Gary Lewis

Yes, we will have experts up here. Bring it on! Seriously though, have y'all considered the noise the cooling fan makes? If there's a perceived difference between hot and cold then maybe the noise the fan makes when hot is clouding the perception?

Sorry, but I don't have a core. I forgot this for your Jeep.

Sorry, Jeff. I missed that. I hadn't planned to do it this time as so few were interested last time. And because Steve Fox/FoxFord33 isn't available and he was doing to video work. Is that going to be a problem, folks?

The show is two weeks from today and the trophies are here! BE THERE! The categories are as last year: Crowd Favorite Best Engine Best Interior Best Modifications Farthest Driven Best Paint Best 1966 & Earlier Best 1967 - 72 Best 1967 - 79 Best 1980 - 86 Best 1987 & Later

Yep. And as you've pointed out many times, the radiators for the gas-engined V8 trucks were pretty much the same. For instance E0TZ 8005-Z was used for the 302, 351W, 351M, 400, & the 460. Yes, there were differences with manual transmission vs automatic and A/C vs non-A/C from the factory as Ford was using the minimum radiator possible, but the E0TZ-Z would fit everything.

Cool! But he's implying that the thing is un-restored. However, the hood hinges have been repainted and there are lots of other hints that it has been restored. Still, I like it!

Jim is right that the mounting holes are the same. But, the mounting for all radiators changed in '85. So unless you want to modify your radiator support, which is explained on our page at Documentation/Cooling Systems/Radiator Support, you'll want to get a radiator for a 1980 - 84 truck. As for the radiator, several of us have had problems with brand new Champions. Mine leaked pretty quickly and was replaced under warranty. Larry/ratdude747's Champion leaked but the supplier, Summit if I remember correctly, couldn't find a replacement in a reasonable time and he bought something else. So I'm not recommending Champion.

Well done!

Man, I'm glad you caught that tire smoking! Too often one goes and takes the other. But the driver's side is so scary with the other traffic. Glad you made it home!

Yes, Big Blue got a downgrade that is really an upgrade. He went from a tilt column that had slop and would every once in a while, at the worst possible time, refuse to engage the start relay to a fixed column with no slop and which starts every time. Plus it is a handy place to pull yourself into such a tall truck, without fear of breaking something. As for your column, our page at Documentation/Interior/Steering Columns & Steering wheels has a lot of info. First, at the top is a discussion about the part that is prone to breaking, and you should check that part out closely to see if it is broken or shows signs of an impending break. And on the Instructions tab there is both the factory shop manual section on the steering columns but also Scott's writeup on how he fully disassembled his tilt column, powder coated it, and then reassembled it. That includes part numbers and pictures for the upper and lower bearings. Speaking of bearings, on Big Blue I replaced the lower bearing with one from DRB Fab that is much more robust. And the upper bearing on a non-tilt column is encased in a rubber cushion, which was just a tad too small for the recess in which it sits. So I wrapped it with a piece of .010" shim stock and that tightened it up very nicely. No more slop but it is still cushioned.

Oops, I missed Larry's post. He beat me by a mile.

Check out our page at Documentation/Cooling Systems/Radiator Support and then the tab entitled 85+ Radiator in Earlier Support.

Hills? What are those? But having the sidewall flex isn't fun. I've had that happen and it sure messes up the handling. But I'm surprised you are getting it at 80 psi. I hope your feedback after the trip is better.

Yeah, I'm with yall. This winters project is to install the D60 and the factory Garret Turbo. Did I mention I picked up a turbo motor? Can't remember if I did or not. I don't think you mentioned the turbo motor. So are you installing the turbo on the existing engine?

Cool! My folks had a 55 Buick, but I think it was a Special. However the 57 we had was a Century - the Roadmaster's engine in the Special's body. Man, that thing would roll! My father's brother wanted to borrow it so Dad took him out to show him how to drive it. And that time the Kansas turnpike had no speed limit, so I'll bet Bill can tell you what the carb is, but zooming in on your picture I'd guess that to be a 2GC.

I'm with Bob. If you list the truck as having a D60 that will be enough for those that know to notice. But personally I don't think there's enough difference in kingpin vs ball joints to make a dollar difference to me.

I wish you good luck. As you know, there's not that much of that stuff around.

Wow! I would never have guess that brake drums would do that. Well done!

Nick - As said in your introduction post, check out the Troubleshooting tab on our page at Documentation/Electrical/Gauges. But fuel gauge sending units are notorious for going bad. So many of us have had problems. To your specific observations, the gauges don't show anything meaningful when the key is off. As explained on the Troubleshooting tab, the gauges are actually thermometers and have a heating element below them. So what they show with the key off is more related to the inside temperature of the truck than anything else, but a fuel gauge will usually show below Empty a few minutes after the key is turned off. So if yours shows above Empty then the gauge may be bad. And if it goes to the same place for either tank with the key on that might also suggest it is bad. But the real test is, as suggested on the Troubleshooting tab, to pull the wire off the sending unit and ground it to the frame. Then get in the truck and turn the key to On. In a few seconds, as the gauge heats up, it should read above Full. Don't leave the key on too long as it might hurt the gauge, but you can flip the tank switch to the other tank and if its wire isn't grounded it should slowly drop back to read whatever level is in the tank, which you said is Full.

Welcome, Nick! Glad you joined, and you are now on the map. You have several things to correct, and may well have questions about them. As for the gauges, have you found our page at Documentation/Electrical/Gauges, and then the Troubleshooting tab?

Yes, 1980 - 84 had the break above the marker light and 85 & 6 had it below.

My testing shows InVision to be about 10 times faster than Nabble. I tested WHYDTYTT and Big Blue’s Transformation, which are both getting quite slow on Nabble. It was easy to test Nabble as it took 15 - 20 seconds to refresh. But InVision was 1 - 2 seconds and it happened so quickly that my response time was a significant part of the measurement.

Time for an update - we are ready to move! We’ve checked things out and think we have found the few glitches in the conversion. InVision have made changes to their conversion routine and are now working with Nabble to pick a date for the move, probably the week of Sept 15th. I expect that we will be down a few hours as Nabble will have to lock this forum so there can’t be any more posts and then run an export routine. InVision will then run that file through their converter and post the output to what is now our test forum. Meanwhile Chris/ckuske and I will be changing some of the url-related info, moving the InVision forum to the home page and the Nabble forum to the test page, etc. It appears that you will be able to log in with your existing password, but you may be required to accept the guidelines again as there’s a spot in the InVision data that shows whether or not you have and Nabble doesn’t have that info. Speaking of that, we still have to get the registration process to our liking. We do have it set up where a new member cannot post anywhere until they create an introduction thread in the New Members Start Here folder. So now we need to get the guidelines to be shown and accepted and then the instructions for creating the introduction set up.

Yikes!!!! $1200!?!?!?

I think the change was between 84 and 85 and it didn't change again. Here's 84 on the left and early '85 on the right. Then below that is late 85 and then 86. (You can tell early 85 as it had the stick-on trim and late 85 as it doesn't.)