Gary Lewis

Yippee! You are, as you said, sneaking up on it. And that's the right way, get the initial sorted, then the centrifugal sorted, and then do the vacuum. But sometimes you have to iterate. For instance, you could now dial in 2 more degrees of initial and see if the engine has a bit more spunk and still doesn't ping - w/o vacuum.

Well done! That ZF5 shifter is looooong, so I can easily see it hitting things. For instance, I'm going to try a pair of captain's chairs with arm rests in Big Blue and worry that the arm rest will interfere with the shifter, or at least my ability to use the shifter. Now I know how to "fix" that.

I didn't realize they paid any attention. :) Well if Keith wants more info I'd be happy to provide. To be clear, what I'm doing with Rocky would have been impossible without LMC existing, and I've probably thrown $5k their way so I'm definitely glad to have a vendor available! I particularly like how their parts diagrams are clickable, which makes it easy to home in on the exact thing you need, especially when it comes to hardware. The main issues are with what are generally third party components. Seat heaters, dome light lenses, floor insulation and carpeting... All those things seem to be "not perfect, but better than nothing". I'm pretty data driven as you've all probably guessed, and I'd be happy to share specific details on any items that might be improved... "Have calipers will share" and all that... Keith is a friend of mine. He is Mr FORDification, the website/forum for earlier Ford trucks, and the way that came to be is much like the way ours came to be. We both started on FTE but soon became dissatisfied with things and started our own. And now we both have the go-to site for that era of Ford trucks, including the most documentation on them anywhere on the internet. We met at a FORDification truck show in SW MO several years ago, and after talking things over in great detail realized our similarities and bonded. He's helped me immensely, like directing me to a guy who was giving away a large set of Technical Service Bulletins. And when I got them I discovered they included ones that went back into his era, so I shipped them to him. At the time he lived in Nebraska, but I don't remember what his job was. Then, not quite two years ago, he was recruited by LMC to be "the new head of the Ford Research & Development (R&D) team....and I've accepted the offer. I will be starting there full-time in about three weeks. Essentially, I'll be in charge of anything that has to do with Ford trucks and Broncos, and Ford-related products sold through LMC's catalogs." (You can read more about that here.) However, he's discovered that he doesn't have a lot of control. For instance, several of us won't use their catalog because it asks stupid questions about your truck when all you want to do is buy a light bulb - for instance. We've made him aware of that and he's discovered that they aren't going to change their catalog. So, while I've asked him to come see your post, I don't know that he will be able to effect a change.

You are now on the map - not far from me in the Tulsa area. And, not far from LMC either. You might want to put the Saturday of Labor Day Weekend on your calendar. The night before we'll have a dinner for members here in Skiatook, and then the truck show on Saturday.

Let us know if you win.

Interesting! I wonder where one might rent a Hilti demo hammer? And how much air they take, assuming it is air driven.

Thanks!

When you say you "played with the set screws until I got it to pull almost 20" Hg", what "set screws? If you are adjusting the idle air/fuel mix, then ok. But if you are adjusting other screws then you shouldn't be. However, it is normal for the vacuum to go towards 0 when you push the throttle, and then shoot back up high. So that sounds normal. As for the alternator, I wouldn't go changing that right at the moment. The battery appears to be getting charged, and 14.0 volts isn't bad. You sure don't want more than 14.5 volts. So I'd get the other things sorted out first before tackling the alternator. So, what problems are you having now other than engine mounts? I've lost track.

Welcome! Glad you joined. Where's home? I ask because we have a map (Bullnose Forum/Member's Map in the menu) and we can add you with a city/state or zip. As for posting pics, see the page at Bullnose Forum/Forum FAQ's. And you can see there how to create a signature so we don't have to keep asking questions about what your truck is. Saves us time, which means we are more likely to respond, and it means our responses can be more accurate.

I'll post here with details, hopefully tomorrow. In the meantime, a few items of interest... So the "clear" lens cover from LMC various from stock in a few critical ways. First, you can see that the general "thickness" of the plastic (side lips) is higher than stock. My stock cover's "sides" are almost exactly 1mm thick, but the LMC lens is 1.9mm (each side). The stock unit is also 68mm "long" (between the sides where the tabs/fingers are) while the LMC lens is 71mm. Finally, the overall width is about 0.5mm wider on the LMC lens. It's hard to see the clear lens clearly in these pics, so I put a bit of blue marker on one section so you can see the difference better. I didn't try sanding mine yet but I will tomorrow and I'll report back. As for general progress, it was warm today (warmer than it will be for the next 2 weeks) but I wasted it on "work" and only had about an hour to play with the truck. But I got some small things done. The seat belts are finalized now. The brackets from Jegs worked out really well but I did end up cutting slots in the seat for them to pass through - they were clearly designed to do that. Overall it worked out really well, my seat belts stay put even when the seat-back is tilted forward, and they're long enough to comfortably fasten. I think I gained about 3" length overall between the bracket height, change in angle of the attachment TO the bracket, and passing them through the seat. Other small items included attaching a few more dashboard screws and installing my new sun-visors. I had bought the LMC ones with the chrome fixtures. They're not quite identical to stock but mostly in the screws themselves, oddly enough. The stock screws have what I believe is called an "oval" head screw but the LMC sun-visor brackets came with flat-head, countersunk style screws. But I ended up using what LMC provided because even though they don't look quite right, at least they weren't rusty. I have a grinder with a buffing wheel but even I'm not crazy enough to try to "polish" six screws I'll barely see in normal use. Like I said, this isn't a showroom restoration... The rest of the week could get crazy. A lot of stuff arrives this week, in particular the correct ("yellow parts friendly") gear oil to refill my transmission, the Torklift camper tie-down attachments, the winch, etc. My hope is that I'll be getting into "exterior stuff" over the next few days, and get the truck running again by this weekend. Fingers crossed! I'm tagging Keith/FORDification, who's Mr Ford @ LMC. He needs to know about how poorly their dome light lens fits. As for the seat belts, I think the bracket is a good idea as several have complained bout the lack of length on the belts for these trucks. And good luck on getting all the things done so you can start the truck this weekend!

Bruce Auctions? Bruce Moose? Any connection? Here's what I saw:

If the damper has timing marks you can make your own pointer. Or, as Matt was suggesting, look down one edge of that bracket and add/subtract whatever is needed to get to 0. Get a piston stop, which screws into the spark plug hole, gently rotate the engine clockwise and note where the edge of that bracket points. Then gently roll it back the other way and see where the bracket points. Half way between those two readings is 0, or TDC.

Vic - Where does it mount?

Dave is at 8 turns CCW from the stop, so maybe he has another 6?

Thanks! I'm seeing the goal line. I think I'm in the "red zone". But, I forgot about the transparency, or lack thereof, of the box's cover. I have some plastic that I may try to graft onto the cover after I cut out a section

Maybe. But it takes a lot of imagination to get there.

Not used in the Bullnose era. But might be a good starting point for someone.

That distributor, D8TZ 12127-AC, wasn't used in 1980-89 light truck. Oddly enough though, D7TZ 12127-AC was used.

Got both cameras mounted and wired up today. Now all that is left is to connect the power supply in the radio compartment of the Highliner. Pormido has two cable lengths for the mirror - 33' & 49'. I think even 33' is way too much. Here's what I had left over, so I'm going to suggest they also offer a shorter length cable: And here are the cameras.

Where does it mount?

Do you now have the vacuum advance all the way CCW? I fear your current vacuum unit is too sensitive and you may never get it to work w/o pinging. It is surely one for EGR and those bring in a lot of advance at little vacuum. Nonetheless, you are making good progress.

Thanks for the update.

:nabble_smiley_blush:yes that's what I meant Thats what happens when you jump back and forth between 3 different forums Dave ---- Forgiven. (But that's once. )

What do they say "you dont get anything (good) for nothing" Dave ----

Interesting. The MPC doesn't show part number E0TZ 1022296-A. Instead it shows E5TZ 1522296-A. So in '85 the E0 PN was superseded by the E5 one. And I don't know what the differences are. But that one would surely work for 1980-84 trucks, and will probably work for 85/86 trucks. Anyway, good price!