Gary Lewis

195 as shown here: Documentation/Cooling Systems/Thermostats. EDIT: Most ones you find will be 195, but the factory temp was 192.

Matt - Let's see if this answers the question. And, just in case, I did take a couple of other pics. You see, Big Blue has a clutch so his connector isn't a jumper.

Clay - You are now on the map. As for the flywheel, that's the one that was originally on Dad's truck. In fact, that C6 came from his as well. Anyway, glad the mechanic figured it out and got the flywheel replaced. That engine is STRONG for a 351M. Probably not as strong as Angelo's, but I was very impressed in comparison to the original one in Dad's truck. Night and day difference. I'll be anxious to see more pictures of Rusty. Jim - I'm happy that he's "returned". I spent a LOT of time working on him and had just gotten him pretty much where I wanted him when Big Blue came along. It was obvious I needed to sell him, but it hurt.

Jim - That's a good idea. I'll have to figure out what I have, but I'm thinking the standard ones are 3/8". So the oversized one is 7/16. Let me see....

RUSTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I've got goose bumps, literally!!!! Welcome, Clay. Boy or boy are you welcome! Glad you joined for lots and lots of reasons. But first, we have a map (Bullnose Forum/Member's Map in the menu) and I'd be happy to add you. As for Rusty, I hope you'll start a thread in the main section and post some pics. And, how did he work out for your FiL? Actually, the driver that picked him up said it was for your MiL. And, what do you call him?

That's why I'm liking something smaller. The Motive Products units hold 2 quarts. I have an air pressure regulator that works nicely down at well less than 10 psi. If I had a reservoir that held a couple of quarts of brake fluid I could put a fitting in a screw-on cap for my later master, come out of the reservoir's bottom with a hose into the cap, fill it with brake fluid, hang it from the hood, and put air to it. Go around opening the bleeders and running that into a catch can, making sure not to deplete the reservoir. Now, if I could find a kit like that so I don't have to make it....

There are lots of different pressure bleeders out there, for very different prices. But the thing in common is that they are usually intended for master cylinders with a single, screw-on cap. Here's a couple I'm looking at: Harbor Freight 92924: This is a whole $39 and includes an "automatic" refill bottle, assorted master cylinder caps, and a vacuum system with a reservoir that catches the old fluid. It doesn't put pressure to the master, but does keep it full. Motive Products: $85.46. This particular kit says it works with Ford masters, and it has a flat plate to act as the cover to the Bullnose cast iron ones. But they have kits that support a wide variety of masters, shown here. But this one at $92.99 looks like a good kit. And here's a review of several kits: Car Bibles But, Cory said: And, I think someone on here said they made a power bleeder with a garden sprayer but I've not found that post.

Yeah, I'm a bit past that point. Let's hope the spacer works. We should know this afternoon. On another subject, I had a hard time finding the boot for the ZF5's clutch fork, but did an will document what I found here. First, the part number from the MPC is E7TZ 7513-A. And searching for that found one in captivity via RearCounter at a Ford dealership in the KC area. They want $60 + $8 for shipping, and it turns out it is a reproduction boot. And other places show none in stock or "discontinued part". But, I found several at AMP Distributing for $24.95 with free shipping. It is their part #ZFCFBT and they say: Not sure when it will be here, but it was ordered yesterday (Saturday) and while they've confirmed the order I've not gotten notification of it shipping. However, it won't hold me up if it takes a week as I can sort out the headers, reinstall the tranny, install the t-case, install the rear drive shaft, etc. And, speaking of the headers, I'd forgotten that I have a stripped and repaired thread on one head, and the repair uses a larger bolt. So I'll have to drill the header's flange a bit to get that bolt in. And, at present I don't have the kind of bolt I want to use, so will have to wait until I get the right one to install that one. Also, there's one bolt that can't quite go in due to the turn of the pipe, so I need to clearance that hole slightly. But I hope to have those things awa the spacer done today. After church, which is via Zoom and/or Facebook Live.

Yes, Steve. But those don't work well with the Bullnose master. I'm thinking that it will with the later style though.

You love that black/aluminum look. But you are right, it is a good look.

I'd forgotten about Mark's comment. Good point.

Nice truck. Not sure why it is "rare", but perhaps there weren't that many sold with the ZF5?

Well, that's a very good question. And the answer is, I don't know. But all Bullnose speed control C305A harnii can be made to work. The issue is the position of the power feed to the speed control amp. It changed somewhere between 1982 and 1985 as I'm using an '82 speed control harness in Big Blue and found the change. It is discussed in detail in this thread and following. But that can easily be fixed by removing the red retainer from C305A and swapping pins. Ok got it, so need to check the pin outs between the truck & the CC plugs to make sure they match up. Thanks Dave ---- Yep. Just compare wire colors.

Dave - As explained on our page here (Documentation/Interior/Doors/Door Locks) the sliders were replaced by pins during the 1981 production year. That truck shows an "in service" date of 8/27/81, and it appears to have been ordered, so it is a fairly late production '81. By then only the Twin Cities plant was still using sliders, so it must have been produced elsewhere, although I haven't figured out where from those pics.

I hoard that kind of thing, but don't have any just like that. Unfortunately those aren't usually a "Ford" part. Instead they are held to the wiring harnesses by tape, and I don't think Ford made the harnesses. They just specified where the retainer needed to be and what size of hole they needed to fit.

Yes, you will. It will help with the choke in winter, and it will help prevent carb icing in damp, cold weather. On the choke, electric units aren't the most accurate to track engine and weather conditions. In my experience they can be finicky - a little more choke to help cold weather can mean too much for warmer weather. But the heated air helps lessen the problem by allowing the choke to come off a little earlier.

I like it!

I've had poor experiences with my Mityvac. The main issue is that the threads leak air while you are bleeding and you can't really tell when you've gotten all the air out. When I've installed new components I've used PTFE paste on the threads to stop the leak, but I don't want to pull the bleeder screw on a system that just needs a little bleeding as it'll make a mess. And, over time the PTFE paste hardens and leaks. But Jim introduced me to Loctite PST, which doesn't seem to harden. So maybe it is the answer? Having said that, I'm really hoping the new style plastic master with the single round cap is the best answer. To that I should be able to screw on a cap and pressurize the system slightly to power bleed it.

Yes, PLEASE take that alternator off my hands! As for the starter, as I pulled the one on Big Blue yesterday I noted that it says XS. Works well. But I gave my cables extra length so should be able to go with a different brand when the time comes.

I think L&L have not been paying attention, for decades. It's just absurd that they can't get their Fab right. Having to pull the transmission to install headers is a downright pita, but building them so you can't fit a business card between them and the frame is not anyone's good practice. Maybe they'd fit better in a Windsor truck with L&L's swap mounts, IDK. Meanwhile it's obvious that they don't listen to feedback, and have never actually installed them themselves. . Bill is right that the gap between the spacer and the header won't change. But the fact that there's a problem there and a problem on the other side of the header to the frame means you can't just tweak the headers as you are robbing Peter to pay Paul. And, Bill is right that I should have fit the headers to the engine before having them Jet-Hot coated. That way I could have dented them. But I didn't. As for L&L not listening, maybe. But don't forget how many changes there have been to Big Blue. Somewhere along the way the front of the frame was tweaked, which I found installing the D60. Was it only the front? And the crossmember was hacked. And the perches were taken off and poorly reinstalled. So it is possible that Big Blue isn't quite 'right" and the headers would fit a truck that is "right". I don't know, but I do know that it is TIGHT in there. With 1/8" clearance on one side and essentially none on the other, I'm not sure anything would work save for going with smaller tubing. Then there's the rotation of the engine. I thought about that, but the engine is sitting in rubber mounts and will surely snap back when the clutch is released. I'm sure of that 'cause the old L&L's were close to the perch on the driver's side, but you could see where they had been hitting in spite of the rotation away when accelerating forward. So the lack of clearance to the frame has to be remedied. But I'm convinced that rotating the engine slightly with a spacer will do that. We shall see this afternoon.

Well, that's a very good question. And the answer is, I don't know. But all Bullnose speed control C305A harnii can be made to work. The issue is the position of the power feed to the speed control amp. It changed somewhere between 1982 and 1985 as I'm using an '82 speed control harness in Big Blue and found the change. It is discussed in detail in this thread and following. But that can easily be fixed by removing the red retainer from C305A and swapping pins.

I'll take that as "Go for it." I forgot to say that the previous engine sat at a slight angle, low on driver's side, and the 1/4" plate looked like it would be just right to level it up. I'll give it a try tomorrow, and I have plenty of mounts laying around to measure in order to cut and drill the spacer.

Yes, it clears the top of the frame fine. Adding a spacer on the driver's side will rotate the engine clockwise when viewed from the back, as in the picture above. But it will rotate it on the passenger's side mount, which is well above the spot where it hits the frame. So the header should rotate away from the frame. But, I just realized that I can easily test that theory. I have the nuts where the mounts hit the perches loose, so if I tighten the passenger's side and jack up on the driver's side of the engine I can see if it does indeed rotate like I think it will. In fact, I could slip a 1/4" piece in between the perch and the mount to see exactly how much clearance I'll get. I actually came up with this plan a couple of years ago 'cause the driver's side header was hitting the perch. I drew it up on CAD and found that it would work. But didn't do it 'cause I decided to pull the truck down for the transformation. However, it looks like the same solution will work for the passenger's side.

Well, I have a question for everyone, but first have to explain a couple of things. First, this happened today: Yup, the tranny had to leave to get the passenger's side header in. But I got it in w/o damaging it, and then put the driver's side one in, which was a piece of cake. However, as you can see below, there's a bit of a problem on the passenger's side header. The gap to the engine spacer is maybe 1/8", but the gap to the frame is maybe .010" - if that. If needed I can grind a bit on the tranny to get some clearance. But the real issue is the frame. So, borrowing from Baldrick, I have a cunning plan: Put a 1/4" spacer between the driver's side perch and the mount, which will rotate the engine just a bit. I think that will get 1/4" of space from the frame. Thoughts?

Well, I'm bummed. The passenger's side header isn't going through this gap, in spite of the padding. The next attempt was by loosening the engine and tranny mount bolts and rotating the engine/tranny combo slightly clockwise in this pic. It helped, but not enough. The starter "bump" on the bell is just too big. So I'm preparing to slide the tranny back. I've pulled the clutch slave, and realized in doing so that I didn't have a boot on the release lever. Further, that the boot I do have is cracked. So I need to order one of those ASAP. Next I'll pull the tranny/engine bolts, place 4 studs in, put the jack under the tranny, remove the crossmember, and slide it back.