Gary Lewis

There's no consistent reading for the gauges. The same temp on one truck may read quite different on another. But the factory thermostat is 195 degrees.

Houston, we have a problem. I just got this in: So, after all this it is NOT going to work. My response was that I cannot place either camera inside the cab. So it looks like I have but two options: package it all up and return it to Amazon, or put the front camera in a plastic box and put it on the nose of the truck like a wart. I'm not a happy camper, so I'm going to bed to stew on it for the night. And since the grandtwins come tomorrow it may be a bit before I decide.

Day 1 was a dawdle. But Day 2's video leaves the audience hanging! So, did you get over the ledge/rock at about 50 seconds? And did the S10 get over the drop off at 3 - 4 minutes???? Man, that was some serious stuff, more than I'd want to do. Day 3 was a bit less dramatic and looks like something BB might could do, although it was pretty narrow. Your Jeep made it look fairly easy and the S10 took it in stride. Day 4 was gnarly. Man, at 3:48 I could see that jack starting to slip and I winced! But that was after I'd laughed 'cause it was quite reminiscent of our trip to Ouray - having to pull it to the side and to the front. Thank goodness for two winches and the clearance to use them. But the poison ivy worried me. No one got it? Wow! And Day 5 was way beyond me! Man, that was rough stuff. And tight, close. You can tell how steep it was with how your engine was grunting. And boy, was there some banging going on. I think I'd have turned around before you did. But the S10 did pretty well. I'm still amazed. Thanks for sharing. So, is this the last trip in the Jeep? I can see that the boys were at an age where they were ready to shoot up, so space must have been getting tight.

Sounds like a good plan, Shaun. If I remember right the welding is on the top and bottom flanges, right? So no serious heating to the vertical part of the frame? That's frowned upon.

Good point. I do know electronics but don't know these older ignition systems very well so hadn't thought of that. Fortunately this vehicle will spend a lot of time in secured storage but every little bit helps while out and about. Are they using AirTags as a security device? Maybe I should add some thoughts to the thread. As a software engineer I would definitely never recommend that. The thing is, those devices are Bluetooth-based with very limited ranges and no internal GPS functionality. They require a "helper" cell phone to figure out where they are and get their reports out to the world. The magic Apple did was coding into iOS a feature that automatically allows any nearby AirTags to "piggyback" on any phone's data connection for its location and communication requirements whether you own the AirTag or not. There are a few problems with this approach: 1. A thief would have to have this function activated on their phone for it to work. If they didn't have a modern iPhone or had the feature off, the AirTag would have no way to "report in" where it was. See https://theconversation.com/remember-apple-airtags-and-find-my-app-only-work-because-of-a-vast-largely-covert-tracking-network-160781. 2. Apple's been criticized for privacy concerns (people using AirTags to stalk other people) so they've added privacy features that warn a user there's an AirTag nearby that might be tracking them. (See https://www.makeuseof.com/what-to-do-when-you-see-airtag-found-moving-with-you-alert/) The idea is to prevent a creep at a bar slipping an AirTag into a victim's purse, car, etc. A thief that DID have a modern iPhone would be alerted that the device was there - not what you want. IMO if you want an anti-theft device you want it to be completely self contained and not reliant on anything else. That means a sealed unit, GPS, and a cellular connection. It also needs to have a backup battery, because my understanding is a common practice among thieves is to disconnect the battery as soon as possible... I have Google Fi and you can get "data SIMs" pretty cheap for it, $10 to add to your plan. I'm looking into self-contained units designed specifically for tracking vehicles that can take a SIM. It's not actually a massive priority because most of the time this will be in a secured storage facility or in the back-country (vehicle theft at a trailhead is extremely rare) but it's definitely on the list to deal with at some point... That's interesting about the airtag. Hadn't read up on it, but it makes sense. However, I don't know if anyone has tried it or is using it. As for the ignition, the coil has one side of its primary tied to the battery, albeit through a ballast resistor to reduce the current other than during starting. The ignition module mimics points, where the points close to charge the coil by building up an EMF field. Then the points open when the ignition is supposed to fire and the electromagnetic field falls through the secondary and creates the high voltage that fires the plug. But if the low side of the coil is held to ground then nothing the points or ignition module can do will cause the ignition to fire. Another option for those of us with electric fuel pumps is to prevent them from running. Plus, you can kill the power feed to the ECU if you have EFI. And with all or any of that in place it is very unlikely anyone is going to get the truck to run - at least not without someone hearing the blaring siren and, in my case, horn. About all they could do is to open the hood and cut the battery cable, hoping to silence the alarm. But a $20 backup battery will prevent that. Plus, a hood lock will slow them down even more. As for tracking, your plan sounds good. With the value of these trucks going up dramatically it pays to do what you can to prevent them being stolen or get them back quickly. And speaking of value, here's what Hagerty says a 1981 F250 regular cab long bed with a 351 is worth. (Yes, I know you have a 400, but Hagerty didn't list that as an option.)

I like the idea of pressing nuts in. That will help with the installation.

Still have both my fingers and toes crossed! Hope all is well in the morning!

Yeah... That was my conclusion as well! I can just barely tell it's on now. I'm going to augment with some under-dash courtesy lights in the form of LED strips as well. That should help a lot. I haven't tried that but definitely will. I was a little puzzled why every position of the switch had the wipers on in some capacity, but there's plenty to check. I should have been more specific, I did install one of those. I got the one from LMC, but it looks like the same vendor (Central Locking), just a different transmitter (no trunk button). That's actually my interim plan until I can source parts for the manual slide-locks, since I've decided to wait it out for those. I'll just mainly use the transmitters, and the slide locks can just be a vanity item "some day". Thanks, I hope so. I feel like I never end up using my "future proof" ideas and always finding things I didn't think about. But the effort is small and at least I know it's there! I was tempted to buy the clock as well since they come up on eBay a lot, it's a cool "period" feature. But let's be honest, it's a pretty crappy clock. It's probably not worth what people expect to get for them even as a vanity item. Another option would be a radio mount. We're not going to be "jeeping it" with this thing, but we do like having trail radios when we camp with friends because it makes it easier to meet up at trail heads and dispersed campgrounds. We have a 5-pack of Baofengs we got on sale one day and I could easily make that a semi-mounted/removeable setup. Or I may use it for some type of GPS tracker device. The moment a nicer paint job is on this thing it's going to be a theft magnet. I'm going to be installing some additional type of hidden engine-disable circuit like disabling the starter relay or ignition module, I still like the idea of some kind of dash cam / GPS tracker. I have a dash cam in my 5th wheel hauler and it gives me peace of mind that if I crush some moron who cuts me off and slams on the brakes in traffic, I have a record of it. Some of those units do GPS tracking too, and would be a nice lojack-category option. An engine kill is easy. Since you understand electronics you probably realize that the ignition module grounds and releases the primary side of the coil. And the tach circuit is tied to that same point. What would happen if the tach circuit was grounded? Starter-kill circuits aren't much help on a manual transmission. So instead of using the normally-closed contact on my security system's relay that opens when the system is armed so the starter won't crank, I used the normally-open contact. Instead of a GPS tracker, have you read this thread? My Pormido mirror/dashcam does have a GPS antenna and it'll record where the truck goes. But that's not much use to find the vehicle if it has been stolen. However, assuming the thief is dumb enough to take it some place connected to him, if you get the truck back via an Apple airtag you can then find out where it has been.

In the chance that I'll get these seats I'm going to use this post, updated as I find things, for documenting things like seat covers, etc. Stock Interiors: I sent them an email as I didn't find anything for the Bullnose trucks, but did find it for the 78-79 buckets, but my understanding from FSB is that those buckets are the same as ours. Stock Interiors said they don't have the covers for the F-Series buckets. Which is interesting as the MPC doesn't show the bucket seats in the F-Series, just the Broncos. F-Series show to have the bench seat or captain's chairs. Profit Auto Interiors

I was going to try some kind of aftermarket one. I'm more concerned with visual appeal than performance though, so I'd like to find something chrome and of the era. Even if it means dimmer light. I've never found cargo lights to be all that helpful - even the brightest don't fill an 8' bed with "sunlight". It's just a nice to have. For my real bed lighting I'll be pulling a utility circuit back and installing a switch and some LED strips. But I do want the map lights so I pulled an always-hot wire up to the dome light box. I bought one of the map/dome combos on eBay that looks in decent shape. I had some green wire that was close to the green/yellow Ford normally uses so I went ahead and used that. The door locks are powered now. I haven't attached them to the lock rods but the wiring is done and the solenoids (just sitting in the bottoms of the doors for now) move when I hit the button. Since I hate wire taps but didn't want to cut an existing circuit, I used one of those "Add-A-Circuit" fuses, I've had good luck with those before. I had less success with the radio. I got it all wired but it's not turning on. The previous owner had cut the radio power wire very close to where it spreads out of the main loom, but had left the 4-pin accessory wire that's used for the digital clock / CB. So I figured why not make something up out of that? I cut that accessory wire in half and spliced in a line to the radio and also an accessory plug with a GND/+12V/ACC triplet for some future toy. That's what's in the plastic bag - I put the mating connector and some pins in there and taped it right onto the harness so I can't lose it later when I want it. That must have been the end of my cleverness though because after finishing the speaker part of the harness, I plugged it all into the radio and... nothing. Not in any key position. I ran out of time playing with it but will break out the meter next chance I get and see what pins might not be right. That did give me an excuse to find another problem though. I bought one of those intermittent wiper + switch combos and installed that but something's not quite right. It's not intermittent in any of the positions, and no positions turns it "off" so the wipers run constantly. More progress, more mysteries. You can put an LED in the factory cargo light, which is chromed plastic, and get a bit more light out of it. Enough to know it is on. On the wipers, you do know the delay is to the left of Off? Normal speeds to the right. But there's a solder joint that breaks in the delay circuit due to impact of the park brake being popped off. See the page at Documentation/Electrical/Windshield Wipers for repair info. With power door locks have you considered either a security system or at least a remote locking setup? We have the schematic on here somewhere to install one of the cheap remote locking systems, probably like this one. For less than $20 it sure would make things more convenient. Neat approach to future-proofing the electrical system. I wish I'd done something like that when I put power up to the Highliner headliner. I put always-on power up there, but not switched power, and the mirror needs both.

Chris - That looks great! Ought to work forever. But is the door stiff enough to not deform if you put foam on it? I'm just wondering if it might eventually fail due to flexing.

Shaun - I assumed that was the case. But I was really confused with the way the MPC lists the things. Anyway, the 4" ones are what I now have in the back of Big Blue instead of the original 2" ones. It is interesting that Ford changed those that dramatically. And in the middle of the Bullnose run.

Dane - Ford had two seats: bucket seats and captain's chairs. On the left, below, are Jerry/Ozark1's bucket seats, and on the right are the captain's chairs for Dad's truck. I was confused when I started into this on Dad's truck and didn't realize the difference and wound up with captain's chairs. And after having them rebuilt, twice but don't ask, I found that the top will hit the rear window unless I somehow tilt the seat forward. So I'm thinking that bucket seats would be better. Anyway, my use of the term "low-back bucket seat" was to differentiate between the actual bucket seats and the captain's chairs. So, is that what you have - buckets? And they are comfortable? And more "supportive" than a bench seat?

Thanks, John. That sounds like an excellent offer! But, if there are $15 new ones available, it might be almost as cheap as having you ship yours. On the other hand, if we go to SE Okiehoma next month for an outing... Let me tentatively accept but lets see what transpires. Ok? And thanks!

I've considered getting a pair of low-back bucket seats for Big Blue as I think they would be a more secure seat for offroading than the bench seat. I recently was discussing that option with someone else and he said his are not comfortable at all. Having said that, he did admit that his might be badly worn. Maybe the lack of comfort is due to mashed foam? So I'd like to hear from those of you who either have those seats or have ridden long distances in them. How comfortable have you found them? And, how hard would it be to rebuild and recover them? Might there be something like memory foam for them?

Thanks, Larry. But I'm not sure I can read that ID #. Is it 2L11 7843158-AA? I don't get any hits on that, so that can't be it. Do you know what it is? Or have the part number? Or a link where you found it?

I'm looking for a very reasonably-priced name plate, meaning the blue oval, that goes on the 82-86 grille. As some of you know, I had the silly dream of placing a camera behind mine and messed it up. So I'd like to replace it, but am reluctant to spend much more money at this time of year, and a good used one or a cheap NOS one would be ideal. There are two versions of the oval that I'm aware of that fit our trucks: Original: These are marked E2TB-9843156-A and are part number E2TZ 9842528-A. 1987 & later: These are marked E7TB-9843156-AA and are part number E7TZ 9842528-A You can see the differences in the two in Rusty's post here. And while the E2 version is more "correct", Big Blue came to me with the E7 version, so I'd be happy replacing it with one of those.

What would the guy charge to weld it? And does he offer any guarantee? My concern is that you could have a bit of money tied up in the welded head and have it crack again down the road. Maybe it was overheated at some point and there are stresses in it that will show up as cracks? And have you done any searching for the price of a good head? How does that compare?

Yep... here is one for a van: https://www.ebay.com/itm/265443153648?hash=item3dcda516f0:g:LIMAAOSw7~JhsRCK Pricey, but a less-bad buy than just the switch.

The entire horn pad NOS would probably be cheaper!

You are finding EXPENSIVE things today. Or, maybe I should say things priced way, WAY too high. A starting bid of $239 for two chunks of iron? Yes, they are NOS, but they don't go bad, and no one ever sees them. But I'm confused as to what the MPC is trying to tell us in the info on those spacers: "80/ F150/350 - - 4/w/d" says these are correct for 1980 through 1989 F150's, F250's, and F350's with 4wd "85/ F150/250 - - 4/w/d" says they are correct for 1985 through 1989 F150's and F250's with 4wd. See the note above about referring to group 5598. Well, here's the info from there, and it talks about 1985 and later F350's. Does anyone else find that confusing?

That is the right thing for our trucks, but MAN $500 is waaaay too much!

If he's going to sell them then he won't want you to post the file here. And that makes sense. But we'd still like to see pics. And if he does sell them be sure to let us know.

Ok, if you keep posting, even small posts, we won't send out the troops to find you. Good job on the dome light and door switches, which you apparently figured out? And now is the time on the map lights awa always-on circuit. But don't expect much from the cargo light if you install a stock one. I'd think about something aftermarket, although I don't have a recommendation. Yes, the marker lights wire should be brown, and that's where it should be. You can test that by pulling the light switch on. And you are right about rotating that thing w/o the knob. Keep on keeping on!

And as I've come to expect, Melissa came through and confirmed the part number of the cameras. And, said there were only two in stock at Amazon. They'll be here Thursday or Friday.