Gary Lewis

The Ford engineering vs part number system confuses the heck out of me. I realize that often we refer to the engineering number (or whatever Ford calls it) as the part number. But hey, if everyone is calling it a part number, it is effectively a part number. If the one you have is a known good unit and you are willing to give it to me, I would gladly pay the shipping and accept it. I don't really know where to find a new one, the one I see on eBay is described as "refurbished". Not sure what that really means, the units don't look too serviceable to me. Now I have to figure out if I've got the right speedo cable components. Thanks! I have 3 of those units, all of which have ID/engineering # on them of "D4AF-9E731-" but with no suffix like "B". And that is very unusual. Unfortunately none of my Master Cross Reference Lists include that ID #, so I cannot cross-ref it to a part number. But, I'd bet that it is D4AZ 9E731-B. And all three of these came off Bullnose trucks. Anyway, the one on the right is yours. Just send me an email with your address and I'll get it out on Monday. It came off Big Blue so I know it was working. As for part numbers vs ID/engineering #'s, just because people call the number on the part a part number doesn't make it so. If that were the case we could call black "white" and vice versa. The Master Parts Catalog has 3000+ pages of part numbers, and they don't show up on any of the parts. But I have three Master Cross Reference Lists, each with over 1200 pages, and they have columns for part numbers and ID #'s. I agree it is confusing. And it is one for Ford's stupidist "Better Ideas". But the number on a Ford part is not the part number.

Pete - Ships/night. Let me go to the shop and pull out the cross reference since part of the problem is that we are mixing part numbers and ID numbers. Remember, the # on a part is not a part #. It is an ID #. And we can see ID# D4AF 9E73 on that part. But we cannot see the rest of it. Also, I have one that goes under the brake booster which you can have. But you may want that new one, which is the middle-of-the-cable style. At least I can see what # is on mine.

Bill - The changeover was in '86, as shown below which is from our page on Documentation/Driveline/Speed Control. Prior to that it was in the middle of the cable, basically under the brake booster. Pete - Could you go with the earlier cable & VSS? The cable might miss the fuel tank w/o having the VSS spacing it out several inches. I can confirm that the speed control was happy with the signal from either of them, so it must essentially be the same.

Yes, it really IS a nice Bronco. It is in great shape and wouldn't take much to make it "right". However, that side molding on the passenger's side looks like it is toast toward the rear. But the driver's side molding doesn't look that bad. I'm guessing it was in a car port where the sun could get to that side certain times of day, and mainly only the rear. And as Rick/Fonzie has found, that stuff is no longer available. Or, is NLA for a pickup. Maybe it is available for a Bronco?

Yeah, that was actually my original plan. In fact, I have a front receiver I pulled off a a donor at the junkyard just sitting on the ground in front of my truck! I took a photo a few weeks ago when I was first mulling this over. The thing making me reconsider is most of the time I'm using the truck I'll have a camper installed in it. There isn't a ton of room to carry extra, bulky "stuff" like winches. I seem to use my winch several times a year, and the receiver is pretty junky so I started thinking maybe I should research better options. We'll see. It's been very cold out which stopped "easy tasks" like painting parts, and I've been working my butt off getting some work projects done before year-end. But the main reason progress halted (mostly) for a week now is parts. Or rather, the shipping and receiving of parts. I've largely found what I need but either something takes 2 weeks to arrive or when it does, there's a problem. Today I got a goodies box from LMC with my new steering wheel mounting kit but it was missing one of the plates in the kit. I got the seat belt harnesses but found I'd ordered two pairs of left/right sets instead of a left/right set and a center. And after a week of waiting, I FINALLY got the rubber door wiring loom tubes I wanted to use to protect my new door lock and speaker wires... but couldn't find all the parts I'd set aside to finalize that piece. So it's basically 12 projects going in parallel all over the place, nothing getting finished. I'm sure I'm singing to the choir. Still, I did manage to get a few tiny projects done. The chrome rear-view mirror (which I LOVE) came, so I threw that on the windshield. I traced out a few mystery wires (took me half an hour to identify the "digital clock" wire but I sorted it out in the end). And I finished the loom for the A/C system: It's a terrible pic, but everything came out nice except my handwriting. We have family stuff tomorrow but I hope to get a few small tasks done. If I can get the wiring holes to the doors cleaned up and the rubber looms installed I would be VERY happy, and I'll also try to get the connectors for this A/C harness installed on the "vehicle" side of the system. I'm pushing to get the wiring done because it's holding literally everything else up. With any luck, I'll be able to start getting into "finalizing the interior" over the next 2 weeks Even though I have the Warn bumper I did think about having a winch in a receiver, and I came to the conclusion I wouldn't like the look of it stuck out ahead of the bumper. And I didn't want to store it in the bed, so it had to ride in one of the two receivers. In the end using the Warn bumper was the decision, and I'm really glad as it works very nicely and it looks good. Bummer on getting the wrong parts, or not all of the right parts. I've been fortunate of late that my shipments have been on time or, in some cases, a day early. But if you get the wrong parts a day early it doesn't help. Hope you get that sorted. The wiring harness looks great! And who cares about the writing - you can read it and that's all that matters.

Bummer! But Bill is right, it'll all swap. You'll just need to drill out the pop rivets used to install the window hardware and install 1/4-20 bolts, or more pop rivets, to secure the stuff going back on.

But you posted this time, and all is well.

Well, they definitely sold short wheelbase versions right up until 1996, and I'm pretty sure the gas tanks were the same dimensions and mounted the same all along as well. I would guess that the short wheelbase 4x4's didn't get the E4OD, or the electric t-case shift? The E4OD only came out in 1989 as the heavy duty replacement for the shorter C6. The standard 4spd auto in an F150 at that time was still the AOD. 1991 was the last year for the speedometer cable, so that issue went away in 1992. I'm guessing the E4OD is just too long... I'll measure Big Blue when I can, but it may not be tomorrow. And, I don't have the gas tanks in Dad's truck with the E4OD so may run into similar problems. But if I do I'll go with the 38 gallon rear tank.

Welcome to the forum! Glad you joined. Where's home? I ask because we have a map (Bullnose Forum/Member's Map in the menu) and can add you if we have a city/state or zip. Good luck on the build. Unfortunately I don't have the perches you need.

Actually, it is a bit lower than that in most cases:

Yes, CHARGE! The pencil eraser was a spur of the moment idea, and it seems to have worked. But it isn't "flat" and I want a crisp border at the edge of the "window". And that is why I'm planning on trying a piece of wooden dowel, polished on the end, and daubed with plastic polishing compound. Then, when I think it is ready I'll use the Dremel to polish the plastic more if needed. But, as I think about it, I might want to put a piece of felt on the end of the dowel, possibly held on with hot-melt glue. And then put the polish on the felt.

He needs to stop taking pictures in a blizzard Dave ---- I didn't think of that, Dave!

I suspect it is the odd mix of parts you have, with the shortbed, E4OD, and a 1356 with electric shift. Do you know what tank you have? I think you should have a 16.5 gallon tank, but if someone put a 19 gallon tank in there... I don't have dimensions on the tanks, but do have a 19 gallon in Big Blue, so could measure it if you'd like.

Question(s) I see you listed a RPM of 1700 @ 62 MPH and a vacuum of 14 HG as that MPH / RPM Did you pick this for any reason or just a measuring point? Trying to get a handle on what mine might turn out to be "recurved" to is all. Thanks Dave ---- I think we picked 62 MPH as that is the speed David typically drove. But he may remember better. (I think my memory used to be better, but I really can't remember.)

I've muddled my way through most of the critical stuff on Rocky, but these types of engines predate my driving experience. Is the MSD distributor he's talking about some commonly known item that just happens to be better than usual, or...? I'm putting together a mix of spare parts to replace things likely to fail soon and trying to decide if I should get another distributor now, or research this MSD option... Any thoughts? Warn no longer sells that bumper. So about all you can do is look for a used one, and they are few and far between. As for MSD, that stands for Multiple Spark Discharge, and our resident ignition and carb guru, Bill/85lebaront2, said something like "I don't trust anything that has to do its job several times in order to succeed." Seriously though, I think that the DS-II system is quite adequate for most engines in these trucks. The only time I'd consider something like an MSD box is if you are racing or have a very high compression ratio. Basically, if the spark ignites the fuel/air mix there's not anything more that can be done. However, in racing you might want something that has a hotter spark just to ensure the mix lights. And as the compression ratio goes up so does the voltage requirement to get a spark to jump a gap. But the DS-II system is normally quite adequate for most conditions.

Well, this might actually work. The oval that was on Big Blue is a later one, an E7 version, and it appears to be made of two parts - the chromed outer bezel and the blue oval, which has the blue backing and the chrome lettering stuck on the back of the plastic. So I pried a bit at one end and the blue oval budged. I then pried and got it out, but it left a mark on the blue, as you'll see in a bit. Then I put the bezel on the mill table and milled off the stud. Then I drilled the stud out 3/8" as I found that a .260" washer on the lens just barely restricted the view, and the lens won't be right against the back of the bezel. Next I put a large pencil in the drill and put its eraser through the hole and "erased" the blue in a spot. You can see how it is starting to remove the blue in this shot. Here is the front side, with the blue partially gone on the left. And, you can see the spot of delamination on the right, but I think I can live with that if the rest of this works. Speaking of the rest, I'm thinking that I'll use a 3/8" dowel that is smooth on the end and reach through the hole with it and put polishing compound on it. Hopefully that will polish a nice round spot in the lens. But does someone have a better idea? As for waterproofing, I think that when I glue the oval back into the bezel I'll make sure that there is RTV encircling the hole so water cannot get through. And I'll put RTV on the studs that go through the grille itself. And in the pic below the red dots indicate where I think I'll put studs as well as fill the channels with plastic that is epoxied in. Then I'll put the whole thing on the mill and make sure that the back edge is flat, and make a plate out of aluminum that will go against that edge, be held by the studs, and be sealed with RTV. But, lining up the camera is likely to be a challenge. In the back I found that the camera needs to be angled down at ~35 degrees to be able to capture the trailer hitch, which is 12" lower and 12" farther back than the camera will be. In front the ball will be 18" lower and 18" farther forward, so is at the same 45 degree angle from the camera. But the front camera has a 170 degree field of view and the rear camera only has a 150 degree view. So maybe the extra 10 degrees on top and bottom will let the camera see downward well enough? But I suspect that I'll have to make the hole through the grille and bezel much larger and angle the camera downward to make this work. Perhaps I should have tested that before I started down this path?

Ok, I'm looking for some help and inspiration on the installation of the front camera. Please see the questions at the bottom. http://www.garysgaragemahal.com/uploads/6/5/8/7/65879365/waving_orig.gif I've spent a lot of time looking at plastic boxes with clear lids and I think they'll look dorky. So I'm back to the Ford logo in the grille. Here's a shot of the camera in the back side of the grille - with gobs and gobs of room: Looking at the emblems I have it looks like it might be possible to mount the emblem with the right and center stud and then drill the left stud out and place the camera there. It would be about where the circle is in this pic: But what would be really slick is if the clear cover can be separated from the emblem so a hole could be drilled in the blue and the cover protect it. Does anyone have an old emblem that can be "worked on"? Or, does anyone know if the cover comes off?

I'll wax eloquent and go OT a little (back when I waxed my cars, before kids and all the dirt roads here in TX, I wanted to name one car Eloquent just so I could say that). This sad story seems to be increasingly common and accelerating with the Cooties. Formerly reliable brands go in the tank, production moved to the lowest bidder somewhere in the 3rd world, customer support offshored to India etc. Look closely and you find that your favorite old brand is now part of Global Widget Corp. I won't list the examples. We all know a few. The answer, imho, is to seek referrals from folks who have positive experiences. That's where a forum like this one really shines. For example, we all learned that the Holley FPR used to work, but now it's problematic. Amazon reviews tipped me off to this before I bought, but I tried it anyway. Those reviews are only helpful to a certain extent, because highly-informed customers there are rare. You do find more in auto parts, scientific supplies, specialty tools, and firearms-related products. BTW, I prefer not to buy more than inexpensive stuff on Amazon. I try to find the actual vendor and buy direct. Bezos has enough power. It's gone way beyond money with him and his ilk. So please guys, when something works well, let us all know. I posted four reliable vendors last week, and I hope that helped some of you. I also posted the poly bushing vendor I found yesterday when 4WP let me down. Maybe Gary could post a sticky "good vendor story" or perhaps there already is one. There's a boatload of info on this forum! Rant off. As you were! We have a vendor rating section: Bullnose Forum/Marketplace/Vendor Reviews & Ratings. And I just added Holley to the list. Feel free to give them a rating and explain why.

This thread will be used to rate our experiences with Holley as a company as well as their products. Please provide specific examples.

That's better.

Yes, it will fit. It is black with the burled wood trim on it. It is kind of expensive, but should be really nice being NOS. They faded to a purple with the UV from the sun, so this one shouldn't be faded. David/1986 has found several horn pads over time and posted them here. You can search for the posts, but here's a link to the results for "horn pad".

That is a shame! I'm using the same regulator and it is working fine. Sorry you are having those problems.

Thanks, David. I missed that note, and the details are what Dave needs.

That's a very nice truck. And one owner! Well worth the money. But that glove box latch may need some work.

Matt - Are you having problems? You're last three posts have been blank.