Gary Lewis

Interesting day, today. I was planning to finish the alignment by dialing in the camber and caster. (The caster is quite close, but if you are changing the camber you might as well dial in the caster at the same time.) So I went looking for the paperwork that came with the eccentrics, the ones that Steve/FoxFord33 used last Wednesday. But I couldn't find them so downloaded them from the internet. However, as I was working through the instructions Janey showed up with the paperwork I couldn't find. But then I ran into a problem as the actual piece of paper differed from the pdf I downloaded in one place - the exact setting I needed. That puzzled me until I discovered that the pdf had the same letter code in two different cells - which is a physical impossibility. So I called Moog. Turns out they didn't know about the problem, but the pdf the guy was working from had the same error. And, he agreed with me that it was incorrect and they need to fix that. You can see the problem in the table below where if you go down the 1/2 degree column you'll see that at -1/2 on caster it says "PM" and if you go to +1/2 it also says "PM". But that should be LC, as I've typed in. But, as I tried to break the eccentrics loose I was stymied. So far I've not been able to get them loose to adjust them. I've soaked them with PB Blaster so maybe tomorrow I can break them loose.

Go to Truck Shows/2020 Truck Show and go to the Entrants tab. Or, just hover over the 2020 Truck Show and you'll see the list of entrants scroll out.

Let me go back through my pics. I may have mine with a part number showing before I PC'd it.

Yes, Matthew, it is good to have that many entries. In fact, we are now up to 51 entries with two more expected today and potentially another as someone just joined, so I've offered to get them in if they are to me today. But for the rest of y'all, START READING! There's a whole LOT of info in the entries, and to do them justice you'll need to do a lot of reading. The way this is going to work is that tomorrow night I'll stay up late and post six (6) new threads, one for each of the classes, like Best Engine. Each of those threads will have a poll in them with the ability for you to vote one time during the following 24 hours. But you can come back and change your vote any time during that 24 hour period. So, you could read and vote, then read some more and come back and update the voting. Then on Saturday I'll go through and process things. However, it will be obvious to you who won what unless there's a tie or the same truck appears to win more than one class. That's where I have to come in and use our rules to determine the winners. START READING!!!!!!!!!!!

You are probably onto something there. But I sure wouldn't put a dash-mounted switch on as it isn't all that hard to replace the ignition switch. Go to Documentation/Electrical/Ignition and then the Ignition Switch tab for a lot of info on it. There are at least two components that are involved - the key tumbler and associated linkage, and the switch itself. As you'll find, the switch sits on the column down near the firewall. In good shape it has detents in it and you can feel. But if it has gotten gummy inside or if the linkage to it is dry or gummy it might well not go back to the Run position. Or even Off. And your experience with the radio, and I'll bet the turn signals and other things, indicates it isn't coming back to Run, or that the switch is maladjusted or just bad.

Yes, it has. But don't tell anyone, I'll sneak yours in if you get it to me today.

I wasn't going to mention it, but that was one of the reasons I wasn't too upset that I thought I needed to make my battery hold downs. That angled hold down just bugged me. Sorry, Scott.

It is a good feeling when you have things cleaned and painted and just have to bolt on the new components. So satisfying! If you only have a couple of weekends of work left to do you are really doing well. This thing will be a fun project for the almost-here winter.

I agree that the fuse powering the gauges themselves is working. So it must be something else that is in common with both tanks, and that does suggest the switch or the connector.

WOW! So they just dropped $3500 on it and are selling the whole truck $2900? Maybe it was $350? My complete new dual system with Magnaflows was only $750. Needs "paint & some body work" and they don't mention the interior. Maybe under the blanket the seat is good? Might be a good truck. I'm just put off by the paint.

I think you are right on both counts - too high and the engine is sweating. Nice truck but won't sell out there at that price.

Joe - First, get me the entry info today and I'll get it in. Jim - I get lost, as you know, in what fuel systems where used when. Are you sure Joe's '84 will have that fuel system setup? I would have thought that his '84 w/a 351W would have this setup:

Injectors for the win! Installed a new set of 24 lb injectors yesterday. This thing has come alive! More power, runs better, sounds better. Ran at idle yesterday for over an hour and then drove it for another hour. Wow, I am stoked! First time in over two years I have actually been able to drive it. Thank you Gary Lewis and Everyone else who has contributed to helping me along this journey! It is much appreciated! Yippee!!!! Glad that worked out for you, Greg. It is always scary to drop that much money on something that you can't be sure is the problem. And especially on someone's recommendation that isn't sure that's the problem. But I'm so happy Black Beauty is running well again. That's such a good feeling!

Yes, it is! I can connect the fresh air hose for the PCV system to that and not have the little filter in the air cleaner housing. I just hope it is enough to get the snorkel over the A/C hose. We'll see next week.

Oh yes, I forgot to report that I removed two significant rattles today. The door panels rattled badly due to the heavy 6 x 9 speakers overpowering the keepers when you slammed the doors to get them fully closed with the new weatherstripping. So the panels were always loose. I put a drywall anchor in the the lower back corner holes in the doors, drilled through the trashed door panels, and put a #10 screw into the anchor. Now the panels stay secured to the door and I'm sure the rattles are gone. However, the plastic on the driver's door latch bolt disintegrated and now the latch rattles. I have one of the later bolts with a guard that unscrews from the guard but I need to buy some PEX to put on it. More onion rings.

I did, btw, order the air cleaner spacer shown below. Thanks to Bill for the idea and David for finding it. Should be in on Monday and hopefully the 1 5/8" boost will let me run the dual snorkel air cleaner.

Yep, that looks bad. Worn out in the center.

Those trim pieces are great, Scott. They sure seem to have come out nice and smooth. And that battery trim ring is a problem solver as I ran into that same problem - the hold downs won't fit. On the bracket, I'm pretty sure I don't have a spare, but I'll check in the morning.

Dan - You are now, quite literally, on the map. So you did the testing on the trailer sway control for my 2015 F150, Blue. I love that feature, amoung other things on the truck. I can send my kids out with it towing a trailer and not have to spend days helping them understand what not to do. Well done! As for the Bronco and the Flareside, I really would like one of each. But at my age I can't take on any more projects and had better just get what I've gotten started done. Still, if I found the right one......

If all else fails I'll tie it into the two speakers over the driver & passenger's heads. That should make it easy to hear.

Yes I have the plastic strips, and I think they are there so you can't see the fender - which is especially important when you have light-colored fenders like Big Blue does. And yes the tabs break easily. I broke one today. They are so fragile, but fortunately the one I broke is just one of those to cover a joint and not one where a screw goes. As for the bumper, pretty soon it may get its winch back.

In spite of the # of entries coming in, and a fair amount of church work, I did get a bit done on Big Blue. More specifically, I got the grille and upper and lower trim on. But that was an interesting process. Not sure I ever worked this out before, but the order these parts should be installed in is: I already had the headlight doors on and then put the grille on, but when I got to the upper and lower trim I learned all of that had to come off. Anyway, it is now on. I'll probably pull it off later to paint it, but hopefully I'll remember that order so it'll be easier.

They say a picture is worth a 1000 words. But if I were to use one word it would be "duh". http://www.garysgaragemahal.com/uploads/6/5/8/7/65879365/head-slap-23_orig.gif I'm using the stock hold down that bolts to the core support, so the j-bolt goes into the slot.

That's the guy! And that's a great price.

But, I didn't use a J-Bolt, come to think of it. I used a piece of rod and threaded the ends.