Gary Lewis

Assuming there's no or little rust, that's a good buy!

Bingo. Set the multimeter to 20 on DC if that is an option. Looking forward to finding out what's going on with this. If you want to get a jump on the next step - crawl under by the starter with your multimeter and touch the red probe to the terminal with 3 wires and the black to the thick flange of the starter the bolts goes through to mount it. Should see the full battery voltage. Then go ahead and run a 8/10awg wire from the stud the red wire used to be on and bring it up to the fmr. Don't hook it to anything yet though. Just get it there and ready. Yes, I think it is the meter. In the position you have it, which may be the only choice, it says "10 MegOhm Input". That is a very sensitive input resistance, and it is auto-ranging. So it will probably turn down the input range until it gets a reading, and that's what you are seeing. The input range to the left in the green appears to be for batteries, but I can't read it. If so, you might get by for testing w/o the engine running on the 12v setting over there, and it may not be nearly as sensitive.

Done

Green Sales appears to have bought up a lot of NOS Ford parts and sells them through the internet. Please rate them if you've had dealings with them. And post a comment if you have an anecdote.

I agree that the part that most needs it is that facing the engine. But I've been amazed at how hot it is under the hood with a 460 in there. So I think the HVAC system will work even better with the rest of the plenum insulated.

I guess I should have asked if there is anything at all hooked to 4? If not, that says the relay is bad. Both of them????????????

I looked for good illustrations for the fast idle mechanism but didn't find any. So let me describe it.... The fast idle cam is stepped and the steps hold the throttle open by virtue of the throttle linkage hitting the steps, usually via a screw. The cam is swung into action by the choke, but it cannot go under the screw until the throttle is opened. So the choke nor the fast idle can come into play until the throttle is opened slightly. Once the cam has been swung into play it is left there as the choke opens as the choke can only push it on, not pull it off. So if you start the vehicle the proper way, meaning set the choke and blip the throttle, the choke and fast idle will be on. However the choke can now come off, either as the engine warms or if the choke is manual by the cable being pushed. But as long as the throttle isn't opened the fast idle cam will still be under the screw, holding the throttle open slightly. So with your manual choke, if you'll pull the lever or knob all the way out and blip the throttle the fast idle cam will come under the throttle linkage. You can then push the knob/lever in and the fast idle cam should stay in place holding the throttle slightly open - until you manually depress the throttle.

If I'm understanding correctly, Terminal 4 has voltage when the key is off? That should not be the case. That terminal should only have voltage on it when the ignition switch is in Start. So assuming there is no other wire connected to Terminal 4 itself, something is either connected to the starter or the starter itself is bad, bleeding power over from the power cable from Terminal 1. As for the voltage on Terminal 2, it will always be a bit less than battery voltage due to the small wire size going to the ignition switch and back. There are fuse links and lots of connections, each of which has resistance and, therefore, drops the voltage.

Thanks, George. The heater box is from a '90 F-Series truck and I've covered it with Frost King Duct Insulation, as explained here. The intent is to keep it from getting so hot and, therefore, let the HVAC system work better.

Looks like I missed posting yesterday, but I didn't do much on Big Blue then. However, I did get a few things done today. The first was that I got the PEX on the later-style door striker and got it installed on the driver's side: And I got the skid plate for the mid-ship tank installed again. Steve/FoxFord33 came by yesterday and I asked him to help me get the skid plate up there so I didn't have to put it on top of the tool box again and lower the truck onto it. Boy, was that easy! But we just put nuts on the studs and today I snugged them all up - but it wasn't nearly that easy. About then the Q-Jet air cleaner spacer came in and I turned to that. But first, while the air cleaner was off I adjusted the choke to the neutral setting as it was waaaaaay to rich. Then I added the spacer. But in this pic you can see that I've put a yellow cap on the PCV port. Turns out that the port is a size smaller than the ports Ford uses, so the right hose for the engine doesn't fit that port. Then I put the dual-snorkel air cleaner on for a test, and it doesn't fit as it still hits the A/C hose: But, the smaller 5.0L HO air cleaner from a Mustang does fit. So there's hope for the larger 5.8L HO air cleaner to fit, although it'll take some effort. Maybe use the 5.0L snorkels on? So, I put the single-snorkel 5.8L HO air cleaner back on for now and put a longer hose on the PCV fitting and it connects nicely to the air cleaner. And about then the Saginaw power steering pump came in. But, it had a hole in the box and the reservoir was somewhat the worse for the wear, as shown below. So I called U-Tech Center, as directed to do on the paperwork that accompanied the pump. I had to leave a message, but a few minutes later got a return call - from a weird # so I let it roll to voice mail. Turned out it was Frank from U-Tech Center and the message he left was that he was shipping me another one. I called him back and told him the pump was probably still usable, but he insisted he would sent another one. And he said I could give this one away. So, it'll be later next week before I'll have the new pump to install, but I'm still pleased with U-Tech Center.

Customer service is another reason I like U-Tech Center. Today I got my Saginaw power steering pump, and the pics below show how it arrived. So I called the # that was on the information that came with it and left a message explaining what the problem was - that the box had a hole in it and the reservoir has been dinged. A bit later I got a call from a strange # that I let roll to voice mail. It was from Frank and he said "I apologize" and "I'll have another one shipped to you." Then "...feel free to call me at 877-804-6297 if you have any questions." So I called and had a really good conversation with Frank. I told him that the box was old and it looked to me like the packaging failed, but that I think the pump is usable. He said "No worry, I'll have another one sent to you." When I asked what to do with this one he said "There's no reason to return it." So I told him I'd give it away and he said "Sure!" In addition, I told him about this review system and that I'd be happy to send him a link. He said to send the link and tell y'all that you can use this email address to communicate with him: truckparts@uhaul.com.

The wheel looks great! Like an XLS wheel.

Progress! Well done! Yes, fast idle only works when the choke is on, automatic or manual. But I don't know why a leak would dry up if it is along the splines. However, BB's leak through the splines is my fault, so I doubt that's the reason for your leak.

Cool project! And that’s going to be fun engine. Lots of power! When you clean up are you going to remove the leftover 300 six perch?

You might consider, while peeling the onion, replacing the eccentrics. I like the ones that give full adjustment, but make sure you put them in with anti-seize so the shop can adjust them when the time comes.

Mikey - You are now on the map.

Some of my "knowledge" has been acquired vicariously as I've been "reading the mail" regarding these trucks on forums for over a decade. There's another test that might actually be easier if you have a test light. You can connect it to ground on one side and to the wire to the sending unit on the other. It should blink if the circuit is good.

Good luck! Should work out perfectly.

That does look good! As for the door panels, the top-end 85 and 86 trucks had fabric on an insert in the door panels. So go for it.

Yes, welcome Mikey! I'm sure Jim is exactly correct - a blown vacuum modulator on the transmission. The amount of vacuum from the engine is supposed to determine when and how hard the transmission shifts, but the diaphragm inside the modulator has vacuum on one side and ATF on the other, so if it springs a leak you'll suck ATF into the engine. It is replaceable from outside the transmission, and here are the part numbers: Where's home? I ask because we have a map (Bullnose Forum/Member's Map in the menu) and we can add you with a city or zip.

Looks great, Angelo! When is it going in?

Joe - You can test by grounding the wire that goes to the sending unit. The gauge should go to Full and then some. So if you ground the DB/Y wire at the tank and the gauge pegs you'll know that the wiring to the front sending unit is good. Ditto the Y/LB Hash wire for the rear tank. Don't leave it on forever, but you can ground it for a while and not hurt anything.

Guys - Thanks for the compliments. To say it was a lot of work would be an understatement, but I have a cunning plan if we do this next year, and that will make it easier. As for the deadline, I'll extend it this evening. What I think I've learned about these polls is that if you change the # of days by 1 it'll just add 24 hours on from when you change it. So if I change it now from 2 to 3 it'll end at 7 am tomorrow. But we want late in the day tomorrow, if not Sunday. So why not make it Sunday night? As for peeking, yes I can since I created the polls. Currently we have these votes: Best Engine: 18 Best Upgrades: 14 People's Favorite: 17 Closest To Stock: 17 Ugliest Truck: 13 Best Story: 14 Concerning traffic on the site, that's an interesting question. I track the traffic daily and it fluctuates significantly, but there are patterns. An it depends on the weather. Weekends are not the heaviest traffic time if the weather is conducive to working on your truck. But if there is widespread bad weather, like a hurricane spreading rain up the east coast, and there will be a lot more traffic.

Yes, that is progress. And, as Jim says, progress is good! The ignition switch is a tricky device in that it has several switches inside, all controlled by the same mechanical connection. But they don't always make and break at the same time, so sometimes you can have the ignition on and not have other circuits on, like the turn signals and radio. Big Blue does that. So it stands to reason you could have some off but not all of them off.

Bill may be along in a bit, but I'm not sure your words match what the drawings show. So let me say it in my words. You'll have a large wire, the positive battery cable, from the battery to the front large terminal of the starter relay. And from the same terminal you'll have a large wire down to the starter. In addition, if the "two fusable (brown?) wires" are truly fuse links they will go on that same terminal. What that does is provide power 100% of the time to the starter and the fuse links. Then from the rear side of the starter relay, the other large terminal, you will have a smaller wire going to the small terminal on the starter. The red/blue wire that comes from the ignition switch should already be hooked to the small front terminal of the starter relay. Does that make sense?