Gary Lewis

Good point, I'd forgotten it myself. Done. Thanks.

Yes, I'm going to check the ignition box first. I installed a new Ford box, but not sure if it is the same as the original or not, so I'll swap the stock box back in for a test. Compression is nothing special, but a little higher than the stock 302 was. From the factory it was 8.3:1 compression and 150 psi per cylinder as I tested it. Now it is 9:1 compression and 175-180 psi per cylinder. Basically the same as any of the later 80's or 90's EFI 5.0L compression afaik. And yes, possibly the starter...the original 1984 starter is still in the truck, so it might be time;). Rusty - Jim is right. You need the dizzy recurved to take out the expectation that EGR is there - assuming you are removing it. I'm sure you know, but with exhaust gas in the mix the burn time is quite long so they have to give a lot more advance. And a dizzy set for that but no EGR gives way too much advance, causing pinging if not detonation. Or, does the Sniper control ignition timing? Cory - Don't forget that it is easy to test the box. Pull the red/light blue wire off the starter relay and connect it to the battery's positive terminal. With a timing light on it you should see a noticeable retard.

Yes, the CG is quite high on a camper, and they are hard to handle in the wind. I don't think our '72 had sway bars, so Big Blue would be better due to having them. But still, sitting that high it can't be good. A trailer would handle better and probably have better aerodynamics. Arte, I mean Dane, you can go to the specs on Documentation/Specification/Trailer Towing and that gives Ford's official statement on capability. But the rental company gets to make their own rules. I remember back when Explorer & Firestone was a deadly combo I rented a trailer from U-Haul. The guy didn't even ask what I was towing with and when I commented on that he said "As long as it is not an Explorer - we won't let you pull with one of those."

That camper isn't a monster. Its a little 8 footer. We had a 9 1/2' fully self-contained camper. Bought it new in '72 with an F250 w/a 390. Fully self-contained means it had a bathroom & shower, gas/electric fridge w/freezer, gas range, gas water heater, electrical system that converted 110 to 12v, & overhead sleeping as well as a table with u-shaped seating that converted into another bed. I suspect that camper would have been a good match for Big Blue. I don't remember the GVWR for the '72, but I think it was every bit of the 8600 Big Blue has.

I find the extra complication of the thermal switch unneeded. I like the vacuum advance connected to ported vacuum. Simple, and it works.

I wasn't talking about taking much off with the 45. Just enough to allow the coil bracket leg to neatly miss - after I trim the width a bit. So there's actually going to be a lot of meat in the corner. In fact, the aluminum will be turned around. In the pic below the flange of the channel has been milled (spot-faced) to be flat where the bolt passes through. That was necessary so the piece was parallel. But when I do this for the final piece I'll turn it so the flat part of the center of the channel will be what goes on top of the valve cover. That way I won't have to spot-face it and there won't be a sharp transition which focuses the loads in one spot. But there will still be a lot of meat in the corner to which a stud can easily be affixed. However, I've not used a router bit on aluminum. I can see how it would work thought. Instead, what I was hoping to do was to put the piece on the angle table at a 45 and just nip off the sharp corner. Then use a file and round it. Or, if I find the angle table trick to work well I may take a pass at 23 and 68 degrees and then round that. But, in reality, I'd probably be better off to take the flap wheel to it.

It is pretty easy to check to see that you have the ball and the weight. Without both of those the accelerator pump won't work, which is what you have.

Rusty - Several thoughts. But the first one is that one of these days you are going to kick yourself 'cause you can't find your posts on this topic. At best they'll be scattered hither, thither, and you through this WHYDTYTT thread. At worst you'll have them elsewhere as well. So you ought to think about starting your own thread on your EFI plans. Not because you shouldn't be posting here 'cause that's up to you. Just 'cause you'll want to find them some day. Anyway, the A/C clutch doesn't pull much at all. So I wouldn't worry about placing it on a relay. Use that relay instead for your auxiliary lighting. I don't think I'd make the auxiliary lighting dependent on having the headlights on, much less the high beams. There may be times that you want just the aux lighting on.

Ken - I feel your pain. Been there, agonized over similar decisions. But it isn't an irrevocable decision if you decide to stay with what you have since you can always change your mind later. Try it the way it is for a while and see what you think. These trucks are never done anyway.

But up to theoretically mid-85 (but maybe actually the '86 model year) F-350s had the Dana 50 TTB. So up to that point, if an F-25HD had a Dana 50 TTB there were no differences other than badging and VIN even from the factory. I'm not really sure why Ford thought it was a Better Idea to create the F-250HD. I know it was to get around the EPA laws that had been changed to require trucks up to 8400 lb GVWR to have cats and meet car emission standards. But why not just have that be the F-350? Maybe the knew they were going back to a solid axle in the F-350 and wanted to keep the TTB as an option? But it seems like a lot of extra parts to stock and so forth for very little difference. Very true, Bob. Seems strange that they created the F250HD. So I wonder why people bought them? Why not an F350? From the 1985 Rapid Spec Price List: Wholesale MSRP F250HD 4x2 Regular Cab Base Payload Package #1 — Styleside Pickup $8,187.98 $9,563.00 F350 4x2 Regular Cab Base Payload Package #1 - Styleside Pickup - SRW $9,588.40 $11,220.00 Man, that's a big difference! Why? What are we missing here?

No prob, Shaun. Got a bit done today, in addition to church, take-out lunch from our local Italian restaurant, and Mother's day calls. But I did get out to the shop for about 3 hours and got the coil bracket welding done and cleaned up. Then I did some work on the stay and bracket interface. In this pic I've put arrows on three spots where I want to explain my plans. Dip Stick Tab: I plan to bend the dip stick tab roughly where the yellow arrow is and put it down over a stud that I'll Loctite into the top of the stay. That's because it will be difficult to get a bolt or nut in between the dip stick itself and the tab if it isn't bent. Plus, by bending it the tab will be stiffer and hold the stick more securely. Width Of Stay: I want to make the stay narrower, which will reduce the space where the red arrow is. But I want to have enough space in there for the head of a bolt which will be used as a stud for the coil bracket's attachment. I'm thinking a bolt head will make things more secure, even though I plan to use red Loctite on the threads. 45 The Corner: I hope to put a 45 degree bevel on the corner of the stay where the orange arrow is. That will give more clearance on the leg, which is hitting the stay in the pic. And the leg will be bent roughly where the orange arrow is pointing so it will lay up against the stay. Thoughts? Suggestions?

Yep. There are engines not available in the F250 that were in the F250HD and vice versa. Same on transmissions. And the SuperCab & CrewCABS weren't available in an F250 but were in an HD. And on and on.

Yes, well done! And on Jim's part as well.

This is a really complex subject. The simple answer is much as Angelo stated, the break between an F250 and an F250HD is by GVWR, which was 8500 lbs. But, there is also a break by how long they were. For instance, as Angelo said, F250HD's got the Dana 44HD in a regular cab, but not in SuperCab or CrewCab. Then there's the frames. As shown below from the 1984 Dealer Facts Book, the F250HD had the same frame as the F350. However, if you added either the Snow Plow Special or HD Front Suspension package to a regular F250, meaning not the F250HD, you got the heavier frame. Or, to put it another way, Big Blue was born as an F250HD regular cab. But he has the same springs and frame as the F350's. So, with the addition of the D60 solid front axle and the associated dual-cardan driveshaft, now the only difference between Big Blue and an F350 is the badging and the VIN.

Well, you need to go look at the Crankshaft Tab on our page at Documentation/Engines/Pulleys. A four-sheave pulley is shown there for the 351M & 400. I highlighted it for you. And while you are at it, look at the Pulley Identification Chart. It is the only one on the web 'cause that page is missing in all the master parts catalogs. But we have it.

I knew all of that, and thought I had it absolutely straight in. I even pushed the tube down to where the o-ring land bottomed, which I thought would line it up. No dice. I pulled the speed control servo which allowed me to have a line of sight right down into it, but even then it wouldn't go. But about 9" away it was just touching the plastic clutch line. I wanted it to go under the line 'cause I could then gently bend the hydroboost line away from the clutch line by squeezing the big U. But finally, in desperation, I moved it above the clutch line. Just that little bit of difference, maybe 3/4" at a distance of ~9", let it go in. But I knew not to force it. I was only using a wrench because of the difficult angle I was at, and also to get to the fitting when I put another wrench on top of it to push down.

Not bad at all for $2K. But two pics and no description sure doesn't tell you much about it. Might be a steal, might not.

Angelo - This is on the 351M, right? Then the seal is D0AZ 6700-A SEAL (CYLINDER FRONT COVER OIL). I get that from our page Documentation/Engines/351M & 400. I just looked in the Illustrations tab on that page and found the front seal to be "6700". Then I went to the Part Numbers tab, opened it in a new tab, and used the search function to find "6700". To remove it I use a socket just a bit bigger to press it into, and a socket that fits in to press with.

I "assumed" it meant the ground wire went to the frame of the dash, which we've established recently is supposed to be ground. But that arrangement doesn't fit with the symptoms. Yours does. I'm anxious to see what he finds.

Rusty - The Sniper systems seems to have a LOT of functionality. Sounds very capable and fun to play with. But I don't think I'd be too worried about running 330 watts of lighting off one relay. The standard Bosch relays are good for 40 amps, which at 12 volts is 480 watts, so you'd have plenty of reserve. Jim - Glad you got it together. Gotta feel good getting to drive it. And I'll bet it has far fewer squeaks and rattles. It is lots more solid. That "fought it for an hour and won" sure reminds me of the hydroboost plumbing I recently installed. One of the lines went in nicely on the first try, but needed to be tweaked a bit so it would clear other things, like the clutch line. So I pulled it, tweaked it, and put it back - under the flexible clutch line. But it would NOT thread in. I found another fitting the same size and it went in by hand. I pulled that one and ran a die over it - no dice. I used a thread file on it - no dice. I ran a tap into the hydroboost unit with grease on it to catch filings - and it went in by hand and produced no filings. But the fitting still would not go, in spite of me using a smaller wrench over the line to push down on the fitting while turning it. Finally I ran the line over the clutch line and it screwed in by hand.

Well done, Max! Both the post with all of the info and the job on the truck. Looks good!

That would explain the symptoms.

Yes, I think you should have hot all the time to Batt and switched power to Acc. But I can't explain the symptom you are seeing.

Rob - It is Ron/reamer that is/was making the speaker patch. Send him an email by clicking on his avatar in one of his posts. That black overhead console makes it hard to photograph. But I like it.

Thanks, Steve. I'll keep that in mind. This one will work for the moment, but I do want to find one of the later ones at some point.