Gary Lewis

Wikipedia says this about Dread Pirate Roberts: "A pirate of near-mythical reputation, the Dread Pirate Roberts is feared across the seven seas for his ruthlessness and sword fighting prowess, and is well known for taking no prisoners." So, help me see myself in that? Yesterday I hit Resume at 30 MPH with the set point at 65. I saw 2" of vacuum on the gauge while the carb wailed. Hit Set/Accel and you get full throttle. Hit Coast and it completely chops the throttle. That's not acceptable. So far I've flow charted the background process, which just calls the Fuel Gauge and the Speed Control subroutines. And I've flow charted the Fuel Guage subroutine, which checks the position of the tank selector switch to determine which table to use in driving the gauge. And I've thought through what the interrupt routines will look like, although I've not flow charted them. But the Speed Control routine will be the tricky one. So far I've not figured out how to use the feedback from the servo positioning potentiometer. And I need to figure out how to gracefully Resume, Accel, and Coast. One approach on the latter is to just come up with a max throttle change I'm willing to allow for those functions. IOW, if you are at 30 MPH and hit Resume how far can it open the throttle, which is one place that the position sensor will come in handy. Or, I could do it based on MPH. Knowing the pulses/rev of the VSS and the gear ratio awa tire size I'll know the MPH. So the calculation for Resume could be (Set Point - Current Speed)/Allowable Rate = Throttle Opening. Just thinking through things. But now back to the VSS testing. Want to know how many pulses/rev they give awa the shape and height of the output.

Excellent! Glad it worked out.

Interesting. But we need something like that coupled with something to do with the forum. And, since about the only think in common to all of us (most, actually), is the front view, then that's better than a side view.

It is! The Verona gets me started and the French really opens my eyes. Meanwhile, Janey brought me a piece of her sour cream coffee cake. Life is GOOD!

Morning, David! I'd not even sipped my first cup of java when I typed that, but even now that I'm almost done with that cup I don't think I'd have gotten it. So thanks!

It probably doesn't mean what I think it means. To tell the truth, I'm not sure I understand "hysteresis" vs "deadband". Nor am I sure they are important in this discussion. But, while reading up on those terms I found this, and I'm applying the coffee at present and we'll see if a solution or sarcasm comes out. (There is a 3rd output, but we won't touch it. )

BIN?

The pumps are pretty much the same. But it is the brackets where the differences lie. However, as said, it looks like all gas 8 cylinder engines for 83 - 86 take the same bracket: E3UZ 3A732-A.

Well, I may have been WRONG! This snippet from the catalog shows the bracket itself, and there are other bits and pieces. However, if you look at the 83-86 vans with a V8 they all use the same bracket save for the diesel. And the 87 uses the same one save for the 460.

No, not at all. The illustration shows how it mounts and gives the generic part number. But all power steering brackets for all Ford products produced anywhere in the world have the same generic. So you need a prefix, like E1TZ, and a suffix, like A. As for the adjuster bracket, they are rarely the same between a pickup and a van. So, what are you trying to do? Find part numbers? Or figure out what donor vehicle you need to find? Basically, if you want to do a Saginaw conversion you need to find an E-Series van with the same engine as yours and get the parts. Having said that, I do think the 302's and 351W's used the same brackets, but I'm not sure of that.

Yes, welcome! Glad you joined. I see you've posted a question and I'll head over there to see what it is, but would you like to be on our map. You can see it at Bullnose Forum/Member's Map in the menu, and all we need is a city or zip.

Well, Blue's speed control isn't the best either, so I agree that they weren't "there" as of 2015. It lights the turbos on a gentle hill as it tries to keep the speed spot-on. I can easily beat the MPG of the speed control by at least two, if not three, MPG. And I can keep it from downshifting on all but the steepest hills. But that's tiring. On Big Blue the system wants to keep the speed at the set point. (That's a full-stop.) No deviation whatsoever! So it is constantly sawing the throttle back and forth. This is an opportunity to put some smarts into the system. I want hysteresis so that on a hill the speed can fall/increase a few MPG. And, when some action is needed it is gentle. Today I hit Resume at about 35 MPH with the set point at 65. The vacuum gauge went to 2" and stayed there until we hit 65 and then backed off - too much. Then it had to come back in, and we went back and forth a few times until it settled out. WRONG! I'd like the thing to accelerate gently to the set point. And, as said, I'd like to be able to hit Coast or Accel and drop/increase one MPH as I'm frequently catching someone and having to back off. Blue can do that. So in an Arduino I could tell it to change the speed by one MPH each time either button is pushed, or drop/accelerate gently when it is held. But the current system chops the throttle completely or opens it fully when you hit either button. And the beauty of the Arduino is that I can change parameters on the fly. Some allow Bluetooth and some do USB, either of which I can handle.

I'm not going to do any/much actual work towards an Arduino to run the speed control right now. And I may go with the electronic speed control system later. But in the interim I'm going to think about how this might work. And the reason I want to think through this is because it is an opportunity to get a speed control that works the way I want it to work. The electronic one works the way it works. There's no flexibility. But an Arduino would give me complete control. On the carb issue, when we took Dad's truck to deliver your test 'scope, awa a load of furniture, I had an Edelbrock on that 351M and used a stock Ford speed control and this same ZF5 tranny. It worked well. But something is very different with this engine setup. So, how can it be a linkage issue if, in both cases, I can get full throttle? Surely the ball has to be in the same position on the lever or I couldn't. And I can't move this ball up or I won't get full throttle. On the Arduino, I'm thinking it'll plug in exactly where the current module plugs in, which would let me go back if I wanted to. All of the needed inputs, outputs, as well as power and ground are in those 12 wires.

Yep, that would give you a vibe, and it wouldn't be a good one. Glad you got it fixed.

Jon! Good to see you on here! But I think I'll use an Arduino rather than a Pi. My limited understanding is that while the Pi is much more of a computer the Arduino is better for controlling things. And that's what I need. I've done a quick check and the Vent valve pulls 125 ma while the Vacuum valve pulls 210 ma. That's too much for the Arduino's output, but that just means I'll have to have an expansion board for that. As for the input, I think tomorrow I'll put the cut-off speedo cable that came in the VSS in the lathe and see what the pulses look like and how many there are per revolution. And my prelim thinking is that the Arduino will monitor the horn pad input wire to determine On, Off, Set, Coast, or Resume. When it detects On it'll start watching for Set, and when that comes it'll take a snapshot of the pulse rate coming in and dial some throttle in to keep the pulse rate the same. (There's a parameter there called something like Offset which would let me raise or lower the set-point speed slightly to tune it to get a smooth transition.) Then, as it monitors the pulses it'll average them using another parameter that I can tweak to make things smooth. As the pulse rate speeds up or slows down it'll apply a parameter called Hysteresis to determine how far from the set point it can deviate w/o taking significant action. Or, maybe there's a curve that gets applied where deviations close to the set point get a little change and as you get farther and farther away from the set point more and more change is applied. And the parameter would be called Slope. But I'm thinking I could change a few things about the Ford system that I'd like. For instance, right now if you are already on cruise then pressing Set/Accelerate causes it to speed up until you let up, which becomes the new set point. Instead, I think I'd like a quick press of the button to get you 1 MPH, but at a reasonably-relaxed rate. Ditto Coast. And on Resume, instead of flooring it I want it to come up at a reasonable rate. This could get me a speed control I really like!

That's a beautiful Bronco! You must be proud. Would you like to be on our map? (Bullnose Forum/Member's Map in the menu.) As for Stavanger, I worked for Conoco, so was there on business at the time. Then we stopped there on the Viking cruise a couple of years ago, so I got to see a bit more of the city than I had before.

Gary, my question can wait months...lol. I was just curious as I'm collecting parts to install an aftermarket cruise kit later on.Ok, Cory, I'll plan to answer the question on Thursday. No for my report on the test run with the vacuum reservoir. Janey thinks it is better, but if so we are talking incrementally better and I'm looking for dramatic changes. The video below was shot on essentially level ground with the first 15 seconds on speed control. But at 16 seconds I kicked it off and held the speed manually. Notice how the vacuum stabilizes. That's what I want. After the new speedo cable and transfer case-mounted VSS go on I'll test again, but if that doesn't give dramatic results, which I seriously doubt, then I'm done playing with this! Bill - You say the electronic speed control will fit right where the vacuum one is. But how much hysteresis does it have? I do not want something that tries to keep the speed exactly on the set point. In fact, I'm going to watch my first football game of the year, the Cheez It Bowl, and search for Arduino sketches that will do what I'm looking for. I want to be able to tune it with my phone via bluetooth. (No, I'm not going to build it right now, but it'll be on the drawing board for later, before our trip this summer and after the other things get done to the truck that are needed/wanted for the trip.)

Ty - Try these pages from the 1985 EVTM: And if you have dual tanks:

Cory - Can your question wait until Thursday for a definitive answer? I can't find my spare driven gear to put on the tranny/t-case mounted VSS. But if my new speedo cable comes in tomorrow I hope to install it Thursday, and in the midst of that I'll be installing that VSS and moving the driven gear over. OK? As for Bill's idea on the vacuum, I have the reservoir shown below. The reservoir measures 4 1/4 x 7", which is apparently a #3 cylinder and should have 83 cubic inches of volume. Turns out it has a check valve in it, so I've installed it in the feed to the servo such that the check valve is on the inlet side of the reservoir and it'll hold engine vacuum. The inlet and outlet ID's are .115" so they shouldn't be a problem since I'm running the .105" jet between the vacuum valves and the servo itself. But I didn't want to cut my vacuum hose for a temporary test, so there's a bit more hose than needed, which may dampen things as well. Anyway, it is installed and we'll take the truck on our errand to Owasso this afternoon and I'll report back. But I may need to take a cruise out by the lake as that's where I've been testing, and since the land to the east toward Owasso is flat it won't be a fair test.

Not sure the 1356 will work. The measurements from the front flange to the point where the u-joint cap hits the output flange are: NP208: 16 3/4" BW1345: 16 7/8" BW1356: 18" But you should measure your 1356 to see if you agree on that measurement. If so, you may find that your driveshaft won't fit. And in that case it may be less expensive to find another t-case than to have your shaft cut down, find the right rear housing, and have the t-case worked on to put the housing on.

If that was my mission, I would ask how much of your hard earned money have I helped you to depart with? I have no clue, other than "LOTS". Talking to my brother yesterday, who has a broken ankle as well as a light dose of COVID and is, therefore, spending a lot of time on his computer. He said to tell Janey that while he's found MANY Ford trucks he's thought of telling me about, he has refrained and is, therefore, wanting "credit" from her. So, I guess there are several kinds of credit?

Yep. Start reading here: http://forum.garysgaragemahal.com/Big-Blue-s-Transformation-tp28014p83258.html

Vinny! Hope you are well. And, Happy New Year!

No, but he has made purchases [remember the vintage grille?] and repeatedly given me the credit for spending his hard earned money! I remember the grille, and the speed control tester, which is in my shop at the mo. So, you are just looking for more "credit"?

That IS nice! Was Scott looking for one?