Gary Lewis

George and Nick - Dad's radio is on its way to your PO box. Email sent with tracking #. Hope you can make it fit my desires, but I'm not in a hurry so see what you can do. And, while I have you, I'm planning to replace the door panels in Big Blue and just use good 6 1/2" speakers in the factory spot in the doors instead of the hideous 6x9's that are mounted to the door panels. And I'm going to install a Highliner headliner with 4" speakers up there. I have a pair of really nice Alpine SPS-1029S speakers I'll replace the cheap 4" speakers with on the driver's side, but may run the cheap ones on the passenger's side for a while. Anyway, do you have a recommendation for the 6 1/2's in the doors? They'll be driven by a Sony Xplode CDX-GT08, which says it has 45 watts x 4. I'll dedicate the front channels to the 6 1/2's and the rear channels to the 4" speakers. I'm thinking with the 4" speakers, which have nice tweeters on them, a 6 1/2 w/o a tweeter would be best. But what I'm finding in my searches are component systems with either a tweeter mounted on the woofer or at least a tweeter included in the package, which would be a waste of money.

Yes, once you fix the leaks y'all up north need to preserve the steel. Ok, last night I slipped out and took a pic of the engine compartment with the new LED bulb in the underhood light. It isn't nearly as bright as your engine compartment, Jim, but it'll work for now. And then this morning Amazon delivered the new radiator cap - the fancy one with a thermometer in it. As soon as I pulled it out of the box I knew there was a problem. It is already on its way back so I'll be looking for another like it, albeit with a Fahrenheit scale this time.

I disagree that it gives the best performance. Any V8 with a 4" stroke and 3.5" bore will give the same results if using the same heads, cam, intake, carb, pistons, and exhaust. They had to get special Cleveland heads to go on the Windsor block. Why not just use a Cleveland block? Drop in a 4" stroke crank and it'll be a 408 just like the Clevor, but you now don't have to use special heads. Go with the same specs on the pistons, heads, intake, carb, and cam and you'll get the same HP and torque. The only reason I see to build a Clevor is to use the same engine perches, accessories, etc if your vehicle already has a Windsor. But they don't tell you that.

Thanks, Rob. I'll call JBG today and see what the story is on the Highliner. As for the leaks, they are just what David said - more layers on the onion. My son recently said, after I told him about the leaks, that he's worried about taking Big Blue to the trails in CO as he doesn't want to pollute. I explained that now the engine, transmission, and transfer case are solid, no leaking at all. And all I have to do is replace a few more things and it'll be - a new vehicle.

I love happy coincidinks. I'll bet you were smiling the whole way!

Interesting! But why go Clevor? Tim Meyer has the components to do the same thing with a Cleveland. But wait, there's more! My M-Block is essentially the same as that Clevor.

I hadn't seen those before, but searching for the first one found this one from Omega Technologies on Amazon. Is that who makes them?

Sorry for your issues! Yes, since there are two of you go ahead and remove the hood. And if you already have it lined up put a line around the hinge where it hits the hood. That will get you really close on the alignment.

I'll check Dad's truck in a bit.....

Just sent Curt a message via FB Messenger that you are interested, Alfie.

Way over my head, Jim. Good advice.

I could easily have gone ME. Grew up taking EVERYTHING apart, mechanical or electrical. But in high school I got into amateur radio and understood electronics so went that way. Then I did a couple of semesters in graduate school and had a course called Parallel Systems. In it we learned that you can model an electrical system with a mechanical system, either hydraulic or pneumatic. And it all made sense. Lots of parallels.

That's bizarre! I missed this in the Wikipedia writeup: "Fries wrote the lyrics and sang while Chip Davis, later of Mannheim Steamroller, wrote the music." I never would have guessed. And that video is cool! I'd never seen it. Guess the Metz Baking Company didn't sell in the Kansas/Oklahoma area so didn't run the ads there. I was sure that the rental had to have been from Ouray given the "50 miles to Telluride" line. However, that's by paved road, and Last Dollar Road cuts many of those miles off. Ok, sorry for the hijack. (Not really.)

Jim - As said earlier, you made my day by calling! Probably my week. We had so many theories about what had happened to you, but I'm so happy to know you are well. WELCOME HOME!

That's cool! Even a speed wrench. Dad had one, but in all my years I've never seen a need to use it. An ME! I love that! I started as a EE but ended up in Math & Physics. But the base courses were the same from EE to ME. Lots of good stuff in there.

First, don't you know its half three over there? What are you doing up? Second, that must be a really nice set! I think I got rid of what few Whitworths I had when I sold the bike.

You don't have a Whitworth set? My brother had a Norton and I had a Triumph, so I'm well aware of those spanners. Yes, a spanner through the coils would be easier if the vehicle is together. But Dad's truck is such that I just lowered sockets down through the coil from the top on an extension to test. And calipers slipped between the coils.

I read about that warning on the Mico units. Apparently they tell you when you have enough pressure by going silent, and then warn you again later if the pressure drops. And like Bruce said, I'm glad you weren't hurt! The belt and braces approach is the best, as you said Bob. And since I carry beefy wheel chocks in Big Blue's tool box I think I'll use them as the third layer if I ever get to something that steep. Normally they are used to hold a Chevy I've winched up on the trailer while I'm cinching it down. But they should be a nice addition for a steep trail. Keep the engine running so the hydroboost is functioning and have your buddy get out and chock it. Kill the engine, drop it in 1st and low range, and set the e-brake. As for C.W. McCall, aka William Dale Fries Jr., I had to Google that. Wikipedia says "McCall is best known for the 1976 #1 hit song "Convoy. ...... Though McCall is not a one-hit wonder, "Convoy" has since become his signature song. McCall first charted the song "Wolf Creek Pass", which reached #40 on the U.S. pop top 40 in 1975". Didn't know that. But what I found fascinating with respect to the present conversation was the additional statement that "In 1986, McCall was elected mayor of the town of Ouray, Colorado, ultimately serving for six years." Small world. However, I found nothing about "no bigger'n a grapefruit" in that article. So I Googled a bit more and found the lyrics to Black Bear Road. Now I fully understand, and since they are quite germane to this here conversation:

Matt - I measured the nut at 1.087" across the flats. That translates to 27.6mm, but I don't have anything that big in metric. So I measured my inch sockets, and the 1 1/16" socket measures 1.085" and it won't go on the nut. The 1 1/8" socket measures 1.150" across the flats and it goes on nicely. Might be slightly loose, but I'm sure it is what I used to tighten the nut with. Using the ratio of how much bigger my sockets are than the stated size, like a 1.125" (1 1/8") is actually 1.150 across the flats, a 28mm should be 1.127" across the flats, and that would be just about right. So I'll bet the 28mm socket is right.

I'll see if I can sneak out after church tonight and check. Stay safe.

Matt - Do mean 58740, as shown below? If so, I can check it out tomorrow unless someone beats me to it. But, "away"? I thought y'all were in various stages of lock down.

Another problem with a tilt column is the part that breaks if you use the column to hoist yourself into the truck. And when it breaks you may not be able to start the truck - at all or reliably. I took a tilt column out of Big Blue because of that. And I'm happy I did. Previously it wouldn't always start, and now it starts every time. And I can pull myself into the cab w/o worry.

You should be able to run the wire from the tach terminal on the HEI directly to the tach. But you really shouldn't have to run all the way cab. You should black wire with light green dots. It should be connected to the tach. Seat cover looks good!

Looking good! And, you got the picture posting figured out.

I'm thinking he didn't put it in Park and the emergency brake didn't hold. As you said, a manual in low range and 1st gear would be very unlikely to move, especially with a 460 up front. But I've wondered about a "line lock" that keeps the brakes engaged. Would only work on one end or the other, and probably the best on Big Blue would be the front. What do you think?