Gary Lewis

There's actually another advantage to brazing over welding. If I weld the screw holes shut the bead would be hard to drill. Not so brazing.

Jim - I'd thought about that, but wasn't sure how well it would work. I'd have to get it hotter than welding, but I'm going to paint it anyway so that's not a problem. I think I'll give it a try. Thanks.

The boxes are the same for many years. So what you need is the piece on the left in the pic as that's the part that goes onto the splines of the steering box. I sure hope that storm misses you! Will keep you in my prayers, NOW!

Sorry, which spline? The one on the left or the one on the right in the pic?

We've all seen evidence that you can do whatever you decide to do... And I vote for dual snorkels, once you have BB running though. Wouldn't want anything to delay the project now. Jim - I won't "entirely discount" your suggestion on the spray adhesive. But I think I'll wait to use it on the roof and inside the doors as the rest of the sound deadening mats will be under carpet and, therefore, held down. However, see the bit about the rusted passenger's floor in a bit... Rob - Yes, the dual-snorkel air cleaner would look great on there, but it'll have to wait to later so I can get this beast on the road. However, I did do a bit of air cleaner work today. I added a snorkel to the HO base shown previously and then mounted that on the carb. Two things to point out in this pic showing the air cleaner: First, that I still have to hook up the fresh air hose for the PVC system, but can't until the 90 degree hose barb comes in. Second, I've lost the filler plug to the coolant expansion tank. Anyone have a spare or an idea where to get one? Another thing I did today was to use Bill's cooling system filling process and got the system FULL! But my process was to pull the hose off the shutoff valve instead of the heater core. That let me turn the valve and the hose up a bit and I was able to see the coolant coming up in the valve as I added it to the hose. Worked a treat! Thanks, Bill. And now for a less-happy note. The rust on the passenger's floor is worse than I thought. Not BAD, but not just surface rust. There are 5 "pin holes", as you'll see in the pics below, as well as the screw holes for the threshold that need to be repaired. So the question becomes how best to do that. I'm thinking that I'll turn the welder WAY down and see if I can't weld the holes shut. Yes, I know that the floor is thin to start with, and even thinner where it has rusted, but I think I can do it. On the other hand, perhaps epoxy? Thoughts? Here's a shot of the driver's side before I started working on it. The screw heads were so rusty I couldn't back the screws out and I had to drill them out. But the floor is in pretty good shape with essentially no rust. And here's the passenger's side before I started. As you can see, both of the covers were pretty rusty. And it doesn't look like they were ever properly sealed at the factory. So I media-blasted them and will POR-15 them when I paint the other things with it. They aren't pretty, but they'll work fine. And now for the passenger's floor. This shot is after a lot of wire brushing and sanding. I circled the 5 holes as I doubt you could see them otherwise. But they aren't big at all, so I'm hoping that they'll be easy to seal. However, I don't think epoxy is the way to seal the screw holes for the threshold. Here's one up close and you can see the rust damage: So, as I think about it, I believe the thing to do is to see if I can weld one of the small pinholes. Then do the others, and then turn to the screw holes for the threshold. Unless y'all convince me otherwise, that's the plan for tomorrow. And if that goes well I think I need to inspect the bottom side of the floor, which may mean I need to pull the heat shield that goes above the cat - which I don't have. At the very least the welds need to be protected, and there may be rust under there as well.

I like this approach, Scott. Fewer things to fail.

Agreed, thanks for sharing! I think James said that he had a source for the engine mounts, so while they may still be homemade brackets, they won't be made in his home. Speaking of my brother, I had him pull the TPS from the diesel and drop it off with me yesterday - he lives about 50 miles from here, but his work takes him by my house on Wednesdays. I've never thought about a TPS before, but it's just a simple potentiometer which makes it super easy to connect to an Arduino. Even better, that means it can be completely powered by the Arduino so we don't have to figure out how to connect it to the vehicle electrical system. That's one pin on the TPS to ground, one to +5V, and the third to an analog pin to read the resulting voltage when the pot is twisted with a screwdriver. The relay board to the right of the Arduino is what we'll likely use to switch vehicle power to the torque converter lockup and to the overdrive module. The code (so far) is very easy, it's just reading the TPS voltage on the A0 analog pin, scaling it to a 0% - 100% range, and then printing the resulting value. This is just test code to prove I can read the TPS, but something very close will find its way into the final software. That's cool, Matthew! The Arduino makes things like that simple. :nabble_smiley_good:I'm actually looking forward to working on my Arduino project. I haven't even selected the Arduino much less the daughter board, which has to be able to sink 1 amp as I'm going to use PWM to drive the fuel gauge.So if you have suggestions on hardware, please let me know.

Jim - I have the rag part of the joint on the left, and the whole joint on the right. Dunno how easy it is to press the right side of the joint off the shaft, but I can do it if you need it. Any or all of that is yours. Awa the master cylinder(s). EDIT: Oops, here's the pic:

Big Blue uses L&L headers. He had a set of carb'd 460 headers on when I got him, and I went back with L&L headers when I put the EFI-headed 460 in. The original headers hit the frame on the driver's side, and the new headers hit the frame on the passenger's side. I didn't make any changes to make the original ones clear and just lived with the clunk. But on the new headers I notched the frame to make them clear. And, they only clear the ZF5 transmission by a fraction of an inch on the inside. So that didn't make me very happy. Nor did the length of time it took for them to finally make the headers, which only happened after several telephone calls from me. On the other hand, the headers have a 1/2" thick flange and at least the original ones didn't warp so there were no leaks, which is why I went back with L&L's for the new engine. Overall I give them a 3.

Ok. I'll look and see what I have and let you know.

The front suspension conversion on Big Blue uses a Sky's kit. And my experience with them in doing that conversion was both good and not so good. But to be fair, I got their very first kit to put a D60 solid axle using SuperDuty springs in a Bullnose truck. Erik at Sky's had installed the prototype but made changes that didn't work out as planned. So when I got my kit the crossmember wouldn't work. He and I talked frequently and he made the needed changes and had a new one made and shipped to me. And it fit perfectly. But I was hung up for a while waiting on the new part. However, the parts themselves are well done and the fasteners are top notch. So I would buy from Sky's again if I were in the market.

L&L Products makes a wide range of things, like engine mounts, headers, traction bars, clutches & flywheels, oil pans, and accessory mounts.

Sky's Offroad Design makes suspension and steering components for a number of vehicles, including our Bullnose Fords.

That forklift operator knows what he is doing. He earned his keep.

Amazon is my go-to place. I have stuff coming from them almost daily. The speed of delivery is amazing and their customer service is great. My only reason for not giving them 5 stars is due to pricing. You really need to compare their prices vs that of others. Yesterday I wanted to order Amsoil's Signature Series Fuel-Efficient Synthetic Automatic Transmission Fluid. You can order from the Amsoil site, which actually takes you to Alcantar Drivetrain Performance LLC, and they want $15.50/qt for the stuff with free shipping. Amazon wants $27.33/qt for it, so I thought about it for a ms and ordered it from Alcantar. But many times Amazon has as good or better pricing than anyone else. You just need to check.

What is there to say about Amazon?

Pico carries a wide range of electrical wiring products, including wire itself, connectors, relays, terminals, shrink tubing, and just about anything else you might want with regard to wiring.

John - It has been moved. But how 'bout editing the first post and including in the title "Advanced Auto Parts" or somesuch so people can see what it is for?

Safety is a must. But I'm not sure I understand your drawing. A relay needs two sources of power to work: power to the coil to pull it in, and power to pin 30 to then send on to the device it is powering. In your drawing, is the red wire to the add-on fuel pump going to the coil or pin 30? Or maybe both? The source they've picked, the red power wire for the front fuel pump, is "safe" as it only gets power in Start or in Run when the inertia switch is closed and the oil pressure is up, meaning the engine is running.

I created a thread in Marketplace for Discount Coupons. John - Would you like me to move these posts there?

Let me see what I have in the way of a rag joint.

Amazon is as much a vendor as LMC, NPD, and the others of that ilk are. On U-techcenter, can you give me a url? I tried to look them up as I want to put a link in the post/poll but didn't find a good one. Is this a good link to Pico Wiring Products? And I can also add NAPA, CarQuest, AutoZone, Advance, O'Rielly's, etc in. And Sky & L&L. This could take some time, but I'll get started. Thanks.

I'd pull the power steering belt, but for a different reason. Once when I was getting my Bronco engine started for the first time after stuff had been off it (I think there was a water pump replacement involved) I was concentrating on getting the air burped out of the cooling system (no small feat on this engine!) and ended up running it for a while with what turned out to be an under-filled power steering pump. It foamed up the fluid BAD. That's something I wouldn't want to repeat. Good point, Bob. Another good reason to pull the belt. I'm definitely going to pull it. I really only have these things to do before firing it up: Coolant: Finish filling the cooling system, and do so as Bill suggested by making the last bit of the fill via a heater hose. Install the new FDM in the front tank when it comes in and ensure it works properly. Fill the transmission & t-case when the lube comes in Clean the floor, paint it, and install the sound deadening and insulation Install the carpet Install the shift levers Install the seat Lube the new ball joints, u-joints, tie rod ends, etc That will let me fire it up but not really drive it. Then I have to have it aligned & have a new exhaust system installed so I can truly drive it. After that there's installing sound deadening and insulation in the doors and roof, painting the plastic and reinstalling it, installing the new u-joints in the front driveshaft and installing it, & reinstalling the grille and headlight doors. Oh, and installing the winch and wiring. Plus installing the new weatherstripping I have. Y'all may not think so, but that doesn't sound like all that much to me!

Looks good, Jim. Let us know how the insulation helps? And the lights really look great! I have to do that one of these days - once a few other "upgrades" get done.

Now THAT'S loaded! Did you have any "feel" in the steering?