Gary Lewis

Sorry for the late response - the server was over capacity. Anyway, I fully understand that you don't need notification that the forum is up or down. And I really understand about the shared email. Janey and I did that for the longest time - until the traffic from the forum got too onerous for her.

Yes, welcome! At 67 you are young - I'm 73 and there are at least two others on here older than I am. But I've not had to have a hip replacement so all I can say, having watched others do it, is to heed the therapist's instructions. My brother thought he was tough and didn't, and paid the price. On your truck, if you only have 5.3 volts at the battery you'll have to charge it to get it started. And you'll probably need to replace the starter relay on the fender as it is apparently welded shut. That happens, but sometimes that's because you have a bad cable or connection. Other times the starter itself is bad and drawing way too much current. And Dave is right, we have a map (Bullnose Forum/Member's Map in the menu) and I can add you if you give me a city or zip code.

Andre - It is your call on whether to enter or not. But I can assure you that there will be PLENTY of un-finished trucks entered. (In fact, whose truck is ever truly finished?) Here are some that might be entered that aren't done: Dad't Truck: This thing is FAR from being finished. Years from it as there is no fuel system, cooling system, interior, trim, etc. But I'll probably enter it. Big Blue: If I get on a roll I may be driving BB by then, but he won't be "done". Far from it, as at that point in time I for sure won't have the EFI on, nor the headliner, CB radio, air compressor, etc. Shaun's 1980ish Ford F350 Ranger XLT 4x4 460/T19/D60-Sterling: He's already said he is going to enter it, but will pull the engine, transmission, and other associated goodies out of storage to take pics of them for the entry. Bill's Darth: Bill/85lebaront2's "Darth", which is a 1986 F-350 460 converted to MAF/SEFI and with an E4OD, is running. But he has a brand new 460 waiting to be installed. So does that qualify as "done"? I don't think so. I could go on, but I think you get the picture. It is your decision, but you won't be alone if you decide to enter your truck before it is finished.

Doni - Glad the ICVR instructions worked for you. By the way, it looks like we are going to have a "virtual" truck show this September. You can read about it here, but you'd be more than welcome to join. You'll see that the trucks don't have to be complete to be entered - I know for sure Dad's truck won't be done but I may well enter it. In fact, who's truck is really ever "done"?

Not sure I'm following you on the above, Gary. What did you make? Yeah, everything I've read regarding my transmission configuration concurs with what you said. The transmission is a good trans but I'm so limited with it. My truck was built for the 55 MPH speed limit of its day. Say, recommendations for salvage yards in our area that may have parts for our trucks? I'm off for a few days and wish to look for a couple of things. Oops, my bad. I thought you asked about the ICVR, but it was someone else. But if you want to see what I did there's a page at Documentation/Electrical/ICVR. I recently made one for Big Blue, but there may be commercial ones available now. As for the transmission, I paid $500 for a ZF5-42, BW1356, and associated driveshafts and clutch. But that was several years ago and the prices have gone up. However, that tranny had some problems, like the 3rd gear synchros were toast and the reverse gear was broken, which caused it to absolutely refuse to go into reverse at certain points on the gear. So you made sure to not stop up against something 'cause there were times you absolutely had to roll forward in order to get into reverse. And I've heard that many people have had at least synchro problems and frequently reverse gear problems. So I think if I were to do it again I'd buy a rebuilt. Midwest Transmissions is where I bought my parts and they really seem to know their stuff. They offer a completely rebuilt ZF5 for $1860 plus shipping. But I don't know if that is with a core or not. If not, I'd go that way next time as it cost me $1000 for parts and labor for a rebuild on mine, with no warranty.

Hopefully Bill will be along to comment as he knows far more than I. But have you found the 1982 Emissions section on carburetion? https://onedrive.live.com/View.aspx?resid=80736256535317EF!31874&authkey=!AFiAlxbipPm387k

Gary, your road trip to Colorado got me thinking about what kind of fuel mileage you think you'll be getting with Big Blue? Noted that you have a ZF5 transmission in that truck, wondering if that was original? Sorry, but I've only skimmed your build. I ask these questions, as I've considered ways to lower the RPM's and improve fuel mileage in my own truck. I don't have a tac in my truck but above 55 mph fuel consumption really dips. The transmission is an automatic with no overdrive and I too have 3.55 gear ratio. John - In my estimation the C6 is the worst of all the transmissions for MPG. The lack of an overdrive and a lockup torque converter make it a poor choice for economy. Big Blue had a T-19 and a badly worn out engine, but at 65 MPH I could almost get 12 MPG. Almost, but not quite. Usually more like 11.5 to 11.7. But with the fresh engine, albeit with a carb, and the overdrive I think I may be able to squeeze out 13 to 13.5. And when the EFI goes on I'm hoping for 14.0 - on the road at 65 MPH. Anyway, I'm glad the ICVR thing worked out for you. I think there are now purpose-made ones for sale, but I recently made another of those for Big Blue 'cause they work so well.

Shaun - I'll have this factory one left over and you can have it. If you are using a factory intake it'll bolt right on. But even on the 460 Edelbrock's bosses it seemed to work ok. It was the Edelbrock 351W & 400 intakes that appear to have the bosses in different locations. Or, perhaps they didn't move the bosses but moved the carb on those intakes? However, I'm not sure I'll have the speed control bracket left over. We shall see.

Thanks, Jim. It is such a simple solution that it is hard to believe I didn't think of it first. In fact, someone ought to make it commercially as I've seen so many people trying to figure out how to get the slop out of their throttle cable on an aftermarket intake. I'll have to check to see if it would work on a Holley but it'll work on my Street Demon, although the PCV hose fitting will be held on pretty tightly between the bracket and the barb. The downside of this design is that it doesn't have a handy place to attach the speed control bracket, which was an add-on from the factory. But the plate on the end to box the angle will provide that, although it will have to extend down a ways below the lower flange of the angle to take both screws on the speed control bracket. However, I see no reason to use the factory bracket as is. I'm thinking that I'll cut the dog leg off and just weld the bracket onto the plate on the end. You can see what I'm talking about here. The speed control bracket is screwed onto the side of the throttle cable bracket, but it attaches behind the point where the throttle cable attaches, so my plate will have to come back past the rear flange of the angle. You can see from this pic that the hole the catch of the throttle cable snaps into is right at the bottom of the back flange of the bracket. So the top hole of the factory speed control bracket would be close to the bottom flange, and the bottom hole would be well below. May just make a new bracket out of another piece of that angle for the speed control.

I made my piston stop. I ground off the ring that holds the porcelain in on an old plug. Then I drilled and tapped the plug to take something like a 1/4-20 screw and used a carriage bolt since they have a rounded head.

Not sure about a post, but we have a page here on PMGR starters: Documentation/Electrical/PMGR Starter Wiring. There is also the possibility that you have a bad cable. Just because the terminal on the cable has good contact to the battery or the ground or the relay, that doesn't mean the wire is well connected to the terminal. Sometimes cables die internally. The way to check that out is to do the voltage drop test, as described here: Documentation/Electrical/Voltage Drop Testing.

A piston stop is the most accurate. But using a straw or something like that should also work. Your damper should be accurate unless it has slipped, and if it has slipped it is likely to be quite a ways off instead of a degree or two.

Ok, I have a bracket that will work. It isn't perfect and I think I need to slot the bolt holes by ~1/4" to take the slop out of the cable, but I'll show you that in a bit. Here's the bracket itself, ready to go for the throttle cable but w/o the add-on for the speed control cable. That will take a plate on the right end to which the factory speed control cable bracket will attach, but that's no problem and I'll get to that probably later in the week. But in this pic you can see the red marks which show where I think I need to slot the holes to in order to take out the slop. Here's the bracket "installed", although the carb is on the bench, and while the pic isn't the best you can see that the cable lays right to the ball on the carb, meaning the bracket is at the right height. However, in this pic you can see that the cable is 5/16" too long. So I'm thinking I'll slot the bolt holes by 1/4" to allow adjustment. Trust me, you don't want to take all of the slop out or you'll have problems getting the idle to drop down where it should. DAHIK. So, this is a pretty easy fix for people going with an aftermarket intake. Once I get it the way I like it then I can provide dimensions so others can copy it.

Yep. But no one has replied to my post with questions in Virtual Truck Show. So I'm loathe to move on to more questions when I don't have answers on those. Maybe I need to start with a series of polls in there?

Done.

Jein, Jim. I still have a whole bunch of the parts BB was carrying when I kidnapped him. And I have a lot of parts from you and from other members. Plus parts that I got off Huck. And then there's the parts I got off of other trucks I parted out. Some of those parts are in the attic. Some are in totes downstairs. And while there was organization in the contents of the totes when this started, that doesn't seem to be the case now.

It is looking great, Andre! But you don't have to have it finished in order to enter. We may even have a Best Project category. Who knows as we haven't yet decided what categories we will have.

Now on the list, Scott.

I'll bet at 30 you are doing a much better job of studying than I did at 20. (And I did a MUCH better job of studying at 60!) Anyway, I hope the job market will be good when you graduate. As for the truck, that's my thinking as well: Fix it now so I don't have to come back. It takes a lot longer the first round, but should be worth it in the end.

You are now on the list. But I have everyone's email address so you don't need to supply that. Might keep spam down a bit for you.

The "more room in the shop" bit is a biggee. I have totes stacked everywhere with parts in them for Big Blue. And so far I've not emptied very many of them. Anyway, dash looks good! I'm envious.

Good price, Shaun. But what switching valve are you going to use? Scott - Love the Alcoas! I'd like to have a set on BB, but I think the black wheels & hubs go well with the other black, like the step bars and maybe windshield trim.

Probably a good idea to get the extra classes in and graduate early. And I fully understand about "this time or that time". But given the significant changes we are making, it makes sense to fix things while in there.

Andre - We are seriously considering doing the show this year as a virtual show. And only members here can enter. If we do I hope you will enter your truck.

The end of the rod sags down and looks tired. Some have shimmed the spring, and that helps. But the later ones solve the problem