Gary Lewis

That's a really nice looking truck. I'm not usually into lifted trucks, but that one has a good stance. And it should have a solid front axle, which doesn't mess up the alignment when lifted like a TTB does.

Being an old man, at least in body if not in mind, I think I'm qualified to say - That truck says "old man" like no other I've seen in awhile. I think it is the accumulation of "extras" on the truck, starting with the fender skirts. And the running boards. And the spot light. And......

You are right, that's a beautiful truck! Looks brand new.

I forgot about the speed control. Those are robust systems that work nicely, so it is a shame to have one but not be able to use it. Glad you got yours going.

My mistake on the headers was to have them Jet-Hot coated w/o having installed them. The coating means you don't want to be rough with them, much less beat on them w/a hammer. So it was no fun installing them and I had to cut ~1/2" out of the frame to get enough clearance. Nice looking heads! On the relays, you might read Scott's experience here: http://forum.garysgaragemahal.com/The-Camano-Experience-tp35327p48433.html.

Bad side down will work fine. Good plan. I'll bet you can find plenty of small things to do while waiting on the bearings.

I think I'm going to like the polygroove system, a bunch. (Bill has taught me that a serpentine system is one polygroove belt running everything. But the 460's use two such belts, so it is just referred to as "polygroove".) But you might be able to find the right pulley for your pump and convert it.

The challenge is that the two drain pipes that come down through that hole slide down through grommets into the top of the holding tank. And the holding tank needs to slide back 1" after the pipes are connected. So they can't be sealed up before installing the tank. and it's really hard to get at it after the tank is installed. So my plan is to put a panel over the hole with slots that will allow the pipes to move back and forth an inch or so, install the tank, and then try to spray some of that expanding foam stuff in through the access panel from the top. We'll see how well that works, but I don't see any other way. Well that's not quite true. The reason the tank has to move back after the pipes are connected is that the back of the tank sits on a flange on one of the trailer cross members. I could use a death wheel to trim the bottom off of the crossmember and make a new one that I can bolt in (that's already how the front of the tank is supported). But that really doesn't appeal to me. So I'm going to try the foam. https://forum.garysgaragemahal.com/WHYDTYTT-What-Have-You-Done-To-Your-Truck-Today-tp148p58287.html Death wheel? Meaning a cutoff wheel? I like the foam idea. And I'm sure you know there are at least two varieties - low expansion and lotsa expansion. The former is more dense and harder to cut out due to having fewer bubbles. The latter makes a bigger mess but is easier to get out.

Beautiful! Love the headers. Do they clear the frame? I had some problems with mine, but I have the massive 460, so the clearance is minimal.

Yes, Jim is right. With the positive-arched springs and the rear shackle the splines move 1 5/8" into the yoke just letting the truck down off the lift. So my worry is that hitting a bump may cause the splines to bottom in the yoke and break the transfer case. I don't think that is likely as today I determined that the yoke can go rearward 4" from the position on the lift. So, subtracting the 1 5/8" movement that happens just putting the truck on the ground, there's another 2 3/8" of movement available. Given that, I will measure the vertical movement tomorrow of going from the lift to on the ground. Then see how much farther it is to the bump stops and extrapolate. I know it isn't linear, but that will be a start. And, I'm going to call Erik at Sky about the shocks and the driveshaft.

Thanks, Cory! I was surprised that the driveshaft didn't come out any more at all when I picked the toolbox up. I'm wondering if I should load it up with the blast media and pick that up and see what happens. And, when I get the bumper on I can load it up with the blast media and see how far that pushes the splines in.

Jim - You got this! Go look. Bob - I think an elephant could get through there! So, how are you going to seal it? Them? Any way to put a panel in that seals but can be taken out when needed?

That certainly is a nice looking truck.

Jim - Did you have any leakage from the rain? On the paint, that is RED! Looks like you'll be ready to paint when the weather settles down - which doesn't look like it will happen soon. Rusty - I don't know enough about your truck to help you find the part numbers. I'd have to know the calibration code in order to do that. But I think the find of the different symbol pictures will be a big help.

Randy - I bought a ball joint press from Harbor Freight and it has worked on two trucks so far. Don't know what else to tell you.

Can't and don't want to do that, Jim. Anyway, didn't get as much done as I'd hoped. The first thing I did was to measure the splines, and there are 2 1/4" of splines. So at the max droop I can get, which has 1 1/4" of splines out, there's only 1" of splines in the yoke. And, you might ask how I got the max droop. Well, I don't know how much my tool box weighs, but with a full set of 1/2", 3/8", and 1/4" sockets, both shallow and deep, extensions and ratchets in all sizes, full sets of metric and SAE wrenches, both box/open and ratcheting, and lots of screwdrivers I'd say it is heavy. But, it didn't move the driveshaft whatsoever. Then I moved on to the shocks. I got the shock towers on, which took longer than anticipated due to having to drill four holes in the frame since the F350 towers have four bolts vs the F250's two bolts. And I got the shocks in. However, I think they are upside down in spite of the writing being right-side up this way. Next up was the bumper. I'd hoped that I could just put it back on with the brackets still on the bumper, but that wasn't happening as the bumper was 1" too far to the driver's side and didn't want to move. So I pulled the brackets and put them on the truck. Part of the reason it didn't want to move was that the Sky inside bracket limits the bolt length and my longer bolts were hanging up on it. So I put in shorter bolts, but I still had to move the lock washer on the lower bolt to under the head of the bolt instead of under the nut due to the lack of space. This is the passenger's side: But I got the brackets on. But it turned out that the DS bracket is about 3/8" low, so has to come up. However, I ran out of time so will fix that tomorrow - I hope.

If they are the right diameter and not too long they'll work fine. BUT, make sure you don't have them too long as that will hold the head off the block.

Use a file and clean them up a bit? Make sure it is a "safe" file, meaning that it is smooth on the side hitting the head.

Yes

Chad - I'm not familiar with this circuit nor the components, so hope someone that is will chime in. However, the thing on the far left of your pic looks like the speed control amplifier. Do you know that it is something to do with the defroster? From looking at the diagram it looks to me like the switch houses the timing circuit. So I think you provide power to both the yellow and w/p wires, ground the black wire, run a jumper from the br/lb wire to one connector on the window and ground the other connector on the window. Then press the On button on the switch and it should work. HOWEVER, that battery is a 5 amp-hour battery. And Fuse 6 is a 15 amp fuse, so the window may draw something like 10 amps. Given that, in theory your battery should last 1/2 hour. But I doubt it will, so you may only have one shot at this before having to recharge the battery.

I guess it depends on how much money you can get for those parts and what the ROI is. I remember talking to a gal at LMC a couple years ago about a Bullnose core support, and I recall her saying at the time they had almost 300 of them in-stock ready to go. It was 280 or 285, whatever. I'm sure they had to order several hundred of them to get the manufacturer to even fire up the press. Back in the 80's. when Ford was building hundreds of trucks a day, the presses probably never stopped;). Meanwhile, the southern guys are like "Why would anyone ever buy a core support???"...haha. A think the biggest challenge in evaluating parts for Keith/LMC is going to be judging between actual demand, and perceived demand. Next down that is list is quality vs. price. The factory restoration crowd is one thing...they're not as price sensitive as the average Joe. The average Joe wants top quality, but usually only wants to pay Wal-Mart prices. It's tough to strike a balance here. I'm in sales and we deal with this all the time. I know what hundreds of thousands of dollars of dead stock looks like...lol, so if a company is going to order something, they have to make damn sure they have a market for it;). In any case, I wish Keith the best of luck with the new gig. We might be surprised at what 3D scanning and printing can do for making parts. For instance it wouldn't be all that hard to scan the kick panel vents and make them. Nor horn pads. But, on horn pads the trick would be to hydro-dip the right finish on. I may be wrong, but I don't think LMC makes parts. My guess is that they work with manufacturers to have things made. And if they are the first one in the door they have that manufacturer sign an agreement that they won't sell to anyone else for X years. So I'm guessing that Keith is trying to create a list of things to go see if he can get made.

Cool! While you are at it, and if you haven't, run a tap through every threaded hole to clean them out. It will make installation so much easier. And clean up the threads on the bolts. But don't run a wire wheel over the heads of the fasteners as that takes off any plating that may still be on them.

I'll bet if you look elsewhere you'll also find those plugs, and I'm sure they are for rustproofing. The fact that the truck is white is what makes them so visible. Very nice truck!

The black dots around the door opening?

First, you have been and it is called the Bullnose Forum For The Insane. It is run by the inmates, many of whom have made the mistake of trying to restore a rusted hulk to better-than-new condition. Seriously though, this is exactly what I've been trying to say. Before starting on a restoration figure out what your goal is and what your maximum expenditure can possibly be. Then go find the best truck you can buy for that money and that fits within your goal. You'll be loads of money and time ahead. Yes, I know that someone is going to say "That doesn't fit with the 'Built Not Bought' theme!" But, where do you draw that line? Do you have to pour the molten cast iron for your engine in order to get that sticker? Or is it enough to remove the ugly wheels the previous owner had on and put some period-correct slots on? (I'm ignoring the question of if you have to operate the tire machine to swap the rubber.)