Gary Lewis

Looks excellent, Chris! Well done. Have you thought about covering it with plexiglass when you are done? Most of it is well protected, but there are some hot spots peeking out, and I worry that a a dropped wrench would find them. (Trust me, this is the pot calling the kettle black as there are some SERIOUS places like that on Big Blue.)

That does sound like drama. Not fun. Hang in there. As for a "pig in a poke", that evokes memories of a European Vacation.

I’m here! Yes, I have some diagrams. But there are at least two styles of PDB - with and without megafuse. I think you want with, so let me see what I have tomorrow. They are easily rewired, so I don’t think it would be all that difficult. It is what I did on the right side of Big Blue.

Well, that didn't explain limited-slip diffs, but this does:

Tires look good, and I like the look w/o the running board. As for the driveshafts, very few trucks have a limited slip front differential. And what you experienced is normal for an "open", meaning not a limited slip, diff. This video might help you understand the different types of differentials. However, I've not watched all of it so I can't say I fully agree with it.

Ive been doing custom wiring using American Auto Wire at work before and doing it again as of right now. I like just crimping those terminals and refuse to add solder as solder is not a industry standard. I just crimp them as tight as I can get and give a good yank on the wire and the terminal. If it holds before I crimp the ears into the insulation then its good to go. Just because it isn't the auto industry standard doesn't mean a process isn't good. The auto industry would never use the larger size of wire or cable I use because the smaller size is marginally adequate and saves them money. But by using larger wire my engine spins faster and my lights burn brighter. And they don't solder for a number of reasons, a major one of which is the time required to do so. I'm not bothered by the time it takes as I know my connection is electrically, mechanically, and environmentally tight. (And I know that solder wicks up the wire and stiffens it, so I provide mechanical support for my connections.) I'm not at all saying that crimping doesn't work. The cars that we drive daily prove that crimps work as they are full of them. But I will say that crimps should only be made with high-quality crimpers. The stripper/crimpers sold at the parts stores don't qualify as it takes enormous pressure to fuse metal in a crimp like the auto manufacturers do. Here's a chart from this AMP document that shows that both electrical and mechanical performance depend on the "crimp height", meaning how tightly crimped the connection is. Obviously there is no scale on that chart so I can't say what amount of pressure it takes to make a good crimp. But, I can say that if you scroll down and look at their tooling you'll find it is serious stuff. (I happen to have some of those crimpers, but prefer to solder on small wire. However, I crimp battery cables.)

I'd let things play out and see what happens. You might win, but you won't lose.

Drives. You could take it home.

Fuse boxes are pretty easy to come by in a salvage. And you can pull the connectors and move them to a new box. Plus replace the bad ones when you find them. As for the radiator support, remember that they changed in '85. The 1980 - 84 supports mounted the radiators one way, and '85 and later mounted another way. See our page at Documentation/Cooling System/Radiator Support.

You may be better off. I know that's not what you wanted to have happen, but it might have been a major struggle to get it going - and a major expense.

It has a buy it now, and even the buy it now is still low for an F350 crew cab. The fact that it's a 4x2 hurts it a little, but anybody who knows about Sky's Offroad knows that isn't a problem. True. But I'm still thinking it is going for more.

Yes! That worked! Sounds nice and smooth up front, very quiet in the vehicle, and has a nice exhaust note. You did well!

Thanks. Yes, I'm aware of the concern about vibration with soldering, but for all of my almost 75 years all of my connections have been soldered and so far I've not had a problem. And as you said, given the "ton of strain relief built into these things" it isn't likely I'll have a problem. But, I'll try to crimp a few of the terminals and see how that goes. That's one of the reasons that I purchased the larger kit with 5 and 6-terminal connectors. I don't think I'll need anything that big, and that gives me a lot of extra terminals to play with.

John - I like the PMGR starter. And to do it all you need to do is to move the black cable up to the top terminal and add the trigger wire to the starter on the now-vacant bottom terminal. And that's what I would do. As for cleaning up, I see two approaches: Factory Box: There are several different Ford boxes available. I have a two-relay box and I'm pretty sure I have a 4-relay box. Plus, I have another 5-relay box just like the one that's going into BB right now. The two-relay box doesn't have fuses, but the 4-relay box might, and the 5-box certainly does. Plus, some of the larger boxes have a place for a megafuse. Aftermarket Box: Scott and some of the others are using aftermarket boxes and they have various numbers of fuses and relays. But I'm not a good source of info on those. Now, here's my take on it. You pride yourself in keeping your truck looking stock. What I would do is to add a Ford power distribution box with at least 5 relays, a megafuse, and several smaller fuses. I believe it will fit between the battery and the jack with the megafuse pointing toward the engine. Leave the fender-mounted relay in place to trigger the starter. But put the large battery cable and the large starter cable, as well as the alternator cable, on the megafuse. Move the headlight relays and voltmeter relays into the box, and add the one or two for the heater if you want. And use some of the fuse slots for fuses for the headlights and heater. It will look factory and only Bullnose aficionados will know the difference. And, I'll help you do it if you want - after I get Big Blue's EFI going.

Grille looks great! But the weight reduction doesn't. Are you going to attempt to slow that down somehow? Headlight sockets look like the ones I used - excellent ones. Ground wire resistance seems a bit high - good job replacing it. And those crimped connectors are ugly, so I assume you replaced those as part of the relay upgrade? On the power drain, having you tried pulling fuses one at a time with your meter across that disconnect?

Ok, then I'd better make it always-on rather than switched. Thanks,

Good job! Well done. But when I click on the video I get "This video isn't available anymore"

Thanks, Bill. A spreadsheet would work nicely for that. Hadn’t thought of it. As for the OBD-II connector, any reason for having always-on power? I have both that and switched power there.

Would be higher with a diesel, but it is an auction.

Tell me more about what to document?

Actually, as I think about it, the speed control wiring isn't the next step. In fact, I've put together the document below to help me think through the plan of attack. I'll share it here but I know it'll be changing. For instance, I need to add documentation steps all along the way. And revise what's done when - like wiring C321/3/5 can't happen until I figure out how long they need to be. Anyway, this is a start:

Good morning Gary! How's the Sunday coffee?? I'm already working on my second X-large! I can create a write up, sure. I can't take any new pictures as the trucks are gone and I only have what I saved previously. And yes, best time to install a Firewall brace. The reason I posted this morning was that I was thinking about the process of doing this on a truck that did not previously have a hydraulic clutch, and that you need to be somewhat careful as to where the holes go for the master cylinder. I was lucky at the time because I had both Bulls, but most people will not have a second truck to use as a reference. Morning! I'm on the 2nd cup as well. Starbucks Verona. Dark, but smooooth. Please do a how-to. Nothing urgent, but you are in an excellent position to do it. As for the brace, in case others have a question, our page at Documentation/Driveline/Clutches & Linkage says: That may be out of date as there has been some discussion about it in several places. But I know that if I was to add a hydraulic linkage to a Bullnose I'd add at least the small brace to ensure I didn't have problems down the road.

Cory - You are doing a wonderful job with this. Would you consider creating a how-to? We could put your writeup and pics in the Bullnose Enthusiasts Forum › Resources & How-To's › How-To's section. Also, while he's installing the clutch master wouldn't that be a good time to add a firewall brace?

The grilles were 1980 & 81 w/o the logo but with FORD on the hood, and then 1982 through 86 with the logo and no FORD on the hood. So an '82 should have the Ford logo on the grille and no FORD lettering on the hood.