Gary Lewis

I'm a journalist so my degrees are in journalism/mass comm. I have others that don't involve my profession ... I'm rather addicted to learning. I graduated from Texas A&M. And I taught journalism for a few years at our local branch, A&M-Texarkana. I've been an editor at my current paper since 2004. This blasted virus has interfered with my plans as well. My partner lives in Europe and we haven't been on the same continent since October. I hope this mess is behind us soon. My grandfather used to talk about the Spanish flu (it wiped out a pretty big chunk of my family in 1918) and I couldn't imagine the things they had to do. It's actually the reason that branch of the family moved to this area from South Carolina. As for the camper, when I get a little farther along I will definitely start a thread. Thanks for letting me know that's OK. For now, though, I will attach a photo taken on the day I bought it. That's one of my friends in the doorway. Speaking of threads, I'm going to start one on my truck as we have come across a bit of an issue with the distributer. Is that an Amerigo camper? I've always liked them. I do hope you'll start that thread on it. Ok, so you have degrees in journalism/mass comm. Cool! (In spite of it being from College Station. ) Seriously though, might we get you involved in this website? I'm sure it could use a whole lot of improving. I'm basically an engineer and know that I don't know how best to do a website. Is your partner the one from The Netherlands? And where else did you study?

Yep, that's my favorite. Our friend Willey called it the LGG - Last Great Grille.

Yes, you can certainly nominate Brutus. And, effectively you have done.

Excellent, Bill! Thanks. Your fuel line mount is angled and mine isn't, so they'll mount differently. And I forgot to check with the salvage to see if they have the filter mount. Thanks for reminding me. But now I know where it goes. As for what I did, I got my first two fuel line connectors installed using the Dorman tool. It sure works nicely. And, here's what I did with them. They are connected to the rear tank, as is the electrical connector, and the tank is installed, although I've not tightened the bolts & nuts up on the skid plate yet.. But, I did have a little bit of trouble along the way. The first was that the upper straps kept slipping sideways and didn't want to go back up as the tank was lifted, so the tank wouldn't go all the way up. So I held the straps in place with zip ties. And the other problem was as I was installing the filler neck. Man, there's just no easy way to get in there to get the outer hose on. I suppose it should be put on the tank first, but that's hind sight. Still, I got it on and the filler neck cinched up.

Thanks, Bruce. I found lots of other combinations, but most of them were 3 or more connectors and ran into even more $ than these. Seems expensive, but it appears to be the least expensive of the solutions and maybe the cleanest.

Thanks, Bill & Rusty. With a bit more research it looks like the following is the cleanest and cheapest way to go. Other people have the pieces at a bit less, but the shipping makes up the difference. Ditto the ones Bruce linked to, above. At first blush the Fuel Line Adapter - 3/8 Quick Connect to Nylon look good at $9.54 for two of the 3/8" pieces, but then there's $14 in shipping. And I also need 5/16", so we are basically $50 delivered. I'll buy these for a total of $42 and have them tomorrow - unless someone has a better and cheaper idea. One in 5/16" for the return and one in 3/8" for the supply: Aluminum 6AN Flare to 5/16 SAE Quick Disconnect Male Push-On EFI Hose Fitting Adapter JIC 6 AN 9/16-18 Male to 5/16 inch SAE Black Anodized And a pair of these: Female 6AN AN6 To 3/8" 3/8 inch 9.52mm Barb Straight Swivel Hose Fitting Aluminum Hose Barb Fuel Line Adapter Black Anodized

That steering shaft is very similar to the Borgeson that Vernon had put on Big Blue. No rag joints, just u-joints. It has worked very well.

Bill - What is "that way"? Hoses slipped on the fuel line adapters? I had another thought about the connectors. The fuel line adapters appear to be steel. Why not cut a hose barb's threads off, drill it out to fit over the fuel line adapter, and sweat solder it or braze it on?

Bill - I see what you are saying. Here's the 1986 tank switch, and it would work nicely for what you suggested. Unfortunately I don't have one of those switches. What I have is the 1985 switch, as shown below. And it doesn't have the second switch in it. However, I do have a 1981 switch, shown below. It has two switches and even though the non-gauge side only has one contact, that's all that is needed to trigger the tank selector relay. So, while the connectors are different between those two switches, if the terminals will swap from one connector to the other I should be able to do that - along with bringing the sending unit wires into the cab. Man, it would be SOOOOOO much easier to put a relay on the frame rail! All the connections are there.

Bruce - I think I understand, but let me make sure. Option 1 is to use the fuel line adapter shown below and slip a hose over it, placing a clamp in the recess? Option 2 is to use that adapter with a compression fitting and then screw a hose barb into that. Presumably cutting the adapter's barb off to allow the ferule on there? I think I like Option 2 better as I fear the hose would slip off the adapter. But, you've reminded me that I have the stainless tubing that I'm not going to use, and it looks like the left end of that adapter. So for that size, which I think is 3/8", I could just use it and slip a compression fitting on. I've also seen a male disconnect/6AN fitting, and I could use that with a 6AN/hose barb fitting. That would get me down to two pieces instead of three. Anyway, thanks! At least I have some options.

Welcome, Zeke! Glad you joined. We need to see pics of your truck. I hope you will start a thread in the main section or in Projects to let us come along for the ride on making the truck "yours". Where are you in MO? I ask because we have a map (Bullnose Forum/Member's Map in the menu) and we'd be happy to put you on if we had a city or a zip. Oil leaks are to be expected, but many of them are easy to repair. As for being 68, you are young! I'm 72 and I'm not the oldest one on here. But we have a wide range of ages, so I'm sure you'll fit right in. You don't have a signature, and those help us significantly as with ~800 members it is hard to remember who has what and we don't want to give bad advice. Instructions on creating a signature are available at Bulnose Forum/Forum FAQ's. Again, welcome!

Following! And it already is looking good. Boy, those cab mount instructions bring back memories. Don't lube those things! What sound mat are you using?

To clarify, Andre, there are two different pieces there: with and without headliner. Not that I have them, but does your Bronco have a headliner? If so, you are looking for the "with headliner" trim pieces.

Sorry, you are new to the game and don't know the rules. Let me explain.... There are three phases: So, now we aren't voting, just nominating.

All I know is to get them at the salvage. But maybe someone else has other sources?

Congrat's!!! Excellent! And, it looks good as well.

Gasoline engines operate differently from diesels in that the gas engines have a throttle. And because there's a throttle there's a vacuum in the intake manifold. The more throttled the engine is the more vacuum there is. IOW, at idle there's max vacuum and at WOT there's min.

Sorry I'm late. Here are carryovers from last month's polling, but y'all nominate more, please! Angelo's father's red w/a bull bar: Brian/Dee's Bullnose: Steve/Old55pete's 86 Bronco: Myrl/myrl883's Parts Truck:

Congrat's to Jonathan! His truck is the August 2020 Truck Of The Month!!!

See if this helps understand what vacuum systems you need: Documentation/Underhood/Vacuum Systems.

Because I was hoping Bill was right and it would be so simple. But, as it turns out it isn't quite that simple. So, I think I'm going to use the wires coming down to the switching valve in reverse and send the sending units' output back up them to the to-be relay. The color codes won't be right, but it'll work. Speaking of just making it work, I pulled a whole lot of tape and convolute off trying to find S160, which is where the resistance wire going to the fuel pumps in Run originates. I need to bypass that to give the pumps full battery voltage in Run, but think I'm going to cheat and just jumper from the Tank Selector Relay, which does have battery voltage in Run, to the Fuel Pump Cutoff Relay. Thoughts? Also, I got the Holley fuel pressure regulator in, so I'm ready when the time comes to install that. However, I still haven't found the 5/16" and 3/8" male quick disconnect to barb connectors I'm looking for to let me use the quick disconnects with the fuel pressure regulator and carb. I may improvise, but if someone has suggestions please pass them on. Last, I cut the Bullnose fuel tank connectors off and grafted the new pigtails on.

No, they aren't, as you can see below. Two different part numbers for the 460's and diesels with dual tanks (E4TZ-K) to all the others (E4TZ-M). But, you have a very good point! So I'm off to figure out how they differ in wiring. Perhaps a relay isn't needed!?!?! Good idea, Bill. But it won't work as the switch in the HVAC panel is entirely different. Here's the one for the other trucks, and you'll see that the wires from the senders (DB/Y & Y/LB H) come up to the switch. And there are two switches in one - one to control the selector valve and the other to select the sender to present to the gauge. Unfortunately that's not what I have. In mine there's a DPDT switch which runs the motor in the selector valve, and there are contacts in that valve that select the sender to present to the gauge. IOW, in some cases the senders come into the cab to the tank switch, but in my case they end below the driver on the frame rail. So all I have is power with with to select the sender to present to the gauge. Looks like I need a relay.

No, they aren't, as you can see below. Two different part numbers for the 460's and diesels with dual tanks (E4TZ-K) to all the others (E4TZ-M). But, you have a very good point! So I'm off to figure out how they differ in wiring. Perhaps a relay isn't needed!?!?!

Oh, bummer! Thanks for reminding me. Sorry, I'll work it this evening.

Bill - Yes, the 5.0L EFI's wiring is nice as simple, as shown below: Not so the 7.5L's, which is what I have. And this is only half of the wiring diagram as it takes another page to show the pump circuits. So I'm going to replace the Tank Selector Valve in the diagram below with a relay. What is disappointing is that at first glance it looked like every one of the circuits is available in C127. But on closer inspection I found the "F150-350 only" note that shows that Big Blue's sender wiring goes straight to the tank selector valve. So I'll extend the wires up to the firewall area.