Gary Lewis

Carl - First, I hope your truck has gauges instead of idiot lights for the oil pressure and water temp. That's because the wire harness for idiot lights has a plug that won't work with your new instrument cluster. Second, if you passed that test then you may find that some of the warning lights in the "eyebrow" are wrong. The early 1980 trucks had some of the warning lights in different places than the later trucks. I don't remember which ones, but I think our member Rogue_Wulff posted about them. You can fix things by moving the wires in the connector - just release the terminal in the connector and move it to where it should be.

Got the PL-259/BNC right angle adapter and SO-239 cap in from Amazon today. It is really freaky to have the parts in 14 hours from ordering. Here are the parts, mocked up on SO-239 connectors I have left over from my amateur radio days, and with the little 1/4 wave mag mount antenna connected. As soon as the bulkhead SO-239 gets in I could go ahead and install everything. But I'm really liking the idea of using the leftover RG-58 from shortening that NMO mag mount as the lead from the radio to the back of the cab, meaning the bulkhead SO-239. That would mean I'd have higher quality coax in the cab, which surely can't hurt. So I'm going to wait a bit to see if Midland comes through before finalizing things.

Well, this isn't exactly Ford, but it sure has baked hundreds of Ford parts: my powder coating oven. I reported recently that one of the heating elements burned up. But "up" doesn't quite do it justice. Here's what's left of it. And I'll tell you up front that I've found a new heating element, a WB44X200, which has screw-terminal connections instead of the 1/4" disconnect ones the one below has. So for $18 inc shipping I'll be back in business. I knew that was bad, but what I didn't know was what the wire feeding it looked like. Turns out that whomever made the oven used the wrong type of wire and there's about 4" of insulation gone from that wire. But I have some high-temp wire I salvaged from an oven project, so I'll replace the melted stuff with the right kind of wire.

To borrow a phrase, a happy wife makes for a happy life.

You are on the map.

It is good to plan ahead. Then you get to change your mind over time and when the time comes to do it you've thought it out. I usually regret shooting from the hip. As for the 'gate and hubs, those are just more layers of the onion to peel. And cry. And peel. And cry. But pretty soon you have enough for a Bloomin' Onion.

Thanks! On the rockers, I think you can get 4 of the Carling switches like I used in the pocket. It would be tight but I think they'd fit. If you are interested in them I recommend Over The River And Through The Woods. Those guys know their stuff and can give you essentially anything you want. And you are right, there is a lot of real estate behind where the clock goes. However, you'll have to bring all of that power into the cab and then back out to whatever you are powering. You might consider using a relay/power distribution box under the hood. Then all you have to do is take the wires from the switches out to the relays, and those wires are lots smaller.

Has the weather settled down? How's the painting going?

The switches on Big Blue are set into a radio bezel from a medium-duty truck, like an F600. They used the same interior as the Bullnose trucks for many years, and they had a spot for switches above the radio. As for the pocket right of the steering column, you can actually put gauges in there. I made a piece out of plastic to take two gauges, and you can see how I did it on the page at About Me/Projects/Gauge Pocket. On heat shields, you don't really have to have insulation if you put a piece of metal between the heat source and the part you want to protect. I made the one shown below for the OX actuator for Big Blue's front axle out of stainless, but you could make it out of aluminum and it would be very effective.

Ahhh! Makes sense. Where are you placing them?

Wow! That is quite the OVERLANDING vehicle! Your friend is obviously talented, and I'd agree he is on the more extreme end of the "sport". But your idea of overlanding comes closer to mine. The XJ will take you about any place you'd want to go with little modification, and by pulling a small trailer you can set up camp and explore from there. The marketplace for small trailers has exploded, and there are lots of them that look to have plenty of capability for a couple of people and yet don't weigh much. That way you don't have to put a lot of money into the Jeep and it isn't so highly modified that you can't use it for other activities. Plus, the trailer can be sold and you can upgrade, or even get out of the sport altogether, if you choose.

Welcome! Glad you joined. Nice looking truck. Appears to be the same color scheme as Big Blue. Where's home? I ask because we have a map (Bullnose Forum/Member's Map in the menu) and we can add you if we had a city/state or zip/postal code.

Will do! But, being as you are new you may have missed the last big trip for Big Blue - Gary's Trip To Ouray. I'm guessing that the Ouachitas won't be quite as "wild" as the Rockies, but they will certainly be off the beaten track.

Overlanding appears to be a nebulous term. Many of the "overlanding" magazines I pick up have adverts for all sorts of stuff for Jeeps. But when I read the articles in those mags most of the vehicles people are using are larger, like pickups, vans, or Toyota 4Runners. And then I realize why - the people writing the articles are frequently going for longer trips where they need to carry more then a Jeep is rated to carry. So I think there are many different definitions of the term "overlanding". I had originally set out to build Big Blue into something that can do the type of adventure where you take everything with you and go into the back of beyond for several days. Food, water, gas, electricity, shelter, and even a toilet - I have a chemical toilet I planned to take along. And while he's basically "there", although I've not purchased the tent, what I'm using him for is more along the lines of going off the beaten path but spending the nights in a hotel. He's overkill for that, but I'm hoping that proving Big Blue's capabilities will entice someone to say "Let's go overlanding" and we'll take off for an extended trip. I say all of that to say that a Jeep can certainly be a "modest overlander" - depending on your definition. It can't carry what an '85 regular cab F250 can carry, but it can go places the truck can't - or can't without modification. So you have to think through what "overlanding" means to you. If it means throwing some clothes into the vehicle and going off the beaten path for a few hours, then the Jeep can do it - but so can the F250. However, if it means spending a week out in the boondocks before coming back to civilization, then the Jeep might come up short. Bottom Line: Start with the end in mind.

John - Glad the t-case went so well. Mine turned out good, but I was nervous as I'd not done one before. But, they are fairly simple, so... New gauge panels? Are you doing custom gauges?

The gaskets I have are the Felpro 1415 header gaskets in "small race port" style that is 1.480" H x 1.250" W that Speedway states is 0.07" thick which I dont think is thick enough to take up the gap and get the tube off the head. With the location I seriously feel that the headers are not made right, I sent a installation question to Summit who I bought the headers from to see if I can get a answer in a more timely manner as I emailed Hedman back not even half an hour after they emailed me and no reply. Hopefully Summit can get back with me about these headers if they are defect or not cause they do have a lifetime warranty on them for defects and I would swap them out and then if the flange hits the ledge still I will just take a sanding disc to the bottom side of the flange and just clearance it to fit properly before I send it out for ceramic coating. This is a cropped image before paint that shows the head where it meets the block. Then here is a E7TE OE cylinder head and a factory cast iron GT40 cylinder head As you can see my cylinder head isnt sloped but even with the slope of the OE castings I do not believe the header will clear it as I need a good bit of clearance to get the flange to sit flat and the gasket would move it out some but only 0.07". Like wise why would you make a header that would only fit OE cylinder heads and not aftermarket stock patterned heads such as the AFR`s I have. That is a serious over sight on hedmans part if that is true. Worse case I may just end up having to run OE exhaust manifolds if I cant get this all straightened out cause I dont mind dinging the header to reshape it for clearance as well as grinding on the bottom of the flanges to clearance the ledge. But I have to make fully sure that there wont be any exhaust leaks cause all of this work and having an exhaust leak is not something I want. I agree that the thickness of the gasket probably isn't enough to make the header clear. Perhaps Summit will get you an answer.

The header is hitting the cylinder head, Cylinder #5 tube is smashed up against the bottom edge of the head where the head meets the block. Its tilting the flange at the head resulting in the bottom of the flange not even touching the surface of the head. Another issue I have is I need to shave some off the bottom of the header flange as the ledge on the AFR heads is not allowing the header to fit, I think 1/16" to a 1/4" shaved off the bottom of both flanges should give me the clearance I need to easily sit flush without binding on the ledge. The driver side how ever will still have the same problem with the tube being smashed against the cylinder head. The circle shows where the tube is smashed against the cylinder head. I know the headers should work they are 1 1/2" primary tubes and lots of people online are running 1 1/2" primary tube hedman headers on these Renegade 165 heads. Some claimed the ports are D shaped on the heads and thus dont seal in the corners but AFR`s paperwork makes no mention of port shape just that its in the stock location. Summit lists the port shape as being square and the hedman headers I have are listed as having square ports as well. That really is TIGHT! How thick are the gaskets? And I see the interference at the bottom of the flange. The gasket will help some there as well, so maybe it won't take much trimming? I hope not.

Janey and I've been talking about what our next trip is, and I think we have just decided - the Ouachita Mountains in southern Arkansas/eastern Oklahoma, probably in January. Let me set the stage. I have a Facebook friend, Susan Dragoo, that overlands with her husband Bill and writes about the adventures they have - and they get published in some big-name magazines. Her most recent article is entitled The Ouachita Mountains and is in the Winter edition of Overland Journal. She mentioned it on Facebook so I ordered the magazine and it came in today. I've read it and I'm ready to go! She says this about the route: I've downloaded the route and uploaded it into Gaia, the mapping app I use, and have broken it up into three days: Day 1: We'll leave home and drive on the highway for ~4 hours, and then air down and start the trail near Perryvale. And 41 miles later we'll be at AR 7 north of Hot Springs Village, so we'll air back up and head into town for the night - in a hotel or B&B. And, we'll have dinner and gas up. (Overlanding in style. ) Day 2: Picking up where we left off on AR 7, we'll air down and head west. And 111 miles later we'll be in Mena, AR for the night. Day 3: From Mena we'll pick up Skyline Drive for a ways, which we've done before, and then air down and head south. And that will take us to the Kiamichi Trail, and ultimately the end of the trip Susan mapped out, which is 41 miles long. However, the K-Trail goes on to Clayton, OK, but there appears to be some "discussion" about what part of that is legal for vehicles to take, so I'll have to figure that out. Anyway, from there we'll probable air up and head home, which is another 3-hour drive on major highways. These plans are quite preliminary, but we've already said we want to do it, so it is just down to figuring out the details and the times.

I'm not going to count my chickens just yet. But I have two solutions in the works. Not sure which I like best, but as I think about it the best would be a combo of the two. It would require buying one more PL-259 connector, which I'd put on the shortened coax from the NMO mag mount and plug it into the SO-239 on the back of the cab. But the difference would be that I'd use part of the left over RG8 from the NMO mag mount to run from the radio to the SO-239 connector on the cab. That way I'd have RG8 the whole way from the radio to the mag mount and no little spaghetti coax.

IIRC, the issue is the header hitting the engine? I wonder if the heads AFR heads aren't quite as wide? I hope you get this sorted easily. But my experience of being the guy in the middle isn't good. Good luck!

Sounds like a plan. Don't short anything!

The old shaft has to come out just to get the switch off the dash. And you do that by reaching up under the dash, finding the push button on top of the switch, and pushing it down while pushing in slightly and then pulling the knob and shaft out. (Yes, you can take the knob off the shaft, but with the shaft still in the switch it isn't easy to get the switch out.) And you have to remove the instrument bezel to be able to get to the nut that holds the switch in. But it isn't all that hard. However, if you have big hands it won't be easy to operate that push button. And if you have thin skin you'll likely be bleeding before it is over. So maybe get someone with small hands to help you?

Glad you got it running. On the battery voltage, if it is north of 12.8 volts then the alternator and regulator are functioning. And depending on how low the battery charge has gotten and how long your ran the engine, as well as how fast you spun it, the voltage might only be in the high 13's. I say that as I assume you are running the original alternator. But it is entirely possible that the PO went with the 3G alternator that might have been on the 90's engine originally. I'm not sure when the trucks got them, but in '94 Ford introduced the 3G, which is much superior to the 1G, and vastly superior to the 2G. I mention that because the 3G puts out more at idle than the 1G or 2G does at full tilt. So if you have a 3G then you should be seeing voltages into the 14's, even at idle. But the 1G or 2G might not get you there if the battery is low.

LOL! Looks like my kind of shopping. You could consider a 3-jaw puller, but they are usually larger and you want something pretty small. Most pullers allow you to turn the jaws around for inside or outside work, and some of them have two or more slots on the arm to install the jaw, allowing you to make it larger or smaller.