Gary Lewis

Bill - I think I have the right engine/block plate. I'll check tomorrow, but if I do it is yours. If I do it will be the one from Dad's truck w/the 351M and a C6. And from what I can see that is the same one for a 460 - with a C6. But the MPC doesn't say an engine plate is used with the E4OD, although we know it was. On the other hand, there is no engine plate but that one shown for a 460. Didn't the E4OD come out behind the 460 before the end of my MPC in '89?

Did you have to pull the steering wheel to do the ignition switch? I am trying to do mine right now and after 15 minutes of yoga moves under the dash, its not clear what my next step is... The wheel doesn't have to come off to change the ignition switch as it is well down on top of the steering column. Have you seen the page at Documentation/Electrical/Ignition? Click on the Ignition Switch tab and you'll see an illustration that shows where it is and how to replace it.

If the decal doesn't fit then I may make a comment about that on eBay. But first we need to find that out.

Jacob - I have the '84 dealer facts book, but just not online. I'll take a look tomorrow to see if I can tell anything about trim levels, but I'm pretty sure that the base level was Custom. So if it doesn't say anything else then it must be a Custom. What might help is to find the build sheet. You can see what they look like at Documentation/Specifications/Build Sheet Interpretation. I've found them under the carpet and under the seat between the springs and the foam.

I haven't. But if you do I'd recommend gluing an aluminum or steel reinforcement piece in the top of the opening. I've done that on the original Ford ones. The issue is that if the door swings shut on your legs when you are standing outside, or if it hits your foot when you are seated they are apt to break. But gluing that piece into the top of the opening stiffens them up nicely.

Nope, the resistance shouldn't have an effect because the input voltage range is 7 - 16 volts. As for not running out, you can stop when you think you have the right amount in the tank and use that to make it read E. Just don't forget to hit Save. DAHIK how easy it is to forget that step. Oh yes, I got strange results when I turned the key Off, turned the switch to what ever setting I wanted to learn, and then turned the key back to On. But leaving the key On and turning the switch to the setting to learn worked. As for 13 MPG, I'm thrilled. But I'm not going to go to the bank with it. And yes, I was driving conservatively. On the speed control, I really would like to get it working correctly as that makes the long drives much more pleasant. I know it can be done as Dad's truck's speed control worked superbly. But I don't know where the issue is. It acts like it is way too sensitive. I put my foot on the pedal and didn't let it drop the throttle as much as it wanted to, and that helped a bunch. So I'm thinking that if I can't find a module that works correctly I may play with either a capacitor in the electronics or the equivalent in the linkage.

We weren't in layers. We were Boy Scouts on a campout in the fall in shirts and jeans. Somehow we got in a hedge apple fight. I remember taking a direct hit in the chest, and it almost knocked me down. Anyway, those posts will last a long, long time!

Here's the response I got: Here's my response to that:

Bill - What size blades did you go with? Or, are you running the pin-style arms? As for the nozzles, thanks for the tips.

Jim - Here's how I wired it. I pulled the instrument cluster and did my wiring immediately ahead of the connector. And I put the Meter Match just above the trim piece that goes below the steering column. I stuck that insulating foam on both sides so it won't rattle and used a zip tie to secure the wires to the column. And I think your plan to set it at 50, 100, and Full is good. But if you can run it dry w/o causing problems that will give you that one more point to learn. If you remember, I ran my rear tank DRY and taught the Meter Match to make the gauge point right at E with that resistance. Then I added 6.3 gallons and made it cause the gauge to read ~1/3 and hit Save. Added another 6.3 and made the gauge read about 2/3 and hit Save. Finally I filled it up completely and made the needle point to F and hit save. Should be pretty accurate, right? Well today I first used it on the front tank and it read way over Full and then dropped like a rock until 1/4 tank, at which point it took forever to finally run out way below Empty. But when I flipped to the rear tank it went right to Full and came down at what I think is about the right rate. So apparently the two sending units are very different in their readings. I guess I'm going to have to get used to that 'cause I don't want to spend another $60 to buy another Meter Match and put them ahead of the switch. I'm sure that would do it, right now it isn't worth it to me.

Bill - I'm going just like you, MAF. And I have the right parts, inc the air box and its top. Jim - I'll draw how I did it up in a bit as I just got home from our road trip. And, speaking of that, a quick report: The speed control isn't acceptable. The 5+ MPH boost when you hit Set/Accelerate just doesn't work out well. And if you hit it again, which is supposed to let you accelerate and then get a new set point when you release the button, gets you another 5+ MPH. And, while the fluctuations are better than the previous one, it just isn't acceptable. I watched the vacuum go from 20 to 5 and back to 20 numerous times, but when I ran the throttle manually I could keep it between 10 and 18. And probably because of that, as well as the head wind we had, we got 10.22 MPG for the contents of the front tank. But we went 199.2 miles before running out and "knowing" that the front tank holds 16 gallons I'd already done the math and thought we'd gotten 12.75 MPG. Boy was I surprised when I put 19.497 gallons in that tank! On the other hand, on the return trip of 82.7 miles, none of which was on speed control, we only used 6.272 gallons and got 13.19 MPG - running with the wind @ 70 MPH. Overall we got 10.94 MPG for our 282 mile trip. Last, I REALLY need to clean out the spray nozzles for the windshield. We got hit several times with road spray and there's essentially no spray on the driver's side and little on the passenger's side. And, I need to figure out what size of wiper blade I can put on the new pin-style arms and buy some. The blades that are on there are toast.

The pedal itself will swap from a '95 truck to a Bullnose truck. But the housing the pedal goes into won't swap. So you pull the shaft out of both housings and just swap the hydroboost pedal in. Or, if you have access to the equipment, remove the pin from a standard pedal, drill a new hole higher up, and tack weld it in. I'm pretty sure the dimensions are available on here for where the pin goes. Doing it that way would be my recommendation for you in the UK for two reasons. First, you don't have to find the right pedal. But second, the right pedal doesn't work well with the vacuum dump valve for the speed control. Start reading in Big Blue's thread here for a discussion of that. So if you just move the pin you won't have that problem.

Yep, I thought you'd pick up on how close the two of you are. Or actually, you are to his Bronco as Andre is in Spain painting his house at the moment. And the ferry runs from Harwich to Hook, so it would be an easy journey. But unfortunately we won't make it to the UK in 2021. We've taken a decision to wait at least another year and let the virus settle down before strapping into a metal tube with hundreds of other people of unknown health. So you two go ahead and meet and post a pic, please!

What package are you using to do the drawings? I find CAD to work very nicely for that. For instance, I drew up my Carling switches using the factory drawings, but then realized that if I rotated the drawing 180 degrees it made the connections much cleaner. So I just selected the guts of one of the switches, selected rotate 180, and boom, there it was. I'm saying that because it would be easy to rotate the relays and put 30 on top. And I fully understand what you are saying. On which box to use, I'd recommend going with one that has room for expansion. I ran out in my Ford PDB that's on the passenger's fender and can't do what I would like to do. So when I put the matching one on the driver's fender I may move some functions there to gain room on the other side. Just don't paint yourself into a corner.

Gary, That was my plan. Pick up a couple feet of tubing and get a couple pieces of 16ga bent up and run some tests at various speeds and temps. Nobody makes these bed sides unfortunately. They are about the only bed sides that are not being made today. I'm sure it's because the Ford side panels, I believe starting in 1978 and running all the way through to 1987 have the fender tubs stamped into the sides...which is not easy to replicate. All of the other "step side" trucks just had flat side panels...which are easy to replicate by comparison. That makes sense, Cory. Good luck on the trials. Hopefully you'll find a way that works nicely and is easy to finish.

I wondered if that might be it. I've hunted in a million miles of that hedge for quail, dove, and rabbit. And I've thrown a few of the hedge apples. Man, do they hurt when you get hit with one!

I'd try #3 using some scrap and see how it goes. But my experience with my welding is that I'd sure have a lot of grinding to do. And that's at a very visible spot. Have you checked with Tabco? Do they have them? Would they make them?

Yes, that could be REALLY handy! But, what's a hedge post?

Cool!

Andre - As always, that looks superb! Matt - I know how close you are to that Bronco. When Andre gets back to Amsterdam this spring, and after you get the vaccine, you two should get together. Post a pic for us.

It is a real pain! That's why I'm trying to "future proof" what I'm doing. For instance, my fuel system is pure 1995 EFI right up to the firewall where I installed the double-headed fuel pressure regulators to step the EFI pressure down for a carb. But when I go EFI I'll just unplug the FPR from the supply and return lines and the EFI fuel rails will plug right in and lay down on the studs on the lower plenum. Now I'm trying to work through the electricals. I ran the 95's large cable from the megafuse on the passenger's side across the radiator support to the battery isolator on the driver's side. But now I need to move the isolator and put the 95's EFI PDB in place on the driver's fender. Then find a place for the isolator and make cables from the stud on the PDB to the isolator and then from the isolator to the aux battery. Then, and only then, will I know where the megafuse can be placed that goes between the aux battery and the aux power relay that will power the inverter. But I'm happy that I now have the truck on the road and I can do some of these changes between trips with it. It is such a good feeling!

LOL! He cut up the one that mattered and left the one that didn't alone. There's no reasoning with how and why does something.

That's great news, Shaun! That in itself is probably worth what you paid for the truck.

Done. I added "How can we help" to the end.

Bill - When I go EFI, which I'm thinking will be next winter, I may want to go with the electronic version. However, I have the vacuum one from Huck, which was EFI, and it is set up for the EFI throttle. So the first round I'll use that and then upgrade. Thanks for the offer! And, speaking of going EFI, as much as I'd like to do that for the trip to Colorado this summer, I'm thinking that continuing to peel the onion is the better approach and get everything in order for the trip. Meanwhile I can use the truck to make trips around here. First we'll do day trips, like the one tomorrow, until we've had the vaccine and feel safe interfacing with others. Then we can do trips like the Kiamichi Trail. And in between I can get Mission Control all wired up, the power to the inverter, and the compressor installed. Oh yes, the fog light mount made and the fog lights installed. But, along the way I need to determine where the air cleaner box and driver's side PDB will go. I'm pretty sure that the coolant recovery/windshield washer tank and the battery isolator will have to be relocated, so I need to figure that out before making new #2 cables that would have to be replaced. Perhaps the next order of business should be placing Huck's driver's fender on the work table and bolting the air box and PDB to it, and then transferring those locations to Big Blue. After all, the air box sorta has to be in the right spot since the hoses are of a fixed length. And that will tell me what has to move to accommodate those two items. And it would probably be good to go ahead and put the new PDB in as I could use it to house the relays for the fog and backup lights. Hmmm, reminds me of a chess game.