kramttocs

Welcome! Looking forward to this upcoming post as even in just the two photos it looks like some cleanup and mods were done. Interested in seeing what all you have going on.

Looking at your first photo in the steering post, it looks flat and flush to me. Interested in what you find.

Shaun- this thread may help also http://forum.garysgaragemahal.com/Steering-column-disassembly-td41757i20.html#a44008

Shaun - Check out the steering doc page > instructions and see if my photos will show what you are looking for. You could leave everything there but just cut off the perpendicular arm at the bottom. Gary - this is intriguing. While I was in the shop grabbing my spare lower bearing from an auto, I checked out the one in my gpas 85 manual. It is the same as my auto where you can't see the red ring. My photos aren't great but I tried flipping it around and the tabs aren't long enough to go to the top of the bearing. Instead they land about where the inside oring is. By not having the tabs lock in the ring part is deformed and doesn't sit flat.

So what happens to all of the indicator lights if you install one of these dashes? I guess you have to install new ones? Oh! I didn't even notice that. Good question.

It is nice there is growing options, especially with how expensive used or NOS gauges can get. I think I am going with one of these options. $400 or less or at $800ish Agreed, it's nice seeing options available. The bottom one is my favorite of the aftermarket dashes since it retains the square 80's look. With either you go with though, looking forward to seeing a review.

Thanks! Going to try the heat shrink over some pipe foam.

Looking good! This is the correct way. The red retainer should come in from the top and when all assembled you should only see the ends of two tabs that are on the flat of the shaft. Just caught up on this thread - tcase looks great! As does the reinforcement plate. Well done. Back to the red ring on the column. Since the bearing is held in by the white ring and the red ring is to make the round hole flat on two sides, I don't know if it really matters which side it comes in on. As long as the tabs could snap over something so the ring doesn't fall out, I can't think of why it wouldn't be functionally equivalent.

Looking good! This is the correct way. The red retainer should come in from the top and when all assembled you should only see the ends of two tabs that are on the flat of the shaft.

Another great idea!

Every time I see that one, the bubbly, plastic look of it just makes me shudder. I've never seen it in person though.

I agree - using the same wiring would be nice. I also wonder about the speedometer since it's going to digital. It would impact cruise control.

My dad is the same way with a 76 Monte Carlo he had in college so I can understand. And I have a beat up 85 of my grandfathers in my shop while nicer trucks are sitting outside. Again, not at all downplaying the worth to you or your father - just was curious as the truck you offered to trade is really nice. We are all rooting for it to work out - I know surprising your dad with it would be a great moment!

Doesn't look like a bad price for NOS. LMC's are 12.95/ea plus shipping. https://www.lmctruck.com/1980-96-ford/fd-1980-96-exterior-rubber-components

Thanks! Picked one up for a spare.

That is interesting. Maybe a build-not-bought kind of guy? Sounds like you are willing to give up/pay quite a bit for your dad's truck (not knocking it at all). Prying a little but what is the driving force? Good memories for you in the 2 or 3 years your dad owned it? He always regretted getting rid of it? You may have already explained this somewhere else as it sounds like you've been looking for it for awhile.

https://www.lmctruck.com/1980-96-ford/new-products/gauge-clusters-new-vintage-usa Just saw these today

That's exciting that you found it! Even if it doesn't work out, that's a great story. You've gotten good advice from others. With the drive-by offers I've made, it's either an immediate sell or it's not going to happen. If he said he'd turned down a >10k offer already for a non-running truck, whether true or not, and he is wanting you to guess his 'reserve' price, that's typically an indication of a seller I'd move on from. I'd request some good photos and see if you get them. That's another indication of whether you guys will be able to work something out or not.

Thanks guys. I was thinking of the usage draw but not if the smaller trigger wire between the factory harness (fuse 9) and the relay shorted out. In that case, I can see that the wire would burn before the 30 amp fuse blew. Running anything higher than 12awg to trigger a relay seems beyond overkill and a pain to splice into without a junction block so sounds like I'll need to place a fuse close to where I am splicing into the jumper harness no matter what. In that case I'll just put a 3amp in there and run it directly to the GVOD control box as the relay is unnecessary for this load. I may drop the 30a Fuse 9 to a 15a or 20a anyways so if for whatever reason I remove the blower mod and the fuse blows it will make me think twice. According to an FTE post the blower uses 14a when on the factory wiring and 17a when with the relay.

To be honest, I like the current format. With the way the index page is setup with the page numbers and blurbs I haven't ever needed to search and I like not having to scroll. That said, I don't maintain it...

I'll get a diagram drawn up with what I am thinking. Working late today so will be a little later. TheScatch - I have very few sites bookmarked but that is one of them. The other I use a lot for quick reference is http://www.offroaders.com/technical/12-volt-wiring-tech-gauge-to-amps/ As far as online sellers (Gary, feel free to remove this if this isn't allowed) but I have bought a lot of wire from AC/DC Wire and Supply on ebay. Great stuff, great selection, and fast shipping. I've also called him on the phone and he is great to work with.

Thanks - was hoping for some confirmation. Even though it's only 3 amps, I think I may do the relay for the GVOD. Mainly to avoid having an inline fuse tucked up under the dash. Right now the for the GVOD it is: Control Box -> plug -> 3" wire -> inline 3A glass fuse -> about 12" of wire that was cut by a PO but I assume it was hooked to a fuse tap. Is there a problem if I remove the glass fuse and make it a solid 7' run of wire to the relay that is then fused (at the relay as part of the ssVEC box)? Do I have to have a fuse right next to the control box?

Was looking last night for a good Hot In Run ONLY circuit for an add on (GVOD). There are a few locations for Hot In Run AND Start but I am only seeing two circuits for Hot In Run. These Hot In Run circuits are with Fuses 5 and 9. These are Turn/Stop/Hazard/Backup and Heater respectively. That information is enough to allow one to use fuse taps which will work just fine. Have mentioned this in this thread previously but in my add on wiring I am taking the approach of making jumpers between factory connectors and splicing the add on wiring to this jumper. This is made easier by the location of the factory connector and as few terminals in the connector as possible. For the two options above, Fuse 5 is limiting because it goes through the flasher for most of it and if you look at the backup light circuit the only connector easily available has 8 terminals in it (below the brake booster). Straight splicing 7 in the jumper is a lot of overhead to just have one wire that I need to branch off of. Fuse 9 has a good option and the one I'll likely go with. To the left of the HVAC controls there is a single terminal connector (C606). Normally I would be hesitant to add any load to that circuit but since I just did the Blower Relay Mod, I am less concerned. The GVOD has a 3amp fuse in it so it won't be drawing much but I may still run it through a relay. Will have to ponder that.

Had a chance to hook the relay up yesterday. I am really liking the Bussman ssVEC. Made hooking it up a snap. I picked up a new motor since the old one did not survive the exploratory surgery to see if I could powder coat it. The new one I got was 4W7Z-19805-AA (MM-929). This also required a jumper wire: Motorcraft Fuel Pump Connector Wiring WT-56853 (4W7Z-14A411-B) Wasn't really happy with the jumper wire design as it mixes wire gauges but I guess the relay mod mitigates that concern on the hot side although not the ground* Since the jumper is nothing more than two connectors spliced together and it's all right beside the relay block, it was pretty straightforward to split the splice, add MP 280 female terminals and plug it in. Ideally it would be in the grey plug since the jumper wire was pretty short but the ssVEC is split between two inputs (I am using one for the main battery and one for the aux) and the way I have it wired, the grey is aux powered. Here you can see the jumper wire connecting to the factory plug (white to black connector) and how I split it to go into the ssVEC. Sorry, lighting isn't the greatest. As Gary mentioned, I took some videos to try and show the sound difference between the two. Factory: Relay: If you keep both videos paused, set the factory one to 19sec and the relay one to 14sec, then play them one at a time right after each other you can hear the difference. If there are any other comparison tests I can run to provide more data happy to do so. Since the wires are right next to each other in the plug I can pull them out, throw a fuse in them and then be back to factory wiring.

In the tracks with the window down. Good to know Steve. My Broncos passenger side is real slow...wait I ordered a motor for it. That’s right, Tuesdays project. Funny told my wife I ordered a window motor for the Bronco and of course she says, oh yeah my Suburban window isn’t working! Misery does love company! Yeah, thanks Steve. Appreciate the info. Dane - now the question is which one will get done first? Looking forward to some weather where the windows can be down.