Gary Lewis

I just posted in the thread entitled "1983/84 DK Harbor Blue - correct shade of blue PARTIALLY solved. Need Carpet code" re the carpet. As said there, in at least '87 and '88 there were several manual transmissions offered, and at least two different transmission covers because of that - presumably a high and a low one. So why ACC doesn't seem to differentiate is confusing. Perhaps all of their '87 - 96 carpets fit the tall cover and will work with the low cover? I hope to determine that will a call to them in the morning. But that may be why one mat fits and another doesn't. I remember that getting the carpet to fit on Dad's truck with the taller cover was a real pain, and it never did lay correctly.

Yes, they are essentially a station wagon. So, you'll have two of them? As for the Sync system, if yours is like mine and you love it then you've not used a modern system. That Murano and Janey's GLK blow my Sync away for navigation. They both have a joy stick that significantly improves the interface. And I'll bet the shutter on the headlights is to keep the HID hot and working. Neat trick.

Glad you got it figured out. But is there a question about fusible links? Also, completely aside, have there been any discussions of which you are aware regarding relaxing the travel quarantine? IOW, if you come in from out of state you have to quarantine for 14 days? We were thinking about coming in October, but....

I had planned to re-use the original carpet on Big Blue. And while I don't yet know that it won't fit very well due to the taller transmission cover needed for the ZF, I'm pretty sure that's the case from my remembrance of doing the same thing on Dad's truck. But I've now realized that I don't have a piece of carpet for the back wall, and it would sure look a lot better if I did instead of having the foam insulation showing back there. Given that, I'm thinking about getting new carpet, including some for the back wall. And I'm pretty sure I want to use ACC's carpet with the mass backing, which I think means the Essex line. Right? But lots of questions come to mind, and while I plan to call ACC tomorrow perhaps y'all may already have answered them. First, the ZF5 was originally offered in 1987, but the other manual transmissions were still used as well. And in looking at the MPC there were two different transmission covers used, one for the T-18 and one for the 5-speed, which would be the ZF5. But ACC doesn't list, from what I can see, different carpets for the different transmissions. Have any of you thought through this? Also, the colors appear to have changed in '87 and the Regatta Blue color that Big Blue has was no longer used. So I'll have to go with a different blue, and ACC only shows Lapis (1017A) and Midnight (1044A) as the options for 1987 - 96 trucks. Have any of you gotten those two samples?

If it held all night you should be good to go. Hope it works out.

Jim - You and Janey think they look weird. I think they look cool. But you are right about the engine, with the 3.5L EB they would be rockets, or rocket sleds. I wanted to buy one when we bought the 2011 Murano. Janey was amenable but the salesman told me the EB wasn't available in it. A few months later we took a trip in the Murano to NM where my good friend showed me the video of all the testing Ford did with the EB and explained it was available in the Flex. Bill - I think you are going to love it! It'll easily pull what you've listed, and then some. And it will have tons of interior room. Cool!

Gary, The crossmember in question was the one at the front of the gas tank, which is also the one that supports the back of the cab. I removed all 16 rviets yesterday and the drill and air chisel method worked great. I will be using it again this morning when I remove the next crossmember...the one for the rear of the mid-ship tank. I also tried some 7/16" bolts and they fit very snug, enough so that a couple have to be tapped through the holes. Here is the angle bracket that I needed to replace, and you can see why. Typical rust belt stuff. They all end up looking like this in the salt. In any case, I had my good replacement from the junkyard that I patched up. (That reminds me, I guess that makes 22 rivets I removed, just for this one part of the job, and I'm only just getting started...lol). I ended up having to add some plates over a couple holes and thin spots, but it's back to be rock solid. It was pretty thin where the cab mounts sit as well, so I put plates on the back side and re-drilled the holes. It's not pretty, but the welds penetrated well and it's strong. I basically made my own frame saver kit but installed it on the underside instead of the top. The top is fine, but I didn't want to screw around with the body height, so chose the bottom. The driver's side was worse of course, but it's all good and strong now. Perfectly good for what I'm building, and besides...I don't have another crossmember to use anyway...not like I have much choice at this point! Anyway, coffee is brewed, I'm off to the shop to remove the next crossmember...fingers crossed it needs less work. I'm glad the drill & chisel method worked well. That's a lot of rivets, but if you get a system that works it won't be quite so bad. Speaking of bad, that angle bracket looks BAD! Yipes, I'm glad I don't have to deal with that. But your welding and reinforcement looks good. And if the bolts fit snugly it is going to work out nicely.

That's a really nice looking truck. Not a bad price, either.

It will be interesting to see. But you are right, corners don't vibrate much. You have carpet on the back wall, but is there damping material under it? I don't have carpet for back there, yet. I'm guessing that the original '85 won't want to go over the new tall tranny cover, so I may go with new carpet. If I do it'll include some for the back wall. And it'll have the mass backing.

Well said, Steve. Thanks.

Jonathan - There are two sets of black on the floor: some original drops of probably seam sealer, and the POR-15 that Jim mentioned. Both of which are well covered up at present. But I didn't use any adhesive for the sound deadener. It REALLY sticks, and I can't imagine it could be gotten off once it is properly rolled on. There's a waffle pattern in the aluminum foil on it and the instructions say to roll it until the waffle pattern is gone. That takes quite a bit of rolling, but once done the sound deadening itself is not going anywhere. It is the insulation that I'm thinking I'll use the spray adhesive on. It has its own adhesive on it, but it isn't as aggressive as the sound deadener. I'm sure it'll be fine under the carpet, but for the roof I'm not sure it'll stay. But I've really not started installing it yet, so don't know for sure. As for how much difference there is, bear in mind that I'm going from no sound deadening to lots, no insulation to quite a bit, and no headliner to sound deadening & insulation. So there had better be a big difference. But I'll let you know, for sure. Jim - You are right, I put two heavy coats of POR-15 on the rusty areas. So they are well and truly SEALED. Scott - I went with Noico products. I'm using their sound deadener and will be using their RED 150 mil closed cell foam insulation. I found it to be well rated and less expensive than the Eastwood stuff. So far I'm impressed sound deadener. But I have yet to use any of the insulation so will wait to pass judgment on it until I do.

Yeah, only one Battery Tender problem per year. I'm guessing that the "big relay" is to parallel the batteries since it has a switch in the cab.

Ok, that gives me enough to go on. Thanks. And you do spray both parts, right? Yes, we are getting close!

I'm late to the party, but have read the posts and see two things to address: "(ignition switch dropdown link)": I can't find what is broken. Can you give me a link to it? Relay: I'm not using the stator output on the alternator to pull in a relay on Big Blue now, but I did previously. The "S" terminal, for stator, puts out just enough juice to pull in a Bosch relay when the alternator comes on line. That's the white/black wire. Anything I missed?

The chase truck may fire up in a couple of weeks after a year-long transformation. Sure hope you get some interest.

Well, here's what ~34.5 sq ft of sound deadening material looks like installed. I ordered two 36 sq ft boxes and have just enough left of the first one to do the transmission cover. But will use the other box on the doors and the roof, although I'm not sure when. Jim - When you use spray adhesive, what adhesive do you use and do you spray both parts? I'd like to use it on the roof of the cab.

We used to stick Orange Drops in the wall outlet, pull them out and toss them to someone else saying "Catch!"

Christian - Yes, I agree. But to make 100% sure I've copied over the schematic. It shows that placing power on the orange wire, which is your Pin 5, and ground on the brown/white, which is your Pin 4, should put it in Rear. And that would then connect pins 1 & 2. Since your TSV didn't do that I think it is bad. But if it was me I'd reverse the power and ground wires and go back and forth a couple of times to see if I could get it to move. Ordering a new one of those to Norway won't be cheap.

I started to say that you don't have to remove anything as I literally JUST pulled those two screws. Then I realized that I already had the dash pad off. I think engineers ought to be required to spend a couple of years as a mechanic working on the things being engineered. They wouldn't do that any more.

Yep. I thought the change was earlier, but the MPC says '80 through at least '89 were the same.

Thanks, Jim. I'll measure the length in a bit and pick some up.

Looks good, George. Here's hoping the air will be COLD! But Jim has a good question. Why go with the later column? I'm not knocking it, just seeking to learn. And, what all did it entail?

Bill - That's a good idea. At least I could go with the screws. Do you remember the size? Hmmm, I'm planning to go back with some black plastic thresholds that Vernon had with the truck. I'd better check to see what screw they take and then get some on order. Being plastic they may take a different screw.

That price isn't bad at all for a nice little EB.

"Flush" is different than "drain & refill". I, too, have heard that you shouldn't have a transmission flushed, and I think it is probably as Scott said - due to pushing things into places they shouldn't be. But I also know that some shops seem to confuse the two processes. My SiL had a Jeep Cherokee that was slipping badly in reverse - so badly that it wouldn't back out of his driveway w/o racing the engine. We proved that the problem was old fluid by adding a bottle of conditioner but, as I told him, that didn't last long as he needed all new fluid. He tried to get it drained and refilled at two different shops and both refused to do it saying it would ruin the transmission. When he called to ask for advice I told him to keep trying until he found one that would, but make sure it was only going to be a drain & refill. He did find a shop that would do it and that solved the slippage. The tranny was still going strong years later when he sold the truck. There are all sorts of chemicals in ATF, like seal swellers and friction modifiers, and they lose their efficacy over time and with dirt and miles. Draining and refilling with new ATF is the only way to fix that. It may not solve a shifting problem, but it is sure a lot less expensive that a new transmission. And I've seen it work many times.