Gary Lewis

From what little I've read, and that's not much, it varies by location. Some of the guys on here have said that their location doesn't require a full smog test. But most have said theirs does. So I agree - check out the regs.

Yes, welcome! Glad you joined! Jim has given you some good advice on troubleshooting so I'll wait to see what you find. But you probably ought to start a thread in the main section on the troubleshooting as you'll get more help there than here in the New Members section. An '85 motorhome is cool! I want to see pics! As for the "odd state of Oregon", what's odd about it? We've noted that there are some of the best preserved trucks out there due to the lack of salt on the roads and lower UV levels. But where are you? I ask because we have a map (Bullnose Forum/Member's Map in the menu) and we could add you if we had a city or zip.

Yes, that looks good! Well done!

Yes! Thanks to all who have served! We owe you a debt we cannot pay.

Jim - The bracket is 4 3/4" wide and 2 1/4" front/rear. But why do you ask? On the epoxy vs screws, yes it would do away with any exposed fasteners. But once it is done it is done, there's no going back. However, if I use screws I could mount something else there later if I wanted to. And I'd have some room for adjusting things. Remember that I have to shim the radio up to get it to come through the middle of the face. So I'm thinking I'll be using some aluminum and will probably make it longer fore/aft than the bracket so it'll provide more rigidity to the plastic. But the plastic is ~.093" so it is plenty rigid already. I could easily powder coat the screws, and probably will the bracket where I cut it, so they could be black and unobtrusive. Scott - I could use the flanged button head screw style on the right but match the size of the screws that hold the L-shaped piece to the Highliner, shown on the left. McMaster Carr has the flanged button head screws from M3 x .5 up and from 4-40 up, so all I have to do is to figure out what those screws are and order the right size screws & nuts. And I don't think the fancy vinyl washer is needed if using the flanged head.

Actually, I think four 1/4-20 screws is overkill. Maybe it should look like this:

Well guys, thanks for the responses. You got me looking more closely and I found something interesting. Here's a closeup of the speaker. Yup, the outside row of holes are closed off. And that changes things. The distance across the open holes is 1.6", which will leave a lot more of the bracket than I thought it would. In fact, this pic attempts to show where the limits of the hole would be to clear the speaker holes. And that leaves more of the .062" metal of the bracket than I expected. So I'm thinking I'll use Jim's hole saw idea and put a 1.5" hole there. Then stuff a piece of foam between the radio and the bracket and but it out to the same dimension so there's little chance of the sound bouncing around. Scott - I like the idea of button-head screws, and I have plenty of them in stainless 1/4-20. So I could put them where indicated and put nuts on top. (Remember this is a bottom view, meaning what the L-shaped piece will go up against. But I got lost in your suggestion on the pattern. Are you suggesting a rectangular pattern instead of the round pattern of the radio? That would be easier as I can set it up on the mill and move the X and Y in whatever increments. And it won't really matter if some of the holes are covered by the black bracket as you won't be able to tell. Right?

Nice, but you need two. And then you the kick panels themselves. That would run into money at that rate.

Ok, here's the detail on the radio mounting question. I'd planned to mount the radio to the L-shaped piece, but I've now realized that doing so will create a less-than-desirable path for the sound. The issue is that the mounting bracket is the same width as the speaker and there's only a 1/4" gap between the speaker and the bracket. It looks to me like there are these options, but I'd like to get your thoughts on what others I'm missing and which you like. And pictures are below to help your understanding. Cut The Bracket In Half: I could cut the bracket so it doesn't overlap the speaker and perforate the plastic. But that means that there will only be a small "foot" of the bracket left to attach to the L-shaped piece and it won't be nearly as strong as if it has a piece going all the way across. Perforate The Bracket: I could perforate the bracket which would let the sound through but still leave a cross piece front and rear. However, the holes probably can't be uniform given the raised places on the bracket, and the holes on the bracket have to match those in the L-shaped piece as the bracket will be flat against it. So the holes in the L-shaped piece can't be uniform. Mount The Radio To The Top: I could just mount the bracket, and therefore the radio, to the main part of the Highliner and I think the nose would still poke through the face of the L-shaped piece. I could perforate the L-shaped piece right below the radio and glue a piece of foam to it with a hole cut in the foam the same size as the speaker. That way the sound would come straight down through the perforations and be as clear as possible. What options am I missing? Here's the speaker: Here's the radio with the bracket on covering the speaker: Here's the space between the bracket and the speaker, which is about 1/4":

Yep, they'll fit. The MPC says: 80/86 F100/350 & U150 (RH) E0TZ 1021408-A (LH) E0TZ 1021409-A

Remind them that the website doesn’t work so you should get the discount over the phone.

I have more questions regarding the installation of the GMRS radio, but will need to get some pics to make the questions make sense. So that will come later. But for now, I ordered the Coverlay dash cover on Saturday morning from LMC. Today I got an email from them that says it is being shipped, and then I clicked on the "Tracking" link to find this. Really? FedEx doesn't have it yet but I'll have it today? But I think "The delivery date may be updated" bit is probably going to kick in.

Yes. We have some info about it on the page at Documentation/Driveline/Brakes and then the Master Cylinders & Boosters tab and then the Hydroboost Upgrade tab. There are some pics of my installation here.

$19K????

Yes, black.

Welcome, Bill! Glad you joined. Where in SC? I ask because we have a map (Bullnose Forum/Member's Map in the menu) and we could put you on it if we had a city. Nice truck. That's the '85 given the side moulding. Where's the 81's pic?

Brian - This info should be in the thread on Classic Consoles. Is it ok if I move it there?

Brian - Is your the full length Cruiser? The shift lever is why I had been planning to go with a Shorty Cruiser.

Thanks, Scott. That's actually my vote as well. Turns out that the L-shaped piece doesn't have a 90 degree angle where the bottom meets the "face". So I'm going to have to mill an angled shim to align the radio to the face. But I need the shim anyway in order to get the radio up to the center of the face, so that's not much of a problem.

I got no call nor email from them today in spite of emailing them last night with the problems we are having. And the web site is still up the spout.

It is a nice set. And if the radio doesn't attach to the bezel the large-head screws would probably hold it.

The Highliner came in today. In looking over how to install the Midland GMRS radio I've come up with two possibilities and would like your opinions: Open: I could just mount the radio's bracket to the Highliner and let the radio sit out in the open, as shown below. But the little radio looks ..... lost in that big space. And the hole in the Highliner, visible on the right/back of the radio, would require a grommet - although even then the wires would be obvious. Finished: It wouldn't be difficult to attach the mount to the L-shaped piece that closes off the pocket and mill a hole in the face of it, through which the radio would poke. The radio is a nice rectangle so it would be easy to cut the hole. And I would drill holes in the bottom of the L-shaped piece for the sound from the speaker to pass through. Then just connect the power and antenna wires and attach the L-shaped piece to the Highliner.

Yes, the brakes are easy to modulate. I'd put them in the same league as those in Blue, my 2015 F150.

Yes, I borrowed the gun. It worked well, but the adhesive is pricey and the gun is expensive.

Sure sorry to see that you have cancer. That's awful! Sure hope the treatments and the surgery solve the problem. As for the brakes, I'll second the hydroboost suggestion. Big Blue has never stopped this well. You don't push on the brake pedal unless you want action NOW!