Gary Lewis

Yes, I got my first shot of Moderna two weeks ago tomorrow. And I'm supposed to go in on the 5th, which would be 4 weeks, to get shot #2, although from what I'm hearing and reading it is questionable whether they'll have enough vaccine to do that. I've had absolutely no side effects.

John - I hope things die down soon and we can get together. Just looking at the OK COVID #'s lately it would seem like things aren't quite as bad. But, all of a sudden we've had a number of people we know come down with it, so it ain't over yet.

But bleeding will be easy! On the rod, did you read the writeup on Documentation/Driveline/Brakes and then the Master Cyls & Booster tab and then the Push Rod Adjustment tab? That adjustment is critical.

Scott - Where do you get your supplies? I get my wire from Great Lakes Skipper and my Magnalugs, split loom, and shrink tubing from Century Tools. As for pivoting lights with power, have you though about using a power mirror as the mount?

I'm a big fan of Fluid Film as well, and it certainly wouldn't hurt to wipe it on. I will probably do the same. Here is the aluminum master cylinder out of the 1995 F150 that I junked for the frame for my 1980 F150. It appears to have been fairly well preserved under all that gunk. I just cleaned it up last night. It seems to be in OK condition for being 26 years old. Piston cups and bore seem to be OK. It was pretty dirty though, inside and out. Would I be crazy to assemble it and use it as it is, or should I just buy a new one and be done with it? Comments good or bad? Use it as it is since the pistons and bore are good. Might see if the plastic will stand up to brake cleaner and clean the inside of the reservoir.

Wow! You have a LOT of work, and money, in the cars. As said, feel free to start documenting them if you want. On the truck, I've never seen a hose used between the master and the proportioning valve. I suspect that was done by someone besides Ford. If you are into it that far, you might consider going with a later model master, as shown below. (Photo credit to John/Machspeed.) John is/has done that on his truck, as described here, as I have on mine. It doesn't change the braking, but does eliminate the leaking cap on the old cast iron ones and allows you to see how much fluid you have with a glance.

Oh no! A pal of Bill's. Oh wait! I'm a pal of Bill's. At least I hope I am. Ok, WELCOME!

Mark - I don't know as all they are showing is the ID #. I'll see if I can figure it out when I get out to the shop in a bit.....

Wow! That is a lot of wire. And shrink tubing? What's the plan, Stan?

I'd forgotten about all of that. And one of the valve covers is really pretty! There are people who do really cool things with powder. I don't have that much imagination, but things still turn out pretty nice.

John - The best setup is a blast cabinet where you get the parts CLEAN, a powder coating booth where the extra powder is sucked into a dust collector, and a dedicated oven. Today it probably took me 15 minutes, max, to blast the bracket and get all traces of old paint off of the parts. Then I hung it in the booth and washed it down with brake cleaner and dried that off with a heat gun. Maybe 10 more minutes to apply the powder and hang it in the oven, so a total of 30 minutes there. Then the oven takes 20 - 30 minutes to heat up to 420 degrees, at which time I set a timer for 20 minutes and "bake" the part at 400 degrees. Then turn the oven off and open the door slightly to let it cool. After 15 more minutes open the door fully. And as Scott said, as soon as it is cool enough to handle it is ready for use. All in all maybe 2 hours from starting to media blast the part until it is usable. Thanks, Scott!

Jim - Good point. I plan to do some website work Sunday watching a football game, so hope to include that info. John - Jein. The Edelbrock choke was designed to run on 12v but the choke/stator wire puts out more like 7v. And while at first blush it wouldn't seem that would work, it actually will. I did it on Rusty for a while. But it takes longer to come off so you can't set it as "hard". The best way is to use that 7v to pull in a relay to put full battery voltage to the choke.

That's a very good price, and a great deal on shipping!

Excellent price!

Got the reservoir bracket powder coated today: And then, as I was taking the real reservoir out to move it over I realized that there is a support bracket under the reservoir and that I probably needed one. Sure enough, I put the reservoir in place and it needed support. With some measuring I found that I needed a 3/8" spacer. Turned out that I had a piece of aluminum that would work, although not exactly rectangular. But, cut to fit it'll work, so I put it in place, marked through a couple of the holes already in the fender liner, and drilled the aluminum and tapped it 1/4-20. Here's the plate in place and next to it the real reservoir in place. And, it and the PDB are solid! But tomorrow I'll powder coat the plate to ensure it doesn't corrode, cut the stainless washer-head cap screws to length, and put it all together. (Yes, Jim, I'll use Loctite 56747 PST. ) I've already moved the washer hose over and have started running the coolant hose, so then I'll just have to move the washer wiring over and I'll have the reservoir moved and in service.

I have a degree in Math, and I hated Calc and DiffE.

Fixed it.

This is awesome. https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=mtcKEBHN&id=93E2C3EF878EA7098AE7934CD9A4CBED7D980CCB&thid=OIP.mtcKEBHNmfDdWI06LMY-bAHaIY&mediaurl=https%3a%2f%2fth.bing.com%2fth%2fid%2fR9ad70a1011cd99f0dd588d3a2cc63e6c%3frik%3dywyYfe3LpNlMkw%26riu%3dhttp%253a%252f%252f2.bp.blogspot.com%252f-nuzgAQh-eBw%252fVdOIgseICSI%252fAAAAAAAAQqU%252fsKyWK2sH6Z0%252fs1600%252fcigar-smiley.png%26ehk%3daK6j%252fbF%252bNZ%252bd%252f%252f8l8djyLHLewL9fyvvm12cftmcYZGE%253d%26risl%3d%26pid%3dImgRaw&exph=600&expw=530&q=smoking+cigar+emoji&simid=608003001331879631&ck=2AF8480775B32A2DE19BD912CAB485BD&selectedIndex=0&FORM=IRPRST&idpp=overlayview&ajaxhist=0 This?

Glad you got it going. As for water, it isn't supposed to come in, so there's no need for it to go out.

Don't miss Jim's recommendation to remote-mount the TFI. Ford had fits with them until they took them off the distributor and put them on the fender where it is cooler.

Chad - I'm not the best guy to answer those questions as I just have a smattering of theory and very little experience. But if I understand correctly the Broncos had double-cardan rear shafts due to the short length of the shaft and the angle that created. Ditto the F350's on the front shaft. As for u-joints, I think you can use any shaft that has u-joints that fit into your yokes. But, there are crossover u-joints that have different sized caps on one axis than on the other. So I think you could adapt just about any shaft if it is the appropriate length. That may not be the "best" approach from a strength standpoint, but since you said it is only temporary. And on terminology, u-joint capacity, and driveline angles, you might want to read up on that. One source is FourWheeler, which says this:

Gary, would that fall under the saying that, "misery loves company"? Gary, look at the tail end sag of my truck with that trailer attached in the picture above? Thoughts on some upgraded springs? Ohhhhh jeez, see what I mean!!! Yes, my father used to say "Misery loves company." That must be it. But, I'll also tell you that there are moments of joy, like yesterday when the ride went from "brutal" to "pretty nice". And on that note, I don't recommend changing springs to a higher capacity on a truck that will only see heavy loads infrequently. Instead I'd go with air bags. In fact, I may do that myself. I want the springs to be appropriate for 99% of the time, and then have a way to beef the capacity up for that 1% of the time. And yes, you have one foot on the slippery slope - and the other may be in the air. COME ON DOWN!

It does look nice.

I've never seen one of those. (And I'm kinda glad I haven't as it looks like a pain!)

Guilty as charged! It is called "improvement". Get rid of the leaf-sprung TTB's in favor of a solid axle. Hydroboost braking. Saginaw steering pump. 3G alternator. Headlight relay harness. Relay(s) for the HVAC system. Etc, etc, etc. It is a slippery slope, but now that I'm on it I want company!