Gary Lewis

I've not built a welding rig nor a flatbed, so can't answer any of those questions. But I can address some of the others. However, I keep marveling at your "handle" since my trailer was made by Turn & Burn Welding in Claremore. Interesting as that must be a common term in the welding trade. On the weight, I don't know what an sa200d weighs, but you've already said the existing equipment would total 1000 lbs and you said your current machine is "little". So I'm guessing the sa200d is bigger and heavier. Then, when you add the weight of a welded steel bed you are getting into some weight. So I'd say that you will need to consider some sort of helper springs. But if you are looking at an F350 to get the dually setup then I doubt you'll need to box the frame, although others may differ. On 2wd, I dunno. I'll let others speak to that. As for the ZF5 and gearing, you'll get by fine with 3.55 gears. But 4.10's will probably work better. If you go to our calculator (Documentation/Driveline/Calculators) and put in 31" tires (my assumption) and look at the ZF5 Wide column you'll see that with the 3.55 gears dialed in you'll be turning ~1900 RPM at 65 MPH. But then if you dial in 4.10's you see that you'd be turning only 2200 RPM. So either gearset will work, and you might like the 4.10's with the extra weight.

Actually, not really. I'm enjoying seeing the light at the end of the tunnel on Big Blue, and was thinking yesterday as I was washing and waxing him how nice that was.

I know there are several connections shown in the EVTMs that were for factory use only. So maybe that is one of them? Anyway, good luck!

I agree, typically they put more in a kit than you need for some of the carbs. But if you want to make sure, go to Mikes Carburetor Parts and look at what all carbs the kit for yours covers. I think you'll find it covers most of the YF's and YFA's.

Yes, at the values we are starting to see, setting up our trucks to be here for the long haul seems more reasonable. Please tell us what you think of them.

I don't have the '84 EVTM to-hand, but looking at the '85 version on line I see the W/PK Dot wire as shown below. Is that the one you are talking about? Man, it gets confusing after that. Towards the bottom of the page is says those wires go to pages 28 and 31. Here is Pg 28 and I can't find that wire. However, the circuit that wire is part of does come back to this page from Pg 31 at M. And here is Pg 31. This time the wire is shown, but it is labeled "EFI Only". Do these pages match yours? If so, it appears that the wire is there to tell the ECU that the tranny is in Park or Neutral and it is safe to crank the engine.

I'm reminded of a verse for some reason. Something in Luke? Maybe the early part of Ch 4?

I don't know. Hopefully someone that does will be along soon. Re the search bar, the one that I use is the one on the right that says Search Forum. Then I usually click the Sort By Date option in the upper right of the results so I can go back through time. But, you said YSA, and I think the carb is a YFA, so a search may not turn up much. In fact, your post is the only instance in the whole of the forum where "YSA" was used. Where did you find "YSA"?

So, what is your plan for repair? Piano hinge?

Shaun - The correct answer is "lots". And I would guess it is the tire more than the wheel. Those tires are HEAVY! when my brother and I were loading up he came rolling the spare out. As I reached down to pick it up and put it on the trailer he said "Huh uh!" I tried anyway. Twice. Then I looked at him, he grinned, and we picked it up and put it on the trailer. Man, that thing is heavy. And all of the tires have quite a bit of weight on them. But, there seems to be no vibration, so I think the tires are balanced well. Chris - I think I like that mirror/camera combo. However, the one to which you linked, the FVMR-1000 has been discontinued. Go to BrandMotion's page for it and you'll see their statement about that. The replacement is the FMVR-1100. From what I've read and watched you do have the ability to have a regular mirror. But they seem to think you won't use it due to the wider vision of the camera. Also, on a pickup they mounted it on the back of the cab so you can see what's in the bed. But I would have thought that placing it on the bumper would be better so you can see what might be hidden by the tailgate. And, it would let you line up a trailer hitch easily. Go for it, and let me know what you think!

Good question, Shaun. And I don't know the answer to that. As you can see below, supposedly the correct latch for a 1980 & 81 F-Series is a E1TZ 16700-A. But that would say that there was no latch for the 1980 trucks since E1 means it came out in 1981, and we know that the 1980 trucks had hood latches. So the E1 # replaced some E0 #. But E1TZ 16700-A could be for an E-Series van as the one with a key-operated hood lock has an E7 prefix, so there had to have been an earlier one. I don't know that we will ever know as I'm guessing my 1982 EVTM has the E1 # in it. However, I can climb the microfiche tower and look if y'all are that curious.

I think a mirror/camera combo might be the right thing for BB. But to this point I haven't found one I like. However the one in your link looks interesting. Is it a full replacement for the mirror? That's what I'd want. I'll read more on it. As for the pics, thanks. I'm taking the pics in full-size mode, meaning they are 3 - 5 Mb on the card. But I scale them down to ~500Kb with Photoshop and check to ensure that the full white/black range is used. I think that helps a lot.

$35 and free shipping is an excellent price.

You are right, they are expensive. But, they should last essentially forever. And they have 185 5-star ratings and 7 4-star ratings out of a total of 192 So they must be good.

Yes, with the wheels, bumpers, and bed rails that thing has been dolled up. (And, I see where it is. )

Today was a BEAUTIFUL day! Temps into the 70's and a blue sky meant I just had to be outside. So, after installing the dash cover I backed Big Blue out of the shop. Then I moved a few things into the storage unit. Here the jump start battery's charger is plugged into the inverter so it'll charge when the inverter is on, which typically will be when the engine is running. And the charger for the handheld radio is plugged into a 12v port as well as to the radio. Then I decided to wash the truck. It must have been over a year since I've washed him, and it sure improved the looks. But, having seen how the "other" Big Blue turned out I decided to use rubbing compound and then wax on him. However the dark blue was the problem, and it is in a strip that is too narrow to use my buffer on, so I did it by hand. Boy, am I tired! This pic shows the dark blue on the bed after 3 passes with rubbing compound. You can see the difference to the door and front fender. But, even 3 passes didn't really get rid of all of the oxidized paint, as I found out when I hit it with wax. Oh well, it looks much better than it did. I also waxed the trim panel on the tail gate. You can see the difference from the left to the right side in the pic below. It didn't turn out perfect, but is a lot better than it was.

I'll just email you the receipt with the cost and tracking number. Still at 11035?

Clay - These are the blocks. The ID# is E3TA 5A799-EA and that cross references to PN E0TZ 5729-B, which are the right ones for a 1980 through at least 1989 F150 4WDs. They are 2" blocks. They'll go out in the morning if you want them. I don't need them, so if you'll pay the shipping they are yours. And they point in, as shown in the pic above.

Yes, there's supposed to be blocks in there. See the pic below of Dad's truck. I may have an extra set if you need them. And, btw, Rusty was originally 2wd and that explains the spring width differences.

If you find the right therapist please see if you can get us a group discount. I think most of us on here have a need.

Did he also do the pulleys and mounts in that color? Did the truck have a shell what was painted like a ... shell?

Good to know. Do you have a "store" on ebay where we can peruse your offerings? As for looking for things, I'm not at the moment. But thanks for the offer. Others may well be looking for things.

Yep and yep. Timing and AFR on the latter. And idle vacuum is approaching 20", so I know she's sealing better and better. To put it in perspective, at least MY perspective, Dad's 351M got 10 MPG or 10 MPG when I got it. But with a different engine, the 351M from Rusty, and a ZF5 to replace the C6, I got it up to 14 MPG at a steady 65 MPH. So if a "little" F150 gets 14 and if I can get 12 out of a rather heavy/loaded F250 then I'm doing pretty well. Just setting expectations, Tim.

Oh no! Hope it was a fluke.