kramttocs

Wandering the local jy this afternoon so taking photos of things that have been discussed or catch my eye. Clip for the high profile trim. Edit: same clip present on low profile trim. 4x2 badge on a 07/86 half ton

At the risk of sounding like Jim (), I guess I don't understand "the risk is worth the award". A Powermaster 8-57141 is $207 and is rated at 140 amps. A 3G from DB Electric is something like $70 and puts out 130 amps - and over 100 amps at idle. I see a lot of risk, but where's the reward? I'm building my trucks so that my offspring, who are not into auto work, can maintain them. I grant that if you walk into a parts store they'll ask what the vehicle is and "a 1985 F250" as an answer won't get you a 3G. But, as Bill said, if you just say "a '95 Taurus w/a 3.8L" they'll hand you an alternator that will bolt right in. Ouch. Didn't realize they were that much. I bought mine NIB locally. I fully admit I don't really have a good answer that would make sense to anyone else but a big part of it was that it fit into how I wanted to do the wiring. So while it's worth the risk to me in my setup, I am also not blind to the reasons someone would think it's a bad idea. I am not trying to talk anyone into it or out of it and hope it doesn't come across that way. Just saying that if someone is wanting to go with a 1 wire that I have had a good experience with this Powermaster and wouldn't hesitate (well, aside from the cost...) to put one on another of my trucks. Now, if it gives up the ghost tomorrow I may be singing a different tune...

Quick moving thread Cory mentioned a lot of good things and I am also still running a 1G in my 80 with no complaints. Maybe I missed it but what engine is in the 82? To my knowledge they (Powermaster and maybe all 1 wire manufacturers) don't offer RPM options so it's up to the installer to address via the pulley. Since the 1 wire is self-exciting this is important because if it's not spinning fast enough it won't start charging as opposed to alternators that have an excite wire. To my knowledge I only ran into the issue once when tuning the engine but it's worth mentioning. The shaft speed is 1650rpm to excite on the Ford Upgrade. The Ford Upgrade offering is pretty much GM guts in a Ford casing. No bracket changes needed for it. Mine is 8-57141. Looks like they list it as 140A but mine was 150A when purchased. Them's fighting words Gary Carrying the spare harness is one option though and if I remembered before heading out on a really long trip, I'd throw it (2g in my case) in a bag. The other option would be buying a 12si alt and swapping the pulley and front half of the case out. Not ideal but doable. Let me put it this way - for me the risk is worth the reward. I like it and my personal experience is such that I would recommend it as an option for someone but the proprietary part of it is enough of a concern that I wouldn't want to recommend it without trying to paint the whole picture. Ed at powermaster is great to talk to about these.

Can't say I've seen them on a Bullnose but Fender Exit headers are common for the earlier gen trucks.

That's odd and no doubt frustrating. Our house had some inventive 3/4 way wiring going on but it's a different story having ground and neutral wires just abandoned/forgotten(?). Glad they are making progress though!

Shows what little I know of the process Think we can safely say it wasn't. That would be great to get a comparison. Mine is a 3 row Champion unbranded but given that we aren't pushing their cooling limits I'd say it would be a close-enough comparison.

Just took a look and it looks good. Interested to know what your son thinks of all the work you've put in after reading it over.

I would happily use rainwater but don't have any capture. Supposed to rain this weekend but not sure I want to pull the downspouts...something to consider though. You're absolutely right Jim that the gauge doesn't really mean much - I think I've found mention of it being a 20 degree spread? Once I get the 50/50 mix in there I will take some temp measurements to see what I am dealing with. Gary - it really is nasty stuff. I would have assumed it was hot-tanked but not really feeling that way. The builder was highly recommended for 460s so I didn't ask many questions but definitely filing this stuff away for any future engine building.

I have had mixed results with Powermaster starters but so far no complaints on the 1 wire alt of theirs that I am using. It's called a Ford Upgrade. Pros and cons with everything but based on my experience I wouldn't have a problem recommending it. Not sure what motor you have but you will want to ensure you will also hit the rpm threshold when starting. Additionally, for anyone going this route, it would be best to get a spare alt harness that you cut up so that in a pinch you can swap back to an off the shelf offering like Gary stated. While I wouldn't have a problem recommending the 1 wire, I'd second the 3G as the better option for most situations.

Just ordered an RT-1025 which is what came out of my grandpa's 85 460. I believe it's the high flow equivalent of the RT-1052 which is what the 460's called for. 192F. So maybe a compromise between the current high flow 180 Scotty recommended and the factory 192.

I had no idea how long I would be dealing with this cooling system cleanout or just how many gallons of distilled water I'd be buying (it's been a LOT). Last I mentioned, after doing some distilled water flushes I was getting a milky white color. That quickly changed to a yellow paste and there was a lot of it. It wasn't seen until letting the jugs sit overnight to settle. I then drained the liquid out and was left with this clay like substance that easily dissolved. This is just one jug out of who knows how many I've collected that show the stuff at the bottom of them. Finally decided that if I am getting this stuff out of it, I am just going to do the water hose since it would take a year of distilled flushes to clear it out. As of tonight I've done two water hose flushes with two distilled cycles after each. I am doing one more distilled cycle and then I am calling it quits no matter what comes out. This fall I'll flush it again and see what I get. The block and heads aren't the ones that came out of the truck and were bought off Craigslist for the rebuild. Best guess is that this is some stop leak that someone poured in and was loosened up by the Thermacure. Beats me where this much stuff was/is hiding though. I did find some mention of products that use bentonite clay like I've put in ponds so maybe that's what this is. Makes me glad I still have my new heater core bypassed so at least this stuff isn't getting into it. What's a little funny is that the truck never was getting hot. Typically ran between the O-R getting to the M if sitting at a light with the A/C on. Tonight I took the truck to get washed and circulate the distilled water by doing a lap around town which included some highway driving. It never got to the N until I was sitting at a light. So clearing this stuff out has made a noticeable, if unnecessary, difference. I know it's just running pure water but thinking I need to put the 195 I originally was going to use in. After talking to Scotty he recommended the 180 but this just seems like it's too cool. Maybe pickup a 192 Motorcraft one like came out of it?

Oh, what about the dash illumination lights? Are they still not working?

Take a look here for some common ones. One thing that every new Bullnose owner should do is remove the kickpanels and inspect/clean out behind them. Also, pull out the resistor on the hvac box in the engine bay and ensure it's clean of debris.

Glad to hear it!

Welcome and that is a great looking truck (and photo)!

Thanks Jim. Yeah, I just wanted to make sure the headlight switch wasn't rotated enough to make the dome/cargo be on constantly. "Dimmer switch" could refer to that as well as the foot switch so wanted to ensure we all weren't talking about different things. Keaton - glad to hear it and stuff like that happens Easy to focus on one path and forget about other factors. The only connection running/marker lights should have with the dash lights is via the headlight switch. Is fuse 17 still good?

Just replied. Feel free to edit your post and remove your number if you want.

I didn't but not the first time I haven't received an email from a member. Just sent you my phone number if you want to text it to me.

Can you email me your address?

Hey Joe - let me know if you still need this. Running some errands during lunch today and can drop it off.

Just to make sure - talking about the dash light dimming feature via rotating the headlight switch and not the foot activated 'dimmer switch', right?

35 miles is about right Glad you both had a good time, safe drive and got to enjoy some Culvers!

Step 3: find a publisher and turn this thread into a coffee table book I took a very quick look at the Word doc in Dad's Truck Build and I like it but for this thread I would lean more towards an Index. So on the first post of this thread identify the big topics and permalink to them.

Great find! Yes - that's exactly what that connector is for. It connects to the light and the light is grounded via the screw connection to the dash structure. Check to see if rotating your headlight switch takes care of the dome/cargo light issue. Muscle memory takes over but I think rotating it counter clockwise until it 'clicks' turns them on. 50/50 shot. Sadly I won't be much help on the splice for that circuit besides saying that the one out of my 86 parts truck also has 6 wires in it. I cut some of the wires out of it when I was measuring various circuits so can't say what they all go to but I'll do some digging. The splice I was thinking of was the one on the marker lights circuit that doesn't match the EVTM.

So this would be more of a "set engine RPM" control that can be used as speed control Intrigued by how you go about it also.