Gary Lewis

I don't know if you can find one, but that seal is base part number 3513, which you can see on the Illustrations tab on the page at Documentation/Interior/Steering Columns & Steering Wheels. Then you go to the Part Numbers tab and find the rest of the part number, where you'll find that it is E0TZ 3513-A for all F & U-Series trucks from 1980 through at least 1989. And, by the way, I didn't have that part number in the part numbers list, but added it just for you.

I wouldn't touch a used one for $150 as it is a given that it is going to crack. Just a question of how soon, and there's nothing you can do to prevent it. I did a lot of calling around many years ago about this and wrote it up while still on FTE. But you can read a bit about it and get a link to the FTE writeup here. My current thoughts are that the dash covers from Coverlay, which is what all of the vendors sell, is very good and it is what I'm running on Big Blue. But for Dad's truck I'll probably go with the high-end, like Dashes Direct. However, I won't buy it from them as it is cheaper to get it from one of the resellers, like JBG, LMC, etc. As for LMC not having them, check with all the other resellers. What they are selling is the same - Coverlay - so you can get it lots of places.

The move to EFI was the most significant change, and that came about in several steps. The 302/5.0L had EFI as an option in late '85. The other engines got EFI after the Bullnose era and I don't remember exactly when that was.

Looking good! But that old gas looks baaaaad. Glad you replaced it. Here's hoping your startup going wonderfully.

Looks great! Professional. On the parts store, I think we would call something like that a speed shop around here, and most of those have gone out of business. So it is great that you have one.

Yes, feedback is warranted, so thanks. Glad to know what would cause that, although I'm with you and don't understand how. But glad you got it fixed.

That picture of the valley is stunning! As for the thermostat, I'm glad you got rid of the Mr Gasket one. I do NOT like Mr Gasket anything, and consider it junk. The Stant is a much, much better choice.

That looks great, Bob.

Yes, that was WIND! Around here that’s not too unusual. In fact, in western OK they use a log chain on a pole instead of a wind sock.

Thought so, but wasn’t sure what all it took. Anyway, I’ve now emailed all of our European members, or at least all of the ones on the map, and told them about Prashant being there with stickers in-hand.

Hmmm, I wonder how Big Blue would sound? He would sound GOOD! A few months ago we came up the Muskogee Turnpike and since I don’t have a Pike Pass in BB I had to stop and pay the toll. Took off with the window down and the sound was bouncing off the concrete barrier. Sounded sweet!

This was his 4th visit here and we had a good conversation. But watch out, Bill, 'cause he has questions for you. He had a zillion questions about Big Blue as he's thinking about doing similar things to his trucks. But he has an early 90's F250 w/a 460 and EEC-IV EFI and was asking questions about what he could do to it. I know how to do EEC-V, but not IV, although I think you do and suggested he contact you.

Some of you know Prashant Khaitan, aka Khaitan on here. I got a text from him yesterday asking if I was home as he was passing through and wanted to stop by. I was, he did, and we had a wonderful conversation. Turned out he was on his bike, a 1980 R100/T IIRC, and you can see a screen grab of him and of his bike below. (I forgot to take pics while he was here and got those from a video he posted on FB.) But he is headed to Amsterdam "at the end of the month" so I sent him with 11 of the forum's stickers for distribution in Europe. Given that we need to get a list of those who want them and addresses so he can pass them on. I know we have Wagoneermaster, FordUSAF150, W.J.Elverding, and Andre in the Netherlands, but others are somewhat close as well. So I'll send them an email and see if I can get addresses.

Nice looking truck.

Neat pic, Angelo! Father and son - appropriate for Father's Day. Concerning covered bridges, the one I crossed daily in my Miata when we lived in PA and I worked in DE is shown below. Its the Ashland Covered Bridge and has been standing since 1860 according to that article. If no one was coming it was fun to nail it in 2nd and listen to the little 4-banger wind as you went through the bridge.

You are right, that is a lot of moulding and it looks like the bits for the rear doors are missing on both sides. That stuff is very hard to find, although maybe for the rear doors of a crew cab it is still available. If not, I'd take the stuff off as the lack of those pieces shouts MISSING! Otherwise it looks like a lot of truck for $4500.

Looks great, Bob! Do you get much wind there? Is there any need to tie them on to the racks? As for the welder, I don't think mine would have like all the extension cords and low voltage either. But I haven't tried it on the inverter on Big Blue. In theory the current is enough, but the square wave might not work. I need to try that as it would be a slick way to weld in the field.

It certainly is a curio.

Ok, here's my next table and the rationale therefore. However, remember that these are adders to the base idle RPM of 648. Extremes: You have to have the two extremes of -256 and 254F. And since my stock tune had them both at 304 I left them there. 0F: I wanted the RPM with the ECT at zero to be around 800, and I found that making the adder at 86F to be 120 then at zero the adder would be 166 which makes the RPM @ 0 = 814. Close enough. 0 Adder: Both Bill's and my original tune took the adder to zero at 160F, but I wanted it to go a bit slower so set it to 17F0F. Ramp Up: I don't want the additional RPM at high temps to come in suddenly, so started at 210 instead of 220 and ramped in pretty much a straight line. But this may not be enough? Thoughts?

Actually, setting 220F to 150 won't work as then the adder would never reach 0 since the ECU interpolates between the values. So the desired RPM would never reach my target of 648. As I think about it, my table was developed before I realized that the ECU wasn't controlling the idle RPM. And I was trying to add enough RPM to have it come down slowly. But now that the ECU is controlling the RPM that approach isn't needed. I think I'll adopt Bill's #'s where it goes to 0 at 160F and starts back up at 214F.

BE is plenty granular enough for that. Below is the table for that, with my #'s on the left and Bill's on the right. And while it says it is an "air adder" I think it is actually RPM adder. So I need to make my 220F entry something like 150 to rev it up some, but not so much that it would be a huge surprise to the driver. Also, there is the ability to raise the idle when the A/C comes on, or even kill the A/C when the ECT hits a certain temp - but in that case the ECU has to be controlling the A/C clutch, and in my case it is just monitoring it.

Jake - I agree that the PMGR starters are the way to go. Huge difference. Angelo - Nice pics. And well done on the harness. I'm sure others would like them if you make them. Jeff - That's a shame! Covered bridges are sooooo cool they should be preserved. When we lived in PA I drove across one daily to/from work and loved it.

Excellent! :nabble_anim_claps:On the brake fluid, I encourage you to do a complete replacement. I believe that doing so every few years would make our brake systems last far longer than they do.

That certainly IS a silver lining. I didn't expect lumber prices, or any prices for that matter, to come down so quickly.

Bummer! I don't know what else to say, Jonathan, but bummer! That's awful. I hope you have a stroke of brilliance and come up with an easy fix for this.