as does Jonathan/Ford F834. And several others have said they hope to as well. In fact, several of the international folk hope to be here, albeit w/o their trucks. As for the website and forum, I'm glad it is helping. That's what it is here for, and while it is a labor of love, it is good to know that it is useful.

Yes, just start grounding and see where it works. It'll go full scale pretty quickly because you'll be at less than 10 ohms, but just don't leave it on for too long. And, I also forgot about the wheels from David. They'd be easier to measure than mine with mounted tires. And, the emoji does look like a little square box on anything that isn't on iOS 11.1.

If I remember correctly, SEM says to test the part to see if it softens with Sand Free. But you already know it is brittle ABS, so I guess there's no need to test. As for the fact that it is painted, I'd still use Sand Free. However, if you want you could call SEM and ask. I did some time ago and found them easy to talk to.

David - I’m not sure I understand. Saying “Having them supply as much information as possible right from the start” sounds like you are voting for #2. The intent was that the New Member area would be the only place they could post. And once they post about themselves and their truck I would make them a member. But that still leaves the New Member area open to spam, and they could fill that up as easily as the normal posting area. So it doesn’t seem to help much, if any. Anyway, did I misunderstand?

Wow! No progress until 🤮. (Just kidding, Jonathan. Wanted to try out the new emoji. 😈) Anyway, have you tried taking the non-ground terminal at the tank directly to ground? You could bridge the two terminals as a start, but if that doesn’t work than put a ground directly on the wire from the switch - just in case there is something wrong with either the ground or the sender itself. And if that doesn’t work ground the yellow/white wire at the switch. Keep moving up the circuit until it does work. I’ll bet the wind noise is a lot less with the window runs replaces. I need to do that to Big Blue, but one thing at a time. On the wheels, I don’t know the original specs, but might be able to measure a wheel today if you want.

Jim - I like your approach, but fear that there may be some backlash against us for drowning witches. After all, several visited our front door two days ago and no one seemed concerned, and they are all over television. 🤔 Anyway, it looks like 9 people have voted, but I can’t tell what they voted for. Perhaps the reveal doesn’t happen until the week is over so that people aren’t influenced. I guess we will wait and see. Edit: I can see how they voted. Can y’all?

Jonathan - In my experience there’s usually very little max vacuum difference between manifold vacuum and the ported vacuum on most carbs. But many YFA’s, like David’s, don’t have a normal ported vacuum connection. Instead, it doesn’t ever reach the full vacuum of the manifold. And yet that’s what the vacuum advance was hooked to. So when we connected the advance to manifold vacuum we had a lot more than previously, and we couldn’t get the vacuum advance dialed in like we wanted. Finally we had to go back to the “ported” connection. Jim - Thanks. I toyed with buying that master/slave unit from you, but Big Blue’s is newish and I already have a ton (190 #, actually) coming from you so I didn’t. Good luck with it.

Jonathan - That’s good enough for me. Looks like that trim was used in ‘86, and the shot with the cutout for the door key is proof that’s the trim we have been talking about. I’ll update the FAQ’s tomorrow. Thanks!

No, the small-block version of the ZF5 has the internal slave while the big-block version has an external slave. Which reminds me, I'd better check that the one from the T-19 will work w/the ZF5. Hmmm, I'm not sure I understand. But, I think it means that the T-19 and the ZF5 take the same slave: E3TZ 7A564-A.

I have the ZF ready to go in, and its OD ratio is .76:1. So when it is installed it'll be turning 1900 at 65 MPH.

I wish Big Blue's 460 only turned 2200 when cruising. Instead it is turning 2500 at 65 MPH. Imagine that, the biggest engine they sold turning more R's than one of the smaller engines. But wait until I get the ZF5 in it.

I don't see anything wrong with the DS-II box. However, the GM module is strong as well. So I'm neither here nor there on that. However, I'd ask Jim and Bill for their opinions. They've played with these things more than I have.

Jim - As we discussed yesterday, the retard during cranking is critical for Big Blue. With the initial advance I have dialed it he starts perfectly as long as the retard works, but if it doesn't the engine kicks back. So that 5-pin module seems like a good plan if using a GM unit.

Tim Meyer is marketing a new distributor using the HEI 4-pin module. Those things are reliable and easily sourced.

Yep. Dad's truck has rusted rear cab corners, rusted rear wheel arches, and a rusted floor pan due to a leaking windshield seal. Rusty had rusted cab corners and rear wheel arches, as does Big Blue.

Ok, now that we have the barn door shut on the spam 'bots, let's think about what the process should be for joining this forum. I've done some research and it appears that many Nabble forums are getting hit, so it isn't just us. And, maybe Nabble will implement something that will prevent it, but we don't know that they will. So, please put your "new user" hat on and help us think through the best process via which they can gain access. And, remember that the goal of this site is to help others, so we need to balance how protective we want to be with how easy it is for them to join. Toward that end I see three choices, as outlined below, with a fourth as "other".

Congratulations! You've been promoted from Registered to Member. But, before you head to the bank let me explain what that means to you - absolutely nothing. Seriously though, last night's spam attack made me re-think the process of joining the Bullnose Forum. Heretofore a computer/robot could join and start spamming us. That's because it would be easy for a robot to sign up, which made it "registered", and that's all it took to start posting. But, now there are three categories: I hope this isn't to onerous for new users, but it seems to be the only way to ensure we aren't spammed. And, if you have ANY problems with this, please let me know. Gary

Oh, bummer! Apple gave me a bunch of new emoticons during the night, and I used the one with the swollen green face that looks like it is about to explode because the lips are sealed. Unfortunately that doesn't come across on this Windows machine - but it looks good on a device running iOS 11.1.

Thanks for the heads-up. We will see if others have a similar problem, but at least you are on.

Good idea!