Gary Lewis

Update time. I'm not getting good answers from Mia, but just sent her this email: Here's the pic. And you can easily see why when we topped a ridge on the Jeep trails that we couldn't tell where the trail went ahead of us. The truck was usually still pointed up at a severe angle so we weren't looking down at all but almost horizontally. And by the time the truck angled down enough to see what was ahead of us it was too late. But our buddy, Mike, could easily see what was ahead of him since he had a camera on the front bumper.

Gary the negative cable(s) on the 300 six goes from battery to a blot on the top of the frame rail then to the starter bolt. This bolt also holds the positive cable from hitting the exhaust. The factory negative cable had a flag welded to the cable in the center that bolted to the frame to ground the frame. There is a 10ga wire off the block on the left side that goes to the firewall to ground the body / cab. The motor side got its ground from the transmission bolted to it and the ground cable to the top starter bolt. Mine has been wired that way from day 1 of the rebuild and other than a bad relay no problems. Dave ---- Thanks for that, Dave. Obviously I don't know the wiring on the 300 six that well.

Yep. We sure didn't have "safe" vehicles back then, did we?

Road miles presenting an opportunity to check MPG? Yes, and no. I've heard of the Ozark Trail and would like to drive some of it this fall. But while it won't be highway miles it surely won't be "trail" like in Colorado. And maybe not even down into 4Low. So the MPG won't be anything to write home about. And, speaking of plans, things are shaping up to have our kids here for "Christmas", although we might not have both sets at the same time and they may not actually be here on Christmas. But Janey mentioned that I may want to take our son over to Disney to the off-road park there to let him get used to Big Blue and see him in action. And to make sure he's ready for that I don't think I want to start the EFI upgrade 'twixt now and then. So I'll continue to acquire the parts in order to be ready soon thereafter.

I don't think it is leaking any more. But I've not driven it anywhere long enough to prove that yet. However, I backed it out and let it come up to full temp yesterday, and this morn it has sucked coolant out of the reservoir and filled the radiator nicely. And there aren't any puddles on the floor of the shop. So I think it is tight. Hopefully we'll take it into AR and MO this fall to see the trees turning and I'll find out for sure then. But all of the clamps are now TIGHT.

And what about the pickups with the in-cab tank? Granted the tank was well protected from rear collisions, but not side.

Nice. But expensive! The all-white exterior makes it look simple, but it isn't. Like the 5.8L with MAF and SEFI, and the computer-controlled E4OD. Would be a nice package. But nothing is said about re-gearing, and 35" tires on stock gearing would make it a dog. I drove a Bullnose with that combo and decided not to buy it before I got out of the parking lot. So you'd have to plan to add another $2K to do it right and re-gear as well as add lockers. Then there's the wheels. I'm not sure those are bead-lockers instead of wannabe's. And I think that aluminum rim would get chewed up on the trail.

You could sell the topper for that! Go for it!

I think anti-seize would be my choice of lube.

Bob - That's a cool story and well deserves to be written up in the magazine! Congratulations!

Good info. Thanks, Shaun.

Yes, it was funny! When I got it. At first I thought "The flames are backwards." But then I realized what was intended.

I put the cooling system back together today as I'm pretty sure the leak was from the lower radiator hose and it is now tight. But it is amazing how much liquid can hide out in the radiator support and then dribble on the floor overnight. Hopefully it is all done with its leaking. Then I backed it out of the shop and washed it. That didn't take too long, but what took a long time was getting the millions of insects off the front bumper and grille. Man, was that a MESS! It took an hour and a half and a lot of elbow grease and wax to get things clean. But it is ready for another trip now! Maybe Janey and I'll get to take it somewhere in October to see the trees changing.

Wow! I had no idea. I've been swapping levers willy nilly with no thought of what fits where. I guess I got lucky?

Yep, you got it.

Yep. That’s why I was wondering what dealers sold them.

Saw this on FB today and just had to share. Do you get it?

Would be cool to know which dealers sold the "Gold" editions.

Thanks, Bill. And that's interesting about the early 4bbl systems.

I didn't realize there were several different shifters. I've highlighted that one, but note that it is correct for Bullnose trucks built after 11/81.

I saved the pics. And I re-titled the Documentation/Interior/Steering Columns page to be Steering Columns & Steering Wheels. Then I added Steering Wheels to the tabs and put those pics there. HOWEVER, what wheel is that? And what pad is that? I'd like to say more about it but I'm not sure. So y'all 'splain to me what we have while I work on Big Blue's cooling system?

Archive the pics or the whole thing?

As said in the other thread, that's a dealer-installed speed control for an auto transmission:

Wait! I messed up! That resistance wire is for the Instrument Voltage Regulator, not the pumps! The pumps appear to run on full battery voltage.

That's an "adapter kit" that adapts a dealer-installed speed control setup to a manual transmission application. For instance, E4TZ 9A818-A is for the 1984/87 trucks with an auto trans, but this adapts it to manual transmissions.