Gary Lewis

Im hopeful that they will catch up and ship it out sooner. But I can wait on the pushrods and continue assembly else where and even mask and paint the engine. I really dont need the intake manifold off to set preload its just something I would like to do just to make life a little easier. I actually bought one can of the Dupli-Color industrial stripper that should come in Monday-Tuesday. I looked online and none of the local autopart stores have it. It basically straight acetone with a thickening agent to make it a spray gel that wont run. States paint will bubble up and can be removed in 30 minutes or less. If it works as good as they say and how reviews state then I should cut my time drastically for stripping it down. Then I can either spray wd40 on the inside to stop rust till I get the oil put in or I could use some oil and just smear it into the metal on the inside of the pan. Outside I will spray with WD40 unless the pan is one of the last things to go on and I can actually start priming and paining. In that case I will just hose the engine off with some brake clean to wash away the WD40 on the block and then start my masking and painting. I havent decided how I want to mask the aluminum heads off around the exhaust ports. Part of me is tempted to just stuff some blue shop paper towels in the exhaust ports and spray everything then let the paint act as an extra layer to help seal the header to the head. Or I could tape up my painted headers and bolt them to the head and use it as a mask in of itself. Headers will be sent out for ceramic coating just dont know what color to do. I stuffed blue paper towels in the ports and painted everything, including the exhaust flanges. So far, not problems. On the color of the headers, I didn't have a lot of options with Jet Hot when I had mine coated. Once I worked through what the options were on the type of coating I was pretty limited in colors. But bear in mind that one of the reasons for coating is to hold the heat in. And since dark colors radiate heat the best you want to go with a light color.

I awoke at 4:15 this morning thinking about the A/C system. And then it dawned on me, well before dawn, that the leak must be in the evaporator since I haven't been able to find it. And, with a bit of Googling "does R134A have a smell" I found that while it doesn't have much of a smell, the oil does. So that might explain the "funky" smell we had in the cab. So this afternoon I'll pull the resistor pack and see if I can spot anything in there. Or maybe the motor? I'm thinking that's the best way to get a look inside the plenum. Any better ideas?

Ya, it seems to get pretty good reviews when installed on the small V8's. I specifically wanted a 500CFM, and the smaller Holley carbs (465, 390, etc) are really expensive...like almost double the cost of this one. A couple people have told me that the 500CFM will work better on a 302 than a 600CFM. After all, a 302's max requirements are barely 400CFM, so a 500CFM carb might actually be a better fit. I had my 302 (actually, 304 I think) broken in and tuned on a dyno, but the down side of that is that they basically only tune the engine between 2800-5500RPM. That is all well and good, and it is also where most people's brains are when discussing HP and TQ, etc. My interest is in street and highway drivability, mainly between 1500-2500 RPM, and this is where the 500CFM and annular boosters is supposed to shine the very best. Something I've noticed about the Holley 4160 I have installed now is that it doesn't like the cold, and it takes a long time to warm up. I have to clarify that, because when I say "cold", I just mean a fresh start, even on a warm day, and when I say takes a long time to warm up, I'm not referring to coolant/engine temps, I just mean that it seems to take a long time to really smooth out. The climate I live in is quite a bit different than what some of you experience down south. This summer in particular has been cold and damp, and a "hot" day this year has only been about 70F. It seems like the hotter the ambient temps, and the hotter the truck gets, the better it works, and the smoother it runs. Last year when we had some hotter days (maybe 80-85F), and I was driving for a while, and even stuck in traffic, the engine would run the smoothest. Maybe one of you guys can tell me what all that means, but I've had it in my head that it is the carb that is working better when it is hot. Anyway, after reading up on the Summit carb, I found a few people reporting that they run great in the cold (even in winter temps), so that drove my decision...at least partly. We will see. I'll start a new thread on the Summit carb when I get it, and try to come up with a comparison between the two. It was on back order for a couple weeks, so it will likely be September before I can get to it. I also have to deal with relocating my IGN coil, so that will throw a small wrench into this swap as well. I have an AFR gauge installed, so that will help with any jetting changes, if required. I might grab a jet kit myself, just so I have it on hand and can get this carb tuned quickly if required. I know you have the AFR gauge on, but I'd guess that the reason it runs better in warm ambient temps is that the mix is a bit lean. As the inlet air temp goes up the AFR gets richer.

Dad had an inflatable tube that went around the center of the tire and provided the squeeze to get the bead close to the rim. Worked well and I've used it many times. It had the advantage over the ratchet strap that you could deflate it before removing it, so some of the pressure was off it. But you are right on the ratchet strap, getting it off can be a bear. The key is just getting the bead to seat w/o expanding the tire very much. And even then there's a lot of pressure on the strap.

I'd not heard of Stover lock nuts either. But Albany County Fasteners says: Learn something every day.

That's a REALLY nice Bronco! It'll go for lots of money.

Oh yes, I forgot. I'm not sure I'd want something that can retain moisture as my spacer. Will it cause rust to form there by keeping water on the metal?

Well, even two steps forward and one back is progress. And, as Jim says, progress is good! Bummer about the condenser though. Hope you can get it installed without too much trouble. I remember it was a bit of an issue on Big Blue as I put a 1990 condenser in an '85 radiator support and it wasn't a perfect fit. And I do think I had to drill new holes for the brackets.

I hope I don't have to reseat a bead, but will remember that trick if I do. Which means I need to carry a Schrader valve removal tool! And a spare Schrader valve. Hadn't thought of that. I will have a ratchet strap that I can put around the tire to push the bead out.

Yes! We don't want no "rotted bailing wire mess" here! On the other hand, you'll appreciate the better exhaust system on the drive.

Yes, true that I don't have to haul it back very far. As for the thread, how's this: Swap Meet Items: What I'm Bringing & What I'm Looking For

For those of you bringing things to the swap meet or looking for things while at the swap meet, list them here. Perhaps something that's listed will get someone to come, or someone looking for something will jog another's memory to "bring that".

Thanks, Bob. It is comforting to know that the tire looks about "right" for the plans we have. As for the compressor, it really works. I didn't check on the pressure, but since the compressor cycled while I was airing the tires up I'm guessing that the pressure was between 155 and 200, and that can move a lot of air. However, as I think about it I have the regulator set at 90. I wonder if it would fill faster at full tank pressure?

Yup. I've taken stuff for several years and haven't been able to give some of it away. Like the Powermaster alternator in pieces. But, this time I think I have someone crazy enough to take it - Scott. (Don't tell him. )

With only 100 miles on it the clutch, pressure plate, and flywheel haven't "mated" yet. I think a bit of slipping may help. But don't make it long.

I meant how many miles on the new clutch. And yes, if you went from a 10" to an 11" clutch then that might be part of the issue. The part of the flywheel that hasn't been used before won't have the same texture to it and is likely to be grabby initially.

It can be complicated when you go a bit more in depth than probably is needed. It is why I decided to settle on the 6.40" length pushrod as it was listed in the old Crane Cam PDF catalog as one option for pushrod length. I ended up buying from Jegs on August 5 the Manley Swedged 5/16" x 6.40" x 0.120" wall thickness pushrods for $244.63 after shipping/handling and tax. It was supposed to be shipped out August 12 but was emailed that Manley has such a high volume of orders that it wont be till October till my order will ship. I could cancel my Jegs order and place the order via Summit to save the shipping as Summit doesnt charge shipping on orders over $100 but I dont want to lose my spot in the off chance that Jegs can get it to me sooner. Today how ever I installed the grease seal in my Ford Performance timing cover and then dry fit my Felpro timing cover gasket and used a black sharpie pen to mark where the timing cover sits to trim excess gasket material away. Since I will be painting the whole engine after assembly I dont want excessive gasket material blocking paint to the block. It also would look tacky to have the gasket material painted engine color as well. I found out in the process that the ARP bolt kit may not include all the bolts I will need. I went to go install the water pump to see what bolt goes where only to find out my Cardone OE replacement water pump was not an aluminum water pump like the listing on RockAuto stated but is in fact cast iron which I wont use as it is not correct for an '80s model 302/5.0L. I found a GMB High performance aluminum water pump for $61.79 on Rock Auto that states pump pressure increased up to 300%, increased flow from idle through the rpm range, and increased cooling capacity to reduce engine temp by 15-30 degrees. I really dont think I need this but there really isnt many options for water pumps when it comes to aluminum. The standard GMB Aluminum body water pump is $46.79 so only a $15 difference in cost. So I decided to buy the GMB one even though I cant find any information on what the actual difference is between the standard and the high performance one. I looked at AirTex which they have a high performance HD one for $55.99 and is listed as having 8 blades on the impeller but cant find any information on how many blades a stock 302/5.0L water pump has. Summit has a review on the GMB unit claiming it didnt help cool his over heating engine down and it appears to have a stock 8 blade impeller. I did have a Stewart High Volume water pump I bought for my '78 Mercury I pulled out brand new in the box from 9 years ago or so. I cant use it even though it says it fits 75 - 85, the problem with it is it cant be used on a street vehicle unless you want to lose your power steering pump and A/C compressor brackets as there is no mounting points for these units. It probably would work fine on a older bracket setup that uses the stud bolts to attach the brackets but it is totally useless on a later model setup. The unit I have coming in has all the mounting bosses to screw the brackets for the AC compressor and the powersteering pump to and it was fairly cheap from Rock Auto. The other item I ordered is a PowerBond dampner, its made by Dayco. I ended up splurging for the Race Performance balancer over the Street Performance. The differences between the two is the Street Performance uses a Cast Iron ring while the Race Performance uses a Steel ring. The second difference is the Race Performance balancer is SFI approved while the Street Performance isnt. Another is the Race Series is CNC machined AISI 1045 Forged steel hub bonded to a steel inertia ring, even though this is a steel unit it states in most cases its only marginally heavier than the OE cast iron unit and lighter than other units made out of steel. It also is protected positively against forward and backward movement which looking at the photo it appears there is a snap ring on the front side holding the inner steel hub tightly against the back of steel inertia ring. Then what holds it in place Dayco states the PowerBond Race Series uses a high pressure low cure that they developed. Supposedly Dayco states that they have tested these Race Performance balancers beyond 21,000 rpm without failure. For me what sold me on it is the SFI 18.1 specification they meet. Ever engine builder I chatted with told me to get a balancer that is SFI approved as they are better than your standard replacement. This was in response to me looking at balancers such as fluidamper and other performance balancers which I was informed I didnt need on a daily driven truck with a performance 302 that will never see past 6,000 rpm. I ended up paying a couple dollars more for this balancer through Rock Auto over summit but for the water pump and the balancer I actually saved $22.07 buying from Rock Auto over buying from Summit. So I am delayed till next weekend to do more. The head gaskets I ordered Monday from Amazon didnt ship out till Thursday and isnt listed to be delivered till Monday. I had hope they would come in today or tomorrow when I placed my order Monday so I could clean the deck surface with brake clean and install the AFR heads and torque them in place. I might pull my NOS Ford oil pan out and try and strip the paint off it. I looked online for a paint stripper to remove most of it then I can hit stubborn areas with a wire brush. Couldnt find anything that would work, everything I kept finding says to wrap it in plastic to keep the gel from drying out so it works. I dont know what that is about, paint strippers I used in the past took about 10 minutes and the paint would start bubbling up. Close up photo of the mating surface of the timing cover to block. Most that have used the Fel-Pro timing cover gaskets know of the raised solid piece of gasket material on the driverside and the cut out webbing on the passenger side. These two areas along with any area hanging out on either side below the water passages were marked and trimmed out for a more OE look. Even the Ford gasket was too thick and would require cutting. I had a gasket with my Dorman timing cover I initially bought that fit nice but it had a horrible semi cut punch out for the dowels that resulted in the gasket ripping when trying to punch these pieces out. The timing cover is not torqued in place how ever, just enough to hold the gasket snugly against the bead of Ultra Black I put on the block. Looks like you have a plan. A well thought out plan, at that. But that October date is going to slow you down a bit. Maybe they'll speed up a bit? On the pan, the "aircraft" paint stripper that I have does a pretty good job of taking powder coating off. It is just the run-of-the-mill stripper from O'Reilly's or Walmart. But if you are stripping the inside of the pan then you could put a piece of plastic wrap over the top of the pan to keep the stuff from drying out so fast.

How many miles do you have on it? In my experience it takes some time for a clutch to "burn in", and until it does it can be grabby. I don't recommend it, but I've put the park brake on and slipped the clutch a bit just to bed it in. Not a lot or you can cause problems, but a clutch does time time to match up with the flywheel.

Glad you got it figured out. And having just the front one made is a good idea. As for getting hung up on, you are right to move on. They obviously can't spell "customer support". And working locally is a good idea anyway. Now you have someone to go back to if you have an issue or a question. And they aren't likely to hang up on you, either.

Looks like mine, and it came from Jason:

Didn't get to the cover but, as reported in Planning For Big Blue's Trip To Ouray, I did test out the deflators and the inflators. Both work, and extremely well. On the other hand the A/C isn't working well. It is down on pressures again, and I can't see where it has leaked. So I'm calling a local shop on Monday to make an appointment to get it in ASAP. That, a little more packing, and an oil and filter change are all I have left before heading to Ouray. Oh, and maybe hosting a show?

Those trim panels that fits in the corner from floor up to the ceiling are not produced by anyone you have to find used or NOS units. But for my sources the following is the sources I use. Dennis-Carpenter Jeff's Bronco Graveyard NPD Link Green Sales Co. (this one is NOS parts and can be very pricy) Ebay (great source for NOS parts if you know the OEM part number) I try not to use LMC cause most of their stuff is cheaply produced items but some times you have to use them if there is no other option. You can find the part numbers here: Documentation/Interior/Interior Trim.

Many of the non-EFI systems still had TAD, TAB, etc. They got pretty complex. But yes, if you are going with an aftermarket EFI system you can, and should, remove the EEC and associated wiring. And the speed control is completely separate. It needs nothing from any other system. Just the transducer input from the speedo to tell it how fast it is going, and vacuum from the engine that it uses to move the servo to pull the throttle open. It has an electronics box under the dash left of the ash tray.

There is still Blue, but Orange is even stronger. That webpage recommends it for: Cylinder block and rocker arm studs, ring gear bolts, frame bolts, shock absorber bolts. (Bolding is mine.)

Thanks, Dane. Yes, it was less time than I thought as well. Doing a bit more math, it took 350 seconds to air 4 tires up 11 psi (14 - 25). So it took 87.5 seconds per tire. And dividing that by 11 psi gives 7.95 seconds/psi. Dividing the two minutes by 8 gives an increase of 15 psi for a 2 minute blast. And to go from 15 psi to 35 psi would take just 2 minutes and 40 seconds. Obviously this is all back-of-the-envelope math, but the system works really well. I think I'm happy! As for the hubs, yes they are nice. But they seem to be kind of scarce.