Gary Lewis

That's the plan, Stan. Thanks, Scott.

So you hot-melt glued the lenses in? I've been worried that it would melt the lens, but it didn't? And you can't see it? As for the separate piece, I'd never noticed that. Interesting. Can it come out? Can we swap them around that way?

Yes. Here are my thoughts on C610, and I plan to put them in the doc: KEEP: This approach lets you go back to either a 1G or a 2G. And, you get longer wires as a result. For instance, on the light green/red wire from the ignition switch you may not have to add any wire to connect it to the 3G's pigtail. Similarly, there may be enough of the large yellow wire after C610 to connect to your megafuse without splicing. REMOVE: This is the cleanest approach and you remove a potential failure point of an unneeded connector. If you have upgrades or suggestions to those thoughts, please let me know.

Oh, and congrat's on getting it to pass inspection!

Paul - I agree with Mark/Dyn Blin. But u-joints are going to be running ~3 times faster than the wheels, so they'll sound different. On u-joints you can sometimes tell by sliding under the truck and trying to move the driveshaft sideways. Or turn it and see if there is play in the joint. Wheel bearings can be checked by jacking that corner up and pulling out on the bottom of the wheel while pushing in on the top. And vice versa. You are looking for movement of the hub, and there shouldn't be any. Having said that, bad ball joints can give movement of the hub, but it usually takes more force to do that.

Ok guys, let's try this. I appreciate the input. 1G: With shunt and with voltmeter. This means C610 stays. Without shunt but with voltmeter. This means C610 can go away. With warning lights. Easy peasy. 2G: With shunt and with voltmeter. This means C610 stays. Without shunt but with voltmeter. This means C610 can go away. Agreed? My cunning plan is to get the ideas nailed down and then work it during the Super Bowl. Doubt I'll get it done, but I hope I'll have something we can tweak a week from now.

Keep on keeping on, slowly, carefully, and you'll get there.

Well done, Cory! I fully understand the feeling of not really wanting to make that first cut. But once you drill that hole..... So what are you doing differently on the paint?

I think he thinks that since I now have the same springs in the rear as your F350 has that it must be an F150. I wonder how many leaves his rear springs have? And why he thinks a regular-cab SRW needs the same rear springs as Bill's crewcab DRW?

Jim - I missed your post as I was posting. Welcome. Ty - I expect to provide some explanation as to why we provide details on only a subset of the options. But I suspect there will be a lot of people that just want to make it happen and don't care about the details. So we need to keep it fairly simple. And thanks for the input. It helps a lot as I understand all of this and need to hear from those that don't.

I'm wanting to rethink the plan for the 3G page. I'd set out my thoughts earlier, but I'm not sure I agree with them now. So here's my current thinking, but I want y'all to push back if you disagree. It seems to me that these are the variations that are possible, but I don't know if all of them are reasonable: 1G: With shunt and with ammeter. Ammeter will only show discharge. Is this even something someone would do? With shunt but with ammeter disconnected. Would someone do this? Why not leave it connected? With shunt and with voltmeter. This seems a reasonable approach. Without shunt but with voltmeter. This also seems reasonable. With warning lights. Easy peasy. 2G: With shunt and with ammeter. Ammeter will only show discharge. Is this even something someone would do? With shunt but with ammeter disconnected. Would someone do this? Why not leave it connected? With shunt and with voltmeter. This seems a reasonable approach. Without shunt but with voltmeter. This also seems reasonable. Again, I want to think through this and need your help. I'd like to have everything covered, but I don't want to make it too complex. Thoughts, please?

Until I took the course in machine work I didn't know there are different types of taps. What I learned is:

Bill - I found that choke in the MPC and it is right for carbs with Tag code E6HE-GA,GB E7PE-BA, E6HE-AC. And those are the codes for the 460 version of the 4180C. There's another choke for the 460, and it is E6PZ 9848-B CM-4513, which is right for Tag codes E6HE-AA,BA. For the 351HO, which should be the 12v ones, the following chokes are correct: B8A 9848-E CM-329 E3PZ 9848-E CM-4068 E4PZ 9848-F CM-4315 E4PZ 9848-G CM-4324

That's a good idea, especially if you have a cutoff wheel so you can get a sharp edge on the cut.

What I found here says: So, if you can't find a pulley tap then maybe you can find an extension tap? (I'd never heard of it, either.)

Jim - I had to look up "pulley tap". I'd never heard of them. Chris - If you can't get a tap in there to clean up the threads, and Jim is suggesting that a standard tap won't reach due to the timing case, then maybe you can "push through". I can't tell from your picture for sure, but it looks like there are marks on the head of the bolt, suggesting that it might be a Grade 5. If so, it should go ahead and go in. But I'd go a ways and then back it out and clean it. Then go again. And again. The only alternative I can think of is to remove the timing cover so you can use a regular tap on it. But then you have to mess with the pan gasket. And while you are in there you might as well do the timing chain if it hasn't been replaced lately. Good luck!

And I can't tell you from watching the video, or from your test, that the column is not the problem. Big Blue's ignition switch rod moved, just not far enough at all times. Some times it worked fine and other times it didn't. So I don't know that your test is conclusive. As for the switch, here's a page from the '85 EVTM. Does that help?

Jamie - To embed a Youtube you have to get the "embed" code by clicking Share and then Embed. Copy that code and then come here and tick the "Message is in HTML Format" box. Here's your Youtube:

Bill - The connector at the PDB is only for convenience. I didn't put one on the PDB on the passenger's side and I've wanted to take it out already to make a change, and that's not easy. So I want to put a connector on this one just in case. As for which connector, I don't know how many wires I'll have going through it yet. Let's wait until I get things detailed out, probably this Fall, before figuring out which connector to use. But, I'll want one that can carry enough current on some pins for the fog lights and backup lights. On the 42-pin connectors, I have at least two sets, including the one on the '96 harness that Mark sent me from CA, which is a full engine harness with sequential firing. So I'm good to go there, but thanks. As for what I did today, I gave Big Blue an attitude adjustment. He now has the proper stance - level. I removed the 2" blocks and installed the 4" ones using the 13" u-bolts from RuffStuff. It was actually pretty easy using the safety stand under the axle. On the passenger's side it was a piece of cake, but on the driver's side I had to pull the axle vent to allow the brake block to float up and not hurt the brake hose. Anyway, the rear sits maybe 1/4" higher at the top of the wheelwell opening than the front, which is right where I want it. And, for reference, the front is at 40" and the rear at 40 1/4".

Right. I'm just saying that I think the swing arm is original to the truck. Not that everything else is correct.

The ID# E3TE-10145-GA is part # E3TZ-10145-G, which is the part I think you are supposed to have. And, there's no reference of a 1014F.

Looking GOOD!

Chris - I think the lower bracket should look something like the one in the illustration below, although that covers many different engines, as you'll see. As for the part number, what you have is actually an "ID" number. In the mid 60's as one of their "better ideas" Ford quit placing part numbers on parts. Instead, they put an ID # on and issued a cross reference book to go from ID to part number. I have some of the books and will try to cross that ID # to a part number. But you can see the illustrations and part numbers for alternators and brackets at Documentation/Electrical/Alternators. You should have a 40 or 60 amp alternator, which would mean you should have part number E3TZ 10145-G. Also, note that while the majority of ID #'s have the same central number as the part number, which is "10145" in this case, there are plenty of instances where the numbers differ. But I've not seen a central number like "1014F". Can you check the "F" and see if it might be a "5"?

Good point. Should look like this then:

The factory gauges are notoriously inaccurate. There are lots of reasons for that, but Ford probably took that into account when they decided not to put degrees on the gauge. So just because it shows in the lower 1/3 doesn't really mean much. But checking with the infrared thermometer will help a lot. And your camera would be cool. Or, hot? To put a video on here I upload it to Youtube and then get the "embed" code. Then tick the box in the upper left that says "Message is in HTML Format" and paste the embed code in. Note that having ticked that box that just hitting "enter" on your keyboard won't get you a line space when you post or preview. To do that click on Formatting and then Line Feed.