Gary Lewis

You'll want to clean it up slowly as having everything come loose at once can plug the oil pickup. David/1986F150Six had that happen to him years after buying the truck. He was on a trip and oil pressure started going away. He had to turn around and go home and then pull the pan and clean it. I can't tell you what is the best process for getting the sludge out slowly. But Jim's suggestion of pulling the valve cover might be part of that. And the fact that you've already pulled the pan and gotten that sludge out will certainly help.

I like POR15. But it is the pits trying to get something to adhere to it when it dries. So I put my topcoat on when it is tacky, and it sticks well.

You might find some NOS ones if you search by part number or ID #. Go to our page on Documentation/Driveline/Wheel Covers. Pick the Type and then go to the Applications tab and get the part number. Then take the PN to the PN to ID# Cross-Ref tab and get the ID# as sometimes people list them that way since that's the number on the part. (#'s on parts are not part #'s.) Then go search for those #'s. Good luck!

I know it isn't the same, but I ran L&L's on Big Blue with the carb'd heads on the 460. The only issue I had was about 1/4" of clearance to the top of the frame on the driver's side, and the headers would sometimes hit if I let off quickly. I'd planned to put a piece of 1/4" plate between the engine and the mount to rock the engine CW a bit, but wound up going with the EFI heads and that took new L&L's, which then hit on the passenger's side. Anyway, when I had the original L&L's on they cleared the D44HD fine. But, of course, it had leaf springs up front and no lift, so it was very different than yours.

Check the R/Y wire where it goes into the instrument cluster. I’ll bet it’s voltage goes to zero when the key is in Run.

But if it works when cranking doesn’t that prove the tach works with the HEI? Or might it just be that it is getting hit with some voltage that causes it to wiggle, looking like it is working?

If you look at Pg 95 from the 1986 EVTM, below, you'll see the power for the tach comes from a R/Y wire that is Ckt 640. If you then look at Pg 16 you'll see that circuit comes from Fuse 18 which is hot in both Start & Run. Since that fuse also supplied the EEC, which you've deleted, my guess is that you somehow changed the wiring so it isn't hot in Run. Or you only tapped into a circuit that is only hot in Start. I'd go back and make sure you are connected to Fuse 18.

Thought y'all might enjoy Motor Trend's 2024 Tesla Cybertruck vs. Rivian R1T vs. Ford F-150 Lightning: The Only Comparison Test You'll Need. And here's a telling set of charts, which explain why I'm not in the market for an e-truck. As previously said, when we take Blue we are going for 500+ miles/day. But these trucks only get about 1/2 of that and then need an hour and a half to over two hours charging to get you the rest of the way. And towing a really sleek 3000 lb travel trailer cuts that range significantly, to 160 to 200 miles at an average speed of 50 MPG. So towing Big Blue (~9000 lbs with all the spare parts + trailer) would probably have cut that to 100 miles - if that. Compare that to towing with Blue where we ran 75 MPH, got 9 MPG, and went 300 miles per tank on our 1000 mile overnight return trip. We did that trip in about 15 hours with four 20 minute gas stops for an average speed of 67 MPH. But it looks like an e-truck would need about 10 stops for charging, which would be another 15 to 20 hours. So with the 13.33 hours of driving at 75 MPH plus 18 hours of charging (the average of the three) the trip would have taken 31 hours.

Would something like this work? You might want to check it out though, like read the comments, as it doesn't include Ford vehicles in the list it says it fits, but does include a picture of a Mustang.

Really? Well, maybe not everything when you put it that way. I'd like him to be pretty, but if I had the needed body work done and had him painted I'd be afraid to take him the places we've gone, so I guess I'll take functionality over looks.

I think you are probably right that the typical is regular cab, Styleside, long bed. But the engine is more difficult to guess, although it would probably be the 300 six or the 302. I say that because both were offered for the full seven years of the Bullnose era while none of the others were. The 351W would be next, having arrived in 82 for a five year run. As for the transmission, that's even harder to guess. There were several of them, but the one that was used on all of the engines, I think, for all seven years was the C6. Last, I'd guess there are more 4x4's on here than 4x2's since most want 4wd so would be inclined to buy one of those if given the chance. But there were probably more 4x2's sold. That's my guess, Jeff. But you could edit your post and put a poll in it to have people answer your questions for their trucks and we'd find out over time.

Thanks, guys. Just one more minor mod to make BB everything I want him to be. 😎

We are of like minds.

I'm told that it wasn't Holley's fault that the power valves blew frequently. That it was Chrysler's fault because they made Holley jet the carbs so lean that they had frequent backfires through the carb. But I believe that the carb was poorly designed as it didn't have a check valve to prevent the power valve from blowing out. In fact, it wasn't until many years later, from what I've been told that, they fixed that design flaw. In addition it wasn't until somewhere about then that they discontinued the cork bowl gaskets that shrank and then leaked. And yes, the o-rings on the transfer tube had to be lubed or they'd leak badly - and you discovered that the first time you had to replace the power valve - soon after buying the vehicle. So you can imagine how thrilled I was with my new Holley.

The yellow paint shows the line: center yourself on the diamonds, keep it between the lines. The biggest concentration of scrapes is dead center on the trail, but I do see what you mean about a bunch of scrapes outside of the right line. I'm not sure what that's about. But if we do Hell's Revenge we'll need a pretty good reason to color outside those lines. I'm pretty good at coloring within the lines. Have always thought it was wrong to get outside of them, and if we do Hell's Revenge I'll be extra careful.

I had a new one once - on a brand new 1969 Super Bee. First Holley after growing up on Carters & Rochesters. It isn't only the old ones that leak. That new one did, profusely.

the one at the beginning definitely gets your attention. That's the "gatekeeper" I was talking about. If driving over stuff like that all day will make it a bad day you should turn around right away. The one at 5:30 I think won't be as bad. I don't think it looks all that high. It more seems to be an "on-ramp" to get up that hill to the vehicles right. But yes, there are a lot of things on this trail that are spooky. Whether the trail is fun or not depends on if you can see that as exciting or if it's just terrifying. And we'll have to see how that goes. At 6:15 the Wrangler is taking an optional line up the side of the fin from 5:30. Yes it's steep! But you get an idea of the incredible traction as he just walks up. 6:50 is a mandatory part of the trail (no bypass). But you just idle down and let the traction make it easy. Yes, 28:50 is where the diagonal approach kept her from dragging. And 30 minutes is the Toyota on the same obstacle. Taking it at an angle with Big Blue might be helpful, but he may well drag is hitch. That's one of the "exciting" parts for sure! And you disappoint me! I thought for sure you'd have some commentary on his commentary on Dragon's Tail at 34:04: "This is the super sketchy, turn into it and feel like you're going to die downhill section. It's so much fun!" Yeah, I heard what he said, but then I've watched bunches of his videos and have gotten used to his ... malarkey. (I'm a day or two late with that one.) But I was a bit surprised when I went back to watch it again how many scrapes there are on the rock. I'd have thought the line was a bit to the left, but maybe not. And you are right, Big Blue can take lines that Toyota couldn't, or couldn't get through, so maybe the hitch won't drag quite as much as it would otherwise. I probably have about the same amount of overhang as the Toy, so I expect to drag the hitch. But I hope we don't mess up that Warn front bumper. Oddly enough, Welder Scott wants that hitch, but then we've not gotten the metal together to make the bumper that would let me give him the hitch. So I guess he'll get a scraped hitch. And the camera will give me some forward visibility that will make it less nerve wracking since I can tell I'm on the nice, black road that Jeff pointed out. Plus, if the dip we are going into doesn't require a lot of articulation I can inflate the air bags a bit to raise the rear. Anyway, let's file Hell's Revenge in the "maybe" column.

Got the new relay module in yesterday and today got most of the wiring done. Not wanting to modify any wiring on the truck or do any more wiring under the dash than I have to, I found another clutch switch connector and plenty of R/LB wire. I cut down two male 1/4" terminals to .75" wide, which let them slip into the connector in place of the switch's terminals. Then I made a "connector" and a pigtail that will plug into the existing clutch switch connector and then into the switch itself. And it has a pair of R/LB wires running back to the relay module. I drilled the box for a grommet large enough to get the pushbutton switch's connector through as well as the rest of the wiring, drilled three holes for screws to mount the module in the box, mounted the module and ran all of the wires but the ones to the LED, which is already on the truck. Hopefully I'll get to install it on Thursday, which requires sliding the LED wires through the grommet and terminating them, finding power and ground, and installing the pigtail onto the existing wiring and clutch switch. Here are some pics, with the first one being the finished module save for the LED wiring, which just slips through the grommet and goes into the screw terminals, and the second two being the pigtail with the left one "open" and the right one showing how the male terminals go into the connector that's on the truck.

You are now on the map. And the pics look good.

There are some NOS ones about from time to time. Check out this thread: https://forum.garysgaragemahal.com/Explorer-hood-ornament-assembly-E0TZ-16850-B-NOS-td54220.html

Welcome! Glad you joined. That truck sounds cool. And it looks like you are "getting there". Where are the pics? (Look at the page at Bullnose Forum/Forum FAQ's on how to post pics.) And where's home? We have a map at Bullnose Forum/Member's Map and can add you with a city/state or zip.

Ok, I'm watching, and here are comments as we go: That's the couple I've watched, and communicated with, regarding overlanding in the Ozarks. The fin at the beginning and the one at 5:30ish is spooky, but I assume we'll do many of those in Fins & Things? The climb at 6:15 was steep! And going down at 6:50ish was as well. At 10:40 that Jeep Grand Cherokee doesn't appear to have a locker in the front and maybe not in the back. In fact, the 2023 version's advert says a rear locker was optional I skipped welding the tie rod back together. At 25+ the drone footage is typical of OOA. They always give you a good overview of what they are tackling. But I could do w/o the "music". I'll bypass the bit at 27:15 where the Jeep is showing off. I like the way the others went. The marks on the rocks at 28:50 are impressive! That Grand Cherokee made it w/o dragging, but that pickup left quite a mark w/the rear bumper. I'll bet Big Blue will as well, but with the hitch. At 30 minutes that dip is going to be a problem with BB's wheelbase. And at 31:30 that "fin" is scary, but the "staying in your lane" analogy works for me. Ok, the Dragon's Tail is scarier! "I will tell you if something is about to go wrong." How much warning do I get??? Bottom Line: By Day 5 I might have the confidence to do that. Not sure Janey will though, so we will have to see how things are going. How confident we are with my abilities and how Big Blue is doing . In other words, let's put this in the "maybe" category.

Good job posting the pics. And nice truck. You even have the Explorer hood ornament.

Maybe I'm thinking about this wrong, but I believe that if you lift a Twin I-Beam (or TTB) front suspension by increasing spring height you will reduce caster and increase camber. I believe that positive caster means the line through the king pins or ball joints is leaning back at the top. As the spring gets longer the front of the radius arm will move down with respect to the pivot point, so the top of the knuckle will lean farther forward, giving less positive caster (and eventually negative caster). And I believe that positive camber means the line through the king pins or ball joints is tipping out at the top. As the spring gets longer the tire end of the I-beam goes down with respect to the pivot point and the top of knuckle leans out more. So that gives more positive camber. Bob - I think there's a difference between types of springs. I'm assuming that the specified caster at a given ride height is what Ford expected there to be with new components. And it looks to me like: Caster goes down as the ride height goes up on a 4x2 truck. Caster goes down as the ride height goes up on a 4x4 truck on coil springs, meaning an F150 or Bronco. Caster goes up with ride height on a 4x4 truck with leaf springs, meaning an F250 or 350. Am I reading that correctly? If so, why is that?

Welcome! Glad you joined. Man, 2.47 and OD is really a high-geared outfit. I've heard others with a combo like that say they couldn't shift into OD if there was a hill in that zip code. But it should be good for cruising, that's for sure. Show us some pics? You may want to look at how to post pics in the FAQ's at Bullnose Forum/Forum FAQ's in the menu. And speaking of the menu, you can see our map at Bullnose Forum/Member's Map. We can add you with a city/state or zip - with or without a hill.