Gary Lewis

Good call Gary! That is likely what it is. I think I did see that, but kinda cruised past it. With a sequence number of only 0649, this truck was probably built in the first week or so of 1980 MY production at the Canadian plant. That is of course if the sequence numbers are specific to the plants, which I assume they are? Yes, I'm very sure the "numerical sequence of assembly" is per plant.

So I was finally able to confirm the paint codes on this old truck, and they DO match the pictures of that Bronco I posted earlier. I'm kind of excited, because the truck does not have a certification label...but I did find this below tag in the paperwork that came with the truck, and it shows the 3B3D which would be the two tone blue paint code. Interesting to note that this truck was an early build at the Canadian truck plant, with a sequence number of only 0649. One thing I do not have is a build date for the truck. The "In Service" date is shown as August 1980, but there is a receipt in the paperwork from where the original Ford/Merc dealer sent the truck out for a Permashine treatment in October of 1979. So they obviously had the truck pretty early, and it obviously sat on the lot for a long time...almost 10 months. Gary or anybody else want to take a stab at what the "3" on the data tag indicates? I've confirmed everything else on there, but the 3 has me puzzled. Anyway, the truck was originally a 302 with a Warner T-18 4spd and 3.50 limited slip diff. I might have to spring for a Marti report on this one to figure out some of the finer details...not that it matters much, but I am curious. Cool! The F140 says it is a 1980 F150 4wd w/a 5600 lb GVWR. And I think the "3" says it is a regular cab w/flareside pickup box, as shown below from the page at Documentation/Specifications/Body Codes.

Thanks, Dane. But the more I read the more I think Bob is right - the shift is on from CB to GMRS/FRS. I've told Google to limit the responses to my searches to things written in the last year, and that has made a big difference in what I've found. Here are a couple: Gladiator Forum: Dated January 2020, this guy says "CB radio is dead. Stop installing them and get a VHF/UHF instead!!!" Yes, it is a forum quite like ours, but there is a lot of good discussion. OCD Offroad: Dated Feb 2020, this guy says "My own personal opinion, if you are not a Ham Radio operator or no one you are wheeling with is a Ham, CB is really the way to go." But then later he says "While a CB radio setup will get you the best distance and has trended as the most popular solution for many decades, many people are moving to GMRS for their offroad vehicles." There are more, but it seems to come down to the group you wheel with. In other words, if you go with a crew that currently has CB radios then that's what you need. But if you go with people who have either GMRS or FRS radios then that's the way to go. And I'm pretty sure my brother has GMRS handhelds. (We tried CB handhelds decades ago and they were very poor.) I'm planning to call him today to discuss this, and other things, and will find out. But there does appear to be a shift on away from CB to GMRS/FRS. Jeep Jamboree has driven a stake in the ground, and maybe through the heart of CB, by saying in 2021 it'll be GMRS/FRS. That may be the first tangible sign of the shift, but all I've read says it is on. So, I'm not ready to buy a CB. I'll do more research and investigation, and I welcome everyone's input as well. But from what I can see there are several significant advantages to GMRS/FRS. First, with the higher frequency of GMRS/FRS (462 Mhz vs 27 Mhz for CB), the antennas are much shorter. Second, the handhelds are ubiquitous, and are available in many big box stores, outdoor stores, etc. And, it appears the manufacturers are placing their R&D $'s on the new systems, so that's where the innovations will be. Thoughts? Comments?

Great! Well done! But what does "puh" mean"

There are impacts and then there are IMPACTS. My 3/8" Ridgid generates ~40 lb-ft with a fully-charged battery, and that's what I use on an alternator's bolt for tightening. I put on a leather glove and hold the pulley and hit the nut with the impact. But sometimes to remove the nut I need to use the 1/2" Ridgid, which supposedly can generate up to 300 lb-ft. It doesn't take that much, but a quick hit with it brings the nut right off.

That's an excellent offer! I certainly hope you can get this thing going.

Excellent!

I've never seen a sender like that. That's cool. Does it have a number on it? Maybe I can crossref. As for Chanute, when Jim called the other day he asked about that truck but I said I've not seen anything about it lately. It needs some LUV!

Well, this article, MICROMOBILE®: THE NEW STANDARD IN OFF-ROAD COMMUNICATION, is interesting! In it is the statement: So it does look like there's a shift on! Got to read more about this. Thanks!

Bob - I've been reading about that. On the page Offroad Communications 101, published in March, seems to say that CB is currently the go-to communications method. But Family Radio Systems, FRS, seems to be short range. So are you seeing the demise of CB? The rise of FSR?

Ok, a little bird told me that a highliner will appear some time around Christmas! So now I want to discuss CB's a bit more. Rob - One of the questions that I have is how large the space is in the Highliner for a CB? Do you know? I'm trying to understand which CB's will fit. Dane - Tell me more about the President Bill. What would you change about it? What about the speaker - you said earlier you'd go with an external speaker. But it has a bottom speaker and if I drill the lower piece of the Highliner to let sound through, will that be good enough? Others to recommend? I've found a few review sites: RRD We Are CB RRD Fullsize CB's Lifewire Saferoad Carbibles Techsounded

Ok, thanks.

Those are doable things. You can do it! Once you seal the floor are you going to put some sound deadening down?

Good for Summit!

Jerry - Welcome! But you were asked to go to the New Members Start Here folder and introduce yourself. I understand that our joining process is not working well, but I ask you here to go there and give us an introduction. Why, because our guidelines are there and the hope is that by posting in NMSH you'll at least have a chance to read them. And since we hold people to them it is important that you read them.

You are right, having the tweeters in the doors won't hurt as I can easily disable them. As for the 4" speakers, they are shown below and have a very nice set of tweeters. So I need bass more than tweet.

Before our wayward friend says it, I'll say it: Progress is good! So, with the dash basically sorted, what is next? What is left?

I have every confidence in you and Nick. Take your time as I'm years away from being ready for being ready for it. As for the Polks, thanks for the suggestion. But they have a tweeter. So, basically all of them do?

I am really sorry to see this. But I do not know what else to suggest as I've not dealt with one of those systems. However, I hope others will have some ideas. For instance, it should be possible to get it going in the limp-home mode. But I don't know how to do that. Having said all that, if you do decide to sell please contact me via email. I need another project like another hole in my head, but I would love to have a Bronco.

Yes, I agree - we can, and should, all learn from it. You need belts and braces!

Yeah, I'm not finding a cap w/a thermometer save for the ones from Mr Junk, and I won't use their stuff. So I just ordered an AC Delco cap. And I finally got through to JBG - on the 11th call. They are out of stock on the Highliner but have another shipment coming in about a month. So since it is a Christmas present, that should work - if I can get Janey to push the button. Oh, and their price is $275 plus shipping where most of the others are $375 plus shipping. Maybe I can use the savings for a CB? Also, I did a lot of research on SEM products and got the paint, cleaner, and adhesion promoter on order from Vinyl Pro. The main research was on the SEM website via this document. But I had some questions so called the SEM tech support line and talked to Dave - twice. He really is helpful, and I learned several things: Part #'s: They put a 5th digit at the end of their 4-digit part number to indicate the size/type of the container. For instance, Sand Free is #3836, but if you get it in an aerosol can it'll be 38363, and the SEM Soap is 3936, and in the squeeze bottle it is 39362. Clear: There's no reason to use their clear coat, like 13023 Low Luster Clear, unless you just want to change the sheen of the Color Coat finish. The Color Coat has plenty of UV protection. But, if you want solvent protection you can use a catalyzed clear. Not 13023, but one with a catalyst. However, you don't want to use that on flexible plastic as it is hard. Plastic: Use Color Coat, but first clean the plastic with SEM Soap, applied with a gray scuff pad. Then clean again with 3835 Plastic & Leather Cleaner. Last, use 3836 Sand Free as an adhesion promoter and apply a light coat of Color Coat while the Sand Free is still wet, followed by light mist coats with 5 - 10 minutes between them. Metal: You can use Color Coat just fine on metal. If it doesn't have paint on it already you need to prime it. If it already has a paint coating then use SEM Soap with a gray scuff pad to both clean it and take the sheen off, and then follow that with 3835 Plastic & Leather Prep. Let it dry and paint. Lots of things to do!

I agree. Here's what can happen to that lens with an incandescent bulb:

And they kept the R's to something like 6000.

Let me answer the question about heat a different way. I left the underhood light on for over an hour and then put my hand on the lens gingerly. To my surprise it was just barely warm. Couldn't even have been 100 degrees. I think we have a winner.

Ahh, OK, so there are stationary nuts then? Or nuts welded inside the beams? I can't see in there to answer your questions.