Gary Lewis

Jim - At the risk of getting into a discussion about religion, which we've agreed not to do, it seems to me that swearing off religion because of a problem in one branch of it would be like me swearing off of tires because of a problem with Michelins. I'm really sorry for you and your experience. That is an awful, AWFUL, situation and I can understand why it would sour you. But not all churches are like that, so....

BFG is owned by Michelin. Just sayin'... And on Treadwrights, I've heard quite a few people say what Jim is saying: good product, really good price, really good company to work with. I've also heard of quality issues. Jim mentions one tire needing a lot of weight to balance. Yeah, that's not too hard to deal with, but it does indicate a lower level of quality control (not surprising for retreads). But I've also heard of complete separation, where you can grab the tread and move it up and down like a half inch without the rest of the tire moving. Even in situations like that people have stressed that the company was great to work with, so I'm thinking Treadwrights are likely a really good value, and if you have problems they'll do everything they can to make it right. But if someone values quality the first time, something that is less likely to cause an issue at an inopportune time, they might prefer going with a more expensive, premium tire (like Michelins ) LOL! Yes, there's a lot of behind-the-scenes connections I'm not aware of. And Holley owns a lot of other brands as well. As for causing an issue at an inopportune time, our Michelins were put on just before a big trip to Colorado to go skiing. They ran out perfectly for the first 100 miles or so and then we started having odd vibrations. Not good, good, good vibrations. So for the next 1200 miles we were treated to different vibes as the belts in all four tires continued to shift and the balance problems got in and out of phase, so we worried that something was going to give at any moment. Luckily it didn't, but the experience wasn't pleasant.

Yes, it really DOES look like a Ford unit. I believe the face is just like the one from Dad's truck that George & Nick have.

Seems kind of pricey for a set with a bad/damaged piece in it. But perhaps one could find a replacement piece that has the same "patina'? Doesn't say if long or short bed, at least from what I could see, and it is hard to tell from the perspective of the pics.

It is interesting that they say "Truck" on the package but the item says "Bronco". And yet there's a picture of a little Ranger pickup on the package. I assume they are for a full-sized Bronco or they'd say "Bronco II"?

The first 4 are sold already! David - Do you get a commission?

Well done, Jim! It really should help Cobra, although you should put a link to here in his other thread as I'm not sure he will see it otherwise. As for what else to add, I don't see anything. However, he probably needs further discussion about the distributor. And while the title of this thread is 4160 Carb you did touch on initial and centrifugal advance. Would it be good to explain that further here or in his other thread?

On the replying via Gmail thing, you may have missed what Jim said. But that is causing two problems. First, you cannot post pics that way and that causes the rest of us to have to go look at your pics elsewhere - and not many are willing to do that so it limits your helpers. Second, it brings a LOT of garbage into your posts and that makes your threads much more difficult to navigate than is needed, and that may also limit your helpers. I've included a screen snag of one of your recent posts and circled the garbage that comes via Gmail - or replying via any email system for that matter - and you can easily see that it takes up 2/3 of the post. It is your call, but the much better approach is to click on the link included in the email right below the text that reads "If you reply to this email, your message will be added to the discussion below:" That will bring you to the forum itself and you can then click the Reply button and include pics in your replies. And, not have the garbage included in your posts.

I was doing the exact same thing! Even the nice mint expensive trucks for sale on Ebay will have a beautiful engine bay and all you can see is that rusty master cylinder lol. It's a pretty straight forward installation. There are really only two issues: 1. Is that the front and rear brake ports are reversed from the Bullnose master cylinder. I was running all new brake lines at the time, so it was a non-issue for me. However, I did see a guy on Facebook a month or two ago do the swap with a used master, and all he did was grab the two brake lines and bend them around each other to fit the new master. 2. The later master cylinder requires a residual pressure valve for the rear brakes, and it is NOT included with the purchase of a new master cylinder. They are readily available at the junkyard though, so I grabbed a couple of them...one to install, and another for a spare. I'm pointing at it in the picture below: It bolts right up to the Bullnose brake booster no problem. I did have to adjust the booster pushrod a little bit, but I think that's a given anyway. I did away with the prop valve on the frame...the later trucks didn't have them anyway. I took the wires that used to connect to it and connected them to the float switch on the later master, so my low-brake-fluid warning light in the dash still works. If you go to the junkyard to get a residual pressure valve (or the whole master itself) also grab the plug and wiring for the float switch. A former member on here put me on to this and I'm glad he did as I was re-doing the whole braking system anyway. Otherwise, I think Scott's powder coating method noted above is also an great idea. There is another way on the reversed lines. As said, I used a '95 F450 master but used the master-to-proportioning valve lines from a '90 F250. The '90 had the later master so had the lines reversed, and they still had the proportioning valve on the frame. It all bolted up like it was meant to be there and I didn't have to have the residual pressure valve.

I can't speak to any issues specifically with the 351w, but I have read of some issues with the 302, and I always attribute that to guys installing Mustang headers on trucks. Mustang headers are cheap and plentiful, but they run closer to the starter on the trucks than they do on the cars with the smaller flywheels. Rick may know more about that topic. I went with truck specific shorty headers...BBK's in chrome, and I'm quite happy with them. I went this route for simplicity sakes, and while I did run full dual exhaust, I was able run them in the location of the stock single exhaust. I know you want long tubes, I'm just throwing this out there as a Plan-B for you;). PS: One small bit of advice I can give is to buy good gaskets and bolts (if required). Two high performance engine building shops recommended Remflex gaskets to me, and so far they have been great. No leaks whatsoever. I also went with longer ARP header bolts as the ones that came with my BBK's were too short. Whatever HP I may have sacrificed in not going with longtubes I am OK with as my truck is just a cruiser/driver, and I was going more for "pretty" than for "power". I've not done headers on a lighter truck nor a Bronco. Nor have I done headers on a 351W. But I have on a 460 in Big Blue and that was a huge pain! Just getting to the bolts was a big pain. And I had to notch the frame. But I've not had starter problems, probably because the starter is a PMGR unit so is much smaller. And I had the headers Jet Hot coated so they don't radiate nearly as much heat as un-coated headers do.

Scott - Thanks! I wish it was AutoCAD, but it is TurboCAD. It is far less expensive, although still costly enough, yet does probably 100 times more than I could ever use. But it sure makes thinking through how to do things far easier than using pencil and paper. For instance, it was while working on the air compressor wiring that I realized that the plan to power it from always-on power made no sense as that would leave the "on" LED glowing all the time the switch was on but the compressor couldn't run if the inverter wasn't on. So now the compressor switch is powered by the output of the aux power switch. Easy peasy change in the drawing. Jim - I know my position on Michelin tires isn't reasonable. Just like my position on Holley's isn't. But in both cases I was badly burned by their products and do not plan to go back. As for not forming an opinion about the Coopers, that's not quite what I meant to say. I have an opinion about the on-road performance, but not off-road as I've not taken them there yet. And perhaps my reluctance to have an opinion until I've been there is due to wising up in my old age? I was a 'ute when I had the Holley and then the Michelin experiences. Perhaps I've learned something? On the Treadwrights, I'm glad they are working for you. But I wouldn't be worried about the amount of weight it took to balance them. I'll bet these Coopers took more and they seem to be doing fine. However, the guys at the tire shop I took Big Blue to for alignment sure got a kick out of how much weight is on them.

The plastic dowel on the lower part of the throttle shaft that has the groove cut into it for the return spring to snap onto. I never looked if it was removeable if it might provide a better attachment of the spring from the throttle bracket to the throttle lever itself. This is on the OE carb is what I mean. On the sniper I have the extension lever to get a smoother throttle pedal pull but I do need to attach the spring still and the extension lever has to be bolted in the bottom holes and if that part bolted on it might be good to use it in this case to hold the extension in place as well as providing a level position for the return spring to attach to. If not I guess I could measure the OD of this plastic piece get some plastic stock the same size and cut a groove into it and drill a hole and use a button head screw to attach it to the throttle lever and make my own. I don't know, and don't think I have an OE carb any more. As for what I've been doing, this is pretty close to what the Mission Control wiring is going to be:

I'm hanging on tenterhooks! Where'd you go, Jim? I'm following along - now that we got rid of all that white stuff.

That plastic piece that the spring attaches to you know if that comes off on the 2V carbs? I cant remember and was thinking of reusing my old spring on my Sniper but never thought of it till you mentioned the throttle return spring. That spring really helps to keep the throttle plates closed. I found that coil spring on the throttle cable isnt enough to keep the throttle closed. I'm not sure what plastic piece you mean. My Edelbrock has a tab below the throttle shaft and I put a spring from that back to the throttle bracket. It works as the idle sure dropped. Apparently I wasn't getting a consistent return.

You did like I was thinking didnt you? Source a late 80`s F-Super Duty hydraboost? I wont do the Hydratech, those aftermarket units are insanely priced when one can buy a late 80s F-Super Duty hydraboost reman for under $300 on rock auto and as far as I can tell should bolt right in and fit the brake pedal without any changes. Jein. Mine has a hydroboost and master cylinder out of an 1995 F450 and a 1995 E-350 Saginaw pump. Good fit with the 1995 D60 front axle. Combo stops on a dime and gives change.

You need to learn how to post your pics here so we can see them. Anyway, I put them below. The first one is the best of the three as it is the certification label and characters 5 - 7 of the VIN tells us that it is an E30. From that and the fact that you said it wasn't a Cali spec, it looks to me like it is calibration code 3-97J-R11, which is calibration parts list #390. And, here's what calibration parts list #390 has to say:

John - Thanks! I may have to do that one of these days.

Rick - Yes, you can turn email notifications off or get a daily rollup. However, it is a bit tricky as you need to find out the "level" to which you've subscribed. In other words, you may have subscribed to the top level, meaning the whole of the Bullnose Forum. Or you may have subscribed to a lower level, like one of the folders such as New Members Start Here. And each of those can be subscribed to, or unsubscribed from, individually. I've subscribed to the top level, meaning the whole of the Bullnose Forum, and the way to adjust that is to go to that level, click Options, then click the Edit on the Your Subscription line, like shown below. Does that help?

I second that recommendation. I hated the rusty, leaky cast iron master cylinder, but love the plastic/aluminum one. No leaks, I can see how much fluid I have, and I have a home-made cap that allows me to put air pressure on it to bleed the brakes easily. Another thing I did is to put a hydroboost booster on. Runs off the power steering pump and really helps get the brakes to work NOW. Makes the brakes seem very modern.

Boy do I have a story about shipping to Canada...lol. I inquired about some very specific Bullnose parts from a company in the US. The "kit" is $39 bucks, but they have a $100 minimum purchase for international shipments, and they only ship UPS expedited priority, which would likely be another $50 bucks...lol. So I asked...maybe a dumb question, but sometimes retailers refer to international as outside of North America. Anyway, the guy replied and gave me a little bit of his mind about how much of a hassle it is to ship to Canada, and that it wasn't really worth all of the troubles. Ha! Anyway, no big deal...I know why some companies don't do it, but at least this guy was honest about it...lol. He directed me to a Canadian distributor to try, which I will. No big deal. Anyway...that's not why I'm here! About a month ago, I picked up some used 15x10 ProComp wheels for a good price. I have been watching the local classifieds literally for months for a decent-ish set of used 31" AT tires, and I was finally able to grab them yesterday, and got them put on the rims today. They're a bit weather cracked, but they were cheap and will be just fine for as far as this truck will travel within the next decade...lol. I will put them on the truck soon, but I'm a bit limited at the moment with my lifting, so I was only able to mock them up this evening when I dropped them off at the shop. Getting a bit ahead of myself here, I know...but finding a cheap set of 31" AT's and cheap 15x10's was sort of a side project as I knew they were going to take some time to find. Anyway, I have them now and they will motivate me to get the truck finished quicker (maybe, lol). I think they look good, Cory! I like them. And I like that they are wide.

Rob - That's a bummer! I don't know if the pan doesn't need to come off to change the timing cover on a 300. It doesn't on the V8's, I just don't about the six.

Rob - Did you try passing vacuum through the sensor both ways? I've not played with those much but do remember the sensor I tried working one way but not the other. As for the temperature for the sensor, I've thought that 105 would be best. I say that because you want your carb to "see" a constant temperature all year long, and I know that in the summer 105 would be optimistic.

That part is a Support (Front Carpet). Yeah, intuitive, right? I put the info about it on a little-used page at Documentation/Interior/Carpet. But here are the part numbers: Note that it says "80/85", which suggests the '86 trucks didn't get them. And the Illustration section follows right along with that saying "80/85". So, anyone with an '86 that has carpet? Do you have one of those?

I think that's a good idea, Scott. But I think each post should have a description of what the use is of the tire. IOW, just saying "I'm really happy with my tires" isn't nearly as helpful as saying "My tires do a good job in highway use" or "My tires are excellent in the snow", or somesuch. For instance, so far I can't recommend these Coopers for off-road use, but lets say they do a good job for that. Then I could say "I'd give them a B for off-road and a C for on-road. They don't follow ruts on the highway, but have quite a bit of noise to them."

Bob - Tire tech if rapidly evolving. I try to read up on tires from time to time and find the various brands leapfrogging each other. But one of the problems I've had is finding the right compromise in tires. And for Big Blue that's key since there will be many on-road miles to get to where the off-roading starts. So I need a tire that is pretty good in both uses, and that's hard to find. One of the problems is finding people or places that rate tires for my intended uses. If I read the offroading or overlanding magazines I get input on how well a tire works for off-road use but on on-road. So I appreciate your input.