Gary Lewis

Update: James said on June 30th he was shipping the gaskets out "that day". Today is two weeks later and I didn't have them so called and wound up talking to James. He had pulled them, realized they are the two expensive gaskets from the $40 kit, and ...... hadn't shipped them. But today he said he would. I offered, almost begged, to pay but he refused. So I ordered a full set for Dad's truck and the whole thing is to be shipped out today.

The guys are saying that if it is original to the vehicle it should not be a ZF5. And yes, there is a big difference between a ZF5 for a small-block and a 460. Besides the fact that the input shafts are completely different sizes, the small-block one won't bolt to the 460 nor vice versa. What you may be missing is that these transmissions include the bell housing. It is all one case.

The first one is obviously badly mistaken. The second one may be right, although there is no picture, but is more expensive than a Borgeson. And the third one is correct, but still 'spensive. Jim - If I had a spare I'd send it to you, but the one I have is meant for Dad's truck. Sorry.

The guys are right - make SURE it is a ZF. Not saying the other isn't a good transmission, but just want you to not be surprised. As for the 7.3L diesel, the 460's and small-block Zf's had a wide-ratio gear set and the diesels, both 6.9 and 7.3, had a close-ratio set.

Yes, that appears to be the thing to go to. Here's a shot of all three lower steering shafts: Do you guys think this should be on our steering column page? We seem to have this discussion frequently. And do you agree with me that the bottom one must be the 1990 & on version?

My answers, in bold: Is there any reason that the zf5 from a 92 f150 with a 302 wouldn't mate up to my 351 in my 84? It should bolt up just fine. Do I also have to change out the transfer case and clutch? What about the master cylinder? I think the small-block ZF5 uses the same input shaft as your current transmission, so it should use the same clutch and master cylinder. And all the transfer cases swap right over. Are there any differences in the zf5 transmission across the years? Maybe, but if it was truly rebuilt it should have any changes added. However there was the ZF5-42 and later the -47. They were supposedly capable of withstanding 420 and 470 lb-ft respectively. The '92 should have the -42, which is what I have in Big Blue, so I think you'll be fine. If I ultimately replace the 351 with a 460, will the zf5 mate up to the 460 without issue? No. The two engine series have very different bolt patterns for the transmissions. A 460 takes the "big block" pattern. Lastly, what do you think a freshly rebuilt zf5 transmission should cost (not installed)? I paid $500 several years ago for a ZF5-42, BW-1356 transmission case, shifter, etc. But it had problems and I had it rebuilt by a professional, but he was moonlighting, for ~$1000. But ZF's require several specific tools, and take someone that knows what they are doing to rebuild them well. So unless a pro built it I'd be concerned. Midwest Transmission is where I got the parts for mine and they seem to know what they are doing. And they offer a rebuilt small-block transmission for $1367. But I don't know if that requires a core. And it is probably plus shipping.

I think there's some confusion. According to our page on steering columns there was a change in 1988 to a different lower shaft, E8TZ 3B676-A, and it was the replacement for anything from 2/81 through at least 1989. And here is what I think is the replacement, on the bottom, with the Bullnose part on the top.

David - Check out this post in Big Blue's Transformation thread and see if that diagram works for you. On the oil pressure sender, it doesn't care how you point it. The Windsors had it down and at an angle. The 460's had it sideways. Don't remember on the 300's. But it just doesn't care.

Interesting! That may explain the extra long steering shaft and separate u-joint & rag joint I have. They probably came from Huck but got separated as I put things away.

351M's can usually handle a lot more than 6 degrees BTDC w/o pinging. But, they sometimes kick back on starting, so a DS-II module that provides that function would help prevent that. So once you find out if your damper is correct, I'd dial in at least 10 degrees if not 12 and test that. It will help the power.

It is all lighting, so what's the problem? On the video, I don't recommend doing it quite that way. I don't think it is safe to come off the battery with un-fused wires. Instead I put an auto-reset circuit breaker by the battery and then come off of it.

Thanks, Jim. Yes, I was pleased with the way the cables lay. But it took the spare cable to get there as the original cable had a set to it that caused problems. So I swapped it out and it worked nicely. On the steering shaft, I hope it is all it is cracked up to be. It is very tight and fits the shafts extremely tightly, so there's no slop in it at all. Glad your exhaustion has worn off. I think I'm going to take it easy until tomorrow.

Worked on the truck today, but not a lot to show. First I powder coated the throttle cable bracket as well as some of the bolts for holding the grille and associated "stuff" on. Here's the bracket: Then I pulled the original throttle cable out as well as the pedal, lubed the pedal and a spare cable, and installed them. Then I installed the carb and throttle bracket, and attached the cables to the bracket and carb. Done! Then I decided that now, before I install anything else around it, might be a good time to remove the old Bullnose lower steering shaft and install the Borgeson. (You may remember that when the time came to install the lower steering shaft the Borgeson was hiding, but subsequently I found it.) Boy, was that a battle! First the old one fought me as I tried to take it off. Finally I had to resort to a small hammer to tap it repeatedly to get it off. But just getting to it to tap it wasn't easy. Then the Borgeson fought me, in several different ways. First, I had to tap it to get it on the steering column - and again getting the hammer down there ain't easy. Then the Borgeson wasn't long enough to fit correctly on the steering box and onto the steering column at the same time. Turns out it is extendable, but it had to come completely off for me to figure that out. Last, it doesn't have a flat on it like the factory ones, so can go on may different ways and I tried most of them before finding the one that lined up correctly - the one where the lock bolt hits the flat squarely. That got the steering wheel lined up about right with the tires. Boy, was that a battle! I'm toast.

Yep. Another way to say it is that some harnii have a plug that simulates the headlight and plugs into the right side headlight connector. Another harnii have you remove the old headlight connector and connect directly to the wires. Those wires trigger the relays by going to their coils, the other side of which is grounded. If the low beam wire has power from the switch then the low beam relay pulls in. And that relay is getting its power through a fuse that's tied directly to the battery, so the headlight comes on but it is powered by heavy wire directly from the battery and only triggered by the headlight switch. Ditto the high beam.

Boy, spell check sure helped us there: Cloyes = Clothes. Took me a minute to figure that one out since they are on two different pages.

Dave posted some pics here that are probably what you need. But if not, please let me know. I wonder if this is something we need to document?

Are you looking for a schematic? That's one thing that our writeup lacks, but I could create that if you need it. As for the Photobucket problems, that's one reason I like Nabble. When we upload pics they are "ours" and stored on our server. Even if we just give it a link to another site in the Insert Image dialog it goes out and gets the picture and stores it on our server. So we aren't subject to other sites going away. In addition, unlike some other forums like FTE, when you put a pic on this forum you can easily copy it or a link to it and use it elsewhere, like Facebook. Anyway, what do you need on the headlight relays?

Looks like you are going to have solved a number of problems with all of this. Happy to help.

I know, I was blown away by them! Post those pics with measurements. While I bought my lights off Amazon, I sourced the tombstones elsewhere and I had to do some homework to find them. Here's a start for you........https://www.totalbulklighting.com/parts-accessories/non-shunted-tombstones-sockets.html?p=1 John - That's perfect! I found this one, which is on the left below with one of mine on the right. I just ordered 20 of them, which will make for a much easier conversion. Thanks!

Well, unfortunately that turns out to be something that I can't alter. Sorry. Guess we are going to have to live with it.

Well, it has been a bit since the last announcement, but it is time for a few more. We now have a new page called Over/Under Drives under Documentation/Driveline/Transmissions. And in it we have: Gear Vendors: A schematic from Jonathan/Ford F834 for the GVOD Doug Nash: A user's manual and installation guide from Scott/kramttocs. And we also now have a 1984 user guide, aka owner's manual, from David/jdavidsmi. It it accessible two ways: Thanks, guys!

Unless the Bronco was specified for California, the feedback system began in 1984 for the 4.9L engine. I believe the OP is looking at a 1983. Good point, David.

You are right, Rob. I missed that. But it is hard to tell if it is really dirty or not as some of the filter elements are dark to start with. My issue with flushing a tank is that gasoline is fairly expensive and it doesn't take wasting much of it to account for an appreciable portion of the cost of a new tank. So maybe pour the old out, swishing the last bits of it around in the tank briskly, and see what you get? If there's much rust I'd opt for a new tank.

Thanks, John. I'll post up a pic of the original tombstones in a bit, so if you find better ones then please let me know. But while it isn't too bad to do, I'm going to stop right here for a bit and enjoy what I have. The difference is amazing.

For whatever reason I had the page that apparently was Pg 5 as the last page, but I've put it in what is apparently its proper place now. But Pg 2 still seems conspicuous by its absence. As for the quality, it is better than nothing but not really "good". Is Doug Nash Enterprises still in business? I didn't find them in a search, nor did I find an owners manual. Maybe we have what there is?