Gary Lewis

Bill - Do you know what Ryan did to call it a 160A unit? I suspect it has 160A-capable diodes in it as Ryan advertised this:3G 200Amp Rectifier $75.00 Converts your 130Amp 3G alternator into a 200+Amp animal! In looking through the QuickStart offerings I don't see any heavy duty windings or anything else that would suggest they are doing anything but bigger/better diodes. If that is the case then the diodes must be the limiting factor. But that makes no sense as QuickStart sells 140A, 160A, and 200A alternators with 210/420/630A diodes. So what is the difference, other than diodes, in their various alternators? I think I'll call them tomorrow. Maybe they can enlighten me.

Welcome! Glad you joined. I'm pleased that someone is recommending this forum. If you don't mind I'd like his/her email address to thank them. As for the 460, there are several of us on here that have one of them. Vivek has recently gotten his going. Jim has driven the wheels, or at least the rear axle, off of his over the years and has swapped carbs a few times. And Bill and I've gone EFI with ours. Not sure how many miles Bill has put on Darth, but Big Blue has gotten several. But the one thing all of us have in common is frequent visits to the gas pump. The adage of "A 460 will pass anything but a gas pump" isn't exactly true as there are faster trucks and dual tanks will usually let you get to every other gas pumps.

We have the part numbers for the steering components from Ford's master parts catalog shown on the page at Documentation/Steering & Suspension/Steering/Tie Rods & Drag Links. And on there I'm not seeing any 5/85 dates. Several 1/85 and a couple of 2/85. So I'd go by Ford's data and not someone else's. As for the steering box, I'm reading about Redhead having lots of problems now. If I were buying I'd go with Bluetop. I've dealt with them several times of late and their service and the box have been excellent.

Clocking it would have been nice, but not necessary. Not much reason to disconnect the charge cable if you aren't removing the alternator, so go ahead and pull the two bolts holding it in and pull it out. That gives easier access to the retaining clips so you can get the connectors off w/o breaking the retainers. But pulling it did give me an opportunity to put the other regulator in. Perhaps this one won't chirp the belt on startup.

I'm not an expert, but depending on where your MAP sensor is I can see the ATF may have gotten there. However, I doubt it would have hurt the MAP sensor nor the fuel pressure regulator. But I think the air charge temp sensor is upstream enough that it wouldn't have seen the ATF, and the coolant temp sensor can't have seen it. But it won't hurt to have the spares. As for the radiator, if the one you have is leaking then it is time to replace it - unless you have a shop there that repairs radiators. Most here have gone out of business and probably have there as well.

Replace the cab, maybe even with a Bullnose, and keep the driveline?

Yes, and yes.

I may call them on Monday and ask if they'd like to see the thread.

That sounds like quite a project! But what are you going to do with the truck? What will you use it for? What are you going to do to the front clip and bed - make it a Bullnose?

One problem I've had with Carterbrocks is getting something in the idle passage. I've cleared it out by pulling the idle screws and blowing compressed air through the hole. Hasn't happened often, but sometimes when I can't get one to idle correctly I try that and it usually works. But that's for the idle, not overall rough running.

Glad you got that sorted. Trailer brakes aren't something that should work when they want to, so getting a controller that is solid is the way to go. But what is it you have to do to Oswald? I've forgotten.

Finally gave up on getting the alternator clocked differently and put it back together and then installed it. However I did swap the regulator with the one in the alternator for Dad's truck as it has LRC and I've been getting a belt chirp on startup. Anyway, it is in and the charge harness is installed, including the stator line up to the Engine On relay in the PS PDB. Save for connecting up the batteries everything under the hood is done. Well, not quite as I need to update the insert that goes in the lid of the PDB to include Fuse 3 as being a 10A to the subwoofer. Next is the dash.

Finally gave up today and put the alternator back together w/o getting it re-clocked. It just wouldn't budge.

Thanks! I appreciate it. By the way, in your dealings with Vintage Air did you get an email address? I can't find one on their site, although maybe I'm just missing it?

Good review. In fact, we have a vendor review section in Bullnose Enthusiasts Forum › Marketplace › Vendor Reviews & Ratings and I've put Vintage Air in there if you'd like to rate them and cut/paste your post in there. (Just hit More/Edit Post on your post, copy the whole post, then hit Cancel on the edit. Go to the new post in the Reviews and paste it in.) Then we'll send Vintage Air a link to the review 'cause they should know what people think. Also, while you are in Edit mode, could you make a slight edit to the language? My grandson uses this forum, so...

What do you think about Vintage Air?

The engine codes are, oddly enough, at Documentation/Specifications/Engine Codes. I agree that, from everything I've seen, the only EFI'd engine in 86 was the 302. And the 300's had a mechanical fuel pump. So this sounds like something that was swapped in. But then why use a feedback carb?

Progress!!!

While considering changing the voltage regulator on Big Blue's alternator I went searching for info that spelled out which part numbers have LRC and those which don't. And the best page I found for that is this one from QuickStart. And that says: F794: Has no LRC F795: Has LRC But that page has a link to this page of theirs that outlines several high output alternators they sell. But the page confuses me a bit, like one entry that says "130 Amp & 140 Amp" and then offers only 140A units. So I'm going to lay out what I think I'm seeing and welcome your comments. But unless they cannot keep the internal diodes cool and they eventually burn up, why would you order a 140A or a 160A unit with an external bridge? 140A alternators with: Single bridge of diodes capable of 210 amps: $260 Dual diode bridge, one internal and one external, with a total rectifier capacity of 420 amps: $310 Triple diode bridge, one internal and two external, with a total rectifier capacity of 630 amps: $360 160A alternators with: Single bridge of diodes capable of 210 amps: $300 Dual diode bridge, one internal and one external, with a total rectifier capacity of 420 amps: $370 Triple diode bridge, one internal and two external, with a total rectifier capacity of 630 amps: $400 200A alternators with: Single bridge of diodes capable of 210 amps: $360 Dual diode bridge, one internal and one external, with a total rectifier capacity of 420 amps: $420 Triple diode bridge, one internal and two external, with a total rectifier capacity of 630 amps: $460 250A alternators with: Dual diode bridge, one internal and one external, with a total rectifier capacity of 420 amps: $480 Triple diode bridge, one internal and two external, with a total rectifier capacity of 630 amps: $520

Was doing some work on Big Blue's alternator and wanted to swap regulators with the alternator I built for Dad's truck but wasn't sure what screws to pull. So I looked in our documentation and discovered we had nada on alternators. So now on the page at Documentation/Electrical/Alternators we have the factory shop manual sections on the 1G, 2G, & both the 95A and 130A 3G regulators - for a total of 45 pages. So now I can easily see what screws to pull.

Good points all around. First, it isn't good to push it on a vacation. It is best to heed the inner voice that says "it is time". Too many of us don't and end up wishing we had. As for short cuts, but only after developing good habits, that is a good way of explaining it. Matt knew that he wasn't going to put much rearward tension on the trailer hitch. Instead, he was placing mostly side pressure on it to keep the truck from going downhill. He already knew that using the drawbar as a full recovery point wasn't a good idea, so wasn't doing that. But at first glance that's what it looked like. And both Rory and Matt have cool equipment that they've developed specifically for the recovery needs they've encountered. The Morrvair is one example of that, but so is Trail Mater. Totally different but both get the job done. Still, it is good that you didn't need their services. Good trip! Thanks for letting me follow along vicariously. (Wish it could have been first hand, but that wasn't meant to be.)

Yes, the new line is cheap. But it is a chore getting to that rear tank to replace it. However, the midship tank and the line up front are pretty easy.

Yikes! I think Lesley's state of mind is easily understood when she's thinking "I don't want to meet Matt today, I don't want to meet Rory today, and I don't want to meet Jesus today!" I'm guessing that was caused by physically and emotionally-draining day the previous day as you've done most of that stuff before. So I can see why you headed home when you did. But TrailMater looks cool. I think I've watched a bit of Rory's stuff, but mostly watch Matt's channel. (I was scanning one of Matt's videos recently and saw that he hooked up to the trailer hitch on a Ford pickup that was in danger of going off the road and down a valley. And I was thinking "NO! Don't pull him out with that". But then I realized he was just keeping the truck from sliding sideways and the actual towing was in front.) As for the sand, it is amazing how hard it is to get through some of that stuff. I hadn't locked the hubs in on Big Blue when we did the Sugar Creek Loop recently and got into some sand that required a whole lot of throttle and a struggle to keep the rear end behind us. So I understand the problem you were having. But the scenery was good, even if the waterfall was faux. And Lesley is smiling in the pic. And I also understand having a long day to get home and sleep in your own bed. We've many times had a really long day 'cause we didn't want to stop a couple hours from home. There's no place like home. Glad you made it home safely. But sorry that you got such bad news and had a rough day - at the same time. That can't have been fun.

Yes, the new stuff is rated for ethanol. But apparently at least through 82 it wasn’t, and maybe that’s why they went to Nylon in 85 as ethanol was becoming common then. The problem I had on Dad’s truck was with the line from the rear tank to the steel line. For some reason he wasn’t using the front tank, and while it might have been due to the sending unit, by the time I got the truck the tank, sending unit, and hose were all bad. But the rear tank was working so I drove it 100 miles to Skiatook. And when got here there was a constant drip of gas when sitting still. That’s when I discovered the gooey line.

I don't know for sure when Ford changed from "rubber" hose to Nylon lines, but it looks like it was in 85 as that's when the Nylon lines show in the MPC. So you probably have hoses to connect the tanks to the steel line and steel line to the fuel pump. And in my experience those lines don't like ethanol. But I can't say that 15% ethanol in the gas would be a catastrophe. What I've witnessed on at least two trucks is that the rubber hoses get soft and gooey and leak. Dad's truck leaked through the hose, not the connection, with a steady drip. And when I pulled the hose off it was so sticky that when I wadded it up in a ball it stayed that way - and stuck to my hand. And an 82 I parted out had gooey lines as well. But it is possible that after 82 they changed the type of hose, although I don't think they went to Nylon yet. So you may not have problems. I really don't know.