85lebaront2

I like the idea of the 4-disc CD changer. But does it work with the speakers you have? And could you put an aftermarket, modern player in place of the one you'd planned to use and stream music from a phone or a thumb drive? That would let you use the setup you've created and have far more music than 4 CDs, plus have Bluetooth for hands-free calling. Gary, the 4 disc CD changer works with the radios I have, it was a factory option on Sebring, Stratus and the FWD 300s, also vans.

Now I have run into a small dilemma. The original piece separating the front seats is a large armrest bolted to a plastic section that runs down the center of the car on top of the longitudinal reinforcement. I want to see about using the center console from the 1989 car, which ends up being the same width and height, but has a storage rack for audio cassettes. The problem is this: It has the place for the rear window defroster, two power window switches and the power seat switch (it mounts so that the text is upside down, but when you look at it it reads normally. I either have to make something different for there or rearrange my switches. I can put the top switch in place of the window switches and move the rear defrost and seat switches. There was an ash tray forward of the shifter, but that won't work as the K shifter is too far forward. This also will negate the control panel I built. Using the console switch panel. Advantage, removing the control panel will allow for a 4 disc CD changer. Disadvantage. hazard flasher, panel dimmer and power point will need a new location. Leaving the control panel Advantage, no need to extend wires and switch mountings Disadvantage, have to come up with something to close the front of the console in. In either instance there is a rear seat ashtray provision I will turn into a light for the rear floor as there are ash trays in each rear quarter area.

Other than the 4 speed your drive train is what Darth came with, 460, C6 and 3.55 open rear. The valve linked to the rear axle is a load sensing valve. Ford warns not to remove the linkage from the valve as it can't be adjusted and would need to be replaced. When I changed to a newer limited slip, I took the bracket off the axle and just lifted it out of the way. If you do remove the air pumps, see if you can locate some exhaust manifolds with no external piping, that way you won't have to mess with plugging the holes. On the back of the heads are two more holes, if you follow the air pipes you will see that one set goes to the manifolds and the other to the back of the heads. If you do pull the heads, be warned, (a) those 9/16-12 head bolts will be tight, 130-140 ft-lbs, then being run for 33 years, the outer row will be the worst, (b) they are heavy and if you plan on pulling them, leave the exhaust manifolds on as they are a pain to get to the bolts with the heads on the engine. I have found removing the inner fenders helps with access. If the heads are off, have them surfaced as much as the shop says they can do without having to machine the intake, every bit of compression helps. Cam, go for an RV (torque) cam as these, in stock form don't enjoy being spun up like a 302, they were designed to move a heavy (near 3 ton) luxury barge away from a stoplight quickly. Timing chain, the stock timing set retards the cam 4° an aftermarket, or 1988 up factory set is a double row roller and straight up. The factory DS-II ignition is a reliable unit and easy to fix, The site owner has a DS-II tester, DO NOT try to stuff a Chinese GM distributor in it, it won't clear things! Carburetors, if you do not need emission certification, a 650 cfm 4 barrel, Carter (now Edelbrock) or Holley is a good match, if you happen to be able to score a 1969 428 CJ 735 cfm Holley, it is a great match for one of these engines. Long term suggestion from several on here who have 460s, a ZF5, wide ratio will do wonders for power and help the economy a bit. 10 is about average for these, be glad it's not a Chevy 454, 6-8 is normal for them. I have gotten as high as 12.5, but that is with MAF/SEFI and an E4OD, same 3.55 gear and running 70-75 on the interstate.

What I have done (keep in mind Darth is a DRW truck) is to remove the main hose from the filler neck and install it on the rear tank nipple with the tank far enough up it will go on, but low enough that I can get a 1/4" drive 5/16" short socket and ratchet on the clamp. I have 1990 tanks so my fill is the inner plastic tube and the hose is the vent. This means I do not have to coax the plastic vent of the 1986 system through the ring in the tank nipple. After the inner end of the hose is secured, I start it over the filler neck and finish raising the tank up till I can reach and connect the electrical plug on the top front of the tank. My EVAP hoses are 3/8" to the canister and a 1/4" that goes back to the rear cross member with a small vent cap. I pull both of those out and connect the EVAP hose before finishing the tank mounting straps. Once it is in place I secure the outer hose to the filler neck and if needed (if I had to take it off) reattach the filler neck to floor of the bed.

I am not a huge fan of French distributors, especially the ones made of Chineseum. First item, a full GM style HEI is a current hog, typically they have an 8 or 10 ga wire feeding them. To run one properly in a vehicle that wasn't built with one (even an older Chevy) needs a relay to feed power directly from the battery. If you are worried about a good quality replacement for a DS-II system, there really isn't a cheap substitute that does things like cranking retard to ease in starting. If you have a good reliable pickup coil in your distributor, there is a way you can use an HEI type ignition and keep a stock appearance except for the coil. The actual GM 4 pin HEI module doesn't draw the extreme current it is the coil that does it. GM built a smaller system for their small pickups (S10 & S15) that used an external E-core coil (like a Ford TFI coil) and used a variation of the 4 pin module that mounted in the distributor base. The actual unit looks very similar to an early Corvair distributor with a top mounted mechanical advance. You can do what Lucas did with their "Constant Energy" system, a standard large base GM HEI module was installed in an aluminum box for a heat sink and installed under a standard Lucas electronic ignition coil. They triggered it with what looks like a 70s Chrysler electronic ignition distributor, I would venture a guess that a DS-II distributor would probably trigger it also. You would need to modify the power feed to the coil as the 5.0L EFI engines did, just basically bypass the resistance wire by tapping both ends of it for power. The module would hide nicely inside a junk DS-II module as a heat sink.

Since Darth is now running MAF/SEFI using an EEC-V system, he has a 1990 (at present) TFI-IV distributor and has the remote mounted Black TFI module on the left inner fender. This is the 1995-97 distributor for the new engine.

Thank you, I am pretty happy with the result. The left side cornering light was NOS from Arizona Parts, mounting bracket was used.

Pickup coil specs per AllData: Resistance 400-1000 ohms with a 250 watt heat lamp held 1 1/2 inches from the coil for 5 minutes. Gap .017" minimum These are for Darth's DS-II system (long gone). Maybe this can be added to the DS-II information?

NOS as in Nitrous Oxide or New Old Stock? They are original 1985 and 1986 parts, some from the 1986 and some from the totaled in 2009 1985. Disassembled, cleaned with Dawn dish soap and an old toothbrush, then painted with a metallic silver paint.

I got the left side cornering light in today, then went on to repairing some of my courtesy lights. There are four of them that take a 212-2 bulb, which can be replaced by a 578 LED. Two of the lights mount vertically in the rear inner panels, the other two mount on the bottom portion of the door armrests. These looked pretty bad from the light bulb heat. Here is a picture of three of them in a fixture made from a small cardboard box: Here are the same three after painting with a close to chrome paint:

When I bought Darth in 1994, he had no spare of any kind and no carrier for it. I first bought an extra wheel from a junkyard we passed near on our way to Pennsylvania towing our 5th wheel. The first time I needed tires, I kept the best for a spare. Carrier and tire holder, there are two carriers, a slide out and a fixed one as far as I know. I found a fixed one laying on the ground at Pick-n-Pull in Virginia Beach. The two suspension bolts and the tire bolt were missing. I found the front "fixed" bolt and the rear eyebolt and clip nuts at different junkyards. Due to Darth having a massive V5 rated rear bumper/receiver combination fitting the dually wheel and 215/85R-16 tire up under the rear tank is interesting, tube on the tire support bar for the jack handle had to be shortened. I found when I had to change a tire on the side of US13 bypass around Salisbury MD when I blew the left outer dual, that getting the tire out and back in on the carrier isn't easy nor fun. The tire holder is a large plastic, almost cone shaped nut that screws down on the carriage bolt that goes through the center of the wheel and holds it in place. It goes on point down for the smaller wheels, and point up for the dually wheels. For them and possibly the single large rims (F250/350) it has a scalloped raised portion on the large end that just fits inside the rim center. Getting the combination lined up is a royal pain so I added two alignment "pins" to the carrier that engage two of the eight bolt holes. Thankfully, when secured, the tire stem is accessible from underneath.

The hot fuel handling package did essentially what an EFI system does, hot fuel from the engine compartment is returned to the in-use tank creating a fair amount of vapor pressure. Ever tried to find a locking gas cap for one of these?

That I don't know, the last 300 I had was in a 1977 F150 and I never did anything to that engine other than minor work.

Pull the radiator for better access and so if it pops loose suddenly you don't end up having to replace the radiator. I would go ahead and pull the timing cover and look at the gears, factory ones were phenolic and know to strip teeth.

I have not looked into the later fill hose hook up to our tanks but guys have done it, wonder how they do it? I do know if you use a later gas tank because of say the in tank fuel pump there is no way to hook up the plastic inner hose. I also don't know what they do about it? I have not looked into the diesel side other than I know when filling diesel fuel it foams a lot. That seams to be a big issue for the diesel truck guys and the pumps clicking off. Dave ---- Just be glad you don't have a dually, my filler necks resemble someone's broken arm, and the front is the worst. I switched tanks when I went to EFI and used the 1990 tanks and pumps from the parts truck. I couldn't use the filler necks as they are way too short. I ended up with a pair from a Diesel 1996 Crew Cab DRW truck as all the gas ones in the junkyard had the hoses chopped so they could siphon gas for the fork lifts. Since Darth is a 1986 over 8500 GVW he never had the "unleaded fuel only" labels and restrictors.

First. after 1986 Ford started using larger tank vent systems, probably since everything was going to be EFI by 1988 and EFI returns warm to hot gas to the tanks resulting in more evaporation. The over 8500 GVW trucks do not use a sealed system even with EFI as recently as the last of the OBS trucks in 1997. Maybe first check that nothing is obstructed on your vent system.

Ok, steering box is probably up on the front of the left frame rail with a drag link to the top of the left spindle. A junk yard can tell you what steering boxes fit.

I call FedEx Smart Post Dumb Post and UPS Sure Post Unsure Post, where I am, either of those services result in me usually having to drive into the post office to pick up the items. We have one carrier who will drive his USPS van down the half block to the house and hand us the packages so we get them in a timely manner. No savings there, just annoying.

Jim, and Gary, basically correct, but, flasher is a dual function electronic unit, relays are used to select which lights are used. The original wiring from Chrysler used an ignition on power source for the relay coils, turn signal switch simply grounds the appropriate relays (left front, left rear and left cornering) or the corresponding right side ones. I just could never see the use of a cornering light in daytime, the first car I had with them was a 1978 Oldsmobile, Delta 88 Royale and those only worked with the lights on. The lights on the car, other than headlamps and cornering lights are all LEDs now, and since the electronic flasher has it's own dedicated ground and two power sources as needed (one is ignition switched the other constant battery) so the little pushbutton switch in the console determines (a) which power source and (b) whether to ground all 4 signal relays.

I can't say for certain on a 69, I do know that prior to 1980, as far as the 1973-1979 trucks were built, the steering was completely different between 2WD and 4WD trucks. The 2WD steering box on my 1977 F150 was a long Pittman shaft, rear steer design, similar to the Bullnose and following models except behind the axle. The 4WD 1978 F250 our BSA camp had, the steering box was located up front with a drag link going back to the top of the left steering knuckle. These trucks had a live front axle for 4WD and twin I-beams on 2WD. The first item to locate would be the actual steering box and affiliated parts as needed, then the power steering pump and brackets for whichever engine he has in it.

Jim, it was partially my fault, I didn't clearly state the conditions. As built, the cornering lights (left or right) illuminate whenever the appropriate direction signal is selected, even in daylight. Since all lights on the 1990 harness I used are controlled by relays and the relay block is fully wired even if the car did not have that option, I simply moved the power source for the cornering light relays to the parking light feed so they will only illuminate if the lights are on. Here is the right cornering light installed: I actually managed to catch the turn signal illuminated, this is no running lights: I couldn't catch the turn signal, but here is the cornering light during right turn signal with lights on: The reason the marker and park/turn lights are brighter, they are LEDs, cornering light is a 3156 incandescent bulb.

I believe the valve is available from Pollack.

One thing I found on the 351M and 400 engines, the drain back holes from the heads, one of them, and it has been long enough since I even messed with one of those, has a "corner" in it where it goes past a head bolt. I think it was the left rear and right front, but I'm not sure. An old speedometer cable core with the end frayed a bit will do a good job of clearing them. This was in a 1977 F150 with air, left side was a pain, right side was almost "Mission Impossible". And people wanted to know why I put a 390 in my 1977 F150. A lot more powerful than a 351M or 400 and with a 4 barrel got 16-17 mpg highway.

Jim, it is not a daytime running light, it is located in the front fender ahead of the wheel and below the raised portion from the end of the bumper. Here is a picture of the 1985 car red circle is the left cornering lamp:

I have and I thought of running that but my big thing is Holley states that they have a life span of 5 to 10 years with your average service life for a typical street car of being 6 years or 60,000 miles. I just dont know if I want to be dropping my fuel tank every 6 years to change the hydromat. How ever what I was thinking of just now is I dont need a whole full baffle system, all I really need is just something to slow the fuel slosh as much as possible so in theory I could make a short 4 to 5 inch tall plate and build a box around the sump in the tank with openings for allowing fuel in and out. I feel this would be all I would really need as I dont plan on running my tank dry but I do want to prevent starvation down to 1/8 tank as I have a habit of filling up at a 1/4 tank and with a 16 gallon tank I wouldnt want to fill up any more often as it will negate the point of trying to improve my fuel economy between fill ups. Nothing on Darth, but did do some work on one of my other "trucks", the 2009 Flex. When I test drove it last September I felt it probably needed motor mounts due to the vibration and being able to feel the engine shift under changing load. I replaced the torque strut shortly after buying it and it helped but everything pointed to bad mounts. There are only two, a hydraulic one on the engine end and a round sleeve style on the transaxle end. That one involves removing the battery and tray along with the battery tray bracket. Here is the frame side of the transaxle mount viewed from the rear: Again, from the rear with the transaxle portion beside it (there is a bracket bolted through this portion): Closeup looking through where the rubber should be, raised bumps are the pads for torque reaction, rusted stud goes up through the bracket and battery tray: Inner portion, you can see where it was metal to metal: The engine end looked much better, but looked like it might have been leaking some fluid (not as bad as the Taurus ones that dumped rusty water all over).