Gary Lewis

Maybe we need to compile a play-list for the show, whenever we get to have it?

Thank's, David!

The little Ranger. Not for our trucks.

Cory - Ok, I'll hang loose. But in the interim I'll call him and make sure he doesn't do anything like tow it to the salvage. His wife of 65 years recently passed away and he's cleaning things up, and that could be one of them.

Alex - Jim will remember that I had fits with the screws that came on Rusty. He recommended some fancy screw-removing bits, and I finally got them out. But it was a huge pain. So either go with stainless or do as he suggested and seal those rascals up. But, from what Jim's told me, some stainless has a tendency to lock itself in place against ferrous metals, so that PST is a good idea anyway.

Jim - Thanks a bunch. So, it just clips onto the frame? Then does it go to the through bolt on the mount? If so, then there's a mate inside the cab? That doesn't seem very secure if I have that correct. I think my idea of bonding the fenders to the cab under the hood is more likely to work reliably for a longer period. Scott - Thanks. That's the look I had in my mind's eye, so was anxious to see how it would work out. It worked out perfectly and, at least to me, doesn't say "chunk of c-channel". I really enjoy making things with the lathe and/or mill. And, for that matter, using the welder. So the time it has taken to make the coolant reservoir bracket as well as the battery hold-downs has been fun.

Rusty - That's why I wanted to tell you that quickly. Having said that, the 130 amp alternator with the 10 second delay regulator won't automatically put out 130 amps. It'll only put out what is needed, so if you don't add a lot of power-consuming devices you won't need that much. Angelo - Makes sense on staying with the short crank.

Thanks, guys! The devil is in the details, and the battery hold-downs have been "wrong" for a long time. So when I got to that point I just had to fix them to my satisfaction. And swapping the main battery around was the only way to go once I realized how close the positive post was to the hood. However, that threw a bit of a kink in the plans because it required me to use the #2 wire I had to make new ground wires for that side. I was going to use it to make a ground wire to go from the aux battery to the block, so I'm going to have to come back at some point and add that cable since I'm out of wire now. When that happens I'll have both batteries tied to the block via #2 cables, and both fenders tied to the batteries via #4 cables. The radiator support is tied on both ends to the fenders via #10 wires, which ought to be adequate since only the headlights are grounded to it. So now I need to add grounds from the fenders to the cab awa the standard ground from the engine to the cab. But the later trucks had the cab grounded via additional ground straps. Were they from the frame to the cab around the cab mount bolts? Does anyone have pictures of how or where those grounds ran? And is there a need for them if I add the grounds from the fenders to the cab awa the engine/cab ground?

I like it! But I'm not sure I've ever heard it.

Gary, I bought most of the air cleaner/intake assembly in two sections. One half coming from Texas, and the other half Connecticut. I'm pretty sure everything is there, but the one piece I am still for sure missing is the elbow in the picture below as well as whatever type of clip or grommet holds it in place. It does not appear to be a separate part from Ford, it is part of that intake duct piece. If I can't find it or another duct, I'll just make something out of a PVC elbow or something. Cory - I had a gentleman in my shop today that has a '91, I believe, motor home with a 460 in it. Last I knew it wasn't running. Although I don't know what he plans to do with it I can contact him to see if it has that piece if you'd like.

I don't think you are going to be able to generate 130 amps with a single v-belt w/o squeal, regardless of how slow the regulator comes in. The old RJM site had links to other sites that supported his statement that 90ish amps is all one v-belt will support. The RJM site is gone, unless we can find it on the way-back machine, but I think Jim will agree with my memory of that statement. So if you want to run a 130 amp alternator I'd suggest you go with a 2-belt pulley arrangement. I'm doing that on Dad's truck, and had to make the alternator pulley. If found the right crank pulley, which isn't easy as you have to have two sheaves the same diameter and taking the same size belt. But I couldn't find a 2-sheave pulley for the alternator. So I made one by turning one down on the lathe.

I would recommend the Eddy 1405, not the 1406. A few years ago Brandon and I played with a 1405 vs a 1406 on his really healthy 351W. Both were stock, off the shelf carbs, but regardless of what we did and how we jetted it the 1406 didn't come close to the 1405 on top end. We pulled them down and found differences internally that explained it. And they are parts that you can't buy from Edelbrock - we tried. But while you are at this point why not swap in a 400 crank?

Ron - Yippeee! I like it!

Cory - I think that is the oil pressure sender. That's exactly where my tee with the sender and switch go. By the way, what are you missing now? I may have found a source. As for the bracket, I should have a pic that shows where Huck's bracket was. I'll go look.....

Ok, I'll bite - are they reflective? What colors? Do you have a pic of a truck with the ones you are cutting out? Cool!

Ok, here's a before and after. The hold-down fits the battery perfectly and it comes right down against the nut holding the j-bolt to the bracket from the radiator support. To me it is "perfect", although there are some glitches. Jim, I don't have any 1/4-28 wing nuts, so I'll have to get some. But for now it has nyloc nuts on it. And then I worked on the auxiliary battery. As said, the regular j-bolt slots are offset, but there was enough meat in the ear in front to put the bolt dead-center on the battery. And the strap that goes from the battery carrier to the coolant reservoir is plenty strong so I drilled it to take the other j-bolt. However, it is 1/4-20 instead of 1/4-28, so I'm going to cut the "J" off it, thread that end and secure the 1/4-20 end to the bracket with two nuts. That way all the nuts on top will be 1/4-28. Here's how that came out, and tomorrow I'll make another, smaller, hold-down for the aux battery. And, I don't think I showed pics of the bracket I made to hold the coolant reservoir. Here are a couple of pics after I rounded the corners on it. In the not too distant future I'll gather all the bits up that need coating and media blast and then PC them. That will include this bracket, the hold-downs, the j-hooks, etc.

Jason - You are now, quite literally, on the map!

LOOKING GOOD! That's gotta be a really GOOD feeling. Congrat's!

Gary, we might have to ship you by sea freight to the UK... I guess we could fix up a 20 or 40 foot container for you...lol. Well, that might be interesting financially. I could take a Bullnose and sell it over there?

Any concern with using the studs instead of the post terminals? I heard once that you shouldn't hook a winch to the stud terminals, that they can't handle the heat from that much current. I have no idea if that's true, all I'm saying is that I heard it once, and I'm wondering what you or others have heard. I hadn't heard that, and I've had the winch hooked that way since I got it. So I don't think that is true. But all I know is what I've experienced.

Sure, why not? Our summer plans for this year are dead (Med cruise to Spain, France, and Italy) and have been rescheduled to 2021, so I was thinking the other day that a good way to burn the surplus vacation time would be to make it out to Skiatook this year...then I realized that September isn't THAT far away, close enough that Gary is unlikely to want a bunch of germy people over to his house.... So...maybe Skiatook 2022? Our plans for a big vacation this year are probably dead as well. We were going to the UK immediately after the show, but I really can't see that happening with the pandemic. We don't have to decide until late July, but ...... As for the show, I'm questioning whether it can happen this year. At the most we could have the show but just not the GTG? And right now the idea of having people over doesn't sound good. But, we don't have to decide yet, so.....

You now on the map. On the gauges you might read this: Documentation/Electrical/ICVR. If that thing fails none of those three gauges work. But the page here gives some troubleshooting tips: Documentation/Electrical/Gauges.

Mine, who did the search, is a 1986! Do you have them? Or just doing research?

I don't think WeatherTech does, but HUSKY has some [see link]: https://www.huskyliners.com/Heavy-Duty-Floor-Mats/1986/ford/f-150 Yeahbut, that's for an '86. Mine's an '85. Seriously though, I like those. May have to get a set for Big Blue when we start using him. Thanks!

Yes. Thank you! It seemed quite appropriate! Jim - I wonder if WeatherTech has mats for our trucks yet. That might help. David - It was appropriate.