Gary Lewis

For the wiring go to the page at Documentation/Electrical/Ignition and then go to the Ignition Simplification tab followed by the One Wire tab.

My misunderstanding. I didn't realize there is a jumper in there. But it still won't start? Since you should power to that connector then you apparently have a break in the wire from there out to the starter relay. However, you said earlier that when you "jump across it" the engine will start. But what do you mean by "jump across it"? Have you tried using a small jumper from the battery terminal to the little terminal where the R/LB wire attaches? As for the ignition, I'll find you a wiring diagram for the relay for an HEI system...

The Ford stuff uses barbed fittings.

Big Blue's 460 has a remote oil cooler so I used this Hayden Automotive 112 Engine Oil Cooler Hose from Amazon. However other places call it automatic transmission cooler hose. In any event, it is designed for hot oil and it is working well. And it is 1/2" ID.

Progress!!!

I hope so. I have tools nearby so I can heat it up, hammer on it, etc several times a day.

Got the batteries disconnected, the coolant/washer reservoir out, and the PDB's bracket out. That let me turn the PDB on its side, pull the bottom cover, and do some wiring. Got the wiring changes done so the Key On relay is now the Engine Running relay, triggered by the W/Bk stator wire. And the Blower Motor Ground relay is now triggered by the LG/R wire instead of the Key On relay. Now I have to wire up D1, the diode, which will act as the snubber on the Blower Motor Ground relay so when it opens the back EMF will be taken to ground. For documentation purposes, the anode connector in the PDB has both a LG/R/R wire and a BR/W/W wire. And the cathode has a DG/Y/Y wire. As for the fuse for the Kicker sub, F14 is the choice as that position is always hot, which is what Kicker recommends. But now I have to remember how to get the keeper out so I can install a connector on the other side of the fuse as I pulled all the unused ones. That's the plan for tomorrow.

Afternoon! Hope you are having a good day. On the ignition, a DS-II distributor for a 1985 or 1985 351HO will work for you as those use the blue grommet ignition modules, which you'd also have to buy. However, I'm not 100% sure that your wiring harness is set up to take that. I believe it is as I think Ford used the same main harness for all the trucks and just changed the engine harness, but lets see what others say. However, an HEI distributor would be easy to use. You have a large yellow wire near the brake booster that probably isn't being used, and it has always-on power that you can use for the HEI. But, you'd have to wire up a relay that would be triggered by the key-on wire in the harness near there. Are you ok to wire up a relay? If not we'd better stick with DS-II. On the lack of cranking with the key, it sounds like the neutral start circuit is open. And I think that "in/out port" is the issue. That is probably C128 and should go to the neutral safety switch, as shown below. Stick a small fuse in that connector and see if it starts. If so that's the problem. You didn't say if your truck is manual or auto, but the manuals have a jumper in there and the autos have two wires going down to the transmission.

Gauges look great! While the carpet is out have you thought of adding sound deadening? Or have you already done that? You are adding a solid state voltage regulator the gauges? On the distributor it is normal to have a weak spring and a strong spring. But you might not put the new distributor in? Why? The bearings ought to be better. But the timing may be different as it could have different springs and weights.

Don't worry, Dad taught me to ALWAYS put the nut on before hitting a bolt or shaft. So I've been doing that, to no avail. But your idea of constant weight is a good one, so how 'bout this? Don't know how heavy that chuck of steel is, but it is HEAVY!

Well, my picture was WRONG. That is not where I'm trying to pull it apart. Here's a new pic that shows as far as I can get the front case half off the windings, and it appears to be hung pretty much where the arrow is. I can pry it farther apart on the left or right but the other side closes up. I've heated it, hit it with the little ball peen hammer, and tapped the shaft several times, to no avail. I'm going to PB Blast it again and move on to the wiring of the PDB, but will come back and try it again from time to time.

My father was wont to say "Patience is my one long suit" with a wry smile that meant "I know that's not true". I can't say that he passed much patience on to me, maybe 'cause he didn't have much to spare after I came along. But I have a can of PB Blaster and a small ball pein hammer and I'll give the thing a squirt and a whack each time I pass by.

Yikes! They want real money for that one. I'm a bit slow. Have just barely started my first cup of coffee. But it took me a while to figure out what the thing is that is mounted on the front bumper. I'd seen a pic last night of a WW-II Jeep with a "wire cutter" mounted to the front bumper and I was wondering why he has one on an F250.

Thanks, Kurt. I am trying to turn the casing with the mounting ears, but you are exactly right - the point in the casing that is down when mounted is where it is binding. I'd not thought about that being where the water gathers, but it makes sense. So I'll do as you did - hit it again with PB Blaster and a deadblow hammer each time I walk by and eventually it'll come loose. Thanks!

Who's on first, What's on second, I Don't Know's on third.

Thanks Jeff. Good job, Jeff. The radiator support bolts to that and the fender bolts to the radiator support.

I'll give that a try, Jim. Thanks.

Got the Kicker sub, 6' male/male RCA cables, and the Rockford Fosgate RFiF2SW connector on order this morning. All should be in on Friday. So I turned to making the wiring changes in the passenger-side PDB, namely to make the Ignition On relay into an Engine Running relay to power the voltmeter and the AFR gauge. That required bringing the W/Bk stator wire up to the PDB from the alternator. But I don't like soldering while the wires are still on the vehicle, so I pulled the charge harness off the 3G so I could work on the bench. However, that wasn't as easy as it sounds. The clocking of the 3G is such that the connectors go in at the 2:00 position while coming from the 9:00 position. And that makes the connectors, and especially the clips that hold them in, very hard to see or get to. Given that I wanted to re-clock the alternator, but that hasn't gone very well so far. You can see the discussion re that in my Clocking A 3G? Help! thread, but suffice to say that I've not achieved victory - yet. But, I did get the harness off and a W/Bk wire installed. I cut the W/Bk wire between the 3-wire connector and the 1-wire connector and soldered it to the W/Bk (which looks yellow in the pic), pulled the terminal out of the connector shell, and then slipped two layers of heat-shrink over that to provide plenty of support. And I provided a connector at the other end, which is up near the PDB. The bigger black connector in the pic is what was on the charge cable from the factory for the LG/R wire. So I put my 1-wire connector for the stator wire beside it, allowing the charge cable to be removed if needed.

Yes, I'm keeping the windings with the diodes in the back half of the alternator. But even with heat there is one spot where the steel isn't letting go of the aluminum. I've pried, heated, lubricated, tapped on it, etc and it doesn't want to let go. I even put the screws back in and pulled it all together again and then tried to pull the front half up, but it goes so far and stops. I put a bit more penetrating oil on it and will let it sit overnight. Perhaps that will persuade it, but if not I may just leave it clocked the way it is.

Yes, it sure looks easy - for him. But my case isn't wanting to separate from the windings.I put just a bit of penetrating oil on the winding/case joint and I'm hoping that will let the two part ways.

I'm trying to re-clock the 3G alternator on Big Blue, and I need HELP! Our page on the 3G points to Steve83's page, which says: I take that to mean the front case needs to come up off the windings, as shown by the red arrow in the pic below. Right? I'm not getting the case to come up more than about the 3/16" shown, and it doesn't want to rotate. What am I doing wrong?

Yep, those are the way to go. John/Machspeed did that.

I sent email on 27th! Resending. Got it this time. Thanks. I plan to get it out tomorrow as today is busy.

The lawyer says we must have some fees or dues, not just contributions. We don't have a mechanism via which to collect fees, so that's not going to work. But 501C7 requires annual meetings, voting of at least a quorum, which they've never seen less than 10%, etc. Lots of hoops to jump through, and it doesn't seem like something that someone would want to take on after I can no longer do it. So I'm looking for an easier path.

Yes, thanks. I'd read about the poppies several years ago so knew the origins, but that is a good read and a good reminder.