Gary Lewis

Another thing is your thermostat. Ford put 192 degree stats in everything, and it is important to get engines up to temps like that to boil the condensation out of the oil. But if you drive short distances, or run a lower temp stat, you may never get the engine fully up to temp and get the moisture out.

Randy - Here's the pic you posted. And here's what I see in the Documentation/Suspension & Steering/Alignment page: Does that help?

XLS is a brushed aluminum. Very rare. I don't, yet, have one but Jonathan does.

McMaster-Carr

As it turns out, the bumper bolts from Dad's truck are 12mm but the bolts in BB's bumper are 7/16". And the 12mm bolts won't fit. So I'll order 7/16" stainless carriage bolts and bet they'll fit. Oops, they don't have 7/16". Think I may just powder coat the ones I have.

So I'd be fine to use stainless I think you are saying? I did find bumper bolts, and while they are the ones for Dad's truck I wouldn't mind having new ones for that. So I need to pull one of the existing bolt out and see what size the square hole is in the bumper. But, I do know that the bumper bolts from Dad's truck are metric, as are the bolts in Big Blue's bumper. So I think the shank of the bumper bolts will fit. And, while I was looking for the hot-air tube for Joe I found not one, but two lower steering shafts! The later kind with the universal joint. So when the time comes, probably after the kids leave, I'll swap out the shaft that's in there. But, speaking of the kids, they aren't here yet, so I'm going back out to the shop and check that bolt.......

Jim - I think that's exactly what he needs! Well done.

Here's a pic of the one on Big Blue. You can just see the eccentric below the nut.

I'm having a hard time envisioning how it could go down too far. Can you post a pic? Meanwhile, I'll look for a pic of mine....

Ok, here's what I have, and I doubt it is what you want. It is from a 351M, and it looks like the hot-air pipe is broken off like yours. The pipe that is still there connected to the back of the carb, up under the air cleaner, via a rubber hose. But the hot-air tubes always got corroded and rusted off. Anyway, you are welcome to this one if it can help you.

Yes, you can certainly replace both the engine and transmission with reman'd units. But don't give that engine away as it is pretty strong. And, fyi, if you are going reman'd you should consider going with a 400 instead of a 351M. From the outside you can't tell the difference. The only differences are the crankshaft, which has 1/2" more throw on the 400 than the 351M, and the pistons. Other than that every nut and bolt is the same. So it will bolt right in where that engine is.

I think that's an apt description. Dad's truck ran Rusty's engine for a while. Rusty wound up with Dad's transmission and flexplate. Dad's truck also used the ZF5 that is now sitting in Big Blue. And I'm sure there were many other things that were shared.

Let me see if I understand. There's a flared end that's missing, and a nut would have secured it to the fitting in the carb. Right? And the other end of the tube just is inserted into a hole in the intake? That really confuses me as I thought all these systems were "closed", with fresh air being sucked out of the clean air in the air cleaner into a loop in the intake manifold, and then up to the carb. But, you said "similar to the pipe right next to it", which is probably the fresh air pipe. And they just press into the intake?

That's really frustrating. But I doubt an engine vibration would do that. I say that because I had a an '82 that had a pretty serious vibration and it didn't cause a problem with the flex plate. However, I cannot say it won't do it. Do you feel any vibration? And, I don't think you can get the pan off w/o at least jacking the engine up quite a bit. The engine was supposedly built by the PO's cousin. But, didn't I pull the main and rod caps and check clearances? I'd have to go look, but if so any problems are more likely to have been introduced by me than him. However, that engine has been to PA and back since, as well as many other places.

I think because it is so close to the axle they figure you can't hit it. And it does have the spiral reinforcement around it. Anyway, on another topic, I got the stainless button-head screws in and installed several of them on the bumper today. But then I realized that while most of the screws in the bumper are 1/4" there are several 5/16" and they are seriously rusted as well. So I'll order matching button-head screws in 5/16". While I'm at it there are two bolts in the front, circled in red below, that are rusty as well. And McMaster-Carr has them in stainless for ~$1/ea. However, like all their stainless these bolts have a tensile strength of 70,000 psi. That's basically equivalent to a G2 bolt. And these bolts secure internal bracing to the bumper, or vice versa. So I'm thinking I shouldn't go with stainless. Right? If so I'll either find a couple of bumper bolts, which I might have, or just powder coat these black.

Welcome! Is it Joe? Or? By posting here I assume you've read the guidelines and I've promoted you to Member so you can now post in the rest of the forum. And, frankly, more people will see your post there, but there's nothing wrong with having it here as well. Does your tube go to a plate that bolts onto the intake manifold? I can't quite tell from your picture. If so, I may have one. If not, I'm not seeing how the pieces you show go together. I'm kinda slow, so can you describe it differently for us?

Don't understand that either. Sure doesn't seem to have anything to do with Broncos.

I have the NP435 that came out of that truck, and I do believe I have the bell housing. But I don't think I have a flywheel nor clutch. And I'm pretty sure I don't have the clutch linkage, which is mechanical and hard to find. It could be done. Collectively we could surely scrounge up the parts. But it'll be a fair amount of work. And it just seems like there has to be something very obvious that's being missed. Your pretty sure this flex plate is gone? If so, I'd talk to the tranny shop and see what they say.

The first one you listed is for 1973 - 77 B500, F500, and M450's and 500's. I don't find the other two you listed, although one listing says Courier, and apparently my catalog doesn't include them.

What part number, Jim. I’m curious.

Recording it! The grandtwins are 5 hours away.....

As said in the intro thread, you have to maintain the coolant in a system like this where you have cast iron and aluminum interfacing with coolant in close proximity. Otherwise you have electrolysis and you strip aluminum off the intake and plate it somewhere on the cast iron. That leaves pits in the aluminum and eventually you'll have a leak. Sometimes that leak is external and sometimes it is internal. But in either case it has to be repaired. I've seen it done three ways: new intake; heliarcing up the pits and milling them back; JB Weld. As for the thermactor tube, if it isn't leaking then it isn't a problem. But what did you do with the EGR? Did you just pull the hose off it, or block it off? Or? The ignition was set up for the inert gas at part throttle and if you just blocked it of w/o compensating in the vacuum advance curve you'll probably have pinging. On the "hard to start" issue, describe the symptoms. Does it spin fine but doesn't fire? Does it kick back? Or?

John - You are now on the map. And, as we aren't far apart, we will have to meet up! As for the water leak, the Windsors have a coolant crossover in the front and rear of the intake manifold, and unless the coolant is maintained very well it isn't unusual for there to be corrosion there, which can easily cause a leak. If you look on our map there's a gentleman named Brandon, who calls himself Bruno2 on forums, and he and I fixed his 351W intake by filling the corrosion with JB Weld and filing it back. But two things. First, you will probably want to start a thread about your truck in the main section of the forum. Second, it would help us help you if you'd give us some info about your truck, and maybe even your name, in a "signature". There is info on how to do that on the Bullnose Forum/Forum FAQs page.