Gary Lewis

I have the NIOSH SLA app and don’t see how to put in on either A or C. I also have Sonic Tools app that doesn’t give me those options either. But it does show the frequency distribution of the sound as well as the peak. I’m thinking this might be a good way to take before/after readings.

Are you using A or C-weighting on the meter? I read years ago that C is better for what I was doing but don’t remember why. But yes, that reduction should make a huge difference.

Email it to me at janeyandgary@gmail.com and I'll see about getting it on here.

Man, that sounds like a serious problem, Jim. I'm not differential expert, but I sure hope you get that sorted soon!

2nd from top on the right reminds me of Big Blue, although the tires may be a bit too large.

That is one of the vacuum reservoir styles. You can see some of them on our page at Documentation/Vacuum Systems/Vacuum Reservoirs.

The drivetrain is almost ready to be removed. I still need to disconnect the speedo cable and remove the shifter arm. That is really looking GOOD! I know what you mean about the color of things. I took pics of the gauges on Big Blue the other day and what I got under LED lighting was a far cry from what my eyes saw. So I took the gauges outside in direct sunlight and then in just daylight and got different pics, but still a long ways from what I was seeing. And I like the bullet hole wheels. Those are what I have on Dad's truck and what I just bought for my SiL's truck. They look good and very "period correct". But what is an Adel clamp?

Wow! Every three dB in reduction cuts the noise in half. You cut it dramatically. And yes, I have my Kicker sub installed and tuned. Still want to use a sound CD that I have to test the levels across the frequencies. However, I'm not sure that is necessary as there is still a lot of noise in Big Blue and it isn't white noise. So I'm wondering about looking for an app that takes a snap shot of sound and displays it in a graph. My iPhone 14 Pro Max is said to have a very good mike so I might be able to see what the noise looks like and then compensate.

Wow! That looks surgically clean. Nice!

Sorry, but I chose not to go with Tuner Pro for my own stuff because I've already invested enough, both time and money, on Binary Editor. So I'll stay out of the loop here and just monitor. Y'all go on with what you are doing and I'll work with Steve/FoxFord33 when the time comes - with Binary Editor.

I'm following along. But are you going to do the Binary Editor work for Rene? That's a steep learning curve, so I plan on doing it for Steve/FoxFord33, but he is local and will be looking over my shoulder or I his.

It is a bummer to be ill on your vacation! But glad you are getting well.

Calibrating the O2 sensor was interesting. You put power to the meter with no sensor connected and it'll show E2. Then you power off, connect the sensor with it laying in free air, and power back on. It'll go through its calibration routine and then indicate 22.4:1 AFR, which means it is calibrated. But getting power to the meter requires either starting the engine, pulling in the relay another way, or removing the relay and jumping across it. I opted to pull in the relay by disconnecting the W/Bk stator wire at the connector between the alternator and the fender liner and applying 12v. That let me calibrate the sensor and then I installed it. Started the truck up and found that the AFR meter works but the "stock" voltmeter, meaning the one in the gauge cluster that Rocketman modified, doesn't. So obviously the relay is getting pulled in by the stator circuit but the signal isn't getting to the voltmeter. I'm guessing that's because I didn't get the connector clicked into the gauge cluster all the way - power and ground to the voltmeter are on the very end of the connector. And while it is a huge pain to take the cluster out, I may be able to get to it by taking the dash pad/cover off. At least that's what it looks like when checking out the spare dash I have in the attic. So I'll give that a try tomorrow. But back the AFR meter, it rebooted several times when I blipped the throttle. That indicates that maybe the RPM dropped so low that the output of the stator wire is letting the relay drop out. I checked that relay and on straight DC it dropped out at 5.15 volts, but I found another that drops out at 4.75 volts. I put that in and the few blips I did didn't cause the meter to drop out. But we will take the truck on an outing in a bit and I'll find out then. And the tach works great! Very smooth and the idle is more accurate. Thanks again, David!

I used to have the mistaken understanding that open element air cleaners are the way to go. But after a bit of reading and then remembering the cold-air intakes that Detroit came up with, like on my own Super Bee, I realized that's not the smart approach. However, it does look ..... hot? (Can't say "cool" as it might be taken the wrong way.)

Well said, Bob. And I think if you were to go back and check, my vote for the 1980-86 trucks was for Bricknose - exactly for your reasoning. But I was outvoted.

I think you have what I had - a gradual leak that ran down to the bottom and across to the valve and looked like the valve was leaking. But no amount of sealing the valve made it stop. Glad you found it 'cause eventually it would have become a major leak. And those tend to manifest themselves at the worst possible time, like on a long trip when it is really hot. Far away from home and all the tools, plus really uncomfortable to work on it.

Yes, we did as well. And then the whole market followed suite and you couldn't tell one vehicle from another. Love the days when the vehicles were so easily ID'd, like the Chevys of 1957, 58, 59, and 60.

Too? Not me, dude.

The tach looks good, Gary! I am glad that it has a new home in Big Blue. Thanks again, David! I appreciate it and will certainly enjoy it. Hope to start the truck this afternoon and will report on how responsive and accurate the tach is. The old one showed about 500 at idle when I know the ECU is keeping it at 640. Our church has a visit to the nursing home this afternoon at 3:30, so I have just a bit of time prior to that after church. I hope to get the new O2 sensor for the AFR meter calibrated and installed during that time, at which point I can start it up.

Brick! Well spotted, as the Brits would say. Interestingly, when I got into Bullnose trucks there wasn't a moniker for them or the later trucks. Just Bumps and Dents. As explained on our page at Documentation/Bullnose FAQ's the tag Bullnose was adopted, at least on FTE, in 2011. And it was about that time that the later trucks got their moniker. But even had I known the later ones were to be called Bricks, that wouldn't have swayed me. I prefer the squared-up look of the Bullnose - before the rounding and blending and smoothing for the wind tunnel took over.

I am not a one-brand guy. I drive what I like, and for Janey's car we chose the Merc GLK and love it. As for why I have Ford trucks, and more specifically Bullnose trucks, lets just say they are more functional than brick. (According to the International Brick Collector's Association, "brick" is both singular and plural.) My mother was a founding member of IBCA and had a very large collection of brick when she passed. My brother has the interesting ones out of that collection as a wall in his cabin, but the majority of the collection was passed to another IBCA member. Anyway, I wanted something a bit more useful or functional than brick.

There's not much maintenance on the ECU. If it goes bad you replace it, and in the Bullnose position you loosen a screw, swivel the keeper out of the way, and wiggle the ECU out of the connector. But there can be programming of an EEC-V ECU, and that is done via the OBD-II port, which you get to determine where to mount. I put mine near the ECU, roughly above the throttle pedal in a fairly stock position for newer vehicles.

Alex - Welcome! Glad you joined. "Philadelphia Area" could mean a lot of places. I used to live near Kennett Square, so have a bit of knowledge of where you might be. But we have a map, which you can see at Bullnose Forum/Member's Map in the menu, and I can add you if you just give me the city. As for posting in the right place, we like to keep the intro's to the New Member Start Here folder as that means you get a chance to see our guidelines. But I can move this there if you'd like. No harm, no foul. On your sound, it kind of sounds like a belt. But you said you've checked. Have you tried standing beside the truck with the hood open and having someone give the engine throttle to see if you can pinpoint the sound? One effective way to find a sound is to use a piece of hose with one end to your ear and the other poking around where the sound might be. As for the transmission, you didn't say which one you have. If it is an automatic there should be a dipstick on the passenger's side under the hood back near the rear of the engine. But a manual requires getting under the truck and pulling a plug. We can figure out what transmission your truck came with if you can post a picture of the certification label that should be on the driver's door post.

Yep, I've turned many an air cleaner lid over as the secondaries sound GOOD. "Hear those dual quads drink" had a lot of meaning. As for the hood scoop, the cold air inlet beside the radiator is pretty effective.

No, I don't think there's the same expression in English. But we do say things come in threes, although we are usually referring to bad things. As for the sub, I'm really amazed at how much it added to the sound. And, I don't think it is pulling much current. I turned the battery charger up to the 10A setting and ran the sound system for at least an hour and when I checked the battery voltage was almost to 15V. So the sound system wasn't pulling much.