Gary Lewis

Congrat's! It is going to drive sooooo much better!

I like the paint. I think you've done well. As for the geek bit, I remember a friend saying to me "You may be a geek if you know what HTML stands for." I said "HyperText Markup Language".

You are now on the map. And I know exactly where that is. We stayed in the Radisson there a few years ago when my wife went to the quilt show in Cincinnati.

Welcome! Glad you joined! What part of KY is home? We have a map (Bullnose Forum/Member's Map in the menu) and I'd be happy to add you if I had a town/zip. As for the resources, we have a lot but not everything. So if you come up with a need, let me know and I'll see what I can do. Nice truck! Hope you'll start a thread in the main section to document your progress on it. But it does look like a very good starting point.

In accordance with Denny's suggestion I pulled the front driveshaft off to check the movement of the double cardan joint. As I was carrying it to the bench it was moving fine and then it locked up. After extensive lubrication, which didn't help, I applied a couple of swift taps with a dead-blow hammer. It now moves, as shown below. Meanwhile the cup came off of the u-joint at the other end and the bearings scattered. As I was picking them up I wiped off the cross, and then tossed the cap and bearings in the trash. Given that I sent an email to tech@dennysdriveshaft.com and included pics of the joint, the driveshaft's label, and the video. Then I phoned them, but their recording says that while they are there they don't have front-office staff to read the emails, so use their submit-a-question form. That's not what I was told yesterday, but I did and 'splained that I sent them an email and also listed the parts I need. We shall see.

Ok folks, thanks for the votes. The majority wants to go to bullnosebible.com so that's what we will do. But I need to figure out exactly what to do to ensure we don't have any problems, and am in the process of doing that. So it'll be a bit before we can do it, but it'll happen and I'll let you know before it does.

The POR has to be still sticky or the sprayed topcoat won't adhere. But you can use any topcoat that way. And, it works for me far, FAR better than trying to brush a topcoat on. I can never get a full coat on by brushing, I always miss something. And then you need to put another coat on. But each additional coat brings with it brush marks and roughness. Not so with the spray.

This is a call for pictures for the June Truck Of The Month contest. Post them here and at about the 15th of May I'll set up the poll. But a question for y'all - should this be pinned, and if so in the main section or in the Monthly Truck Photo Contest folder?

Well, Blacktop's truck's pic won! Congrat's, Blacktop. I've started a new thread in the Truck Of The Month folder with that pic. And you should be able to comment on it.

This is the May, 2020 truck of the month picture. It is Blacktop's Tutone red truck and it lives in the UK. Congrat's, Blacktop!

POR15 would be my pic. I know some like other paints, but POR15 has always done well for me. One trick I learned is to spray it with a top coat while it is sticky. But, spraying black paint, of any sheen, on black POR is difficult 'cause you can't tell what you've sprayed. So I've started using the silver color POR15 and hitting it with a chassis black spray. Lots easier to tell where you've been. However, my shop crane, engine stand, and several other things are painted with the base black POR15 and they have held up really well to all sorts of abuse. So I'm pleased with the stuff.

Tell us more about it, Greg. I'm familiar with boats, but don't recognize that one. Is it called a "sedan cruiser"? Somehow that description sticks in my mine.

I have pulled the ECM, and between the ECM #'s, calibration code and VIN I was able to order one through my local parts house. Side note Pin #22 the problem child came out with the plug along with 5 other pins out of the ECM. Defiantly could be the reason I was having so many different issues. Is this common for pins to break loose from the ECM and be stuck in the plug? I should have my ECM in a few days and I still need to fish out the broken pins from the plug but hope and pray that this is the final piece to the puzzle. I am also going to pull the IC and replace all the bulbs for the warning lights as I think that is why I could not get flash codes. I feel this is near the end of the saga that is Black Beauty electrical nightmare! Sure glad you were able to find one. Just getting the number is sometimes difficult, but finding a replacement has proven hard for some. I don't think it is common for the pins to break loose. I have several ECMs and none of the pins were loose when I pulled them. But I do think this has to be a big part of your problem. Let's hope it solves all of them.

Looking good, Joe! Well done! What paint did you use?

Wow! That would be a fun toy!

Hey Jon, I believe Max has one of the early (1980) clusters that have the warning lights. Do you know if a factory tach can be installed in one of these clusters? It looks like the main plug is right where the tach goes in these clusters? Unless they were different in 1980... https://www.ebay.com/itm/1980-1986-Ford-F150-Truck-Bronco-Instrument-Cluster-Gauges-Speedometer-OEM/264667162596?hash=item3d9f6467e4:g:eGwAAOSwNvBebRac I'm obviously not Jonathan, but I think I can answer the question I'm obviously not Jonathan, but I think I can answer the question: No. Two reasons. First, as you pointed out the plug is in the spot where the tach is to go and there are no holes for the tach to connect to in the printed circuit. Second, there is a circuit that is needed for the tach that isn't in the connector - the ignition signal. There is a way around this, although it is tedious. He could swap in a cluster with gauges and change out the senders for the gauge style. But Max has already said "I like the non gauge." However, there are several signals that are needed for a gauge cluster with tach that are not in the wiring harness for a cluster with lights. I haven't created a list, but since one has 14 pins and the other has 18 pins on the connector you can see that there are probably 4 not included. So the 14 pin connector would have to be swapped out for an 18 pin connector and additional wires run to bring the other circuits to the cluster. I know there are people who would like to do that if someone would take the time to create the how-to for it. And I'd be willing to help chase down and document what circuits are missing.

Looks like it goes on the movable center pieces for 1982 through at least 1989.

Wonder if he'll deliver to Okiehoma for the $3000?

Excellent! So you can tell your friends that you know the definitive answer on the rockers.

The Ford part number is E0TZ 1040860-A. However, I've been told that some of the vendors have a metal latch that was used on the later trucks that is much better than the plastic. Supposedly this one fits: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002CXH0YM.

Glad that section will be helpful.

Have you seen the factory shop manual instructions at Documentation/Body/Bronco Rear Window?

Ford's engineers were a bit slow on the uptake. Prior to about '84 the tail lights and turn signals in the rear grounded to the bed which was supposedly grounded to the frame - through the rusty bolts holding it on. In ~84 they brought that ground into the cab, but left the cab only grounded through the strap from the engine to the firewall. In the years after our trucks were made they then grounded the cab via straps to the frame.

If I put power windows and locks in Dad's truck as I plan, I will probably bring a ground strap into the door with the harness.

We had a really good conversation. One of his comments was about the emails they get where people don't know what punctuation is. He said the Dodge folks are really bad about that. But the worst are those that wear their hats sideways. I like him, and if I need parts I'm getting back with him.