Gary Lewis

Oops - Forgot the fuel tank. It would be reasonable to expect there to be some residue in a diesel tank, so I do believe you'll get "stuff" letting loose. But my experience in cleaning tanks is poor. I spent about half as much as a new tank in gasoline trying to wash one out. So if you can't catch the stuff with a filter or two then I'd seriously consider a new tank.

I'd be tempted to prop the head up and pour the passages full of something like acetone or lacquer thinner to see if it would cut the yuk over time. Go back and swirl the liquid every once in a while, and maybe pour it out and put new in if it starts cutting it. My understanding is that most oven cleaners work best with heat. And as Dave said, if you don't have an oven in the shop your wife may not appreciate the smell and smoke that is generated if you use the oven in the house. So if you go that way his suggestion of a grill might be an option, but a 300 six's head is looooong.

This discussion reminds me of an incident in my youth. It was about the 4th of July and I'd come up with a "brilliant" idea of cutting the bottom out of an aerosol can, drilling a hole in its top just the size to take a Black Cat, and dropping that in a slightly bigger can of water. It sent them almost out of sight! We were down at our cabin, which we shared with my uncle and his wife, and I lit one of those. His favorite hunting dog heard the sizzle and came to investigate. Just as it went off she put her muzzle over it and it hit her. She went yelping and running, and my uncle was NOT happy. Luckily that didn't make her gun shy, and nothing came of it. But it was pretty tense for a few minutes. And now, looking back on it, I know why. And, thinking of "rifle or gun in hand", our family dog LOVED to hunt. And if we got the guns out and didn't take her when we got home she stood in front of us and told us OFF! I mean, barked her head off! But her idea of "hunt" was to go scare things up, regardless of where they were, so we didn't get many shots with her around.

Good upgrades, Larry. Once others have had a chance to chime in perhaps we need to put this list in a place where it can easily be found. What about in a new page at Documentation/Body/Front Clip?

Looks great, Larry!

The brakes keep getting better with every little thing I do. I haven’t rebuilt or replaced the calipers yet. I’m saving that for when I replace the front brake hoses as those are questionable also. Seems like calipers and hoses naturally go together. I’ve got a few other things I really want to do before it gets too cold to work outside. I need to change the rear differential fluid as some came out when I was working on the rear brakes. What came out wasn’t pretty so I can only imagine what is remaining. I also want to replace the aftermarket temp gage as it is not currently working. I keep looking around for a set of used tires to replace the rock hard bias ply’s. I truly believe they are the cause of the remaining vibration issues. So much to do…..so little time! I think I need to build a second garage so I can work indoors! I vote for a shop. If the calipers aren't leaking and there's material on the pads you won't gain much braking by rebuilding or replacing them. (That's assuming that the calipers are able to move easily side to side.) So I'd move on to the rear axle.

Hope so too. Based off the so called dyno specs for the 302 that blueprint sells I could very well make between 375 - 400 hp. They rate theirs at 380 hp I think but they are using in house heads that flow 9 cfm less than my heads at the same lift but using 2.02"/1.60" valves with a 60cc chamber where my CNC machined AFRs are running 1.95"/1.60" valves with a 58cc chamber. The cam is a little smaller than what blueprint offers but that shouldnt hinder performance that much considering the extra flow my heads have over theirs. The coil bracket will be black along with the coil itself, the coil will be a OE DSII coil as I am retaining DSII for now. I have been thinking about tossing the 1/4" thick heat isolator gasket to try and drop the throttle body down some the more I look at it the more I think its a little too high. I also didnt get to torque the intake manifold down to 20ft lbs, I need to do it though so I can check the ultra black silicone on the china walls and make sure it is squishing the dried silicone when I torque it down. My paperwork for the intake states to run a 1/4" tall bead and I dont think I was at 1/4" thick. At least now if I have to redo it the only thing I would be out is the some $20 for the fel pro intake gaskets and just clean off the silicone and redo it. I did buy two heater hose fittings for the intake manifold off amazon, I was looking at a black edelbrock fitting to go with the black arp bolts and the black pipe plugs in the intake. But I just couldnt justify spending $35 for just one fitting. So I bought two off amazon an AC Delco Professional brand one that looks OE looking at least OE looking for Chevrolet not so much for Ford but its a steel fitting that I will have to paint to prevent rust. Then I picked up this one which is clear anodized aluminum, this is the one I want to use but if it hits the intake manifold then I will use the AC Delco one. If I dont use the AC Delco one I can take it to work and sell it to a customer on another job and get my money back so its no loss. I tried looking up a NOS factory one but the number I got from the parts book kept bringing up 45* elbows for 1950s and 1960s Ford engines which I know is not correct, the OE one on my truck is a 90* fitting so my only other option was a stainless steel one that looked similar to the second image above but they are out of stock till December. I should get these fittings by this weekend so I can install it and then start taking measurements and deciding how I want to proceed as far as the spacers goes and the routing of the stainless steel hardline. I got enough coiled hardline I can start making some but I am still trying to source a new coil bracket but all I am finding is generic replacements not one like my OE one that has the raised platform for the noise capacitor The top hose fitting looks OE to me, even for a Ford. The 2nd one is prettier, but if you are going to paint it anyway I think the top one would be my pick. On the china wall seal, look it over VERY closely. As you know, it'll be far easier to redo it now than when you've installed the engine and find a leak. And leak? Those things leak badly! I think before I torqued it down I'd go poking on the RTV. See if it has adhered to the intake. If not, I'd redo it as you want it stuck to both top and bottom, not just the bottom and touching the top.

There is brake cleaner and BRAKE CLEANER. Brandon/Bruno2 brought some big name brake cleaner over and it wouldn't touch what I expected it to melt. I pulled out my favorite, O'Reilly's house brand, and it melted the stuff. Anyway, good luck!

Chad - I don't think there is any documentation on the site that would give you the order of assembly. But having done it once or twice I'll take a stab at it, although I'm sure I'll miss something. Assuming you have the engine in, I'd: 1. Install the radiator support. Start with the number of shims that came off. 2. Install the fenders and shim them at the rear to align with the cowl, and shim the radiator support to align the fenders with the bed 3. Install the brackets that tie the fenders to the radiator support but don't tighten them down 4. Set the A/C condenser in place 5. Install the radiator 6. Attach the condenser to the radiator support 7. Install the valance, aka rock guard, that ties the fenders together at the bottom 8. Install the hood latch support & hood latch 9. Install the headlight doors & the plastic pieces that go behind them so you can't see through 10. Install the grille 11. Install the upper and lower trim over/under the grille 12: Install the hood and adjust it to fit between the fenders and the fenders in/out to clear the hood 13: Install the bumper

You mean like this, Dave? (From our page at Documentation/Electrical/PMGR Starter Wiring:

Joe - These are the three different gears for the Borg Warner transfer cases. Which one do you need?

He's all good with the 1991 frame Gary. They didn't switch to the boxed end crumble zone frame until 1992, so all the mods I did won't apply to him. I don't know what differences exist between an F250 and an F150, if any...but the front bumper horns should be OK. Thanks, Cory!

Sounds like you have it thought out.

My uncle used to use a square back 12 ga Browning in IC, and he didn't miss. But that was eastern OK in the woods. Don't think it would have worked as well in central KS on pheasant. Man, that guy was awesome! I was in high school football and in excellent shape and he walked me into the ground. He LOVED to hunt, and trained his own dogs. They were a joy to hunt with.

Yuk! That "tar" is UGLY! And it runs and drips. Yes, I think you found a smoking gun. Or a sticking valve. Are you going to lap them, check the guides, and replace the seals while you are working on them?

Yes, there are advantages. But no disadvantages I can think of. Now to your question re brand. I am NOT a Powermaster fan, although I'm running one on Big Blue since that was what was there when I got him. (That's Scott, but don't tell him I said so as he might bring that alternator back.) So I see no reason to go buy a high-dollar starter. I'd bet any parts-store variety PMGR starter will spin your 351W easily - assuming the cables and battery are up to snuff. So if you have an affinity for some chain store I'd go buy one of their best starters and move on.

To bump this along, the opinion I gave John last night is that his starter is worn out. What happens in that case is that the worn bearing allows the armature to get close to the windings, and when the starter gets hot the windings and the armature both expand and touch. So now you have a serious drag and that causes friction, which generates heat, which causes expansion, which causes drag, which... The fix is a new starter. But you want to go with a Permanent Magnet Gear Reduction (PMGR) unit. Starters are on the page at Documentation/Engines/Starters, and there is a tab for PMGR starters, although I'm not sure that's very helpful as it looks like you need the Lester #. So I'd go to Rock Auto's catalog for a '93 F150, which I'm sure had a PMGR starter, and get the right part #. And from there go shopping. Like maybe DB Electrical? Or Autozone? Or? Local would be good as then you get a replacement later. And you can pull your starter and compare gears. And the wiring changes a bit. Look at Documentation/Electrical/PMGR Wiring.

I started w/a Mossberg 20 gauge bolt-action and screw-on chokes. Was pretty good w/it. But Dad traded it for a 12 gauge Remington auto for my birthday and told me it had a modified choke. That would have been in June, and on Sept 1st, my brother's birthday and the traditional opening day for dove here, we went dove hunting and I couldn't hit anything. Finally I got to looking it over closely and it did have an M on one side, but on the other it said Full. Next dove that got up dropped pretty quickly, just a bit farther out. I did learn that there is a big difference between a 20 and a modified choke and a 12 with a full choke. If I were in your environment I'd want the 20. But for pheasant in our situation the 12 is the gun. I've not shot a 28 so can't comment. As for hunting dogs, I just saw this on FB and thought of you:

Yes, a bolt-in electric motor/drive unit would be nice. But, just bolting one up to a transmission then has you shifting gears when that's not needed. The beauty/simplicity of the true EV's is with the motors out at the wheels so you don't have the clutch, tranny, transfer case, differentials, and driveshafts. That allows the control system to play like there's a locking diff in the front or back, and other neat features - all w/o having the hardware that would normally be required to do that with an internal combustion engine.

When I bought Blue I told the dealership that if there were ANY extra decals, labels, etc on the truck it wouldn't leave the lot. It worked. So yes, I don't normally put or allow stickers on my vehicles. In fact, that's only one I've ever had on any vehicle. I wonder why I put it on?

The only thing I'm aware of that could cause a problem is the bumper mounting. But you might want to read the thread on Chassis Compatibility Question. And particularly see Cory's post in that thread:

I think the wider tires and wheels will take a bit more pressure to get your ride and control back to where it was. It won't hurt to just go up a few pounds and try that. Don't know what you are running, but maybe go to 35 if you are below that?

The one on the dash may be obscured because someone put a later model windshield in the truck. The VIN location was changed some time later and people seem to stock that windshield rather than the right one for our trucks. That is technically against the law, but people do it and get away with it - until the DOT wants to verify the VIN. And now the owner, not the installer, is in trouble. I had that when I sold a truck to a guy in another state. That was a pain as the dash cover had to be removed and a mirror used to see the VIN. I won't let that happen again.

John - You might want to play with tire pressures to get the ride and handling where you want them to be. Tire width and wheel width combinations require different pressures to get the tire "flat" across the tread. I use the driveway to the shop as a guide. It doesn't get much traffic and the concrete has a chalky top layer such that driving over it leaves a bit of white on the tires. I shoot for the white to go all the way across. Too much pressure and it is only in the center. Too little pressure can sometimes not show in the center. But if I increase pressure at some point it'll only show white in the center and I know I've gone too far.

As for the truck, it looks like it will be a pretty good project to get going. But since it was your grandfather's it will be well worth it.