85lebaront2

Ok, I'll get to work on this...likely through the week. I just checked and my idle mix screws are 3/4 turn out. According to my handy dandy Holley book they should end up somewhere between 1/2 and 1 1/2 turns out. Oh, and my new AFR gauge should be here in a couple days as well, so I should be able to get the old thing dialed in pretty good. So what do you normally do with the air cleaner being in the way? Make an adjustment, then stick the air cleaner back on, and repeat? Don't know if I can reach the idle mix screws with the air cleaner in place and I surely can't reach the idle stop screw... If you look at the maintenance information you are supposed to oil the felt when doing a tune up.

Solder is MUCH better than crimping in this application, for several reasons. I don't remember, but it's in the 1st diagram I posted above. SMN is down for maintenance at the moment... Not if you use ANY of those while the engine is running (alt. working). In that case, the current to those loads could be expected to come from the aux.batt., the main batt., the alt., or any combination at any moment. So the connecting wires between those 3 voltage sources should be sized for the peak load (probably the winch). Only if you NEVER use a load larger than that Yellow wire can handle while the engine is running. Yes, if you ever expect to pull substantial current INTO the aux.batt. or the circuits connected to it. Steve 83 - "Solder is MUCH better than crimping in this application, for several reasons." If that is the case, then why don't the factories use soldered connections? If you really want to see something interesting, un-wrap and remove all the goo from a Detroit factory multi-wire splice, it's welded.

I have worked on a Chevy engine in a Ford, it was a 1994 LT1 in a 1967 Mustang. FWIW, an FE 390 or 428 would be easier to work on. In a truck, shouldn't be impossible. I did see a nice one Saturday at a local mini-show in our town park. Guy had a 1970 SS-454 Chevelle he had swapped an LS into and the OD automatic, very nicely done! There was also a early 40s Plymouth that had been set up with a tilt front end, the builder had used a Chevy engine from a G series van, or at least the accessory drive system, serpentine belt and the alternator, power steering and AC were close in with the AC and alternator up top straddling the thermostat housing to work in the tall narrow engine bay the old flathead 6 was in. Biggest issue I can think of is motor mount location, Ford has them pretty well centered front to back, GM usually has them closer to the front, considering that for years the plug wires ran up behind them.

Gary, was the 95 a Diesel truck? 7.3L PSD is even heavier than a 460 and has two big batteries and an enormous radiator.

One of the improvements Ford did on the Aeronose trucks was the battery cables now run to the starter directly (PMGR starter) and the old starter relay is still there, but operates a much smaller wire to the starter solenoid. The body ground is now a pigtail (GM style) from the battery terminal end to the right inner fender. This is a picture of a friend's 1994 F150 battery and relay connections, the positive (inboard) cable has two branches, one to the starter, the other to the relay and remainder of the power, the alternator is connected there. My 160 amp 3G has a 200 amp megafuse in a holder next to the relay.

Actually a number of the mounting brackets were common to 302 and 351W engines, this was done by using an aluminum adapter on the front of the heads, it was turned short end up on a 302 and long end up on a 351W and the accessory (PS pump or alternator) long mounting bolt went into it rather than the actual holes in the heads.

I agree, it is a beautiful truck, and really is a time machine. Those EEC-III systems, when in good order were pretty damn good, much better than some of the competitions systems.

Damn, here we go again on ignition timing/advance. First, the centrifugal (mechanical) advance is tailored to what the engine needs and can use under load, the vacuum advance makes up the difference to what the engine needs for best efficiency (fuel economy). I found with the older Windsor engines that the high compression ones liked a total mechanical advance of 38-40°, but did not want it all too early. My Cobra 289 had only a mechanical advance dual point distributor, advance curve was most of the way in by 3000 rpm, static timing at 12° BTDC would advance 16° by 3000 rpm, which would be 28° total advance then would continue slower to add another 10° for 38° total at 5000 rpm. If you look at the advance mechanism on a Ford distributor, there are 2 curved weights riding against the upper portion of the distributor shaft, there is a slot in each end of the "advance cam" with a number stamped next to each. The number is the distributor advance in degrees, crank advance is double this number. Example, if the slot has 10 stamped next to it, it will give 20° crank degrees of advance. Originally there would be a small rubber or plastic sleeve over the tab to limit this to the marked amount. These crumble with age and loss of it is roughly 2° crank degrees. There are two springs on the advance mechanism, a light one and a heavy one, light controls the initial stage, the heavy one serves two purposes, it limits the initial advance, then allows the higher rpm advance to occur. Most newer electronic ignition systems produce a much hotter spark than the older breaker point systems, that being said, they will fire a leaner mixture by virtue of a wider plug gap (.035 on the Cobra engine, .042 on Darth's 460 with DS-II) the vacuum advance will pull the breaker or pickup plate against the direction of rotation to increase the total advance at cruising speed (light load, high vacuum) this is what helps your gas mileage. Many newer engines can handle as much as 60° advance at 2500-3500 rpm light load conditions. The best way to arrive at that in fine tuning yours is to drive the truck on the highway, and very gently increase the throttle opening, if you get some spark "rattle" that goes away with more throttle, then you have too much vacuum advance. One of the ways Detroit engineers cured this was the EGR system, it weakens the mixture and slows the burn rate in the cylinders. If you eliminate the EGR, then sometimes the vacuum advance will need to be decreased or at least the rate will need adjusting. Older Ford distributors allowed this adjustment with different springs, shims and a stop sleeve that could be done by removing the end cap on the advance diaphragm, newer ones generally have a hexagonal housing and a 18" Allen wrench inserted in the vacuum tube engages a screw through a plate in the hexagonal portion. Adjustment is: clockwise = more and quicker advance, counter clockwise = less and slower advance. Short of having a distributor machine, this part becomes a trial and error process. Ford balancers have a dual direction scale from 10° ATDC to 30° BTDC, so a certain amount of the mechanical advance can be checked with a standard timing light, if you have an adjustable advance timing light, you can check it all the way. One warning, do a "sanity check" of one of these by locking it at 0° at run the engine up (use the fast idle cam so it is consistent) and read the scale, then using the adjustment bring the 0 TDC mark in line with the pointer and see if the reading on the light's advance scale matches. I have seen one (a Snap-On) that was way off when checked this way, and it was at idle!

I have run into it many times, I had a good friend owned an independent parts store in Newport News, I could take an odd ball U-joint to him, and he could find a match to it. I have run into combinations where not only was the cross differing lengths, the "pins" were different diameters and the caps two different styles, one would be an external snap ring the other internal.

Gary, from his description it sounds like the 1972 has a rubber gasket like the rear windows. They can be interesting to do. Procedure was to put a string in the groove, start the windshield in and use the string to pull the lip up over the windshield. If he can find someone who has worked on older German cars, they would be familiar with this procedure. My 1961 Mercedes-Benz 220Sb had that style windshield mounting.

Yes, that is exactly what I use, it is a low profile Walker transmission jack.

Jim. does your truck still have the plastic shield on the front end of the side tank? They trap dirt, which once you add water you get mud which will eventually rust the top of the tank just above the seam.

Looks good sir!

I have done it both ways, If you plan on taking the bed off, try to locate replacement bolts, do not trust LMC or NPD to have the correct bolts (ask how I know). Best solution is cut the nuts off leaving the bolt intact, nuts can be gotten from Fastenal or other bolt suppliers. Tanks, I have had mine in and out a number of times since 1994 when I bought Darth. When I bought him the front tank leaked at the seam where dirt had packed in along the "ambulance" heat shield, which is sort of academic on a crew cab, and the pump in the rear tank was dead. I purchased a used tank (fun to find on an in-tank pump 460) and installed it, taking the shield off and discarding it as the exhaust crossover heat it was to protect the tank from is 35" further away. Once I had the front tank functional, I went after the rear and found that I had to remove one side of the mounts for my V5 receiver hitch. Finding a pump was interesting, everyone wanted to sell me an early (1985.5-1989) EFI pump which is I believe 15 psi vs 6 psi for the carbureted pump. If you know someone who has an undercar type transmission jack or works on VWs (air cooled) it will have a larger flat plate and in the case of a transmission jack tilt in two directions. On the front tank, as Gary pointed out, it is long and remaining gas will slosh and assist in loss of control. Front fill hose enters at roughly a 45° angle and there is an inner vent line that goes through a ring in the filler neck on the tank, this is a royal PITA to reinstall. Rear tank, filler enters horizontally over the frame rail, and the tank is best removed/reinstalled by going out and in the right side. Here is a picture of Darth with the bed off (I was replacing it due to metal eating termites). The fillers are peculiar to the DRW trucks, at least the hoses and vents, the actual necks seem to be common to all.

On the front it goes in behind the alternator/air pump bracket and attaches to the lower set of holes on that head, one about where the air pump passage blanking plug would be on a carbureted engine. Gary, did it look like the strap was bent to clear the firewall? If so then that would indicate that the heads may have been swapped on the huck.

I'll have to look, FWIW, Big Ugly was also a 1990 F250, just a 2WD rather than a 4WD.

Gary, I have a question for you when you get a chance to research it. Are there supposed to be one or two of those lifting straps? Darth has one on the front of the right head. I know the older engines had one on each exhaust manifold so they could be lifted with a 3 point support on the assembly line.

You go right ahead, I will stick with my now 33 year old kingpins. They still have no detectable side play and drive fine. I have seen too many of these ball joint twin I-beams that are sloppy as all getout and need aligning frequently. My last full alignment on Darth was 25 years ago and my front tires wear dead even. The only things I do like on the newer system, it can be aligned without bending the beams and the later disc brakes have less rolling drag.

Short 5/16-18 with a flange head if I remember correctly.

If you do not have emission system requirements, be sure the catalytic converter is gone (should be as I don't believe unleaded fuel was common in Europe at the time your truck was built) you need some form of evaporative purge system, otherwise the charcoal canister(s) will load up with petrol fumes. Vacuum advance should be from the ported vacuum tap on the carburetter and this source can also be used for the canister purge control valve. One item I noticed, you have a large vacuum top on the right rear intake runner, this can cause #4 and occasionally #7 cylinders to run lean. If your manifold has a vacuum tap location that is closer to the center, or at least in a location where it enters both sides of the intake runners is better. You have the crankcase ventilation valve into the front of your carburetter and if the line teed from it goes to the canister purge control valve's large port, the ported tap will serve to actuate it. The thermal vacuum valve on the thermostat housing, should most likely be plumbed lower port to ported vacuum tap on carburetter, middle to vacuum advance on distributor, top to a direct vacuum source. This is to advance the timing if the motor overheats. Cheers! If we can help with it feel free to ask.

The last picture wasn't there last night, yes, I recognize something, actually a number of things in that picture, the one you are most likely referencing would be the small two bolt access cover for the block plate with an automatic.

Is there a write-up you referenced for this? With a new engine going in and a warranty to worry about, I'm thinking about adding a gauge so I actually know what's going on. No write up, the earlier gauges used a variable resistance sender, I simply removed the pointer from a later gauge that has a nice extended sleeve on the coil assembly to stabilize the shaft against shock. Keep in mind this is a 1992-96/7 dash and cluster. These originally had an oil pressure switch that is open with no pressure and closed with 5-10 psi pressure and a resistor in series on the back of the cluster printed circuit to put the gauge at 1/2 scale as soon as the switch closes. The original information was on FTE, but the "gauges" vary in response so I set it so it is on the red line, key on engine off, and used my mechanical gauge to "calibrate" where the pressures were.

If you are referring to me, which picture? Remember I don't have a 4WD.

I may have the reamer you need if the kingpins are the same size as the F350 ones. Somewhere if it didn't get left in Newport News by the fellow who was working on getting the tools out of the garage I had a kingpin press.

That's because we have way more experience than you young whippersnappers