Gary Lewis

I'm tagging John/Machspeed as I know he is looking for Saginaw mounts.

When I was painting Big Blue's cab floor with POR-15 to stop the rust I had some left over so painted part of the frame. Boy, it sure turned out nice. I really need to finish the job. But, I didn't use a top coat, just the base POR-15. If the truck were left outside for an extended period there might be enough UV reflected up there off the concrete to cause the paint to turn milky, which is what POR-15 does when exposed to UV. But I don't think it'll ever be left out that long, so I'm not worried about it. I say all of that to say if you have the time and the inclination I think you go ahead and paint the frame. And, if you are worried about the UV then I suggest that you just use a rattle can chassis black spray to coat the POR - but make sure you do that while it is still tacky. If you let it cure you'll have to scuff it to get the spray to adhere.

Two things to report. First, I got the two leaves out of the passenger's side rear spring and dropped the truck down on all fours. Wow, what a difference! Normally when the rear tires hit the floor the truck stops moving. This time it kept moving for quite a while as the springs flexed. And once on the ground I found that I can actually cause the rear suspension to move by placing my weight on the rear bumper - something it has never done. In fact, the rear dropped 2" from its previous position, and the distance to the ground from the top of the rear wheel arch is now 2" less than the front one. So I'll want to swap out the 2" blocks in favor of the 4" blocks I have. But first I'll need to get the right u-bolts. Does anyone know of a good place from which to get them? Second, I put sliders in the front springs as well as a piece of the spring liner material I used on Dad's springs. I'm not sure I like the way that I did it as the slider may break when the weight hits it, but then I have several of them. And, I glued the liner in with 3M Hi-Strength 90 Spray Adhesive, which seems to adhere to the liner, which surprised me. And, the liner is held in place by the slider.

You are going to like the 3G. The lights will stay bright at idle. Wiring will be cleaner w/o the regulator on the fender. Definitely a good upgrade in spite of the other problem. As for the group, we have a lot of really good, and knowledgeable people.

Congrat's!!! Feels good to get something like that done, even if you had a minor setback with the wiring. Taking a big trip this weekend?

He's going to be SOOOOO proud! Hope you'll be giving up progress reports as the work is done.

I think his truck is earlier but his father's is a Bullnose. Don't remember the engine in his father's, but thought it was an M-Block.

You are right! Yes, it would have been a Chrysler Airtemp. And the belts galloped badly. There was no way to get them to stop, but a matched set came pretty close.

Bill - The "fixed drag" idea is a good one as it keeps the trailer behind the tow vehicle. Compare that to surge brakes, which are happiest if there's no drag on the tow vehicle, so if the trailer jackknifes you have no "surge" to set the brakes. But in your idea the "fixed drag" would cause the brakes on the trailer to come on and the two vehicles would be straight. I really like that idea as I think about it. You could dial in more or less drag and be assured that you'll stop straight, not matter the trailer or the load.

Good points, Bill. Exactly why I thought you were the one to comment.

YES! I paid $40k for safety and got a free truck!

Yes, "matched set" was a thing. I used to have to buy them for my Super Bee which used them on the big York air conditioning compressor. Boy, would those belts gallop if they weren't matched. That got me thinking that I'm glad I have serpentine belts (yes, Bill, actually "polygroove") for Big Blue. Then I thought "serpentine, serpentine" and couldn't help myself.

I went to three parts stores yesterday just to look at a Taurus alternator and no one had it in stock. I don't think that alternator is an easy score in so much as getting it same day. Also, spent much time on the web looking through our local salvage yards for a donor car and came up empty. Basically, would like to acquire the harness and alternator for fit up purposes. I'm off today and am going to scour Tulsa salvage yards. Sadly, more and more yards won't let you in, they want to pull the parts. Moreover, their inventory for older vehicles for me to pull from is very limited. I spent a great deal of time yesterday pursuing the web on the study of this mod, as my knowledge base on electrical is limited and I don't do anything without study and a plan. There is much conflicting information, one of which is the C-C distance on the alternator of my truck. Many say it is 8.250". As such, I went out last night and removed the sucker to measure, even though I had previously gotten a rough measure of it while it was on the truck. Regardless, it is 7.00" and it is the OEM unit that was on the truck when I bought it new. Additionally, it appears I can get an alternator off 94-97 thunderbird/Cougar with the 3.8 and 94-95 Mustang with V8, but I think the wiring goes in through the top, though I think I can clock that alternator to bring it to the bottom??? Looking at my current pulley configuration, it appears that I will only be able to run a single belt to the new alternator. I read all this stuff about belt slippage when upgrading the alternator, but if I'm not changing components to increase the draw, do I really have to worry about this? What difference does it make if I go from my 60 amp alternator to a 130 amp if I'm not adding heavy lighting, stereo amps, snow plows and stuff? Yes, your alternator has 7" between the mounting holes. But can the arm be swung far enough to take the larger alternator? In the case of Dad's truck the answer was yes. On the belt/pulley question, I think you'll be fine with a single belt. In normal circumstances you won't be drawing the battery down enough to cause the alternator to throw 130 amps, so the single belt will be adequate. And if you do get to a situation where the belt is being asked to transfer more power than it can w/o slipping, just let the engine idle for a bit. At idle the 3G puts out about 100 amps and I think the belt can live at that load. I might be noisy, but it will live. As for the alternator, why not get the one from DB Electric that Jim is using? It is an AFD0028 and is said to be for a 3.8L Taurus Sable from 90-93 or Continental from 91-94. It has the LRC regulator that will be a help with the single belt. But it is clocked such that the plug is at 7:00 o'clock rather than 11:00 like some, although you can change that.

Sorry to see that, Gid. I think conversion to MAF would be a significant step. I say that because you said something about crimping the wires together and if that's what you do I think you'll soon have serious problems. To do it correctly I recommend soldering and then protecting the joint with adhesive-lined heat shrink that will seal the it. But, if you want to do it I'd suggest you get the harness from a later EEC-V system which will give you MAF and the wiring to all of the sensors. I've not yet done it, but have the harnii with which to do it and it is intimidating. It includes a power distribution box that needs to be accommodated as there are relays in there the EEC counts on. And you'll have to find a home for the EEC 'cause the EEC-V systems put them in the modified kick panel, and there's no room there for it on your truck. As Jim said, Bill/85lebaront2 would be a good one to talk to on that as he's done it. But does Painless have a harness for that? Is that what you are saying? If it is for a Mustang, where do they put the EEC? Can it be put there on a truck? Or, do you still have wiring to do?

Scott - I've always like self-latching relays. They are simple and work, so are a good solution for this. Well done.

Hello, Kyle! And welcome. What part of Minnesnowta? We have a map (Bullnose Forum/Member's Map in the menu) and could add you if we had a city or zip. On the headers, I do have a 400 in Dad's truck, although I've not addressed the exhaust yet in my restoration. I think the guy to ask is Angelo, so I'll tag him and ask him to come. Maybe he knows.

I've not had that experience. Have you tried some form of lubrication? Perhaps it is dry and that one doesn't want to move.

Hopefully that will help. And, hopefully you'll get it all together SOON!

That should work nicely. I was initially concerned about pushing the clutch in as in Step 2, but then I realized that you need to do that to allow the OD to come in. But do you have a momentary switch that you pull up to close? That seems odd, but it'll work. I'm just used to pushing a momentary to close it.

Lots of boat trailers have electric brakes, including mine. I replaced the totally rusted-up surge brake system with 4-wheel electric brakes years ago and they've worked wonderfully. I'll never go back to hydraulic brakes on a boat trailer, and probably not on any trailer. And the new vehicles, like Blue, have electric brake controllers built in. Actually, Blue's brake controller is integrated with the sway/skid control system and will tap the trailer brakes to straighten you out should things start to go wonky. I saw that happen once when an 18-wheeler blew by us at more then 20 MPH faster than we were going and his bow wave moved the trailer sideways a bit. The controller tapped the brakes on the trailer, not the truck, and we were instantly straight. But that technology requires either electric or electric-over-hydraulic brakes. It will not work on surge brakes. I never seen one with electric brakes on a boat trailer and you look up boat trailer brakes you find that some have them but its not recommended. First site when doing search for boat trailer brakes that states the following. "However, few boat trailers are equipped with electric brakes, but they’re used on many RV and utility trailers. RV-grade systems, with painted automotive-grade components, are not intended for submersion, especially in salt water. Submerging a pair of electromagnet actuators and their wiring is generally regarded with the suspicion that occurs whenever you mix water with electricity. Tie Down Engineering does not recommend their electric brakes for marine applications." The above is from an article by West Marine. I did a lot of research on the topic before I went that way. And I did read what West Marine said, but given what many others said and what my trailer manufacturer told me I found that it is badly out of date.. Read what eTrailer said: Properly installed electric brakes can be great. But, as eTrailer says, if you don't wire them correctly you'll have problems. The wiring going into the magnet, and the magnet itself, is encased in epoxy. So it is just the connections that get wet. Do them correctly and you won't have problems.

Lots of boat trailers have electric brakes, including mine. I replaced the totally rusted-up surge brake system with 4-wheel electric brakes years ago and they've worked wonderfully. I'll never go back to hydraulic brakes on a boat trailer, and probably not on any trailer. And the new vehicles, like Blue, have electric brake controllers built in. Actually, Blue's brake controller is integrated with the sway/skid control system and will tap the trailer brakes to straighten you out should things start to go wonky. I saw that happen once when an 18-wheeler blew by us at more then 20 MPH faster than we were going and his bow wave moved the trailer sideways a bit. The controller tapped the brakes on the trailer, not the truck, and we were instantly straight. But that technology requires either electric or electric-over-hydraulic brakes. It will not work on surge brakes.

Does the fuel contain ethanol? If so it may well be the problem. Good luck!

No, I still have the '95 D60 springs. Do you want them? Be pretty expensive to ship, but they are yours if you pay for the shipping.

??? SuperDuty didn't come until '99. Unless you mean F-Superduty, the "F-450" version in the '80s and '90s (but I don't think you do...) Jim - You are right, with softer springs and taller blocks I'll have more wrap. Hadn't thought of that. But I don't have air bags. At least not yet. I'm hoping that the softer springs will still keep the truck level, but I have considered air bags if I need them. Bob - You are right, I have '06 SuperDuty springs. My bad. Thanks for catching that.

Yes, but in that case it was Brandon/Bruno2's trailer. Which is a big reason I bought my own.