Gary Lewis

The needle is VERY delicate, so if it is dragging, or hitting a spider, that could be the problem. How hot did your 10 ohm resistor get? The wattage formula is IxIxR, and it should be pulling .5A, so it is .5 x .5 x 10 = 2.5 watts.

Trucks with that valve still have one hose at the rear. But I'm suggesting that if you need to replace that one you'll probably need to replace the two up front. They aren't expensive, so while the brake system is apart fix it right. And you are correct, the braking system is crucial.

Yes, 2020 has been really rough on a whole lot of people. Glad you are in an industry that was not only insulated but in demand. And yes, Amazon's services are certainly IN DEMAND around our house. We go nowhere shopping, and it is a rare day that we don't get a delivery from some on-line service, and that is 9 out of 10 times from Amazon. So being in an industry that is supporting Amazon is the place to be right now. As for the saw mill, with 24 acres of trees you will have a LOT of wood to mill. You got good experience where you are, so are now in a good position to know how to do it really well. It is going to be FUN!

Nice truck. The 79's were much beefier than the 80's.

Congrat's! You are really making progress. But I'm with George - put screen under the cowl. Or go with an '87 and later polka dot cowl. They have holes rather than slots so far less will get through.

Jim - I agree that the gauge is probably reading too cool. But the gauges aren't linear. I remember seeing somewhere that a 22 ohm resistor is supposed to put them at the midpoint, but I couldn't find that to quote last night so quoted the end point resistors. George - The M-blocks and Clevelands have a different bypass system than the rest of Ford's V8's, as described in Documentation/Engines/351 & 400 and then the Thermostats tab. Most people put the wrong 'stat in them, which makes them overheat more easily than they should. But I've not heard people say they are cold-blooded. That's interesting.

I'm not at all advocating the replacement of that valve if it is working. And I fully agree that I'd replace the hoses while in there. I've seen way too many of them in really poor shape. Ditto wheel cylinders. If you have the brake system apart so you are going to have to bleed it, and if you have the brake drums off, that's the time.

Thanks, Dane! Jim - I didn't trial fit it first. This is my third Coverlay cover and there wasn't a problem with the first two at all, so I didn't see a reason to do so. But something should have clicked when I discovered how much more of the dash pad it covers. It appears to be held just slightly too far aft for it to drop down inside the dash on the passenger's side where the screws come through to secure it. And that may be due to the added coverage on the front side pushing it to the rear. But I was out of time and didn't explore why, nor if the dash will pull out a bit and let it drop. I'll check it out this afternoon when I go back out and let you know.

He might have, Bill. He seems to have touched a whole lot of things on this truck, and since the rear springs have been replaced it stands to reason he played with that valve. But Big Blue will STOP now. I've sat him down quickly several time to make sure the brake system is working well, and it certainly is. Night and day difference, and while some of that is due to the hydroboost, that doesn't change the proportioning, which is just right.

Yes, I noticed similar things on Big Blue. For instance the existing coat hook has two screw holes under it - one that looks like it was put there when the cab was made, which still has paint in it, and one below it that was created when they assembled the truck. And the plastic blocks into which the trim screws go for the B-pillar trim. The chances of lining up with the previous hole are slim and none, especially if the block fell off and you have to replace it, so you'll have multiple holes in the blocks.

That's COOL! Or, maybe I should say it looks like it WILL cool? Either way, that's a serious piece.

There are several ways to test the gauge. One is to ground the r/w wire to the engine block and if the rest of the circuitry and the gauge are good the gauge will go to full scale over a period of a few seconds. Another way is to swap the r/w coolant temp wire with the w/r oil pressure wire. The gauges and senders have the same properties so the gauges should read the same, meaning the oil pressure should show what the temp gauge has been showing, and vice versa. And if you really want to test it further you can replace the sending unit with a 10 ohm resistor and the gauge should read on the full scale mark, and with a 73 ohm resistor and it should read on the mark below cold.

Frank - Thanks. Shaun - That makes sense. And, btw, screws are HIGHLY preferable to those !@#$%^&* clips! That trim above the rear window took an hour to get on today. What a pain! But if there'd been screw holes I'd just have inserted one of the awls I was using to align things in one hole, the other in another, and run a screw in the others. Done and dusted!

Good question, Scott. Looks like it changed in '83. But, did it go back in '87? If not, why is the E7 different and why is it used on the 80 - 82 trucks and not the E3? http://www.garysgaragemahal.com/uploads/6/5/8/7/65879365/thinking-26_orig.jpg

Yes, congrat's all 'round!

Big Blue had that valve, but it was apparently stuck giving very little brake to the rear as I never had good brakes and could slide the front and never the rear. In fact, with my car hauler trailer attached but the brakes on it disconnected I was almost pushed through an intersection with the front tires locked and no sound from the rear. And my trailer's tongue weight is LOTS, so there was plenty of weight on the rear. Now, after removing that valve, I have good brakes.

Thanks, guys! Jim - I don't think a belt sander will be needed, but I'm not even sure what the problem is yet. Didn't spend much time checking, but will tomorrow. And I think you are right, you said Mission Control. On the coat hook, I've started a new thread to try and figure out when it changed.

I discovered today that the coat hook on Dad's truck was behind the driver and the one on Big Blue is behind the passenger, as you can see in the pic below. So, I wonder when it changed. Please chime in with where yours is and what year your truck is.

You mean the core support brackets on the frame? They ALWAYS rust out...sometimes to the point where the mount falls right through the bracket. I'm not sure what you could do with them tbh. There is something about them that sucks the salt in between the rubber and the steel, and then they just sit there and rust where you can't see it. I forgot to tell you guys. I have a little Albee gas cylinder for my welder. They're just little tanks...2ft tall, I think about 2.5 gal capacity. I bought the tank several years ago, so that I didn't have to deal with a tank contract. Anyway, I finally ran out a few weeks ago and I took it in to exchange it. The tank was blue, and the guy gave me a green tank. I didn't argue with the guy, but stated that I thought I should have a blue tank. He said that the green was the same stuff. A week or so later, I go to weld my frame horns on, and the welder is just working like shit. Zapping and splattering, I just could not get a nice steady arc at all. Turns out it was that stupid green tank. I called Air Liquide (main supplier around here) and they said the green tanks are straight Argon for welding aluminum, and the blue tanks are Argon mix (w/CO2) for Mig welding steel. The guy said "Oh you would have had a helluva time trying to weld with that green tank". LOL. Needless to say, I exchanged it. Haven't tried again since, but I'm sure its fine now. Looking good, Cory! A little bit at a time and one day you'll be able to drive it. At least it worked for me, although it took a long time. As for the core support mounts, that's a poor design for sure! I POR-15'd mine, so hopefully they'll hold up. EDIT: Forgot the welding tank. I've not tried straight Argon, but everything I've read and been told says it won't work at all for steel. Welder Scott explained how the different gases change the heat, but we didn't discuss straight Argon.

Got the interior together today, meaning the kick panels, the A & B-pillar trim, the thresholds, the trim that holds the the headliner in, and the sun visors and their inboard clips. It all went in well save for the driver's sun visor, which appears to have not gone into the recess for the spring and the spring got depressed and the visor isn't tight like it should be. But I'll take it back off and figure out what the problem is. And I laid the dash pad/cover in so I could take pics. But it didn't fit in easily and it feels like the cover is hitting the windshield and holding the whole thing to the rear such that it doesn't want to sit down over the rear edge of the dash. So I'll have to check that out tomorrow, and it can't be a big problem. Speaking of tomorrow, I have some wires to run up to the radio area for the switches, and then I can install the dash pad/cover. Hope to get all of that done tomorrow or Monday as Janey and I want to go on a trip Monday or Tuesday and take Big Blue. Here are a couple of shots of the interior: Last, I laid Dad's trim that goes above the rear window next to Big Blue's trim so I could get the retainer clips in the right places. Notice anything?

Yes, looking forward to the report. And, hopefully, no calls for help!

Good luck!

At this point I believe I have everything on order for the power box as the relay was ordered earlier and I just ordered these things: Project Box: This is a 9.8 x 3.1 x 2.8 inch box, which will fit above the inverter nicely, and should easily hold the relay, AC outlet, DC fuse, and power ports Power Port: Amazon is having a Black Friday sale on these, and I got two of them for $11/ea instead of $20/ea. They have one QC 3.0 dual USB charger and one DC power port each, so I think I'll use one of the USB chargers and the two power ports behind the seat and put the 2nd USB charger in the ash tray. Fuse Holder: I'll use one of these ATC fuse holders to protect the DC stuff since I'll be taking power from the inverter's feed that will be fused at 150 amps. And, speaking of that, the megafuse holders and a 150 amp fuse are on order. So when all of that comes in it'll be project time! So I need to get the interior together so I can move onto the electrical project.

Yes, that is awesome! Glad it is working out so well.

I got almost enough done today to let me put the interior together save for the stuff behind the seat. The first thing I did was to run a wire from the radio area down the passenger's side kick panel and under the threshold to the caddy area. That wire will be to pull the compressor's relay in, controlled by a switch in Control Central, as Jim called it. In addition I bent an opening in the passenger's side end of the add-on step to match the opening in the other end. This opening will let the ground cable and the compressor relay's trigger wire to pass through, although in the pic below it is the hot wire going through the opening just to show how it'll work. Then I glued some tie points to the cab so I can secure the power wire as it runs across under the step. They are the four white things on the vertical bit right behind the wires. And the wire in the loom is the compressor relay's trigger wire. And I drilled a hole in the back of the passenger's side cab corner for the compressor's power cord to go through. The bare metal in the hole has been painted and a grommet inserted, as you can see on the left side. And on the right side you can see it from under the bed, where you'll notice a grommet in the elongated hole in the bed. I'll come out of the cab, make a loop down, then go through the grommet in the bed and the up through another grommet in the bed and into the tool box where the compressor will be housed. With these things being done I can tie the wires down under the step, install it, and then start installing the trim. Finally!