Gary Lewis

Scott - This is at a high level how I think I did it on the ground relay, and how I want to do it on the power relay. The only thing the ground relay changes is High, but the power relay powers everything.

I pulled the relay and made a short jumper with 1/4" male spades on each end. Plugged that into 86 & 86 and then measured the voltage drop from the motor's negative terminal to the battery's ground terminal.

Well, it looks like my guess was WRONG! There's .6 volt drop on the ground side with battery at 12.1 volts and the blower on High. So I fixed the smallest of the problems. But, for some reason I haven't yet figured out I'm not getting the relay to come in to bring the blower to High. When I jumper 86 to 87 it does speed up the blower. So I have some diagnostics to do. Probably when I put the high-side relay in.

My guess is that the high-side relay is probably twice as effective as the low-side relay. The high-side has pretty large wiring going into the cab from the starter relay to the ignition switch, then still large wire to the fuse box, and then smaller wire to the function switch and then to the motor. So while it goes twice as far as the low-side wiring it has lots of connections in it, and surely the connections have voltage drops in them. Having measured the high-side voltage drop it now seems like I should measure the low-side drop. And I think I can do that by pulling the relay and jumpering 86 to 87. That will use the factory wiring, and I can measure from the motor's connector to the negative terminal of the battery for the voltage drop. Headed to the shop......

I really like the Hemi Cuda on the side of the van. That's cool! And I agree automatic tranny one - especially if it is a C6.

I don't have a diode in the blower motor circuit. I used the diode that is in the PDB on the starter circuit. Yes, my existing relay negates the resistor, but it only comes in when you switch to High. My thinking on the power side is to put it on the left side of your drawing, and that is probably what you mean by a "hot" relay. It would provide all the power to the motor, regardless of speed setting. That will probably increase the speed in all settings by some percentage, and I'd expect that to get essentially all of the 16% in High. But as the resistors come in and the current decreases there'd be less voltage drop with the factory approach so less and less increase in speed as you go down on the switch settings.

Now THAT is enginuity! Well done!

Jim - I just perused the TSB index (Documentation/TSB's/TSB Index) and didn't see anything with regard to a blower motor relay. Do you know when that kit was issued? Does it have a part or ID#?

I saw this on FB today and thought y'all might appreciate a chuckle this morning:

You have a good point. That tent is 67 kg (147 lbs), so having it up high might hurt the handling on Alan's F150. Alan - Do you have sway bars? They'll help in that situation.

Thanks, Josh. Would this be easier to read? And, by the way, if you open it in a new tab you can search it 'cause I OCR'd it.

Jim - The colors are clear in your posts, starting here. And I'm going to do that mod. I just ordered the kit from Utech. However I'll pick up power to the relay & blower from a fuse in the PDB. Unfortunately I didn't measure the voltage drop to ground before installing the ground relay. But I already know the drop to the motor on the high side is 2.0 volts at 12.8 battery voltage. My understanding is that dc motors have linear current draw with respect to voltage, so at 14.4 volts I'm guessing the voltage drop will be 2.3 volts. The relay should cut that to essentially nothing - at all speeds. And it'll take that much load off the cab circuits.

That's where I thought it would be as well, but didn't find it.

Jim - I perused the Skip White site but didn't find any instructions on installing the HEI. Could you point me to it? Josh - A pdf would be a help. However, those instructions don't really have all the info the people need. In order to have the power that the HEI requires most people find that a relay is required. So I would have expected a schematic of how best to do that in their instructions. Maybe the Skip White instructions do?

Jan - Sorry to see you've been banned from FB. On the mirrors, go to Documentation/Exterior/Exterior Mirrors and pick the "type" you are looking for. And then you can see the part numbers for that type. With that part number I'd search this forum. David had found bunches of NOS mirrors and posted them here. And tell us what "type" you are looking for - perhaps someone has a set. Door Hinges: If no one has good used ones perhaps you can find NOS ones. But you do know that they sell bushing repair kits, right? That won't fix the spring, but perhaps someone has the spring? Upper Hinge: 80/on FlOO/350,F(SuperDuty),U150 (RH) E8TZ 1522811-A (LH) E8TZ 1522810-A | Lower Hinge: 80/89 Fl50/350.F(Super Duty),U150 E9TZ 1522800-A R.H. and L.H. Right Door: Hopefully someone on here will have one they will sell you. Fender: Ditto Brake Pads: Jim likes his Motorcraft Severe Duty pads, so that's what I went with on Big Blue. However, I've not driven it yet so can assure you they are good. Still, he likes them. I think mine came from Rock Auto. Rear Shoes: If going with Motorcraft up front I'd go with them in the rear.

Actually, no. Someone "up there" has a real sense of humor. The truck actually came in saying Chevrolet on one side and GMC on the other. Or maybe I should say "down there"? Remember the movie Bedazzled?

Scott - I'm not sure there's a lot to see in pictures. But here's the schematic for my PDB I don't know why I chose the ground side to put the relay in. Perhaps I'll add the Ford harness that Jim used on the high side, or make my own. I think there are plenty of fuse positions left in the PDB, but I think I'm out of relay positions. A relay could be used for all power to the motor, and it would increase all of the blower speeds, but mostly High.

I haven't done this, but they make a rubber expanding freeze plug. It is only meant for emergency repairs, but it might get you by for a while. However, getting the old ones out w/o pulling the heads is not going to be easy. So I think I'd pull the heads and do it right.

Jim - Sorry to hear about the death. That must be tough - for all of you. But good luck on the t-case! You'll get it whipped, I'm sure. Bob - Did the Bronco see a bit more solid today? I'd think that piece you put in would stiffen it up some. But glad you are getting to use it. Must feel good.

Yep, progress IS good! As for posting, you did. But let's see if this cleanup is easier to read:

I am the egg man. I think going back to GB would be a Magical Mystery Tour. But it ain't gonna happen this year - in spite of us already having money down on it. Maybe next?

I agree - you shouldn't have EGR at idle. Only at cruise with high vacuum.

Yep, but by ~'72 a GMC was a Chevy with quad headlights. But he didn't believe us. I'd done my research on what was available and eventually bought a '72 F250.

You didn't read the email? I sent all 772 members a message about the show. Yes, please enter!

Yup. But two things spring to mind. First, I stepped out of the Conoco/Jet building right behind Selfridge's one evening and the sun was shining. A gentleman on the pavement said "What did you think of our summer?" Then years later my boss when I was there, another Yank, and I were back to GB, basically Luton, for a meeting where a bunch of other Yanks were there for the first time. We landed on a Sunday and the sun was shining so we told the others to enjoy it as it wouldn't last. By Friday, with each day being 100% sunshine and the temps well into the 30's C, our credibility was toast. Neither of us had ever seen that many sunny days in one stretch.