Gary Lewis

Those things are cool! Not sure it is worth $14.5k, but it sure is nice.

Good question! Also, I've wondered what determined whether the truck got it or not. Does your truck have any wiring there besides the seat belt? Gary - Crazy how some tires definitely 'sing' more than others. More incentive to drive the wheels off it . With the wind noise can you narrow down where it's coming from? Does it sound like it's coming into the cab or just general exterior 'pushing a wall down the road' sound? Your door panels are still off, right? I know you mentioned insulating them and picked up new retainers but couldn't recall if you temporarily installed them or not. Even with the exterior soundproofing, having the interior panels on will make a difference. It gives you another insulating air pocket plus I could see those drains at the bottom causing some whistling under the right conditions. I did put the old door panels on for the trip, but they don't have any insulation in them as it has been stripped out. And, they have the cutout for the 6x9 speakers on the rear. So the new door panels will make a difference as they'll have insulation in them and no gaping hole. But I don't have any of the other interior trim on. And I'll probably put insulation on or behind some of it, so that will help a bit as well. Nor do I have the Highliner yet, so there's no headliner, although I do have a layer of sound deadening on the roof. And I may add more sound deadening and certainly insulation as I install the Highliner, but I need to see how much I can get away with. However, Janey and I agree that the wind noise was at the window level, not lower door as they seemed very quiet. And the air wasn't coming in. It was just that we were pushing a square brick through the air at 70 MPH at the same time Mother Nature was pushing the air north at 20 - 30 MPH. And that made for a lot of noise. But even when we were going north with the wind there was still a lot of noise. Tire noise. In fact, as you come to a stop you can not only hear the tires but you can feel them - right down to 0 MPH. So perhaps I will reduce the noise somewhat when I add the trim panels. But I think it is the nature of the beast. In any event, it is far better than it used to be, so we believe we can drive the thing 7 hours/420 miles each day for two days to get to Ouray and still be able to function on the 3rd day.

If it ran better with the vacuum "leaks" then rotate the housing one notch leaner. That will open the choke plate up just a little bit, adding more air. But, that will cause the fast idle to come off a bit earlier. However, that is a different adjustment, so let's get the choke right first.

Rob - I don’t want to jinx it, but the gauge is setting on 1/4 tank. My records show that when I put 5 gallons in that tank when it was empty it read 1/4. That would mean 11 gallons used from a 16 gallon tank. And the math says that would be 14.5 MPG for 160 miles. I seriously doubt that! Especially since I wound it up over 3000 several times - and found a vibration!

Rob - Glad you commented about the wind deflectors. Guess I'll leave them on. As for buttoning Big Blue up, here's what I've done so far: New door weather stripping New window runs New window scrapers New additional weather stripping on the tops of the doors Two layers of sound deadening in the doors, and one layer on the roof, floor, and the back wall One layer of foam insulation on the floor and back wall What I have left to do is to put insulation in the door panels, but not until I paint them. But I don't know that I'm going to put carpet on the back wall as I'm getting a storage unit to go back there and I don't know if there's enough room to do that. But we shall see. As for the Highliner, I have some really nice Alpine 4" speakers that will go on the driver's side, but I'll use the "cheap ones" on the passenger's side. And they'll be on the rear channel so I can balance things out to my taste/hearing.

Yes, I saw that you took Brutus out and that you had a brake problem but have fixed it. Good job! And yes, Big Blue is noisy. But the noises seem to be, in decreasing order: tires; wind; exhaust; engine. Not much I'm going to do about the tires, and they aren't all the noisy compared to some trucks you see going down the highway with the tires screaming. Doubt there's much to be done about the wind noise as BB has all new weather stripping and window seals. And the exhaust is brand new, so I'll stay away from 1850 RPM, which is ~65 MPH, as that's where it is most noticeable. As for the engine, its noise pales by comparison. It is what it is, and I don't see the need to try to overpower the sound of the truck with music as we'd never be able to really hear the details of the music, and to me that's what it is all about. To put on Jennifer Warnes' Famous Blue Raincoat and "see" her standing on the hood, and hear that sax wailing. That is "listening"!

Well done! That's a good approach and it should be quite strong.

Did somebody put those gears in the 8.8? It wouldn't have come from Ford with those. Is it an off-road truck? I assumed that was a typo. But maybe not?

Many of those crossmembers are bent as they look like a good place to hook a chain - but aren't. They'll bend almost for sure. George - Glad it isn't anything more serious. As for what I did with, not to, my truck today, I drove it 160 miles. And it made it on one 16 gallon tank of gas with some left over. Things are looking up!

Well, as reported in Big Blue's Transformation thread, I think I'm going to have to be satisfied with the head unit and speakers I have, including the to-be speakers in the Highliner. I say that because today's test proved that Big Blue is NOISY! And while I can turn the volume up so you can hear the music, the combined noise level is just too much. So at least for now I'm going to say "it is what it is" and work on other things. Maybe down the road I'll wear these tires out and get some that aren't so noisy - but still have good offroad traction. And maybe I'll discover that the wind deflectors are making a lot of the wind noise and will remove them, but I doubt it. But for now the truck is noisy and I don't see a way around that.

Missed that. Ok, you know what you are facing. Go for it!

That's almost a deal breaker because you don't know what you are going to find when you go through the hoops on the title. I did it in OK for a '50 Chevy pickup and got lucky. The state couldn't find the title so issued a new one. But, had they found it I'd have had to paid any back taxes, plus interest, on the truck and I'm pretty sure taxes hadn't been paid in decades. The whole thing cost me something like $250 as you have to hire a service that does what is called Title 42, but it could have cost far more if they'd found problems.

YES! Get an infrared thermometer and check the temp at the thermometer housing. I doubt you have a problem. I have mechanical aftermarket gauges on Big Blue with a brand new engine, water pump, hoses and brand new aluminum 4-core radiator - with new coolant to boot. And with a new 195 degree 'stat my temp varies from 200 to 205. In addition I've put a very accurate voltage regulator in place of the original ICVR, which means my factory temp gauge is very stable. I just walked in from a 160 mile drive and the factory temp gauge was glued on the M of NORMAL for the whole trip. But if I wanted it on R or A that would be easily done by lowering or raising the voltage on the regulator - although that would also change the oil pressure and fuel level gauges. Basically I'm saying is that the factory gauges are decent with a good ICVR powering them. But even then they are approximate. If you want precision get a mechanical aftermarket gauge. Mechanical because most of them have a 270 degree sweep and you can read them pretty easily.

Jim - The door illustration doesn't show them, at least not that I can find. Maybe I should add a little picture of one of them and use that as a hyperlink? That would work. As for Big Blue, we took him on a 160 mile trip to NE OK today. This was a shakedown run for the cooling system, and it did just fine. And, it was also to see what all leaks I have that need to be corrected. I have "diapers" around several things and hope to check things out tomorrow to see what leaked. Also, it was a test of the stereo system. And, what we learned is that it is adequate. It doesn't seem to have much bass at all, but as it turns out there's so much noise in the cab that it takes a lot of volume on the music to be able to hear it, regardless of how "accurate" it is. This was demonstrated when I turned the volume up enough to enjoy the music while doing 65 MPH, and when we we slowed down we were surprised at how low the music was. And the noise isn't anything that can be easily reduced. It is tire noise, wind noise, and at certain speeds, exhaust noise. The tires are a major contributor, so there's not anything that can be done about that w/o replacing them, and that's not going to happen for many thousands of mile. And the wind noise is probably due to the squareness of the vehicle, although Big Blue does have "wind deflectors", like shown below, and it is possible they create some noise. Does anyone know? But given the noise I don't think I want to invest anything more at the moment in the stereo system. So I think I'll move on to other things. Like fixing the leaks. And tuning the carb. And the speedometer cable that continues to cause the speedo to bounce and the speed control to waiver. And installing the MeterMatch. And, painting and installing all the trim. And installing the new LRC regulator that Jim sent so the belt doesn't squeal on startup. And installing the inverter. And, installing the control to the OX locker. And, and, and.... Speaking of the carb, Bill was right - as the engine is breaking in the AFR is going leaner. It now cruises in the mid 15's and doesn't have much throttle response until the vacuum drops and the needles pop up. So once the changes appear to be over I need to address that.

Bill - I'm going to use heavy contractor's bags as well. I find that the black bags hold up a lot better to UV than clear plastic does, just like black vs white/natural zip ties. And you wouldn't think there's much UV in a door, but I suspect it comes down the glass and goes everywhere. Anyway, glad you found that info useful. Would be nice if we could come up with a neat way to catalog such info. Like those "christmas trees". I did a lot of searching but couldn't come up with what I thought the right ones were for the longest time. Any suggestions on how to catalog?

Go get the radios!

George - Do you have Paypal? If so, email me your Paypal account number and I'll pre-pay you $60 for Dad's radio.

I noticed those things as well, Jim. The heads are HEAVY and everyone knows it. Can you imagine what his foot would have looked like if the corner of the head had hit it? But you could see that coming when he pried it off from the water port. And that's about the time I started fast forwarding to find the dyno run. As for the points, I'd fast forwarded over them and when they put the Pertronix in I had to go back and find out why when I saw them dropping the module in during my fast forwarding. But I missed the connection, or disconnection, of points in 1979. Then they "decoded" the #, but didn't bother to say that the base # was missing. And AB is the second revision? What happened to B, and C, and D, and ...... Looks like maybe the 27th revision to me. So, now that you point those things out I see we were fed a bunch of advertising.

You must miss her! I spent 3 months in London decades ago and the wife and kids didn't get to come. It was LONELY! But I had London and parts of England to explore, so I kept busy so I didn't have time to remember. I'm sure the Bronco was something like that for you. But don't tell her. Have a safe journey. Everything I read says it is getting worse in Europe just like it is here, so please be careful. And I look forward to picking this conversation up in the spring.

Sorry - You hit a sore spot. Eastwood was my go-to place when we lived in PA as they were only 20 miles away. Then when they moved I'd still go up there even though they were twice as far. Then I moved and still bought from them, but their shipping was very slow. Then came Amazon and quick delivery, meaning it went out the door quickly and appeared a couple of days later. And now I get an Amazon delivery sometimes in 12 hours and usually in 18 hours. But Eastwood is still slow, even if you buy through Amazon, and in spite of their statement online and in their advertising a year or so ago of turning their shipping issue around. And in spite of a telephone call I had with them wherein they vowed to change. But you are right, the Eastwood strip caulk is probably 3M's strip calk. Eastwood tells you how many feet of caulk you get, and 3M tells you how heavy the box is - almost like Eastwood doesn't want you to be able to compare. But Eastwood doesn't make anything, so someone makes it for them and potentially it is 3M. And everything I've read says that theirs and 3M's is STICKY! And reusable. And excellent for holding vapor barriers down, which is one of the next steps on the truck.

Yes, always the way. But this way you'll have a plan and can hit it quickly when you get home.

I liked it as well. It put out about what my 460 is supposed to put out, which is a lot of power.

It looks good, Danny. And well worth the price if it drives. The manual transmission is a big plus in my book.

I think you'll be happy with a remanufactured engine. However, in doing so you lose the option of spec'ing the engine to meet your wants and plans. Which takes me to the EFI heads. I do not know much about the 300's, but I have read a bit about heart-shaped heads for various engines. This article from On All Cylinders is an interesting read, and says “Heart-shaped chambers direct incoming fuel into the cylinder and helps with cylinder filling...” So that's good. But, you need to pair the heads with the pistons and the cylinder block. Heads have spec's on the volume of the combustion chambers, and you need to make sure that the pistons in the engine, as well as the deck height of the block, when combined with the volume of the heads will give the compression ratio you want. I don't know what the combustion chamber size is of the EFI heads, nor what the pistons' dish is. Or even anything about the block of a 300. But those are the things you need to consider. So when you order the engine you need to make sure that it will come with the right setup to go with the heads you will eventually install. However, many remanufacturers don't provide many spec's. Perhaps that isn't an issue with the 300 components, but I don't know that. So I'd do my research were I you.

Bob - I fully understand about carrying those rotors. Big Blue's are probably about the same - HEAVY! Bill - Looking excellent! Hope you get the second color on tomorrow. And in the background, that's one of the vans with the midship engine?