Gary Lewis

What kind of timeframe are you looking at? I ask because I won't be able to get to it until after the trip to New Mexico in October because we have the show and then a cruise 'twixt now and then. And I'm not sure I need the sprockets, although it might help. But good pictures and measurements would probably do it. I'll want to draw the crank and both sprockets up in CAD and we could bat that back and forth to make sure we agree, and we could be doing some of that now to be ready for time in the shop. In thinking through how to make the adaptor for the sprocket it seems fairly straight forward - until I get to the keyway for the crank. The keyway on the OD I can do with an end mill, but I haven't figured out how to do the one on the ID. Any ideas? Is that something that you could have broached?

Jein. I designed it but haven't used it yet. It'll go in Dad's truck. And you can see the plans for it on the website at Documentation/About Me Contact Me/Projects/Gauge Pocket. On that page I said: There are drawings on that page if anyone wants to make that piece, and I'd think that doing so with a 3D printer would be easy.

I think they sit about 2" higher as they have a 2" riser block in the rear to level them out with the front.

Ok, now I can comment further. First, what part of the Netherlands are you in? We spent several days there many years ago and loved it. And I traveled there several times on business from the UK when we lived there, so have some familiarity with your country. Speaking of living in the UK, I saw several full-sized American trucks on the B roads there and the trucks looked enormous! And in the car parks they usually took up two stalls. So your Supercab w/a bed cap has to look like a monster to them. As for what to do to your truck, I vote for keeping it mainly stock. However, what does the law there allow with regard to the emissions system? I ask, because if you have a stock California truck it should have the max amount of emissions stuff Ford put on one. It is a complex setup with a myriad of vacuum lines, thermal switches, relays, and even two smog pumps. When it works correctly it'll work great, but it'll take some effort to keep it working correctly. If the law requires you to keep all the stuff on it and pass inspections then you don't have much choice but to keep it stock. However, if not then you could consider making it a bit more simple. Still, if it is working correctly now I'd keep it stock as you aren't going to get much, if any, better MPG by making changes to the engine. On the other hand, if you drive it long distances you could consider going with a ZF5 if you have a manual transmission as that would give you overdrive. Or installing a Gear Vendors or somesuch behind the transmission if you have an auto. Either way it'll slow the engine down and improve your MPG a bit.

Welcome! Glad you joined! I’ll reply more later as I can’t now, but would you like to be on our map? You can see it at Bullnose Forum/Member’s Map in the menu and you’ll see there are others in your area. As for FTE members, you want help from Bullnose Forum members. Right?

Bill - I read this late last night and thought I'd wait to reply until this morning as then maybe I could get my head around it. I'm now almost done with my first cup of Joe and it is starting to make sense. But let me see if I have it right. There are two things that need to be made - a sprocket adapter and a pulley adapter - right? Here's what I think I understand about the sprocket adapter. Adapter Diameter: The crank's snout is ~26mm and the sprocket is ~30mm, so you'll need an adapter sleeve that is ~26mm ID and ~30mm OD. Keyway: But it needs to be keyed to the crank and to the sprocket - right? And don't these keys need to be in the same spot to properly phase the sprocket? And won't the keyways go completely through the adapter? Could we stagger the keyways? Yes, it would cause the dots on the sprockets to be off, but... Adapter Length: You said you may have to space it out a bit and gave some dimensions, and from what you said it seems like the 2.5L sprocket is intended to seat fully on the crank snout. But the 2.4L sprocket is bored ~16mm less (48mm-32mm) so if the edges of the gear teeth are the same distance from the rear of the sprocket then it is automatically spaced out 16mm. Right? And we don't need to worry about the pulley adapter right now as that will have to wait until fitting up. Right?

Thanks. I'll take a look and see what I might be able to do.

Scott - The QuickCable site is playing games again as it gives "Page Not Found" for your link. In fact, I'm not even seeing pictures anymore. So do you know what the part # is?

Yes, I could probably do the top/side adapters on the aux battery, but not the main battery. And since I'd like them to be the same, that means using the adapters for the posts, but with boots to match. Still looking for that combo. And it might be easy for those with a 3D printer to create a cover to pop on, but I don't have one of those. So I think I'll just go with those boots for the Magnalugs elsewhere.

It is amazing how much difference that makes in the exhaust sound. Glad the drone went away, those can be obnoxious. On the pipe, I like to use a PTFE goo, but I have used Teflon tape. However, I make sure to keep it two turns back of the end so it can't get into the oiling system.

Seems like things are coming together for you quite well. And the radio looks great.

Yes, good job! And it isn't that unusual of a problem. Just enough that we've had several people have that problem.

Scott - I think I now have enough room to put a boot over the stud, but it might get squished a bit. So the ACDelco Professional 4BA17, shown below, sticks out over the side of the battery and let you run a bolt into them in the end? As you can see below I can't stick it out over the side near the negative terminal. But the adapter I posted, above, doesn't get me any height clearance. The post is just outboard enough to miss the rib on the underside of the hood, so height isn't an issue. The stud just catches the outside edge of the rib. But the adapter gives me another point for attaching cables so I can get down to one per connection, which then allows me to install the boot - assuming I can either find a boot for that adapter or a similar adapter with a boot to fit.

Thanks, Bill. Basically they fill in to close everything off. Right?

Thanks, guys! John - I don't do the reading. I do the scanning and y'all do the reading. David - Missing one day wouldn't have mattered. We know Carolyn quite well. In fact, we'll be with her tomorrow as we all set up and serve at a funeral. And she and Janey hang out all day on Tuesdays sewing. So she knows how much I'm into Ford trucks. In fact, she encouraged me to enter BB into the truck show that John took Blackie to, but I couldn't as the twins were here. Here are some pics of a couple of cool things I found, starting with these Motorcraft Information Updates that are begging to be put on the website: And here's a neat "portfolio" that appears to be an amalgam of several truck data books. The Bronco section is 1985, but other sections are both 1983 and 84. And, there's info on the medium and heavy duty trucks in it as well. So it seems like it is a combo of several books, but it looks like it came the way it is.

A lady at church is moving and her deceased husband had been buying up Ford documentation - which she didn't want to move. Let's just say that Big Blue's rear suspension settled a bit on the way home. I'm just now working my way through the stuff, and will let you know what I come up with, but I thought you might like to see a few pics thereof. First is the 1983 Car/Truck Shop Manual - Engine Diagnosis - Engine/Electronics book. Look at all the info in those tabs! And here's a couple of pics of the load:

Thanks!

Thanks, Matt. But on the starting battery side there's not a chance I could get a marine battery box in there. The negative stud was rubbing on the hood and I had to adjust the hood up a bit to get clearance, but it is still so close that a box can't fit. As for off-gassing, these batteries are sealed so don't do that. So my connections are staying nice and clean.

Not bad. But the 35" tires and no mention of regearing are a turnoff for me. In my experience that is not a good combination.

Yes, the evap comes out the engine side of the HVAC box. Not too bad at all. Good luck, Dave! Edit: I don't know about the valve, but I can's see why you need two back-to-back.

Oui!

Ok, thanks. Any pics you have would be helpful, but it isn't critical. I'm not about to go to a salvage in this weather to look for the pieces.

Your description makes sense, but I worry that the half-boots will slide off and expose the terminal underneath. I'm coming to the conclusion that the best way to handle this is to limit each connection to one cable. That will mean I need to use a connector on the battery posts that allow me to connect cables there. Maybe something like these: But I'd need to find boots that fit them, and I've not found them yet. Anyone have other suggestions?

It is a very confusing area, so I understand why it isn't clear to you. But let me try to work my way through it. First, you have to go to the Front Driving Axle Cross Reference Guide and find out what parts list your axle uses. Here's a portion of that guide and I've highlighted the only ones that are 44HD's. Turns out they use parts lists 30.3C and 30.3E. And then you go to Section 30, which is the "30" part of 30.3C & E. And scroll down until you see "Front Axle Parts Lists 3A Thru 3M" since both C and E lie between A and M. And then scroll down until you find Spindle Assy 3105. At that point you look at Column C and find that those axles use spindles E6TZ 3105-E. Then move on to Column E and lo and behold those axles use the same spindle! So, to answer your question, yes I believe that all 44HD axles use the same spindles.

That's a really nice truck at a very reasonable price.