FuzzFace2

My 16 gallon tank gauge does the exact same thing Dave. Once it gets below about half way on the gauge, it slows right down. The last quarter moves even slower. I had to bend the float arm in mine to even get it to read full at all, so I know it's not 100% perfect. However, it does read full, and it does read empty, so I can live with that. I try to monitor my miles traveled anyway, so that will keep me in check regardless. The gauge may slow down some on the lower half but not being able to use the rear tank and still "feeling this truck out" don't want to push my luck when down to the empty. I did check the gauge and with 5 gallons it moves up to the "E line" so I when on it I have 5 gallons and with 10 gallons its a little over half on this 16 gallon tank. Now that the rear tank sender should be fixed and I fill both I can push it more and have a back up tank Dave ----

In the old days of points that "I" (IGN) sent full 12 volts to the points / coil for a hotter spark when starting as it is only hot when the relay / solenoid is passing power. Dave ----

Happy New Year to everyone Being the truck is almost done and I am driving it time to move on to 1 of 3 projects I brought down from CT. I hope by days end to have the street AMC Javelin moved from the house garage to my garage. The pick up will go into the house garage and the DD will still stay out till I can get my sons things out of my garage. I would have started but it is cold out side, even the dogs & cat did not want to go out. It was upper 60's yesterday and 45* at 4am only getting up to 50's today I hear. Hope once the sun comes up it will warm up some to get working on the move. I also need to get some pictures of the truck to update my avatar. Dave ----

When you lower the holes will that not raise the frame & truck some more? I know its not much but it is some. Dave ----

On my 81 the outer skin has a bracket welded to the inner door frame to support the mirror weight but they all seam to crack the welds then crack the outer skin. That bracket could be a "fix" on the later years but my doors did not have anywhere for it to match up to to support anything. Beside the different assy. for different years, it had been almost 4 years since I took the doors apart and I kept trying to put the assy. into the doors all wrong. Once some one told me at the same time I RTM, I seen what I was doing wrong and the assy. fell into place. Dave ----

http://forum.garysgaragemahal.com/Vent-window-frame-question-tp40754.html Dave ----

Before you go getting all crazy like see if you can fit the assy. in the door? I went thru a whole big deal on the vent window frames on my 81. The ones from the truck were rusted & broken and I got a good set years ago from some place, member? I could not fit them in the doors and when I matched them to the old they were different. I had to get a 3rd set that were a little different than the first set but they would fit into the doors. I am sure that bracket I had to cut off just to get them in the doors. I think I did a thread on the different vent window frames and maybe the years they were from when trying to get mine in the doors? Anyone remember this thread? Pictures were from 10/13-15/2019 I just went thru my pictures and I don't see that bracket on any of mine. Also IIRC when trying to fit it in the door I could not see where that bracket would tie in as I don't think it hit where the mirror screws were. Dave ----

Took the truck to work for the last time this year. Truck runs great but I am not happy how fast the 16 gallon gas tank gauge moves off full. Gauge was over full when I left and it is about 60 miles round trip, it is now on half a tank. You can watch it drop as you drive. The first MPG reading I got on the truck was around 12 MPG, not bad but not great for a straight six. Last Sunday I installed the head light relay harness and gave a few turns on the head light adjusters to raise them some as they were to low for my liking. Because I left at 2am, read still dark out, I was able to "test" the head lights and got to say they work pretty good on low and crazy bright! Anyone thinking of doing the head light relay harness DON'T THINK just do it. Dave ----

Dave, I have installed a couple Rostra aftermarket cruise control systems and they have worked very well. https://www.summitracing.com/parts/rpc-250-1223/ Even better price on Amazon... https://www.amazon.com/Ididit-Rostra-250-1223-Universal-Control/dp/B002VI9G6S The only kicker is that you have to buy the controller separately, but there are several to choose from, including ones that mount right on the turn-signal stalk, the same as the Ford dealer installed CC systems would have been. Installing them takes some creativity and you'll have to figure out how to get a brake and clutch signal, and you'll have to figure out a way to connect it to the throttle, etc. One of the benefits of this kit is that vacuum is not required...it is all electric. Anyway, if you go to the Rostra website, there's some good info on there. I will be installing one of these systems in my Bullnose between now and the spring, so I'll try to make some notes on how I get it all to work. Thanks will have to check it out when I have time Dave ----

I don't know of that kit as I had not heard of them but I had a Gale Balks turbo kit on my 86 K5 full size Blazer with the 6.2 diesel. Installed it with 100k on the clock and sold the truck with 230k. Any way I had to adjust the pump richer because you were pumping more air into the motor. The more the pump was turned up the higher the EGT went and high GT was not good. I was ok when I first did the install and turned it up but I had the pump rebuilt and told them I had the Banks kit and they side they knew how it needed to be turned up, they went a little more than I did so I had to watch the GT when under boost. Check the EGR lines IIRC there was a valve I had to plumb in or something? I did not have to do anything with the glow plugs. Dave ----

A couple members have done this. Dave for certain, and I believe Ken as well. You'll have lots of help on here for this. Nope cant be done ... no way no how Why go reinventing the wheel when Ford has all the parts you will need to make this a bolt in? I used all the rear tank parts from a long bed style side truck that had duel tanks. Be sides the rear tank & straps you will need the bolt in cross member just in front of the rear tank as that is what the straps bolt to. I also used the duel tank switching valve bolted to the left frame rail and the metal line from rear tank to it. I also used all the duel trucks evap metal lines up to and including the 2 canisters under the battery just like the factory duel truck had. I get no gas smell at all and I have it parked in my garage most of the time. Now what is the hard part is the duel tank wiring & switch if you want to stay factory stock looking. The duel tank wiring from switch to the valve on the frame is all in the trucks harness. Again I used everything (harnesses) from my parts truck as a whole so it looks factory stock. Now you can get the fuel switch and bolt it to the HVAC control and cut the slot for the switch handle it just will not say front or rear tank on it. Then you would need to run wires to the switch valve and rear sender and wire up the switch to work the switch valve & fuel gauge for both tanks. It can be done as I did it on a 76 E350 van when I added a 2nd tank. You can see the factory duel tank switch to the right of the HVAC controls. As you can see I also added the filler door to the fender to look like the factory did it. I used part of the fender & door from another flare side and glassed it to my fender. I used some parts from that flare the door came from and the style side to make it work. I do have more pictures on my site of the filler hose hook up and glassing Dave ----

Thanks for the information So from what you said our year truck used a shorter spring pack that puts the front hanger under the frame not out in front. You also are saying because of the longer springs the trucks ride smoother. This may be so but you also said this kit moves the shackle from the front to the rear and this alone makes the ride smother. When you hit a bump everything wants to move rearwards as the truck in moving forwards. With the stock shackle in front and the spring flexes when you hit a bump the spring wants to move forward but the bump pushes it back and so the ruff ride. We would move the shackle to the rear on our off road racing trucks for the smother ride (you don't get beat up as much) but the wheels stay on the ground more for more control. Only thing you have to watch out for is you also get more axle travel and if the drive shaft is too long it can bottom out pushing the transfer case to the rear and most of the time braking the transfer case to transmission adaptor putting you out of the race till you replace the adaptor and limit the axle travel with longer bump stops and / or shorter drive shaft but then you had to watch if the axle dropped too much and the drive shaft would pull apart. In that case you install limit drop straps on the axle. So how wide are our springs and the SD springs? If they did a little change to the brackets for us to use our springs with a straight axle and still use the bumper they may sell more kits? Dave ----

That is how the custom Speed Hut gauges are in my 70 street Javelin. Same goes for the silver carbon fiber over lay as it looks like the base model alum one. Then again I like to 'sneak in" little custom touches like that you have to really know the cars / trucks to pick it up. Dave ----

On the head lights I have not had the truck out since just before Xmas so when I get it out at night I may not remember what they were like other than I know they were too low and I just gave 3 or 4 turns of the screw driver. On the fog / driving lights I have not really looked into it. Almost got the creeper out today but if I tried to do any adjusting I would not be able to tell much as it was day light out and why the creeper stayed where it was But I think I may have to break out the Dremel to make the slots a little bigger to get more adjustment. Maybe this week I will look into it as we have 1 night we all will be up late so I can test everything When I do I will for sure post what I had to do. Dave ----

That I can't answer. Since my truck didn't have factory cruise control I had already planned on an aftermarket system, and since all I needed was a speed signal, that is as far as I went with my research. I know with the aftermarket systems like Rostra that I have experience with, you can simply tap into a VSS wire to get a pulse/signal and it doesn't affect other users of that signal...in my case it was an ECU, but I assume all would be the same. I have zero experience with any of the Ford CC system outside of that sensor though... Cory do you have a system in hand and if so who makes it the model number? I would like to add it to my truck if not to much $$ and to hard to install. Thanks Dave ----

Mine being 1 month later 11/80 and also being a 81 model year I see your wheels (rims) are wider than mine but I have 14 lb more rear GVWR strange? Mine has the 300 six and a T18 transmission Dave ----

So everyone know what we are talking about LOL I cant take credit for them as I bought the truck with them on the panels. They look to be a section of a wood hand railing cut to fit where the factory rest was. They also took a router to the top to make a place to grab it to pull the door closed. It is not quite deep enough to get a good grip on and it has a sharp edge that hits your arm when it is resting on it the hurts after a while. They used 2 screws from the bottom side thru the door panel so if you go pulling on them to close the door you can see the panel flex. I think the factory rest goes thru the rest & panel to the door frame so the panel is not flexing but not sure as I have never seen a factory rest in place. Dave ---- I got my butt out to the garage and installed the head light relay harness. The hardest part was pulling out my large Rubber Maid auto electrical bin and going thru it for connectors, wire and a 20 amp breaker as the harness did not come with a fuse on the power side. I also gave the head lights a few turns up on the adjustments as they were a little too low for my liking. I will take the screw driver with me so I can fine tune the next time I have it out at night. Dave ----

So everyone know what we are talking about LOL I cant take credit for them as I bought the truck with them on the panels. They look to be a section of a wood hand railing cut to fit where the factory rest was. They also took a router to the top to make a place to grab it to pull the door closed. It is not quite deep enough to get a good grip on and it has a sharp edge that hits your arm when it is resting on it the hurts after a while. They used 2 screws from the bottom side thru the door panel so if you go pulling on them to close the door you can see the panel flex. I think the factory rest goes thru the rest & panel to the door frame so the panel is not flexing but not sure as I have never seen a factory rest in place. Dave ----

Is that what you're doing with your newly fabricated mounts? I read through there a little bit but didn't see exactly where you're headed with it. Not a plow mount but for the front of leaf springs to run a straight axle, was it a 50 or 60? When I first seen the mounts on the ground I was like what are they? Now that I see them set in place I see, front spring hanger for leafs. I also see now why it is said need to trim the bumper or space it out as the mount sticks out front and the bumper kind of wraps under the frame. I was more like how do you get the nuts started on the bumper bolts as they are now in a box! Dave ---- So this mount is for a SD truck using leaf springs? What springs do you use, the SD springs or our leaf springs? Where do our 250 / 350 spring mounts sit on our trucks, it must be back more for the bumper to fit. Is our springs shorter because of the bumper? What of the mount was turned 180* so the spring mount was back under the frame then the bumper would fit and then use our springs or a custom one. Just thinking out loud here Dave ----

Is that what you're doing with your newly fabricated mounts? I read through there a little bit but didn't see exactly where you're headed with it. Not a plow mount but for the front of leaf springs to run a straight axle, was it a 50 or 60? When I first seen the mounts on the ground I was like what are they? Now that I see them set in place I see, front spring hanger for leafs. I also see now why it is said need to trim the bumper or space it out as the mount sticks out front and the bumper kind of wraps under the frame. I was more like how do you get the nuts started on the bumper bolts as they are now in a box! Dave ----

Yes you can see where it weeps out and before I removed it from the arm I shook it and could hear the gas in it. Because I had 2 old senders / floats I used 1 of the floats other wise I would have picked up a new one. Depending on the truck and it's condition, it's sometimes easier to just lift the bed off. Glad to hear that you're finally getting to drive the old girl Dave! I'd say a lot of Bullnose Flaresides have been saved from the crusher these past few years. I did not want to remove the bed and risk hurting the paint on the bed or cab. I also don't have a good way to attach straps to lift it. If I was to use the stake pockets it may bend them. I would have had to undo the fuel fill doors & hoses, again may hurt the paint on them. The only thing doing it the way I did is if the vent / fill got hurt as I was able to fill the tank at full blast before this and hope I still can. The only other thing is hope it does not leak or I will have to drop it again I did my part on saving a flare side even if I did add "my touches". I am going to try and get the truck out this weekend, I started yard work the other day I have to finish, and et some good pictures and up date the picture for my avatar. Dave ---- I spent a little time with the truck today. I have had 2 head light relay harness from LMC for years I was going to use on another projects. My son used 1 on his YJ Jeep till he swapped to HID head lights and did not need the relays. I have had them out to add to the truck before I got it on the road but never got to it till today. Went pretty easy as it is mostly plug-n-play. Because the harness was used I had to clean up the eye lets for a good ground. The kit also did not come with a fuse so I went thru my electrical bin and found a 20 amp breaker and wired it in. There is only a 3" 10 ga wire between the battery hot & breaker so no fear of a short on the "hot" wire to the breaker. I also gave a few turn up on the head lights as they were a little to low for my liking. I will take the screw driver with me next time I have it out at night to do a better job of aiming them. I may also take a wrench to see if I can aim the fog / driving lights but have a feeling I may have to get creative as I don't have the adjustment I thought I built into them. Dave ----

Does thinking about doing something to the truck count I was going to see about installing the head light relay wiring and aim the head & fog / driving lights but never made it out of my chair There is always tomorrow Dave ----

Welcome to the Bullnose Forum. You will find some of us are on both forums, we just cant get enough Bullnose information You will also get good information here as well so I will not copy & past my reply just yet LOL Dave ----

The thing to know about fog and lights or the color of the light is the white from head lights reflects back at you not thru the fog. When in a good fog bank try the low beams and then the high beams and see what one works better .... low beams as the light is not as bright to reflect back. Now with that said I don't know why my fog / driving lights I got from LMC are white? With that said I would have them come on with the park / running lights so you have tail lights but able to turn off the head lights for less reflection. I have mine powered thru the yellow heavy gauge wire under the brake booster in the engine bay. This is hot when the key is on and I have a switch with light under the dash. 1 way is for fog the other for driving lights and in the center is off. Also IIRC fog lights work best low, like 18" or something like that off the ground. Now I know on trucks it is hard to mount them low with out getting them taken out in some way be it Off Roading or snow banks. I did not measure mine as I also wanted them in the bumper for a custom look and not under it. Just something to keep in mind on fog lights. Dave ----

I knew if I waited long enough I would know what the parts were for. It looks like it will be fun to install the bumper once the parts are installed. Dave ----